The voice of freedom. [volume], February 09, 1839, Image 2

About The voice of freedom. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1839-1848

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can be, consistent with the Constitution, I shall
neither propose such a measure, nor vote in favor
of it. I sueak mv present sentiments : I do not
pledge myself not to change them on a full and
tree discussion in this Mouse. 1 believe such a
discussion to be the right ol petitioners. 1 uo not
say but, should it take place, I might change my
opinion. 1 hold no opinions which may not be
changed by the force of argument after a full and
fair discussion. But I do say, that as for the
abolition of slavery in the District of Columbia,
as at present advised, I would not "vote for it. 1
say again, I would not vote in favor of it, if the
question should come up this day. And I retain
this opinion after the lapse of six years since '.
presented the first petition on the subject, notwith
standing all the arguments I have seen; and many
able arguments have 1 seen : I have read with
rreat care all that is said on the abolition side of
the question in their periodicals, journals and
pamphlets. 1 have read them all : 1 have weigh
ed and considered them well : and I have not yet
seen reason to change my opinion. 1 wish them
clearly to understand this.
I said that my position and opinion did not ap
pear to be fully understood in either of the por
tions of the country. 1 presume they are not at
the South, for there I am represented as personal
ly favoring the objects of all the memorials I pre
sent, and as. seeking to put myself at the head' of
the great abolition movements. Hence it is, as
I presume, that I receive these "quizzical" letters.
Here is a portion of' the country which desires, as
being most interested in the subject; to suppress
all discussion m- regard to it; and1 to prevent it
altogether. That i one way to get rid of it in
the House, out of doors-there are other modes,-
Among the rest, tfftd among persons not of those
humanized sentiments which maybe presumed
to be entertained by the members of this House,
they think that they can silence discussion by
threats of murder and assassination. I do not
know but there may be some who think it will be
best to-murder ine. I do not apprehend such a
result, bocause it is much easier to threaten than
to murder, especially in the face of day and in
the public streets. Still, passion, when highly
excited, does produce men who will make the at
tempt. History is full of examples of it. And
this subject, as we all know and feel, is calculated
to excite the passions more, perhaps, than almost
any other ; and is, therefore, as likely to produce
such a result as any that was ever mooted among
men. I presume, however, that these letters are
written only with a design to intimidate me. It
is not intended to carry the threats into actual ex
ecution, but they are made for the purpose of
frightening me, and so making me hold my
tongue-. Because the rules of the House are not
sufficient to repress-all reference to the subject,
they come in aid of the gags of this House by
threatening instant death. Let none imagine that
they will produce the intended effect. 1 am not
to cease from the discharge of a solemn public
duty under threats of any kind, either of the bul
ly or of the assassin. That I can face a bully
would only put me on a level with every other
member of the House-. That I can-defy assassin
ation I wish all bullies and' assassins throughout
the country to understand ; and that no such
threats will ever deter me from my duty here.
As to my course itself, it has sometimes been
considered as exceptionable, and many members
have been disgusted at the time consumed, and at
the manner in which I have presented memorials
with which I have been charged.' I have now be
fore me one hundred and seventy five new peti
tions to present, which have come into my hands
since the- last petition day. No doubt I might
send one hundred and sixty of them in a bundle
to the Clerk's table, and say, "there are a parcel
of abolition- petitions which I have been requested
to present," and I might, no-doubt, thus save some
of the- time of the House-; but should I discharge,
in such-case, my duty to-the petitioners? They
are, in- general, strangers to me" ; most of them
reside in States other than that which I in part
represent ; they all seem much interested about
the subjects of their petitions, and they commit
them to my special care and charge. Great num
bars of them are accompanied by letters express
ing great solicitude, and praying to be informed
what the House does with their petitions. Sir,
this is a trust a trust which, as a member of
this House and a Representative of a portion of
the People of this country, I receive, not from
my own constituents, not from those whose votes
are to elect me or not, if I should ever be again a
candidate. It comes from persons who can do me
no favor if they were disposed to do so, save by
giving me their good opinion persons from
whom I have nothing in the world to expect, but
persons who feel a deep solicitude about the sub
ject of their memorials, and tell me that they en
trust them to my special care because they know
that I shall do them justice. What can I do ?
