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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/15392-8.txt b/15392-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..da97a5c --- /dev/null +++ b/15392-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,6912 @@ +Project Gutenberg's American Eloquence, Volume II. (of 4), by Various + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: American Eloquence, Volume II. (of 4) + Studies In American Political History (1896) + +Author: Various + +Release Date: March 17, 2005 [EBook #15392] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK AMERICAN ELOQUENCE, II. *** + + + + +Produced by David Widger + + + + + +AMERICAN ELOQUENCE + +STUDIES IN AMERICAN POLITICAL HISTORY + + +Edited with Introduction by Alexander Johnston + +Reedited by James Albert Woodburn + + +Volume II. (of 4) + + + CONTENTS: + + V.-THE ANTI-SLAVERY STRUGGLE. + + RUFUS KING + On The Missouri Struggle--United States Senate, + February 11 And 14, 1820. + + WILLIAM PINKNEY + On The Missouri Struggle--United States Senate, + February 15, 1820. + + WENDELL PHILLIPS + On The Murder Of Lovejoy--Faneuil Hall, Boston, + December 8, 1837. + + JOHN QUINCY ADAMS + On The Constitutional War Power Over Slavery + --House Of Representatives, May 25, 1836. + + JOHN C. CALHOUN + On The Slavery Question--United States Senate, + March 4, 1850. + + DANIEL WEBSTER + On The Constitution And The Union--United States + Senate, March 7, 1850. + + HENRY CLAY + On The Compromise Of 1850--United States Senate, + July 22, 1850. + + WENDELL PHILLIPS + On The Philosophy Of The Abolition Movement--Before + The Massachusetts, Anti-Slavery Society, Boston, + January 27, 1853. + + CHARLES SUMNER + On The Repeal Of The Fugitive Slave Law--United + States Senate, August 26, 1852. + + + + +LIST OF PORTRAITS--VOLUME II. + +RUFUS KING -- From a steel engraving. + +JOHN Q. ADAMS -- From a painting by MARCHANT. + +JOHN C. CALHOUN -- From a daguerreotype by BRADY. + +DANIEL WEBSTER -- From a painting by R. M. STAIGG. + +HENRY CLAY -- From a crayon portrait. + + + + + +INTRODUCTION TO THE REVISED VOLUME II. + + + + + +The second volume of the American Eloquence is devoted exclusively +to the Slavery controversy. The new material of the revised edition +includes Rufus King and William Pinkney on the Missouri Question; John +Quincy Adams on the War Power of the Constitution over Slavery; Sumner +on the Repeal of the Fugitive Slave Law. The addition of the new +material makes necessary the reservation of the orations on the +Kansas-Nebraska Bill, and on the related subjects, for the third volume. + +In the anti-slavery struggle the Missouri question occupied a prominent +place. In the voluminous Congressional material which the long +debates called forth, the speeches of King and Pinkney are the best +representatives of the two sides to the controversy, and they are of +historical interest and importance. John Quincy Adams' leadership in +the dramatic struggle over the right of petition in the House of +Representatives, and his opinion on the constitutional power of the +national government over the institution of slavery within the States, +will always excite the attention of the historical student. + +In the decade before the war no subject was a greater cause of +irritation and antagonism between the States than the Fugitive Slave +Law. Sumner's speech on this subject is the most valuable of his +speeches from the historical point of view; and it is not only a worthy +American oration, but it is a valuable contribution to the history of +the slavery struggle itself. It has been thought desirable to include in +a volume of this character orations of permanent value on these themes +of historic interest. A study of the speeches of a radical innovator +like Phillips with those of compromising conservatives like Webster and +Clay, will lead the student into a comparison, or contrast, of these +diverse characters. The volume retains the two orations of Phillips, the +two greatest of all his contributions to the anti-slavery struggle. It +is believed that the list of orations, on the whole, presents to the +reader a series of subjects of first importance in the great slavery +controversy. + +The valuable introduction of Professor Johnston, on "The Anti-Slavery +Struggle," is re-printed entire. + +J. A. W. + + + + +V. -- THE ANTI-SLAVERY STRUGGLE + + +Negro slavery was introduced into all the English colonies of North +America as a custom, and not under any warrant of law. The enslavement +of the negro race was simply a matter against which no white person +chose to enter a protest, or make resistance, while the negroes +themselves were powerless to resist or even protest. In due course of +time laws were passed by the Colonial Assemblies to protect property in +negroes, while the home government, to the very last, actively protected +and encouraged the slave trade to the colonies. Negro slavery in all +the colonies had thus passed from custom to law before the American +Revolution broke out; and the course of the Revolution itself had little +or no effect on the system. + +From the beginning, it was evident that the course of slavery in the two +sections, North and South, was to be altogether divergent. In the colder +North, the dominant race found it easier to work than to compel negroes +to work: in the warmer South, the case was exactly reversed. At the +close of the Revolution, Massachusetts led the way in an abolition +of slavery, which was followed gradually by the other States north of +Virginia; and in 1787 the ordinance of Congress organizing the Northwest +Territory made all the future States north of the Ohio free States. +"Mason and Dixon's line" and the Ohio River thus seemed, in 1790, to be +the natural boundary between the free and the slave States. + +Up to this point the white race in the two sections had dealt with +slavery by methods which were simply divergent, not antagonistic. It was +true that the percentage of slaves in the total population had been +very rapidly decreasing in the North and not in the South, and that the +gradual abolition of slavery was proceeding in the North alone, and that +with increasing rapidity. But there was no positive evidence that the +South was bulwarked in favor of slavery; there was no certainty but that +the South would in its turn and in due time come to the point which the +North had already reached, and begin its own abolition of slavery. The +language of Washington, Jefferson, Madison, Henry, and Mason, in regard +to the evils or the wickedness of the system of slavery, was too strong +to be heard with patience in the South of after years; and in this +section it seems to have been true, that those who thought at all upon +the subject hoped sincerely for the gradual abolition of slavery in +the South. The hope, indeed, was rather a sentiment than a purpose, but +there seems to have been no good reason, before 1793, why the sentiment +should not finally develop into a purpose. + +All this was permanently changed, and the slavery policy of the South +was made antagonistic to, and not merely divergent from, that of the +North, by the invention of Whitney's saw gin for cleansing cotton +in 1793. It had been known, before that year, that cotton could be +cultivated in the South, but its cultivation was made unprofitable, and +checked by the labor required to separate the seeds from the cotton. +Whitney's invention increased the efficiency of this labor hundreds of +times, and it became evident at once that the South enjoyed a practical +monopoly of the production of cotton. The effect on the slavery policy +of the South was immediate and unhappy. Since 1865, it has been found +that the cotton monopoly of the South is even more complete under a +free than under a slave labor system, but mere theory could never have +convinced the Southern people that such would be the case. Their whole +prosperity hinged on one product; they began its cultivation under slave +labor; and the belief that labor and prosperity were equally dependent +on the enslavement of the laboring race very soon made the dominant race +active defenders of slavery. From that time the system in the South was +one of slowly but steadily increasing rigor, until, just before +1860, its last development took the form of legal enactments for the +re-enslavement of free negroes, in default of their leaving the State +in which they resided. Parallel with this increase of rigor, there was a +steady change in the character of the system. It tended very steadily to +lose its original patriarchal character, and take the aspect of a purely +commercial speculation. After 1850, the commercial aspect began to be +the rule in the black belt of the Gulf States. The plantation knew only +the overseer; so many slaves died to so many bales of cotton; and the +slave population began to lose all human connection with the dominant +race. + +The acquisition of Louisiana in 1803 more than doubled the area of the +United States, and far more than doubled the area of the slave system. +Slavery had been introduced into Louisiana, as usual, by custom, and had +then been sanctioned by Spanish and French law. It is true that Congress +did not forbid slavery in the new territory of Louisiana; but Congress +did even worse than this; under the guise of forbidding the importation +of slaves into Louisiana, by the act of March 26, 1804, organizing +the territory, the phrase "except by a citizen of the United States, +removing into said territory for actual settlement, and being at the +time of such removal bona fide owner of such slave or slaves," impliedly +legitimated the domestic slave trade to Louisiana, and legalized slavery +wherever population should extend between the Mississippi and the +Rocky Mountains. The Congress of 1803-05, which passed the act, should +rightfully bear the responsibility for all the subsequent growth of +slavery, and for all the difficulties in which it involved the South and +the country. + +There were but two centres of population in Louisiana, New Orleans and +St. Louis. When the southern district, around New Orleans, applied for +admission as the slave State of Louisiana, there seems to have been no +surprise or opposition on this score; the Federalist opposition to the +admission is exactly represented by Quincy's speech in the first volume. +When the northern district, around St. Louis, applied for admission as +the slave State of Missouri, the inevitable consequences of the act +of 1804 became evident for the first time, and all the Northern States +united to resist the admission. The North controlled the House +of Representatives, and the South the Senate; and, after a severe +parliamentary struggle, the two bodies united in the compromise of 1820. +By its terms Missouri was admitted as a slave State, and slavery was +forever forbidden in the rest of Louisiana Territory, north of latitude +36° 30' (the line of the southerly boundary of Missouri). The instinct +of this first struggle against slavery extension seems to have been +much the same as that of 1846-60 the realization that a permission to +introduce slavery by custom into the Territories meant the formation +of slave States exclusively, the restriction of the free States to +the district between the Mississippi and the Atlantic, and the final +conversion of the mass of the United States to a policy of enslavement +of labor. But, on the surface, it was so entirely a struggle for the +balance of power between the two sections, that it has not seemed worth +while to introduce any of the few reported speeches of the time. The +topic is more fully and fairly discussed in the subsequent debates on +the Kansas-Nebraska Act. + +In 1830 William Lloyd Garrison, a Boston printer, opened the real +anti-slavery struggle. Up to this time the anti-slavery sentiment, North +and South, had been content with the notion of "gradual abolition," +with the hope that the South would, in some yet unsuspected manner, +be brought to the Northern policy. This had been supplemented, to some +extent, by the colonization society for colonizing negroes on the west +coast of Africa; which had two aspects: at the South it was the means of +ridding the country of the free negro population; at the North it was a +means of mitigating, perhaps of gradually abolishing, slavery. Garrison, +through his newspaper, the Liberator, called for "immediate abolition" +of slavery, for the conversion of anti-slavery sentiment into +anti-slavery purpose. This was followed by the organization of his +adherents into the American Anti-Slavery Society in 1833, and the +active dissemination of the immediate abolition principle by tracts, +newspapers, and lecturers. + +The anti-slavery struggle thus begun, never ceased until, in 1865, the +Liberator ceased to be published, with the final abolition of slavery. +In its inception and in all its development the movement was a distinct +product of the democratic spirit. It would not have been possible in +1790, or in 1810, or in 1820. The man came with the hour; and every new +mile of railroad or telegraph, every new district open to population, +every new influence toward the growth of democracy, broadened the +power as well as the field of the abolition movement. It was but the +deepening, the application to an enslaved race of laborers, of the work +which Jeffersonian democracy had done, to remove the infinitely less +grievous restraints upon the white laborer thirty year before. It could +never have been begun until individualism at the North had advanced +so far that there was a reserve force of mind--ready to reject all the +influences of heredity and custom upon thought. Outside of religion +there was no force so strong at the North as the reverence for the +Constitution; it was significant of the growth of individualism, as well +as of the anti-slavery sentiment, that Garrison could safely begin his +work with the declaration that the Constitution itself was "a league +with death and a covenant with hell." + +The Garrisonian programme would undoubtedly have been considered highly +objectionable by the South, even under to comparatively colorless +slavery policy of 1790. Under the conditions to which cotton culture had +advanced in 1830, it seemed to the South nothing less than a proposal to +destroy, root and branch, the whole industry of that section, and it was +received with corresponding indignation. Garrisonian abolitionists were +taken and regarded as public enemies, and rewards were even offered for +their capture. The germ of abolitionism in the Border States found a new +and aggressive public sentiment arrayed against it; and an attempt +to introduce gradual abolition in Virginia in 1832-33 was hopelessly +defeated. The new question was even carried into Congress. A bill to +prohibit the transportation of abolition documents by the Post-Office +department was introduced, taken far enough to put leading men of both +parties on the record, and then dropped. Petitions for the abolition +of slavery in the District of Columbia were met by rules requiring the +reference of such petitions without reading or action; but this only +increased the number of petitions, by providing a new grievance to +be petitioned against, and in 1842 the "gag rule" was rescinded. +Thence-forth the pro-slavery members of Congress could do nothing, and +could only become more exasperated under a system of passive resistance. + +Even at the North, indifferent or politically hostile as it had hitherto +shown itself to the expansion of slavery, the new doctrines were +received with an outburst of anger which seems to have been primarily a +revulsion against their unheard of individualism. If nothing, which +had been the object of unquestioning popular reverence, from the +Constitution down or up to the church organizations, was to be sacred +against the criticism of the Garrisonians, it was certain that the +innovators must submit for a time to a general proscription. Thus the +Garrisonians were ostracised socially, and became the Ishmalites of +politics. Their meetings were broken up by mobs, their halls were +destroyed, their schools were attacked by all the machinery of society +and legislation, their printing presses were silenced by force or fraud, +and their lecturers came to feel that they had not done their work with +efficiency if a meeting passed without the throwing of stones or eggs at +the building or the orators. It was, of course, inevitable that such +a process should bring strong minds to the aid of the Garrisonians, +at first from sympathy with persecuted individualism, and finally from +sympathy with the cause itself; and in this way Garrisonianism was in +a great measure relieved from open mob violence about 1840, though +it never escaped it altogether until abolition meetings ceased to +be necessary. One of the first and greatest reinforcements was the +appearance of Wendell Phillips, whose speech at Faneuil Hall in 1839 +was one of the first tokens of a serious break in the hitherto almost +unanimous public opinion against Garrisonianism. Lovejoy, a Western +anti-slavery preacher and editor, who had been driven from one place to +another in Missouri and Illinois, had finally settled at Alton, and was +there shot to death while defending his printing press against a mob. At +a public meeting in Faneuil Hall, the Attorney-General of Massachusetts, +James T. Austin, expressing what was doubtless the general sentiment of +the time as to such individual insurrection against pronounced public +opinion, compared the Alton mob to the Boston "tea-party," and declared +that Lovejoy, "presumptuous and imprudent," had "died as the fool +dieth." Phillips, an almost unknown man, took the stand, and answered in +the speech which opens this volume. A more powerful reinforcement could +hardly have been looked for; the cause which could find such a defender +was henceforth to be feared rather than despised. To the day of +his death he was, fully as much as Garrison, the incarnation of the +anti-slavery spirit. For this reason his address on the Philosophy +of the Abolition Movement, in 1853, has been assigned a place as +representing fully the abolition side of the question, just before it +was overshadowed by the rise of the Republican party, which opposed only +the extension of slavery to the territories. + +The history of the sudden development of the anti-slavery struggle in +1847 and the following years, is largely given in the speeches which +have been selected to illustrate it. The admission of Texas to the Union +in 1845, and the war with Mexico which followed it, resulted in the +acquisition of a vast amount of new territory by the United States. +From the first suggestion of such an acquisition, the Wilmot proviso +(so-called from David Wilmot, of Pennsylvania, who introduced it in +Congress), that slavery should be prohibited in the new territory, was +persistently offered as an amendment to every bill appropriating money +for the purchase of territory from Mexico. It was passed by the House +of Representatives, but was balked in the Senate; and the purchase +was finally made without any proviso. When the territory came to be +organized, the old question came up again: the Wilmot proviso was +offered as an amendment. As the territory was now in the possession of +the United States, and as it had been acquired in a war whose support +had been much more cordial at the South than at the North, the attempt +to add the Wilmot proviso to the territorial organization raised the +Southern opposition to an intensity which it had not known before. +Fuel was added to the flame by the application of California, whose +population had been enormously increased by the discovery of gold within +her limits, for admission as a free State. If New Mexico should do the +same, as was probable, the Wilmot proviso would be practically in force +throughout the best portion of the Mexican acquisition. The two sections +were now so strong and so determined that compromise of any kind was +far more difficult than in 1820; and it was not easy to reconcile or +compromise the southern demand that slavery should be permitted, and +the northern demand that slavery should be forbidden, to enter the new +territories. + +In the meantime, the Presidential election of 1848 had come and gone. It +had been marked by the appearance of a new party, the Free Soilers, an +event which was at first extremely embarrassing to the managers of +both the Democratic and Whig parties. On the one hand, the northern and +southern sections of the Whig party had always been very loosely joined +together, and the slender tie was endangered by the least admission +of the slavery issue. On the other hand, while the Democratic national +organization had always been more perfect, its northern section had +always been much more inclined to active anti-slavery work than the +northern Whigs. Its organ, the Democratic Review, habitually spoke of +the slaves as "our black brethren"; and a long catalogue could be +made of leaders like Chase, Hale, Wilmot, Bryant, and Leggett, whose +democracy was broad enough to include the negro. To both parties, +therefore, the situation was extremely hazardous. The Whigs had less +to fear, but were able to resist less pressure. The Democrats were more +united, but were called upon to meet a greater danger. In the end, +the Whigs did nothing; their two sections drew further apart; and the +Presidential election of 1852 only made it evident that the national +Whig party was no longer in existence. The Democratic managers +evolved, as a solution of their problem, the new doctrine of "popular +sovereignty," which Calhoun re-baptized "squatter sovereignty." They +asserted as the true Democratic doctrine, that the question of slavery +or freedom was to be left for decision of the people of the territory +itself. To the mass of northern Democrats, this doctrine was taking +enough to cover over the essential nature of the struggle; the more +democratic leaders of the northern Democracy were driven off into the +Free-Soil party; and Douglas, the champion of "popular sovereignty," +became the leading Democrat of the North. + +Clay had re-entered the Senate in 1849, for the purpose of compromising +the sectional difficulties as he had compromised those of 1820 and of +1833. His speech, as given, will show something of his motives; his +success resulted in the "compromise of 1850." By its terms, California +was admitted as a free State; the slave trade, but not slavery, was +prohibited in the District of Columbia; a more stringent fugitive slave +law was enacted; Texas was paid $10,000,000 for certain claims to the +Territory of New Mexico; and the Territories of Utah and New Mexico, +covering the Mexican acquisition outside of California, were organized +without mentioning slavery. The last-named feature was carefully +designed to please all important factions. It could be represented to +the Webster Whigs that slavery was excluded from the Territories named +by the operation of natural laws; to the Clay Whigs that slavery had +already been excluded by Mexican law which survived the cession; to the +northern Democrats, that the compromise was a formal endorsement of the +great principle of popular sovereignty; and to the southern Democrats +that it was a repudiation of the Wilmot proviso. In the end, the essence +of the success went to the last-named party, for the legislatures of the +two territories established slavery, and no bill to veto their action +could pass both Houses of Congress until after 1861. + +The Supreme Court had already decided that Congress had exclusive power +to enforce the fugitive slave clause of the Constitution, though the +fugitive slave law of 1793 had given a concurrent authority of execution +to State officers. The law of 1850, carrying the Supreme Court's +decision further, gave the execution of the law to United States +officers, and refused the accused a hearing. Its execution at the North +was therefore the occasion of a profound excitement and horror. Cases +of inhuman cruelty, and of false accusation to which no defence was +permitted, were multiplied until a practical nullification of the law, +in the form of "personal liberty laws," securing a hearing for the +accused before State magistrates, was forced by public opinion upon the +legislature of the exposed northern States. Before the excitement +had come to a head, the Whig convention of 1852 met and endorsed the +compromise of 1850 "in all its parts." Overwhelmed in the election which +followed, the Whig party was popularly said to have "died of an attempt +to swallow the fugitive-slave law"; it would have been more correct to +have said that the southern section of the party had deserted in a body +and gone over to the Democratic party. National politics were thus left +in an entirely anomalous condition. The Democratic party was omnipotent +at the South, though it was afterward opposed feebly by the American +(or "Know Nothing ") organization, and was generally successful at +the North, though it was still met by the Northern Whigs with vigorous +opposition. Such a state of affairs was not calculated to satisfy +thinking men; and this period seems to have been one in which very +few thinking men of any party were at all satisfied with their party +positions. + +This was the hazardous situation into which the Democratic managers +chose to thrust one of the most momentous pieces of legislation in our +political history-the Kansas-Nebraska bill. The responsibility for it is +clearly on the shoulders of Stephen A. Douglas. The over-land travel to +the Pacific coast had made it necessary to remove the Indian title to +Kansas and Nebraska, and to organize them as Territories, in order to +afford protection to emigrants; and Douglas, chairman of the Senate +committee on Territories, introduced a bill for such organization in +January, 1854. Both these prospective Territories had been made free +soil forever by the compromise of 1820; the question of slavery had been +settled, so far as they were concerned; but Douglas consented, after a +show of opposition, to reopen Pandora's box. His original bill did +not abrogate the Missouri compromise, and there seems to have been no +general Southern demand that it should do so. But Douglas had become +intoxicated by the unexpected success of his "popular sovereignty" +make-shift in regard to the Territories of 1850; and a notice of an +amendment to be offered by a southern senator, abrogating the Missouri +compromise, was threat or excuse sufficient to bring him to withdraw the +bill. A week later, it was re-introduced with the addition of "popular +sovereignty": all questions pertaining to slavery in these Territories, +and in the States to be formed from them, were to be left to the +decision of the people, through their representatives; and the Missouri +compromise of 1820 was declared "inoperative and void," as inconsistent +with the principles of the territorial legislation of 1850. It must +be remembered that the "non-intervention" of 1850 had been confessedly +based on no constitutional principle whatever, but was purely a matter +of expediency; and that "non-intervention" in Utah and New Mexico was no +more inconsistent with the prohibition of slavery in Kansas and Nebraska +than "non-intervention" in the Southwest Territory, sixty years before, +had been inconsistent with the prohibition of slavery in the Northwest +Territory. Whether Douglas is to be considered as too scrupulous, or too +timid, or too willing to be terrified, it is certain that his action was +unnecessary. + +After a struggle of some months, the Kansas-Nebraska bill became law. +The Missouri compromise was abrogated, and the question of the extension +of slavery to the territories was adrift again, never to be got rid of +except through the abolition of slavery itself by war. The demands of +the South had now come fully abreast with the proposal of Douglas: +that slavery should have permission to enter all the Territories, if +it could. The opponents of the extension of slavery, at first under the +name of "Anti-Nebraska men," then of the Republican party, carried the +elections for representatives in Congress in 1854-'55, and narrowly +missed carrying the Presidential election of 1856. The percentage +of Democratic losses in the congressional districts of the North was +sufficient to leave Douglas with hardly any supporters in Congress from +his own section. The Democratic party was converted at once into a +solid South, with a northern attachment of popular votes which was not +sufficient to control very many Congressmen or electoral votes. + +Immigration into Kansas was organized at once by leading men of the two +sections, with the common design of securing a majority of the voters of +the territory and applying "popular sovereignty" for or against slavery. +The first sudden inroad of Missouri intruders was successful in securing +a pro-slavery legislature and laws; but within two years the stream +of free-State immigration had become so powerful,in spite of murder, +outrage, and open civil war, that it was very evident that Kansas was +to be a free-State. Its expiring territorial legislature endeavored +to outwit its constituents by applying for admission as a slave State, +under the Lecompton constitution; but the Douglas Democrats could not +support the attempt, and it was defeated. Kansas, however, remained a +territory until 1861. + +The cruelties of this Kansas episode could not but be reflected in the +feelings of the two sections and in Congress. In the former it showed +too plainly that the divergence of the two sections, indicated in +Calhoun's speech of 1850, had widened to an absolute separation in +thought, feeling, and purpose. In the latter the debates assumed a +virulence which is illustrated by the speeches on the Sumner assault. +The current of events had at least carried the sections far enough apart +to give striking distance; and the excuse for action was supplied by the +Dred Scott decision in 1857. + +Dred Scott, a Missouri slave, claiming to be a free man under the +Missouri compromise of 1820, had sued his master, and the case had +reached the Supreme Court. A majority of the justices agreed in +dismissing the suit; but, as nearly every justice filed an opinion, and +as nearly every opinion disagreed with the other opinions on one or +more points, it is not easy to see what else is covered by the decision. +Nevertheless, the opinion of the Chief justice, Roger B. Taney, +attracted general attention by the strength of its argument and the +character of its views. It asserted, in brief, that no slave could +become a citizen of the United States, even by enfranchisement or State +law; that the prohibition of slavery by the Missouri compromise of 1820 +was unconstitutional and void; that the Constitution recognized property +in slaves, and was framed for the protection of property; that Congress +had no rights or duties in the territories but such as were granted or +imposed by the Constitution; and that, therefore, Congress was bound +not merely not to forbid slavery, but to actively protect slavery in +the Territories. This was just the ground which had always been held by +Calhoun, though the South had not supported him in it. Now the South, +rejecting Douglas and his "popular sovereignty," was united in its +devotion to the decision of the Supreme Court, and called upon the North +to yield unhesitating obedience to that body which Webster in 1830 had +styled the ultimate arbiter of constitutional questions. This, it was +evident, could never be. No respectable authority at the North pretended +to uphold the keystone of Taney's argument, that slaves were regarded as +property by the Constitution. On the contrary, it was agreed everywhere +by those whose opinions were looked to with respect, that slaves were +regarded by the Constitution as "persons held to service or labor" under +the laws of the State alone; and that the laws of the State could not +give such persons a fictitious legal character outside of the State's +jurisdiction. Even the Douglas Democrats, who expressed a willingness to +yield to the Supreme Court's decision, did not profess to uphold Taney's +share in it. + +As the Presidential election of 1860 drew near, the evidences of +separation became more manifest. The absorption of northern Democrats +into the Republican party increased until Douglas, in 1858, narrowly +escaped defeat in his contest with Lincoln for a re-election to the +Senate from Illinois. In 1860 the Republicans nominated Lincoln for +the Presidency on a platform demanding prohibition of slavery in +the Territories. The southern delegates seceded from the Democratic +convention, and nominated Breckenridge, on a platform demanding +congressional protection of slavery in the Territories. The remainder of +the Democratic convention nominated Douglas, with a declaration of its +willingness to submit to the decision of the Supreme Court on questions +of constitutional law. The remnants of the former Whig and American +parties, under the name of the Constitutional Union party, nominated +Bell without any declaration of principles. Lincoln received a majority +of the electoral votes, and became President. His popular vote was a +plurality. + +Seward's address on the "Irrepressible Conflict," which closes this +volume, is representative of the division between the two sections, as +it stood just before the actual shock of conflict. Labor systems are +delicate things; and that which the South had adopted, of enslaving the +laboring class, was one whose influence could not help being universal +and aggressive. Every form of energy and prosperity which tended to +advance a citizen into the class of representative rulers tended also to +make him a slave owner, and to shackle his official policy and purposes +with considerations inseparable from his heavy personal interests. Men +might divide on other questions at the South; but on this question of +slavery the action of the individual had to follow the decisions of a +majority which, by the influence of ambitious aspirants for the lead, +was continually becoming more aggressive. In constitutional countries, +defections to the minority are a steady check upon an aggressive +majority; but the southern majority was a steam engine without a safety +valve. + +In this sense Seward and Lincoln, in 1858, were correct; the labor +system of the South was not only a menace to the whole country, but one +which could neither decrease nor stand still. It was intolerable by +the laws of its being; and it could be got rid of only by allowing +a peaceable secession, or by abolishing it through war. The material +prosperity which has followed the adoption of the latter alternative, +apart from the moral aspects of the case, is enough to show that the +South has gained more than all that slavery lost. + + +[Illustration: Rufus King] + + + + +RUFUS KING, + +OF NEW YORK. (BORN 1755, DIED 1827.) + +ON THE MISSOURI BILL--UNITED STATES SENATE, + +FEBRUARY 11 AND 14, 1820. + + +The Constitution declares "that Congress shall have power to dispose of, +and make all needful rules and regulations respecting the territory and +other property of the United States." Under this power Congress have +passed laws for the survey and sale of the public lands; for the +division of the same into separate territories; and have ordained for +each of them a constitution, a plan of temporary government, whereby +the civil and political rights of the inhabitants are regulated, and the +rights of conscience and other natural rights are protected. + +The power to make all needful regulations, includes the power to +determine what regulations are needful; and if a regulation prohibiting +slavery within any territory of the United States be, as it has been, +deemed needful, Congress possess the power to make the same, and, +moreover, to pass all laws necessary to carry this power into execution. + +The territory of Missouri is a portion of Louisiana, which was purchased +of France, and belongs to the United States in full dominion; in the +language of the Constitution, Missouri is their territory or property, +and is subject like other territories of the United States, to the +regulations and temporary government, which has been, or shall be +prescribed by Congress. The clause of the Constitution which grants this +power to Congress, is so comprehensive and unambiguous, and its purpose +so manifest, that commentary will not render the power, or the object of +its establishment, more explicit or plain. + +The Constitution further provides that "new States may be admitted +by Congress into this Union." As this power is conferred without +limitation, the time, terms, and circumstances of the admission of new +States, are referred to the discretion of Congress; which may admit new +States, but are not obliged to do so--of right no new State can demand +admission into the Union, unless such demand be founded upon some +previous engagement of the United States. + +When admitted by Congress into the Union, whether by compact or +otherwise, the new State becomes entitled to the enjoyment of the same +rights, and bound to perform the like duties as the other States; +and its citizens will be entitled to all privileges and immunities of +citizens in the several States. + +The citizens of each State possess rights, and owe duties that are +peculiar to, and arise out of the Constitution and laws of the several +States. These rights and duties differ from each other in the different +States, and among these differences none is so remarkable or important +as that which proceeds from the Constitution and laws of the several +States respecting slavery; the same being permitted in some States and +forbidden in others. + +The question respecting slavery in the old thirteen States had been +decided and settled before the adoption of the Constitution, which +grants no power to Congress to interfere with, or to change what had +been so previously settled. The slave States, therefore, are free +to continue or to abolish slavery. Since the year 1808 Congress have +possessed power to prohibit and have prohibited the further migration +or importation of slaves into any of the old thirteen States, and at all +times, under the Constitution, have had power to prohibit such migration +or importation into any of the new States or territories of the United +States. The Constitution contains no express provision respecting +slavery in a new State that may be admitted into the Union; every +regulation upon this subject belongs to the power whose consent is +necessary to the formation and admission of new States into the Union. +Congress may, therefore, make it a condition of the admission of a new +State, that slavery shall be forever prohibited within the same. We may, +with the more confidence, pronounce this to be the true construction +of the Constitution, as it has been so amply confirmed by the past +decisions of Congress. + +Although the articles of confederation were drawn up and approved by +the old Congress, in the year 1777, and soon afterwards were ratified by +some of the States, their complete ratification did not take place until +the year 1781. The States which possessed small and already settled +territory, withheld their ratification, in order to obtain from the +large States a cession to the United States of a portion of their vacant +territory. Without entering into the reasons on which this demand was +urged, it is well known that they had an influence on Massachusetts, +Connecticut, New York, and Virginia, which States ceded to the United +States their respective claims to the territory lying northwest of the +river Ohio. This cession was made on the express condition, that the +ceded territory should be sold for the common benefit of the United +States; that it should be laid out into States, and that the States +so laid out should form distinct republican States, and be admitted as +members of the Federal Union, having the same rights of sovereignty, +freedom, and independence as the other States. Of the four States which +made this cession, two permitted, and the other two prohibited slavery. + +The United States having in this manner become proprietors of +the extensive territory northwest of the river Ohio, although the +confederation contained no express provision upon the subject, Congress, +the only representatives of the United States, assumed as incident +to their office, the power to dispose of this territory; and for this +purpose, to divide the same into distinct States, to provide for the +temporary government of the inhabitants thereof, and for their ultimate +admission as new States into the Federal Union. + +The ordinance for those purposes, which was passed by Congress in 1787, +contains certain articles, which are called "Articles of compact between +the original States and the people and States within the said territory, +for ever to remain unalterable, unless by common consent." The sixth +of those unalterable articles provides, "that there shall be neither +slavery nor involuntary servitude in the said territory." + +The Constitution of the United States supplies the defect that existed +in the articles of confederation, and has vested Congress, as has been +stated, with ample powers on this important subject. Accordingly, +the ordinance of 1787, passed by the old Congress, was ratified and +confirmed by an act of the new Congress during their first session under +the Constitution. + +The State of Virginia, which ceded to the United States her claims to +this territory, consented by her delegates in the old Congress to this +ordinance--not only Virginia, but North Carolina, South Carolina, and +Georgia, by the unanimous votes of their delegates in the old Congress, +approved of the ordinance of 1787, by which slavery is forever abolished +in the territory northwest of the river Ohio. + +Without the votes of these States, the ordinance could not have passed; +and there is no recollection of an opposition from any of these States +to the act of confirmation, passed under the actual Constitution. +Slavery had long been established in these States--the evil was felt in +their institutions, laws, and habits, and could not easily or at once be +abolished. But these votes so honorable to these States, satisfactorily +demonstrate their unwillingness to permit the extension of slavery into +the new States which might be admitted by Congress into the Union. + +The States of Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois, on the northwest of the river +Ohio, have been admitted by Congress into the Union, on the condition +and conformably to the article of compact, contained in the ordinance +of 1787, and by which it is declared that there shall be neither slavery +nor involuntary servitude in any of the said States. + +Although Congress possess the power of making the exclusion of slavery a +part or condition of the act admitting a new State into the Union, they +may, in special cases, and for sufficient reasons, forbear to exercise +this power. Thus Kentucky and Vermont were admitted as new States into +the Union, without making the abolition of slavery the condition of +their admission. In Vermont, slavery never existed; her laws excluding +the same. Kentucky was formed out of, and settled by, Virginia, and +the inhabitants of Kentucky, equally with those of Virginia, by +fair interpretation of the Constitution, were exempt from all such +interference of Congress, as might disturb or impair the security of +their property in slaves. The western territory of North Carolina and +Georgia, having been partially granted and settled under the authority +of these States, before the cession thereof to the United States, and +these States being original parties to the Constitution which recognizes +the existence of slavery, no measure restraining slavery could be +applied by Congress to this territory. But to remove all doubt on this +head, it was made a condition of the cession of this territory to the +United States, that the ordinance of 1787, except the sixth article +thereof, respecting slavery, should be applied to the same; and that +the sixth article should not be so applied. Accordingly, the States of +Tennessee, Mississippi, and Alabama, comprehending the territory ceded +to the United States by North Carolina and Georgia, have been admitted +as new States into the Union, without a provision, by which slavery +shall be excluded from the same. According to this abstract of the +proceedings of Congress in the admission of new States into the Union, +of the eight new States within the original limits of the United States, +four have been admitted without an article excluding slavery; three have +been admitted on the condition that slavery should be excluded; and one +admitted without such condition. In the few first cases, Congress were +restrained from exercising the power to exclude slavery; in the next +three, they exercised this power; and in the last, it was unnecessary to +do so, slavery being excluded by the State Constitution. + +The province of Louisiana, soon after its cession to the United States, +was divided into two territories, comprehending such parts thereof as +were contiguous to the river Mississippi, being the only parts of the +province that were inhabited. The foreign language, laws, customs, +and manners of the inhabitants, required the immediate and cautious +attention of Congress, which, instead of extending, in the first +instance, to these territories the ordinance of 1787, ordained special +regulations for the government of the same. These regulations were from +time to time revised and altered, as observation and experience showed +to be expedient, and as was deemed most likely to encourage and +promote those changes which would soonest qualify the inhabitants for +self-government and admission into the Union. When the United States +took possession of the province of Louisiana in 1804, it was estimated +to contain 50,000 white inhabitants, 40,000 slaves, and 2,000 free +persons of color. + +More than four-fifths of the whites, and all the slaves, except about +thirteen hundred, inhabited New Orleans and the adjacent territory; the +residue, consisting of less than ten thousand whites, and about thirteen +hundred slaves, were dispersed throughout the country now included in +the Arkansas and Missouri territories. The greater part of the thirteen +hundred slaves were in the Missouri territory, some of them having been +removed thither from the old French settlements on the east side of +the Mississippi, after the passing of the ordinance of 1787, by which +slavery in those settlements was abolished. + +In 1812, the territory of New Orleans, to which the ordinance of +1787, with the exception of certain parts thereof, had been previously +extended, was permitted by Congress to form a Constitution and State +Government, and admitted as a new State into the Union, by the name +of Louisiana. The acts of Congress for these purposes, in addition to +sundry important provisions respecting rivers and public lands, which +are declared to be irrevocable unless by common consent, annex other +terms and conditions, whereby it is established, not only that the +Constitution of Louisiana should be republican, but that it should +contain the fundamental principles of civil and religious liberty, +that it should secure to the citizens the trial by jury in all criminal +cases, and the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus according to the +Constitution of the United States; and after its admission into the +Union, that the laws which Louisiana might pass, should be promulgated; +its records of every description preserved; and its judicial and +legislative proceedings conducted in the language in which the laws and +judicial proceedings of the United States are published and conducted. + + * * * * * + +Having annexed these new and extraordinary conditions to the act for the +admission of Louisiana into the Union, Congress may, if they shall deem +it expedient, annex the like conditions to the act for the admission of +Missouri; and, moreover, as in the case of Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois, +provide by an article for that purpose, that slavery shall not exist +within the same. + +Admitting this construction of the Constitution, it is alleged that the +power by which Congress excluded slavery from the States north-west of +the river Ohio, is suspended in respect to the States that may be formed +in the province of Louisiana. The article of the treaty referred to +declares: "That the inhabitants of the territory shall be incorporated +in the Union of the United States, and admitted as soon as possible; +according to the principles of the Federal Constitution, to the +enjoyment of all rights, advantages, and immunities of citizens of +the United States; and in the meantime, they shall be maintained and +protected in the free enjoyment of their liberty, property, and the +religion which they profess." + +Although there is want of precision in the article, its scope and +meaning can not be misunderstood. It constitutes a stipulation by which +the United States engage that the inhabitants of Louisiana should be +formed into a State or States, and as soon as the provisions of the +Constitution permit, that they should be admitted as new States into the +Union on the footing of the other States; and before such admission, and +during their territorial government, that they should be maintained and +protected by Congress in the enjoyment of their liberty, property, and +religion. The first clause of this stipulation will be executed by the +admission of Missouri as a new State into the Union, as such admission +will impart to the inhabitants of Missouri "all the rights, advantages, +and immunities" which citizens of the United States derive from the +Constitution thereof; these rights may be denominated Federal rights, +are uniform throughout the Union, and are common to all its citizens: +but the rights derived from the Constitution and laws of the States, +which may be denominated State rights, in many particulars differ +from each other. Thus, while the Federal rights of the citizens +of Massachusetts and Virginia are the same, their State rights are +dissimilar and different, slavery being forbidden in one, and permitted +in the other State. This difference arises out of the Constitutions +and laws of the two States, in the same manner as the difference in the +rights of the citizens of these States to vote for representatives +in Congress arises out of the State laws and Constitution. In +Massachusetts, every person of lawful age, and possessing property +of any sort, of the value of two hundred dollars, may vote for +representatives to Congress. In Virginia, no person can vote for +representatives to Congress, unless he be a freeholder. As the admission +of a new State into the Union confers upon its citizens only the rights +denominated Federal, and as these are common to the citizens of all the +States, as well of those in which slavery is prohibited, as of those +in which it is allowed, it follows that the prohibition of slavery in +Missouri will not impair the Federal rights of its citizens, and that +such prohibition is not sustained by the clause of the treaty which has +been cited. + +As all nations do not permit slavery, the term property, in its common +and universal meaning, does not include or describe slaves. In treaties, +therefore, between nations, and especially in those of the United +States, whenever stipulations respecting slaves were to be made, the +word "negroes," or "slaves," have been employed, and the omission of +these words in this clause, increases the uncertainty whether, by the +term property, slaves were intended to be included. But admitting that +such was the intention of the parties, the stipulation is not only +temporary, but extends no further than to the property actually +possessed by the inhabitants of Missouri, when it was first occupied +by the United States. Property since acquired by them, and property +acquired or possessed by the new inhabitants of Missouri, has in each +case been acquired under the laws of the United States, and not during +and under the laws of the province of Louisiana. Should, therefore, the +future introduction of slaves into Missouri be forbidden, the feelings +of the citizens would soon become reconciled to their exclusion, and the +inconsiderable number of slaves owned by the inhabitants at the date +of the cession of Louisiana, would be emancipated or sent for sale into +States where slavery exists. + +It is further objected, that the article of the act of admission into +the Union, by which slavery should be excluded from Missouri, would +be nugatory, as the new State in virtue of its sovereignty would be at +liberty to revoke its consent, and annul the article by which slavery is +excluded. + +Such revocation would be contrary to the obligations of good faith, +which enjoins the observance of our engagements; it would be repugnant +to the principles on which government itself is founded; sovereignty in +every lawful government is a limited power, and can do only what it +is lawful to do. Sovereigns, like individuals, are bound by their +engagements, and have no moral power to break them. Treaties between +nations repose on this principle. If the new State can revoke and annul +an article concluded between itself and the United States, by which +slavery is excluded from it, it may revoke and annul any other article +of the compact; it may, for example, annul the article respecting public +lands, and in virtue of its sovereignty, assume the right to tax and to +sell the lands of the United States. There is yet a more satisfactory +answer to this objection. The judicial power of the United States is +co-extensive with their legislative power, and every question arising +under the Constitution or laws of the United States, is recognizable by +the judiciary thereof. Should the new State rescind any of the articles +of compact contained in the act of admission into the Union, that, for +example, by which slavery is excluded, and should pass a law authorizing +slavery, the judiciary of the United States on proper application, would +immediately deliver from bondage, any person retained as a slave in said +State. And, in like manner, in all instances affecting individuals, +the judiciary might be employed to defeat every attempt to violate the +Constitution and laws of the United States. + +If Congress possess the power to exclude slavery from Missouri, it still +remains to be shown that they ought to do so. The examination of this +branch of the subject, for obvious reasons, is attended with peculiar +difficulty, and cannot be made without passing over arguments which, to +some of us, might appear to be decisive, but the use of which, in this +place, would call up feelings, the influence of which would disturb, if +not defeat, the impartial consideration of the subject. + +Slavery, unhappily, exists within the United States. Enlightened men, in +the States where it is permitted, and everywhere out of them, regret its +existence among us, and seek for the means of limiting and of mitigating +it. The first introduction of slaves is not imputable to the present +generation, nor even to their ancestors. Before the year 1642, the trade +and ports of the colonies were open to foreigners equally as those of +the mother country; and as early as 1620, a few years only after the +planting of the colony of Virginia, and the same year in which the first +settlement was made in the old colony of Plymouth, a cargo of negroes +was brought into and sold as slaves in Virginia by a foreign ship. From +this beginning, the importation of slaves was continued for nearly +two centuries. To her honor, Virginia, while a colony, opposed the +importation of slaves, and was the first State to prohibit the same, by +a law passed for this purpose in 1778, thirty years before the general +prohibition enacted by Congress in 1808. The laws and customs of the +States in which slavery has existed for so long a period, must have had +their influence on the opinions and habits of the citizens, which ought +not to be disregarded on the present occasion. + + * * * * * + +When the general convention that formed the Constitution took this +subject into their consideration, the whole question was once more +examined; and while it was agreed that all contributions to the common +treasury should be made according to the ability of the several States +to furnish the same, the old difficulty recurred in agreeing upon a +rule whereby such ability should be ascertained, there being no simple +standard by which the ability of individuals to pay taxes can be +ascertained. A diversity in the selection of taxes has been deemed +requisite to their equalization. Between communities this difficulty is +less considerable, and although the rule of relative numbers would not +accurately measure the relative wealth of nations, in States in the +circumstances of the United States, whose institutions, laws, and +employments are so much alike, the rule of numbers is probably as near +equal as any other simple and practical rule can be expected to be +(though between the old and new States its equity is defective),--these +considerations, added to the approbation which had already been given to +the rule, by a majority of the States, induced the convention to agree +that direct taxes should be apportioned among the States, according to +the whole number of free persons, and three-fifths of the slaves which +they might respectively contain. + +The rule for apportionment of taxes is not necessarily the most +equitable rule for the apportionment of representatives among the +States; property must not be disregarded in the composition of the first +rule, but frequently is overlooked in the establishment of the second. +A rule which might be approved in respect to taxes, would be disapproved +in respect to representatives; one individual possessing twice as much +property as another, might be required to pay double the taxes of such +other; but no man has two votes to another's one; rich or poor, each has +but a single vote in the choice of representatives. + +In the dispute between England and the colonies, the latter denied the +right of the former to tax them, because they were not represented in +the English Parliament. They contended that, according to the law of the +land, taxation and representation were inseparable. The rule of taxation +being agreed upon by the convention, it is possible that the maxim +with which we successfully opposed the claim of England may have had +an influence in procuring the adoption of the same rule for the +apportionment of representatives; the true meaning, however, of this +principle of the English constitution is, that a colony or district +is not to be taxed which is not represented; not that its number +of representatives shall be ascertained by its quota of taxes. If +three-fifths of the slaves are virtually represented, or their owners +obtain a disproportionate power in legislation, and in the appointment +of the President of the United States, why should not other property +be virtually represented, and its owners obtain a like power in +legislation, and in the choice of the President? Property is not +confined in slaves, but exists in houses, stores, ships, capital in +trade, and manufactures. To secure to the owners of property in slaves +greater political power than is allowed to the owners of other and +equivalent property, seems to be contrary to our theory of the equality +of personal rights, inasmuch as the citizens of some States thereby +become entitled to other and greater political power than the citizens +of other States. The present House of Representatives consist of one +hundred and eighty-one members, which are apportioned among the States +in a ratio of one representative for every thirty-five thousand federal +members, which are ascertained by adding to the whole number of free +persons, three-fifths of the slaves. According to the last census, the +whole number of slaves within the United was 1,191,364, which entitles +the States possessing the same to twenty representatives, and twenty +presidential electors more than they would be entitled to, were the +slaves excluded. By the last census, Virginia contained 582,104 free +persons, and 392,518 slaves. In any of the States where slavery is +excluded, 582,104 free persons would be entitled to elect only sixteen +representatives, while in Virginia, 582,104 free persons, by the +addition of three-fifths of her slaves, become entitled to elect, and do +in fact elect, twenty-three representatives, being seven additional ones +on account of her slaves. Thus, while 35,000 free persons are requisite +to elect one representative in a State where slavery is prohibited, +25,559 free persons in Virginia may and do elect a representative: so +that five free persons in Virginia have as much power in the choice +of Representatives to Congress, and in the appointment of presidential +electors, as seven free persons in any of the States in which slavery +does not exist. + +This inequality in the apportionment of representatives was not +misunderstood at the adoption of the Constitution, but no one +anticipated the fact that the whole of the revenue of the United States +would be derived from indirect taxes (which cannot be supposed to +spread themselves over the several States according to the rule for the +apportionment of direct taxes), but it was believed that a part of +the contribution to the common treasury would be apportioned among the +States by the rule for the apportionment of representatives. The States +in which slavery is prohibited, ultimately, though with reluctance, +acquiesced in the disproportionate number of representatives and +electors that was secured to the slaveholding States. The concession +was, at the time, believed to be a great one, and has proved to +have been the greatest which was made to secure the adoption of the +Constitution. + +Great, however, as this concession was, it was definite, and its full +extent was comprehended. It was a settlement between the original +thirteen States. The considerations arising out of their actual +condition, their past connection, and the obligation which all felt to +promote a reformation in the Federal Government, were peculiar to the +time and to the parties, and are not applicable to the new States, which +Congress may now be willing to admit into the Union. + +The equality of rights, which includes an equality of burdens, is +a vital principle in our theory of government, and its jealous +preservation is the best security of public and individual freedom; +the departure from this principle in the disproportionate power and +influence, allowed to the slaveholding States, was a necessary sacrifice +to the establishment of the Constitution. The effect of this concession +has been obvious in the preponderance which it has given to the +slaveholding States over the other States. Nevertheless, it is an +ancient settlement, and faith and honor stand pledged not to disturb it. +But the extension of this disproportionate power to the new States would +be unjust and odious. The States whose power would be abridged, and +whose burdens would be increased by the measure, cannot be expected to +consent to it, and we may hope that the other States are too magnanimous +to insist on it. + + * * * * * + +It ought not to be forgotten that the first and main object of the +negotiation which led to the acquisition of Louisiana, was the free +navigation of the Mississippi, a river that forms the sole passage from +the western States to the ocean. This navigation, although of general +benefit, has been always valued and desired, as of peculiar advantage +to the Western States, whose demands to obtain it were neither equivocal +nor unreasonable. But with the river Mississippi, by a sort of coercion, +we acquired, by good or ill fortune, as our future measures shall +determine, the whole province of Louisiana. As this acquisition was made +at the common expense, it is very fairly urged that the advantages to be +derived from it should also be common. This, it is said, will not happen +if slavery be excluded from Missouri, as the citizens of the States +where slavery is permitted will be shut out, and none but citizens of +States where slavery is prohibited, can become inhabitants of Missouri. + +But this consequence will not arise from the proposed exclusion of +slavery. The citizens of States in which slavery is allowed, like all +other citizens, will be free to become inhabitants of Missouri, in like +manner as they have become inhabitants of Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois, +in which slavery is forbidden. The exclusion of slaves from Missouri +will not, therefore, operate unequally among the citizens of the United +States. The Constitution provides, "that the citizens of each State +shall be entitled to enjoy all the rights and immunities of citizens of +the several States"; every citizen may, therefore, remove from one +to another State, and there enjoy the rights and immunities of its +citizens. The proposed provision excludes slaves, not citizens, whose +rights it will not, and cannot impair. + +Besides there is nothing new or peculiar in a provision for the +exclusion of slavery; it has been established in the States north-west +of the river Ohio, and has existed from the beginning in the old States +where slavery is forbidden. The citizens of States where slavery is +allowed, may become inhabitants of Missouri, but cannot hold slaves +there, nor in any other State where slavery is prohibited. As well might +the laws prohibiting slavery in the old States become the subject of +complaint, as the proposed exclusion of slavery in Missouri; but there +is no foundation for such complaint in either case. It is further urged, +that the admission of slaves into Missouri would be limited to the +slaves who are already within the United States; that their health and +comfort would be promoted by their dispersion, and that their numbers +would be the same whether they remain confined to the States where +slavery exists, or are dispersed over the new States that may be +admitted into the Union. + +That none but domestic slaves would be introduced into Missouri, and the +other new and frontier States, is most fully disproved by the thousands +of fresh slaves, which, in violation of our laws, are annually imported +into Alabama, Louisiana, and Mississippi. + +We may renew our efforts, and enact new laws with heavier penalties +against the importation of slaves: the revenue cutters may more +diligently watch our shores, and the naval force may be employed on +the coast of Africa, and on the ocean, to break up the slave trade--but +these means will not put an end to it; so long as markets are open for +the purchase of slaves, so long they will be supplied;--and so long as +we permit the existence of slavery in our new and frontier States, +so long slave markets will exist. The plea of humanity is equally +inadmissible, since no one who has ever witnessed the experiment will +believe that the condition of slaves is made better by the breaking +up, and separation of their families, nor by their removal from the old +States to the new ones; and the objection to the provision of the bill, +excluding slavery from Missouri, is equally applicable to the like +prohibitions of the old States: these should be revoked, in order that +the slaves now confined to certain States, may, for their health and +comfort, and multiplication, be spread over the whole Union. + +Slavery cannot exist in Missouri without the consent of Congress; the +question may therefore be considered, in certain lights, as a new one, +it being the first instance in which an inquiry respecting slavery, in a +case so free from the influence of the ancient laws, usages, and manners +of the country, has come before the Senate. + +The territory of Missouri is beyond our ancient limits, and the inquiry +whether slavery shall exist there, is open to many of the arguments that +might be employed, had slavery never existed within the United States. +It is a question of no ordinary importance. Freedom and slavery are the +parties which stand this day before the Senate; and upon its decision +the empire of the one or the other will be established in the new State +which we are about to admit into the Union. + +If slavery be permitted in Missouri with the climate, and soil, and in +the circumstances of this territory, what hope can be entertained that +it will ever be prohibited in any of the new States that will be formed +in the immense region west of the Mississippi? Will the co-extensive +establishment of slavery and of the new States throughout this region, +lessen the dangers of domestic insurrection, or of foreign aggression? +Will this manner of executing the great trust of admitting new States +into the Union, contribute to assimilate our manners and usages, to +increase our mutual affection and confidence, and to establish that +equality of benefits and burdens which constitutes the true basis of our +strength and union? Will the militia of the nation, which must furnish +our soldiers and seamen, increase as slaves increase? Will the +actual disproportion in the military service of the nation be thereby +diminished?--a disproportion that will be, as it has been, readily +borne, as between the original States, because it arises out of their +compact of Union, but which may become a badge of inferiority, if +required for the protection of those who, being free to choose, persist +in the establishment of maxims, the inevitable effect of which will +deprive them of the power to contribute to the common defence, and even +of the ability to protect themselves. There are limits within which +our federal system must stop; no one has supposed that it could be +indefinitely extended--we are now about to pass our original boundary; +if this can be done without affecting the principles of our free +governments, it can be accomplished only by the most vigilant attention +to plant, cherish, and sustain the principles of liberty in the new +States, that may be formed beyond our ancient limits; with our utmost +caution in this respect, it may still be justly apprehended that the +General Government must be made stronger as we become more extended. + +But if, instead of freedom, slavery is to prevail and spread, as we +extend our dominion, can any reflecting man fail to see the necessity of +giving to the General Government greater powers, to enable it to +afford the protection that will be demanded of it? powers that will be +difficult to control, and which may prove fatal to the public liberties. + + + + +WILLIAM PINKNEY, + +OF MARYLAND. (BORN 1764, DIED 1822.) + +ON THE MISSOURI QUESTION'--UNITED STATES + +SENATE, FEBRUARY 15, 1820. + + +As I am not a very frequent speaker in this assembly, and have shown a +desire, I trust, rather to listen to the wisdom of others than to lay +claim to superior knowledge by undertaking to advise, even when advice, +by being seasonable in point of time, might have some chance of being +profitable, you will, perhaps, bear with me if I venture to trouble you +once more on that eternal subject which has lingered here, until all +its natural interest is exhausted, and every topic connected with it +is literally worn to tatters. I shall, I assure you, sir, speak with +laudable brevity--not merely on account of the feeble state of my +health, and from some reverence for the laws of good taste which forbid +me to speak otherwise, but also from a sense of justice to those +who honor me with their attention. My single purpose, as I suggested +yesterday, is to subject to a friendly, yet close examination, +some portions of a speech, imposing, certainly, on account of the +distinguished quarter from whence it came--not very imposing (if I may +so say, without departing from that respect which I sincerely feel and +intend to manifest for eminent abilities and long experience) for any +other reason. + + * * * * * + +I confess to you, nevertheless, that some of the principles announced +by the honorable gentleman from New York, with an explicitness that +reflected the highest credit on his candor, did, when they were first +presented, startle me not a little. They were not perhaps entirely new. +Perhaps I had seen them before in some shadowy and doubtful shape, + + "If shape it might be called, that shape had none, + Distinguishable in member, joint, or limb?" + +But in the honorable gentleman's speech they were shadowy and doubtful +no longer. He exhibited them in forms so boldly and accurately--with +contours so distinctly traced--with features so pronounced and +striking that I was unconscious for a moment that they might be old +acquaintances. I received them as a _novi hospites_ within these walls, +and gazed upon them with astonishment and alarm. I have recovered, +however, thank God, from this paroxysm of terror, although not from that +of astonishment. I have sought and found tranquillity and courage in +my former consolatory faith. My reliance is that these principles will +obtain no general currency; for, if they should, it requires no gloomy +imagination to sadden the perspective of the future. My reliance is upon +the unsophisticated good sense and noble spirit of the American people. +I have what I may be allowed to call a proud and patriotic trust, that +they will give countenance to no principles which, if followed out to +their obvious consequences, will not only shake the goodly fabric of the +Union to its foundations, but reduce it to a melancholy ruin. The people +of this country, if I do not wholly mistake their character, are wise as +well as virtuous. They know the value of that federal association which +is to them the single pledge and guarantee of power and peace. Their +warm and pious affections will cling to it as to their only hope of +prosperity and happiness, in defiance of pernicious abstractions, by +whomsoever inculcated, or howsoever seductive or alluring in their +aspect.' + + * * * * * + +Sir, it was but the other day that we were forbidden, (properly +forbidden I am sure, for the prohibition came from you,) to assume that +there existed any intention to impose a prospective restraint on +the domestic legislation of Missouri--a restraint to act upon it +contemporaneously with its origin as a State, and to continue adhesive +to it through all the stages of its political existence. We are now, +however, permitted to know that it is determined by a sort of political +surgery to amputate one of the limbs of its local sovereignty, and thus +mangled and disparaged, and thus only, to receive it into the bosom of +the Constitution. It is now avowed that, while Maine is to be ushered +into the Union with every possible demonstration of studious reverence +on our part, and on hers, with colors flying, and all the other graceful +accompaniments of honorable triumph, this ill-conditioned upstart of the +West, this obscure foundling of a wilderness that was but yesterday +the hunting-ground of the savage, is to find her way into the American +family as she can, with an humiliating badge of remediless inferiority +patched upon her garments, with the mark of recent, qualified +manumission upon her, or rather with a brand upon her forehead to tell +the stogy of her territorial vassalage, and to perpetuate the memory of +her evil propensities. It is now avowed that, while the robust district +of Maine is to be seated by the side of her truly respectable parent, +co-ordinate in authority and honor, and is to be dandled into that power +and dignity of which she does not stand in need, but which undoubtedly +she deserves, the more infantine and feeble Missouri is to be repelled +with harshness, and forbidden to come at all, unless with the iron +collar of servitude about her neck, instead of the civic crown of +republican freedom upon her brows, and is to be doomed forever to +leading-strings, unless she will exchange those leading-strings for +shackles. + +I am told that you have the power to establish this odious and revolting +distinction, and I am referred for the proofs of that power to various +parts of the Constitution, but principally to that part of it which +authorizes the admission of new States into the Union. I am myself +of opinion that it is in that part only that the advocates for this +restriction can, with any hope of success, apply for a license to +impose it; and that the efforts which have been made to find it in +other portions of that instrument, are too desperate to require to be +encountered. I shall, however, examine those other portions before I +have done, lest it should be supposed by those who have relied upon +them, that what I omit to answer I believe to be unanswerable. + +The clause of the Constitution which relates to the admission of new +States is in these words: "The Congress may admit new States into this +Union," etc., and the advocates for restriction maintain that the use +of the word "may" imports discretion to admit or to reject; and that in +this discretion is wrapped up another--that of prescribing the terms and +conditions of admission in case you are willing to admit: "_Cujus est +dare ejus est disponere_." I will not for the present inquire whether +this involved discretion to dictate the terms of admission belongs to +you or not. It is fit that I should first look to the nature and extent +of it. + +I think I may assume that if such a power be anything but nominal, it +is much more than adequate to the present object--that it is a power +of vast expansion, to which human sagacity can assign no reasonable +limits--that it is a capacious reservoir of authority, from which you +may take, in all time to come, as occasion may serve, the means of +oppression as well as of benefaction. I know that it professes at this +moment to be the chosen instrument of protecting mercy, and would win +upon us by its benignant smiles; but I know, too, it can frown and play +the tyrant, if it be so disposed. Notwithstanding the softness which it +now assumes, and the care with which it conceals its giant proportions +beneath the deceitful drapery of sentiment, when it next appears before +you it may show itself with a sterner countenance and in more awful +dimensions. It is, to speak the truth, sir, a power of colossal size--if +indeed it be not an abuse of language to call it by the gentle name of a +power. Sir, it is a wilderness of power, of which fancy in her happiest +mood is unable to perceive the far distant and shadowy boundary. Armed +with such a power, with religion in one hand and philanthropy in the +other, and followed with a goodly train of public and private virtues, +you may achieve more conquests over sovereignties not your own than +falls to the common lot of even uncommon ambition. By the aid of such a +power, skilfully employed, you may "bridge your way" over the Hellespont +that separates State legislation from that of Congress; and you may do +so for pretty much the same purpose with which Xerxes once bridged his +way across the Hellespont that separates Asia from Europe. He did so, in +the language of Milton, "the liberties of Greece to yoke." You may do so +for the analogous purpose of subjugating and reducing the sovereignties +of States, as your taste or convenience may suggest, and fashioning +them to your imperial will. There are those in this House who appear +to think, and I doubt not sincerely, that the particular restraint now +under consideration is wise, and benevolent, and good; wise as respects +the Union--good as respects Missouri--benevolent as respects the unhappy +victims whom with a novel kindness it would incarcerate in the south, +and bless by decay and extirpation. Let all such beware, lest in their +desire for the effect which they believe the restriction will produce, +they are too easily satisfied that they have the right to impose it. +The moral beauty of the present purpose, or even its political +recommendations (whatever they may be), can do nothing for a power +like this, which claims to prescribe conditions _ad libitum_, and to +be competent to this purpose, because it is competent to all. This +restriction, if it be not smothered in its birth, will be but a small +part of the progeny of the prolific power. It teems with a mighty brood, +of which this may be entitled to the distinction of comeliness as well +as of primogeniture. The rest may want the boasted loveliness of their +predecessor, and be even uglier than "Lapland witches". + + * * * * * + +I would not discourage authorized legislation upon those kindly, +generous, and noble feelings which Providence has given to us for the +best of purposes; but when power to act is under discussion, I will +not look to the end in view, lest I should become indifferent to the +lawfulness of the means. Let us discard from this high constitutional +question all those extrinsic considerations which have been forced +into its discussion. Let us endeavor to approach it with a philosophic +impartiality of temper--with a sincere desire to ascertain the +boundaries of our authority, and a determination to keep our wishes in +subjection to our allegiance to the Constitution. + +Slavery, we are told in many a pamphlet, memorial, and speech, with +which the press has lately groaned, is a foul blot upon our otherwise +immaculate reputation. Let this be conceded--yet you are no nearer than +before to the conclusion that you possess power which may deal with +other subjects as effectually as with this. Slavery, we are further +told, with some pomp of metaphor, is a canker at the root of all that +is excellent in this republican empire, a pestilent disease that is +snatching the youthful bloom from its cheek, prostrating its honor and +withering its strength. Be it so--yet if you have power to medicine to +it in the way proposed, and in virtue of the diploma which you claim, +you have also power in the distribution of your political alexipharmics +to present the deadliest drugs to every territory that would become a +State, and bid it drink or remain a colony forever. Slavery, we are also +told, is now "rolling onward with a rapid tide towards the boundless +regions of the West," threatening to doom them to sterility and sorrow, +unless some potent voice can say to it,thus far shalt thou go, and no +farther. Slavery engenders pride and indolence in him who commands, and +inflicts intellectual and moral degradation on him who serves. Slavery, +in fine, is unchristian and abominable. Sir, I shall not stop to deny +that slavery is all this and more; but I shall not think myself the less +authorized to deny that it is for you to stay the course of this dark +torrent, by opposing to it a mound raised up by the labors of this +portentous discretion on the domain of others--a mound which you cannot +erect but through the instrumentality of a trespass of no ordinary +kind--not the comparatively innocent trespass that beats down a few +blades of grass which the first kind sun or the next refreshing shower +may cause to spring again--but that which levels with the ground +the lordliest trees of the forest, and claims immortality for the +destruction which it inflicts. + +I shall not, I am sure, be told that I exaggerate this power. It has +been admitted here and elsewhere that I do not. But I want no such +concession. It is manifest that as a discretionary power it is +everything or nothing--that its head is in the clouds, or that it is a +mere figment of enthusiastic speculation--that it has no existence, or +that it is an alarming vortex ready to swallow up all such portions of +the sovereignty of an infant State as you may think fit to cast into +it as preparatory to the introduction into the union of the miserable +residue. No man can contradict me when I say, that if you have this +power, you may squeeze down a new-born sovereign State to the size of a +pigmy, and then taking it between finger and thumb, stick it into some +niche of the Union, and still continue by way of mockery to call it a +State in the sense of the Constitution. You may waste it to a shadow, +and then introduce it into the society of flesh and blood an object of +scorn and derision. You may sweat and reduce it to a thing of skin and +bone, and then place the ominous skeleton beside the ruddy and healthful +members of the Union, that it may have leisure to mourn the lamentable +difference between itself and its companions, to brood over its +disastrous promotion, and to seek in justifiable discontent an +opportunity for separation, and insurrection, and rebellion. What may +you not do by dexterity and perseverance with this terrific power? You +may give to a new State, in the form of terms which it cannot +refuse, (as I shall show you hereafter,) a statute book of a +thousand volumes--providing not for ordinary cases only, but even for +possibilities; you may lay the yoke, no matter whether light or heavy, +upon the necks of the latest posterity; you may send this searching +power into every hamlet for centuries to come, by laws enacted in the +spirit of prophecy, and regulating all those dear relations of domestic +concern which belong to local legislation, and which even local +legislation touches with a delicate and sparing hand. This is the first +inroad. But will it be the last? This provision is but a pioneer for +others of a more desolating aspect. It is that fatal bridge of which +Milton speaks, and when once firmly built, what shall hinder you to pass +it when you please for the purpose of plundering power after power at +the expense of new States, as you will still continue to call them, and +raising up prospective codes irrevocable and immortal, which shall leave +to those States the empty shadows of domestic sovereignty, and convert +them into petty pageants, in themselves contemptible, but rendered +infinitely more so by the contrast of their humble faculties with the +proud and admitted pretensions of those who having doomed them to +the inferiority of vassals, have condescended to take them into their +society and under their protection? + +"New States may be admitted by the Congress into this Union." It is +objected that the word "may" imports power, not obligation--a right to +decide--a discretion to grant or refuse. + +To this it might be answered that power is duty on many occasions. But +let it be conceded that it is discretionary. What consequence follows? +A power to refuse, in a case like this, does not necessarily involve a +power to exact terms. You must look to the result which is the declared +object of the power. Whether you will arrive at it, or not, may depend +on your will; but you cannot compromise with the result intended and +professed. + +What then is the professed result? To admit a State into this Union. + +What is that Union? A confederation of States equal in +sovereignty--capable of everything which the Constitution does not +forbid, or authorize Congress to forbid. It is an equal union, between +parties equally sovereign. They were sovereign independently of the +Union. The object of the Union was common protection for the exercise +of already existing sovereignty. The parties gave up a portion of that +sovereignty to insure the remainder. As far as they gave it up by the +common compact they have ceased to be sovereign. The Union provides the +means of defending the residue; and it is into that Union that a new +State is to come. By acceding to it, the new State is placed on the same +footing with the original States. It accedes for the same purpose, +i.e., protection for their unsurrendered sovereignty. If it comes in shorn +of its beams--crippled and disparaged beyond the original States, it is +not into the original Union that it comes. For it is a different sort +of Union. The first was Union _inter pares_. This is a Union between +"_disparates_"--between giants and a dwarf--between power and +feebleness--between full proportioned sovereignties and a miserable +image of power--a thing which that very Union has shrunk and shrivelled +from its just size, instead of preserving it in its true dimensions. + +It is into this Union, i. e., the Union of the Federal Constitution, +that you are to admit, or refuse to admit. You can admit into no other. +You cannot make the Union, as to the new State, what it is not as to the +old; for then it is not this Union that you open for the entrance of a +new party. If you make it enter into a new and additional compact, is it +any longer the same Union? + +We are told that admitting a State into the Union is a compact. Yes, +but what sort of a compact? A compact that it shall be a member of the +Union, as the Constitution has made it. You cannot new fashion it. You +may make a compact to admit, but when admitted the original compact +prevails. The Union is a compact, with a provision of political power +and agents for the accomplishment of its objects. Vary that compact as +to a new State--give new energy to that political power so as to make it +act with more force upon a new State than upon the old--make the will +of those agents more effectually the arbiter of the fate of a new State +than of the old, and it may be confidently said that the new State has +not entered into this Union, but into another Union. How far the Union +has been varied is another question. But that it has been varied is +clear. + +If I am told that by the bill relative to Missouri, you do not legislate +upon a new State, I answer that you do; and I answer further that it is +immaterial whether you do or not. But it is upon Missouri, as a State, +that your terms and conditions are to act. Until Missouri is a State, +the terms and conditions are nothing. You legislate in the shape of +terms and conditions, prospectively--and you so legislate upon it that +when it comes into the Union it is to be bound by a contract degrading +and diminishing its sovereignty--and is to be stripped of rights which +the original parties to the Union did not consent to abandon, and which +that Union (so far as depends upon it) takes under its protection and +guarantee. + +Is the right to hold slaves a right which Massachusetts enjoys? If it +is, Massachusetts is under this Union in a different character from +Missouri. The compact of Union for it, is different from the +same compact of Union for Missouri. The power of Congress is +different--everything which depends upon the Union is, in that respect, +different. + +But it is immaterial whether you legislate for Missouri as a State or +not. The effect of your legislation is to bring it into the Union with a +portion of its sovereignty taken away. + +But it is a State which you are to admit. What is a State in the sense +of the Constitution? It is not a State in the general--but a State as +you find it in the Constitution. A State, generally, is a body politic +or independent political society of men. But the State which you are to +admit must be more or less than this political entity. What must it be? +Ask the constitution. It shows what it means by a State by reference to +the parties to it. It must be such a State as Massachusetts, Virginia, +and the other members of the American confederacy--a State with full +sovereignty except as the constitution restricts it. + + * * * * * + +In a word, the whole amount of the argument on the other side is, that +you may refuse to admit a new State, and that therefore if you admit, +you may prescribe the terms. + +The answer to that argument is--that even if you can refuse, you can +prescribe no terms which are inconsistent with the act you are to do. +You can prescribe no conditions which, if carried into effect, would +make the new State less a sovereign State than, under the Union as it +stands, it would be. You can prescribe no terms which will make +the compact of Union between it and the original States essentially +different from that compact among the original States. You may admit, or +refuse to admit: but if you admit, you must admit a State in the sense +of the Constitution--a State with all such sovereignty as belongs to the +original parties: and it must be into this Union that you are to admit +it, not into a Union of your own dictating, formed out of the existing +Union by qualifications and new compacts, altering its character and +effect, and making it fall short of its protecting energy in reference +to the new State, whilst it acquires an energy of another sort--the +energy of restraint and destruction. + + * * * * * + +One of the most signal errors with which the argument on the other side +has abounded, is this of considering the proposed restriction as if +levelled at the introduction or establishment of slavery. And hence the +vehement declamation, which, among other things, has informed us that +slavery originated in fraud or violence. + +The truth is, that the restriction has no relation, real or pretended, +to the right of making slaves of those who are free, or of introducing +slavery where it does not already exist. It applies to those who are +admitted to be already slaves, and who (with their posterity) would +continue to be slaves if they should remain where they are at present; +and to a place where slavery already exists by the local law. Their +civil condition will not be altered by their removal from Virginia, or +Carolina, to Missouri. They will not be more slaves than they now are. +Their abode, indeed, will be different, but their bondage the same. +Their numbers may possibly be augmented by the diffusion, and I think +they will. But this can only happen because their hardships will be +mitigated, and their comforts increased. The checks to population, +which exist in the older States, will be diminished. The restriction, +therefore does not prevent the establishment of slavery, either with +reference to persons or place; but simply inhibits the removal from +place to place (the law in each being the same) of a slave, or make his +emancipation the consequence of that removal. It acts professedly merely +on slavery as it exists, and thus acting restrains its present lawful +effects. That slavery, like many other human institutions, originated +in fraud or violence, may be conceded: but, however it originated, it is +established among us, and no man seeks a further establishment of it +by new importations of freemen to be converted into slaves. On the +contrary, all are anxious to mitigate its evils, by all the means within +the reach of the appropriate authority, the domestic legislatures of the +different States. + + * * * * * + +Of the declaration of our independence, which has also been quoted in +support of the perilous doctrines now urged upon us, I need not now +speak at large. I have shown on a former occasion how idle it is to rely +upon that instrument for such a purpose, and I will not fatigue you by +mere repetition. The self-evident truths announced in the Declaration +of Independence are not truths at all, if taken literally; and the +practical conclusions contained in the same passage of that declaration +prove that they were never designed to be so received. + +The articles of confederation contain nothing on the subject; whilst the +actual Constitution recognizes the legal existence of slavery by various +provisions. The power of prohibiting the slave trade is involved in that +of regulating commerce, but this is coupled with an express inhibition +to the exercise of it for twenty years. How then can that Constitution +which expressly permits the importation of slaves authorize the National +Government to set on foot a crusade against slavery? + +The clause respecting fugitive slaves is affirmative and active in its +effects. It is a direct sanction and positive protection of the right of +the master to the services of his slave as derived under the local laws +of the States. The phraseology in which it is wrapped up still leaves +the intention clear, and the words, "persons held to service or labor +in one State under the laws thereof," have always been interpreted to +extend to the case of slaves, in the various acts of Congress which +have been passed to give efficacy to the provision, and in the judicial +application of those laws. So also in the clause prescribing the ratio +of representation--the phrase, "three-fifths of all other persons," +is equivalent to slaves, or it means nothing. And yet we are told that +those who are acting under a Constitution which sanctions the existence +of slavery in those States which choose to tolerate it, are at liberty +to hold that no law can sanction its existence. + +It is idle to make the rightfulness of an act the measure of sovereign +power. The distinction between sovereign power and the moral right +to exercise it has always been recognized. All political power may be +abused, but is it to stop where abuse may begin? The power of declaring +war is a power of vast capacity for mischief, and capable of inflicting +the most wide-spread desolation. But it is given to Congress without +stint and without measure. Is a citizen, or are the courts of justice +to inquire whether that, or any other law, is just, before they obey or +execute it? And are there any degrees of injustice which will withdraw +from sovereign power the capacity of making a given law? + + * * * * * + +The power is "to admit new States into this Union," and it may be safely +conceded that here is discretion to admit or refuse. The question is, +what must we do if we do anything? What must we admit, and into what? +The answer is a State--and into this Union. + +The distinction between Federal rights and local rights, is an idle +distinction. Because the new State acquires Federal rights, it is not, +therefore, in this Union. The Union is a compact; and is it an equal +party to that compact, because it has equal Federal rights? + +How is the Union formed? By equal contributions of power. Make one +member sacrifice more than another, and it becomes unequal. The compact +is of two parts: + +1. The thing obtained--Federal rights. 2. The price paid--local +sovereignty. + +You may disturb the balance of the Union, either by diminishing the +thing acquired, or increasing the sacrifice paid. + +What were the purposes of coming into the Union among the original +States? The States were originally sovereign without limit, as to +foreign and domestic concerns. But being incapable of protecting +themselves singly, they entered into the Union to defend themselves +against foreign violence. The domestic concerns of the people were not, +in general, to be acted on by it. The security of the power, of managing +them by domestic legislature, is one of the great objects of the Union. +The Union is a means, not an end. By requiring greater sacrifices +of domestic power, the end is sacrificed to the means. Suppose the +surrender of all, or nearly all, the domestic powers of legislation were +required; the means would there have swallowed up the end. + +The argument that the compact may be enforced, shows that the Federal +predicament changed. The power of the Union not only acts on persons or +citizens, but on the faculty of the government, and restrains it in a +way which the Constitution nowhere authorizes. This new obligation takes +away a right which is expressly "reserved to the people or the States," +since it is nowhere granted to the government of the Union. You cannot +do indirectly what you cannot do directly. It is said that this Union +is competent to make compacts. Who doubts it? But can you make this +compact? I insist that you cannot make it, because it is repugnant to +the thing to be done. + +The effect of such a compact would be to produce that inequality in the +Union, to which the Constitution, in all its provisions, is adverse. +Everything in it looks to equality among the members of the Union. Under +it you cannot produce inequality. Nor can you get before-hand of the +Constitution, and do it by anticipation. Wait until a State is in the +Union, and you cannot do it; yet it is only upon the State in the Union +that what you do begins to act. + +But it seems that, although the proposed restrictions may not be +justified by the clause of the Constitution which gives power to admit +new States into the Union, separately considered, there are other parts +of the Constitution which, combined with that clause, will warrant it. +And first, we are informed that there is a clause in this instrument +which declares that Congress shall guarantee to every State a republican +form of government; that slavery and such a form of government are +incompatible; and, finally, as a conclusion from these premises, that +Congress not only have a right, but are bound to exclude slavery from a +new State. Here again, sir, there is an edifying inconsistency between +the argument and the measure which it professes to vindicate. By the +argument it is maintained that Missouri cannot have a republican form of +government, and at the same time tolerate negro slavery. By the measure +it is admitted that Missouri may tolerate slavery, as to persons already +in bondage there, and be nevertheless fit to be received into the Union. +What sort of constitutional mandate is this which can thus be made +to bend and truckle and compromise as if it were a simple rule of +expediency that might admit of exceptions upon motives of countervailing +expediency. There can be no such pliancy in the peremptory provisions of +the Constitution. They cannot be obeyed by moieties and violated in the +same ratio. They must be followed out to their full extent, or treated +with that decent neglect which has at least the merit of forbearing to +render contumacy obtrusive by an ostentatious display of the very duty +which we in part abandon. If the decalogue could be observed in this +casuistical manner, we might be grievous sinners, and yet be liable to +no reproach. We might persist in all our habitual irregularities, +and still be spotless. We might, for example, continue to covet our +neighbors' goods, provided they were the same neighbors whose goods we +had before coveted--and so of all the other commandments. + +Will the gentlemen tell us that it is the quantity of slaves, not the +quality of slavery, which takes from a government the republican +form? Will they tell us (for they have not yet told us) that there are +constitutional grounds (to say nothing of common sense) upon which the +slavery which now exists in Missouri may be reconciled with a republican +form of government, while any addition to the number of its slaves (the +quality of slavery remaining the same) from the other States, will +be repugnant to that form, and metamorphose it into some nondescript +government disowned by the Constitution? They cannot have recourse to +the treaty of 1803 for such a distinction, since independently of what I +have before observed on that head, the gentlemen have contended that the +treaty has nothing to do with the matter. + +They have cut themselves off from all chance of a convenient distinction +in or out of that treaty, by insisting that slavery beyond the old +United States is rejected by the Constitution, and by the law of God +as discoverable by the aid of either reason or revelation; and moreover +that the treaty does not include the case, and if it did could not make +it better. They have, therefore, completely discredited their own theory +by their own practice, and left us no theory worthy of being seriously +controverted. This peculiarity in reasoning of giving out a universal +principle, and coupling with it a practical concession that it is wholly +fallacious, has indeed run through the greater part of the arguments +on the other side; but it is not, as I think, the more imposing on that +account, or the less liable to the criticism which I have here bestowed +upon it. + + * * * * * + +But let us proceed to take a rapid glance at the reasons which have been +assigned for this notion that involuntary servitude and a republican +form of government are perfect antipathies. The gentleman from New +Hampshire has defined a republican government to be that in which all +the men participate in its power and privileges; from whence it follows +that where there are slaves, it can have no existence. A definition is +no proof, however, and even if it be dignified (as I think it was) with +the name of a maxim, the matter is not much mended. It is Lord Bacon +who says "That nothing is so easily made as a maxim"; and certainly a +definition is manufactured with equal facility. A political maxim is +the work of induction, and cannot stand against experience, or stand on +anything but experience. But this maxim, or definition, or whatever else +it may be, sets facts at defiance. If you go back to antiquity, you will +obtain no countenance for this hypothesis; and if you look at home you +will gain still less. I have read that Sparta, and Rome, and Athens, and +many others of the ancient family, were republics. They were so in form +undoubtedly--the last approaching nearer to a perfect democracy than any +other government which has yet been known in the world. Judging of +them also by their fruits, they were of the highest order of republics. +Sparta could scarcely be any other than a republic, when a Spartan +matron could say to her son just marching to battle, "Return victorious, +or return no more." + +It was the unconquerable spirit of liberty, nurtured by republican +habits and institutions, that illustrated the pass of Thermopylae. Yet +slavery was not only tolerated in Sparta, but was established by one +of the fundamental laws of Lycurgus, having for its object the +encouragement of that very spirit. Attica was full of slaves--yet the +love of liberty was its characteristic. What else was it that foiled the +whole power of Persia at Marathon and Salamis? What other soil than that +which the genial sun of republican freedom illuminated and warmed, +could have produced such men as Leonidas and Miltiades, Themistocles and +Epaminondas? Of Rome it would be superfluous to speak at large. It is +sufficient to name the mighty mistress of the world, before Sylla gave +the first stab to her liberties and the great dictator accomplished +their final ruin, to be reminded of the practicability of union between +civil slavery and an ardent love of liberty cherished by republican +establishments. + +If we return home for instruction upon this point, we perceive that same +union exemplified in many a State, in which "Liberty has a temple in +every house, an altar in every heart," while involuntary servitude is +seen in every direction. + +Is it denied that those States possess a republican form of government? +If it is, why does our power of correction sleep? Why is the +constitutional guaranty suffered to be inactive? Why am I permitted to +fatigue you, as the representative of a slaveholding State, with the +discussion of the "_nugae canorae_" (for so I think them) that have been +forced into this debate contrary to all the remonstrances of taste +and prudence? Do gentlemen perceive the consequences to which their +arguments must lead if they are of any value? Do they reflect that they +lead to emancipation in the old United States--or to an exclusion of +Delaware, Maryland, and all the South, and a great portion of the West +from the Union? My honorable friend from Virginia has no business here, +if this disorganizing creed be anything but the production of a heated +brain. The State to which I belong, must "perform a lustration"--must +purge and purify herself from the feculence of civil slavery, and +emulate the States of the North in their zeal for throwing down the +gloomy idol which we are said to worship, before her senators can have +any title to appear in this high assembly. It will be in vain to urge +that the old United States are exceptions to the rule--or rather (as the +gentlemen express it), that they have no disposition to apply the rule +to them. There can be no exceptions by implication only, to such a +rule; and expressions which justify the exemption of the old States +by inference, will justify the like exemption of Missouri, unless they +point exclusively to them, as I have shown they do not. The guarded +manner, too, in which some of the gentlemen have occasionally expressed +themselves on this subject, is somewhat alarming. They have no +disposition to meddle with slavery in the old United States. Perhaps +not--but who shall answer for their successors? Who shall furnish a +pledge that the principle once ingrafted into the Constitution, will not +grow, and spread, and fructify, and overshadow the whole land? It is the +natural office of such a principle to wrestle with slavery, wheresoever +it finds it. New States, colonized by the apostles of this principle, +will enable it to set on foot a fanatical crusade against all who still +continue to tolerate it, although no practicable means are pointed out +by which they can get rid of it consistently with their own safety. At +any rate, a present forbearing disposition, in a few or in many, is not +a security upon which much reliance can be placed upon a subject as to +which so many selfish interests and ardent feelings are connected with +the cold calculations of policy. Admitting, however, that the old United +States are in no danger from this principle--why is it so? There can be +no other answer (which these zealous enemies of slavery can use) than +that the Constitution recognizes slavery as existing or capable of +existing in those States. The Constitution, then, admits that slavery +and a republican form of government are not incongruous. It associates +and binds them up together and repudiates this wild imagination which +the gentlemen have pressed upon us with such an air of triumph. But the +Constitution does more, as I have heretofore proved. It concedes that +slavery may exist in a new State, as well as in an old one--since the +language in which it recognizes slavery comprehends new States as well +as actual. I trust then that I shall be forgiven if I suggest, that no +eccentricity in argument can be more trying to human patience, than a +formal assertion that a constitution, to which slave-holding States were +the most numerous parties, in which slaves are treated as property +as well as persons, and provision is made for the security of that +property, and even for an augmentation of it by a temporary importation +from Africa, with a clause commanding Congress to guarantee a republican +form of government to those very States, as well as to others, +authorizes you to determine that slavery and a republican form of +government cannot coexist. + +But if a republican form of government is that in which all the men have +a share in the public power, the slave-holding States will not alone +retire from the Union. The constitutions of some of the other States do +not sanction universal suffrage, or universal eligibility. They require +citizenship, and age, and a certain amount of property, to give a title +to vote or to be voted for; and they who have not those qualifications +are just as much disfranchised, with regard to the government and its +power, as if they were slaves. They have civil rights indeed (and +so have slaves in a less degree; ) but they have no share in the +government. Their province is to obey the laws, not to assist in making +them. All such States must therefore be forisfamiliated with Virginia +and the rest, or change their system. For the Constitution being +absolutely silent on those subjects, will afford them no protection. The +Union might thus be reduced from an Union to an unit. Who does not see +that such conclusions flow from false notions--that the true theory of a +republican government is mistaken--and that in such a government rights, +political and civil, may be qualified by the fundamental law, upon such +inducements as the freemen of the country deem sufficient? That civil +rights may be qualified as well as political, is proved by a +thousand examples. Minors, resident aliens, who are in a course of +naturalization--the other sex, whether maids, or wives, or widows, +furnish sufficient practical proofs of this. + + * * * * * + +We are next invited to study that clause of the Constitution which +relates to the migration or importation, before the year 1808, of such +persons as any of the States then existing should think proper to admit. +It runs thus: "The migration or importation of such persons as any +of the States now existing shall think proper to admit, shall not be +prohibited by the Congress prior to the year one thousand eight hundred +and eight, but a tax or duty may be imposed on such importation not +exceeding ten dollars for each person." + +It is said that this clause empowers Congress, after the year 1808, +to prohibit the passage of slaves from State to State, and the word +"migration" is relied upon for that purpose. + + * * * * * + +Whatever may be the latitude in which the word "persons" is capable of +being received, it is not denied that the word "importation" indicates +a bringing in from a jurisdiction foreign to the United States. The two +termini of the importation, here spoken of, are a foreign country and +the American Union--the first the _terminus a quo_, the second the +_terminus ad quem_. The word migration stands in simple connexion with +it, and of course is left to the full influence of that connection. +The natural conclusion is, that the same termini belong to each, or, in +other words, that if the importation must be abroad, so also must be +the migration--no other termini being assigned to the one which are not +manifestly characteristic of the other. This conclusion is so obvious, +that to repel it, the word migration requires, as an appendage, +explanatory phraseology, giving to it a different beginning from that +of importation. To justify the conclusion that it was intended to mean a +removal from State to State, each within the sphere of the constitution +in which it is used, the addition of the words from one to another State +in this Union, were indispensable. By the omission of these words, the +word "migration" is compelled to take every sense of which it is fairly +susceptible from its immediate neighbor, "importation." In this view +it means a coming, as "importation" means a bringing, from a foreign +jurisdiction into the United States. That it is susceptible of this +meaning, nobody doubts. I go further. It can have no other meaning in +the place in which it is found. It is found in the Constitution of this +Union--which, when it speaks of migration as of a general concern, must +be supposed to have in view a migration into the domain which itself +embraces as a general government. + +Migration, then, even if it comprehends slaves, does not mean the +removal of them from State to State, but means the coming of slaves +from places beyond their limits and their power. And if this be so, the +gentlemen gain nothing for their argument by showing that slaves were +the objects of this term. + +An honorable gentleman from Rhode Island, whose speech was distinguished +for its ability, and for an admirable force of reasoning, as well to +as by the moderation and mildness of its spirit, informed us, with less +discretion than in general he exhibited, that the word "migration" was +introduced into this clause at the instance of some of the Southern +States, who wished by its instrumentality to guard against a prohibition +by Congress of the passage into those States of slaves from other +States. He has given us no authority for this supposition, and it is, +therefore, a gratuitous one. How improbable it is, a moment's reflection +will convince him. The African slave trade being open during the whole +of the time to which the entire clause in question referred, such a +purpose could scarcely be entertained; but if it had been entertained, +and there was believed to be a necessity for securing it, by a +restriction upon the power of Congress to interfere with it, is it +possible that they who deemed it important, would have contented +themselves with a vague restraint, which was calculated to operate +in almost any other manner than that which they desired? If fear and +jealousy, such as the honorable gentleman has described, had dictated +this provision, a better term than that of "migration," simple and +unqualified, and joined, too, with the word "importation," would have +been found to tranquilize those fears and satisfy that jealousy. Fear +and jealousy are watchful, and are rarely seen to accept a security +short of their object, and less rarely to shape that security, of their +own accord, in such a way as to make it no security at all. They always +seek an explicit guaranty; and that this is not such a guaranty this +debate has proved, if it has proved nothing else. + + + + +WENDELL PHILLIPS, + +OF MASSACHUSETTS. (BORN 1811, DIED 1884.) + +ON THE MURDER OF LOVEJOY; + +FANEUIL HALL, BOSTON, DECEMBER 8, 1837 + + + +MR. CHAIRMAN: + +We have met for the freest discussion of these resolutions, and the +events which gave rise to them. [Cries of "Question," "Hear him," "Go +on," "No gagging," etc.] I hope I shall be permitted to express my +surprise at the sentiments of the last speaker, surprise not only at +such sentiments from such a man, but at the applause they have received +within these walls. A comparison has been drawn between the events of +the Revolution and the tragedy at Alton. We have heard it asserted here, +in Faneuil Hall, that Great Britain had a right to tax the colonies, +and we have heard the mob at Alton, the drunken murderers of Lovejoy, +compared to those patriot fathers who threw the tea overboard! Fellow +citizens, is this Faneuil Hall doctrine? ["No, no."] The mob at Alton +were met to wrest from a citizen his just rights--met to resist the +laws. We have been told that our fathers did the same; and the glorious +mantle of Revolutionary precedent has been thrown over the mobs of our +day. To make out their title to such defence, the gentleman says that +the British Parliament had a right to tax these colonies. It is manifest +that, without this, his parallel falls to the ground, for Lovejoy +had stationed himself within constitutional bulwarks. He was not only +defending the freedom of the press, but he was under his own roof, in +arms with the sanction of the civil authority. The men who assailed him +went against and over the laws. The mob, as the gentleman terms it--mob, +forsooth! certainly we sons of the tea-spillers are a marvellously +patient generation!--the "orderly mob" which assembled in the Old +South to destroy the tea, were met to resist, not the laws, but illegal +enactions. Shame on the American who calls the tea tax and stamp act +laws! Our fathers resisted, not the King's prerogative, but the King's +usurpation. To find any other account, you must read our Revolutionary +history upside down. Our State archives are loaded with arguments +of John Adams to prove the taxes laid by the British Parliament +unconstitutional--beyond its power. It was not until this was made out +that the men of New England rushed to arms. The arguments of the Council +Chamber and the House of Representatives preceded and sanctioned the +contest. To draw the conduct of our ancestors into a precedent for mobs, +for a right to resist laws we ourselves have enacted, is an insult to +their memory. The difference between the excitements of those days and +our own, which the gentleman in kindness to the latter has overlooked, +is simply this: the men of that day went for the right, as secured +by the laws. They were the people rising to sustain the laws and +constitution of the Province. The rioters of our days go for their +own wills, right or wrong. Sir, when I heard the gentleman lay down +principles which place the murderers of Alton side by side with Otis and +Hancock, with Quincy and Adams, I thought those pictured lips [pointing +to the portraits in the Hall] would have broken into voice to rebuke the +recreant American--the slanderer of the dead. The gentleman said that he +should sink into insignificance if he dared to gainsay the principles +of these resolutions. Sir, for the sentiments he has uttered, on soil +consecrated by the prayers of Puritans and the blood of patriots, the +earth should have yawned and swallowed him up. + +[By this time, the uproar in the Hall had risen so high that the speech +was suspended for a short time. Applause and counter applause, cries of +"Take that back," "Make him take back recreant," "He sha'n't go on till +he takes it back," and counter cries of "Phillips or nobody," continued +until the pleadings of well-known citizens had somewhat restored order, +when Mr. Phillips resumed.] + +Fellow citizens, I cannot take back my words. Surely the +Attorney-General, so long and so well known here, needs not the aid of +your hisses against one so young as I am--my voice never before heard +within these walls! + + * * * * * + +I must find some fault with the statement which has been made of the +events at Alton. It has been asked why Lovejoy and his friends did not +appeal to the executive--trust their defence to the police of the city? +It has been hinted that, from hasty and ill-judged excitement, the men +within the building provoked a quarrel, and that he fell in the course +of it, one mob resisting another. Recollect, sir, that they did act with +the approbation and sanction of the Mayor. In strict truth, there was +no executive to appeal to for protection. The Mayor acknowledged that +he could not protect them. They asked him if it was lawful for them to +defend themselves. He told them it was, and sanctioned their assembling +in arms to do so. They were not, then, a mob; they were not merely +citizens defending their own property; they were in some sense the +_posse comitatus_, adopted for the occasion into the police of the city, +acting under the order of a magistrate. It was civil authority resisting +lawless violence. Where, then, was the imprudence? Is the doctrine to +be sustained here that it is imprudent for men to aid magistrates in +executing the laws? + +Men are continually asking each other, Had Lovejoy a right to resist? +Sir, I protest against the question instead of answering it. Lovejoy did +not resist, in the sense they mean. He did not throw himself back on the +natural right of self-defence. He did not cry anarchy, and let slip the +dogs of civil war, careless of the horrors which would follow. Sir, as +I understand this affair, it was not an individual protecting his +property; it was not one body of armed men resisting another, and making +the streets of a peaceful city run blood with their contentions. It did +not bring back the scenes in some old Italian cities, where family met +family, and faction met faction, and mutually trampled the laws under +foot. No! the men in that house were regularly enrolled, under the +sanction of the Mayor. There being no militia in Alton, about seventy +men were enrolled with the approbation of the Mayor. These relieved each +other every other night. About thirty men were in arms on the night +of the sixth, when the press was landed. The next evening, it was not +thought necessary to summon more than half that number; among these was +Lovejoy. It was, therefore, you perceive, sir, the police of the city +resisting rioters--civil government breasting itself to the shock of +lawless men. + +Here is no question about the right of self-defence. It is in fact +simply this: Has the civil magistrate a right to put down a riot? + +Some persons seem to imagine that anarchy existed at Alton from the +commencement of these disputes. Not at all. "No one of us," says an +eyewitness and a comrade of Lovejoy, "has taken up arms during these +disturbances but at the command of the Mayor." Anarchy did not settle +down on that devoted city till Lovejoy breathed his last. Till then the +law, represented in his person, sustained itself against its foes. +When he fell, civil authority was trampled under foot. He had "planted +himself on his constitutional rights,"--appealed to the laws,--claimed +the protection of the civil authority,--taken refuge under "the broad +shield of the Constitution. When through that he was pierced and fell, +he fell but one sufferer in a common catastrophe." He took refuge under +the banner of liberty--amid its folds; and when he fell, its glorious +stars and stripes, the emblem of free institutions, around which cluster +so many heart-stirring memories, were blotted out in the martyr's blood. + +It has been stated, perhaps inadvertently, that Lovejoy or his comrades +fired first. This is denied by those who have the best means of knowing. +Guns were first fired by the mob. After being twice fired on, those +within the building consulted together and deliberately returned the +fire. But suppose they did fire first. They had a right so to do; +not only the right which every citizen has to defend himself, but the +further right which every civil officer has to resist violence. Even +if Lovejoy fired the first gun, it would not lessen his claim to our +sympathy, or destroy his title to be considered a martyr in defence of a +free press. The question now is, Did he act within the constitution and +the laws? The men who fell in State Street, on the 5th of March, 1770, +did more than Lovejoy is charged with. They were the first assailants +upon some slight quarrel, they pelted the troops with every missile +within reach. Did this bate one jot of the eulogy with which Hancock and +Warren hallowed their memory, hailing them as the first martyrs in the +cause of American liberty? If, sir, I had adopted what are called Peace +principles, I might lament the circumstances of this case. But all you +who believe as I do, in the right and duty of magistrates to execute the +laws, join with me and brand as base hypocrisy the conduct of those who +assemble year after year on the 4th of July to fight over the battles of +the Revolution, and yet "damn with faint praise" or load with obloquy, +the memory of this man who shed his blood in defence of life, liberty, +property, and the freedom of the press! + +Throughout that terrible night I find nothing to regret but this, that, +within the limits of our country, civil authority should have been so +prostrated as to oblige a citizen to arm in his own defence, and to arm +in vain. The gentleman says Lovejoy was presumptuous and imprudent--he +"died as the fool dieth." And a reverend clergyman of the city tells +us that no citizen has a right to publish opinions disagreeable to the +community! If any mob follows such publication, on him rests its guilt. +He must wait, forsooth, till the people come up to it and agree with +him! This libel on liberty goes on to say that the want of right to +speak as we think is an evil inseparable from republican institutions! +If this be so, what are they worth? Welcome the despotism of the Sultan, +where one knows what he may publish and what he may not, rather than the +tyranny of this many-headed monster, the mob, where we know not what we +may do or say, till some fellow-citizen has tried it, and paid for the +lesson with his life. This clerical absurdity chooses as a check for the +abuses of the press, not the law, but the dread of a mob. By so doing, +it deprives not only the individual and the minority of their rights, +but the majority also, since the expression of their opinion may +sometime provoke disturbances from the minority. A few men may make a +mob as well as many. The majority then, have no right, as Christian men, +to utter their sentiments, if by any possibility it may lead to a mob! +Shades of Hugh Peters and John Cotton, save us from such pulpits! + +Imprudent to defend the liberty of the press! Why? Because the defence +was unsuccessful? Does success gild crime into patriotism, and the want +of it change heroic self-devotion to imprudence? Was Hampden imprudent +when he drew the sword and threw away the scabbard? Yet he, judged by +that single hour, was unsuccessful. After a short exile, the race he +hated sat again upon the throne. + +Imagine yourself present when the first news of Bunker Hill battle +reached a New England town. The tale would have run thus: "The patriots +are routed,--the redcoats victorious, Warren lies dead upon the field." +With what scorn would that Tory have been received, who should have +charged Warren with imprudence! who should have said that, bred a +physician, he was "out of place" in that battle, and "died as the fool +dieth." How would the intimation have been received, that Warren and his +associates should have merited a better time? But if success be indeed +the only criterion of prudence, _Respice finem_,--wait till the end! + +_Presumptuous_ to assert the freedom of the press on American ground! Is +the assertion of such freedom before the age? So much before the age as +to leave one no right to make it because it displeases the community? +Who invents this libel on his country? It is this very thing which +entitles Lovejoy to greater praise. The disputed right which provoked +the Revolution--taxation without representation--is far beneath that +for which he died. [Here there was a general expression of strong +disapprobation.] One word, gentlemen. As much as thought is better than +money, so much is the cause in which Lovejoy died nobler than a mere +question of taxes. James Otis thundered in this hall when the King did +but touch his pocket. Imagine, if you can, his indignant eloquence had +England offered to put a gag upon his lips. The question that stirred +the Revolution touched our civil interests. This concerns us not only as +citizens, but as immortal beings. Wrapped up in its fate, saved or lost +with it, are not only the voice of the statesman, but the instructions +of the pulpit and the progress of our faith. + +The clergy, "marvellously out of place" where free speech is battled +for--liberty of speech on national sins! Does the gentleman remember +that freedom to preach was first gained, dragging in its train freedom +to print? I thank the clergy here present, as I reverence their +predecessors, who did not so far forget their country in their immediate +profession as to deem it duty to separate themselves from the struggle +of '76--the Mayhews and Coopers, who remembered that they were citizens +before they were clergymen. + +Mr. Chairman, from the bottom of my heart I thank that brave little band +at Alton for resisting. We must remember that Lovejoy had fled from city +to city,--suffered the destruction of three presses patiently. At length +he took counsel with friends, men of character, of tried integrity, of +wide views, of Christian principle. They thought the crisis had come; it +was full time to assert the laws. They saw around them, not a community +like our own, of fixed habits, of character moulded and settled, but one +"in the gristle, not yet hardened into the bone of manhood." The +people there, children of our older States, seem to have forgotten the +blood-tried principles of their fathers the moment they lost sight +of our New England hills. Something was to be done to show them the +priceless value of the freedom of the press, to bring back and set right +their wandering and confused ideas. He and his advisers looked out on +a community, staggering like a drunken man, indifferent to their rights +and confused in their feelings. Deaf to argument, haply they might +be stunned into sobriety. They saw that of which we cannot judge, the +necessity of resistance. Insulted law called for it. Public opinion, +fast hastening on the downward course, must be arrested. + +Does not the event show they judged rightly? Absorbed in a thousand +trifles, how has the nation all at once come to a stand? Men begin, as +in 1776 and 1640, to discuss principles, to weigh characters, to find +out where they are. Haply we may awake before we are borne over the +precipice. + +I am glad, sir, to see this crowded house, It is good for us to be here. +When Liberty is in danger Faneuil Hall has the right, it is her duty, to +strike the key-note for these United States. I am glad, for one reason, +that remarks such as those to which I have alluded have been uttered +here. The passage of these resolutions, in spite of this opposition, +led by the Attorney-General of the Commonwealth, will show more clearly, +more decisively, the deep indignation with which Boston regards this +outrage. + + +[Illustration: John Q. Adams] + + + + +JOHN QUINCY ADAMS, + +OF MASSACHUSETTS. (BORN 1767, DIED 1848.) + +ON THE CONSTITUTIONAL WAR POWER OVER SLAVERY + +--HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, MAY 25, 1836. + + +There are, then, Mr. Chairman, in the authority of Congress and of the +Executive, two classes of powers, altogether different in their nature, +and often incompatible with each other--the war power and the peace +power. The peace power is limited by regulations and restricted by +provisions, prescribed within the constitution itself. The war power is +limited only by the laws and usages of nations. The power is tremendous; +it is strictly constitutional, but it breaks down every barrier so +anxiously erected for the protection of liberty, of property, and +of life. This, sir, is the power which authorizes you to pass the +resolution now before you, and, in my opinion, there is no other. + +And this, sir, is the reason which I was not permitted to give this +morning for voting with only eight associates against the first +resolution reported by the committee on the abolition petitions; not one +word of discussion had been permitted on either of those resolutions. +When called to vote upon the first of them, I asked only five minutes of +the time of the House to prove that it was utterly unfounded, It was not +the pleasure of the House to grant me those five minutes. Sir, I must +say that, in all the proceedings of the House upon that report, from the +previous question, moved and inflexibly persisted in by a member of +the committee itself which reported the resolutions, (Mr. Owens, of +Georgia,) to the refusal of the Speaker, sustained by the majority of +the House, to permit the other gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Glascock) to +record upon the journal his reasons for asking to be excused from voting +on that same resolution, the freedom of debate has been stifled in this +House to a degree far beyond any thing that ever happened since +the existence of the Constitution of the United States; nor is it a +consolatory reflection to me how intensely we have been made to feel, +in the process of that operation, that the Speaker of this House is a +slaveholder. And, sir, as I was not then permitted to assign my reasons +for voting against that resolution before I gave the vote, I rejoice +that the reason for which I shall vote for the resolution now before the +committee is identically the same with that for which I voted against +that. + +[Mr. Adams at this, and at many other passages of this speech, was +interrupted by calls to order. The Chairman of the Committee (Mr. A. H. +Shepperd, of North Carolina,) in every instance, decided that he was not +out of order, but at this passage intimated that he was approaching +very close upon its borders; upon which Mr. Adams said, "Then I am to +under-stand, sir, that I am yet within the bounds of order, but that I +may transcend them hereafter."] + + * * * * * + +And, now, sir, am I to be disconcerted and silenced, or admonished by +the Chair that I am approaching to irrelevant matter, which may warrant +him to arrest me in my argument, because I say that the reason for which +I shall vote for the resolution now before the committee, levying a +heavy contribution upon the property of my constituents, is identically +the same with the reason for which I voted against the resolution +reported by the slavery committee, that Congress have no authority to +interfere, in any way, with slavery in any of the States of this Union. +Sir, I was not allowed to give my reasons for that vote, and a majority +of my constituents, perhaps proportionately as large as that of this +House in favor of that resolution, may and probably will disapprove my +vote against, unless my reasons for so voting should be explained to +them. I asked but five minutes of the House to give those reasons, and +was refused. I shall, therefore, take the liberty to give them now, as +they are strictly applicable to the measure now before the Committee, +and are my only justification for voting in favor of this resolution. + +I return, then, to my first position, that there are two classes of +powers vested by the Constitution of the United States in their Congress +and Executive Government: the powers to be exercised in the time of +peace, and the powers incidental to war. That the powers of peace are +limited by provisions within the body of the Constitution itself, but +that the powers of war are limited and regulated only by the laws and +usages of nations. There are, indeed, powers of peace conferred upon +Congress, which also come within the scope and jurisdiction of the laws +of nations, such as the negotiation of treaties of amity and commerce, +the interchange of public ministers and consuls, and all the personal +and social intercourse between the individual inhabitants of the United +States and foreign nations, and the Indian tribes, which require the +interposition of any law. But the powers of war are all regulated by the +laws of nations, and are subject to no other limitation. It is by this +power that I am justified in voting the money of my constituents for +the immediate relief of their fellow-citizens suffering with extreme +necessity even for subsistence, by the direct consequence of an +Indian war. Upon the same principle, your consuls in foreign ports are +authorized to provide for the subsistence of seamen in distress, and +even for their passage to their own country. + +And it was upon that same principle that I voted against the +resolution reported by the slavery committee, "That Congress possess no +constitutional authority to interfere, in any way, with the institution +of slavery in any of the States of this confederacy," to which +resolution most of those with whom I usually concur, and even my own +colleagues in this House, gave their assent. I do not admit that there +is even among the peace powers of Congress no such authority; but in war +there are many ways by which Congress not only have the authority, but +are bound to interfere with the institution of slavery in the States. +The existing law prohibiting the importation of slaves into the United +States from foreign countries, is itself an interference with the +institution of slavery in the States. It was so considered by the +founders of the Constitution of the United States, in which it was +stipulated that Congress should not interfere, in that way, with the +institution, prior to the year 1808. + +During the late war with Great Britain the military and naval commanders +of that nation issued proclamations inviting the slaves to repair to +their standards, with promises of freedom and of settlement in some of +the British colonial establishments. This, surely, was an interference +with the institution of slavery in the States. By the treaty of peace, +Great Britain stipulated to evacuate all the forts and places in the +United States, without carrying away any slaves. If the Government of +the United States had no authority to interfere, in any way, with +the institution of slavery in the States, they would not have had +the authority to require this stipulation. It is well known that +this engagement was not fulfilled by the British naval and military +commanders; that, on the contrary, they did carry away all the slaves +whom they had induced to join them, and that the British Government +inflexibly refused to restore any of them to their masters; that a claim +of indemnity was consequently instituted in behalf of the owners of the +slaves, and was successfully maintained. All that series of transactions +was an interference by Congress with the institution of slavery in the +States in one way--in the way of protection and support. It was by the +institution of slavery alone that the restitution of slaves enticed by +proclamations into the British service could be claimed as property. +But for the institution of slavery, the British commanders could neither +have allured them to their standard, nor restored them otherwise than +as liberated prisoners of war. But for the institution of slavery, there +could have been no stipulation that they should not be carried away +as property, nor any claim of indemnity for the violation of that +engagement. + +But the war power of Congress over the institution of slavery in the +States is yet far more extensive. Suppose the case of a servile war, +complicated, as to some extent it is even now, with an Indian war; +suppose Congress were called to raise armies, to supply money from the +whole Union, to suppress a servile insurrection: would they have no +authority to interfere with the institution of slavery? The issue of a +servile war may be disastrous. By war the slave may emancipate himself; +it may become necessary for the master to recognize his emancipation by +a treaty of peace; can it for an instant be pretended that Congress, +in such a contingency, would have no authority to interfere with the +institution of slavery, in any way, in the States? Why, it would be +equivalent to saying that Congress have no constitutional authority to +make peace. + + +[Illustration: John C. Calhoun] + + + + +JOHN C. CALHOUN, + +OF SOUTh CAROLINA (BORN 1782, DIED 1850.) + +ON THE SLAVERY QUESTION, + +SENATE, MARCH 4, 1850 + + +I have, Senators, believed from the first that the agitation of the +subject of slavery would, if not prevented by some timely and effective +measure, end in disunion. Entertaining this opinion, I have, on all +proper occasions, endeavored to call the attention of both the two great +parties which divide the country to adopt some measure to prevent so +great a disaster, but without success. The agitation has been permitted +to proceed, with almost no attempt to resist it, until it has reached a +point when it can no longer be disguised or denied that the Union is in +danger. You have thus had forced upon you the greatest and the gravest +question that can ever come under your consideration: How can the Union +be preserved? + +To give a satisfactory answer to this mighty question, it is +indispensable to have an accurate and thorough knowledge of the nature +and the character of the cause by which the Union is endangered. Without +such knowledge it is impossible to pronounce, with any certainty, by +what measure it can be saved; just as it would be impossible for a +physician to pronounce, in the case of some dangerous disease, with any +certainty, by what remedy the patient could be saved, without similar +knowledge of the nature and character of the cause which produced +it. The first question, then, presented for consideration, in the +investigation I propose to make, in order to obtain such knowledge, is: +What is it that has endangered the Union? + +To this question there can be but one answer: That the immediate +cause is the almost universal discontent which pervades all the States +composing the southern section of the Union. This widely-extended +discontent is not of recent origin. It commenced with the agitation +of the slavery question, and has been increasing ever since. The +next question, going one step further back, is: What has caused this +widely-diffused and almost universal discontent? + +It is a great mistake to suppose, as is by some, that it originated +with demagogues, who excited the discontent with the intention of aiding +their personal advancement, or with the disappointed ambition of certain +politicians, who resorted to it as a means of retrieving their fortunes. +On the contrary, all the great political influences of the section were +arrayed against excitement, and exerted to the utmost to keep the people +quiet. The great mass of the people of the South were divided, as in the +other section, into Whigs and Democrats. The leaders and the presses of +both parties in the South were very solicitous to prevent excitement and +to preserve quiet; because it was seen that the effects of the former +would necessarily tend to weaken, if not destroy, the political ties +which united them with their respective parties in the other section. +Those who know the strength of the party ties will readily appreciate +the immense force which this cause exerted against agitation, and in +favor of preserving quiet. But, great as it was, it was not sufficient +to prevent the wide-spread discontent which now pervades the section. +No; some cause, far deeper and more powerful than the one supposed, must +exist, to account for discontent so wide and deep. The question then +recurs: What is the cause of this discontent? It will be found in +the belief of the people of the Southern States, as prevalent as +the discontent itself, that they cannot remain, as things now are, +consistently with honor and safety, in the Union. The next question to +be considered is: What has caused this belief? + +One of the causes is, undoubtedly, to be traced to the long-continued +agitation of the slavery question on the part of the North, and the many +aggressions which they have made on the rights of the South during the +time. I will not enumerate them at present, as it will be done hereafter +in its proper place. + +There is another lying back of it--with which this is intimately +connected--that may be regarded as the great and primary cause. This is +to be found in the fact, that the equilibrium between the two sections, +in the Government as it stood when the Constitution was ratified and +the Government put in action, has been destroyed. At that time there was +nearly a perfect equilibrium between the two, which afforded ample means +to each to protect itself against the aggression of the other; but, as +it now stands, one section has the exclusive power of controlling +the Government, which leaves the other without any adequate means of +protecting itself against its encroachment and oppression. To place +this subject distinctly before you, I have, Senators, prepared a brief +statistical statement, showing the relative weight of the two sections +in the Government under the first census of 1790, and the last census of +1840. + +According to the former, the population of the United States, including +Vermont, Kentucky, and Tennessee, which then were in their incipient +condition of becoming States, but were not actually admitted, amounted +to 3,929,827. Of this number the Northern States had 1,997,899, and the +Southern 1,952,072, making a difference of only 45,827 in favor of the +former States. + +The number of States, including Vermont, Kentucky, and Tennessee, were +sixteen; of which eight, including Vermont, belonged to the northern +section, and eight, including Kentucky and Tennessee, to the +southern,--making an equal division of the States between the two +sections, under the first census. There was a small preponderance in the +House of Representatives, and in the Electoral College, in favor of the +northern, owing to the fact that, according to the provisions of the +Constitution, in estimating federal numbers five slaves count but three; +but it was too small to affect sensibly the perfect equilibrium which, +with that exception, existed at the time. Such was the equality of +the two sections when the States composing them agreed to enter into a +Federal Union. Since then the equilibrium between them has been greatly +disturbed. + +According to the last census the aggregate population of the United +States amounted to 17,063,357, of which the northern section contained +9,728,920, and the southern 7,334,437, making a difference in round +numbers, of 2,400,000. The number of States had increased from sixteen +to twenty-six, making an addition of ten States. In the meantime +the position of Delaware had become doubtful as to which section she +properly belonged. Considering her as neutral, the Northern States will +have thirteen and the Southern States twelve, making a difference in +the Senate of two senators in favor of the former. According to the +apportionment under the census of 1840, there were two hundred and +twenty-three members of the House of Representatives, of which the +North-ern States had one hundred and thirty-five, and the Southern +States (considering Delaware as neutral) eighty-seven, making a +difference in favor of the former in the House of Representatives of +forty-eight. The difference in the Senate of two members, added to this, +gives to the North in the Electoral College, a majority of fifty. Since +the census of 1840, four States have been added to the Union--Iowa, +Wisconsin, Florida, and Texas. They leave the difference in the Senate +as it was when the census was taken; but add two to the side of the +North in the House, making the present majority in the House in its +favor fifty, and in the Electoral College fifty-two. + +The result of the whole is to give the northern section a predominance +in every department of the Government, and thereby concentrate in it +the two elements which constitute the Federal Government,--majority +of States, and a majority of their population, estimated in federal +numbers. Whatever section concentrates the two in itself possesses the +control of the entire Government. + +But we are just at the close of the sixth decade, and the commencement +of the seventh. The census is to be taken this year, which must add +greatly to the decided preponderance of the North in the House of +Representatives and in the Electoral College. The prospect is, also, +that a great increase will be added to its present preponderance in the +Senate, during the period of the decade, by the addition of new States. +Two territories, Oregon and Minnesota, are already in progress, and +strenuous efforts are making to bring in three additional States' from +the territory recently conquered from Mexico; which, if successful, will +add three other States in a short time to the northern section, making +five States; and increasing the present number of its States from +fifteen to twenty, and of its senators from thirty to forty. On the +contrary, there is not a single territory in progress in the southern +section, and no certainty that any additional State will be added to it +during the decade. The prospect then is, that the two sections in the +senate, should the effort now made to exclude the South from the newly +acquired territories succeed, will stand before the end of the decade, +twenty Northern States to fourteen Southern (considering Delaware as +neutral), and forty Northern senators to twenty-eight Southern. This +great increase of senators, added to the great increase of members of +the House of Representatives and the Electoral College on the part of +the North, which must take place under the next decade, will effectually +and irretrievably destroy the equilibrium which existed when the +Government commenced. + +Had this destruction been the operation of time, without the +interference of Government, the South would have had no reason to +complain; but such was not the fact. It was caused by the legislation +of this Government, which was appointed as the common agent of all, and +charged with the protection of the interests and security of all. The +legislation by which it has been effected may be classed under three +heads. The first is, that series of acts by which the South has been +excluded from the common territory belonging to all the States as +members of the Federal Union--which have had the effect of extending +vastly the portion allotted to the northern section, and restricting +within narrow limits the portion left the South. the next consists +in adopting a system of revenue and disbursements, by which an undue +proportion of the burden of taxation has been imposed upon the South, +and an undue proportion of its proceeds appropriated to the North; +and the last is a system of political measures, by which the original +character of the Government has been radically changed. I propose to +bestow upon each of these, in the order they stand, a few remarks, with +the view of showing that it is owing to the action of this Government +that the equilibrium between the two sections has been destroyed, and +the whole powers of the system centered in a sectional majority. + +The first of the series of Acts by which the South was deprived of its +due share of the territories, originated with the confederacy which +preceded the existence of this Government. It is to be found in the +provision of the ordinance of 1787. Its effect was to exclude the South +entirely from that vast and fertile region which lies between the Ohio +and the Mississippi rivers, now embracing five States and one Territory. +The next of the series is the Missouri compromise, which excluded the +South from that large portion of Louisiana which lies north of 36° 30', +excepting what is included in the State of Missouri. The last of the +series excluded the South from the whole of Oregon Territory. All these, +in the slang of the day, were what are called slave territories,' and +not free soil; that is, territories belonging to slaveholding powers and +open to the emigration of masters with their slaves. By these +several Acts the South was excluded from one million two hundred and +thirty-eight thousand and twenty-five square miles--an extent of country +considerably exceeding the entire valley of the Mississippi. To the +South was left the portion of the Territory of Louisiana lying south of +36° 30', and the portion north of it included in the State of Missouri, +with the portion lying south of 36° 30' including the States of +Louisiana and Arkansas, and the territory lying west of the latter, and +south of 36° 30', called the Indian country. These, with the Territory +of Florida, now the State, make, in the whole, two hundred and +eighty-three thousand five hundred and three square miles. To this must +be added the territory acquired with Texas. If the whole should be added +to the southern section it would make an increase of three hundred and +twenty-five thousand five hundred and twenty, which would make the whole +left to the South six hundred and nine thousand and twenty-three. But a +large part of Texas is still in contest between the two sections, which +leaves it uncertain what will be the real extent of the proportion of +territory that may be left to the South. + +I have not included the territory recently acquired by the treaty with +Mexico. The North is making the most strenuous efforts to appropriate +the whole to herself, by excluding the South from every foot of it. If +she should succeed, it will add to that from which the South has already +been excluded, 526,078 square miles, and would increase the whole which +the North has appropriated to herself, to 1,764,023, not including the +portion that she may succeed in excluding us from in Texas. To sum up +the whole, the United States, since they declared their independence, +have acquired 2,373,046 square miles of territory, from which the North +will have excluded the South, if she should succeed in monopolizing the +newly acquired territories, about three fourths of the whole, leaving to +the South but about one fourth. + +Such is the first and great cause that has destroyed the equilibrium +between the two sections in the Government. + +The next is the system of revenue and disbursements which has been +adopted by the Government. It is well known that the Government has +derived its revenue mainly from duties on imports. I shall not undertake +to show that such duties must necessarily fall mainly on the exporting +States, and that the South, as the great exporting portion of the Union, +has in reality paid vastly more than her due proportion of the revenue; +because I deem it unnecessary, as the subject has on so many occasions +been fully discussed. Nor shall I, for the same reason, undertake to +show that a far greater portion of the revenue has been disbursed at the +North, than its due share; and that the joint effect of these causes +has been, to transfer a vast amount from South to North, which, under an +equal system of revenue and disbursements, would not have been lost to +her. If to this be added, that many of the duties were imposed, not for +revenue, but for protection,--that is, intended to put money, not in +the treasury, but directly into the pockets of the manufacturers,--some +conception may be formed of the immense amount which, in the long course +of sixty years, has been transferred from South to North. There are no +data by which it can be estimated with any certainty; but it is safe to +say that it amounts to hundreds of millions of dollars. Under the most +moderate estimate, it would be sufficient to add greatly to the wealth +of the North, and thus greatly increase her population by attracting +emigration from all quarters to that section. + +This, combined with the great primary cause, amply explains why the +North has acquired a preponderance in every department of the Government +by its disproportionate increase of population and States. The former, +as has been shown, has increased, in fifty years, 2,400,000 over that +of the South. This increase of population, during so long a period, +is satisfactorily accounted for, by the number of emigrants, and the +increase of their descendants, which have been attracted to the northern +section from Europe and the South, in consequence of the advantages +derived from the causes assigned. If they had not existed--if the South +had retained all the capital which had been extracted from her by the +fiscal action of the Government; and, if it had not been excluded by +the ordinance of 1787 and the Missouri compromise, from the region lying +between the Ohio and the Mississippi rivers, and between the Mississippi +and the Rocky Mountains north of 36° 30'--it scarcely admits of a +doubt, that it would have divided the emigration with the North, and +by retaining her own people, would have at least equalled the North in +population under the census of 1840, and probably under that about to +be taken. She would also, if she had retained her equal rights in those +territories, have maintained an equality in the number of States with +the North, and have preserved the equilibrium between the two sections +that existed at the commencement of the Government. The loss, then, of +the equilibrium is to be attributed to the action of this Government. + +But while these measures were destroying the equilibrium between the two +sections, the action of the Government was leading to a radical change +in its character, by concentrating all the power of the system in +itself. The occasion will not permit me to trace the measures by which +this great change has been consummated. If it did, it would not be +difficult to show that the process commenced at an early period of the +Government; and that it proceeded, almost without interruption, step by +step, until it virtually absorbed its entire powers; but without +going through the whole process to establish the fact, it may be done +satisfactorily by a very short statement. + +That the Government claims, and practically maintains, the right to +decide in the last resort, as to the extent of its powers, will scarcely +be denied by any one conversant with the political history of the +country. That it also claims the right to resort to force to maintain +whatever power it claims against all opposition is equally certain. +Indeed it is apparent, from what we daily hear, that this has become the +prevailing and fixed opinion of a great majority of the community. +Now, I ask, what limitation can possibly be placed upon the powers of a +government claiming and exercising such rights? And, if none can be, +how can the separate governments of the States maintain and protect +the powers reserved to them by the Constitution--or the people of the +several States maintain those which are reserved to them, and among +others, the sovereign powers by which they ordained and established, not +only their separate State Constitutions and Governments, but also the +Constitution and Government of the United States? But, if they have no +constitutional means of maintaining them against the right claimed by +this Government, it necessarily follows, that they hold them at its +pleasure and discretion, and that all the powers of the system are in +reality concentrated in it. It also follows, that the character of the +Government has been changed in consequence, from a federal republic, as +it originally came from the hands of its framers, into a great +national consolidated democracy. It has indeed, at present, all the +characteristics of the latter, and not of the former, although it still +retains its outward form. + +The result of the whole of those causes combined is, that the North has +acquired a decided ascendency over every department of this Government, +and through it a control over all the powers of the system. A single +section governed by the will of the numerical majority, has now, in +fact, the control of the Government and the entire powers of the system. +What was once a constitutional federal republic, is now converted, in +reality, into one as absolute as that of the Autocrat of Russia, and as +despotic in its tendency as any absolute government that ever existed. + +As, then, the North has the absolute control over the Government, it is +manifest that on all questions between it and the South, where there is +a diversity of interests, the interest of the latter will be sacrificed +to the former, however oppressive the effects may be; as the South +possesses no means by which it can resist, through the action of the +Government. But if there was no question of vital importance to the +South, in reference to which there was a diversity of views between the +two sections, this state of things might be endured without the hazard +of destruction to the South. But such is not the fact. There is a +question of vital importance to the southern section, in reference to +which the views and feelings of the two sections are as opposite and +hostile as they can possibly be. + +I refer to the relation between the two races in the southern section, +which constitutes a vital portion of her social organization. Every +portion of the North entertains views and feelings more or less hostile +to it. Those most opposed and hostile, regard it as a sin, and consider +themselves under the most sacred obligation to use every effort to +destroy it. Indeed, to the extent that they conceive that they have +power, they regard themselves as implicated in the sin, and responsible +for not suppressing it by the use of all and every means. Those +less opposed and hostile, regarded it as a crime--an offence against +humanity, as they call it; and, although not so fanatical, feel +themselves bound to use all efforts to effect the same object; while +those who are least opposed and hostile, regard it as a blot and a +stain on the character of what they call the Nation, and feel themselves +accordingly bound to give it no countenance or support. On the contrary, +the southern section regards the relation as one which cannot be +destroyed without subjecting the two races to the greatest calamity, and +the section to poverty, desolation, and wretchedness; and accordingly +they feel bound, by every consideration of interest and safety, to +defend it. + +This hostile feeling on the part of the North toward the social +organization of the South long lay dormant, and it only required some +cause to act on those who felt most intensely that they were responsible +for its continuance, to call it into action. The increasing power of +this Government, and of the control of the northern section over all its +departments, furnished the cause. It was this which made the impression +on the minds of many, that there was little or no restraint to prevent +the Government from doing whatever it might choose to do. This was +sufficient of itself to put the most fanatical portion of the North in +action, for the purpose of destroying the existing relation between the +two races in the South. + +The first organized movement toward it commenced in 1835. Then, for the +first time, societies were organized, presses established, lecturers +sent forth to excite the people of the North, and incendiary +publications scattered over the whole South, through the mail. The South +was thoroughly aroused. Meetings were held everywhere, and resolutions +adopted, calling upon the North to apply a remedy to arrest the +threatened evil, and pledging themselves to adopt measures for their +own protection, if it was not arrested. At the meeting of Congress, +petitions poured in from the North, calling upon Congress to abolish +slavery in the District of Columbia, and to prohibit, what they called, +the internal slave trade between the States--announcing at the same +time, that their ultimate object was to abolish slavery, not only in the +District, but in the States and throughout the Union. At this period, +the number engaged in the agitation was small, and possessed little or +no personal influence. + +Neither party in Congress had, at that time, any sympathy with them or +their cause. The members of each party presented their petitions with +great reluctance. Nevertheless, small, and contemptible as the party +then was, both of the great parties of the North dreaded them. They +felt, that though small, they were organized in reference to a subject +which had a great and commanding influence over the northern mind. +Each party, on that account, feared to oppose their petitions, lest +the opposite party should take advantage of the one who might do so, by +favoring them. The effect was, that both united in insisting that the +petitions should be received, and that Congress should take jurisdiction +over the subject. To justify their course, they took the extraordinary +ground, that Congress was bound to receive petitions on every subject, +however objectionable they might be, and whether they had, or had not, +jurisdiction over the subject. Those views prevailed in the House +of Representatives, and partially in the Senate; and thus the party +succeeded in their first movements, in gaining what they proposed--a +position in Congress, from which agitation could be extended over the +whole Union. This was the commencement of the agitation, which has ever +since continued, and which, as is now acknowledged, has endangered the +Union itself. + +As for myself, I believed at that early period, if the party who got up +the petitions should succeed in getting Congress to take jurisdiction, +that agitation would follow, and that it would in the end, if not +arrested, destroy the Union. I then so expressed myself in debate, and +called upon both parties to take grounds against assuming jurisdiction; +but in vain. Had my voice been heeded, and had Congress refused to take +jurisdiction, by the united votes of all parties, the agitation which +followed would have been prevented, and the fanatical zeal that gave +impulse to the agitation, and which has brought us to our present +perilous condition, would have become extinguished, from the want of +fuel to feed the flame. That was the time for the North to have shown +her devotion to the Union; but, unfortunately, both of the great +parties of that section were so intent on obtaining or retaining party +ascendency, that all other considerations were overlooked or forgotten. + +What has since followed are but natural consequences. With the success +of their first movement, this small fanatical party began to acquire +strength; and with that, to become an object of courtship to both the +great parties. The necessary consequence was, a further increase of +power, and a gradual tainting of the opinions of both the other parties +with their doctrines,until the infection has extended over both; and the +great mass of the population of the North, who, whatever may be their +opinion of the original abolition party, which still preserves its +distinctive organization, hardly ever fail, when it comes to acting, +to cooperate in carrying out their measures. With the increase of their +influence, they extended the sphere of their action. In a short time +after the commencement of their first movement, they had acquired +sufficient influence to induce the legislatures of most of the Northern +States to pass acts, which in effect abrogated the clause of the +Constitution that provides for the delivery up of fugitive slaves. Not +long after, petitions followed to abolish slavery in forts, magazines, +and dock-yards, and all other places where Congress had exclusive +power of legislation. This was followed by petitions and resolutions of +legislatures of the Northern States, and popular meetings, to exclude +the Southern States from all territories acquired, or to be acquired, +and to prevent the admission of any State hereafter into the Union, +which, by its constitution, does not prohibit slavery. And Congress is +invoked to do all this, expressly with the view of the final abolition +of slavery in the States. That has been avowed to be the ultimate object +from the beginning of the agitation until the present time; and yet the +great body of both parties of the North, with the full knowledge of the +fact, although disavowing the abolitionists, have co-operated with them +in almost all their measures. + +Such is a brief history of the agitation, as far as it has yet advanced. +Now I ask, Senators, what is there to prevent its further progress, +until it fulfils the ultimate end proposed, unless some decisive measure +should be adopted to prevent it? Has any one of the causes, which has +added to its increase from its original small and contemptible beginning +until it has attained its present magnitude, diminished in force? Is the +original cause of the movement--that slavery is a sin, and ought to be +suppressed--weaker now than at the commencement? Or is the abolition +party less numerous or influential, or have they less influence with, +or less control over the two great parties of the North in elections? Or +has the South greater means of influencing or controlling the movements +of this Government now, than it had when the agitation commenced? To +all these questions but one answer can be given: No, no, no. The very +reverse is true. Instead of being weaker, all the elements in favor +of agitation are stronger now than they were in 1835, when it first +commenced, while all the elements of influence on the part of the South +are weaker. Unless something decisive is done, I again ask, what is +to stop this agitation, before the great and final object at which it +aims--the abolition of slavery in the States--is consummated? Is it, +then, not certain, that if something is not done to arrest it, the South +will be forced to choose between abolition and secession? Indeed, as +events are now moving, it will not require the South to secede, in order +to dissolve the Union. Agitation will of itself effect it, of which its +past history furnishes abundant proof--as I shall next proceed to show. + +It is a great mistake to suppose that disunion can be effected by a +single blow. The cords which bound these States together in one common +Union, are far too numerous and powerful for that. Disunion must be the +work of time. It is only through a long process, and successively, that +the cords can be snapped, until the whole fabric falls asunder. Already +the agitation of the slavery question has snapped some of the most +important, and has greatly weakened all the others, as I shall proceed +to show. + +The cords that bind the States together are not only many, but various +in character. Some are spiritual or ecclesiastical; some political; +others social. Some appertain to the benefit conferred by the Union, and +others to the feeling of duty and obligation. + +The strongest of those of a spiritual and ecclesiastical nature, +consisted in the unity of the great religious denominations, all of +which originally embraced the whole Union. All these denominations, with +the exception, perhaps, of the Catholics, were organized very much upon +the principle of our political institutions. Beginning with smaller +meetings, corresponding with the political divisions of the country, +their organization terminated in one great central assemblage, +corresponding very much with the character of Congress. At these +meetings the principal clergymen and lay members of the respective +denominations from all parts of the Union, met to transact business +relating to their common concerns. It was not confined to what +appertained to the doctrines and discipline of the respective +denominations, but extended to plans for disseminating the +Bible--establishing missions, distributing tracts--and of establishing +presses for the publication of tracts, newspapers, and periodicals, with +a view of diffusing religious information--and for the support of their +respective doctrines and creeds. All this combined contributed +greatly to strengthen the bonds of the Union. The ties which held each +denomination together formed a strong cord to hold the whole Union +together, but, powerful as they were, they have not been able to resist +the explosive effect of slavery agitation. + +The first of these cords which snapped, under its explosive force, was +that of the powerful Methodist Episcopal Church. The numerous and strong +ties which held it together, are all broken, and its unity is gone. They +now form separate churches; and, instead of that feeling of attachment +and devotion to the interests of the whole church which was formerly +felt, they are now arrayed into two hostile bodies, engaged in +litigation about what was formerly their common property. + +The next cord that snapped was that of the Baptists--one of the largest +and most respectable of the denominations. That of the Presbyterian is +not entirely snapped, but some of its strands have given way. That +of the Episcopal Church is the only one of the four great Protestant +denominations which remains unbroken and entire. + +The strongest cord, of a political character, consists of the many and +powerful ties that have held together the two great parties which have, +with some modifications, existed from the beginning of the Government. +They both extended to every portion of the Union, and strongly +contributed to hold all its parts together. But this powerful cord has +fared no better than the spiritual. It resisted, for a long time, the +explosive tendency of the agitation, but has finally snapped under its +force--if not entirely, in a great measure. Nor is there one of the +remaining cords which has not been greatly weakened. To this extent the +Union has already been destroyed by agitation, in the only way it can +be, by sundering and weakening the cords which bind it together. + +If the agitation goes on, the same force, acting with increased +intensity, as has been shown, will finally snap every cord, when nothing +will be left to hold the States together except force. But, surely, that +can, with no propriety of language, be called a Union, when the only +means by which the weaker is held connected with the stronger portion +is force. It may, indeed, keep them connected; but the connection will +partake much more of the character of subjugation, on the part of the +weaker to the stronger, than the union of free, independent States, in +one confederation, as they stood in the early stages of the Government, +and which only is worthy of the sacred name of Union. + +Having now, Senators, explained what it is that endangers the Union, +and traced it to its cause, and explained its nature and character, the +question again recurs, How can the Union be saved? To this I answer, +there is but one way by which it can be, and that is by adopting such +measures as will satisfy the States belonging to the southern section, +that they can remain in the Union consistently with their honor and +their safety. There is, again, only one way by which this can be +effected, and that is by removing the causes by which this belief has +been produced. Do this, and discontent will cease, harmony and kind +feelings between the sections be restored, and every apprehension of +danger to the Union be removed. The question, then, is, How can this be +done? But, before I undertake to answer this question, I propose to show +by what the Union cannot be saved. + +It cannot, then, be saved by eulogies on the Union, however splendid +or numerous. The cry of "Union, Union, the glorious Union!" can no more +prevent disunion than the cry of "Health, health, glorious health!" on +the part of the physician, can save a patient lying dangerously ill. So +long as the Union, instead of being regarded as a protector, is regarded +in the opposite character, by not much less than a majority of the +States, it will be in vain to attempt to conciliate them by pronouncing +eulogies on it. + +Besides, this cry of Union comes commonly from those whom we cannot +believe to be sincere. It usually comes from our assailants. But we +cannot believe them to be sincere; for, if they loved the Union, +they would necessarily be devoted to the Constitution. It made the +Union,--and to destroy the Constitution would be to destroy the +Union. But the only reliable and certain evidence of devotion to the +Constitution is to abstain, on the one hand, from violating it, and +to repel, on the other, all attempts to violate it. It is only by +faithfully performing these high duties that the Constitution can be +preserved, and with it the Union. + +But how stands the profession of devotion to the Union by our +assailants, when brought to this test? Have they abstained from +violating the Constitution? Let the many acts passed by the Northern +States to set aside and annul the clause of the Constitution providing +for the delivery up of fugitive slaves answer. I cite this, not that +it is the only instance (for there are many others), but because the +violation in this particular is too notorious and palpable to be denied. +Again: Have they stood forth faithfully to repel violations of the +Constitution? Let their course in reference to the agitation of the +slavery question, which was commenced and has been carried on for +fifteen years, avowedly for the purpose of abolishing slavery in the +States--an object all acknowledged to be unconstitutional,--answer. Let +them show a single instance, during this long period, in which they have +denounced the agitators or their attempts to effect what is admitted to +be unconstitutional, or a single measure which they have brought forward +for that purpose. How can we, with all these facts before us, believe +that they are sincere in their profession of devotion to the Union, or +avoid believing their profession is but intended to increase the vigor +of their assaults and to weaken the force of our resistance? + +Nor can we regard the profession of devotion to the Union, on the part +of those who are not our assailants, as sincere, when they pronounce +eulogies upon the Union, evidently with the intent of charging us +with disunion, without uttering one word of denunciation against our +assailants. If friends of the Union, their course should be to unite +with us in repelling these assaults, and denouncing the authors as +enemies of the Union. Why they avoid this, and pursue the course they +do, it is for them to explain. + +Nor can the Union be saved by invoking the name of the illustrious +Southerner whose mortal remains repose on the western bank of the +Potomac. He was one of us,--a slave-holder and a planter. We have +studied his history, and find nothing in it to justify submission to +wrong. On the contrary, his great fame rests on the solid foundation, +that, while he was careful to avoid doing wrong to others, he was +prompt and decided in repelling wrong. I trust that, in this respect, we +profited by his example. + +Nor can we find any thing in his history to deter us from seceding +from the Union, should it fail to fulfil the objects for which it was +instituted, by being permanently and hopelessly converted into the means +of oppressing instead of protecting us. On the contrary, we find much +in his example to encourage us, should we be forced to the extremity of +deciding between submission and disunion. + +There existed then, as well as now, a union--between the parent country +and her colonies. It was a union that had much to endear it to the +people of the colonies. Under its protecting and superintending care, +the colonies were planted and grew up and prospered, through a long +course of years, until they be-came populous and wealthy. Its benefits +were not limited to them. Their extensive agricultural and other +productions, gave birth to a flourishing commerce, which richly rewarded +the parent country for the trouble and expense of establishing and +protecting them. Washing-ton was born and grew up to manhood under that +Union. He acquired his early distinction in its service, and there is +every reason to believe that he was devotedly attached to it. But his +devotion was a national one. He was attached to it, not as an end, but +as a means to an end. When it failed to fulfil its end, and, instead +of affording protection, was converted into the means of oppressing +the colonies, he did not hesitate to draw his sword, and head the great +movement by which that union was forever severed, and the independence +of these States established. This was the great and crowning glory +of his life, which has spread his fame over the whole globe, and will +transmit it to the latest posterity. + +Nor can the plan proposed by the distinguished Senator from Kentucky, +nor that of the administration, save the Union. I shall pass by, +without remark, the plan proposed by the Senator. I, however, assure +the distinguished and able Senator, that, in taking this course, no +disrespect whatever is intended to him or to his plan. I have adopted +it because so many Senators of distinguished abilities, who were present +when he delivered his speech, and explained his plan, and who were fully +capable to do justice to the side they support, have replied to +him. * * * + +Having now shown what cannot save the Union, I return to the question +with which I commenced, How can the Union be saved? There is but one +way by which it can with any certainty; and that is, by a full and final +settlement, on the principle of justice, of all the questions at issue +between the two sections. The South asks for justice, simple justice, +and less she ought not to take. She has no compromise to offer, but the +Constitution; and no concession or surrender to make. She has already +surrendered so much that she has little left to surrender. Such a +settlement would go to the root of the evil, and remove all cause of +discontent, by satisfying the South that she could remain honorably +and safely in the Union, and thereby restore the harmony and fraternal +feelings between the sections, which existed anterior to the Missouri +agitation. Nothing else can, with any certainty, finally and forever +settle the question at issue, terminate agitation, and save the Union. + +But can this be done? Yes, easily; not by the weaker party, for it can, +of itself do nothing,--not even protect itself--but by the stronger. The +North has only to will it to accomplish it--to do justice by conceding +to the South an equal right in the acquired territory, and to do her +duty by causing the stipulations relative to fugitive slaves to be +faithfully fulfilled, to cease the agitation of the slave question, and +to provide for the insertion of a provision in the Constitution, by an +amendment, which will restore to the South, in substance, the power +she possessed of protecting herself, before the equilibrium between the +sections was destroyed by the action of this Government. There will be +no difficulty in devising such a provision--one that will protect the +South, and which, at the same time, will improve and strengthen the +Government, instead of impairing and weakening it. + +But will the North agree to this? It is for her to answer the question. +But, I will say, she cannot refuse, if she has half the love for the +Union which she professes to have, or without justly exposing herself to +the charge that her love of power and aggrandizement is far greater than +her love of the Union. At all events the responsibility of saving the +Union rests on the North, and not on the South. The South cannot save +it by any act of hers, and the North may save it without any sacrifice +whatever, unless to do justice, and to perform her duties under the +Constitution, should be regarded by her as a sacrifice. + +It is time, Senators, that there should be an open and manly avowal on +all sides, as to what is intended to be done. If the question is not now +settled, it is uncertain whether it ever can hereafter be; and we, +as the representatives of the States of this Union, regarded as +governments, should come to a distinct understanding as to our +respective views, in order to ascertain whether the great questions at +issue can be settled or not. If you, who represent the stronger portion, +cannot agree to settle on the broad principle of justice and duty, say +so; and let the States we both represent agree to separate and part in +peace. If you are unwilling we should part in peace, tell us so, and +we shall know what to do, when you reduce the question to submission or +resistance. If you remain silent, you will compel us to infer by your +acts what you intend. In that case, California will become the test +question. If you admit her, under all the difficulties that oppose her +admission, you compel us to infer that you intend to exclude us from +the whole of the acquired territories, with the intention of destroying, +irretrievably, the equilibrium between the two sections. We would be +blind not to perceive in that case, that your real objects are power and +aggrandizement, and infatuated, not to act accordingly. + +I have now, Senators, done my duty in ex-pressing my opinions fully, +freely and candidly, on this solemn occasion. In doing so, I have been +governed by the motives which have governed me in all the stages of the +agitation of the slavery question since its commencement. I have exerted +myself, during the whole period, to arrest it, with the intention of +saving the Union, if it could be done; and if it could not, to save +the section where it has pleased Providence to cast my lot, and which I +sincerely believe has justice and the Constitution on its side. Having +faithfully done my duty to the best of my ability, both to the Union and +my section, throughout this agitation, I shall have the consolation, let +what will come, that I am free from all responsibility. + + +[Illustration: Daniel Webster] + + + + +DANIEL WEBSTER, + +OF MASSACHUSETTS. (BORN, 1782, DIED, 1852.) + +ON THE CONSTITUTION AND THE UNION; + +SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES, MARCH 7, 1850. + + +MR. PRESIDENT: + +I wish to speak to-day, not as a Massachusetts man, nor as a northern +man, but as an American, and a member of the Senate of the United +States. It is fortunate that there is a Senate of the United States; a +body not yet moved from its propriety, nor lost to a just sense of its +own dignity and its own high responsibilities, and a body to which +the country looks, with confidence, for wise, moderate, patriotic, and +healing counsels. It is not to be denied that we live in the midst of +strong agitations and are surrounded by very considerable dangers to +our institutions and government. The imprisoned winds are let loose. +The East, the North, and the stormy South combine to throw the whole +sea into commotion, to toss its billows to the skies, and disclose its +profoundest depths. I do not affect to regard myself, Mr. President, +as holding, or fit to hold, the helm in this combat with the political +elements; but I have a duty to perform, and I mean to perform it with +fidelity, not without a sense of existing dangers, but not without +hope. I have a part to act, not for my own security or safety, for I am +looking out for no fragment upon which to float away from the wreck, if +wreck there must be, but for the good of the whole, and the preservation +of all; and there is that which will keep me to my duty during this +struggle, whether the sun and the stars shall appear for many days. I +speak to-day for the preservation of the Union. "Hear me for my +cause." I speak to-day out of a solicitous and anxious heart, for the +restoration to the country of that quiet and that harmony which make the +blessings of this Union so rich, and so dear to us all. These are the +topics that I propose to myself to discuss; these are the motives, +and the sole motives, that influence me in the wish to communicate +my opinions to the Senate and the country; and if I can do any +thing, however little, for the promotion of these ends, I shall have +accomplished all that I expect. + +* * * We all know, sir, that slavery has existed in the world from time +immemorial. There was slavery in the earliest periods of history, among +the Oriental nations. There was slavery among the Jews; the theocratic +government of that people issued no injunction against it. There was +slavery among the Greeks. * * * At the introduction of Christianity, the +Roman world was full of slaves, and I suppose there is to be found no +injunction against that relation between man and man in the teachings +of the Gospel of Jesus Christ or of any of his apostles. * * * Now, sir, +upon the general nature and influence of slavery there exists a wide +difference of opinion between the northern portion of this country and +the southern. It is said on the one side, that, although not the subject +of any injunction or direct prohibition in the New Testament, slavery +is a wrong; that it is founded merely in the right of the strongest; and +that it is an oppression, like unjust wars, like all those conflicts by +which a powerful nation subjects a weaker to its will; and that, in its +nature, whatever may be said of it in the modifications which have taken +place, it is not according to the meek spirit of the Gospel. It is not +"kindly affectioned"; it does not "seek another's, and not its own"; +it does not "let the oppressed go free." These are sentiments that are +cherished, and of late with greatly augmented force, among the people of +the Northern States. They have taken hold of the religious sentiment of +that part of the country, as they have, more or less, taken hold of the +religious feelings of a considerable portion of mankind. The South upon +the other side, having been accustomed to this relation between the two +races all their lives; from their birth, having been taught, in general, +to treat the subjects of this bondage with care and kindness, and I +believe, in general, feeling great kindness for them, have not taken +the view of the subject which I have mentioned. There are thousands of +religious men, with consciences as tender as any of their brethren at +the North, who do not see the unlawfulness of slavery; and there are +more thousands, perhaps, that, whatsoever they may think of it in its +origin, and as a matter depending upon natural rights, yet take things +as they are, and, finding slavery to be an established relation of the +society in which they live, can see no way in which, let their opinions +on the abstract question be what they may, it is in the power of this +generation to relieve themselves from this relation. And candor obliges +me to say, that I believe they are just as conscientious many of them, +and the religious people, all of them, as they are at the North who hold +different opinions. * * * + +There are men who, with clear perceptions, as they think, of their own +duty, do not see how too eager a pursuit of one duty may involve them in +the violation of others, or how too warm an embracement of one truth +may lead to a disregard of other truths just as important. As I heard it +stated strongly, not many days ago, these persons are disposed to mount +upon some particular duty, as upon a war-horse, and to drive furiously +on and upon and over all other duties that may stand in the way. There +are men who, in reference to disputes of that sort, are of opinion that +human duties may be ascertained with the exactness of mathematics. They +deal with morals as with mathematics; and they think what is right may +be distinguished from what is wrong with the precision of an algebraic +equation. They have, therefore, none too much charity toward others who +differ from them. They are apt, too, to think that nothing is good but +what is perfect, and that there are no compromises or modifications to +be made in consideration of difference of opinion or in deference to +other men's judgment. If their perspicacious vision enables them to +detect a spot on the face of the sun, they think that a good reason why +the sun should be struck down from heaven. They prefer the chance +of running into utter darkness to living in heavenly light, if that +heavenly light be not absolutely without any imperfection. * * * + +But we must view things as they are. Slavery does exist in the +United States. It did exist in the States before the adoption of this +Constitution, and at that time. Let us, therefore, consider for a +moment what was the state of sentiment, North and South, in regard +to slavery,--in regard to slavery, at the time this Constitution was +adopted. A remarkable change has taken place since; but what did the +wise and great men of all parts of the country think of slavery then? In +what estimation did they hold it at the time when this Constitution was +adopted? It will be found, sir, if we will carry ourselves by historical +research back to that day, and ascertain men's opinions by authentic +records still existing among us, that there was no diversity of opinion +between the North and the South upon the subject of slavery. It will be +found that both parts of the country held it equally an evil, a moral +and political evil. It will not be found that, either at the North or +at the South, there was much, though there was some, invective against +slavery as inhuman and cruel. The great ground of objection to it was +political; that it weakened the social fabric; that, taking the place +of free labor, society became less strong and labor less productive; +and therefore we find from all the eminent men of the time the clearest +expression of their opinion that slavery is an evil. They ascribed its +existence here, not without truth, and not without some acerbity of +temper and force of language, to the injurious policy of the mother +country, who, to favor the navigator, had entailed these evils upon the +colonies. * * * You observe, sir, that the term slave, or slavery, is +not used in the Constitution. The Constitution does not require that +"fugitive slaves" shall be delivered up. It requires that persons held +to service in one State, and escaping into another, shall be delivered +up. Mr. Madison opposed the introduction of the term slave, or slavery, +into the Constitution; for he said, that he did not wish to see it +recognized by the Constitution of the United States of America that +there could be property in men. * * * + +Here we may pause. There was, if not an entire unanimity, a general +concurrence of sentiment running through the whole community, and +especially entertained by the eminent men of all parts of the country. +But soon a change began, at the North and the South, and a difference +of opinion showed itself; the North growing much more warm and strong +against slavery, and the South growing much more warm and strong in its +support. Sir, there is no generation of mankind whose opinions are not +subject to be influenced by what appear to them to be their present +emergent and exigent interests. I impute to the South no particularly +selfish view in the change which has come over her. I impute to her +certainly no dishonest view. All that has happened has been natural. +It has followed those causes which always influence the human mind and +operate upon it. What, then, have been the causes which have created so +new a feeling in favor of slavery in the South, which have changed the +whole nomenclature of the South on that subject, so that, from being +thought and described in the terms I have mentioned and will not repeat, +it has now become an institution, a cherished institution, in that +quarter; no evil, no scourge, but a great religious, social, and moral +blessing, as I think I have heard it latterly spoken of? I suppose this, +sir, is owing to the rapid growth and sudden extension of the cotton +plantations of the South. So far as any motive consistent with honor, +justice, and general judgment could act, it was the cotton interest +that gave a new desire to promote slavery, to spread it, and to use its +labor. + +I again say that this change was produced by causes which must always +produce like effects. The whole interest of the South became connected, +more or less, with the extension of slavery. If we look back to the +history of the commerce of this country in the early years of this +government, what were our exports? Cotton was hardly, or but to a very +limited extent, known. In 1791 the first parcel of cotton of the growth +of the United States was exported, and amounted only to 19,200 pounds. +It has gone on increasing rapidly, until the whole crop may now, +perhaps, in a season of great product and high prices, amount to a +hundred millions of dollars. In the years I have mentioned, there was +more of wax, more of indigo, more of rice, more of almost every article +of export from the South, than of cotton. When Mr. Jay negotiated the +treaty of 1794 with England, it is evident from the Twelfth Article of +the Treaty, which was suspended by the Senate, that he did not know that +cotton was exported at all from the United States. + + * * * * * + +Sir, there is not so remarkable a chapter in our history of political +events, political parties, and political men as is afforded by this +admission of a new slave-holding territory, so vast that a bird cannot +fly over it in a week. New England, as I have said, with some of her +own votes, supported this measure. Three-fourths of the votes of +liberty-loving Connecticut were given for it in the other house, and one +half here. There was one vote for it from Maine but, I am happy to say, +not the vote of the honorable member who addressed the Senate the day +before yesterday, and who was then a Representative from Maine in the +House of Representatives; but there was one vote from Maine, ay, and +there was one vote for it from Massachusetts, given by a gentleman then +representing, and now living in, the district in which the prevalence of +Free Soil sentiment for a couple of years or so has defeated the choice +of any member to represent it in Congress. Sir, that body of Northern +and Eastern men who gave those votes at that time are now seen taking +upon themselves, in the nomenclature of politics, the appellation of +the Northern Democracy. They undertook to wield the destinies of this +empire, if I may give that name to a Republic, and their policy was, +and they persisted in it, to bring into this country and under this +government all the territory they could. They did it, in the case of +Texas, under pledges, absolute pledges, to the slave interest, and they +afterwards lent their aid in bringing in these new conquests, to take +their chance for slavery or freedom. My honorable friend from Georgia, +in March, 1847, moved the Senate to declare that the war ought not to +be prosecuted for the conquest of territory, or for the dismemberment of +Mexico. The whole of the Northern Democracy voted against it. He did not +get a vote from them. It suited the patriotic and elevated sentiments of +the Northern Democracy to bring in a world from among the mountains and +valleys of California and New Mexico, or any other part of Mexico, and +then quarrel about it; to bring it in, and then endeavor to put upon +it the saving grace of the Wilmot Proviso. There were two eminent and +highly respectable gentlemen from the North and East, then leading +gentlemen in the Senate (I refer, and I do so with entire respect, for +I entertain for both of those gentlemen, in general, high regard, to Mr. +Dix of New York and Mr. Niles of Connecticut), who both voted for the +admission of Texas. They would not have that vote any other way than as +it stood; and they would have it as it did stand. I speak of the +vote upon the annexation of Texas. Those two gentlemen would have the +resolution of annexation just as it is, without amendment; and they +voted for it just as it is, and their eyes were all open to its true +character. The honorable member from South Carolina who addressed us +the other day was then Secretary of State. His correspondence with Mr. +Murphy, the Charge d'Affaires of the United States in Texas, had been +published. That correspondence was all before those gentlemen, and the +Secretary had the boldness and candor to avow in that correspondence, +that the great object sought by the annexation of Texas was to +strengthen the slave interest of the South. Why, sir, he said so in so +many words. + +Mr. Calhoun. Will the honorable Senator permit me to interrupt him for a +moment? Mr. Webster. Certainly. + +Mr. Calhoun. I am very reluctant to interrupt the honorable gentleman; +but, upon a point of so much importance, I deem it right to put myself +_rectus in curia_. I did not put it upon the ground assumed by the +Senator. I put it upon this ground; that Great Britain had announced to +this country, in so many words, that her object was to abolish slavery +in Texas, and, through Texas, to accomplish the abolition of slavery +in the United States and the world. The ground I put it on was, that it +would make an exposed frontier, and, if Great Britain succeeded in +her object, it would be impossible that that frontier could be secured +against the aggressions of the Abolitionists; and that this Government +was bound, under the guaranties of the Constitution, to protect us +against such a state of things. + +Mr. Webster. That comes, I suppose, Sir, to exactly the same thing. It +was, that Texas must be obtained for the security of the slave interest +of the South. + +Mr. Calhoun. Another view is very distinctly given. + +Mr. Webster. That was the object set forth in the correspondence of a +worthy gentleman not now living, who preceded the honorable member from +South Carolina in the Department of State. There repose on the files +of the Department, as I have occasion to know, strong letters from Mr. +Upshur to the United States Minister in England, and I believe there are +some to the same Minister from the honorable Senator himself, asserting +to this effect the sentiments of this government; namely, that Great +Britain was expected not to interfere to take Texas out of the hands +of its then existing government and make it a free country. But my +argument, my suggestion, is this: that those gentlemen who composed the +Northern Democracy when Texas was brought into the Union saw clearly +that it was brought in as a slave country, and brought in for the +purpose of being maintained as slave territory, to the Greek Kalends. +I rather think the honorable gentleman who was then Secretary of State +might, in some of his correspondence with Mr. Murphy, have suggested +that it was not expedient to say too much about this object, lest it +should create some alarm. At any rate, Mr. Murphy wrote to him that +England was anxious to get rid of the constitution of Texas, because it +was a constitution establishing slavery; and that what the United +States had to do was to aid the people of Texas in upholding their +constitution; but that nothing should be said which should offend the +fanatical men of the North. But, Sir, the honorable member did avow this +object himself, openly, boldly, and manfully; he did not disguise his +conduct or his motives. + +Mr. Calhoun. Never, never. + +Mr. Webster. What he means he is very apt to say. + +Mr. Calhoun. Always, always. + +Mr. Webster. And I honor him for it. + +This admission of Texas was in 1845. Then in 1847, _flagrante bello_ +between the United States and Mexico, the proposition I have mentioned +was brought forward by my friend from Georgia, and the Northern +Democracy voted steadily against it. Their remedy was to apply to +the acquisitions, after they should come in, the Wilmot Proviso. What +follows? These two gentlemen, worthy and honorable and influential men +(and if they had not been they could not have carried the measure), +these two gentlemen, members of this body, brought in Texas, and by +their votes they also pre-vented the passage of the resolution of the +honorable member from Georgia, and then they went home and took the lead +in the Free Soil party. And there they stand, Sir! They leave us here, +bound in honor and conscience by the resolutions of annexation; they +leave us here, to take the odium of fulfilling the obligations in +favor of slavery which they voted us into, or else the greater odium of +violating those obligations, while they are at home making capital and +rousing speeches for free soil and no slavery. And therefore I say, Sir, +that there is not a chapter in our history, respecting public measures +and public men, more full of what would create surprise, and more full +of what does create, in my mind, extreme mortification, than that of the +conduct of the Northern Democracy on this subject. + +Mr. President, sometimes when a man is found in a new relation to things +around him and to other men, he says the world has changed, and that he +is not changed. I believe, sir, that our self-respect leads us often +to make this declaration in regard to ourselves when it is not exactly +true. An individual is more apt to change, perhaps, than all the +world around him. But under the present circumstances, and under the +responsibility which I know I incur by what I am now stating here, I +feel at liberty to recur to the various expressions and statements, +made at various times, of my own opinions and resolutions respecting the +admission of Texas, and all that has followed. + +* * * On other occasions, in debate here, I have expressed my +determination to vote for no acquisition, or cession, or annexation, +North or South, East or West. My opinion has been, that we have +territory enough, and that we should follow the Spartan maxim: "Improve, +adorn what you have,"--seek no further. I think that it was in some +observations that I made on the three million loan bill that I avowed +this sentiment. In short, sir, it has been avowed quite as often in as +many places, and before as many assemblies, as any humble opinions of +mine ought to be avowed. + +But now that, under certain conditions, Texas is in the Union, with all +her territory, as a slave State, with a solemn pledge also that, if she +shall be divided into many States, those States may come in as slave +States south of 36° 30', how are we to deal with this subject? I know no +way of honest legislation, when the proper time comes for the enactment, +but to carry into effect all that we have stipulated to do. * * * +That is the meaning of the contract which our friends, the northern +Democracy, have left us to fulfil; and I, for one, mean to fulfil it, +because I will not violate the faith of the Government. What I mean +to say is, that the time for the admission of new States formed out of +Texas, the number of such States, their boundaries, the requisite amount +of population, and all other things connected with the admission, are +in the free discretion of Congress, except this: to wit, that when new +States formed out of Texas are to be admitted, they have a right, by +legal stipulation and contract, to come in as slave States. + +Now, as to California and New Mexico, I hold slavery to be excluded +from these territories by a law even superior to that which admits and +sanctions it in Texas. I mean the law of nature, of physical geography, +the law of the formation of the earth. That law settles forever, with a +strength beyond all terms of human enactment, that slavery cannot exist +in California or New Mexico. Understand me, sir; I mean slavery as we +regard it; the slavery of the colored race as it exists in the southern +States. I shall not discuss the point, but leave it to the learned +gentlemen who have undertaken to discuss it; but I suppose there is +no slavery of that description in California now. I understand that +peonism, a sort of penal servitude, exists there, or rather a sort of +voluntary sale of a man and his offspring for debt, an arrangement of a +peculiar nature known to the law of Mexico. But what I mean to say +is, that it is impossible that African slavery, as we see it among us, +should find its way, or be introduced, into California and New Mexico, +as any other natural impossibility. California and New Mexico are +Asiatic in their formation and scenery. They are composed of vast ridges +of mountains of great height, with broken ridges and deep valleys. +The sides of these mountains are entirely barren; their tops capped +by perennial snow. There may be in California, now made free by its +constitution, and no doubt there are, some tracts of valuable land. +But it is not so in New Mexico. Pray, what is the evidence which every +gentleman must have obtained on this subject, from information sought by +himself or communicated by others? I have inquired and read all I could +find, in order to acquire information on this important subject. What is +there in New Mexico that could, by any possibility, induce anybody to go +there with slaves! There are some narrow strips of tillable land on the +borders of the rivers; but the rivers themselves dry up before midsummer +is gone. All that the people can do in that region is to raise some +little articles, some little wheat for their tortillas, and that by +irrigation. And who expects to see a hundred black men cultivating +tobacco, corn, cotton, rice, or any thing else, on lands in New Mexico, +made fertile by irrigation? + +I look upon it, therefore, as a fixed fact, to use the current +expression of the day, that both California and New Mexico are destined +to be free, so far as they are settled at all, which I believe, in +regard to New Mexico, will be but partially, for a great length of time; +free by the arrangement of things ordained by the Power above us. I have +therefore to say, in this respect also, that this country is fixed +for freedom, to as many persons as shall ever live in it, by a less +repealable law than that which attaches to the right of holding slaves +in Texas; and I will say further, that, if a resolution or a bill were +now before us, to provide a territorial government for New Mexico, +I would not vote to put any prohibition into it whatever. Such a +prohibition would be idle, as it respects any effect it would have +upon the territory; and I would not take pains uselessly to reaffirm an +ordinance of nature, nor to re-enact the will of God. I would put in no +Wilmot proviso for the mere purpose of a taunt or a reproach. I would +put into it no evidence of the votes of superior power, exercised for no +purpose but to wound the pride, whether a just and a rational pride, or +an irrational pride, of the citizens of the southern States. I have no +such object, no such purpose. They would think it a taunt, an indignity; +they would think it to be an act taking away from them what they regard +as a proper equality of privilege. Whether they expect to realize any +benefit from it or not, they would think it at least a plain theoretic +wrong; that something more or less derogatory to their character and +their rights had taken place. I propose to inflict no such wound upon +anybody, unless something essentially important to the country, and +efficient to the preservation of liberty and freedom, is to be effected. +I repeat, therefore, sir, and, as I do not propose to address the Senate +often on this subject, I repeat it because I wish it to be distinctly +understood, that, for the reasons stated, if a proposition were now here +to establish a government for New Mexico, and it was moved to insert a +provision for a prohibition of slavery, I would not vote for it. * * * +Sir, we hear occasionally of the annexation of Canada; and if there be +any man, any of the northern Democracy, or any of the Free Soil party, +who supposes it necessary to insert a Wilmot Proviso in a territorial +government for New Mexico, that man would, of course, be of opinion that +it is necessary to protect the ever-lasting snows of Canada from the +foot of slavery by the same overspreading wing of an act of Congress. +Sir, wherever there is a substantive good to be done, wherever there is +a foot of land to be prevented from becoming slave territory, I am ready +to assert the principle of the exclusion of slavery. I am pledged to +it from the year 1837; I have been pledged to it again and again; and I +will perform these pledges; but I will not do a thing unnecessarily +that wounds the feelings of others, or that does discredit to my own +understanding. * * * + +Mr. President, in the excited times in which we live, there is found +to exist a state of crimination and recrimination between the North +and South. There are lists of grievances produced by each; and those +grievances, real or supposed, alienate the minds of one portion of the +country from the other, exasperate the feelings, and subdue the sense of +fraternal affection, patriotic love, and mutual regard. I shall bestow a +little attention, sir, upon these various grievances existing on the one +side and on the other. I begin with complaints of the South. I will not +answer, further than I have, the general statements of the honorable +Senator from South Carolina, that the North has prospered at the +expense of the South in consequence of the manner of administering this +Government, in the collection of its revenues, and so forth. These are +disputed topics, and I have no inclination to enter into them. But I +will allude to other complaints of the South, and especially to one +which has in my opinion, just foundation; and that is, that there has +been found at the North, among individuals and among legislators, a +disinclination to perform fully their constitutional duties in regard +to the return of persons bound to service who have escaped into the free +States. In that respect, the South, in my judgment, is right, and the +North is wrong. Every member of every Northern legislature is bound +by oath, like every other officer in the country, to support the +Constitution of the United States; and the article of the Constitution +which says to these States that they shall deliver up fugitives from +service, is as binding in honor and conscience as any other article. +No man fulfils his duty in any legislature who sets himself to find +excuses, evasions, escapes from this constitutional obligation. I +have always thought that the Constitution addressed itself to the +legislatures of the States or to the States themselves. It says that +those persons escaping to other States "shall be delivered up," and I +confess I have always been of the opinion that it was an injunction +upon the States themselves. When it is said that a person escaping into +another State, and coming therefore within the jurisdiction of that +State, shall be delivered up, it seems to me the import of the clause +is, that the State itself, in obedience to the Constitution, shall cause +him to be delivered up. That is my judgment. I have always entertained +that opinion, and I entertain it now. But when the subject, some years +ago, was before the Supreme Court of the United States, the majority +of the judges held that the power to cause fugitives from service to +be delivered up was a power to be exercised under the authority of this +Government. I do not know, on the whole, that it may not have been +a fortunate decision. My habit is to respect the result of judicial +deliberations and the solemnity of judicial decisions. As it now stands, +the business of seeing that these fugitives are delivered up resides in +the power of Congress and the national judicature, and my friend at the +head of the Judiciary Committee has a bill on the subject now before the +Senate, which, with some amendments to it, I propose to support, with +all its provisions, to the fullest extent. And I desire to call the +attention of all sober-minded men at the North, of all conscientious +men, of all men who are not carried away by some fanatical idea or some +false impression, to their constitutional obligations. I put it to all +the sober and sound minds at the North as a question of morals and +a question of conscience. What right have they, in their legislative +capacity, or any other capacity, to endeavor to get round this +Constitution, or to embarrass the free exercise of the rights secured by +the Constitution, to the person whose slaves escape from them? None at +all; none at all. Neither in the forum of conscience, nor before the +face of the Constitution, are they, in my opinion, justified in such +an attempt. Of course it is a matter for their consideration. They +probably, in the excitement of the times, have not stopped to consider +this. They have followed what seemed to be the current of thought and of +motives, as the occasion arose, and they have neglected to investigate +fully the real question, and to consider their constitutional +obligations; which, I am sure, if they did consider, they would fulfil +with alacrity. I repeat, therefore, sir, that here is a well-founded +ground of complaint against the North, which ought to be removed, which +is now in the power of the different departments of this government to +remove; which calls for the enactment of proper laws authorizing the +judicature of this Government, in the several States, to do all that is +necessary for the recapture of fugitive slaves and for their restoration +to those who claim them. Wherever I go, and whenever I speak on the +subject, and when I speak here I desire to speak to the whole North, I +say that the South has been injured in this respect, and has a right +to complain; and the North has been too careless of what I think the +Constitution peremptorily and emphatically enjoins upon her as a duty. + +Complaint has been made against certain resolutions that emanate from +legislatures at the North, and are sent here to us, not only on the +subject of slavery in this District, but sometimes recommending Congress +to consider the means of abolishing slavery in the States. I should be +sorry to be called upon to present any resolutions here which could not +be referable to any committee or any power in Congress; and therefore I +should be unwilling to receive from the legislature of Massachusetts any +instructions to present resolutions expressive of any opinion whatever +on the subject of slavery, as it exists at the present moment in the +States, for two reasons: because I do not consider that I, as her +representative here, have any thing to do with it. It has become, in my +opinion, quite too common; and if the legislatures of the States do not +like that opinion, they have a great deal more power to put it down than +I have to uphold it; it has become, in my opinion, quite too common a +practice for the State legislatures to present resolutions here on all +subjects and to instruct us on all subjects. There is no public man that +requires instruction more than I do, or who requires information more +than I do, or desires it more heartily; but I do not like to have it in +too imperative a shape. * * * + +Then, sir, there are the Abolition societies, of which I am unwilling to +speak, but in regard to which I have very clear notions and opinions. I +do not think them useful. I think their operations for the last twenty +years have produced nothing good or valuable. At the same time, I +believe thousands of their members to be honest and good men, perfectly +well-meaning men. They have excited feelings; they think they must do +something for the cause of liberty; and, in their sphere of action, +they do not see what else they can do than to contribute to an abolition +press, or an abolition society, or to pay an abolition lecturer. I do +not mean to impute gross motives even to the leaders of these societies, +but I am not blind to the consequences of their proceedings. I cannot +but see what mischief their interference with the South has produced. +And is it not plain to every man? Let any gentleman who entertains +doubts on this point, recur to the debates in the Virginia House of +Delegates in 1832, and he will see with what freedom a proposition made +by Mr. Jefferson Randolph, for the gradual abolition of slavery was +discussed in that body. Every one spoke of slavery as he thought; very +ignominous and disparaging names and epithets were applied to it. The +debates in the House of Delegates on that occasion, I believe were all +published. They were read by every colored man who could read, and to +those who could not read, those debates were read by others. At that +time Virginia was not unwilling or afraid to discuss this question, and +to let that part of her population know as much of the discussion as +they could learn. That was in 1832. As has been said by the honorable +member from South Carolina, these abolition societies commenced their +course of action in 1835. It is said, I do not know how true it may be, +that they sent incendiary publications into the slave States; at any +rate, they attempted to arouse, and did arouse, a very strong feeling; +in other words, they created great agitation in the North against +Southern slavery. Well, what was the result? The bonds of the slaves +were bound more firmly than before, their rivets were more strongly +fastened. Public opinion, which in Virginia had begun to be exhibited +against slavery, and was opening out for the discussion of the question, +drew back and shut itself up in its castle. I wish to know whether +anybody in Virginia can now talk openly, as Mr. Randolph, Governor +McDowel, and others talked in 1832, and sent their remarks to the press? +We all know the fact, and we all know the cause; and every thing that +these agitating people have done has been, not to enlarge, but to +restrain, not to set free, but to bind faster, the slave population of +the South. * * * + +There are also complaints of the North against the South. I need not go +over them particularly. The first and gravest is, that the North adopted +the Constitution, recognizing the existence of slavery in the States, +and recognizing the right, to a certain extent, of the representation +of slaves in Congress, under a state of sentiment and expectation +which does not now exist; and that by events, by circumstances, by +the eagerness of the South to acquire territory and extend her slave +population, the North finds itself, in regard to the relative influence +of the South and the North, of the free States and the slave States, +where it never did expect to find itself when they agreed to the compact +of the Constitution. They complain, therefore, that, instead of slavery +being regarded as an evil, as it was then, an evil which all hoped +would be extinguished gradually, it is now regarded by the South as an +institution to be cherished, and preserved, and extended; an institution +which the South has already extended to the utmost of her power by the +acquisition of new territory. + +Well, then, passing from that, everybody in the North reads; and +everybody reads whatsoever the newspapers contain; and the news-papers, +some of them, especially those presses to which I have alluded, are +careful to spread about among the people every reproachful sentiment +uttered by any Southern man bearing at all against the North; every +thing that is calculated to exasperate and to alienate; and there are +many such things, as everybody will admit, from the South, or from +portions of it, which are disseminated among the reading people; and +they do exasperate, and alienate, and produce a most mischievous effect +upon the public mind at the North. Sir, I would not notice things of +this sort appearing in obscure quarters; but one thing has occurred +in this debate which struck me very forcibly. An honorable member from +Louisiana addressed us the other day on this subject. I suppose there is +not a more amiable and worthy gentleman in this chamber, nor a gentleman +who would be more slow to give offence to any body, and he did not mean +in his remarks to give offence. But what did he say? Why, sir, he took +pains to run a contrast between the slaves of the South and the laboring +people of the North, giving the preference, in all points of condition, +and comfort, and happiness to the slaves of the South. The honorable +member, doubtless, did not suppose that he gave any offence, or did any +injustice. He was merely expressing his opinion. But does he know how +remarks of that sort will be received by the laboring people of the +North? Why, who are the laboring people of the North? They are the +whole North. They are the people who till their own farms with their own +hands; freeholders, educated men, independent men. Let me say, sir, that +five sixths of the whole property of the North is in the hands of the +laborers of the North; they cultivate their farms, they educate +their children, they provide the means of independence. If they are not +freeholders, they earn wages; these wages accumulate, are turned into +capital, into new freeholds, and small capitalists are created. Such +is the case, and such the course of things, among the industrious and +frugal. And what can these people think when so respectable and worthy +a gentleman as the member from Louisiana undertakes to prove that the +absolute ignorance and the abject slavery of the South are more in +conformity with the high purposes and destiny of immortal, rational, +human beings, than the educated, the independent free labor of the +North? + +There is a more tangible and irritating cause of grievance at the +North. Free blacks are constantly employed in the vessels of the North, +generally as cooks or stewards. When the vessel arrives at a southern +port, these free colored men are taken on shore, by the police or +municipal authority, imprisoned, and kept in prison till the vessel +is again ready to sail. This is not only irritating, but exceedingly +unjustifiable and oppressive. Mr. Hoar's mission, some time ago to South +Carolina, was a well-intended effort to remove this cause of complaint. +The North thinks such imprisonments illegal and unconstitutional; and as +the cases occur constantly and frequently they regard it as a grievance. + +Now, sir, so far as any of these grievances have their foundation in +matters of law, they can be redressed, and ought to be redressed; and so +far as they have their foundation in matters of opinion, in sentiment, +in mutual crimination and recrimination, all that we can do is to +endeavor to allay the agitation, and cultivate a better feeling and more +fraternal sentiments between the South and the North. + +Mr. President, I should much prefer to have heard from every member +on this floor declarations of opinion that this Union could never be +dissolved, than the declaration of opinion by anybody, that in any +case, under the pressure of any circumstances, such a dissolution +was possible. I hear with distress and anguish the word "secession," +especially when it falls from the lips of those who are patriotic, and +known to the country, and known all over the world for their political +services. Secession! Peaceable secession! Sir, your eyes and mine are +never destined to see that miracle. The dismemberment of this vast +country without convulsion! The breaking up of the fountains of the +great deep without ruffling the surface! Who is so foolish--I beg +everybody's pardon--as to expect to see any such thing? Sir, he who +sees these States, now revolving in harmony around a common centre, and +expects to see them quit their places and fly off without convulsion, +may look the next hour to see the heavenly bodies rush from their +spheres, and jostle against each other in the realms of space, without +causing the wreck of the universe. There can be no such thing as a +peaceable secession. Peaceable secession is an utter impossibility. Is +the great Constitution under which we live, covering this whole country, +is it to be thawed and melted away by secession, as the snows on the +mountain melt under the influence of a vernal sun, disappear almost +unobserved, and run off? No, sir! No, sir! I will not state what might +produce the disruption of the Union; but, sir, I see as plainly as I can +see the sun in heaven what that disruption itself must produce; I see +that it must produce war, and such a war as I will not describe, in its +twofold character. + +Peaceable secession! Peaceable secession! The concurrent agreement +of all the members of this great Republic to separate! A voluntary +separation, with alimony on one side and on the other. Why, what would +be the result? Where is the line to be drawn? What States are to secede? +What is to remain American? What am I to be? An American no longer? Am I +to become a sectional man, a local man, a separatist, with no country in +common with the gentlemen who sit around me here, or who fill the other +house of Congress? Heaven forbid! Where is the flag of the Republic +to remain? Where is the eagle still to tower? or is he to cower, and +shrink, and fall to the ground? Why, sir, our ancestors, our fathers +and our grandfathers, those of them that are yet living amongst us with +prolonged lives, would rebuke and reproach us; and our children and +our grandchildren would cry out shame upon us, if we of this generation +should dishonor these ensigns of the power of the Government and the +harmony of that Union which is every day felt among us with so much joy +and gratitude. What is to become of the army? What is to become of the +navy? What is to become of the public lands? How is each of the thirty +States to defend itself? I know, although the idea has not been stated +distinctly, there is to be, or it is supposed possible that there +will be, a Southern Confederacy. I do not mean, when I allude to this +statement, that any one seriously contemplates such a state of things. +I do not mean to say that it is true, but I have heard it suggested +elsewhere, that the idea has been entertained, that, after the +dissolution of this Union, a Southern Confederacy might be formed. I am +sorry, sir, that it has ever been thought of, talked of, in the wildest +flights of human imagination. But the idea, so far as it exists, must +be of a separation, assigning the slave States to one side, and the free +States to the other. Sir, I may express myself too strongly, perhaps, +but there are impossibilities in the natural as well as in the physical +world, and I hold the idea of the separation of these States, those that +are free to form one government, and those that are slave-holding to +form another, as such an impossibility. We could not separate the States +by any such line, if we were to draw it. We could not sit down here +to-day and draw a line of separation that would satisfy any five men +in the country. There are natural causes that would keep and tie us +together, and there are social and domestic relations which we could not +break if we would, and which we should not if we could. + +Sir, nobody can look over the face of this country at the present +moment, nobody can see where its population is the most dense and +growing, without being ready to admit, and compelled to admit, +that erelong the strength of America will be in the Valley of the +Mississippi. Well, now, sir, I beg to inquire what the wildest +enthusiast has to say on the possibility of cutting that river in two, +and leaving free States at its source and on its branches, and slave +States down near its mouth, each forming a separate government? Pray, +sir, let me say to the people of this country, that these things are +worthy of their pondering and of their consideration. Here, sir, are +five millions of freemen in the free States north of the river Ohio. +Can anybody suppose that this population can be severed, by a line that +divides them from the territory of a foreign and alien government, +down somewhere, the Lord knows where, upon the lower banks of +the Mississippi? What would become of Missouri? Will she join the +arrondissement of the slave States? Shall the man from the Yellowstone +and the Platte be connected, in the new republic, with the man who lives +on the southern extremity of the Cape of Florida? Sir, I am ashamed to +pursue this line of remark. I dislike it, I have an utter disgust for +it. I would rather hear of natural blasts and mildews, war, pestilence, +and famine, than to hear gentlemen talk of secession. To break up this +great Government! to dismember this glorious country! to astonish Europe +with an act of folly such as Europe for two centuries has never beheld +in any government or any people! No, sir! no, sir! There will be no +secession! Gentlemen are not serious when they talk of secession. + +Sir, I hear there is to be a convention held at Nashville. I am bound to +believe that if worthy gentlemen meet at Nashville in convention, their +object will be to adopt conciliatory counsels; to advise the South to +forbearance and moderation, and to advise the North to forbearance and +moderation; and to inculcate principles of brotherly love and affection, +and attachment to the Constitution of the country as it now is. I +believe, if the convention meet at all, it will be for this purpose; for +certainly, if they meet for any purpose hostile to the Union, they have +been singularly inappropriate in their selection of a place. I remember, +sir, that, when the treaty of Amiens was concluded between France and +England, a sturdy Englishman and a distinguished orator, who regarded +the conditions of the peace as ignominious to England, said in the House +of Commons, that if King William could know the terms of that treaty, he +would turn in his coffin! Let me commend this saying to Mr. Windham, in +all its emphasis and in all its force, to any persons who shall meet at +Nashville for the purpose of concerting measures for the overthrow of +this Union over the bones of Andrew Jackson. * * * + +And now, Mr. President, instead of speaking of the possibility or +utility of secession, instead of dwelling in those caverns of darkness, +instead of groping with those ideas so full of all that is horrid and +horrible, let us come out into the light of the day; let us enjoy the +fresh air of Liberty and Union; let us cherish those hopes which belong +to us; let us devote ourselves to those great objects that are fit for +our consideration and our action; let us raise our conceptions to the +magnitude and the importance of the duties that devolve upon us; let +our comprehension be as broad as the country for which we act, our +aspirations as high as its certain destiny; let us not be pigmies in a +case that calls for men. Never did there devolve on any generation of +men higher trusts than now devolve upon us, for the preservation of this +Constitution and the harmony and peace of all who are destined to live +under it. Let us make our generation one of the strongest and brightest +links in that golden chain which is destined, I fondly believe, to +grapple the people of all the States to this Constitution for ages to +come. We have a great, popular, Constitutional Government, guarded +by law and by judicature, and defended by the affections of the whole +people. No monarchical throne presses these States together, no iron +chain of military power encircles them; they live and stand under a +Government popular in its form, representative in its character, founded +upon principles of equality, and so constructed, we hope, as to last +forever. In all its history it has been beneficent; it has trodden down +no man's liberty; it has crushed no State. Its daily respiration is +liberty and patriotism; its yet youthful veins are full of enterprise, +courage, and honorable love of glory and renown. Large before, the +country has now, by recent events, become vastly larger. This Republic +now extends, with a vast breadth across the whole continent. The two +great seas of the world wash the one and the other shore. We realize, +on a mighty scale, the beautiful description of the ornamental border of +the buckler of Achilles: + + "Now, the broad shield complete, the artist crowned + With his last hand, and poured the ocean round; + In living silver seemed the waves to roll, + And beat the buckler's verge, and bound the whole." + + +[Illustration: Henry Clay] + + + + +HENRY CLAY, + +OF KENTUCKY, (BORN 1777, DIED 1852.) + +ON THE COMPROMISE OF 1850; UNITED STATES SENATE, JULY 22, 1850. + + +MR. PRESIDENT: + +In the progress of this debate it has been again and again argued that +perfect tranquillity reigns throughout the country, and that there is +no disturbance threatening its peace, endangering its safety, but that +which was produced by busy, restless politicians. It has been maintained +that the surface of the public mind is perfectly smooth and undisturbed +by a single billow. I most heartily wish I could concur in this picture +of general tranquillity that has been drawn upon both sides of the +Senate. I am no alarmist; nor, I thank God, at the advanced age at which +His providence has been pleased to allow me to reach, am I very easily +alarmed by any human event; but I totally misread the signs of the +times, if there be that state of profound peace and quiet, that absence +of all just cause of apprehension of future danger to this confederacy, +which appears to be entertained by some other senators. Mr. President, +all the tendencies of the times, I lament to say, are toward +disquietude, if not more fatal consequences. When before, in the midst +of profound peace with all the nations of the earth, have we seen a +convention, representing a considerable portion of one great part of +the Republic, meet to deliberate about measures of future safety in +connection with great interests of that quarter of the country? When +before have we seen, not one, but more--some half a dozen legislative +bodies solemnly resolving that if any one of these measures--the +admission of California, the adoption of the Wilmot proviso, the +abolition of slavery in the District of Columbia--should be adopted by +Congress, measures of an extreme character, for the safety of the great +interests to which I refer, in a particular section of the country, +would be resorted to? For years, this subject of the abolition of +slavery, even within this District of Columbia, small as is the number +of slaves here, has been a source of constant irritation and disquiet. +So of the subject of the recovery of fugitive slaves who have escaped +from their lawful owners: not a mere border contest, as has been +supposed--although there, undoubtedly, it has given rise to more +irritation than in other portions of the Union--but everywhere +through-out the slave-holding country it has been felt as a great evil, +a great wrong which required the intervention of congressional power. +But these two subjects, unpleasant as has been the agitation to which +they have given rise, are nothing in comparison to those which have +sprung out of the acquisitions recently made from the Republic of +Mexico. These are not only great and leading causes of just apprehension +as respects the future, but all the minor circumstances of the day +intimate danger ahead, whatever may be its final issue and consequence. +* * * + +Mr. President, I will not dwell upon other concomitant causes, all +having the same tendency, and all well calculated to awaken, to arouse +us--if, as I hope the fact is, we are all of us sincerely desirous +of preserving this Union--to rouse us to dangers which really exist, +without underrating them upon the one hand, or magnifying them upon the +other. * * * + +It has been objected against this measure that it is a compromise. It +has been said that it is a compromise of principle, or of a +principle. Mr. President, what is a compromise? It is a work of mutual +concession--an agreement in which there are reciprocal stipulations--a +work in which, for the sake of peace and concord, one party abates his +extreme demands in consideration of an abatement of extreme demands +by the other party: it is a measure of mutual concession--a measure of +mutual sacrifice. Undoubtedly, Mr. President, in all such measures +of compromise, one party would be very glad to get what he wants, and +reject what he does not desire, but which the other party wants. But +when he comes to reflect that, from the nature of the Government and its +operations, and from those with whom he is dealing, it is necessary upon +his part, in order to secure what he wants, to grant something to the +other side, he should be reconciled to the concession which he has made, +in consequence of the concession which he is to receive, if there is no +great principle involved, such as a violation of the Constitution of the +United States. I admit that such a compromise as that ought never to be +sanctioned or adopted. But I now call upon any senator in his place to +point out from the beginning to the end, from California to New Mexico, +a solitary provision in this bill which is violative of the Constitution +of the United States. + +Sir, adjustments in the shape of compromise may be made without +producing any such consequences as have been apprehended. There may be +a mutual forbearance. You forbear on your side to insist upon the +application of the restriction denominated the Wilmot proviso. Is +there any violation of principle there? The most that can be said, even +assuming the power to pass the Wilmot proviso, which is denied, is that +there is a forbearance to exercise, not a violation of, the power to +pass the proviso. So, upon the other hand, if there was a power in +the Constitution of the United States authorizing the establishment +of slavery in any of the Territories--a power, however, which is +controverted by a large portion of this Senate--if there was a power +under the Constitution to establish slavery, the forbearance to exercise +that power is no violation of the Constitution, any more than the +Constitution is violated by a forbearance to exercise numerous powers, +that might be specified, that are granted in the Constitution, and that +remain dormant until they come to be exercised by the proper +legislative authorities. It is said that the bill presents the state of +coercion--that members are coerced, in order to get what they want, to +vote for that which they disapprove. Why, sir, what coercion is there? +* * * Can it be said upon the part of our Northern friends, because they +have not got the Wilmot proviso incorporated in the territorial part +of the bill, that they are coerced--wanting California, as they do, so +much--to vote for the bill, if they do vote for it? Sir, they might +have imitated the noble example of my friend (Senator Cooper, of +Pennsylvania), from that State upon whose devotion to this Union I place +one of my greatest reliances for its preservation. What was the course +of my friend upon this subject of the Wilmot proviso? He voted for it; +and he could go back to his constituents and say, as all of you could go +back and say to your constituents, if you chose to do so--"We wanted the +Wilmot proviso in the bill; we tried to get it in; but the majority of +the Senate was against it." The question then came up whether we should +lose California, which has got an interdiction in her constitution, +which, in point of value and duration, is worth a thousand Wilmot +provisos; we were induced, as my honorable friend would say, to take the +bill and the whole of it together, although we were disappointed in our +votes with respect to the Wilmot proviso--to take it, whatever omissions +may have been made, on account of the superior amount of good it +contains. * * * + +Not the reception of the treaty of peace negotiated at Ghent, nor any +other event which has occurred during my progress in public life, ever +gave such unbounded and universal satisfaction as the settlement of the +Missouri compromise. We may argue from like causes like effects. Then, +indeed, there was great excitement. Then, indeed, all the legislatures +of the North called out for the exclusion of Missouri, and all the +legislatures of the South called out for her admission as a State. +Then, as now, the country was agitated like the ocean in the midst of +a turbulent storm. But now, more than then, has this agitation been +increased. Now, more than then, are the dangers which exist, if the +controversy remains unsettled, more aggravated and more to be dreaded. +The idea of disunion was then scarcely a low whisper. Now, it has become +a familiar language in certain portions of the country. The public mind +and the public heart are becoming familiarized with that most dangerous +and fatal of all events--the disunion of the States. People begin to +contend that this is not so bad a thing as they had supposed. Like the +progress in all human affairs, as we approach danger it disappears, it +diminishes in our conception, and we no longer regard it with that awful +apprehension of consequences that we did before we came into contact +with it. Everywhere now there is a state of things, a degree of alarm +and apprehension, and determination to fight, as they regard it, against +the aggressions of the North. That did not so demonstrate itself at the +period of the Missouri compromise. It was followed, in consequence of +the adoption of the measure which settled the difficulty of Missouri, +by peace, harmony, and tranquillity. So, now, I infer, from the greater +amount of agitation, from the greater amount of danger, that, if you +adopt the measures under consideration, they, too, will be followed by +the same amount of contentment, satisfaction, peace, and tranquillity, +which ensued after the Missouri compromise. * * * + +The responsibility of this great measure passes from the hands of the +committee, and from my hands. They know, and I know, that it is an awful +and tremendous responsibility. I hope that you will meet it with a just +conception and a true appreciation of its magnitude, and the magnitude +of the consequences that may ensue from your decision one way or, the +other. The alternatives, I fear, which the measure presents, are concord +and increased discord; a servile civil war, originating in its causes +on the lower Rio Grande, and terminating possibly in its consequences +on the upper Rio Grande in the Santa Fe country, or the restoration of +harmony and fraternal kindness. I believe from the bottom of my soul, +that the measure is the reunion of this Union. I believe it is the dove +of peace, which, taking its aerial flight from the dome of the Capitol, +carries the glad tidings of assured peace and restored harmony to all +the remotest extremities of this distracted land. I believe that it will +be attended with all these beneficent effects. And now let us discard +all resentment, all passions, all petty jealousies, all personal +desires, all love of place, all hankerings after the gilded crumbs which +fall from the table of power. Let us forget popular fears, from +whatever quarter they may spring. Let us go to the limpid fountain of +unadulterated patriotism, and, performing a solemn lustration, return +divested of all selfish, sinister, and sordid impurities, and think +alone of our God, our country, our consciences, and our glorious +Union--that Union without which we shall be torn into hostile fragments, +and sooner or later become the victims of military despotism, or foreign +domination. + +Mr. President, what is an individual man? An atom, almost invisible +without a magnifying glass--a mere speck upon the surface of the +immense universe; not a second in time, compared to immeasurable, +never-beginning, and never-ending eternity; a drop of water in the great +deep, which evaporates and is borne off by the winds; a grain of sand, +which is soon gathered to the dust from which it sprung. Shall a being +so small, so petty, so fleeting, so evanescent, oppose itself to the +onward march of a great nation, which is to subsist for ages and ages to +come; oppose itself to that long line of posterity which, issuing from +our loins, will endure during the existence of the world? Forbid it, +God. Let us look to our country and our cause, elevate ourselves to the +dignity of pure and disinterested patriots, and save our country from +all impending dangers. What if, in the march of this nation to greatness +and power, we should be buried beneath the wheels that propel it onward! +What are we--what is any man--worth who is not ready and willing to +sacrifice himself for the benefit of his country when it is necessary? * +* * + +If this Union shall become separated, new unions, new confederacies will +arise. And with respect to this, if there be any--I hope there is no one +in the Senate--before whose imagination is flitting the idea of a great +Southern Confederacy to take possession of the Balize and the mouth +of the Mississippi, I say in my place never! never! NEVER! will we who +occupy the broad waters of the Mississippi and its upper tributaries +consent that any foreign flag shall float at the Balize or upon the +turrets of the Crescent City--NEVER! NEVER! I call upon all the South. +Sir, we have had hard words, bitter words, bitter thoughts, unpleasant +feelings toward each other in the progress of this great measure. Let us +forget them. Let us sacrifice these feelings. Let us go to the altar of +our country and swear, as the oath was taken of old, that we will stand +by her; that we will support her; that we will uphold her Constitution; +that we will preserve her Union; and that we will pass this great, +comprehensive, and healing system of measures, which will hush all the +jarring elements, and bring peace and tranquillity to our homes. + +Let me, Mr. President, in conclusion, say that the most disastrous +consequences would occur, in my opinion, were we to go home, doing +nothing to satisfy and tranquillize the country upon these great +questions. What will be the judgment of mankind, what the judgment of +that portion of mankind who are looking upon the progress of this scheme +of self-government as being that which holds the highest hopes and +expectations of ameliorating the condition of mankind--what will their +judgment be? Will not all the monarchs of the Old World pronounce our +glorious Republic a disgraceful failure? What will be the judgment of +our constituents, when we return to them and they ask us: "How have +you left your country? Is all quiet--all happy? Are all the seeds of +distraction or division crushed and dissipated?" And, sir, when you +come into the bosom of your family, when you come to converse with the +partner of your fortunes, of your happiness, and of your sorrows, and +when in the midst of the common offspring of both of you, she asks you: +"Is there any danger of civil war? Is there any danger of the torch +being applied to any portion of the country? Have you settled the +questions which you have been so long discussing and deliberating +upon at Washington? Is all peace and all quiet?" what response, Mr. +President, can you make to that wife of your choice and those children +with whom you have been blessed by God? Will you go home and leave all +in disorder and confusion--all unsettled--all open? The contentions and +agitations of the past will be increased and augmented by the agitations +resulting from our neglect to decide them. Sir, we shall stand condemned +by all human judgment below, and of that above it is not for me to +speak. We shall stand condemned in our own consciences, by our own +constituents, and by our own country. The measure may be defeated. +I have been aware that its passage for many days was not absolutely +certain. From the first to the last, I hoped and believed it would pass, +because from the first to the last I believed it was founded on the +principles of just and righteous concession of mutual conciliation. I +believe that it deals unjustly by no part of the Republic; that it saves +their honor, and, as far as it is dependent upon Congress, saves the +interests of all quarters of the country. But, sir, I have known that +the decision of its fate depended upon four or five votes in the Senate +of the United States, whose ultimate judgment we could not count upon +the one side or the other with absolute certainty. Its fate is now +committed to the Senate, and to those five or six votes to which I have +referred. It may be defeated. It is possible that, for the chastisement +of our sins and transgressions, the rod of Providence may be still +applied to us, may be still suspended over us. But, if defeated, it +will be a triumph of ultraism and impracticability--a triumph of a most +extraordinary conjunction of extremes; a victory won by abolitionism; a +victory achieved by freesoilism; a victory of discord and agitation over +peace and tranquillity; and I pray to Almighty God that it may not, in +consequence of the inauspicious result, lead to the most unhappy and +disastrous consequences to our beloved country. + +MR. BARNWELL:--It is not my intention to reply to the argument of the +Senator from Kentucky, but there were expressions used by him not a +little disrespectful to a friend whom I hold very dear. * * * It is true +that his political opinions differ very widely from those of the Senator +from Kentucky. It may be true, that he, with many great statesmen, may +believe that the Wilmot proviso is a grievance to be resisted "to the +utmost extremity" by those whose rights it destroys and whose honor it +degrades. It is true that he may believe * * * that the admission of +California will be the passing of the Wilmot proviso, when we here in +Congress give vitality to an act otherwise totally dead, and by our +legislation exclude slaveholders from that whole broad territory on the +Pacific; and, entertaining this opinion, he may have declared that the +contingency will then have occurred which will, in the judgment of most +of the slave-holding States, as expressed by their resolutions, justify +resistance as to an intolerable aggression. If he does entertain and +has expressed such sentiments, he is not to be held up as peculiarly a +disunionist. Allow me to say, in reference to this matter, I regret that +you have brought it about, but it is true that this epithet "disunionist" +is likely soon to have very little terror in it in the South. Words do +not make things. "Rebel" was designed as a very odious term when applied +by those who would have trampled on the rights of our ancestors, but I +believe that the expression became not an ungrateful one to the ears +of those who resisted them. It was not the lowest term of abuse to call +those who were conscious that they were struggling against oppression; +and let me assure gentlemen that the term disunionist is rapidly +assuming at the South the meaning which rebel took when it was baptized +in the blood of Warren at Bunker Hill, and illustrated by the gallantry +of Jasper at Fort Moultrie. * * * + +MR. CLAY:--Mr. President, I said nothing with respect to the character +of Mr. Rhett, for I might as well name him. I know him personally, +and have some respect for him. But, if he pronounced the sentiment +attributed to him--of raising the standard of disunion and of resistance +to the common government, whatever he has been, if he follows up that +declaration by corresponding overt acts, he will be a traitor, and I +hope he will meet the fate of a traitor. + +THE PRESIDENT:--The Chair will be under the necessity of ordering the +gallery to be cleared if there is again the slightest interruption. He +has once already given warning that he is under the necessity of keeping +order. The Senate chamber is not a theatre. + +MR. CLAY:--Mr. President, I have heard with pain and regret a +confirmation of the remark I made, that the sentiment of disunion is +becoming familiar. I hope it is confined to South Carolina. I do not +regard as my duty what the honorable Senator seems to regard as his. If +Kentucky to-morrow unfurls the banner of resistance unjustly, I never +will fight under that banner. I owe a paramount allegiance to the whole +Union--a subordinate one to my own State. When my State is right--when +it has a cause for resistance--when tyranny, and wrong, and oppression +insufferable arise, I will then share her fortunes; but if she summons +me to the battle-field, or to support her in any cause which is unjust, +against the Union, never, never will I engage with her in such cause. + + + + +WENDELL PHILLIPS, + +OF MASSACIUSETTS. (BORN 1811, DIED 1884.) + +ON THE PHILOSOPHY OF THE ABOLITION MOVEMENT, BEFORE THE MASSACHUSETTS +ANTI-SLAVERY SOCIETY, AT BOSTON, JANUARY 27, 1853. + + +Mr. CHAIRMAN: + +I have to present, from the business committee, the following +resolution: + +Resolved; That the object of this society is now, as it has always been, +to convince our countrymen, by arguments addressed to their hearts and +consciences, that slave-holding is a heinous crime, and that the duty, +safety, and interest of all concerned demand its immediate abolition +without expatriation. + +I wish, Mr, Chairman, to notice some objections that have been made to +our course ever since Mr. Garrison began his career, and which have been +lately urged again, with considerable force and emphasis, in the +columns of the London Leader, the able organ of a very respectable and +influential class in England. * * * The charges to which I refer are +these: That, in dealing with slave-holders and their apologists, we +indulge in fierce denunciations, instead of appealing to their reason +and common sense by plain statements and fair argument; that we might +have won the sympathies and support of the nation, if we would have +submitted to argue this question with a manly patience; but, instead of +this, we have outraged the feelings of the community by attacks, unjust +and unnecessarily severe, on its most valued institutions, and gratified +our spleen by indiscriminate abuse of leading men, who were often honest +in their intentions, however mistaken in their views; that we have +utterly neglected the ample means that lay around us to convert the +nation, submitted to no discipline, formed no plan, been guided by no +foresight, but hurried on in childish, reckless, blind, and hot-headed +zeal,--bigots in the narrowness of our views, and fanatics in our blind +fury of invective and malignant judgment of other men's motives. + +There are some who come upon our platform, and give us the aid of names +and reputations less burdened than ours with popular odium,who are +perpetually urging us to exercise charity in our judgments of those +about us, and to consent to argue these questions. These men are ever +parading their wish to draw a line between themselves and us, +because they must be permitted to wait,--to trust more to reason than +feeling,--to indulge a generous charity,--to rely on the sure influence +of simple truth, uttered in love, etc., etc. I reject with scorn all +these implications that our judgments are uncharitable,--that we are +lacking in patience,--that we have any other dependence than on the +simple truth, spoken with Christian frankness, yet with Christian +love. These lectures, to which you, sir, and all of us, have so often +listened, would be impertinent, if they were not rather ridiculous for +the gross ignorance they betray of the community, of the cause, and of +the whole course of its friends. + +The article in the _Leader_ to which I refer is signed "ION," and may +be found in the _Liberator_ of December 17, 1852. * * * "Ion" quotes +Mr Garrison's original declaration in the _Liberator_: "I am aware that +many object to the severity of my language; but is there not cause +for severity? I _will_ be as harsh as truth and as uncompromising as +justice. I am in earnest,--I will not equivocate,--I will not excuse,--I +will not retreat a single inch,--AND I WILL BE HEARD. It is pretended +that I am retarding the cause of emancipation by the coarseness of my +invective and the precipitancy of my measures. The charge is not true. +On this question, my influence, humble as it is, is felt at this +moment to a considerable extent, and shall be felt in coming years, not +perniciously, but beneficially; not as a curse, but as a blessing; and +posterity will bear testimony that I was right. I desire to thank +God that He enables me to disregard 'the fear of man which bringeth a +snare,' and to speak His truth in its simplicity and power." * * * + +"Ion's" charges are the old ones, that we Abolitionists are hurting our +own cause; that, instead of waiting for the community to come up to our +views, and endeavoring to remove prejudice and enlighten ignorance by +patient explanation and fair argument, we fall at once, like children, +to abusing every thing and everybody; that we imagine zeal will supply +the place of common sense; that we have never shown any sagacity +in adapting our means to our ends; have never studied the national +character, or attempted to make use of the materials which lay all about +us to influence public opinion, but by blind, childish, obstinate fury +and indiscriminate denunciation, have become "honestly impotent, and +conscientious hinderances." + +I claim, before you who know the true state of the case, I claim for +the antislavery movement with which this society is identified, that, +looking back over its whole course, and considering the men connected +with it in the mass, it has been marked by sound judgment, unerring +foresight, the most sagacious adaptation of means to ends, the strictest +self-discipline, the most thorough research, and an amount of patient +and manly argument addressed to the conscience and intellect of the +nation, such as no other cause of the kind, in England or this country, +has ever offered. I claim, also, that its course has been marked by a +cheerful surrender of all individual claims to merit or leadership,--the +most cordial welcoming of the slightest effort, of every honest attempt, +to lighten or to break the chain of the slave. I need not waste time by +repeating the superfluous confession that we are men, and therefore do +not claim to be perfect. Neither would I be understood as denying that +we use denunciation, and ridicule, and every other weapon that the human +mind knows. We must plead guilty, if there be guilt in not knowing +how to separate the sin from the sinner. With all the fondness for +abstractions attributed to us, we are not yet capable of that. We are +fighting a momentous battle at desperate odds,--one against a thousand. +Every weapon that ability or ignorance, wit, wealth, prejudice, or +fashion can command, is pointed against us. The guns are shotted to +their lips. The arrows are poisoned. Fighting against such an array, we +cannot afford to confine ourselves to any one weapon. The cause is not +ours, so that we might, rightfully, postpone or put in peril the victory +by moderating our demands, stifling our convictions, or filing down +our rebukes, to gratify any sickly taste of our own, or to spare the +delicate nerves of our neighbor. Our clients are three millions of +Christian slaves, standing dumb suppliants at the threshold of the +Christian world. They have no voice but ours to utter their complaints, +or to demand justice. The press, the pulpit, the wealth, the literature, +the prejudices, the political arrangements, the present self-interest +of the country, are all against us. God has given us no weapon but +the truth, faithfully uttered, and addressed, with the old prophets' +directness, to the conscience of the individual sinner. The elements +which control public opinion and mould the masses are against us. We can +but pick off here and there a man from the triumphant majority. We have +facts for those who think, arguments for those who reason; but he who +cannot be reasoned out of his prejudices must be laughed out of them; he +who cannot be argued out of his selfishness must be shamed out of it by +the mirror of his hateful self held up relentlessly before his eyes. We +live in a land where every man makes broad his phylactery, inscribing +thereon, "All men are created equal,"--"God hath made of one blood all +nations of men." It seems to us that in such a land there must be, on +this question of slavery, sluggards to be awakened, as well as doubters +to be convinced. Many more, we verily believe, of the first than of +the last. There are far more dead hearts to be quickened, than confused +intellects to be cleared up,--more dumb dogs to be made to speak, than +doubting consciences to be enlightened. We have use, then, sometimes, +for something beside argument. + +What is the denunciation with which we are charged? It is endeavoring, +in our faltering human speech, to declare the enormity of the sin of +making merchandize of men,--of separating husband and wife,--taking the +infant from its mother and selling the daughter to prostitution,--of +a professedly Christian nation denying, by statute, the Bible to every +sixth man and woman of its population, and making it illegal for "two +or three" to meet together, except a white man be present! What is +this harsh criticism of motives with which we are charged? It is +simply holding the intelligent and deliberate actor responsible for the +character and consequences of his acts. Is there any thing inherently +wrong in such denunciation of such criticism? This we may claim,--we +have never judged a man but out of his own mouth. We have seldom, if +ever, held him to account, except for acts of which he and his own +friends were proud. All that we ask the world and thoughtful men to note +are the principles and deeds on which the American pulpit and American +public men plume themselves. We always allow our opponents to paint +their own pictures. Our humble duty is to stand by and assure the +spectators that what they would take for a knave or a hypocrite is +really, in American estimation, a Doctor of Divinity or a Secretary of +State. + +The South is one great brothel, where half a million of women are +flogged to prostitution, or, worse still, are degraded to believe it +honorable. The public squares of half our great cities echo to the wail +of families torn asunder at the auction-block; no one of our fair rivers +that has not closed over the negro seeking in death a refuge from a life +too wretched to bear; thousands of fugitives skulk along our highways, +afraid to tell their names, and trembling at the sight of a human being; +free men are kidnapped in our streets, to be plunged into that hell +of slavery; and now and then one, as if by miracle, after long years +returns to make men aghast with his tale. The press says, "It is all +right"; and the pulpit cries, "Amen." They print the Bible in every +tongue in which man utters his prayers; and they get the money to do so +by agreeing never to give the book, in the language our mothers taught +us, to any negro, free or bond, south of Mason and Dixon's line. The +press says, "It is all right"; and the pulpit cries, "Amen." The slave +lifts up his imploring eyes, and sees in every face but ours the face +of an enemy. Prove to me now that harsh rebuke, indignant denunciation, +scathing sarcasm, and pitiless ridicule are wholly and always +unjustifiable; else we dare not, in so desperate a case, throw away any +weapon which ever broke up the crust of an ignorant prejudice, roused a +slumbering conscience, shamed a proud sinner, or changed in any way the +conduct of a human being. Our aim is to alter public opinion. Did we +live in a market, our talk should be of dollars and cents, and we would +seek to prove only that slavery was an unprofitable investment. Were +the nation one great, pure church, we would sit down and reason of +"righteousness, temperance, and judgment to come." Had slavery fortified +itself in a college, we would load our cannons with cold facts, and +wing our arrows with arguments. But we happen to live in the world,--the +world made up of thought and impulse, of self-conceit and self-interest, +of weak men and wicked. To conquer, we must reach all. Our object is not +to make every man a Christian or a philosopher, but to induce every one +to aid in the abolition of slavery. We expect to accomplish our object +long before the nation is made over into saints or elevated into +philosophers. To change public opinion, we use the very tools by which +it was formed. That is, all such as an honest man may touch. + +All this I am not only ready to allow, but I should be ashamed to think +of the slave, or to look into the face of my fellow-man, if it +were otherwise. It is the only thing which justifies us to our own +consciences, and makes us able to say we have done, or at least tried to +do, our duty. + +So far, however you distrust my philosophy, you will not doubt my +statements. That we have denounced and rebuked with unsparing fidelity +will not be denied. Have we not also addressed ourselves to that other +duty, of arguing our question thoroughly?--of using due discretion and +fair sagacity in endeavoring to promote our cause? Yes, we have. Every +statement we have made has been doubted. Every principle we have laid +down has been denied by overwhelming majorities against us. No one step +has ever been gained but by the most laborious research and the most +exhausting argument. And no question has ever, since Revolutionary days, +been so thoroughly investigated or argued here, as that of slavery. Of +that research and that argument, of the whole of it, the old-fashioned, +fanatical, crazy Garrisonian antislavery movement has been the author. +From this band of men has proceeded every important argument or idea +which has been broached on the antislavery question from 1830 to the +present time. I am well aware of the extent of the claim I make. I +recognize, as fully as any one can, the ability of the new laborers, the +eloquence and genius with which they have recommended this cause to the +nation, and flashed conviction home on the conscience of the community. +I do not mean, either, to assert that they have in every instance +borrowed from our treasury their facts and arguments. Left to +themselves, they would probably have looked up the one and originated +the other. As a matter of fact, however, they have generally made use +of the materials collected to their hands. * * * When once brought fully +into the struggle, they have found it necessary to adopt the same means, +to rely on the same arguments, to hold up the same men and the same +measures to public reprobation, with the same bold rebuke and unsparing +invective that we have used. All their conciliatory bearing, their +painstaking moderation, their constant and anxious endeavor to draw a +broad line between their camp and ours, have been thrown away. Just so +far as they have been effective laborers, they have found, as we have, +their hands against every man, and every man's hand against them. The +most experienced of them are ready to acknowledge that our plan has been +wise, our course efficient, and that our unpopularity is no fault of +ours, but flows necessarily and unavoidably from our position. "I should +suspect," says old Fuller, "that his preaching had no salt in it, if no +galled horse did wince." Our friends find, after all, that men do not +so much hate us as the truth we utter and the light we bring. They find +that the community are not the honest seekers after truth which they +fancied, but selfish politicians and sectarian bigots, who shiver, like +Alexander's butler, whenever the sun shines on them. Experience has +driven these new laborers back to our method. We have no quarrel with +them--would not steal one wreath of their laurels. All we claim is, +that, if they are to be complimented as prudent, moderate, Christian, +sagacious, statesmanlike reformers, we deserve the same praise; for they +have done nothing that we, in our measure, did not attempt before. + +I claim this, that the cause, in its recent aspect, has put on nothing +but timidity. It has taken to itself no new weapons of recent years; it +has become more compromising,--that is all! It has become neither more +persuasive, more earnest, more Christian, more charitable, nor more +effective than for the twenty years pre-ceding. Mr. Hale, the head of +the Free Soil movement, after a career in the Senate that would do honor +to any man,--after a six years' course which entitles him to the respect +and confidence of the antislavery public, can put his name, within +the last month, to an appeal from the city of Washington, signed by a +Houston and a Cass, for a monument to be raised to Henry Clay! If that +be the test of charity and courtesy, we cannot give it to the world. +Some of the leaders of the Free Soil party of Massachusetts, after +exhausting the whole capacity of our language to paint the treachery of +Daniel Webster to the cause of liberty, and the evil they thought he was +able and seeking to do,--after that, could feel it in their hearts to +parade themselves in the funeral procession got up to do him honor! In +this we allow we cannot follow them. The deference which every gentleman +owes to the proprieties of social life, that self-respect and regard to +consistency which is every man's duty,--these, if no deeper feelings, +will ever prevent us from giving such proofs of this newly invented +Christian courtesy. We do not play politics, antislavery is no half-jest +with us; it is a terrible earnest, with life or death, worse than life +or death, on the issue. It is no lawsuit, where it matters not to the +good feeling of opposing counsel which way the verdict goes, and where +advocates can shake hands after the decision as pleasantly as before. +When we think of such a man as Henry Clay, his long life, his mighty +influence cast always into the scale against the slave, of that +irresistible fascination with which he moulded every one to his will; +when we remember that, his conscience acknowledging the justice of our +cause, and his heart open on every other side to the gentlest impulses, +he could sacrifice so remorselessly his convictions and the welfare of +millions to his low ambition; when we think how the slave trembled at +the sound of his voice, and that, from a multitude of breaking hearts +there went up nothing but gratitude to God when it pleased him to call +that great sinner from this world, we cannot find it in our hearts, we +could not shape our lips to ask any man to do him honor. No amount of +eloquence, no sheen of official position, no loud grief of partisan +friends, would ever lead us to ask monuments or walk in fine processions +for pirates; and the sectarian zeal or selfish ambition which gives up, +deliberately and in full knowledge of the facts, three million of human +beings to hopeless ignorance, daily robbery, systematic prostitution, +and murder, which the law is neither able nor undertakes to prevent +or avenge, is more monstrous, in our eyes, than the love of gold which +takes a score of lives with merciful quickness on the high seas. Haynau +on the Danube is no more hateful to us than Haynau on the Potomac. Why +give mobs to one and monuments to the other? + +If these things be necessary to courtesy, I cannot claim that we are +courteous. We seek only to be honest men, and speak the same of the dead +as of the living. If the grave that hides their bodies could swallow +also the evil they have done and the example they leave, we might enjoy +at least the luxury of forgetting them. But the evil that men do lives +after them, and example acquires tenfold authority when it speaks from +the grave. History, also, is to be written. How shall a feeble minority, +without weight or influence in the country, with no jury of millions to +appeal to--denounced, vilified, and contemned,--how shall we make way +against the overwhelming weight of some colossal reputation, if we do +not turn from the idolatrous present, and appeal to the human race? +saying to your idols of to-day: "Here we are defeated; but we will write +our judgment with the iron pen of a century to come, and it shall never +be forgotten, if we can help it, that you were false in your generation +to the claims of the slave!" * * * + +We are weak here,--out-talked, out-voted. You load our names with +infamy, and shout us down. But our words bide their time. We warn the +living that we have terrible memories, and their sins are never to be +forgotten. We will gibbet the name of every apostate so black and high +that his children's children shall blush to bear it. Yet we bear no +malice,--cherish no resentment. We thank God that the love of fame, +"that last infirmity of noble minds," is shared by the ignoble. In our +necessity, we seize this weapon in the slave's behalf, and teach caution +to the living by meting out relentless justice to the dead. * * * +"These, Mr. Chairman, are the reasons why, we take care that 'the memory +of the wicked shall rot.'" + +I have claimed that the antislavery cause has, from the first, been ably +and dispassionately argued, every objection candidly examined, and every +difficulty or doubt anywhere honestly entertained treated with respect. +Let me glance at the literature of the cause, and try not so much, in +a brief hour, to prove this assertion, as to point out the sources from +which any one may satisfy himself of its truth. + +I will begin with certainly the ablest and perhaps the most honest +statesman who has ever touched the slave question. Any one who will +examine John Quincy Adams' speech on Texas, in 1838, will see that +he was only seconding the full and able exposure of the Texas plot, +prepared by Benjamin Lundy, to one of whose pamphlets Dr. Channing, +in his "Letter to Henry Clay," has confessed his obligation. Every one +acquainted with those years will allow that the North owes its earliest +knowledge and first awakening on that subject to Mr. Lundy, who made +long journeys and devoted years to the investigation. His labors have +this attestation, that they quickened the zeal and strengthened the +hands of such men as Adams and Channing. I have been told that Mr. Lundy +prepared a brief for Mr. Adams, and furnished him the materials for his +speech on Texas. + +Look next at the right of petition. Long before any member of Congress +had opened his mouth in its defence, the Abolition presses and lecturers +had examined and defended the limits of this right with profound +historical research and eminent constitutional ability. So thoroughly +had the work been done, that all classes of the people had made up their +minds about it long before any speaker of eminence had touched it in +Congress. The politicians were little aware of this. When Mr. Adams +threw himself so gallantly into the breach, it is said he wrote +anxiously home to know whether he would be supported in Massachusetts, +little aware of the outburst of popular gratitude which the northern +breeze was even then bringing him, deep and cordial enough to wipe away +the old grudge Massachusetts had borne him so long. Mr. Adams himself +was only in favor of receiving the petitions, and advised to refuse +their prayer, which was the abolition of slavery in the District of +Columbia. He doubted the power of Congress to abolish. His doubts were +examined by Mr. William Goodell, in two letters of most acute logic, +and of masterly ability. If Mr. Adams still retained his doubts, it is +certain at least that he never expressed them afterward. When Mr. Clay +paraded the same objections, the whole question of the power of Congress +over the District was treated by Theodore D. Weld in the fullest manner, +and with the widest research,--indeed, leaving nothing to be added: +an argument which Dr. Channing characterized as "demonstration," and +pronounced the essay "one of the ablest pamphlets from the American +press." No answer was ever attempted. The best proof of its ability is +that no one since has presumed to doubt the power. Lawyers and statesmen +have tacitly settled down into its full acknowledgment. + +The influence of the Colonization Society on the welfare of the colored +race was the first question our movement encountered. To the close +logic, eloquent appeals, and fully sustained charges of Mr. Garrison's +letters on that subject no answer was ever made. Judge Jay followed +with a work full and able, establishing every charge by the most patient +investigation of facts. It is not too much to say of these two volumes, +that they left the Colonization Society hopeless at the North. It dares +never show its face before the people, and only lingers in some few +nooks of sectarian pride, so secluded from the influence of present +ideas as to be almost fossil in their character. + +The practical working of the slave system, the slave laws, the treatment +of slaves, their food, the duration of their lives, their ignorance and +moral condition, and the influence of Southern public opinion on their +fate, have been spread out in a detail and with a fulness of evidence +which no subject has ever received before in this country. Witness the +words of Phelps, Bourne, Rankin, Grimke, the _Anti-slavery Record_, and, +above all, that encyclopaedia of facts and storehouse of arguments, the +_Thousand Witnesses_ of Mr. Theodore D. Weld. He also prepared that full +and valuable tract for the World's Convention called _Slavery and the +Internal Slave-Trade_ in the United States, published in London in 1841. +Unique in antislavery literature is Mrs. Child's _Appeal_, one of the +ablest of our weapons, and one of the finest efforts of her rare genius. + +_The Princeton Review_, I believe, first challenged the Abolitionists +to an investigation of the teachings of the Bible on slavery. That field +had been somewhat broken by our English predecessors. But in England the +pro-slavery party had been soon shamed out of the attempt to drag the +Bible into their service, and hence the discussion there had been short +and some-what superficial. The pro-slavery side of the question has been +eagerly sustained by theological reviews and doctors of divinity without +number, from the half-way and timid faltering of Wayland up to the +unblushing and melancholy recklessness of Stuart. The argument on the +other side has come wholly from the Abolitionists; for neither Dr. Hague +nor Dr. Barnes can be said to have added any thing to the wide research, +critical acumen, and comprehensive views of Theodore D. Weld, Beriah +Green, J. G. Fee, and the old work of Duncan. + +On the constitutional questions which have at various times arisen,--the +citizenship of the colored man, the soundness of the "Prigg" decision, +the constitutionality of the old Fugitive Slave Law, the true +construction of the slave-surrender clause,--nothing has been added, +either in the way of fact or argument, to the works of Jay, Weld, Alvan +Stewart, E. G. Loring, S. E. Sewall, Richard Hildreth, W. I. Bowditch, +the masterly essays of the _Emancipator_ at New York and the _Liberator_ +at Boston, and the various addresses of the Massachusetts and American +Societies for the last twenty years. The idea of the antislavery +character of the Constitution,--the opiate with which Free Soil quiets +its conscience for voting under a pro-slavery government,--I heard first +suggested by Mr. Garrison in 1838. It was elaborately argued that +year in all our antislavery gatherings, both here and in New York, and +sustained with great ability by Alvan Stewart, and in part by T. D. +Weld. The antislavery construction of the Constitution was ably argued +in 1836, in the _Antislavery Magazine_, by Rev. Samuel J. May, one of +the very first to seek the side of Mr. Garrison, and pledge to the slave +his life and efforts,--a pledge which thirty years of devoted labors +have redeemed. If it has either merit or truth, they are due to no +legal learning recently added to our ranks, but to some of the old +and well-known pioneers. This claim has since received the fullest +investigation from Mr. Lysander Spooner, who has urged it with all his +unrivalled ingenuity, laborious research, and close logic. He writes +as a lawyer, and has no wish, I believe, to be ranked with any class of +anti-slavery men. + +The influence of slavery on our Government has received the profoundest +philosophical investigation from the pen of Richard Hildreth, in his +invaluable essay on _Despotism in America_,--a work which deserves a +place by the side of the ablest political disquisitions of any age. + +Even the vigorous mind of Rantoul, the ablest man, without doubt, of +the Democratic party, and perhaps the ripest politician in New England, +added little or nothing to the store-house of antislavery argument. * +* * His speeches on our question, too short and too few, are remarkable +for their compact statement, iron logic, bold denunciation, and the +wonderful light thrown back upon our history. Yet how little do they +present which was not familiar for years in our anti-slavery +meetings! Look, too, at the last great effort of the idol of so many +thousands,--Mr. Senator Sumner,--the discussion of a great national +question, of which it has been said that we must go back to Webster's +reply to Hayne, and Fisher Ames on the Jay treaty, to find its equal in +Congress,--praise which we might perhaps qualify, if any adequate report +were left us of some of the noble orations of Adams. No one can be blind +to the skilful use he has made of his materials, the consummate ability +with which he has marshalled them, and the radiant glow which his genius +has thrown over all. Yet, with the exception of his reference to the +antislavery debate in Congress in 1817, there is hardly a train of +thought or argument, and no single fact in the whole speech, which has +not been familiar in our meetings and essays for the last ten +years. * * * + +The relations of the American Church to slavery, and the duties of +private Christians, the whole casuistry of this portion of the question, +so momentous among descendants of the Puritans,--have been discussed +with great acuteness and rare common-sense by Messrs. Garrison, Goodell, +Gerrit Smith, Pillsbury, and Foster. They have never attempted to judge +the American Church by any standard except that which she has herself +laid down,--never claimed that she should be perfect, but have contented +themselves by demanding that she should be consistent. They have never +judged her except out of her own mouth, and on facts asserted by her +own presses and leaders. The sundering of the Methodist and Baptist +denominations, and the universal agitation of the religious world, +are the best proof of the sagacity with which their measures have been +chosen, the cogent arguments they have used, and the indisputable +facts on which their criticisms have been founded. In nothing have the +Abolitionists shown more sagacity or more thorough knowledge of their +countrymen than in the course they have pursued in relation to the +Church. None but a New-Englander can appreciate the power which church +organizations wield over all who share the blood of the Puritans. The +influence of each sect over its own members is overwhelming, often +shutting out, or controlling, all other influences. We have Popes here, +all the more dangerous because no triple crown puts you on your guard. +* * * In such a land, the Abolitionists early saw, that, for a moral +question like theirs, only two paths lay open: to work through the +Church; that failing, to join battle with it. Some tried long, like +Luther, to be Protestants, and yet not come out of Catholicism; but +their eyes were soon opened. Since then we have been convinced that, to +come out from the Church, to hold her up as the bulwark of slavery, and +to make her shortcomings the main burden of our appeals to the religious +sentiment of the community, was our first duty and best policy. This +course alienated many friends, and was a subject of frequent rebuke from +such men as Dr. Channing. But nothing has ever more strengthened the +cause, or won it more influence; and it has had the healthiest effect on +the Church itself. * * * + +Unable to command a wide circulation for our books and journals, we have +been obliged to bring ourselves into close contact with the people, and +to rely mainly on public addresses. These have been our most efficient +instrumentality. For proof that these addresses have been full of +pertinent facts, sound sense, and able arguments, we must necessarily +point to results, and demand to be tried by our fruits. Within these +last twenty years it has been very rare that any fact stated by our +lecturers has been disproved, or any statement of theirs successfully +impeached. And for evidence of the soundness, simplicity, and pertinency +of their arguments we can only claim that our converts and co-laborers +throughout the land have at least the reputation of being specially able +"to give a reason for the faith that is in them." + +I remember that when, in 1845, the present leaders of the Free Soil +party, with Daniel Webster in their company, met to draw up the +Anti-Texas Address of the Massachusetts Convention, they sent to +Abolitionists for anti-slavery facts and history, for the remarkable +testimonies of our Revolutionary great men which they wished to quote. +When, many years ago, the Legislature of Massachusetts wished to send to +Congress a resolution affirming the duty of immediate emancipation, the +committee sent to William Lloyd Garrison to draw it up, and it stands +now on our statute-book as he drafted it. + +How vigilantly, how patiently, did we watch the Texas plot from its +commencement! The politic South felt that its first move had been too +bold, and thenceforward worked underground. For many a year men laughed +at us for entertaining any apprehensions. It was impossible to rouse the +North to its peril. David Lee Child was thought crazy because he would +not believe there was no danger. His elaborate "_Letters on Texas +Annexation_" are the ablest and most valuable contribution that has +been made toward a history of the whole plot. Though we foresaw and +proclaimed our conviction that annexation would be, in the end, a fatal +step for the South, we did not feel at liberty to relax our opposition, +well knowing the vast increase of strength it would give, at first, to +the slave power. I remember being one of a committee which waited +on Abbott Lawrence, a year or so only before annexation, to ask his +countenance to some general movement, without distinction of party, +against the Texas scheme. He smiled at our fears, begged us to have +no apprehensions; stating that his correspondence with leading men at +Washington enabled him to assure us annexation was impossible, and that +the South itself was determined to defeat the project. A short time +after, Senators and Representatives from Texas took their seats in +Congress! + +Many of these services to the slave were done before I joined his cause. +In thus referring to them, do not suppose me merely seeking occasion of +eulogy on my predecessors and present co-laborers. I recall these things +only to rebut the contemptuous criticism which some about us make the +excuse for their past neglect of the movement, and in answer to +"Ion's" representation of our course as reckless fanaticism, childish +impatience, utter lack of good sense, and of our meetings as scenes only +of excitement, of reckless and indiscriminate denunciation. I assert +that every social, moral, economical, religious, political, and +historical aspect of the question has been ably and patiently examined. +And all this has been done with an industry and ability which have left +little for the professional skill, scholarly culture, and historical +learning of the new laborers to accomplish. If the people are still in +doubt, it is from the inherent difficulty of the subject, or a hatred of +light, not from want of it. * * * + +Sir, when a nation sets itself to do evil, and all its leading forces, +wealth, party, and piety, join in the career, it is impossible but that +those who offer a constant opposition should be hated and maligned, no +matter how wise, cautious, and well planned their course may be. We +are peculiar sufferers in this way. The community has come to hate its +reproving Nathan so bitterly, that even those whom the relenting part of +it are beginning to regard as standard-bearers of the antislavery host +think it unwise to avow any connection or sympathy with him. I refer to +some of the leaders of the political movement against slavery. They feel +it to be their mission to marshal and use as effectively as possible +the present convictions of the people. They cannot afford to encumber +themselves with the odium which twenty years of angry agitation have +engendered in great sects sore from unsparing rebuke, parties galled by +constant defeat, and leading men provoked by unexpected exposure. They +are willing to confess, privately, that our movement produced theirs, +and that its continued existence is the very breath of their life. But, +at the same time, they would fain walk on the road without being soiled +by too close contact with the rough pioneers who threw it up. They are +wise and honorable, and their silence is very expressive. + +When I speak of their eminent position and acknowledged ability, another +thought strikes me. Who converted these men and their distinguished +associates? It is said we have shown neither sagacity in plans, +nor candor in discussion, nor ability. Who, then, or what converted +Burlingame and Wilson, Sumner and Adams, Palfrey and Mann, Chase and +Hale, and Phillips and Giddings? Who taught the _Christian Register_, +the _Daily Advertiser_, and that class of prints, that there were such +things as a slave and a slave-holder in the land, and so gave them some +more intelligent basis than their mere instincts to hate William Lloyd +Garrison? What magic wand was it whose touch made the todying servility +of the land start up the real demon that it was, and at the same +time gathered into the slave's service the professional ability, ripe +culture, and personal integrity which grace the Free Soil ranks? We +never argue! These men, then, were converted by simple denunciation! +They were all converted by the "hot," "reckless," "ranting," "bigoted," +"fanatic" Garrison, who never troubled himself about facts, nor stopped +to argue with an opponent, but straightway knocked him down! My old +and valued friend, Mr. Sumner, often boasts that he was a reader of the +_Liberator_ before I was. Do not criticise too much the agency by which +such men were converted. That blade has a double edge. Our reckless +course, our empty rant, our fanaticism, has made Abolitionists of some +of the best and ablest men in the land. We are inclined to go on, and +see if, even with such poor tools, we cannot make some more. Antislavery +zeal and the roused conscience of the "godless comeouters" made the +trembling South demand the Fugitive Slave Law, and the Fugitive Slave +Law provoked Mrs. Stowe to the good work of "Uncle Tom." That is +something! Let me say, in passing, that you will nowhere find an earlier +or more generous appreciation, or more flowing eulogy, of these men and +their labors, than in the columns of the _Liberator_. No one, however +feeble, has ever peeped or muttered, in any quarter, that the vigilant +eye of the _Pioneer_ has not recognized him. He has stretched out the +right hand of a most cordial welcome the moment any man's face was +turned Zionward. + +I do not mention these things to praise Mr. Garrison; I do not stand +here for that purpose. You will not deny--if you do, I can prove +it--that the movement of the Abolitionists converted these men. Their +constituents were converted by it. The assault upon the right of +petition, upon the right to print and speak of slavery, the denial of +the right of Congress over the District, the annexation of Texas, +the Fugitive Slave Law, were measures which the anti-slavery movement +provoked, and the discussion of which has made all the Abolitionists we +have. The antislavery cause, then, converted these men; it gave them a +constituency; it gave them an opportunity to speak, and it gave them a +public to listen. The antislavery cause gave them their votes, got them +their offices, furnished them their facts, gave them their audience. +If you tell me they cherished all these principles in their own breasts +before Mr. Garrison appeared, I can only say, if the anti-slavery +movement did not give them their ideas, it surely gave the courage to +utter them. + +In such circumstances, is it not singular that the name of William Lloyd +Garrison has never been pronounced on the floor of the United States +Congress linked with any epithet but that of contempt! No one of those +men who owe their ideas, their station, their audience, to him, +have ever thought it worth their while to utter one word in grateful +recognition of the power which called them into being. When obliged, by +the course of their argument, to treat the question historically, they +can go across the water to Clarkson and Wilberforce--yes, to a safe +salt-water distance. As Daniel Webster, when he was talking to the +farmers of Western New York, and wished to contrast slave labor and free +labor, did not dare to compare New York with Virginia--sister States, +under the same government, planted by the same race, worshipping at the +same altar, speaking the same language--identical in all respects, save +that one in which he wished to seek the contrast; but no; he compared +it with Cuba--the contrast was so close! Catholic--Protestant; +Spanish--Saxon; despotism--municipal institutions; readers of Lope de +Vega and of Shakespeare; mutterers of the Mass--children of the Bible! +But Virginia is too near home! So is Garrison! One would have thought +there was something in the human breast which would sometimes break +through policy. These noble-hearted men whom I have named must surely +have found quite irksome the constant practice of what Dr. Gardiner used +to call "that despicable virtue, prudence." One would have thought, when +they heard that name spoken with contempt, their ready eloquence would +have leaped from its scabbard to avenge even a word that threatened +him with insult. But it never came--never! I do not say I blame them. +Perhaps they thought they should serve the cause better by drawing a +broad black line between themselves and him. Perhaps they thought the +Devil could be cheated: I do not! + + * * * * * + +Caution is not always good policy in a cause like ours. It is said that, +when Napoleon saw the day going against him, he used to throw away +all the rules of war, and trust himself to the hot impetuosity of his +soldiers. The masses are governed more by impulse than conviction, and +even were it not so, the convictions of most men are on our side, +and this will surely appear, if we can only pierce the crust of their +prejudice or indifference. I observe that our Free Soil friends never +stir their audience so deeply as when some individual leaps beyond the +platform, and strikes upon the very heart of the people. Men listen to +discussions of laws and tactics with ominous patience. It is when Mr. +Sumner, in Faneuil Hall, avows his determination to disobey the +Fugitive Slave Law, and cries out: "I was a man before I was a +Commissioner,"--when Mr. Giddings says of the fall of slavery, quoting +Adams: "Let it come. If it must come in blood, yet I say let it +come!"--that their associates on the platform are sure they are +wrecking the party,--while many a heart beneath beats its first pulse of +anti-slavery life. + +These are brave words. When I compare them with the general tone of Free +Soil men in Congress, I distrust the atmosphere of Washington and of +politics. These men move about, Sauls and Goliaths among us, taller by +many a cubit. There they lose port and stature. Mr. Sumner's speech +in the Senate unsays no part of his Faneuil Hall pledge. But, though +discussing the same topic, no one would gather from any word or argument +that the speaker ever took such ground as he did in Faneuil Hall. It +is all through, the law, the manner of the surrender, not the surrender +itself, of the slave, that he objects to. As my friend Mr. Pillsbury +so forcibly says, so far as any thing in the speech shows, he puts the +slave behind the jury trial, behind the habeas corpus act, and behind +the new interpretation of the Constitution, and says to the slave +claimant: "You must get through all these before you reach him; but, if +you can get through all these, you may have him!" It was no tone like +this which made the old Hall rock! Not if he got through twelve jury +trials, and forty habeas corpus acts, and constitutions built high +as yonder monument, would he permit so much as the shadow of a little +finger of the slave claimant to touch the slave! At least so he was +understood. * * * + +Mr. Mann, in his speech of February 5, 1850, says: "The States being +separated, I would as soon return my own brother or sister into bondage, +as I would return a fugitive slave. Before God, and Christ, and all +Christian men, they are my brothers and sisters." What a condition! From +the lips, too, of a champion of the Higher Law! Whether the States +be separate or united, neither my brother nor any other man's brother +shall, with my consent, go back to bondage! So speaks the heart--Mr. +Mann's version is that of the politician. + +This seems to me a very mistaken strain. Whenever slavery is banished +from our national jurisdiction, it will be a momentous gain, a vast +stride. But let us not mistake the half-way house for the end of the +journey. I need not say that it matters not to Abolitionists under what +special law slavery exists. Their battle lasts while it exists anywhere, +and I doubt not Mr. Sumner and Mr. Giddings feel themselves enlisted +for the whole war. I will even suppose, what neither of these gentlemen +states, that their plan includes not only that slavery shall be +abolished in the District and Territories but that the slave basis +of representation shall be struck from the Constitution, and the +slave-surrender clause construed away. But even then does Mr. Giddings +or Mr. Sumner really believe that slavery, existing in its full force in +the States, "will cease to vex our national politics?" Can they point to +any State where a powerful oligarchy, possessed of immense wealth, has +ever existed without attempting to meddle in the government? Even now, +does not manufacturing, banking, and commercial capital perpetually vex +our politics? Why should not slave capital exert the same influence? +Do they imagine that a hundred thousand men, possessed of two thousand +millions of dollars, which they feel the spirit of the age is seeking +to tear from their grasp, will not eagerly catch at all the support they +can obtain by getting the control of the government? In a land where the +dollar is almighty, "where the sin of not being rich is only atoned for +by the effort to become so," do they doubt that such an oligarchy will +generally succeed? Besides, banking and manufacturing stocks are not +urged by despair to seek a controlling influence in politics. They know +they are about equally safe, whichever party rules--that no party wishes +to legislate their rights away. Slave property knows that its being +allowed to exist depends on its having the virtual control of the +government. Its constant presence in politics is dictated, therefore, +by despair, as well as by the wish to secure fresh privileges. Money, +however, is not the only strength of the slave power. That, indeed, were +enough, in an age when capitalists are our feudal barons. But, though +driven entirely from national shelter, the slave-holders would have the +strength of old associations, and of peculiar laws in their own States, +which give those States wholly into their hands. A weaker prestige, +fewer privileges, and less comparative wealth, have enabled the British +aristocracy to rule England for two centuries, though the root of their +strength was cut at Naseby. It takes ages for deeply-rooted institutions +to die; and driving slavery into the States will hardly be our Naseby. * +* * + +And Mr. Sumner "knows no better aim, under the Constitution, than to +bring back the government to where it was in 1789!" Has the voyage been +so very honest and prosperous a one, in his opinion, that his only +wish is to start again with the same ship, the same crew, and the same +sailing orders? Grant all he claims as to the state of public opinion, +the intentions of leading men, and the form of our institutions at that +period; still, with all these checks on wicked men, and helps to good +ones, here we are, in 1853, according to his own showing, ruled by +slavery, tainted to the core with slavery, and binding the infamous +Fugitive Slave Law like an honorable frontlet on our brows. The more +accurate and truthful his glowing picture of the public virtue of 1789, +the stronger my argument. If even all those great patriots, and all that +enthusiasm for justice and liberty, did not avail to keep us safe +in such a Union, what will? In such desperate circumstances, can his +statesmanship devise no better aim than to try the same experiment over +again, under precisely the same conditions? What new guaranties does he +propose to prevent the voyage from being again turned into a piratical +slave-trading cruise? None! Have sixty years taught us nothing? In 1660, +the English thought, in recalling Charles II., that the memory of that +scaffold which had once darkened the windows of Whitehall would be +guaranty enough for his good behavior. But, spite of the spectre, +Charles II. repeated Charles I., and James outdid him. Wiser by this +experience, when the nation in 1689 got another chance, they trusted +to no guaranties, but so arranged the very elements of their government +that William III. could not repeat Charles I. Let us profit by the +lesson. * * * + +If all I have said to you is untrue, if I have exaggerated, explain to +me this fact. In 1831, Mr. Garrison commenced a paper advocating the +doctrine of immediate emancipation. He had against him the thirty +thousand churches and all the clergy of the country,--its wealth, its +commerce, its press. In 1831, what was the state of things? There was +the most entire ignorance and apathy on the slave question. If men +knew of the existence of slavery, it was only as a part of picturesque +Virginia life. No one preached, no one talked, no one wrote about it. No +whisper of it stirred the surface of the political sea. The church heard +of it occasionally, when some colonization agent asked funds to send +the blacks to Africa. Old school-books tainted with some antislavery +selections had passed out of use, and new ones were compiled to suit the +times. Soon as any dissent from the prevailing faith appeared, every one +set himself to crush it. The pulpits preached at it; the press denounced +it; mobs tore down houses, threw presses into the fire and the stream, +and shot the editors; religious conventions tried to smother it; parties +arrayed themselves against it. Daniel Webster boasted in the Senate, +that he had never introduced the subject of slavery to that body, and +never would. Mr. Clay, in 1839, makes a speech for the Presidency, in +which he says, that to discuss the subject of slavery is moral treason, +and that no man has a right to introduce the subject into Congress. +Mr. Benton, in 1844, laid down his platform, and he not only denies the +right, but asserts that he never has and never will discuss the subject. +Yet Mr. Clay, from 1839 down to his death, hardly made a remarkable +speech of any kind, except on slavery. Mr. Webster, having indulged now +and then in a little easy rhetoric, as at Niblo's and elsewhere, opens +his mouth in 1840, generously contributing his aid to both sides, and +stops talking about it only when death closes his lips. Mr. Benton's +six or eight speeches in the United States Senate have all been on the +subject of slavery in the Southwestern section of the country, and form +the basis of whatever claim he has to the character of a statesman, and +he owes his seat in the next Congress somewhat, perhaps, to anti-slavery +pretentions! The Whig and Democratic parties pledged themselves just as +emphatically against the antislavery discussion,--against agitation and +free speech. These men said: "It sha'n't be talked about; it won't be +talked about!" These are your statesmen!