Richmond enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1815-1867, 1824-12-23
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Whe" TIE pubic was iniu, n,c, that AN xppi,c alton
was To he ma,le 10 The General Court, for wri, OF
rsicr 10 jndgmcn, of Superior Court of law pro-
nounccd IN the case of lice man of co,our ,,n,lrr
he laie act of Assembly, which direc,s, that free
negroes and n,hlaoes, con,i cted Of cer,n
(oi which simple larceny IS Une) shall n adiioa IN
Other runisimrH', he a''judgrd TO he sold as ~
SLAVE, and iransp"r;ed and bansbed beyond the linn
us oi The Un'ed Siaies, IN the manner prescribed
lay law inr the sale and transportation of slaves un
der the sentence Of deaih'-upom the ground that
this part of the law is contrary 20 Bill OF Rights,
ard tho Constitution of the Uniicd Sia,es-i did
britcve thai IN order Ia ensure the success OF the
moiion, It was only necessary To draw the attention
OF The rouit 10 the peculiar character OF the Law it,
seH. The decision Of The rourt, however has shewn
'hu was mistaken. Still think the decision oug h
10 have been otherwise and considering the uues-
i'"n one of importance well To the character oil
MIR country, as 10 the unhappy beings whuau the
law - 10 operate, will endra,or 10 sliew the rea
sous which appear Ia me 20 support this opinion ; ~
HE lr"pe Tint you will concur with IN believing
that this paii Of the law is incompatible with the Bill
OF Rights and constitution, aud will therefore, repeal
u. r
| The first clause Of The Bill of Rights declares,
:" thar oil mcn are Ivy na,ure equally free and indie
pendent, aud have certain iuhe rent rights nf which
when they rnrt into Of society, they cannon
'y any compact deprive or divesi their pos,erity I;
namely, the cpoy ment of life aud liberty with The
means oil acquiring and possessing properly. and
pursuing and ubt,,nrg hsnpiBrss and safety -
The Attorney General, Learn, denied that free
people az COLOUR wrrc embraced within the mca n,ng
anu operation ut clause: Aud the Court. Ly
heir H. cson, srem to sustain him in this position
vi ,he reasoning hy which they We're conducted 10
ms conciusion, an ignorant, and not presunng 10
rorJ"cti'e u, shall only examine the matter Ly the
clause self, aud The nature OF us suliec.
BE u ihen remembered, that The gLeai mrn who
made this declaration of The inherent rights al mar
were about % oIdan aud establish consIitu ton o.
iorm ot government, for the n,selves
'.zsns aud hrir posirriy. In order lay its foun
d"on upos firm aud p,uper basis, they the f 81
place, wisely looked around to explore, ascertain
a"d "rs'sna'e, those great primary rghis, derived.
'"ciedin ely from The dispenser of all huuan bles
s'rgs, aud which, Ivy his grant, nppctlaiD ell men,
:" wl,asocvcr al the globe their 10, may have
teen cast Having taken this survey, and mature ely
c""s'd-re, the suijsCt, they proceeded 10 proclaim
20 the winnie wo'd, the clause whicn has been quot
cd, as The foundation upon which all legitimate go-
vetnment should be erected. Were they mistaken
W 'h's Does an! man affirm that they have here
declared what is not tue No. None will, IN This
,ahd, deny ia inih "or will any deny that they
knew the force a nd fleet OF the words they used
Tor All admit HAT there were gians m The land in
those d,ys. Yet il seems lie afrmed nv lie ,I
Hien, oi TIE General Couri, that wien the framer, of
the B,'' o R'ghs declare, thai al are by nam,
equally Tree ,'hey mean OIL: some men; j. e. they
mean Whiie mrn, aud moi black men, NOT GLOW men,
nor tpsihips) red men. AT any rate they do not
mean 10 include the coIoured men an eur cov,i,y
| How THIS limited meaning has been asrcriained 1
have moi been iniormed: But IL mus, be unn,cessa.
