Vermont telegraph. [volume] (Brandon [Vt.]) 1828-1843, 1838-05-16

VINO say Thai, III SldYeTy 10 lOt diOhC, II VIII,
in due time, be abolished by voluntary e.
There is (says that great
mar) only one proper and efsetaal mode
by which'it can be accomplished, and that
is by LEGISLATIVE AUTHORITY" Wash
ington reasoned right. Slavery will new
er be abolished-it never has been, in any
country-until the strong hand of legisla-
ton is fastened on It, ~
Such, sir, are some of the examples and
authorities which sustain my position that |
the abolition of slavery is within the COM
potency ofthe law.making power.
But are examples and authorities neces-
sary to sustain this position? Is there not
something Vitbin eUeTy man which tells
him that The inviolability Of property in hu-
man beings cannot stand upon the same
ground as that of property IN the things
that God has given to man for his owner
ship and dominion Yes, thank heaven,
there is that in man. 1t is the natural
sense of justice which God has implanted
in the human bosom. 1t is conscience,
with its silent, steady, searching influence.
What else is it that so often visits the couch
of the dying shareholder, and dictates the
emancipation of his slaves? What, but
conviction that all Is not right in the fefa-
ton which death is about to sunder. II,
then, the Legislature of a state dlssolves
that relation, it does but respond to feel
ing plants thorns upon many a slave-hold-
er's pillow, &, following him to the verge
of life, .ompels him to release his grasp
before he goes to his final and fearful &C
count.
The sense of justice Of which ] have
spoken, has its foundation in the great LGao
of right which was impressed upon the
heart of man at his creation which was
re-enacted in the decalogue; and finally
summed up in a single comprehensive pre-
cept by the Savior Of men. 1t is to this
that the world is indebted for all the anne
liorations of the social state, with which
the progress of christianity has been sig
tnaIized, than in OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES
patton of MIND; emancipation of SPEECH;
emancipation of THE PR Ess; and, as an in
evtable consequence, emancipation FROM
SLAVERY. | say inevitable because slave
nv can no more stand before FREE Press
than could the Dagon Of the Philistines in
the presence of the Ark of the Almighty.
Wherever christianity has carried its
triumphs, have the social and civil institu
tions of men felt the influence Of this great
law Of eternal justice. 1t is this which
forms the basis OF the English common
!. law, and which was so fearessly applied
t by Lord Mansfield sixty-fve years ago, in
the case of Somerset, in which he said
. 1.-The state of slavery is of such nature
that it is incapable of being introduced OF
: any reasons, moral or political, but onl
: positive law, which preserves its force
long after the reasons, occasion, and time
+, itself, from whence it was created, are e
| rased from memory. 1t is SO 0diOus, tina
/, nothing can be suffered to support it, Blu
1 positive law"
5 twas the same greatlaw of right, whicI
= formed the basis of our declaration of indie
S pendence; which was incorporated IN mos
of the state constitutions which was re
= cognized in the ordinance Of 1887; whlcI
t was re-enacted in the emancipation laws
numerous States of this Union ; and whlcI
: was expounded by Franklin and Jefferson
T in the papers have been permttedt TO read
-, 1t was the same too, which gave warmth
# and energy to the fearless eloquence
e Pinkney, 10 a speech in the Mary LAM
# House of Delegates, in 1889, in which h
v said. " BIZ the eternal principles Of nGtura
justice, no master In the State has rIgh
: 10 hold his slave in bondage for a slng
= hour"
G But, Mr. Speaker, while emancipation
I has been thus advancing, there are elias
>. of objects which it has not reached, and
- trust. never will reach 1t has not dissoIv
T. ed the natural relations. None who de
l.. serve to be named, think of emancipatlni
$ children from the control OF patects, or c
r, aboIishing the marriage institution, or {
It annulling the laws which protect the &C
s QUESTION, enjoyment, and inheritance {
d property. On the contrary, as emancipa
V ton has progressed, have the domestic re
l. lations aud the rights Of property come
O be held more sacred, and TO be protccte
e by new and more substantial safeguards.
The errors prevalent in regard to tn
8, right of the law-making power to abolis
e slavery, arise from not considering the IT
al foundation on which slavery rests.
l. Slavery is the mere creature of positiv
e. law. The law of natural justice"
Of er than human laws, and paramount t
d them all-condemns it. Without the sur
n port of positive law, it stands as mere L
e sur2ation. 1t may indeed shelter itself III
l. der the pOaoer OF law; but that pOsoer is a
y cleara usurpation, as the slaveryit protect:
y 1t is a mere attempt to sustain one wrong
il BY the preparation Of another 1t is pre-
S cisely the same, in principle, as though th
y law-Inaking power should undertake, b
!" statute, to sanction the violation of femal
IS chastity, or the taking of human life with