FEB13 1Q.7
UNIV. C   LI.
THE
OLIVE BRANCII;
OR,
TItE EVIL AND THiE REMEDY.
BY
CHARLES MINER.
PIIILADELPIIIA.
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Pintea by T  K  & P G Collins.
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WITH PROFOUND VENERATION AND RESPECT, TO
ROGER B. TANEY,
CHIEF-JUSTICE OF THE UNITED STATES,
TO HIS ASSOCIATE JUSTICES,
BY
THE AUTHOR.
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PREFACE.
THE Introductory Address delivered at West Chester,
Pennsylvania, at a celebration of the Declaration of
Independence, July 4, 1821, immediately succeeding
the excitement growing out of the admission of Missouri, is republished, to show the sentiments of the
author then, which he has ever sincerely cherished,
without variableness or shadow of turning, and as
giving him some claim to a dispassionate hearing at
the West and South on the delicate and exciting
question of slavery.
He may be permitted to add, with pride, that the
late venerated Chief-Justice Marshall caused the publication of the Address in a Richmond paper, with a
commendatory introduction; and, among other numerous testimonials of approval, he received a flattering
notice from the then President of Princeton College,
to whom he was personally a stranger.
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5 
I 
ADDRE S S.
[AFTER the seventh toast, the President called on Mr. Miner
for a volunteer, who prefaced the sentiment by the following
observations, which, by request, he has furnished for publication.]
MR. PRESIDENT:
I shall obey your call with pleasure; and, if it
will not too much interrupt the flow of hilarity
which prevails, I will offer you some reasons for
the sentiment which I give.
It cannot have escaped you, that, in the discussions growing out of the Missouri controversy,
a dissolution of the Union has been adverted to
by zealous partisans on both sides of the questioii.
7 
THlE OLIVE BRANCHI; OR,
I confess to you, sir, that I cannot hear this
subject spoken of without feelings of horror and
dismay.
It sounds ill my ear like a proposition of fratricide. Such a measure, it is manifest, could not be
effected without the most desolating civil wars;
and, should it be accomplished, would be followed
by eternal contests between the neighboring, tribes,
(for they would no longer deserve the name of
states or nations.)   Standing armies, oppressive
taxes, the violation of public rights and private
security, and, finally, the subjugation of the whole
by some military adventurer, would be the inevitable result.
I tremble to look down this dark abyss of misery
and ruin. Despotism throughout the earth would
exult at the issue, while wise and patriotic men,
to the latest generations, would hold our name in
pity and in scorn.
I do not make these remarks because I apprehend that on any side there is a disposition deliberately to bring about a separation. Tile man
who should propose it would be driven by public
indignation from society.
8 
THE EVIL AND THE REMEDY.
But rash and ambitious men, in moments of
great excitement, inflamed by passion and reckless of consequences, may hereafter attempt the
measure if the minds of the people are not effectually guarded against it.
The union of the States should be considered
like freedom of conscience or the right of selfdefence,- not for a moment to be brought in
question.
The law of our union should be impressed
upon our children as of the most sacred and
paramount obligation. Hlabit is more powerful
than law. Sentiment is more operative than
reason.
I think, therefore, that law and reason should
be fortified by habit and sentiment; and the doctrine should be inculcated in our schools, from
the press, and in our public assemblies, so that
successive generations may grow up with the impression indelibly fixed in their minds that the
union of the States is the fundamental law on
wlich our freedom is based, and the only sure
foundation of our prosperity and glory.
I shall not attempt formally to reason this
9
I ". 
THE OLIVE BRANCH; OR,
matter, but I beg leave to repeat to you an old
story:    An  Indian sachem, finding his life drawing to
a close, called his children around him, and,
holding  out  a bundle  of  rods  bound  firmly
together, told his sons  to break them.   Each
tried in his turn, but was  unable.   He then
separated them, and broke each rod himself with
ease.  "Thus,  said he, "will it be with you, my
children. In union you will find safety; divided,
your enemies will easily overpower you. These
rods, firmly united, the efforts of strong men
could not break; but, when separated, a feeble
old man could destroy them."