~ ~ ant apt 10 shew 'ha ba, man is man. aud
nero 'oie w,hn the iet,r OF the Bill Of Rights The
pr"posnnn "a sell evident, and any attempt Ia prove
would seem almost absurd. A Hack man IS ,ute ID
4 nitit ~ .1frica He il also a man in America Hs
rs, 'hereiu'e, urq"rsonay within The letter nd
when, ionr he uHture of The sal sct, we see tbat
ne 'vsrsDi coDdon Of nam, ,uust hays been under
consideration, we are Compelled 10 admit, hat he is
equally within the spirit, of the drciaracn With
ou all douhl IL includes every man, no matter il,
What part Of the wOI Id he may have been horn mr.
whai complexion II hiss pleased Heaven he shoul,l
wear and IL is beyond the power of human inreur,-
J.! to wes iion us fair aud legitimate grasp au ind;
yid"al OF lie sIec ies
But, let me- not Ice m,sundrrs,6od. mean no, 10
sonm,i 'he ioi'y OF c"nie.d'ng that siovs are free
M. Although Tue men who no,u skares ar ib-,,
snces'ors onrc were free, their liberties have been
oioven down, and the! are now actndily slurrs W.
t'e "o, however, loo King for The LOST Iighs of a
sldvr, Out examining Into the condition Of freeman
or oi one who lately WIS free, recognised as smell,
t ne laws oi The land, and Is called in the ye,y ACT
WHICH condrmss HIM and his posreiity TO slavery.
Agnu-lhe Legislature o!Vrgnia, By the act oi i7a2
winch sill IN force, declared that fee persons horn
within The territory OF this commonw h shall he deem
cessari require, that the application Of this statute TO The
condition OF free persons Of colour, shall also he denied
hut To me ITS application clear iii uut, Thu
use OF the word free, restricting limiting The sensr (
the "ex VOID Pr'Sns seyv< necessarily that of
different description, 10 wit Slaves, within IN. view
sognizance OF the legislative eye; OF p, ,s 1cll
e D saT,s are eo.9ta persons: eoa,td Then
from the operation of this law, free persons colour the
gsla,ure, grave solemn act DECLARING no shall
deemed CITIZENS OF the Con'nonwellib, used language
words not Inadvertently us-, hecn,se Il is proved
think NAT such persons nust have been within NO
/ u has been often pfliru,ed thar We bave mn cons,
tuiion thai the instrument bearing this name is
nothing more Than The act OF ordinary legislature
and is therefore liable 10 he altered or repealed
any o'her act Of Assembly. ! cannot, however he
ilrse thai this not on could operate upon the General
Conri Nor can readily believe, that they could
hold Lee oien oil colour TO he excluded ron, il. he
Mons OF tho Biil oil Fights, because fhry are not
men bu, It wss perhaps, upon III ground thai tlf il
| Freedom or Thai OF ihrr ancestors, having bern
\ once actually lost, The socefy in whirb they have
4 III cir has rtstnfrd 10 The m o,i,rd FREQ
dom, or granted Them only certain portions Of free
dam aud oo' having received ihnm into society," may
| resume Ihr grant ut pleasure. Hence, presume n
inferred that they aic neither in state OF naluyp
urr ~ stale OF sociciy 2Dd are. therefore, no,
within the pIoiecton Of The Bill Of Rights /, there
any condition ~ which man known 10 cxisf, other
Than q state ni nature, or sfaie Of society know
none haye.nr,e, heard Of any. These arc the oul,
conditions ~ which The trainers Of The reconstruction,
have regarded him and they evidently intended t,
embrace all men, aud therefore mao IN every condi
lion They cons tleied, aud Chilly considered, eve
~ man ia stHeoF sotiety whose CONDUCT IS regula-
ed, and whose rights protected, by The laws Of
J s0cioly And rrpea, that they knew The meaning
Il Of their words. There are, howe,cf various class
es, or gt' DIES, ~ every suriey The extremes OF
wicI, hold lfile communion with esci, other
bit they are, nevertheless, component parts of ,
sauie State Of society and ibe sesed rights of The
loves Ivy The laws aud institutions ul our happy land
Il held lees sacred and in,iolaLIe Than those of the
hiehfsi. The free people Of rolnur among US or
their ancestors, Is true, ,otrs siareswerc propery:
but by express PERMISSION Of the government tley
we're ensucipa,ed aud set free by their owners nd
thus, 10y tie vulnn'ay VIII OF this nation, they ha
been redeemed from slavery, aud by her sovereign
power rrgenersed, and restored 10 The natural con.
d;ion aud righ's OF man and received into - srae
Of soeiey with limited privileges certainly, ihey
briug III destitute Of a political power aud ceran
social privileges being very properly denied then,
but II cannct lie denied thai they have some socis
tights co-eStensiyc ~ least with The number OF their
! IL. Adj q -.
been resoied, are absolutely aud indefeasbiy yesr
Ell projected by the same general laws which pro.