How can I discharge my duty to these voluntary
constituents, and who, in my estimation, by their
voluntary constituency, do me the greater honor ?
What, I ask, am I to do ? I feel it a sacred duty,
from which I may not swerve, to present each of
their memorials separately, to name the first peti
tioner, the number of signatures, the place, and
the object of the petition, and then a leave it to
the House to act its pleasure in regard to them.
This is all I have done or intend to do. I say
this in order, in same measure, to relieve myself
from the odium which I certainly do not wish to
be under in this House of abusing or needlessly
consuming its time. I hold it due to the petition
ers. Every petitioner desires and expects to be
heard ; and if the House refuses to hear him, he
expects that refusal to be expressed. Now, in
presenting one hundred and sixty, or, as I some
times have had to do, one hundred and seventy
memoriols on different subjects, the mere process
of presentation necessarily takes up all the time I
have consumed. Suppose those petitions were
on any other subject one which the House
would consider and discuss, would it be consider
ed respectful to send up a hundred of them at
once to the Clerk's table and say, I present thirty
or forty petitions on the subject of a breakwater in
such a river ! Others may so consider it ; I do
not ; and never have done. I consider every pe
tition and every petitioner entitled to respectful
treatment ; and when he charges me with any
petition on any subject, I mean to present his
petition separately. And now in respect to the
subject of the resolutions which I asked to offer
on the second and third days of the present ses
sion : On the- second day I presented certain res
olutions of inquiry respecting the conduct of a
minister of the United States abroad. I assumed
nothing against the gentleman, I offered resolu
tions of inquiry as to transactions deeply inter
esting to his country. I did believe it my solemn
THE
duiv, both to the House and to the nation, to d
so. I believe so still. It was the pleasure of the
House not to nermit the resolutions to be ollerea
The House refused me liberty to offer them,though
the transactions referred to had been published to
the world hv the minister himself as matters in
which he acted under a sense of duty, and in or
der to maintain the honor of his country ; and
these transactions were to that end. Part of the
facts were nublished bv himself in England, and
nart bv his associates in this country. They were
voluntarily published to the civilized world as
courting public notice, and calling lor public ap-
probation. I offered, under these circumstances
resolutions of inquiry ; and the House refused to
consider them. mere seemed an impression
to prevail here like that by which a certain gen
tleman has, upon another subject, immortalized
himself and the English language better let
it BE.
Foiled hi this attempt, I then presented, on the
third day ol the session, other resolutions, catling
on the President to know whether he had noticed
these transactions, since he- is the Executive head
of the Government, charged with the execution
of the laws, as it was my opinion that he was
bound to notice them. And the inquiry extend
ed to the conduct of another public functionary
an officer of high rank in the Navy a man for
whom, up to that time, I had entertained the
very highest respect, not only on his own account
but also on account of his illustrious brother a
man towards whom I had no feeling but that of
attachment and regard, and whom I should have
esteemed it a pleasure to serve. But he was an
officer of the American Navy : .and the transac
tions alluded to in my resolution were of a char
acter which m my judgment, called for the no
tice of this House, of the nation, and the Execu
tive.
Mr. Thompson, of South Carolina, appealed to
the gentleman himself whether he thought it fair
to avail himself of the previlege granted him by
the House and by Mr. 1 ., amongst others, to as
sail the characters ot honorable men, when no
opportunity could be had by their friends to defend
them; the only defence they needed being a true
statement ol the transaction.