After the late collision, in which we differed
so widely and so warmly from our Southern
friends, it may possibly be thought that some thing of prejudice against them  may remain in
our breasts.
Throughout Pennsylvania, I am bold to say
that, whatever difference of opinion may exist on
some subjects, there is no other general sentiment
prevailing toward them than that of entire good
will.
...
10 
THE EVIL AND TIlE REMEDY.
We are not only bound to the South by cords
of interest, but by the stronger ties of affection.
We not only find a satisfaction in the productiveness of her rice, sugar, cotton, and tobacco plantations, which contribute so largely to the national
resources, but we participate in the pride of her
chivalric character and exult in the triumphs of
her eloquence and her arms.   Her history and
the famine of her heroes are the objects of our
respect and veneration. The Southern are a highspirited, mercurial people, distinguished by quickness of perception, rapidity of thought, and celerity
of movement. Nice in their notions of honor, jealous of their rights, quick as lightning they flash
when in collision; but, like the flint, they show a
hasty spark, and straight are cold again.  Withal
they are frank, generous, brave, and hospitable,
and, in truth, combine within themselves all the
elements of a noble character.
Their fathers and our fathers fought many  a
well-contested. field, side by side, for independence.
Our Wayne and the gallant soldiers of the Pennsylvania line gathered laurels, which shall be ever
green, in  the same  bloody  conflicts which  im
11 
THE OLIVE BRANCH; OR,
mortalized Monroe, Lee, Morgan, Pickens, Campbell, Pinckney, Sumpter, and Marion.
And' what Pennsylvanian-nay, what American-is not proud to claim Laurens as his countryman? What bosom so cold as not to throb with
rapture when the historian portrays the eloquence
of Henry and of Randolph? American literal
ture exhibits, with conscious pride, the works
of Ramsey, Marshall, and of Wirt. And while
older nations boast of their heroes and statesmen, we may point to a phalanx in Virginia,
with Washington at their head, and boldly challenge a competition.
Southern statesmen, soldiers, and orators crowd
so fast on the recollection that it is impossible to
name them; but their fame is our common inheritance. And while the memorials of our nation
shlall endure, it will not be forgotten that at Yorktown, in Virginia, Cornwallis surrendered a numerous and well-appointed army to Washington and
his comrades in arms; or that at New-Orleans
Pakenham and his vaunted veterans were signally
overthrown by Jackson and his gallant followers,
our brethren of the West and South.
12 
THE EVIL AND THE REMEDY.
As the result of these views, I beg leave to give
you
"The United States and the citizens of the South.   May our
Union be everlasting as our hills, and may mutual good-will,
freedom, and prosperity, like our rivers, flow through the land
in perpetual streams."
Deeply impressed with the magnitude of the
subject, I approach the practical point aimed at
(in these letters) with all the solemnity of feeling
its importance is calculated to inspire.
It has for many years occupied my most anxious
thoughts,-sometimes the prospect gilded by hope,
and not unfrequently overcast by clouds darkening
to the hue of despair.
The voice of history audibly on every page tells
us of and repeats to us the dire calamities of civil
war; the inveterateness of hatred between those
who, once friends, had become enemies; the excitability of the human temperament to deeds of retaliation and vengeance for real or imagined wrongs.
I am among those who apprehend, with inexpressible dread, that the dismemberment of this
Union would give a death-blow to the last hope of
2
13 
THE OLIVE BRANCH; OR,
man's maintaining a government formed on the basis
of justice, liberty, and equality,-where citizens of
all religious persuasions, sects, or denominations,
and of every shade of political opinion and creed,
obedient to the laws, might enjoy the utmost freedom consistent with the freedom of their fellows,
each family sitting under its own vine and figtree, with none to molest or make them afraid.
Treating of the vexed question of slavery, it is
but just to myself, and respectful to the public,
that I should declare what have been and are my
sentiments upon the subject.
