The voice of freedom. [volume], March 23, 1839, Image 1

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

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FREEDOM.
ALLEN & POLAND, Publishers.
Published under the sanction of the Vermont Anti-Slavery Society.
CHAUNCEY L. KNAPP, Editor.
VOIiUJTIE I.
HIOiTFEL.II5R, VEKIOT, MARCH 33, 1839.
THE TOIC
OF
SPEECH OF Mil. MORRIS,
OF OHIO,
In Senate, February 9, 1S39.
Mr. President : I rise to present to the con
sideration of the Senate, numerous petitions sign
ed not onlv bv citizens of my own state, but cm
zens of several other states, lew York, Pennsy
i .. tie t T 1
van a. Michigan, Illinois, unci inaiuna. ine.se
netitioners, amounting in number to several thou
sands, have thought proper to make me their or
iran, in communicating to Congress their opinion
tind wishes on subjects wliich, to tliem, appear o
he highest importance, inese petition:-, sir, are
on the subject of slavery, the slave trade as car
vied on within and from this District, the slave
rade between the different states of this confedera
cy, between this country and iexas, and against
the admission of that country into this Union, and
also against that ot any other state, whose consli
tution and laws recognize or permit slavery.
take this opportunity to present all these petitions
together, having detained some of them for a con
siderable time in my hands, in order that as smal
a portion of the attention of the Senate might be
taken up on their account as would be consistent
with a strict regard to the rights of the petitioners
And I now present them under the most peculiar
pircumstances that have ever probably transpired in
this or any other country. I present them on the
heel of the petitions which have been presented by
the senator Irom Kentucky Mr. ClayJ singed by
me iHiiuuiiuius oi uiis uisinci, praying mat jon
gress would not receive petitions on the subject o
slavery in the District from any body of men, or
citizens, but themselves. I his is something new
it is one of the devices of the slave power, and
most extraordinary in itselt. lhese petitions .
am in duty bound to present a duty which '.
cheerfully perform, for I consider it not only a du
ty but an honor. The respectable names which
these petitions bear, and being against a practice
which I as deeply deprecate and deplore as they
can possibly do, yet I well know the fate of these
petitions ; and I also know the time, place, and
disadvantage under which I present them. In
availing myself of this opportunity to explain my
pwn views on this agitating topic, and to explain
and justify the character and proceedings of these
petitioners, it must be obvious to all that lam sur
rounded by no ordinary discouragements. The
strong prejudice which is evidenced by the peti
tioncrs of the District, the unwillingness of the
Senate to hear, the power which is arrayed against
me on this occasion, as well as in opposition to
those whose rights I am anxious to maintain ; op
posed by the very lions of debate in this body, who
arq cheered on by an applauding gallery and sur
rounding interests, is enough to produce dismay
in one far more able and eloquent than the lone
nnd humble individual who now addresses you.
What, sir, can there be to induce me to appear on
this public arena, opposed by such powerful odds ?
Nothing, sir, nothing but a strong sense of duly,
nnd a deep conviction that the cause I advocate is
just; that the petitioners whom I represent are
honest, upright, intelligent, and respectable citi
zens j men who love their country, who are anx
ious to promote its best interests, and who are ac
tualed by the purest patriotism, as well as the deep
est philanthropy and benevolence. In represent
ing sucn men, ana in sucn a cause, tnougn oy me
most feeble means, one would suppose that on
the floor of the Senate of the United States, or
der, and a decent respect to the opinions of others,
would prevail. From the causes which I have
mentioned, I can hardly hope for this. I expect
to proceed through scenes which ill become this
hall ; but nothing shall deter me from a full and
faithful discharge of my duty on this important
occasion. Permit me, sir, to remind gentlemen
that I have now been six years a member of this
body. 1 have seldom, perhaps too seldom, in the
opinion of many of my constituents, pressed my
self upon the notice of the Senate, and taken up
their time in useless and windy debate. I ques
tion very much if I have occupied the time of the
benate during the six years as some gentlemen
have during six weeks, or even six days. I hope
therefore, that I shall not he thought obtrusive, or
charged with taking up lime with Abolition pe
titions. I hope, Mr. President, to hear no more
about agitating this slave question here. Who
has began the agitation now ? The Senator from
Kentucky, Mr. Clay. Who has responded to
that agitation, and congratulated the Senate and
he country on its results ? The Senator from
South Carolina, Mr. Calhoun. And pray, sir,
under what circumstances is this agitation begun ?