Mr. Adams. I do not see that it is in my pow
er to explain to the House the position in which I
stand in relation to those transactions without en
tering into the nature of the transactions them
selves. As to the gentleman's observation, that
his friend has no opportunity to answer, I doubt
not the gentleman will have full liberty to answer
to his heart s content. He need be under no ap
prehension that the House will not grant him full
opportunity to defend the character of his friend
I never asked to censure him on any motion" of
mine. My first resolution was to enquire into the
transaction; my second, to ask whether the Ex
ecutive had noticed them : that was all. But, in
assigning the reasons why I offered them, it seems
impossible to me to avoid some relerence to the
nature of those transactions. I was actuated bv
no feeling of personal animosity against either of
the parties 1 was characterizing only the
transactions themselves ; and I have done it with
T I If I .1
great reserve, l nave ueiore me nere a volume
of the statutes of the Commonwealth of Virginia.
They show what the nature of these acts was. - I
have here, also, a volume containing a decision
of the late President of the United States, cash
iering several naval officers, on his mere ipse dixit
striking them from the rolls of the Navy, for a
transaction ot identically the same character.
did not read the statute of Virginia, nor will I
disturb the nerves of my friend from South Car
olina by reading it now. I will not read decisions
of the President striking two or three lieutenants
yes, lieutenants officers of little comparative
name or consequence mere subordinates to
whom their commissions were nothing but their
bread cashiering them for an act just like that of
this captain in the Navy. No, 1 will not read
them. But if the House shall hereafter take up
the resolutions I have offered, I shall then claim
the privilege to read all these documents, and to
show what, according to the laws of Virginia,
was this transaction, and what, in the estimation
of the late President of the United States, was
the transaction in which this officer of the Navy
was concerned. I do not ask it now, because a
simple allusion to them will serve to justify me in
the offering of those resolutions. I acted, in so
doing, under a solemn and sacred sense of duty.
I do believe it to be as sacred a duty to this House
as I believe it to be a duty to promote the wel
fare of the People of the United States, to watch
over their interests, and to guard their honor. I
believe it is equally the duty of the Executive to
notice those transactions, as the acts of a minis
ter of the United States at a foreign court, and
the acts of a higher officer in the Navy of the
United States.
Having said this, I hope it will be understood
by the House and by the country that I cannot
forbear to pursue the course I have heretofore
pursued, as well in presenting petitions as in no
ticing those transactions.
I have now nothing further to account for but
my presentation of petitions for the recognition
of the independence of Haiti. It is for that, more
particularly, that I am challenged in the letter be
fore me. For this I am threatened with assas
sination. I ask what next ? I have presented
some of these petitions : my colleagues have done
the same. A member from Maryland, who sits
before me, has done the same. They relate to a
country on whose government our citizens have
claims oi indemnity, in relation to wnicn tney
have certain rights ; and in regard to which the
commerce of the country is deeply concerned.
The. commercial transactions with that island are
among the most important to the whole country,
including the city of Baltimore the city of the
honorable gentleman before me, the Chairman of
the Committee on Foreign Affairs. And what
do you do ? The claimants for indomnity, and
those interested in the commerce of the Island,
come here and ask you to acknowledge the exist
ence of a fact which is known to all the world.
Mr. Howard, of Maryland, (Chairman of the
Committee on Foreign Affairs) said that there
was not one of his constituents in Baltimore, that
he knew of, who had the slightest interest in the
matter.
Whether the gentleman knows it or not, there
are many of his constituents who would derive
the greatest advantage from- the recognition of
this fact ; and besides, the recognition is a right
on the part of that Government. I hold it as in
disputable,, that the government of a nation, in
dependent de facto for many years, uncontested
by any, has a right, under the law of nations, to
be recognized as what it is. If the gentleman's
own constituents did not, some iU least of the citi
VOICE OF FREEDOM.
zens of his State did, sign a memorial praying
for the recognition of the independence of Haiti.
Mr. W. Cost Johnson said be bad presented a
petition from citizens of Maryland on this subject.
Sir, memorials in favor of it have not only
come from Maryland, but from Virginia, What
is it that they ask ? The simple acknowledgment
of a fact which you cannot undo or prevent,
whether you acknowledge it or not. I do confess
that, in the midst of all the agitation, and all the
terror and consternation, and all the fury which
prevails among many on this subject of slavery,
I cannot help being amazed that gentlemen should
desire to1 put the resue on such a point as that.