I hold that slavery is recognised by the Constitution. That there are certain concessions made
to it in that instrument inalienably obligatory, except with the consent of the States where it exists.
That slavery can have a being only by local law,
and within the limits of the States where it is established; but, being at variance with natural law,
that it cannot be established de nzovo anywhere,
and can have no existence, rightfully, where it does
not now prevail.  That within those States neither
the General Government, nor the other State Governments, nor individuals, have any right to inter
14 
THiE EVIL AND TIlE REMEDY.
fere any more than with any other of their strictly
municipal or social  regulations.   That,  at the
time of framing the Constitution, slavery was
universally regarded as an evil present existing,
to be kept within well-understood bounds. That,
within the territories and all places under the
jurisdiction of the general government, absolute
power exists over it in Congress, accompanied
with a duty, springing from the principles of
eternal and unchangeable justice and the demands of sound policy, to abolish it and to prevent
its extension. That the three-fifthls rule, admnitting the representation for slaves, is in the bond;
and, however onerous now regarded, not to be disturbed, as I would not shatter a china vase because
a speck on the enamel defaced its beauty. That
the rendition of "persons held to service" escaping,
being in the bond, ought to be fulfilled, but in a
manner not to shock the moral sensibilities of the
community.
I am free to confess that the experiment of the
Fugitive Slave Law,-to which, in a moment of
alarm, (and I regret it,) I gave my  assent,-the
frequent inhuman manner of its enforcement,
15 
THE OLIVE BRANCH; OR,
wringing the heart with anguish,- the scenes in
Boston and elsewhere,- the new doctrines since
avowed, springing out of the concession,- fill my
mind with apprehension. The repeal of the Missouri Compromise, the irritating and most exceptionable conduct of certain members of Congress while on its passage,- a repeal which any
person predicting five years before would have
subjected him to be denounced as an idiot, an incendiary, or a madman,-the unexampled outrages
in Kansas, and the growing excitements in all
parts of the Union, (sounding like the moan of
the storm-demon along the base of the mountains,)
-lead me to believe that a crisis has arrived when
the slave-question must be met-met on both sides
by the sober-minded, the wise, the prudent, the
true conservative friends of the Constitution, the
friends of this glorious Union, and of the great
principles of religious and civil liberty contended
for by our fathers.
Look at Mexico; run your eye over all South
America; turn to Africa; scan Asia; examine
Europe: is there aught in the whole vast scope of
vision to lead one sensible and good man to desire
16 
THE EVIL AND THE REMEDY.
an exchange, but rather to deprecate, curb, and
restrain every rash footstep that would lead to
revolution, anarchy, and civil war?  In the midst
of a stormy ocean, shall we break the ship in
pieces, each of the crew depending upon a cllance
plank for safety when the sea is covered with
wrecks?
One step farther at Boston, and a platoon of
regular soldiers might have poured a volley of
death into the crowded street; and who so prescient as to aver that civil war, in all its horrors,
may not have ensued? An obscure smith, avenging
the insult of a tax-gatherer to his daughter, set all
England in a blaze.  The "king, who was determined to try it," and his prime minister, North,
had, or thought they had, law on their side, and
were persuaded, we are to suppose, they were rig,ht.
And so were those persuaded who had direction of
the military when Burns was arrested.  But the
Adauises, Hancock, Warren, and others, differed
from the king; and thousands of patriots, pure as
they, with equally honest convictions, believe the
recent measures in train equally despotic in their
present aspect, and deen tlhem  not less fi'aigtlit
2.,
17 
THE OLIVE BRANCH; OR,
with danger to freedom and all that can make life
desirable.
When Stringfellow attempted to throttle and
chastise Governor Reeder, if equally-excited friends
had rushed in to his rescue, who so wise in foresight as to aver that civil war would not then
have ensued?