Let it be remembered, let us recollect the facts
from the records on your table, that when I, as a
member of this body, but a few days since offered
a resolution as the foundation of proceedings on'
these petitions, gentlemen, as. if operated on by an
electric shock, sprung from their seats and ob
jected to its introduction. And when you, sir, de
cided that it was the right of every member to in
troduce such motion or resolution as he pleased,
being responsible to his constituents and this body
for the abuse of this right, gentlemen seemed to
wonder that the Senate had no power to prevent
the action of one of its members in cases like this,
ana" the poor privilege of having the resolution
printed, by order of the Senate, was denied.
Let the Senator from South Carolina before me,
remember that, nt the last session, when he offered
resolutions on the subject of slavery, they were
hot only received without objection, but printed,
voted, on and decided ; and let the Senator from
TTnnt H.1.-TF Knf1mt t L n I :.: 1 1 1 rv
iicumuij iciiuLt hjui. uiu jiuLuiuii wnicn ne oiier
ed against our right was also received and order
ed to be printed without a single dissenting voice ;
and I call on the Senate and the country to remem
ber that the resolutions which I have offered on
the same subject have not only been refused the
noting, but have been laid on the table without
eing debated or referred. Posterity, which shall
read the proceedings of this time, may well won
der what power could induce the Senate of the U.
S. to proceed in such a strange & contradictory way.
Permit me to tell the country now what this
power behind the throne, greater than the throne
itself, is. It is the power' of slavery. It is n
power, according to the calculation of the Senator
from Kentucky, which owns twelve hundred mil-
lions of dollars in human beings as property; and and means, and a disposition to employ the latter
if money is power, this power is not to be conceiv- to equalize whites and blacks in the slaveholding
ed of or calculated ; a power which claims human stales. Even now, the absconding slave is per
property more than double the amount which the fectly safe in Cincinnati. We doubt whether an
whole money of the world could purchase. What instance can be adduced' of the recovery of a run
can stand before this power ? Truth, everlasting away in that place in the last four years. When
truth, will yet overthrow it. This power is aim- negroes reach "the Queen city" they are protec
ing to govern the country, its constitution and laws ; ted by its intelligence, its piety and its wealth.
but it is not certain of success, tremendous as it is, They receive the aid of the elite of the Buckeyes,
without foreign or other aid. Let it be borne in and ye have a strong faction in Kentucky strug-
mnid that the Bank power, some years since, dur-
ing what has been called the panic session, had
influence sufficient in this body, and upon this
floor, to prevent the reception ot petitions against
the action of the Senate on their resolutions of
censure against the President. 1 he country took
instant alarm, and the political complexion of this
body was changed as soon as possible. 1 he same
power, though double in means and strength, is
now doing the same thing. This is the array of
power that even now is attempting such an unwar-
rentable course in this country; and the people
. . ... .
are now moving against the slave, as they former-
ly did against the Bank power. It, too, begins to
tremble lor its safety. What is to be done ? Why,
petitions are received and ordered to be printed
against the right of petitions which are not receiv-
ed, and the whole power of debate is thrown into
the scale with the slaveholding power. But all will
not do ; these two powers must now be united ; an
amalgamation of the black power of the South with
the white power of the North must take place, as
either, separately, cannot succeed in the destruc-
tion of the liberty of speech and the press, and
the right of petition. Let me tell gentlemen that
both united will never succeed; as I said on a
former day, God forbid that they should ever rule nounces them dead, 1 produce this lrom a slave
this country. I have seen this billing and cooing holding state for the special benefit and consola-
between these different interests for some time
past; I informed my private friends of the politi-
cal party with which I have heretofore acted, dur-
ing the first week of this session, that these pow-
ers were forming a union to overthrow the pres-
ent administration ; and I warned them of the fol-
ly and mischief they were doing in their abuse of
.1 l , .ii . t .
mose who were onnosed to slaverv. All doubts
are now terminated. The display made by the
Senator from Kentucky, TMr. Clay,! and his de-
nunciations of these petitioners ns Abolitionists,
and the hearty response and cordial embrace which
his efforts met from the Senator from South Car-
olina Mr. Calhoun, clearly shows that new moves shall, to the utmost ol my abilities, under all cir
ri avc taken place on the political chessboard, and cumstances, and at all times, contend for that free-
new coalitions are formed, new compromises and
new bargains, settling and disposing of the rights
of the country for the advantage of political as-
pirants.