--men who understand the present +that is, and mould the future! The man who understands his own time, and +whose genius moulds the future to his views, he is a statesman, is he +not? These men devoted themselves to banks, to the tariff, to internal +improvements, to constitutional and financial questions. They said to +slavery: "Back! no entrance here! We pledge ourselves against you." +And then there came up a little printer-boy, who whipped them into +the traces, and made them talk, like Hotspur's starling, nothing +BUT slavery. He scattered all these gigantic shadows,--tariff, bank, +constitutional questions, financial questions; and slavery, like +the colossal head in Walpole's romance, came up and filled the whole +political horizon! Yet you must remember he is not a statesman! he is +a "fanatic." He has no discipline,--Mr. "Ion" says so; he does not +understand the "discipline that is essential to victory"! This man did +not understand his own time, he did not know what the future was to +be,--he was not able to shape it--he had no "prudence,"--he had no +"foresight"! Daniel Webster says, "I have never introduced this subject, +and never will,"--and dies broken-hearted because he had not been +able to talk enough about it! Benton says, "I will never speak of +slavery,"--and lives to break with his party on this issue! Clay says it +is "moral treason" to introduce the subject into Congress--and lives to +see Congress turned into an antislavery debating society, to suit the +purpose of one "too powerful individual." * * * Remember who it was +that said in 1831: "I am in earnest--I will not equivocate--I will not +excuse--I will not retreat a single inch--and I will be heard!" That +speaker has lived twenty-two years, and the complaint of twenty-three +millions of people is, "Shall we never hear of any thing but slavery?" +* * * "Well, it is all HIS fault" [pointing to Mr. Garrison]. * * * It +seems to me that such men may point to the present aspect of the nation, +to their originally avowed purpose, to the pledges and efforts of all +your great men against them, and then let you determine to which side +the credit of sagacity and statesmanship belongs. Napoleon busied +himself at St. Helena in showing how Wellington ought to have conquered +at Waterloo. The world has never got time to listen to the explanation. +Sufficient for it that the allies entered Paris. + +It may sound strange to some, this claim for Mr. Garrison of a profound +statesmanship. "Men have heard him styled a mere fanatic so long +that they are incompetent to judge him fairly." "The phrases men are +accustomed," says Goethe, "to repeat incessantly, end by becoming +convictions, and ossify the organs of intelligence." I cannot accept +you, therefore, as my jury. I appeal from Festus to Csar, from the +prejudice of our streets to the common-sense of the world, and to your +children. + +Every thoughtful and unprejudiced mind must see that such an evil as +slavery will yield only to the most radical treatment. If you consider +the work we have to do, you will not think us needlessly aggressive, +or that we dig down unnecessarily deep in laying the foundations of our +enterprise. A money power of two thousand millions of dollars, as the +prices of slaves now range, held by a small body of able and desperate +men; that body raised into a political aristocracy by special +constitutional provisions; cotton, the product of slave labor, forming +the basis of our whole foreign commerce, and the commercial class thus +subsidized; the press bought up, the pulpit reduced to vassalage, the +heart of the common people chilled by a bitter prejudice against the +black race; our leading men bribed, by ambition, either to silence or +open hostility;--in such a land, on what shall an Abolitionist rely? +On a few cold prayers, mere lip-service, and never from the heart? On +a church resolution, hidden often in its records, and meant only as a +decent cover for servility in daily practice? On political parties, with +their superficial influence at best, and seeking ordinarily only to use +existing prejudices to the best advantage? Slavery has deeper root here +than any aristocratic institution has in Europe; and politics is but the +common pulse-beat, of which revolution is the fever-spasm. Yet we have +seen European aristocracy survive storms which seemed to reach down +to the primal strata of European life. Shall we, then, trust to mere +politics, where even revolution has failed? How shall the stream rise +above its fountain? Where shall our church organizations or parties +get strength to attack their great parent and moulder, the slave power? +Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it, Why hast thou made me +thus? The old jest of one who tried to lift himself in his own basket, +is but a tame picture of the man who imagines that, by working solely +through existing sects and parties, he can destroy slavery. Mechanics +say nothing, but an earthquake strong enough to move all Egypt can bring +down the pyramids. + +Experience has confirmed these views. The Abolitionists who have acted +on them have a "short method" with all unbelievers. They have but to +point to their own success, in contrast with every other man's failure. +To waken the nation to its real state, and chain it to the consideration +of this one duty, is half the work. So much we have done. Slavery has +been made the question of this generation. To startle the South to +madness, so that every step she takes, in her blindness, is one step +more toward ruin, is much. This we have done. Witness Texas and the +Fugitive Slave Law. + +To have elaborated for the nation the only plan of redemption, pointed +out the only exodus from this "sea of troubles," is much. This we claim +to have done in our motto of IMMEDIATE, UNCONDITIONAL, EMANCIPATION ON +THE SOIL. The closer any statesmanlike mind looks into the question, +the more favor our plan finds with it. The Christian asks fairly of +the infidel, "If this religion be not from God, how do you explain its +triumph, and the history of the first three centuries?" Our question +is similar. If our agitation has not been wisely planned and conducted, +explain for us the history of the last twenty years! Experience is a +safe light to walk by, and he is not a rash man who expects success in +future from the same means which have secured it in times past. + + + + +CHARLES SUMNER, + +OF MASSACHUSETTS. (BORN 1811, DIED 1874.) + +ON THE REPEAL OF THE FUGITIVE SLAVE LAW-- + +IN THE UNITED STATES SENATE, AUGUST 26, 1852. + + +THURSDAY, 26TH AUGUST, 1852.--The Civil and Diplomatic Appropriation +Bill being under consideration, the following amendment was moved by Mr. +Hunter, of Virginia, on the recommendation of the Committee on Finance: + +"That, where the ministerial officers of the United States have or shall +incur extraordinary expense in executing the laws thereof, the payment +of which is not specifically provided for, the President of the United +States is authorized to allow the payment thereof, under the special +taxation of the District or Circuit Court of the District in which +the said services have been or shall be rendered, to be paid from the +appropriation for defraying the expenses of the Judiciary." + +Mr. Sumner seized the opportunity for which he had been waiting, and at +once moved the following amendment to the amendment: + +"Provided, That no such allowance shall be authorized for any expenses +incurred in executing the Act of September 18, 1850, for the surrender +of fugitives from service or labor; which said Act is hereby repealed." + +On this he took the floor, and spoke as follows: + + +MR. PRESIDENT, + +Here is a provision for extraordinary expense incurred in executing the +laws of the United States. Extraordinary expenses! Sir, beneath these +specious words lurks the very subject on which, by a solemn vote of this +body, I was refused a hearing. Here it is; no longer open to the +charge of being an "abstraction," but actually presented for practical +legislation; not introduced by me, but by the Senator from Virginia (Mr. +Hunter), on the recommendation of an important committee of the Senate; +not brought forward weeks ago, when there was ample time for discussion, +but only at this moment, without any reference to the late period of +the session. The amendment which I offer proposes to remove one chief +occasion of these extraordinary expenses. Beyond all controversy or +cavil it is strictly in order. And now, at last, among these final, +crowded days of our duties here, but at this earliest opportunity, I +am to be heard,--not as a favor, but as a right. The graceful usages +of this body may be abandoned, but the established privileges of +debate cannot be abridged. Parliamentary courtesy may be forgotten, +but parliamentary law must prevail. The subject is broadly before the +Senate. By the blessing of God it shall be discussed. + +Sir, a severe lawgiver of early Greece vainly sought to secure +permanence for his imperfect institutions by providing that the citizen +who at any time attempted their repeal or alteration should appear in +the public assembly with a halter about his neck, ready to be drawn, +if his proposition failed. A tyrannical spirit among us, in unconscious +imitation of this antique and discarded barbarism, seeks to surround an +offensive institution with similar safeguard. + +In the existing distemper of the public mind, and at this present +juncture, no man can enter upon the service which I now undertake, +with-out personal responsibility, such as can be sustained only by +that sense of duty which, under God, is always our best support. That +personal responsibility I accept. Before the Senate and the country let +me be held accountable for this act and for every word which I utter. + +With me, Sir, there is no alternative. Painfully convinced of the +unutterable wrong and woe of Slavery,--profoundly believing, that, +according to the true spirit of the Constitution and the sentiments of +the Fathers, it can find no place under our National Government,--that +it is in every respect sectional, and in no respect national,--that it +is always and everywhere creature and dependent of the States, and never +anywhere creature or dependent of the Nation,--and that the Nation can +never, by legislative or other act, impart to it any support, under the +Constitution of the United States,--with these convictions I could +not allow this session to reach its close without making or seizing an +opportunity to declare myself openly against the usurpation, injustice, +and cruelty of the late intolerable enactment for the recovery of +fugitive slaves. Full well I know, Sir, the difficulties of this +discussion, arising from prejudices of opinion and from adverse +conclusions strong and sincere as my own. Full well I know that I am +in a small minority, with few here to whom I can look for sympathy or +support. Full well I know that I must utter things unwelcome to many +in this body, which I cannot do without pain. Full well I know that the +institution of Slavery in our country, which I now proceed to consider, +is as sensitive as it is powerful, possessing a power to shake the whole +land, with a sensitiveness that shrinks and trembles at the touch. But +while these things may properly prompt me to caution and reserve, they +cannot change my duty, or my determination to perform it. For this I +willingly forget myself and all personal consequences. The favor and +good-will of my fellow-citizens, of my brethren of the Senate, +Sir, grateful to me as they justly are, I am ready, if required, to +sacrifice. Whatever I am or may be I freely offer to this cause. + +Here allow, for one moment, a reference to myself and my position. Sir, +I have never been a politician. The slave of principles, I call no party +master. By sentiment, education, and conviction a friend of Human Rights +in their utmost expansion, I have ever most sincerely embraced the +Democratic Idea,--not, indeed, as represented or professed by any +party, but according to its real significance, as transfigured in the +Declaration of Independence and in the injunctions of Christianity. In +this idea I see no narrow advantage merely for individuals or classes, +but the sovereignty of the people, and the greatest happiness of all +secured by equal laws. Amidst the vicissitudes of public affairs I shall +hold fast always to this idea, and to any political party which truly +embraces it. + +Party does not constrain me; nor is my independence lessened by any +relations to the office which gives me a title to be heard on this +floor. Here, Sir, I speak proudly. By no effort, by no desire of my own, +I find myself a Senator of the United States. Never before have I held +public office of any kind. With the ample opportunities of private life +I was content. No tombstone for me could bear a fairer inscription than +this: "Here lies one who, without the honors or emoluments of public +station, did something for his fellowmen." From such simple aspirations +I was taken away by the free choice of my native Commonwealth, and +placed at this responsible post of duty, without personal obligation of +any kind, beyond what was implied in my life and published words. The +earnest friends by whose confidence I was first designated asked nothing +from me, and throughout the long conflict which ended in my election +rejoiced in the position which I most carefully guarded. To all my +language was uniform: that I did not desire to be brought forward; +that I would do nothing to promote the result; that I had no pledges or +promises to offer; that the office should seek me, and not I the office; +and that it should find me in all respects an independent man, bound to +no party and to no human being, but only, according to my best judgment, +to act for the good of all. Again, Sir, I speak with pride, both for +myself and others, when I add that these avowals found a sympathizing +response. In this spirit I have come here, and in this spirit I shall +speak to-day. + +Rejoicing in my independence, and claiming nothing from party ties, I +throw myself upon the candor and magnanimity of the Senate. I ask your +attention; I trust not to abuse it. I may speak strongly, for I shall +speak openly and from the strength of my convictions. I may speak warmly, +for I shall speak from the heart. But in no event can I forget the +amenities which belong to debate, and which especially become this body. +Slavery I must condemn with my whole soul; but here I need only borrow +the language of slaveholders; nor would it accord with my habits or +my sense of justice to exhibit them as the impersonation of the +institution--Jefferson calls it the "enormity"--which they cherish. +Of them I do not speak; but without fear and without favor, as without +impeachment of any person, I assail this wrong. Again, Sir, I may err; +but it will be with the Fathers. I plant myself on the ancient ways of +the Republic, with its grandest names, its surest landmarks, and all its +original altar-fires about me. + +And now, on the very threshold, I encounter the objection, that there +is a final settlement, in principle and substance, of the question of +slavery, and that all discussion of it is closed. Both the old political +parties, by formal resolutions, in recent conventions at Baltimore, have +united in this declaration. On a subject which for years has agitated +the public mind, which yet palpitates in every heart and burns on every +tongue, which in its immeasurable importance dwarfs all other subjects, +which by its constant and gigantic presence throws a shadow across +these halls, which at this very time calls for appropriations to meet +extraordinary expenses it has caused, they impose the rule of silence. +According to them, Sir, we may speak of everything except that alone +which is most present in all our minds. + +To this combined effort I might fitly reply, that, with flagrant +inconsistency, it challenges the very discussion it pretends to forbid. +Their very declaration, on the eve of an election, is, of course, +submitted to the consideration and ratification of the people. Debate, +inquiry, discussion, are the necessary consequence. Silence becomes +impossible. Slavery, which you profess to banish from public attention, +openly by your invitation enters every political meeting and every +political convention. Nay, at this moment it stalks into this Senate, +crying, like the daughters of the horseleech, "Give! give." + +But no unanimity of politicians can uphold the baseless assumption, that +a law, or any conglomerate of laws, under the name of compromise, or +howsoever called, is final. Nothing can be plainer than this,--that by +no parliamentary device or knot can any legislature tie the hands of +a succeeding legislature, so as to prevent the full exercise of its +constitutional powers. Each legislature, under a just sense of its +responsibility, must judge for itself; and if it think proper, it may +revise, or amend, or absolutely undo the work of any predecessor. +The laws of the Medes and Persians are said proverbially to have been +unalterable; but they stand forth in history as a single example where +the true principles of all law have been so irrationally defied. + +To make a law final, so as not to be reached by Congress, is, by mere +legislation, to fasten a new provision on the Constitution. Nay, more; +it gives to the law a character which the very Constitution does not +possess. The wise Fathers did not treat the country as a Chinese foot, +never to grow after infancy; but, anticipating progress, they +declared expressly that their great Act is not final. According to the +Constitution itself, there is not one of its existing provisions--not +even that with regard to fugitives from labor--which may not at all +times be reached by amendment, and thus be drawn into debate. This +is rational and just. Sir, nothing from man's hands, nor law, nor +constitution, can be final. Truth alone is final. + +Inconsistent and absurd, this effort is tyrannical also. The +responsibility for the recent Slave Act, and for slavery everywhere +within the jurisdiction of Congress, necessarily involves the right to +discuss them. To separate these is impossible. Like the twenty-fifth +rule of the House of Representatives against petitions on Slavery,--now +repealed and dishonored,--the Compromise, as explained and urged, is a +curtailment of the actual powers of legislation, and a perpetual +denial of the indisputable principle, that the right to deliberate is +coextensive with the responsibility for an act. To sustain Slavery it +is now proposed to trample on free speech. In any country this would be +grievous; but here, where the Constitution expressly provides against +abridging freedom of speech, it is a special outrage. In vain do we +condemn the despotisms of Europe, while we borrow the rigors with which +they repress Liberty, and guard their own uncertain power. For myself, +in no factious spirit, but solemnly and in loyalty to the Constitution, +as a Senator of the United States, representing a free Commonwealth, I +protest against this wrong. + +On Slavery, as on every other subject, I claim the right to be heard. +That right I cannot, I will not abandon. "Give me the liberty to +know, to utter, and to argue freely according to conscience, above +all liberties"; these are glowing words, flashed from the soul of John +Milton in his struggles with English tyranny. With equal fervor they +could be echoed now by every American not already a slave. + +But, Sir, this effort is impotent as tyrannical. Convictions of the +heart cannot be repressed. Utterances of conscience must be heard. They +break forth with irrepressible might. As well attempt to check the tides +of ocean, the currents of the Mississippi, or the rushing waters of +Niagara. The discussion of Slavery will proceed, wherever two or three +are gathered together,--by the fireside, on the highway, at the public +meeting, in the church. The movement against Slavery is from the +Everlasting Arm. Even now it is gathering its forces, soon to be +confessed everywhere. It may not be felt yet in the high places of +office and power, but all who can put their ears humbly to the ground +will hear and comprehend its incessant and advancing tread. + +The relations of the National Government to Slavery, though plain and +obvious, are constantly misunderstood. A popular belief at this moment +makes Slavery a national institution, and of course renders its support +a national duty. The extravagance of this error can hardly be surpassed. +An institution which our fathers most carefully omitted to name in the +Constitution, which, according to the debates in the Convention, +they refused to cover with any "sanction," and which, at the original +organization of the Government, was merely sectional, existing nowhere +on the national territory, is now, above all other things, blazoned as +national. Its supporters pride themselves as national. The old political +parties, while upholding it, claim to be national. A National Whig +is simply a Slavery Whig, and a National Democrat is simply a Slavery +Democrat, in contradistinction to all who regard Slavery as a sectional +institution, within the exclusive control of the States and with which +the nation has nothing to do. + +As Slavery assumes to be national, so, by an equally strange perversion, +Freedom is degraded to be sectional, and all who uphold it, under the +National Constitution, are made to share this same epithet. Honest +efforts to secure its blessings everywhere within the jurisdiction of +Congress are scouted as sectional; and this cause, which the founders +of our National Government had so much at heart, is called Sectionalism. +These terms, now belonging to the common places of political speech, are +adopted and misapplied by most persons without reflection. But here is +the power of Slavery. According to a curious tradition of the French +language, Louis XIV., the Grand Monarch, by an accidental error of +speech, among supple courtiers, changed the gender of a noun. But +slavery does more. It changes word for word. It teaches men to say +national instead of sectional, and sectional instead of national. + +Slavery national! Sir, this is a mistake and absurdity, fit to have a +place in some new collection of Vulgar Errors, by some other Sir Thomas +Browne, with the ancient, but exploded stories, that the toad has a +gem in its head, and that ostriches digest iron. According to the true +spirit of the Constitution, and the sentiments of the Fathers, Slavery, +and not Freedom, is sectional, while Freedom, and not Slavery, is +national. On this unanswerable proposition I take my stand, and here +commences my argument. + +The subject presents itself under two principal heads: _First, the true +relations of the National Government to Slavery_, wherein it will appear +that there is no national fountain from which Slavery can be derived, +and no national power, under the Constitution, by which it can be +supported. Enlightened by this general survey, we shall be prepared to +consider, _secondly, the true nature of the provision for the rendition +of fugitives from service_, and herein especially the unconstitutional +and offensive legislation of Congress in pursuance thereof. + + +I. + +And now for THE TRUE RELATIONS OF THE NATIONAL GOVERNMENT TO SLAVERY. +These are readily apparent, if we do not neglect well-established +principles. + +If slavery be national, if there be any power in the National Government +to withhold this institution,--as in the recent Slave Act,--it must +be by virtue of the Constitution. Nor can it be by mere inference, +implication, or conjecture. According to the uniform admission of courts +and jurists in Europe, again and again promulgated in our country, +slavery can be derived only from clear and special recognition. "The +state of Slavery," said Lord Mansfield, pronouncing judgment in the +great case of Sommersett, "is of such a nature that it is incapable +of being introduced on any reasons, moral or political, but only by +positive law.... _It is so odious, that nothing can be suffered to +support it but positive law_." + + * * * * * + +Of course every power to uphold slavery must have an origin as distinct +as that of Slavery itself. Every presumption must be as strong against +such a power as against slavery. A power so peculiar and offensive, +so hostile to reason, so repugnant to the law of Nature and the inborn +rights of man,--which despoils its victim of the fruits of labor,--which +substitutes concubinage for marriage,--which abrogates the relation of +parent and child,--which, by denial of education, abases the intellect, +prevents a true knowledge of God, and murders the very soul,--which, +amidst a plausible physical comfort, degrades man, created in the +divine image, to the state of a beast,--such a power, so eminent, so +transcendent, so tyrannical, so unjust, can find no place in any system +of government, unless by virtue of positive sanction. It can spring from +no doubtful phrase. It must be declared by unambiguous words, incapable +of a double sense. + + * * * * * + +Sir, such, briefly, are the rules of interpretation, which, as applied +to the Constitution, fill it with the breath of freedom,-- + + "Driving far off each thing of sin and guilt." + +To the history and prevailing sentiments of the times we may turn for +further assurance. In the spirit of freedom the Constitution was formed. +In this spirit our fathers always spoke and acted. In this spirit the +National Government was first organized under Washington. And here I +recall a scene, in itself a touch-stone of the period, and an example +for us, upon which we may look with pure national pride, while we learn +anew the relations of the National Government to Slavery. + +The Revolution was accomplished. The feeble Government of the +Confederation passed away. The Constitution, slowly matured in a +National Convention, discussed before the people, defended by masterly +pens, was adopted. The Thirteen States stood forth a Nation, where was +unity without consolidation, and diversity without discord. The hopes of +all were anxiously hanging upon the new order of things and the mighty +procession of events. With signal unanimity Washington was chosen +President. Leaving his home at Mount Vernon, he repaired to New +York,--where the first Congress had commenced its session,--to assume +his place as Chief of the Republic. On the 30th of April, 1789, the +organization of the Government was completed by his inauguration. +Entering the Senate Chamber, where the two Houses were assembled, he was +informed that they awaited his readiness to receive the oath of office. +Without delay, attended by the Senators and Representatives, with +friends and men of mark gathered about him, he moved to the balcony in +front of the edifice. A countless multitude, thronging the open ways, +and eagerly watching this great espousal, + + "With reverence look on his majestic face, + Proud to be less, but of his godlike race." + +The oath was administered by the Chancellor of New York. At such time, +and in such presence, beneath the unveiled heavens, Washington first +took this vow upon his lips: "I do solemnly swear that I will faithfully +execute the office of President of the United States, and will, to the +best of my ability, preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of +the United States." + +Over the President, on this new occasion, floated the national flag, +with its stripes of red and white, its stars on a field of blue. As +his patriot eye rested upon the glowing ensign, what currents must have +rushed swiftly through his soul. In the early days of the Revolution, in +those darkest hours about Boston, after the Battle of Bunker Hill, and +before the Declaration of Independence, the thirteen stripes had been +first unfurled by him, as the emblem of Union among the Colonies for +the sake of Freedom. By him, at that time, they had been named the Union +Flag. Trial, struggle, and war were now ended, and the Union, which they +first heralded, was unalterably established. To every beholder these +memories, must have been full of pride and consolation. But, looking +back upon the scene, there is one circumstance which, more than all its +other associations, fills the soul,--more even than the suggestions of +Union, which I prize so much. AT THIS MOMENT, WHEN WASHINGTON TOOK +HIS FIRST OATH TO SUPPORT THE CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES, THE +NATIONAL ENSIGN, NOWHERE WITHIN THE NATIONAL TERRITORY, COVERED A SINGLE +SLAVE. Then, indeed, was Slavery Sectional, and Freedom National. + +On the sea an execrable piracy, the trade in slaves, to the national +scandal, was still tolerated under the national flag. In the States, +as a sectional institution, beneath the shelter of local laws, Slavery +unhappily found a home. But in the only terrritories at this time +belonging to the nation, the broad region of the Northwest, it was +already made impossible, by the Ordinance of Freedom, even before the +adoption of the Constitution. The District of Columbia, with its Fatal +Dowry, was not yet acquired. + +The government thus organized was Anti-slavery in character. Washington +was a slave-holder, but it would be unjust to his memory not to say that +he was an Abolitionist also. His opinions do not admit of question. + + * * * * * + +By the side of Washington, as, standing beneath the national flag, he +swore to support the Constitution, were illustrious men, whose lives +and recorded words now rise in judgment. There was John Adams, the +Vice-President, great vindicator and final negotiator of our national +independence, whose soul, flaming with Freedom, broke forth in the early +declaration, that "consenting to Slavery is a sacrilegious breach of +trust," and whose immitigable hostility to this wrong is immortal in his +descendants. There was also a companion in arms and attached friend, +of beautiful genius, the yet youthful and "incomparable" Hamilton,--fit +companion in early glories and fame with that darling of English +history, Sir Philip Sidney, to whom the latter epithet has been +reserved,--who, as member of the Abolition Society of New York, had +recently united in a solemn petition for those who, though "free by the +laws of God; are held in Slavery by the laws of this State." There, too, +was a noble spirit, of spotless virtue, the ornament of human nature, +who, like the sun, ever held an unerring course,--John Jay. Filling the +important post of Secretary for Foreign Affairs under the Confederation, +he found time to organize the "Society for Promoting the Manumission +of Slaves" in New York, and to act as its President, until, by the +nomination of Washington, he became Chief Justice of the United States. +In his sight Slavery was an "iniquity," "a sin of crimson dye," against +which ministers of the Gospel should testify, and which the Government +should seek in every way to abolish. "Till America comes into this +measure," he wrote, "her prayers to Heaven for liberty will be impious. +This is a strong expression, but it is just. Were I in your legislature, +I would prepare a bill for the purpose with great care, and I would +never cease moving it till it became a law or I ceased to be a member." +Such words as these, fitly coming from our leaders, belong to the true +glories of the country: + + "While we such precedents can boast at home, + Keep thy Fabricius and thy Cato, Rome!" + +They stood not alone. The convictions and earnest aspirations of the +country were with them. At the North these were broad and general. At +the South they found fervid utterance from slaveholders. By early +and precocious efforts for "total emancipation," the author of +the Declaration of Independence placed himself foremost among the +Abolitionists of the land. In language now familiar to all, and +which can never die, he perpetually denounced Slavery. He exposed its +pernicious influence upon master as well as slave, declared that the +love of justice and the love of country pleaded equally for the slave, +and that "the abolition of domestic slavery was the greatest object of +desire." He believed that "the sacred side was gaining daily recruits," +and confidently looked to the young for the accomplishment of this +good work. In fitful sympathy with Jefferson was another honored son of +Virginia, the Orator of Liberty, Patrick Henry, who, while confessing +that he was a master of slaves, said: "I will not, I cannot justify it. +However culpable my conduct, I will so far pay my devoir to virtue as to +own the excellence and rectitude of her precepts, and lament my want +of conformity to them." At this very period, in the Legislature of +Maryland, on a bill for the relief of oppressed slaves, a young man, +afterwards by consummate learning and forensic powers acknowledged head +of the American bar, William Pinkney, in a speech of earnest, +truthful eloquence,--better for his memory than even his professional +fame,--branded Slavery as "iniquitous and most dishonorable," "founded +in a disgraceful traffic," "its continuance as shameful as its origin," +and he openly declared, that "by the eternal principles of natural +justice, no master in the State has a right to hold his slave in bondage +for a single hour." + + * * * * * + +At the risk of repetition, but for the sake of clearness, review now +this argument, and gather it together. Considering that Slavery is of +such an offensive character that it can find sanction only in +"positive law," and that it has no such "positive" sanction in the +Constitution,--that the Constitution, according to its preamble, +was ordained to "establish justice" and "secure the blessings of +liberty,"--that, in the Convention which framed it, and also elsewhere +at the time, it was declared not to sanction slavery,--that, according +to the Declaration of Independence, and the Address of the Continental +Congress, the nation was dedicated to "liberty," and the "rights of +human nature,"--that, according to the principles of the common law, the +Constitution must be interpreted openly, actively, and perpetually for +freedom,--that, according to the decision of the Supreme Court, it acts +upon slaves, _not as property_, but as PERSONS,--that, at the first +organization of the national Government under Washington, Slavery had no +national favor, existed nowhere on the national territory, beneath the +national flag, but was openly condemned by Nation, Church, Colleges, and +Literature of the time,--and, finally, that, according to an amendment +of the Constitution, the National Government can exercise only powers +delegated to it, among which is none to support Slavery,--considering +these things, Sir, it is impossible to avoid the single conclusion, +that Slavery is in no respect a national institution, and that the +Constitution nowhere upholds property in man. + +There is one other special provision of the Constitution, which I have +reserved to this stage, not so much from its superior importance, but +because it fitly stands by itself. This alone, if practically applied, +would carry Freedom to all within its influence. It is an amendment +proposed by the First Congress, as follows: + + "No _person_ shall be deprived of life, _liberty_, or property, + _without due process of law_." + +Under this great aegis the liberty of every person within the national +jurisdiction is unequivocally placed. I say every person. Of this there +can be no question. The word "person" in the Constitution embraces every +human being within its sphere, whether Caucasian, Indian, or African, +from the president to the slave. Show me a person within the national +jurisdiction, and I confidently claim for him this protection, no matter +what his condition or race or color. The natural meaning of the clause +is clear, but a single fact of its history places it in the broad light +of noon. As originally recommended by Virginia, North Carolina, and +Rhode Island, it was restricted to the freeman. Its language was, "No +freeman ought to be deprived of his life, liberty, or property, but by +the law of the land." In rejecting this limitation, the authors of the +amendment revealed their purpose, that no person, under the National +Government, of whatever character, should be deprived of liberty without +due process of law,--that is, without due presentment, indictment, or +other judicial proceeding. But this amendment is nothing less than an +express guaranty of Personal Liberty, and an express prohibition of its +invasion anywhere, at least within the national jurisdiction. + +Sir, apply these principles, and Slavery will again be as when +Washington took his first oath as President. The Union Flag of the +Republic will become once more the flag of Freedom, and at all points +within the national jurisdiction will refuse to cover a slave. Beneath +its beneficent folds, wherever it is carried, on land or sea, slavery +will disappear, like darkness under the arrows of the ascending +sun,--like the Spirit of Evil before the Angel of the Lord. + +In all national territories Slavery will be impossible. + +On the high seas, under the national flag, Slavery will be impossible. + +In the District of Columbia Slavery will instantly cease. + +Inspired by these principles, Congress can give no sanction to Slavery +by the admission of new slave States. + +Nowhere under the Constitution can the Nation, by legislation or +otherwise, support Slavery, hunt slaves, or hold property in man. + +Such, sir, are my sincere convictions. According to the Constitution, +as I understand it, in the light of the past and of its true principles, +there is no other conclusion which is rational or tenable, which +does not defy authoritative rules of interpretation, does not falsify +indisputable facts of history, does not affront the public opinion in +which it had its birth, and does not dishonor the memory of the fathers. +And yet politicians of the hour undertake to place these convictions +under formal ban. The generous sentiments which filled the early +patriots, and impressed upon the government they founded, as upon the +coin they circulated, the image and superscription of LIBERTY, have lost +their power. The slave-masters, few in number, amounting to not more +than three hundred and fifty thousand, according to the recent census, +have succeeded in dictating the policy of the National Government, and +have written SLAVERY on its front. The change, which began in the desire +for wealth, was aggravated by the desire for political predominance. +Through Slavery the cotton crop increased with its enriching gains; +through Slavery States became part of the slave power. And now an +arrogant and unrelenting ostracism is applied, not only to all who +express themselves against Slavery, but to every man unwilling to be its +menial. A novel test for office is introduced, which would have excluded +all the fathers of the Republic,--even Washington, Jefferson, and +Franklin! + +Yes, Sir! Startling it may be, but indisputable. Could these revered +demigods of history once again descend upon earth and mingle in our +affairs, not one of them could receive a nomination from the National +Convention of either of the two old political parties! Out of the +convictions of their hearts and the utterances of their lips against +Slavery they would be condemned. + +This single fact reveals the extent to which the National Government has +departed from its true course and its great examples. For myself, I know +no better aim under the Constitution than to bring the Government back +to the precise position on this question it occupied on the auspicious +morning of its first organization by Washington, + + "Nunc retrorsum + Vela dare, atque iterare cursus + . . . . . . relictos," + +that the sentiments of the Fathers may again prevail with our rulers, +and the National Flag may nowhere shelter Slavery. + +To such as count this aspiration unreasonable let me commend a renowned +and life-giving precedent of English history. As early as the days of +Queen Elizabeth, a courtier boasted that the air of England was too pure +for a slave to breathe, and the Common Law was said to forbid Slavery. +And yet, in the face of this vaunt, kindred to that of our fathers, and +so truly honorable, slaves were introduced from the West Indies. +The custom of Slavery gradually prevailed. Its positive legality was +affirmed, in professional opinions, by two eminent lawyers, Talbot and +Yorke, each afterwards Lord Chancellor. It was also affirmed on the +bench by the latter as Lord Hardwicke. England was already a Slave +State. The following advertisement, copied from a London newspaper, _The +Public Advertiser_, of November 22, 1769, shows that the journals there +were disfigured as some of ours, even in the District of Columbia. + +"To be sold, a black girl, the property of J. B., eleven years of +age, who is extremely handy, works at her needle tolerably, and +speaks English perfectly well; is of an excellent temper and willing +disposition. Inquire of her owner at the Angel Inn, behind St. Clement's +Church, in the Strand." + +At last, in 1772, only three years after this advertisement, the single +question of the legality of Slavery was presented to Lord Mansfield, on +a writ of _habeas corpus_. A poor negro, named Sommersett, brought to +England as a slave, became ill, and, with an inhumanity disgraceful even +to Slavery, was turned adrift upon the world. Through the charity of +an estimable man, the eminent Abolitionist, Granville Sharp, he was +restored to health, when his unfeeling and avaricious master again +claimed him as bondman. The claim was repelled. After elaborate and +protracted discussion in Westminster Hall, marked by rarest learning +and ability, Lord Mansfield, with discreditable reluctance, sullying +his great judicial name, but in trembling obedience to the genius of the +British Constitution, pronounced a decree which made the early boast a +practical verity, and rendered Slavery forever impossible in England. +More than fourteen thousand persons, at that time held as slaves, and +breathing English air,--four times as many as are now found in this +national metropolis,--stepped forth in the happiness and dignity of free +men. + +With this guiding example I cannot despair. The time will yet come when +the boast of our fathers will be made a practical verity also, and +Court or Congress, in the spirit of this British judgment, will proudly +declare that nowhere under the Constitution can man hold property in +man. For the Republic such a decree will be the way of peace and safety. +As Slavery is banished from the national jurisdiction, it will cease +to vex our national politics. It may linger in the States as a local +institution; but it will no longer engender national animosities, when +it no longer demands national support. + + +II. + +From this general review of the relations of the National Government to +Slavery, I pass to the consideration of THE TRUE NATURE OF THE PROVISION +FOR THE RENDITION OF FUGITIVES FROM SERVICE, embracing an examination of +this provision in the Constitution, and especially of the recent Act +of Congress in pursuance thereof. As I begin this discussion, let me +bespeak anew your candor. Not in prejudice, but in the light of history +and of reason, we must consider this subject. The way will then be easy +and the conclusion certain. + +Much error arises from the exaggerated importance now attached to this +provision, and from assumptions with regard to its origin and primitive +character. It is often asserted that it was suggested by some special +difficulty, which had become practically and extensively felt, anterior +to the Constitution. But this is one of the myths or fables with which +the supporters of Slavery have surrounded their false god. In the +articles of Confederation, while provision is made for the surrender of +fugitive criminals, nothing is said of fugitive slaves or servants; +and there is no evidence in any quarter, until after the National +Convention, of hardship or solicitude on this account. No previous voice +was heard to express desire for any provision on the subject. The story +to the contrary is a modern fiction. + +I put aside, as equally fabulous, the common saying, that this provision +was one of the original compromises of the Constitution, and an +essential condition of Union. Though sanctioned by eminent judicial +opinions, it will be found that this statement is hastily made, without +any support in the records of the Convention, the only authentic +evidence of the compromises; nor will it be easy to find any authority +for it in any contemporary document, speech, published letter, or +pamphlet of any kind. It is true that there were compromises at the +formation of the Constitution, which were the subject of anxious debate; +but this was not one of them. + +There was a compromise between the small and large States, by which +equality was secured to all the States in the Senate. + +There was another compromise finally carried, under threats from the +South, on the motion of a New England member, by which the Slave States +are allowed Representatives according to the whole number of free +persons and "three fifths of all other persons," thus securing political +power on account of their slaves, in consideration that direct taxes +should be apportioned in the same way. Direct taxes have been imposed at +only four brief intervals. The political power has been constant, and at +this moment sends twenty-one members to the other House. + +There was a third compromise, not to be mentioned without shame. It was +that hateful bargain by which Congress was restrained until 1808 from +the prohibition of the foreign Slave-trade, thus securing, down to that +period, toleration for crime. This was pertinaciously pressed by the +South, even to the extent of absolute restriction on Congress. John +Rutledge said: + +"If the Convention thinks that North Carolina, South Carolina, and +Georgia will ever agree to the Plan (the National Constitution), unless +their right to import slaves be untouched, the expectation is vain. +The people of those States will never be such fools as to give up so +important an interest." Charles Pinckney said: "South Carolina can never +receive the Plan, if it prohibits the slave-trade." Charles Cotesworth +Pinckney "thought himself bound to declare candidly, that he did not +think South Carolina would stop her importations of slaves in any short +time." The effrontery of the slave-masters was matched by the sordidness +of the Eastern members, who yielded again. Luther Martin, the eminent +member of the Convention, in his contemporary address to the Legislature +of Maryland, described the compromise. "I found," he said, "The Eastern +States, notwithstanding their aversion to Slavery, were very willing +to indulge the Southern States at least with a temporary liberty to +prosecute the slave-trade, _provided the Southern States would in their +turn gratify them by laying no restriction on navigation acts_." The +bargain was struck, and at this price the Southern States gained +the detestable indulgence. At a subsequent day Congress branded the +slave-trade as piracy, and thus, by solemn legislative act, adjudged +this compromise to be felonious and wicked. + +Such are the three chief original compromises of the Constitution and +essential conditions of Union. The case of fugitives from service is not +of these. During the Convention it was not in any way associated with +these. Nor is there any evidence from the records of this body, that the +provision on this subject was regarded with any peculiar interest. As +its absence from the Articles of Confederation had not been the occasion +of solicitude or de-sire, anterior to the National Convention, so it +did not enter into any of the original plans of the Constitution. It was +introduced tardily, at a late period of the Convention, and adopted with +very little and most casual discussion. A few facts show how utterly +unfounded are recent assumptions. + +The National Convention was convoked to meet at Philadelphia on the +second Monday in May, 1787. Several members appeared at this time, but, +a majority of the States not being represented, those present adjourned +from day to day until the 25th, when the Convention was organized by the +choice of George Washington as President. On the 28th a few brief rules +and orders were adopted. On the next day, they commenced their great +work. + +On the same day, Edmund Randolph, of slaveholding Virginia, laid before +the Convention a series of fifteen resolutions, containing his plan for +the establishment of a New National Government. Here was no allusion to +fugitives slaves. + +Also, on the same day, Charles Pinckney, of slaveholding South Carolina, +laid before the Convention what was called "A Draft of a Federal +Government, to be agreed upon between the Free and Independent States +of America," an elaborate paper, marked by considerable minuteness +of detail. Here are provisions, borrowed from the Articles of +Confederation, securing to the citizens of each State equal privileges, +in the several States, giving faith to the public records of the States, +and ordaining the surrender of fugitives from justice. But this draft, +though from the flaming guardian of the slave interest, contained no +allusion to fugitive slaves. + +In the course of the Convention other plans were brought forward: on +the 15th of June, aseries of eleven propositions by Mr. Paterson, of +New Jersey, "so as to render the Federal Constitution adequate to the +exigencies of Government and the preservation of the Union"; on the 18th +June, eleven propositions by Mr. Hamilton, of New York, "containing his +ideas of a suitable plan of Government for the United States" and on the +19th June, Mr. Randolph's resolutions, originally offered on the 29th +May, "as altered, amended, and agreed to in Committee of the Whole +House." On the 26th July, twenty-three resolutions, already adopted +on different days in the Convention, were referred to a "Committee of +Detail," for reduction to the form of a Constitution. On the 6th August +this Committee reported the finished draft of a Constitution. And yet +in all these resolutions, plans, and drafts, seven in number, proceeding +from eminent members and from able committees, no allusion is made to +fugitive slaves. For three months the Convention was in session, and not +a word uttered on this subject. + +At last, on the 28th August, as the Convention was drawing to a close, +on the consideration of the article providing for the privileges of +citizens in different States, we meet the first reference to this +matter, in words worthy of note. "General (Charles Cotesworth) Pinckney +was not satisfied with it. He SEEMED to wish some provision should be +included in favor of property in slaves." But he made no proposition. +Unwilling to shock the Convention, and uncertain in his own mind, he +only seemed to wish such a provision. In this vague expression of a +vague desire this idea first appeared. In this modest, hesitating phrase +is the germ of the audacious, unhesitating Slave Act. Here is the little +vapor, which has since swollen, as in the Arabian tale, to the power and +dimensions of a giant. The next article under discussion provided for +the surrender of fugitives from justice. Mr. Butler and Mr. Charles +Pinckney, both from South Carolina, now moved openly to require +"fugitive slaves and servants to be delivered up like criminals." Here +was no disguise. With Hamlet, it was now said in spirit, + +"Seems, Madam! Nay it is. I know not seems." + +But the very boldness of the effort drew attention and opposition. Mr. +Wilson, of Pennsylvania, the learned jurist and excellent man, at once +objected: "This would oblige the Executive of the State to do it at the +public expense." Mr. Sherman, of Connecticut, "saw no more propriety in +the public seizing and surrendering a slave or servant than a horse." +Under the pressure of these objections, the offensive proposition was +withdrawn,--never more to be renewed. The article for the surrender of +criminals was then unanimously adopted. On the next day, 29th +August, profiting by the suggestions already made, Mr. Butler moved +a proposition,--substantially like that now found in the +Constitution,--for the surrender, not of "fugitive slaves," as +originally proposed, but simply of "persons bound to service or labor," +which, without debate or opposition of any kind, was unanimously +adopted.' + +Here, palpably, was no labor of compromise, no adjustment of conflicting +interest,--nor even any expression of solicitude. The clause finally +adopted was vague and faint as the original suggestion. In its natural +import it is not applicable to slaves. If supposed by some to +be applicable, it is clear that it was supposed by others to be +inapplicable. It is now insisted that the term "persons bound to +service," or "held to service," as expressed in the final revision, is +the equivalent or synonym for "slaves." This interpretation is rebuked +by an incident to which reference has been already made, but which will +bear repetition. On the 13th September--a little more than a fortnight +after the clause was adopted, and when, if deemed to be of any +significance, it could not have been forgotten--the very word "service," +came under debate, and received a fixed meaning. It was unanimously +adopted as a substitute for "servitude" in another part of the +Constitution, for the reason that it expressed "the obligations of free +persons," while the other expressed "the condition of slaves." In +the face of this authentic evidence, reported by Mr. Madison, it is +difficult to see how the term "persons held to service" can be deemed to +express anything beyond the "obligations of free persons." Thus, in the +light of calm inquiry, does this exaggerated clause lose its importance. + +The provision, showing itself thus tardily, and so slightly regarded in +the National Convention, was neglected in much of the contemporaneous +discussion before the people. In the Conventions of South Carolina, +North Carolina,and Virginia, it was commended as securing important +rights, though on this point there was difference of opinion. In the +Virginia Convention, an eminent character, Mr. George Mason, with +others, expressly declared that there was "no security of property +coming within this section." In the other Conventions it was +disregarded. Massachusetts, while exhibiting peculiar sensitiveness at +any responsibility for slavery, seemed to view it with unconcern. One +of her leading statesmen, General Heath, in the debates of the State +Convention, strenuously asserted, that, in ratifying the Constitution, +the people of Massachusetts "would do nothing to hold the blacks in +slavery." "_The Federalist_," in its classification of the powers of +Congress, describes and groups a large number as "those which provide +for the harmony and proper intercourse among the States," and +therein speaks of the power over public records, standing next in the +Constitution to the provision concerning fugitives from service; but it +fails to recognize the latter among the means of promoting "harmony and +proper intercourse;" nor does its triumvirate of authors anywhere allude +to the provision. + +The indifference thus far attending this subject still continued. The +earliest Act of Congress, passed in 1793, drew little attention. It was +not suggested originally by any difficulty or anxiety touching fugitives +from service, nor is there any contemporary record, in debate or +otherwise, showing that any special importance was attached to its +provisions in this regard. The attention of Congress was directed to +fugitives from justice, and, with little deliberation, it undertook, in +the same bill, to provide for both cases. In this accidental manner was +legislation on this subject first attempted. + +There is no evidence that fugitives were often seized under this Act. +From a competent inquirer we learn that twenty-six years elapsed before +it was successfully enforced in any Free State. It is certain, that, in +a case at Boston, towards the close of the last century, illustrated +by Josiah Quincy as counsel, the crowd about the magistrate, at the +examination, quietly and spontaneously opened a way for the fugitive, +and thus the Act failed to be executed. It is also certain, that, in +Vermont, at the beginning of the century, a Judge of the Supreme Court +of the State, on application for the surrender of an alleged slave, +accompanied by documentary evidence, gloriously refused compliance, +unless the master could show a Bill of Sale from the Almighty. Even +these cases passed without public comment. + +In 1801 the subject was introduced in the House of Representatives by +an effort for another Act, which, on consideration, was rejected. At +a later day, in 1817-18, though still disregarded by the country, it +seemed to excite a short-lived interest in Congress. In the House of +Representatives, on motion of Mr. Pindall, of Virginia, a committee was +appointed to inquire into the expediency of "providing more effectually +by law for reclaiming servants and slaves escaping from one State into +an-other," and a bill reported by them to amend the Act of 1793, after +consideration for several days in Committee of the Whole, was passed. +In the Senate, after much attention and warm debate, it passed with +amendments. But on return to the House for adoption of the amendments, +it was dropped. This effort, which, in the discussions of this subject, +has been thus far unnoticed, is chiefly remarkable as the earliest +recorded evidence of the unwarrantable assertion, now so common, that +this provision was originally of vital importance to the peace and +harmony of the country. + +At last, in 1850, we have another Act, passed by both Houses of +Congress, and approved by the President, familiarly known as the +Fugitive Slave Bill. As I read this statute, I am filled with painful +emotions. The masterly subtlety with which it is drawn might challenge +admiration, if exerted for a benevolent purpose; but in an age of +sensibility and refinement, a machine of torture, however skilful +and apt, cannot be regarded without horror. Sir, in the name of the +Constitution, which it violates, of my country, which it dishonors, +of Humanity, which it degrades, of Christianity, which it offends, I +arraign this enactment, and now hold it up to the judgment of the Senate +and the world. Again, I shrink from no responsibility. I may seem +to stand alone; but all the patriots and martyrs of history, all the +Fathers of the Republic, are with me. Sir, there is no attribute of God +which does not take part against this Act. + +But I am to regard it now chiefly as an infringement of the +Constitution. Here its outrages, flagrant as manifold, assume the +deepest dye and broadest character only when we consider that by its +language it is not restricted to any special race or class, to the +African or to the person with African blood, but that any inhabitant +of the United States, of whatever complexion or condition, may be its +victim. Without discrimination of color even, and in violation of every +presumption of freedom, the Act surrenders all who may be claimed as +"owing service or labor" to the same tyrannical proceeding. If there be +any whose sympathies are not moved for the slave, who do not cherish the +rights of the humble African, struggling for divine Freedom, as warmly +as the rights of the white man, let him consider well that the rights of +all are equally assailed. "Nephew," said Algernon Sidney in prison, on +the night before his execution, "I value not my own life a chip; but +what concerns me is, that the law which takes away my life may hang +every one of you, whenever it is thought convenient." + +Whilst thus comprehensive in its provisions, and applicable to all, +there is no safeguard of Human Freedom which the monster Act does not +set at nought. + +It commits this great question--than which none is more sacred in the +law--not to a solemn trial, but to summary proceedings. + +It commits this great question, not to one of the high tribunals of the +land, but to the unaided judgment of a single petty magistrate. + +It commits this great question to a magistrate appointed, not by the +President with the consent of the Senate, but by the Court,--holding +office, not during good behavior, but merely during the will of the +Court,--and receiving, not a regular salary, but fees according to each +individual case. + +It authorizes judgment on _ex parte_ evidence, by affidavit, without the +sanction of cross-examination. + +It denies the writ of _Habeas Corpus_, ever known as the palladium of +the citizen. + +Contrary to the declared purposes of the framers of the Constitution, it +sends the fugitive back "at the public expense." + +Adding meanness to violation of the Constitution, it bribes the +Commissioner by a double stipend to pronounce against Freedom. If he +dooms a man to Slavery, the reward is ten dollars; but saving him to +Freedom, his dole is five. + +The Constitution expressly secures the "free exercise of religion"; but +this Act visits with unrelenting penalties the faithful men and women +who render to the fugitive that countenance, succor, and shelter which +in their conscience "religion" requires; and thus is practical religion +directly assailed. Plain commandments are broken; and are we not told +that "Whosoever shall break one of these least commandments, and shall +teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of Heaven"? + +As it is for the public weal that there should be an end of suits, so by +the consent of civilized nations these must be instituted within fixed +limitations of time; but this Act, exalting Slavery above even this +practical principle of universal justice, ordains proceedings against +Freedom without any reference to the lapse of time. + +Glancing only at these points, and not stopping for argument, +vindication, or illustration, I come at once upon two chief radical +objections to this Act, identical in principle with those triumphantly +urged by our fathers against the British Stamp Act; first, that it is a +usurpation by Congress of powers not granted by the Constitution, and an +infraction of rights secured to the States; and, secondly, that it +takes away Trial by Jury in a question of Personal Liberty and a suit +at Common Law. Either of these objections, if sustained, strikes at the +very root of the Act. That it is obnoxious to both is beyond doubt. + +Here, at this stage, I encounter the difficulty, that these objections +are already foreclosed by legislation of Congress and decisions of the +Supreme Court,--that as early as 1793 Congress assumed power over this +subject by an Act which failed to secure Trial by Jury, and that the +validity of this Act under the Constitution has been affirmed by the +Supreme Court. On examination, this difficulty will disappear. + +The Act of 1793 proceeded from a Congress that had already recognized +the United States Bank, chartered by a previous Congress, which, +though sanctioned by the Supreme Court, has been since in high quarters +pronounced unconstitutional. If it erred as to the Bank, it may have +erred also as to fugitives from service. But the Act itself contains a +capital error on this very subject, so declared by the Supreme Court, +in pretending to vest a portion of the judicial power of the Nation +in State officers. This error takes from the Act all authority as an +interpretation of the Constitution. I dismiss it. + +The decisions of the Supreme Court are entitled to great consideration, +and will not be mentioned by me except with respect. Among the memories +of my youth are happy days when I sat at the feet of this tribunal, +while MARSHALL presided, with STORY by his side. The pressure now +proceeds from the case of Prigg v. Pennsylvania (16 Peters, 539), where +is asserted the power of Congress. Without going into minute +criticism of this judgment, or considering the extent to which it is +extra-judicial, and therefore of no binding force,--all which has been +done at the bar in one State, and by an able court in another,--but +conceding to it a certain degree of weight as a rule to the judiciary on +this particular point, still it does not touch the grave question which +springs from the denial of Trial by Jury. This judgment was pronounced +by Mr. Justice Story. From the interesting biography of the great +jurist, recently published by his son, we learn that the question of +Trial by Jury was not considered as before the Court; so that, in the +estimation of the learned judge himself, it was still an open question. + + * * * * * + +(1). _First of the power of Congress over this subject_. + +The Constitution contains _powers_ granted to Congress, _compacts_ +between the States, and _prohibitions_ addressed to the Nation and to +the States. A compact or prohibition may be accompanied by a power,--but +not necessarily, for it is essentially distinct in nature. And here the +single question arises, Whether the Constitution, by grant, general or +special, confers upon Congress any power to legislate on the subject of +fugitives from service. + + * * * * * + +The framers of the Constitution were wise and careful, having a reason +for what they did, and understanding the language they employed. They +did not, after discussion, incorporate into their work any superfluous +provision; nor did they without design adopt the peculiar arrangement +in which it appears. Adding to the record compact an express grant of +power, they testified not only their desire for such power in Congress, +but their conviction that without such express grant it would not +exist. But if express grant was necessary in this case, it was equally +necessary in all the other cases. _Expressum facit cessare tacitum_. +Especially, in view of its odious character, was it necessary in the +case of fugitives from service. Abstaining from any such grant, and then +grouping the bare compact with other similar compacts, separate from +every grant of power, they testified their purpose most significantly. +Not only do they decline all addition to the compact of any such power, +but, to render misapprehension impossible, to make assurance doubly +sure, to exclude any contrary conclusion, they punctiliously arrange the +clauses, on the principle of _noscitur a sociis_, so as to distinguish +all the grants of power, but especially to make the new grant of power, +in the case of public records, stand forth in the front by itself, +severed from the naked compacts with which it was originally associated. + +Thus the proceedings of the Convention show that the founders understood +the necessity of powers in certain cases, and, on consideration, +jealously granted them. A closing example will strengthen the argument. +Congress is expressly empowered "to establish an uniform rule of +naturalization, and uniform laws on the subject of bankruptcies, +throughout the United States." Without this provision these two subjects +would have fallen within the control of the States, leaving the nation +powerless to establish a uniform rule thereupon. Now, instead of the +existing compact on fugitives from service, it would have been easy, +had any such desire prevailed, to add this case to the clause on +naturalization and bankruptcies, and to empower Congress To ESTABLISH A +UNIFORM RULE FOR THE SURRENDER OF FUGITIVES FROM SERVICE THROUGHOUT THE +UNITED STATES. Then, of course, whenever Congress undertook to exercise +the power, all State control of the subject would be superseded. The +National Government would have been constistuted, like Nimrod, the +mighty Hunter, with power to gather the huntsmen, to halloo the pack, +and to direct the chase of men, ranging at will, without regard to +boundaries or jurisdictions, throughout all the States. But no person +in the Convention, not one of the reckless partisans of slavery, was so +audacious as to make this proposition. Had it been distinctly made, it +would have been as distinctly denied. + +The fact that the provision on this subject was adopted unanimously, +while showing the little importance attached to it in the shape it +finally assumed, testifies also that it could not have been regarded as +a source of national power for Slavery. It will be remembered that among +the members of the Convention were Gouverneur Morris, who had said that +he "NEVER would concur in upholding domestic Slavery,"--Elbridge +Gerry, who thought we "ought to be careful NOT to give any sanction +to it,"--Roger Sherman, who "was OPPOSED to a tax on slaves imported, +because it implied they were property,"--James Madison, who "thought it +WRONG to admit in the Constitution the idea that there could be property +in men,"--and Benjamin Franklin, who likened American slaveholders to +Algerine corsairs. In the face of these unequivocal judgments, it is +absurd to suppose that these eminent citizens consented unanimously to +any provision by which the National Government, the creature of their +hands, dedicated to freedom, could become the most offensive agent of +Slavery. + +Thus much for the evidence from the history of the Convention. But +the true principles of our political system are in harmony with this +conclusion of history; and here let me say a word of State rights. + +It was the purpose of our fathers to create a National Government, +and to endow it with adequate powers. They had known the perils of +imbecility, discord, and confusion, protracted through the uncertain +days of the Confederation, and they desired a government which should +be a true bond of union and an efficient organ of national interests at +home and abroad. But while fashioning this agency, they fully recognized +the governments of the States. To the nation were delegated high powers, +essential to the national interests, but specific in character and +limited in number. To the States and to the people were reserved the +powers, general in character and unlimited in number, not delegated to +the nation or prohibited to the States. + +The integrity of our political system depends upon harmony in the +operations of the Nation and of the States. While the nation within its +wide orbit is supreme, the States move with equal supremacy in their +own. But, from the necessity of the case, the supremacy of each in +its proper place excludes the other. The Nation cannot exercise rights +reserved to the States, nor can the States interfere with the powers +of the nation. Any such action on either side is a usurpation. These +principles were distinctly declared by Mr. Jefferson in 1798, in words +often adopted since, and which must find acceptance from all parties. + + * * * * * + +I have already amply shown to-day that Slavery is in no respect +national--that it is not within the sphere of national activity,--that +it has no "positive" support in the Constitution,--and that any +interpretation inconsistent with this principle would be abhorrent to +the sentiments of its founders. Slavery is a local institution, peculiar +to the States, and under the guardianship of State rights. It +is impossible, without violence to the spirit and letter of the +Constitution, to claim for Congress any power to legislate either for +its abolition in the States or its support anywhere. Non-Intervention +is the rule prescribed to the nation. Regarding the question in its more +general aspects only, and putting aside, for the moment, the perfect +evidence from the records of the convention, it is palpable that there +is no national fountain out of which the existing Slave Act can possibly +spring. + +But this Act is not only an unwarrantable assumption of power by the +nation, it is also an infraction of rights reserved to the States. +Everywhere within their borders the States are peculiar guardians of +personal liberty. By jury and habeas corpus to save the citizen harmless +against all assault is among their duties and rights. To his State the +citizen, when oppressed, may appeal; nor should he find that appeal +denied. But this Act despoils him of rights, and despoils his State +of all power to protect him. It subjects him to the wretched chance of +false oaths, forged papers, and facile commissioners, and takes from +him every safeguard. Now, if the slaveholder has a right to be secure +at home in the enjoyment of Slavery, so also has the freeman of the +North--and every person there is presumed to be a free man--an equal +right to be secure at home in the enjoyment of freedom. The same +principle of State rights by which Slavery is protected in the slave +States throws an impenetrable shield over Freedom in the free States. +And here, let me say, is the only security for Slavery in the slave +States, as for Freedom in the free States. In the present fatal +overthrow of State rights you teach a lesson which may return to plague +the teacher. Compelling the National Government to stretch its Briarean +arms into the free States for the sake of Slavery, you show openly how +it may stretch these same hundred giant arms into the slave States for +the sake of Freedom. This lesson was not taught by our fathers. + +Here I end this branch of the question. The true principles of our +political system, the history of the National Convention, the natural +interpretation of the Constitution, all teach that this Act is a +usurpation by Congress of powers that do not belong to it, and an +infraction of rights secured to the States. It is a sword, whose handle +is at the National Capital, and whose point is everywhere in the States. +A weapon so terrible to personal liberty the nation has no power to +grasp. + + +(2). And now of the denial of Trial by Jury. + +Admitting, for the moment, that Congress is intrusted with power over +this subject, which truth disowns, still the Act is again radically +unconstitutional from its denial of Trial by Jury in a question of +personal liberty and a suit of common law. Since on the one side there +is a claim of property, and on the other of liberty, both property +and liberty are involved in the issue. To this claim on either side is +attached Trial by Jury. + +To me, Sir, regarding this matter in the light of the Common Law and +in the blaze of free institutions, it has always seemed impossible to +arrive at any other conclusion. If the language of the Constitution were +open to doubt, which it is not, still all the presumptions of law, +all the leanings to Freedom, all the suggestions of justice, plead +angel-tongued for this right. Nobody doubts that Congress, if it +legislates on this matter, may allow a Trial by Jury. But if it may, so +overwhelming is the claim of justice, it MUST. Beyond this, however, the +question is determined by the precise letter of the Constitution. + +Several expressions in the provision for the surrender of fugitives from +service show the essential character of the proceedings. In the first +place, the person must be, not merely charged, as in the case of +fugitives from justice, but actually held to service in the State which +he escaped. In the second place, he must "be delivered up on claim +of the party to whom such service or labor may be due." These two +facts--that he was held to service, and that his service was due to +his claimant--are directly placed in issue, and must be proved. Two +necessary incidents of the delivery may also be observed. First, it +is made in the State where the fugitive is found; and, secondly, +it restores to the claimant complete control over the person of the +fugitive. From these circumstances it is evident that the proceedings +cannot be regarded, in any just sense, as preliminary, or ancillary +to some future formal trial, but as complete in themselves, final and +conclusive. + +These proceedings determine on the one side the question of property, +and on the other the sacred question of personal liberty in its most +transcendent form,--Liberty not merely for a day or a year, but for +life, and the Liberty of generations that shall come after, so long as +Slavery endures. To these questions the Constitution, by two specific +provisions, attaches Trial by Jury. One is the familiar clause, already +adduced: "No person shall be deprived of life, liberty, or property +without due process of law,"--that is, without due proceeding at law, +with Trial by Jury. Not stopping to dwell on this, I press at once to +the other provision, which is still more express: "In suits at common +law, where the value in controversy shall exceed twenty dollars, the +right of Trial by Jury shall be preserved." This clause, which does not +appear in the Constitution as first adopted, was suggested by the very +spirit of freedom. At the close of the National Convention, Elbridge +Gerry refused to sign the Constitution because, among other things, +it established "a tribunal without juries, a star chamber as to civil +cases." + +Many united in his opposition, and on the recommendation of the First +Congress this additional safeguard was adopted as an amendment. + +Opposing this Act as doubly unconstitutional from the want of power +in Congress and from the denial of trial by jury, I find myself again +encouraged by the example of our Revolutionary Fathers, in a case which +is a landmark of history. The parallel is important and complete. In +1765, the British Parliament, by a notorious statute, attempted to draw +money from the colonies through a stamp tax, while the determination of +certain questions of forfeiture under the statute was delegated, not to +the Courts of Common Law, but to Courts of Admiralty without a jury. The +Stamp Act, now execrated by all lovers of liberty, had this extent and +no more. Its passage was the signal for a general flame of opposition +and indignation throughout the colonies. It was denounced as contrary +to the British Constitution, on two principal grounds--first, as +a usurpation by Parliament of powers not belonging to it, and an +infraction of rights secured to the colonies; and, secondly, as a denial +of Trial by Jury in certain cases of property. + +The public feeling was variously expressed. At Boston, on the day the +act was to take effect, the shops were closed, the bells of the churches +tolled, and the flags of the ships hung at half-mast. At Portsmouth, in +New Hampshire, the bells were tolled, and the friends of liberty were +summoned to hold themselves in readiness for her funeral. At New York, +the obnoxious Act, headed "Folly of England and Ruin of America," +was contemptuously hawked about the streets. Bodies of patriots were +organized everywhere under the name of "Sons of Liberty." The merchants, +inspired then by liberty, resolved to import no more goods from England +until the repeal of the Act. The orators also spoke. James Otis with +fiery tongue appealed to Magna Charta. + + * * * * * + +Sir, regarding the Stamp Act candidly and cautiously, free from +animosities of the time, it is impossible not to see that, though +gravely unconstitutional, it was at most an infringement of civil +liberty only, not of personal liberty. There was an unjust tax of a few +pence, with the chance of amercement by a single judge without a jury; +but by no provision of this act was the personal liberty of any man +assailed. No freeman could be seized under it as a slave. Such an act, +though justly obnoxious to every lover of constitutional Liberty, cannot +be viewed with the feelings of repugnance enkindled by a statute which +assails the personal liberty of every man, and under which any freeman +may be seized as a slave. Sir, in placing the Stamp Act by the side of +the Slave Act, I do injustice to that emanation of British tyranny. Both +infringe important rights: one, of property; the other, the vital right +of all, which is to other rights as soul to body,--the right of a man +to himself. Both are condemned; but their relative condemnation must be +measured by their relative characters. As Freedom is more than property, +as Man is above the dollar that he owns, as heaven, to which we all +aspire, is higher than earth, where every accumulation of wealth must +ever remain, so are the rights assailed by an American Congress higher +than those once assailed by the British Parliament. And just in this +degree must history condemn the Slave Act more than the Stamp Act. + +Sir, I might here stop. It is enough, in this place, and on this +occasion, to show the unconstitutionality of this enactment. Your duty +commences at once. All legislation hostile to the fundamental law of +the land should be repealed without delay. But the argument is not yet +exhausted. Even if this Act could claim any validity or apology under +the Constitution, which it cannot, it lacks that essential support in +the Public Conscience of the States, where it is to be enforced, which +is the life of all law, and with-out which any law must become a dead +letter. + + * * * * * + +With every attempt to administer the Slave Act, it constantly becomes +more revolting, particularly in its influence on the agents it enlists. +Pitch cannot be touched without defilement, and all who lend themselves +to this work seem at once and unconsciously to lose the better part of +man. The spirit of the law passes into them, as the devils entered the +swine. Upstart commissioners, mere mushrooms of courts, vie and revie +with each other. Now by indecent speed, now by harshness of manner, now +by denial of evidence, now by crippling the defense, and now by open, +glaring wrong they make the odious Act yet more odious. Clemency, grace, +and justice die in its presence. All this is observed by the world. Not +a case occurs which does not harrow the souls of good men, and bring +tears of sympathy to the eyes, and those nobler tears which "patriots +shed o'er dying laws." + +Sir, I shall speak frankly. If there be an exception to this feeling, +it will be found chiefly with a peculiar class. It is a sorry fact, that +the "mercantile interest," in unpardonable selfishness, twice in English +history, frowned upon endeavors to suppress the atrocity of Algerine +Slavery, that it sought to baffle Wilberforce's great effort for the +abolition of the African slave-trade, and that, by a sordid compromise, +at the formation of our Constitution, it exempted the same detested, +Heaven-defying traffic from American judgment. And now representatives +of this "interest," forgetful that Commerce is born of Freedom, join in +hunting the Slave. But the great heart of the people recoils from this +enactment. It palpitates for the fugitive, and rejoices in his escape. +Sir, I am telling you facts. The literature of the age is all on his +side. Songs, more potent than laws, are for him. Poets, with voices of +melody, sing for Freedom. Who could tune for Slavery? They who make +the permanent opinion of the country, who mould our youth,whose words, +dropped into the soul, are the germs of character, supplicate for the +Slave. And now, Sir, behold a new and heavenly ally. A woman, inspired +by Christian genius, enters the lists, like another Joan of Arc, and +with marvellous power sweeps the popular heart. Now melting to tears, +and now inspiring to rage, her work everywhere touches the conscience, +and makes the Slave-Hunter more hateful. In a brief period, nearly +one hundred thousand copies of Uncle Tom's Cabin have been already +circulated. But this extraordinary and sudden success, surpassing all +other instances in the records of literature, cannot be regarded as but +the triumph of genius. Better far, it is the testimony of the people, by +an unprecedented act, against the Fugitive Slave Bill. + +These things I dwell upon as incentives and tokens of an existing public +sentiment, rendering this Act practically inoperative, except as a +tremendous engine of horror. Sir, the sentiment is just. Even in the +lands of Slavery, the slave-trader is loathed as an ignoble character, +from whom the countenance is turned away; and can the Slave-Hunter be +more regarded, while pursuing his prey in a land of Freedom? In early +Europe, in barbarous days, while Slavery prevailed, a Hunting Master +was held in aversion. Nor was this all. The fugitive was welcomed in the +cities, and protected against pursuit. Sometimes vengeance awaited +the Hunter. Down to this day, at Revel, now a Russian city, a sword +is proudly preserved with which a hunting Baron was beheaded, who, in +violation of the municipal rights of the place, seized a fugitive slave. +Hostile to this Act as our public sentiment may be, it exhibits no +similar trophy. The State laws of Massachusetts have been violated in +the seizure of a fugitive slave; but no sword, like that of Revel, now +hangs at Boston. + +And now, Sir, let us review the field over which we have passed. We +have seen that any compromise, finally closing the discussion of Slavery +under the Constitution, is tyrannical, absurd, and impotent; that, as +Slavery can exist only by virtue of positive law, and as it has no +such positive support in the Constitution, it cannot exist within the +national jurisdiction; that the Constitution nowhere recognizes property +in man, and that, according to its true interpretation, Freedom and not +Slavery is national, while Slavery and not Freedom is sectional;that +in this spirit the National Government was first organized under +Washington, himself an Abolitionist, surrounded by Abolitionists, while +the whole country, by its Church, its Colleges, its Literature, and all +its best voices, was united against Slavery, and the national flag at +that time nowhere within the National Territory covered a single slave; +still further, that the National Government is a government of delegated +powers, and, as among these there is no power to support Slavery, this +institution cannot be national, nor can Congress in any way legislate +in its behalf; and, finally, that the establishment of this principle is +the true way of peace and safety for the Republic. Considering next the +provision for the surrender of fugitives from service, we have seen that +it was not one of the original compromises of the Constitution; that +it was introduced tardily and with hesitation, and adopted with little +discussion, while then and for a long period thereafter it was regarded +with comparative indifference; that the recent Slave Act, though many +times unconstitutional, is especially so on two grounds, first, as a +usurpation by Congress of powers not granted by the Constitution, and an +infraction of rights secured to the States, and, secondly, as the denial +of Trial by Jury, in a question of personal liberty and a suit at Common +Law; that its glaring unconstitutionality finds a prototype in the +British Stamp Act, which our fathers refused to obey as unconstitutional +on two parallel grounds,--first, because it was a usurpation by +Parliament of powers not belonging to it under the British Constitution, +and an infraction of rights belonging to the Colonies, and, secondly, +because it was the denial of Trial by Jury in certain cases of property; +that, as Liberty is far above property, so is the outrage perpetrated +by the American Congress far above that perpetrated by the British +Parliament; and, finally, that the Slave Act has not that support, in +the public sentiment of the States where it is to be executed, which is +the life of all law, and which prudence and the precept of Washington +require. + + * * * * * + +Mr. President, I have occupied much time; but the great subject still +stretches before us. One other point yet remains, which I must not leave +untouched, and which justly belongs to the close. The Slave Act violates +the Constitution, and shocks the Public Conscience. With modesty, and +yet with firmness, let me add, Sir,it offends against the Divine Law. +No such enactment is entitled to support. As the throne of God is above +every earthly throne, so are his laws and statutes above all the laws +and statutes of man. To question these is to question God himself. But +to assume that human laws are beyond question is to claim for their +fallible authors infallibility. To assume that they are always in +conformity with the laws of God is presumptuously and impiously to exalt +man even to equality with God. Clearly, human laws are not always +in such conformity; nor can they ever be beyond question from each +individual. Where the conflict is open, as if Congress should command +the perpetration of murder, the office of conscience as final arbiter is +undisputed. But in every conflict the same queenly office is hers. By +no earthly power can she be dethroned. Each person, after anxious +examination, without haste, without passion, solemnly for himself must +decide this great controversy. Any other rule attributes infallibility +to human laws, places them beyond question, and degrades all men to an +unthinking, passive obedience. + + * * * * * + +The mandates of an earthly power are to be discussed; those of Heaven +must at once be performed; nor should we suffer ourselves to be drawn +by any compact into opposition to God. Such is the rule of morals. +Such, also, by the lips of judges and sages, is the proud declaration +of English law, whence our own is derived. In this conviction, patriots +have braved unjust commands, and martyrs have died. + +And now, sir, the rule is commended to us. The good citizen, who sees +before him the shivering fugitive, guilty of no crime, pursued, hunted +down like a beast, while praying for Christian help and deliverance, and +then reads the requirements of this Act, is filled with horror. Here +is a despotic mandate "to aid and assist in the prompt and efficient +execution of this law." Again let me speak frankly. Not rashly would I +set myself against any requirement of law. This grave responsibility +I would not lightly assume. But here the path of duty is clear. By the +Supreme Law, which commands me to do no injustice, by the comprehensive +Christian Law of Brotherhood, by the Constitution, which I have sworn to +support, I AM BOUND TO DISOBEY THIS ACT. Never, in any capacity, can +I render voluntary aid in its execution. Pains and penalties I will +endure, but this great wrong, I will not do. "Where I cannot obey +actively, there I am willing to lie down and to suffer what they shall +do unto me"; such was the exclamation of him to whom we are indebted for +the Pilgrim's Progress while in prison for disobedience to an earthly +statute. Better suffer injustice than do it. Better victim than +instrument of wrong. Better even the poor slave returned to bondage than +the wretched Commissioner. + +There is, sir, an incident of history which suggests a parallel, and +affords a lesson of fidelity. Under the triumphant exertions of that +Apostolic Jesuit, St. Francis Xavier, large numbers of Japanese, +amounting to as many as two hundred thousand,--among them princes, +generals, and the flower of the nobility,--were converted to +Christianity. Afterwards, amidst the frenzy of civil war, religious +persecution arose, and the penalty of death was denounced against all +who refused to trample upon the effigy of the Redeemer. This was the +Pagan law of a Pagan land. But the delighted historian records, that +from the multitude of converts scarcely one was guilty of this apostasy. +The law of man was set at naught. Imprisonment, torture, death, were +preferred. Thus did this people refuse to trample on the painted image. +Sir, multitudes among us will not be less steadfast in refusing to +trample on the living image of their Redeemer. + +Finally, Sir, for the sake of peace and tranquility, cease to shock the +Public Conscience; for the sake of the Constitution, cease to exercise +a power nowhere granted, and which violates inviolable rights expressly +secured. Leave this question where it was left by our fathers, at the +formation of our National Government,--in the absolute control of +the States, the appointed guardians of Personal Liberty. Repeal this +enactment. Let its terrors no longer rage through the land. Mindful +of the lowly whom it pursues, mindful of the good men perplexed by its +requirements, in the name of Charity, in the name of the Constitution, +repeal this enactment, totally and without delay. There is the example +of Washington, follow it. There also are words of Oriental piety, +most touching and full of warning, which speak to all mankind, and now +especially to us: "Beware of the groans of wounded souls, since the +inward sore will at length break out. Oppress not to the utmost a single +heart; for a solitary sigh has power to overturn a whole world." + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's American Eloquence, Volume II. (of 4), by Various + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK AMERICAN ELOQUENCE, II. *** + +***** This file should be named 15392-8.txt or 15392-8.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/1/5/3/9/15392/ + +Produced by David Widger + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, +set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to +copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to +protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. Project +Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you +charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission. 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Thus, we do not necessarily +keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. + + +Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility: + + https://www.gutenberg.org + +This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, +including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to +subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. diff --git a/15392-8.zip b/15392-8.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..31ffc55 --- /dev/null +++ b/15392-8.zip diff --git a/15392-h.zip b/15392-h.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..383208a --- /dev/null +++ b/15392-h.zip diff --git a/15392-h/15392-h.htm b/15392-h/15392-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..1b237ed --- /dev/null +++ b/15392-h/15392-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,7333 @@ +<?xml version="1.0" encoding="iso-8859-1"?> + +<!DOCTYPE html + PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" + "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd" > + +<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" lang="en"> + <head> + <title> + American Eloquence, Volume II. + </title> + <style type="text/css" xml:space="preserve"> + + body { margin:5%; background:#faebd0; text-align:justify} + P { text-indent: 1em; margin-top: .25em; margin-bottom: .25em; } + H1,H2,H3,H4,H5,H6 { text-align: center; margin-left: 15%; margin-right: 15%; } + hr { width: 50%; text-align: center;} + .foot { margin-left: 20%; margin-right: 20%; text-align: justify; text-indent: -3em; font-size: 90%; } + blockquote {font-size: 97%; font-style: italic; margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%;} + .mynote {background-color: #DDE; color: #000; padding: .5em; margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 95%;} + .toc { margin-left: 10%; margin-bottom: .75em;} + .toc2 { margin-left: 20%;} + div.fig { display:block; margin:0 auto; text-align:center; } + .figleft {float: left; margin-left: 0%; margin-right: 1%;} + .figright {float: right; margin-right: 0%; margin-left: 1%;} + .pagenum {display:inline; font-size: 70%; font-style:normal; + margin: 0; padding: 0; position: absolute; right: 1%; + text-align: right;} + pre { font-style: italic; font-size: 90%; margin-left: 10%;} + +</style> + </head> + <body> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + +Project Gutenberg's American Eloquence, Volume II. (of 4), by Various + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: American Eloquence, Volume II. (of 4) + Studies In American Political History (1896) + +Author: Various + +Release Date: March 17, 2005 [EBook #15392] +Last Updated: November 15, 2012 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK AMERICAN ELOQUENCE, II. *** + + + + +Produced by David Widger + + + + + +</pre> + <p> + <br /> + </p> + <h1> + AMERICAN ELOQUENCE + </h1> + <h2> + STUDIES IN AMERICAN POLITICAL HISTORY + </h2> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <h3> + Edited with Introduction by Alexander Johnston + </h3> + <h3> + Reedited by James Albert Woodburn + </h3> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <h4> + Volume II. (of 4) + </h4> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <div class="fig" style="width:80%"> + <img alt="cover (76K)" src="images/cover.jpg" width="100%" /><br /> + </div> + <p> + <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> + </p> + <div class="fig" style="width:80%"> + <img alt="john_adams (59K)" src="images/john_adams.jpg" width="100%" /><br /> + </div> + <p> + <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> + </p> + <div class="fig" style="width:80%"> + <img alt="titlepage2 (72K)" src="images/titlepage2.jpg" width="100%" /><br /> + </div> + <p> + <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <blockquote> + <p class="toc"> + <big><b>CONTENTS</b></big> + </p> + <p> + <br /> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0004"> <big><b>V. — THE ANTI-SLAVERY STRUGGLE</b></big> + </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0005"> RUFUS KING, </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0006"> WILLIAM PINKNEY, </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0007"> WENDELL PHILLIPS, </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0008"> JOHN QUINCY ADAMS, </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0009"> JOHN C. CALHOUN, </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0010"> DANIEL WEBSTER, </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0011"> HENRY CLAY, </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0012"> WENDELL PHILLIPS, </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0013"> CHARLES SUMNER, </a> + </p> + <p> + <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <big><b>ILLUSTRATIONS</b></big> + </p> + <p> + <br /> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#linkimage-0001"> Rufus King </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#linkimage-0002"> John Q. Adams </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#linkimage-0003"> John C. Calhoun </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#linkimage-0004"> Daniel Webster </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#linkimage-0005"> Henry Clay </a> + </p> + </blockquote> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> <a name="link2H_LIST" id="link2H_LIST"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <h2> + Portrait Artists + </h2> + <blockquote> + <p> + RUFUS KING — From a steel engraving. + </p> + <p> + JOHN Q. ADAMS — From a painting by MARCHANT. + </p> + <p> + JOHN C. CALHOUN — From a daguerreotype by BRADY. + </p> + <p> + DANIEL WEBSTER — From a painting by R. M. STAIGG. + </p> + <p> + HENRY CLAY — From a crayon portrait. + </p> + </blockquote> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> <a name="link2H_INTR" id="link2H_INTR"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <h2> + INTRODUCTION TO THE REVISED VOLUME II. + </h2> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0003" id="link2H_4_0003"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <p> + The second volume of the American Eloquence is devoted exclusively to the + Slavery controversy. The new material of the revised edition includes + Rufus King and William Pinkney on the Missouri Question; John Quincy Adams + on the War Power of the Constitution over Slavery; Sumner on the Repeal of + the Fugitive Slave Law. The addition of the new material makes necessary + the reservation of the orations on the Kansas-Nebraska Bill, and on the + related subjects, for the third volume. + </p> + <p> + In the anti-slavery struggle the Missouri question occupied a prominent + place. In the voluminous Congressional material which the long debates + called forth, the speeches of King and Pinkney are the best + representatives of the two sides to the controversy, and they are of + historical interest and importance. John Quincy Adams' leadership in the + dramatic struggle over the right of petition in the House of + Representatives, and his opinion on the constitutional power of the + national government over the institution of slavery within the States, + will always excite the attention of the historical student. + </p> + <p> + In the decade before the war no subject was a greater cause of irritation + and antagonism between the States than the Fugitive Slave Law. Sumner's + speech on this subject is the most valuable of his speeches from the + historical point of view; and it is not only a worthy American oration, + but it is a valuable contribution to the history of the slavery struggle + itself. It has been thought desirable to include in a volume of this + character orations of permanent value on these themes of historic + interest. A study of the speeches of a radical innovator like Phillips + with those of compromising conservatives like Webster and Clay, will lead + the student into a comparison, or contrast, of these diverse characters. + The volume retains the two orations of Phillips, the two greatest of all + his contributions to the anti-slavery struggle. It is believed that the + list of orations, on the whole, presents to the reader a series of + subjects of first importance in the great slavery controversy. + </p> + <p> + The valuable introduction of Professor Johnston, on "The Anti-Slavery + Struggle," is re-printed entire. + </p> + <p> + J. A. W. <a name="link2H_4_0004" id="link2H_4_0004"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + V. — THE ANTI-SLAVERY STRUGGLE + </h2> + <p> + Negro slavery was introduced into all the English colonies of North + America as a custom, and not under any warrant of law. The enslavement of + the negro race was simply a matter against which no white person chose to + enter a protest, or make resistance, while the negroes themselves were + powerless to resist or even protest. In due course of time laws were + passed by the Colonial Assemblies to protect property in negroes, while + the home government, to the very last, actively protected and encouraged + the slave trade to the colonies. Negro slavery in all the colonies had + thus passed from custom to law before the American Revolution broke out; + and the course of the Revolution itself had little or no effect on the + system. + </p> + <p> + From the beginning, it was evident that the course of slavery in the two + sections, North and South, was to be altogether divergent. In the colder + North, the dominant race found it easier to work than to compel negroes to + work: in the warmer South, the case was exactly reversed. At the close of + the Revolution, Massachusetts led the way in an abolition of slavery, + which was followed gradually by the other States north of Virginia; and in + 1787 the ordinance of Congress organizing the Northwest Territory made all + the future States north of the Ohio free States. "Mason and Dixon's line" + and the Ohio River thus seemed, in 1790, to be the natural boundary + between the free and the slave States. + </p> + <p> + Up to this point the white race in the two sections had dealt with slavery + by methods which were simply divergent, not antagonistic. It was true that + the percentage of slaves in the total population had been very rapidly + decreasing in the North and not in the South, and that the gradual + abolition of slavery was proceeding in the North alone, and that with + increasing rapidity. But there was no positive evidence that the South was + bulwarked in favor of slavery; there was no certainty but that the South + would in its turn and in due time come to the point which the North had + already reached, and begin its own abolition of slavery. The language of + Washington, Jefferson, Madison, Henry, and Mason, in regard to the evils + or the wickedness of the system of slavery, was too strong to be heard + with patience in the South of after years; and in this section it seems to + have been true, that those who thought at all upon the subject hoped + sincerely for the gradual abolition of slavery in the South. The hope, + indeed, was rather a sentiment than a purpose, but there seems to have + been no good reason, before 1793, why the sentiment should not finally + develop into a purpose. + </p> + <p> + All this was permanently changed, and the slavery policy of the South was + made antagonistic to, and not merely divergent from, that of the North, by + the invention of Whitney's saw gin for cleansing cotton in 1793. It had + been known, before that year, that cotton could be cultivated in the + South, but its cultivation was made unprofitable, and checked by the labor + required to separate the seeds from the cotton. Whitney's invention + increased the efficiency of this labor hundreds of times, and it became + evident at once that the South enjoyed a practical monopoly of the + production of cotton. The effect on the slavery policy of the South was + immediate and unhappy. Since 1865, it has been found that the cotton + monopoly of the South is even more complete under a free than under a + slave labor system, but mere theory could never have convinced the + Southern people that such would be the case. Their whole prosperity hinged + on one product; they began its cultivation under slave labor; and the + belief that labor and prosperity were equally dependent on the enslavement + of the laboring race very soon made the dominant race active defenders of + slavery. From that time the system in the South was one of slowly but + steadily increasing rigor, until, just before 1860, its last development + took the form of legal enactments for the re-enslavement of free negroes, + in default of their leaving the State in which they resided. Parallel with + this increase of rigor, there was a steady change in the character of the + system. It tended very steadily to lose its original patriarchal + character, and take the aspect of a purely commercial speculation. After + 1850, the commercial aspect began to be the rule in the black belt of the + Gulf States. The plantation knew only the overseer; so many slaves died to + so many bales of cotton; and the slave population began to lose all human + connection with the dominant race. + </p> + <p> + The acquisition of Louisiana in 1803 more than doubled the area of the + United States, and far more than doubled the area of the slave system. + Slavery had been introduced into Louisiana, as usual, by custom, and had + then been sanctioned by Spanish and French law. It is true that Congress + did not forbid slavery in the new territory of Louisiana; but Congress did + even worse than this; under the guise of forbidding the importation of + slaves into Louisiana, by the act of March 26, 1804, organizing the + territory, the phrase "except by a citizen of the United States, removing + into said territory for actual settlement, and being at the time of such + removal bona fide owner of such slave or slaves," impliedly legitimated + the domestic slave trade to Louisiana, and legalized slavery wherever + population should extend between the Mississippi and the Rocky Mountains. + The Congress of 1803-05, which passed the act, should rightfully bear the + responsibility for all the subsequent growth of slavery, and for all the + difficulties in which it involved the South and the country. + </p> + <p> + There were but two centres of population in Louisiana, New Orleans and St. + Louis. When the southern district, around New Orleans, applied for + admission as the slave State of Louisiana, there seems to have been no + surprise or opposition on this score; the Federalist opposition to the + admission is exactly represented by Quincy's speech in the first volume. + When the northern district, around St. Louis, applied for admission as the + slave State of Missouri, the inevitable consequences of the act of 1804 + became evident for the first time, and all the Northern States united to + resist the admission. The North controlled the House of Representatives, + and the South the Senate; and, after a severe parliamentary struggle, the + two bodies united in the compromise of 1820. By its terms Missouri was + admitted as a slave State, and slavery was forever forbidden in the rest + of Louisiana Territory, north of latitude 36° 30' (the line of the + southerly boundary of Missouri). The instinct of this first struggle + against slavery extension seems to have been much the same as that of + 1846-60 the realization that a permission to introduce slavery by custom + into the Territories meant the formation of slave States exclusively, the + restriction of the free States to the district between the Mississippi and + the Atlantic, and the final conversion of the mass of the United States to + a policy of enslavement of labor. But, on the surface, it was so entirely + a struggle for the balance of power between the two sections, that it has + not seemed worth while to introduce any of the few reported speeches of + the time. The topic is more fully and fairly discussed in the subsequent + debates on the Kansas-Nebraska Act. + </p> + <p> + In 1830 William Lloyd Garrison, a Boston printer, opened the real + anti-slavery struggle. Up to this time the anti-slavery sentiment, North + and South, had been content with the notion of "gradual abolition," with + the hope that the South would, in some yet unsuspected manner, be brought + to the Northern policy. This had been supplemented, to some extent, by the + colonization society for colonizing negroes on the west coast of Africa; + which had two aspects: at the South it was the means of ridding the + country of the free negro population; at the North it was a means of + mitigating, perhaps of gradually abolishing, slavery. Garrison, through + his newspaper, the Liberator, called for "immediate abolition" of slavery, + for the conversion of anti-slavery sentiment into anti-slavery purpose. + This was followed by the organization of his adherents into the American + Anti-Slavery Society in 1833, and the active dissemination of the + immediate abolition principle by tracts, newspapers, and lecturers. + </p> + <p> + The anti-slavery struggle thus begun, never ceased until, in 1865, the + Liberator ceased to be published, with the final abolition of slavery. In + its inception and in all its development the movement was a distinct + product of the democratic spirit. It would not have been possible in 1790, + or in 1810, or in 1820. The man came with the hour; and every new mile of + railroad or telegraph, every new district open to population, every new + influence toward the growth of democracy, broadened the power as well as + the field of the abolition movement. It was but the deepening, the + application to an enslaved race of laborers, of the work which + Jeffersonian democracy had done, to remove the infinitely less grievous + restraints upon the white laborer thirty year before. It could never have + been begun until individualism at the North had advanced so far that there + was a reserve force of mind—ready to reject all the influences of + heredity and custom upon thought. Outside of religion there was no force + so strong at the North as the reverence for the Constitution; it was + significant of the growth of individualism, as well as of the anti-slavery + sentiment, that Garrison could safely begin his work with the declaration + that the Constitution itself was "a league with death and a covenant with + hell." + </p> + <p> + The Garrisonian programme would undoubtedly have been considered highly + objectionable by the South, even under to comparatively colorless slavery + policy of 1790. Under the conditions to which cotton culture had advanced + in 1830, it seemed to the South nothing less than a proposal to destroy, + root and branch, the whole industry of that section, and it was received + with corresponding indignation. Garrisonian abolitionists were taken and + regarded as public enemies, and rewards were even offered for their + capture. The germ of abolitionism in the Border States found a new and + aggressive public sentiment arrayed against it; and an attempt to + introduce gradual abolition in Virginia in 1832-33 was hopelessly + defeated. The new question was even carried into Congress. A bill to + prohibit the transportation of abolition documents by the Post-Office + department was introduced, taken far enough to put leading men of both + parties on the record, and then dropped. Petitions for the abolition of + slavery in the District of Columbia were met by rules requiring the + reference of such petitions without reading or action; but this only + increased the number of petitions, by providing a new grievance to be + petitioned against, and in 1842 the "gag rule" was rescinded. Thence-forth + the pro-slavery members of Congress could do nothing, and could only + become more exasperated under a system of passive resistance. + </p> + <p> + Even at the North, indifferent or politically hostile as it had hitherto + shown itself to the expansion of slavery, the new doctrines were received + with an outburst of anger which seems to have been primarily a revulsion + against their unheard of individualism. If nothing, which had been the + object of unquestioning popular reverence, from the Constitution down or + up to the church organizations, was to be sacred against the criticism of + the Garrisonians, it was certain that the innovators must submit for a + time to a general proscription. Thus the Garrisonians were ostracised + socially, and became the Ishmalites of politics. Their meetings were + broken up by mobs, their halls were destroyed, their schools were attacked + by all the machinery of society and legislation, their printing presses + were silenced by force or fraud, and their lecturers came to feel that + they had not done their work with efficiency if a meeting passed without + the throwing of stones or eggs at the building or the orators. It was, of + course, inevitable that such a process should bring strong minds to the + aid of the Garrisonians, at first from sympathy with persecuted + individualism, and finally from sympathy with the cause itself; and in + this way Garrisonianism was in a great measure relieved from open mob + violence about 1840, though it never escaped it altogether until abolition + meetings ceased to be necessary. One of the first and greatest + reinforcements was the appearance of Wendell Phillips, whose speech at + Faneuil Hall in 1839 was one of the first tokens of a serious break in the + hitherto almost unanimous public opinion against Garrisonianism. Lovejoy, + a Western anti-slavery preacher and editor, who had been driven from one + place to another in Missouri and Illinois, had finally settled at Alton, + and was there shot to death while defending his printing press against a + mob. At a public meeting in Faneuil Hall, the Attorney-General of + Massachusetts, James T. Austin, expressing what was doubtless the general + sentiment of the time as to such individual insurrection against + pronounced public opinion, compared the Alton mob to the Boston + "tea-party," and declared that Lovejoy, "presumptuous and imprudent," had + "died as the fool dieth." Phillips, an almost unknown man, took the stand, + and answered in the speech which opens this volume. A more powerful + reinforcement could hardly have been looked for; the cause which could + find such a defender was henceforth to be feared rather than despised. To + the day of his death he was, fully as much as Garrison, the incarnation of + the anti-slavery spirit. For this reason his address on the Philosophy of + the Abolition Movement, in 1853, has been assigned a place as representing + fully the abolition side of the question, just before it was overshadowed + by the rise of the Republican party, which opposed only the extension of + slavery to the territories. + </p> + <p> + The history of the sudden development of the anti-slavery struggle in 1847 + and the following years, is largely given in the speeches which have been + selected to illustrate it. The admission of Texas to the Union in 1845, + and the war with Mexico which followed it, resulted in the acquisition of + a vast amount of new territory by the United States. From the first + suggestion of such an acquisition, the Wilmot proviso (so-called from + David Wilmot, of Pennsylvania, who introduced it in Congress), that + slavery should be prohibited in the new territory, was persistently + offered as an amendment to every bill appropriating money for the purchase + of territory from Mexico. It was passed by the House of Representatives, + but was balked in the Senate; and the purchase was finally made without + any proviso. When the territory came to be organized, the old question + came up again: the Wilmot proviso was offered as an amendment. As the + territory was now in the possession of the United States, and as it had + been acquired in a war whose support had been much more cordial at the + South than at the North, the attempt to add the Wilmot proviso to the + territorial organization raised the Southern opposition to an intensity + which it had not known before. Fuel was added to the flame by the + application of California, whose population had been enormously increased + by the discovery of gold within her limits, for admission as a free State. + If New Mexico should do the same, as was probable, the Wilmot proviso + would be practically in force throughout the best portion of the Mexican + acquisition. The two sections were now so strong and so determined that + compromise of any kind was far more difficult than in 1820; and it was not + easy to reconcile or compromise the southern demand that slavery should be + permitted, and the northern demand that slavery should be forbidden, to + enter the new territories. + </p> + <p> + In the meantime, the Presidential election of 1848 had come and gone. It + had been marked by the appearance of a new party, the Free Soilers, an + event which was at first extremely embarrassing to the managers of both + the Democratic and Whig parties. On the one hand, the northern and + southern sections of the Whig party had always been very loosely joined + together, and the slender tie was endangered by the least admission of the + slavery issue. On the other hand, while the Democratic national + organization had always been more perfect, its northern section had always + been much more inclined to active anti-slavery work than the northern + Whigs. Its organ, the Democratic Review, habitually spoke of the slaves as + "our black brethren"; and a long catalogue could be made of leaders like + Chase, Hale, Wilmot, Bryant, and Leggett, whose democracy was broad enough + to include the negro. To both parties, therefore, the situation was + extremely hazardous. The Whigs had less to fear, but were able to resist + less pressure. The Democrats were more united, but were called upon to + meet a greater danger. In the end, the Whigs did nothing; their two + sections drew further apart; and the Presidential election of 1852 only + made it evident that the national Whig party was no longer in existence. + The Democratic managers evolved, as a solution of their problem, the new + doctrine of "popular sovereignty," which Calhoun re-baptized "squatter + sovereignty." They asserted as the true Democratic doctrine, that the + question of slavery or freedom was to be left for decision of the people + of the territory itself. To the mass of northern Democrats, this doctrine + was taking enough to cover over the essential nature of the struggle; the + more democratic leaders of the northern Democracy were driven off into the + Free-Soil party; and Douglas, the champion of "popular sovereignty," + became the leading Democrat of the North. + </p> + <p> + Clay had re-entered the Senate in 1849, for the purpose of compromising + the sectional difficulties as he had compromised those of 1820 and of + 1833. His speech, as given, will show something of his motives; his + success resulted in the "compromise of 1850." By its terms, California was + admitted as a free State; the slave trade, but not slavery, was prohibited + in the District of Columbia; a more stringent fugitive slave law was + enacted; Texas was paid $10,000,000 for certain claims to the Territory of + New Mexico; and the Territories of Utah and New Mexico, covering the + Mexican acquisition outside of California, were organized without + mentioning slavery. The last-named feature was carefully designed to + please all important factions. It could be represented to the Webster + Whigs that slavery was excluded from the Territories named by the + operation of natural laws; to the Clay Whigs that slavery had already been + excluded by Mexican law which survived the cession; to the northern + Democrats, that the compromise was a formal endorsement of the great + principle of popular sovereignty; and to the southern Democrats that it + was a repudiation of the Wilmot proviso. In the end, the essence of the + success went to the last-named party, for the legislatures of the two + territories established slavery, and no bill to veto their action could + pass both Houses of Congress until after 1861. + </p> + <p> + The Supreme Court had already decided that Congress had exclusive power to + enforce the fugitive slave clause of the Constitution, though the fugitive + slave law of 1793 had given a concurrent authority of execution to State + officers. The law of 1850, carrying the Supreme Court's decision further, + gave the execution of the law to United States officers, and refused the + accused a hearing. Its execution at the North was therefore the occasion + of a profound excitement and horror. Cases of inhuman cruelty, and of + false accusation to which no defence was permitted, were multiplied until + a practical nullification of the law, in the form of "personal liberty + laws," securing a hearing for the accused before State magistrates, was + forced by public opinion upon the legislature of the exposed northern + States. Before the excitement had come to a head, the Whig convention of + 1852 met and endorsed the compromise of 1850 "in all its parts." + Overwhelmed in the election which followed, the Whig party was popularly + said to have "died of an attempt to swallow the fugitive-slave law"; it + would have been more correct to have said that the southern section of the + party had deserted in a body and gone over to the Democratic party. + National politics were thus left in an entirely anomalous condition. The + Democratic party was omnipotent at the South, though it was afterward + opposed feebly by the American (or "Know Nothing ") organization, and was + generally successful at the North, though it was still met by the Northern + Whigs with vigorous opposition. Such a state of affairs was not calculated + to satisfy thinking men; and this period seems to have been one in which + very few thinking men of any party were at all satisfied with their party + positions. + </p> + <p> + This was the hazardous situation into which the Democratic managers chose + to thrust one of the most momentous pieces of legislation in our political + history-the Kansas-Nebraska bill. The responsibility for it is clearly on + the shoulders of Stephen A. Douglas. The over-land travel to the Pacific + coast had made it necessary to remove the Indian title to Kansas and + Nebraska, and to organize them as Territories, in order to afford + protection to emigrants; and Douglas, chairman of the Senate committee on + Territories, introduced a bill for such organization in January, 1854. + Both these prospective Territories had been made free soil forever by the + compromise of 1820; the question of slavery had been settled, so far as + they were concerned; but Douglas consented, after a show of opposition, to + reopen Pandora's box. His original bill did not abrogate the Missouri + compromise, and there seems to have been no general Southern demand that + it should do so. But Douglas had become intoxicated by the unexpected + success of his "popular sovereignty" make-shift in regard to the + Territories of 1850; and a notice of an amendment to be offered by a + southern senator, abrogating the Missouri compromise, was threat or excuse + sufficient to bring him to withdraw the bill. A week later, it was + re-introduced with the addition of "popular sovereignty": all questions + pertaining to slavery in these Territories, and in the States to be formed + from them, were to be left to the decision of the people, through their + representatives; and the Missouri compromise of 1820 was declared + "inoperative and void," as inconsistent with the principles of the + territorial legislation of 1850. It must be remembered that the + "non-intervention" of 1850 had been confessedly based on no constitutional + principle whatever, but was purely a matter of expediency; and that + "non-intervention" in Utah and New Mexico was no more inconsistent with + the prohibition of slavery in Kansas and Nebraska than "non-intervention" + in the Southwest Territory, sixty years before, had been inconsistent with + the prohibition of slavery in the Northwest Territory. Whether Douglas is + to be considered as too scrupulous, or too timid, or too willing to be + terrified, it is certain that his action was unnecessary. + </p> + <p> + After a struggle of some months, the Kansas-Nebraska bill became law. The + Missouri compromise was abrogated, and the question of the extension of + slavery to the territories was adrift again, never to be got rid of except + through the abolition of slavery itself by war. The demands of the South + had now come fully abreast with the proposal of Douglas: that slavery + should have permission to enter all the Territories, if it could. The + opponents of the extension of slavery, at first under the name of + "Anti-Nebraska men," then of the Republican party, carried the elections + for representatives in Congress in 1854-'55, and narrowly missed carrying + the Presidential election of 1856. The percentage of Democratic losses in + the congressional districts of the North was sufficient to leave Douglas + with hardly any supporters in Congress from his own section. The + Democratic party was converted at once into a solid South, with a northern + attachment of popular votes which was not sufficient to control very many + Congressmen or electoral votes. + </p> + <p> + Immigration into Kansas was organized at once by leading men of the two + sections, with the common design of securing a majority of the voters of + the territory and applying "popular sovereignty" for or against slavery. + The first sudden inroad of Missouri intruders was successful in securing a + pro-slavery legislature and laws; but within two years the stream of + free-State immigration had become so powerful,in spite of murder, outrage, + and open civil war, that it was very evident that Kansas was to be a + free-State. Its expiring territorial legislature endeavored to outwit its + constituents by applying for admission as a slave State, under the + Lecompton constitution; but the Douglas Democrats could not support the + attempt, and it was defeated. Kansas, however, remained a territory until + 1861. + </p> + <p> + The cruelties of this Kansas episode could not but be reflected in the + feelings of the two sections and in Congress. In the former it showed too + plainly that the divergence of the two sections, indicated in Calhoun's + speech of 1850, had widened to an absolute separation in thought, feeling, + and purpose. In the latter the debates assumed a virulence which is + illustrated by the speeches on the Sumner assault. The current of events + had at least carried the sections far enough apart to give striking + distance; and the excuse for action was supplied by the Dred Scott + decision in 1857. + </p> + <p> + Dred Scott, a Missouri slave, claiming to be a free man under the Missouri + compromise of 1820, had sued his master, and the case had reached the + Supreme Court. A majority of the justices agreed in dismissing the suit; + but, as nearly every justice filed an opinion, and as nearly every opinion + disagreed with the other opinions on one or more points, it is not easy to + see what else is covered by the decision. Nevertheless, the opinion of the + Chief justice, Roger B. Taney, attracted general attention by the strength + of its argument and the character of its views. It asserted, in brief, + that no slave could become a citizen of the United States, even by + enfranchisement or State law; that the prohibition of slavery by the + Missouri compromise of 1820 was unconstitutional and void; that the + Constitution recognized property in slaves, and was framed for the + protection of property; that Congress had no rights or duties in the + territories but such as were granted or imposed by the Constitution; and + that, therefore, Congress was bound not merely not to forbid slavery, but + to actively protect slavery in the Territories. This was just the ground + which had always been held by Calhoun, though the South had not supported + him in it. Now the South, rejecting Douglas and his "popular sovereignty," + was united in its devotion to the decision of the Supreme Court, and + called upon the North to yield unhesitating obedience to that body which + Webster in 1830 had styled the ultimate arbiter of constitutional + questions. This, it was evident, could never be. No respectable authority + at the North pretended to uphold the keystone of Taney's argument, that + slaves were regarded as property by the Constitution. On the contrary, it + was agreed everywhere by those whose opinions were looked to with respect, + that slaves were regarded by the Constitution as "persons held to service + or labor" under the laws of the State alone; and that the laws of the + State could not give such persons a fictitious legal character outside of + the State's jurisdiction. Even the Douglas Democrats, who expressed a + willingness to yield to the Supreme Court's decision, did not profess to + uphold Taney's share in it. + </p> + <p> + As the Presidential election of 1860 drew near, the evidences of + separation became more manifest. The absorption of northern Democrats into + the Republican party increased until Douglas, in 1858, narrowly escaped + defeat in his contest with Lincoln for a re-election to the Senate from + Illinois. In 1860 the Republicans nominated Lincoln for the Presidency on + a platform demanding prohibition of slavery in the Territories. The + southern delegates seceded from the Democratic convention, and nominated + Breckenridge, on a platform demanding congressional protection of slavery + in the Territories. The remainder of the Democratic convention nominated + Douglas, with a declaration of its willingness to submit to the decision + of the Supreme Court on questions of constitutional law. The remnants of + the former Whig and American parties, under the name of the Constitutional + Union party, nominated Bell without any declaration of principles. Lincoln + received a majority of the electoral votes, and became President. His + popular vote was a plurality. + </p> + <p> + Seward's address on the "Irrepressible Conflict," which closes this + volume, is representative of the division between the two sections, as it + stood just before the actual shock of conflict. Labor systems are delicate + things; and that which the South had adopted, of enslaving the laboring + class, was one whose influence could not help being universal and + aggressive. Every form of energy and prosperity which tended to advance a + citizen into the class of representative rulers tended also to make him a + slave owner, and to shackle his official policy and purposes with + considerations inseparable from his heavy personal interests. Men might + divide on other questions at the South; but on this question of slavery + the action of the individual had to follow the decisions of a majority + which, by the influence of ambitious aspirants for the lead, was + continually becoming more aggressive. In constitutional countries, + defections to the minority are a steady check upon an aggressive majority; + but the southern majority was a steam engine without a safety valve. + </p> + <p> + In this sense Seward and Lincoln, in 1858, were correct; the labor system + of the South was not only a menace to the whole country, but one which + could neither decrease nor stand still. It was intolerable by the laws of + its being; and it could be got rid of only by allowing a peaceable + secession, or by abolishing it through war. The material prosperity which + has followed the adoption of the latter alternative, apart from the moral + aspects of the case, is enough to show that the South has gained more than + all that slavery lost. + </p> + <p> + <a name="linkimage-0001" id="linkimage-0001"> + <!