How can it affect any portion of the country ?
These Haitiens have now existed many years as
an independent people : they do exist; they are
not far from our own doors, but we are in no
danger from them : they are among the most qui
et, peaceable nations upon earth : they recom
mend themselves to the world by their peaceable
demeanor. Thev seem desirous only to get along
with their own government, without creating any
disturbance, or interfering at all with the rest of
the world.
Mr. Howard here appealed to Mr. Adams
and to the House. He had voted in favor of
giving the gentleman permission to make a state
ment to the House, as he had requested ; but the
gentleman, instead of making a statement about
his own presentation of memorials, was arguing
a question which was now before the Committee
on Foreign Affairs, and on which that committee
had come to no decision. How far this was in
order, he would leave to the honorable gentleman's
own sense of propriety.
i am obliged to the gentleman lor his admoni
tion. I say as little as 1 can, as I have done on al
the other points : but here is a letter threatening
me with assassination, for the crime of presenting
petitions on this subject ol the recognition of Haiti.
I am threatened with murder if I say a word
more on the subject. Is it then, out of order for
me to show the reasons why I cannot renounce
my course for any threat or intimication by ad
verting to the quiet and peaceable character of the
people, the acknowledgment of whose independ
ence is demanded by the petitions which 1 and
others have presented, but must proceed to sustain
and to advocate that object. As to the subject
beiVig before the Committee on Foreign Relations,
I do assure the gentleman that I have not th least
expectation of making any impression whatever
on that committee. Ihere is not the least danger
that tney will be influenced by any thniT 1 can
say. No, sir ; they are too much of the "size
tray" for that. (A laugh.)
Ihere is yet another reason why I have asked
leave to make this explanation. And now I do
not know but I am going farther than I have yet
done. If 1 do, here is the gentleman irom Vir
ginia (Mr. Dromgoole) at hand to stop me. I
believe that some agitation has been produced in
the venerable Commonwealth of Virginia, from
the fact that I presented an abolition petition from
that state. 1 believe so, because 1 have seen,
from the public journals, that very great excite
ment had been produced in that part of Virginia
iFom which the petition came ; 1 mean the town
of Wheeling and its vicinity. It is from Wheel
ng that 1 have received one of the friendly, the
kind-heartecKaiiiiWlllC3ters referred to, entreat
ing me for the sake ot God not to present any
more abolition petitions, and apprizing me that if
I do, "my days are numbered. lhe writer says
he knows ot a number of persons in that region
of country who have determined to take my life
lor presenting an Abolition memorial from V irgin
ia. Nay, it seems from thciiapers, that so great
has the excitement been, that the signers of that
memorial have been threatened with indictments
under the laws of Virginia, and with being sent
to the penitentiary, for petitioning on that sub
ject. Wow 1 do most sincerely pity those indi-
viauais wno nave placed themselves in such a
predicament among their fellow citizens, but
there is one fact ascertained by it, viz : that the
signers are known persons persons of respecta
bility. One of them is a magistrate. And a
mong other indications of the degree of excite
ment, is the fact that the other magistrates of the
county have held a meeting and passed resolu
tions requesting him to resign his commission
for signing that petition. I do not profess to be
learned in the laws of Virginia : I can onlv sav
hone it is not so. I hope that these men have
not exposed themselves to persecution under those
laws ; if they have, it only shows the more clear
ly that they were conscientious in what they did,
because it is to be supposed that they knew of the
hazard they encountered. I hope it is not true,
that even by the laws of Virginia a man is liable
to be indicted for signing a memorial praying
that slavery may be abolished in this District. 1
saw accounts, also, of a public meeting held on
the occasion, (and as to a public meeting 1 have
no objections to it,) at which a petition was sign
ed against the object prayed for by the other pe
titioners : this was perfectly proper. But I will
not give to the House the mediations of my mind
on a disclosure of the fact that in the land of Pat
rick Henry and of Thomas Jefferson, a few res
pectable individuals who signed a petition for the
abolition of slavery in this District should have
made themselves liable to prosecution under the
criminal laws of the State. I hope, it is not so.