Ihe gentleman from South Carolina, Mr. Cal-
houn seemed at the conclusion of the argument
made by the Senator from Kentucky, to be filled
not only with delight but ecstacy. He told us that
about twelve months since HE had ofierred a reso-
lution which turned the tide, in favor of the great
principle of stale rights, and says he is highly
pleased with the course taken by the Kentucky
senator. All is now sale by the acts ol that Sen-
ator. lhe South is now consolidated as one man ;
t was a great epoch in our history, but we have
now passed it ; it is the beginning of a moral rev-
olution ; slaverv so far from beinc a political evil
is a great blessing; both races have been improved
by it ; and that Abolition is now dead, and will
soon be forgotten. So far the Senator from south men who love liberty, and are opposed to slave
Carolina, as I understand him. But, sir, is this ry that in behalf of these citizens I speak ; and
really the case ? Is the South united as one man, by whatever name they may be called, it is those
and is the Senator from Kentucky the great cen- who are opposed to slavery whose cause I advo-
tre ot attraction ? What a lesson to the lriends
of the present Administration, who have been
throwing themselves into the arms of the southern
lave power Jor support ! 1 he black enchantment
hope is now at an end the dream dissolved,
and we awake into open day. No longer is there
any uncertainty or any doubt on this subject,
But is the great epoch passed; is it not rather
justbeginning ? Is Abolitionism dead or is it just
awakening into life? Is the right of petition right of the people to petition ; second, why slave
strangled and forgotten or is it increasing in ry is wrong, and why I am opposed to it; third,
strength and force ? These are serious questions the power of slavery in this country, and its dan
for the gentleman's consideration that may damp gers ; next, answer the question, so often asked,
the ardor of his joy, if examined with an nnpar-
tial mind, and looked at with an unprejudiced eye.
Sir, when these pasans were sung over the death
of Abolitionists, and of course their right to liberty
of speech and the press, at least in fancy's eyes,
we might have seen them lying in heaps upon
t i;i .1. . -., . - i I
neaps line uie enemies oi me strong man in aays
of old. But let me bring back the gentleman's
mind from this delightful scene of Abolition death
to sober realities and solemn facts. I hare now
ying before me the names of thousands of living
witnesses that slavery has not entirely conquered
berty; that Abolitionists (lor so are all these pe-
titioners called) are not all dead. These are my
first proofs to show the gentleman that his ideas
are all fancy. I have also, sir, since the corn- been sent here by the whole people of the United
mencement of this debate, received a newspaper, States, but from a portion of them only ; yet such
as if sent by Providence to suit the occasion, and is the justice of their claim, and the sure founda
by whom I know not. It is the Cincinnati Re- tion on which it rests, that no portion of the Amer
publican of the 2d inst., which contains an extract ican people, until a day or two past, have thought
om the Louisville Advertiser, a paper printed in
ientucky, in Louisville, our sister city; and al-
though about one hundred miles below us. is but
few hours distant. That paper is the leading
Administration journal, too, as I am informed, in
Kentucky. Hear what it says on the death of
Abolition.