It seems to me we are marching over a magazine of powder, above which is erected a temple
surpassing in beauty and exceeding in splendor
that famed one of Ephesus, and which, I should
fondly hope, in all our land there is no Eratostratus base enough willingly to set fire to, yet
that is liable to be exploded by the passionate or
thoughtless rashness of excited and inconsiderate
partisans on either side. The recent event at
South Carolina College, in Columbia, is a melancholy exemplification of the bewildering power of
excited passion in uncorrupted youth, learned,
polished in manners, and, when free from excitement, amiable to endearment, moving in the elevated walks of refined society.
The opinion formerly entertained, that slavery
was an element of weakness, I anm aware is dis
18 
THE EVIL AND THE REMEDY.
carded, and that it is now regarded as a power of
great potency, capable of almost instant aggregation and discipline, by means of which the North
may be governed at will.
A gentleman holding slaves, of high worth and
habitually amiable deportment, said, in the presenre of the writer, in a free discussion of the
matter, in reply to a remark by a Northern man
"that slaves rendered the South comparatively
weak,"'How mistaken!  So far otherwise," said
he, not vauntingly, but as expressing his clear convictions, "you lie at our mercy. These fellows,
taught to seize a mad horse by the head, know
nothing but obedience. We could place an army
in the field before you could begin the slow process
of rallying your militia." From the Rev. Mr.
Breckenridge's letter it seems manifest he entertains the same opinion. It may be so. I hope the
experiment may never be tried.
With the terror excited by the Southampton attempt at insurrection; with the scenes of St. Domingo fresh in recollection, few who reflect and
are cautious in expressing their opinions, I think,
will say "there is no domestic danger."
19 
TIlE OLIVE BRANCH; OR,
For my single self, I confess the principal cause
of fear is in an
INVADING FOREIGN ENEMY.
An army of 150,000 men, 20,000 of them
black regiments, trained and disciplined in the
West Indies, all arrayed with revolt-inciting "banners," would  be indeed  "terrible."  Those who
look at the atrocities of the French revolution
while Robespierre and Danton ruled,- or the barbarities of the French in the war of 1756, when the
savages, armed with tomahawk and scalping-knife
by that refined nation, were set ferociously on our
defenceless frontiers,-or the blood-freezing enormities of the civilized Briton, playing the same deathmarch to the slaughter of unresisting innocence,
with variations of increased cruelty, so late as the
war of the Revolution,-can hardly affect to dpubt
that if interest, or passion, or policy, instigated the
measure, they, either one or both combined, would
renew the like sanguinary and cruel conflicts with
the aid of their African allies.
All this appears too horrible to be thought of.
To speak of it seems almost like treason.  "Are
20 
TtIE EVIL AND THiE REMEDY.
they dogs, that they should do this thing?" And
yet what are they now doing?  Where  are the
legions of France and England at this hour, and
what, inr the name of heaven and humanity, are they
about? How many lives have they already sacrificed of their own and the Russians, on the cold,
lifeless pretence of policy, to preserve the balance
of power, forsooth, which oceans of blood have
never yet been able to establish!
If it be a possible- nay, more, a probabledanger, would it not be folly allied to weakness
not to take early, instant, effective measures to
disarm it?
A remark presses to my pen:-It is sometimes
asked, "What has the North to do with slavery?"
We answer, "It has to do with the already great
and growing slave representation and its rapidly
approaching overshadowing influence in the Senate
and the General Government."  The militia of
the North, every man of them, are constitutionally
bound to march at the call of the President to
Georgia, Louisiana, Texas, or elsewhere, to put
down an insurrection of slaves.
Nor is the danger to be disregarded arising from
21 
THE OLIVE BRANCH; OR,
the increasing mulatto, quadroon, and mustee popu lation accumulating in the South,-many of them
free, and a portion, not inconsiderable, partially
educated, while some are even versed in classical
literature and proficients in scientific attainments.
