Discussion

- A Kentuckian, a slaveholder, we believe, has come out in the columns of the Philanthropist, under the signature of "Boone," attempting to show, that modern abolitionism is a wrong both to the black and the white population. He writes with much apparent candor, yet his arguments are not the most convincing. For instance he argues that Christianity requires obedience to the law : the law of Ohio forbids helping a fugitive slave: therefore it is contrary to the duty of a Christian to render one assistance. This amounts to no more than Henry Clay's declaration, that "that is property, which the law declares to be property." The discussion, if continued, promises to be very beneficial. Another atrocious outrage is recorded in the Vicksburg Sentinel, lately committed on the Big Black Island, near Grand Gulf, by a band of outlaws. Many poor, ignorant woodcutters were most inhumanly whipped, and a Mr. Kirkwood basely murdered by the Lynchers. They blindfolded him, pinioned him, took him to the river bank, and after getting him into a boat, plunged a bowie knife into his heart, and then threw him into the river. We learn from the Norfolk Herald that tho Great Dismal Swamp, and all the smaller ones tributary to it, have been on fire for some days. Much valuable timber had been destroyed; and the fire approached the line of the rail road a few miles from Suffolk.