" Abolition Cincinnati the Louisville Ad-
ITT I . II . . -
ERTiSEit. we copy tne lollowing notice of an ar-
tide which we lately published, upon the subject
f Abolition morements in this quarter, from the
Louisville Advertiser :
Abolition. The reader is referred to nn inter-
esling article which wo have copied from the Cin- trade in the District, if they believe the practice
cinnati Republican a paper which lately sup- just, that their names might have gone down to
ported the principles of Democracy ; a paper which posterity. No, sir ; very few yet have the moral
has turned, but not quite far enough to act with courage to record their names to such an avowal ;
the Adamses and Slades in Cqngress, or the Whig and even some of these petitioners are so squeam
Abolitiqnists in Ohio. It does not, however, give ish on this subject, tli!jt they might, from cqrisci
a correct view of the strength of the Abolitionists entious principles, be prevented from holding
in Cincinnati. There they are in the ascendant, slaves. Not so, sir, with the petitioners which I
They control the city elections, regulate what have the honor to represent; they are anxious
may be termed the morals of the citv. ttive tone to that their sentiments and their names should be
public opinion, and 'rule the roost' by virtue of made matter of record ; they have no qualms of
their superior piety and intelligence. The Re- conscience on this subject ; they have deep con
publican tells us that they are not laboring Loco victions and a firm belief that slavery is an exist-
Focos but "drones" and "consumers" the "rich ing evil, jricdmpatiblo with the principles ofpoliti-
and well born" of course ; men who have leisure cal liberty, at war with our system of Govern
glmg zealously to make her one of the dependen
cies of Cincinnati ! Let our mutual sons go on
The day of mutual retribution is at hand much
nearer than is now imagined. I he Kepublican
which still looks with a friendly eye towards the
slaveholding states, warns us of the danger which
exists, although its new born zeal for Whiggery
prompts it to insist, indirectly, on the right ol pe
titioning Congress to abolish slavery, there are
about two hundred and fifty abolition societies in
Ohio at the present time, and fiom the circular is
i . . . . . .
sued at head quarters, Cincinnati, it appears that
agents are to be sent through every county to dis
tribute books and pamphlets designed to inflame
the public mind, and then organize additional so
cieties, or, rather, form new plans, to aid in the
war which has been commenced on the slavehold-
ing states."
1 do not, sir, underwrite for the truth of this
statement as an entire whole ; much of it I repel
as an unjust charge on my fellow citizens of Cm
cinnati ; but, as it comes from a slaveholding state
from the state of the, senator who has so elo
quently anathematized Abolitionists, that it is al-
most a pity they could not die under such sweet
sounds and as the South Carolina Senator pro-
tion of the two Senators. It comes from a source
to which I am sure both gentlemen ought to give
credit. But suppose, sir, that Abolitionism is dead
is liberty dead also, and slavery triumphant:
Is liberty of speech, of the press, and the right of
petition also dead f true, it has been strangled
here ; but gentlemen will find themselves in great
I f .1 ., . 1 1 .1
error ii mey suppose it also strangled in me coun-
try ; and the very attempt in legislative bodies to
sustain a local and individual interest, to the des-
truction of our rights, proves that those right are
not dead, but a Jiving principle which slavery can
not extinguish ; and be my lot what it may, I
dom which is the common gift of the Creator to
all men, and against the power of these two great
interests the slave power of the South, and the
banking power of the North which are now uni-
ting to rule this country. The cotton bale and
the bank note have formed an alliance ; the credit
system with slave labor. These two congenial
spirits have at last met and embraced each other,
both looking to the same object to live upon the
unrequited labor of others and have now erected
for themselves a common platform, as was inti-
mated during the last session, on which they can
meet, ana oia aeuance, as mey nope, to iree pnn-
ciples and Iree labor.
With these introductory remarks, permit me,
sir, to say here, and let no one pretend to misun-
derstand or misrepresent me, that I charee een-
tlemen, when they use the word Abolitionists,
they mean petitioners here such as I now present
cate. 1 make no war upon the rights ol others.
I do no act but what is moral, constitutional, and
legal, against the peculiar institutions of any state;
but acts only in delence ol my own rights, ot my
fellow-citizens, and, above all, of my state, I shall
not cease while the current of life shall continue
to flow.
I shall, Mr President, in the further considcra-
tion ol this subject, endeavor to prove, first, the
what have the iree states to do with slavery (
Then make some remarks by Avay of answer to
the arguments of the Senator from Kentucky, (Mr
Clay.)