And now I have explained to the House the
reasons which have induced me heretofore to pur
sue the course I have done in relation to petitions
on the subjects of the abolition of slavery ; the
recognition of the independence of Havti ; and in
offering resolutions touching certain transactions of
one of our ministers abroad the three topics on
account of which I have been threatened with
murder I must persist in the same course. 1
cannot give up the right of petition as I understand
it the right ot my constituents to be heard on the
ubject of their petitions. As long as I hold a
eat on this floor ; as long as my voice will con
tinue to answer the feelings of my heart ; I must
persevere, though threats, or though actual assass
ination should be the consequence. On the other
hand, I have said this, not to contradict what I
have said before, but, because there seems to be
a misunderstanding both at the South and the
North in regard to my conduct and opinions, I
have thought proper to state what is now my opin
ion on abolition and all other subjects in the pe
titions I have presented. I say this, that the ab
olitionists and the anti-slavery societies every where
may distinctly understand my position, ihey
have not altogether understood my views. In one
part of the country I am represented as endeavor
ing, wun one ioot m the grave, to place myself at
the head of the abolition interest in this country ;
at the other end of the Union the question with
them is, whether they shall not cast me at once to
the winds, because I am not in favor of immediate
abolition, every where. . There is one of their pub
lic prints (" The Friend of Maw" I think it is call
ed) which contains a long argument to prove that
i nave done more wrong to the cause of abolition
by stopping short of " immediatism," as they term
it, man au tne gentlemen from the Southern por
tion of the Union together.
Mr. Thompson, of South Carolina, here rose
and said : These, sir, are important and interest
ing aeciaraiions ; and as the honorable gentleman
nas sougni mis occasion of stating his true opin
ions upon the subject of abolition, Mr. T. supposed
that he desired to keep nothing back. He (Mr. T.)
therefore begged to ask the gentleman whether,
when he said, with a special emphasis, that he
would not vote for abolition in the District, it was
not solely for the reason that such a measure would
retard abolition all over the United States : and
whether he did not hold the opinion that the Fed
eral Government had the power to abolish slavery,
not only in the District, but also in the States and
Territories; and whether he would not vote for
such a proposition of general abolition ? If he
would not so vote, Mr. Thompson would be glad
to hear him say so ; it would do much good.
Hitherto, the fear seemed to be lest I should go
too far in these statements: now, the gentleman
says, 1 do not go far enough. W hy, sir, to an
swer the question he has put to me would take at
least the rest of the day perhaps two more days.
I wish the gentleman to understand that if ever the
House shall open that discussion, they shall then
have my whole heart and soul on that question,
cost what it may. I will not open it now : I shall
wait till the House throws it open for full and fair
discussion. When that shall be done, 1 repeat, I
am ready to give all my opinions and all my feel
ings to the House and to the country.
I was saying that one of the reasons why I had
asked leave to make these statements was, that all
the abolitionists and anti-slavery societies, whether
in the North, the South, or the Centre, may know
precisely where I stand ; and I stated that one of
their journals declared that they must not consid
er me as an abolitionist, because I stopped short of
" immediatism, for that all such persons were at
once to be set down as enemies to the cause. 1 hat,
sir, was the very ground of a secret opposition con
certed against me in my own district previous to
the Jate election, between the party in favor of the
administration and that portion of the abolitionists
who were not satisfied with my course. The ad
ministration party, secretly, without any nomina
tion, but by a secret sympathy which unites them
all, and which, I believe, received its first impulse
in this matter from the custom-house at Boston,
went round the entire district, and said, in an un
der tone, " Here is an abolition ticket ;" and in
this way effected four times as large an opposition
to my election as had ever shown itself on previ
ous occasions. Yes, sir; the administration of
" Northern men with Southern principles" were
obliged to set up a very respectable gentleman, said
to be the most thoroughgoing abolition man thev
could find in the whole district, to oppose me. I
now say what my opinion is, (and I say it here
openly,) that the abolitionists and the anti-slavery
societies may take, m regard to me, what course
they please. If 1 shall ever be again a candidate
which is not probable, for there is scarcely an
even chance that I shall live to see another elec
tion but if I am, though I should be sorry to lose
their votes, 1 must abide the consequences. 1 have
abode consequences often enough in the course of
my hie, and 1 must do it again. 1 am determin
ed, at all events, that they shall not misunderstand
me. Some of their principal leaders do under
stand me perfectly well, and this declaration may
save them some trouble, and me also. Sir, I have
done. I will now proceed to present the petitions
1 am charged with.