On all these, however fair in complexion, polished
in manners, or refined in taste, the banl of social
outlawry is irrevocably passed. Their depression
in the social scale, instead of humbling the mind
to passive acquiescence in their doomed position,
must kindle into intensest activity the spirit of
ambition, while bitterest hatred, smothered under
assumed respect, gathers daily strength in  the
proud breast which pants for an opportunity to
revenge. With astonishing inconsistency, as it
appears to me, and lack of foresight, the South is
breeding and bringing up precisely the sort of men
to take the initiative in an attempt at revolution
and to lead in the field of battle, while superabundant materials of strong arms and willing
hearts, it is manifest to a distant observer, lie
amply before and all around them. Is it not
natural to suppose "I bide my time" is the whisper
of multitudes of those ostracized-the neither white
22 
THE EVIL AND THE REMEDY.
nor black, neither citizens nor slaves? If not, all
the teachings of history, of reason and experience,
are false.
The powder is scattered far and wide- the
seeds of threatening destruction. Accident, the
self-igniting slow-match, time and chance, all, unforeseen, may light the torch.  Then will be the
call for a leader,-how important a material to
success in any enterprise is manifest from the
records of earliest time. It has grown into an
apothegm that " deer led by a lion are more to be
dreaded than lions led by a deer." What were
the armies of Macedon without Alexander? of the
Eastern Empire without Belisarius? of France
without Napoleon? of England, in the Peninsular
campaign, without Wellington?
And what statesman is there, North or South,
the calibre of whose mind could carry his thoughts
beyond the engrossing questions that occupy the
buzzing insect-politicians that feed and fatten on
the public offal, —.whether John Doe or Richard Roe
should occupy the White House or be sent minister
to England,-that is not fully aware of the welldisciplined companies and regiments of blacks that
23 
THE OLIVE BRANCH; OR,
parade, march, and countermarch, in the West
India Islands and elsewhere, prepared and des tined, in case of a desperate struggle and vengeful
war, to find employment in checking the rising
glories  and  humbling  the  proud  boast of this
envied, dreaded, and therefore hlated, republic?
Regarding  the  danger  certain, more or less
remote, so also do I consider  a preventive or
remedy imperiously demanded by the "common
welfare."
Who shall propose it?
Shall each one, waiting for another, sit down
in silence and despair until the number of slaves
has swelled to the portentous amount of ten
millions?   Hlow  long,  even  with  the  present
decennial ratio of increase, before there might
be counted a mnillion able to bear arms?
The thought is appalling!
There is another source of danger, too probable
and important to be omitted. I refer to that
which might arise from famine. The extreme
South, depending  mainly on their  cotton  and
sugar crops, seems specially exposed to the danger
of want of food for their laborers.  A frost, (the
24 
THE EVIL AND THE REMEDY.
extreme severity of the passing winter, bearing
its icy terrors far into Southern plains hitherto
deemed beyond the reach of danger, cannot fail,
methinks, to awaken inquietude in many a manly
breast little accustomed to fear,) the rot, the armyworm, in multitudes, like the swarming grasshoppers that are spreading desolation all over Oregon
and Utah, would assuredly be attended with distress
to all, and possibly entail extreme suffering upon
the more numerous dependent class, who have, it is
supposed, neither the means nor the prospective
care to provide for the supposed contingency.
The suffering in Ireland from the loss of the potato-crop,-the continued distress in Madeira from
the grape-failure,-  the entire loss of the wheatcrop in extensive districts in New York and some
Western States, which may become general, arising
from the sudden advent of a mnere tiny yellow fly,
-all tend to show by what an "attenuated thread"
we hold the means of life.   Ilungier,  says the
old proverb,'"will break thlrough stone walls;"
while every possible  efbfort would be  made by
their masters, both from humanity and interest,
to obtain relief for laboreYs.  Yet,,suffei-iig tllem
25
-1 
THE OLIVE BRANCH; OR,
selves, their accustomed income cut off, it seems
evident the evil might become so intense-as in
European cities in time of scarcity-as to break
down all the mounds of authority; and, the dykes
once broken, who could stay the inundation?
Is the danger absolutely fanciful, indicated in
the Virginia debates, that a portion of this Union
may, by an unwise policy and an untoward series
of events, become a great negrodom empire,- a
sable despotism like Hayti,- the terror of all
around them?