Mr President, the duty I am requested to per-
form, is one ol lhe highest which a representative
I.- n 1 ... j i T. -- 1.
can uu uuneu uu iu uiscnarge. it is tu muue
known to lhe legislative body the will and the
wishes of his constituents and fellow-citizens ; and.
in the present case, I feel honored by the confi-
dence reposed in me, and proceed to discharge the
duty. The petitioners have not trusted to my
lallible judgment alone, but have declared, in
written documents, the most solemn expressions
of their will. It is true these petitions have not
it either safe or expedient to present counter peti-
tions ; and even now, when counter petitions
have been presented, they dare not justify slavery,
and the selling of men land women in this Dis-
trict, but content themselves with objecting to oth-
ers enjoying the rights they practice, and praying
Congress not to receive or hear petitions from the
people of the States a new device of slave power
.1- 1 .1 . 1. . T . 1-
mis, never oeiore inougni oi or pracuseu in any
country. I would have been gratified if the in-
ventors ol this system, wincii denies to otners
what they practice themselves, had, in their peti-
tion, attempted to justify slavery and the slave
ment, and extending a baleful and blasting influ
ence over our country, withering and blighting its
fairest prospects and brightest hopes. Who has
said that these petitions are unjust in principle,
and on that ground ought not to be granted ?
Who has said that slavery is not an evil ? Who
has said it does not tarnish the fair, fume of our
country ? Who has said it does not bring dissi
pation and feebleness to our race, and poverty and
wretchedness to another, in its train ? Who has
said it is not unjust to the slave and iniurious to
the happiness and best interests of the master?
Who has said it does not break the bonds of hu
man affection, by separating the wife from the
husband, and children from their parents ? In
fine, who has said it is not a blot upon our coun
try's honor, and a deep and foul stain upon her in
stitutions ? Few, very few; perhaps none but
him who lives upon its labor, regardless of its mis
ery; and even many whose local situations are
vvitnin its jurisdiction, acknowledge its lmusliec
and deprecate its continuance, while millions o
freemen deplore its existence, and look forward
with strong hope to its final termination. Slave
ry ! a word, like a secret idol, thought too obnox
ious" or sacred to be pronounced here but by those
who worship at its shrine, and should one who is
not such a worshipper happen to pronounce the
word, the most disastrous conseauences are imme
diately predicted, the Union is to be dissolved, and
the south to take care of itself.
Do not suppose, Mr President, that I feel as if
engaged in a forbidden or improvident act. No
such thing. I am contending with a local and
'peculiar' interest, an interest which has already
banded together a lorce sufficient to seize upon ev
ery avenue by which a petition can enter this
chamber, and exclude all without its leave. I am
not now contending for the rights of the negro.
rights which his Creator gave hirn and which his
lellow-man has usurped or taken away. JNo, sir
I am contending for the rights of the white person
in the free states, and trying to prevent them from
being trodden down and destroyed by that power
which claims the black person as property. I am
endeavoring to sound the alarm to my fellow-cit
izens that this power, tremendous as it is, is en
deavoring to unite itself with the moneyed power
oi me country, in order to extend its dominion
and perpetuate its existence. I am endeavoring
to drive from the back of the nero slave the poll
tician who has seated himself there to ride into of
fice for the purpose of carrying" out the object of
this unholy combination, lhe chains of slavery
are sufficiently strong, without being riveted a-
new by tinkering politicians in the free states. I
feel myself compelled into this contest, in defence
of institutions of my own state, the persons and
firesides of her citizens, from the insatiable ffrasp
of the slaveholding power as being used and felt
in the free states, lo say that 1 am opposed to
slavery in the abstract, are but cold and unmean-
ng words ; if, however capable of any meaning
whatever, they may fairly be construed into a love
for its existence : and such I sincerely believe to
be the feeling of many in the free states who use
the phrase. 1, sir, am not only opposed to slave
ry in the abstract, but also in its whole volume
in its theory as well as practice. This principle
is deeply implanted within me ; it has " grown
with my growth, and strengthened with my
strength." In my infant years I learned to hate
slavery. Your fathers taught me it was wrong
in their Declaration of Indenendencp : the doc
trines wliich they promulgated to the wnrhl. nrid
upon the truth of which they staked the issue of
me contest mat made us a nation. They pro
claimed "lhat all men are created equal ; that they
are endowed by their Creator with certain unal
ienable rights ; that amongst these are life, liber
ty, and the pursuit of happiness." These truths
are solemnly declared by them. I believed then,
and believe now they are self-evident. Who can
acknowledge this, and not be opposed to slavery ?