-- IMG --></a> + </p> + <div class="fig" style="width:80%"> + <img src="images/king.jpg" alt="Rufus King " width="100%" /><br /> + </div> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0005" id="link2H_4_0005"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + RUFUS KING, + </h2> + <h3> + OF NEW YORK. (BORN 1755, DIED 1827.) + </h3> + <p> + ON THE MISSOURI BILL—UNITED STATES SENATE, FEBRUARY 11 AND 14, 1820. + </p> + <p> + The Constitution declares "that Congress shall have power to dispose of, + and make all needful rules and regulations respecting the territory and + other property of the United States." Under this power Congress have + passed laws for the survey and sale of the public lands; for the division + of the same into separate territories; and have ordained for each of them + a constitution, a plan of temporary government, whereby the civil and + political rights of the inhabitants are regulated, and the rights of + conscience and other natural rights are protected. + </p> + <p> + The power to make all needful regulations, includes the power to determine + what regulations are needful; and if a regulation prohibiting slavery + within any territory of the United States be, as it has been, deemed + needful, Congress possess the power to make the same, and, moreover, to + pass all laws necessary to carry this power into execution. + </p> + <p> + The territory of Missouri is a portion of Louisiana, which was purchased + of France, and belongs to the United States in full dominion; in the + language of the Constitution, Missouri is their territory or property, and + is subject like other territories of the United States, to the regulations + and temporary government, which has been, or shall be prescribed by + Congress. The clause of the Constitution which grants this power to + Congress, is so comprehensive and unambiguous, and its purpose so + manifest, that commentary will not render the power, or the object of its + establishment, more explicit or plain. + </p> + <p> + The Constitution further provides that "new States may be admitted by + Congress into this Union." As this power is conferred without limitation, + the time, terms, and circumstances of the admission of new States, are + referred to the discretion of Congress; which may admit new States, but + are not obliged to do so—of right no new State can demand admission + into the Union, unless such demand be founded upon some previous + engagement of the United States. + </p> + <p> + When admitted by Congress into the Union, whether by compact or otherwise, + the new State becomes entitled to the enjoyment of the same rights, and + bound to perform the like duties as the other States; and its citizens + will be entitled to all privileges and immunities of citizens in the + several States. + </p> + <p> + The citizens of each State possess rights, and owe duties that are + peculiar to, and arise out of the Constitution and laws of the several + States. These rights and duties differ from each other in the different + States, and among these differences none is so remarkable or important as + that which proceeds from the Constitution and laws of the several States + respecting slavery; the same being permitted in some States and forbidden + in others. + </p> + <p> + The question respecting slavery in the old thirteen States had been + decided and settled before the adoption of the Constitution, which grants + no power to Congress to interfere with, or to change what had been so + previously settled. The slave States, therefore, are free to continue or + to abolish slavery. Since the year 1808 Congress have possessed power to + prohibit and have prohibited the further migration or importation of + slaves into any of the old thirteen States, and at all times, under the + Constitution, have had power to prohibit such migration or importation + into any of the new States or territories of the United States. The + Constitution contains no express provision respecting slavery in a new + State that may be admitted into the Union; every regulation upon this + subject belongs to the power whose consent is necessary to the formation + and admission of new States into the Union. Congress may, therefore, make + it a condition of the admission of a new State, that slavery shall be + forever prohibited within the same. We may, with the more confidence, + pronounce this to be the true construction of the Constitution, as it has + been so amply confirmed by the past decisions of Congress. + </p> + <p> + Although the articles of confederation were drawn up and approved by the + old Congress, in the year 1777, and soon afterwards were ratified by some + of the States, their complete ratification did not take place until the + year 1781. The States which possessed small and already settled territory, + withheld their ratification, in order to obtain from the large States a + cession to the United States of a portion of their vacant territory. + Without entering into the reasons on which this demand was urged, it is + well known that they had an influence on Massachusetts, Connecticut, New + York, and Virginia, which States ceded to the United States their + respective claims to the territory lying northwest of the river Ohio. This + cession was made on the express condition, that the ceded territory should + be sold for the common benefit of the United States; that it should be + laid out into States, and that the States so laid out should form distinct + republican States, and be admitted as members of the Federal Union, having + the same rights of sovereignty, freedom, and independence as the other + States. Of the four States which made this cession, two permitted, and the + other two prohibited slavery. + </p> + <p> + The United States having in this manner become proprietors of the + extensive territory northwest of the river Ohio, although the + confederation contained no express provision upon the subject, Congress, + the only representatives of the United States, assumed as incident to + their office, the power to dispose of this territory; and for this + purpose, to divide the same into distinct States, to provide for the + temporary government of the inhabitants thereof, and for their ultimate + admission as new States into the Federal Union. + </p> + <p> + The ordinance for those purposes, which was passed by Congress in 1787, + contains certain articles, which are called "Articles of compact between + the original States and the people and States within the said territory, + for ever to remain unalterable, unless by common consent." The sixth of + those unalterable articles provides, "that there shall be neither slavery + nor involuntary servitude in the said territory." + </p> + <p> + The Constitution of the United States supplies the defect that existed in + the articles of confederation, and has vested Congress, as has been + stated, with ample powers on this important subject. Accordingly, the + ordinance of 1787, passed by the old Congress, was ratified and confirmed + by an act of the new Congress during their first session under the + Constitution. + </p> + <p> + The State of Virginia, which ceded to the United States her claims to this + territory, consented by her delegates in the old Congress to this + ordinance—not only Virginia, but North Carolina, South Carolina, and + Georgia, by the unanimous votes of their delegates in the old Congress, + approved of the ordinance of 1787, by which slavery is forever abolished + in the territory northwest of the river Ohio. + </p> + <p> + Without the votes of these States, the ordinance could not have passed; + and there is no recollection of an opposition from any of these States to + the act of confirmation, passed under the actual Constitution. Slavery had + long been established in these States—the evil was felt in their + institutions, laws, and habits, and could not easily or at once be + abolished. But these votes so honorable to these States, satisfactorily + demonstrate their unwillingness to permit the extension of slavery into + the new States which might be admitted by Congress into the Union. + </p> + <p> + The States of Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois, on the northwest of the river + Ohio, have been admitted by Congress into the Union, on the condition and + conformably to the article of compact, contained in the ordinance of 1787, + and by which it is declared that there shall be neither slavery nor + involuntary servitude in any of the said States. + </p> + <p> + Although Congress possess the power of making the exclusion of slavery a + part or condition of the act admitting a new State into the Union, they + may, in special cases, and for sufficient reasons, forbear to exercise + this power. Thus Kentucky and Vermont were admitted as new States into the + Union, without making the abolition of slavery the condition of their + admission. In Vermont, slavery never existed; her laws excluding the same. + Kentucky was formed out of, and settled by, Virginia, and the inhabitants + of Kentucky, equally with those of Virginia, by fair interpretation of the + Constitution, were exempt from all such interference of Congress, as might + disturb or impair the security of their property in slaves. The western + territory of North Carolina and Georgia, having been partially granted and + settled under the authority of these States, before the cession thereof to + the United States, and these States being original parties to the + Constitution which recognizes the existence of slavery, no measure + restraining slavery could be applied by Congress to this territory. But to + remove all doubt on this head, it was made a condition of the cession of + this territory to the United States, that the ordinance of 1787, except + the sixth article thereof, respecting slavery, should be applied to the + same; and that the sixth article should not be so applied. Accordingly, + the States of Tennessee, Mississippi, and Alabama, comprehending the + territory ceded to the United States by North Carolina and Georgia, have + been admitted as new States into the Union, without a provision, by which + slavery shall be excluded from the same. According to this abstract of the + proceedings of Congress in the admission of new States into the Union, of + the eight new States within the original limits of the United States, four + have been admitted without an article excluding slavery; three have been + admitted on the condition that slavery should be excluded; and one + admitted without such condition. In the few first cases, Congress were + restrained from exercising the power to exclude slavery; in the next + three, they exercised this power; and in the last, it was unnecessary to + do so, slavery being excluded by the State Constitution. + </p> + <p> + The province of Louisiana, soon after its cession to the United States, + was divided into two territories, comprehending such parts thereof as were + contiguous to the river Mississippi, being the only parts of the province + that were inhabited. The foreign language, laws, customs, and manners of + the inhabitants, required the immediate and cautious attention of + Congress, which, instead of extending, in the first instance, to these + territories the ordinance of 1787, ordained special regulations for the + government of the same. These regulations were from time to time revised + and altered, as observation and experience showed to be expedient, and as + was deemed most likely to encourage and promote those changes which would + soonest qualify the inhabitants for self-government and admission into the + Union. When the United States took possession of the province of Louisiana + in 1804, it was estimated to contain 50,000 white inhabitants, 40,000 + slaves, and 2,000 free persons of color. + </p> + <p> + More than four-fifths of the whites, and all the slaves, except about + thirteen hundred, inhabited New Orleans and the adjacent territory; the + residue, consisting of less than ten thousand whites, and about thirteen + hundred slaves, were dispersed throughout the country now included in the + Arkansas and Missouri territories. The greater part of the thirteen + hundred slaves were in the Missouri territory, some of them having been + removed thither from the old French settlements on the east side of the + Mississippi, after the passing of the ordinance of 1787, by which slavery + in those settlements was abolished. + </p> + <p> + In 1812, the territory of New Orleans, to which the ordinance of 1787, + with the exception of certain parts thereof, had been previously extended, + was permitted by Congress to form a Constitution and State Government, and + admitted as a new State into the Union, by the name of Louisiana. The acts + of Congress for these purposes, in addition to sundry important provisions + respecting rivers and public lands, which are declared to be irrevocable + unless by common consent, annex other terms and conditions, whereby it is + established, not only that the Constitution of Louisiana should be + republican, but that it should contain the fundamental principles of civil + and religious liberty, that it should secure to the citizens the trial by + jury in all criminal cases, and the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus + according to the Constitution of the United States; and after its + admission into the Union, that the laws which Louisiana might pass, should + be promulgated; its records of every description preserved; and its + judicial and legislative proceedings conducted in the language in which + the laws and judicial proceedings of the United States are published and + conducted. + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + Having annexed these new and extraordinary conditions to the act for the + admission of Louisiana into the Union, Congress may, if they shall deem it + expedient, annex the like conditions to the act for the admission of + Missouri; and, moreover, as in the case of Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois, + provide by an article for that purpose, that slavery shall not exist + within the same. + </p> + <p> + Admitting this construction of the Constitution, it is alleged that the + power by which Congress excluded slavery from the States north-west of the + river Ohio, is suspended in respect to the States that may be formed in + the province of Louisiana. The article of the treaty referred to declares: + "That the inhabitants of the territory shall be incorporated in the Union + of the United States, and admitted as soon as possible; according to the + principles of the Federal Constitution, to the enjoyment of all rights, + advantages, and immunities of citizens of the United States; and in the + meantime, they shall be maintained and protected in the free enjoyment of + their liberty, property, and the religion which they profess." + </p> + <p> + Although there is want of precision in the article, its scope and meaning + can not be misunderstood. It constitutes a stipulation by which the United + States engage that the inhabitants of Louisiana should be formed into a + State or States, and as soon as the provisions of the Constitution permit, + that they should be admitted as new States into the Union on the footing + of the other States; and before such admission, and during their + territorial government, that they should be maintained and protected by + Congress in the enjoyment of their liberty, property, and religion. The + first clause of this stipulation will be executed by the admission of + Missouri as a new State into the Union, as such admission will impart to + the inhabitants of Missouri "all the rights, advantages, and immunities" + which citizens of the United States derive from the Constitution thereof; + these rights may be denominated Federal rights, are uniform throughout the + Union, and are common to all its citizens: but the rights derived from the + Constitution and laws of the States, which may be denominated State + rights, in many particulars differ from each other. Thus, while the + Federal rights of the citizens of Massachusetts and Virginia are the same, + their State rights are dissimilar and different, slavery being forbidden + in one, and permitted in the other State. This difference arises out of + the Constitutions and laws of the two States, in the same manner as the + difference in the rights of the citizens of these States to vote for + representatives in Congress arises out of the State laws and Constitution. + In Massachusetts, every person of lawful age, and possessing property of + any sort, of the value of two hundred dollars, may vote for + representatives to Congress. In Virginia, no person can vote for + representatives to Congress, unless he be a freeholder. As the admission + of a new State into the Union confers upon its citizens only the rights + denominated Federal, and as these are common to the citizens of all the + States, as well of those in which slavery is prohibited, as of those in + which it is allowed, it follows that the prohibition of slavery in + Missouri will not impair the Federal rights of its citizens, and that such + prohibition is not sustained by the clause of the treaty which has been + cited. + </p> + <p> + As all nations do not permit slavery, the term property, in its common and + universal meaning, does not include or describe slaves. In treaties, + therefore, between nations, and especially in those of the United States, + whenever stipulations respecting slaves were to be made, the word + "negroes," or "slaves," have been employed, and the omission of these + words in this clause, increases the uncertainty whether, by the term + property, slaves were intended to be included. But admitting that such was + the intention of the parties, the stipulation is not only temporary, but + extends no further than to the property actually possessed by the + inhabitants of Missouri, when it was first occupied by the United States. + Property since acquired by them, and property acquired or possessed by the + new inhabitants of Missouri, has in each case been acquired under the laws + of the United States, and not during and under the laws of the province of + Louisiana. Should, therefore, the future introduction of slaves into + Missouri be forbidden, the feelings of the citizens would soon become + reconciled to their exclusion, and the inconsiderable number of slaves + owned by the inhabitants at the date of the cession of Louisiana, would be + emancipated or sent for sale into States where slavery exists. + </p> + <p> + It is further objected, that the article of the act of admission into the + Union, by which slavery should be excluded from Missouri, would be + nugatory, as the new State in virtue of its sovereignty would be at + liberty to revoke its consent, and annul the article by which slavery is + excluded. + </p> + <p> + Such revocation would be contrary to the obligations of good faith, which + enjoins the observance of our engagements; it would be repugnant to the + principles on which government itself is founded; sovereignty in every + lawful government is a limited power, and can do only what it is lawful to + do. Sovereigns, like individuals, are bound by their engagements, and have + no moral power to break them. Treaties between nations repose on this + principle. If the new State can revoke and annul an article concluded + between itself and the United States, by which slavery is excluded from + it, it may revoke and annul any other article of the compact; it may, for + example, annul the article respecting public lands, and in virtue of its + sovereignty, assume the right to tax and to sell the lands of the United + States. There is yet a more satisfactory answer to this objection. The + judicial power of the United States is co-extensive with their legislative + power, and every question arising under the Constitution or laws of the + United States, is recognizable by the judiciary thereof. Should the new + State rescind any of the articles of compact contained in the act of + admission into the Union, that, for example, by which slavery is excluded, + and should pass a law authorizing slavery, the judiciary of the United + States on proper application, would immediately deliver from bondage, any + person retained as a slave in said State. And, in like manner, in all + instances affecting individuals, the judiciary might be employed to defeat + every attempt to violate the Constitution and laws of the United States. + </p> + <p> + If Congress possess the power to exclude slavery from Missouri, it still + remains to be shown that they ought to do so. The examination of this + branch of the subject, for obvious reasons, is attended with peculiar + difficulty, and cannot be made without passing over arguments which, to + some of us, might appear to be decisive, but the use of which, in this + place, would call up feelings, the influence of which would disturb, if + not defeat, the impartial consideration of the subject. + </p> + <p> + Slavery, unhappily, exists within the United States. Enlightened men, in + the States where it is permitted, and everywhere out of them, regret its + existence among us, and seek for the means of limiting and of mitigating + it. The first introduction of slaves is not imputable to the present + generation, nor even to their ancestors. Before the year 1642, the trade + and ports of the colonies were open to foreigners equally as those of the + mother country; and as early as 1620, a few years only after the planting + of the colony of Virginia, and the same year in which the first settlement + was made in the old colony of Plymouth, a cargo of negroes was brought + into and sold as slaves in Virginia by a foreign ship. From this + beginning, the importation of slaves was continued for nearly two + centuries. To her honor, Virginia, while a colony, opposed the importation + of slaves, and was the first State to prohibit the same, by a law passed + for this purpose in 1778, thirty years before the general prohibition + enacted by Congress in 1808. The laws and customs of the States in which + slavery has existed for so long a period, must have had their influence on + the opinions and habits of the citizens, which ought not to be disregarded + on the present occasion. + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + When the general convention that formed the Constitution took this subject + into their consideration, the whole question was once more examined; and + while it was agreed that all contributions to the common treasury should + be made according to the ability of the several States to furnish the + same, the old difficulty recurred in agreeing upon a rule whereby such + ability should be ascertained, there being no simple standard by which the + ability of individuals to pay taxes can be ascertained. A diversity in the + selection of taxes has been deemed requisite to their equalization. + Between communities this difficulty is less considerable, and although the + rule of relative numbers would not accurately measure the relative wealth + of nations, in States in the circumstances of the United States, whose + institutions, laws, and employments are so much alike, the rule of numbers + is probably as near equal as any other simple and practical rule can be + expected to be (though between the old and new States its equity is + defective),—these considerations, added to the approbation which had + already been given to the rule, by a majority of the States, induced the + convention to agree that direct taxes should be apportioned among the + States, according to the whole number of free persons, and three-fifths of + the slaves which they might respectively contain. + </p> + <p> + The rule for apportionment of taxes is not necessarily the most equitable + rule for the apportionment of representatives among the States; property + must not be disregarded in the composition of the first rule, but + frequently is overlooked in the establishment of the second. A rule which + might be approved in respect to taxes, would be disapproved in respect to + representatives; one individual possessing twice as much property as + another, might be required to pay double the taxes of such other; but no + man has two votes to another's one; rich or poor, each has but a single + vote in the choice of representatives. + </p> + <p> + In the dispute between England and the colonies, the latter denied the + right of the former to tax them, because they were not represented in the + English Parliament. They contended that, according to the law of the land, + taxation and representation were inseparable. The rule of taxation being + agreed upon by the convention, it is possible that the maxim with which we + successfully opposed the claim of England may have had an influence in + procuring the adoption of the same rule for the apportionment of + representatives; the true meaning, however, of this principle of the + English constitution is, that a colony or district is not to be taxed + which is not represented; not that its number of representatives shall be + ascertained by its quota of taxes. If three-fifths of the slaves are + virtually represented, or their owners obtain a disproportionate power in + legislation, and in the appointment of the President of the United States, + why should not other property be virtually represented, and its owners + obtain a like power in legislation, and in the choice of the President? + Property is not confined in slaves, but exists in houses, stores, ships, + capital in trade, and manufactures. To secure to the owners of property in + slaves greater political power than is allowed to the owners of other and + equivalent property, seems to be contrary to our theory of the equality of + personal rights, inasmuch as the citizens of some States thereby become + entitled to other and greater political power than the citizens of other + States. The present House of Representatives consist of one hundred and + eighty-one members, which are apportioned among the States in a ratio of + one representative for every thirty-five thousand federal members, which + are ascertained by adding to the whole number of free persons, + three-fifths of the slaves. According to the last census, the whole number + of slaves within the United was 1,191,364, which entitles the States + possessing the same to twenty representatives, and twenty presidential + electors more than they would be entitled to, were the slaves excluded. By + the last census, Virginia contained 582,104 free persons, and 392,518 + slaves. In any of the States where slavery is excluded, 582,104 free + persons would be entitled to elect only sixteen representatives, while in + Virginia, 582,104 free persons, by the addition of three-fifths of her + slaves, become entitled to elect, and do in fact elect, twenty-three + representatives, being seven additional ones on account of her slaves. + Thus, while 35,000 free persons are requisite to elect one representative + in a State where slavery is prohibited, 25,559 free persons in Virginia + may and do elect a representative: so that five free persons in Virginia + have as much power in the choice of Representatives to Congress, and in + the appointment of presidential electors, as seven free persons in any of + the States in which slavery does not exist. + </p> + <p> + This inequality in the apportionment of representatives was not + misunderstood at the adoption of the Constitution, but no one anticipated + the fact that the whole of the revenue of the United States would be + derived from indirect taxes (which cannot be supposed to spread themselves + over the several States according to the rule for the apportionment of + direct taxes), but it was believed that a part of the contribution to the + common treasury would be apportioned among the States by the rule for the + apportionment of representatives. The States in which slavery is + prohibited, ultimately, though with reluctance, acquiesced in the + disproportionate number of representatives and electors that was secured + to the slaveholding States. The concession was, at the time, believed to + be a great one, and has proved to have been the greatest which was made to + secure the adoption of the Constitution. + </p> + <p> + Great, however, as this concession was, it was definite, and its full + extent was comprehended. It was a settlement between the original thirteen + States. The considerations arising out of their actual condition, their + past connection, and the obligation which all felt to promote a + reformation in the Federal Government, were peculiar to the time and to + the parties, and are not applicable to the new States, which Congress may + now be willing to admit into the Union. + </p> + <p> + The equality of rights, which includes an equality of burdens, is a vital + principle in our theory of government, and its jealous preservation is the + best security of public and individual freedom; the departure from this + principle in the disproportionate power and influence, allowed to the + slaveholding States, was a necessary sacrifice to the establishment of the + Constitution. The effect of this concession has been obvious in the + preponderance which it has given to the slaveholding States over the other + States. Nevertheless, it is an ancient settlement, and faith and honor + stand pledged not to disturb it. But the extension of this + disproportionate power to the new States would be unjust and odious. The + States whose power would be abridged, and whose burdens would be increased + by the measure, cannot be expected to consent to it, and we may hope that + the other States are too magnanimous to insist on it. + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + It ought not to be forgotten that the first and main object of the + negotiation which led to the acquisition of Louisiana, was the free + navigation of the Mississippi, a river that forms the sole passage from + the western States to the ocean. This navigation, although of general + benefit, has been always valued and desired, as of peculiar advantage to + the Western States, whose demands to obtain it were neither equivocal nor + unreasonable. But with the river Mississippi, by a sort of coercion, we + acquired, by good or ill fortune, as our future measures shall determine, + the whole province of Louisiana. As this acquisition was made at the + common expense, it is very fairly urged that the advantages to be derived + from it should also be common. This, it is said, will not happen if + slavery be excluded from Missouri, as the citizens of the States where + slavery is permitted will be shut out, and none but citizens of States + where slavery is prohibited, can become inhabitants of Missouri. + </p> + <p> + But this consequence will not arise from the proposed exclusion of + slavery. The citizens of States in which slavery is allowed, like all + other citizens, will be free to become inhabitants of Missouri, in like + manner as they have become inhabitants of Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois, in + which slavery is forbidden. The exclusion of slaves from Missouri will + not, therefore, operate unequally among the citizens of the United States. + The Constitution provides, "that the citizens of each State shall be + entitled to enjoy all the rights and immunities of citizens of the several + States"; every citizen may, therefore, remove from one to another State, + and there enjoy the rights and immunities of its citizens. The proposed + provision excludes slaves, not citizens, whose rights it will not, and + cannot impair. + </p> + <p> + Besides there is nothing new or peculiar in a provision for the exclusion + of slavery; it has been established in the States north-west of the river + Ohio, and has existed from the beginning in the old States where slavery + is forbidden. The citizens of States where slavery is allowed, may become + inhabitants of Missouri, but cannot hold slaves there, nor in any other + State where slavery is prohibited. As well might the laws prohibiting + slavery in the old States become the subject of complaint, as the proposed + exclusion of slavery in Missouri; but there is no foundation for such + complaint in either case. It is further urged, that the admission of + slaves into Missouri would be limited to the slaves who are already within + the United States; that their health and comfort would be promoted by + their dispersion, and that their numbers would be the same whether they + remain confined to the States where slavery exists, or are dispersed over + the new States that may be admitted into the Union. + </p> + <p> + That none but domestic slaves would be introduced into Missouri, and the + other new and frontier States, is most fully disproved by the thousands of + fresh slaves, which, in violation of our laws, are annually imported into + Alabama, Louisiana, and Mississippi. + </p> + <p> + We may renew our efforts, and enact new laws with heavier penalties + against the importation of slaves: the revenue cutters may more diligently + watch our shores, and the naval force may be employed on the coast of + Africa, and on the ocean, to break up the slave trade—but these + means will not put an end to it; so long as markets are open for the + purchase of slaves, so long they will be supplied;—and so long as we + permit the existence of slavery in our new and frontier States, so long + slave markets will exist. The plea of humanity is equally inadmissible, + since no one who has ever witnessed the experiment will believe that the + condition of slaves is made better by the breaking up, and separation of + their families, nor by their removal from the old States to the new ones; + and the objection to the provision of the bill, excluding slavery from + Missouri, is equally applicable to the like prohibitions of the old + States: these should be revoked, in order that the slaves now confined to + certain States, may, for their health and comfort, and multiplication, be + spread over the whole Union. + </p> + <p> + Slavery cannot exist in Missouri without the consent of Congress; the + question may therefore be considered, in certain lights, as a new one, it + being the first instance in which an inquiry respecting slavery, in a case + so free from the influence of the ancient laws, usages, and manners of the + country, has come before the Senate. + </p> + <p> + The territory of Missouri is beyond our ancient limits, and the inquiry + whether slavery shall exist there, is open to many of the arguments that + might be employed, had slavery never existed within the United States. It + is a question of no ordinary importance. Freedom and slavery are the + parties which stand this day before the Senate; and upon its decision the + empire of the one or the other will be established in the new State which + we are about to admit into the Union. + </p> + <p> + If slavery be permitted in Missouri with the climate, and soil, and in the + circumstances of this territory, what hope can be entertained that it will + ever be prohibited in any of the new States that will be formed in the + immense region west of the Mississippi? Will the co-extensive + establishment of slavery and of the new States throughout this region, + lessen the dangers of domestic insurrection, or of foreign aggression? + Will this manner of executing the great trust of admitting new States into + the Union, contribute to assimilate our manners and usages, to increase + our mutual affection and confidence, and to establish that equality of + benefits and burdens which constitutes the true basis of our strength and + union? Will the militia of the nation, which must furnish our soldiers and + seamen, increase as slaves increase? Will the actual disproportion in the + military service of the nation be thereby diminished?—a + disproportion that will be, as it has been, readily borne, as between the + original States, because it arises out of their compact of Union, but + which may become a badge of inferiority, if required for the protection of + those who, being free to choose, persist in the establishment of maxims, + the inevitable effect of which will deprive them of the power to + contribute to the common defence, and even of the ability to protect + themselves. There are limits within which our federal system must stop; no + one has supposed that it could be indefinitely extended—we are now + about to pass our original boundary; if this can be done without affecting + the principles of our free governments, it can be accomplished only by the + most vigilant attention to plant, cherish, and sustain the principles of + liberty in the new States, that may be formed beyond our ancient limits; + with our utmost caution in this respect, it may still be justly + apprehended that the General Government must be made stronger as we become + more extended. + </p> + <p> + But if, instead of freedom, slavery is to prevail and spread, as we extend + our dominion, can any reflecting man fail to see the necessity of giving + to the General Government greater powers, to enable it to afford the + protection that will be demanded of it? powers that will be difficult to + control, and which may prove fatal to the public liberties. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0006" id="link2H_4_0006"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + WILLIAM PINKNEY, + </h2> + <h3> + OF MARYLAND. (BORN 1764, DIED 1822.) + </h3> + <p> + ON THE MISSOURI QUESTION'—UNITED STATES SENATE, FEBRUARY 15, 1820. + </p> + <p> + As I am not a very frequent speaker in this assembly, and have shown a + desire, I trust, rather to listen to the wisdom of others than to lay + claim to superior knowledge by undertaking to advise, even when advice, by + being seasonable in point of time, might have some chance of being + profitable, you will, perhaps, bear with me if I venture to trouble you + once more on that eternal subject which has lingered here, until all its + natural interest is exhausted, and every topic connected with it is + literally worn to tatters. I shall, I assure you, sir, speak with laudable + brevity—not merely on account of the feeble state of my health, and + from some reverence for the laws of good taste which forbid me to speak + otherwise, but also from a sense of justice to those who honor me with + their attention. My single purpose, as I suggested yesterday, is to + subject to a friendly, yet close examination, some portions of a speech, + imposing, certainly, on account of the distinguished quarter from whence + it came—not very imposing (if I may so say, without departing from + that respect which I sincerely feel and intend to manifest for eminent + abilities and long experience) for any other reason. + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + I confess to you, nevertheless, that some of the principles announced by + the honorable gentleman from New York, with an explicitness that reflected + the highest credit on his candor, did, when they were first presented, + startle me not a little. They were not perhaps entirely new. Perhaps I had + seen them before in some shadowy and doubtful shape, + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "If shape it might be called, that shape had none, + Distinguishable in member, joint, or limb?" +</pre> + <p> + But in the honorable gentleman's speech they were shadowy and doubtful no + longer. He exhibited them in forms so boldly and accurately—with + contours so distinctly traced—with features so pronounced and + striking that I was unconscious for a moment that they might be old + acquaintances. I received them as a <i>novi hospites</i> within these + walls, and gazed upon them with astonishment and alarm. I have recovered, + however, thank God, from this paroxysm of terror, although not from that + of astonishment. I have sought and found tranquillity and courage in my + former consolatory faith. My reliance is that these principles will obtain + no general currency; for, if they should, it requires no gloomy + imagination to sadden the perspective of the future. My reliance is upon + the unsophisticated good sense and noble spirit of the American people. I + have what I may be allowed to call a proud and patriotic trust, that they + will give countenance to no principles which, if followed out to their + obvious consequences, will not only shake the goodly fabric of the Union + to its foundations, but reduce it to a melancholy ruin. The people of this + country, if I do not wholly mistake their character, are wise as well as + virtuous. They know the value of that federal association which is to them + the single pledge and guarantee of power and peace. Their warm and pious + affections will cling to it as to their only hope of prosperity and + happiness, in defiance of pernicious abstractions, by whomsoever + inculcated, or howsoever seductive or alluring in their aspect.' + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + Sir, it was but the other day that we were forbidden, (properly forbidden + I am sure, for the prohibition came from you,) to assume that there + existed any intention to impose a prospective restraint on the domestic + legislation of Missouri—a restraint to act upon it contemporaneously + with its origin as a State, and to continue adhesive to it through all the + stages of its political existence. We are now, however, permitted to know + that it is determined by a sort of political surgery to amputate one of + the limbs of its local sovereignty, and thus mangled and disparaged, and + thus only, to receive it into the bosom of the Constitution. It is now + avowed that, while Maine is to be ushered into the Union with every + possible demonstration of studious reverence on our part, and on hers, + with colors flying, and all the other graceful accompaniments of honorable + triumph, this ill-conditioned upstart of the West, this obscure foundling + of a wilderness that was but yesterday the hunting-ground of the savage, + is to find her way into the American family as she can, with an + humiliating badge of remediless inferiority patched upon her garments, + with the mark of recent, qualified manumission upon her, or rather with a + brand upon her forehead to tell the stogy of her territorial vassalage, + and to perpetuate the memory of her evil propensities. It is now avowed + that, while the robust district of Maine is to be seated by the side of + her truly respectable parent, co-ordinate in authority and honor, and is + to be dandled into that power and dignity of which she does not stand in + need, but which undoubtedly she deserves, the more infantine and feeble + Missouri is to be repelled with harshness, and forbidden to come at all, + unless with the iron collar of servitude about her neck, instead of the + civic crown of republican freedom upon her brows, and is to be doomed + forever to leading-strings, unless she will exchange those leading-strings + for shackles. + </p> + <p> + I am told that you have the power to establish this odious and revolting + distinction, and I am referred for the proofs of that power to various + parts of the Constitution, but principally to that part of it which + authorizes the admission of new States into the Union. I am myself of + opinion that it is in that part only that the advocates for this + restriction can, with any hope of success, apply for a license to impose + it; and that the efforts which have been made to find it in other portions + of that instrument, are too desperate to require to be encountered. I + shall, however, examine those other portions before I have done, lest it + should be supposed by those who have relied upon them, that what I omit to + answer I believe to be unanswerable. + </p> + <p> + The clause of the Constitution which relates to the admission of new + States is in these words: "The Congress may admit new States into this + Union," etc., and the advocates for restriction maintain that the use of + the word "may" imports discretion to admit or to reject; and that in this + discretion is wrapped up another—that of prescribing the terms and + conditions of admission in case you are willing to admit: "<i>Cujus est + dare ejus est disponere</i>." I will not for the present inquire whether + this involved discretion to dictate the terms of admission belongs to you + or not. It is fit that I should first look to the nature and extent of it. + </p> + <p> + I think I may assume that if such a power be anything but nominal, it is + much more than adequate to the present object—that it is a power of + vast expansion, to which human sagacity can assign no reasonable limits—that + it is a capacious reservoir of authority, from which you may take, in all + time to come, as occasion may serve, the means of oppression as well as of + benefaction. I know that it professes at this moment to be the chosen + instrument of protecting mercy, and would win upon us by its benignant + smiles; but I know, too, it can frown and play the tyrant, if it be so + disposed. Notwithstanding the softness which it now assumes, and the care + with which it conceals its giant proportions beneath the deceitful drapery + of sentiment, when it next appears before you it may show itself with a + sterner countenance and in more awful dimensions. It is, to speak the + truth, sir, a power of colossal size—if indeed it be not an abuse of + language to call it by the gentle name of a power. Sir, it is a wilderness + of power, of which fancy in her happiest mood is unable to perceive the + far distant and shadowy boundary. Armed with such a power, with religion + in one hand and philanthropy in the other, and followed with a goodly + train of public and private virtues, you may achieve more conquests over + sovereignties not your own than falls to the common lot of even uncommon + ambition. By the aid of such a power, skilfully employed, you may "bridge + your way" over the Hellespont that separates State legislation from that + of Congress; and you may do so for pretty much the same purpose with which + Xerxes once bridged his way across the Hellespont that separates Asia from + Europe. He did so, in the language of Milton, "the liberties of Greece to + yoke." You may do so for the analogous purpose of subjugating and reducing + the sovereignties of States, as your taste or convenience may suggest, and + fashioning them to your imperial will. There are those in this House who + appear to think, and I doubt not sincerely, that the particular restraint + now under consideration is wise, and benevolent, and good; wise as + respects the Union—good as respects Missouri—benevolent as + respects the unhappy victims whom with a novel kindness it would + incarcerate in the south, and bless by decay and extirpation. Let all such + beware, lest in their desire for the effect which they believe the + restriction will produce, they are too easily satisfied that they have the + right to impose it. The moral beauty of the present purpose, or even its + political recommendations (whatever they may be), can do nothing for a + power like this, which claims to prescribe conditions <i>ad libitum</i>, + and to be competent to this purpose, because it is competent to all. This + restriction, if it be not smothered in its birth, will be but a small part + of the progeny of the prolific power. It teems with a mighty brood, of + which this may be entitled to the distinction of comeliness as well as of + primogeniture. The rest may want the boasted loveliness of their + predecessor, and be even uglier than "Lapland witches". + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + I would not discourage authorized legislation upon those kindly, generous, + and noble feelings which Providence has given to us for the best of + purposes; but when power to act is under discussion, I will not look to + the end in view, lest I should become indifferent to the lawfulness of the + means. Let us discard from this high constitutional question all those + extrinsic considerations which have been forced into its discussion. Let + us endeavor to approach it with a philosophic impartiality of temper—with + a sincere desire to ascertain the boundaries of our authority, and a + determination to keep our wishes in subjection to our allegiance to the + Constitution. + </p> + <p> + Slavery, we are told in many a pamphlet, memorial, and speech, with which + the press has lately groaned, is a foul blot upon our otherwise immaculate + reputation. Let this be conceded—yet you are no nearer than before + to the conclusion that you possess power which may deal with other + subjects as effectually as with this. Slavery, we are further told, with + some pomp of metaphor, is a canker at the root of all that is excellent in + this republican empire, a pestilent disease that is snatching the youthful + bloom from its cheek, prostrating its honor and withering its strength. Be + it so—yet if you have power to medicine to it in the way proposed, + and in virtue of the diploma which you claim, you have also power in the + distribution of your political alexipharmics to present the deadliest + drugs to every territory that would become a State, and bid it drink or + remain a colony forever. Slavery, we are also told, is now "rolling onward + with a rapid tide towards the boundless regions of the West," threatening + to doom them to sterility and sorrow, unless some potent voice can say to + it,thus far shalt thou go, and no farther. Slavery engenders pride and + indolence in him who commands, and inflicts intellectual and moral + degradation on him who serves. Slavery, in fine, is unchristian and + abominable. Sir, I shall not stop to deny that slavery is all this and + more; but I shall not think myself the less authorized to deny that it is + for you to stay the course of this dark torrent, by opposing to it a mound + raised up by the labors of this portentous discretion on the domain of + others—a mound which you cannot erect but through the + instrumentality of a trespass of no ordinary kind—not the + comparatively innocent trespass that beats down a few blades of grass + which the first kind sun or the next refreshing shower may cause to spring + again—but that which levels with the ground the lordliest trees of + the forest, and claims immortality for the destruction which it inflicts. + </p> + <p> + I shall not, I am sure, be told that I exaggerate this power. It has been + admitted here and elsewhere that I do not. But I want no such concession. + It is manifest that as a discretionary power it is everything or nothing—that + its head is in the clouds, or that it is a mere figment of enthusiastic + speculation—that it has no existence, or that it is an alarming + vortex ready to swallow up all such portions of the sovereignty of an + infant State as you may think fit to cast into it as preparatory to the + introduction into the union of the miserable residue. No man can + contradict me when I say, that if you have this power, you may squeeze + down a new-born sovereign State to the size of a pigmy, and then taking it + between finger and thumb, stick it into some niche of the Union, and still + continue by way of mockery to call it a State in the sense of the + Constitution. You may waste it to a shadow, and then introduce it into the + society of flesh and blood an object of scorn and derision. You may sweat + and reduce it to a thing of skin and bone, and then place the ominous + skeleton beside the ruddy and healthful members of the Union, that it may + have leisure to mourn the lamentable difference between itself and its + companions, to brood over its disastrous promotion, and to seek in + justifiable discontent an opportunity for separation, and insurrection, + and rebellion. What may you not do by dexterity and perseverance with this + terrific power? You may give to a new State, in the form of terms which it + cannot refuse, (as I shall show you hereafter,) a statute book of a + thousand volumes—providing not for ordinary cases only, but even for + possibilities; you may lay the yoke, no matter whether light or heavy, + upon the necks of the latest posterity; you may send this searching power + into every hamlet for centuries to come, by laws enacted in the spirit of + prophecy, and regulating all those dear relations of domestic concern + which belong to local legislation, and which even local legislation + touches with a delicate and sparing hand. This is the first inroad. But + will it be the last? This provision is but a pioneer for others of a more + desolating aspect. It is that fatal bridge of which Milton speaks, and + when once firmly built, what shall hinder you to pass it when you please + for the purpose of plundering power after power at the expense of new + States, as you will still continue to call them, and raising up + prospective codes irrevocable and immortal, which shall leave to those + States the empty shadows of domestic sovereignty, and convert them into + petty pageants, in themselves contemptible, but rendered infinitely more + so by the contrast of their humble faculties with the proud and admitted + pretensions of those who having doomed them to the inferiority of vassals, + have condescended to take them into their society and under their + protection? + </p> + <p> + "New States may be admitted by the Congress into this Union." It is + objected that the word "may" imports power, not obligation—a right + to decide—a discretion to grant or refuse. + </p> + <p> + To this it might be answered that power is duty on many occasions. But let + it be conceded that it is discretionary. What consequence follows? A power + to refuse, in a case like this, does not necessarily involve a power to + exact terms. You must look to the result which is the declared object of + the power. Whether you will arrive at it, or not, may depend on your will; + but you cannot compromise with the result intended and professed. + </p> + <p> + What then is the professed result? To admit a State into this Union. + </p> + <p> + What is that Union? A confederation of States equal in sovereignty—capable + of everything which the Constitution does not forbid, or authorize + Congress to forbid. It is an equal union, between parties equally + sovereign. They were sovereign independently of the Union. The object of + the Union was common protection for the exercise of already existing + sovereignty. The parties gave up a portion of that sovereignty to insure + the remainder. As far as they gave it up by the common compact they have + ceased to be sovereign. The Union provides the means of defending the + residue; and it is into that Union that a new State is to come. By + acceding to it, the new State is placed on the same footing with the + original States. It accedes for the same purpose, i.e., protection for + their unsurrendered sovereignty. If it comes in shorn of its beams—crippled + and disparaged beyond the original States, it is not into the original + Union that it comes. For it is a different sort of Union. The first was + Union <i>inter pares</i>. This is a Union between "<i>disparates</i>"—between + giants and a dwarf—between power and feebleness—between full + proportioned sovereignties and a miserable image of power—a thing + which that very Union has shrunk and shrivelled from its just size, + instead of preserving it in its true dimensions. + </p> + <p> + It is into this Union, i. e., the Union of the Federal Constitution, that + you are to admit, or refuse to admit. You can admit into no other. You + cannot make the Union, as to the new State, what it is not as to the old; + for then it is not this Union that you open for the entrance of a new + party. If you make it enter into a new and additional compact, is it any + longer the same Union? + </p> + <p> + We are told that admitting a State into the Union is a compact. Yes, but + what sort of a compact? A compact that it shall be a member of the Union, + as the Constitution has made it. You cannot new fashion it. You may make a + compact to admit, but when admitted the original compact prevails. The + Union is a compact, with a provision of political power and agents for the + accomplishment of its objects. Vary that compact as to a new State—give + new energy to that political power so as to make it act with more force + upon a new State than upon the old—make the will of those agents + more effectually the arbiter of the fate of a new State than of the old, + and it may be confidently said that the new State has not entered into + this Union, but into another Union. How far the Union has been varied is + another question. But that it has been varied is clear. + </p> + <p> + If I am told that by the bill relative to Missouri, you do not legislate + upon a new State, I answer that you do; and I answer further that it is + immaterial whether you do or not. But it is upon Missouri, as a State, + that your terms and conditions are to act. Until Missouri is a State, the + terms and conditions are nothing. You legislate in the shape of terms and + conditions, prospectively—and you so legislate upon it that when it + comes into the Union it is to be bound by a contract degrading and + diminishing its sovereignty—and is to be stripped of rights which + the original parties to the Union did not consent to abandon, and which + that Union (so far as depends upon it) takes under its protection and + guarantee. + </p> + <p> + Is the right to hold slaves a right which Massachusetts enjoys? If it is, + Massachusetts is under this Union in a different character from Missouri. + The compact of Union for it, is different from the same compact of Union + for Missouri. The power of Congress is different—everything which + depends upon the Union is, in that respect, different. + </p> + <p> + But it is immaterial whether you legislate for Missouri as a State or not. + The effect of your legislation is to bring it into the Union with a + portion of its sovereignty taken away. + </p> + <p> + But it is a State which you are to admit. What is a State in the sense of + the Constitution? It is not a State in the general—but a State as + you find it in the Constitution. A State, generally, is a body politic or + independent political society of men. But the State which you are to admit + must be more or less than this political entity. What must it be? Ask the + constitution. It shows what it means by a State by reference to the + parties to it. It must be such a State as Massachusetts, Virginia, and the + other members of the American confederacy—a State with full + sovereignty except as the constitution restricts it. + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + In a word, the whole amount of the argument on the other side is, that you + may refuse to admit a new State, and that therefore if you admit, you may + prescribe the terms. + </p> + <p> + The answer to that argument is—that even if you can refuse, you can + prescribe no terms which are inconsistent with the act you are to do. You + can prescribe no conditions which, if carried into effect, would make the + new State less a sovereign State than, under the Union as it stands, it + would be. You can prescribe no terms which will make the compact of Union + between it and the original States essentially different from that compact + among the original States. You may admit, or refuse to admit: but if you + admit, you must admit a State in the sense of the Constitution—a + State with all such sovereignty as belongs to the original parties: and it + must be into this Union that you are to admit it, not into a Union of your + own dictating, formed out of the existing Union by qualifications and new + compacts, altering its character and effect, and making it fall short of + its protecting energy in reference to the new State, whilst it acquires an + energy of another sort—the energy of restraint and destruction. + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + One of the most signal errors with which the argument on the other side + has abounded, is this of considering the proposed restriction as if + levelled at the introduction or establishment of slavery. And hence the + vehement declamation, which, among other things, has informed us that + slavery originated in fraud or violence. + </p> + <p> + The truth is, that the restriction has no relation, real or pretended, to + the right of making slaves of those who are free, or of introducing + slavery where it does not already exist. It applies to those who are + admitted to be already slaves, and who (with their posterity) would + continue to be slaves if they should remain where they are at present; and + to a place where slavery already exists by the local law. Their civil + condition will not be altered by their removal from Virginia, or Carolina, + to Missouri. They will not be more slaves than they now are. Their abode, + indeed, will be different, but their bondage the same. Their numbers may + possibly be augmented by the diffusion, and I think they will. But this + can only happen because their hardships will be mitigated, and their + comforts increased. The checks to population, which exist in the older + States, will be diminished. The restriction, therefore does not prevent + the establishment of slavery, either with reference to persons or place; + but simply inhibits the removal from place to place (the law in each being + the same) of a slave, or make his emancipation the consequence of that + removal. It acts professedly merely on slavery as it exists, and thus + acting restrains its present lawful effects. That slavery, like many other + human institutions, originated in fraud or violence, may be conceded: but, + however it originated, it is established among us, and no man seeks a + further establishment of it by new importations of freemen to be converted + into slaves. On the contrary, all are anxious to mitigate its evils, by + all the means within the reach of the appropriate authority, the domestic + legislatures of the different States. + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + Of the declaration of our independence, which has also been quoted in + support of the perilous doctrines now urged upon us, I need not now speak + at large. I have shown on a former occasion how idle it is to rely upon + that instrument for such a purpose, and I will not fatigue you by mere + repetition. The self-evident truths announced in the Declaration of + Independence are not truths at all, if taken literally; and the practical + conclusions contained in the same passage of that declaration prove that + they were never designed to be so received. + </p> + <p> + The articles of confederation contain nothing on the subject; whilst the + actual Constitution recognizes the legal existence of slavery by various + provisions. The power of prohibiting the slave trade is involved in that + of regulating commerce, but this is coupled with an express inhibition to + the exercise of it for twenty years. How then can that Constitution which + expressly permits the importation of slaves authorize the National + Government to set on foot a crusade against slavery? + </p> + <p> + The clause respecting fugitive slaves is affirmative and active in its + effects. It is a direct sanction and positive protection of the right of + the master to the services of his slave as derived under the local laws of + the States. The phraseology in which it is wrapped up still leaves the + intention clear, and the words, "persons held to service or labor in one + State under the laws thereof," have always been interpreted to extend to + the case of slaves, in the various acts of Congress which have been passed + to give efficacy to the provision, and in the judicial application of + those laws. So also in the clause prescribing the ratio of representation—the + phrase, "three-fifths of all other persons," is equivalent to slaves, or + it means nothing. And yet we are told that those who are acting under a + Constitution which sanctions the existence of slavery in those States + which choose to tolerate it, are at liberty to hold that no law can + sanction its existence. + </p> + <p> + It is idle to make the rightfulness of an act the measure of sovereign + power. The distinction between sovereign power and the moral right to + exercise it has always been recognized. All political power may be abused, + but is it to stop where abuse may begin? The power of declaring war is a + power of vast capacity for mischief, and capable of inflicting the most + wide-spread desolation. But it is given to Congress without stint and + without measure. Is a citizen, or are the courts of justice to inquire + whether that, or any other law, is just, before they obey or execute it? + And are there any degrees of injustice which will withdraw from sovereign + power the capacity of making a given law? + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + The power is "to admit new States into this Union," and it may be safely + conceded that here is discretion to admit or refuse. The question is, what + must we do if we do anything? What must we admit, and into what? The + answer is a State—and into this Union. + </p> + <p> + The distinction between Federal rights and local rights, is an idle + distinction. Because the new State acquires Federal rights, it is not, + therefore, in this Union. The Union is a compact; and is it an equal party + to that compact, because it has equal Federal rights? + </p> + <p> + How is the Union formed? By equal contributions of power. Make one member + sacrifice more than another, and it becomes unequal. The compact is of two + parts: + </p> + <p> + 1. The thing obtained—Federal rights. 2. The price paid—local + sovereignty. + </p> + <p> + You may disturb the balance of the Union, either by diminishing the thing + acquired, or increasing the sacrifice paid. + </p> + <p> + What were the purposes of coming into the Union among the original States? + The States were originally sovereign without limit, as to foreign and + domestic concerns. But being incapable of protecting themselves singly, + they entered into the Union to defend themselves against foreign violence. + The domestic concerns of the people were not, in general, to be acted on + by it. The security of the power, of managing them by domestic + legislature, is one of the great objects of the Union. The Union is a + means, not an end. By requiring greater sacrifices of domestic power, the + end is sacrificed to the means. Suppose the surrender of all, or nearly + all, the domestic powers of legislation were required; the means would + there have swallowed up the end. + </p> + <p> + The argument that the compact may be enforced, shows that the Federal + predicament changed. The power of the Union not only acts on persons or + citizens, but on the faculty of the government, and restrains it in a way + which the Constitution nowhere authorizes. This new obligation takes away + a right which is expressly "reserved to the people or the States," since + it is nowhere granted to the government of the Union. You cannot do + indirectly what you cannot do directly. It is said that this Union is + competent to make compacts. Who doubts it? But can you make this compact? + I insist that you cannot make it, because it is repugnant to the thing to + be done. + </p> + <p> + The effect of such a compact would be to produce that inequality in the + Union, to which the Constitution, in all its provisions, is adverse. + Everything in it looks to equality among the members of the Union. Under + it you cannot produce inequality. Nor can you get before-hand of the + Constitution, and do it by anticipation. Wait until a State is in the + Union, and you cannot do it; yet it is only upon the State in the Union + that what you do begins to act. + </p> + <p> + But it seems that, although the proposed restrictions may not be justified + by the clause of the Constitution which gives power to admit new States + into the Union, separately considered, there are other parts of the + Constitution which, combined with that clause, will warrant it. And first, + we are informed that there is a clause in this instrument which declares + that Congress shall guarantee to every State a republican form of + government; that slavery and such a form of government are incompatible; + and, finally, as a conclusion from these premises, that Congress not only + have a right, but are bound to exclude slavery from a new State. Here + again, sir, there is an edifying inconsistency between the argument and + the measure which it professes to vindicate. By the argument it is + maintained that Missouri cannot have a republican form of government, and + at the same time tolerate negro slavery. By the measure it is admitted + that Missouri may tolerate slavery, as to persons already in bondage + there, and be nevertheless fit to be received into the Union. What sort of + constitutional mandate is this which can thus be made to bend and truckle + and compromise as if it were a simple rule of expediency that might admit + of exceptions upon motives of countervailing expediency. There can be no + such pliancy in the peremptory provisions of the Constitution. They cannot + be obeyed by moieties and violated in the same ratio. They must be + followed out to their full extent, or treated with that decent neglect + which has at least the merit of forbearing to render contumacy obtrusive + by an ostentatious display of the very duty which we in part abandon. If + the decalogue could be observed in this casuistical manner, we might be + grievous sinners, and yet be liable to no reproach. We might persist in + all our habitual irregularities, and still be spotless. We might, for + example, continue to covet our neighbors' goods, provided they were the + same neighbors whose goods we had before coveted—and so of all the + other commandments. + </p> + <p> + Will the gentlemen tell us that it is the quantity of slaves, not the + quality of slavery, which takes from a government the republican form? + Will they tell us (for they have not yet told us) that there are + constitutional grounds (to say nothing of common sense) upon which the + slavery which now exists in Missouri may be reconciled with a republican + form of government, while any addition to the number of its slaves (the + quality of slavery remaining the same) from the other States, will be + repugnant to that form, and metamorphose it into some nondescript + government disowned by the Constitution? They cannot have recourse to the + treaty of 1803 for such a distinction, since independently of what I have + before observed on that head, the gentlemen have contended that the treaty + has nothing to do with the matter. + </p> + <p> + They have cut themselves off from all chance of a convenient distinction + in or out of that treaty, by insisting that slavery beyond the old United + States is rejected by the Constitution, and by the law of God as + discoverable by the aid of either reason or revelation; and moreover that + the treaty does not include the case, and if it did could not make it + better. They have, therefore, completely discredited their own theory by + their own practice, and left us no theory worthy of being seriously + controverted. This peculiarity in reasoning of giving out a universal + principle, and coupling with it a practical concession that it is wholly + fallacious, has indeed run through the greater part of the arguments on + the other side; but it is not, as I think, the more imposing on that + account, or the less liable to the criticism which I have here bestowed + upon it. + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + But let us proceed to take a rapid glance at the reasons which have been + assigned for this notion that involuntary servitude and a republican form + of government are perfect antipathies. The gentleman from New Hampshire + has defined a republican government to be that in which all the men + participate in its power and privileges; from whence it follows that where + there are slaves, it can have no existence. A definition is no proof, + however, and even if it be dignified (as I think it was) with the name of + a maxim, the matter is not much mended. It is Lord Bacon who says "That + nothing is so easily made as a maxim"; and certainly a definition is + manufactured with equal facility. A political maxim is the work of + induction, and cannot stand against experience, or stand on anything but + experience. But this maxim, or definition, or whatever else it may be, + sets facts at defiance. If you go back to antiquity, you will obtain no + countenance for this hypothesis; and if you look at home you will gain + still less. I have read that Sparta, and Rome, and Athens, and many others + of the ancient family, were republics. They were so in form undoubtedly—the + last approaching nearer to a perfect democracy than any other government + which has yet been known in the world. Judging of them also by their + fruits, they were of the highest order of republics. Sparta could scarcely + be any other than a republic, when a Spartan matron could say to her son + just marching to battle, "Return victorious, or return no more." + </p> + <p> + It was the unconquerable spirit of liberty, nurtured by republican habits + and institutions, that illustrated the pass of Thermopylae. Yet slavery + was not only tolerated in Sparta, but was established by one of the + fundamental laws of Lycurgus, having for its object the encouragement of + that very spirit. Attica was full of slaves—yet the love of liberty + was its characteristic. What else was it that foiled the whole power of + Persia at Marathon and Salamis? What other soil than that which the genial + sun of republican freedom illuminated and warmed, could have produced such + men as Leonidas and Miltiades, Themistocles and Epaminondas? Of Rome it + would be superfluous to speak at large. It is sufficient to name the + mighty mistress of the world, before Sylla gave the first stab to her + liberties and the great dictator accomplished their final ruin, to be + reminded of the practicability of union between civil slavery and an + ardent love of liberty cherished by republican establishments. + </p> + <p> + If we return home for instruction upon this point, we perceive that same + union exemplified in many a State, in which "Liberty has a temple in every + house, an altar in every heart," while involuntary servitude is seen in + every direction. + </p> + <p> + Is it denied that those States possess a republican form of government? If + it is, why does our power of correction sleep? Why is the constitutional + guaranty suffered to be inactive? Why am I permitted to fatigue you, as + the representative of a slaveholding State, with the discussion of the "<i>nugae + canorae</i>" (for so I think them) that have been forced into this debate + contrary to all the remonstrances of taste and prudence? Do gentlemen + perceive the consequences to which their arguments must lead if they are + of any value? Do they reflect that they lead to emancipation in the old + United States—or to an exclusion of Delaware, Maryland, and all the + South, and a great portion of the West from the Union? My honorable friend + from Virginia has no business here, if this disorganizing creed be + anything but the production of a heated brain. The State to which I + belong, must "perform a lustration"—must purge and purify herself + from the feculence of civil slavery, and emulate the States of the North + in their zeal for throwing down the gloomy idol which we are said to + worship, before her senators can have any title to appear in this high + assembly. It will be in vain to urge that the old United States are + exceptions to the rule—or rather (as the gentlemen express it), that + they have no disposition to apply the rule to them. There can be no + exceptions by implication only, to such a rule; and expressions which + justify the exemption of the old States by inference, will justify the + like exemption of Missouri, unless they point exclusively to them, as I + have shown they do not. The guarded manner, too, in which some of the + gentlemen have occasionally expressed themselves on this subject, is + somewhat alarming. They have no disposition to meddle with slavery in the + old United States. Perhaps not—but who shall answer for their + successors? Who shall furnish a pledge that the principle once ingrafted + into the Constitution, will not grow, and spread, and fructify, and + overshadow the whole land? It is the natural office of such a principle to + wrestle with slavery, wheresoever it finds it. New States, colonized by + the apostles of this principle, will enable it to set on foot a fanatical + crusade against all who still continue to tolerate it, although no + practicable means are pointed out by which they can get rid of it + consistently with their own safety. At any rate, a present forbearing + disposition, in a few or in many, is not a security upon which much + reliance can be placed upon a subject as to which so many selfish + interests and ardent feelings are connected with the cold calculations of + policy. Admitting, however, that the old United States are in no danger + from this principle—why is it so? There can be no other answer + (which these zealous enemies of slavery can use) than that the + Constitution recognizes slavery as existing or capable of existing in + those States. The Constitution, then, admits that slavery and a republican + form of government are not incongruous. It associates and binds them up + together and repudiates this wild imagination which the gentlemen have + pressed upon us with such an air of triumph. But the Constitution does + more, as I have heretofore proved. It concedes that slavery may exist in a + new State, as well as in an old one—since the language in which it + recognizes slavery comprehends new States as well as actual. I trust then + that I shall be forgiven if I suggest, that no eccentricity in argument + can be more trying to human patience, than a formal assertion that a + constitution, to which slave-holding States were the most numerous + parties, in which slaves are treated as property as well as persons, and + provision is made for the security of that property, and even for an + augmentation of it by a temporary importation from Africa, with a clause + commanding Congress to guarantee a republican form of government to those + very States, as well as to others, authorizes you to determine that + slavery and a republican form of government cannot coexist. + </p> + <p> + But if a republican form of government is that in which all the men have a + share in the public power, the slave-holding States will not alone retire + from the Union. The constitutions of some of the other States do not + sanction universal suffrage, or universal eligibility. They require + citizenship, and age, and a certain amount of property, to give a title to + vote or to be voted for; and they who have not those qualifications are + just as much disfranchised, with regard to the government and its power, + as if they were slaves. They have civil rights indeed (and so have slaves + in a less degree; ) but they have no share in the government. Their + province is to obey the laws, not to assist in making them. All such + States must therefore be forisfamiliated with Virginia and the rest, or + change their system. For the Constitution being absolutely silent on those + subjects, will afford them no protection. The Union might thus be reduced + from an Union to an unit. Who does not see that such conclusions flow from + false notions—that the true theory of a republican government is + mistaken—and that in such a government rights, political and civil, + may be qualified by the fundamental law, upon such inducements as the + freemen of the country deem sufficient? That civil rights may be qualified + as well as political, is proved by a thousand examples. Minors, resident + aliens, who are in a course of naturalization—the other sex, whether + maids, or wives, or widows, furnish sufficient practical proofs of this. + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + We are next invited to study that clause of the Constitution which relates + to the migration or importation, before the year 1808, of such persons as + any of the States then existing should think proper to admit. It runs + thus: "The migration or importation of such persons as any of the States + now existing shall think proper to admit, shall not be prohibited by the + Congress prior to the year one thousand eight hundred and eight, but a tax + or duty may be imposed on such importation not exceeding ten dollars for + each person." + </p> + <p> + It is said that this clause empowers Congress, after the year 1808, to + prohibit the passage of slaves from State to State, and the word + "migration" is relied upon for that purpose. + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + Whatever may be the latitude in which the word "persons" is capable of + being received, it is not denied that the word "importation" indicates a + bringing in from a jurisdiction foreign to the United States. The two + termini of the importation, here spoken of, are a foreign country and the + American Union—the first the <i>terminus a quo</i>, the second the + <i>terminus ad quem</i>. The word migration stands in simple connexion + with it, and of course is left to the full influence of that connection. + The natural conclusion is, that the same termini belong to each, or, in + other words, that if the importation must be abroad, so also must be the + migration—no other termini being assigned to the one which are not + manifestly characteristic of the other. This conclusion is so obvious, + that to repel it, the word migration requires, as an appendage, + explanatory phraseology, giving to it a different beginning from that of + importation. To justify the conclusion that it was intended to mean a + removal from State to State, each within the sphere of the constitution in + which it is used, the addition of the words from one to another State in + this Union, were indispensable. By the omission of these words, the word + "migration" is compelled to take every sense of which it is fairly + susceptible from its immediate neighbor, "importation." In this view it + means a coming, as "importation" means a bringing, from a foreign + jurisdiction into the United States. That it is susceptible of this + meaning, nobody doubts. I go further. It can have no other meaning in the + place in which it is found. It is found in the Constitution of this Union—which, + when it speaks of migration as of a general concern, must be supposed to + have in view a migration into the domain which itself embraces as a + general government. + </p> + <p> + Migration, then, even if it comprehends slaves, does not mean the removal + of them from State to State, but means the coming of slaves from places + beyond their limits and their power. And if this be so, the gentlemen gain + nothing for their argument by showing that slaves were the objects of this + term. + </p> + <p> + An honorable gentleman from Rhode Island, whose speech was distinguished + for its ability, and for an admirable force of reasoning, as well to as by + the moderation and mildness of its spirit, informed us, with less + discretion than in general he exhibited, that the word "migration" was + introduced into this clause at the instance of some of the Southern + States, who wished by its instrumentality to guard against a prohibition + by Congress of the passage into those States of slaves from other States. + He has given us no authority for this supposition, and it is, therefore, a + gratuitous one. How improbable it is, a moment's reflection will convince + him. The African slave trade being open during the whole of the time to + which the entire clause in question referred, such a purpose could + scarcely be entertained; but if it had been entertained, and there was + believed to be a necessity for securing it, by a restriction upon the + power of Congress to interfere with it, is it possible that they who + deemed it important, would have contented themselves with a vague + restraint, which was calculated to operate in almost any other manner than + that which they desired? If fear and jealousy, such as the honorable + gentleman has described, had dictated this provision, a better term than + that of "migration," simple and unqualified, and joined, too, with the + word "importation," would have been found to tranquilize those fears and + satisfy that jealousy. Fear and jealousy are watchful, and are rarely seen + to accept a security short of their object, and less rarely to shape that + security, of their own accord, in such a way as to make it no security at + all. They always seek an explicit guaranty; and that this is not such a + guaranty this debate has proved, if it has proved nothing else. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0007" id="link2H_4_0007"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + WENDELL PHILLIPS, + </h2> + <h3> + OF MASSACHUSETTS. (BORN 1811, DIED 1884.) + </h3> + <p> + ON THE MURDER OF LOVEJOY; FANEUIL HALL, BOSTON, DECEMBER 8, 1837 MR. + CHAIRMAN: + </p> + <p> + We have met for the freest discussion of these resolutions, and the events + which gave rise to them. [Cries of "Question," "Hear him," "Go on," "No + gagging," etc.] I hope I shall be permitted to express my surprise at the + sentiments of the last speaker, surprise not only at such sentiments from + such a man, but at the applause they have received within these walls. A + comparison has been drawn between the events of the Revolution and the + tragedy at Alton. We have heard it asserted here, in Faneuil Hall, that + Great Britain had a right to tax the colonies, and we have heard the mob + at Alton, the drunken murderers of Lovejoy, compared to those patriot + fathers who threw the tea overboard! Fellow citizens, is this Faneuil Hall + doctrine? ["No, no."] The mob at Alton were met to wrest from a citizen + his just rights—met to resist the laws. We have been told that our + fathers did the same; and the glorious mantle of Revolutionary precedent + has been thrown over the mobs of our day. To make out their title to such + defence, the gentleman says that the British Parliament had a right to tax + these colonies. It is manifest that, without this, his parallel falls to + the ground, for Lovejoy had stationed himself within constitutional + bulwarks. He was not only defending the freedom of the press, but he was + under his own roof, in arms with the sanction of the civil authority. The + men who assailed him went against and over the laws. The mob, as the + gentleman terms it—mob, forsooth! certainly we sons of the + tea-spillers are a marvellously patient generation!—the "orderly + mob" which assembled in the Old South to destroy the tea, were met to + resist, not the laws, but illegal enactions. Shame on the American who + calls the tea tax and stamp act laws! Our fathers resisted, not the King's + prerogative, but the King's usurpation. To find any other account, you + must read our Revolutionary history upside down. Our State archives are + loaded with arguments of John Adams to prove the taxes laid by the British + Parliament unconstitutional—beyond its power. It was not until this + was made out that the men of New England rushed to arms. The arguments of + the Council Chamber and the House of Representatives preceded and + sanctioned the contest. To draw the conduct of our ancestors into a + precedent for mobs, for a right to resist laws we ourselves have enacted, + is an insult to their memory. The difference between the excitements of + those days and our own, which the gentleman in kindness to the latter has + overlooked, is simply this: the men of that day went for the right, as + secured by the laws. They were the people rising to sustain the laws and + constitution of the Province. The rioters of our days go for their own + wills, right or wrong. Sir, when I heard the gentleman lay down principles + which place the murderers of Alton side by side with Otis and Hancock, + with Quincy and Adams, I thought those pictured lips [pointing to the + portraits in the Hall] would have broken into voice to rebuke the recreant + American—the slanderer of the dead. The gentleman said that he + should sink into insignificance if he dared to gainsay the principles of + these resolutions. Sir, for the sentiments he has uttered, on soil + consecrated by the prayers of Puritans and the blood of patriots, the + earth should have yawned and swallowed him up. + </p> + <p> + [By this time, the uproar in the Hall had risen so high that the speech + was suspended for a short time. Applause and counter applause, cries of + "Take that back," "Make him take back recreant," "He sha'n't go on till he + takes it back," and counter cries of "Phillips or nobody," continued until + the pleadings of well-known citizens had somewhat restored order, when Mr. + Phillips resumed.] + </p> + <p> + Fellow citizens, I cannot take back my words. Surely the Attorney-General, + so long and so well known here, needs not the aid of your hisses against + one so young as I am—my voice never before heard within these walls! + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + I must find some fault with the statement which has been made of the + events at Alton. It has been asked why Lovejoy and his friends did not + appeal to the executive—trust their defence to the police of the + city? It has been hinted that, from hasty and ill-judged excitement, the + men within the building provoked a quarrel, and that he fell in the course + of it, one mob resisting another. Recollect, sir, that they did act with + the approbation and sanction of the Mayor. In strict truth, there was no + executive to appeal to for protection. The Mayor acknowledged that he + could not protect them. They asked him if it was lawful for them to defend + themselves. He told them it was, and sanctioned their assembling in arms + to do so. They were not, then, a mob; they were not merely citizens + defending their own property; they were in some sense the <i>posse + comitatus</i>, adopted for the occasion into the police of the city, + acting under the order of a magistrate. It was civil authority resisting + lawless violence. Where, then, was the imprudence? Is the doctrine to be + sustained here that it is imprudent for men to aid magistrates in + executing the laws? + </p> + <p> + Men are continually asking each other, Had Lovejoy a right to resist? Sir, + I protest against the question instead of answering it. Lovejoy did not + resist, in the sense they mean. He did not throw himself back on the + natural right of self-defence. He did not cry anarchy, and let slip the + dogs of civil war, careless of the horrors which would follow. Sir, as I + understand this affair, it was not an individual protecting his property; + it was not one body of armed men resisting another, and making the streets + of a peaceful city run blood with their contentions. It did not bring back + the scenes in some old Italian cities, where family met family, and + faction met faction, and mutually trampled the laws under foot. No! the + men in that house were regularly enrolled, under the sanction of the + Mayor. There being no militia in Alton, about seventy men were enrolled + with the approbation of the Mayor. These relieved each other every other + night. About thirty men were in arms on the night of the sixth, when the + press was landed. The next evening, it was not thought necessary to summon + more than half that number; among these was Lovejoy. It was, therefore, + you perceive, sir, the police of the city resisting rioters—civil + government breasting itself to the shock of lawless men. + </p> + <p> + Here is no question about the right of self-defence. It is in fact simply + this: Has the civil magistrate a right to put down a riot? + </p> + <p> + Some persons seem to imagine that anarchy existed at Alton from the + commencement of these disputes. Not at all. "No one of us," says an + eyewitness and a comrade of Lovejoy, "has taken up arms during these + disturbances but at the command of the Mayor." Anarchy did not settle down + on that devoted city till Lovejoy breathed his last. Till then the law, + represented in his person, sustained itself against its foes. When he + fell, civil authority was trampled under foot. He had "planted himself on + his constitutional rights,"—appealed to the laws,—claimed the + protection of the civil authority,—taken refuge under "the broad + shield of the Constitution. When through that he was pierced and fell, he + fell but one sufferer in a common catastrophe." He took refuge under the + banner of liberty—amid its folds; and when he fell, its glorious + stars and stripes, the emblem of free institutions, around which cluster + so many heart-stirring memories, were blotted out in the martyr's blood. + </p> + <p> + It has been stated, perhaps inadvertently, that Lovejoy or his comrades + fired first. This is denied by those who have the best means of knowing. + Guns were first fired by the mob. After being twice fired on, those within + the building consulted together and deliberately returned the fire. But + suppose they did fire first. They had a right so to do; not only the right + which every citizen has to defend himself, but the further right which + every civil officer has to resist violence. Even if Lovejoy fired the + first gun, it would not lessen his claim to our sympathy, or destroy his + title to be considered a martyr in defence of a free press. The question + now is, Did he act within the constitution and the laws? The men who fell + in State Street, on the 5th of March, 1770, did more than Lovejoy is + charged with. They were the first assailants upon some slight quarrel, + they pelted the troops with every missile within reach. Did this bate one + jot of the eulogy with which Hancock and Warren hallowed their memory, + hailing them as the first martyrs in the cause of American liberty? If, + sir, I had adopted what are called Peace principles, I might lament the + circumstances of this case. But all you who believe as I do, in the right + and duty of magistrates to execute the laws, join with me and brand as + base hypocrisy the conduct of those who assemble year after year on the + 4th of July to fight over the battles of the Revolution, and yet "damn + with faint praise" or load with obloquy, the memory of this man who shed + his blood in defence of life, liberty, property, and the freedom of the + press! + </p> + <p> + Throughout that terrible night I find nothing to regret but this, that, + within the limits of our country, civil authority should have been so + prostrated as to oblige a citizen to arm in his own defence, and to arm in + vain. The gentleman says Lovejoy was presumptuous and imprudent—he + "died as the fool dieth." And a reverend clergyman of the city tells us + that no citizen has a right to publish opinions disagreeable to the + community! If any mob follows such publication, on him rests its guilt. He + must wait, forsooth, till the people come up to it and agree with him! + This libel on liberty goes on to say that the want of right to speak as we + think is an evil inseparable from republican institutions! If this be so, + what are they worth? Welcome the despotism of the Sultan, where one knows + what he may publish and what he may not, rather than the tyranny of this + many-headed monster, the mob, where we know not what we may do or say, + till some fellow-citizen has tried it, and paid for the lesson with his + life. This clerical absurdity chooses as a check for the abuses of the + press, not the law, but the dread of a mob. By so doing, it deprives not + only the individual and the minority of their rights, but the majority + also, since the expression of their opinion may sometime provoke + disturbances from the minority. A few men may make a mob as well as many. + The majority then, have no right, as Christian men, to utter their + sentiments, if by any possibility it may lead to a mob! Shades of Hugh + Peters and John Cotton, save us from such pulpits! + </p> + <p> + Imprudent to defend the liberty of the press! Why? Because the defence was + unsuccessful? Does success gild crime into patriotism, and the want of it + change heroic self-devotion to imprudence? Was Hampden imprudent when he + drew the sword and threw away the scabbard? Yet he, judged by that single + hour, was unsuccessful. After a short exile, the race he hated sat again + upon the throne. + </p> + <p> + Imagine yourself present when the first news of Bunker Hill battle reached + a New England town. The tale would have run thus: "The patriots are + routed,—the redcoats victorious, Warren lies dead upon the field." + With what scorn would that Tory have been received, who should have + charged Warren with imprudence! who should have said that, bred a + physician, he was "out of place" in that battle, and "died as the fool + dieth." How would the intimation have been received, that Warren and his + associates should have merited a better time? But if success be indeed the + only criterion of prudence, <i>Respice finem</i>,—wait till the end! + </p> + <p> + <i>Presumptuous</i> to assert the freedom of the press on American ground! + Is the assertion of such freedom before the age? So much before the age as + to leave one no right to make it because it displeases the community? Who + invents this libel on his country? It is this very thing which entitles + Lovejoy to greater praise. The disputed right which provoked the + Revolution—taxation without representation—is far beneath that + for which he died. [Here there was a general expression of strong + disapprobation.] One word, gentlemen. As much as thought is better than + money, so much is the cause in which Lovejoy died nobler than a mere + question of taxes. James Otis thundered in this hall when the King did but + touch his pocket. Imagine, if you can, his indignant eloquence had England + offered to put a gag upon his lips. The question that stirred the + Revolution touched our civil interests. This concerns us not only as + citizens, but as immortal beings. Wrapped up in its fate, saved or lost + with it, are not only the voice of the statesman, but the instructions of + the pulpit and the progress of our faith. + </p> + <p> + The clergy, "marvellously out of place" where free speech is battled for—liberty + of speech on national sins! Does the gentleman remember that freedom to + preach was first gained, dragging in its train freedom to print? I thank + the clergy here present, as I reverence their predecessors, who did not so + far forget their country in their immediate profession as to deem it duty + to separate themselves from the struggle of '76—the Mayhews and + Coopers, who remembered that they were citizens before they were + clergymen. + </p> + <p> + Mr. Chairman, from the bottom of my heart I thank that brave little band + at Alton for resisting. We must remember that Lovejoy had fled from city + to city,—suffered the destruction of three presses patiently. At + length he took counsel with friends, men of character, of tried integrity, + of wide views, of Christian principle. They thought the crisis had come; + it was full time to assert the laws. They saw around them, not a community + like our own, of fixed habits, of character moulded and settled, but one + "in the gristle, not yet hardened into the bone of manhood." The people + there, children of our older States, seem to have forgotten the + blood-tried principles of their fathers the moment they lost sight of our + New England hills. Something was to be done to show them the priceless + value of the freedom of the press, to bring back and set right their + wandering and confused ideas. He and his advisers looked out on a + community, staggering like a drunken man, indifferent to their rights and + confused in their feelings. Deaf to argument, haply they might be stunned + into sobriety. They saw that of which we cannot judge, the necessity of + resistance. Insulted law called for it. Public opinion, fast hastening on + the downward course, must be arrested. + </p> + <p> + Does not the event show they judged rightly? Absorbed in a thousand + trifles, how has the nation all at once come to a stand? Men begin, as in + 1776 and 1640, to discuss principles, to weigh characters, to find out + where they are. Haply we may awake before we are borne over the precipice. + </p> + <p> + I am glad, sir, to see this crowded house, It is good for us to be here. + When Liberty is in danger Faneuil Hall has the right, it is her duty, to + strike the key-note for these United States. I am glad, for one reason, + that remarks such as those to which I have alluded have been uttered here. + The passage of these resolutions, in spite of this opposition, led by the + Attorney-General of the Commonwealth, will show more clearly, more + decisively, the deep indignation with which Boston regards this outrage. + </p> + <p> + <a name="linkimage-0002" id="linkimage-0002"> + <!-- IMG --></a> + </p> + <div class="fig" style="width:80%"> + <img src="images/john_adams.jpg" alt="John Q. Adams " width="100%" /><br /> + </div> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0008" id="link2H_4_0008"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + JOHN QUINCY ADAMS, + </h2> + <h3> + OF MASSACHUSETTS. (BORN 1767, DIED 1848.) + </h3> + <p> + ON THE CONSTITUTIONAL WAR POWER OVER SLAVERY —HOUSE OF + REPRESENTATIVES, MAY 25, 1836. + </p> + <p> + There are, then, Mr. Chairman, in the authority of Congress and of the + Executive, two classes of powers, altogether different in their nature, + and often incompatible with each other—the war power and the peace + power. The peace power is limited by regulations and restricted by + provisions, prescribed within the constitution itself. The war power is + limited only by the laws and usages of nations. The power is tremendous; + it is strictly constitutional, but it breaks down every barrier so + anxiously erected for the protection of liberty, of property, and of life. + This, sir, is the power which authorizes you to pass the resolution now + before you, and, in my opinion, there is no other. + </p> + <p> + And this, sir, is the reason which I was not permitted to give this + morning for voting with only eight associates against the first resolution + reported by the committee on the abolition petitions; not one word of + discussion had been permitted on either of those resolutions. When called + to vote upon the first of them, I asked only five minutes of the time of + the House to prove that it was utterly unfounded, It was not the pleasure + of the House to grant me those five minutes. Sir, I must say that, in all + the proceedings of the House upon that report, from the previous question, + moved and inflexibly persisted in by a member of the committee itself + which reported the resolutions, (Mr. Owens, of Georgia,) to the refusal of + the Speaker, sustained by the majority of the House, to permit the other + gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Glascock) to record upon the journal his + reasons for asking to be excused from voting on that same resolution, the + freedom of debate has been stifled in this House to a degree far beyond + any thing that ever happened since the existence of the Constitution of + the United States; nor is it a consolatory reflection to me how intensely + we have been made to feel, in the process of that operation, that the + Speaker of this House is a slaveholder. And, sir, as I was not then + permitted to assign my reasons for voting against that resolution before I + gave the vote, I rejoice that the reason for which I shall vote for the + resolution now before the committee is identically the same with that for + which I voted against that. + </p> + <p> + [Mr. Adams at this, and at many other passages of this speech, was + interrupted by calls to order. The Chairman of the Committee (Mr. A. H. + Shepperd, of North Carolina,) in every instance, decided that he was not + out of order, but at this passage intimated that he was approaching very + close upon its borders; upon which Mr. Adams said, "Then I am to + under-stand, sir, that I am yet within the bounds of order, but that I may + transcend them hereafter."] + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + And, now, sir, am I to be disconcerted and silenced, or admonished by the + Chair that I am approaching to irrelevant matter, which may warrant him to + arrest me in my argument, because I say that the reason for which I shall + vote for the resolution now before the committee, levying a heavy + contribution upon the property of my constituents, is identically the same + with the reason for which I voted against the resolution reported by the + slavery committee, that Congress have no authority to interfere, in any + way, with slavery in any of the States of this Union. Sir, I was not + allowed to give my reasons for that vote, and a majority of my + constituents, perhaps proportionately as large as that of this House in + favor of that resolution, may and probably will disapprove my vote + against, unless my reasons for so voting should be explained to them. I + asked but five minutes of the House to give those reasons, and was + refused. I shall, therefore, take the liberty to give them now, as they + are strictly applicable to the measure now before the Committee, and are + my only justification for voting in favor of this resolution. + </p> + <p> + I return, then, to my first position, that there are two classes of powers + vested by the Constitution of the United States in their Congress and + Executive Government: the powers to be exercised in the time of peace, and + the powers incidental to war. That the powers of peace are limited by + provisions within the body of the Constitution itself, but that the powers + of war are limited and regulated only by the laws and usages of nations. + There are, indeed, powers of peace conferred upon Congress, which also + come within the scope and jurisdiction of the laws of nations, such as the + negotiation of treaties of amity and commerce, the interchange of public + ministers and consuls, and all the personal and social intercourse between + the individual inhabitants of the United States and foreign nations, and + the Indian tribes, which require the interposition of any law. But the + powers of war are all regulated by the laws of nations, and are subject to + no other limitation. It is by this power that I am justified in voting the + money of my constituents for the immediate relief of their fellow-citizens + suffering with extreme necessity even for subsistence, by the direct + consequence of an Indian war. Upon the same principle, your consuls in + foreign ports are authorized to provide for the subsistence of seamen in + distress, and even for their passage to their own country. + </p> + <p> + And it was upon that same principle that I voted against the resolution + reported by the slavery committee, "That Congress possess no + constitutional authority to interfere, in any way, with the institution of + slavery in any of the States of this confederacy," to which resolution + most of those with whom I usually concur, and even my own colleagues in + this House, gave their assent. I do not admit that there is even among the + peace powers of Congress no such authority; but in war there are many ways + by which Congress not only have the authority, but are bound to interfere + with the institution of slavery in the States. The existing law + prohibiting the importation of slaves into the United States from foreign + countries, is itself an interference with the institution of slavery in + the States. It was so considered by the founders of the Constitution of + the United States, in which it was stipulated that Congress should not + interfere, in that way, with the institution, prior to the year 1808. + </p> + <p> + During the late war with Great Britain the military and naval commanders + of that nation issued proclamations inviting the slaves to repair to their + standards, with promises of freedom and of settlement in some of the + British colonial establishments. This, surely, was an interference with + the institution of slavery in the States. By the treaty of peace, Great + Britain stipulated to evacuate all the forts and places in the United + States, without carrying away any slaves. If the Government of the United + States had no authority to interfere, in any way, with the institution of + slavery in the States, they would not have had the authority to require + this stipulation. It is well known that this engagement was not fulfilled + by the British naval and military commanders; that, on the contrary, they + did carry away all the slaves whom they had induced to join them, and that + the British Government inflexibly refused to restore any of them to their + masters; that a claim of indemnity was consequently instituted in behalf + of the owners of the slaves, and was successfully maintained. All that + series of transactions was an interference by Congress with the + institution of slavery in the States in one way—in the way of + protection and support. It was by the institution of slavery alone that + the restitution of slaves enticed by proclamations into the British + service could be claimed as property. But for the institution of slavery, + the British commanders could neither have allured them to their standard, + nor restored them otherwise than as liberated prisoners of war. But for + the institution of slavery, there could have been no stipulation that they + should not be carried away as property, nor any claim of indemnity for the + violation of that engagement. + </p> + <p> + But the war power of Congress over the institution of slavery in the + States is yet far more extensive. Suppose the case of a servile war, + complicated, as to some extent it is even now, with an Indian war; suppose + Congress were called to raise armies, to supply money from the whole + Union, to suppress a servile insurrection: would they have no authority to + interfere with the institution of slavery? The issue of a servile war may + be disastrous. By war the slave may emancipate himself; it may become + necessary for the master to recognize his emancipation by a treaty of + peace; can it for an instant be pretended that Congress, in such a + contingency, would have no authority to interfere with the institution of + slavery, in any way, in the States? Why, it would be equivalent to saying + that Congress have no constitutional authority to make peace. + </p> + <p> + <a name="linkimage-0003" id="linkimage-0003"> + <!-- IMG --></a> + </p> + <div class="fig" style="width:80%"> + <img src="images/calhoun.jpg" alt="John C. Calhoun " width="100%" /><br /> + </div> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0009" id="link2H_4_0009"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + JOHN C. CALHOUN, + </h2> + <h3> + OF SOUTh CAROLINA (BORN 1782, DIED 1850.) + </h3> + <p> + ON THE SLAVERY QUESTION, SENATE, MARCH 4, 1850 + </p> + <p> + I have, Senators, believed from the first that the agitation of the + subject of slavery would, if not prevented by some timely and effective + measure, end in disunion. Entertaining this opinion, I have, on all proper + occasions, endeavored to call the attention of both the two great parties + which divide the country to adopt some measure to prevent so great a + disaster, but without success. The agitation has been permitted to + proceed, with almost no attempt to resist it, until it has reached a point + when it can no longer be disguised or denied that the Union is in danger. + You have thus had forced upon you the greatest and the gravest question + that can ever come under your consideration: How can the Union be + preserved? + </p> + <p> + To give a satisfactory answer to this mighty question, it is indispensable + to have an accurate and thorough knowledge of the nature and the character + of the cause by which the Union is endangered. Without such knowledge it + is impossible to pronounce, with any certainty, by what measure it can be + saved; just as it would be impossible for a physician to pronounce, in the + case of some dangerous disease, with any certainty, by what remedy the + patient could be saved, without similar knowledge of the nature and + character of the cause which produced it. The first question, then, + presented for consideration, in the investigation I propose to make, in + order to obtain such knowledge, is: What is it that has endangered the + Union? + </p> + <p> + To this question there can be but one answer: That the immediate cause is + the almost universal discontent which pervades all the States composing + the southern section of the Union. This widely-extended discontent is not + of recent origin. It commenced with the agitation of the slavery question, + and has been increasing ever since. The next question, going one step + further back, is: What has caused this widely-diffused and almost + universal discontent? + </p> + <p> + It is a great mistake to suppose, as is by some, that it originated with + demagogues, who excited the discontent with the intention of aiding their + personal advancement, or with the disappointed ambition of certain + politicians, who resorted to it as a means of retrieving their fortunes. + On the contrary, all the great political influences of the section were + arrayed against excitement, and exerted to the utmost to keep the people + quiet. The great mass of the people of the South were divided, as in the + other section, into Whigs and Democrats. The leaders and the presses of + both parties in the South were very solicitous to prevent excitement and + to preserve quiet; because it was seen that the effects of the former + would necessarily tend to weaken, if not destroy, the political ties which + united them with their respective parties in the other section. Those who + know the strength of the party ties will readily appreciate the immense + force which this cause exerted against agitation, and in favor of + preserving quiet. But, great as it was, it was not sufficient to prevent + the wide-spread discontent which now pervades the section. No; some cause, + far deeper and more powerful than the one supposed, must exist, to account + for discontent so wide and deep. The question then recurs: What is the + cause of this discontent? It will be found in the belief of the people of + the Southern States, as prevalent as the discontent itself, that they + cannot remain, as things now are, consistently with honor and safety, in + the Union. The next question to be considered is: What has caused this + belief? + </p> + <p> + One of the causes is, undoubtedly, to be traced to the long-continued + agitation of the slavery question on the part of the North, and the many + aggressions which they have made on the rights of the South during the + time. I will not enumerate them at present, as it will be done hereafter + in its proper place. + </p> + <p> + There is another lying back of it—with which this is intimately + connected—that may be regarded as the great and primary cause. This + is to be found in the fact, that the equilibrium between the two sections, + in the Government as it stood when the Constitution was ratified and the + Government put in action, has been destroyed. At that time there was + nearly a perfect equilibrium between the two, which afforded ample means + to each to protect itself against the aggression of the other; but, as it + now stands, one section has the exclusive power of controlling the + Government, which leaves the other without any adequate means of + protecting itself against its encroachment and oppression. To place this + subject distinctly before you, I have, Senators, prepared a brief + statistical statement, showing the relative weight of the two sections in + the Government under the first census of 1790, and the last census of + 1840. + </p> + <p> + According to the former, the population of the United States, including + Vermont, Kentucky, and Tennessee, which then were in their incipient + condition of becoming States, but were not actually admitted, amounted to + 3,929,827. Of this number the Northern States had 1,997,899, and the + Southern 1,952,072, making a difference of only 45,827 in favor of the + former States. + </p> + <p> + The number of States, including Vermont, Kentucky, and Tennessee, were + sixteen; of which eight, including Vermont, belonged to the northern + section, and eight, including Kentucky and Tennessee, to the southern,—making + an equal division of the States between the two sections, under the first + census. There was a small preponderance in the House of Representatives, + and in the Electoral College, in favor of the northern, owing to the fact + that, according to the provisions of the Constitution, in estimating + federal numbers five slaves count but three; but it was too small to + affect sensibly the perfect equilibrium which, with that exception, + existed at the time. Such was the equality of the two sections when the + States composing them agreed to enter into a Federal Union. Since then the + equilibrium between them has been greatly disturbed. + </p> + <p> + According to the last census the aggregate population of the United States + amounted to 17,063,357, of which the northern section contained 9,728,920, + and the southern 7,334,437, making a difference in round numbers, of + 2,400,000. The number of States had increased from sixteen to twenty-six, + making an addition of ten States. In the meantime the position of Delaware + had become doubtful as to which section she properly belonged. Considering + her as neutral, the Northern States will have thirteen and the Southern + States twelve, making a difference in the Senate of two senators in favor + of the former. According to the apportionment under the census of 1840, + there were two hundred and twenty-three members of the House of + Representatives, of which the North-ern States had one hundred and + thirty-five, and the Southern States (considering Delaware as neutral) + eighty-seven, making a difference in favor of the former in the House of + Representatives of forty-eight. The difference in the Senate of two + members, added to this, gives to the North in the Electoral College, a + majority of fifty. Since the census of 1840, four States have been added + to the Union—Iowa, Wisconsin, Florida, and Texas. They leave the + difference in the Senate as it was when the census was taken; but add two + to the side of the North in the House, making the present majority in the + House in its favor fifty, and in the Electoral College fifty-two. + </p> + <p> + The result of the whole is to give the northern section a predominance in + every department of the Government, and thereby concentrate in it the two + elements which constitute the Federal Government,—majority of + States, and a majority of their population, estimated in federal numbers. + Whatever section concentrates the two in itself possesses the control of + the entire Government. + </p> + <p> + But we are just at the close of the sixth decade, and the commencement of + the seventh. The census is to be taken this year, which must add greatly + to the decided preponderance of the North in the House of Representatives + and in the Electoral College. The prospect is, also, that a great increase + will be added to its present preponderance in the Senate, during the + period of the decade, by the addition of new States. Two territories, + Oregon and Minnesota, are already in progress, and strenuous efforts are + making to bring in three additional States' from the territory recently + conquered from Mexico; which, if successful, will add three other States + in a short time to the northern section, making five States; and + increasing the present number of its States from fifteen to twenty, and of + its senators from thirty to forty. On the contrary, there is not a single + territory in progress in the southern section, and no certainty that any + additional State will be added to it during the decade. The prospect then + is, that the two sections in the senate, should the effort now made to + exclude the South from the newly acquired territories succeed, will stand + before the end of the decade, twenty Northern States to fourteen Southern + (considering Delaware as neutral), and forty Northern senators to + twenty-eight Southern. This great increase of senators, added to the great + increase of members of the House of Representatives and the Electoral + College on the part of the North, which must take place under the next + decade, will effectually and irretrievably destroy the equilibrium which + existed when the Government commenced. + </p> + <p> + Had this destruction been the operation of time, without the interference + of Government, the South would have had no reason to complain; but such + was not the fact. It was caused by the legislation of this Government, + which was appointed as the common agent of all, and charged with the + protection of the interests and security of all. The legislation by which + it has been effected may be classed under three heads. The first is, that + series of acts by which the South has been excluded from the common + territory belonging to all the States as members of the Federal Union—which + have had the effect of extending vastly the portion allotted to the + northern section, and restricting within narrow limits the portion left + the South. the next consists in adopting a system of revenue and + disbursements, by which an undue proportion of the burden of taxation has + been imposed upon the South, and an undue proportion of its proceeds + appropriated to the North; and the last is a system of political measures, + by which the original character of the Government has been radically + changed. I propose to bestow upon each of these, in the order they stand, + a few remarks, with the view of showing that it is owing to the action of + this Government that the equilibrium between the two sections has been + destroyed, and the whole powers of the system centered in a sectional + majority. + </p> + <p> + The first of the series of Acts by which the South was deprived of its due + share of the territories, originated with the confederacy which preceded + the existence of this Government. It is to be found in the provision of + the ordinance of 1787. Its effect was to exclude the South entirely from + that vast and fertile region which lies between the Ohio and the + Mississippi rivers, now embracing five States and one Territory. The next + of the series is the Missouri compromise, which excluded the South from + that large portion of Louisiana which lies north of 36° 30', excepting + what is included in the State of Missouri. The last of the series excluded + the South from the whole of Oregon Territory. All these, in the slang of + the day, were what are called slave territories,' and not free soil; that + is, territories belonging to slaveholding powers and open to the + emigration of masters with their slaves. By these several Acts the South + was excluded from one million two hundred and thirty-eight thousand and + twenty-five square miles—an extent of country considerably exceeding + the entire valley of the Mississippi. To the South was left the portion of + the Territory of Louisiana lying south of 36° 30', and the portion north + of it included in the State of Missouri, with the portion lying south of + 36° 30' including the States of Louisiana and Arkansas, and the territory + lying west of the latter, and south of 36° 30', called the Indian country. + These, with the Territory of Florida, now the State, make, in the whole, + two hundred and eighty-three thousand five hundred and three square miles. + To this must be added the territory acquired with Texas. If the whole + should be added to the southern section it would make an increase of three + hundred and twenty-five thousand five hundred and twenty, which would make + the whole left to the South six hundred and nine thousand and + twenty-three. But a large part of Texas is still in contest between the + two sections, which leaves it uncertain what will be the real extent of + the proportion of territory that may be left to the South. + </p> + <p> + I have not included the territory recently acquired by the treaty with + Mexico. The North is making the most strenuous efforts to appropriate the + whole to herself, by excluding the South from every foot of it. If she + should succeed, it will add to that from which the South has already been + excluded, 526,078 square miles, and would increase the whole which the + North has appropriated to herself, to 1,764,023, not including the portion + that she may succeed in excluding us from in Texas. To sum up the whole, + the United States, since they declared their independence, have acquired + 2,373,046 square miles of territory, from which the North will have + excluded the South, if she should succeed in monopolizing the newly + acquired territories, about three fourths of the whole, leaving to the + South but about one fourth. + </p> + <p> + Such is the first and great cause that has destroyed the equilibrium + between the two sections in the Government. + </p> + <p> + The next is the system of revenue and disbursements which has been adopted + by the Government. It is well known that the Government has derived its + revenue mainly from duties on imports. I shall not undertake to show that + such duties must necessarily fall mainly on the exporting States, and that + the South, as the great exporting portion of the Union, has in reality + paid vastly more than her due proportion of the revenue; because I deem it + unnecessary, as the subject has on so many occasions been fully discussed. + Nor shall I, for the same reason, undertake to show that a far greater + portion of the revenue has been disbursed at the North, than its due + share; and that the joint effect of these causes has been, to transfer a + vast amount from South to North, which, under an equal system of revenue + and disbursements, would not have been lost to her. If to this be added, + that many of the duties were imposed, not for revenue, but for protection,—that + is, intended to put money, not in the treasury, but directly into the + pockets of the manufacturers,—some conception may be formed of the + immense amount which, in the long course of sixty years, has been + transferred from South to North. There are no data by which it can be + estimated with any certainty; but it is safe to say that it amounts to + hundreds of millions of dollars. Under the most moderate estimate, it + would be sufficient to add greatly to the wealth of the North, and thus + greatly increase her population by attracting emigration from all quarters + to that section. + </p> + <p> + This, combined with the great primary cause, amply explains why the North + has acquired a preponderance in every department of the Government by its + disproportionate increase of population and States. The former, as has + been shown, has increased, in fifty years, 2,400,000 over that of the + South. This increase of population, during so long a period, is + satisfactorily accounted for, by the number of emigrants, and the increase + of their descendants, which have been attracted to the northern section + from Europe and the South, in consequence of the advantages derived from + the causes assigned. If they had not existed—if the South had + retained all the capital which had been extracted from her by the fiscal + action of the Government; and, if it had not been excluded by the + ordinance of 1787 and the Missouri compromise, from the region lying + between the Ohio and the Mississippi rivers, and between the Mississippi + and the Rocky Mountains north of 36° 30'—it scarcely admits of a + doubt, that it would have divided the emigration with the North, and by + retaining her own people, would have at least equalled the North in + population under the census of 1840, and probably under that about to be + taken. She would also, if she had retained her equal rights in those + territories, have maintained an equality in the number of States with the + North, and have preserved the equilibrium between the two sections that + existed at the commencement of the Government. The loss, then, of the + equilibrium is to be attributed to the action of this Government. + </p> + <p> + But while these measures were destroying the equilibrium between the two + sections, the action of the Government was leading to a radical change in + its character, by concentrating all the power of the system in itself. The + occasion will not permit me to trace the measures by which this great + change has been consummated. If it did, it would not be difficult to show + that the process commenced at an early period of the Government; and that + it proceeded, almost without interruption, step by step, until it + virtually absorbed its entire powers; but without going through the whole + process to establish the fact, it may be done satisfactorily by a very + short statement. + </p> + <p> + That the Government claims, and practically maintains, the right to decide + in the last resort, as to the extent of its powers, will scarcely be + denied by any one conversant with the political history of the country. + That it also claims the right to resort to force to maintain whatever + power it claims against all opposition is equally certain. Indeed it is + apparent, from what we daily hear, that this has become the prevailing and + fixed opinion of a great majority of the community. Now, I ask, what + limitation can possibly be placed upon the powers of a government claiming + and exercising such rights? And, if none can be, how can the separate + governments of the States maintain and protect the powers reserved to them + by the Constitution—or the people of the several States maintain + those which are reserved to them, and among others, the sovereign powers + by which they ordained and established, not only their separate State + Constitutions and Governments, but also the Constitution and Government of + the United States? But, if they have no constitutional means of + maintaining them against the right claimed by this Government, it + necessarily follows, that they hold them at its pleasure and discretion, + and that all the powers of the system are in reality concentrated in it. + It also follows, that the character of the Government has been changed in + consequence, from a federal republic, as it originally came from the hands + of its framers, into a great national consolidated democracy. It has + indeed, at present, all the characteristics of the latter, and not of the + former, although it still retains its outward form. + </p> + <p> + The result of the whole of those causes combined is, that the North has + acquired a decided ascendency over every department of this Government, + and through it a control over all the powers of the system. A single + section governed by the will of the numerical majority, has now, in fact, + the control of the Government and the entire powers of the system. What + was once a constitutional federal republic, is now converted, in reality, + into one as absolute as that of the Autocrat of Russia, and as despotic in + its tendency as any absolute government that ever existed. + </p> + <p> + As, then, the North has the absolute control over the Government, it is + manifest that on all questions between it and the South, where there is a + diversity of interests, the interest of the latter will be sacrificed to + the former, however oppressive the effects may be; as the South possesses + no means by which it can resist, through the action of the Government. But + if there was no question of vital importance to the South, in reference to + which there was a diversity of views between the two sections, this state + of things might be endured without the hazard of destruction to the South. + But such is not the fact. There is a question of vital importance to the + southern section, in reference to which the views and feelings of the two + sections are as opposite and hostile as they can possibly be. + </p> + <p> + I refer to the relation between the two races in the southern section, + which constitutes a vital portion of her social organization. Every + portion of the North entertains views and feelings more or less hostile to + it. Those most opposed and hostile, regard it as a sin, and consider + themselves under the most sacred obligation to use every effort to destroy + it. Indeed, to the extent that they conceive that they have power, they + regard themselves as implicated in the sin, and responsible for not + suppressing it by the use of all and every means. Those less opposed and + hostile, regarded it as a crime—an offence against humanity, as they + call it; and, although not so fanatical, feel themselves bound to use all + efforts to effect the same object; while those who are least opposed and + hostile, regard it as a blot and a stain on the character of what they + call the Nation, and feel themselves accordingly bound to give it no + countenance or support. On the contrary, the southern section regards the + relation as one which cannot be destroyed without subjecting the two races + to the greatest calamity, and the section to poverty, desolation, and + wretchedness; and accordingly they feel bound, by every consideration of + interest and safety, to defend it. + </p> + <p> + This hostile feeling on the part of the North toward the social + organization of the South long lay dormant, and it only required some + cause to act on those who felt most intensely that they were responsible + for its continuance, to call it into action. The increasing power of this + Government, and of the control of the northern section over all its + departments, furnished the cause. It was this which made the impression on + the minds of many, that there was little or no restraint to prevent the + Government from doing whatever it might choose to do. This was sufficient + of itself to put the most fanatical portion of the North in action, for + the purpose of destroying the existing relation between the two races in + the South. + </p> + <p> + The first organized movement toward it commenced in 1835. Then, for the + first time, societies were organized, presses established, lecturers sent + forth to excite the people of the North, and incendiary publications + scattered over the whole South, through the mail. The South was thoroughly + aroused. Meetings were held everywhere, and resolutions adopted, calling + upon the North to apply a remedy to arrest the threatened evil, and + pledging themselves to adopt measures for their own protection, if it was + not arrested. At the meeting of Congress, petitions poured in from the + North, calling upon Congress to abolish slavery in the District of + Columbia, and to prohibit, what they called, the internal slave trade + between the States—announcing at the same time, that their ultimate + object was to abolish slavery, not only in the District, but in the States + and throughout the Union. At this period, the number engaged in the + agitation was small, and possessed little or no personal influence. + </p> + <p> + Neither party in Congress had, at that time, any sympathy with them or + their cause. The members of each party presented their petitions with + great reluctance. Nevertheless, small, and contemptible as the party then + was, both of the great parties of the North dreaded them. They felt, that + though small, they were organized in reference to a subject which had a + great and commanding influence over the northern mind. Each party, on that + account, feared to oppose their petitions, lest the opposite party should + take advantage of the one who might do so, by favoring them. The effect + was, that both united in insisting that the petitions should be received, + and that Congress should take jurisdiction over the subject. To justify + their course, they took the extraordinary ground, that Congress was bound + to receive petitions on every subject, however objectionable they might + be, and whether they had, or had not, jurisdiction over the subject. Those + views prevailed in the House of Representatives, and partially in the + Senate; and thus the party succeeded in their first movements, in gaining + what they proposed—a position in Congress, from which agitation + could be extended over the whole Union. This was the commencement of the + agitation, which has ever since continued, and which, as is now + acknowledged, has endangered the Union itself. + </p> + <p> + As for myself, I believed at that early period, if the party who got up + the petitions should succeed in getting Congress to take jurisdiction, + that agitation would follow, and that it would in the end, if not + arrested, destroy the Union. I then so expressed myself in debate, and + called upon both parties to take grounds against assuming jurisdiction; + but in vain. Had my voice been heeded, and had Congress refused to take + jurisdiction, by the united votes of all parties, the agitation which + followed would have been prevented, and the fanatical zeal that gave + impulse to the agitation, and which has brought us to our present perilous + condition, would have become extinguished, from the want of fuel to feed + the flame. That was the time for the North to have shown her devotion to + the Union; but, unfortunately, both of the great parties of that section + were so intent on obtaining or retaining party ascendency, that all other + considerations were overlooked or forgotten. + </p> + <p> + What has since followed are but natural consequences. With the success of + their first movement, this small fanatical party began to acquire + strength; and with that, to become an object of courtship to both the + great parties. The necessary consequence was, a further increase of power, + and a gradual tainting of the opinions of both the other parties with + their doctrines,until the infection has extended over both; and the great + mass of the population of the North, who, whatever may be their opinion of + the original abolition party, which still preserves its distinctive + organization, hardly ever fail, when it comes to acting, to cooperate in + carrying out their measures. With the increase of their influence, they + extended the sphere of their action. In a short time after the + commencement of their first movement, they had acquired sufficient + influence to induce the legislatures of most of the Northern States to + pass acts, which in effect abrogated the clause of the Constitution that + provides for the delivery up of fugitive slaves. Not long after, petitions + followed to abolish slavery in forts, magazines, and dock-yards, and all + other places where Congress had exclusive power of legislation. This was + followed by petitions and resolutions of legislatures of the Northern + States, and popular meetings, to exclude the Southern States from all + territories acquired, or to be acquired, and to prevent the admission of + any State hereafter into the Union, which, by its constitution, does not + prohibit slavery. And Congress is invoked to do all this, expressly with + the view of the final abolition of slavery in the States. That has been + avowed to be the ultimate object from the beginning of the agitation until + the present time; and yet the great body of both parties of the North, + with the full knowledge of the fact, although disavowing the + abolitionists, have co-operated with them in almost all their measures. + </p> + <p> + Such is a brief history of the agitation, as far as it has yet advanced. + Now I ask, Senators, what is there to prevent its further progress, until + it fulfils the ultimate end proposed, unless some decisive measure should + be adopted to prevent it? Has any one of the causes, which has added to + its increase from its original small and contemptible beginning until it + has attained its present magnitude, diminished in force? Is the original + cause of the movement—that slavery is a sin, and ought to be + suppressed—weaker now than at the commencement? Or is the abolition + party less numerous or influential, or have they less influence with, or + less control over the two great parties of the North in elections? Or has + the South greater means of influencing or controlling the movements of + this Government now, than it had when the agitation commenced? To all + these questions but one answer can be given: No, no, no. The very reverse + is true. Instead of being weaker, all the elements in favor of agitation + are stronger now than they were in 1835, when it first commenced, while + all the elements of influence on the part of the South are weaker. Unless + something decisive is done, I again ask, what is to stop this agitation, + before the great and final object at which it aims—the abolition of + slavery in the States—is consummated? Is it, then, not certain, that + if something is not done to arrest it, the South will be forced to choose + between abolition and secession? Indeed, as events are now moving, it will + not require the South to secede, in order to dissolve the Union. Agitation + will of itself effect it, of which its past history furnishes abundant + proof—as I shall next proceed to show. + </p> + <p> + It is a great mistake to suppose that disunion can be effected by a single + blow. The cords which bound these States together in one common Union, are + far too numerous and powerful for that. Disunion must be the work of time. + It is only through a long process, and successively, that the cords can be + snapped, until the whole fabric falls asunder. Already the agitation of + the slavery question has snapped some of the most important, and has + greatly weakened all the others, as I shall proceed to show. + </p> + <p> + The cords that bind the States together are not only many, but various in + character. Some are spiritual or ecclesiastical; some political; others + social. Some appertain to the benefit conferred by the Union, and others + to the feeling of duty and obligation. + </p> + <p> + The strongest of those of a spiritual and ecclesiastical nature, consisted + in the unity of the great religious denominations, all of which originally + embraced the whole Union. All these denominations, with the exception, + perhaps, of the Catholics, were organized very much upon the principle of + our political institutions. Beginning with smaller meetings, corresponding + with the political divisions of the country, their organization terminated + in one great central assemblage, corresponding very much with the + character of Congress. At these meetings the principal clergymen and lay + members of the respective denominations from all parts of the Union, met + to transact business relating to their common concerns. It was not + confined to what appertained to the doctrines and discipline of the + respective denominations, but extended to plans for disseminating the + Bible—establishing missions, distributing tracts—and of + establishing presses for the publication of tracts, newspapers, and + periodicals, with a view of diffusing religious information—and for + the support of their respective doctrines and creeds. All this combined + contributed greatly to strengthen the bonds of the Union. The ties which + held each denomination together formed a strong cord to hold the whole + Union together, but, powerful as they were, they have not been able to + resist the explosive effect of slavery agitation. + </p> + <p> + The first of these cords which snapped, under its explosive force, was + that of the powerful Methodist Episcopal Church. The numerous and strong + ties which held it together, are all broken, and its unity is gone. They + now form separate churches; and, instead of that feeling of attachment and + devotion to the interests of the whole church which was formerly felt, + they are now arrayed into two hostile bodies, engaged in litigation about + what was formerly their common property. + </p> + <p> + The next cord that snapped was that of the Baptists—one of the + largest and most respectable of the denominations. That of the + Presbyterian is not entirely snapped, but some of its strands have given + way. That of the Episcopal Church is the only one of the four great + Protestant denominations which remains unbroken and entire. + </p> + <p> + The strongest cord, of a political character, consists of the many and + powerful ties that have held together the two great parties which have, + with some modifications, existed from the beginning of the Government. + They both extended to every portion of the Union, and strongly contributed + to hold all its parts together. But this powerful cord has fared no better + than the spiritual. It resisted, for a long time, the explosive tendency + of the agitation, but has finally snapped under its force—if not + entirely, in a great measure. Nor is there one of the remaining cords + which has not been greatly weakened. To this extent the Union has already + been destroyed by agitation, in the only way it can be, by sundering and + weakening the cords which bind it together. + </p> + <p> + If the agitation goes on, the same force, acting with increased intensity, + as has been shown, will finally snap every cord, when nothing will be left + to hold the States together except force. But, surely, that can, with no + propriety of language, be called a Union, when the only means by which the + weaker is held connected with the stronger portion is force. It may, + indeed, keep them connected; but the connection will partake much more of + the character of subjugation, on the part of the weaker to the stronger, + than the union of free, independent States, in one confederation, as they + stood in the early stages of the Government, and which only is worthy of + the sacred name of Union. + </p> + <p> + Having now, Senators, explained what it is that endangers the Union, and + traced it to its cause, and explained its nature and character, the + question again recurs, How can the Union be saved? To this I answer, there + is but one way by which it can be, and that is by adopting such measures + as will satisfy the States belonging to the southern section, that they + can remain in the Union consistently with their honor and their safety. + There is, again, only one way by which this can be effected, and that is + by removing the causes by which this belief has been produced. Do this, + and discontent will cease, harmony and kind feelings between the sections + be restored, and every apprehension of danger to the Union be removed. The + question, then, is, How can this be done? But, before I undertake to + answer this question, I propose to show by what the Union cannot be saved. + </p> + <p> + It cannot, then, be saved by eulogies on the Union, however splendid or + numerous. The cry of "Union, Union, the glorious Union!" can no more + prevent disunion than the cry of "Health, health, glorious health!" on the + part of the physician, can save a patient lying dangerously ill. So long + as the Union, instead of being regarded as a protector, is regarded in the + opposite character, by not much less than a majority of the States, it + will be in vain to attempt to conciliate them by pronouncing eulogies on + it. + </p> + <p> + Besides, this cry of Union comes commonly from those whom we cannot + believe to be sincere. It usually comes from our assailants. But we cannot + believe them to be sincere; for, if they loved the Union, they would + necessarily be devoted to the Constitution. It made the Union,—and + to destroy the Constitution would be to destroy the Union. But the only + reliable and certain evidence of devotion to the Constitution is to + abstain, on the one hand, from violating it, and to repel, on the other, + all attempts to violate it. It is only by faithfully performing these high + duties that the Constitution can be preserved, and with it the Union. + </p> + <p> + But how stands the profession of devotion to the Union by our assailants, + when brought to this test? Have they abstained from violating the + Constitution? Let the many acts passed by the Northern States to set aside + and annul the clause of the Constitution providing for the delivery up of + fugitive slaves answer. I cite this, not that it is the only instance (for + there are many others), but because the violation in this particular is + too notorious and palpable to be denied. Again: Have they stood forth + faithfully to repel violations of the Constitution? Let their course in + reference to the agitation of the slavery question, which was commenced + and has been carried on for fifteen years, avowedly for the purpose of + abolishing slavery in the States—an object all acknowledged to be + unconstitutional,—answer. Let them show a single instance, during + this long period, in which they have denounced the agitators or their + attempts to effect what is admitted to be unconstitutional, or a single + measure which they have brought forward for that purpose. How can we, with + all these facts before us, believe that they are sincere in their + profession of devotion to the Union, or avoid believing their profession + is but intended to increase the vigor of their assaults and to weaken the + force of our resistance? + </p> + <p> + Nor can we regard the profession of devotion to the Union, on the part of + those who are not our assailants, as sincere, when they pronounce eulogies + upon the Union, evidently with the intent of charging us with disunion, + without uttering one word of denunciation against our assailants. If + friends of the Union, their course should be to unite with us in repelling + these assaults, and denouncing the authors as enemies of the Union. Why + they avoid this, and pursue the course they do, it is for them to explain. + </p> + <p> + Nor can the Union be saved by invoking the name of the illustrious + Southerner whose mortal remains repose on the western bank of the Potomac. + He was one of us,—a slave-holder and a planter. We have studied his + history, and find nothing in it to justify submission to wrong. On the + contrary, his great fame rests on the solid foundation, that, while he was + careful to avoid doing wrong to others, he was prompt and decided in + repelling wrong. I trust that, in this respect, we profited by his + example. + </p> + <p> + Nor can we find any thing in his history to deter us from seceding from + the Union, should it fail to fulfil the objects for which it was + instituted, by being permanently and hopelessly converted into the means + of oppressing instead of protecting us. On the contrary, we find much in + his example to encourage us, should we be forced to the extremity of + deciding between submission and disunion. + </p> + <p> + There existed then, as well as now, a union—between the parent + country and her colonies. It was a union that had much to endear it to the + people of the colonies. Under its protecting and superintending care, the + colonies were planted and grew up and prospered, through a long course of + years, until they be-came populous and wealthy. Its benefits were not + limited to them. Their extensive agricultural and other productions, gave + birth to a flourishing commerce, which richly rewarded the parent country + for the trouble and expense of establishing and protecting them. + Washing-ton was born and grew up to manhood under that Union. He acquired + his early distinction in its service, and there is every reason to believe + that he was devotedly attached to it. But his devotion was a national one. + He was attached to it, not as an end, but as a means to an end. When it + failed to fulfil its end, and, instead of affording protection, was + converted into the means of oppressing the colonies, he did not hesitate + to draw his sword, and head the great movement by which that union was + forever severed, and the independence of these States established. This + was the great and crowning glory of his life, which has spread his fame + over the whole globe, and will transmit it to the latest posterity. + </p> + <p> + Nor can the plan proposed by the distinguished Senator from Kentucky, nor + that of the administration, save the Union. I shall pass by, without + remark, the plan proposed by the Senator. I, however, assure the + distinguished and able Senator, that, in taking this course, no disrespect + whatever is intended to him or to his plan. I have adopted it because so + many Senators of distinguished abilities, who were present when he + delivered his speech, and explained his plan, and who were fully capable + to do justice to the side they support, have replied to him. * * * + </p> + <p> + Having now shown what cannot save the Union, I return to the question with + which I commenced, How can the Union be saved? There is but one way by + which it can with any certainty; and that is, by a full and final + settlement, on the principle of justice, of all the questions at issue + between the two sections. The South asks for justice, simple justice, and + less she ought not to take. She has no compromise to offer, but the + Constitution; and no concession or surrender to make. She has already + surrendered so much that she has little left to surrender. Such a + settlement would go to the root of the evil, and remove all cause of + discontent, by satisfying the South that she could remain honorably and + safely in the Union, and thereby restore the harmony and fraternal + feelings between the sections, which existed anterior to the Missouri + agitation. Nothing else can, with any certainty, finally and forever + settle the question at issue, terminate agitation, and save the Union. + </p> + <p> + But can this be done? Yes, easily; not by the weaker party, for it can, of + itself do nothing,—not even protect itself—but by the + stronger. The North has only to will it to accomplish it—to do + justice by conceding to the South an equal right in the acquired + territory, and to do her duty by causing the stipulations relative to + fugitive slaves to be faithfully fulfilled, to cease the agitation of the + slave question, and to provide for the insertion of a provision in the + Constitution, by an amendment, which will restore to the South, in + substance, the power she possessed of protecting herself, before the + equilibrium between the sections was destroyed by the action of this + Government. There will be no difficulty in devising such a provision—one + that will protect the South, and which, at the same time, will improve and + strengthen the Government, instead of impairing and weakening it. + </p> + <p> + But will the North agree to this? It is for her to answer the question. + But, I will say, she cannot refuse, if she has half the love for the Union + which she professes to have, or without justly exposing herself to the + charge that her love of power and aggrandizement is far greater than her + love of the Union. At all events the responsibility of saving the Union + rests on the North, and not on the South. The South cannot save it by any + act of hers, and the North may save it without any sacrifice whatever, + unless to do justice, and to perform her duties under the Constitution, + should be regarded by her as a sacrifice. + </p> + <p> + It is time, Senators, that there should be an open and manly avowal on all + sides, as to what is intended to be done. If the question is not now + settled, it is uncertain whether it ever can hereafter be; and we, as the + representatives of the States of this Union, regarded as governments, + should come to a distinct understanding as to our respective views, in + order to ascertain whether the great questions at issue can be settled or + not. If you, who represent the stronger portion, cannot agree to settle on + the broad principle of justice and duty, say so; and let the States we + both represent agree to separate and part in peace. If you are unwilling + we should part in peace, tell us so, and we shall know what to do, when + you reduce the question to submission or resistance. If you remain silent, + you will compel us to infer by your acts what you intend. In that case, + California will become the test question. If you admit her, under all the + difficulties that oppose her admission, you compel us to infer that you + intend to exclude us from the whole of the acquired territories, with the + intention of destroying, irretrievably, the equilibrium between the two + sections. We would be blind not to perceive in that case, that your real + objects are power and aggrandizement, and infatuated, not to act + accordingly. + </p> + <p> + I have now, Senators, done my duty in ex-pressing my opinions fully, + freely and candidly, on this solemn occasion. In doing so, I have been + governed by the motives which have governed me in all the stages of the + agitation of the slavery question since its commencement. I have exerted + myself, during the whole period, to arrest it, with the intention of + saving the Union, if it could be done; and if it could not, to save the + section where it has pleased Providence to cast my lot, and which I + sincerely believe has justice and the Constitution on its side. Having + faithfully done my duty to the best of my ability, both to the Union and + my section, throughout this agitation, I shall have the consolation, let + what will come, that I am free from all responsibility. + </p> + <p> + <a name="linkimage-0004" id="linkimage-0004"> + <!