12 be shoddy. All the great forces of the world make all their slightest movements in obedience to law. The only mistake which slavery makes is in being slavery ; that will destroy it, but in the meantime it is consistent and fatal as consumption. And God means that it shall be, for consistency’s sake, to show the necessity of health and freedom. Therefore, we shall find that there was never a moment previous to the war when slavery could have been overcome by freedom, and never a moment during the war. We return thanks for the presence of God in every disappointment of our history. Let us look at this point a little closer. When the Constitution became the charter of a Federal Union, slavery had just strength enough to prevent freedom from destroying it, and not strength enough to pique freedom in making the attempt. The two tendencies were neutral, but it was because one tendency was felt to be evil and unrepublican, and short-lived. In 1790, ’91 and ’92, only 733,044 pounds of cotton were exported from the United States, a great deal of which was foreign cotton which had been previously imported. * The total value of this export was only $137,737 ; an amount that would not keep an aristocracy in tobacco. But the development of the cotton-crop has been unchecked and regular ever since, excepting in the year of the embargo, 1808, and the three years of war, 1812, ’13 and ’14. In 1805, the value of the export was $32,004,005; in 1821, it was $64,638,062; and in 1850, it was $118,393,952. The “ cotton zone ” extended froln the Atlantic to the Rio del Norte, including the States and portions of States lying between the 27th and 35th parallels of latitude, “and all of the State of Texas between the Gulf of Mexico, and the 34th parallel of * Before the Revolution, hemp and silk competed with cotton for preponderance. In a copy of Nathaniel Ames’s Almanac for 1765, I find the following item : “ March 14; above 20,000 cwt. of hemp has been exported from South Carolina since Nov. 1. Several stalks measured 17 feet long and 2 inches diameter at the base.” Thus hemp was exported while foreign cotton was imported, and more pounds of hemp were raised than of cotton. In a copy of the Almanac for 1766, is another item: “ June 30. Last Friday voted by ye House of Commons of ye Province (S. Carolina) £1,000 towards establishing a Silk Pilature in this town under the direction of Rev’d Mr. Gilbert. Mrs. Pinckney of Belmont Plantation, within four miles of Charleston, has made near 50 bushels of Cocoons this season, which are esteemed of the best kind.”
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