It is, then, because I love the principles which
irought your government into existence, nnd
which have become the corner stone of the build
ing supporting you, sir, in mat chair, and giving
to myself and other senators seats in this body
:.! Tl 11 . t ., .T, , T
u is uecause i love an mis, mat i naie slavery, is
it because I contend for the right of petition, and
am opposed to slavery, that I have been denounced
by many as an Abolitionist ? Yes ; Virginia
newspapers have so denounced me, and called up
on the Legislature of my state to dismiss me from
public confidence. Who taught me to hate slave
ry, and every other oppression ? Jefferson, the
great and the good Jefferson ! Yes, Virginia
Senators, it was your own Jefferson, Virginia's fa
vorite son, a man who did more for the natural
liberty of man, and the civil liberty of his country,
than any man that ever lived in our country ; it
was him who tdught me to hate slavery; it was
in his school I was brought up. That Mr Jeffer
son was as much opposed to slavery as any man
that ever lived in our country, there can be no
doubt ; his life and his writings abundantly prove
the fact. I hold in my hand a copy, ns he pen
ned it, of the original draft of the Declaration of
Independence, a part of which was stricken out, as
he savs, in compliance with the wishes of South
Carolina and Georgia. I will read it. Speaking
of the wrongs done us by the British Government
in introducing slaves amongst us, he says : " He
(the British King) has waged cruel war against
human nature itself, violating its most sacred right
of life and liberty in the persons of a distant peo
ple, who never offended him, captivating and car
rying them into slavery in another hemisphere,
or lo incur miserable death in their transportation
thither. This piratical warfare, the opprobrium
of infidel powers, is the warfare of the Christian
King of Great Britain. Determined to keep op-vn
a market where men should be bought and sold.
he has prostituted his prerogative for suppressing
every legislative attempt to prohibit or restrain
this execrable commerce, and that this assemblage
of horrors might want no fact of distinguished die,
he is now exciting those very people to rise in
arms against us, and purchase that liberty of which
he has deprived them by murdering ihe people
on yhom ho also obtruded thrm, thus paying oil
former crimes committed nfainfl the liberties of
one people, with crimes which he urges tljein to
commit against the lives of another."
Thus far this great statesman and pinlnnthro
ist. Had his contemporaries been ruled by his
pi
opinions, the country had now been at rest on this
exciting topic. What abolitionist, sir, has used
stronger language against slavery than Mr Jeffer
son has done? "Cruel war against human na
ture," "violating its most sacred rights," "piratical
warfare," ''opprobrium of infidel powers," "a mar
ket where men should be bought and sold." "exe"
crable commerce," "assemblage of horrors," "crimes
committed against the liberty of a people," are the
brands which Mr Jefferson has burned into the
forehead of slavery and lhe slave trade. When,
sir, have I, or any other person opposed to slave
ry, spoken in stronger and more opprobrious terrns
of slavery than this ? You have caused the bust'
of this great man to be placed in the centre of
your capitol, in that conspicuous part where every
visiter must see it, with its hand resting upon the
Declaration of Independence, engraved upon mar
ble. Why have you done this ? Is it not mock
ery ? Or is it to remind us continually of the
wickedness and danger of slavery? I never pass
that statue without new and increased veneration
for the man it represents, and increased repug
nance and sorrow that he did not succeed in dri
ving slavery entirely from the country. Sir, iff
am an abolitionist, Jefferson made me so ; and I
only regret that the disciple is so far behind the'
master, both in doctrine and practice. But, sir,
other reasons and other causes have combined to
fix and establish my principles in this matter, nev
er, I trust, to be shaken. A free state was the
place of my birth ; a free Territory the theatre of
my juvenile actions. Ohio is my country, en
deared to me by every fond recollection. Slier
gave me political existence, and taught me in her
political school ; and I should be worse than an
unnatural son, did I forget or disobey her precept3.