My proposition, submitted with all due deference, is this:  That one hundred mnillions of dollars be appropriated for the gradual but certain extinguishment
of slavery in the seven States named, to wit:
Delaware,
Virginia,
Tennessee,
Arkansas.
The public revenue is, happily, abundant. The
fact has been again and again stated-and I do not
learn that any man affects to doubt it-that our
26
Maryland,
Kentucky,
Missouri, 
THiE EVIL AND THE REMEDY.
government authorized the offer of one hundred
and fifty mzillions of dollars to purchase Cuba.
Now, I assume that instead of augmenting the
number of slaves and slave States, it would be wiser
to lessen both, if it can be fairly accomplished
with the consent of those principally interested.
I cast about for some ground of division that
should be satisfactory, and come to the conclusion
that as; in constituting Congress, (Senate and
House,) a federal and popular combined basis had
worked well, I would introduce it here.  Multiply
the whole number of slaves in those States by
sixty,-to wit: 1,150,058 x 60 = 69,003,480, which,
divided by the number in each State, would give
each, on the popular basis, as follows:
Delaware...............................
Maryland............................,
Virginia...............................
Kentucky..............................
Tennessee..............................
Missouri..............................
Arkansas...............................
132,000
5,422,000
28,351,680
12,658,860
18,367,540
5,245,320
2,826,000
69,003,480
30,996,520
] 00,000,000
Leaving a balance of................
27 
THE OLIVE BRANCII; OR,
Now the federal number, as must be obvious, is
found by dividing that balance by seven:
7 ) 30,996,520 (4,428,074.
Hence, Delaware would receive
132,000
4,428,074
4,560,074
5,422,080
4,428,074
9,850,154
28,351,680
4,428,074
32,779,754
12,658,860
4,428,074
17,086,934
14,367,540
4,428,074
18,795,614
5,245,320
4,428,074
9,673.394
2,826,000
4,428,074
4480-            7,254,074
100,000,000
Maryland..........................
Virginia...........................
Kentucky.........................
Tennessee.........................
Missouri..........................
Arkansas.........................
For this sum it is proposed a stock be issued by
the General Government of fifty millions of dol
28 
THE OLIVE BRANCH; OR,
lars, bearing an interest of five per cent., payable semi-annually, irredeemable for twenty years.
A further stock of fifty millions, bearing an interest
for the first five years of two per cent., the secondfive years of three per cent., the third five years
of four per cent., and thereafter five per cent.,
redeemable at pleasure.
To be delivered respectively to the States, or
either of them which shall pass laws, in the nature
of irrevocable contracts with the Federal Government, that no person born on or after the fourth of
July, 1876, shall be a slave; and that after that
day slavery shall cease to exist within the limits
of the same, respectively.
And  what would  be the consequence?   The
stock so appropriated would be felt throughout
this whole community of States only in its beneficence, in the confidence and harmony it would
create and restore.   It would bless  those that
give and those  that  take.    In  the States  receiving it there would be no sudden disruption
of existing ties.  Business would flow on in its
accustomed channels, only stimulated into greater
healthful activity by abundant means.   As the
29 
THE OLIVE BRANCH; OR,
Middle and Eastern States rose rapidly into opulence from the increased activity given to trade
and industry by the capital distributed among
them of Federal stock, under the funding system.
Twenty years, (the time allotted by the Constitution to terminate the slave-trade,) though it may
seem long in a man's life, is yet a brief period in
that of a nation.
The certainty that slavery would cease to exist
in these States would lead thousands and tens of
thousands of wholesome, minoral, intelligent emigrants to hasten thither to a more southern aspect
and genial clime,
"Where summer first unfolds her robes,
And where she longest tarries,"
hastening to partake of the productive soil, the
lovely climate, long the object of envy and desire,
but which mothers were reluctant to remove to
when their children must be brought up amid the
degraded African race.
Lands-cultivated farms, or wild-rising in value
to an amount enriching each State fourfold more
than the stock received.
30 
THE EVIL AND THE REMEDY.
