I am reminded by a conversation I heard at Cairo, of the Very Worst
plea put up for it by the South, and one in more universal use than
would be supposed. It is, justifying it by the Bible. Keene Richards
tried this once to me, arguing thus. That as it was no-where explicitly
condemned by Our Saviour, he approved of it. I do not think he saw
the horror of investing that most Divine, Sad, Suffering, All-Wise,
loving nature, with such a sentiment. He would not allow that the
broad, universal, awful Do unto one another as thou wouldst be done by
had any bearing on it. He saw not that Christ s teaching dwelt not on
details, varying ever with age and time; but laid down broad, universal
principles, catholic, immutable and eternal as God himself. Said
I, I ll justify steamboat explosions in the same manner, He of Nazareth
spake no word against Mississippi captains. / But to my Cairo
anecdote. One man spake of a slave he owned, that he would not sell for
$20,000, being attached to him. Another, acknowledging the feeling, said that
he d sell anything he had, but wife and family, could he make profit on
it. Sell or buy, all was the same, quoth he. Well! said the other
niggers are an article I don t care to deal in ! I don t like it, in fact!
Then said his opponent, emphatically, as if clinching the matter you
don t believe in Scripture! And it actually passed current as conclusive,
and the man was silenced! / In England now, it exacted a little
surprise that Mrs Stowe should devote part of her book to showing that the
spirit of the Bible does not sanction Slavery. The matter will be a historical
curiosity, some day.
19. Saturday. All day steaming up the Ohio, which river I think,
becomes prettier as we advance. / Writing most part of the time. For a very
long time have I been hatching on intent to write a long, carefully thought over
story, the which notion has been present more or less distinctly during the
last two or three years. Now, during the dismal Alabama and
| Page |
| Title: | Thomas Butler Gunn Diaries, Volume Six: page one hundred and ninety-six |
| Description: | Regarding the Southern justification for slavery for biblical reasons. |
| Date: | 1853-11-18 |
| Subject: | Books and reading; Gunn, Thomas Butler; Religion; Richards, Addison Keane; Slaveholders; Slavery; Stowe, Harriet Beecher; Travel |
| Coverage (City/State): | Cairo, [Illinois] |
| Scan Date: | 2011-02-02 |
| Volume |
| Title: | Thomas Butler Gunn Diaries, Volume Six |
| Description: | Includes descriptions of Gunn's writing and drawing work in New York, a visit to the Catskill Mountains, attending the wedding of his friend Charles Damoreau (Brown), a visit to the Crystal Palace in New York, his friend Lotty's difficult marriage to John Whytal, a sailing trip around Lake Superior, a visit to Mackinac Island in Michigan, a visit to Mammoth Cave in Kentucky, and a journey by horseback from Kentucky to Louisiana with friends. |
| Subject: | African Americans; Gunn, Thomas Butler; Marriage; Native Americans; Publishers and publishing; Slavery; Travel; Women |
| Coverage (City/State): | New York, New York; Michigan; Wisconsin; Ohio; Kentucky; Mississippi; Alabama; Louisiana |
| Note: | Thomas Butler Gunn was born February 15, 1826, in Banbury, England, and came to New York in 1849. During the Civil War he worked as a correspondent for the New York Tribune and the New York Evening Post. He returned to England in 1863, and died in Birmingham in April 1903. The collection includes twenty-one volumes of his diaries, including newspaper clippings, letters, photographs, sketches, and various other items inserted by Gunn. Diary entries date from July 7, 1849, to April 7, 1863, and include his experiences with the New York publishing and literary world, his descriptions of boarding houses, his travels throughout the United States, and his experiences traveling with the Federal army as a Civil War correspondent. |
| Publisher: | Missouri History Museum |
| Rights: | Copyright 2011 Missouri History Museum. |
| Source: | Page images, transcriptions, and metadata of the Thomas Butler Gunn diaries have been provided by the Missouri History Museum. |