Mr. Adams then went on to present petitions
and was followed by other gentlemen in success
ion, until the usual hour of adjournment.
Mr. Adams ofeech. Read the whole of it
oeiore you judge oi it. vve observe that many
ot the papers are treating this speech as if it was
a statement ot Mr. Adams position with regard
to the subject of slavery and its abolition, and es
pecially with regard to the action of Congress on
the subject. This is a great error. It will be
observed, that when Mr. Thompson of S. C. pro
posed certain questions, the old man stiffly refus
ed to answer them, until such time as the House
would take off the padlock from his lips and hear
him. By this movement, he has doubtless put
the pro-slavery advocates on the tenter-hooks and
ne win not let them on easily, jjy comparing
this speech with that which he delivered two years
ago, and with his letters to the nominating com
mittee, and to the R. I. A. S. Society, we are led
to believe, that Mr. Adams is opposed to the abo
lition of slavery in the District mainly because he
does not take the same view with us and with the
writers of the Federalist, in regard to the object
lor which the District was placed under the exclu
sive legislation of Congress, as strictly a national
domain, to be governed solely with refrence to the
nterests of the nation as a whole ; but that he al
so puts a low estimate on this movement, because
he thinks it is striking only at one of the branches
of the system, while he would direct the whole
power of Congress at the root of the tree. Let
the southern members draw him out and give him
a hearing, and we believe he will develope new
views with regard to the powers of Congress, the
abolition of the inter-state slave trade, the protec
tion ol the rights ot all men, and the duty which
the national government owes to itself under the
great primal law of self-preservation. None can
see more clearly than Mr. Adams, that it isbe-
coming more and more duncult, and will soon be
manifestly impossible, to accommodate the same
system of legislation to subjects so hostile as free
abor and slave labor, human rights and human
chattelhood, liberty and slavery. If the South
persist in maintaining slavery, and the North per
sist in maintaining lree institutions, the natural
repulsivepss of the two systems will rend the Un
ion. Or if the North finally resolves to uphold
slavery, she will be driven to re-establish it at
lome, even though the subjects be Angio-oaxon.
jet Mr. Adams bring forward his views, in the
hane of a definite measure which he is willing
to propose for adoption, and to expend the remain
der of his public lifa in carrying through, and the
proslavcry men viU Jave nine reason to congrat
ulate themselves on account of a division between
him and us, We shall bp greatly disappointed if
such a disclosure should not bring large portions
of the South to a serious consideration of the great
question, and to measures of preparation for a fi
nal settlement of the subject.
With regard to the question itself, of the aboli
tion of slavery in the District of Columbia, it is
proper to remark, that as abolitionists did not re
ceive the doctrine from Mr. Abams, so they will
feel under no obligations to abandon the measure
because he is not prepared to give it his support.
It remains as true as it was before, that the exis
tence of slavery and the slave-trade in the District
is a great national disgrace, which the national
legislature are not under the shadow of obligation
to retain ; and that, so far as Congress is bound
to regard the rights and interests of individuals, it
is bound to pay precisely the same regard to the
welfare of the slave as of his loaster, and to pro
tect the rights and interests of the colored inhab
itants with precisely the same laws as those of the
whites. A simple enactment reognizing this prin
ciple, would abolish slavery in the District at a
blow. Not even Mr. Adams' skill in dialectics
can destroy this conclusion. The prudential
question, whether it is wise for the abolitionists to
expend so large a portion of their efforts on this
point, is another matter ; but that the thing itself
is right, we are as well satisfied as we were be
fore. Emancipator.