Railroads, schools, colleges, manufactories, mills,
science, arts, education, every thing desirable to
improve and adorn life, would receive an immediate and healthful impetus, quickened by the
inspiring influence of assured freedom.
Let it be borne in mind that this plan of compromise is founded on the principle suggested in
Mr. King's proposition in the Senate:  "The interposition of the Federal Government,
and the application of public lands to accomplish
the end; thus substituting stock in money instead
of land." Approved by the distinguished Virginian, Mr. Brodnax.
And, in regard to the post nati, justified by that
eminent statesman, Mr. Rives.  And that "something shoutld be done," concurred in by the whole
State of Virginia. Again and again it is pressed
on every intelligent citizen, who desires to comprehend the actual state of the case, to read the
proceedings and debates in the Virginia Assembly
immediately subsequent to the Southampton insurrection.
0 Virginia! Virginia! charming Virginia!  It
31 
THE OLIVE BRANCH; OR,
would require the imagination of a poet to paint
the instant and progressive advance which would
render perfect the wishes and hopes of thy noble
sons, whose fathers have gone down to the grave
darkling almost in despair, knowing the evil, but
seeing no remedy. Arise! Like Paul, shake the
benumbing viper from your hand! You have but to
will it, and you are free, prosperous, and soon again
to be foremost in the rank of States.
Accompanying this great and healing measure,
equally desirable to us and more important than
the union of England and Scotland to them,
should be the immediate repeal of the Fugitive
Slave Law, so painfully, so dangerously irritating.
But, as the Federal Government is bound to see
that the Constitutional injunction be carried into
effect, an arrangement should be made that a
person escaping should be reclaimed as fugitives
from justice now are,-by the application of the
Governor of the State whence he fled to that of
the State that harbors him; and, on failure of
being delivered up, the General Government should
pay to the claimant one-half, or something more,
32 
TIIE EVIL AND THE REMEDY.
of his assessed value, the amount to be charged
to the State so failing; the matter to be adjusted
in the final settlement of accounts between
them.
Slavery confined to those States whose productions of cotton, rice, and sugar are supposed
to require their labor, all danger to them from
within or without would cease, and the utmost
degree of prosperity they are capable of would
ensue.
Receiving from the seven States who were in
a gradual train of winding up their concern with
them, the cotton and sugar plantations would be
supplied on moderate terms, and there could be no
motive hence to urge the reopening of the slavetrade in the annexation of Cuba.
The jarring notes of discord throutighout the land
would cease, so desirable everywhere, not least
desirable among our Christian friends.
There are fifteen million persons in the free
States. The sum to be paid, even if assessed on
them, would not come to seven dollars each,-not
thirty-five cents a year.  The revenue from in-... -...
33 
THE OLIVE BRANCH; OR,
ported silks alone would  pay the interest and
redeem the stock within the twenty years.
An important consideration remains to be noted.
The power and application of steam have brought
Africa to our doors.
There should forthwith, from two to four-more
if necessary-large steamers be placed by Govern    ment at the disposal of the Colonization Society;
five per cent., more or less, should be reserved, to
be expended by the Colonization Society under the
supervision of the President; the healthful high   lands of Africa should be explored and purchased,
the colored race be aided home, encouraged, de   fended; while their commerce would, like the full
breasts of the Roman daughter, return to our
merchants a revenue ample to repay every ex   pense incurred.  Civilization, knowledge, Chris   tianity, would go in their train; and that fine
country, so susceptible of improvement, so long a
"Paradise lost," would, under Providence, by our
and their instrumentality, become a "Paradise
regained."
Oh, what a glorious theme!
;..:..
*.e ee
34 
THE EVIL AND THE REMEDY.
Oh, from the sacred altar,' a coal like that which
touched Isaiah's hallowed lips with fire," to kindle
the eloquence of our clergy everywhere, and of
every denomination, to plead for it.
All which is respectfully submitted by
CHARLES MINER.
WILKEs-BARRY, Pa., March 17, 1856.
THE END.
35 
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