FRANK RUSSEL'S OPINIONS.
Clayton was still pursuing the object which he had undertaken. He
determined to petition the legislature to grant to the slave the right
of seeking legal redress in cases of injury; and, as a necessary to
this, the right of bearing testimony in legal action. As Frank Russel
was candidate for the next state legislature, he visited him for the
purpose of getting him to present such a petition.
Our readers will look in on the scene, in a small retired back room of
Frank's office, where his bachelor establishment as yet was kept.
Clayton had been giving him an earnest account of his plans and designs.
"The only safe way of gradual emancipation," said Clayton, "is the
reforming of law; and the beginning of all legal reform must of course
be giving the slave legal personality. It's of no use to enact laws for
his protection in his family state, or in any other condition, till we
open to him an avenue through which, if they are violated, his
grievances can be heard, and can be proved. A thousand laws for his
comfort, without this, are only a dead letter."
"I know it," said Frank Russel; "there never was anything under heaven
so atrocious as our slave-code. It's a bottomless pit of oppression.
Nobody knows it so well as we lawyers. But, then, Clayton, it's quite
another thing what's to be done about it."
"Why, I think it's very plain what's to be done," said Clayton. "Go
right forward and enlighten the community. Get the law reformed. That's
what I have taken for my work; and, Frank, you must help me."
"Hum!" said Frank. "Now, the fact is, Clayton, if I wore a stiff white
neckcloth, and had a _D. D._ to my name, I should tell you that the
interests of Zion stood in the way, and that it was my duty to preserve
my influence, for the sake of being able to take care of the Lord's
affairs. But, as I am not so fortunate, I must just say, without further
preface, that it won't do for me to compromise Frank Russel's interests.
Clayton, I can't afford it--that's just it. It won't do. You see, our
party can't take up that kind of thing. It would be just setting up a
fort from which our enemies could fire on us at their leisure. If I go
in to the legislature, I have to go in by my party. I have to represent
my party, and, of course, I can't afford to do anything that will
compromise them."
"Well, now, Frank," said Clayton, seriously and soberly, "are you going
to put your neck into such a noose as this, to be led about all your
life long--the bond-slave of a party?"
"Not I, by a good deal!" said Russel. "The noose will change ends, one
of these days, and I'll drag the party. But we must all stoop to
conquer, at first."
"And do you really propose nothing more to yourself than how to rise in
the world?" said Clayton. "Isn't there any great and good work that has
beauty for you! Isn't there anything in heroism and self-sacrifice?"
"Well," said Russel, after a short pause, "may be there is; but, after
all, Clayton, _is_ there? The world looks to me like a confounded
humbug, a great hoax, and everybody is going in for grub; and, I say,
hang it all, why shouldn't I have some of the grub, as well as the
rest?"
"Man shall not live by bread alone!" said Clayton.
"Bread's a pretty good thing, though, after all," said Frank shrugging
his shoulders.
"But," said Clayton, "Frank, I am in earnest, and you've got to be. I
want you to go with me down to the depths of your soul, where the water
is still, and talk to me on honor. This kind of half-joking way that you
have isn't a good sign, Frank; it's too old for you. A man that makes a
joke of everything at your age, what will he do before he is fifty? Now,
Frank, you do know that this system of slavery, if we don't reform it,
will eat out this country like a cancer."
"I know it," said Frank. "For that matter, it has eaten into us pretty
well."
"Now," said Clayton, "if for nothing else, if we had no feeling of
humanity for the slave, we must do something for the sake of the whites,
for this is carrying us back into barbarism, as fast as we can go.
Virginia has been ruined by it--run all down. North Carolina, I believe,
has the unenviable notoriety of being the most ignorant and poorest
state in the Union. I don't believe there's any country in old, despotic
Europe where the poor are more miserable, vicious, and degraded, than
they are in our slave states. And it's depopulating us; our men of
ability, in the lower classes, who want to be respectable, won't stand
it. They will go off to some state where things _move on_. Hundreds and
hundreds move out of North Carolina, every year, to the Western States.
