Pardon me, my countrymen; I am an American citizen, and as such, I speak and write.  I know that I shall incur the displeasure of many by the expression of such sentiments as the above; but shall the fear of man deter me from warning you of your danger?  No! heaven forbid!  My country is my pride; my country is my boast; my country is my all; and woe to him, that would dissolve this glorious and heaven favored Union, and stain her fair fields with the blood of her own citizens.  He that rebels against the laws of his country, or bids defiance to the solemn compact which binds together these States, is a traitor to his country—­a traitor to his God.  He that would destroy the Constitution, which was framed by our revolutionary sires, let him be accursed of God, and driven forth from the habitations of civilized man.  Let every Christian—­every friend of our beloved country, respond, a hearty Amen.

Mrs. Stowe has slandered her countrymen; hence, the great popularity of her book!  We listen with pleasure to a recital, of the vices of our neighbors; we roll it as a sweet morsel under our tongues; but oh!  I don’t tell us anything about their virtues; we don’t want to hear them spoken of!  Friend, speak evil only of your neighbors, or else, be silent!  We don’t wish to hear you speak well of any one.  We have no taste for eulogy, but give us slander, by wholesale and retail, and we will gulph it down!

This is a dark picture of the human heart, but I believe a tolerably correct one!

CHAPTER III.

Having in the preceding chapter dismissed Mrs. Stowe’s narrative; I shall in the following pages, confine my remarks, so far as they refer to “Uncle Tom’s Cabin,” to its evident design and manifest tendency.

It was about thirty-five years ago, that the great abolition excitement broke out in the North.  The subject of course, was agitated previous to that time, but there must have been then, some additional, or new excitement, for it was at that memorable period, that the South took the alarm.  Previous to that period, as far back as I can recollect, the subject of slavery was freely discussed in the Southern States, by clergymen and politicians in public; and it was withal, a common topic of conversation in the social circle.  Throughout the slave states, at that time, the necessity of enlightening the minds, and ameliorating the conditions of the slaves was generally seen, felt, and acknowledged.  It was then enforced on church members as a duty, by ministers of all denominations; and the ministers of the Gospel rebuked, (sometimes with great severity), harshness, cruelty, or unkindness to slaves.