Constitutional Whig. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1824-1832, 1832-03-26

one aye should Weld prcscriptivc obedience
to the policy Of the age that went before it, then
1t were but a small consolation to know that the
circumstances under which this sacrifice of moral
and mental independence is required, are the same
with those upon which that policy was originally
established. Here however, this is not the case;
and the example invoked for imitation. is an cx-
ample msapplcd. But If it were othcrwisc-if
the past and present circumstances which qualify
the propricty of lcgslating the subject in issue,
were essentially the same, the example proposed
for adoption, should be rcjcctcd-it is unworthy of
nowcdgmcnt-unworthy of obcdicncc-an cx-
ample OF error and it is part of the better spi-
nit of the day III which We live, to canonizc error
because of its antiquityno part of that spirit to
permit the sentiment of vcucration for the dead
which soitcns the worst of their acts, and which
sheds L salutarv and healing influence upon indiv-
dual feeling, to hallow ruinous example to ma
tonal observance. Sir, if our ancestors had exert
cd the iirmncSs which, under higher obligat ions,
we ourselves, called upon to exert Nirgini;,
would not, 1T this day, have been mourning over
the legacy OF weakness, and OF sorrow, that has
been left hcr-Shc would not have been thrust
down--down in Il still lowering relation, to the
subordinate post which she occupies i'll the Confe-
doracy whose career she had lcd--shc would not
be whitening under the lcprosy which Is piercing
her to the heart. Who will say that this Common
wealth is what she would have been, without this
alien population in her bosou-that her people arc
as happy, her power great her geographical di-
visions perfectly united by community OF into
rcst-as perfectly knit together by the tastes, and
habits, and pursuts-hv the assimilation of cha
ractcr and object, which identify and attach no
mogcncous proplcl Who will say that Virginia
has risen to the Lofty prosperity of which she is ca
pablc; that her physical condition conforms to her
physical rcsourccs--that her multiplied Hntics of
land. and OF water, have ministcrcd they should
have done, TO the comforts of her pcoplc-that a
thrifty agriculture is every where extracting
wealth from her soil, and an active commerce ga
'hcrmg 1t from her strcams--that spirit of hardy
and forward enterprise directs alike the energies
ot the public and the private arm, pcrvadcs the
land with its living impulse, covers it with the
achievements of labor, the improvements of skill,
the amcioratcd means of personal and business
conncNion--with the varied traces of its nvigora.
ting and salutary powcr--that the Commonwealth
under double development of its moral and ply
seal faculties, blends, at single exhibition, all
that 1t is possible for prosperous people with a
free Government to accomplish? Who will say
this? Sir, no one will say it. Our provcrbial ad
miration of Virginia, and the prodgal culogy
which that admiration inspires, cannot tempt us to
such extravaganza this. We know that the pic
turc is the counterfeit prcscntmcnt" of the true
one. We know that incifcicncy and languor cha
rdctcrzc our movcmcnts-that enterprise is scarce.
ly known to us, but from observation of its infiu
cncc on other communities. We know that the
blessings of our position, and SOIL and climate
are countcrvailcd by the apathy of our public
scis and by our exclusive reliance upon involunta-
ry labor. Our interests, and our senses, proclaim
the progress of general decline; conscience and "
pcrlcncc attest that slavery is its principal cause
Is it not sol When we look at Virginia as a whole
without pauSlng upon the bright and the beautiful
that still show forth intrinsic qualities of he,
character, but look at her. in reference her every
day, practical habit and appearance, is she no,
any thing but prosperous? Do we not i'll this re-
spcct contemplate her Justly when we regard heI
rs mcagrc, haggard and enfcebcd--with dccrip
tude stealing upon her lmbs-as given over &c
lcanncss and impotcncy, and as wasting away un
der the improvdcnce and the inactivity which
ctcrnally accompany the fatal institution that she
chcrishcs, and chcrishes, too, a mother who vii
hazard her own life rather than part even with the
monstrous offspring that aiicts her? Sir it is tru,
OF Virginia. not merely that she has not advanced
bu That IN many respects she has greatly declined
ana what have we got as compensation for this
decline! as n compensation for this disparity be
tween what Virginia is and what she might have
been? Nothing but the right of property in the
very beings who have brought this disparity upon
us. This is our pay; this is what we have gotten
to rcmuneratc us for our delinquent prosperity to
repay us for our dcsoated fields, our torpid enter
prize; and in this dark day of our humbed import.
ance, to sustain our hopes and to sooth our pride
as a people L ask you, sir, is the consideration
satisfactory, the equivalent complete? Is a birth.
right OF citizenship III free community, unaccom-
panied by this right of property less valuable or
less dear than one i'll community as it now is,
where this right is retained, but where the rcten-
ton OF 1t has paraliZcd the energies of the State
and planted at every hearth the instrument of do.
mcstic massacre? Who, sir, that looks at this pro-
pcrty as legislator and marks its effect on ouI
national advance but wecps over it as the worst
OF patrimonics! Who that looks to this unhappy
bondage OF an unhappy people i'll the midst of ou
society and thinks of its incidents or its issues
but wecps over it a curse upon him who inf let
as upon him who suffers it1 Who that would plac
Virginia without a slave upon her surface in an,
comparison of equality with Virginia and the thou
sands who have yielded their liberty to her laws
Ii L am to Judge from the tone of our debate from
| fI,n 20 Ill l..
not man i'll this body, not one, perhaps, that i
even represented here, who would not have thank
cd the generations that have gone before us if
acting as public men, they had brought this bond
age to closc-who would not have thanked
them If, acting on private motives they had rcln
pushed the property which their mistaken kind
ness has dcvolvcd upon us? Proud as are the
names for intellect and patriotism which cnricl
the volumes of our history and rcvcrcntially as We
turn to them at this period of waning reputation
that namc-that man-abovc all parallel would
have been the chief, who could have blottcd out
this curse from his country-thosc above all 9th
crs, would have received the homag of an ctcrna
gratitude, who casting away every suggestion o
petty interest, had broken the yoke which, in cvi
hour, had been imposed and had translated, as
Jrce man, to another continent, the Oucast and the
wrctchcd being who burdens ours with his pre-
Soncc and who dcfles it with his crimes.
But SIR, 1t has been otherwise appoincd. Slave
ry has come down to us from our fathers, and tn,
question now is, shall we, in turn, hand it over {,
our chldrcn2 hand it over to them aggravated il
every attribute of evil? Shall we perpctuatc thu
calamity we deplorc and become to postcrty tn,
objects, not of kindness but of cursing? POSSESSED
OF slaves as private property by the act of oul
ancestors, shall we transmit it as such throughou
an indefinite futurc2 This is the question.
1t is answered that we shall transmit it; that the
right to the slave is indefcasiblc and unpurchasea
bic; that we have power to divcst it and M
means to buy it up with. Time, it is urged, opc
raj 1ltu tt-l,o ~, ria
clcavcs to the descendant Of the slave whenever
cXisting and though century may intcrposc it,