And it's all this unnatural organization of society that does it. We
have got to contemplate some mode of abolishing this evil. We have got
to take the first step towards progress, some time, or we ourselves are
all undone."
"Clayton," said Frank, in a tone now quite as serious as his own, "I
tell you, as a solemn fact, that we can't do it. Those among us who have
got the power in their hands are determined to keep it, and they are
wide awake. They don't mean to let the _first_ step be taken, because
they don't mean to lay down their power. The three fifths vote that they
get by it is a thing they won't part with. They'll die first. Why, just
look at it! There is at least twenty-four millions of property held in
this way. What do you suppose these men care about the poor whites, and
the ruin of the state, and all that? The poor whites may go to the
devil, for all them; and as for the ruin of the state, it won't come in
_their_ day; and 'after us the deluge,' you know. That's the talk! These
men are our masters; they are yours; they are mine; they are masters of
everybody in these United States. They can crack their whips over the
head of any statesman or clergyman, from Maine to New Orleans, that
disputes their will. They govern the country. Army, navy, treasury,
church, state, everything is theirs, and whoever is going to get up must
go up on their ladder. There isn't any other ladder. There isn't an
interest, not a body of men, in these whole United States, that they
can't control; and I tell you, Clayton, you might as well throw ashes
into the teeth of the north wind, as undertake to fight their influence.
Now, if there was any hope of doing any good by this, if there was the
least prospect of succeeding, why, I'd join in with you; but there
isn't. The thing is a fixed fact, and why shouldn't I climb up on it, as
well as everybody else?"
"Nothing is fixed," said Clayton, "that isn't fixed in right. God and
nature fight against evil."
"They do, I suppose; but it's a long campaign," said Frank, "and I must
be on the side that will win while I'm alive. Now, Clayton, to you I
always speak the truth; I won't humbug you. I worship _success_. I am of
Frederick the Great's creed, 'that Providence goes with the strongest
battalions.'
"I wasn't made for defeat. I must have power. The preservation of this
system, whole and entire, is to be the policy of the leaders of this
generation. The fact is, they stand where it _must_ be their policy.
They _must_ spread it over the whole territory. They _must_ get the
balance of power in the country, to build themselves up against the
public opinion of mankind.
"Why, Clayton, moral sentiment, as you call it, is a humbug! The whole
world acquiesces in _what goes_--they always have. There is a great
outcry about slavery now, but let it _succeed_, and there won't be. When
they can outvote the Northern States, they'll put _them_ down. They have
kept them subservient by intrigue so far, and by and by they'll have the
strength to put them down by force. England makes a fuss now; but let
them only succeed, and she'll be civil as a sheep. Of course, men always
make a fuss about injustice, when they have nothing to gain by holding
their tongues; but England's mouth will be stopped with cotton--you'll
see it. They love trade, and hate war. And so the fuss of anti-slavery
will die out in the world. Now, when you see what a poor hoax human
nature is, what's the use of bothering? The whole race together aren't
worth a button, Clayton, and self-sacrifice for such fools is a humbug.
That's my programme!"
"Well, Frank, you have made a clean breast; so will I. The human race,
as you say, may be a humbug, but it's every man's duty to know for
himself that _he_ isn't one. _I_ am not. I do _not_ worship success, and
_will_ not. And if a cause is a right and honorable one, I will labor in
it till I die, whether there is any chance of succeeding or not."
"Well, now," said Frank Russel, "I dare say it's so. I respect your
sort of folks; you form an agreeable heroic poem, with which one can
amuse the tediousness of life. I suppose it won't do you any good to
tell you that you are getting immensely unpopular, with what you are
doing."
"No," said Clayton, "it won't."
"I am really afraid," said Russel, "that they'll mob you, some of these
bright days."
"Very well," said Clayton.