In her Constitution it is declared. 'That all men
are born equally free and independent,' and 'that
there shall be neither slavery nor involuntary ser
vitude in the State, otherwise than for the puri
ishment of crimes.' Shall I stand up for slavery
in any case, condemned as it is by such high au
thority as this ? No, never ! But this is not all.
Indiana, our younger Western sister, endeared to
us by every social and political tie, a State formed
in the same country as Ohio, from whose territory
slavery was forever excluded by the ordinance of.
July, 17S7 she too, has declared her abhorrence
of slavery in more strong and emphatic terms than
we have done. In her constitution, after prohibi
ting slavery, or involuntary servitude being intro
duced into the state, she declares, 'But as the
holding any part of the human creation in slavery,
or involuntary servitude, can originate only in
tyranny and vsurpation, no alteration of her con
stitution should ever take place, so as to introduce
slavery or invoiuntary servitude into the State,'
otherwise than for the punishment of crimes where
of the party had been duly convicted.' Illinois
and Michigan also formed their constitutions on
the same principles. After such a cloud of wit
nesses against slavery, and whose testimony is so-
clear and explicit, as a citizen of Ohio, I should,
be recreant lo every principle of honor and of jus
tice, to be found the apologist or advocate of slave-
ry in any State, or iii any country whatever.
No, I cannot be so inconsistent as to say I am op
posed to slavery in the abstract, in its separation
from a human being, and still lend my aid to build
it up, and make it perpetual in its operation and
. . . i ... .i . . . :
eliects upon man hi mis or any ouier country.
I also, in early life, saw a slave kneel before hi
master, and . hold up his hands with as much ap
parent submission, humility, and adoration, as a
man would have done before his Maker, while his
master, with outstretched rod, stood over rum.
This, I thought, is slavery ; one man subjected to
the will and power of another, nnd the laws affor
ding him no protection, and he has to beg pardon
of man, because he has offended man (not the
laws,) as if his master were a superior and all
powerful being. Yes, this is slavery, boasted A
merican slavery, without which, it is contended
even here, that the union of these states would bo
dissolved in a day. yes, even in an hour ! Humil
iating thought, that we are bound together as
states by the chains of slavery ! It cannot be
the blood and the tears of slavery form no part
of the cement of our Union and it is hoped that
by falling on its bands, they may never corrode
and eat them asunder. We who are opposed to,
and deplore the existence of slavery in our coun
try, are frequently asked, both in public and pri
vate, what have you to do with slavery ? It does
not exist in your State; it does not disturb you !
Ah, sir, would to God it wete so that we had
nothing to do with slavery, nothing to fear froirj
its power or its action within our borders, that its
name and its miseries were unknown to us. But
lis is not our lot ; we live upon its borders, aiid
in hearing of its cries ; yet we are unwilling to
acknowledge, that if we enter its territories and vi
olate its laws, that we should be punished at. its
pleasure. We do not complain of this, though it
might well be considered just ground of com
plaint. It is our firesides, our rights, our privile
ges, the safety of our friends, as well as the sove
reignty and independence of our State, that we
are now called upon to protect and defend. The
slave interest has at this moment the whole pow
er of the country in its hands. It claims thq
President as a Northern man with Southern feel
ings, thus making the Chief Magistrate the- head
of an interest, or a party, and not of the .country
and people at large. It has the cabinet of the
President, three members of which are from slave
States, and one .who wrote a book in favor of
Southern slavery, but which fell dead from the
press, a book which I have seen, in my own fam
ily, thrown musty upon the shelf. Here then is
a decided majority in favor of the slave interest.
It Ins five out of nine judges of the Supreme
Court; here, also, is a majority from the slave
state?. It has, with the President of the Senate,
and the Speaker of the House of Representatives,
and the Clerks of both Houses, the army and the
navy; an the bureaus have, I am told, about the
same proportion. One would suppose that, with
all this power operating in this Government, it
would be content to permit yes, I will use the
word permit it would be content to permit us,:
who live in the free states, to enjoy our firesides
and our homes in quietness ; but this is not the .
case. The slaveholders and slave laws' claim
that as property, which the free states know only
as parsons, a reasoning property, which, of its qwij