-- IMG --></a> + </p> + <div class="fig" style="width:80%"> + <img src="images/webster.jpg" alt="Daniel Webster " width="100%" /><br /> + </div> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0010" id="link2H_4_0010"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + DANIEL WEBSTER, + </h2> + <h3> + OF MASSACHUSETTS. (BORN, 1782, DIED, 1852.) + </h3> + <p> + ON THE CONSTITUTION AND THE UNION; SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES, MARCH 7, + 1850. MR. PRESIDENT: + </p> + <p> + I wish to speak to-day, not as a Massachusetts man, nor as a northern man, + but as an American, and a member of the Senate of the United States. It is + fortunate that there is a Senate of the United States; a body not yet + moved from its propriety, nor lost to a just sense of its own dignity and + its own high responsibilities, and a body to which the country looks, with + confidence, for wise, moderate, patriotic, and healing counsels. It is not + to be denied that we live in the midst of strong agitations and are + surrounded by very considerable dangers to our institutions and + government. The imprisoned winds are let loose. The East, the North, and + the stormy South combine to throw the whole sea into commotion, to toss + its billows to the skies, and disclose its profoundest depths. I do not + affect to regard myself, Mr. President, as holding, or fit to hold, the + helm in this combat with the political elements; but I have a duty to + perform, and I mean to perform it with fidelity, not without a sense of + existing dangers, but not without hope. I have a part to act, not for my + own security or safety, for I am looking out for no fragment upon which to + float away from the wreck, if wreck there must be, but for the good of the + whole, and the preservation of all; and there is that which will keep me + to my duty during this struggle, whether the sun and the stars shall + appear for many days. I speak to-day for the preservation of the Union. + "Hear me for my cause." I speak to-day out of a solicitous and anxious + heart, for the restoration to the country of that quiet and that harmony + which make the blessings of this Union so rich, and so dear to us all. + These are the topics that I propose to myself to discuss; these are the + motives, and the sole motives, that influence me in the wish to + communicate my opinions to the Senate and the country; and if I can do any + thing, however little, for the promotion of these ends, I shall have + accomplished all that I expect. + </p> + <p> + * * * We all know, sir, that slavery has existed in the world from time + immemorial. There was slavery in the earliest periods of history, among + the Oriental nations. There was slavery among the Jews; the theocratic + government of that people issued no injunction against it. There was + slavery among the Greeks. * * * At the introduction of Christianity, the + Roman world was full of slaves, and I suppose there is to be found no + injunction against that relation between man and man in the teachings of + the Gospel of Jesus Christ or of any of his apostles. * * * Now, sir, upon + the general nature and influence of slavery there exists a wide difference + of opinion between the northern portion of this country and the southern. + It is said on the one side, that, although not the subject of any + injunction or direct prohibition in the New Testament, slavery is a wrong; + that it is founded merely in the right of the strongest; and that it is an + oppression, like unjust wars, like all those conflicts by which a powerful + nation subjects a weaker to its will; and that, in its nature, whatever + may be said of it in the modifications which have taken place, it is not + according to the meek spirit of the Gospel. It is not "kindly + affectioned"; it does not "seek another's, and not its own"; it does not + "let the oppressed go free." These are sentiments that are cherished, and + of late with greatly augmented force, among the people of the Northern + States. They have taken hold of the religious sentiment of that part of + the country, as they have, more or less, taken hold of the religious + feelings of a considerable portion of mankind. The South upon the other + side, having been accustomed to this relation between the two races all + their lives; from their birth, having been taught, in general, to treat + the subjects of this bondage with care and kindness, and I believe, in + general, feeling great kindness for them, have not taken the view of the + subject which I have mentioned. There are thousands of religious men, with + consciences as tender as any of their brethren at the North, who do not + see the unlawfulness of slavery; and there are more thousands, perhaps, + that, whatsoever they may think of it in its origin, and as a matter + depending upon natural rights, yet take things as they are, and, finding + slavery to be an established relation of the society in which they live, + can see no way in which, let their opinions on the abstract question be + what they may, it is in the power of this generation to relieve themselves + from this relation. And candor obliges me to say, that I believe they are + just as conscientious many of them, and the religious people, all of them, + as they are at the North who hold different opinions. * * * + </p> + <p> + There are men who, with clear perceptions, as they think, of their own + duty, do not see how too eager a pursuit of one duty may involve them in + the violation of others, or how too warm an embracement of one truth may + lead to a disregard of other truths just as important. As I heard it + stated strongly, not many days ago, these persons are disposed to mount + upon some particular duty, as upon a war-horse, and to drive furiously on + and upon and over all other duties that may stand in the way. There are + men who, in reference to disputes of that sort, are of opinion that human + duties may be ascertained with the exactness of mathematics. They deal + with morals as with mathematics; and they think what is right may be + distinguished from what is wrong with the precision of an algebraic + equation. They have, therefore, none too much charity toward others who + differ from them. They are apt, too, to think that nothing is good but + what is perfect, and that there are no compromises or modifications to be + made in consideration of difference of opinion or in deference to other + men's judgment. If their perspicacious vision enables them to detect a + spot on the face of the sun, they think that a good reason why the sun + should be struck down from heaven. They prefer the chance of running into + utter darkness to living in heavenly light, if that heavenly light be not + absolutely without any imperfection. * * * + </p> + <p> + But we must view things as they are. Slavery does exist in the United + States. It did exist in the States before the adoption of this + Constitution, and at that time. Let us, therefore, consider for a moment + what was the state of sentiment, North and South, in regard to slavery,—in + regard to slavery, at the time this Constitution was adopted. A remarkable + change has taken place since; but what did the wise and great men of all + parts of the country think of slavery then? In what estimation did they + hold it at the time when this Constitution was adopted? It will be found, + sir, if we will carry ourselves by historical research back to that day, + and ascertain men's opinions by authentic records still existing among us, + that there was no diversity of opinion between the North and the South + upon the subject of slavery. It will be found that both parts of the + country held it equally an evil, a moral and political evil. It will not + be found that, either at the North or at the South, there was much, though + there was some, invective against slavery as inhuman and cruel. The great + ground of objection to it was political; that it weakened the social + fabric; that, taking the place of free labor, society became less strong + and labor less productive; and therefore we find from all the eminent men + of the time the clearest expression of their opinion that slavery is an + evil. They ascribed its existence here, not without truth, and not without + some acerbity of temper and force of language, to the injurious policy of + the mother country, who, to favor the navigator, had entailed these evils + upon the colonies. * * * You observe, sir, that the term slave, or + slavery, is not used in the Constitution. The Constitution does not + require that "fugitive slaves" shall be delivered up. It requires that + persons held to service in one State, and escaping into another, shall be + delivered up. Mr. Madison opposed the introduction of the term slave, or + slavery, into the Constitution; for he said, that he did not wish to see + it recognized by the Constitution of the United States of America that + there could be property in men. * * * + </p> + <p> + Here we may pause. There was, if not an entire unanimity, a general + concurrence of sentiment running through the whole community, and + especially entertained by the eminent men of all parts of the country. But + soon a change began, at the North and the South, and a difference of + opinion showed itself; the North growing much more warm and strong against + slavery, and the South growing much more warm and strong in its support. + Sir, there is no generation of mankind whose opinions are not subject to + be influenced by what appear to them to be their present emergent and + exigent interests. I impute to the South no particularly selfish view in + the change which has come over her. I impute to her certainly no dishonest + view. All that has happened has been natural. It has followed those causes + which always influence the human mind and operate upon it. What, then, + have been the causes which have created so new a feeling in favor of + slavery in the South, which have changed the whole nomenclature of the + South on that subject, so that, from being thought and described in the + terms I have mentioned and will not repeat, it has now become an + institution, a cherished institution, in that quarter; no evil, no + scourge, but a great religious, social, and moral blessing, as I think I + have heard it latterly spoken of? I suppose this, sir, is owing to the + rapid growth and sudden extension of the cotton plantations of the South. + So far as any motive consistent with honor, justice, and general judgment + could act, it was the cotton interest that gave a new desire to promote + slavery, to spread it, and to use its labor. + </p> + <p> + I again say that this change was produced by causes which must always + produce like effects. The whole interest of the South became connected, + more or less, with the extension of slavery. If we look back to the + history of the commerce of this country in the early years of this + government, what were our exports? Cotton was hardly, or but to a very + limited extent, known. In 1791 the first parcel of cotton of the growth of + the United States was exported, and amounted only to 19,200 pounds. It has + gone on increasing rapidly, until the whole crop may now, perhaps, in a + season of great product and high prices, amount to a hundred millions of + dollars. In the years I have mentioned, there was more of wax, more of + indigo, more of rice, more of almost every article of export from the + South, than of cotton. When Mr. Jay negotiated the treaty of 1794 with + England, it is evident from the Twelfth Article of the Treaty, which was + suspended by the Senate, that he did not know that cotton was exported at + all from the United States. + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + Sir, there is not so remarkable a chapter in our history of political + events, political parties, and political men as is afforded by this + admission of a new slave-holding territory, so vast that a bird cannot fly + over it in a week. New England, as I have said, with some of her own + votes, supported this measure. Three-fourths of the votes of + liberty-loving Connecticut were given for it in the other house, and one + half here. There was one vote for it from Maine but, I am happy to say, + not the vote of the honorable member who addressed the Senate the day + before yesterday, and who was then a Representative from Maine in the + House of Representatives; but there was one vote from Maine, ay, and there + was one vote for it from Massachusetts, given by a gentleman then + representing, and now living in, the district in which the prevalence of + Free Soil sentiment for a couple of years or so has defeated the choice of + any member to represent it in Congress. Sir, that body of Northern and + Eastern men who gave those votes at that time are now seen taking upon + themselves, in the nomenclature of politics, the appellation of the + Northern Democracy. They undertook to wield the destinies of this empire, + if I may give that name to a Republic, and their policy was, and they + persisted in it, to bring into this country and under this government all + the territory they could. They did it, in the case of Texas, under + pledges, absolute pledges, to the slave interest, and they afterwards lent + their aid in bringing in these new conquests, to take their chance for + slavery or freedom. My honorable friend from Georgia, in March, 1847, + moved the Senate to declare that the war ought not to be prosecuted for + the conquest of territory, or for the dismemberment of Mexico. The whole + of the Northern Democracy voted against it. He did not get a vote from + them. It suited the patriotic and elevated sentiments of the Northern + Democracy to bring in a world from among the mountains and valleys of + California and New Mexico, or any other part of Mexico, and then quarrel + about it; to bring it in, and then endeavor to put upon it the saving + grace of the Wilmot Proviso. There were two eminent and highly respectable + gentlemen from the North and East, then leading gentlemen in the Senate (I + refer, and I do so with entire respect, for I entertain for both of those + gentlemen, in general, high regard, to Mr. Dix of New York and Mr. Niles + of Connecticut), who both voted for the admission of Texas. They would not + have that vote any other way than as it stood; and they would have it as + it did stand. I speak of the vote upon the annexation of Texas. Those two + gentlemen would have the resolution of annexation just as it is, without + amendment; and they voted for it just as it is, and their eyes were all + open to its true character. The honorable member from South Carolina who + addressed us the other day was then Secretary of State. His correspondence + with Mr. Murphy, the Charge d'Affaires of the United States in Texas, had + been published. That correspondence was all before those gentlemen, and + the Secretary had the boldness and candor to avow in that correspondence, + that the great object sought by the annexation of Texas was to strengthen + the slave interest of the South. Why, sir, he said so in so many words. + </p> + <p> + Mr. Calhoun. Will the honorable Senator permit me to interrupt him for a + moment? Mr. Webster. Certainly. + </p> + <p> + Mr. Calhoun. I am very reluctant to interrupt the honorable gentleman; + but, upon a point of so much importance, I deem it right to put myself <i>rectus + in curia</i>. I did not put it upon the ground assumed by the Senator. I + put it upon this ground; that Great Britain had announced to this country, + in so many words, that her object was to abolish slavery in Texas, and, + through Texas, to accomplish the abolition of slavery in the United States + and the world. The ground I put it on was, that it would make an exposed + frontier, and, if Great Britain succeeded in her object, it would be + impossible that that frontier could be secured against the aggressions of + the Abolitionists; and that this Government was bound, under the + guaranties of the Constitution, to protect us against such a state of + things. + </p> + <p> + Mr. Webster. That comes, I suppose, Sir, to exactly the same thing. It + was, that Texas must be obtained for the security of the slave interest of + the South. + </p> + <p> + Mr. Calhoun. Another view is very distinctly given. + </p> + <p> + Mr. Webster. That was the object set forth in the correspondence of a + worthy gentleman not now living, who preceded the honorable member from + South Carolina in the Department of State. There repose on the files of + the Department, as I have occasion to know, strong letters from Mr. Upshur + to the United States Minister in England, and I believe there are some to + the same Minister from the honorable Senator himself, asserting to this + effect the sentiments of this government; namely, that Great Britain was + expected not to interfere to take Texas out of the hands of its then + existing government and make it a free country. But my argument, my + suggestion, is this: that those gentlemen who composed the Northern + Democracy when Texas was brought into the Union saw clearly that it was + brought in as a slave country, and brought in for the purpose of being + maintained as slave territory, to the Greek Kalends. I rather think the + honorable gentleman who was then Secretary of State might, in some of his + correspondence with Mr. Murphy, have suggested that it was not expedient + to say too much about this object, lest it should create some alarm. At + any rate, Mr. Murphy wrote to him that England was anxious to get rid of + the constitution of Texas, because it was a constitution establishing + slavery; and that what the United States had to do was to aid the people + of Texas in upholding their constitution; but that nothing should be said + which should offend the fanatical men of the North. But, Sir, the + honorable member did avow this object himself, openly, boldly, and + manfully; he did not disguise his conduct or his motives. + </p> + <p> + Mr. Calhoun. Never, never. + </p> + <p> + Mr. Webster. What he means he is very apt to say. + </p> + <p> + Mr. Calhoun. Always, always. + </p> + <p> + Mr. Webster. And I honor him for it. + </p> + <p> + This admission of Texas was in 1845. Then in 1847, <i>flagrante bello</i> + between the United States and Mexico, the proposition I have mentioned was + brought forward by my friend from Georgia, and the Northern Democracy + voted steadily against it. Their remedy was to apply to the acquisitions, + after they should come in, the Wilmot Proviso. What follows? These two + gentlemen, worthy and honorable and influential men (and if they had not + been they could not have carried the measure), these two gentlemen, + members of this body, brought in Texas, and by their votes they also + pre-vented the passage of the resolution of the honorable member from + Georgia, and then they went home and took the lead in the Free Soil party. + And there they stand, Sir! They leave us here, bound in honor and + conscience by the resolutions of annexation; they leave us here, to take + the odium of fulfilling the obligations in favor of slavery which they + voted us into, or else the greater odium of violating those obligations, + while they are at home making capital and rousing speeches for free soil + and no slavery. And therefore I say, Sir, that there is not a chapter in + our history, respecting public measures and public men, more full of what + would create surprise, and more full of what does create, in my mind, + extreme mortification, than that of the conduct of the Northern Democracy + on this subject. + </p> + <p> + Mr. President, sometimes when a man is found in a new relation to things + around him and to other men, he says the world has changed, and that he is + not changed. I believe, sir, that our self-respect leads us often to make + this declaration in regard to ourselves when it is not exactly true. An + individual is more apt to change, perhaps, than all the world around him. + But under the present circumstances, and under the responsibility which I + know I incur by what I am now stating here, I feel at liberty to recur to + the various expressions and statements, made at various times, of my own + opinions and resolutions respecting the admission of Texas, and all that + has followed. + </p> + <p> + * * * On other occasions, in debate here, I have expressed my + determination to vote for no acquisition, or cession, or annexation, North + or South, East or West. My opinion has been, that we have territory + enough, and that we should follow the Spartan maxim: "Improve, adorn what + you have,"—seek no further. I think that it was in some observations + that I made on the three million loan bill that I avowed this sentiment. + In short, sir, it has been avowed quite as often in as many places, and + before as many assemblies, as any humble opinions of mine ought to be + avowed. + </p> + <p> + But now that, under certain conditions, Texas is in the Union, with all + her territory, as a slave State, with a solemn pledge also that, if she + shall be divided into many States, those States may come in as slave + States south of 36° 30', how are we to deal with this subject? I know no + way of honest legislation, when the proper time comes for the enactment, + but to carry into effect all that we have stipulated to do. * * * That is + the meaning of the contract which our friends, the northern Democracy, + have left us to fulfil; and I, for one, mean to fulfil it, because I will + not violate the faith of the Government. What I mean to say is, that the + time for the admission of new States formed out of Texas, the number of + such States, their boundaries, the requisite amount of population, and all + other things connected with the admission, are in the free discretion of + Congress, except this: to wit, that when new States formed out of Texas + are to be admitted, they have a right, by legal stipulation and contract, + to come in as slave States. + </p> + <p> + Now, as to California and New Mexico, I hold slavery to be excluded from + these territories by a law even superior to that which admits and + sanctions it in Texas. I mean the law of nature, of physical geography, + the law of the formation of the earth. That law settles forever, with a + strength beyond all terms of human enactment, that slavery cannot exist in + California or New Mexico. Understand me, sir; I mean slavery as we regard + it; the slavery of the colored race as it exists in the southern States. I + shall not discuss the point, but leave it to the learned gentlemen who + have undertaken to discuss it; but I suppose there is no slavery of that + description in California now. I understand that peonism, a sort of penal + servitude, exists there, or rather a sort of voluntary sale of a man and + his offspring for debt, an arrangement of a peculiar nature known to the + law of Mexico. But what I mean to say is, that it is impossible that + African slavery, as we see it among us, should find its way, or be + introduced, into California and New Mexico, as any other natural + impossibility. California and New Mexico are Asiatic in their formation + and scenery. They are composed of vast ridges of mountains of great + height, with broken ridges and deep valleys. The sides of these mountains + are entirely barren; their tops capped by perennial snow. There may be in + California, now made free by its constitution, and no doubt there are, + some tracts of valuable land. But it is not so in New Mexico. Pray, what + is the evidence which every gentleman must have obtained on this subject, + from information sought by himself or communicated by others? I have + inquired and read all I could find, in order to acquire information on + this important subject. What is there in New Mexico that could, by any + possibility, induce anybody to go there with slaves! There are some narrow + strips of tillable land on the borders of the rivers; but the rivers + themselves dry up before midsummer is gone. All that the people can do in + that region is to raise some little articles, some little wheat for their + tortillas, and that by irrigation. And who expects to see a hundred black + men cultivating tobacco, corn, cotton, rice, or any thing else, on lands + in New Mexico, made fertile by irrigation? + </p> + <p> + I look upon it, therefore, as a fixed fact, to use the current expression + of the day, that both California and New Mexico are destined to be free, + so far as they are settled at all, which I believe, in regard to New + Mexico, will be but partially, for a great length of time; free by the + arrangement of things ordained by the Power above us. I have therefore to + say, in this respect also, that this country is fixed for freedom, to as + many persons as shall ever live in it, by a less repealable law than that + which attaches to the right of holding slaves in Texas; and I will say + further, that, if a resolution or a bill were now before us, to provide a + territorial government for New Mexico, I would not vote to put any + prohibition into it whatever. Such a prohibition would be idle, as it + respects any effect it would have upon the territory; and I would not take + pains uselessly to reaffirm an ordinance of nature, nor to re-enact the + will of God. I would put in no Wilmot proviso for the mere purpose of a + taunt or a reproach. I would put into it no evidence of the votes of + superior power, exercised for no purpose but to wound the pride, whether a + just and a rational pride, or an irrational pride, of the citizens of the + southern States. I have no such object, no such purpose. They would think + it a taunt, an indignity; they would think it to be an act taking away + from them what they regard as a proper equality of privilege. Whether they + expect to realize any benefit from it or not, they would think it at least + a plain theoretic wrong; that something more or less derogatory to their + character and their rights had taken place. I propose to inflict no such + wound upon anybody, unless something essentially important to the country, + and efficient to the preservation of liberty and freedom, is to be + effected. I repeat, therefore, sir, and, as I do not propose to address + the Senate often on this subject, I repeat it because I wish it to be + distinctly understood, that, for the reasons stated, if a proposition were + now here to establish a government for New Mexico, and it was moved to + insert a provision for a prohibition of slavery, I would not vote for it. + * * * Sir, we hear occasionally of the annexation of Canada; and if there + be any man, any of the northern Democracy, or any of the Free Soil party, + who supposes it necessary to insert a Wilmot Proviso in a territorial + government for New Mexico, that man would, of course, be of opinion that + it is necessary to protect the ever-lasting snows of Canada from the foot + of slavery by the same overspreading wing of an act of Congress. Sir, + wherever there is a substantive good to be done, wherever there is a foot + of land to be prevented from becoming slave territory, I am ready to + assert the principle of the exclusion of slavery. I am pledged to it from + the year 1837; I have been pledged to it again and again; and I will + perform these pledges; but I will not do a thing unnecessarily that wounds + the feelings of others, or that does discredit to my own understanding. * + * * + </p> + <p> + Mr. President, in the excited times in which we live, there is found to + exist a state of crimination and recrimination between the North and + South. There are lists of grievances produced by each; and those + grievances, real or supposed, alienate the minds of one portion of the + country from the other, exasperate the feelings, and subdue the sense of + fraternal affection, patriotic love, and mutual regard. I shall bestow a + little attention, sir, upon these various grievances existing on the one + side and on the other. I begin with complaints of the South. I will not + answer, further than I have, the general statements of the honorable + Senator from South Carolina, that the North has prospered at the expense + of the South in consequence of the manner of administering this + Government, in the collection of its revenues, and so forth. These are + disputed topics, and I have no inclination to enter into them. But I will + allude to other complaints of the South, and especially to one which has + in my opinion, just foundation; and that is, that there has been found at + the North, among individuals and among legislators, a disinclination to + perform fully their constitutional duties in regard to the return of + persons bound to service who have escaped into the free States. In that + respect, the South, in my judgment, is right, and the North is wrong. + Every member of every Northern legislature is bound by oath, like every + other officer in the country, to support the Constitution of the United + States; and the article of the Constitution which says to these States + that they shall deliver up fugitives from service, is as binding in honor + and conscience as any other article. No man fulfils his duty in any + legislature who sets himself to find excuses, evasions, escapes from this + constitutional obligation. I have always thought that the Constitution + addressed itself to the legislatures of the States or to the States + themselves. It says that those persons escaping to other States "shall be + delivered up," and I confess I have always been of the opinion that it was + an injunction upon the States themselves. When it is said that a person + escaping into another State, and coming therefore within the jurisdiction + of that State, shall be delivered up, it seems to me the import of the + clause is, that the State itself, in obedience to the Constitution, shall + cause him to be delivered up. That is my judgment. I have always + entertained that opinion, and I entertain it now. But when the subject, + some years ago, was before the Supreme Court of the United States, the + majority of the judges held that the power to cause fugitives from service + to be delivered up was a power to be exercised under the authority of this + Government. I do not know, on the whole, that it may not have been a + fortunate decision. My habit is to respect the result of judicial + deliberations and the solemnity of judicial decisions. As it now stands, + the business of seeing that these fugitives are delivered up resides in + the power of Congress and the national judicature, and my friend at the + head of the Judiciary Committee has a bill on the subject now before the + Senate, which, with some amendments to it, I propose to support, with all + its provisions, to the fullest extent. And I desire to call the attention + of all sober-minded men at the North, of all conscientious men, of all men + who are not carried away by some fanatical idea or some false impression, + to their constitutional obligations. I put it to all the sober and sound + minds at the North as a question of morals and a question of conscience. + What right have they, in their legislative capacity, or any other + capacity, to endeavor to get round this Constitution, or to embarrass the + free exercise of the rights secured by the Constitution, to the person + whose slaves escape from them? None at all; none at all. Neither in the + forum of conscience, nor before the face of the Constitution, are they, in + my opinion, justified in such an attempt. Of course it is a matter for + their consideration. They probably, in the excitement of the times, have + not stopped to consider this. They have followed what seemed to be the + current of thought and of motives, as the occasion arose, and they have + neglected to investigate fully the real question, and to consider their + constitutional obligations; which, I am sure, if they did consider, they + would fulfil with alacrity. I repeat, therefore, sir, that here is a + well-founded ground of complaint against the North, which ought to be + removed, which is now in the power of the different departments of this + government to remove; which calls for the enactment of proper laws + authorizing the judicature of this Government, in the several States, to + do all that is necessary for the recapture of fugitive slaves and for + their restoration to those who claim them. Wherever I go, and whenever I + speak on the subject, and when I speak here I desire to speak to the whole + North, I say that the South has been injured in this respect, and has a + right to complain; and the North has been too careless of what I think the + Constitution peremptorily and emphatically enjoins upon her as a duty. + </p> + <p> + Complaint has been made against certain resolutions that emanate from + legislatures at the North, and are sent here to us, not only on the + subject of slavery in this District, but sometimes recommending Congress + to consider the means of abolishing slavery in the States. I should be + sorry to be called upon to present any resolutions here which could not be + referable to any committee or any power in Congress; and therefore I + should be unwilling to receive from the legislature of Massachusetts any + instructions to present resolutions expressive of any opinion whatever on + the subject of slavery, as it exists at the present moment in the States, + for two reasons: because I do not consider that I, as her representative + here, have any thing to do with it. It has become, in my opinion, quite + too common; and if the legislatures of the States do not like that + opinion, they have a great deal more power to put it down than I have to + uphold it; it has become, in my opinion, quite too common a practice for + the State legislatures to present resolutions here on all subjects and to + instruct us on all subjects. There is no public man that requires + instruction more than I do, or who requires information more than I do, or + desires it more heartily; but I do not like to have it in too imperative a + shape. * * * + </p> + <p> + Then, sir, there are the Abolition societies, of which I am unwilling to + speak, but in regard to which I have very clear notions and opinions. I do + not think them useful. I think their operations for the last twenty years + have produced nothing good or valuable. At the same time, I believe + thousands of their members to be honest and good men, perfectly + well-meaning men. They have excited feelings; they think they must do + something for the cause of liberty; and, in their sphere of action, they + do not see what else they can do than to contribute to an abolition press, + or an abolition society, or to pay an abolition lecturer. I do not mean to + impute gross motives even to the leaders of these societies, but I am not + blind to the consequences of their proceedings. I cannot but see what + mischief their interference with the South has produced. And is it not + plain to every man? Let any gentleman who entertains doubts on this point, + recur to the debates in the Virginia House of Delegates in 1832, and he + will see with what freedom a proposition made by Mr. Jefferson Randolph, + for the gradual abolition of slavery was discussed in that body. Every one + spoke of slavery as he thought; very ignominous and disparaging names and + epithets were applied to it. The debates in the House of Delegates on that + occasion, I believe were all published. They were read by every colored + man who could read, and to those who could not read, those debates were + read by others. At that time Virginia was not unwilling or afraid to + discuss this question, and to let that part of her population know as much + of the discussion as they could learn. That was in 1832. As has been said + by the honorable member from South Carolina, these abolition societies + commenced their course of action in 1835. It is said, I do not know how + true it may be, that they sent incendiary publications into the slave + States; at any rate, they attempted to arouse, and did arouse, a very + strong feeling; in other words, they created great agitation in the North + against Southern slavery. Well, what was the result? The bonds of the + slaves were bound more firmly than before, their rivets were more strongly + fastened. Public opinion, which in Virginia had begun to be exhibited + against slavery, and was opening out for the discussion of the question, + drew back and shut itself up in its castle. I wish to know whether anybody + in Virginia can now talk openly, as Mr. Randolph, Governor McDowel, and + others talked in 1832, and sent their remarks to the press? We all know + the fact, and we all know the cause; and every thing that these agitating + people have done has been, not to enlarge, but to restrain, not to set + free, but to bind faster, the slave population of the South. * * * + </p> + <p> + There are also complaints of the North against the South. I need not go + over them particularly. The first and gravest is, that the North adopted + the Constitution, recognizing the existence of slavery in the States, and + recognizing the right, to a certain extent, of the representation of + slaves in Congress, under a state of sentiment and expectation which does + not now exist; and that by events, by circumstances, by the eagerness of + the South to acquire territory and extend her slave population, the North + finds itself, in regard to the relative influence of the South and the + North, of the free States and the slave States, where it never did expect + to find itself when they agreed to the compact of the Constitution. They + complain, therefore, that, instead of slavery being regarded as an evil, + as it was then, an evil which all hoped would be extinguished gradually, + it is now regarded by the South as an institution to be cherished, and + preserved, and extended; an institution which the South has already + extended to the utmost of her power by the acquisition of new territory. + </p> + <p> + Well, then, passing from that, everybody in the North reads; and everybody + reads whatsoever the newspapers contain; and the news-papers, some of + them, especially those presses to which I have alluded, are careful to + spread about among the people every reproachful sentiment uttered by any + Southern man bearing at all against the North; every thing that is + calculated to exasperate and to alienate; and there are many such things, + as everybody will admit, from the South, or from portions of it, which are + disseminated among the reading people; and they do exasperate, and + alienate, and produce a most mischievous effect upon the public mind at + the North. Sir, I would not notice things of this sort appearing in + obscure quarters; but one thing has occurred in this debate which struck + me very forcibly. An honorable member from Louisiana addressed us the + other day on this subject. I suppose there is not a more amiable and + worthy gentleman in this chamber, nor a gentleman who would be more slow + to give offence to any body, and he did not mean in his remarks to give + offence. But what did he say? Why, sir, he took pains to run a contrast + between the slaves of the South and the laboring people of the North, + giving the preference, in all points of condition, and comfort, and + happiness to the slaves of the South. The honorable member, doubtless, did + not suppose that he gave any offence, or did any injustice. He was merely + expressing his opinion. But does he know how remarks of that sort will be + received by the laboring people of the North? Why, who are the laboring + people of the North? They are the whole North. They are the people who + till their own farms with their own hands; freeholders, educated men, + independent men. Let me say, sir, that five sixths of the whole property + of the North is in the hands of the laborers of the North; they cultivate + their farms, they educate their children, they provide the means of + independence. If they are not freeholders, they earn wages; these wages + accumulate, are turned into capital, into new freeholds, and small + capitalists are created. Such is the case, and such the course of things, + among the industrious and frugal. And what can these people think when so + respectable and worthy a gentleman as the member from Louisiana undertakes + to prove that the absolute ignorance and the abject slavery of the South + are more in conformity with the high purposes and destiny of immortal, + rational, human beings, than the educated, the independent free labor of + the North? + </p> + <p> + There is a more tangible and irritating cause of grievance at the North. + Free blacks are constantly employed in the vessels of the North, generally + as cooks or stewards. When the vessel arrives at a southern port, these + free colored men are taken on shore, by the police or municipal authority, + imprisoned, and kept in prison till the vessel is again ready to sail. + This is not only irritating, but exceedingly unjustifiable and oppressive. + Mr. Hoar's mission, some time ago to South Carolina, was a well-intended + effort to remove this cause of complaint. The North thinks such + imprisonments illegal and unconstitutional; and as the cases occur + constantly and frequently they regard it as a grievance. + </p> + <p> + Now, sir, so far as any of these grievances have their foundation in + matters of law, they can be redressed, and ought to be redressed; and so + far as they have their foundation in matters of opinion, in sentiment, in + mutual crimination and recrimination, all that we can do is to endeavor to + allay the agitation, and cultivate a better feeling and more fraternal + sentiments between the South and the North. + </p> + <p> + Mr. President, I should much prefer to have heard from every member on + this floor declarations of opinion that this Union could never be + dissolved, than the declaration of opinion by anybody, that in any case, + under the pressure of any circumstances, such a dissolution was possible. + I hear with distress and anguish the word "secession," especially when it + falls from the lips of those who are patriotic, and known to the country, + and known all over the world for their political services. Secession! + Peaceable secession! Sir, your eyes and mine are never destined to see + that miracle. The dismemberment of this vast country without convulsion! + The breaking up of the fountains of the great deep without ruffling the + surface! Who is so foolish—I beg everybody's pardon—as to + expect to see any such thing? Sir, he who sees these States, now revolving + in harmony around a common centre, and expects to see them quit their + places and fly off without convulsion, may look the next hour to see the + heavenly bodies rush from their spheres, and jostle against each other in + the realms of space, without causing the wreck of the universe. There can + be no such thing as a peaceable secession. Peaceable secession is an utter + impossibility. Is the great Constitution under which we live, covering + this whole country, is it to be thawed and melted away by secession, as + the snows on the mountain melt under the influence of a vernal sun, + disappear almost unobserved, and run off? No, sir! No, sir! I will not + state what might produce the disruption of the Union; but, sir, I see as + plainly as I can see the sun in heaven what that disruption itself must + produce; I see that it must produce war, and such a war as I will not + describe, in its twofold character. + </p> + <p> + Peaceable secession! Peaceable secession! The concurrent agreement of all + the members of this great Republic to separate! A voluntary separation, + with alimony on one side and on the other. Why, what would be the result? + Where is the line to be drawn? What States are to secede? What is to + remain American? What am I to be? An American no longer? Am I to become a + sectional man, a local man, a separatist, with no country in common with + the gentlemen who sit around me here, or who fill the other house of + Congress? Heaven forbid! Where is the flag of the Republic to remain? + Where is the eagle still to tower? or is he to cower, and shrink, and fall + to the ground? Why, sir, our ancestors, our fathers and our grandfathers, + those of them that are yet living amongst us with prolonged lives, would + rebuke and reproach us; and our children and our grandchildren would cry + out shame upon us, if we of this generation should dishonor these ensigns + of the power of the Government and the harmony of that Union which is + every day felt among us with so much joy and gratitude. What is to become + of the army? What is to become of the navy? What is to become of the + public lands? How is each of the thirty States to defend itself? I know, + although the idea has not been stated distinctly, there is to be, or it is + supposed possible that there will be, a Southern Confederacy. I do not + mean, when I allude to this statement, that any one seriously contemplates + such a state of things. I do not mean to say that it is true, but I have + heard it suggested elsewhere, that the idea has been entertained, that, + after the dissolution of this Union, a Southern Confederacy might be + formed. I am sorry, sir, that it has ever been thought of, talked of, in + the wildest flights of human imagination. But the idea, so far as it + exists, must be of a separation, assigning the slave States to one side, + and the free States to the other. Sir, I may express myself too strongly, + perhaps, but there are impossibilities in the natural as well as in the + physical world, and I hold the idea of the separation of these States, + those that are free to form one government, and those that are + slave-holding to form another, as such an impossibility. We could not + separate the States by any such line, if we were to draw it. We could not + sit down here to-day and draw a line of separation that would satisfy any + five men in the country. There are natural causes that would keep and tie + us together, and there are social and domestic relations which we could + not break if we would, and which we should not if we could. + </p> + <p> + Sir, nobody can look over the face of this country at the present moment, + nobody can see where its population is the most dense and growing, without + being ready to admit, and compelled to admit, that erelong the strength of + America will be in the Valley of the Mississippi. Well, now, sir, I beg to + inquire what the wildest enthusiast has to say on the possibility of + cutting that river in two, and leaving free States at its source and on + its branches, and slave States down near its mouth, each forming a + separate government? Pray, sir, let me say to the people of this country, + that these things are worthy of their pondering and of their + consideration. Here, sir, are five millions of freemen in the free States + north of the river Ohio. Can anybody suppose that this population can be + severed, by a line that divides them from the territory of a foreign and + alien government, down somewhere, the Lord knows where, upon the lower + banks of the Mississippi? What would become of Missouri? Will she join the + arrondissement of the slave States? Shall the man from the Yellowstone and + the Platte be connected, in the new republic, with the man who lives on + the southern extremity of the Cape of Florida? Sir, I am ashamed to pursue + this line of remark. I dislike it, I have an utter disgust for it. I would + rather hear of natural blasts and mildews, war, pestilence, and famine, + than to hear gentlemen talk of secession. To break up this great + Government! to dismember this glorious country! to astonish Europe with an + act of folly such as Europe for two centuries has never beheld in any + government or any people! No, sir! no, sir! There will be no secession! + Gentlemen are not serious when they talk of secession. + </p> + <p> + Sir, I hear there is to be a convention held at Nashville. I am bound to + believe that if worthy gentlemen meet at Nashville in convention, their + object will be to adopt conciliatory counsels; to advise the South to + forbearance and moderation, and to advise the North to forbearance and + moderation; and to inculcate principles of brotherly love and affection, + and attachment to the Constitution of the country as it now is. I believe, + if the convention meet at all, it will be for this purpose; for certainly, + if they meet for any purpose hostile to the Union, they have been + singularly inappropriate in their selection of a place. I remember, sir, + that, when the treaty of Amiens was concluded between France and England, + a sturdy Englishman and a distinguished orator, who regarded the + conditions of the peace as ignominious to England, said in the House of + Commons, that if King William could know the terms of that treaty, he + would turn in his coffin! Let me commend this saying to Mr. Windham, in + all its emphasis and in all its force, to any persons who shall meet at + Nashville for the purpose of concerting measures for the overthrow of this + Union over the bones of Andrew Jackson. * * * + </p> + <p> + And now, Mr. President, instead of speaking of the possibility or utility + of secession, instead of dwelling in those caverns of darkness, instead of + groping with those ideas so full of all that is horrid and horrible, let + us come out into the light of the day; let us enjoy the fresh air of + Liberty and Union; let us cherish those hopes which belong to us; let us + devote ourselves to those great objects that are fit for our consideration + and our action; let us raise our conceptions to the magnitude and the + importance of the duties that devolve upon us; let our comprehension be as + broad as the country for which we act, our aspirations as high as its + certain destiny; let us not be pigmies in a case that calls for men. Never + did there devolve on any generation of men higher trusts than now devolve + upon us, for the preservation of this Constitution and the harmony and + peace of all who are destined to live under it. Let us make our generation + one of the strongest and brightest links in that golden chain which is + destined, I fondly believe, to grapple the people of all the States to + this Constitution for ages to come. We have a great, popular, + Constitutional Government, guarded by law and by judicature, and defended + by the affections of the whole people. No monarchical throne presses these + States together, no iron chain of military power encircles them; they live + and stand under a Government popular in its form, representative in its + character, founded upon principles of equality, and so constructed, we + hope, as to last forever. In all its history it has been beneficent; it + has trodden down no man's liberty; it has crushed no State. Its daily + respiration is liberty and patriotism; its yet youthful veins are full of + enterprise, courage, and honorable love of glory and renown. Large before, + the country has now, by recent events, become vastly larger. This Republic + now extends, with a vast breadth across the whole continent. The two great + seas of the world wash the one and the other shore. We realize, on a + mighty scale, the beautiful description of the ornamental border of the + buckler of Achilles: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "Now, the broad shield complete, the artist crowned + With his last hand, and poured the ocean round; + In living silver seemed the waves to roll, + And beat the buckler's verge, and bound the whole." +</pre> + <p> + <a name="linkimage-0005" id="linkimage-0005"> + <!-- IMG --></a> + </p> + <div class="fig" style="width:80%"> + <img src="images/clay.jpg" alt="Henry Clay " width="100%" /><br /> + </div> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0011" id="link2H_4_0011"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + HENRY CLAY, + </h2> + <h3> + OF KENTUCKY, (BORN 1777, DIED 1852.) + </h3> + <p> + ON THE COMPROMISE OF 1850; UNITED STATES SENATE, JULY 22, 1850. MR. + PRESIDENT: + </p> + <p> + In the progress of this debate it has been again and again argued that + perfect tranquillity reigns throughout the country, and that there is no + disturbance threatening its peace, endangering its safety, but that which + was produced by busy, restless politicians. It has been maintained that + the surface of the public mind is perfectly smooth and undisturbed by a + single billow. I most heartily wish I could concur in this picture of + general tranquillity that has been drawn upon both sides of the Senate. I + am no alarmist; nor, I thank God, at the advanced age at which His + providence has been pleased to allow me to reach, am I very easily alarmed + by any human event; but I totally misread the signs of the times, if there + be that state of profound peace and quiet, that absence of all just cause + of apprehension of future danger to this confederacy, which appears to be + entertained by some other senators. Mr. President, all the tendencies of + the times, I lament to say, are toward disquietude, if not more fatal + consequences. When before, in the midst of profound peace with all the + nations of the earth, have we seen a convention, representing a + considerable portion of one great part of the Republic, meet to deliberate + about measures of future safety in connection with great interests of that + quarter of the country? When before have we seen, not one, but more—some + half a dozen legislative bodies solemnly resolving that if any one of + these measures—the admission of California, the adoption of the + Wilmot proviso, the abolition of slavery in the District of Columbia—should + be adopted by Congress, measures of an extreme character, for the safety + of the great interests to which I refer, in a particular section of the + country, would be resorted to? For years, this subject of the abolition of + slavery, even within this District of Columbia, small as is the number of + slaves here, has been a source of constant irritation and disquiet. So of + the subject of the recovery of fugitive slaves who have escaped from their + lawful owners: not a mere border contest, as has been supposed—although + there, undoubtedly, it has given rise to more irritation than in other + portions of the Union—but everywhere through-out the slave-holding + country it has been felt as a great evil, a great wrong which required the + intervention of congressional power. But these two subjects, unpleasant as + has been the agitation to which they have given rise, are nothing in + comparison to those which have sprung out of the acquisitions recently + made from the Republic of Mexico. These are not only great and leading + causes of just apprehension as respects the future, but all the minor + circumstances of the day intimate danger ahead, whatever may be its final + issue and consequence. * * * + </p> + <p> + Mr. President, I will not dwell upon other concomitant causes, all having + the same tendency, and all well calculated to awaken, to arouse us—if, + as I hope the fact is, we are all of us sincerely desirous of preserving + this Union—to rouse us to dangers which really exist, without + underrating them upon the one hand, or magnifying them upon the other. * * + * + </p> + <p> + It has been objected against this measure that it is a compromise. It has + been said that it is a compromise of principle, or of a principle. Mr. + President, what is a compromise? It is a work of mutual concession—an + agreement in which there are reciprocal stipulations—a work in + which, for the sake of peace and concord, one party abates his extreme + demands in consideration of an abatement of extreme demands by the other + party: it is a measure of mutual concession—a measure of mutual + sacrifice. Undoubtedly, Mr. President, in all such measures of compromise, + one party would be very glad to get what he wants, and reject what he does + not desire, but which the other party wants. But when he comes to reflect + that, from the nature of the Government and its operations, and from those + with whom he is dealing, it is necessary upon his part, in order to secure + what he wants, to grant something to the other side, he should be + reconciled to the concession which he has made, in consequence of the + concession which he is to receive, if there is no great principle + involved, such as a violation of the Constitution of the United States. I + admit that such a compromise as that ought never to be sanctioned or + adopted. But I now call upon any senator in his place to point out from + the beginning to the end, from California to New Mexico, a solitary + provision in this bill which is violative of the Constitution of the + United States. + </p> + <p> + Sir, adjustments in the shape of compromise may be made without producing + any such consequences as have been apprehended. There may be a mutual + forbearance. You forbear on your side to insist upon the application of + the restriction denominated the Wilmot proviso. Is there any violation of + principle there? The most that can be said, even assuming the power to + pass the Wilmot proviso, which is denied, is that there is a forbearance + to exercise, not a violation of, the power to pass the proviso. So, upon + the other hand, if there was a power in the Constitution of the United + States authorizing the establishment of slavery in any of the Territories—a + power, however, which is controverted by a large portion of this Senate—if + there was a power under the Constitution to establish slavery, the + forbearance to exercise that power is no violation of the Constitution, + any more than the Constitution is violated by a forbearance to exercise + numerous powers, that might be specified, that are granted in the + Constitution, and that remain dormant until they come to be exercised by + the proper legislative authorities. It is said that the bill presents the + state of coercion—that members are coerced, in order to get what + they want, to vote for that which they disapprove. Why, sir, what coercion + is there? * * * Can it be said upon the part of our Northern friends, + because they have not got the Wilmot proviso incorporated in the + territorial part of the bill, that they are coerced—wanting + California, as they do, so much—to vote for the bill, if they do + vote for it? Sir, they might have imitated the noble example of my friend + (Senator Cooper, of Pennsylvania), from that State upon whose devotion to + this Union I place one of my greatest reliances for its preservation. What + was the course of my friend upon this subject of the Wilmot proviso? He + voted for it; and he could go back to his constituents and say, as all of + you could go back and say to your constituents, if you chose to do so—"We + wanted the Wilmot proviso in the bill; we tried to get it in; but the + majority of the Senate was against it." The question then came up whether + we should lose California, which has got an interdiction in her + constitution, which, in point of value and duration, is worth a thousand + Wilmot provisos; we were induced, as my honorable friend would say, to + take the bill and the whole of it together, although we were disappointed + in our votes with respect to the Wilmot proviso—to take it, whatever + omissions may have been made, on account of the superior amount of good it + contains. * * * + </p> + <p> + Not the reception of the treaty of peace negotiated at Ghent, nor any + other event which has occurred during my progress in public life, ever + gave such unbounded and universal satisfaction as the settlement of the + Missouri compromise. We may argue from like causes like effects. Then, + indeed, there was great excitement. Then, indeed, all the legislatures of + the North called out for the exclusion of Missouri, and all the + legislatures of the South called out for her admission as a State. Then, + as now, the country was agitated like the ocean in the midst of a + turbulent storm. But now, more than then, has this agitation been + increased. Now, more than then, are the dangers which exist, if the + controversy remains unsettled, more aggravated and more to be dreaded. The + idea of disunion was then scarcely a low whisper. Now, it has become a + familiar language in certain portions of the country. The public mind and + the public heart are becoming familiarized with that most dangerous and + fatal of all events—the disunion of the States. People begin to + contend that this is not so bad a thing as they had supposed. Like the + progress in all human affairs, as we approach danger it disappears, it + diminishes in our conception, and we no longer regard it with that awful + apprehension of consequences that we did before we came into contact with + it. Everywhere now there is a state of things, a degree of alarm and + apprehension, and determination to fight, as they regard it, against the + aggressions of the North. That did not so demonstrate itself at the period + of the Missouri compromise. It was followed, in consequence of the + adoption of the measure which settled the difficulty of Missouri, by + peace, harmony, and tranquillity. So, now, I infer, from the greater + amount of agitation, from the greater amount of danger, that, if you adopt + the measures under consideration, they, too, will be followed by the same + amount of contentment, satisfaction, peace, and tranquillity, which ensued + after the Missouri compromise. * * * + </p> + <p> + The responsibility of this great measure passes from the hands of the + committee, and from my hands. They know, and I know, that it is an awful + and tremendous responsibility. I hope that you will meet it with a just + conception and a true appreciation of its magnitude, and the magnitude of + the consequences that may ensue from your decision one way or, the other. + The alternatives, I fear, which the measure presents, are concord and + increased discord; a servile civil war, originating in its causes on the + lower Rio Grande, and terminating possibly in its consequences on the + upper Rio Grande in the Santa Fe country, or the restoration of harmony + and fraternal kindness. I believe from the bottom of my soul, that the + measure is the reunion of this Union. I believe it is the dove of peace, + which, taking its aerial flight from the dome of the Capitol, carries the + glad tidings of assured peace and restored harmony to all the remotest + extremities of this distracted land. I believe that it will be attended + with all these beneficent effects. And now let us discard all resentment, + all passions, all petty jealousies, all personal desires, all love of + place, all hankerings after the gilded crumbs which fall from the table of + power. Let us forget popular fears, from whatever quarter they may spring. + Let us go to the limpid fountain of unadulterated patriotism, and, + performing a solemn lustration, return divested of all selfish, sinister, + and sordid impurities, and think alone of our God, our country, our + consciences, and our glorious Union—that Union without which we + shall be torn into hostile fragments, and sooner or later become the + victims of military despotism, or foreign domination. + </p> + <p> + Mr. President, what is an individual man? An atom, almost invisible + without a magnifying glass—a mere speck upon the surface of the + immense universe; not a second in time, compared to immeasurable, + never-beginning, and never-ending eternity; a drop of water in the great + deep, which evaporates and is borne off by the winds; a grain of sand, + which is soon gathered to the dust from which it sprung. Shall a being so + small, so petty, so fleeting, so evanescent, oppose itself to the onward + march of a great nation, which is to subsist for ages and ages to come; + oppose itself to that long line of posterity which, issuing from our + loins, will endure during the existence of the world? Forbid it, God. Let + us look to our country and our cause, elevate ourselves to the dignity of + pure and disinterested patriots, and save our country from all impending + dangers. What if, in the march of this nation to greatness and power, we + should be buried beneath the wheels that propel it onward! What are we—what + is any man—worth who is not ready and willing to sacrifice himself + for the benefit of his country when it is necessary? * * * + </p> + <p> + If this Union shall become separated, new unions, new confederacies will + arise. And with respect to this, if there be any—I hope there is no + one in the Senate—before whose imagination is flitting the idea of a + great Southern Confederacy to take possession of the Balize and the mouth + of the Mississippi, I say in my place never! never! NEVER! will we who + occupy the broad waters of the Mississippi and its upper tributaries + consent that any foreign flag shall float at the Balize or upon the + turrets of the Crescent City—NEVER! NEVER! I call upon all the + South. Sir, we have had hard words, bitter words, bitter thoughts, + unpleasant feelings toward each other in the progress of this great + measure. Let us forget them. Let us sacrifice these feelings. Let us go to + the altar of our country and swear, as the oath was taken of old, that we + will stand by her; that we will support her; that we will uphold her + Constitution; that we will preserve her Union; and that we will pass this + great, comprehensive, and healing system of measures, which will hush all + the jarring elements, and bring peace and tranquillity to our homes. + </p> + <p> + Let me, Mr. President, in conclusion, say that the most disastrous + consequences would occur, in my opinion, were we to go home, doing nothing + to satisfy and tranquillize the country upon these great questions. What + will be the judgment of mankind, what the judgment of that portion of + mankind who are looking upon the progress of this scheme of + self-government as being that which holds the highest hopes and + expectations of ameliorating the condition of mankind—what will + their judgment be? Will not all the monarchs of the Old World pronounce + our glorious Republic a disgraceful failure? What will be the judgment of + our constituents, when we return to them and they ask us: "How have you + left your country? Is all quiet—all happy? Are all the seeds of + distraction or division crushed and dissipated?" And, sir, when you come + into the bosom of your family, when you come to converse with the partner + of your fortunes, of your happiness, and of your sorrows, and when in the + midst of the common offspring of both of you, she asks you: "Is there any + danger of civil war? Is there any danger of the torch being applied to any + portion of the country? Have you settled the questions which you have been + so long discussing and deliberating upon at Washington? Is all peace and + all quiet?" what response, Mr. President, can you make to that wife of + your choice and those children with whom you have been blessed by God? + Will you go home and leave all in disorder and confusion—all + unsettled—all open? The contentions and agitations of the past will + be increased and augmented by the agitations resulting from our neglect to + decide them. Sir, we shall stand condemned by all human judgment below, + and of that above it is not for me to speak. We shall stand condemned in + our own consciences, by our own constituents, and by our own country. The + measure may be defeated. I have been aware that its passage for many days + was not absolutely certain. From the first to the last, I hoped and + believed it would pass, because from the first to the last I believed it + was founded on the principles of just and righteous concession of mutual + conciliation. I believe that it deals unjustly by no part of the Republic; + that it saves their honor, and, as far as it is dependent upon Congress, + saves the interests of all quarters of the country. But, sir, I have known + that the decision of its fate depended upon four or five votes in the + Senate of the United States, whose ultimate judgment we could not count + upon the one side or the other with absolute certainty. Its fate is now + committed to the Senate, and to those five or six votes to which I have + referred. It may be defeated. It is possible that, for the chastisement of + our sins and transgressions, the rod of Providence may be still applied to + us, may be still suspended over us. But, if defeated, it will be a triumph + of ultraism and impracticability—a triumph of a most extraordinary + conjunction of extremes; a victory won by abolitionism; a victory achieved + by freesoilism; a victory of discord and agitation over peace and + tranquillity; and I pray to Almighty God that it may not, in consequence + of the inauspicious result, lead to the most unhappy and disastrous + consequences to our beloved country. + </p> + <p> + MR. BARNWELL:—It is not my intention to reply to the argument of the + Senator from Kentucky, but there were expressions used by him not a little + disrespectful to a friend whom I hold very dear. * * * It is true that his + political opinions differ very widely from those of the Senator from + Kentucky. It may be true, that he, with many great statesmen, may believe + that the Wilmot proviso is a grievance to be resisted "to the utmost + extremity" by those whose rights it destroys and whose honor it degrades. + It is true that he may believe * * * that the admission of California will + be the passing of the Wilmot proviso, when we here in Congress give + vitality to an act otherwise totally dead, and by our legislation exclude + slaveholders from that whole broad territory on the Pacific; and, + entertaining this opinion, he may have declared that the contingency will + then have occurred which will, in the judgment of most of the + slave-holding States, as expressed by their resolutions, justify + resistance as to an intolerable aggression. If he does entertain and has + expressed such sentiments, he is not to be held up as peculiarly a + disunionist. Allow me to say, in reference to this matter, I regret that + you have brought it about, but it is true that this epithet "disunionist" + is likely soon to have very little terror in it in the South. Words do not + make things. "Rebel" was designed as a very odious term when applied by + those who would have trampled on the rights of our ancestors, but I + believe that the expression became not an ungrateful one to the ears of + those who resisted them. It was not the lowest term of abuse to call those + who were conscious that they were struggling against oppression; and let + me assure gentlemen that the term disunionist is rapidly assuming at the + South the meaning which rebel took when it was baptized in the blood of + Warren at Bunker Hill, and illustrated by the gallantry of Jasper at Fort + Moultrie. * * * + </p> + <p> + MR. CLAY:—Mr. President, I said nothing with respect to the + character of Mr. Rhett, for I might as well name him. I know him + personally, and have some respect for him. But, if he pronounced the + sentiment attributed to him—of raising the standard of disunion and + of resistance to the common government, whatever he has been, if he + follows up that declaration by corresponding overt acts, he will be a + traitor, and I hope he will meet the fate of a traitor. + </p> + <p> + THE PRESIDENT:—The Chair will be under the necessity of ordering the + gallery to be cleared if there is again the slightest interruption. He has + once already given warning that he is under the necessity of keeping + order. The Senate chamber is not a theatre. + </p> + <p> + MR. CLAY:—Mr. President, I have heard with pain and regret a + confirmation of the remark I made, that the sentiment of disunion is + becoming familiar. I hope it is confined to South Carolina. I do not + regard as my duty what the honorable Senator seems to regard as his. If + Kentucky to-morrow unfurls the banner of resistance unjustly, I never will + fight under that banner. I owe a paramount allegiance to the whole Union—a + subordinate one to my own State. When my State is right—when it has + a cause for resistance—when tyranny, and wrong, and oppression + insufferable arise, I will then share her fortunes; but if she summons me + to the battle-field, or to support her in any cause which is unjust, + against the Union, never, never will I engage with her in such cause. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0012" id="link2H_4_0012"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + WENDELL PHILLIPS, + </h2> + <h3> + OF MASSACIUSETTS. (BORN 1811, DIED 1884.) + </h3> + <p> + ON THE PHILOSOPHY OF THE ABOLITION MOVEMENT, BEFORE THE MASSACHUSETTS + ANTI-SLAVERY SOCIETY, AT BOSTON, JANUARY 27, 1853. + </p> + <p> + Mr. CHAIRMAN: + </p> + <p> + I have to present, from the business committee, the following resolution: + </p> + <p> + Resolved; That the object of this society is now, as it has always been, + to convince our countrymen, by arguments addressed to their hearts and + consciences, that slave-holding is a heinous crime, and that the duty, + safety, and interest of all concerned demand its immediate abolition + without expatriation. + </p> + <p> + I wish, Mr, Chairman, to notice some objections that have been made to our + course ever since Mr. Garrison began his career, and which have been + lately urged again, with considerable force and emphasis, in the columns + of the London Leader, the able organ of a very respectable and influential + class in England. * * * The charges to which I refer are these: That, in + dealing with slave-holders and their apologists, we indulge in fierce + denunciations, instead of appealing to their reason and common sense by + plain statements and fair argument; that we might have won the sympathies + and support of the nation, if we would have submitted to argue this + question with a manly patience; but, instead of this, we have outraged the + feelings of the community by attacks, unjust and unnecessarily severe, on + its most valued institutions, and gratified our spleen by indiscriminate + abuse of leading men, who were often honest in their intentions, however + mistaken in their views; that we have utterly neglected the ample means + that lay around us to convert the nation, submitted to no discipline, + formed no plan, been guided by no foresight, but hurried on in childish, + reckless, blind, and hot-headed zeal,—bigots in the narrowness of + our views, and fanatics in our blind fury of invective and malignant + judgment of other men's motives. + </p> + <p> + There are some who come upon our platform, and give us the aid of names + and reputations less burdened than ours with popular odium,who are + perpetually urging us to exercise charity in our judgments of those about + us, and to consent to argue these questions. These men are ever parading + their wish to draw a line between themselves and us, because they must be + permitted to wait,—to trust more to reason than feeling,—to + indulge a generous charity,—to rely on the sure influence of simple + truth, uttered in love, etc., etc. I reject with scorn all these + implications that our judgments are uncharitable,—that we are + lacking in patience,—that we have any other dependence than on the + simple truth, spoken with Christian frankness, yet with Christian love. + These lectures, to which you, sir, and all of us, have so often listened, + would be impertinent, if they were not rather ridiculous for the gross + ignorance they betray of the community, of the cause, and of the whole + course of its friends. + </p> + <p> + The article in the <i>Leader</i> to which I refer is signed "ION," and may + be found in the <i>Liberator</i> of December 17, 1852. * * * "Ion" quotes + Mr Garrison's original declaration in the <i>Liberator</i>: "I am aware + that many object to the severity of my language; but is there not cause + for severity? I <i>will</i> be as harsh as truth and as uncompromising as + justice. I am in earnest,—I will not equivocate,—I will not + excuse,—I will not retreat a single inch,—AND I WILL BE HEARD. + It is pretended that I am retarding the cause of emancipation by the + coarseness of my invective and the precipitancy of my measures. The charge + is not true. On this question, my influence, humble as it is, is felt at + this moment to a considerable extent, and shall be felt in coming years, + not perniciously, but beneficially; not as a curse, but as a blessing; and + posterity will bear testimony that I was right. I desire to thank God that + He enables me to disregard 'the fear of man which bringeth a snare,' and + to speak His truth in its simplicity and power." * * * + </p> + <p> + "Ion's" charges are the old ones, that we Abolitionists are hurting our + own cause; that, instead of waiting for the community to come up to our + views, and endeavoring to remove prejudice and enlighten ignorance by + patient explanation and fair argument, we fall at once, like children, to + abusing every thing and everybody; that we imagine zeal will supply the + place of common sense; that we have never shown any sagacity in adapting + our means to our ends; have never studied the national character, or + attempted to make use of the materials which lay all about us to influence + public opinion, but by blind, childish, obstinate fury and indiscriminate + denunciation, have become "honestly impotent, and conscientious + hinderances." + </p> + <p> + I claim, before you who know the true state of the case, I claim for the + antislavery movement with which this society is identified, that, looking + back over its whole course, and considering the men connected with it in + the mass, it has been marked by sound judgment, unerring foresight, the + most sagacious adaptation of means to ends, the strictest self-discipline, + the most thorough research, and an amount of patient and manly argument + addressed to the conscience and intellect of the nation, such as no other + cause of the kind, in England or this country, has ever offered. I claim, + also, that its course has been marked by a cheerful surrender of all + individual claims to merit or leadership,—the most cordial welcoming + of the slightest effort, of every honest attempt, to lighten or to break + the chain of the slave. I need not waste time by repeating the superfluous + confession that we are men, and therefore do not claim to be perfect. + Neither would I be understood as denying that we use denunciation, and + ridicule, and every other weapon that the human mind knows. We must plead + guilty, if there be guilt in not knowing how to separate the sin from the + sinner. With all the fondness for abstractions attributed to us, we are + not yet capable of that. We are fighting a momentous battle at desperate + odds,—one against a thousand. Every weapon that ability or + ignorance, wit, wealth, prejudice, or fashion can command, is pointed + against us. The guns are shotted to their lips. The arrows are poisoned. + Fighting against such an array, we cannot afford to confine ourselves to + any one weapon. The cause is not ours, so that we might, rightfully, + postpone or put in peril the victory by moderating our demands, stifling + our convictions, or filing down our rebukes, to gratify any sickly taste + of our own, or to spare the delicate nerves of our neighbor. Our clients + are three millions of Christian slaves, standing dumb suppliants at the + threshold of the Christian world. They have no voice but ours to utter + their complaints, or to demand justice. The press, the pulpit, the wealth, + the literature, the prejudices, the political arrangements, the present + self-interest of the country, are all against us. God has given us no + weapon but the truth, faithfully uttered, and addressed, with the old + prophets' directness, to the conscience of the individual sinner. The + elements which control public opinion and mould the masses are against us. + We can but pick off here and there a man from the triumphant majority. We + have facts for those who think, arguments for those who reason; but he who + cannot be reasoned out of his prejudices must be laughed out of them; he + who cannot be argued out of his selfishness must be shamed out of it by + the mirror of his hateful self held up relentlessly before his eyes. We + live in a land where every man makes broad his phylactery, inscribing + thereon, "All men are created equal,"—"God hath made of one blood + all nations of men." It seems to us that in such a land there must be, on + this question of slavery, sluggards to be awakened, as well as doubters to + be convinced. Many more, we verily believe, of the first than of the last. + There are far more dead hearts to be quickened, than confused intellects + to be cleared up,—more dumb dogs to be made to speak, than doubting + consciences to be enlightened. We have use, then, sometimes, for something + beside argument. + </p> + <p> + What is the denunciation with which we are charged? It is endeavoring, in + our faltering human speech, to declare the enormity of the sin of making + merchandize of men,—of separating husband and wife,—taking the + infant from its mother and selling the daughter to prostitution,—of + a professedly Christian nation denying, by statute, the Bible to every + sixth man and woman of its population, and making it illegal for "two or + three" to meet together, except a white man be present! What is this harsh + criticism of motives with which we are charged? It is simply holding the + intelligent and deliberate actor responsible for the character and + consequences of his acts. Is there any thing inherently wrong in such + denunciation of such criticism? This we may claim,—we have never + judged a man but out of his own mouth. We have seldom, if ever, held him + to account, except for acts of which he and his own friends were proud. + All that we ask the world and thoughtful men to note are the principles + and deeds on which the American pulpit and American public men plume + themselves. We always allow our opponents to paint their own pictures. Our + humble duty is to stand by and assure the spectators that what they would + take for a knave or a hypocrite is really, in American estimation, a + Doctor of Divinity or a Secretary of State. + </p> + <p> + The South is one great brothel, where half a million of women are flogged + to prostitution, or, worse still, are degraded to believe it honorable. + The public squares of half our great cities echo to the wail of families + torn asunder at the auction-block; no one of our fair rivers that has not + closed over the negro seeking in death a refuge from a life too wretched + to bear; thousands of fugitives skulk along our highways, afraid to tell + their names, and trembling at the sight of a human being; free men are + kidnapped in our streets, to be plunged into that hell of slavery; and now + and then one, as if by miracle, after long years returns to make men + aghast with his tale. The press says, "It is all right"; and the pulpit + cries, "Amen." They print the Bible in every tongue in which man utters + his prayers; and they get the money to do so by agreeing never to give the + book, in the language our mothers taught us, to any negro, free or bond, + south of Mason and Dixon's line. The press says, "It is all right"; and + the pulpit cries, "Amen." The slave lifts up his imploring eyes, and sees + in every face but ours the face of an enemy. Prove to me now that harsh + rebuke, indignant denunciation, scathing sarcasm, and pitiless ridicule + are wholly and always unjustifiable; else we dare not, in so desperate a + case, throw away any weapon which ever broke up the crust of an ignorant + prejudice, roused a slumbering conscience, shamed a proud sinner, or + changed in any way the conduct of a human being. Our aim is to alter + public opinion. Did we live in a market, our talk should be of dollars and + cents, and we would seek to prove only that slavery was an unprofitable + investment. Were the nation one great, pure church, we would sit down and + reason of "righteousness, temperance, and judgment to come." Had slavery + fortified itself in a college, we would load our cannons with cold facts, + and wing our arrows with arguments. But we happen to live in the world,—the + world made up of thought and impulse, of self-conceit and self-interest, + of weak men and wicked. To conquer, we must reach all. Our object is not + to make every man a Christian or a philosopher, but to induce every one to + aid in the abolition of slavery. We expect to accomplish our object long + before the nation is made over into saints or elevated into philosophers. + To change public opinion, we use the very tools by which it was formed. + That is, all such as an honest man may touch. + </p> + <p> + All this I am not only ready to allow, but I should be ashamed to think of + the slave, or to look into the face of my fellow-man, if it were + otherwise. It is the only thing which justifies us to our own consciences, + and makes us able to say we have done, or at least tried to do, our duty. + </p> + <p> + So far, however you distrust my philosophy, you will not doubt my + statements. That we have denounced and rebuked with unsparing fidelity + will not be denied. Have we not also addressed ourselves to that other + duty, of arguing our question thoroughly?—of using due discretion + and fair sagacity in endeavoring to promote our cause? Yes, we have. Every + statement we have made has been doubted. Every principle we have laid down + has been denied by overwhelming majorities against us. No one step has + ever been gained but by the most laborious research and the most + exhausting argument. And no question has ever, since Revolutionary days, + been so thoroughly investigated or argued here, as that of slavery. Of + that research and that argument, of the whole of it, the old-fashioned, + fanatical, crazy Garrisonian antislavery movement has been the author. + From this band of men has proceeded every important argument or idea which + has been broached on the antislavery question from 1830 to the present + time. I am well aware of the extent of the claim I make. I recognize, as + fully as any one can, the ability of the new laborers, the eloquence and + genius with which they have recommended this cause to the nation, and + flashed conviction home on the conscience of the community. I do not mean, + either, to assert that they have in every instance borrowed from our + treasury their facts and arguments. Left to themselves, they would + probably have looked up the one and originated the other. As a matter of + fact, however, they have generally made use of the materials collected to + their hands. * * * When once brought fully into the struggle, they have + found it necessary to adopt the same means, to rely on the same arguments, + to hold up the same men and the same measures to public reprobation, with + the same bold rebuke and unsparing invective that we have used. All their + conciliatory bearing, their painstaking moderation, their constant and + anxious endeavor to draw a broad line between their camp and ours, have + been thrown away. Just so far as they have been effective laborers, they + have found, as we have, their hands against every man, and every man's + hand against them. The most experienced of them are ready to acknowledge + that our plan has been wise, our course efficient, and that our + unpopularity is no fault of ours, but flows necessarily and unavoidably + from our position. "I should suspect," says old Fuller, "that his + preaching had no salt in it, if no galled horse did wince." Our friends + find, after all, that men do not so much hate us as the truth we utter and + the light we bring. They find that the community are not the honest + seekers after truth which they fancied, but selfish politicians and + sectarian bigots, who shiver, like Alexander's butler, whenever the sun + shines on them. Experience has driven these new laborers back to our + method. We have no quarrel with them—would not steal one wreath of + their laurels. All we claim is, that, if they are to be complimented as + prudent, moderate, Christian, sagacious, statesmanlike reformers, we + deserve the same praise; for they have done nothing that we, in our + measure, did not attempt before. + </p> + <p> + I claim this, that the cause, in its recent aspect, has put on nothing but + timidity. It has taken to itself no new weapons of recent years; it has + become more compromising,—that is all! It has become neither more + persuasive, more earnest, more Christian, more charitable, nor more + effective than for the twenty years pre-ceding. Mr. Hale, the head of the + Free Soil movement, after a career in the Senate that would do honor to + any man,—after a six years' course which entitles him to the respect + and confidence of the antislavery public, can put his name, within the + last month, to an appeal from the city of Washington, signed by a Houston + and a Cass, for a monument to be raised to Henry Clay! If that be the test + of charity and courtesy, we cannot give it to the world. Some of the + leaders of the Free Soil party of Massachusetts, after exhausting the + whole capacity of our language to paint the treachery of Daniel Webster to + the cause of liberty, and the evil they thought he was able and seeking to + do,—after that, could feel it in their hearts to parade themselves + in the funeral procession got up to do him honor! In this we allow we + cannot follow them. The deference which every gentleman owes to the + proprieties of social life, that self-respect and regard to consistency + which is every man's duty,—these, if no deeper feelings, will ever + prevent us from giving such proofs of this newly invented Christian + courtesy. We do not play politics, antislavery is no half-jest with us; it + is a terrible earnest, with life or death, worse than life or death, on + the issue. It is no lawsuit, where it matters not to the good feeling of + opposing counsel which way the verdict goes, and where advocates can shake + hands after the decision as pleasantly as before. When we think of such a + man as Henry Clay, his long life, his mighty influence cast always into + the scale against the slave, of that irresistible fascination with which + he moulded every one to his will; when we remember that, his conscience + acknowledging the justice of our cause, and his heart open on every other + side to the gentlest impulses, he could sacrifice so remorselessly his + convictions and the welfare of millions to his low ambition; when we think + how the slave trembled at the sound of his voice, and that, from a + multitude of breaking hearts there went up nothing but gratitude to God + when it pleased him to call that great sinner from this world, we cannot + find it in our hearts, we could not shape our lips to ask any man to do + him honor. No amount of eloquence, no sheen of official position, no loud + grief of partisan friends, would ever lead us to ask monuments or walk in + fine processions for pirates; and the sectarian zeal or selfish ambition + which gives up, deliberately and in full knowledge of the facts, three + million of human beings to hopeless ignorance, daily robbery, systematic + prostitution, and murder, which the law is neither able nor undertakes to + prevent or avenge, is more monstrous, in our eyes, than the love of gold + which takes a score of lives with merciful quickness on the high seas. + Haynau on the Danube is no more hateful to us than Haynau on the Potomac. + Why give mobs to one and monuments to the other? + </p> + <p> + If these things be necessary to courtesy, I cannot claim that we are + courteous. We seek only to be honest men, and speak the same of the dead + as of the living. If the grave that hides their bodies could swallow also + the evil they have done and the example they leave, we might enjoy at + least the luxury of forgetting them. But the evil that men do lives after + them, and example acquires tenfold authority when it speaks from the + grave. History, also, is to be written. How shall a feeble minority, + without weight or influence in the country, with no jury of millions to + appeal to—denounced, vilified, and contemned,—how shall we + make way against the overwhelming weight of some colossal reputation, if + we do not turn from the idolatrous present, and appeal to the human race? + saying to your idols of to-day: "Here we are defeated; but we will write + our judgment with the iron pen of a century to come, and it shall never be + forgotten, if we can help it, that you were false in your generation to + the claims of the slave!" * * * + </p> + <p> + We are weak here,—out-talked, out-voted. You load our names with + infamy, and shout us down. But our words bide their time. We warn the + living that we have terrible memories, and their sins are never to be + forgotten. We will gibbet the name of every apostate so black and high + that his children's children shall blush to bear it. Yet we bear no + malice,—cherish no resentment. We thank God that the love of fame, + "that last infirmity of noble minds," is shared by the ignoble. In our + necessity, we seize this weapon in the slave's behalf, and teach caution + to the living by meting out relentless justice to the dead. * * * "These, + Mr. Chairman, are the reasons why, we take care that 'the memory of the + wicked shall rot.'" + </p> + <p> + I have claimed that the antislavery cause has, from the first, been ably + and dispassionately argued, every objection candidly examined, and every + difficulty or doubt anywhere honestly entertained treated with respect. + Let me glance at the literature of the cause, and try not so much, in a + brief hour, to prove this assertion, as to point out the sources from + which any one may satisfy himself of its truth. + </p> + <p> + I will begin with certainly the ablest and perhaps the most honest + statesman who has ever touched the slave question. Any one who will + examine John Quincy Adams' speech on Texas, in 1838, will see that he was + only seconding the full and able exposure of the Texas plot, prepared by + Benjamin Lundy, to one of whose pamphlets Dr. Channing, in his "Letter to + Henry Clay," has confessed his obligation. Every one acquainted with those + years will allow that the North owes its earliest knowledge and first + awakening on that subject to Mr. Lundy, who made long journeys and devoted + years to the investigation. His labors have this attestation, that they + quickened the zeal and strengthened the hands of such men as Adams and + Channing. I have been told that Mr. Lundy prepared a brief for Mr. Adams, + and furnished him the materials for his speech on Texas. + </p> + <p> + Look next at the right of petition. Long before any member of Congress had + opened his mouth in its defence, the Abolition presses and lecturers had + examined and defended the limits of this right with profound historical + research and eminent constitutional ability. So thoroughly had the work + been done, that all classes of the people had made up their minds about it + long before any speaker of eminence had touched it in Congress. The + politicians were little aware of this. When Mr. Adams threw himself so + gallantly into the breach, it is said he wrote anxiously home to know + whether he would be supported in Massachusetts, little aware of the + outburst of popular gratitude which the northern breeze was even then + bringing him, deep and cordial enough to wipe away the old grudge + Massachusetts had borne him so long. Mr. Adams himself was only in favor + of receiving the petitions, and advised to refuse their prayer, which was + the abolition of slavery in the District of Columbia. He doubted the power + of Congress to abolish. His doubts were examined by Mr. William Goodell, + in two letters of most acute logic, and of masterly ability. If Mr. Adams + still retained his doubts, it is certain at least that he never expressed + them afterward. When Mr. Clay paraded the same objections, the whole + question of the power of Congress over the District was treated by + Theodore D. Weld in the fullest manner, and with the widest research,—indeed, + leaving nothing to be added: an argument which Dr. Channing characterized + as "demonstration," and pronounced the essay "one of the ablest pamphlets + from the American press." No answer was ever attempted. The best proof of + its ability is that no one since has presumed to doubt the power. Lawyers + and statesmen have tacitly settled down into its full acknowledgment. + </p> + <p> + The influence of the Colonization Society on the welfare of the colored + race was the first question our movement encountered. To the close logic, + eloquent appeals, and fully sustained charges of Mr. Garrison's letters on + that subject no answer was ever made. Judge Jay followed with a work full + and able, establishing every charge by the most patient investigation of + facts. It is not too much to say of these two volumes, that they left the + Colonization Society hopeless at the North. It dares never show its face + before the people, and only lingers in some few nooks of sectarian pride, + so secluded from the influence of present ideas as to be almost fossil in + their character. + </p> + <p> + The practical working of the slave system, the slave laws, the treatment + of slaves, their food, the duration of their lives, their ignorance and + moral condition, and the influence of Southern public opinion on their + fate, have been spread out in a detail and with a fulness of evidence + which no subject has ever received before in this country. Witness the + words of Phelps, Bourne, Rankin, Grimke, the <i>Anti-slavery Record</i>, + and, above all, that encyclopaedia of facts and storehouse of arguments, + the <i>Thousand Witnesses</i> of Mr. Theodore D. Weld. He also prepared + that full and valuable tract for the World's Convention called <i>Slavery + and the Internal Slave-Trade</i> in the United States, published in London + in 1841. Unique in antislavery literature is Mrs. Child's <i>Appeal</i>, + one of the ablest of our weapons, and one of the finest efforts of her + rare genius. + </p> + <p> + <i>The Princeton Review</i>, I believe, first challenged the Abolitionists + to an investigation of the teachings of the Bible on slavery. That field + had been somewhat broken by our English predecessors. But in England the + pro-slavery party had been soon shamed out of the attempt to drag the + Bible into their service, and hence the discussion there had been short + and some-what superficial. The pro-slavery side of the question has been + eagerly sustained by theological reviews and doctors of divinity without + number, from the half-way and timid faltering of Wayland up to the + unblushing and melancholy recklessness of Stuart. The argument on the + other side has come wholly from the Abolitionists; for neither Dr. Hague + nor Dr. Barnes can be said to have added any thing to the wide research, + critical acumen, and comprehensive views of Theodore D. Weld, Beriah + Green, J. G. Fee, and the old work of Duncan. + </p> + <p> + On the constitutional questions which have at various times arisen,—the + citizenship of the colored man, the soundness of the "Prigg" decision, the + constitutionality of the old Fugitive Slave Law, the true construction of + the slave-surrender clause,—nothing has been added, either in the + way of fact or argument, to the works of Jay, Weld, Alvan Stewart, E. G. + Loring, S. E. Sewall, Richard Hildreth, W. I. Bowditch, the masterly + essays of the <i>Emancipator</i> at New York and the <i>Liberator</i> at + Boston, and the various addresses of the Massachusetts and American + Societies for the last twenty years. The idea of the antislavery character + of the Constitution,—the opiate with which Free Soil quiets its + conscience for voting under a pro-slavery government,—I heard first + suggested by Mr. Garrison in 1838. It was elaborately argued that year in + all our antislavery gatherings, both here and in New York, and sustained + with great ability by Alvan Stewart, and in part by T. D. Weld. The + antislavery construction of the Constitution was ably argued in 1836, in + the <i>Antislavery Magazine</i>, by Rev. Samuel J. May, one of the very + first to seek the side of Mr. Garrison, and pledge to the slave his life + and efforts,—a pledge which thirty years of devoted labors have + redeemed. If it has either merit or truth, they are due to no legal + learning recently added to our ranks, but to some of the old and + well-known pioneers. This claim has since received the fullest + investigation from Mr. Lysander Spooner, who has urged it with all his + unrivalled ingenuity, laborious research, and close logic. He writes as a + lawyer, and has no wish, I believe, to be ranked with any class of + anti-slavery men. + </p> + <p> + The influence of slavery on our Government has received the profoundest + philosophical investigation from the pen of Richard Hildreth, in his + invaluable essay on <i>Despotism in America</i>,—a work which + deserves a place by the side of the ablest political disquisitions of any + age. + </p> + <p> + Even the vigorous mind of Rantoul, the ablest man, without doubt, of the + Democratic party, and perhaps the ripest politician in New England, added + little or nothing to the store-house of antislavery argument. * * * His + speeches on our question, too short and too few, are remarkable for their + compact statement, iron logic, bold denunciation, and the wonderful light + thrown back upon our history. Yet how little do they present which was not + familiar for years in our anti-slavery meetings! Look, too, at the last + great effort of the idol of so many thousands,—Mr. Senator Sumner,—the + discussion of a great national question, of which it has been said that we + must go back to Webster's reply to Hayne, and Fisher Ames on the Jay + treaty, to find its equal in Congress,—praise which we might perhaps + qualify, if any adequate report were left us of some of the noble orations + of Adams. No one can be blind to the skilful use he has made of his + materials, the consummate ability with which he has marshalled them, and + the radiant glow which his genius has thrown over all. Yet, with the + exception of his reference to the antislavery debate in Congress in 1817, + there is hardly a train of thought or argument, and no single fact in the + whole speech, which has not been familiar in our meetings and essays for + the last ten years. * * * + </p> + <p> + The relations of the American Church to slavery, and the duties of private + Christians, the whole casuistry of this portion of the question, so + momentous among descendants of the Puritans,—have been discussed + with great acuteness and rare common-sense by Messrs. Garrison, Goodell, + Gerrit Smith, Pillsbury, and Foster. They have never attempted to judge + the American Church by any standard except that which she has herself laid + down,—never claimed that she should be perfect, but have contented + themselves by demanding that she should be consistent. They have never + judged her except out of her own mouth, and on facts asserted by her own + presses and leaders. The sundering of the Methodist and Baptist + denominations, and the universal agitation of the religious world, are the + best proof of the sagacity with which their measures have been chosen, the + cogent arguments they have used, and the indisputable facts on which their + criticisms have been founded. In nothing have the Abolitionists shown more + sagacity or more thorough knowledge of their countrymen than in the course + they have pursued in relation to the Church. None but a New-Englander can + appreciate the power which church organizations wield over all who share + the blood of the Puritans. The influence of each sect over its own members + is overwhelming, often shutting out, or controlling, all other influences. + We have Popes here, all the more dangerous because no triple crown puts + you on your guard. * * * In such a land, the Abolitionists early saw, + that, for a moral question like theirs, only two paths lay open: to work + through the Church; that failing, to join battle with it. Some tried long, + like Luther, to be Protestants, and yet not come out of Catholicism; but + their eyes were soon opened. Since then we have been convinced that, to + come out from the Church, to hold her up as the bulwark of slavery, and to + make her shortcomings the main burden of our appeals to the religious + sentiment of the community, was our first duty and best policy. This + course alienated many friends, and was a subject of frequent rebuke from + such men as Dr. Channing. But nothing has ever more strengthened the + cause, or won it more influence; and it has had the healthiest effect on + the Church itself. * * * + </p> + <p> + Unable to command a wide circulation for our books and journals, we have + been obliged to bring ourselves into close contact with the people, and to + rely mainly on public addresses. These have been our most efficient + instrumentality. For proof that these addresses have been full of + pertinent facts, sound sense, and able arguments, we must necessarily + point to results, and demand to be tried by our fruits. Within these last + twenty years it has been very rare that any fact stated by our lecturers + has been disproved, or any statement of theirs successfully impeached. And + for evidence of the soundness, simplicity, and pertinency of their + arguments we can only claim that our converts and co-laborers throughout + the land have at least the reputation of being specially able "to give a + reason for the faith that is in them." + </p> + <p> + I remember that when, in 1845, the present leaders of the Free Soil party, + with Daniel Webster in their company, met to draw up the Anti-Texas + Address of the Massachusetts Convention, they sent to Abolitionists for + anti-slavery facts and history, for the remarkable testimonies of our + Revolutionary great men which they wished to quote. When, many years ago, + the Legislature of Massachusetts wished to send to Congress a resolution + affirming the duty of immediate emancipation, the committee sent to + William Lloyd Garrison to draw it up, and it stands now on our + statute-book as he drafted it. + </p> + <p> + How vigilantly, how patiently, did we watch the Texas plot from its + commencement! The politic South felt that its first move had been too + bold, and thenceforward worked underground. For many a year men laughed at + us for entertaining any apprehensions. It was impossible to rouse the + North to its peril. David Lee Child was thought crazy because he would not + believe there was no danger. His elaborate "<i>Letters on Texas Annexation</i>" + are the ablest and most valuable contribution that has been made toward a + history of the whole plot. Though we foresaw and proclaimed our conviction + that annexation would be, in the end, a fatal step for the South, we did + not feel at liberty to relax our opposition, well knowing the vast + increase of strength it would give, at first, to the slave power. I + remember being one of a committee which waited on Abbott Lawrence, a year + or so only before annexation, to ask his countenance to some general + movement, without distinction of party, against the Texas scheme. He + smiled at our fears, begged us to have no apprehensions; stating that his + correspondence with leading men at Washington enabled him to assure us + annexation was impossible, and that the South itself was determined to + defeat the project. A short time after, Senators and Representatives from + Texas took their seats in Congress! + </p> + <p> + Many of these services to the slave were done before I joined his cause. + In thus referring to them, do not suppose me merely seeking occasion of + eulogy on my predecessors and present co-laborers. I recall these things + only to rebut the contemptuous criticism which some about us make the + excuse for their past neglect of the movement, and in answer to "Ion's" + representation of our course as reckless fanaticism, childish impatience, + utter lack of good sense, and of our meetings as scenes only of + excitement, of reckless and indiscriminate denunciation. I assert that + every social, moral, economical, religious, political, and historical + aspect of the question has been ably and patiently examined. And all this + has been done with an industry and ability which have left little for the + professional skill, scholarly culture, and historical learning of the new + laborers to accomplish. If the people are still in doubt, it is from the + inherent difficulty of the subject, or a hatred of light, not from want of + it. * * * + </p> + <p> + Sir, when a nation sets itself to do evil, and all its leading forces, + wealth, party, and piety, join in the career, it is impossible but that + those who offer a constant opposition should be hated and maligned, no + matter how wise, cautious, and well planned their course may be. We are + peculiar sufferers in this way. The community has come to hate its + reproving Nathan so bitterly, that even those whom the relenting part of + it are beginning to regard as standard-bearers of the antislavery host + think it unwise to avow any connection or sympathy with him. I refer to + some of the leaders of the political movement against slavery. They feel + it to be their mission to marshal and use as effectively as possible the + present convictions of the people. They cannot afford to encumber + themselves with the odium which twenty years of angry agitation have + engendered in great sects sore from unsparing rebuke, parties galled by + constant defeat, and leading men provoked by unexpected exposure. They are + willing to confess, privately, that our movement produced theirs, and that + its continued existence is the very breath of their life. But, at the same + time, they would fain walk on the road without being soiled by too close + contact with the rough pioneers who threw it up. They are wise and + honorable, and their silence is very expressive. + </p> + <p> + When I speak of their eminent position and acknowledged ability, another + thought strikes me. Who converted these men and their distinguished + associates? It is said we have shown neither sagacity in plans, nor candor + in discussion, nor ability. Who, then, or what converted Burlingame and + Wilson, Sumner and Adams, Palfrey and Mann, Chase and Hale, and Phillips + and Giddings? Who taught the <i>Christian Register</i>, the <i>Daily + Advertiser</i>, and that class of prints, that there were such things as a + slave and a slave-holder in the land, and so gave them some more + intelligent basis than their mere instincts to hate William Lloyd + Garrison? What magic wand was it whose touch made the todying servility of + the land start up the real demon that it was, and at the same time + gathered into the slave's service the professional ability, ripe culture, + and personal integrity which grace the Free Soil ranks? We never argue! + These men, then, were converted by simple denunciation! They were all + converted by the "hot," "reckless," "ranting," "bigoted," "fanatic" + Garrison, who never troubled himself about facts, nor stopped to argue + with an opponent, but straightway knocked him down! My old and valued + friend, Mr. Sumner, often boasts that he was a reader of the <i>Liberator</i> + before I was. Do not criticise too much the agency by which such men were + converted. That blade has a double edge. Our reckless course, our empty + rant, our fanaticism, has made Abolitionists of some of the best and + ablest men in the land. We are inclined to go on, and see if, even with + such poor tools, we cannot make some more. Antislavery zeal and the roused + conscience of the "godless comeouters" made the trembling South demand the + Fugitive Slave Law, and the Fugitive Slave Law provoked Mrs. Stowe to the + good work of "Uncle Tom." That is something! Let me say, in passing, that + you will nowhere find an earlier or more generous appreciation, or more + flowing eulogy, of these men and their labors, than in the columns of the + <i>Liberator</i>. No one, however feeble, has ever peeped or muttered, in + any quarter, that the vigilant eye of the <i>Pioneer</i> has not + recognized him. He has stretched out the right hand of a most cordial + welcome the moment any man's face was turned Zionward. + </p> + <p> + I do not mention these things to praise Mr. Garrison; I do not stand here + for that purpose. You will not deny—if you do, I can prove it—that + the movement of the Abolitionists converted these men. Their constituents + were converted by it. The assault upon the right of petition, upon the + right to print and speak of slavery, the denial of the right of Congress + over the District, the annexation of Texas, the Fugitive Slave Law, were + measures which the anti-slavery movement provoked, and the discussion of + which has made all the Abolitionists we have. The antislavery cause, then, + converted these men; it gave them a constituency; it gave them an + opportunity to speak, and it gave them a public to listen. The antislavery + cause gave them their votes, got them their offices, furnished them their + facts, gave them their audience. If you tell me they cherished all these + principles in their own breasts before Mr. Garrison appeared, I can only + say, if the anti-slavery movement did not give them their ideas, it surely + gave the courage to utter them. + </p> + <p> + In such circumstances, is it not singular that the name of William Lloyd + Garrison has never been pronounced on the floor of the United States + Congress linked with any epithet but that of contempt! No one of those men + who owe their ideas, their station, their audience, to him, have ever + thought it worth their while to utter one word in grateful recognition of + the power which called them into being. When obliged, by the course of + their argument, to treat the question historically, they can go across the + water to Clarkson and Wilberforce—yes, to a safe salt-water + distance. As Daniel Webster, when he was talking to the farmers of Western + New York, and wished to contrast slave labor and free labor, did not dare + to compare New York with Virginia—sister States, under the same + government, planted by the same race, worshipping at the same altar, + speaking the same language—identical in all respects, save that one + in which he wished to seek the contrast; but no; he compared it with Cuba—the + contrast was so close! Catholic—Protestant; Spanish—Saxon; + despotism—municipal institutions; readers of Lope de Vega and of + Shakespeare; mutterers of the Mass—children of the Bible! But + Virginia is too near home! So is Garrison! One would have thought there + was something in the human breast which would sometimes break through + policy. These noble-hearted men whom I have named must surely have found + quite irksome the constant practice of what Dr. Gardiner used to call + "that despicable virtue, prudence." One would have thought, when they + heard that name spoken with contempt, their ready eloquence would have + leaped from its scabbard to avenge even a word that threatened him with + insult. But it never came—never! I do not say I blame them. Perhaps + they thought they should serve the cause better by drawing a broad black + line between themselves and him. Perhaps they thought the Devil could be + cheated: I do not! + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + Caution is not always good policy in a cause like ours. It is said that, + when Napoleon saw the day going against him, he used to throw away all the + rules of war, and trust himself to the hot impetuosity of his soldiers. + The masses are governed more by impulse than conviction, and even were it + not so, the convictions of most men are on our side, and this will surely + appear, if we can only pierce the crust of their prejudice or + indifference. I observe that our Free Soil friends never stir their + audience so deeply as when some individual leaps beyond the platform, and + strikes upon the very heart of the people. Men listen to discussions of + laws and tactics with ominous patience. It is when Mr. Sumner, in Faneuil + Hall, avows his determination to disobey the Fugitive Slave Law, and cries + out: "I was a man before I was a Commissioner,"—when Mr. Giddings + says of the fall of slavery, quoting Adams: "Let it come. If it must come + in blood, yet I say let it come!"—that their associates on the + platform are sure they are wrecking the party,—while many a heart + beneath beats its first pulse of anti-slavery life. + </p> + <p> + These are brave words. When I compare them with the general tone of Free + Soil men in Congress, I distrust the atmosphere of Washington and of + politics. These men move about, Sauls and Goliaths among us, taller by + many a cubit. There they lose port and stature. Mr. Sumner's speech in the + Senate unsays no part of his Faneuil Hall pledge. But, though discussing + the same topic, no one would gather from any word or argument that the + speaker ever took such ground as he did in Faneuil Hall. It is all + through, the law, the manner of the surrender, not the surrender itself, + of the slave, that he objects to. As my friend Mr. Pillsbury so forcibly + says, so far as any thing in the speech shows, he puts the slave behind + the jury trial, behind the habeas corpus act, and behind the new + interpretation of the Constitution, and says to the slave claimant: "You + must get through all these before you reach him; but, if you can get + through all these, you may have him!" It was no tone like this which made + the old Hall rock! Not if he got through twelve jury trials, and forty + habeas corpus acts, and constitutions built high as yonder monument, would + he permit so much as the shadow of a little finger of the slave claimant + to touch the slave! At least so he was understood. * * * + </p> + <p> + Mr. Mann, in his speech of February 5, 1850, says: "The States being + separated, I would as soon return my own brother or sister into bondage, + as I would return a fugitive slave. Before God, and Christ, and all + Christian men, they are my brothers and sisters." What a condition! From + the lips, too, of a champion of the Higher Law! Whether the States be + separate or united, neither my brother nor any other man's brother shall, + with my consent, go back to bondage! So speaks the heart—Mr. Mann's + version is that of the politician. + </p> + <p> + This seems to me a very mistaken strain. Whenever slavery is banished from + our national jurisdiction, it will be a momentous gain, a vast stride. But + let us not mistake the half-way house for the end of the journey. I need + not say that it matters not to Abolitionists under what special law + slavery exists. Their battle lasts while it exists anywhere, and I doubt + not Mr. Sumner and Mr. Giddings feel themselves enlisted for the whole + war. I will even suppose, what neither of these gentlemen states, that + their plan includes not only that slavery shall be abolished in the + District and Territories but that the slave basis of representation shall + be struck from the Constitution, and the slave-surrender clause construed + away. But even then does Mr. Giddings or Mr. Sumner really believe that + slavery, existing in its full force in the States, "will cease to vex our + national politics?" Can they point to any State where a powerful + oligarchy, possessed of immense wealth, has ever existed without + attempting to meddle in the government? Even now, does not manufacturing, + banking, and commercial capital perpetually vex our politics? Why should + not slave capital exert the same influence? Do they imagine that a hundred + thousand men, possessed of two thousand millions of dollars, which they + feel the spirit of the age is seeking to tear from their grasp, will not + eagerly catch at all the support they can obtain by getting the control of + the government? In a land where the dollar is almighty, "where the sin of + not being rich is only atoned for by the effort to become so," do they + doubt that such an oligarchy will generally succeed? Besides, banking and + manufacturing stocks are not urged by despair to seek a controlling + influence in politics. They know they are about equally safe, whichever + party rules—that no party wishes to legislate their rights away. + Slave property knows that its being allowed to exist depends on its having + the virtual control of the government. Its constant presence in politics + is dictated, therefore, by despair, as well as by the wish to secure fresh + privileges. Money, however, is not the only strength of the slave power. + That, indeed, were enough, in an age when capitalists are our feudal + barons. But, though driven entirely from national shelter, the + slave-holders would have the strength of old associations, and of peculiar + laws in their own States, which give those States wholly into their hands. + A weaker prestige, fewer privileges, and less comparative wealth, have + enabled the British aristocracy to rule England for two centuries, though + the root of their strength was cut at Naseby. It takes ages for + deeply-rooted institutions to die; and driving slavery into the States + will hardly be our Naseby. * * * + </p> + <p> + And Mr. Sumner "knows no better aim, under the Constitution, than to bring + back the government to where it was in 1789!" Has the voyage been so very + honest and prosperous a one, in his opinion, that his only wish is to + start again with the same ship, the same crew, and the same sailing + orders? Grant all he claims as to the state of public opinion, the + intentions of leading men, and the form of our institutions at that + period; still, with all these checks on wicked men, and helps to good + ones, here we are, in 1853, according to his own showing, ruled by + slavery, tainted to the core with slavery, and binding the infamous + Fugitive Slave Law like an honorable frontlet on our brows. The more + accurate and truthful his glowing picture of the public virtue of 1789, + the stronger my argument. If even all those great patriots, and all that + enthusiasm for justice and liberty, did not avail to keep us safe in such + a Union, what will? In such desperate circumstances, can his statesmanship + devise no better aim than to try the same experiment over again, under + precisely the same conditions? What new guaranties does he propose to + prevent the voyage from being again turned into a piratical slave-trading + cruise? None! Have sixty years taught us nothing? In 1660, the English + thought, in recalling Charles II., that the memory of that scaffold which + had once darkened the windows of Whitehall would be guaranty enough for + his good behavior. But, spite of the spectre, Charles II. repeated Charles + I., and James outdid him. Wiser by this experience, when the nation in + 1689 got another chance, they trusted to no guaranties, but so arranged + the very elements of their government that William III. could not repeat + Charles I. Let us profit by the lesson. * * * + </p> + <p> + If all I have said to you is untrue, if I have exaggerated, explain to me + this fact. In 1831, Mr. Garrison commenced a paper advocating the doctrine + of immediate emancipation. He had against him the thirty thousand churches + and all the clergy of the country,—its wealth, its commerce, its + press. In 1831, what was the state of things? There was the most entire + ignorance and apathy on the slave question. If men knew of the existence + of slavery, it was only as a part of picturesque Virginia life. No one + preached, no one talked, no one wrote about it. No whisper of it stirred + the surface of the political sea. The church heard of it occasionally, + when some colonization agent asked funds to send the blacks to Africa. Old + school-books tainted with some antislavery selections had passed out of + use, and new ones were compiled to suit the times. Soon as any dissent + from the prevailing faith appeared, every one set himself to crush it. The + pulpits preached at it; the press denounced it; mobs tore down houses, + threw presses into the fire and the stream, and shot the editors; + religious conventions tried to smother it; parties arrayed themselves + against it. Daniel Webster boasted in the Senate, that he had never + introduced the subject of slavery to that body, and never would. Mr. Clay, + in 1839, makes a speech for the Presidency, in which he says, that to + discuss the subject of slavery is moral treason, and that no man has a + right to introduce the subject into Congress. Mr. Benton, in 1844, laid + down his platform, and he not only denies the right, but asserts that he + never has and never will discuss the subject. Yet Mr. Clay, from 1839 down + to his death, hardly made a remarkable speech of any kind, except on + slavery. Mr. Webster, having indulged now and then in a little easy + rhetoric, as at Niblo's and elsewhere, opens his mouth in 1840, generously + contributing his aid to both sides, and stops talking about it only when + death closes his lips. Mr. Benton's six or eight speeches in the United + States Senate have all been on the subject of slavery in the Southwestern + section of the country, and form the basis of whatever claim he has to the + character of a statesman, and he owes his seat in the next Congress + somewhat, perhaps, to anti-slavery pretentions! The Whig and Democratic + parties pledged themselves just as emphatically against the antislavery + discussion,—against agitation and free speech. These men said: "It + sha'n't be talked about; it won't be talked about!" These are your + statesmen!—men who understand the present that is, and mould the + future! The man who understands his own time, and whose genius moulds the + future to his views, he is a statesman, is he not? These men devoted + themselves to banks, to the tariff, to internal improvements, to + constitutional and financial questions. They said to slavery: "Back! no + entrance here! We pledge ourselves against you." And then there came up a + little printer-boy, who whipped them into the traces, and made them talk, + like Hotspur's starling, nothing BUT slavery. He scattered all these + gigantic shadows,—tariff, bank, constitutional questions, financial + questions; and slavery, like the colossal head in Walpole's romance, came + up and filled the whole political horizon! Yet you must remember he is not + a statesman! he is a "fanatic." He has no discipline,—Mr. "Ion" says + so; he does not understand the "discipline that is essential to victory"! + This man did not understand his own time, he did not know what the future + was to be,—he was not able to shape it—he had no "prudence,"—he + had no "foresight"! Daniel Webster says, "I have never introduced this + subject, and never will,"—and dies broken-hearted because he had not + been able to talk enough about it! Benton says, "I will never speak of + slavery,"—and lives to break with his party on this issue! Clay says + it is "moral treason" to introduce the subject into Congress—and + lives to see Congress turned into an antislavery debating society, to suit + the purpose of one "too powerful individual." * * * Remember who it was + that said in 1831: "I am in earnest—I will not equivocate—I + will not excuse—I will not retreat a single inch—and I will be + heard!" That speaker has lived twenty-two years, and the complaint of + twenty-three millions of people is, "Shall we never hear of any thing but + slavery?" * * * "Well, it is all HIS fault" [pointing to Mr. Garrison]. * + * * It seems to me that such men may point to the present aspect of the + nation, to their originally avowed purpose, to the pledges and efforts of + all your great men against them, and then let you determine to which side + the credit of sagacity and statesmanship belongs. Napoleon busied himself + at St. Helena in showing how Wellington ought to have conquered at + Waterloo. The world has never got time to listen to the explanation. + Sufficient for it that the allies entered Paris. + </p> + <p> + It may sound strange to some, this claim for Mr. Garrison of a profound + statesmanship. "Men have heard him styled a mere fanatic so long that they + are incompetent to judge him fairly." "The phrases men are accustomed," + says Goethe, "to repeat incessantly, end by becoming convictions, and + ossify the organs of intelligence." I cannot accept you, therefore, as my + jury. I appeal from Festus to Csar, from the prejudice of our streets to + the common-sense of the world, and to your children. + </p> + <p> + Every thoughtful and unprejudiced mind must see that such an evil as + slavery will yield only to the most radical treatment. If you consider the + work we have to do, you will not think us needlessly aggressive, or that + we dig down unnecessarily deep in laying the foundations of our + enterprise. A money power of two thousand millions of dollars, as the + prices of slaves now range, held by a small body of able and desperate + men; that body raised into a political aristocracy by special + constitutional provisions; cotton, the product of slave labor, forming the + basis of our whole foreign commerce, and the commercial class thus + subsidized; the press bought up, the pulpit reduced to vassalage, the + heart of the common people chilled by a bitter prejudice against the black + race; our leading men bribed, by ambition, either to silence or open + hostility;—in such a land, on what shall an Abolitionist rely? On a + few cold prayers, mere lip-service, and never from the heart? On a church + resolution, hidden often in its records, and meant only as a decent cover + for servility in daily practice? On political parties, with their + superficial influence at best, and seeking ordinarily only to use existing + prejudices to the best advantage? Slavery has deeper root here than any + aristocratic institution has in Europe; and politics is but the common + pulse-beat, of which revolution is the fever-spasm. Yet we have seen + European aristocracy survive storms which seemed to reach down to the + primal strata of European life. Shall we, then, trust to mere politics, + where even revolution has failed? How shall the stream rise above its + fountain? Where shall our church organizations or parties get strength to + attack their great parent and moulder, the slave power? Shall the thing + formed say to him that formed it, Why hast thou made me thus? The old jest + of one who tried to lift himself in his own basket, is but a tame picture + of the man who imagines that, by working solely through existing sects and + parties, he can destroy slavery. Mechanics say nothing, but an earthquake + strong enough to move all Egypt can bring down the pyramids. + </p> + <p> + Experience has confirmed these views. The Abolitionists who have acted on + them have a "short method" with all unbelievers. They have but to point to + their own success, in contrast with every other man's failure. To waken + the nation to its real state, and chain it to the consideration of this + one duty, is half the work. So much we have done. Slavery has been made + the question of this generation. To startle the South to madness, so that + every step she takes, in her blindness, is one step more toward ruin, is + much. This we have done. Witness Texas and the Fugitive Slave Law. + </p> + <p> + To have elaborated for the nation the only plan of redemption, pointed out + the only exodus from this "sea of troubles," is much. This we claim to + have done in our motto of IMMEDIATE, UNCONDITIONAL, EMANCIPATION ON THE + SOIL. The closer any statesmanlike mind looks into the question, the more + favor our plan finds with it. The Christian asks fairly of the infidel, + "If this religion be not from God, how do you explain its triumph, and the + history of the first three centuries?" Our question is similar. If our + agitation has not been wisely planned and conducted, explain for us the + history of the last twenty years! Experience is a safe light to walk by, + and he is not a rash man who expects success in future from the same means + which have secured it in times past. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0013" id="link2H_4_0013"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHARLES SUMNER, + </h2> + <h3> + OF MASSACHUSETTS. (BORN 1811, DIED 1874.) + </h3> + <p> + ON THE REPEAL OF THE FUGITIVE SLAVE LAW— IN THE UNITED STATES + SENATE, AUGUST 26, 1852. + </p> + <p> + THURSDAY, 26TH AUGUST, 1852.—The Civil and Diplomatic Appropriation + Bill being under consideration, the following amendment was moved by Mr. + Hunter, of Virginia, on the recommendation of the Committee on Finance: + </p> + <p> + "That, where the ministerial officers of the United States have or shall + incur extraordinary expense in executing the laws thereof, the payment of + which is not specifically provided for, the President of the United States + is authorized to allow the payment thereof, under the special taxation of + the District or Circuit Court of the District in which the said services + have been or shall be rendered, to be paid from the appropriation for + defraying the expenses of the Judiciary." + </p> + <p> + Mr. Sumner seized the opportunity for which he had been waiting, and at + once moved the following amendment to the amendment: + </p> + <p> + "Provided, That no such allowance shall be authorized for any expenses + incurred in executing the Act of September 18, 1850, for the surrender of + fugitives from service or labor; which said Act is hereby repealed." + </p> + <p> + On this he took the floor, and spoke as follows: + </p> + <p> + MR. PRESIDENT, + </p> + <p> + Here is a provision for extraordinary expense incurred in executing the + laws of the United States. Extraordinary expenses! Sir, beneath these + specious words lurks the very subject on which, by a solemn vote of this + body, I was refused a hearing. Here it is; no longer open to the charge of + being an "abstraction," but actually presented for practical legislation; + not introduced by me, but by the Senator from Virginia (Mr. Hunter), on + the recommendation of an important committee of the Senate; not brought + forward weeks ago, when there was ample time for discussion, but only at + this moment, without any reference to the late period of the session. The + amendment which I offer proposes to remove one chief occasion of these + extraordinary expenses. Beyond all controversy or cavil it is strictly in + order. And now, at last, among these final, crowded days of our duties + here, but at this earliest opportunity, I am to be heard,—not as a + favor, but as a right. The graceful usages of this body may be abandoned, + but the established privileges of debate cannot be abridged. Parliamentary + courtesy may be forgotten, but parliamentary law must prevail. The subject + is broadly before the Senate. By the blessing of God it shall be + discussed. + </p> + <p> + Sir, a severe lawgiver of early Greece vainly sought to secure permanence + for his imperfect institutions by providing that the citizen who at any + time attempted their repeal or alteration should appear in the public + assembly with a halter about his neck, ready to be drawn, if his + proposition failed. A tyrannical spirit among us, in unconscious imitation + of this antique and discarded barbarism, seeks to surround an offensive + institution with similar safeguard. + </p> + <p> + In the existing distemper of the public mind, and at this present + juncture, no man can enter upon the service which I now undertake, + with-out personal responsibility, such as can be sustained only by that + sense of duty which, under God, is always our best support. That personal + responsibility I accept. Before the Senate and the country let me be held + accountable for this act and for every word which I utter. + </p> + <p> + With me, Sir, there is no alternative. Painfully convinced of the + unutterable wrong and woe of Slavery,—profoundly believing, that, + according to the true spirit of the Constitution and the sentiments of the + Fathers, it can find no place under our National Government,—that it + is in every respect sectional, and in no respect national,—that it + is always and everywhere creature and dependent of the States, and never + anywhere creature or dependent of the Nation,—and that the Nation + can never, by legislative or other act, impart to it any support, under + the Constitution of the United States,—with these convictions I + could not allow this session to reach its close without making or seizing + an opportunity to declare myself openly against the usurpation, injustice, + and cruelty of the late intolerable enactment for the recovery of fugitive + slaves. Full well I know, Sir, the difficulties of this discussion, + arising from prejudices of opinion and from adverse conclusions strong and + sincere as my own. Full well I know that I am in a small minority, with + few here to whom I can look for sympathy or support. Full well I know that + I must utter things unwelcome to many in this body, which I cannot do + without pain. Full well I know that the institution of Slavery in our + country, which I now proceed to consider, is as sensitive as it is + powerful, possessing a power to shake the whole land, with a sensitiveness + that shrinks and trembles at the touch. But while these things may + properly prompt me to caution and reserve, they cannot change my duty, or + my determination to perform it. For this I willingly forget myself and all + personal consequences. The favor and good-will of my fellow-citizens, of + my brethren of the Senate, Sir, grateful to me as they justly are, I am + ready, if required, to sacrifice. Whatever I am or may be I freely offer + to this cause. + </p> + <p> + Here allow, for one moment, a reference to myself and my position. Sir, I + have never been a politician. The slave of principles, I call no party + master. By sentiment, education, and conviction a friend of Human Rights + in their utmost expansion, I have ever most sincerely embraced the + Democratic Idea,—not, indeed, as represented or professed by any + party, but according to its real significance, as transfigured in the + Declaration of Independence and in the injunctions of Christianity. In + this idea I see no narrow advantage merely for individuals or classes, but + the sovereignty of the people, and the greatest happiness of all secured + by equal laws. Amidst the vicissitudes of public affairs I shall hold fast + always to this idea, and to any political party which truly embraces it. + </p> + <p> + Party does not constrain me; nor is my independence lessened by any + relations to the office which gives me a title to be heard on this floor. + Here, Sir, I speak proudly. By no effort, by no desire of my own, I find + myself a Senator of the United States. Never before have I held public + office of any kind. With the ample opportunities of private life I was + content. No tombstone for me could bear a fairer inscription than this: + "Here lies one who, without the honors or emoluments of public station, + did something for his fellowmen." From such simple aspirations I was taken + away by the free choice of my native Commonwealth, and placed at this + responsible post of duty, without personal obligation of any kind, beyond + what was implied in my life and published words. The earnest friends by + whose confidence I was first designated asked nothing from me, and + throughout the long conflict which ended in my election rejoiced in the + position which I most carefully guarded. To all my language was uniform: + that I did not desire to be brought forward; that I would do nothing to + promote the result; that I had no pledges or promises to offer; that the + office should seek me, and not I the office; and that it should find me in + all respects an independent man, bound to no party and to no human being, + but only, according to my best judgment, to act for the good of all. + Again, Sir, I speak with pride, both for myself and others, when I add + that these avowals found a sympathizing response. In this spirit I have + come here, and in this spirit I shall speak to-day. + </p> + <p> + Rejoicing in my independence, and claiming nothing from party ties, I + throw myself upon the candor and magnanimity of the Senate. I ask your + attention; I trust not to abuse it. I may speak strongly, for I shall + speak openly and from the strength of my convictions. I may speak warmly, + for I shall speak from the heart. But in no event can I forget the + amenities which belong to debate, and which especially become this body. + Slavery I must condemn with my whole soul; but here I need only borrow the + language of slaveholders; nor would it accord with my habits or my sense + of justice to exhibit them as the impersonation of the institution—Jefferson + calls it the "enormity"—which they cherish. Of them I do not speak; + but without fear and without favor, as without impeachment of any person, + I assail this wrong. Again, Sir, I may err; but it will be with the + Fathers. I plant myself on the ancient ways of the Republic, with its + grandest names, its surest landmarks, and all its original altar-fires + about me. + </p> + <p> + And now, on the very threshold, I encounter the objection, that there is a + final settlement, in principle and substance, of the question of slavery, + and that all discussion of it is closed. Both the old political parties, + by formal resolutions, in recent conventions at Baltimore, have united in + this declaration. On a subject which for years has agitated the public + mind, which yet palpitates in every heart and burns on every tongue, which + in its immeasurable importance dwarfs all other subjects, which by its + constant and gigantic presence throws a shadow across these halls, which + at this very time calls for appropriations to meet extraordinary expenses + it has caused, they impose the rule of silence. According to them, Sir, we + may speak of everything except that alone which is most present in all our + minds. + </p> + <p> + To this combined effort I might fitly reply, that, with flagrant + inconsistency, it challenges the very discussion it pretends to forbid. + Their very declaration, on the eve of an election, is, of course, + submitted to the consideration and ratification of the people. Debate, + inquiry, discussion, are the necessary consequence. Silence becomes + impossible. Slavery, which you profess to banish from public attention, + openly by your invitation enters every political meeting and every + political convention. Nay, at this moment it stalks into this Senate, + crying, like the daughters of the horseleech, "Give! give." + </p> + <p> + But no unanimity of politicians can uphold the baseless assumption, that a + law, or any conglomerate of laws, under the name of compromise, or + howsoever called, is final. Nothing can be plainer than this,—that + by no parliamentary device or knot can any legislature tie the hands of a + succeeding legislature, so as to prevent the full exercise of its + constitutional powers. Each legislature, under a just sense of its + responsibility, must judge for itself; and if it think proper, it may + revise, or amend, or absolutely undo the work of any predecessor. The laws + of the Medes and Persians are said proverbially to have been unalterable; + but they stand forth in history as a single example where the true + principles of all law have been so irrationally defied. + </p> + <p> + To make a law final, so as not to be reached by Congress, is, by mere + legislation, to fasten a new provision on the Constitution. Nay, more; it + gives to the law a character which the very Constitution does not possess. + The wise Fathers did not treat the country as a Chinese foot, never to + grow after infancy; but, anticipating progress, they declared expressly + that their great Act is not final. According to the Constitution itself, + there is not one of its existing provisions—not even that with + regard to fugitives from labor—which may not at all times be reached + by amendment, and thus be drawn into debate. This is rational and just. + Sir, nothing from man's hands, nor law, nor constitution, can be final. + Truth alone is final. + </p> + <p> + Inconsistent and absurd, this effort is tyrannical also. The + responsibility for the recent Slave Act, and for slavery everywhere within + the jurisdiction of Congress, necessarily involves the right to discuss + them. To separate these is impossible. Like the twenty-fifth rule of the + House of Representatives against petitions on Slavery,—now repealed + and dishonored,—the Compromise, as explained and urged, is a + curtailment of the actual powers of legislation, and a perpetual denial of + the indisputable principle, that the right to deliberate is coextensive + with the responsibility for an act. To sustain Slavery it is now proposed + to trample on free speech. In any country this would be grievous; but + here, where the Constitution expressly provides against abridging freedom + of speech, it is a special outrage. In vain do we condemn the despotisms + of Europe, while we borrow the rigors with which they repress Liberty, and + guard their own uncertain power. For myself, in no factious spirit, but + solemnly and in loyalty to the Constitution, as a Senator of the United + States, representing a free Commonwealth, I protest against this wrong. + </p> + <p> + On Slavery, as on every other subject, I claim the right to be heard. That + right I cannot, I will not abandon. "Give me the liberty to know, to + utter, and to argue freely according to conscience, above all liberties"; + these are glowing words, flashed from the soul of John Milton in his + struggles with English tyranny. With equal fervor they could be echoed now + by every American not already a slave. + </p> + <p> + But, Sir, this effort is impotent as tyrannical. Convictions of the heart + cannot be repressed. Utterances of conscience must be heard. They break + forth with irrepressible might. As well attempt to check the tides of + ocean, the currents of the Mississippi, or the rushing waters of Niagara. + The discussion of Slavery will proceed, wherever two or three are gathered + together,—by the fireside, on the highway, at the public meeting, in + the church. The movement against Slavery is from the Everlasting Arm. Even + now it is gathering its forces, soon to be confessed everywhere. It may + not be felt yet in the high places of office and power, but all who can + put their ears humbly to the ground will hear and comprehend its incessant + and advancing tread. + </p> + <p> + The relations of the National Government to Slavery, though plain and + obvious, are constantly misunderstood. A popular belief at this moment + makes Slavery a national institution, and of course renders its support a + national duty. The extravagance of this error can hardly be surpassed. An + institution which our fathers most carefully omitted to name in the + Constitution, which, according to the debates in the Convention, they + refused to cover with any "sanction," and which, at the original + organization of the Government, was merely sectional, existing nowhere on + the national territory, is now, above all other things, blazoned as + national. Its supporters pride themselves as national. The old political + parties, while upholding it, claim to be national. A National Whig is + simply a Slavery Whig, and a National Democrat is simply a Slavery + Democrat, in contradistinction to all who regard Slavery as a sectional + institution, within the exclusive control of the States and with which the + nation has nothing to do. + </p> + <p> + As Slavery assumes to be national, so, by an equally strange perversion, + Freedom is degraded to be sectional, and all who uphold it, under the + National Constitution, are made to share this same epithet. Honest efforts + to secure its blessings everywhere within the jurisdiction of Congress are + scouted as sectional; and this cause, which the founders of our National + Government had so much at heart, is called Sectionalism. These terms, now + belonging to the common places of political speech, are adopted and + misapplied by most persons without reflection. But here is the power of + Slavery. According to a curious tradition of the French language, Louis + XIV., the Grand Monarch, by an accidental error of speech, among supple + courtiers, changed the gender of a noun. But slavery does more. It changes + word for word. It teaches men to say national instead of sectional, and + sectional instead of national. + </p> + <p> + Slavery national! Sir, this is a mistake and absurdity, fit to have a + place in some new collection of Vulgar Errors, by some other Sir Thomas + Browne, with the ancient, but exploded stories, that the toad has a gem in + its head, and that ostriches digest iron. According to the true spirit of + the Constitution, and the sentiments of the Fathers, Slavery, and not + Freedom, is sectional, while Freedom, and not Slavery, is national. On + this unanswerable proposition I take my stand, and here commences my + argument. + </p> + <p> + The subject presents itself under two principal heads: <i>First, the true + relations of the National Government to Slavery</i>, wherein it will + appear that there is no national fountain from which Slavery can be + derived, and no national power, under the Constitution, by which it can be + supported. Enlightened by this general survey, we shall be prepared to + consider, <i>secondly, the true nature of the provision for the rendition + of fugitives from service</i>, and herein especially the unconstitutional + and offensive legislation of Congress in pursuance thereof. + </p> + <p> + I. + </p> + <p> + And now for THE TRUE RELATIONS OF THE NATIONAL GOVERNMENT TO SLAVERY. + These are readily apparent, if we do not neglect well-established + principles. + </p> + <p> + If slavery be national, if there be any power in the National Government + to withhold this institution,—as in the recent Slave Act,—it + must be by virtue of the Constitution. Nor can it be by mere inference, + implication, or conjecture. According to the uniform admission of courts + and jurists in Europe, again and again promulgated in our country, slavery + can be derived only from clear and special recognition. "The state of + Slavery," said Lord Mansfield, pronouncing judgment in the great case of + Sommersett, "is of such a nature that it is incapable of being introduced + on any reasons, moral or political, but only by positive law.... <i>It is + so odious, that nothing can be suffered to support it but positive law</i>." + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + Of course every power to uphold slavery must have an origin as distinct as + that of Slavery itself. Every presumption must be as strong against such a + power as against slavery. A power so peculiar and offensive, so hostile to + reason, so repugnant to the law of Nature and the inborn rights of man,—which + despoils its victim of the fruits of labor,—which substitutes + concubinage for marriage,—which abrogates the relation of parent and + child,—which, by denial of education, abases the intellect, prevents + a true knowledge of God, and murders the very soul,—which, amidst a + plausible physical comfort, degrades man, created in the divine image, to + the state of a beast,—such a power, so eminent, so transcendent, so + tyrannical, so unjust, can find no place in any system of government, + unless by virtue of positive sanction. It can spring from no doubtful + phrase. It must be declared by unambiguous words, incapable of a double + sense. + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + Sir, such, briefly, are the rules of interpretation, which, as applied to + the Constitution, fill it with the breath of freedom,— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "Driving far off each thing of sin and guilt." +</pre> + <p> + To the history and prevailing sentiments of the times we may turn for + further assurance. In the spirit of freedom the Constitution was formed. + In this spirit our fathers always spoke and acted. In this spirit the + National Government was first organized under Washington. And here I + recall a scene, in itself a touch-stone of the period, and an example for + us, upon which we may look with pure national pride, while we learn anew + the relations of the National Government to Slavery. + </p> + <p> + The Revolution was accomplished. The feeble Government of the + Confederation passed away. The Constitution, slowly matured in a National + Convention, discussed before the people, defended by masterly pens, was + adopted. The Thirteen States stood forth a Nation, where was unity without + consolidation, and diversity without discord. The hopes of all were + anxiously hanging upon the new order of things and the mighty procession + of events. With signal unanimity Washington was chosen President. Leaving + his home at Mount Vernon, he repaired to New York,—where the first + Congress had commenced its session,—to assume his place as Chief of + the Republic. On the 30th of April, 1789, the organization of the + Government was completed by his inauguration. Entering the Senate Chamber, + where the two Houses were assembled, he was informed that they awaited his + readiness to receive the oath of office. Without delay, attended by the + Senators and Representatives, with friends and men of mark gathered about + him, he moved to the balcony in front of the edifice. A countless + multitude, thronging the open ways, and eagerly watching this great + espousal, + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "With reverence look on his majestic face, + Proud to be less, but of his godlike race." +</pre> + <p> + The oath was administered by the Chancellor of New York. At such time, and + in such presence, beneath the unveiled heavens, Washington first took this + vow upon his lips: "I do solemnly swear that I will faithfully execute the + office of President of the United States, and will, to the best of my + ability, preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United + States." + </p> + <p> + Over the President, on this new occasion, floated the national flag, with + its stripes of red and white, its stars on a field of blue. As his patriot + eye rested upon the glowing ensign, what currents must have rushed swiftly + through his soul. In the early days of the Revolution, in those darkest + hours about Boston, after the Battle of Bunker Hill, and before the + Declaration of Independence, the thirteen stripes had been first unfurled + by him, as the emblem of Union among the Colonies for the sake of Freedom. + By him, at that time, they had been named the Union Flag. Trial, struggle, + and war were now ended, and the Union, which they first heralded, was + unalterably established. To every beholder these memories, must have been + full of pride and consolation. But, looking back upon the scene, there is + one circumstance which, more than all its other associations, fills the + soul,—more even than the suggestions of Union, which I prize so + much. AT THIS MOMENT, WHEN WASHINGTON TOOK HIS FIRST OATH TO SUPPORT THE + CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES, THE NATIONAL ENSIGN, NOWHERE WITHIN THE + NATIONAL TERRITORY, COVERED A SINGLE SLAVE. Then, indeed, was Slavery + Sectional, and Freedom National. + </p> + <p> + On the sea an execrable piracy, the trade in slaves, to the national + scandal, was still tolerated under the national flag. In the States, as a + sectional institution, beneath the shelter of local laws, Slavery + unhappily found a home. But in the only terrritories at this time + belonging to the nation, the broad region of the Northwest, it was already + made impossible, by the Ordinance of Freedom, even before the adoption of + the Constitution. The District of Columbia, with its Fatal Dowry, was not + yet acquired. + </p> + <p> + The government thus organized was Anti-slavery in character. Washington + was a slave-holder, but it would be unjust to his memory not to say that + he was an Abolitionist also. His opinions do not admit of question. + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + By the side of Washington, as, standing beneath the national flag, he + swore to support the Constitution, were illustrious men, whose lives and + recorded words now rise in judgment. There was John Adams, the + Vice-President, great vindicator and final negotiator of our national + independence, whose soul, flaming with Freedom, broke forth in the early + declaration, that "consenting to Slavery is a sacrilegious breach of + trust," and whose immitigable hostility to this wrong is immortal in his + descendants. There was also a companion in arms and attached friend, of + beautiful genius, the yet youthful and "incomparable" Hamilton,—fit + companion in early glories and fame with that darling of English history, + Sir Philip Sidney, to whom the latter epithet has been reserved,—who, + as member of the Abolition Society of New York, had recently united in a + solemn petition for those who, though "free by the laws of God; are held + in Slavery by the laws of this State." There, too, was a noble spirit, of + spotless virtue, the ornament of human nature, who, like the sun, ever + held an unerring course,—John Jay. Filling the important post of + Secretary for Foreign Affairs under the Confederation, he found time to + organize the "Society for Promoting the Manumission of Slaves" in New + York, and to act as its President, until, by the nomination of Washington, + he became Chief Justice of the United States. In his sight Slavery was an + "iniquity," "a sin of crimson dye," against which ministers of the Gospel + should testify, and which the Government should seek in every way to + abolish. "Till America comes into this measure," he wrote, "her prayers to + Heaven for liberty will be impious. This is a strong expression, but it is + just. Were I in your legislature, I would prepare a bill for the purpose + with great care, and I would never cease moving it till it became a law or + I ceased to be a member." Such words as these, fitly coming from our + leaders, belong to the true glories of the country: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "While we such precedents can boast at home, + Keep thy Fabricius and thy Cato, Rome!" +</pre> + <p> + They stood not alone. The convictions and earnest aspirations of the + country were with them. At the North these were broad and general. At the + South they found fervid utterance from slaveholders. By early and + precocious efforts for "total emancipation," the author of the Declaration + of Independence placed himself foremost among the Abolitionists of the + land. In language now familiar to all, and which can never die, he + perpetually denounced Slavery. He exposed its pernicious influence upon + master as well as slave, declared that the love of justice and the love of + country pleaded equally for the slave, and that "the abolition of domestic + slavery was the greatest object of desire." He believed that "the sacred + side was gaining daily recruits," and confidently looked to the young for + the accomplishment of this good work. In fitful sympathy with Jefferson + was another honored son of Virginia, the Orator of Liberty, Patrick Henry, + who, while confessing that he was a master of slaves, said: "I will not, I + cannot justify it. However culpable my conduct, I will so far pay my + devoir to virtue as to own the excellence and rectitude of her precepts, + and lament my want of conformity to them." At this very period, in the + Legislature of Maryland, on a bill for the relief of oppressed slaves, a + young man, afterwards by consummate learning and forensic powers + acknowledged head of the American bar, William Pinkney, in a speech of + earnest, truthful eloquence,—better for his memory than even his + professional fame,—branded Slavery as "iniquitous and most + dishonorable," "founded in a disgraceful traffic," "its continuance as + shameful as its origin," and he openly declared, that "by the eternal + principles of natural justice, no master in the State has a right to hold + his slave in bondage for a single hour." + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + At the risk of repetition, but for the sake of clearness, review now this + argument, and gather it together. Considering that Slavery is of such an + offensive character that it can find sanction only in "positive law," and + that it has no such "positive" sanction in the Constitution,—that + the Constitution, according to its preamble, was ordained to "establish + justice" and "secure the blessings of liberty,"—that, in the + Convention which framed it, and also elsewhere at the time, it was + declared not to sanction slavery,—that, according to the Declaration + of Independence, and the Address of the Continental Congress, the nation + was dedicated to "liberty," and the "rights of human nature,"—that, + according to the principles of the common law, the Constitution must be + interpreted openly, actively, and perpetually for freedom,—that, + according to the decision of the Supreme Court, it acts upon slaves, <i>not + as property</i>, but as PERSONS,—that, at the first organization of + the national Government under Washington, Slavery had no national favor, + existed nowhere on the national territory, beneath the national flag, but + was openly condemned by Nation, Church, Colleges, and Literature of the + time,—and, finally, that, according to an amendment of the + Constitution, the National Government can exercise only powers delegated + to it, among which is none to support Slavery,—considering these + things, Sir, it is impossible to avoid the single conclusion, that Slavery + is in no respect a national institution, and that the Constitution nowhere + upholds property in man. + </p> + <p> + There is one other special provision of the Constitution, which I have + reserved to this stage, not so much from its superior importance, but + because it fitly stands by itself. This alone, if practically applied, + would carry Freedom to all within its influence. It is an amendment + proposed by the First Congress, as follows: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "No <i>person</i> shall be deprived of life, <i>liberty</i>, or property, + <i>without due process of law</i>." +</pre> + <p> + Under this great aegis the liberty of every person within the national + jurisdiction is unequivocally placed. I say every person. Of this there + can be no question. The word "person" in the Constitution embraces every + human being within its sphere, whether Caucasian, Indian, or African, from + the president to the slave. Show me a person within the national + jurisdiction, and I confidently claim for him this protection, no matter + what his condition or race or color. The natural meaning of the clause is + clear, but a single fact of its history places it in the broad light of + noon. As originally recommended by Virginia, North Carolina, and Rhode + Island, it was restricted to the freeman. Its language was, "No freeman + ought to be deprived of his life, liberty, or property, but by the law of + the land." In rejecting this limitation, the authors of the amendment + revealed their purpose, that no person, under the National Government, of + whatever character, should be deprived of liberty without due process of + law,—that is, without due presentment, indictment, or other judicial + proceeding. But this amendment is nothing less than an express guaranty of + Personal Liberty, and an express prohibition of its invasion anywhere, at + least within the national jurisdiction. + </p> + <p> + Sir, apply these principles, and Slavery will again be as when Washington + took his first oath as President. The Union Flag of the Republic will + become once more the flag of Freedom, and at all points within the + national jurisdiction will refuse to cover a slave. Beneath its beneficent + folds, wherever it is carried, on land or sea, slavery will disappear, + like darkness under the arrows of the ascending sun,—like the Spirit + of Evil before the Angel of the Lord. + </p> + <p> + In all national territories Slavery will be impossible. + </p> + <p> + On the high seas, under the national flag, Slavery will be impossible. + </p> + <p> + In the District of Columbia Slavery will instantly cease. + </p> + <p> + Inspired by these principles, Congress can give no sanction to Slavery by + the admission of new slave States. + </p> + <p> + Nowhere under the Constitution can the Nation, by legislation or + otherwise, support Slavery, hunt slaves, or hold property in man. + </p> + <p> + Such, sir, are my sincere convictions. According to the Constitution, as I + understand it, in the light of the past and of its true principles, there + is no other conclusion which is rational or tenable, which does not defy + authoritative rules of interpretation, does not falsify indisputable facts + of history, does not affront the public opinion in which it had its birth, + and does not dishonor the memory of the fathers. And yet politicians of + the hour undertake to place these convictions under formal ban. The + generous sentiments which filled the early patriots, and impressed upon + the government they founded, as upon the coin they circulated, the image + and superscription of LIBERTY, have lost their power. The slave-masters, + few in number, amounting to not more than three hundred and fifty + thousand, according to the recent census, have succeeded in dictating the + policy of the National Government, and have written SLAVERY on its front. + The change, which began in the desire for wealth, was aggravated by the + desire for political predominance. Through Slavery the cotton crop + increased with its enriching gains; through Slavery States became part of + the slave power. And now an arrogant and unrelenting ostracism is applied, + not only to all who express themselves against Slavery, but to every man + unwilling to be its menial. A novel test for office is introduced, which + would have excluded all the fathers of the Republic,—even + Washington, Jefferson, and Franklin! + </p> + <p> + Yes, Sir! Startling it may be, but indisputable. Could these revered + demigods of history once again descend upon earth and mingle in our + affairs, not one of them could receive a nomination from the National + Convention of either of the two old political parties! Out of the + convictions of their hearts and the utterances of their lips against + Slavery they would be condemned. + </p> + <p> + This single fact reveals the extent to which the National Government has + departed from its true course and its great examples. For myself, I know + no better aim under the Constitution than to bring the Government back to + the precise position on this question it occupied on the auspicious + morning of its first organization by Washington, + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "Nunc retrorsum + Vela dare, atque iterare cursus + . . . . . . relictos," +</pre> + <p> + that the sentiments of the Fathers may again prevail with our rulers, and + the National Flag may nowhere shelter Slavery. + </p> + <p> + To such as count this aspiration unreasonable let me commend a renowned + and life-giving precedent of English history. As early as the days of + Queen Elizabeth, a courtier boasted that the air of England was too pure + for a slave to breathe, and the Common Law was said to forbid Slavery. And + yet, in the face of this vaunt, kindred to that of our fathers, and so + truly honorable, slaves were introduced from the West Indies. The custom + of Slavery gradually prevailed. Its positive legality was affirmed, in + professional opinions, by two eminent lawyers, Talbot and Yorke, each + afterwards Lord Chancellor. It was also affirmed on the bench by the + latter as Lord Hardwicke. England was already a Slave State. The following + advertisement, copied from a London newspaper, <i>The Public Advertiser</i>, + of November 22, 1769, shows that the journals there were disfigured as + some of ours, even in the District of Columbia. + </p> + <p> + "To be sold, a black girl, the property of J. B., eleven years of age, who + is extremely handy, works at her needle tolerably, and speaks English + perfectly well; is of an excellent temper and willing disposition. Inquire + of her owner at the Angel Inn, behind St. Clement's Church, in the + Strand." + </p> + <p> + At last, in 1772, only three years after this advertisement, the single + question of the legality of Slavery was presented to Lord Mansfield, on a + writ of <i>habeas corpus</i>. A poor negro, named Sommersett, brought to + England as a slave, became ill, and, with an inhumanity disgraceful even + to Slavery, was turned adrift upon the world. Through the charity of an + estimable man, the eminent Abolitionist, Granville Sharp, he was restored + to health, when his unfeeling and avaricious master again claimed him as + bondman. The claim was repelled. After elaborate and protracted discussion + in Westminster Hall, marked by rarest learning and ability, Lord + Mansfield, with discreditable reluctance, sullying his great judicial + name, but in trembling obedience to the genius of the British + Constitution, pronounced a decree which made the early boast a practical + verity, and rendered Slavery forever impossible in England. More than + fourteen thousand persons, at that time held as slaves, and breathing + English air,—four times as many as are now found in this national + metropolis,—stepped forth in the happiness and dignity of free men. + </p> + <p> + With this guiding example I cannot despair. The time will yet come when + the boast of our fathers will be made a practical verity also, and Court + or Congress, in the spirit of this British judgment, will proudly declare + that nowhere under the Constitution can man hold property in man. For the + Republic such a decree will be the way of peace and safety. As Slavery is + banished from the national jurisdiction, it will cease to vex our national + politics. It may linger in the States as a local institution; but it will + no longer engender national animosities, when it no longer demands + national support. + </p> + <p> + II. + </p> + <p> + From this general review of the relations of the National Government to + Slavery, I pass to the consideration of THE TRUE NATURE OF THE PROVISION + FOR THE RENDITION OF FUGITIVES FROM SERVICE, embracing an examination of + this provision in the Constitution, and especially of the recent Act of + Congress in pursuance thereof. As I begin this discussion, let me bespeak + anew your candor. Not in prejudice, but in the light of history and of + reason, we must consider this subject. The way will then be easy and the + conclusion certain. + </p> + <p> + Much error arises from the exaggerated importance now attached to this + provision, and from assumptions with regard to its origin and primitive + character. It is often asserted that it was suggested by some special + difficulty, which had become practically and extensively felt, anterior to + the Constitution. But this is one of the myths or fables with which the + supporters of Slavery have surrounded their false god. In the articles of + Confederation, while provision is made for the surrender of fugitive + criminals, nothing is said of fugitive slaves or servants; and there is no + evidence in any quarter, until after the National Convention, of hardship + or solicitude on this account. No previous voice was heard to express + desire for any provision on the subject. The story to the contrary is a + modern fiction. + </p> + <p> + I put aside, as equally fabulous, the common saying, that this provision + was one of the original compromises of the Constitution, and an essential + condition of Union. Though sanctioned by eminent judicial opinions, it + will be found that this statement is hastily made, without any support in + the records of the Convention, the only authentic evidence of the + compromises; nor will it be easy to find any authority for it in any + contemporary document, speech, published letter, or pamphlet of any kind. + It is true that there were compromises at the formation of the + Constitution, which were the subject of anxious debate; but this was not + one of them. + </p> + <p> + There was a compromise between the small and large States, by which + equality was secured to all the States in the Senate. + </p> + <p> + There was another compromise finally carried, under threats from the + South, on the motion of a New England member, by which the Slave States + are allowed Representatives according to the whole number of free persons + and "three fifths of all other persons," thus securing political power on + account of their slaves, in consideration that direct taxes should be + apportioned in the same way. Direct taxes have been imposed at only four + brief intervals. The political power has been constant, and at this moment + sends twenty-one members to the other House. + </p> + <p> + There was a third compromise, not to be mentioned without shame. It was + that hateful bargain by which Congress was restrained until 1808 from the + prohibition of the foreign Slave-trade, thus securing, down to that + period, toleration for crime. This was pertinaciously pressed by the + South, even to the extent of absolute restriction on Congress. John + Rutledge said: + </p> + <p> + "If the Convention thinks that North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia + will ever agree to the Plan (the National Constitution), unless their + right to import slaves be untouched, the expectation is vain. The people + of those States will never be such fools as to give up so important an + interest." Charles Pinckney said: "South Carolina can never receive the + Plan, if it prohibits the slave-trade." Charles Cotesworth Pinckney + "thought himself bound to declare candidly, that he did not think South + Carolina would stop her importations of slaves in any short time." The + effrontery of the slave-masters was matched by the sordidness of the + Eastern members, who yielded again. Luther Martin, the eminent member of + the Convention, in his contemporary address to the Legislature of + Maryland, described the compromise. "I found," he said, "The Eastern + States, notwithstanding their aversion to Slavery, were very willing to + indulge the Southern States at least with a temporary liberty to prosecute + the slave-trade, <i>provided the Southern States would in their turn + gratify them by laying no restriction on navigation acts</i>." The bargain + was struck, and at this price the Southern States gained the detestable + indulgence. At a subsequent day Congress branded the slave-trade as + piracy, and thus, by solemn legislative act, adjudged this compromise to + be felonious and wicked. + </p> + <p> + Such are the three chief original compromises of the Constitution and + essential conditions of Union. The case of fugitives from service is not + of these. During the Convention it was not in any way associated with + these. Nor is there any evidence from the records of this body, that the + provision on this subject was regarded with any peculiar interest. As its + absence from the Articles of Confederation had not been the occasion of + solicitude or de-sire, anterior to the National Convention, so it did not + enter into any of the original plans of the Constitution. It was + introduced tardily, at a late period of the Convention, and adopted with + very little and most casual discussion. A few facts show how utterly + unfounded are recent assumptions. + </p> + <p> + The National Convention was convoked to meet at Philadelphia on the second + Monday in May, 1787. Several members appeared at this time, but, a + majority of the States not being represented, those present adjourned from + day to day until the 25th, when the Convention was organized by the choice + of George Washington as President. On the 28th a few brief rules and + orders were adopted. On the next day, they commenced their great work. + </p> + <p> + On the same day, Edmund Randolph, of slaveholding Virginia, laid before + the Convention a series of fifteen resolutions, containing his plan for + the establishment of a New National Government. Here was no allusion to + fugitives slaves. + </p> + <p> + Also, on the same day, Charles Pinckney, of slaveholding South Carolina, + laid before the Convention what was called "A Draft of a Federal + Government, to be agreed upon between the Free and Independent States of + America," an elaborate paper, marked by considerable minuteness of detail. + Here are provisions, borrowed from the Articles of Confederation, securing + to the citizens of each State equal privileges, in the several States, + giving faith to the public records of the States, and ordaining the + surrender of fugitives from justice. But this draft, though from the + flaming guardian of the slave interest, contained no allusion to fugitive + slaves. + </p> + <p> + In the course of the Convention other plans were brought forward: on the + 15th of June, aseries of eleven propositions by Mr. Paterson, of New + Jersey, "so as to render the Federal Constitution adequate to the + exigencies of Government and the preservation of the Union"; on the 18th + June, eleven propositions by Mr. Hamilton, of New York, "containing his + ideas of a suitable plan of Government for the United States" and on the + 19th June, Mr. Randolph's resolutions, originally offered on the 29th May, + "as altered, amended, and agreed to in Committee of the Whole House." On + the 26th July, twenty-three resolutions, already adopted on different days + in the Convention, were referred to a "Committee of Detail," for reduction + to the form of a Constitution. On the 6th August this Committee reported + the finished draft of a Constitution. And yet in all these resolutions, + plans, and drafts, seven in number, proceeding from eminent members and + from able committees, no allusion is made to fugitive slaves. For three + months the Convention was in session, and not a word uttered on this + subject. + </p> + <p> + At last, on the 28th August, as the Convention was drawing to a close, on + the consideration of the article providing for the privileges of citizens + in different States, we meet the first reference to this matter, in words + worthy of note. "General (Charles Cotesworth) Pinckney was not satisfied + with it. He SEEMED to wish some provision should be included in favor of + property in slaves." But he made no proposition. Unwilling to shock the + Convention, and uncertain in his own mind, he only seemed to wish such a + provision. In this vague expression of a vague desire this idea first + appeared. In this modest, hesitating phrase is the germ of the audacious, + unhesitating Slave Act. Here is the little vapor, which has since swollen, + as in the Arabian tale, to the power and dimensions of a giant. The next + article under discussion provided for the surrender of fugitives from + justice. Mr. Butler and Mr. Charles Pinckney, both from South Carolina, + now moved openly to require "fugitive slaves and servants to be delivered + up like criminals." Here was no disguise. With Hamlet, it was now said in + spirit, + </p> + <p> + "Seems, Madam! Nay it is. I know not seems." + </p> + <p> + But the very boldness of the effort drew attention and opposition. Mr. + Wilson, of Pennsylvania, the learned jurist and excellent man, at once + objected: "This would oblige the Executive of the State to do it at the + public expense." Mr. Sherman, of Connecticut, "saw no more propriety in + the public seizing and surrendering a slave or servant than a horse." + Under the pressure of these objections, the offensive proposition was + withdrawn,—never more to be renewed. The article for the surrender + of criminals was then unanimously adopted. On the next day, 29th August, + profiting by the suggestions already made, Mr. Butler moved a proposition,—substantially + like that now found in the Constitution,—for the surrender, not of + "fugitive slaves," as originally proposed, but simply of "persons bound to + service or labor," which, without debate or opposition of any kind, was + unanimously adopted.' + </p> + <p> + Here, palpably, was no labor of compromise, no adjustment of conflicting + interest,—nor even any expression of solicitude. The clause finally + adopted was vague and faint as the original suggestion. In its natural + import it is not applicable to slaves. If supposed by some to be + applicable, it is clear that it was supposed by others to be inapplicable. + It is now insisted that the term "persons bound to service," or "held to + service," as expressed in the final revision, is the equivalent or synonym + for "slaves." This interpretation is rebuked by an incident to which + reference has been already made, but which will bear repetition. On the + 13th September—a little more than a fortnight after the clause was + adopted, and when, if deemed to be of any significance, it could not have + been forgotten—the very word "service," came under debate, and + received a fixed meaning. It was unanimously adopted as a substitute for + "servitude" in another part of the Constitution, for the reason that it + expressed "the obligations of free persons," while the other expressed + "the condition of slaves." In the face of this authentic evidence, + reported by Mr. Madison, it is difficult to see how the term "persons held + to service" can be deemed to express anything beyond the "obligations of + free persons." Thus, in the light of calm inquiry, does this exaggerated + clause lose its importance. + </p> + <p> + The provision, showing itself thus tardily, and so slightly regarded in + the National Convention, was neglected in much of the contemporaneous + discussion before the people. In the Conventions of South Carolina, North + Carolina,and Virginia, it was commended as securing important rights, + though on this point there was difference of opinion. In the Virginia + Convention, an eminent character, Mr. George Mason, with others, expressly + declared that there was "no security of property coming within this + section." In the other Conventions it was disregarded. Massachusetts, + while exhibiting peculiar sensitiveness at any responsibility for slavery, + seemed to view it with unconcern. One of her leading statesmen, General + Heath, in the debates of the State Convention, strenuously asserted, that, + in ratifying the Constitution, the people of Massachusetts "would do + nothing to hold the blacks in slavery." "<i>The Federalist</i>," in its + classification of the powers of Congress, describes and groups a large + number as "those which provide for the harmony and proper intercourse + among the States," and therein speaks of the power over public records, + standing next in the Constitution to the provision concerning fugitives + from service; but it fails to recognize the latter among the means of + promoting "harmony and proper intercourse;" nor does its triumvirate of + authors anywhere allude to the provision. + </p> + <p> + The indifference thus far attending this subject still continued. The + earliest Act of Congress, passed in 1793, drew little attention. It was + not suggested originally by any difficulty or anxiety touching fugitives + from service, nor is there any contemporary record, in debate or + otherwise, showing that any special importance was attached to its + provisions in this regard. The attention of Congress was directed to + fugitives from justice, and, with little deliberation, it undertook, in + the same bill, to provide for both cases. In this accidental manner was + legislation on this subject first attempted. + </p> + <p> + There is no evidence that fugitives were often seized under this Act. From + a competent inquirer we learn that twenty-six years elapsed before it was + successfully enforced in any Free State. It is certain, that, in a case at + Boston, towards the close of the last century, illustrated by Josiah + Quincy as counsel, the crowd about the magistrate, at the examination, + quietly and spontaneously opened a way for the fugitive, and thus the Act + failed to be executed. It is also certain, that, in Vermont, at the + beginning of the century, a Judge of the Supreme Court of the State, on + application for the surrender of an alleged slave, accompanied by + documentary evidence, gloriously refused compliance, unless the master + could show a Bill of Sale from the Almighty. Even these cases passed + without public comment. + </p> + <p> + In 1801 the subject was introduced in the House of Representatives by an + effort for another Act, which, on consideration, was rejected. At a later + day, in 1817-18, though still disregarded by the country, it seemed to + excite a short-lived interest in Congress. In the House of + Representatives, on motion of Mr. Pindall, of Virginia, a committee was + appointed to inquire into the expediency of "providing more effectually by + law for reclaiming servants and slaves escaping from one State into + an-other," and a bill reported by them to amend the Act of 1793, after + consideration for several days in Committee of the Whole, was passed. In + the Senate, after much attention and warm debate, it passed with + amendments. But on return to the House for adoption of the amendments, it + was dropped. This effort, which, in the discussions of this subject, has + been thus far unnoticed, is chiefly remarkable as the earliest recorded + evidence of the unwarrantable assertion, now so common, that this + provision was originally of vital importance to the peace and harmony of + the country. + </p> + <p> + At last, in 1850, we have another Act, passed by both Houses of Congress, + and approved by the President, familiarly known as the Fugitive Slave + Bill. As I read this statute, I am filled with painful emotions. The + masterly subtlety with which it is drawn might challenge admiration, if + exerted for a benevolent purpose; but in an age of sensibility and + refinement, a machine of torture, however skilful and apt, cannot be + regarded without horror. Sir, in the name of the Constitution, which it + violates, of my country, which it dishonors, of Humanity, which it + degrades, of Christianity, which it offends, I arraign this enactment, and + now hold it up to the judgment of the Senate and the world. Again, I + shrink from no responsibility. I may seem to stand alone; but all the + patriots and martyrs of history, all the Fathers of the Republic, are with + me. Sir, there is no attribute of God which does not take part against + this Act. + </p> + <p> + But I am to regard it now chiefly as an infringement of the Constitution. + Here its outrages, flagrant as manifold, assume the deepest dye and + broadest character only when we consider that by its language it is not + restricted to any special race or class, to the African or to the person + with African blood, but that any inhabitant of the United States, of + whatever complexion or condition, may be its victim. Without + discrimination of color even, and in violation of every presumption of + freedom, the Act surrenders all who may be claimed as "owing service or + labor" to the same tyrannical proceeding. If there be any whose sympathies + are not moved for the slave, who do not cherish the rights of the humble + African, struggling for divine Freedom, as warmly as the rights of the + white man, let him consider well that the rights of all are equally + assailed. "Nephew," said Algernon Sidney in prison, on the night before + his execution, "I value not my own life a chip; but what concerns me is, + that the law which takes away my life may hang every one of you, whenever + it is thought convenient." + </p> + <p> + Whilst thus comprehensive in its provisions, and applicable to all, there + is no safeguard of Human Freedom which the monster Act does not set at + nought. + </p> + <p> + It commits this great question—than which none is more sacred in the + law—not to a solemn trial, but to summary proceedings. + </p> + <p> + It commits this great question, not to one of the high tribunals of the + land, but to the unaided judgment of a single petty magistrate. + </p> + <p> + It commits this great question to a magistrate appointed, not by the + President with the consent of the Senate, but by the Court,—holding + office, not during good behavior, but merely during the will of the Court,—and + receiving, not a regular salary, but fees according to each individual + case. + </p> + <p> + It authorizes judgment on <i>ex parte</i> evidence, by affidavit, without + the sanction of cross-examination. + </p> + <p> + It denies the writ of <i>Habeas Corpus</i>, ever known as the palladium of + the citizen. + </p> + <p> + Contrary to the declared purposes of the framers of the Constitution, it + sends the fugitive back "at the public expense." + </p> + <p> + Adding meanness to violation of the Constitution, it bribes the + Commissioner by a double stipend to pronounce against Freedom. If he dooms + a man to Slavery, the reward is ten dollars; but saving him to Freedom, + his dole is five. + </p> + <p> + The Constitution expressly secures the "free exercise of religion"; but + this Act visits with unrelenting penalties the faithful men and women who + render to the fugitive that countenance, succor, and shelter which in + their conscience "religion" requires; and thus is practical religion + directly assailed. Plain commandments are broken; and are we not told that + "Whosoever shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach + men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of Heaven"? + </p> + <p> + As it is for the public weal that there should be an end of suits, so by + the consent of civilized nations these must be instituted within fixed + limitations of time; but this Act, exalting Slavery above even this + practical principle of universal justice, ordains proceedings against + Freedom without any reference to the lapse of time. + </p> + <p> + Glancing only at these points, and not stopping for argument, vindication, + or illustration, I come at once upon two chief radical objections to this + Act, identical in principle with those triumphantly urged by our fathers + against the British Stamp Act; first, that it is a usurpation by Congress + of powers not granted by the Constitution, and an infraction of rights + secured to the States; and, secondly, that it takes away Trial by Jury in + a question of Personal Liberty and a suit at Common Law. Either of these + objections, if sustained, strikes at the very root of the Act. That it is + obnoxious to both is beyond doubt. + </p> + <p> + Here, at this stage, I encounter the difficulty, that these objections are + already foreclosed by legislation of Congress and decisions of the Supreme + Court,—that as early as 1793 Congress assumed power over this + subject by an Act which failed to secure Trial by Jury, and that the + validity of this Act under the Constitution has been affirmed by the + Supreme Court. On examination, this difficulty will disappear. + </p> + <p> + The Act of 1793 proceeded from a Congress that had already recognized the + United States Bank, chartered by a previous Congress, which, though + sanctioned by the Supreme Court, has been since in high quarters + pronounced unconstitutional. If it erred as to the Bank, it may have erred + also as to fugitives from service. But the Act itself contains a capital + error on this very subject, so declared by the Supreme Court, in + pretending to vest a portion of the judicial power of the Nation in State + officers. This error takes from the Act all authority as an interpretation + of the Constitution. I dismiss it. + </p> + <p> + The decisions of the Supreme Court are entitled to great consideration, + and will not be mentioned by me except with respect. Among the memories of + my youth are happy days when I sat at the feet of this tribunal, while + MARSHALL presided, with STORY by his side. The pressure now proceeds from + the case of Prigg v. Pennsylvania (16 Peters, 539), where is asserted the + power of Congress. Without going into minute criticism of this judgment, + or considering the extent to which it is extra-judicial, and therefore of + no binding force,—all which has been done at the bar in one State, + and by an able court in another,—but conceding to it a certain + degree of weight as a rule to the judiciary on this particular point, + still it does not touch the grave question which springs from the denial + of Trial by Jury. This judgment was pronounced by Mr. Justice Story. From + the interesting biography of the great jurist, recently published by his + son, we learn that the question of Trial by Jury was not considered as + before the Court; so that, in the estimation of the learned judge himself, + it was still an open question. + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + (1). <i>First of the power of Congress over this subject</i>. + </p> + <p> + The Constitution contains <i>powers</i> granted to Congress, <i>compacts</i> + between the States, and <i>prohibitions</i> addressed to the Nation and to + the States. A compact or prohibition may be accompanied by a power,—but + not necessarily, for it is essentially distinct in nature. And here the + single question arises, Whether the Constitution, by grant, general or + special, confers upon Congress any power to legislate on the subject of + fugitives from service. + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + The framers of the Constitution were wise and careful, having a reason for + what they did, and understanding the language they employed. They did not, + after discussion, incorporate into their work any superfluous provision; + nor did they without design adopt the peculiar arrangement in which it + appears. Adding to the record compact an express grant of power, they + testified not only their desire for such power in Congress, but their + conviction that without such express grant it would not exist. But if + express grant was necessary in this case, it was equally necessary in all + the other cases. <i>Expressum facit cessare tacitum</i>. Especially, in + view of its odious character, was it necessary in the case of fugitives + from service. Abstaining from any such grant, and then grouping the bare + compact with other similar compacts, separate from every grant of power, + they testified their purpose most significantly. Not only do they decline + all addition to the compact of any such power, but, to render + misapprehension impossible, to make assurance doubly sure, to exclude any + contrary conclusion, they punctiliously arrange the clauses, on the + principle of <i>noscitur a sociis</i>, so as to distinguish all the grants + of power, but especially to make the new grant of power, in the case of + public records, stand forth in the front by itself, severed from the naked + compacts with which it was originally associated. + </p> + <p> + Thus the proceedings of the Convention show that the founders understood + the necessity of powers in certain cases, and, on consideration, jealously + granted them. A closing example will strengthen the argument. Congress is + expressly empowered "to establish an uniform rule of naturalization, and + uniform laws on the subject of bankruptcies, throughout the United + States." Without this provision these two subjects would have fallen + within the control of the States, leaving the nation powerless to + establish a uniform rule thereupon. Now, instead of the existing compact + on fugitives from service, it would have been easy, had any such desire + prevailed, to add this case to the clause on naturalization and + bankruptcies, and to empower Congress To ESTABLISH A UNIFORM RULE FOR THE + SURRENDER OF FUGITIVES FROM SERVICE THROUGHOUT THE UNITED STATES. Then, of + course, whenever Congress undertook to exercise the power, all State + control of the subject would be superseded. The National Government would + have been constistuted, like Nimrod, the mighty Hunter, with power to + gather the huntsmen, to halloo the pack, and to direct the chase of men, + ranging at will, without regard to boundaries or jurisdictions, throughout + all the States. But no person in the Convention, not one of the reckless + partisans of slavery, was so audacious as to make this proposition. Had it + been distinctly made, it would have been as distinctly denied. + </p> + <p> + The fact that the provision on this subject was adopted unanimously, while + showing the little importance attached to it in the shape it finally + assumed, testifies also that it could not have been regarded as a source + of national power for Slavery. It will be remembered that among the + members of the Convention were Gouverneur Morris, who had said that he + "NEVER would concur in upholding domestic Slavery,"—Elbridge Gerry, + who thought we "ought to be careful NOT to give any sanction to it,"—Roger + Sherman, who "was OPPOSED to a tax on slaves imported, because it implied + they were property,"—James Madison, who "thought it WRONG to admit + in the Constitution the idea that there could be property in men,"—and + Benjamin Franklin, who likened American slaveholders to Algerine corsairs. + In the face of these unequivocal judgments, it is absurd to suppose that + these eminent citizens consented unanimously to any provision by which the + National Government, the creature of their hands, dedicated to freedom, + could become the most offensive agent of Slavery. + </p> + <p> + Thus much for the evidence from the history of the Convention. But the + true principles of our political system are in harmony with this + conclusion of history; and here let me say a word of State rights. + </p> + <p> + It was the purpose of our fathers to create a National Government, and to + endow it with adequate powers. They had known the perils of imbecility, + discord, and confusion, protracted through the uncertain days of the + Confederation, and they desired a government which should be a true bond + of union and an efficient organ of national interests at home and abroad. + But while fashioning this agency, they fully recognized the governments of + the States. To the nation were delegated high powers, essential to the + national interests, but specific in character and limited in number. To + the States and to the people were reserved the powers, general in + character and unlimited in number, not delegated to the nation or + prohibited to the States. + </p> + <p> + The integrity of our political system depends upon harmony in the + operations of the Nation and of the States. While the nation within its + wide orbit is supreme, the States move with equal supremacy in their own. + But, from the necessity of the case, the supremacy of each in its proper + place excludes the other. The Nation cannot exercise rights reserved to + the States, nor can the States interfere with the powers of the nation. + Any such action on either side is a usurpation. These principles were + distinctly declared by Mr. Jefferson in 1798, in words often adopted + since, and which must find acceptance from all parties. + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + I have already amply shown to-day that Slavery is in no respect national—that + it is not within the sphere of national activity,—that it has no + "positive" support in the Constitution,—and that any interpretation + inconsistent with this principle would be abhorrent to the sentiments of + its founders. Slavery is a local institution, peculiar to the States, and + under the guardianship of State rights. It is impossible, without violence + to the spirit and letter of the Constitution, to claim for Congress any + power to legislate either for its abolition in the States or its support + anywhere. Non-Intervention is the rule prescribed to the nation. Regarding + the question in its more general aspects only, and putting aside, for the + moment, the perfect evidence from the records of the convention, it is + palpable that there is no national fountain out of which the existing + Slave Act can possibly spring. + </p> + <p> + But this Act is not only an unwarrantable assumption of power by the + nation, it is also an infraction of rights reserved to the States. + Everywhere within their borders the States are peculiar guardians of + personal liberty. By jury and habeas corpus to save the citizen harmless + against all assault is among their duties and rights. To his State the + citizen, when oppressed, may appeal; nor should he find that appeal + denied. But this Act despoils him of rights, and despoils his State of all + power to protect him. It subjects him to the wretched chance of false + oaths, forged papers, and facile commissioners, and takes from him every + safeguard. Now, if the slaveholder has a right to be secure at home in the + enjoyment of Slavery, so also has the freeman of the North—and every + person there is presumed to be a free man—an equal right to be + secure at home in the enjoyment of freedom. The same principle of State + rights by which Slavery is protected in the slave States throws an + impenetrable shield over Freedom in the free States. And here, let me say, + is the only security for Slavery in the slave States, as for Freedom in + the free States. In the present fatal overthrow of State rights you teach + a lesson which may return to plague the teacher. Compelling the National + Government to stretch its Briarean arms into the free States for the sake + of Slavery, you show openly how it may stretch these same hundred giant + arms into the slave States for the sake of Freedom. This lesson was not + taught by our fathers. + </p> + <p> + Here I end this branch of the question. The true principles of our + political system, the history of the National Convention, the natural + interpretation of the Constitution, all teach that this Act is a + usurpation by Congress of powers that do not belong to it, and an + infraction of rights secured to the States. It is a sword, whose handle is + at the National Capital, and whose point is everywhere in the States. A + weapon so terrible to personal liberty the nation has no power to grasp. + </p> + <p> + (2). And now of the denial of Trial by Jury. + </p> + <p> + Admitting, for the moment, that Congress is intrusted with power over this + subject, which truth disowns, still the Act is again radically + unconstitutional from its denial of Trial by Jury in a question of + personal liberty and a suit of common law. Since on the one side there is + a claim of property, and on the other of liberty, both property and + liberty are involved in the issue. To this claim on either side is + attached Trial by Jury. + </p> + <p> + To me, Sir, regarding this matter in the light of the Common Law and in + the blaze of free institutions, it has always seemed impossible to arrive + at any other conclusion. If the language of the Constitution were open to + doubt, which it is not, still all the presumptions of law, all the + leanings to Freedom, all the suggestions of justice, plead angel-tongued + for this right. Nobody doubts that Congress, if it legislates on this + matter, may allow a Trial by Jury. But if it may, so overwhelming is the + claim of justice, it MUST. Beyond this, however, the question is + determined by the precise letter of the Constitution. + </p> + <p> + Several expressions in the provision for the surrender of fugitives from + service show the essential character of the proceedings. In the first + place, the person must be, not merely charged, as in the case of fugitives + from justice, but actually held to service in the State which he escaped. + In the second place, he must "be delivered up on claim of the party to + whom such service or labor may be due." These two facts—that he was + held to service, and that his service was due to his claimant—are + directly placed in issue, and must be proved. Two necessary incidents of + the delivery may also be observed. First, it is made in the State where + the fugitive is found; and, secondly, it restores to the claimant complete + control over the person of the fugitive. From these circumstances it is + evident that the proceedings cannot be regarded, in any just sense, as + preliminary, or ancillary to some future formal trial, but as complete in + themselves, final and conclusive. + </p> + <p> + These proceedings determine on the one side the question of property, and + on the other the sacred question of personal liberty in its most + transcendent form,—Liberty not merely for a day or a year, but for + life, and the Liberty of generations that shall come after, so long as + Slavery endures. To these questions the Constitution, by two specific + provisions, attaches Trial by Jury. One is the familiar clause, already + adduced: "No person shall be deprived of life, liberty, or property + without due process of law,"—that is, without due proceeding at law, + with Trial by Jury. Not stopping to dwell on this, I press at once to the + other provision, which is still more express: "In suits at common law, + where the value in controversy shall exceed twenty dollars, the right of + Trial by Jury shall be preserved." This clause, which does not appear in + the Constitution as first adopted, was suggested by the very spirit of + freedom. At the close of the National Convention, Elbridge Gerry refused + to sign the Constitution because, among other things, it established "a + tribunal without juries, a star chamber as to civil cases." + </p> + <p> + Many united in his opposition, and on the recommendation of the First + Congress this additional safeguard was adopted as an amendment. + </p> + <p> + Opposing this Act as doubly unconstitutional from the want of power in + Congress and from the denial of trial by jury, I find myself again + encouraged by the example of our Revolutionary Fathers, in a case which is + a landmark of history. The parallel is important and complete. In 1765, + the British Parliament, by a notorious statute, attempted to draw money + from the colonies through a stamp tax, while the determination of certain + questions of forfeiture under the statute was delegated, not to the Courts + of Common Law, but to Courts of Admiralty without a jury. The Stamp Act, + now execrated by all lovers of liberty, had this extent and no more. Its + passage was the signal for a general flame of opposition and indignation + throughout the colonies. It was denounced as contrary to the British + Constitution, on two principal grounds—first, as a usurpation by + Parliament of powers not belonging to it, and an infraction of rights + secured to the colonies; and, secondly, as a denial of Trial by Jury in + certain cases of property. + </p> + <p> + The public feeling was variously expressed. At Boston, on the day the act + was to take effect, the shops were closed, the bells of the churches + tolled, and the flags of the ships hung at half-mast. At Portsmouth, in + New Hampshire, the bells were tolled, and the friends of liberty were + summoned to hold themselves in readiness for her funeral. At New York, the + obnoxious Act, headed "Folly of England and Ruin of America," was + contemptuously hawked about the streets. Bodies of patriots were organized + everywhere under the name of "Sons of Liberty." The merchants, inspired + then by liberty, resolved to import no more goods from England until the + repeal of the Act. The orators also spoke. James Otis with fiery tongue + appealed to Magna Charta. + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + Sir, regarding the Stamp Act candidly and cautiously, free from + animosities of the time, it is impossible not to see that, though gravely + unconstitutional, it was at most an infringement of civil liberty only, + not of personal liberty. There was an unjust tax of a few pence, with the + chance of amercement by a single judge without a jury; but by no provision + of this act was the personal liberty of any man assailed. No freeman could + be seized under it as a slave. Such an act, though justly obnoxious to + every lover of constitutional Liberty, cannot be viewed with the feelings + of repugnance enkindled by a statute which assails the personal liberty of + every man, and under which any freeman may be seized as a slave. Sir, in + placing the Stamp Act by the side of the Slave Act, I do injustice to that + emanation of British tyranny. Both infringe important rights: one, of + property; the other, the vital right of all, which is to other rights as + soul to body,—the right of a man to himself. Both are condemned; but + their relative condemnation must be measured by their relative characters. + As Freedom is more than property, as Man is above the dollar that he owns, + as heaven, to which we all aspire, is higher than earth, where every + accumulation of wealth must ever remain, so are the rights assailed by an + American Congress higher than those once assailed by the British + Parliament. And just in this degree must history condemn the Slave Act + more than the Stamp Act. + </p> + <p> + Sir, I might here stop. It is enough, in this place, and on this occasion, + to show the unconstitutionality of this enactment. Your duty commences at + once. All legislation hostile to the fundamental law of the land should be + repealed without delay. But the argument is not yet exhausted. Even if + this Act could claim any validity or apology under the Constitution, which + it cannot, it lacks that essential support in the Public Conscience of the + States, where it is to be enforced, which is the life of all law, and + with-out which any law must become a dead letter. + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + With every attempt to administer the Slave Act, it constantly becomes more + revolting, particularly in its influence on the agents it enlists. Pitch + cannot be touched without defilement, and all who lend themselves to this + work seem at once and unconsciously to lose the better part of man. The + spirit of the law passes into them, as the devils entered the swine. + Upstart commissioners, mere mushrooms of courts, vie and revie with each + other. Now by indecent speed, now by harshness of manner, now by denial of + evidence, now by crippling the defense, and now by open, glaring wrong + they make the odious Act yet more odious. Clemency, grace, and justice die + in its presence. All this is observed by the world. Not a case occurs + which does not harrow the souls of good men, and bring tears of sympathy + to the eyes, and those nobler tears which "patriots shed o'er dying laws." + </p> + <p> + Sir, I shall speak frankly. If there be an exception to this feeling, it + will be found chiefly with a peculiar class. It is a sorry fact, that the + "mercantile interest," in unpardonable selfishness, twice in English + history, frowned upon endeavors to suppress the atrocity of Algerine + Slavery, that it sought to baffle Wilberforce's great effort for the + abolition of the African slave-trade, and that, by a sordid compromise, at + the formation of our Constitution, it exempted the same detested, + Heaven-defying traffic from American judgment. And now representatives of + this "interest," forgetful that Commerce is born of Freedom, join in + hunting the Slave. But the great heart of the people recoils from this + enactment. It palpitates for the fugitive, and rejoices in his escape. + Sir, I am telling you facts. The literature of the age is all on his side. + Songs, more potent than laws, are for him. Poets, with voices of melody, + sing for Freedom. Who could tune for Slavery? They who make the permanent + opinion of the country, who mould our youth,whose words, dropped into the + soul, are the germs of character, supplicate for the Slave. And now, Sir, + behold a new and heavenly ally. A woman, inspired by Christian genius, + enters the lists, like another Joan of Arc, and with marvellous power + sweeps the popular heart. Now melting to tears, and now inspiring to rage, + her work everywhere touches the conscience, and makes the Slave-Hunter + more hateful. In a brief period, nearly one hundred thousand copies of + Uncle Tom's Cabin have been already circulated. But this extraordinary and + sudden success, surpassing all other instances in the records of + literature, cannot be regarded as but the triumph of genius. Better far, + it is the testimony of the people, by an unprecedented act, against the + Fugitive Slave Bill. + </p> + <p> + These things I dwell upon as incentives and tokens of an existing public + sentiment, rendering this Act practically inoperative, except as a + tremendous engine of horror. Sir, the sentiment is just. Even in the lands + of Slavery, the slave-trader is loathed as an ignoble character, from whom + the countenance is turned away; and can the Slave-Hunter be more regarded, + while pursuing his prey in a land of Freedom? In early Europe, in + barbarous days, while Slavery prevailed, a Hunting Master was held in + aversion. Nor was this all. The fugitive was welcomed in the cities, and + protected against pursuit. Sometimes vengeance awaited the Hunter. Down to + this day, at Revel, now a Russian city, a sword is proudly preserved with + which a hunting Baron was beheaded, who, in violation of the municipal + rights of the place, seized a fugitive slave. Hostile to this Act as our + public sentiment may be, it exhibits no similar trophy. The State laws of + Massachusetts have been violated in the seizure of a fugitive slave; but + no sword, like that of Revel, now hangs at Boston. + </p> + <p> + And now, Sir, let us review the field over which we have passed. We have + seen that any compromise, finally closing the discussion of Slavery under + the Constitution, is tyrannical, absurd, and impotent; that, as Slavery + can exist only by virtue of positive law, and as it has no such positive + support in the Constitution, it cannot exist within the national + jurisdiction; that the Constitution nowhere recognizes property in man, + and that, according to its true interpretation, Freedom and not Slavery is + national, while Slavery and not Freedom is sectional;that in this spirit + the National Government was first organized under Washington, himself an + Abolitionist, surrounded by Abolitionists, while the whole country, by its + Church, its Colleges, its Literature, and all its best voices, was united + against Slavery, and the national flag at that time nowhere within the + National Territory covered a single slave; still further, that the + National Government is a government of delegated powers, and, as among + these there is no power to support Slavery, this institution cannot be + national, nor can Congress in any way legislate in its behalf; and, + finally, that the establishment of this principle is the true way of peace + and safety for the Republic. Considering next the provision for the + surrender of fugitives from service, we have seen that it was not one of + the original compromises of the Constitution; that it was introduced + tardily and with hesitation, and adopted with little discussion, while + then and for a long period thereafter it was regarded with comparative + indifference; that the recent Slave Act, though many times + unconstitutional, is especially so on two grounds, first, as a usurpation + by Congress of powers not granted by the Constitution, and an infraction + of rights secured to the States, and, secondly, as the denial of Trial by + Jury, in a question of personal liberty and a suit at Common Law; that its + glaring unconstitutionality finds a prototype in the British Stamp Act, + which our fathers refused to obey as unconstitutional on two parallel + grounds,—first, because it was a usurpation by Parliament of powers + not belonging to it under the British Constitution, and an infraction of + rights belonging to the Colonies, and, secondly, because it was the denial + of Trial by Jury in certain cases of property; that, as Liberty is far + above property, so is the outrage perpetrated by the American Congress far + above that perpetrated by the British Parliament; and, finally, that the + Slave Act has not that support, in the public sentiment of the States + where it is to be executed, which is the life of all law, and which + prudence and the precept of Washington require. + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + Mr. President, I have occupied much time; but the great subject still + stretches before us. One other point yet remains, which I must not leave + untouched, and which justly belongs to the close. The Slave Act violates + the Constitution, and shocks the Public Conscience. With modesty, and yet + with firmness, let me add, Sir,it offends against the Divine Law. No such + enactment is entitled to support. As the throne of God is above every + earthly throne, so are his laws and statutes above all the laws and + statutes of man. To question these is to question God himself. But to + assume that human laws are beyond question is to claim for their fallible + authors infallibility. To assume that they are always in conformity with + the laws of God is presumptuously and impiously to exalt man even to + equality with God. Clearly, human laws are not always in such conformity; + nor can they ever be beyond question from each individual. Where the + conflict is open, as if Congress should command the perpetration of + murder, the office of conscience as final arbiter is undisputed. But in + every conflict the same queenly office is hers. By no earthly power can + she be dethroned. Each person, after anxious examination, without haste, + without passion, solemnly for himself must decide this great controversy. + Any other rule attributes infallibility to human laws, places them beyond + question, and degrades all men to an unthinking, passive obedience. + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + The mandates of an earthly power are to be discussed; those of Heaven must + at once be performed; nor should we suffer ourselves to be drawn by any + compact into opposition to God. Such is the rule of morals. Such, also, by + the lips of judges and sages, is the proud declaration of English law, + whence our own is derived. In this conviction, patriots have braved unjust + commands, and martyrs have died. + </p> + <p> + And now, sir, the rule is commended to us. The good citizen, who sees + before him the shivering fugitive, guilty of no crime, pursued, hunted + down like a beast, while praying for Christian help and deliverance, and + then reads the requirements of this Act, is filled with horror. Here is a + despotic mandate "to aid and assist in the prompt and efficient execution + of this law." Again let me speak frankly. Not rashly would I set myself + against any requirement of law. This grave responsibility I would not + lightly assume. But here the path of duty is clear. By the Supreme Law, + which commands me to do no injustice, by the comprehensive Christian Law + of Brotherhood, by the Constitution, which I have sworn to support, I AM + BOUND TO DISOBEY THIS ACT. Never, in any capacity, can I render voluntary + aid in its execution. Pains and penalties I will endure, but this great + wrong, I will not do. "Where I cannot obey actively, there I am willing to + lie down and to suffer what they shall do unto me"; such was the + exclamation of him to whom we are indebted for the Pilgrim's Progress + while in prison for disobedience to an earthly statute. Better suffer + injustice than do it. Better victim than instrument of wrong. Better even + the poor slave returned to bondage than the wretched Commissioner. + </p> + <p> + There is, sir, an incident of history which suggests a parallel, and + affords a lesson of fidelity. Under the triumphant exertions of that + Apostolic Jesuit, St. Francis Xavier, large numbers of Japanese, amounting + to as many as two hundred thousand,—among them princes, generals, + and the flower of the nobility,—were converted to Christianity. + Afterwards, amidst the frenzy of civil war, religious persecution arose, + and the penalty of death was denounced against all who refused to trample + upon the effigy of the Redeemer. This was the Pagan law of a Pagan land. + But the delighted historian records, that from the multitude of converts + scarcely one was guilty of this apostasy. The law of man was set at + naught. Imprisonment, torture, death, were preferred. Thus did this people + refuse to trample on the painted image. Sir, multitudes among us will not + be less steadfast in refusing to trample on the living image of their + Redeemer. + </p> + <p> + Finally, Sir, for the sake of peace and tranquility, cease to shock the + Public Conscience; for the sake of the Constitution, cease to exercise a + power nowhere granted, and which violates inviolable rights expressly + secured. Leave this question where it was left by our fathers, at the + formation of our National Government,—in the absolute control of the + States, the appointed guardians of Personal Liberty. Repeal this + enactment. Let its terrors no longer rage through the land. Mindful of the + lowly whom it pursues, mindful of the good men perplexed by its + requirements, in the name of Charity, in the name of the Constitution, + repeal this enactment, totally and without delay. There is the example of + Washington, follow it. There also are words of Oriental piety, most + touching and full of warning, which speak to all mankind, and now + especially to us: "Beware of the groans of wounded souls, since the inward + sore will at length break out. Oppress not to the utmost a single heart; + for a solitary sigh has power to overturn a whole world." + </p> + <div style="height: 6em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's American Eloquence, Volume II. 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(of 4), by Various + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: American Eloquence, Volume II. (of 4) + Studies In American Political History (1896) + +Author: Various + +Release Date: March 17, 2005 [EBook #15392] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK AMERICAN ELOQUENCE, II. *** + + + + +Produced by David Widger + + + + + +AMERICAN ELOQUENCE + +STUDIES IN AMERICAN POLITICAL HISTORY + + +Edited with Introduction by Alexander Johnston + +Reedited by James Albert Woodburn + + +Volume II. (of 4) + + + CONTENTS: + + V.-THE ANTI-SLAVERY STRUGGLE. + + RUFUS KING + On The Missouri Struggle--United States Senate, + February 11 And 14, 1820. + + WILLIAM PINKNEY + On The Missouri Struggle--United States Senate, + February 15, 1820. + + WENDELL PHILLIPS + On The Murder Of Lovejoy--Faneuil Hall, Boston, + December 8, 1837. + + JOHN QUINCY ADAMS + On The Constitutional War Power Over Slavery + --House Of Representatives, May 25, 1836. + + JOHN C. CALHOUN + On The Slavery Question--United States Senate, + March 4, 1850. + + DANIEL WEBSTER + On The Constitution And The Union--United States + Senate, March 7, 1850. + + HENRY CLAY + On The Compromise Of 1850--United States Senate, + July 22, 1850. + + WENDELL PHILLIPS + On The Philosophy Of The Abolition Movement--Before + The Massachusetts, Anti-Slavery Society, Boston, + January 27, 1853. + + CHARLES SUMNER + On The Repeal Of The Fugitive Slave Law--United + States Senate, August 26, 1852. + + + + +LIST OF PORTRAITS--VOLUME II. + +RUFUS KING -- From a steel engraving. + +JOHN Q. ADAMS -- From a painting by MARCHANT. + +JOHN C. CALHOUN -- From a daguerreotype by BRADY. + +DANIEL WEBSTER -- From a painting by R. M. STAIGG. + +HENRY CLAY -- From a crayon portrait. + + + + + +INTRODUCTION TO THE REVISED VOLUME II. + + + + + +The second volume of the American Eloquence is devoted exclusively +to the Slavery controversy. The new material of the revised edition +includes Rufus King and William Pinkney on the Missouri Question; John +Quincy Adams on the War Power of the Constitution over Slavery; Sumner +on the Repeal of the Fugitive Slave Law. The addition of the new +material makes necessary the reservation of the orations on the +Kansas-Nebraska Bill, and on the related subjects, for the third volume. + +In the anti-slavery struggle the Missouri question occupied a prominent +place. In the voluminous Congressional material which the long +debates called forth, the speeches of King and Pinkney are the best +representatives of the two sides to the controversy, and they are of +historical interest and importance. John Quincy Adams' leadership in +the dramatic struggle over the right of petition in the House of +Representatives, and his opinion on the constitutional power of the +national government over the institution of slavery within the States, +will always excite the attention of the historical student. + +In the decade before the war no subject was a greater cause of +irritation and antagonism between the States than the Fugitive Slave +Law. Sumner's speech on this subject is the most valuable of his +speeches from the historical point of view; and it is not only a worthy +American oration, but it is a valuable contribution to the history of +the slavery struggle itself. It has been thought desirable to include in +a volume of this character orations of permanent value on these themes +of historic interest. A study of the speeches of a radical innovator +like Phillips with those of compromising conservatives like Webster and +Clay, will lead the student into a comparison, or contrast, of these +diverse characters. The volume retains the two orations of Phillips, the +two greatest of all his contributions to the anti-slavery struggle. It +is believed that the list of orations, on the whole, presents to the +reader a series of subjects of first importance in the great slavery +controversy. + +The valuable introduction of Professor Johnston, on "The Anti-Slavery +Struggle," is re-printed entire. + +J. A. W. + + + + +V. -- THE ANTI-SLAVERY STRUGGLE + + +Negro slavery was introduced into all the English colonies of North +America as a custom, and not under any warrant of law. The enslavement +of the negro race was simply a matter against which no white person +chose to enter a protest, or make resistance, while the negroes +themselves were powerless to resist or even protest. In due course of +time laws were passed by the Colonial Assemblies to protect property in +negroes, while the home government, to the very last, actively protected +and encouraged the slave trade to the colonies. Negro slavery in all +the colonies had thus passed from custom to law before the American +Revolution broke out; and the course of the Revolution itself had little +or no effect on the system. + +From the beginning, it was evident that the course of slavery in the two +sections, North and South, was to be altogether divergent. In the colder +North, the dominant race found it easier to work than to compel negroes +to work: in the warmer South, the case was exactly reversed. At the +close of the Revolution, Massachusetts led the way in an abolition +of slavery, which was followed gradually by the other States north of +Virginia; and in 1787 the ordinance of Congress organizing the Northwest +Territory made all the future States north of the Ohio free States. +"Mason and Dixon's line" and the Ohio River thus seemed, in 1790, to be +the natural boundary between the free and the slave States. + +Up to this point the white race in the two sections had dealt with +slavery by methods which were simply divergent, not antagonistic. It was +true that the percentage of slaves in the total population had been +very rapidly decreasing in the North and not in the South, and that the +gradual abolition of slavery was proceeding in the North alone, and that +with increasing rapidity. But there was no positive evidence that the +South was bulwarked in favor of slavery; there was no certainty but that +the South would in its turn and in due time come to the point which the +North had already reached, and begin its own abolition of slavery. The +language of Washington, Jefferson, Madison, Henry, and Mason, in regard +to the evils or the wickedness of the system of slavery, was too strong +to be heard with patience in the South of after years; and in this +section it seems to have been true, that those who thought at all upon +the subject hoped sincerely for the gradual abolition of slavery in +the South. The hope, indeed, was rather a sentiment than a purpose, but +there seems to have been no good reason, before 1793, why the sentiment +should not finally develop into a purpose. + +All this was permanently changed, and the slavery policy of the South +was made antagonistic to, and not merely divergent from, that of the +North, by the invention of Whitney's saw gin for cleansing cotton +in 1793. It had been known, before that year, that cotton could be +cultivated in the South, but its cultivation was made unprofitable, and +checked by the labor required to separate the seeds from the cotton. +Whitney's invention increased the efficiency of this labor hundreds of +times, and it became evident at once that the South enjoyed a practical +monopoly of the production of cotton. The effect on the slavery policy +of the South was immediate and unhappy. Since 1865, it has been found +that the cotton monopoly of the South is even more complete under a +free than under a slave labor system, but mere theory could never have +convinced the Southern people that such would be the case. Their whole +prosperity hinged on one product; they began its cultivation under slave +labor; and the belief that labor and prosperity were equally dependent +on the enslavement of the laboring race very soon made the dominant race +active defenders of slavery. From that time the system in the South was +one of slowly but steadily increasing rigor, until, just before +1860, its last development took the form of legal enactments for the +re-enslavement of free negroes, in default of their leaving the State +in which they resided. Parallel with this increase of rigor, there was a +steady change in the character of the system. It tended very steadily to +lose its original patriarchal character, and take the aspect of a purely +commercial speculation. After 1850, the commercial aspect began to be +the rule in the black belt of the Gulf States. The plantation knew only +the overseer; so many slaves died to so many bales of cotton; and the +slave population began to lose all human connection with the dominant +race. + +The acquisition of Louisiana in 1803 more than doubled the area of the +United States, and far more than doubled the area of the slave system. +Slavery had been introduced into Louisiana, as usual, by custom, and had +then been sanctioned by Spanish and French law. It is true that Congress +did not forbid slavery in the new territory of Louisiana; but Congress +did even worse than this; under the guise of forbidding the importation +of slaves into Louisiana, by the act of March 26, 1804, organizing +the territory, the phrase "except by a citizen of the United States, +removing into said territory for actual settlement, and being at the +time of such removal bona fide owner of such slave or slaves," impliedly +legitimated the domestic slave trade to Louisiana, and legalized slavery +wherever population should extend between the Mississippi and the +Rocky Mountains. The Congress of 1803-05, which passed the act, should +rightfully bear the responsibility for all the subsequent growth of +slavery, and for all the difficulties in which it involved the South and +the country. + +There were but two centres of population in Louisiana, New Orleans and +St. Louis. When the southern district, around New Orleans, applied for +admission as the slave State of Louisiana, there seems to have been no +surprise or opposition on this score; the Federalist opposition to the +admission is exactly represented by Quincy's speech in the first volume. +When the northern district, around St. Louis, applied for admission as +the slave State of Missouri, the inevitable consequences of the act +of 1804 became evident for the first time, and all the Northern States +united to resist the admission. The North controlled the House +of Representatives, and the South the Senate; and, after a severe +parliamentary struggle, the two bodies united in the compromise of 1820. +By its terms Missouri was admitted as a slave State, and slavery was +forever forbidden in the rest of Louisiana Territory, north of latitude +36 deg. 30' (the line of the southerly boundary of Missouri). The instinct +of this first struggle against slavery extension seems to have been +much the same as that of 1846-60 the realization that a permission to +introduce slavery by custom into the Territories meant the formation +of slave States exclusively, the restriction of the free States to +the district between the Mississippi and the Atlantic, and the final +conversion of the mass of the United States to a policy of enslavement +of labor. But, on the surface, it was so entirely a struggle for the +balance of power between the two sections, that it has not seemed worth +while to introduce any of the few reported speeches of the time. The +topic is more fully and fairly discussed in the subsequent debates on +the Kansas-Nebraska Act. + +In 1830 William Lloyd Garrison, a Boston printer, opened the real +anti-slavery struggle. Up to this time the anti-slavery sentiment, North +and South, had been content with the notion of "gradual abolition," +with the hope that the South would, in some yet unsuspected manner, +be brought to the Northern policy. This had been supplemented, to some +extent, by the colonization society for colonizing negroes on the west +coast of Africa; which had two aspects: at the South it was the means of +ridding the country of the free negro population; at the North it was a +means of mitigating, perhaps of gradually abolishing, slavery. Garrison, +through his newspaper, the Liberator, called for "immediate abolition" +of slavery, for the conversion of anti-slavery sentiment into +anti-slavery purpose. This was followed by the organization of his +adherents into the American Anti-Slavery Society in 1833, and the +active dissemination of the immediate abolition principle by tracts, +newspapers, and lecturers. + +The anti-slavery struggle thus begun, never ceased until, in 1865, the +Liberator ceased to be published, with the final abolition of slavery. +In its inception and in all its development the movement was a distinct +product of the democratic spirit. It would not have been possible in +1790, or in 1810, or in 1820. The man came with the hour; and every new +mile of railroad or telegraph, every new district open to population, +every new influence toward the growth of democracy, broadened the +power as well as the field of the abolition movement. It was but the +deepening, the application to an enslaved race of laborers, of the work +which Jeffersonian democracy had done, to remove the infinitely less +grievous restraints upon the white laborer thirty year before. It could +never have been begun until individualism at the North had advanced +so far that there was a reserve force of mind--ready to reject all the +influences of heredity and custom upon thought. Outside of religion +there was no force so strong at the North as the reverence for the +Constitution; it was significant of the growth of individualism, as well +as of the anti-slavery sentiment, that Garrison could safely begin his +work with the declaration that the Constitution itself was "a league +with death and a covenant with hell." + +The Garrisonian programme would undoubtedly have been considered highly +objectionable by the South, even under to comparatively colorless +slavery policy of 1790. Under the conditions to which cotton culture had +advanced in 1830, it seemed to the South nothing less than a proposal to +destroy, root and branch, the whole industry of that section, and it was +received with corresponding indignation. Garrisonian abolitionists were +taken and regarded as public enemies, and rewards were even offered for +their capture. The germ of abolitionism in the Border States found a new +and aggressive public sentiment arrayed against it; and an attempt +to introduce gradual abolition in Virginia in 1832-33 was hopelessly +defeated. The new question was even carried into Congress. A bill to +prohibit the transportation of abolition documents by the Post-Office +department was introduced, taken far enough to put leading men of both +parties on the record, and then dropped. Petitions for the abolition +of slavery in the District of Columbia were met by rules requiring the +reference of such petitions without reading or action; but this only +increased the number of petitions, by providing a new grievance to +be petitioned against, and in 1842 the "gag rule" was rescinded. +Thence-forth the pro-slavery members of Congress could do nothing, and +could only become more exasperated under a system of passive resistance. + +Even at the North, indifferent or politically hostile as it had hitherto +shown itself to the expansion of slavery, the new doctrines were +received with an outburst of anger which seems to have been primarily a +revulsion against their unheard of individualism. If nothing, which +had been the object of unquestioning popular reverence, from the +Constitution down or up to the church organizations, was to be sacred +against the criticism of the Garrisonians, it was certain that the +innovators must submit for a time to a general proscription. Thus the +Garrisonians were ostracised socially, and became the Ishmalites of +politics. Their meetings were broken up by mobs, their halls were +destroyed, their schools were attacked by all the machinery of society +and legislation, their printing presses were silenced by force or fraud, +and their lecturers came to feel that they had not done their work with +efficiency if a meeting passed without the throwing of stones or eggs at +the building or the orators. It was, of course, inevitable that such +a process should bring strong minds to the aid of the Garrisonians, +at first from sympathy with persecuted individualism, and finally from +sympathy with the cause itself; and in this way Garrisonianism was in +a great measure relieved from open mob violence about 1840, though +it never escaped it altogether until abolition meetings ceased to +be necessary. One of the first and greatest reinforcements was the +appearance of Wendell Phillips, whose speech at Faneuil Hall in 1839 +was one of the first tokens of a serious break in the hitherto almost +unanimous public opinion against Garrisonianism. Lovejoy, a Western +anti-slavery preacher and editor, who had been driven from one place to +another in Missouri and Illinois, had finally settled at Alton, and was +there shot to death while defending his printing press against a mob. At +a public meeting in Faneuil Hall, the Attorney-General of Massachusetts, +James T. Austin, expressing what was doubtless the general sentiment of +the time as to such individual insurrection against pronounced public +opinion, compared the Alton mob to the Boston "tea-party," and declared +that Lovejoy, "presumptuous and imprudent," had "died as the fool +dieth." Phillips, an almost unknown man, took the stand, and answered in +the speech which opens this volume. A more powerful reinforcement could +hardly have been looked for; the cause which could find such a defender +was henceforth to be feared rather than despised. To the day of +his death he was, fully as much as Garrison, the incarnation of the +anti-slavery spirit. For this reason his address on the Philosophy +of the Abolition Movement, in 1853, has been assigned a place as +representing fully the abolition side of the question, just before it +was overshadowed by the rise of the Republican party, which opposed only +the extension of slavery to the territories. + +The history of the sudden development of the anti-slavery struggle in +1847 and the following years, is largely given in the speeches which +have been selected to illustrate it. The admission of Texas to the Union +in 1845, and the war with Mexico which followed it, resulted in the +acquisition of a vast amount of new territory by the United States. +From the first suggestion of such an acquisition, the Wilmot proviso +(so-called from David Wilmot, of Pennsylvania, who introduced it in +Congress), that slavery should be prohibited in the new territory, was +persistently offered as an amendment to every bill appropriating money +for the purchase of territory from Mexico. It was passed by the House +of Representatives, but was balked in the Senate; and the purchase +was finally made without any proviso. When the territory came to be +organized, the old question came up again: the Wilmot proviso was +offered as an amendment. As the territory was now in the possession of +the United States, and as it had been acquired in a war whose support +had been much more cordial at the South than at the North, the attempt +to add the Wilmot proviso to the territorial organization raised the +Southern opposition to an intensity which it had not known before. +Fuel was added to the flame by the application of California, whose +population had been enormously increased by the discovery of gold within +her limits, for admission as a free State. If New Mexico should do the +same, as was probable, the Wilmot proviso would be practically in force +throughout the best portion of the Mexican acquisition. The two sections +were now so strong and so determined that compromise of any kind was +far more difficult than in 1820; and it was not easy to reconcile or +compromise the southern demand that slavery should be permitted, and +the northern demand that slavery should be forbidden, to enter the new +territories. + +In the meantime, the Presidential election of 1848 had come and gone. It +had been marked by the appearance of a new party, the Free Soilers, an +event which was at first extremely embarrassing to the managers of +both the Democratic and Whig parties. On the one hand, the northern and +southern sections of the Whig party had always been very loosely joined +together, and the slender tie was endangered by the least admission +of the slavery issue. On the other hand, while the Democratic national +organization had always been more perfect, its northern section had +always been much more inclined to active anti-slavery work than the +northern Whigs. Its organ, the Democratic Review, habitually spoke of +the slaves as "our black brethren"; and a long catalogue could be +made of leaders like Chase, Hale, Wilmot, Bryant, and Leggett, whose +democracy was broad enough to include the negro. To both parties, +therefore, the situation was extremely hazardous. The Whigs had less +to fear, but were able to resist less pressure. The Democrats were more +united, but were called upon to meet a greater danger. In the end, +the Whigs did nothing; their two sections drew further apart; and the +Presidential election of 1852 only made it evident that the national +Whig party was no longer in existence. The Democratic managers +evolved, as a solution of their problem, the new doctrine of "popular +sovereignty," which Calhoun re-baptized "squatter sovereignty." They +asserted as the true Democratic doctrine, that the question of slavery +or freedom was to be left for decision of the people of the territory +itself. To the mass of northern Democrats, this doctrine was taking +enough to cover over the essential nature of the struggle; the more +democratic leaders of the northern Democracy were driven off into the +Free-Soil party; and Douglas, the champion of "popular sovereignty," +became the leading Democrat of the North. + +Clay had re-entered the Senate in 1849, for the purpose of compromising +the sectional difficulties as he had compromised those of 1820 and of +1833. His speech, as given, will show something of his motives; his +success resulted in the "compromise of 1850." By its terms, California +was admitted as a free State; the slave trade, but not slavery, was +prohibited in the District of Columbia; a more stringent fugitive slave +law was enacted; Texas was paid $10,000,000 for certain claims to the +Territory of New Mexico; and the Territories of Utah and New Mexico, +covering the Mexican acquisition outside of California, were organized +without mentioning slavery. The last-named feature was carefully +designed to please all important factions. It could be represented to +the Webster Whigs that slavery was excluded from the Territories named +by the operation of natural laws; to the Clay Whigs that slavery had +already been excluded by Mexican law which survived the cession; to the +northern Democrats, that the compromise was a formal endorsement of the +great principle of popular sovereignty; and to the southern Democrats +that it was a repudiation of the Wilmot proviso. In the end, the essence +of the success went to the last-named party, for the legislatures of the +two territories established slavery, and no bill to veto their action +could pass both Houses of Congress until after 1861. + +The Supreme Court had already decided that Congress had exclusive power +to enforce the fugitive slave clause of the Constitution, though the +fugitive slave law of 1793 had given a concurrent authority of execution +to State officers. The law of 1850, carrying the Supreme Court's +decision further, gave the execution of the law to United States +officers, and refused the accused a hearing. Its execution at the North +was therefore the occasion of a profound excitement and horror. Cases +of inhuman cruelty, and of false accusation to which no defence was +permitted, were multiplied until a practical nullification of the law, +in the form of "personal liberty laws," securing a hearing for the +accused before State magistrates, was forced by public opinion upon the +legislature of the exposed northern States. Before the excitement +had come to a head, the Whig convention of 1852 met and endorsed the +compromise of 1850 "in all its parts." Overwhelmed in the election which +followed, the Whig party was popularly said to have "died of an attempt +to swallow the fugitive-slave law"; it would have been more correct to +have said that the southern section of the party had deserted in a body +and gone over to the Democratic party. National politics were thus left +in an entirely anomalous condition. The Democratic party was omnipotent +at the South, though it was afterward opposed feebly by the American +(or "Know Nothing ") organization, and was generally successful at +the North, though it was still met by the Northern Whigs with vigorous +opposition. Such a state of affairs was not calculated to satisfy +thinking men; and this period seems to have been one in which very +few thinking men of any party were at all satisfied with their party +positions. + +This was the hazardous situation into which the Democratic managers +chose to thrust one of the most momentous pieces of legislation in our +political history-the Kansas-Nebraska bill. The responsibility for it is +clearly on the shoulders of Stephen A. Douglas. The over-land travel to +the Pacific coast had made it necessary to remove the Indian title to +Kansas and Nebraska, and to organize them as Territories, in order to +afford protection to emigrants; and Douglas, chairman of the Senate +committee on Territories, introduced a bill for such organization in +January, 1854. Both these prospective Territories had been made free +soil forever by the compromise of 1820; the question of slavery had been +settled, so far as they were concerned; but Douglas consented, after a +show of opposition, to reopen Pandora's box. His original bill did +not abrogate the Missouri compromise, and there seems to have been no +general Southern demand that it should do so. But Douglas had become +intoxicated by the unexpected success of his "popular sovereignty" +make-shift in regard to the Territories of 1850; and a notice of an +amendment to be offered by a southern senator, abrogating the Missouri +compromise, was threat or excuse sufficient to bring him to withdraw the +bill. A week later, it was re-introduced with the addition of "popular +sovereignty": all questions pertaining to slavery in these Territories, +and in the States to be formed from them, were to be left to the +decision of the people, through their representatives; and the Missouri +compromise of 1820 was declared "inoperative and void," as inconsistent +with the principles of the territorial legislation of 1850. It must +be remembered that the "non-intervention" of 1850 had been confessedly +based on no constitutional principle whatever, but was purely a matter +of expediency; and that "non-intervention" in Utah and New Mexico was no +more inconsistent with the prohibition of slavery in Kansas and Nebraska +than "non-intervention" in the Southwest Territory, sixty years before, +had been inconsistent with the prohibition of slavery in the Northwest +Territory. Whether Douglas is to be considered as too scrupulous, or too +timid, or too willing to be terrified, it is certain that his action was +unnecessary. + +After a struggle of some months, the Kansas-Nebraska bill became law. +The Missouri compromise was abrogated, and the question of the extension +of slavery to the territories was adrift again, never to be got rid of +except through the abolition of slavery itself by war. The demands of +the South had now come fully abreast with the proposal of Douglas: +that slavery should have permission to enter all the Territories, if +it could. The opponents of the extension of slavery, at first under the +name of "Anti-Nebraska men," then of the Republican party, carried the +elections for representatives in Congress in 1854-'55, and narrowly +missed carrying the Presidential election of 1856. The percentage +of Democratic losses in the congressional districts of the North was +sufficient to leave Douglas with hardly any supporters in Congress from +his own section. The Democratic party was converted at once into a +solid South, with a northern attachment of popular votes which was not +sufficient to control very many Congressmen or electoral votes. + +Immigration into Kansas was organized at once by leading men of the two +sections, with the common design of securing a majority of the voters of +the territory and applying "popular sovereignty" for or against slavery. +The first sudden inroad of Missouri intruders was successful in securing +a pro-slavery legislature and laws; but within two years the stream +of free-State immigration had become so powerful,in spite of murder, +outrage, and open civil war, that it was very evident that Kansas was +to be a free-State. Its expiring territorial legislature endeavored +to outwit its constituents by applying for admission as a slave State, +under the Lecompton constitution; but the Douglas Democrats could not +support the attempt, and it was defeated. Kansas, however, remained a +territory until 1861. + +The cruelties of this Kansas episode could not but be reflected in the +feelings of the two sections and in Congress. In the former it showed +too plainly that the divergence of the two sections, indicated in +Calhoun's speech of 1850, had widened to an absolute separation in +thought, feeling, and purpose. In the latter the debates assumed a +virulence which is illustrated by the speeches on the Sumner assault. +The current of events had at least carried the sections far enough apart +to give striking distance; and the excuse for action was supplied by the +Dred Scott decision in 1857. + +Dred Scott, a Missouri slave, claiming to be a free man under the +Missouri compromise of 1820, had sued his master, and the case had +reached the Supreme Court. A majority of the justices agreed in +dismissing the suit; but, as nearly every justice filed an opinion, and +as nearly every opinion disagreed with the other opinions on one or +more points, it is not easy to see what else is covered by the decision. +Nevertheless, the opinion of the Chief justice, Roger B. Taney, +attracted general attention by the strength of its argument and the +character of its views. It asserted, in brief, that no slave could +become a citizen of the United States, even by enfranchisement or State +law; that the prohibition of slavery by the Missouri compromise of 1820 +was unconstitutional and void; that the Constitution recognized property +in slaves, and was framed for the protection of property; that Congress +had no rights or duties in the territories but such as were granted or +imposed by the Constitution; and that, therefore, Congress was bound +not merely not to forbid slavery, but to actively protect slavery in +the Territories. This was just the ground which had always been held by +Calhoun, though the South had not supported him in it. Now the South, +rejecting Douglas and his "popular sovereignty," was united in its +devotion to the decision of the Supreme Court, and called upon the North +to yield unhesitating obedience to that body which Webster in 1830 had +styled the ultimate arbiter of constitutional questions. This, it was +evident, could never be. No respectable authority at the North pretended +to uphold the keystone of Taney's argument, that slaves were regarded as +property by the Constitution. On the contrary, it was agreed everywhere +by those whose opinions were looked to with respect, that slaves were +regarded by the Constitution as "persons held to service or labor" under +the laws of the State alone; and that the laws of the State could not +give such persons a fictitious legal character outside of the State's +jurisdiction. Even the Douglas Democrats, who expressed a willingness to +yield to the Supreme Court's decision, did not profess to uphold Taney's +share in it. + +As the Presidential election of 1860 drew near, the evidences of +separation became more manifest. The absorption of northern Democrats +into the Republican party increased until Douglas, in 1858, narrowly +escaped defeat in his contest with Lincoln for a re-election to the +Senate from Illinois. In 1860 the Republicans nominated Lincoln for +the Presidency on a platform demanding prohibition of slavery in +the Territories. The southern delegates seceded from the Democratic +convention, and nominated Breckenridge, on a platform demanding +congressional protection of slavery in the Territories. The remainder of +the Democratic convention nominated Douglas, with a declaration of its +willingness to submit to the decision of the Supreme Court on questions +of constitutional law. The remnants of the former Whig and American +parties, under the name of the Constitutional Union party, nominated +Bell without any declaration of principles. Lincoln received a majority +of the electoral votes, and became President. His popular vote was a +plurality. + +Seward's address on the "Irrepressible Conflict," which closes this +volume, is representative of the division between the two sections, as +it stood just before the actual shock of conflict. Labor systems are +delicate things; and that which the South had adopted, of enslaving the +laboring class, was one whose influence could not help being universal +and aggressive. Every form of energy and prosperity which tended to +advance a citizen into the class of representative rulers tended also to +make him a slave owner, and to shackle his official policy and purposes +with considerations inseparable from his heavy personal interests. Men +might divide on other questions at the South; but on this question of +slavery the action of the individual had to follow the decisions of a +majority which, by the influence of ambitious aspirants for the lead, +was continually becoming more aggressive. In constitutional countries, +defections to the minority are a steady check upon an aggressive +majority; but the southern majority was a steam engine without a safety +valve. + +In this sense Seward and Lincoln, in 1858, were correct; the labor +system of the South was not only a menace to the whole country, but one +which could neither decrease nor stand still. It was intolerable by +the laws of its being; and it could be got rid of only by allowing +a peaceable secession, or by abolishing it through war. The material +prosperity which has followed the adoption of the latter alternative, +apart from the moral aspects of the case, is enough to show that the +South has gained more than all that slavery lost. + + +[Illustration: Rufus King] + + + + +RUFUS KING, + +OF NEW YORK. (BORN 1755, DIED 1827.) + +ON THE MISSOURI BILL--UNITED STATES SENATE, + +FEBRUARY 11 AND 14, 1820. + + +The Constitution declares "that Congress shall have power to dispose of, +and make all needful rules and regulations respecting the territory and +other property of the United States." Under this power Congress have +passed laws for the survey and sale of the public lands; for the +division of the same into separate territories; and have ordained for +each of them a constitution, a plan of temporary government, whereby +the civil and political rights of the inhabitants are regulated, and the +rights of conscience and other natural rights are protected. + +The power to make all needful regulations, includes the power to +determine what regulations are needful; and if a regulation prohibiting +slavery within any territory of the United States be, as it has been, +deemed needful, Congress possess the power to make the same, and, +moreover, to pass all laws necessary to carry this power into execution. + +The territory of Missouri is a portion of Louisiana, which was purchased +of France, and belongs to the United States in full dominion; in the +language of the Constitution, Missouri is their territory or property, +and is subject like other territories of the United States, to the +regulations and temporary government, which has been, or shall be +prescribed by Congress. The clause of the Constitution which grants this +power to Congress, is so comprehensive and unambiguous, and its purpose +so manifest, that commentary will not render the power, or the object of +its establishment, more explicit or plain. + +The Constitution further provides that "new States may be admitted +by Congress into this Union." As this power is conferred without +limitation, the time, terms, and circumstances of the admission of new +States, are referred to the discretion of Congress; which may admit new +States, but are not obliged to do so--of right no new State can demand +admission into the Union, unless such demand be founded upon some +previous engagement of the United States. + +When admitted by Congress into the Union, whether by compact or +otherwise, the new State becomes entitled to the enjoyment of the same +rights, and bound to perform the like duties as the other States; +and its citizens will be entitled to all privileges and immunities of +citizens in the several States. + +The citizens of each State possess rights, and owe duties that are +peculiar to, and arise out of the Constitution and laws of the several +States. These rights and duties differ from each other in the different +States, and among these differences none is so remarkable or important +as that which proceeds from the Constitution and laws of the several +States respecting slavery; the same being permitted in some States and +forbidden in others. + +The question respecting slavery in the old thirteen States had been +decided and settled before the adoption of the Constitution, which +grants no power to Congress to interfere with, or to change what had +been so previously settled. The slave States, therefore, are free +to continue or to abolish slavery. Since the year 1808 Congress have +possessed power to prohibit and have prohibited the further migration +or importation of slaves into any of the old thirteen States, and at all +times, under the Constitution, have had power to prohibit such migration +or importation into any of the new States or territories of the United +States. The Constitution contains no express provision respecting +slavery in a new State that may be admitted into the Union; every +regulation upon this subject belongs to the power whose consent is +necessary to the formation and admission of new States into the Union. +Congress may, therefore, make it a condition of the admission of a new +State, that slavery shall be forever prohibited within the same. We may, +with the more confidence, pronounce this to be the true construction +of the Constitution, as it has been so amply confirmed by the past +decisions of Congress. + +Although the articles of confederation were drawn up and approved by +the old Congress, in the year 1777, and soon afterwards were ratified by +some of the States, their complete ratification did not take place until +the year 1781. The States which possessed small and already settled +territory, withheld their ratification, in order to obtain from the +large States a cession to the United States of a portion of their vacant +territory. Without entering into the reasons on which this demand was +urged, it is well known that they had an influence on Massachusetts, +Connecticut, New York, and Virginia, which States ceded to the United +States their respective claims to the territory lying northwest of the +river Ohio. This cession was made on the express condition, that the +ceded territory should be sold for the common benefit of the United +States; that it should be laid out into States, and that the States +so laid out should form distinct republican States, and be admitted as +members of the Federal Union, having the same rights of sovereignty, +freedom, and independence as the other States. Of the four States which +made this cession, two permitted, and the other two prohibited slavery. + +The United States having in this manner become proprietors of +the extensive territory northwest of the river Ohio, although the +confederation contained no express provision upon the subject, Congress, +the only representatives of the United States, assumed as incident +to their office, the power to dispose of this territory; and for this +purpose, to divide the same into distinct States, to provide for the +temporary government of the inhabitants thereof, and for their ultimate +admission as new States into the Federal Union. + +The ordinance for those purposes, which was passed by Congress in 1787, +contains certain articles, which are called "Articles of compact between +the original States and the people and States within the said territory, +for ever to remain unalterable, unless by common consent." The sixth +of those unalterable articles provides, "that there shall be neither +slavery nor involuntary servitude in the said territory." + +The Constitution of the United States supplies the defect that existed +in the articles of confederation, and has vested Congress, as has been +stated, with ample powers on this important subject. Accordingly, +the ordinance of 1787, passed by the old Congress, was ratified and +confirmed by an act of the new Congress during their first session under +the Constitution. + +The State of Virginia, which ceded to the United States her claims to +this territory, consented by her delegates in the old Congress to this +ordinance--not only Virginia, but North Carolina, South Carolina, and +Georgia, by the unanimous votes of their delegates in the old Congress, +approved of the ordinance of 1787, by which slavery is forever abolished +in the territory northwest of the river Ohio. + +Without the votes of these States, the ordinance could not have passed; +and there is no recollection of an opposition from any of these States +to the act of confirmation, passed under the actual Constitution. +Slavery had long been established in these States--the evil was felt in +their institutions, laws, and habits, and could not easily or at once be +abolished. But these votes so honorable to these States, satisfactorily +demonstrate their unwillingness to permit the extension of slavery into +the new States which might be admitted by Congress into the Union. + +The States of Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois, on the northwest of the river +Ohio, have been admitted by Congress into the Union, on the condition +and conformably to the article of compact, contained in the ordinance +of 1787, and by which it is declared that there shall be neither slavery +nor involuntary servitude in any of the said States. + +Although Congress possess the power of making the exclusion of slavery a +part or condition of the act admitting a new State into the Union, they +may, in special cases, and for sufficient reasons, forbear to exercise +this power. Thus Kentucky and Vermont were admitted as new States into +the Union, without making the abolition of slavery the condition of +their admission. In Vermont, slavery never existed; her laws excluding +the same. Kentucky was formed out of, and settled by, Virginia, and +the inhabitants of Kentucky, equally with those of Virginia, by +fair interpretation of the Constitution, were exempt from all such +interference of Congress, as might disturb or impair the security of +their property in slaves. The western territory of North Carolina and +Georgia, having been partially granted and settled under the authority +of these States, before the cession thereof to the United States, and +these States being original parties to the Constitution which recognizes +the existence of slavery, no measure restraining slavery could be +applied by Congress to this territory. But to remove all doubt on this +head, it was made a condition of the cession of this territory to the +United States, that the ordinance of 1787, except the sixth article +thereof, respecting slavery, should be applied to the same; and that +the sixth article should not be so applied. Accordingly, the States of +Tennessee, Mississippi, and Alabama, comprehending the territory ceded +to the United States by North Carolina and Georgia, have been admitted +as new States into the Union, without a provision, by which slavery +shall be excluded from the same. According to this abstract of the +proceedings of Congress in the admission of new States into the Union, +of the eight new States within the original limits of the United States, +four have been admitted without an article excluding slavery; three have +been admitted on the condition that slavery should be excluded; and one +admitted without such condition. In the few first cases, Congress were +restrained from exercising the power to exclude slavery; in the next +three, they exercised this power; and in the last, it was unnecessary to +do so, slavery being excluded by the State Constitution. + +The province of Louisiana, soon after its cession to the United States, +was divided into two territories, comprehending such parts thereof as +were contiguous to the river Mississippi, being the only parts of the +province that were inhabited. The foreign language, laws, customs, +and manners of the inhabitants, required the immediate and cautious +attention of Congress, which, instead of extending, in the first +instance, to these territories the ordinance of 1787, ordained special +regulations for the government of the same. These regulations were from +time to time revised and altered, as observation and experience showed +to be expedient, and as was deemed most likely to encourage and +promote those changes which would soonest qualify the inhabitants for +self-government and admission into the Union. When the United States +took possession of the province of Louisiana in 1804, it was estimated +to contain 50,000 white inhabitants, 40,000 slaves, and 2,000 free +persons of color. + +More than four-fifths of the whites, and all the slaves, except about +thirteen hundred, inhabited New Orleans and the adjacent territory; the +residue, consisting of less than ten thousand whites, and about thirteen +hundred slaves, were dispersed throughout the country now included in +the Arkansas and Missouri territories. The greater part of the thirteen +hundred slaves were in the Missouri territory, some of them having been +removed thither from the old French settlements on the east side of +the Mississippi, after the passing of the ordinance of 1787, by which +slavery in those settlements was abolished. + +In 1812, the territory of New Orleans, to which the ordinance of +1787, with the exception of certain parts thereof, had been previously +extended, was permitted by Congress to form a Constitution and State +Government, and admitted as a new State into the Union, by the name +of Louisiana. The acts of Congress for these purposes, in addition to +sundry important provisions respecting rivers and public lands, which +are declared to be irrevocable unless by common consent, annex other +terms and conditions, whereby it is established, not only that the +Constitution of Louisiana should be republican, but that it should +contain the fundamental principles of civil and religious liberty, +that it should secure to the citizens the trial by jury in all criminal +cases, and the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus according to the +Constitution of the United States; and after its admission into the +Union, that the laws which Louisiana might pass, should be promulgated; +its records of every description preserved; and its judicial and +legislative proceedings conducted in the language in which the laws and +judicial proceedings of the United States are published and conducted. + + * * * * * + +Having annexed these new and extraordinary conditions to the act for the +admission of Louisiana into the Union, Congress may, if they shall deem +it expedient, annex the like conditions to the act for the admission of +Missouri; and, moreover, as in the case of Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois, +provide by an article for that purpose, that slavery shall not exist +within the same. + +Admitting this construction of the Constitution, it is alleged that the +power by which Congress excluded slavery from the States north-west of +the river Ohio, is suspended in respect to the States that may be formed +in the province of Louisiana. The article of the treaty referred to +declares: "That the inhabitants of the territory shall be incorporated +in the Union of the United States, and admitted as soon as possible; +according to the principles of the Federal Constitution, to the +enjoyment of all rights, advantages, and immunities of citizens of +the United States; and in the meantime, they shall be maintained and +protected in the free enjoyment of their liberty, property, and the +religion which they profess." + +Although there is want of precision in the article, its scope and +meaning can not be misunderstood. It constitutes a stipulation by which +the United States engage that the inhabitants of Louisiana should be +formed into a State or States, and as soon as the provisions of the +Constitution permit, that they should be admitted as new States into the +Union on the footing of the other States; and before such admission, and +during their territorial government, that they should be maintained and +protected by Congress in the enjoyment of their liberty, property, and +religion. The first clause of this stipulation will be executed by the +admission of Missouri as a new State into the Union, as such admission +will impart to the inhabitants of Missouri "all the rights, advantages, +and immunities" which citizens of the United States derive from the +Constitution thereof; these rights may be denominated Federal rights, +are uniform throughout the Union, and are common to all its citizens: +but the rights derived from the Constitution and laws of the States, +which may be denominated State rights, in many particulars differ +from each other. Thus, while the Federal rights of the citizens +of Massachusetts and Virginia are the same, their State rights are +dissimilar and different, slavery being forbidden in one, and permitted +in the other State. This difference arises out of the Constitutions +and laws of the two States, in the same manner as the difference in the +rights of the citizens of these States to vote for representatives +in Congress arises out of the State laws and Constitution. In +Massachusetts, every person of lawful age, and possessing property +of any sort, of the value of two hundred dollars, may vote for +representatives to Congress. In Virginia, no person can vote for +representatives to Congress, unless he be a freeholder. As the admission +of a new State into the Union confers upon its citizens only the rights +denominated Federal, and as these are common to the citizens of all the +States, as well of those in which slavery is prohibited, as of those +in which it is allowed, it follows that the prohibition of slavery in +Missouri will not impair the Federal rights of its citizens, and that +such prohibition is not sustained by the clause of the treaty which has +been cited. + +As all nations do not permit slavery, the term property, in its common +and universal meaning, does not include or describe slaves. In treaties, +therefore, between nations, and especially in those of the United +States, whenever stipulations respecting slaves were to be made, the +word "negroes," or "slaves," have been employed, and the omission of +these words in this clause, increases the uncertainty whether, by the +term property, slaves were intended to be included. But admitting that +such was the intention of the parties, the stipulation is not only +temporary, but extends no further than to the property actually +possessed by the inhabitants of Missouri, when it was first occupied +by the United States. Property since acquired by them, and property +acquired or possessed by the new inhabitants of Missouri, has in each +case been acquired under the laws of the United States, and not during +and under the laws of the province of Louisiana. Should, therefore, the +future introduction of slaves into Missouri be forbidden, the feelings +of the citizens would soon become reconciled to their exclusion, and the +inconsiderable number of slaves owned by the inhabitants at the date +of the cession of Louisiana, would be emancipated or sent for sale into +States where slavery exists. + +It is further objected, that the article of the act of admission into +the Union, by which slavery should be excluded from Missouri, would +be nugatory, as the new State in virtue of its sovereignty would be at +liberty to revoke its consent, and annul the article by which slavery is +excluded. + +Such revocation would be contrary to the obligations of good faith, +which enjoins the observance of our engagements; it would be repugnant +to the principles on which government itself is founded; sovereignty in +every lawful government is a limited power, and can do only what it +is lawful to do. Sovereigns, like individuals, are bound by their +engagements, and have no moral power to break them. Treaties between +nations repose on this principle. If the new State can revoke and annul +an article concluded between itself and the United States, by which +slavery is excluded from it, it may revoke and annul any other article +of the compact; it may, for example, annul the article respecting public +lands, and in virtue of its sovereignty, assume the right to tax and to +sell the lands of the United States. There is yet a more satisfactory +answer to this objection. The judicial power of the United States is +co-extensive with their legislative power, and every question arising +under the Constitution or laws of the United States, is recognizable by +the judiciary thereof. Should the new State rescind any of the articles +of compact contained in the act of admission into the Union, that, for +example, by which slavery is excluded, and should pass a law authorizing +slavery, the judiciary of the United States on proper application, would +immediately deliver from bondage, any person retained as a slave in said +State. And, in like manner, in all instances affecting individuals, +the judiciary might be employed to defeat every attempt to violate the +Constitution and laws of the United States. + +If Congress possess the power to exclude slavery from Missouri, it still +remains to be shown that they ought to do so. The examination of this +branch of the subject, for obvious reasons, is attended with peculiar +difficulty, and cannot be made without passing over arguments which, to +some of us, might appear to be decisive, but the use of which, in this +place, would call up feelings, the influence of which would disturb, if +not defeat, the impartial consideration of the subject. + +Slavery, unhappily, exists within the United States. Enlightened men, in +the States where it is permitted, and everywhere out of them, regret its +existence among us, and seek for the means of limiting and of mitigating +it. The first introduction of slaves is not imputable to the present +generation, nor even to their ancestors. Before the year 1642, the trade +and ports of the colonies were open to foreigners equally as those of +the mother country; and as early as 1620, a few years only after the +planting of the colony of Virginia, and the same year in which the first +settlement was made in the old colony of Plymouth, a cargo of negroes +was brought into and sold as slaves in Virginia by a foreign ship. From +this beginning, the importation of slaves was continued for nearly +two centuries. To her honor, Virginia, while a colony, opposed the +importation of slaves, and was the first State to prohibit the same, by +a law passed for this purpose in 1778, thirty years before the general +prohibition enacted by Congress in 1808. The laws and customs of the +States in which slavery has existed for so long a period, must have had +their influence on the opinions and habits of the citizens, which ought +not to be disregarded on the present occasion. + + * * * * * + +When the general convention that formed the Constitution took this +subject into their consideration, the whole question was once more +examined; and while it was agreed that all contributions to the common +treasury should be made according to the ability of the several States +to furnish the same, the old difficulty recurred in agreeing upon a +rule whereby such ability should be ascertained, there being no simple +standard by which the ability of individuals to pay taxes can be +ascertained. A diversity in the selection of taxes has been deemed +requisite to their equalization. Between communities this difficulty is +less considerable, and although the rule of relative numbers would not +accurately measure the relative wealth of nations, in States in the +circumstances of the United States, whose institutions, laws, and +employments are so much alike, the rule of numbers is probably as near +equal as any other simple and practical rule can be expected to be +(though between the old and new States its equity is defective),--these +considerations, added to the approbation which had already been given to +the rule, by a majority of the States, induced the convention to agree +that direct taxes should be apportioned among the States, according to +the whole number of free persons, and three-fifths of the slaves which +they might respectively contain. + +The rule for apportionment of taxes is not necessarily the most +equitable rule for the apportionment of representatives among the +States; property must not be disregarded in the composition of the first +rule, but frequently is overlooked in the establishment of the second. +A rule which might be approved in respect to taxes, would be disapproved +in respect to representatives; one individual possessing twice as much +property as another, might be required to pay double the taxes of such +other; but no man has two votes to another's one; rich or poor, each has +but a single vote in the choice of representatives. + +In the dispute between England and the colonies, the latter denied the +right of the former to tax them, because they were not represented in +the English Parliament. They contended that, according to the law of the +land, taxation and representation were inseparable. The rule of taxation +being agreed upon by the convention, it is possible that the maxim +with which we successfully opposed the claim of England may have had +an influence in procuring the adoption of the same rule for the +apportionment of representatives; the true meaning, however, of this +principle of the English constitution is, that a colony or district +is not to be taxed which is not represented; not that its number +of representatives shall be ascertained by its quota of taxes. If +three-fifths of the slaves are virtually represented, or their owners +obtain a disproportionate power in legislation, and in the appointment +of the President of the United States, why should not other property +be virtually represented, and its owners obtain a like power in +legislation, and in the choice of the President? Property is not +confined in slaves, but exists in houses, stores, ships, capital in +trade, and manufactures. To secure to the owners of property in slaves +greater political power than is allowed to the owners of other and +equivalent property, seems to be contrary to our theory of the equality +of personal rights, inasmuch as the citizens of some States thereby +become entitled to other and greater political power than the citizens +of other States. The present House of Representatives consist of one +hundred and eighty-one members, which are apportioned among the States +in a ratio of one representative for every thirty-five thousand federal +members, which are ascertained by adding to the whole number of free +persons, three-fifths of the slaves. According to the last census, the +whole number of slaves within the United was 1,191,364, which entitles +the States possessing the same to twenty representatives, and twenty +presidential electors more than they would be entitled to, were the +slaves excluded. By the last census, Virginia contained 582,104 free +persons, and 392,518 slaves. In any of the States where slavery is +excluded, 582,104 free persons would be entitled to elect only sixteen +representatives, while in Virginia, 582,104 free persons, by the +addition of three-fifths of her slaves, become entitled to elect, and do +in fact elect, twenty-three representatives, being seven additional ones +on account of her slaves. Thus, while 35,000 free persons are requisite +to elect one representative in a State where slavery is prohibited, +25,559 free persons in Virginia may and do elect a representative: so +that five free persons in Virginia have as much power in the choice +of Representatives to Congress, and in the appointment of presidential +electors, as seven free persons in any of the States in which slavery +does not exist. + +This inequality in the apportionment of representatives was not +misunderstood at the adoption of the Constitution, but no one +anticipated the fact that the whole of the revenue of the United States +would be derived from indirect taxes (which cannot be supposed to +spread themselves over the several States according to the rule for the +apportionment of direct taxes), but it was believed that a part of +the contribution to the common treasury would be apportioned among the +States by the rule for the apportionment of representatives. The States +in which slavery is prohibited, ultimately, though with reluctance, +acquiesced in the disproportionate number of representatives and +electors that was secured to the slaveholding States. The concession +was, at the time, believed to be a great one, and has proved to +have been the greatest which was made to secure the adoption of the +Constitution. + +Great, however, as this concession was, it was definite, and its full +extent was comprehended. It was a settlement between the original +thirteen States. The considerations arising out of their actual +condition, their past connection, and the obligation which all felt to +promote a reformation in the Federal Government, were peculiar to the +time and to the parties, and are not applicable to the new States, which +Congress may now be willing to admit into the Union. + +The equality of rights, which includes an equality of burdens, is +a vital principle in our theory of government, and its jealous +preservation is the best security of public and individual freedom; +the departure from this principle in the disproportionate power and +influence, allowed to the slaveholding States, was a necessary sacrifice +to the establishment of the Constitution. The effect of this concession +has been obvious in the preponderance which it has given to the +slaveholding States over the other States. Nevertheless, it is an +ancient settlement, and faith and honor stand pledged not to disturb it. +But the extension of this disproportionate power to the new States would +be unjust and odious. The States whose power would be abridged, and +whose burdens would be increased by the measure, cannot be expected to +consent to it, and we may hope that the other States are too magnanimous +to insist on it. + + * * * * * + +It ought not to be forgotten that the first and main object of the +negotiation which led to the acquisition of Louisiana, was the free +navigation of the Mississippi, a river that forms the sole passage from +the western States to the ocean. This navigation, although of general +benefit, has been always valued and desired, as of peculiar advantage +to the Western States, whose demands to obtain it were neither equivocal +nor unreasonable. But with the river Mississippi, by a sort of coercion, +we acquired, by good or ill fortune, as our future measures shall +determine, the whole province of Louisiana. As this acquisition was made +at the common expense, it is very fairly urged that the advantages to be +derived from it should also be common. This, it is said, will not happen +if slavery be excluded from Missouri, as the citizens of the States +where slavery is permitted will be shut out, and none but citizens of +States where slavery is prohibited, can become inhabitants of Missouri. + +But this consequence will not arise from the proposed exclusion of +slavery. The citizens of States in which slavery is allowed, like all +other citizens, will be free to become inhabitants of Missouri, in like +manner as they have become inhabitants of Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois, +in which slavery is forbidden. The exclusion of slaves from Missouri +will not, therefore, operate unequally among the citizens of the United +States. The Constitution provides, "that the citizens of each State +shall be entitled to enjoy all the rights and immunities of citizens of +the several States"; every citizen may, therefore, remove from one +to another State, and there enjoy the rights and immunities of its +citizens. The proposed provision excludes slaves, not citizens, whose +rights it will not, and cannot impair. + +Besides there is nothing new or peculiar in a provision for the +exclusion of slavery; it has been established in the States north-west +of the river Ohio, and has existed from the beginning in the old States +where slavery is forbidden. The citizens of States where slavery is +allowed, may become inhabitants of Missouri, but cannot hold slaves +there, nor in any other State where slavery is prohibited. As well might +the laws prohibiting slavery in the old States become the subject of +complaint, as the proposed exclusion of slavery in Missouri; but there +is no foundation for such complaint in either case. It is further urged, +that the admission of slaves into Missouri would be limited to the +slaves who are already within the United States; that their health and +comfort would be promoted by their dispersion, and that their numbers +would be the same whether they remain confined to the States where +slavery exists, or are dispersed over the new States that may be +admitted into the Union. + +That none but domestic slaves would be introduced into Missouri, and the +other new and frontier States, is most fully disproved by the thousands +of fresh slaves, which, in violation of our laws, are annually imported +into Alabama, Louisiana, and Mississippi. + +We may renew our efforts, and enact new laws with heavier penalties +against the importation of slaves: the revenue cutters may more +diligently watch our shores, and the naval force may be employed on +the coast of Africa, and on the ocean, to break up the slave trade--but +these means will not put an end to it; so long as markets are open for +the purchase of slaves, so long they will be supplied;--and so long as +we permit the existence of slavery in our new and frontier States, +so long slave markets will exist. The plea of humanity is equally +inadmissible, since no one who has ever witnessed the experiment will +believe that the condition of slaves is made better by the breaking +up, and separation of their families, nor by their removal from the old +States to the new ones; and the objection to the provision of the bill, +excluding slavery from Missouri, is equally applicable to the like +prohibitions of the old States: these should be revoked, in order that +the slaves now confined to certain States, may, for their health and +comfort, and multiplication, be spread over the whole Union. + +Slavery cannot exist in Missouri without the consent of Congress; the +question may therefore be considered, in certain lights, as a new one, +it being the first instance in which an inquiry respecting slavery, in a +case so free from the influence of the ancient laws, usages, and manners +of the country, has come before the Senate. + +The territory of Missouri is beyond our ancient limits, and the inquiry +whether slavery shall exist there, is open to many of the arguments that +might be employed, had slavery never existed within the United States. +It is a question of no ordinary importance. Freedom and slavery are the +parties which stand this day before the Senate; and upon its decision +the empire of the one or the other will be established in the new State +which we are about to admit into the Union. + +If slavery be permitted in Missouri with the climate, and soil, and in +the circumstances of this territory, what hope can be entertained that +it will ever be prohibited in any of the new States that will be formed +in the immense region west of the Mississippi? Will the co-extensive +establishment of slavery and of the new States throughout this region, +lessen the dangers of domestic insurrection, or of foreign aggression? +Will this manner of executing the great trust of admitting new States +into the Union, contribute to assimilate our manners and usages, to +increase our mutual affection and confidence, and to establish that +equality of benefits and burdens which constitutes the true basis of our +strength and union? Will the militia of the nation, which must furnish +our soldiers and seamen, increase as slaves increase? Will the +actual disproportion in the military service of the nation be thereby +diminished?--a disproportion that will be, as it has been, readily +borne, as between the original States, because it arises out of their +compact of Union, but which may become a badge of inferiority, if +required for the protection of those who, being free to choose, persist +in the establishment of maxims, the inevitable effect of which will +deprive them of the power to contribute to the common defence, and even +of the ability to protect themselves. There are limits within which +our federal system must stop; no one has supposed that it could be +indefinitely extended--we are now about to pass our original boundary; +if this can be done without affecting the principles of our free +governments, it can be accomplished only by the most vigilant attention +to plant, cherish, and sustain the principles of liberty in the new +States, that may be formed beyond our ancient limits; with our utmost +caution in this respect, it may still be justly apprehended that the +General Government must be made stronger as we become more extended. + +But if, instead of freedom, slavery is to prevail and spread, as we +extend our dominion, can any reflecting man fail to see the necessity of +giving to the General Government greater powers, to enable it to +afford the protection that will be demanded of it? powers that will be +difficult to control, and which may prove fatal to the public liberties. + + + + +WILLIAM PINKNEY, + +OF MARYLAND. (BORN 1764, DIED 1822.) + +ON THE MISSOURI QUESTION'--UNITED STATES + +SENATE, FEBRUARY 15, 1820. + + +As I am not a very frequent speaker in this assembly, and have shown a +desire, I trust, rather to listen to the wisdom of others than to lay +claim to superior knowledge by undertaking to advise, even when advice, +by being seasonable in point of time, might have some chance of being +profitable, you will, perhaps, bear with me if I venture to trouble you +once more on that eternal subject which has lingered here, until all +its natural interest is exhausted, and every topic connected with it +is literally worn to tatters. I shall, I assure you, sir, speak with +laudable brevity--not merely on account of the feeble state of my +health, and from some reverence for the laws of good taste which forbid +me to speak otherwise, but also from a sense of justice to those +who honor me with their attention. My single purpose, as I suggested +yesterday, is to subject to a friendly, yet close examination, +some portions of a speech, imposing, certainly, on account of the +distinguished quarter from whence it came--not very imposing (if I may +so say, without departing from that respect which I sincerely feel and +intend to manifest for eminent abilities and long experience) for any +other reason. + + * * * * * + +I confess to you, nevertheless, that some of the principles announced +by the honorable gentleman from New York, with an explicitness that +reflected the highest credit on his candor, did, when they were first +presented, startle me not a little. They were not perhaps entirely new. +Perhaps I had seen them before in some shadowy and doubtful shape, + + "If shape it might be called, that shape had none, + Distinguishable in member, joint, or limb?" + +But in the honorable gentleman's speech they were shadowy and doubtful +no longer. He exhibited them in forms so boldly and accurately--with +contours so distinctly traced--with features so pronounced and +striking that I was unconscious for a moment that they might be old +acquaintances. I received them as a _novi hospites_ within these walls, +and gazed upon them with astonishment and alarm. I have recovered, +however, thank God, from this paroxysm of terror, although not from that +of astonishment. I have sought and found tranquillity and courage in +my former consolatory faith. My reliance is that these principles will +obtain no general currency; for, if they should, it requires no gloomy +imagination to sadden the perspective of the future. My reliance is upon +the unsophisticated good sense and noble spirit of the American people. +I have what I may be allowed to call a proud and patriotic trust, that +they will give countenance to no principles which, if followed out to +their obvious consequences, will not only shake the goodly fabric of the +Union to its foundations, but reduce it to a melancholy ruin. The people +of this country, if I do not wholly mistake their character, are wise as +well as virtuous. They know the value of that federal association which +is to them the single pledge and guarantee of power and peace. Their +warm and pious affections will cling to it as to their only hope of +prosperity and happiness, in defiance of pernicious abstractions, by +whomsoever inculcated, or howsoever seductive or alluring in their +aspect.' + + * * * * * + +Sir, it was but the other day that we were forbidden, (properly +forbidden I am sure, for the prohibition came from you,) to assume that +there existed any intention to impose a prospective restraint on +the domestic legislation of Missouri--a restraint to act upon it +contemporaneously with its origin as a State, and to continue adhesive +to it through all the stages of its political existence. We are now, +however, permitted to know that it is determined by a sort of political +surgery to amputate one of the limbs of its local sovereignty, and thus +mangled and disparaged, and thus only, to receive it into the bosom of +the Constitution. It is now avowed that, while Maine is to be ushered +into the Union with every possible demonstration of studious reverence +on our part, and on hers, with colors flying, and all the other graceful +accompaniments of honorable triumph, this ill-conditioned upstart of the +West, this obscure foundling of a wilderness that was but yesterday +the hunting-ground of the savage, is to find her way into the American +family as she can, with an humiliating badge of remediless inferiority +patched upon her garments, with the mark of recent, qualified +manumission upon her, or rather with a brand upon her forehead to tell +the stogy of her territorial vassalage, and to perpetuate the memory of +her evil propensities. It is now avowed that, while the robust district +of Maine is to be seated by the side of her truly respectable parent, +co-ordinate in authority and honor, and is to be dandled into that power +and dignity of which she does not stand in need, but which undoubtedly +she deserves, the more infantine and feeble Missouri is to be repelled +with harshness, and forbidden to come at all, unless with the iron +collar of servitude about her neck, instead of the civic crown of +republican freedom upon her brows, and is to be doomed forever to +leading-strings, unless she will exchange those leading-strings for +shackles. + +I am told that you have the power to establish this odious and revolting +distinction, and I am referred for the proofs of that power to various +parts of the Constitution, but principally to that part of it which +authorizes the admission of new States into the Union. I am myself +of opinion that it is in that part only that the advocates for this +restriction can, with any hope of success, apply for a license to +impose it; and that the efforts which have been made to find it in +other portions of that instrument, are too desperate to require to be +encountered. I shall, however, examine those other portions before I +have done, lest it should be supposed by those who have relied upon +them, that what I omit to answer I believe to be unanswerable. + +The clause of the Constitution which relates to the admission of new +States is in these words: "The Congress may admit new States into this +Union," etc., and the advocates for restriction maintain that the use +of the word "may" imports discretion to admit or to reject; and that in +this discretion is wrapped up another--that of prescribing the terms and +conditions of admission in case you are willing to admit: "_Cujus est +dare ejus est disponere_." I will not for the present inquire whether +this involved discretion to dictate the terms of admission belongs to +you or not. It is fit that I should first look to the nature and extent +of it. + +I think I may assume that if such a power be anything but nominal, it +is much more than adequate to the present object--that it is a power +of vast expansion, to which human sagacity can assign no reasonable +limits--that it is a capacious reservoir of authority, from which you +may take, in all time to come, as occasion may serve, the means of +oppression as well as of benefaction. I know that it professes at this +moment to be the chosen instrument of protecting mercy, and would win +upon us by its benignant smiles; but I know, too, it can frown and play +the tyrant, if it be so disposed. Notwithstanding the softness which it +now assumes, and the care with which it conceals its giant proportions +beneath the deceitful drapery of sentiment, when it next appears before +you it may show itself with a sterner countenance and in more awful +dimensions. It is, to speak the truth, sir, a power of colossal size--if +indeed it be not an abuse of language to call it by the gentle name of a +power. Sir, it is a wilderness of power, of which fancy in her happiest +mood is unable to perceive the far distant and shadowy boundary. Armed +with such a power, with religion in one hand and philanthropy in the +other, and followed with a goodly train of public and private virtues, +you may achieve more conquests over sovereignties not your own than +falls to the common lot of even uncommon ambition. By the aid of such a +power, skilfully employed, you may "bridge your way" over the Hellespont +that separates State legislation from that of Congress; and you may do +so for pretty much the same purpose with which Xerxes once bridged his +way across the Hellespont that separates Asia from Europe. He did so, in +the language of Milton, "the liberties of Greece to yoke." You may do so +for the analogous purpose of subjugating and reducing the sovereignties +of States, as your taste or convenience may suggest, and fashioning +them to your imperial will. There are those in this House who appear +to think, and I doubt not sincerely, that the particular restraint now +under consideration is wise, and benevolent, and good; wise as respects +the Union--good as respects Missouri--benevolent as respects the unhappy +victims whom with a novel kindness it would incarcerate in the south, +and bless by decay and extirpation. Let all such beware, lest in their +desire for the effect which they believe the restriction will produce, +they are too easily satisfied that they have the right to impose it. +The moral beauty of the present purpose, or even its political +recommendations (whatever they may be), can do nothing for a power +like this, which claims to prescribe conditions _ad libitum_, and to +be competent to this purpose, because it is competent to all. This +restriction, if it be not smothered in its birth, will be but a small +part of the progeny of the prolific power. It teems with a mighty brood, +of which this may be entitled to the distinction of comeliness as well +as of primogeniture. The rest may want the boasted loveliness of their +predecessor, and be even uglier than "Lapland witches". + + * * * * * + +I would not discourage authorized legislation upon those kindly, +generous, and noble feelings which Providence has given to us for the +best of purposes; but when power to act is under discussion, I will +not look to the end in view, lest I should become indifferent to the +lawfulness of the means. Let us discard from this high constitutional +question all those extrinsic considerations which have been forced +into its discussion. Let us endeavor to approach it with a philosophic +impartiality of temper--with a sincere desire to ascertain the +boundaries of our authority, and a determination to keep our wishes in +subjection to our allegiance to the Constitution. + +Slavery, we are told in many a pamphlet, memorial, and speech, with +which the press has lately groaned, is a foul blot upon our otherwise +immaculate reputation. Let this be conceded--yet you are no nearer than +before to the conclusion that you possess power which may deal with +other subjects as effectually as with this. Slavery, we are further +told, with some pomp of metaphor, is a canker at the root of all that +is excellent in this republican empire, a pestilent disease that is +snatching the youthful bloom from its cheek, prostrating its honor and +withering its strength. Be it so--yet if you have power to medicine to +it in the way proposed, and in virtue of the diploma which you claim, +you have also power in the distribution of your political alexipharmics +to present the deadliest drugs to every territory that would become a +State, and bid it drink or remain a colony forever. Slavery, we are also +told, is now "rolling onward with a rapid tide towards the boundless +regions of the West," threatening to doom them to sterility and sorrow, +unless some potent voice can say to it,thus far shalt thou go, and no +farther. Slavery engenders pride and indolence in him who commands, and +inflicts intellectual and moral degradation on him who serves. Slavery, +in fine, is unchristian and abominable. Sir, I shall not stop to deny +that slavery is all this and more; but I shall not think myself the less +authorized to deny that it is for you to stay the course of this dark +torrent, by opposing to it a mound raised up by the labors of this +portentous discretion on the domain of others--a mound which you cannot +erect but through the instrumentality of a trespass of no ordinary +kind--not the comparatively innocent trespass that beats down a few +blades of grass which the first kind sun or the next refreshing shower +may cause to spring again--but that which levels with the ground +the lordliest trees of the forest, and claims immortality for the +destruction which it inflicts. + +I shall not, I am sure, be told that I exaggerate this power. It has +been admitted here and elsewhere that I do not. But I want no such +concession. It is manifest that as a discretionary power it is +everything or nothing--that its head is in the clouds, or that it is a +mere figment of enthusiastic speculation--that it has no existence, or +that it is an alarming vortex ready to swallow up all such portions of +the sovereignty of an infant State as you may think fit to cast into +it as preparatory to the introduction into the union of the miserable +residue. No man can contradict me when I say, that if you have this +power, you may squeeze down a new-born sovereign State to the size of a +pigmy, and then taking it between finger and thumb, stick it into some +niche of the Union, and still continue by way of mockery to call it a +State in the sense of the Constitution. You may waste it to a shadow, +and then introduce it into the society of flesh and blood an object of +scorn and derision. You may sweat and reduce it to a thing of skin and +bone, and then place the ominous skeleton beside the ruddy and healthful +members of the Union, that it may have leisure to mourn the lamentable +difference between itself and its companions, to brood over its +disastrous promotion, and to seek in justifiable discontent an +opportunity for separation, and insurrection, and rebellion. What may +you not do by dexterity and perseverance with this terrific power? You +may give to a new State, in the form of terms which it cannot +refuse, (as I shall show you hereafter,) a statute book of a +thousand volumes--providing not for ordinary cases only, but even for +possibilities; you may lay the yoke, no matter whether light or heavy, +upon the necks of the latest posterity; you may send this searching +power into every hamlet for centuries to come, by laws enacted in the +spirit of prophecy, and regulating all those dear relations of domestic +concern which belong to local legislation, and which even local +legislation touches with a delicate and sparing hand. This is the first +inroad. But will it be the last? This provision is but a pioneer for +others of a more desolating aspect. It is that fatal bridge of which +Milton speaks, and when once firmly built, what shall hinder you to pass +it when you please for the purpose of plundering power after power at +the expense of new States, as you will still continue to call them, and +raising up prospective codes irrevocable and immortal, which shall leave +to those States the empty shadows of domestic sovereignty, and convert +them into petty pageants, in themselves contemptible, but rendered +infinitely more so by the contrast of their humble faculties with the +proud and admitted pretensions of those who having doomed them to +the inferiority of vassals, have condescended to take them into their +society and under their protection? + +"New States may be admitted by the Congress into this Union." It is +objected that the word "may" imports power, not obligation--a right to +decide--a discretion to grant or refuse. + +To this it might be answered that power is duty on many occasions. But +let it be conceded that it is discretionary. What consequence follows? +A power to refuse, in a case like this, does not necessarily involve a +power to exact terms. You must look to the result which is the declared +object of the power. Whether you will arrive at it, or not, may depend +on your will; but you cannot compromise with the result intended and +professed. + +What then is the professed result? To admit a State into this Union. + +What is that Union? A confederation of States equal in +sovereignty--capable of everything which the Constitution does not +forbid, or authorize Congress to forbid. It is an equal union, between +parties equally sovereign. They were sovereign independently of the +Union. The object of the Union was common protection for the exercise +of already existing sovereignty. The parties gave up a portion of that +sovereignty to insure the remainder. As far as they gave it up by the +common compact they have ceased to be sovereign. The Union provides the +means of defending the residue; and it is into that Union that a new +State is to come. By acceding to it, the new State is placed on the same +footing with the original States. It accedes for the same purpose, +i.e., protection for their unsurrendered sovereignty. If it comes in shorn +of its beams--crippled and disparaged beyond the original States, it is +not into the original Union that it comes. For it is a different sort +of Union. The first was Union _inter pares_. This is a Union between +"_disparates_"--between giants and a dwarf--between power and +feebleness--between full proportioned sovereignties and a miserable +image of power--a thing which that very Union has shrunk and shrivelled +from its just size, instead of preserving it in its true dimensions. + +It is into this Union, i. e., the Union of the Federal Constitution, +that you are to admit, or refuse to admit. You can admit into no other. +You cannot make the Union, as to the new State, what it is not as to the +old; for then it is not this Union that you open for the entrance of a +new party. If you make it enter into a new and additional compact, is it +any longer the same Union? + +We are told that admitting a State into the Union is a compact. Yes, +but what sort of a compact? A compact that it shall be a member of the +Union, as the Constitution has made it. You cannot new fashion it. You +may make a compact to admit, but when admitted the original compact +prevails. The Union is a compact, with a provision of political power +and agents for the accomplishment of its objects. Vary that compact as +to a new State--give new energy to that political power so as to make it +act with more force upon a new State than upon the old--make the will +of those agents more effectually the arbiter of the fate of a new State +than of the old, and it may be confidently said that the new State has +not entered into this Union, but into another Union. How far the Union +has been varied is another question. But that it has been varied is +clear. + +If I am told that by the bill relative to Missouri, you do not legislate +upon a new State, I answer that you do; and I answer further that it is +immaterial whether you do or not. But it is upon Missouri, as a State, +that your terms and conditions are to act. Until Missouri is a State, +the terms and conditions are nothing. You legislate in the shape of +terms and conditions, prospectively--and you so legislate upon it that +when it comes into the Union it is to be bound by a contract degrading +and diminishing its sovereignty--and is to be stripped of rights which +the original parties to the Union did not consent to abandon, and which +that Union (so far as depends upon it) takes under its protection and +guarantee. + +Is the right to hold slaves a right which Massachusetts enjoys? If it +is, Massachusetts is under this Union in a different character from +Missouri. The compact of Union for it, is different from the +same compact of Union for Missouri. The power of Congress is +different--everything which depends upon the Union is, in that respect, +different. + +But it is immaterial whether you legislate for Missouri as a State or +not. The effect of your legislation is to bring it into the Union with a +portion of its sovereignty taken away. + +But it is a State which you are to admit. What is a State in the sense +of the Constitution? It is not a State in the general--but a State as +you find it in the Constitution. A State, generally, is a body politic +or independent political society of men. But the State which you are to +admit must be more or less than this political entity. What must it be? +Ask the constitution. It shows what it means by a State by reference to +the parties to it. It must be such a State as Massachusetts, Virginia, +and the other members of the American confederacy--a State with full +sovereignty except as the constitution restricts it. + + * * * * * + +In a word, the whole amount of the argument on the other side is, that +you may refuse to admit a new State, and that therefore if you admit, +you may prescribe the terms. + +The answer to that argument is--that even if you can refuse, you can +prescribe no terms which are inconsistent with the act you are to do. +You can prescribe no conditions which, if carried into effect, would +make the new State less a sovereign State than, under the Union as it +stands, it would be. You can prescribe no terms which will make +the compact of Union between it and the original States essentially +different from that compact among the original States. You may admit, or +refuse to admit: but if you admit, you must admit a State in the sense +of the Constitution--a State with all such sovereignty as belongs to the +original parties: and it must be into this Union that you are to admit +it, not into a Union of your own dictating, formed out of the existing +Union by qualifications and new compacts, altering its character and +effect, and making it fall short of its protecting energy in reference +to the new State, whilst it acquires an energy of another sort--the +energy of restraint and destruction. + + * * * * * + +One of the most signal errors with which the argument on the other side +has abounded, is this of considering the proposed restriction as if +levelled at the introduction or establishment of slavery. And hence the +vehement declamation, which, among other things, has informed us that +slavery originated in fraud or violence. + +The truth is, that the restriction has no relation, real or pretended, +to the right of making slaves of those who are free, or of introducing +slavery where it does not already exist. It applies to those who are +admitted to be already slaves, and who (with their posterity) would +continue to be slaves if they should remain where they are at present; +and to a place where slavery already exists by the local law. Their +civil condition will not be altered by their removal from Virginia, or +Carolina, to Missouri. They will not be more slaves than they now are. +Their abode, indeed, will be different, but their bondage the same. +Their numbers may possibly be augmented by the diffusion, and I think +they will. But this can only happen because their hardships will be +mitigated, and their comforts increased. The checks to population, +which exist in the older States, will be diminished. The restriction, +therefore does not prevent the establishment of slavery, either with +reference to persons or place; but simply inhibits the removal from +place to place (the law in each being the same) of a slave, or make his +emancipation the consequence of that removal. It acts professedly merely +on slavery as it exists, and thus acting restrains its present lawful +effects. That slavery, like many other human institutions, originated +in fraud or violence, may be conceded: but, however it originated, it is +established among us, and no man seeks a further establishment of it +by new importations of freemen to be converted into slaves. On the +contrary, all are anxious to mitigate its evils, by all the means within +the reach of the appropriate authority, the domestic legislatures of the +different States. + + * * * * * + +Of the declaration of our independence, which has also been quoted in +support of the perilous doctrines now urged upon us, I need not now +speak at large. I have shown on a former occasion how idle it is to rely +upon that instrument for such a purpose, and I will not fatigue you by +mere repetition. The self-evident truths announced in the Declaration +of Independence are not truths at all, if taken literally; and the +practical conclusions contained in the same passage of that declaration +prove that they were never designed to be so received. + +The articles of confederation contain nothing on the subject; whilst the +actual Constitution recognizes the legal existence of slavery by various +provisions. The power of prohibiting the slave trade is involved in that +of regulating commerce, but this is coupled with an express inhibition +to the exercise of it for twenty years. How then can that Constitution +which expressly permits the importation of slaves authorize the National +Government to set on foot a crusade against slavery? + +The clause respecting fugitive slaves is affirmative and active in its +effects. It is a direct sanction and positive protection of the right of +the master to the services of his slave as derived under the local laws +of the States. The phraseology in which it is wrapped up still leaves +the intention clear, and the words, "persons held to service or labor +in one State under the laws thereof," have always been interpreted to +extend to the case of slaves, in the various acts of Congress which +have been passed to give efficacy to the provision, and in the judicial +application of those laws. So also in the clause prescribing the ratio +of representation--the phrase, "three-fifths of all other persons," +is equivalent to slaves, or it means nothing. And yet we are told that +those who are acting under a Constitution which sanctions the existence +of slavery in those States which choose to tolerate it, are at liberty +to hold that no law can sanction its existence. + +It is idle to make the rightfulness of an act the measure of sovereign +power. The distinction between sovereign power and the moral right +to exercise it has always been recognized. All political power may be +abused, but is it to stop where abuse may begin? The power of declaring +war is a power of vast capacity for mischief, and capable of inflicting +the most wide-spread desolation. But it is given to Congress without +stint and without measure. Is a citizen, or are the courts of justice +to inquire whether that, or any other law, is just, before they obey or +execute it? And are there any degrees of injustice which will withdraw +from sovereign power the capacity of making a given law? + + * * * * * + +The power is "to admit new States into this Union," and it may be safely +conceded that here is discretion to admit or refuse. The question is, +what must we do if we do anything? What must we admit, and into what? +The answer is a State--and into this Union. + +The distinction between Federal rights and local rights, is an idle +distinction. Because the new State acquires Federal rights, it is not, +therefore, in this Union. The Union is a compact; and is it an equal +party to that compact, because it has equal Federal rights? + +How is the Union formed? By equal contributions of power. Make one +member sacrifice more than another, and it becomes unequal. The compact +is of two parts: + +1. The thing obtained--Federal rights. 