"Oh, of course. I knew it would be very well; but say, Clayton, what do
you want to get up a petition on _that_ point for? Why don't you get up
one to prevent the separation of families? There 's been such a muss
made about that in Europe, and all round the world, that it's rather the
fashion to move about that a little. Politicians like to appear to
intend to begin to do something about it. It has a pleasing effect, and
gives the northern editors and ministers something to say, as an apology
for our sins. Besides, there are a good many simple-hearted folks, who
don't see very deep into things, that really think it possible to do
something effective on this subject. If you get up a petition for that,
you might take the tide with you; and I'd do something about it,
myself."
"You know very well, Frank, for I told you, that it's no use to pass
laws for that, without giving the slaves power to sue or give evidence,
in case of violation. The improvement I propose touches the root of the
matter."
"That's the fact--it surely does!" said Russel. "And, for that very
reason, you'll never carry it. Now, Clayton, I just want to ask you one
question. Can you fight? _Will_ you fight? Will you wear a bowie-knife
and pistol, and shoot every fellow down that comes at you?"
"Why, no, of course, Frank. You know that I never was a fighting man.
Such brute ways are not to my taste."
"Then, my dear sir, you shouldn't set up for a reformer in Southern
States. Now, I'll tell you one thing, Clayton, that I've heard. You made
some remarks at a public meeting, up at E., that have staked a mad-dog
cry, which I suppose came from Tom Gordon. See here; have you noticed
this article in the _Trumpet of Liberty_?" said he, looking over a
confused stack of papers on his table. "Where's the article? Oh, here
it is."
At the same time he handed Clayton a sheet bearing the motto "Liberty
and union, now and forever, one and inseparable," and pointed to an
article headed
"COVERT ABOLITIONISM! CITIZENS, BEWARE!
"We were present, a few evenings ago, at the closing speech
delivered before the Washington Agricultural Society, in the course
of which the speaker, Mr. Edward Clayton, gratuitously wandered
away from his subject to make inflammatory and seditious comments
on the state of the laws which regulate our negro population. It is
time for the friends of our institutions to be awake. Such remarks
dropped in the ear of a restless and ignorant population will be a
fruitful source of sedition and insurrection. This young man is
supposed to be infected with the virus of northern abolitionists.
We cannot too narrowly watch the course of such individuals; for
the only price at which we can maintain liberty is eternal
vigilance. Mr. Clayton belongs to one of our oldest and most
respected families, which makes his conduct the more inexcusable."
Clayton perused this with a quiet smile, which was usual with him.
"The hand of Joab is in that thing," said Frank Russel.
"I'm sure I said very little," said Clayton. "I was only showing the
advantage to our agriculture of a higher tone of moral feeling among our
laborers, which, of course, led me to speak of the state of the law
regulating them. I said nothing but what everybody knows."
"But, don't you know, Clayton," said Russel, "that if a fellow has an
enemy--anybody bearing him the least ill-will--that he puts a tremendous
power in his hands by making such remarks? Why, our common people are so
ignorant that they are in the hands of anybody who wants to use them.
They are just like a swarm of bees; you can manage them by beating on a
tin pan. And Tom Gordon has got the tin pan now, I fancy. Tom intends to
be a swell. He is a born bully, and he'll lead a rabble. And so you must
take care. Your family is considerable for you; but, after all, it
won't stand you in stead for everything. Who have you got to back you?
Who have you talked with?"
"Well," said Clayton, "I have talked with some of the ministry"--
"And, of course," said Frank, "you found that the leadings of Providence
didn't indicate that _they_ are to be martyrs! You have their prayers
_in secret_, I presume; and if you ever get the cause on the upper
hill-side, they'll come out and preach a sermon for you. Now, Clayton,
I'll tell you what I'll do. If Tom Gordon attacks you, I'll pick a
quarrel with him, and shoot him right off the reel. My stomach isn't
nice about those matters, and that sort of thing won't compromise me
with my party."
"Thank you," said Clayton, "I shall not trouble you."