THE VOICE OF FREEDOM.
MONTPELIER, SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 8, 1839.
The attendance at our county anti-slavery
meeting on Wednesday was quite respectable, not
withstanding the severity of the weather, and the
proceedings were characterised by an unusual de
gree of animation and spirit. The address of Mr.
Upham, embracing a lucid commentary upon the
constitution of the U. States, was received with
much favor, and a copy was requested for the press.
The people of the free states have been at fault in
looking to slave-holders for expositions of ' the su
preme law of the land.' The South has stoutly
insisted that the grand aim of the constitution was
to forge fetters for the everlasting enslavement of'
a portion of we the people,' and to tongue-tie the
rest. We are glad to find so sound a lawyer as
Mr. Upham filing his bill of exceptions to such a
plea.
The Southern expositors of the constitution
seem to have reversed the common-law doctrine,
and, instead of conceding that ' the. law favors lib
erty,' it is assumed that the law favors slavery.
The slaveholding jurisprudence of the South is
equally enlightened and humane in practice. By
the common law, an accused prisoner is presumed1
innocent until he is proved to be guilty. The law
of slavery, reversing this maxim, presumes a col
ored person to be a chattel personal until he ex
hibit proof of his freedom. This has teen repeated
ly exemplified in the District of Columbia, where
slavery is a national institution,, because created
by the laws of Congress. Persons are, every day,,
liable to be seized and imprisoned in the national'
prisons, on pretence of suspicion that they are fu
gitive slaves, and on failure to produce such evi
dence of freedom as the law requires, sold at auc
tion as slaves for life. This in the federal district,
over which Congress by the constitution has ex
elusive power of legislation. This in the nine
teenth century, and in a country where ' democ
racy' is the cry of the great -mass. This under
the droppings of our political sanctuary, where the
flag of our Union flaps, and where freemen are
denied the right of petition ! What have the
North to do with slavery ? and what has slavery
to do with the North ? .
MA. ADAMS' SPEECH.
We give the late speech of Mr. Adams at full
length, as reported for the National Intelligencer.
It purports to be an explanation of Mr. A.'s posi
tion on the questionn of slavery, but is, in fact, ra
ther a negative declaration, showing what his po
sition is not. Mr. Adams declares that he is not m
favor of immediate abolition in the District of Co
lumbia, but when interrogated by Mr. Thompson
of S. Carolina, as to his ' position' on the question
of general abolition, he leaves the slaveholder to
his own conjectures. It must be remembered, too,
that Mr. Adams' votes have been several times re
corded within three or four years upon questions
directly involving the constitutional power of Con
gress, in one way or another, over slavery or the
slave trade in the states. Such a vote was given
on the 11th December, on the first of the Ather;-,
ton gag resolutions, which declares that " by tha
Constitution of the United States Congress has
no jurisdiction whatever over the institution of
slavery in the several states of the confederacy."
To this proposition Mr. Adams was the first man
answering in the negative. This vote of itself was
a tacit acknowledgment of Mr. Adams, that he
held to the constiutiqnal power pf Congress, in
some manner, over slavery in the states. In hs.
celebrated speech against the recognition of Texas,
he expressly insisted on the war power of Congress
over slavery in the states, as the following extract
will show :
" 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 ar
mies ; 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 seryile war may be dis
astrous. By war, the slave may emancipate him
self; 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, .
a such a contingency, would have np authority to
nterfere with slavery, in any way, in the states ?
Whv. it would be equivalent to saying that Con
gress have no constitutional power to make peace."
If Mr. Adams claims the right of interference
with state slavery under the war power of the
constitution, what may he be expected toclaim un
der the power " to regulate commerce with foreign