2. The price paid--local +sovereignty. + +You may disturb the balance of the Union, either by diminishing the +thing acquired, or increasing the sacrifice paid. + +What were the purposes of coming into the Union among the original +States? The States were originally sovereign without limit, as to +foreign and domestic concerns. But being incapable of protecting +themselves singly, they entered into the Union to defend themselves +against foreign violence. The domestic concerns of the people were not, +in general, to be acted on by it. The security of the power, of managing +them by domestic legislature, is one of the great objects of the Union. +The Union is a means, not an end. By requiring greater sacrifices +of domestic power, the end is sacrificed to the means. Suppose the +surrender of all, or nearly all, the domestic powers of legislation were +required; the means would there have swallowed up the end. + +The argument that the compact may be enforced, shows that the Federal +predicament changed. The power of the Union not only acts on persons or +citizens, but on the faculty of the government, and restrains it in a +way which the Constitution nowhere authorizes. This new obligation takes +away a right which is expressly "reserved to the people or the States," +since it is nowhere granted to the government of the Union. You cannot +do indirectly what you cannot do directly. It is said that this Union +is competent to make compacts. Who doubts it? But can you make this +compact? I insist that you cannot make it, because it is repugnant to +the thing to be done. + +The effect of such a compact would be to produce that inequality in the +Union, to which the Constitution, in all its provisions, is adverse. +Everything in it looks to equality among the members of the Union. Under +it you cannot produce inequality. Nor can you get before-hand of the +Constitution, and do it by anticipation. Wait until a State is in the +Union, and you cannot do it; yet it is only upon the State in the Union +that what you do begins to act. + +But it seems that, although the proposed restrictions may not be +justified by the clause of the Constitution which gives power to admit +new States into the Union, separately considered, there are other parts +of the Constitution which, combined with that clause, will warrant it. +And first, we are informed that there is a clause in this instrument +which declares that Congress shall guarantee to every State a republican +form of government; that slavery and such a form of government are +incompatible; and, finally, as a conclusion from these premises, that +Congress not only have a right, but are bound to exclude slavery from a +new State. Here again, sir, there is an edifying inconsistency between +the argument and the measure which it professes to vindicate. By the +argument it is maintained that Missouri cannot have a republican form of +government, and at the same time tolerate negro slavery. By the measure +it is admitted that Missouri may tolerate slavery, as to persons already +in bondage there, and be nevertheless fit to be received into the Union. +What sort of constitutional mandate is this which can thus be made +to bend and truckle and compromise as if it were a simple rule of +expediency that might admit of exceptions upon motives of countervailing +expediency. There can be no such pliancy in the peremptory provisions of +the Constitution. They cannot be obeyed by moieties and violated in the +same ratio. They must be followed out to their full extent, or treated +with that decent neglect which has at least the merit of forbearing to +render contumacy obtrusive by an ostentatious display of the very duty +which we in part abandon. If the decalogue could be observed in this +casuistical manner, we might be grievous sinners, and yet be liable to +no reproach. We might persist in all our habitual irregularities, +and still be spotless. We might, for example, continue to covet our +neighbors' goods, provided they were the same neighbors whose goods we +had before coveted--and so of all the other commandments. + +Will the gentlemen tell us that it is the quantity of slaves, not the +quality of slavery, which takes from a government the republican +form? Will they tell us (for they have not yet told us) that there are +constitutional grounds (to say nothing of common sense) upon which the +slavery which now exists in Missouri may be reconciled with a republican +form of government, while any addition to the number of its slaves (the +quality of slavery remaining the same) from the other States, will +be repugnant to that form, and metamorphose it into some nondescript +government disowned by the Constitution? They cannot have recourse to +the treaty of 1803 for such a distinction, since independently of what I +have before observed on that head, the gentlemen have contended that the +treaty has nothing to do with the matter. + +They have cut themselves off from all chance of a convenient distinction +in or out of that treaty, by insisting that slavery beyond the old +United States is rejected by the Constitution, and by the law of God +as discoverable by the aid of either reason or revelation; and moreover +that the treaty does not include the case, and if it did could not make +it better. They have, therefore, completely discredited their own theory +by their own practice, and left us no theory worthy of being seriously +controverted. This peculiarity in reasoning of giving out a universal +principle, and coupling with it a practical concession that it is wholly +fallacious, has indeed run through the greater part of the arguments +on the other side; but it is not, as I think, the more imposing on that +account, or the less liable to the criticism which I have here bestowed +upon it. + + * * * * * + +But let us proceed to take a rapid glance at the reasons which have been +assigned for this notion that involuntary servitude and a republican +form of government are perfect antipathies. The gentleman from New +Hampshire has defined a republican government to be that in which all +the men participate in its power and privileges; from whence it follows +that where there are slaves, it can have no existence. A definition is +no proof, however, and even if it be dignified (as I think it was) with +the name of a maxim, the matter is not much mended. It is Lord Bacon +who says "That nothing is so easily made as a maxim"; and certainly a +definition is manufactured with equal facility. A political maxim is +the work of induction, and cannot stand against experience, or stand on +anything but experience. But this maxim, or definition, or whatever else +it may be, sets facts at defiance. If you go back to antiquity, you will +obtain no countenance for this hypothesis; and if you look at home you +will gain still less. I have read that Sparta, and Rome, and Athens, and +many others of the ancient family, were republics. They were so in form +undoubtedly--the last approaching nearer to a perfect democracy than any +other government which has yet been known in the world. Judging of +them also by their fruits, they were of the highest order of republics. +Sparta could scarcely be any other than a republic, when a Spartan +matron could say to her son just marching to battle, "Return victorious, +or return no more." + +It was the unconquerable spirit of liberty, nurtured by republican +habits and institutions, that illustrated the pass of Thermopylae. Yet +slavery was not only tolerated in Sparta, but was established by one +of the fundamental laws of Lycurgus, having for its object the +encouragement of that very spirit. Attica was full of slaves--yet the +love of liberty was its characteristic. What else was it that foiled the +whole power of Persia at Marathon and Salamis? What other soil than that +which the genial sun of republican freedom illuminated and warmed, +could have produced such men as Leonidas and Miltiades, Themistocles and +Epaminondas? Of Rome it would be superfluous to speak at large. It is +sufficient to name the mighty mistress of the world, before Sylla gave +the first stab to her liberties and the great dictator accomplished +their final ruin, to be reminded of the practicability of union between +civil slavery and an ardent love of liberty cherished by republican +establishments. + +If we return home for instruction upon this point, we perceive that same +union exemplified in many a State, in which "Liberty has a temple in +every house, an altar in every heart," while involuntary servitude is +seen in every direction. + +Is it denied that those States possess a republican form of government? +If it is, why does our power of correction sleep? Why is the +constitutional guaranty suffered to be inactive? Why am I permitted to +fatigue you, as the representative of a slaveholding State, with the +discussion of the "_nugae canorae_" (for so I think them) that have been +forced into this debate contrary to all the remonstrances of taste +and prudence? Do gentlemen perceive the consequences to which their +arguments must lead if they are of any value? Do they reflect that they +lead to emancipation in the old United States--or to an exclusion of +Delaware, Maryland, and all the South, and a great portion of the West +from the Union? My honorable friend from Virginia has no business here, +if this disorganizing creed be anything but the production of a heated +brain. The State to which I belong, must "perform a lustration"--must +purge and purify herself from the feculence of civil slavery, and +emulate the States of the North in their zeal for throwing down the +gloomy idol which we are said to worship, before her senators can have +any title to appear in this high assembly. It will be in vain to urge +that the old United States are exceptions to the rule--or rather (as the +gentlemen express it), that they have no disposition to apply the rule +to them. There can be no exceptions by implication only, to such a +rule; and expressions which justify the exemption of the old States +by inference, will justify the like exemption of Missouri, unless they +point exclusively to them, as I have shown they do not. The guarded +manner, too, in which some of the gentlemen have occasionally expressed +themselves on this subject, is somewhat alarming. They have no +disposition to meddle with slavery in the old United States. Perhaps +not--but who shall answer for their successors? Who shall furnish a +pledge that the principle once ingrafted into the Constitution, will not +grow, and spread, and fructify, and overshadow the whole land? It is the +natural office of such a principle to wrestle with slavery, wheresoever +it finds it. New States, colonized by the apostles of this principle, +will enable it to set on foot a fanatical crusade against all who still +continue to tolerate it, although no practicable means are pointed out +by which they can get rid of it consistently with their own safety. At +any rate, a present forbearing disposition, in a few or in many, is not +a security upon which much reliance can be placed upon a subject as to +which so many selfish interests and ardent feelings are connected with +the cold calculations of policy. Admitting, however, that the old United +States are in no danger from this principle--why is it so? There can be +no other answer (which these zealous enemies of slavery can use) than +that the Constitution recognizes slavery as existing or capable of +existing in those States. The Constitution, then, admits that slavery +and a republican form of government are not incongruous. It associates +and binds them up together and repudiates this wild imagination which +the gentlemen have pressed upon us with such an air of triumph. But the +Constitution does more, as I have heretofore proved. It concedes that +slavery may exist in a new State, as well as in an old one--since the +language in which it recognizes slavery comprehends new States as well +as actual. I trust then that I shall be forgiven if I suggest, that no +eccentricity in argument can be more trying to human patience, than a +formal assertion that a constitution, to which slave-holding States were +the most numerous parties, in which slaves are treated as property +as well as persons, and provision is made for the security of that +property, and even for an augmentation of it by a temporary importation +from Africa, with a clause commanding Congress to guarantee a republican +form of government to those very States, as well as to others, +authorizes you to determine that slavery and a republican form of +government cannot coexist. + +But if a republican form of government is that in which all the men have +a share in the public power, the slave-holding States will not alone +retire from the Union. The constitutions of some of the other States do +not sanction universal suffrage, or universal eligibility. They require +citizenship, and age, and a certain amount of property, to give a title +to vote or to be voted for; and they who have not those qualifications +are just as much disfranchised, with regard to the government and its +power, as if they were slaves. They have civil rights indeed (and +so have slaves in a less degree; ) but they have no share in the +government. Their province is to obey the laws, not to assist in making +them. All such States must therefore be forisfamiliated with Virginia +and the rest, or change their system. For the Constitution being +absolutely silent on those subjects, will afford them no protection. The +Union might thus be reduced from an Union to an unit. Who does not see +that such conclusions flow from false notions--that the true theory of a +republican government is mistaken--and that in such a government rights, +political and civil, may be qualified by the fundamental law, upon such +inducements as the freemen of the country deem sufficient? That civil +rights may be qualified as well as political, is proved by a +thousand examples. Minors, resident aliens, who are in a course of +naturalization--the other sex, whether maids, or wives, or widows, +furnish sufficient practical proofs of this. + + * * * * * + +We are next invited to study that clause of the Constitution which +relates to the migration or importation, before the year 1808, of such +persons as any of the States then existing should think proper to admit. +It runs thus: "The migration or importation of such persons as any +of the States now existing shall think proper to admit, shall not be +prohibited by the Congress prior to the year one thousand eight hundred +and eight, but a tax or duty may be imposed on such importation not +exceeding ten dollars for each person." + +It is said that this clause empowers Congress, after the year 1808, +to prohibit the passage of slaves from State to State, and the word +"migration" is relied upon for that purpose. + + * * * * * + +Whatever may be the latitude in which the word "persons" is capable of +being received, it is not denied that the word "importation" indicates +a bringing in from a jurisdiction foreign to the United States. The two +termini of the importation, here spoken of, are a foreign country and +the American Union--the first the _terminus a quo_, the second the +_terminus ad quem_. The word migration stands in simple connexion with +it, and of course is left to the full influence of that connection. +The natural conclusion is, that the same termini belong to each, or, in +other words, that if the importation must be abroad, so also must be +the migration--no other termini being assigned to the one which are not +manifestly characteristic of the other. This conclusion is so obvious, +that to repel it, the word migration requires, as an appendage, +explanatory phraseology, giving to it a different beginning from that +of importation. To justify the conclusion that it was intended to mean a +removal from State to State, each within the sphere of the constitution +in which it is used, the addition of the words from one to another State +in this Union, were indispensable. By the omission of these words, the +word "migration" is compelled to take every sense of which it is fairly +susceptible from its immediate neighbor, "importation." In this view +it means a coming, as "importation" means a bringing, from a foreign +jurisdiction into the United States. That it is susceptible of this +meaning, nobody doubts. I go further. It can have no other meaning in +the place in which it is found. It is found in the Constitution of this +Union--which, when it speaks of migration as of a general concern, must +be supposed to have in view a migration into the domain which itself +embraces as a general government. + +Migration, then, even if it comprehends slaves, does not mean the +removal of them from State to State, but means the coming of slaves +from places beyond their limits and their power. And if this be so, the +gentlemen gain nothing for their argument by showing that slaves were +the objects of this term. + +An honorable gentleman from Rhode Island, whose speech was distinguished +for its ability, and for an admirable force of reasoning, as well to +as by the moderation and mildness of its spirit, informed us, with less +discretion than in general he exhibited, that the word "migration" was +introduced into this clause at the instance of some of the Southern +States, who wished by its instrumentality to guard against a prohibition +by Congress of the passage into those States of slaves from other +States. He has given us no authority for this supposition, and it is, +therefore, a gratuitous one. How improbable it is, a moment's reflection +will convince him. The African slave trade being open during the whole +of the time to which the entire clause in question referred, such a +purpose could scarcely be entertained; but if it had been entertained, +and there was believed to be a necessity for securing it, by a +restriction upon the power of Congress to interfere with it, is it +possible that they who deemed it important, would have contented +themselves with a vague restraint, which was calculated to operate +in almost any other manner than that which they desired? If fear and +jealousy, such as the honorable gentleman has described, had dictated +this provision, a better term than that of "migration," simple and +unqualified, and joined, too, with the word "importation," would have +been found to tranquilize those fears and satisfy that jealousy. Fear +and jealousy are watchful, and are rarely seen to accept a security +short of their object, and less rarely to shape that security, of their +own accord, in such a way as to make it no security at all. They always +seek an explicit guaranty; and that this is not such a guaranty this +debate has proved, if it has proved nothing else. + + + + +WENDELL PHILLIPS, + +OF MASSACHUSETTS. (BORN 1811, DIED 1884.) + +ON THE MURDER OF LOVEJOY; + +FANEUIL HALL, BOSTON, DECEMBER 8, 1837 + + + +MR. CHAIRMAN: + +We have met for the freest discussion of these resolutions, and the +events which gave rise to them. [Cries of "Question," "Hear him," "Go +on," "No gagging," etc.] I hope I shall be permitted to express my +surprise at the sentiments of the last speaker, surprise not only at +such sentiments from such a man, but at the applause they have received +within these walls. A comparison has been drawn between the events of +the Revolution and the tragedy at Alton. We have heard it asserted here, +in Faneuil Hall, that Great Britain had a right to tax the colonies, +and we have heard the mob at Alton, the drunken murderers of Lovejoy, +compared to those patriot fathers who threw the tea overboard! Fellow +citizens, is this Faneuil Hall doctrine? ["No, no."] The mob at Alton +were met to wrest from a citizen his just rights--met to resist the +laws. We have been told that our fathers did the same; and the glorious +mantle of Revolutionary precedent has been thrown over the mobs of our +day. To make out their title to such defence, the gentleman says that +the British Parliament had a right to tax these colonies. It is manifest +that, without this, his parallel falls to the ground, for Lovejoy +had stationed himself within constitutional bulwarks. He was not only +defending the freedom of the press, but he was under his own roof, in +arms with the sanction of the civil authority. The men who assailed him +went against and over the laws. The mob, as the gentleman terms it--mob, +forsooth! certainly we sons of the tea-spillers are a marvellously +patient generation!--the "orderly mob" which assembled in the Old +South to destroy the tea, were met to resist, not the laws, but illegal +enactions. Shame on the American who calls the tea tax and stamp act +laws! Our fathers resisted, not the King's prerogative, but the King's +usurpation. To find any other account, you must read our Revolutionary +history upside down. Our State archives are loaded with arguments +of John Adams to prove the taxes laid by the British Parliament +unconstitutional--beyond its power. It was not until this was made out +that the men of New England rushed to arms. The arguments of the Council +Chamber and the House of Representatives preceded and sanctioned the +contest. To draw the conduct of our ancestors into a precedent for mobs, +for a right to resist laws we ourselves have enacted, is an insult to +their memory. The difference between the excitements of those days and +our own, which the gentleman in kindness to the latter has overlooked, +is simply this: the men of that day went for the right, as secured +by the laws. They were the people rising to sustain the laws and +constitution of the Province. The rioters of our days go for their +own wills, right or wrong. Sir, when I heard the gentleman lay down +principles which place the murderers of Alton side by side with Otis and +Hancock, with Quincy and Adams, I thought those pictured lips [pointing +to the portraits in the Hall] would have broken into voice to rebuke the +recreant American--the slanderer of the dead. The gentleman said that he +should sink into insignificance if he dared to gainsay the principles +of these resolutions. Sir, for the sentiments he has uttered, on soil +consecrated by the prayers of Puritans and the blood of patriots, the +earth should have yawned and swallowed him up. + +[By this time, the uproar in the Hall had risen so high that the speech +was suspended for a short time. Applause and counter applause, cries of +"Take that back," "Make him take back recreant," "He sha'n't go on till +he takes it back," and counter cries of "Phillips or nobody," continued +until the pleadings of well-known citizens had somewhat restored order, +when Mr. Phillips resumed.] + +Fellow citizens, I cannot take back my words. Surely the +Attorney-General, so long and so well known here, needs not the aid of +your hisses against one so young as I am--my voice never before heard +within these walls! + + * * * * * + +I must find some fault with the statement which has been made of the +events at Alton. It has been asked why Lovejoy and his friends did not +appeal to the executive--trust their defence to the police of the city? +It has been hinted that, from hasty and ill-judged excitement, the men +within the building provoked a quarrel, and that he fell in the course +of it, one mob resisting another. Recollect, sir, that they did act with +the approbation and sanction of the Mayor. In strict truth, there was +no executive to appeal to for protection. The Mayor acknowledged that +he could not protect them. They asked him if it was lawful for them to +defend themselves. He told them it was, and sanctioned their assembling +in arms to do so. They were not, then, a mob; they were not merely +citizens defending their own property; they were in some sense the +_posse comitatus_, adopted for the occasion into the police of the city, +acting under the order of a magistrate. It was civil authority resisting +lawless violence. Where, then, was the imprudence? Is the doctrine to +be sustained here that it is imprudent for men to aid magistrates in +executing the laws? + +Men are continually asking each other, Had Lovejoy a right to resist? +Sir, I protest against the question instead of answering it. Lovejoy did +not resist, in the sense they mean. He did not throw himself back on the +natural right of self-defence. He did not cry anarchy, and let slip the +dogs of civil war, careless of the horrors which would follow. Sir, as +I understand this affair, it was not an individual protecting his +property; it was not one body of armed men resisting another, and making +the streets of a peaceful city run blood with their contentions. It did +not bring back the scenes in some old Italian cities, where family met +family, and faction met faction, and mutually trampled the laws under +foot. No! the men in that house were regularly enrolled, under the +sanction of the Mayor. There being no militia in Alton, about seventy +men were enrolled with the approbation of the Mayor. These relieved each +other every other night. About thirty men were in arms on the night +of the sixth, when the press was landed. The next evening, it was not +thought necessary to summon more than half that number; among these was +Lovejoy. It was, therefore, you perceive, sir, the police of the city +resisting rioters--civil government breasting itself to the shock of +lawless men. + +Here is no question about the right of self-defence. It is in fact +simply this: Has the civil magistrate a right to put down a riot? + +Some persons seem to imagine that anarchy existed at Alton from the +commencement of these disputes. Not at all. "No one of us," says an +eyewitness and a comrade of Lovejoy, "has taken up arms during these +disturbances but at the command of the Mayor." Anarchy did not settle +down on that devoted city till Lovejoy breathed his last. Till then the +law, represented in his person, sustained itself against its foes. +When he fell, civil authority was trampled under foot. He had "planted +himself on his constitutional rights,"--appealed to the laws,--claimed +the protection of the civil authority,--taken refuge under "the broad +shield of the Constitution. When through that he was pierced and fell, +he fell but one sufferer in a common catastrophe." He took refuge under +the banner of liberty--amid its folds; and when he fell, its glorious +stars and stripes, the emblem of free institutions, around which cluster +so many heart-stirring memories, were blotted out in the martyr's blood. + +It has been stated, perhaps inadvertently, that Lovejoy or his comrades +fired first. This is denied by those who have the best means of knowing. +Guns were first fired by the mob. After being twice fired on, those +within the building consulted together and deliberately returned the +fire. But suppose they did fire first. They had a right so to do; +not only the right which every citizen has to defend himself, but the +further right which every civil officer has to resist violence. Even +if Lovejoy fired the first gun, it would not lessen his claim to our +sympathy, or destroy his title to be considered a martyr in defence of a +free press. The question now is, Did he act within the constitution and +the laws? The men who fell in State Street, on the 5th of March, 1770, +did more than Lovejoy is charged with. They were the first assailants +upon some slight quarrel, they pelted the troops with every missile +within reach. Did this bate one jot of the eulogy with which Hancock and +Warren hallowed their memory, hailing them as the first martyrs in the +cause of American liberty? If, sir, I had adopted what are called Peace +principles, I might lament the circumstances of this case. But all you +who believe as I do, in the right and duty of magistrates to execute the +laws, join with me and brand as base hypocrisy the conduct of those who +assemble year after year on the 4th of July to fight over the battles of +the Revolution, and yet "damn with faint praise" or load with obloquy, +the memory of this man who shed his blood in defence of life, liberty, +property, and the freedom of the press! + +Throughout that terrible night I find nothing to regret but this, that, +within the limits of our country, civil authority should have been so +prostrated as to oblige a citizen to arm in his own defence, and to arm +in vain. The gentleman says Lovejoy was presumptuous and imprudent--he +"died as the fool dieth." And a reverend clergyman of the city tells +us that no citizen has a right to publish opinions disagreeable to the +community! If any mob follows such publication, on him rests its guilt. +He must wait, forsooth, till the people come up to it and agree with +him! This libel on liberty goes on to say that the want of right to +speak as we think is an evil inseparable from republican institutions! +If this be so, what are they worth? Welcome the despotism of the Sultan, +where one knows what he may publish and what he may not, rather than the +tyranny of this many-headed monster, the mob, where we know not what we +may do or say, till some fellow-citizen has tried it, and paid for the +lesson with his life. This clerical absurdity chooses as a check for the +abuses of the press, not the law, but the dread of a mob. By so doing, +it deprives not only the individual and the minority of their rights, +but the majority also, since the expression of their opinion may +sometime provoke disturbances from the minority. A few men may make a +mob as well as many. The majority then, have no right, as Christian men, +to utter their sentiments, if by any possibility it may lead to a mob! +Shades of Hugh Peters and John Cotton, save us from such pulpits! + +Imprudent to defend the liberty of the press! Why? Because the defence +was unsuccessful? Does success gild crime into patriotism, and the want +of it change heroic self-devotion to imprudence? Was Hampden imprudent +when he drew the sword and threw away the scabbard? Yet he, judged by +that single hour, was unsuccessful. After a short exile, the race he +hated sat again upon the throne. + +Imagine yourself present when the first news of Bunker Hill battle +reached a New England town. The tale would have run thus: "The patriots +are routed,--the redcoats victorious, Warren lies dead upon the field." +With what scorn would that Tory have been received, who should have +charged Warren with imprudence! who should have said that, bred a +physician, he was "out of place" in that battle, and "died as the fool +dieth." How would the intimation have been received, that Warren and his +associates should have merited a better time? But if success be indeed +the only criterion of prudence, _Respice finem_,--wait till the end! + +_Presumptuous_ to assert the freedom of the press on American ground! Is +the assertion of such freedom before the age? So much before the age as +to leave one no right to make it because it displeases the community? +Who invents this libel on his country? It is this very thing which +entitles Lovejoy to greater praise. The disputed right which provoked +the Revolution--taxation without representation--is far beneath that +for which he died. [Here there was a general expression of strong +disapprobation.] One word, gentlemen. As much as thought is better than +money, so much is the cause in which Lovejoy died nobler than a mere +question of taxes. James Otis thundered in this hall when the King did +but touch his pocket. Imagine, if you can, his indignant eloquence had +England offered to put a gag upon his lips. The question that stirred +the Revolution touched our civil interests. This concerns us not only as +citizens, but as immortal beings. Wrapped up in its fate, saved or lost +with it, are not only the voice of the statesman, but the instructions +of the pulpit and the progress of our faith. + +The clergy, "marvellously out of place" where free speech is battled +for--liberty of speech on national sins! Does the gentleman remember +that freedom to preach was first gained, dragging in its train freedom +to print? I thank the clergy here present, as I reverence their +predecessors, who did not so far forget their country in their immediate +profession as to deem it duty to separate themselves from the struggle +of '76--the Mayhews and Coopers, who remembered that they were citizens +before they were clergymen. + +Mr. Chairman, from the bottom of my heart I thank that brave little band +at Alton for resisting. We must remember that Lovejoy had fled from city +to city,--suffered the destruction of three presses patiently. At length +he took counsel with friends, men of character, of tried integrity, of +wide views, of Christian principle. They thought the crisis had come; it +was full time to assert the laws. They saw around them, not a community +like our own, of fixed habits, of character moulded and settled, but one +"in the gristle, not yet hardened into the bone of manhood." The +people there, children of our older States, seem to have forgotten the +blood-tried principles of their fathers the moment they lost sight +of our New England hills. Something was to be done to show them the +priceless value of the freedom of the press, to bring back and set right +their wandering and confused ideas. He and his advisers looked out on +a community, staggering like a drunken man, indifferent to their rights +and confused in their feelings. Deaf to argument, haply they might +be stunned into sobriety. They saw that of which we cannot judge, the +necessity of resistance. Insulted law called for it. Public opinion, +fast hastening on the downward course, must be arrested. + +Does not the event show they judged rightly? Absorbed in a thousand +trifles, how has the nation all at once come to a stand? Men begin, as +in 1776 and 1640, to discuss principles, to weigh characters, to find +out where they are. Haply we may awake before we are borne over the +precipice. + +I am glad, sir, to see this crowded house, It is good for us to be here. +When Liberty is in danger Faneuil Hall has the right, it is her duty, to +strike the key-note for these United States. I am glad, for one reason, +that remarks such as those to which I have alluded have been uttered +here. The passage of these resolutions, in spite of this opposition, +led by the Attorney-General of the Commonwealth, will show more clearly, +more decisively, the deep indignation with which Boston regards this +outrage. + + +[Illustration: John Q. Adams] + + + + +JOHN QUINCY ADAMS, + +OF MASSACHUSETTS. (BORN 1767, DIED 1848.) + +ON THE CONSTITUTIONAL WAR POWER OVER SLAVERY + +--HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, MAY 25, 1836. + + +There are, then, Mr. Chairman, in the authority of Congress and of the +Executive, two classes of powers, altogether different in their nature, +and often incompatible with each other--the war power and the peace +power. The peace power is limited by regulations and restricted by +provisions, prescribed within the constitution itself. The war power is +limited only by the laws and usages of nations. The power is tremendous; +it is strictly constitutional, but it breaks down every barrier so +anxiously erected for the protection of liberty, of property, and +of life. This, sir, is the power which authorizes you to pass the +resolution now before you, and, in my opinion, there is no other. + +And this, sir, is the reason which I was not permitted to give this +morning for voting with only eight associates against the first +resolution reported by the committee on the abolition petitions; not one +word of discussion had been permitted on either of those resolutions. +When called to vote upon the first of them, I asked only five minutes of +the time of the House to prove that it was utterly unfounded, It was not +the pleasure of the House to grant me those five minutes. Sir, I must +say that, in all the proceedings of the House upon that report, from the +previous question, moved and inflexibly persisted in by a member of +the committee itself which reported the resolutions, (Mr. Owens, of +Georgia,) to the refusal of the Speaker, sustained by the majority of +the House, to permit the other gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Glascock) to +record upon the journal his reasons for asking to be excused from voting +on that same resolution, the freedom of debate has been stifled in this +House to a degree far beyond any thing that ever happened since +the existence of the Constitution of the United States; nor is it a +consolatory reflection to me how intensely we have been made to feel, +in the process of that operation, that the Speaker of this House is a +slaveholder. And, sir, as I was not then permitted to assign my reasons +for voting against that resolution before I gave the vote, I rejoice +that the reason for which I shall vote for the resolution now before the +committee is identically the same with that for which I voted against +that. + +[Mr. Adams at this, and at many other passages of this speech, was +interrupted by calls to order. The Chairman of the Committee (Mr. A. H. +Shepperd, of North Carolina,) in every instance, decided that he was not +out of order, but at this passage intimated that he was approaching +very close upon its borders; upon which Mr. Adams said, "Then I am to +under-stand, sir, that I am yet within the bounds of order, but that I +may transcend them hereafter."] + + * * * * * + +And, now, sir, am I to be disconcerted and silenced, or admonished by +the Chair that I am approaching to irrelevant matter, which may warrant +him to arrest me in my argument, because I say that the reason for which +I shall vote for the resolution now before the committee, levying a +heavy contribution upon the property of my constituents, is identically +the same with the reason for which I voted against the resolution +reported by the slavery committee, that Congress have no authority to +interfere, in any way, with slavery in any of the States of this Union. +Sir, I was not allowed to give my reasons for that vote, and a majority +of my constituents, perhaps proportionately as large as that of this +House in favor of that resolution, may and probably will disapprove my +vote against, unless my reasons for so voting should be explained to +them. I asked but five minutes of the House to give those reasons, and +was refused. I shall, therefore, take the liberty to give them now, as +they are strictly applicable to the measure now before the Committee, +and are my only justification for voting in favor of this resolution. + +I return, then, to my first position, that there are two classes of +powers vested by the Constitution of the United States in their Congress +and Executive Government: the powers to be exercised in the time of +peace, and the powers incidental to war. That the powers of peace are +limited by provisions within the body of the Constitution itself, but +that the powers of war are limited and regulated only by the laws and +usages of nations. There are, indeed, powers of peace conferred upon +Congress, which also come within the scope and jurisdiction of the laws +of nations, such as the negotiation of treaties of amity and commerce, +the interchange of public ministers and consuls, and all the personal +and social intercourse between the individual inhabitants of the United +States and foreign nations, and the Indian tribes, which require the +interposition of any law. But the powers of war are all regulated by the +laws of nations, and are subject to no other limitation. It is by this +power that I am justified in voting the money of my constituents for +the immediate relief of their fellow-citizens suffering with extreme +necessity even for subsistence, by the direct consequence of an +Indian war. Upon the same principle, your consuls in foreign ports are +authorized to provide for the subsistence of seamen in distress, and +even for their passage to their own country. + +And it was upon that same principle that I voted against the +resolution reported by the slavery committee, "That Congress possess no +constitutional authority to interfere, in any way, with the institution +of slavery in any of the States of this confederacy," to which +resolution most of those with whom I usually concur, and even my own +colleagues in this House, gave their assent. I do not admit that there +is even among the peace powers of Congress no such authority; but in war +there are many ways by which Congress not only have the authority, but +are bound to interfere with the institution of slavery in the States. +The existing law prohibiting the importation of slaves into the United +States from foreign countries, is itself an interference with the +institution of slavery in the States. It was so considered by the +founders of the Constitution of the United States, in which it was +stipulated that Congress should not interfere, in that way, with the +institution, prior to the year 1808. + +During the late war with Great Britain the military and naval commanders +of that nation issued proclamations inviting the slaves to repair to +their standards, with promises of freedom and of settlement in some of +the British colonial establishments. This, surely, was an interference +with the institution of slavery in the States. By the treaty of peace, +Great Britain stipulated to evacuate all the forts and places in the +United States, without carrying away any slaves. If the Government of +the United States had no authority to interfere, in any way, with +the institution of slavery in the States, they would not have had +the authority to require this stipulation. It is well known that +this engagement was not fulfilled by the British naval and military +commanders; that, on the contrary, they did carry away all the slaves +whom they had induced to join them, and that the British Government +inflexibly refused to restore any of them to their masters; that a claim +of indemnity was consequently instituted in behalf of the owners of the +slaves, and was successfully maintained. All that series of transactions +was an interference by Congress with the institution of slavery in the +States in one way--in the way of protection and support. It was by the +institution of slavery alone that the restitution of slaves enticed by +proclamations into the British service could be claimed as property. +But for the institution of slavery, the British commanders could neither +have allured them to their standard, nor restored them otherwise than +as liberated prisoners of war. But for the institution of slavery, there +could have been no stipulation that they should not be carried away +as property, nor any claim of indemnity for the violation of that +engagement. + +But the war power of Congress over the institution of slavery in the +States is yet far more extensive. Suppose the case of a servile war, +complicated, as to some extent it is even now, with an Indian war; +suppose Congress were called to raise armies, to supply money from the +whole Union, to suppress a servile insurrection: would they have no +authority to interfere with the institution of slavery? The issue of a +servile war may be disastrous. By war the slave may emancipate himself; +it may become necessary for the master to recognize his emancipation by +a treaty of peace; can it for an instant be pretended that Congress, +in such a contingency, would have no authority to interfere with the +institution of slavery, in any way, in the States? Why, it would be +equivalent to saying that Congress have no constitutional authority to +make peace. + + +[Illustration: John C. Calhoun] + + + + +JOHN C. CALHOUN, + +OF SOUTh CAROLINA (BORN 1782, DIED 1850.) + +ON THE SLAVERY QUESTION, + +SENATE, MARCH 4, 1850 + + +I have, Senators, believed from the first that the agitation of the +subject of slavery would, if not prevented by some timely and effective +measure, end in disunion. Entertaining this opinion, I have, on all +proper occasions, endeavored to call the attention of both the two great +parties which divide the country to adopt some measure to prevent so +great a disaster, but without success. The agitation has been permitted +to proceed, with almost no attempt to resist it, until it has reached a +point when it can no longer be disguised or denied that the Union is in +danger. You have thus had forced upon you the greatest and the gravest +question that can ever come under your consideration: How can the Union +be preserved? + +To give a satisfactory answer to this mighty question, it is +indispensable to have an accurate and thorough knowledge of the nature +and the character of the cause by which the Union is endangered. Without +such knowledge it is impossible to pronounce, with any certainty, by +what measure it can be saved; just as it would be impossible for a +physician to pronounce, in the case of some dangerous disease, with any +certainty, by what remedy the patient could be saved, without similar +knowledge of the nature and character of the cause which produced +it. The first question, then, presented for consideration, in the +investigation I propose to make, in order to obtain such knowledge, is: +What is it that has endangered the Union? + +To this question there can be but one answer: That the immediate +cause is the almost universal discontent which pervades all the States +composing the southern section of the Union. This widely-extended +discontent is not of recent origin. It commenced with the agitation +of the slavery question, and has been increasing ever since. The +next question, going one step further back, is: What has caused this +widely-diffused and almost universal discontent? + +It is a great mistake to suppose, as is by some, that it originated +with demagogues, who excited the discontent with the intention of aiding +their personal advancement, or with the disappointed ambition of certain +politicians, who resorted to it as a means of retrieving their fortunes. +On the contrary, all the great political influences of the section were +arrayed against excitement, and exerted to the utmost to keep the people +quiet. The great mass of the people of the South were divided, as in the +other section, into Whigs and Democrats. The leaders and the presses of +both parties in the South were very solicitous to prevent excitement and +to preserve quiet; because it was seen that the effects of the former +would necessarily tend to weaken, if not destroy, the political ties +which united them with their respective parties in the other section. +Those who know the strength of the party ties will readily appreciate +the immense force which this cause exerted against agitation, and in +favor of preserving quiet. But, great as it was, it was not sufficient +to prevent the wide-spread discontent which now pervades the section. +No; some cause, far deeper and more powerful than the one supposed, must +exist, to account for discontent so wide and deep. The question then +recurs: What is the cause of this discontent? It will be found in +the belief of the people of the Southern States, as prevalent as +the discontent itself, that they cannot remain, as things now are, +consistently with honor and safety, in the Union. The next question to +be considered is: What has caused this belief? + +One of the causes is, undoubtedly, to be traced to the long-continued +agitation of the slavery question on the part of the North, and the many +aggressions which they have made on the rights of the South during the +time. I will not enumerate them at present, as it will be done hereafter +in its proper place. + +There is another lying back of it--with which this is intimately +connected--that may be regarded as the great and primary cause. This is +to be found in the fact, that the equilibrium between the two sections, +in the Government as it stood when the Constitution was ratified and +the Government put in action, has been destroyed. At that time there was +nearly a perfect equilibrium between the two, which afforded ample means +to each to protect itself against the aggression of the other; but, as +it now stands, one section has the exclusive power of controlling +the Government, which leaves the other without any adequate means of +protecting itself against its encroachment and oppression. To place +this subject distinctly before you, I have, Senators, prepared a brief +statistical statement, showing the relative weight of the two sections +in the Government under the first census of 1790, and the last census of +1840. + +According to the former, the population of the United States, including +Vermont, Kentucky, and Tennessee, which then were in their incipient +condition of becoming States, but were not actually admitted, amounted +to 3,929,827. Of this number the Northern States had 1,997,899, and the +Southern 1,952,072, making a difference of only 45,827 in favor of the +former States. + +The number of States, including Vermont, Kentucky, and Tennessee, were +sixteen; of which eight, including Vermont, belonged to the northern +section, and eight, including Kentucky and Tennessee, to the +southern,--making an equal division of the States between the two +sections, under the first census. There was a small preponderance in the +House of Representatives, and in the Electoral College, in favor of the +northern, owing to the fact that, according to the provisions of the +Constitution, in estimating federal numbers five slaves count but three; +but it was too small to affect sensibly the perfect equilibrium which, +with that exception, existed at the time. Such was the equality of +the two sections when the States composing them agreed to enter into a +Federal Union. Since then the equilibrium between them has been greatly +disturbed. + +According to the last census the aggregate population of the United +States amounted to 17,063,357, of which the northern section contained +9,728,920, and the southern 7,334,437, making a difference in round +numbers, of 2,400,000. The number of States had increased from sixteen +to twenty-six, making an addition of ten States. In the meantime +the position of Delaware had become doubtful as to which section she +properly belonged. Considering her as neutral, the Northern States will +have thirteen and the Southern States twelve, making a difference in +the Senate of two senators in favor of the former. According to the +apportionment under the census of 1840, there were two hundred and +twenty-three members of the House of Representatives, of which the +North-ern States had one hundred and thirty-five, and the Southern +States (considering Delaware as neutral) eighty-seven, making a +difference in favor of the former in the House of Representatives of +forty-eight. The difference in the Senate of two members, added to this, +gives to the North in the Electoral College, a majority of fifty. Since +the census of 1840, four States have been added to the Union--Iowa, +Wisconsin, Florida, and Texas. They leave the difference in the Senate +as it was when the census was taken; but add two to the side of the +North in the House, making the present majority in the House in its +favor fifty, and in the Electoral College fifty-two. + +The result of the whole is to give the northern section a predominance +in every department of the Government, and thereby concentrate in it +the two elements which constitute the Federal Government,--majority +of States, and a majority of their population, estimated in federal +numbers. Whatever section concentrates the two in itself possesses the +control of the entire Government. + +But we are just at the close of the sixth decade, and the commencement +of the seventh. The census is to be taken this year, which must add +greatly to the decided preponderance of the North in the House of +Representatives and in the Electoral College. The prospect is, also, +that a great increase will be added to its present preponderance in the +Senate, during the period of the decade, by the addition of new States. +Two territories, Oregon and Minnesota, are already in progress, and +strenuous efforts are making to bring in three additional States' from +the territory recently conquered from Mexico; which, if successful, will +add three other States in a short time to the northern section, making +five States; and increasing the present number of its States from +fifteen to twenty, and of its senators from thirty to forty. On the +contrary, there is not a single territory in progress in the southern +section, and no certainty that any additional State will be added to it +during the decade. The prospect then is, that the two sections in the +senate, should the effort now made to exclude the South from the newly +acquired territories succeed, will stand before the end of the decade, +twenty Northern States to fourteen Southern (considering Delaware as +neutral), and forty Northern senators to twenty-eight Southern. This +great increase of senators, added to the great increase of members of +the House of Representatives and the Electoral College on the part of +the North, which must take place under the next decade, will effectually +and irretrievably destroy the equilibrium which existed when the +Government commenced. + +Had this destruction been the operation of time, without the +interference of Government, the South would have had no reason to +complain; but such was not the fact. It was caused by the legislation +of this Government, which was appointed as the common agent of all, and +charged with the protection of the interests and security of all. The +legislation by which it has been effected may be classed under three +heads. The first is, that series of acts by which the South has been +excluded from the common territory belonging to all the States as +members of the Federal Union--which have had the effect of extending +vastly the portion allotted to the northern section, and restricting +within narrow limits the portion left the South. the next consists +in adopting a system of revenue and disbursements, by which an undue +proportion of the burden of taxation has been imposed upon the South, +and an undue proportion of its proceeds appropriated to the North; +and the last is a system of political measures, by which the original +character of the Government has been radically changed. I propose to +bestow upon each of these, in the order they stand, a few remarks, with +the view of showing that it is owing to the action of this Government +that the equilibrium between the two sections has been destroyed, and +the whole powers of the system centered in a sectional majority. + +The first of the series of Acts by which the South was deprived of its +due share of the territories, originated with the confederacy which +preceded the existence of this Government. It is to be found in the +provision of the ordinance of 1787. Its effect was to exclude the South +entirely from that vast and fertile region which lies between the Ohio +and the Mississippi rivers, now embracing five States and one Territory. +The next of the series is the Missouri compromise, which excluded the +South from that large portion of Louisiana which lies north of 36 deg. 30', +excepting what is included in the State of Missouri. The last of the +series excluded the South from the whole of Oregon Territory. All these, +in the slang of the day, were what are called slave territories,' and +not free soil; that is, territories belonging to slaveholding powers and +open to the emigration of masters with their slaves. By these +several Acts the South was excluded from one million two hundred and +thirty-eight thousand and twenty-five square miles--an extent of country +considerably exceeding the entire valley of the Mississippi. To the +South was left the portion of the Territory of Louisiana lying south of +36 deg. 30', and the portion north of it included in the State of Missouri, +with the portion lying south of 36 deg. 30' including the States of +Louisiana and Arkansas, and the territory lying west of the latter, and +south of 36 deg. 30', called the Indian country. These, with the Territory +of Florida, now the State, make, in the whole, two hundred and +eighty-three thousand five hundred and three square miles. To this must +be added the territory acquired with Texas. If the whole should be added +to the southern section it would make an increase of three hundred and +twenty-five thousand five hundred and twenty, which would make the whole +left to the South six hundred and nine thousand and twenty-three. But a +large part of Texas is still in contest between the two sections, which +leaves it uncertain what will be the real extent of the proportion of +territory that may be left to the South. + +I have not included the territory recently acquired by the treaty with +Mexico. The North is making the most strenuous efforts to appropriate +the whole to herself, by excluding the South from every foot of it. If +she should succeed, it will add to that from which the South has already +been excluded, 526,078 square miles, and would increase the whole which +the North has appropriated to herself, to 1,764,023, not including the +portion that she may succeed in excluding us from in Texas. To sum up +the whole, the United States, since they declared their independence, +have acquired 2,373,046 square miles of territory, from which the North +will have excluded the South, if she should succeed in monopolizing the +newly acquired territories, about three fourths of the whole, leaving to +the South but about one fourth. + +Such is the first and great cause that has destroyed the equilibrium +between the two sections in the Government. + +The next is the system of revenue and disbursements which has been +adopted by the Government. It is well known that the Government has +derived its revenue mainly from duties on imports. I shall not undertake +to show that such duties must necessarily fall mainly on the exporting +States, and that the South, as the great exporting portion of the Union, +has in reality paid vastly more than her due proportion of the revenue; +because I deem it unnecessary, as the subject has on so many occasions +been fully discussed. Nor shall I, for the same reason, undertake to +show that a far greater portion of the revenue has been disbursed at the +North, than its due share; and that the joint effect of these causes +has been, to transfer a vast amount from South to North, which, under an +equal system of revenue and disbursements, would not have been lost to +her. If to this be added, that many of the duties were imposed, not for +revenue, but for protection,--that is, intended to put money, not in +the treasury, but directly into the pockets of the manufacturers,--some +conception may be formed of the immense amount which, in the long course +of sixty years, has been transferred from South to North. There are no +data by which it can be estimated with any certainty; but it is safe to +say that it amounts to hundreds of millions of dollars. Under the most +moderate estimate, it would be sufficient to add greatly to the wealth +of the North, and thus greatly increase her population by attracting +emigration from all quarters to that section. + +This, combined with the great primary cause, amply explains why the +North has acquired a preponderance in every department of the Government +by its disproportionate increase of population and States. The former, +as has been shown, has increased, in fifty years, 2,400,000 over that +of the South. This increase of population, during so long a period, +is satisfactorily accounted for, by the number of emigrants, and the +increase of their descendants, which have been attracted to the northern +section from Europe and the South, in consequence of the advantages +derived from the causes assigned. If they had not existed--if the South +had retained all the capital which had been extracted from her by the +fiscal action of the Government; and, if it had not been excluded by +the ordinance of 1787 and the Missouri compromise, from the region lying +between the Ohio and the Mississippi rivers, and between the Mississippi +and the Rocky Mountains north of 36 deg. 30'--it scarcely admits of a +doubt, that it would have divided the emigration with the North, and +by retaining her own people, would have at least equalled the North in +population under the census of 1840, and probably under that about to +be taken. She would also, if she had retained her equal rights in those +territories, have maintained an equality in the number of States with +the North, and have preserved the equilibrium between the two sections +that existed at the commencement of the Government. The loss, then, of +the equilibrium is to be attributed to the action of this Government. + +But while these measures were destroying the equilibrium between the two +sections, the action of the Government was leading to a radical change +in its character, by concentrating all the power of the system in +itself. The occasion will not permit me to trace the measures by which +this great change has been consummated. If it did, it would not be +difficult to show that the process commenced at an early period of the +Government; and that it proceeded, almost without interruption, step by +step, until it virtually absorbed its entire powers; but without +going through the whole process to establish the fact, it may be done +satisfactorily by a very short statement. + +That the Government claims, and practically maintains, the right to +decide in the last resort, as to the extent of its powers, will scarcely +be denied by any one conversant with the political history of the +country. That it also claims the right to resort to force to maintain +whatever power it claims against all opposition is equally certain. +Indeed it is apparent, from what we daily hear, that this has become the +prevailing and fixed opinion of a great majority of the community. +Now, I ask, what limitation can possibly be placed upon the powers of a +government claiming and exercising such rights? And, if none can be, +how can the separate governments of the States maintain and protect +the powers reserved to them by the Constitution--or the people of the +several States maintain those which are reserved to them, and among +others, the sovereign powers by which they ordained and established, not +only their separate State Constitutions and Governments, but also the +Constitution and Government of the United States? But, if they have no +constitutional means of maintaining them against the right claimed by +this Government, it necessarily follows, that they hold them at its +pleasure and discretion, and that all the powers of the system are in +reality concentrated in it. It also follows, that the character of the +Government has been changed in consequence, from a federal republic, as +it originally came from the hands of its framers, into a great +national consolidated democracy. It has indeed, at present, all the +characteristics of the latter, and not of the former, although it still +retains its outward form. + +The result of the whole of those causes combined is, that the North has +acquired a decided ascendency over every department of this Government, +and through it a control over all the powers of the system. A single +section governed by the will of the numerical majority, has now, in +fact, the control of the Government and the entire powers of the system. +What was once a constitutional federal republic, is now converted, in +reality, into one as absolute as that of the Autocrat of Russia, and as +despotic in its tendency as any absolute government that ever existed. + +As, then, the North has the absolute control over the Government, it is +manifest that on all questions between it and the South, where there is +a diversity of interests, the interest of the latter will be sacrificed +to the former, however oppressive the effects may be; as the South +possesses no means by which it can resist, through the action of the +Government. But if there was no question of vital importance to the +South, in reference to which there was a diversity of views between the +two sections, this state of things might be endured without the hazard +of destruction to the South. But such is not the fact. There is a +question of vital importance to the southern section, in reference to +which the views and feelings of the two sections are as opposite and +hostile as they can possibly be. + +I refer to the relation between the two races in the southern section, +which constitutes a vital portion of her social organization. Every +portion of the North entertains views and feelings more or less hostile +to it. Those most opposed and hostile, regard it as a sin, and consider +themselves under the most sacred obligation to use every effort to +destroy it. Indeed, to the extent that they conceive that they have +power, they regard themselves as implicated in the sin, and responsible +for not suppressing it by the use of all and every means. Those +less opposed and hostile, regarded it as a crime--an offence against +humanity, as they call it; and, although not so fanatical, feel +themselves bound to use all efforts to effect the same object; while +those who are least opposed and hostile, regard it as a blot and a +stain on the character of what they call the Nation, and feel themselves +accordingly bound to give it no countenance or support. On the contrary, +the southern section regards the relation as one which cannot be +destroyed without subjecting the two races to the greatest calamity, and +the section to poverty, desolation, and wretchedness; and accordingly +they feel bound, by every consideration of interest and safety, to +defend it. + +This hostile feeling on the part of the North toward the social +organization of the South long lay dormant, and it only required some +cause to act on those who felt most intensely that they were responsible +for its continuance, to call it into action. The increasing power of +this Government, and of the control of the northern section over all its +departments, furnished the cause. It was this which made the impression +on the minds of many, that there was little or no restraint to prevent +the Government from doing whatever it might choose to do. This was +sufficient of itself to put the most fanatical portion of the North in +action, for the purpose of destroying the existing relation between the +two races in the South. + +The first organized movement toward it commenced in 1835. Then, for the +first time, societies were organized, presses established, lecturers +sent forth to excite the people of the North, and incendiary +publications scattered over the whole South, through the mail. The South +was thoroughly aroused. Meetings were held everywhere, and resolutions +adopted, calling upon the North to apply a remedy to arrest the +threatened evil, and pledging themselves to adopt measures for their +own protection, if it was not arrested. At the meeting of Congress, +petitions poured in from the North, calling upon Congress to abolish +slavery in the District of Columbia, and to prohibit, what they called, +the internal slave trade between the States--announcing at the same +time, that their ultimate object was to abolish slavery, not only in the +District, but in the States and throughout the Union. At this period, +the number engaged in the agitation was small, and possessed little or +no personal influence. + +Neither party in Congress had, at that time, any sympathy with them or +their cause. The members of each party presented their petitions with +great reluctance. Nevertheless, small, and contemptible as the party +then was, both of the great parties of the North dreaded them. They +felt, that though small, they were organized in reference to a subject +which had a great and commanding influence over the northern mind. +Each party, on that account, feared to oppose their petitions, lest +the opposite party should take advantage of the one who might do so, by +favoring them. The effect was, that both united in insisting that the +petitions should be received, and that Congress should take jurisdiction +over the subject. To justify their course, they took the extraordinary +ground, that Congress was bound to receive petitions on every subject, +however objectionable they might be, and whether they had, or had not, +jurisdiction over the subject. Those views prevailed in the House +of Representatives, and partially in the Senate; and thus the party +succeeded in their first movements, in gaining what they proposed--a +position in Congress, from which agitation could be extended over the +whole Union. This was the commencement of the agitation, which has ever +since continued, and which, as is now acknowledged, has endangered the +Union itself. + +As for myself, I believed at that early period, if the party who got up +the petitions should succeed in getting Congress to take jurisdiction, +that agitation would follow, and that it would in the end, if not +arrested, destroy the Union. I then so expressed myself in debate, and +called upon both parties to take grounds against assuming jurisdiction; +but in vain. Had my voice been heeded, and had Congress refused to take +jurisdiction, by the united votes of all parties, the agitation which +followed would have been prevented, and the fanatical zeal that gave +impulse to the agitation, and which has brought us to our present +perilous condition, would have become extinguished, from the want of +fuel to feed the flame. That was the time for the North to have shown +her devotion to the Union; but, unfortunately, both of the great +parties of that section were so intent on obtaining or retaining party +ascendency, that all other considerations were overlooked or forgotten. + +What has since followed are but natural consequences. With the success +of their first movement, this small fanatical party began to acquire +strength; and with that, to become an object of courtship to both the +great parties. The necessary consequence was, a further increase of +power, and a gradual tainting of the opinions of both the other parties +with their doctrines,until the infection has extended over both; and the +great mass of the population of the North, who, whatever may be their +opinion of the original abolition party, which still preserves its +distinctive organization, hardly ever fail, when it comes to acting, +to cooperate in carrying out their measures. With the increase of their +influence, they extended the sphere of their action. In a short time +after the commencement of their first movement, they had acquired +sufficient influence to induce the legislatures of most of the Northern +States to pass acts, which in effect abrogated the clause of the +Constitution that provides for the delivery up of fugitive slaves. Not +long after, petitions followed to abolish slavery in forts, magazines, +and dock-yards, and all other places where Congress had exclusive +power of legislation. This was followed by petitions and resolutions of +legislatures of the Northern States, and popular meetings, to exclude +the Southern States from all territories acquired, or to be acquired, +and to prevent the admission of any State hereafter into the Union, +which, by its constitution, does not prohibit slavery. And Congress is +invoked to do all this, expressly with the view of the final abolition +of slavery in the States. That has been avowed to be the ultimate object +from the beginning of the agitation until the present time; and yet the +great body of both parties of the North, with the full knowledge of the +fact, although disavowing the abolitionists, have co-operated with them +in almost all their measures. + +Such is a brief history of the agitation, as far as it has yet advanced. +Now I ask, Senators, what is there to prevent its further progress, +until it fulfils the ultimate end proposed, unless some decisive measure +should be adopted to prevent it? Has any one of the causes, which has +added to its increase from its original small and contemptible beginning +until it has attained its present magnitude, diminished in force? Is the +original cause of the movement--that slavery is a sin, and ought to be +suppressed--weaker now than at the commencement? Or is the abolition +party less numerous or influential, or have they less influence with, +or less control over the two great parties of the North in elections? Or +has the South greater means of influencing or controlling the movements +of this Government now, than it had when the agitation commenced? To +all these questions but one answer can be given: No, no, no. The very +reverse is true. Instead of being weaker, all the elements in favor +of agitation are stronger now than they were in 1835, when it first +commenced, while all the elements of influence on the part of the South +are weaker. Unless something decisive is done, I again ask, what is +to stop this agitation, before the great and final object at which it +aims--the abolition of slavery in the States--is consummated? Is it, +then, not certain, that if something is not done to arrest it, the South +will be forced to choose between abolition and secession? Indeed, as +events are now moving, it will not require the South to secede, in order +to dissolve the Union. Agitation will of itself effect it, of which its +past history furnishes abundant proof--as I shall next proceed to show. + +It is a great mistake to suppose that disunion can be effected by a +single blow. The cords which bound these States together in one common +Union, are far too numerous and powerful for that. Disunion must be the +work of time. It is only through a long process, and successively, that +the cords can be snapped, until the whole fabric falls asunder. Already +the agitation of the slavery question has snapped some of the most +important, and has greatly weakened all the others, as I shall proceed +to show. + +The cords that bind the States together are not only many, but various +in character. Some are spiritual or ecclesiastical; some political; +others social. Some appertain to the benefit conferred by the Union, and +others to the feeling of duty and obligation. + +The strongest of those of a spiritual and ecclesiastical nature, +consisted in the unity of the great religious denominations, all of +which originally embraced the whole Union. All these denominations, with +the exception, perhaps, of the Catholics, were organized very much upon +the principle of our political institutions. Beginning with smaller +meetings, corresponding with the political divisions of the country, +their organization terminated in one great central assemblage, +corresponding very much with the character of Congress. At these +meetings the principal clergymen and lay members of the respective +denominations from all parts of the Union, met to transact business +relating to their common concerns. It was not confined to what +appertained to the doctrines and discipline of the respective +denominations, but extended to plans for disseminating the +Bible--establishing missions, distributing tracts--and of establishing +presses for the publication of tracts, newspapers, and periodicals, with +a view of diffusing religious information--and for the support of their +respective doctrines and creeds. All this combined contributed +greatly to strengthen the bonds of the Union. The ties which held each +denomination together formed a strong cord to hold the whole Union +together, but, powerful as they were, they have not been able to resist +the explosive effect of slavery agitation. + +The first of these cords which snapped, under its explosive force, was +that of the powerful Methodist Episcopal Church. The numerous and strong +ties which held it together, are all broken, and its unity is gone. They +now form separate churches; and, instead of that feeling of attachment +and devotion to the interests of the whole church which was formerly +felt, they are now arrayed into two hostile bodies, engaged in +litigation about what was formerly their common property. + +The next cord that snapped was that of the Baptists--one of the largest +and most respectable of the denominations. That of the Presbyterian is +not entirely snapped, but some of its strands have given way. That +of the Episcopal Church is the only one of the four great Protestant +denominations which remains unbroken and entire. + +The strongest cord, of a political character, consists of the many and +powerful ties that have held together the two great parties which have, +with some modifications, existed from the beginning of the Government. +They both extended to every portion of the Union, and strongly +contributed to hold all its parts together. But this powerful cord has +fared no better than the spiritual. It resisted, for a long time, the +explosive tendency of the agitation, but has finally snapped under its +force--if not entirely, in a great measure. Nor is there one of the +remaining cords which has not been greatly weakened. To this extent the +Union has already been destroyed by agitation, in the only way it can +be, by sundering and weakening the cords which bind it together. + +If the agitation goes on, the same force, acting with increased +intensity, as has been shown, will finally snap every cord, when nothing +will be left to hold the States together except force. But, surely, that +can, with no propriety of language, be called a Union, when the only +means by which the weaker is held connected with the stronger portion +is force. It may, indeed, keep them connected; but the connection will +partake much more of the character of subjugation, on the part of the +weaker to the stronger, than the union of free, independent States, in +one confederation, as they stood in the early stages of the Government, +and which only is worthy of the sacred name of Union. + +Having now, Senators, explained what it is that endangers the Union, +and traced it to its cause, and explained its nature and character, the +question again recurs, How can the Union be saved? To this I answer, +there is but one way by which it can be, and that is by adopting such +measures as will satisfy the States belonging to the southern section, +that they can remain in the Union consistently with their honor and +their safety. There is, again, only one way by which this can be +effected, and that is by removing the causes by which this belief has +been produced. Do this, and discontent will cease, harmony and kind +feelings between the sections be restored, and every apprehension of +danger to the Union be removed. The question, then, is, How can this be +done? But, before I undertake to answer this question, I propose to show +by what the Union cannot be saved. + +It cannot, then, be saved by eulogies on the Union, however splendid +or numerous. The cry of "Union, Union, the glorious Union!" can no more +prevent disunion than the cry of "Health, health, glorious health!" on +the part of the physician, can save a patient lying dangerously ill. So +long as the Union, instead of being regarded as a protector, is regarded +in the opposite character, by not much less than a majority of the +States, it will be in vain to attempt to conciliate them by pronouncing +eulogies on it. + +Besides, this cry of Union comes commonly from those whom we cannot +believe to be sincere. It usually comes from our assailants. But we +cannot believe them to be sincere; for, if they loved the Union, +they would necessarily be devoted to the Constitution. It made the +Union,--and to destroy the Constitution would be to destroy the +Union. But the only reliable and certain evidence of devotion to the +Constitution is to abstain, on the one hand, from violating it, and +to repel, on the other, all attempts to violate it. It is only by +faithfully performing these high duties that the Constitution can be +preserved, and with it the Union. + +But how stands the profession of devotion to the Union by our +assailants, when brought to this test? Have they abstained from +violating the Constitution? Let the many acts passed by the Northern +States to set aside and annul the clause of the Constitution providing +for the delivery up of fugitive slaves answer. I cite this, not that +it is the only instance (for there are many others), but because the +violation in this particular is too notorious and palpable to be denied. +Again: Have they stood forth faithfully to repel violations of the +Constitution? Let their course in reference to the agitation of the +slavery question, which was commenced and has been carried on for +fifteen years, avowedly for the purpose of abolishing slavery in the +States--an object all acknowledged to be unconstitutional,--answer. Let +them show a single instance, during this long period, in which they have +denounced the agitators or their attempts to effect what is admitted to +be unconstitutional, or a single measure which they have brought forward +for that purpose. How can we, with all these facts before us, believe +that they are sincere in their profession of devotion to the Union, or +avoid believing their profession is but intended to increase the vigor +of their assaults and to weaken the force of our resistance? + +Nor can we regard the profession of devotion to the Union, on the part +of those who are not our assailants, as sincere, when they pronounce +eulogies upon the Union, evidently with the intent of charging us +with disunion, without uttering one word of denunciation against our +assailants. If friends of the Union, their course should be to unite +with us in repelling these assaults, and denouncing the authors as +enemies of the Union. Why they avoid this, and pursue the course they +do, it is for them to explain. + +Nor can the Union be saved by invoking the name of the illustrious +Southerner whose mortal remains repose on the western bank of the +Potomac. He was one of us,--a slave-holder and a planter. We have +studied his history, and find nothing in it to justify submission to +wrong. On the contrary, his great fame rests on the solid foundation, +that, while he was careful to avoid doing wrong to others, he was +prompt and decided in repelling wrong. I trust that, in this respect, we +profited by his example. + +Nor can we find any thing in his history to deter us from seceding +from the Union, should it fail to fulfil the objects for which it was +instituted, by being permanently and hopelessly converted into the means +of oppressing instead of protecting us. On the contrary, we find much +in his example to encourage us, should we be forced to the extremity of +deciding between submission and disunion. + +There existed then, as well as now, a union--between the parent country +and her colonies. It was a union that had much to endear it to the +people of the colonies. Under its protecting and superintending care, +the colonies were planted and grew up and prospered, through a long +course of years, until they be-came populous and wealthy. Its benefits +were not limited to them. Their extensive agricultural and other +productions, gave birth to a flourishing commerce, which richly rewarded +the parent country for the trouble and expense of establishing and +protecting them. Washing-ton was born and grew up to manhood under that +Union. He acquired his early distinction in its service, and there is +every reason to believe that he was devotedly attached to it. But his +devotion was a national one. He was attached to it, not as an end, but +as a means to an end. When it failed to fulfil its end, and, instead +of affording protection, was converted into the means of oppressing +the colonies, he did not hesitate to draw his sword, and head the great +movement by which that union was forever severed, and the independence +of these States established. This was the great and crowning glory +of his life, which has spread his fame over the whole globe, and will +transmit it to the latest posterity. + +Nor can the plan proposed by the distinguished Senator from Kentucky, +nor that of the administration, save the Union. I shall pass by, +without remark, the plan proposed by the Senator. I, however, assure +the distinguished and able Senator, that, in taking this course, no +disrespect whatever is intended to him or to his plan. I have adopted +it because so many Senators of distinguished abilities, who were present +when he delivered his speech, and explained his plan, and who were fully +capable to do justice to the side they support, have replied to +him. * * * + +Having now shown what cannot save the Union, I return to the question +with which I commenced, How can the Union be saved? There is but one +way by which it can with any certainty; and that is, by a full and final +settlement, on the principle of justice, of all the questions at issue +between the two sections. The South asks for justice, simple justice, +and less she ought not to take. She has no compromise to offer, but the +Constitution; and no concession or surrender to make. She has already +surrendered so much that she has little left to surrender. Such a +settlement would go to the root of the evil, and remove all cause of +discontent, by satisfying the South that she could remain honorably +and safely in the Union, and thereby restore the harmony and fraternal +feelings between the sections, which existed anterior to the Missouri +agitation. Nothing else can, with any certainty, finally and forever +settle the question at issue, terminate agitation, and save the Union. + +But can this be done? Yes, easily; not by the weaker party, for it can, +of itself do nothing,--not even protect itself--but by the stronger. The +North has only to will it to accomplish it--to do justice by conceding +to the South an equal right in the acquired territory, and to do her +duty by causing the stipulations relative to fugitive slaves to be +faithfully fulfilled, to cease the agitation of the slave question, and +to provide for the insertion of a provision in the Constitution, by an +amendment, which will restore to the South, in substance, the power +she possessed of protecting herself, before the equilibrium between the +sections was destroyed by the action of this Government. There will be +no difficulty in devising such a provision--one that will protect the +South, and which, at the same time, will improve and strengthen the +Government, instead of impairing and weakening it. + +But will the North agree to this? It is for her to answer the question. +But, I will say, she cannot refuse, if she has half the love for the +Union which she professes to have, or without justly exposing herself to +the charge that her love of power and aggrandizement is far greater than +her love of the Union. At all events the responsibility of saving the +Union rests on the North, and not on the South. The South cannot save +it by any act of hers, and the North may save it without any sacrifice +whatever, unless to do justice, and to perform her duties under the +Constitution, should be regarded by her as a sacrifice. + +It is time, Senators, that there should be an open and manly avowal on +all sides, as to what is intended to be done. If the question is not now +settled, it is uncertain whether it ever can hereafter be; and we, +as the representatives of the States of this Union, regarded as +governments, should come to a distinct understanding as to our +respective views, in order to ascertain whether the great questions at +issue can be settled or not. If you, who represent the stronger portion, +cannot agree to settle on the broad principle of justice and duty, say +so; and let the States we both represent agree to separate and part in +peace. If you are unwilling we should part in peace, tell us so, and +we shall know what to do, when you reduce the question to submission or +resistance. If you remain silent, you will compel us to infer by your +acts what you intend. In that case, California will become the test +question. If you admit her, under all the difficulties that oppose her +admission, you compel us to infer that you intend to exclude us from +the whole of the acquired territories, with the intention of destroying, +irretrievably, the equilibrium between the two sections. We would be +blind not to perceive in that case, that your real objects are power and +aggrandizement, and infatuated, not to act accordingly. + +I have now, Senators, done my duty in ex-pressing my opinions fully, +freely and candidly, on this solemn occasion. In doing so, I have been +governed by the motives which have governed me in all the stages of the +agitation of the slavery question since its commencement. I have exerted +myself, during the whole period, to arrest it, with the intention of +saving the Union, if it could be done; and if it could not, to save +the section where it has pleased Providence to cast my lot, and which I +sincerely believe has justice and the Constitution on its side. Having +faithfully done my duty to the best of my ability, both to the Union and +my section, throughout this agitation, I shall have the consolation, let +what will come, that I am free from all responsibility. + + +[Illustration: Daniel Webster] + + + + +DANIEL WEBSTER, + +OF MASSACHUSETTS. (BORN, 1782, DIED, 1852.) + +ON THE CONSTITUTION AND THE UNION; + +SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES, MARCH 7, 1850. + + +MR. PRESIDENT: + +I wish to speak to-day, not as a Massachusetts man, nor as a northern +man, but as an American, and a member of the Senate of the United +States. It is fortunate that there is a Senate of the United States; a +body not yet moved from its propriety, nor lost to a just sense of its +own dignity and its own high responsibilities, and a body to which +the country looks, with confidence, for wise, moderate, patriotic, and +healing counsels. It is not to be denied that we live in the midst of +strong agitations and are surrounded by very considerable dangers to +our institutions and government. The imprisoned winds are let loose. +The East, the North, and the stormy South combine to throw the whole +sea into commotion, to toss its billows to the skies, and disclose its +profoundest depths. I do not affect to regard myself, Mr. President, +as holding, or fit to hold, the helm in this combat with the political +elements; but I have a duty to perform, and I mean to perform it with +fidelity, not without a sense of existing dangers, but not without +hope. I have a part to act, not for my own security or safety, for I am +looking out for no fragment upon which to float away from the wreck, if +wreck there must be, but for the good of the whole, and the preservation +of all; and there is that which will keep me to my duty during this +struggle, whether the sun and the stars shall appear for many days. I +speak to-day for the preservation of the Union. "Hear me for my +cause." I speak to-day out of a solicitous and anxious heart, for the +restoration to the country of that quiet and that harmony which make the +blessings of this Union so rich, and so dear to us all. These are the +topics that I propose to myself to discuss; these are the motives, +and the sole motives, that influence me in the wish to communicate +my opinions to the Senate and the country; and if I can do any +thing, however little, for the promotion of these ends, I shall have +accomplished all that I expect. + +* * * We all know, sir, that slavery has existed in the world from time +immemorial. There was slavery in the earliest periods of history, among +the Oriental nations. There was slavery among the Jews; the theocratic +government of that people issued no injunction against it. There was +slavery among the Greeks. * * * At the introduction of Christianity, the +Roman world was full of slaves, and I suppose there is to be found no +injunction against that relation between man and man in the teachings +of the Gospel of Jesus Christ or of any of his apostles. * * * Now, sir, +upon the general nature and influence of slavery there exists a wide +difference of opinion between the northern portion of this country and +the southern. It is said on the one side, that, although not the subject +of any injunction or direct prohibition in the New Testament, slavery +is a wrong; that it is founded merely in the right of the strongest; and +that it is an oppression, like unjust wars, like all those conflicts by +which a powerful nation subjects a weaker to its will; and that, in its +nature, whatever may be said of it in the modifications which have taken +place, it is not according to the meek spirit of the Gospel. It is not +"kindly affectioned"; it does not "seek another's, and not its own"; +it does not "let the oppressed go free." These are sentiments that are +cherished, and of late with greatly augmented force, among the people of +the Northern States. They have taken hold of the religious sentiment of +that part of the country, as they have, more or less, taken hold of the +religious feelings of a considerable portion of mankind. The South upon +the other side, having been accustomed to this relation between the two +races all their lives; from their birth, having been taught, in general, +to treat the subjects of this bondage with care and kindness, and I +believe, in general, feeling great kindness for them, have not taken +the view of the subject which I have mentioned. There are thousands of +religious men, with consciences as tender as any of their brethren at +the North, who do not see the unlawfulness of slavery; and there are +more thousands, perhaps, that, whatsoever they may think of it in its +origin, and as a matter depending upon natural rights, yet take things +as they are, and, finding slavery to be an established relation of the +society in which they live, can see no way in which, let their opinions +on the abstract question be what they may, it is in the power of this +generation to relieve themselves from this relation. And candor obliges +me to say, that I believe they are just as conscientious many of them, +and the religious people, all of them, as they are at the North who hold +different opinions. * * * + +There are men who, with clear perceptions, as they think, of their own +duty, do not see how too eager a pursuit of one duty may involve them in +the violation of others, or how too warm an embracement of one truth +may lead to a disregard of other truths just as important. As I heard it +stated strongly, not many days ago, these persons are disposed to mount +upon some particular duty, as upon a war-horse, and to drive furiously +on and upon and over all other duties that may stand in the way. There +are men who, in reference to disputes of that sort, are of opinion that +human duties may be ascertained with the exactness of mathematics. They +deal with morals as with mathematics; and they think what is right may +be distinguished from what is wrong with the precision of an algebraic +equation. They have, therefore, none too much charity toward others who +differ from them. They are apt, too, to think that nothing is good but +what is perfect, and that there are no compromises or modifications to +be made in consideration of difference of opinion or in deference to +other men's judgment. If their perspicacious vision enables them to +detect a spot on the face of the sun, they think that a good reason why +the sun should be struck down from heaven. They prefer the chance +of running into utter darkness to living in heavenly light, if that +heavenly light be not absolutely without any imperfection. * * * + +But we must view things as they are. Slavery does exist in the +United States. It did exist in the States before the adoption of this +Constitution, and at that time. Let us, therefore, consider for a +moment what was the state of sentiment, North and South, in regard +to slavery,--in regard to slavery, at the time this Constitution was +adopted. A remarkable change has taken place since; but what did the +wise and great men of all parts of the country think of slavery then? In +what estimation did they hold it at the time when this Constitution was +adopted? It will be found, sir, if we will carry ourselves by historical +research back to that day, and ascertain men's opinions by authentic +records still existing among us, that there was no diversity of opinion +between the North and the South upon the subject of slavery. It will be +found that both parts of the country held it equally an evil, a moral +and political evil. It will not be found that, either at the North or +at the South, there was much, though there was some, invective against +slavery as inhuman and cruel. The great ground of objection to it was +political; that it weakened the social fabric; that, taking the place +of free labor, society became less strong and labor less productive; +and therefore we find from all the eminent men of the time the clearest +expression of their opinion that slavery is an evil. They ascribed its +existence here, not without truth, and not without some acerbity of +temper and force of language, to the injurious policy of the mother +country, who, to favor the navigator, had entailed these evils upon the +colonies. * * * You observe, sir, that the term slave, or slavery, is +not used in the Constitution. The Constitution does not require that +"fugitive slaves" shall be delivered up. It requires that persons held +to service in one State, and escaping into another, shall be delivered +up. Mr. Madison opposed the introduction of the term slave, or slavery, +into the Constitution; for he said, that he did not wish to see it +recognized by the Constitution of the United States of America that +there could be property in men. * * * + +Here we may pause. There was, if not an entire unanimity, a general +concurrence of sentiment running through the whole community, and +especially entertained by the eminent men of all parts of the country. +But soon a change began, at the North and the South, and a difference +of opinion showed itself; the North growing much more warm and strong +against slavery, and the South growing much more warm and strong in its +support. Sir, there is no generation of mankind whose opinions are not +subject to be influenced by what appear to them to be their present +emergent and exigent interests. I impute to the South no particularly +selfish view in the change which has come over her. I impute to her +certainly no dishonest view. All that has happened has been natural. +It has followed those causes which always influence the human mind and +operate upon it. What, then, have been the causes which have created so +new a feeling in favor of slavery in the South, which have changed the +whole nomenclature of the South on that subject, so that, from being +thought and described in the terms I have mentioned and will not repeat, +it has now become an institution, a cherished institution, in that +quarter; no evil, no scourge, but a great religious, social, and moral +blessing, as I think I have heard it latterly spoken of? I suppose this, +sir, is owing to the rapid growth and sudden extension of the cotton +plantations of the South. So far as any motive consistent with honor, +justice, and general judgment could act, it was the cotton interest +that gave a new desire to promote slavery, to spread it, and to use its +labor. + +I again say that this change was produced by causes which must always +produce like effects. The whole interest of the South became connected, +more or less, with the extension of slavery. If we look back to the +history of the commerce of this country in the early years of this +government, what were our exports? Cotton was hardly, or but to a very +limited extent, known. In 1791 the first parcel of cotton of the growth +of the United States was exported, and amounted only to 19,200 pounds. +It has gone on increasing rapidly, until the whole crop may now, +perhaps, in a season of great product and high prices, amount to a +hundred millions of dollars. In the years I have mentioned, there was +more of wax, more of indigo, more of rice, more of almost every article +of export from the South, than of cotton. When Mr. Jay negotiated the +treaty of 1794 with England, it is evident from the Twelfth Article of +the Treaty, which was suspended by the Senate, that he did not know that +cotton was exported at all from the United States. + + * * * * * + +Sir, there is not so remarkable a chapter in our history of political +events, political parties, and political men as is afforded by this +admission of a new slave-holding territory, so vast that a bird cannot +fly over it in a week. New England, as I have said, with some of her +own votes, supported this measure. Three-fourths of the votes of +liberty-loving Connecticut were given for it in the other house, and one +half here. There was one vote for it from Maine but, I am happy to say, +not the vote of the honorable member who addressed the Senate the day +before yesterday, and who was then a Representative from Maine in the +House of Representatives; but there was one vote from Maine, ay, and +there was one vote for it from Massachusetts, given by a gentleman then +representing, and now living in, the district in which the prevalence of +Free Soil sentiment for a couple of years or so has defeated the choice +of any member to represent it in Congress. Sir, that body of Northern +and Eastern men who gave those votes at that time are now seen taking +upon themselves, in the nomenclature of politics, the appellation of +the Northern Democracy. They undertook to wield the destinies of this +empire, if I may give that name to a Republic, and their policy was, +and they persisted in it, to bring into this country and under this +government all the territory they could. They did it, in the case of +Texas, under pledges, absolute pledges, to the slave interest, and they +afterwards lent their aid in bringing in these new conquests, to take +their chance for slavery or freedom. My honorable friend from Georgia, +in March, 1847, moved the Senate to declare that the war ought not to +be prosecuted for the conquest of territory, or for the dismemberment of +Mexico. The whole of the Northern Democracy voted against it. He did not +get a vote from them. It suited the patriotic and elevated sentiments of +the Northern Democracy to bring in a world from among the mountains and +valleys of California and New Mexico, or any other part of Mexico, and +then quarrel about it; to bring it in, and then endeavor to put upon +it the saving grace of the Wilmot Proviso. There were two eminent and +highly respectable gentlemen from the North and East, then leading +gentlemen in the Senate (I refer, and I do so with entire respect, for +I entertain for both of those gentlemen, in general, high regard, to Mr. +Dix of New York and Mr. Niles of Connecticut), who both voted for the +admission of Texas. They would not have that vote any other way than as +it stood; and they would have it as it did stand. I speak of the +vote upon the annexation of Texas. Those two gentlemen would have the +resolution of annexation just as it is, without amendment; and they +voted for it just as it is, and their eyes were all open to its true +character. The honorable member from South Carolina who addressed us +the other day was then Secretary of State. His correspondence with Mr. +Murphy, the Charge d'Affaires of the United States in Texas, had been +published. That correspondence was all before those gentlemen, and the +Secretary had the boldness and candor to avow in that correspondence, +that the great object sought by the annexation of Texas was to +strengthen the slave interest of the South. Why, sir, he said so in so +many words. + +Mr. Calhoun. Will the honorable Senator permit me to interrupt him for a +moment? Mr. Webster. Certainly. + +Mr. Calhoun. I am very reluctant to interrupt the honorable gentleman; +but, upon a point of so much importance, I deem it right to put myself +_rectus in curia_. I did not put it upon the ground assumed by the +Senator. I put it upon this ground; that Great Britain had announced to +this country, in so many words, that her object was to abolish slavery +in Texas, and, through Texas, to accomplish the abolition of slavery +in the United States and the world. The ground I put it on was, that it +would make an exposed frontier, and, if Great Britain succeeded in +her object, it would be impossible that that frontier could be secured +against the aggressions of the Abolitionists; and that this Government +was bound, under the guaranties of the Constitution, to protect us +against such a state of things. + +Mr. Webster. That comes, I suppose, Sir, to exactly the same thing. It +was, that Texas must be obtained for the security of the slave interest +of the South. + +Mr. Calhoun. Another view is very distinctly given. + +Mr. Webster. That was the object set forth in the correspondence of a +worthy gentleman not now living, who preceded the honorable member from +South Carolina in the Department of State. There repose on the files +of the Department, as I have occasion to know, strong letters from Mr. +Upshur to the United States Minister in England, and I believe there are +some to the same Minister from the honorable Senator himself, asserting +to this effect the sentiments of this government; namely, that Great +Britain was expected not to interfere to take Texas out of the hands +of its then existing government and make it a free country. But my +argument, my suggestion, is this: that those gentlemen who composed the +Northern Democracy when Texas was brought into the Union saw clearly +that it was brought in as a slave country, and brought in for the +purpose of being maintained as slave territory, to the Greek Kalends. +I rather think the honorable gentleman who was then Secretary of State +might, in some of his correspondence with Mr. Murphy, have suggested +that it was not expedient to say too much about this object, lest it +should create some alarm. At any rate, Mr. Murphy wrote to him that +England was anxious to get rid of the constitution of Texas, because it +was a constitution establishing slavery; and that what the United +States had to do was to aid the people of Texas in upholding their +constitution; but that nothing should be said which should offend the +fanatical men of the North. But, Sir, the honorable member did avow this +object himself, openly, boldly, and manfully; he did not disguise his +conduct or his motives. + +Mr. Calhoun. Never, never. + +Mr. Webster. What he means he is very apt to say. + +Mr. Calhoun. Always, always. + +Mr. Webster. And I honor him for it. + +This admission of Texas was in 1845. Then in 1847, _flagrante bello_ +between the United States and Mexico, the proposition I have mentioned +was brought forward by my friend from Georgia, and the Northern +Democracy voted steadily against it. Their remedy was to apply to +the acquisitions, after they should come in, the Wilmot Proviso. What +follows? These two gentlemen, worthy and honorable and influential men +(and if they had not been they could not have carried the measure), +these two gentlemen, members of this body, brought in Texas, and by +their votes they also pre-vented the passage of the resolution of the +honorable member from Georgia, and then they went home and took the lead +in the Free Soil party. And there they stand, Sir! They leave us here, +bound in honor and conscience by the resolutions of annexation; they +leave us here, to take the odium of fulfilling the obligations in +favor of slavery which they voted us into, or else the greater odium of +violating those obligations, while they are at home making capital and +rousing speeches for free soil and no slavery. And therefore I say, Sir, +that there is not a chapter in our history, respecting public measures +and public men, more full of what would create surprise, and more full +of what does create, in my mind, extreme mortification, than that of the +conduct of the Northern Democracy on this subject. + +Mr. President, sometimes when a man is found in a new relation to things +around him and to other men, he says the world has changed, and that he +is not changed. I believe, sir, that our self-respect leads us often +to make this declaration in regard to ourselves when it is not exactly +true. An individual is more apt to change, perhaps, than all the +world around him. But under the present circumstances, and under the +responsibility which I know I incur by what I am now stating here, I +feel at liberty to recur to the various expressions and statements, +made at various times, of my own opinions and resolutions respecting the +admission of Texas, and all that has followed. + +* * * On other occasions, in debate here, I have expressed my +determination to vote for no acquisition, or cession, or annexation, +North or South, East or West. My opinion has been, that we have +territory enough, and that we should follow the Spartan maxim: "Improve, +adorn what you have,"--seek no further. I think that it was in some +observations that I made on the three million loan bill that I avowed +this sentiment. In short, sir, it has been avowed quite as often in as +many places, and before as many assemblies, as any humble opinions of +mine ought to be avowed. + +But now that, under certain conditions, Texas is in the Union, with all +her territory, as a slave State, with a solemn pledge also that, if she +shall be divided into many States, those States may come in as slave +States south of 36 deg. 30', how are we to deal with this subject? I know no +way of honest legislation, when the proper time comes for the enactment, +but to carry into effect all that we have stipulated to do. * * * +That is the meaning of the contract which our friends, the northern +Democracy, have left us to fulfil; and I, for one, mean to fulfil it, +because I will not violate the faith of the Government. What I mean +to say is, that the time for the admission of new States formed out of +Texas, the number of such States, their boundaries, the requisite amount +of population, and all other things connected with the admission, are +in the free discretion of Congress, except this: to wit, that when new +States formed out of Texas are to be admitted, they have a right, by +legal stipulation and contract, to come in as slave States. + +Now, as to California and New Mexico, I hold slavery to be excluded +from these territories by a law even superior to that which admits and +sanctions it in Texas. I mean the law of nature, of physical geography, +the law of the formation of the earth. That law settles forever, with a +strength beyond all terms of human enactment, that slavery cannot exist +in California or New Mexico. Understand me, sir; I mean slavery as we +regard it; the slavery of the colored race as it exists in the southern +States. I shall not discuss the point, but leave it to the learned +gentlemen who have undertaken to discuss it; but I suppose there is +no slavery of that description in California now. I understand that +peonism, a sort of penal servitude, exists there, or rather a sort of +voluntary sale of a man and his offspring for debt, an arrangement of a +peculiar nature known to the law of Mexico. But what I mean to say +is, that it is impossible that African slavery, as we see it among us, +should find its way, or be introduced, into California and New Mexico, +as any other natural impossibility. California and New Mexico are +Asiatic in their formation and scenery. They are composed of vast ridges +of mountains of great height, with broken ridges and deep valleys. +The sides of these mountains are entirely barren; their tops capped +by perennial snow. There may be in California, now made free by its +constitution, and no doubt there are, some tracts of valuable land. +But it is not so in New Mexico. Pray, what is the evidence which every +gentleman must have obtained on this subject, from information sought by +himself or communicated by others? I have inquired and read all I could +find, in order to acquire information on this important subject. What is +there in New Mexico that could, by any possibility, induce anybody to go +there with slaves! There are some narrow strips of tillable land on the +borders of the rivers; but the rivers themselves dry up before midsummer +is gone. All that the people can do in that region is to raise some +little articles, some little wheat for their tortillas, and that by +irrigation. And who expects to see a hundred black men cultivating +tobacco, corn, cotton, rice, or any thing else, on lands in New Mexico, +made fertile by irrigation? + +I look upon it, therefore, as a fixed fact, to use the current +expression of the day, that both California and New Mexico are destined +to be free, so far as they are settled at all, which I believe, in +regard to New Mexico, will be but partially, for a great length of time; +free by the arrangement of things ordained by the Power above us. I have +therefore to say, in this respect also, that this country is fixed +for freedom, to as many persons as shall ever live in it, by a less +repealable law than that which attaches to the right of holding slaves +in Texas; and I will say further, that, if a resolution or a bill were +now before us, to provide a territorial government for New Mexico, +I would not vote to put any prohibition into it whatever. Such a +prohibition would be idle, as it respects any effect it would have +upon the territory; and I would not take pains uselessly to reaffirm an +ordinance of nature, nor to re-enact the will of God. I would put in no +Wilmot proviso for the mere purpose of a taunt or a reproach. I would +put into it no evidence of the votes of superior power, exercised for no +purpose but to wound the pride, whether a just and a rational pride, or +an irrational pride, of the citizens of the southern States. I have no +such object, no such purpose. They would think it a taunt, an indignity; +they would think it to be an act taking away from them what they regard +as a proper equality of privilege. Whether they expect to realize any +benefit from it or not, they would think it at least a plain theoretic +wrong; that something more or less derogatory to their character and +their rights had taken place. I propose to inflict no such wound upon +anybody, unless something essentially important to the country, and +efficient to the preservation of liberty and freedom, is to be effected. +I repeat, therefore, sir, and, as I do not propose to address the Senate +often on this subject, I repeat it because I wish it to be distinctly +understood, that, for the reasons stated, if a proposition were now here +to establish a government for New Mexico, and it was moved to insert a +provision for a prohibition of slavery, I would not vote for it. * * * +Sir, we hear occasionally of the annexation of Canada; and if there be +any man, any of the northern Democracy, or any of the Free Soil party, +who supposes it necessary to insert a Wilmot Proviso in a territorial +government for New Mexico, that man would, of course, be of opinion that +it is necessary to protect the ever-lasting snows of Canada from the +foot of slavery by the same overspreading wing of an act of Congress. +Sir, wherever there is a substantive good to be done, wherever there is +a foot of land to be prevented from becoming slave territory, I am ready +to assert the principle of the exclusion of slavery. I am pledged to +it from the year 1837; I have been pledged to it again and again; and I +will perform these pledges; but I will not do a thing unnecessarily +that wounds the feelings of others, or that does discredit to my own +understanding. * * * + +Mr. President, in the excited times in which we live, there is found +to exist a state of crimination and recrimination between the North +and South. There are lists of grievances produced by each; and those +grievances, real or supposed, alienate the minds of one portion of the +country from the other, exasperate the feelings, and subdue the sense of +fraternal affection, patriotic love, and mutual regard. I shall bestow a +little attention, sir, upon these various grievances existing on the one +side and on the other. I begin with complaints of the South. I will not +answer, further than I have, the general statements of the honorable +Senator from South Carolina, that the North has prospered at the +expense of the South in consequence of the manner of administering this +Government, in the collection of its revenues, and so forth. These are +disputed topics, and I have no inclination to enter into them. But I +will allude to other complaints of the South, and especially to one +which has in my opinion, just foundation; and that is, that there has +been found at the North, among individuals and among legislators, a +disinclination to perform fully their constitutional duties in regard +to the return of persons bound to service who have escaped into the free +States. In that respect, the South, in my judgment, is right, and the +North is wrong. Every member of every Northern legislature is bound +by oath, like every other officer in the country, to support the +Constitution of the United States; and the article of the Constitution +which says to these States that they shall deliver up fugitives from +service, is as binding in honor and conscience as any other article. +No man fulfils his duty in any legislature who sets himself to find +excuses, evasions, escapes from this constitutional obligation. I +have always thought that the Constitution addressed itself to the +legislatures of the States or to the States themselves. It says that +those persons escaping to other States "shall be delivered up," and I +confess I have always been of the opinion that it was an injunction +upon the States themselves. When it is said that a person escaping into +another State, and coming therefore within the jurisdiction of that +State, shall be delivered up, it seems to me the import of the clause +is, that the State itself, in obedience to the Constitution, shall cause +him to be delivered up. That is my judgment. I have always entertained +that opinion, and I entertain it now. But when the subject, some years +ago, was before the Supreme Court of the United States, the majority +of the judges held that the power to cause fugitives from service to +be delivered up was a power to be exercised under the authority of this +Government. I do not know, on the whole, that it may not have been +a fortunate decision. My habit is to respect the result of judicial +deliberations and the solemnity of judicial decisions. As it now stands, +the business of seeing that these fugitives are delivered up resides in +the power of Congress and the national judicature, and my friend at the +head of the Judiciary Committee has a bill on the subject now before the +Senate, which, with some amendments to it, I propose to support, with +all its provisions, to the fullest extent. And I desire to call the +attention of all sober-minded men at the North, of all conscientious +men, of all men who are not carried away by some fanatical idea or some +false impression, to their constitutional obligations. I put it to all +the sober and sound minds at the North as a question of morals and +a question of conscience. What right have they, in their legislative +capacity, or any other capacity, to endeavor to get round this +Constitution, or to embarrass the free exercise of the rights secured by +the Constitution, to the person whose slaves escape from them? None at +all; none at all. Neither in the forum of conscience, nor before the +face of the Constitution, are they, in my opinion, justified in such +an attempt. Of course it is a matter for their consideration. They +probably, in the excitement of the times, have not stopped to consider +this. They have followed what seemed to be the current of thought and of +motives, as the occasion arose, and they have neglected to investigate +fully the real question, and to consider their constitutional +obligations; which, I am sure, if they did consider, they would fulfil +with alacrity. I repeat, therefore, sir, that here is a well-founded +ground of complaint against the North, which ought to be removed, which +is now in the power of the different departments of this government to +remove; which calls for the enactment of proper laws authorizing the +judicature of this Government, in the several States, to do all that is +necessary for the recapture of fugitive slaves and for their restoration +to those who claim them. Wherever I go, and whenever I speak on the +subject, and when I speak here I desire to speak to the whole North, I +say that the South has been injured in this respect, and has a right +to complain; and the North has been too careless of what I think the +Constitution peremptorily and emphatically enjoins upon her as a duty. + +Complaint has been made against certain resolutions that emanate from +legislatures at the North, and are sent here to us, not only on the +subject of slavery in this District, but sometimes recommending Congress +to consider the means of abolishing slavery in the States. I should be +sorry to be called upon to present any resolutions here which could not +be referable to any committee or any power in Congress; and therefore I +should be unwilling to receive from the legislature of Massachusetts any +instructions to present resolutions expressive of any opinion whatever +on the subject of slavery, as it exists at the present moment in the +States, for two reasons: because I do not consider that I, as her +representative here, have any thing to do with it. It has become, in my +opinion, quite too common; and if the legislatures of the States do not +like that opinion, they have a great deal more power to put it down than +I have to uphold it; it has become, in my opinion, quite too common a +practice for the State legislatures to present resolutions here on all +subjects and to instruct us on all subjects. There is no public man that +requires instruction more than I do, or who requires information more +than I do, or desires it more heartily; but I do not like to have it in +too imperative a shape. * * * + +Then, sir, there are the Abolition societies, of which I am unwilling to +speak, but in regard to which I have very clear notions and opinions. I +do not think them useful. I think their operations for the last twenty +years have produced nothing good or valuable. At the same time, I +believe thousands of their members to be honest and good men, perfectly +well-meaning men. They have excited feelings; they think they must do +something for the cause of liberty; and, in their sphere of action, +they do not see what else they can do than to contribute to an abolition +press, or an abolition society, or to pay an abolition lecturer. I do +not mean to impute gross motives even to the leaders of these societies, +but I am not blind to the consequences of their proceedings. I cannot +but see what mischief their interference with the South has produced. +And is it not plain to every man? Let any gentleman who entertains +doubts on this point, recur to the debates in the Virginia House of +Delegates in 1832, and he will see with what freedom a proposition made +by Mr. Jefferson Randolph, for the gradual abolition of slavery was +discussed in that body. Every one spoke of slavery as he thought; very +ignominous and disparaging names and epithets were applied to it. The +debates in the House of Delegates on that occasion, I believe were all +published. They were read by every colored man who could read, and to +those who could not read, those debates were read by others. At that +time Virginia was not unwilling or afraid to discuss this question, and +to let that part of her population know as much of the discussion as +they could learn. That was in 1832. As has been said by the honorable +member from South Carolina, these abolition societies commenced their +course of action in 1835. It is said, I do not know how true it may be, +that they sent incendiary publications into the slave States; at any +rate, they attempted to arouse, and did arouse, a very strong feeling; +in other words, they created great agitation in the North against +Southern slavery. Well, what was the result? The bonds of the slaves +were bound more firmly than before, their rivets were more strongly +fastened. Public opinion, which in Virginia had begun to be exhibited +against slavery, and was opening out for the discussion of the question, +drew back and shut itself up in its castle. I wish to know whether +anybody in Virginia can now talk openly, as Mr. Randolph, Governor +McDowel, and others talked in 1832, and sent their remarks to the press? +We all know the fact, and we all know the cause; and every thing that +these agitating people have done has been, not to enlarge, but to +restrain, not to set free, but to bind faster, the slave population of +the South. * * * + +There are also complaints of the North against the South. I need not go +over them particularly. The first and gravest is, that the North adopted +the Constitution, recognizing the existence of slavery in the States, +and recognizing the right, to a certain extent, of the representation +of slaves in Congress, under a state of sentiment and expectation +which does not now exist; and that by events, by circumstances, by +the eagerness of the South to acquire territory and extend her slave +population, the North finds itself, in regard to the relative influence +of the South and the North, of the free States and the slave States, +where it never did expect to find itself when they agreed to the compact +of the Constitution. They complain, therefore, that, instead of slavery +being regarded as an evil, as it was then, an evil which all hoped +would be extinguished gradually, it is now regarded by the South as an +institution to be cherished, and preserved, and extended; an institution +which the South has already extended to the utmost of her power by the +acquisition of new territory. + +Well, then, passing from that, everybody in the North reads; and +everybody reads whatsoever the newspapers contain; and the news-papers, +some of them, especially those presses to which I have alluded, are +careful to spread about among the people every reproachful sentiment +uttered by any Southern man bearing at all against the North; every +thing that is calculated to exasperate and to alienate; and there are +many such things, as everybody will admit, from the South, or from +portions of it, which are disseminated among the reading people; and +they do exasperate, and alienate, and produce a most mischievous effect +upon the public mind at the North. Sir, I would not notice things of +this sort appearing in obscure quarters; but one thing has occurred +in this debate which struck me very forcibly. An honorable member from +Louisiana addressed us the other day on this subject. I suppose there is +not a more amiable and worthy gentleman in this chamber, nor a gentleman +who would be more slow to give offence to any body, and he did not mean +in his remarks to give offence. But what did he say? Why, sir, he took +pains to run a contrast between the slaves of the South and the laboring +people of the North, giving the preference, in all points of condition, +and comfort, and happiness to the slaves of the South. The honorable +member, doubtless, did not suppose that he gave any offence, or did any +injustice. He was merely expressing his opinion. But does he know how +remarks of that sort will be received by the laboring people of the +North? Why, who are the laboring people of the North? They are the +whole North. They are the people who till their own farms with their own +hands; freeholders, educated men, independent men. Let me say, sir, that +five sixths of the whole property of the North is in the hands of the +laborers of the North; they cultivate their farms, they educate +their children, they provide the means of independence. If they are not +freeholders, they earn wages; these wages accumulate, are turned into +capital, into new freeholds, and small capitalists are created. Such +is the case, and such the course of things, among the industrious and +frugal. And what can these people think when so respectable and worthy +a gentleman as the member from Louisiana undertakes to prove that the +absolute ignorance and the abject slavery of the South are more in +conformity with the high purposes and destiny of immortal, rational, +human beings, than the educated, the independent free labor of the +North? + +There is a more tangible and irritating cause of grievance at the +North. Free blacks are constantly employed in the vessels of the North, +generally as cooks or stewards. When the vessel arrives at a southern +port, these free colored men are taken on shore, by the police or +municipal authority, imprisoned, and kept in prison till the vessel +is again ready to sail. This is not only irritating, but exceedingly +unjustifiable and oppressive. Mr. Hoar's mission, some time ago to South +Carolina, was a well-intended effort to remove this cause of complaint. +The North thinks such imprisonments illegal and unconstitutional; and as +the cases occur constantly and frequently they regard it as a grievance. + +Now, sir, so far as any of these grievances have their foundation in +matters of law, they can be redressed, and ought to be redressed; and so +far as they have their foundation in matters of opinion, in sentiment, +in mutual crimination and recrimination, all that we can do is to +endeavor to allay the agitation, and cultivate a better feeling and more +fraternal sentiments between the South and the North. + +Mr. President, I should much prefer to have heard from every member +on this floor declarations of opinion that this Union could never be +dissolved, than the declaration of opinion by anybody, that in any +case, under the pressure of any circumstances, such a dissolution +was possible. I hear with distress and anguish the word "secession," +especially when it falls from the lips of those who are patriotic, and +known to the country, and known all over the world for their political +services. Secession! Peaceable secession! Sir, your eyes and mine are +never destined to see that miracle. The dismemberment of this vast +country without convulsion! The breaking up of the fountains of the +great deep without ruffling the surface! Who is so foolish--I beg +everybody's pardon--as to expect to see any such thing? Sir, he who +sees these States, now revolving in harmony around a common centre, and +expects to see them quit their places and fly off without convulsion, +may look the next hour to see the heavenly bodies rush from their +spheres, and jostle against each other in the realms of space, without +causing the wreck of the universe. There can be no such thing as a +peaceable secession. Peaceable secession is an utter impossibility. Is +the great Constitution under which we live, covering this whole country, +is it to be thawed and melted away by secession, as the snows on the +mountain melt under the influence of a vernal sun, disappear almost +unobserved, and run off? No, sir! No, sir! I will not state what might +produce the disruption of the Union; but, sir, I see as plainly as I can +see the sun in heaven what that disruption itself must produce; I see +that it must produce war, and such a war as I will not describe, in its +twofold character. + +Peaceable secession! Peaceable secession! The concurrent agreement +of all the members of this great Republic to separate! A voluntary +separation, with alimony on one side and on the other. Why, what would +be the result? Where is the line to be drawn? What States are to secede? +What is to remain American? What am I to be? An American no longer? Am I +to become a sectional man, a local man, a separatist, with no country in +common with the gentlemen who sit around me here, or who fill the other +house of Congress? Heaven forbid! Where is the flag of the Republic +to remain? Where is the eagle still to tower? or is he to cower, and +shrink, and fall to the ground? Why, sir, our ancestors, our fathers +and our grandfathers, those of them that are yet living amongst us with +prolonged lives, would rebuke and reproach us; and our children and +our grandchildren would cry out shame upon us, if we of this generation +should dishonor these ensigns of the power of the Government and the +harmony of that Union which is every day felt among us with so much joy +and gratitude. What is to become of the army? What is to become of the +navy? What is to become of the public lands? How is each of the thirty +States to defend itself? I know, although the idea has not been stated +distinctly, there is to be, or it is supposed possible that there +will be, a Southern Confederacy. I do not mean, when I allude to this +statement, that any one seriously contemplates such a state of things. +I do not mean to say that it is true, but I have heard it suggested +elsewhere, that the idea has been entertained, that, after the +dissolution of this Union, a Southern Confederacy might be formed. I am +sorry, sir, that it has ever been thought of, talked of, in the wildest +flights of human imagination. But the idea, so far as it exists, must +be of a separation, assigning the slave States to one side, and the free +States to the other. Sir, I may express myself too strongly, perhaps, +but there are impossibilities in the natural as well as in the physical +world, and I hold the idea of the separation of these States, those that +are free to form one government, and those that are slave-holding to +form another, as such an impossibility. We could not separate the States +by any such line, if we were to draw it. We could not sit down here +to-day and draw a line of separation that would satisfy any five men +in the country. There are natural causes that would keep and tie us +together, and there are social and domestic relations which we could not +break if we would, and which we should not if we could. + +Sir, nobody can look over the face of this country at the present +moment, nobody can see where its population is the most dense and +growing, without being ready to admit, and compelled to admit, +that erelong the strength of America will be in the Valley of the +Mississippi. Well, now, sir, I beg to inquire what the wildest +enthusiast has to say on the possibility of cutting that river in two, +and leaving free States at its source and on its branches, and slave +States down near its mouth, each forming a separate government? Pray, +sir, let me say to the people of this country, that these things are +worthy of their pondering and of their consideration. Here, sir, are +five millions of freemen in the free States north of the river Ohio. +Can anybody suppose that this population can be severed, by a line that +divides them from the territory of a foreign and alien government, +down somewhere, the Lord knows where, upon the lower banks of +the Mississippi? What would become of Missouri? Will she join the +arrondissement of the slave States? Shall the man from the Yellowstone +and the Platte be connected, in the new republic, with the man who lives +on the southern extremity of the Cape of Florida? Sir, I am ashamed to +pursue this line of remark. I dislike it, I have an utter disgust for +it. I would rather hear of natural blasts and mildews, war, pestilence, +and famine, than to hear gentlemen talk of secession. To break up this +great Government! to dismember this glorious country! to astonish Europe +with an act of folly such as Europe for two centuries has never beheld +in any government or any people! No, sir! no, sir! There will be no +secession! Gentlemen are not serious when they talk of secession. + +Sir, I hear there is to be a convention held at Nashville. I am bound to +believe that if worthy gentlemen meet at Nashville in convention, their +object will be to adopt conciliatory counsels; to advise the South to +forbearance and moderation, and to advise the North to forbearance and +moderation; and to inculcate principles of brotherly love and affection, +and attachment to the Constitution of the country as it now is. I +believe, if the convention meet at all, it will be for this purpose; for +certainly, if they meet for any purpose hostile to the Union, they have +been singularly inappropriate in their selection of a place. I remember, +sir, that, when the treaty of Amiens was concluded between France and +England, a sturdy Englishman and a distinguished orator, who regarded +the conditions of the peace as ignominious to England, said in the House +of Commons, that if King William could know the terms of that treaty, he +would turn in his coffin! Let me commend this saying to Mr. Windham, in +all its emphasis and in all its force, to any persons who shall meet at +Nashville for the purpose of concerting measures for the overthrow of +this Union over the bones of Andrew Jackson. * * * + +And now, Mr. President, instead of speaking of the possibility or +utility of secession, instead of dwelling in those caverns of darkness, +instead of groping with those ideas so full of all that is horrid and +horrible, let us come out into the light of the day; let us enjoy the +fresh air of Liberty and Union; let us cherish those hopes which belong +to us; let us devote ourselves to those great objects that are fit for +our consideration and our action; let us raise our conceptions to the +magnitude and the importance of the duties that devolve upon us; let +our comprehension be as broad as the country for which we act, our +aspirations as high as its certain destiny; let us not be pigmies in a +case that calls for men. Never did there devolve on any generation of +men higher trusts than now devolve upon us, for the preservation of this +Constitution and the harmony and peace of all who are destined to live +under it. Let us make our generation one of the strongest and brightest +links in that golden chain which is destined, I fondly believe, to +grapple the people of all the States to this Constitution for ages to +come. We have a great, popular, Constitutional Government, guarded +by law and by judicature, and defended by the affections of the whole +people. No monarchical throne presses these States together, no iron +chain of military power encircles them; they live and stand under a +Government popular in its form, representative in its character, founded +upon principles of equality, and so constructed, we hope, as to last +forever. In all its history it has been beneficent; it has trodden down +no man's liberty; it has crushed no State. Its daily respiration is +liberty and patriotism; its yet youthful veins are full of enterprise, +courage, and honorable love of glory and renown. Large before, the +country has now, by recent events, become vastly larger. This Republic +now extends, with a vast breadth across the whole continent. The two +great seas of the world wash the one and the other shore. We realize, +on a mighty scale, the beautiful description of the ornamental border of +the buckler of Achilles: + + "Now, the broad shield complete, the artist crowned + With his last hand, and poured the ocean round; + In living silver seemed the waves to roll, + And beat the buckler's verge, and bound the whole." + + +[Illustration: Henry Clay] + + + + +HENRY CLAY, + +OF KENTUCKY, (BORN 1777, DIED 1852.) + +ON THE COMPROMISE OF 1850; UNITED STATES SENATE, JULY 22, 1850. + + +MR. PRESIDENT: + +In the progress of this debate it has been again and again argued that +perfect tranquillity reigns throughout the country, and that there is +no disturbance threatening its peace, endangering its safety, but that +which was produced by busy, restless politicians. It has been maintained +that the surface of the public mind is perfectly smooth and undisturbed +by a single billow. I most heartily wish I could concur in this picture +of general tranquillity that has been drawn upon both sides of the +Senate. I am no alarmist; nor, I thank God, at the advanced age at which +His providence has been pleased to allow me to reach, am I very easily +alarmed by any human event; but I totally misread the signs of the +times, if there be that state of profound peace and quiet, that absence +of all just cause of apprehension of future danger to this confederacy, +which appears to be entertained by some other senators. Mr. President, +all the tendencies of the times, I lament to say, are toward +disquietude, if not more fatal consequences. When before, in the midst +of profound peace with all the nations of the earth, have we seen a +convention, representing a considerable portion of one great part of +the Republic, meet to deliberate about measures of future safety in +connection with great interests of that quarter of the country? When +before have we seen, not one, but more--some half a dozen legislative +bodies solemnly resolving that if any one of these measures--the +admission of California, the adoption of the Wilmot proviso, the +abolition of slavery in the District of Columbia--should be adopted by +Congress, measures of an extreme character, for the safety of the great +interests to which I refer, in a particular section of the country, +would be resorted to? For years, this subject of the abolition of +slavery, even within this District of Columbia, small as is the number +of slaves here, has been a source of constant irritation and disquiet. +So of the subject of the recovery of fugitive slaves who have escaped +from their lawful owners: not a mere border contest, as has been +supposed--although there, undoubtedly, it has given rise to more +irritation than in other portions of the Union--but everywhere +through-out the slave-holding country it has been felt as a great evil, +a great wrong which required the intervention of congressional power. +But these two subjects, unpleasant as has been the agitation to which +they have given rise, are nothing in comparison to those which have +sprung out of the acquisitions recently made from the Republic of +Mexico. These are not only great and leading causes of just apprehension +as respects the future, but all the minor circumstances of the day +intimate danger ahead, whatever may be its final issue and consequence. +* * * + +Mr. President, I will not dwell upon other concomitant causes, all +having the same tendency, and all well calculated to awaken, to arouse +us--if, as I hope the fact is, we are all of us sincerely desirous +of preserving this Union--to rouse us to dangers which really exist, +without underrating them upon the one hand, or magnifying them upon the +other. * * * + +It has been objected against this measure that it is a compromise. It +has been said that it is a compromise of principle, or of a +principle. Mr. President, what is a compromise? It is a work of mutual +concession--an agreement in which there are reciprocal stipulations--a +work in which, for the sake of peace and concord, one party abates his +extreme demands in consideration of an abatement of extreme demands +by the other party: it is a measure of mutual concession--a measure of +mutual sacrifice. Undoubtedly, Mr. President, in all such measures +of compromise, one party would be very glad to get what he wants, and +reject what he does not desire, but which the other party wants. But +when he comes to reflect that, from the nature of the Government and its +operations, and from those with whom he is dealing, it is necessary upon +his part, in order to secure what he wants, to grant something to the +other side, he should be reconciled to the concession which he has made, +in consequence of the concession which he is to receive, if there is no +great principle involved, such as a violation of the Constitution of the +United States. I admit that such a compromise as that ought never to be +sanctioned or adopted. But I now call upon any senator in his place to +point out from the beginning to the end, from California to New Mexico, +a solitary provision in this bill which is violative of the Constitution +of the United States. + +Sir, adjustments in the shape of compromise may be made without +producing any such consequences as have been apprehended. There may be +a mutual forbearance. You forbear on your side to insist upon the +application of the restriction denominated the Wilmot proviso. Is +there any violation of principle there? The most that can be said, even +assuming the power to pass the Wilmot proviso, which is denied, is that +there is a forbearance to exercise, not a violation of, the power to +pass the proviso. So, upon the other hand, if there was a power in +the Constitution of the United States authorizing the establishment +of slavery in any of the Territories--a power, however, which is +controverted by a large portion of this Senate--if there was a power +under the Constitution to establish slavery, the forbearance to exercise +that power is no violation of the Constitution, any more than the +Constitution is violated by a forbearance to exercise numerous powers, +that might be specified, that are granted in the Constitution, and that +remain dormant until they come to be exercised by the proper +legislative authorities. It is said that the bill presents the state of +coercion--that members are coerced, in order to get what they want, to +vote for that which they disapprove. Why, sir, what coercion is there? +* * * Can it be said upon the part of our Northern friends, because they +have not got the Wilmot proviso incorporated in the territorial part +of the bill, that they are coerced--wanting California, as they do, so +much--to vote for the bill, if they do vote for it? Sir, they might +have imitated the noble example of my friend (Senator Cooper, of +Pennsylvania), from that State upon whose devotion to this Union I place +one of my greatest reliances for its preservation. What was the course +of my friend upon this subject of the Wilmot proviso? He voted for it; +and he could go back to his constituents and say, as all of you could go +back and say to your constituents, if you chose to do so--"We wanted the +Wilmot proviso in the bill; we tried to get it in; but the majority of +the Senate was against it." The question then came up whether we should +lose California, which has got an interdiction in her constitution, +which, in point of value and duration, is worth a thousand Wilmot +provisos; we were induced, as my honorable friend would say, to take the +bill and the whole of it together, although we were disappointed in our +votes with respect to the Wilmot proviso--to take it, whatever omissions +may have been made, on account of the superior amount of good it +contains. * * * + +Not the reception of the treaty of peace negotiated at Ghent, nor any +other event which has occurred during my progress in public life, ever +gave such unbounded and universal satisfaction as the settlement of the +Missouri compromise. We may argue from like causes like effects. Then, +indeed, there was great excitement. Then, indeed, all the legislatures +of the North called out for the exclusion of Missouri, and all the +legislatures of the South called out for her admission as a State. +Then, as now, the country was agitated like the ocean in the midst of +a turbulent storm. But now, more than then, has this agitation been +increased. Now, more than then, are the dangers which exist, if the +controversy remains unsettled, more aggravated and more to be dreaded. +The idea of disunion was then scarcely a low whisper. Now, it has become +a familiar language in certain portions of the country. The public mind +and the public heart are becoming familiarized with that most dangerous +and fatal of all events--the disunion of the States. People begin to +contend that this is not so bad a thing as they had supposed. Like the +progress in all human affairs, as we approach danger it disappears, it +diminishes in our conception, and we no longer regard it with that awful +apprehension of consequences that we did before we came into contact +with it. Everywhere now there is a state of things, a degree of alarm +and apprehension, and determination to fight, as they regard it, against +the aggressions of the North. That did not so demonstrate itself at the +period of the Missouri compromise. It was followed, in consequence of +the adoption of the measure which settled the difficulty of Missouri, +by peace, harmony, and tranquillity. So, now, I infer, from the greater +amount of agitation, from the greater amount of danger, that, if you +adopt the measures under consideration, they, too, will be followed by +the same amount of contentment, satisfaction, peace, and tranquillity, +which ensued after the Missouri compromise. * * * + +The responsibility of this great measure passes from the hands of the +committee, and from my hands. They know, and I know, that it is an awful +and tremendous responsibility. I hope that you will meet it with a just +conception and a true appreciation of its magnitude, and the magnitude +of the consequences that may ensue from your decision one way or, the +other. The alternatives, I fear, which the measure presents, are concord +and increased discord; a servile civil war, originating in its causes +on the lower Rio Grande, and terminating possibly in its consequences +on the upper Rio Grande in the Santa Fe country, or the restoration of +harmony and fraternal kindness. I believe from the bottom of my soul, +that the measure is the reunion of this Union. I believe it is the dove +of peace, which, taking its aerial flight from the dome of the Capitol, +carries the glad tidings of assured peace and restored harmony to all +the remotest extremities of this distracted land. I believe that it will +be attended with all these beneficent effects. And now let us discard +all resentment, all passions, all petty jealousies, all personal +desires, all love of place, all hankerings after the gilded crumbs which +fall from the table of power. Let us forget popular fears, from +whatever quarter they may spring. Let us go to the limpid fountain of +unadulterated patriotism, and, performing a solemn lustration, return +divested of all selfish, sinister, and sordid impurities, and think +alone of our God, our country, our consciences, and our glorious +Union--that Union without which we shall be torn into hostile fragments, +and sooner or later become the victims of military despotism, or foreign +domination. + +Mr. President, what is an individual man? An atom, almost invisible +without a magnifying glass--a mere speck upon the surface of the +immense universe; not a second in time, compared to immeasurable, +never-beginning, and never-ending eternity; a drop of water in the great +deep, which evaporates and is borne off by the winds; a grain of sand, +which is soon gathered to the dust from which it sprung. Shall a being +so small, so petty, so fleeting, so evanescent, oppose itself to the +onward march of a great nation, which is to subsist for ages and ages to +come; oppose itself to that long line of posterity which, issuing from +our loins, will endure during the existence of the world? Forbid it, +God. Let us look to our country and our cause, elevate ourselves to the +dignity of pure and disinterested patriots, and save our country from +all impending dangers. What if, in the march of this nation to greatness +and power, we should be buried beneath the wheels that propel it onward! +What are we--what is any man--worth who is not ready and willing to +sacrifice himself for the benefit of his country when it is necessary? * +* * + +If this Union shall become separated, new unions, new confederacies will +arise. And with respect to this, if there be any--I hope there is no one +in the Senate--before whose imagination is flitting the idea of a great +Southern Confederacy to take possession of the Balize and the mouth +of the Mississippi, I say in my place never! never! NEVER! will we who +occupy the broad waters of the Mississippi and its upper tributaries +consent that any foreign flag shall float at the Balize or upon the +turrets of the Crescent City--NEVER! NEVER! I call upon all the South. +Sir, we have had hard words, bitter words, bitter thoughts, unpleasant +feelings toward each other in the progress of this great measure. Let us +forget them. Let us sacrifice these feelings. Let us go to the altar of +our country and swear, as the oath was taken of old, that we will stand +by her; that we will support her; that we will uphold her Constitution; +that we will preserve her Union; and that we will pass this great, +comprehensive, and healing system of measures, which will hush all the +jarring elements, and bring peace and tranquillity to our homes. + +Let me, Mr. President, in conclusion, say that the most disastrous +consequences would occur, in my opinion, were we to go home, doing +nothing to satisfy and tranquillize the country upon these great +questions. What will be the judgment of mankind, what the judgment of +that portion of mankind who are looking upon the progress of this scheme +of self-government as being that which holds the highest hopes and +expectations of ameliorating the condition of mankind--what will their +judgment be? Will not all the monarchs of the Old World pronounce our +glorious Republic a disgraceful failure? What will be the judgment of +our constituents, when we return to them and they ask us: "How have +you left your country? Is all quiet--all happy? Are all the seeds of +distraction or division crushed and dissipated?" And, sir, when you +come into the bosom of your family, when you come to converse with the +partner of your fortunes, of your happiness, and of your sorrows, and +when in the midst of the common offspring of both of you, she asks you: +"Is there any danger of civil war? Is there any danger of the torch +being applied to any portion of the country? Have you settled the +questions which you have been so long discussing and deliberating +upon at Washington? Is all peace and all quiet?" what response, Mr. +President, can you make to that wife of your choice and those children +with whom you have been blessed by God? Will you go home and leave all +in disorder and confusion--all unsettled--all open? The contentions and +agitations of the past will be increased and augmented by the agitations +resulting from our neglect to decide them. Sir, we shall stand condemned +by all human judgment below, and of that above it is not for me to +speak. We shall stand condemned in our own consciences, by our own +constituents, and by our own country. The measure may be defeated. +I have been aware that its passage for many days was not absolutely +certain. From the first to the last, I hoped and believed it would pass, +because from the first to the last I believed it was founded on the +principles of just and righteous concession of mutual conciliation. I +believe that it deals unjustly by no part of the Republic; that it saves +their honor, and, as far as it is dependent upon Congress, saves the +interests of all quarters of the country. But, sir, I have known that +the decision of its fate depended upon four or five votes in the Senate +of the United States, whose ultimate judgment we could not count upon +the one side or the other with absolute certainty. Its fate is now +committed to the Senate, and to those five or six votes to which I have +referred. It may be defeated. It is possible that, for the chastisement +of our sins and transgressions, the rod of Providence may be still +applied to us, may be still suspended over us. But, if defeated, it +will be a triumph of ultraism and impracticability--a triumph of a most +extraordinary conjunction of extremes; a victory won by abolitionism; a +victory achieved by freesoilism; a victory of discord and agitation over +peace and tranquillity; and I pray to Almighty God that it may not, in +consequence of the inauspicious result, lead to the most unhappy and +disastrous consequences to our beloved country. + +MR. BARNWELL:--It is not my intention to reply to the argument of the +Senator from Kentucky, but there were expressions used by him not a +little disrespectful to a friend whom I hold very dear. * * * It is true +that his political opinions differ very widely from those of the Senator +from Kentucky. It may be true, that he, with many great statesmen, may +believe that the Wilmot proviso is a grievance to be resisted "to the +utmost extremity" by those whose rights it destroys and whose honor it +degrades. It is true that he may believe * * * that the admission of +California will be the passing of the Wilmot proviso, when we here in +Congress give vitality to an act otherwise totally dead, and by our +legislation exclude slaveholders from that whole broad territory on the +Pacific; and, entertaining this opinion, he may have declared that the +contingency will then have occurred which will, in the judgment of most +of the slave-holding States, as expressed by their resolutions, justify +resistance as to an intolerable aggression. If he does entertain and +has expressed such sentiments, he is not to be held up as peculiarly a +disunionist. Allow me to say, in reference to this matter, I regret that +you have brought it about, but it is true that this epithet "disunionist" +is likely soon to have very little terror in it in the South. Words do +not make things. "Rebel" was designed as a very odious term when applied +by those who would have trampled on the rights of our ancestors, but I +believe that the expression became not an ungrateful one to the ears +of those who resisted them. It was not the lowest term of abuse to call +those who were conscious that they were struggling against oppression; +and let me assure gentlemen that the term disunionist is rapidly +assuming at the South the meaning which rebel took when it was baptized +in the blood of Warren at Bunker Hill, and illustrated by the gallantry +of Jasper at Fort Moultrie. * * * + +MR. CLAY:--Mr. President, I said nothing with respect to the character +of Mr. Rhett, for I might as well name him. I know him personally, +and have some respect for him. But, if he pronounced the sentiment +attributed to him--of raising the standard of disunion and of resistance +to the common government, whatever he has been, if he follows up that +declaration by corresponding overt acts, he will be a traitor, and I +hope he will meet the fate of a traitor. + +THE PRESIDENT:--The Chair will be under the necessity of ordering the +gallery to be cleared if there is again the slightest interruption. He +has once already given warning that he is under the necessity of keeping +order. The Senate chamber is not a theatre. + +MR. CLAY:--Mr. President, I have heard with pain and regret a +confirmation of the remark I made, that the sentiment of disunion is +becoming familiar. I hope it is confined to South Carolina. I do not +regard as my duty what the honorable Senator seems to regard as his. If +Kentucky to-morrow unfurls the banner of resistance unjustly, I never +will fight under that banner. I owe a paramount allegiance to the whole +Union--a subordinate one to my own State. When my State is right--when +it has a cause for resistance--when tyranny, and wrong, and oppression +insufferable arise, I will then share her fortunes; but if she summons +me to the battle-field, or to support her in any cause which is unjust, +against the Union, never, never will I engage with her in such cause. + + + + +WENDELL PHILLIPS, + +OF MASSACIUSETTS. (BORN 1811, DIED 1884.) + +ON THE PHILOSOPHY OF THE ABOLITION MOVEMENT, BEFORE THE MASSACHUSETTS +ANTI-SLAVERY SOCIETY, AT BOSTON, JANUARY 27, 1853. + + +Mr. CHAIRMAN: + +I have to present, from the business committee, the following +resolution: + +Resolved; That the object of this society is now, as it has always been, +to convince our countrymen, by arguments addressed to their hearts and +consciences, that slave-holding is a heinous crime, and that the duty, +safety, and interest of all concerned demand its immediate abolition +without expatriation. + +I wish, Mr, Chairman, to notice some objections that have been made to +our course ever since Mr. Garrison began his career, and which have been +lately urged again, with considerable force and emphasis, in the +columns of the London Leader, the able organ of a very respectable and +influential class in England. * * * The charges to which I refer are +these: That, in dealing with slave-holders and their apologists, we +indulge in fierce denunciations, instead of appealing to their reason +and common sense by plain statements and fair argument; that we might +have won the sympathies and support of the nation, if we would have +submitted to argue this question with a manly patience; but, instead of +this, we have outraged the feelings of the community by attacks, unjust +and unnecessarily severe, on its most valued institutions, and gratified +our spleen by indiscriminate abuse of leading men, who were often honest +in their intentions, however mistaken in their views; that we have +utterly neglected the ample means that lay around us to convert the +nation, submitted to no discipline, formed no plan, been guided by no +foresight, but hurried on in childish, reckless, blind, and hot-headed +zeal,--bigots in the narrowness of our views, and fanatics in our blind +fury of invective and malignant judgment of other men's motives. + +There are some who come upon our platform, and give us the aid of names +and reputations less burdened than ours with popular odium,who are +perpetually urging us to exercise charity in our judgments of those +about us, and to consent to argue these questions. These men are ever +parading their wish to draw a line between themselves and us, +because they must be permitted to wait,--to trust more to reason than +feeling,--to indulge a generous charity,--to rely on the sure influence +of simple truth, uttered in love, etc., etc. I reject with scorn all +these implications that our judgments are uncharitable,--that we are +lacking in patience,--that we have any other dependence than on the +simple truth, spoken with Christian frankness, yet with Christian +love. These lectures, to which you, sir, and all of us, have so often +listened, would be impertinent, if they were not rather ridiculous for +the gross ignorance they betray of the community, of the cause, and of +the whole course of its friends. + +The article in the _Leader_ to which I refer is signed "ION," and may +be found in the _Liberator_ of December 17, 1852. * * * "Ion" quotes +Mr Garrison's original declaration in the _Liberator_: "I am aware that +many object to the severity of my language; but is there not cause +for severity? I _will_ be as harsh as truth and as uncompromising as +justice. I am in earnest,--I will not equivocate,--I will not excuse,--I +will not retreat a single inch,--AND I WILL BE HEARD. It is pretended +that I am retarding the cause of emancipation by the coarseness of my +invective and the precipitancy of my measures. The charge is not true. +On this question, my influence, humble as it is, is felt at this +moment to a considerable extent, and shall be felt in coming years, not +perniciously, but beneficially; not as a curse, but as a blessing; and +posterity will bear testimony that I was right. I desire to thank +God that He enables me to disregard 'the fear of man which bringeth a +snare,' and to speak His truth in its simplicity and power." * * * + +"Ion's" charges are the old ones, that we Abolitionists are hurting our +own cause; that, instead of waiting for the community to come up to our +views, and endeavoring to remove prejudice and enlighten ignorance by +patient explanation and fair argument, we fall at once, like children, +to abusing every thing and everybody; that we imagine zeal will supply +the place of common sense; that we have never shown any sagacity +in adapting our means to our ends; have never studied the national +character, or attempted to make use of the materials which lay all about +us to influence public opinion, but by blind, childish, obstinate fury +and indiscriminate denunciation, have become "honestly impotent, and +conscientious hinderances." + +I claim, before you who know the true state of the case, I claim for +the antislavery movement with which this society is identified, that, +looking back over its whole course, and considering the men connected +with it in the mass, it has been marked by sound judgment, unerring +foresight, the most sagacious adaptation of means to ends, the strictest +self-discipline, the most thorough research, and an amount of patient +and manly argument addressed to the conscience and intellect of the +nation, such as no other cause of the kind, in England or this country, +has ever offered. I claim, also, that its course has been marked by a +cheerful surrender of all individual claims to merit or leadership,--the +most cordial welcoming of the slightest effort, of every honest attempt, +to lighten or to break the chain of the slave. I need not waste time by +repeating the superfluous confession that we are men, and therefore do +not claim to be perfect. Neither would I be understood as denying that +we use denunciation, and ridicule, and every other weapon that the human +mind knows. We must plead guilty, if there be guilt in not knowing +how to separate the sin from the sinner. With all the fondness for +abstractions attributed to us, we are not yet capable of that. We are +fighting a momentous battle at desperate odds,--one against a thousand. +Every weapon that ability or ignorance, wit, wealth, prejudice, or +fashion can command, is pointed against us. The guns are shotted to +their lips. The arrows are poisoned. Fighting against such an array, we +cannot afford to confine ourselves to any one weapon. The cause is not +ours, so that we might, rightfully, postpone or put in peril the victory +by moderating our demands, stifling our convictions, or filing down +our rebukes, to gratify any sickly taste of our own, or to spare the +delicate nerves of our neighbor. Our clients are three millions of +Christian slaves, standing dumb suppliants at the threshold of the +Christian world. They have no voice but ours to utter their complaints, +or to demand justice. The press, the pulpit, the wealth, the literature, +the prejudices, the political arrangements, the present self-interest +of the country, are all against us. God has given us no weapon but +the truth, faithfully uttered, and addressed, with the old prophets' +directness, to the conscience of the individual sinner. The elements +which control public opinion and mould the masses are against us. We can +but pick off here and there a man from the triumphant majority. We have +facts for those who think, arguments for those who reason; but he who +cannot be reasoned out of his prejudices must be laughed out of them; he +who cannot be argued out of his selfishness must be shamed out of it by +the mirror of his hateful self held up relentlessly before his eyes. We +live in a land where every man makes broad his phylactery, inscribing +thereon, "All men are created equal,"--"God hath made of one blood all +nations of men." It seems to us that in such a land there must be, on +this question of slavery, sluggards to be awakened, as well as doubters +to be convinced. Many more, we verily believe, of the first than of +the last. There are far more dead hearts to be quickened, than confused +intellects to be cleared up,--more dumb dogs to be made to speak, than +doubting consciences to be enlightened. We have use, then, sometimes, +for something beside argument. + +What is the denunciation with which we are charged? It is endeavoring, +in our faltering human speech, to declare the enormity of the sin of +making merchandize of men,--of separating husband and wife,--taking the +infant from its mother and selling the daughter to prostitution,--of +a professedly Christian nation denying, by statute, the Bible to every +sixth man and woman of its population, and making it illegal for "two +or three" to meet together, except a white man be present! What is +this harsh criticism of motives with which we are charged? It is +simply holding the intelligent and deliberate actor responsible for the +character and consequences of his acts. Is there any thing inherently +wrong in such denunciation of such criticism? This we may claim,--we +have never judged a man but out of his own mouth. We have seldom, if +ever, held him to account, except for acts of which he and his own +friends were proud. All that we ask the world and thoughtful men to note +are the principles and deeds on which the American pulpit and American +public men plume themselves. We always allow our opponents to paint +their own pictures. Our humble duty is to stand by and assure the +spectators that what they would take for a knave or a hypocrite is +really, in American estimation, a Doctor of Divinity or a Secretary of +State. + +The South is one great brothel, where half a million of women are +flogged to prostitution, or, worse still, are degraded to believe it +honorable. The public squares of half our great cities echo to the wail +of families torn asunder at the auction-block; no one of our fair rivers +that has not closed over the negro seeking in death a refuge from a life +too wretched to bear; thousands of fugitives skulk along our highways, +afraid to tell their names, and trembling at the sight of a human being; +free men are kidnapped in our streets, to be plunged into that hell +of slavery; and now and then one, as if by miracle, after long years +returns to make men aghast with his tale. The press says, "It is all +right"; and the pulpit cries, "Amen." They print the Bible in every +tongue in which man utters his prayers; and they get the money to do so +by agreeing never to give the book, in the language our mothers taught +us, to any negro, free or bond, south of Mason and Dixon's line. The +press says, "It is all right"; and the pulpit cries, "Amen." The slave +lifts up his imploring eyes, and sees in every face but ours the face +of an enemy. Prove to me now that harsh rebuke, indignant denunciation, +scathing sarcasm, and pitiless ridicule are wholly and always +unjustifiable; else we dare not, in so desperate a case, throw away any +weapon which ever broke up the crust of an ignorant prejudice, roused a +slumbering conscience, shamed a proud sinner, or changed in any way the +conduct of a human being. Our aim is to alter public opinion. Did we +live in a market, our talk should be of dollars and cents, and we would +seek to prove only that slavery was an unprofitable investment. Were +the nation one great, pure church, we would sit down and reason of +"righteousness, temperance, and judgment to come." Had slavery fortified +itself in a college, we would load our cannons with cold facts, and +wing our arrows with arguments. But we happen to live in the world,--the +world made up of thought and impulse, of self-conceit and self-interest, +of weak men and wicked. To conquer, we must reach all. Our object is not +to make every man a Christian or a philosopher, but to induce every one +to aid in the abolition of slavery. We expect to accomplish our object +long before the nation is made over into saints or elevated into +philosophers. To change public opinion, we use the very tools by which +it was formed. That is, all such as an honest man may touch. + +All this I am not only ready to allow, but I should be ashamed to think +of the slave, or to look into the face of my fellow-man, if it +were otherwise. It is the only thing which justifies us to our own +consciences, and makes us able to say we have done, or at least tried to +do, our duty. + +So far, however you distrust my philosophy, you will not doubt my +statements. That we have denounced and rebuked with unsparing fidelity +will not be denied. Have we not also addressed ourselves to that other +duty, of arguing our question thoroughly?