"My dear fellow," said Russel, "you philosophers are very much mistaken
about the use of carnal weapons. As long as you wrestle with flesh and
blood, you had better use fleshly means. At any rate, a gentlemanly
brace of pistols won't hurt you; and, in fact, Clayton, I am serious.
You _must_ wear pistols,--there are no two ways about it. Because, if
these fellows know that a man wears pistols and will use them, it keeps
them off. They have an objection to being shot, as this is all the world
they are likely to have. And I think, Clayton, you can fire off a pistol
in as edifying and dignified a manner, as you can say a grace on proper
occasions. The fact is, before long, there will be a row kicked up. I'm
pretty sure of it. Tom Gordon is a deeper fellow than you'd think, and
he has booked himself for Congress; and he means to go in on the
thunder-and-blazes principle, which will give him the vote of all the
rabble. He'll go into Congress to do the fighting and slashing. There
always must be a bully or two there, you know, to knock down fellows
that you can't settle any other way. And nothing would suit him better,
to get his name up, than heading a crusade against an abolitionist."
"Well," said Clayton, "if it's come to that, that we can't speak and
discuss freely in our own state, where are we?"
"Where are we, my dear fellow? Why, I know where we are; and if you
don't, it's time you did. Discuss freely? Certainly we can, on _one_
side of the question; or on both sides of any other question than this.
But this you can't discuss freely, and they can't afford to let you, as
long as they mean to keep their power. Do you suppose they are going to
let these poor devils, whites, get their bandages off their eyes, that
make them so easy to lead now? There would be a pretty bill to pay, if
they did! Just now, these fellows are in as safe and comfortable a
condition for use as a party could desire; because they have got votes,
and we have the guiding of them. And they rage, and swear, and tear, for
our institutions, because they are fools, and don't know what hurts
them. Then, there's the niggers. Those fellows are deep. They have as
long ears as little pitchers, and they are such a sort of fussy set,
that whatever is going on in the community is always in their mouths,
and so comes up that old fear of insurrection. That's the awful word,
Clayton! _That_ lies at the bottom of a good many things in our state,
more than we choose to let on. These negroes are a black well; you never
know what's at the bottom."
"Well," said Clayton, "the only way, the only safeguard to prevent this
is reform. They are a patient set, and will bear a great while; and if
they only see that anything is being done, it will be an effectual
prevention. If you want insurrection, the only way is to shut down the
escape-valve; for, will ye nill ye, the steam must rise. You see, in
this day, minds _will grow_. They _are_ growing. There's no help for it,
and there's no force like the force of growth. I have seen a rock split
in two by the growing of an elm-tree that wanted light and air, and
would make its way up through it. Look at all the aristocracies of
Europe. They have gone down under this force. Only one has stood--that
of England. And how came that to stand? Because it knew when to _yield_;
because it never confined discussion: because it gave way gracefully
before the growing force of the people. That's the reason it stands
to-day, while the aristocracy of France has been blown to atoms."
"My dear fellow," said Russel, "this is all very true and convincing, no
doubt; but you won't make _our_ aristocracy believe it. They have
mounted the lightning, and they are going to ride it whip and spur. They
are going to annex Cuba and the Sandwich Islands, and the Lord knows
what, and have a great and splendid slave-holding empire. And the north
is going to be what Greece was to Rome. We shall govern it, and it will
attend to the arts of life for us. The south understands governing. We
are trained to rule from the cradle. We have leisure to rule. We have
nothing else to do. The free states have their factories, and their
warehouses, and their schools, and their internal improvements, to take
up their minds; and, if we are careful, and don't tell them too plain
where we are taking them, they'll never know it till they get there."
"Well," said Clayton, "there's one element of force that you've left out
in your calculation."
"And what's that?" said Russel.
"God," said Clayton.
"I don't know anything about him," said Russel.
"You may have occasion to learn, one of these days," said Clayton. "I
believe he is alive yet."