--of using due discretion and +fair sagacity in endeavoring to promote our cause? Yes, we have. Every +statement we have made has been doubted. Every principle we have laid +down has been denied by overwhelming majorities against us. No one step +has ever been gained but by the most laborious research and the most +exhausting argument. And no question has ever, since Revolutionary days, +been so thoroughly investigated or argued here, as that of slavery. Of +that research and that argument, of the whole of it, the old-fashioned, +fanatical, crazy Garrisonian antislavery movement has been the author. +From this band of men has proceeded every important argument or idea +which has been broached on the antislavery question from 1830 to the +present time. I am well aware of the extent of the claim I make. I +recognize, as fully as any one can, the ability of the new laborers, the +eloquence and genius with which they have recommended this cause to the +nation, and flashed conviction home on the conscience of the community. +I do not mean, either, to assert that they have in every instance +borrowed from our treasury their facts and arguments. Left to +themselves, they would probably have looked up the one and originated +the other. As a matter of fact, however, they have generally made use +of the materials collected to their hands. * * * When once brought fully +into the struggle, they have found it necessary to adopt the same means, +to rely on the same arguments, to hold up the same men and the same +measures to public reprobation, with the same bold rebuke and unsparing +invective that we have used. All their conciliatory bearing, their +painstaking moderation, their constant and anxious endeavor to draw a +broad line between their camp and ours, have been thrown away. Just so +far as they have been effective laborers, they have found, as we have, +their hands against every man, and every man's hand against them. The +most experienced of them are ready to acknowledge that our plan has been +wise, our course efficient, and that our unpopularity is no fault of +ours, but flows necessarily and unavoidably from our position. "I should +suspect," says old Fuller, "that his preaching had no salt in it, if no +galled horse did wince." Our friends find, after all, that men do not +so much hate us as the truth we utter and the light we bring. They find +that the community are not the honest seekers after truth which they +fancied, but selfish politicians and sectarian bigots, who shiver, like +Alexander's butler, whenever the sun shines on them. Experience has +driven these new laborers back to our method. We have no quarrel with +them--would not steal one wreath of their laurels. All we claim is, +that, if they are to be complimented as prudent, moderate, Christian, +sagacious, statesmanlike reformers, we deserve the same praise; for they +have done nothing that we, in our measure, did not attempt before. + +I claim this, that the cause, in its recent aspect, has put on nothing +but timidity. It has taken to itself no new weapons of recent years; it +has become more compromising,--that is all! It has become neither more +persuasive, more earnest, more Christian, more charitable, nor more +effective than for the twenty years pre-ceding. Mr. Hale, the head of +the Free Soil movement, after a career in the Senate that would do honor +to any man,--after a six years' course which entitles him to the respect +and confidence of the antislavery public, can put his name, within +the last month, to an appeal from the city of Washington, signed by a +Houston and a Cass, for a monument to be raised to Henry Clay! If that +be the test of charity and courtesy, we cannot give it to the world. +Some of the leaders of the Free Soil party of Massachusetts, after +exhausting the whole capacity of our language to paint the treachery of +Daniel Webster to the cause of liberty, and the evil they thought he was +able and seeking to do,--after that, could feel it in their hearts to +parade themselves in the funeral procession got up to do him honor! In +this we allow we cannot follow them. The deference which every gentleman +owes to the proprieties of social life, that self-respect and regard to +consistency which is every man's duty,--these, if no deeper feelings, +will ever prevent us from giving such proofs of this newly invented +Christian courtesy. We do not play politics, antislavery is no half-jest +with us; it is a terrible earnest, with life or death, worse than life +or death, on the issue. It is no lawsuit, where it matters not to the +good feeling of opposing counsel which way the verdict goes, and where +advocates can shake hands after the decision as pleasantly as before. +When we think of such a man as Henry Clay, his long life, his mighty +influence cast always into the scale against the slave, of that +irresistible fascination with which he moulded every one to his will; +when we remember that, his conscience acknowledging the justice of our +cause, and his heart open on every other side to the gentlest impulses, +he could sacrifice so remorselessly his convictions and the welfare of +millions to his low ambition; when we think how the slave trembled at +the sound of his voice, and that, from a multitude of breaking hearts +there went up nothing but gratitude to God when it pleased him to call +that great sinner from this world, we cannot find it in our hearts, we +could not shape our lips to ask any man to do him honor. No amount of +eloquence, no sheen of official position, no loud grief of partisan +friends, would ever lead us to ask monuments or walk in fine processions +for pirates; and the sectarian zeal or selfish ambition which gives up, +deliberately and in full knowledge of the facts, three million of human +beings to hopeless ignorance, daily robbery, systematic prostitution, +and murder, which the law is neither able nor undertakes to prevent +or avenge, is more monstrous, in our eyes, than the love of gold which +takes a score of lives with merciful quickness on the high seas. Haynau +on the Danube is no more hateful to us than Haynau on the Potomac. Why +give mobs to one and monuments to the other? + +If these things be necessary to courtesy, I cannot claim that we are +courteous. We seek only to be honest men, and speak the same of the dead +as of the living. If the grave that hides their bodies could swallow +also the evil they have done and the example they leave, we might enjoy +at least the luxury of forgetting them. But the evil that men do lives +after them, and example acquires tenfold authority when it speaks from +the grave. History, also, is to be written. How shall a feeble minority, +without weight or influence in the country, with no jury of millions to +appeal to--denounced, vilified, and contemned,--how shall we make way +against the overwhelming weight of some colossal reputation, if we do +not turn from the idolatrous present, and appeal to the human race? +saying to your idols of to-day: "Here we are defeated; but we will write +our judgment with the iron pen of a century to come, and it shall never +be forgotten, if we can help it, that you were false in your generation +to the claims of the slave!" * * * + +We are weak here,--out-talked, out-voted. You load our names with +infamy, and shout us down. But our words bide their time. We warn the +living that we have terrible memories, and their sins are never to be +forgotten. We will gibbet the name of every apostate so black and high +that his children's children shall blush to bear it. Yet we bear no +malice,--cherish no resentment. We thank God that the love of fame, +"that last infirmity of noble minds," is shared by the ignoble. In our +necessity, we seize this weapon in the slave's behalf, and teach caution +to the living by meting out relentless justice to the dead. * * * +"These, Mr. Chairman, are the reasons why, we take care that 'the memory +of the wicked shall rot.'" + +I have claimed that the antislavery cause has, from the first, been ably +and dispassionately argued, every objection candidly examined, and every +difficulty or doubt anywhere honestly entertained treated with respect. +Let me glance at the literature of the cause, and try not so much, in +a brief hour, to prove this assertion, as to point out the sources from +which any one may satisfy himself of its truth. + +I will begin with certainly the ablest and perhaps the most honest +statesman who has ever touched the slave question. Any one who will +examine John Quincy Adams' speech on Texas, in 1838, will see that +he was only seconding the full and able exposure of the Texas plot, +prepared by Benjamin Lundy, to one of whose pamphlets Dr. Channing, +in his "Letter to Henry Clay," has confessed his obligation. Every one +acquainted with those years will allow that the North owes its earliest +knowledge and first awakening on that subject to Mr. Lundy, who made +long journeys and devoted years to the investigation. His labors have +this attestation, that they quickened the zeal and strengthened the +hands of such men as Adams and Channing. I have been told that Mr. Lundy +prepared a brief for Mr. Adams, and furnished him the materials for his +speech on Texas. + +Look next at the right of petition. Long before any member of Congress +had opened his mouth in its defence, the Abolition presses and lecturers +had examined and defended the limits of this right with profound +historical research and eminent constitutional ability. So thoroughly +had the work been done, that all classes of the people had made up their +minds about it long before any speaker of eminence had touched it in +Congress. The politicians were little aware of this. When Mr. Adams +threw himself so gallantly into the breach, it is said he wrote +anxiously home to know whether he would be supported in Massachusetts, +little aware of the outburst of popular gratitude which the northern +breeze was even then bringing him, deep and cordial enough to wipe away +the old grudge Massachusetts had borne him so long. Mr. Adams himself +was only in favor of receiving the petitions, and advised to refuse +their prayer, which was the abolition of slavery in the District of +Columbia. He doubted the power of Congress to abolish. His doubts were +examined by Mr. William Goodell, in two letters of most acute logic, +and of masterly ability. If Mr. Adams still retained his doubts, it is +certain at least that he never expressed them afterward. When Mr. Clay +paraded the same objections, the whole question of the power of Congress +over the District was treated by Theodore D. Weld in the fullest manner, +and with the widest research,--indeed, leaving nothing to be added: +an argument which Dr. Channing characterized as "demonstration," and +pronounced the essay "one of the ablest pamphlets from the American +press." No answer was ever attempted. The best proof of its ability is +that no one since has presumed to doubt the power. Lawyers and statesmen +have tacitly settled down into its full acknowledgment. + +The influence of the Colonization Society on the welfare of the colored +race was the first question our movement encountered. To the close +logic, eloquent appeals, and fully sustained charges of Mr. Garrison's +letters on that subject no answer was ever made. Judge Jay followed +with a work full and able, establishing every charge by the most patient +investigation of facts. It is not too much to say of these two volumes, +that they left the Colonization Society hopeless at the North. It dares +never show its face before the people, and only lingers in some few +nooks of sectarian pride, so secluded from the influence of present +ideas as to be almost fossil in their character. + +The practical working of the slave system, the slave laws, the treatment +of slaves, their food, the duration of their lives, their ignorance and +moral condition, and the influence of Southern public opinion on their +fate, have been spread out in a detail and with a fulness of evidence +which no subject has ever received before in this country. Witness the +words of Phelps, Bourne, Rankin, Grimke, the _Anti-slavery Record_, and, +above all, that encyclopaedia of facts and storehouse of arguments, the +_Thousand Witnesses_ of Mr. Theodore D. Weld. He also prepared that full +and valuable tract for the World's Convention called _Slavery and the +Internal Slave-Trade_ in the United States, published in London in 1841. +Unique in antislavery literature is Mrs. Child's _Appeal_, one of the +ablest of our weapons, and one of the finest efforts of her rare genius. + +_The Princeton Review_, I believe, first challenged the Abolitionists +to an investigation of the teachings of the Bible on slavery. That field +had been somewhat broken by our English predecessors. But in England the +pro-slavery party had been soon shamed out of the attempt to drag the +Bible into their service, and hence the discussion there had been short +and some-what superficial. The pro-slavery side of the question has been +eagerly sustained by theological reviews and doctors of divinity without +number, from the half-way and timid faltering of Wayland up to the +unblushing and melancholy recklessness of Stuart. The argument on the +other side has come wholly from the Abolitionists; for neither Dr. Hague +nor Dr. Barnes can be said to have added any thing to the wide research, +critical acumen, and comprehensive views of Theodore D. Weld, Beriah +Green, J. G. Fee, and the old work of Duncan. + +On the constitutional questions which have at various times arisen,--the +citizenship of the colored man, the soundness of the "Prigg" decision, +the constitutionality of the old Fugitive Slave Law, the true +construction of the slave-surrender clause,--nothing has been added, +either in the way of fact or argument, to the works of Jay, Weld, Alvan +Stewart, E. G. Loring, S. E. Sewall, Richard Hildreth, W. I. Bowditch, +the masterly essays of the _Emancipator_ at New York and the _Liberator_ +at Boston, and the various addresses of the Massachusetts and American +Societies for the last twenty years. The idea of the antislavery +character of the Constitution,--the opiate with which Free Soil quiets +its conscience for voting under a pro-slavery government,--I heard first +suggested by Mr. Garrison in 1838. It was elaborately argued that +year in all our antislavery gatherings, both here and in New York, and +sustained with great ability by Alvan Stewart, and in part by T. D. +Weld. The antislavery construction of the Constitution was ably argued +in 1836, in the _Antislavery Magazine_, by Rev. Samuel J. May, one of +the very first to seek the side of Mr. Garrison, and pledge to the slave +his life and efforts,--a pledge which thirty years of devoted labors +have redeemed. If it has either merit or truth, they are due to no +legal learning recently added to our ranks, but to some of the old +and well-known pioneers. This claim has since received the fullest +investigation from Mr. Lysander Spooner, who has urged it with all his +unrivalled ingenuity, laborious research, and close logic. He writes +as a lawyer, and has no wish, I believe, to be ranked with any class of +anti-slavery men. + +The influence of slavery on our Government has received the profoundest +philosophical investigation from the pen of Richard Hildreth, in his +invaluable essay on _Despotism in America_,--a work which deserves a +place by the side of the ablest political disquisitions of any age. + +Even the vigorous mind of Rantoul, the ablest man, without doubt, of +the Democratic party, and perhaps the ripest politician in New England, +added little or nothing to the store-house of antislavery argument. * +* * His speeches on our question, too short and too few, are remarkable +for their compact statement, iron logic, bold denunciation, and the +wonderful light thrown back upon our history. Yet how little do they +present which was not familiar for years in our anti-slavery +meetings! Look, too, at the last great effort of the idol of so many +thousands,--Mr. Senator Sumner,--the discussion of a great national +question, of which it has been said that we must go back to Webster's +reply to Hayne, and Fisher Ames on the Jay treaty, to find its equal in +Congress,--praise which we might perhaps qualify, if any adequate report +were left us of some of the noble orations of Adams. No one can be blind +to the skilful use he has made of his materials, the consummate ability +with which he has marshalled them, and the radiant glow which his genius +has thrown over all. Yet, with the exception of his reference to the +antislavery debate in Congress in 1817, there is hardly a train of +thought or argument, and no single fact in the whole speech, which has +not been familiar in our meetings and essays for the last ten +years. * * * + +The relations of the American Church to slavery, and the duties of +private Christians, the whole casuistry of this portion of the question, +so momentous among descendants of the Puritans,--have been discussed +with great acuteness and rare common-sense by Messrs. Garrison, Goodell, +Gerrit Smith, Pillsbury, and Foster. They have never attempted to judge +the American Church by any standard except that which she has herself +laid down,--never claimed that she should be perfect, but have contented +themselves by demanding that she should be consistent. They have never +judged her except out of her own mouth, and on facts asserted by her +own presses and leaders. The sundering of the Methodist and Baptist +denominations, and the universal agitation of the religious world, +are the best proof of the sagacity with which their measures have been +chosen, the cogent arguments they have used, and the indisputable +facts on which their criticisms have been founded. In nothing have the +Abolitionists shown more sagacity or more thorough knowledge of their +countrymen than in the course they have pursued in relation to the +Church. None but a New-Englander can appreciate the power which church +organizations wield over all who share the blood of the Puritans. The +influence of each sect over its own members is overwhelming, often +shutting out, or controlling, all other influences. We have Popes here, +all the more dangerous because no triple crown puts you on your guard. +* * * In such a land, the Abolitionists early saw, that, for a moral +question like theirs, only two paths lay open: to work through the +Church; that failing, to join battle with it. Some tried long, like +Luther, to be Protestants, and yet not come out of Catholicism; but +their eyes were soon opened. Since then we have been convinced that, to +come out from the Church, to hold her up as the bulwark of slavery, and +to make her shortcomings the main burden of our appeals to the religious +sentiment of the community, was our first duty and best policy. This +course alienated many friends, and was a subject of frequent rebuke from +such men as Dr. Channing. But nothing has ever more strengthened the +cause, or won it more influence; and it has had the healthiest effect on +the Church itself. * * * + +Unable to command a wide circulation for our books and journals, we have +been obliged to bring ourselves into close contact with the people, and +to rely mainly on public addresses. These have been our most efficient +instrumentality. For proof that these addresses have been full of +pertinent facts, sound sense, and able arguments, we must necessarily +point to results, and demand to be tried by our fruits. Within these +last twenty years it has been very rare that any fact stated by our +lecturers has been disproved, or any statement of theirs successfully +impeached. And for evidence of the soundness, simplicity, and pertinency +of their arguments we can only claim that our converts and co-laborers +throughout the land have at least the reputation of being specially able +"to give a reason for the faith that is in them." + +I remember that when, in 1845, the present leaders of the Free Soil +party, with Daniel Webster in their company, met to draw up the +Anti-Texas Address of the Massachusetts Convention, they sent to +Abolitionists for anti-slavery facts and history, for the remarkable +testimonies of our Revolutionary great men which they wished to quote. +When, many years ago, the Legislature of Massachusetts wished to send to +Congress a resolution affirming the duty of immediate emancipation, the +committee sent to William Lloyd Garrison to draw it up, and it stands +now on our statute-book as he drafted it. + +How vigilantly, how patiently, did we watch the Texas plot from its +commencement! The politic South felt that its first move had been too +bold, and thenceforward worked underground. For many a year men laughed +at us for entertaining any apprehensions. It was impossible to rouse the +North to its peril. David Lee Child was thought crazy because he would +not believe there was no danger. His elaborate "_Letters on Texas +Annexation_" are the ablest and most valuable contribution that has +been made toward a history of the whole plot. Though we foresaw and +proclaimed our conviction that annexation would be, in the end, a fatal +step for the South, we did not feel at liberty to relax our opposition, +well knowing the vast increase of strength it would give, at first, to +the slave power. I remember being one of a committee which waited +on Abbott Lawrence, a year or so only before annexation, to ask his +countenance to some general movement, without distinction of party, +against the Texas scheme. He smiled at our fears, begged us to have +no apprehensions; stating that his correspondence with leading men at +Washington enabled him to assure us annexation was impossible, and that +the South itself was determined to defeat the project. A short time +after, Senators and Representatives from Texas took their seats in +Congress! + +Many of these services to the slave were done before I joined his cause. +In thus referring to them, do not suppose me merely seeking occasion of +eulogy on my predecessors and present co-laborers. I recall these things +only to rebut the contemptuous criticism which some about us make the +excuse for their past neglect of the movement, and in answer to +"Ion's" representation of our course as reckless fanaticism, childish +impatience, utter lack of good sense, and of our meetings as scenes only +of excitement, of reckless and indiscriminate denunciation. I assert +that every social, moral, economical, religious, political, and +historical aspect of the question has been ably and patiently examined. +And all this has been done with an industry and ability which have left +little for the professional skill, scholarly culture, and historical +learning of the new laborers to accomplish. If the people are still in +doubt, it is from the inherent difficulty of the subject, or a hatred of +light, not from want of it. * * * + +Sir, when a nation sets itself to do evil, and all its leading forces, +wealth, party, and piety, join in the career, it is impossible but that +those who offer a constant opposition should be hated and maligned, no +matter how wise, cautious, and well planned their course may be. We +are peculiar sufferers in this way. The community has come to hate its +reproving Nathan so bitterly, that even those whom the relenting part of +it are beginning to regard as standard-bearers of the antislavery host +think it unwise to avow any connection or sympathy with him. I refer to +some of the leaders of the political movement against slavery. They feel +it to be their mission to marshal and use as effectively as possible +the present convictions of the people. They cannot afford to encumber +themselves with the odium which twenty years of angry agitation have +engendered in great sects sore from unsparing rebuke, parties galled by +constant defeat, and leading men provoked by unexpected exposure. They +are willing to confess, privately, that our movement produced theirs, +and that its continued existence is the very breath of their life. But, +at the same time, they would fain walk on the road without being soiled +by too close contact with the rough pioneers who threw it up. They are +wise and honorable, and their silence is very expressive. + +When I speak of their eminent position and acknowledged ability, another +thought strikes me. Who converted these men and their distinguished +associates? It is said we have shown neither sagacity in plans, +nor candor in discussion, nor ability. Who, then, or what converted +Burlingame and Wilson, Sumner and Adams, Palfrey and Mann, Chase and +Hale, and Phillips and Giddings? Who taught the _Christian Register_, +the _Daily Advertiser_, and that class of prints, that there were such +things as a slave and a slave-holder in the land, and so gave them some +more intelligent basis than their mere instincts to hate William Lloyd +Garrison? What magic wand was it whose touch made the todying servility +of the land start up the real demon that it was, and at the same +time gathered into the slave's service the professional ability, ripe +culture, and personal integrity which grace the Free Soil ranks? We +never argue! These men, then, were converted by simple denunciation! +They were all converted by the "hot," "reckless," "ranting," "bigoted," +"fanatic" Garrison, who never troubled himself about facts, nor stopped +to argue with an opponent, but straightway knocked him down! My old +and valued friend, Mr. Sumner, often boasts that he was a reader of the +_Liberator_ before I was. Do not criticise too much the agency by which +such men were converted. That blade has a double edge. Our reckless +course, our empty rant, our fanaticism, has made Abolitionists of some +of the best and ablest men in the land. We are inclined to go on, and +see if, even with such poor tools, we cannot make some more. Antislavery +zeal and the roused conscience of the "godless comeouters" made the +trembling South demand the Fugitive Slave Law, and the Fugitive Slave +Law provoked Mrs. Stowe to the good work of "Uncle Tom." That is +something! Let me say, in passing, that you will nowhere find an earlier +or more generous appreciation, or more flowing eulogy, of these men and +their labors, than in the columns of the _Liberator_. No one, however +feeble, has ever peeped or muttered, in any quarter, that the vigilant +eye of the _Pioneer_ has not recognized him. He has stretched out the +right hand of a most cordial welcome the moment any man's face was +turned Zionward. + +I do not mention these things to praise Mr. Garrison; I do not stand +here for that purpose. You will not deny--if you do, I can prove +it--that the movement of the Abolitionists converted these men. Their +constituents were converted by it. The assault upon the right of +petition, upon the right to print and speak of slavery, the denial of +the right of Congress over the District, the annexation of Texas, +the Fugitive Slave Law, were measures which the anti-slavery movement +provoked, and the discussion of which has made all the Abolitionists we +have. The antislavery cause, then, converted these men; it gave them a +constituency; it gave them an opportunity to speak, and it gave them a +public to listen. The antislavery cause gave them their votes, got them +their offices, furnished them their facts, gave them their audience. +If you tell me they cherished all these principles in their own breasts +before Mr. Garrison appeared, I can only say, if the anti-slavery +movement did not give them their ideas, it surely gave the courage to +utter them. + +In such circumstances, is it not singular that the name of William Lloyd +Garrison has never been pronounced on the floor of the United States +Congress linked with any epithet but that of contempt! No one of those +men who owe their ideas, their station, their audience, to him, +have ever thought it worth their while to utter one word in grateful +recognition of the power which called them into being. When obliged, by +the course of their argument, to treat the question historically, they +can go across the water to Clarkson and Wilberforce--yes, to a safe +salt-water distance. As Daniel Webster, when he was talking to the +farmers of Western New York, and wished to contrast slave labor and free +labor, did not dare to compare New York with Virginia--sister States, +under the same government, planted by the same race, worshipping at the +same altar, speaking the same language--identical in all respects, save +that one in which he wished to seek the contrast; but no; he compared +it with Cuba--the contrast was so close! Catholic--Protestant; +Spanish--Saxon; despotism--municipal institutions; readers of Lope de +Vega and of Shakespeare; mutterers of the Mass--children of the Bible! +But Virginia is too near home! So is Garrison! One would have thought +there was something in the human breast which would sometimes break +through policy. These noble-hearted men whom I have named must surely +have found quite irksome the constant practice of what Dr. Gardiner used +to call "that despicable virtue, prudence." One would have thought, when +they heard that name spoken with contempt, their ready eloquence would +have leaped from its scabbard to avenge even a word that threatened +him with insult. But it never came--never! I do not say I blame them. +Perhaps they thought they should serve the cause better by drawing a +broad black line between themselves and him. Perhaps they thought the +Devil could be cheated: I do not! + + * * * * * + +Caution is not always good policy in a cause like ours. It is said that, +when Napoleon saw the day going against him, he used to throw away +all the rules of war, and trust himself to the hot impetuosity of his +soldiers. The masses are governed more by impulse than conviction, and +even were it not so, the convictions of most men are on our side, +and this will surely appear, if we can only pierce the crust of their +prejudice or indifference. I observe that our Free Soil friends never +stir their audience so deeply as when some individual leaps beyond the +platform, and strikes upon the very heart of the people. Men listen to +discussions of laws and tactics with ominous patience. It is when Mr. +Sumner, in Faneuil Hall, avows his determination to disobey the +Fugitive Slave Law, and cries out: "I was a man before I was a +Commissioner,"--when Mr. Giddings says of the fall of slavery, quoting +Adams: "Let it come. If it must come in blood, yet I say let it +come!"--that their associates on the platform are sure they are +wrecking the party,--while many a heart beneath beats its first pulse of +anti-slavery life. + +These are brave words. When I compare them with the general tone of Free +Soil men in Congress, I distrust the atmosphere of Washington and of +politics. These men move about, Sauls and Goliaths among us, taller by +many a cubit. There they lose port and stature. Mr. Sumner's speech +in the Senate unsays no part of his Faneuil Hall pledge. But, though +discussing the same topic, no one would gather from any word or argument +that the speaker ever took such ground as he did in Faneuil Hall. It +is all through, the law, the manner of the surrender, not the surrender +itself, of the slave, that he objects to. As my friend Mr. Pillsbury +so forcibly says, so far as any thing in the speech shows, he puts the +slave behind the jury trial, behind the habeas corpus act, and behind +the new interpretation of the Constitution, and says to the slave +claimant: "You must get through all these before you reach him; but, if +you can get through all these, you may have him!" It was no tone like +this which made the old Hall rock! Not if he got through twelve jury +trials, and forty habeas corpus acts, and constitutions built high +as yonder monument, would he permit so much as the shadow of a little +finger of the slave claimant to touch the slave! At least so he was +understood. * * * + +Mr. Mann, in his speech of February 5, 1850, says: "The States being +separated, I would as soon return my own brother or sister into bondage, +as I would return a fugitive slave. Before God, and Christ, and all +Christian men, they are my brothers and sisters." What a condition! From +the lips, too, of a champion of the Higher Law! Whether the States +be separate or united, neither my brother nor any other man's brother +shall, with my consent, go back to bondage! So speaks the heart--Mr. +Mann's version is that of the politician. + +This seems to me a very mistaken strain. Whenever slavery is banished +from our national jurisdiction, it will be a momentous gain, a vast +stride. But let us not mistake the half-way house for the end of the +journey. I need not say that it matters not to Abolitionists under what +special law slavery exists. Their battle lasts while it exists anywhere, +and I doubt not Mr. Sumner and Mr. Giddings feel themselves enlisted +for the whole war. I will even suppose, what neither of these gentlemen +states, that their plan includes not only that slavery shall be +abolished in the District and Territories but that the slave basis +of representation shall be struck from the Constitution, and the +slave-surrender clause construed away. But even then does Mr. Giddings +or Mr. Sumner really believe that slavery, existing in its full force in +the States, "will cease to vex our national politics?" Can they point to +any State where a powerful oligarchy, possessed of immense wealth, has +ever existed without attempting to meddle in the government? Even now, +does not manufacturing, banking, and commercial capital perpetually vex +our politics? Why should not slave capital exert the same influence? +Do they imagine that a hundred thousand men, possessed of two thousand +millions of dollars, which they feel the spirit of the age is seeking +to tear from their grasp, will not eagerly catch at all the support they +can obtain by getting the control of the government? In a land where the +dollar is almighty, "where the sin of not being rich is only atoned for +by the effort to become so," do they doubt that such an oligarchy will +generally succeed? Besides, banking and manufacturing stocks are not +urged by despair to seek a controlling influence in politics. They know +they are about equally safe, whichever party rules--that no party wishes +to legislate their rights away. Slave property knows that its being +allowed to exist depends on its having the virtual control of the +government. Its constant presence in politics is dictated, therefore, +by despair, as well as by the wish to secure fresh privileges. Money, +however, is not the only strength of the slave power. That, indeed, were +enough, in an age when capitalists are our feudal barons. But, though +driven entirely from national shelter, the slave-holders would have the +strength of old associations, and of peculiar laws in their own States, +which give those States wholly into their hands. A weaker prestige, +fewer privileges, and less comparative wealth, have enabled the British +aristocracy to rule England for two centuries, though the root of their +strength was cut at Naseby. It takes ages for deeply-rooted institutions +to die; and driving slavery into the States will hardly be our Naseby. * +* * + +And Mr. Sumner "knows no better aim, under the Constitution, than to +bring back the government to where it was in 1789!" Has the voyage been +so very honest and prosperous a one, in his opinion, that his only +wish is to start again with the same ship, the same crew, and the same +sailing orders? Grant all he claims as to the state of public opinion, +the intentions of leading men, and the form of our institutions at that +period; still, with all these checks on wicked men, and helps to good +ones, here we are, in 1853, according to his own showing, ruled by +slavery, tainted to the core with slavery, and binding the infamous +Fugitive Slave Law like an honorable frontlet on our brows. The more +accurate and truthful his glowing picture of the public virtue of 1789, +the stronger my argument. If even all those great patriots, and all that +enthusiasm for justice and liberty, did not avail to keep us safe +in such a Union, what will? In such desperate circumstances, can his +statesmanship devise no better aim than to try the same experiment over +again, under precisely the same conditions? What new guaranties does he +propose to prevent the voyage from being again turned into a piratical +slave-trading cruise? None! Have sixty years taught us nothing? In 1660, +the English thought, in recalling Charles II., that the memory of that +scaffold which had once darkened the windows of Whitehall would be +guaranty enough for his good behavior. But, spite of the spectre, +Charles II. repeated Charles I., and James outdid him. Wiser by this +experience, when the nation in 1689 got another chance, they trusted +to no guaranties, but so arranged the very elements of their government +that William III. could not repeat Charles I. Let us profit by the +lesson. * * * + +If all I have said to you is untrue, if I have exaggerated, explain to +me this fact. In 1831, Mr. Garrison commenced a paper advocating the +doctrine of immediate emancipation. He had against him the thirty +thousand churches and all the clergy of the country,--its wealth, its +commerce, its press. In 1831, what was the state of things? There was +the most entire ignorance and apathy on the slave question. If men +knew of the existence of slavery, it was only as a part of picturesque +Virginia life. No one preached, no one talked, no one wrote about it. No +whisper of it stirred the surface of the political sea. The church heard +of it occasionally, when some colonization agent asked funds to send +the blacks to Africa. Old school-books tainted with some antislavery +selections had passed out of use, and new ones were compiled to suit the +times. Soon as any dissent from the prevailing faith appeared, every one +set himself to crush it. The pulpits preached at it; the press denounced +it; mobs tore down houses, threw presses into the fire and the stream, +and shot the editors; religious conventions tried to smother it; parties +arrayed themselves against it. Daniel Webster boasted in the Senate, +that he had never introduced the subject of slavery to that body, and +never would. Mr. Clay, in 1839, makes a speech for the Presidency, in +which he says, that to discuss the subject of slavery is moral treason, +and that no man has a right to introduce the subject into Congress. +Mr. Benton, in 1844, laid down his platform, and he not only denies the +right, but asserts that he never has and never will discuss the subject. +Yet Mr. Clay, from 1839 down to his death, hardly made a remarkable +speech of any kind, except on slavery. Mr. Webster, having indulged now +and then in a little easy rhetoric, as at Niblo's and elsewhere, opens +his mouth in 1840, generously contributing his aid to both sides, and +stops talking about it only when death closes his lips. Mr. Benton's +six or eight speeches in the United States Senate have all been on the +subject of slavery in the Southwestern section of the country, and form +the basis of whatever claim he has to the character of a statesman, and +he owes his seat in the next Congress somewhat, perhaps, to anti-slavery +pretentions! The Whig and Democratic parties pledged themselves just as +emphatically against the antislavery discussion,--against agitation and +free speech. These men said: "It sha'n't be talked about; it won't be +talked about!" These are your statesmen!--men who understand the present +that is, and mould the future! The man who understands his own time, and +whose genius moulds the future to his views, he is a statesman, is he +not? These men devoted themselves to banks, to the tariff, to internal +improvements, to constitutional and financial questions. They said to +slavery: "Back! no entrance here! We pledge ourselves against you." +And then there came up a little printer-boy, who whipped them into +the traces, and made them talk, like Hotspur's starling, nothing +BUT slavery. He scattered all these gigantic shadows,--tariff, bank, +constitutional questions, financial questions; and slavery, like +the colossal head in Walpole's romance, came up and filled the whole +political horizon! Yet you must remember he is not a statesman! he is +a "fanatic." He has no discipline,--Mr. "Ion" says so; he does not +understand the "discipline that is essential to victory"! This man did +not understand his own time, he did not know what the future was to +be,--he was not able to shape it--he had no "prudence,"--he had no +"foresight"! Daniel Webster says, "I have never introduced this subject, +and never will,"--and dies broken-hearted because he had not been +able to talk enough about it! Benton says, "I will never speak of +slavery,"--and lives to break with his party on this issue! Clay says it +is "moral treason" to introduce the subject into Congress--and lives to +see Congress turned into an antislavery debating society, to suit the +purpose of one "too powerful individual." * * * Remember who it was +that said in 1831: "I am in earnest--I will not equivocate--I will not +excuse--I will not retreat a single inch--and I will be heard!" That +speaker has lived twenty-two years, and the complaint of twenty-three +millions of people is, "Shall we never hear of any thing but slavery?" +* * * "Well, it is all HIS fault" [pointing to Mr. Garrison]. * * * It +seems to me that such men may point to the present aspect of the nation, +to their originally avowed purpose, to the pledges and efforts of all +your great men against them, and then let you determine to which side +the credit of sagacity and statesmanship belongs. Napoleon busied +himself at St. Helena in showing how Wellington ought to have conquered +at Waterloo. The world has never got time to listen to the explanation. +Sufficient for it that the allies entered Paris. + +It may sound strange to some, this claim for Mr. Garrison of a profound +statesmanship. "Men have heard him styled a mere fanatic so long +that they are incompetent to judge him fairly." "The phrases men are +accustomed," says Goethe, "to repeat incessantly, end by becoming +convictions, and ossify the organs of intelligence." I cannot accept +you, therefore, as my jury. I appeal from Festus to Csar, from the +prejudice of our streets to the common-sense of the world, and to your +children. + +Every thoughtful and unprejudiced mind must see that such an evil as +slavery will yield only to the most radical treatment. If you consider +the work we have to do, you will not think us needlessly aggressive, +or that we dig down unnecessarily deep in laying the foundations of our +enterprise. A money power of two thousand millions of dollars, as the +prices of slaves now range, held by a small body of able and desperate +men; that body raised into a political aristocracy by special +constitutional provisions; cotton, the product of slave labor, forming +the basis of our whole foreign commerce, and the commercial class thus +subsidized; the press bought up, the pulpit reduced to vassalage, the +heart of the common people chilled by a bitter prejudice against the +black race; our leading men bribed, by ambition, either to silence or +open hostility;--in such a land, on what shall an Abolitionist rely? +On a few cold prayers, mere lip-service, and never from the heart? On +a church resolution, hidden often in its records, and meant only as a +decent cover for servility in daily practice? On political parties, with +their superficial influence at best, and seeking ordinarily only to use +existing prejudices to the best advantage? Slavery has deeper root here +than any aristocratic institution has in Europe; and politics is but the +common pulse-beat, of which revolution is the fever-spasm. Yet we have +seen European aristocracy survive storms which seemed to reach down +to the primal strata of European life. Shall we, then, trust to mere +politics, where even revolution has failed? How shall the stream rise +above its fountain? Where shall our church organizations or parties +get strength to attack their great parent and moulder, the slave power? +Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it, Why hast thou made me +thus? The old jest of one who tried to lift himself in his own basket, +is but a tame picture of the man who imagines that, by working solely +through existing sects and parties, he can destroy slavery. Mechanics +say nothing, but an earthquake strong enough to move all Egypt can bring +down the pyramids. + +Experience has confirmed these views. The Abolitionists who have acted +on them have a "short method" with all unbelievers. They have but to +point to their own success, in contrast with every other man's failure. +To waken the nation to its real state, and chain it to the consideration +of this one duty, is half the work. So much we have done. Slavery has +been made the question of this generation. To startle the South to +madness, so that every step she takes, in her blindness, is one step +more toward ruin, is much. This we have done. Witness Texas and the +Fugitive Slave Law. + +To have elaborated for the nation the only plan of redemption, pointed +out the only exodus from this "sea of troubles," is much. This we claim +to have done in our motto of IMMEDIATE, UNCONDITIONAL, EMANCIPATION ON +THE SOIL. The closer any statesmanlike mind looks into the question, +the more favor our plan finds with it. The Christian asks fairly of +the infidel, "If this religion be not from God, how do you explain its +triumph, and the history of the first three centuries?" Our question +is similar. If our agitation has not been wisely planned and conducted, +explain for us the history of the last twenty years! Experience is a +safe light to walk by, and he is not a rash man who expects success in +future from the same means which have secured it in times past. + + + + +CHARLES SUMNER, + +OF MASSACHUSETTS. (BORN 1811, DIED 1874.) + +ON THE REPEAL OF THE FUGITIVE SLAVE LAW-- + +IN THE UNITED STATES SENATE, AUGUST 26, 1852. + + +THURSDAY, 26TH AUGUST, 1852.--The Civil and Diplomatic Appropriation +Bill being under consideration, the following amendment was moved by Mr. +Hunter, of Virginia, on the recommendation of the Committee on Finance: + +"That, where the ministerial officers of the United States have or shall +incur extraordinary expense in executing the laws thereof, the payment +of which is not specifically provided for, the President of the United +States is authorized to allow the payment thereof, under the special +taxation of the District or Circuit Court of the District in which +the said services have been or shall be rendered, to be paid from the +appropriation for defraying the expenses of the Judiciary." + +Mr. Sumner seized the opportunity for which he had been waiting, and at +once moved the following amendment to the amendment: + +"Provided, That no such allowance shall be authorized for any expenses +incurred in executing the Act of September 18, 1850, for the surrender +of fugitives from service or labor; which said Act is hereby repealed." + +On this he took the floor, and spoke as follows: + + +MR. PRESIDENT, + +Here is a provision for extraordinary expense incurred in executing the +laws of the United States. Extraordinary expenses! Sir, beneath these +specious words lurks the very subject on which, by a solemn vote of this +body, I was refused a hearing. Here it is; no longer open to the +charge of being an "abstraction," but actually presented for practical +legislation; not introduced by me, but by the Senator from Virginia (Mr. +Hunter), on the recommendation of an important committee of the Senate; +not brought forward weeks ago, when there was ample time for discussion, +but only at this moment, without any reference to the late period of +the session. The amendment which I offer proposes to remove one chief +occasion of these extraordinary expenses. Beyond all controversy or +cavil it is strictly in order. And now, at last, among these final, +crowded days of our duties here, but at this earliest opportunity, I +am to be heard,--not as a favor, but as a right. The graceful usages +of this body may be abandoned, but the established privileges of +debate cannot be abridged. Parliamentary courtesy may be forgotten, +but parliamentary law must prevail. The subject is broadly before the +Senate. By the blessing of God it shall be discussed. + +Sir, a severe lawgiver of early Greece vainly sought to secure +permanence for his imperfect institutions by providing that the citizen +who at any time attempted their repeal or alteration should appear in +the public assembly with a halter about his neck, ready to be drawn, +if his proposition failed. A tyrannical spirit among us, in unconscious +imitation of this antique and discarded barbarism, seeks to surround an +offensive institution with similar safeguard. + +In the existing distemper of the public mind, and at this present +juncture, no man can enter upon the service which I now undertake, +with-out personal responsibility, such as can be sustained only by +that sense of duty which, under God, is always our best support. That +personal responsibility I accept. Before the Senate and the country let +me be held accountable for this act and for every word which I utter. + +With me, Sir, there is no alternative. Painfully convinced of the +unutterable wrong and woe of Slavery,--profoundly believing, that, +according to the true spirit of the Constitution and the sentiments of +the Fathers, it can find no place under our National Government,--that +it is in every respect sectional, and in no respect national,--that it +is always and everywhere creature and dependent of the States, and never +anywhere creature or dependent of the Nation,--and that the Nation can +never, by legislative or other act, impart to it any support, under the +Constitution of the United States,--with these convictions I could +not allow this session to reach its close without making or seizing an +opportunity to declare myself openly against the usurpation, injustice, +and cruelty of the late intolerable enactment for the recovery of +fugitive slaves. Full well I know, Sir, the difficulties of this +discussion, arising from prejudices of opinion and from adverse +conclusions strong and sincere as my own. Full well I know that I am +in a small minority, with few here to whom I can look for sympathy or +support. Full well I know that I must utter things unwelcome to many +in this body, which I cannot do without pain. Full well I know that the +institution of Slavery in our country, which I now proceed to consider, +is as sensitive as it is powerful, possessing a power to shake the whole +land, with a sensitiveness that shrinks and trembles at the touch. But +while these things may properly prompt me to caution and reserve, they +cannot change my duty, or my determination to perform it. For this I +willingly forget myself and all personal consequences. The favor and +good-will of my fellow-citizens, of my brethren of the Senate, +Sir, grateful to me as they justly are, I am ready, if required, to +sacrifice. Whatever I am or may be I freely offer to this cause. + +Here allow, for one moment, a reference to myself and my position. Sir, +I have never been a politician. The slave of principles, I call no party +master. By sentiment, education, and conviction a friend of Human Rights +in their utmost expansion, I have ever most sincerely embraced the +Democratic Idea,--not, indeed, as represented or professed by any +party, but according to its real significance, as transfigured in the +Declaration of Independence and in the injunctions of Christianity. In +this idea I see no narrow advantage merely for individuals or classes, +but the sovereignty of the people, and the greatest happiness of all +secured by equal laws. Amidst the vicissitudes of public affairs I shall +hold fast always to this idea, and to any political party which truly +embraces it. + +Party does not constrain me; nor is my independence lessened by any +relations to the office which gives me a title to be heard on this +floor. Here, Sir, I speak proudly. By no effort, by no desire of my own, +I find myself a Senator of the United States. Never before have I held +public office of any kind. With the ample opportunities of private life +I was content. No tombstone for me could bear a fairer inscription than +this: "Here lies one who, without the honors or emoluments of public +station, did something for his fellowmen." From such simple aspirations +I was taken away by the free choice of my native Commonwealth, and +placed at this responsible post of duty, without personal obligation of +any kind, beyond what was implied in my life and published words. The +earnest friends by whose confidence I was first designated asked nothing +from me, and throughout the long conflict which ended in my election +rejoiced in the position which I most carefully guarded. To all my +language was uniform: that I did not desire to be brought forward; +that I would do nothing to promote the result; that I had no pledges or +promises to offer; that the office should seek me, and not I the office; +and that it should find me in all respects an independent man, bound to +no party and to no human being, but only, according to my best judgment, +to act for the good of all. Again, Sir, I speak with pride, both for +myself and others, when I add that these avowals found a sympathizing +response. In this spirit I have come here, and in this spirit I shall +speak to-day. + +Rejoicing in my independence, and claiming nothing from party ties, I +throw myself upon the candor and magnanimity of the Senate. I ask your +attention; I trust not to abuse it. I may speak strongly, for I shall +speak openly and from the strength of my convictions. I may speak warmly, +for I shall speak from the heart. But in no event can I forget the +amenities which belong to debate, and which especially become this body. +Slavery I must condemn with my whole soul; but here I need only borrow +the language of slaveholders; nor would it accord with my habits or +my sense of justice to exhibit them as the impersonation of the +institution--Jefferson calls it the "enormity"--which they cherish. +Of them I do not speak; but without fear and without favor, as without +impeachment of any person, I assail this wrong. Again, Sir, I may err; +but it will be with the Fathers. I plant myself on the ancient ways of +the Republic, with its grandest names, its surest landmarks, and all its +original altar-fires about me. + +And now, on the very threshold, I encounter the objection, that there +is a final settlement, in principle and substance, of the question of +slavery, and that all discussion of it is closed. Both the old political +parties, by formal resolutions, in recent conventions at Baltimore, have +united in this declaration. On a subject which for years has agitated +the public mind, which yet palpitates in every heart and burns on every +tongue, which in its immeasurable importance dwarfs all other subjects, +which by its constant and gigantic presence throws a shadow across +these halls, which at this very time calls for appropriations to meet +extraordinary expenses it has caused, they impose the rule of silence. +According to them, Sir, we may speak of everything except that alone +which is most present in all our minds. + +To this combined effort I might fitly reply, that, with flagrant +inconsistency, it challenges the very discussion it pretends to forbid. +Their very declaration, on the eve of an election, is, of course, +submitted to the consideration and ratification of the people. Debate, +inquiry, discussion, are the necessary consequence. Silence becomes +impossible. Slavery, which you profess to banish from public attention, +openly by your invitation enters every political meeting and every +political convention. Nay, at this moment it stalks into this Senate, +crying, like the daughters of the horseleech, "Give! give." + +But no unanimity of politicians can uphold the baseless assumption, that +a law, or any conglomerate of laws, under the name of compromise, or +howsoever called, is final. Nothing can be plainer than this,--that by +no parliamentary device or knot can any legislature tie the hands of +a succeeding legislature, so as to prevent the full exercise of its +constitutional powers. Each legislature, under a just sense of its +responsibility, must judge for itself; and if it think proper, it may +revise, or amend, or absolutely undo the work of any predecessor. +The laws of the Medes and Persians are said proverbially to have been +unalterable; but they stand forth in history as a single example where +the true principles of all law have been so irrationally defied. + +To make a law final, so as not to be reached by Congress, is, by mere +legislation, to fasten a new provision on the Constitution. Nay, more; +it gives to the law a character which the very Constitution does not +possess. The wise Fathers did not treat the country as a Chinese foot, +never to grow after infancy; but, anticipating progress, they +declared expressly that their great Act is not final. According to the +Constitution itself, there is not one of its existing provisions--not +even that with regard to fugitives from labor--which may not at all +times be reached by amendment, and thus be drawn into debate. This +is rational and just. Sir, nothing from man's hands, nor law, nor +constitution, can be final. Truth alone is final. + +Inconsistent and absurd, this effort is tyrannical also. The +responsibility for the recent Slave Act, and for slavery everywhere +within the jurisdiction of Congress, necessarily involves the right to +discuss them. To separate these is impossible. Like the twenty-fifth +rule of the House of Representatives against petitions on Slavery,--now +repealed and dishonored,--the Compromise, as explained and urged, is a +curtailment of the actual powers of legislation, and a perpetual +denial of the indisputable principle, that the right to deliberate is +coextensive with the responsibility for an act. To sustain Slavery it +is now proposed to trample on free speech. In any country this would be +grievous; but here, where the Constitution expressly provides against +abridging freedom of speech, it is a special outrage. In vain do we +condemn the despotisms of Europe, while we borrow the rigors with which +they repress Liberty, and guard their own uncertain power. For myself, +in no factious spirit, but solemnly and in loyalty to the Constitution, +as a Senator of the United States, representing a free Commonwealth, I +protest against this wrong. + +On Slavery, as on every other subject, I claim the right to be heard. +That right I cannot, I will not abandon. "Give me the liberty to +know, to utter, and to argue freely according to conscience, above +all liberties"; these are glowing words, flashed from the soul of John +Milton in his struggles with English tyranny. With equal fervor they +could be echoed now by every American not already a slave. + +But, Sir, this effort is impotent as tyrannical. Convictions of the +heart cannot be repressed. Utterances of conscience must be heard. They +break forth with irrepressible might. As well attempt to check the tides +of ocean, the currents of the Mississippi, or the rushing waters of +Niagara. The discussion of Slavery will proceed, wherever two or three +are gathered together,--by the fireside, on the highway, at the public +meeting, in the church. The movement against Slavery is from the +Everlasting Arm. Even now it is gathering its forces, soon to be +confessed everywhere. It may not be felt yet in the high places of +office and power, but all who can put their ears humbly to the ground +will hear and comprehend its incessant and advancing tread. + +The relations of the National Government to Slavery, though plain and +obvious, are constantly misunderstood. A popular belief at this moment +makes Slavery a national institution, and of course renders its support +a national duty. The extravagance of this error can hardly be surpassed. +An institution which our fathers most carefully omitted to name in the +Constitution, which, according to the debates in the Convention, +they refused to cover with any "sanction," and which, at the original +organization of the Government, was merely sectional, existing nowhere +on the national territory, is now, above all other things, blazoned as +national. Its supporters pride themselves as national. The old political +parties, while upholding it, claim to be national. A National Whig +is simply a Slavery Whig, and a National Democrat is simply a Slavery +Democrat, in contradistinction to all who regard Slavery as a sectional +institution, within the exclusive control of the States and with which +the nation has nothing to do. + +As Slavery assumes to be national, so, by an equally strange perversion, +Freedom is degraded to be sectional, and all who uphold it, under the +National Constitution, are made to share this same epithet. Honest +efforts to secure its blessings everywhere within the jurisdiction of +Congress are scouted as sectional; and this cause, which the founders +of our National Government had so much at heart, is called Sectionalism. +These terms, now belonging to the common places of political speech, are +adopted and misapplied by most persons without reflection. But here is +the power of Slavery. According to a curious tradition of the French +language, Louis XIV., the Grand Monarch, by an accidental error of +speech, among supple courtiers, changed the gender of a noun. But +slavery does more. It changes word for word. It teaches men to say +national instead of sectional, and sectional instead of national. + +Slavery national! Sir, this is a mistake and absurdity, fit to have a +place in some new collection of Vulgar Errors, by some other Sir Thomas +Browne, with the ancient, but exploded stories, that the toad has a +gem in its head, and that ostriches digest iron. According to the true +spirit of the Constitution, and the sentiments of the Fathers, Slavery, +and not Freedom, is sectional, while Freedom, and not Slavery, is +national. On this unanswerable proposition I take my stand, and here +commences my argument. + +The subject presents itself under two principal heads: _First, the true +relations of the National Government to Slavery_, wherein it will appear +that there is no national fountain from which Slavery can be derived, +and no national power, under the Constitution, by which it can be +supported. Enlightened by this general survey, we shall be prepared to +consider, _secondly, the true nature of the provision for the rendition +of fugitives from service_, and herein especially the unconstitutional +and offensive legislation of Congress in pursuance thereof. + + +I. + +And now for THE TRUE RELATIONS OF THE NATIONAL GOVERNMENT TO SLAVERY. +These are readily apparent, if we do not neglect well-established +principles. + +If slavery be national, if there be any power in the National Government +to withhold this institution,--as in the recent Slave Act,--it must +be by virtue of the Constitution. Nor can it be by mere inference, +implication, or conjecture. According to the uniform admission of courts +and jurists in Europe, again and again promulgated in our country, +slavery can be derived only from clear and special recognition. "The +state of Slavery," said Lord Mansfield, pronouncing judgment in the +great case of Sommersett, "is of such a nature that it is incapable +of being introduced on any reasons, moral or political, but only by +positive law.... _It is so odious, that nothing can be suffered to +support it but positive law_." + + * * * * * + +Of course every power to uphold slavery must have an origin as distinct +as that of Slavery itself. Every presumption must be as strong against +such a power as against slavery. A power so peculiar and offensive, +so hostile to reason, so repugnant to the law of Nature and the inborn +rights of man,--which despoils its victim of the fruits of labor,--which +substitutes concubinage for marriage,--which abrogates the relation of +parent and child,--which, by denial of education, abases the intellect, +prevents a true knowledge of God, and murders the very soul,--which, +amidst a plausible physical comfort, degrades man, created in the +divine image, to the state of a beast,--such a power, so eminent, so +transcendent, so tyrannical, so unjust, can find no place in any system +of government, unless by virtue of positive sanction. It can spring from +no doubtful phrase. It must be declared by unambiguous words, incapable +of a double sense. + + * * * * * + +Sir, such, briefly, are the rules of interpretation, which, as applied +to the Constitution, fill it with the breath of freedom,-- + + "Driving far off each thing of sin and guilt." + +To the history and prevailing sentiments of the times we may turn for +further assurance. In the spirit of freedom the Constitution was formed. +In this spirit our fathers always spoke and acted. In this spirit the +National Government was first organized under Washington. And here I +recall a scene, in itself a touch-stone of the period, and an example +for us, upon which we may look with pure national pride, while we learn +anew the relations of the National Government to Slavery. + +The Revolution was accomplished. The feeble Government of the +Confederation passed away. The Constitution, slowly matured in a +National Convention, discussed before the people, defended by masterly +pens, was adopted. The Thirteen States stood forth a Nation, where was +unity without consolidation, and diversity without discord. The hopes of +all were anxiously hanging upon the new order of things and the mighty +procession of events. With signal unanimity Washington was chosen +President. Leaving his home at Mount Vernon, he repaired to New +York,--where the first Congress had commenced its session,--to assume +his place as Chief of the Republic. On the 30th of April, 1789, the +organization of the Government was completed by his inauguration. +Entering the Senate Chamber, where the two Houses were assembled, he was +informed that they awaited his readiness to receive the oath of office. +Without delay, attended by the Senators and Representatives, with +friends and men of mark gathered about him, he moved to the balcony in +front of the edifice. A countless multitude, thronging the open ways, +and eagerly watching this great espousal, + + "With reverence look on his majestic face, + Proud to be less, but of his godlike race." + +The oath was administered by the Chancellor of New York. At such time, +and in such presence, beneath the unveiled heavens, Washington first +took this vow upon his lips: "I do solemnly swear that I will faithfully +execute the office of President of the United States, and will, to the +best of my ability, preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of +the United States." + +Over the President, on this new occasion, floated the national flag, +with its stripes of red and white, its stars on a field of blue. As +his patriot eye rested upon the glowing ensign, what currents must have +rushed swiftly through his soul. In the early days of the Revolution, in +those darkest hours about Boston, after the Battle of Bunker Hill, and +before the Declaration of Independence, the thirteen stripes had been +first unfurled by him, as the emblem of Union among the Colonies for +the sake of Freedom. By him, at that time, they had been named the Union +Flag. Trial, struggle, and war were now ended, and the Union, which they +first heralded, was unalterably established. To every beholder these +memories, must have been full of pride and consolation. But, looking +back upon the scene, there is one circumstance which, more than all its +other associations, fills the soul,--more even than the suggestions of +Union, which I prize so much. AT THIS MOMENT, WHEN WASHINGTON TOOK +HIS FIRST OATH TO SUPPORT THE CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES, THE +NATIONAL ENSIGN, NOWHERE WITHIN THE NATIONAL TERRITORY, COVERED A SINGLE +SLAVE. Then, indeed, was Slavery Sectional, and Freedom National. + +On the sea an execrable piracy, the trade in slaves, to the national +scandal, was still tolerated under the national flag. In the States, +as a sectional institution, beneath the shelter of local laws, Slavery +unhappily found a home. But in the only terrritories at this time +belonging to the nation, the broad region of the Northwest, it was +already made impossible, by the Ordinance of Freedom, even before the +adoption of the Constitution. The District of Columbia, with its Fatal +Dowry, was not yet acquired. + +The government thus organized was Anti-slavery in character. Washington +was a slave-holder, but it would be unjust to his memory not to say that +he was an Abolitionist also. His opinions do not admit of question. + + * * * * * + +By the side of Washington, as, standing beneath the national flag, he +swore to support the Constitution, were illustrious men, whose lives +and recorded words now rise in judgment. There was John Adams, the +Vice-President, great vindicator and final negotiator of our national +independence, whose soul, flaming with Freedom, broke forth in the early +declaration, that "consenting to Slavery is a sacrilegious breach of +trust," and whose immitigable hostility to this wrong is immortal in his +descendants. There was also a companion in arms and attached friend, +of beautiful genius, the yet youthful and "incomparable" Hamilton,--fit +companion in early glories and fame with that darling of English +history, Sir Philip Sidney, to whom the latter epithet has been +reserved,--who, as member of the Abolition Society of New York, had +recently united in a solemn petition for those who, though "free by the +laws of God; are held in Slavery by the laws of this State." There, too, +was a noble spirit, of spotless virtue, the ornament of human nature, +who, like the sun, ever held an unerring course,--John Jay. Filling the +important post of Secretary for Foreign Affairs under the Confederation, +he found time to organize the "Society for Promoting the Manumission +of Slaves" in New York, and to act as its President, until, by the +nomination of Washington, he became Chief Justice of the United States. +In his sight Slavery was an "iniquity," "a sin of crimson dye," against +which ministers of the Gospel should testify, and which the Government +should seek in every way to abolish. "Till America comes into this +measure," he wrote, "her prayers to Heaven for liberty will be impious. +This is a strong expression, but it is just. Were I in your legislature, +I would prepare a bill for the purpose with great care, and I would +never cease moving it till it became a law or I ceased to be a member." +Such words as these, fitly coming from our leaders, belong to the true +glories of the country: + + "While we such precedents can boast at home, + Keep thy Fabricius and thy Cato, Rome!" + +They stood not alone. The convictions and earnest aspirations of the +country were with them. At the North these were broad and general. At +the South they found fervid utterance from slaveholders. By early +and precocious efforts for "total emancipation," the author of +the Declaration of Independence placed himself foremost among the +Abolitionists of the land. In language now familiar to all, and +which can never die, he perpetually denounced Slavery. He exposed its +pernicious influence upon master as well as slave, declared that the +love of justice and the love of country pleaded equally for the slave, +and that "the abolition of domestic slavery was the greatest object of +desire." He believed that "the sacred side was gaining daily recruits," +and confidently looked to the young for the accomplishment of this +good work. In fitful sympathy with Jefferson was another honored son of +Virginia, the Orator of Liberty, Patrick Henry, who, while confessing +that he was a master of slaves, said: "I will not, I cannot justify it. +However culpable my conduct, I will so far pay my devoir to virtue as to +own the excellence and rectitude of her precepts, and lament my want +of conformity to them." At this very period, in the Legislature of +Maryland, on a bill for the relief of oppressed slaves, a young man, +afterwards by consummate learning and forensic powers acknowledged head +of the American bar, William Pinkney, in a speech of earnest, +truthful eloquence,--better for his memory than even his professional +fame,--branded Slavery as "iniquitous and most dishonorable," "founded +in a disgraceful traffic," "its continuance as shameful as its origin," +and he openly declared, that "by the eternal principles of natural +justice, no master in the State has a right to hold his slave in bondage +for a single hour." + + * * * * * + +At the risk of repetition, but for the sake of clearness, review now +this argument, and gather it together. Considering that Slavery is of +such an offensive character that it can find sanction only in +"positive law," and that it has no such "positive" sanction in the +Constitution,--that the Constitution, according to its preamble, +was ordained to "establish justice" and "secure the blessings of +liberty,"--that, in the Convention which framed it, and also elsewhere +at the time, it was declared not to sanction slavery,--that, according +to the Declaration of Independence, and the Address of the Continental +Congress, the nation was dedicated to "liberty," and the "rights of +human nature,"--that, according to the principles of the common law, the +Constitution must be interpreted openly, actively, and perpetually for +freedom,--that, according to the decision of the Supreme Court, it acts +upon slaves, _not as property_, but as PERSONS,--that, at the first +organization of the national Government under Washington, Slavery had no +national favor, existed nowhere on the national territory, beneath the +national flag, but was openly condemned by Nation, Church, Colleges, and +Literature of the time,--and, finally, that, according to an amendment +of the Constitution, the National Government can exercise only powers +delegated to it, among which is none to support Slavery,--considering +these things, Sir, it is impossible to avoid the single conclusion, +that Slavery is in no respect a national institution, and that the +Constitution nowhere upholds property in man. + +There is one other special provision of the Constitution, which I have +reserved to this stage, not so much from its superior importance, but +because it fitly stands by itself. This alone, if practically applied, +would carry Freedom to all within its influence. It is an amendment +proposed by the First Congress, as follows: + + "No _person_ shall be deprived of life, _liberty_, or property, + _without due process of law_." + +Under this great aegis the liberty of every person within the national +jurisdiction is unequivocally placed. I say every person. Of this there +can be no question. The word "person" in the Constitution embraces every +human being within its sphere, whether Caucasian, Indian, or African, +from the president to the slave. Show me a person within the national +jurisdiction, and I confidently claim for him this protection, no matter +what his condition or race or color. The natural meaning of the clause +is clear, but a single fact of its history places it in the broad light +of noon. As originally recommended by Virginia, North Carolina, and +Rhode Island, it was restricted to the freeman. Its language was, "No +freeman ought to be deprived of his life, liberty, or property, but by +the law of the land." In rejecting this limitation, the authors of the +amendment revealed their purpose, that no person, under the National +Government, of whatever character, should be deprived of liberty without +due process of law,--that is, without due presentment, indictment, or +other judicial proceeding. But this amendment is nothing less than an +express guaranty of Personal Liberty, and an express prohibition of its +invasion anywhere, at least within the national jurisdiction. + +Sir, apply these principles, and Slavery will again be as when +Washington took his first oath as President. The Union Flag of the +Republic will become once more the flag of Freedom, and at all points +within the national jurisdiction will refuse to cover a slave. Beneath +its beneficent folds, wherever it is carried, on land or sea, slavery +will disappear, like darkness under the arrows of the ascending +sun,--like the Spirit of Evil before the Angel of the Lord. + +In all national territories Slavery will be impossible. + +On the high seas, under the national flag, Slavery will be impossible. + +In the District of Columbia Slavery will instantly cease. + +Inspired by these principles, Congress can give no sanction to Slavery +by the admission of new slave States. + +Nowhere under the Constitution can the Nation, by legislation or +otherwise, support Slavery, hunt slaves, or hold property in man. + +Such, sir, are my sincere convictions. According to the Constitution, +as I understand it, in the light of the past and of its true principles, +there is no other conclusion which is rational or tenable, which +does not defy authoritative rules of interpretation, does not falsify +indisputable facts of history, does not affront the public opinion in +which it had its birth, and does not dishonor the memory of the fathers. +And yet politicians of the hour undertake to place these convictions +under formal ban. The generous sentiments which filled the early +patriots, and impressed upon the government they founded, as upon the +coin they circulated, the image and superscription of LIBERTY, have lost +their power. The slave-masters, few in number, amounting to not more +than three hundred and fifty thousand, according to the recent census, +have succeeded in dictating the policy of the National Government, and +have written SLAVERY on its front. The change, which began in the desire +for wealth, was aggravated by the desire for political predominance. +Through Slavery the cotton crop increased with its enriching gains; +through Slavery States became part of the slave power. And now an +arrogant and unrelenting ostracism is applied, not only to all who +express themselves against Slavery, but to every man unwilling to be its +menial. A novel test for office is introduced, which would have excluded +all the fathers of the Republic,--even Washington, Jefferson, and +Franklin! + +Yes, Sir! Startling it may be, but indisputable. Could these revered +demigods of history once again descend upon earth and mingle in our +affairs, not one of them could receive a nomination from the National +Convention of either of the two old political parties! Out of the +convictions of their hearts and the utterances of their lips against +Slavery they would be condemned. + +This single fact reveals the extent to which the National Government has +departed from its true course and its great examples. For myself, I know +no better aim under the Constitution than to bring the Government back +to the precise position on this question it occupied on the auspicious +morning of its first organization by Washington, + + "Nunc retrorsum + Vela dare, atque iterare cursus + . . . . . . relictos," + +that the sentiments of the Fathers may again prevail with our rulers, +and the National Flag may nowhere shelter Slavery. + +To such as count this aspiration unreasonable let me commend a renowned +and life-giving precedent of English history. As early as the days of +Queen Elizabeth, a courtier boasted that the air of England was too pure +for a slave to breathe, and the Common Law was said to forbid Slavery. +And yet, in the face of this vaunt, kindred to that of our fathers, and +so truly honorable, slaves were introduced from the West Indies. +The custom of Slavery gradually prevailed. Its positive legality was +affirmed, in professional opinions, by two eminent lawyers, Talbot and +Yorke, each afterwards Lord Chancellor. It was also affirmed on the +bench by the latter as Lord Hardwicke. England was already a Slave +State. The following advertisement, copied from a London newspaper, _The +Public Advertiser_, of November 22, 1769, shows that the journals there +were disfigured as some of ours, even in the District of Columbia. + +"To be sold, a black girl, the property of J. B., eleven years of +age, who is extremely handy, works at her needle tolerably, and +speaks English perfectly well; is of an excellent temper and willing +disposition. Inquire of her owner at the Angel Inn, behind St. Clement's +Church, in the Strand." + +At last, in 1772, only three years after this advertisement, the single +question of the legality of Slavery was presented to Lord Mansfield, on +a writ of _habeas corpus_. A poor negro, named Sommersett, brought to +England as a slave, became ill, and, with an inhumanity disgraceful even +to Slavery, was turned adrift upon the world. Through the charity of +an estimable man, the eminent Abolitionist, Granville Sharp, he was +restored to health, when his unfeeling and avaricious master again +claimed him as bondman. The claim was repelled. After elaborate and +protracted discussion in Westminster Hall, marked by rarest learning +and ability, Lord Mansfield, with discreditable reluctance, sullying +his great judicial name, but in trembling obedience to the genius of the +British Constitution, pronounced a decree which made the early boast a +practical verity, and rendered Slavery forever impossible in England. +More than fourteen thousand persons, at that time held as slaves, and +breathing English air,--four times as many as are now found in this +national metropolis,--stepped forth in the happiness and dignity of free +men. + +With this guiding example I cannot despair. The time will yet come when +the boast of our fathers will be made a practical verity also, and +Court or Congress, in the spirit of this British judgment, will proudly +declare that nowhere under the Constitution can man hold property in +man. For the Republic such a decree will be the way of peace and safety. +As Slavery is banished from the national jurisdiction, it will cease +to vex our national politics. It may linger in the States as a local +institution; but it will no longer engender national animosities, when +it no longer demands national support. + + +II. + +From this general review of the relations of the National Government to +Slavery, I pass to the consideration of THE TRUE NATURE OF THE PROVISION +FOR THE RENDITION OF FUGITIVES FROM SERVICE, embracing an examination of +this provision in the Constitution, and especially of the recent Act +of Congress in pursuance thereof. As I begin this discussion, let me +bespeak anew your candor. Not in prejudice, but in the light of history +and of reason, we must consider this subject. The way will then be easy +and the conclusion certain. + +Much error arises from the exaggerated importance now attached to this +provision, and from assumptions with regard to its origin and primitive +character. It is often asserted that it was suggested by some special +difficulty, which had become practically and extensively felt, anterior +to the Constitution. But this is one of the myths or fables with which +the supporters of Slavery have surrounded their false god. In the +articles of Confederation, while provision is made for the surrender of +fugitive criminals, nothing is said of fugitive slaves or servants; +and there is no evidence in any quarter, until after the National +Convention, of hardship or solicitude on this account. No previous voice +was heard to express desire for any provision on the subject. The story +to the contrary is a modern fiction. + +I put aside, as equally fabulous, the common saying, that this provision +was one of the original compromises of the Constitution, and an +essential condition of Union. Though sanctioned by eminent judicial +opinions, it will be found that this statement is hastily made, without +any support in the records of the Convention, the only authentic +evidence of the compromises; nor will it be easy to find any authority +for it in any contemporary document, speech, published letter, or +pamphlet of any kind. It is true that there were compromises at the +formation of the Constitution, which were the subject of anxious debate; +but this was not one of them. + +There was a compromise between the small and large States, by which +equality was secured to all the States in the Senate. + +There was another compromise finally carried, under threats from the +South, on the motion of a New England member, by which the Slave States +are allowed Representatives according to the whole number of free +persons and "three fifths of all other persons," thus securing political +power on account of their slaves, in consideration that direct taxes +should be apportioned in the same way. Direct taxes have been imposed at +only four brief intervals. The political power has been constant, and at +this moment sends twenty-one members to the other House. + +There was a third compromise, not to be mentioned without shame. It was +that hateful bargain by which Congress was restrained until 1808 from +the prohibition of the foreign Slave-trade, thus securing, down to that +period, toleration for crime. This was pertinaciously pressed by the +South, even to the extent of absolute restriction on Congress. John +Rutledge said: + +"If the Convention thinks that North Carolina, South Carolina, and +Georgia will ever agree to the Plan (the National Constitution), unless +their right to import slaves be untouched, the expectation is vain. +The people of those States will never be such fools as to give up so +important an interest." Charles Pinckney said: "South Carolina can never +receive the Plan, if it prohibits the slave-trade." Charles Cotesworth +Pinckney "thought himself bound to declare candidly, that he did not +think South Carolina would stop her importations of slaves in any short +time." The effrontery of the slave-masters was matched by the sordidness +of the Eastern members, who yielded again. Luther Martin, the eminent +member of the Convention, in his contemporary address to the Legislature +of Maryland, described the compromise. "I found," he said, "The Eastern +States, notwithstanding their aversion to Slavery, were very willing +to indulge the Southern States at least with a temporary liberty to +prosecute the slave-trade, _provided the Southern States would in their +turn gratify them by laying no restriction on navigation acts_." The +bargain was struck, and at this price the Southern States gained +the detestable indulgence. At a subsequent day Congress branded the +slave-trade as piracy, and thus, by solemn legislative act, adjudged +this compromise to be felonious and wicked. + +Such are the three chief original compromises of the Constitution and +essential conditions of Union. The case of fugitives from service is not +of these. During the Convention it was not in any way associated with +these. Nor is there any evidence from the records of this body, that the +provision on this subject was regarded with any peculiar interest. As +its absence from the Articles of Confederation had not been the occasion +of solicitude or de-sire, anterior to the National Convention, so it +did not enter into any of the original plans of the Constitution. It was +introduced tardily, at a late period of the Convention, and adopted with +very little and most casual discussion. A few facts show how utterly +unfounded are recent assumptions. + +The National Convention was convoked to meet at Philadelphia on the +second Monday in May, 1787. Several members appeared at this time, but, +a majority of the States not being represented, those present adjourned +from day to day until the 25th, when the Convention was organized by the +choice of George Washington as President. On the 28th a few brief rules +and orders were adopted. On the next day, they commenced their great +work. + +On the same day, Edmund Randolph, of slaveholding Virginia, laid before +the Convention a series of fifteen resolutions, containing his plan for +the establishment of a New National Government. Here was no allusion to +fugitives slaves. + +Also, on the same day, Charles Pinckney, of slaveholding South Carolina, +laid before the Convention what was called "A Draft of a Federal +Government, to be agreed upon between the Free and Independent States +of America," an elaborate paper, marked by considerable minuteness +of detail. Here are provisions, borrowed from the Articles of +Confederation, securing to the citizens of each State equal privileges, +in the several States, giving faith to the public records of the States, +and ordaining the surrender of fugitives from justice. But this draft, +though from the flaming guardian of the slave interest, contained no +allusion to fugitive slaves. + +In the course of the Convention other plans were brought forward: on +the 15th of June, aseries of eleven propositions by Mr. Paterson, of +New Jersey, "so as to render the Federal Constitution adequate to the +exigencies of Government and the preservation of the Union"; on the 18th +June, eleven propositions by Mr. Hamilton, of New York, "containing his +ideas of a suitable plan of Government for the United States" and on the +19th June, Mr. Randolph's resolutions, originally offered on the 29th +May, "as altered, amended, and agreed to in Committee of the Whole +House." On the 26th July, twenty-three resolutions, already adopted +on different days in the Convention, were referred to a "Committee of +Detail," for reduction to the form of a Constitution. On the 6th August +this Committee reported the finished draft of a Constitution. And yet +in all these resolutions, plans, and drafts, seven in number, proceeding +from eminent members and from able committees, no allusion is made to +fugitive slaves. For three months the Convention was in session, and not +a word uttered on this subject. + +At last, on the 28th August, as the Convention was drawing to a close, +on the consideration of the article providing for the privileges of +citizens in different States, we meet the first reference to this +matter, in words worthy of note. "General (Charles Cotesworth) Pinckney +was not satisfied with it. He SEEMED to wish some provision should be +included in favor of property in slaves." But he made no proposition. +Unwilling to shock the Convention, and uncertain in his own mind, he +only seemed to wish such a provision. In this vague expression of a +vague desire this idea first appeared. In this modest, hesitating phrase +is the germ of the audacious, unhesitating Slave Act. Here is the little +vapor, which has since swollen, as in the Arabian tale, to the power and +dimensions of a giant. The next article under discussion provided for +the surrender of fugitives from justice. Mr. Butler and Mr. Charles +Pinckney, both from South Carolina, now moved openly to require +"fugitive slaves and servants to be delivered up like criminals." Here +was no disguise. With Hamlet, it was now said in spirit, + +"Seems, Madam! Nay it is. I know not seems." + +But the very boldness of the effort drew attention and opposition. Mr. +Wilson, of Pennsylvania, the learned jurist and excellent man, at once +objected: "This would oblige the Executive of the State to do it at the +public expense." Mr. Sherman, of Connecticut, "saw no more propriety in +the public seizing and surrendering a slave or servant than a horse." +Under the pressure of these objections, the offensive proposition was +withdrawn,--never more to be renewed. The article for the surrender of +criminals was then unanimously adopted. On the next day, 29th +August, profiting by the suggestions already made, Mr. Butler moved +a proposition,--substantially like that now found in the +Constitution,--for the surrender, not of "fugitive slaves," as +originally proposed, but simply of "persons bound to service or labor," +which, without debate or opposition of any kind, was unanimously +adopted.' + +Here, palpably, was no labor of compromise, no adjustment of conflicting +interest,--nor even any expression of solicitude. The clause finally +adopted was vague and faint as the original suggestion. In its natural +import it is not applicable to slaves. If supposed by some to +be applicable, it is clear that it was supposed by others to be +inapplicable. It is now insisted that the term "persons bound to +service," or "held to service," as expressed in the final revision, is +the equivalent or synonym for "slaves." This interpretation is rebuked +by an incident to which reference has been already made, but which will +bear repetition. On the 13th September--a little more than a fortnight +after the clause was adopted, and when, if deemed to be of any +significance, it could not have been forgotten--the very word "service," +came under debate, and received a fixed meaning. It was unanimously +adopted as a substitute for "servitude" in another part of the +Constitution, for the reason that it expressed "the obligations of free +persons," while the other expressed "the condition of slaves." In +the face of this authentic evidence, reported by Mr. Madison, it is +difficult to see how the term "persons held to service" can be deemed to +express anything beyond the "obligations of free persons." Thus, in the +light of calm inquiry, does this exaggerated clause lose its importance. + +The provision, showing itself thus tardily, and so slightly regarded in +the National Convention, was neglected in much of the contemporaneous +discussion before the people. In the Conventions of South Carolina, +North Carolina,and Virginia, it was commended as securing important +rights, though on this point there was difference of opinion. In the +Virginia Convention, an eminent character, Mr. George Mason, with +others, expressly declared that there was "no security of property +coming within this section." In the other Conventions it was +disregarded. Massachusetts, while exhibiting peculiar sensitiveness at +any responsibility for slavery, seemed to view it with unconcern. One +of her leading statesmen, General Heath, in the debates of the State +Convention, strenuously asserted, that, in ratifying the Constitution, +the people of Massachusetts "would do nothing to hold the blacks in +slavery." "_The Federalist_," in its classification of the powers of +Congress, describes and groups a large number as "those which provide +for the harmony and proper intercourse among the States," and +therein speaks of the power over public records, standing next in the +Constitution to the provision concerning fugitives from service; but it +fails to recognize the latter among the means of promoting "harmony and +proper intercourse;" nor does its triumvirate of authors anywhere allude +to the provision. + +The indifference thus far attending this subject still continued. The +earliest Act of Congress, passed in 1793, drew little attention. It was +not suggested originally by any difficulty or anxiety touching fugitives +from service, nor is there any contemporary record, in debate or +otherwise, showing that any special importance was attached to its +provisions in this regard. The attention of Congress was directed to +fugitives from justice, and, with little deliberation, it undertook, in +the same bill, to provide for both cases. In this accidental manner was +legislation on this subject first attempted. + +There is no evidence that fugitives were often seized under this Act. +From a competent inquirer we learn that twenty-six years elapsed before +it was successfully enforced in any Free State. It is certain, that, in +a case at Boston, towards the close of the last century, illustrated +by Josiah Quincy as counsel, the crowd about the magistrate, at the +examination, quietly and spontaneously opened a way for the fugitive, +and thus the Act failed to be executed. It is also certain, that, in +Vermont, at the beginning of the century, a Judge of the Supreme Court +of the State, on application for the surrender of an alleged slave, +accompanied by documentary evidence, gloriously refused compliance, +unless the master could show a Bill of Sale from the Almighty. Even +these cases passed without public comment. + +In 1801 the subject was introduced in the House of Representatives by +an effort for another Act, which, on consideration, was rejected. At +a later day, in 1817-18, though still disregarded by the country, it +seemed to excite a short-lived interest in Congress. In the House of +Representatives, on motion of Mr. Pindall, of Virginia, a committee was +appointed to inquire into the expediency of "providing more effectually +by law for reclaiming servants and slaves escaping from one State into +an-other," and a bill reported by them to amend the Act of 1793, after +consideration for several days in Committee of the Whole, was passed. +In the Senate, after much attention and warm debate, it passed with +amendments. But on return to the House for adoption of the amendments, +it was dropped. This effort, which, in the discussions of this subject, +has been thus far unnoticed, is chiefly remarkable as the earliest +recorded evidence of the unwarrantable assertion, now so common, that +this provision was originally of vital importance to the peace and +harmony of the country. + +At last, in 1850, we have another Act, passed by both Houses of +Congress, and approved by the President, familiarly known as the +Fugitive Slave Bill. As I read this statute, I am filled with painful +emotions. The masterly subtlety with which it is drawn might challenge +admiration, if exerted for a benevolent purpose; but in an age of +sensibility and refinement, a machine of torture, however skilful +and apt, cannot be regarded without horror. Sir, in the name of the +Constitution, which it violates, of my country, which it dishonors, +of Humanity, which it degrades, of Christianity, which it offends, I +arraign this enactment, and now hold it up to the judgment of the Senate +and the world. Again, I shrink from no responsibility. I may seem +to stand alone; but all the patriots and martyrs of history, all the +Fathers of the Republic, are with me. Sir, there is no attribute of God +which does not take part against this Act. + +But I am to regard it now chiefly as an infringement of the +Constitution. Here its outrages, flagrant as manifold, assume the +deepest dye and broadest character only when we consider that by its +language it is not restricted to any special race or class, to the +African or to the person with African blood, but that any inhabitant +of the United States, of whatever complexion or condition, may be its +victim. Without discrimination of color even, and in violation of every +presumption of freedom, the Act surrenders all who may be claimed as +"owing service or labor" to the same tyrannical proceeding. If there be +any whose sympathies are not moved for the slave, who do not cherish the +rights of the humble African, struggling for divine Freedom, as warmly +as the rights of the white man, let him consider well that the rights of +all are equally assailed. "Nephew," said Algernon Sidney in prison, on +the night before his execution, "I value not my own life a chip; but +what concerns me is, that the law which takes away my life may hang +every one of you, whenever it is thought convenient." + +Whilst thus comprehensive in its provisions, and applicable to all, +there is no safeguard of Human Freedom which the monster Act does not +set at nought. + +It commits this great question--than which none is more sacred in the +law--not to a solemn trial, but to summary proceedings. + +It commits this great question, not to one of the high tribunals of the +land, but to the unaided judgment of a single petty magistrate. + +It commits this great question to a magistrate appointed, not by the +President with the consent of the Senate, but by the Court,--holding +office, not during good behavior, but merely during the will of the +Court,--and receiving, not a regular salary, but fees according to each +individual case. + +It authorizes judgment on _ex parte_ evidence, by affidavit, without the +sanction of cross-examination. + +It denies the writ of _Habeas Corpus_, ever known as the palladium of +the citizen. + +Contrary to the declared purposes of the framers of the Constitution, it +sends the fugitive back "at the public expense." + +Adding meanness to violation of the Constitution, it bribes the +Commissioner by a double stipend to pronounce against Freedom. If he +dooms a man to Slavery, the reward is ten dollars; but saving him to +Freedom, his dole is five. + +The Constitution expressly secures the "free exercise of religion"; but +this Act visits with unrelenting penalties the faithful men and women +who render to the fugitive that countenance, succor, and shelter which +in their conscience "religion" requires; and thus is practical religion +directly assailed. Plain commandments are broken; and are we not told +that "Whosoever shall break one of these least commandments, and shall +teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of Heaven"? + +As it is for the public weal that there should be an end of suits, so by +the consent of civilized nations these must be instituted within fixed +limitations of time; but this Act, exalting Slavery above even this +practical principle of universal justice, ordains proceedings against +Freedom without any reference to the lapse of time. + +Glancing only at these points, and not stopping for argument, +vindication, or illustration, I come at once upon two chief radical +objections to this Act, identical in principle with those triumphantly +urged by our fathers against the British Stamp Act; first, that it is a +usurpation by Congress of powers not granted by the Constitution, and an +infraction of rights secured to the States; and, secondly, that it +takes away Trial by Jury in a question of Personal Liberty and a suit +at Common Law. Either of these objections, if sustained, strikes at the +very root of the Act. That it is obnoxious to both is beyond doubt. + +Here, at this stage, I encounter the difficulty, that these objections +are already foreclosed by legislation of Congress and decisions of the +Supreme Court,--that as early as 1793 Congress assumed power over this +subject by an Act which failed to secure Trial by Jury, and that the +validity of this Act under the Constitution has been affirmed by the +Supreme Court. On examination, this difficulty will disappear. + +The Act of 1793 proceeded from a Congress that had already recognized +the United States Bank, chartered by a previous Congress, which, +though sanctioned by the Supreme Court, has been since in high quarters +pronounced unconstitutional. If it erred as to the Bank, it may have +erred also as to fugitives from service. But the Act itself contains a +capital error on this very subject, so declared by the Supreme Court, +in pretending to vest a portion of the judicial power of the Nation +in State officers. This error takes from the Act all authority as an +interpretation of the Constitution. I dismiss it. + +The decisions of the Supreme Court are entitled to great consideration, +and will not be mentioned by me except with respect. Among the memories +of my youth are happy days when I sat at the feet of this tribunal, +while MARSHALL presided, with STORY by his side. The pressure now +proceeds from the case of Prigg v. Pennsylvania (16 Peters, 539), where +is asserted the power of Congress. Without going into minute +criticism of this judgment, or considering the extent to which it is +extra-judicial, and therefore of no binding force,--all which has been +done at the bar in one State, and by an able court in another,--but +conceding to it a certain degree of weight as a rule to the judiciary on +this particular point, still it does not touch the grave question which +springs from the denial of Trial by Jury. This judgment was pronounced +by Mr. Justice Story. From the interesting biography of the great +jurist, recently published by his son, we learn that the question of +Trial by Jury was not considered as before the Court; so that, in the +estimation of the learned judge himself, it was still an open question. + + * * * * * + +(1). _First of the power of Congress over this subject_. + +The Constitution contains _powers_ granted to Congress, _compacts_ +between the States, and _prohibitions_ addressed to the Nation and to +the States. A compact or prohibition may be accompanied by a power,--but +not necessarily, for it is essentially distinct in nature. And here the +single question arises, Whether the Constitution, by grant, general or +special, confers upon Congress any power to legislate on the subject of +fugitives from service. + + * * * * * + +The framers of the Constitution were wise and careful, having a reason +for what they did, and understanding the language they employed. They +did not, after discussion, incorporate into their work any superfluous +provision; nor did they without design adopt the peculiar arrangement +in which it appears. Adding to the record compact an express grant of +power, they testified not only their desire for such power in Congress, +but their conviction that without such express grant it would not +exist. But if express grant was necessary in this case, it was equally +necessary in all the other cases. _Expressum facit cessare tacitum_. +Especially, in view of its odious character, was it necessary in the +case of fugitives from service. Abstaining from any such grant, and then +grouping the bare compact with other similar compacts, separate from +every grant of power, they testified their purpose most significantly. +Not only do they decline all addition to the compact of any such power, +but, to render misapprehension impossible, to make assurance doubly +sure, to exclude any contrary conclusion, they punctiliously arrange the +clauses, on the principle of _noscitur a sociis_, so as to distinguish +all the grants of power, but especially to make the new grant of power, +in the case of public records, stand forth in the front by itself, +severed from the naked compacts with which it was originally associated. + +Thus the proceedings of the Convention show that the founders understood +the necessity of powers in certain cases, and, on consideration, +jealously granted them. A closing example will strengthen the argument. +Congress is expressly empowered "to establish an uniform rule of +naturalization, and uniform laws on the subject of bankruptcies, +throughout the United States." Without this provision these two subjects +would have fallen within the control of the States, leaving the nation +powerless to establish a uniform rule thereupon. Now, instead of the +existing compact on fugitives from service, it would have been easy, +had any such desire prevailed, to add this case to the clause on +naturalization and bankruptcies, and to empower Congress To ESTABLISH A +UNIFORM RULE FOR THE SURRENDER OF FUGITIVES FROM SERVICE THROUGHOUT THE +UNITED STATES. Then, of course, whenever Congress undertook to exercise +the power, all State control of the subject would be superseded. The +National Government would have been constistuted, like Nimrod, the +mighty Hunter, with power to gather the huntsmen, to halloo the pack, +and to direct the chase of men, ranging at will, without regard to +boundaries or jurisdictions, throughout all the States. But no person +in the Convention, not one of the reckless partisans of slavery, was so +audacious as to make this proposition. Had it been distinctly made, it +would have been as distinctly denied. + +The fact that the provision on this subject was adopted unanimously, +while showing the little importance attached to it in the shape it +finally assumed, testifies also that it could not have been regarded as +a source of national power for Slavery. It will be remembered that among +the members of the Convention were Gouverneur Morris, who had said that +he "NEVER would concur in upholding domestic Slavery,"--Elbridge +Gerry, who thought we "ought to be careful NOT to give any sanction +to it,"--Roger Sherman, who "was OPPOSED to a tax on slaves imported, +because it implied they were property,"--James Madison, who "thought it +WRONG to admit in the Constitution the idea that there could be property +in men,"--and Benjamin Franklin, who likened American slaveholders to +Algerine corsairs. In the face of these unequivocal judgments, it is +absurd to suppose that these eminent citizens consented unanimously to +any provision by which the National Government, the creature of their +hands, dedicated to freedom, could become the most offensive agent of +Slavery. + +Thus much for the evidence from the history of the Convention. But +the true principles of our political system are in harmony with this +conclusion of history; and here let me say a word of State rights. + +It was the purpose of our fathers to create a National Government, +and to endow it with adequate powers. They had known the perils of +imbecility, discord, and confusion, protracted through the uncertain +days of the Confederation, and they desired a government which should +be a true bond of union and an efficient organ of national interests at +home and abroad. But while fashioning this agency, they fully recognized +the governments of the States. To the nation were delegated high powers, +essential to the national interests, but specific in character and +limited in number. To the States and to the people were reserved the +powers, general in character and unlimited in number, not delegated to +the nation or prohibited to the States. + +The integrity of our political system depends upon harmony in the +operations of the Nation and of the States. While the nation within its +wide orbit is supreme, the States move with equal supremacy in their +own. But, from the necessity of the case, the supremacy of each in +its proper place excludes the other. The Nation cannot exercise rights +reserved to the States, nor can the States interfere with the powers +of the nation. Any such action on either side is a usurpation. These +principles were distinctly declared by Mr. Jefferson in 1798, in words +often adopted since, and which must find acceptance from all parties. + + * * * * * + +I have already amply shown to-day that Slavery is in no respect +national--that it is not within the sphere of national activity,--that +it has no "positive" support in the Constitution,--and that any +interpretation inconsistent with this principle would be abhorrent to +the sentiments of its founders. Slavery is a local institution, peculiar +to the States, and under the guardianship of State rights. It +is impossible, without violence to the spirit and letter of the +Constitution, to claim for Congress any power to legislate either for +its abolition in the States or its support anywhere. Non-Intervention +is the rule prescribed to the nation. Regarding the question in its more +general aspects only, and putting aside, for the moment, the perfect +evidence from the records of the convention, it is palpable that there +is no national fountain out of which the existing Slave Act can possibly +spring. + +But this Act is not only an unwarrantable assumption of power by the +nation, it is also an infraction of rights reserved to the States. +Everywhere within their borders the States are peculiar guardians of +personal liberty. By jury and habeas corpus to save the citizen harmless +against all assault is among their duties and rights. To his State the +citizen, when oppressed, may appeal; nor should he find that appeal +denied. But this Act despoils him of rights, and despoils his State +of all power to protect him. It subjects him to the wretched chance of +false oaths, forged papers, and facile commissioners, and takes from +him every safeguard. Now, if the slaveholder has a right to be secure +at home in the enjoyment of Slavery, so also has the freeman of the +North--and every person there is presumed to be a free man--an equal +right to be secure at home in the enjoyment of freedom. The same +principle of State rights by which Slavery is protected in the slave +States throws an impenetrable shield over Freedom in the free States. +And here, let me say, is the only security for Slavery in the slave +States, as for Freedom in the free States. In the present fatal +overthrow of State rights you teach a lesson which may return to plague +the teacher. Compelling the National Government to stretch its Briarean +arms into the free States for the sake of Slavery, you show openly how +it may stretch these same hundred giant arms into the slave States for +the sake of Freedom. This lesson was not taught by our fathers. + +Here I end this branch of the question. The true principles of our +political system, the history of the National Convention, the natural +interpretation of the Constitution, all teach that this Act is a +usurpation by Congress of powers that do not belong to it, and an +infraction of rights secured to the States. It is a sword, whose handle +is at the National Capital, and whose point is everywhere in the States. +A weapon so terrible to personal liberty the nation has no power to +grasp. + + +(2). And now of the denial of Trial by Jury. + +Admitting, for the moment, that Congress is intrusted with power over +this subject, which truth disowns, still the Act is again radically +unconstitutional from its denial of Trial by Jury in a question of +personal liberty and a suit of common law. Since on the one side there +is a claim of property, and on the other of liberty, both property +and liberty are involved in the issue. To this claim on either side is +attached Trial by Jury. + +To me, Sir, regarding this matter in the light of the Common Law and +in the blaze of free institutions, it has always seemed impossible to +arrive at any other conclusion. If the language of the Constitution were +open to doubt, which it is not, still all the presumptions of law, +all the leanings to Freedom, all the suggestions of justice, plead +angel-tongued for this right. Nobody doubts that Congress, if it +legislates on this matter, may allow a Trial by Jury. But if it may, so +overwhelming is the claim of justice, it MUST. Beyond this, however, the +question is determined by the precise letter of the Constitution. + +Several expressions in the provision for the surrender of fugitives from +service show the essential character of the proceedings. In the first +place, the person must be, not merely charged, as in the case of +fugitives from justice, but actually held to service in the State which +he escaped. In the second place, he must "be delivered up on claim +of the party to whom such service or labor may be due." These two +facts--that he was held to service, and that his service was due to +his claimant--are directly placed in issue, and must be proved. Two +necessary incidents of the delivery may also be observed. First, it +is made in the State where the fugitive is found; and, secondly, +it restores to the claimant complete control over the person of the +fugitive. From these circumstances it is evident that the proceedings +cannot be regarded, in any just sense, as preliminary, or ancillary +to some future formal trial, but as complete in themselves, final and +conclusive. + +These proceedings determine on the one side the question of property, +and on the other the sacred question of personal liberty in its most +transcendent form,--Liberty not merely for a day or a year, but for +life, and the Liberty of generations that shall come after, so long as +Slavery endures. To these questions the Constitution, by two specific +provisions, attaches Trial by Jury. One is the familiar clause, already +adduced: "No person shall be deprived of life, liberty, or property +without due process of law,"--that is, without due proceeding at law, +with Trial by Jury. Not stopping to dwell on this, I press at once to +the other provision, which is still more express: "In suits at common +law, where the value in controversy shall exceed twenty dollars, the +right of Trial by Jury shall be preserved." This clause, which does not +appear in the Constitution as first adopted, was suggested by the very +spirit of freedom. At the close of the National Convention, Elbridge +Gerry refused to sign the Constitution because, among other things, +it established "a tribunal without juries, a star chamber as to civil +cases." + +Many united in his opposition, and on the recommendation of the First +Congress this additional safeguard was adopted as an amendment. + +Opposing this Act as doubly unconstitutional from the want of power +in Congress and from the denial of trial by jury, I find myself again +encouraged by the example of our Revolutionary Fathers, in a case which +is a landmark of history. The parallel is important and complete. In +1765, the British Parliament, by a notorious statute, attempted to draw +money from the colonies through a stamp tax, while the determination of +certain questions of forfeiture under the statute was delegated, not to +the Courts of Common Law, but to Courts of Admiralty without a jury. The +Stamp Act, now execrated by all lovers of liberty, had this extent and +no more. Its passage was the signal for a general flame of opposition +and indignation throughout the colonies. It was denounced as contrary +to the British Constitution, on two principal grounds--first, as +a usurpation by Parliament of powers not belonging to it, and an +infraction of rights secured to the colonies; and, secondly, as a denial +of Trial by Jury in certain cases of property. + +The public feeling was variously expressed. At Boston, on the day the +act was to take effect, the shops were closed, the bells of the churches +tolled, and the flags of the ships hung at half-mast. At Portsmouth, in +New Hampshire, the bells were tolled, and the friends of liberty were +summoned to hold themselves in readiness for her funeral. At New York, +the obnoxious Act, headed "Folly of England and Ruin of America," +was contemptuously hawked about the streets. Bodies of patriots were +organized everywhere under the name of "Sons of Liberty." The merchants, +inspired then by liberty, resolved to import no more goods from England +until the repeal of the Act. The orators also spoke. James Otis with +fiery tongue appealed to Magna Charta. + + * * * * * + +Sir, regarding the Stamp Act candidly and cautiously, free from +animosities of the time, it is impossible not to see that, though +gravely unconstitutional, it was at most an infringement of civil +liberty only, not of personal liberty. There was an unjust tax of a few +pence, with the chance of amercement by a single judge without a jury; +but by no provision of this act was the personal liberty of any man +assailed. No freeman could be seized under it as a slave. Such an act, +though justly obnoxious to every lover of constitutional Liberty, cannot +be viewed with the feelings of repugnance enkindled by a statute which +assails the personal liberty of every man, and under which any freeman +may be seized as a slave. Sir, in placing the Stamp Act by the side of +the Slave Act, I do injustice to that emanation of British tyranny. Both +infringe important rights: one, of property; the other, the vital right +of all, which is to other rights as soul to body,--the right of a man +to himself. Both are condemned; but their relative condemnation must be +measured by their relative characters. As Freedom is more than property, +as Man is above the dollar that he owns, as heaven, to which we all +aspire, is higher than earth, where every accumulation of wealth must +ever remain, so are the rights assailed by an American Congress higher +than those once assailed by the British Parliament. And just in this +degree must history condemn the Slave Act more than the Stamp Act. + +Sir, I might here stop. It is enough, in this place, and on this +occasion, to show the unconstitutionality of this enactment. Your duty +commences at once. All legislation hostile to the fundamental law of +the land should be repealed without delay. But the argument is not yet +exhausted. Even if this Act could claim any validity or apology under +the Constitution, which it cannot, it lacks that essential support in +the Public Conscience of the States, where it is to be enforced, which +is the life of all law, and with-out which any law must become a dead +letter. + + * * * * * + +With every attempt to administer the Slave Act, it constantly becomes +more revolting, particularly in its influence on the agents it enlists. +Pitch cannot be touched without defilement, and all who lend themselves +to this work seem at once and unconsciously to lose the better part of +man. The spirit of the law passes into them, as the devils entered the +swine. Upstart commissioners, mere mushrooms of courts, vie and revie +with each other. Now by indecent speed, now by harshness of manner, now +by denial of evidence, now by crippling the defense, and now by open, +glaring wrong they make the odious Act yet more odious. Clemency, grace, +and justice die in its presence. All this is observed by the world. Not +a case occurs which does not harrow the souls of good men, and bring +tears of sympathy to the eyes, and those nobler tears which "patriots +shed o'er dying laws." + +Sir, I shall speak frankly. If there be an exception to this feeling, +it will be found chiefly with a peculiar class. It is a sorry fact, that +the "mercantile interest," in unpardonable selfishness, twice in English +history, frowned upon endeavors to suppress the atrocity of Algerine +Slavery, that it sought to baffle Wilberforce's great effort for the +abolition of the African slave-trade, and that, by a sordid compromise, +at the formation of our Constitution, it exempted the same detested, +Heaven-defying traffic from American judgment. And now representatives +of this "interest," forgetful that Commerce is born of Freedom, join in +hunting the Slave. But the great heart of the people recoils from this +enactment. It palpitates for the fugitive, and rejoices in his escape. +Sir, I am telling you facts. The literature of the age is all on his +side. Songs, more potent than laws, are for him. Poets, with voices of +melody, sing for Freedom. Who could tune for Slavery? They who make +the permanent opinion of the country, who mould our youth,whose words, +dropped into the soul, are the germs of character, supplicate for the +Slave. And now, Sir, behold a new and heavenly ally. A woman, inspired +by Christian genius, enters the lists, like another Joan of Arc, and +with marvellous power sweeps the popular heart. Now melting to tears, +and now inspiring to rage, her work everywhere touches the conscience, +and makes the Slave-Hunter more hateful. In a brief period, nearly +one hundred thousand copies of Uncle Tom's Cabin have been already +circulated. But this extraordinary and sudden success, surpassing all +other instances in the records of literature, cannot be regarded as but +the triumph of genius. Better far, it is the testimony of the people, by +an unprecedented act, against the Fugitive Slave Bill. + +These things I dwell upon as incentives and tokens of an existing public +sentiment, rendering this Act practically inoperative, except as a +tremendous engine of horror. Sir, the sentiment is just. Even in the +lands of Slavery, the slave-trader is loathed as an ignoble character, +from whom the countenance is turned away; and can the Slave-Hunter be +more regarded, while pursuing his prey in a land of Freedom? In early +Europe, in barbarous days, while Slavery prevailed, a Hunting Master +was held in aversion. Nor was this all. The fugitive was welcomed in the +cities, and protected against pursuit. Sometimes vengeance awaited +the Hunter. Down to this day, at Revel, now a Russian city, a sword +is proudly preserved with which a hunting Baron was beheaded, who, in +violation of the municipal rights of the place, seized a fugitive slave. +Hostile to this Act as our public sentiment may be, it exhibits no +similar trophy. The State laws of Massachusetts have been violated in +the seizure of a fugitive slave; but no sword, like that of Revel, now +hangs at Boston. + +And now, Sir, let us review the field over which we have passed. We +have seen that any compromise, finally closing the discussion of Slavery +under the Constitution, is tyrannical, absurd, and impotent; that, as +Slavery can exist only by virtue of positive law, and as it has no +such positive support in the Constitution, it cannot exist within the +national jurisdiction; that the Constitution nowhere recognizes property +in man, and that, according to its true interpretation, Freedom and not +Slavery is national, while Slavery and not Freedom is sectional;that +in this spirit the National Government was first organized under +Washington, himself an Abolitionist, surrounded by Abolitionists, while +the whole country, by its Church, its Colleges, its Literature, and all +its best voices, was united against Slavery, and the national flag at +that time nowhere within the National Territory covered a single slave; +still further, that the National Government is a government of delegated +powers, and, as among these there is no power to support Slavery, this +institution cannot be national, nor can Congress in any way legislate +in its behalf; and, finally, that the establishment of this principle is +the true way of peace and safety for the Republic. Considering next the +provision for the surrender of fugitives from service, we have seen that +it was not one of the original compromises of the Constitution; that +it was introduced tardily and with hesitation, and adopted with little +discussion, while then and for a long period thereafter it was regarded +with comparative indifference; that the recent Slave Act, though many +times unconstitutional, is especially so on two grounds, first, as a +usurpation by Congress of powers not granted by the Constitution, and an +infraction of rights secured to the States, and, secondly, as the denial +of Trial by Jury, in a question of personal liberty and a suit at Common +Law; that its glaring unconstitutionality finds a prototype in the +British Stamp Act, which our fathers refused to obey as unconstitutional +on two parallel grounds,--first, because it was a usurpation by +Parliament of powers not belonging to it under the British Constitution, +and an infraction of rights belonging to the Colonies, and, secondly, +because it was the denial of Trial by Jury in certain cases of property; +that, as Liberty is far above property, so is the outrage perpetrated +by the American Congress far above that perpetrated by the British +Parliament; and, finally, that the Slave Act has not that support, in +the public sentiment of the States where it is to be executed, which is +the life of all law, and which prudence and the precept of Washington +require. + + * * * * * + +Mr. President, I have occupied much time; but the great subject still +stretches before us. One other point yet remains, which I must not leave +untouched, and which justly belongs to the close. The Slave Act violates +the Constitution, and shocks the Public Conscience. With modesty, and +yet with firmness, let me add, Sir,it offends against the Divine Law. +No such enactment is entitled to support. As the throne of God is above +every earthly throne, so are his laws and statutes above all the laws +and statutes of man. To question these is to question God himself. But +to assume that human laws are beyond question is to claim for their +fallible authors infallibility. To assume that they are always in +conformity with the laws of God is presumptuously and impiously to exalt +man even to equality with God. Clearly, human laws are not always +in such conformity; nor can they ever be beyond question from each +individual. Where the conflict is open, as if Congress should command +the perpetration of murder, the office of conscience as final arbiter is +undisputed. But in every conflict the same queenly office is hers. By +no earthly power can she be dethroned. Each person, after anxious +examination, without haste, without passion, solemnly for himself must +decide this great controversy. Any other rule attributes infallibility +to human laws, places them beyond question, and degrades all men to an +unthinking, passive obedience. + + * * * * * + +The mandates of an earthly power are to be discussed; those of Heaven +must at once be performed; nor should we suffer ourselves to be drawn +by any compact into opposition to God. Such is the rule of morals. +Such, also, by the lips of judges and sages, is the proud declaration +of English law, whence our own is derived. In this conviction, patriots +have braved unjust commands, and martyrs have died. + +And now, sir, the rule is commended to us. The good citizen, who sees +before him the shivering fugitive, guilty of no crime, pursued, hunted +down like a beast, while praying for Christian help and deliverance, and +then reads the requirements of this Act, is filled with horror. Here +is a despotic mandate "to aid and assist in the prompt and efficient +execution of this law." Again let me speak frankly. Not rashly would I +set myself against any requirement of law. This grave responsibility +I would not lightly assume. But here the path of duty is clear. By the +Supreme Law, which commands me to do no injustice, by the comprehensive +Christian Law of Brotherhood, by the Constitution, which I have sworn to +support, I AM BOUND TO DISOBEY THIS ACT. Never, in any capacity, can +I render voluntary aid in its execution. Pains and penalties I will +endure, but this great wrong, I will not do. "Where I cannot obey +actively, there I am willing to lie down and to suffer what they shall +do unto me"; such was the exclamation of him to whom we are indebted for +the Pilgrim's Progress while in prison for disobedience to an earthly +statute. Better suffer injustice than do it. Better victim than +instrument of wrong. Better even the poor slave returned to bondage than +the wretched Commissioner. + +There is, sir, an incident of history which suggests a parallel, and +affords a lesson of fidelity. Under the triumphant exertions of that +Apostolic Jesuit, St. Francis Xavier, large numbers of Japanese, +amounting to as many as two hundred thousand,--among them princes, +generals, and the flower of the nobility,--were converted to +Christianity. Afterwards, amidst the frenzy of civil war, religious +persecution arose, and the penalty of death was denounced against all +who refused to trample upon the effigy of the Redeemer. This was the +Pagan law of a Pagan land. But the delighted historian records, that +from the multitude of converts scarcely one was guilty of this apostasy. +The law of man was set at naught. Imprisonment, torture, death, were +preferred. Thus did this people refuse to trample on the painted image. +Sir, multitudes among us will not be less steadfast in refusing to +trample on the living image of their Redeemer. + +Finally, Sir, for the sake of peace and tranquility, cease to shock the +Public Conscience; for the sake of the Constitution, cease to exercise +a power nowhere granted, and which violates inviolable rights expressly +secured. Leave this question where it was left by our fathers, at the +formation of our National Government,--in the absolute control of +the States, the appointed guardians of Personal Liberty. Repeal this +enactment. Let its terrors no longer rage through the land. Mindful +of the lowly whom it pursues, mindful of the good men perplexed by its +requirements, in the name of Charity, in the name of the Constitution, +repeal this enactment, totally and without delay. There is the example +of Washington, follow it. There also are words of Oriental piety, +most touching and full of warning, which speak to all mankind, and now +especially to us: "Beware of the groans of wounded souls, since the +inward sore will at length break out. Oppress not to the utmost a single +heart; for a solitary sigh has power to overturn a whole world." + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's American Eloquence, Volume II. 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