Burlington free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1827-1865, 1839-08-02

that, nv Tho laws of Nature and of Natures
God, an immortal! soul cannot be made n
chat'el, | orn yet disinclned to make OF
these opinions articles of q religious creed
with the pre'enslon to impose it upon oil
ers' ~ asked whether | consider it sin
10 noe fellow creature 10 bondage for
NE. might answer that it would be so in
me; bnl | am not commissioned to de
nounce he judgement of God upon those
VINO o'lfer from me in religious belief.
whether upon the slavery question or upon
any other. have heard from my Master
IN" i7lnnction Judge not, that We be not
Judged.' and from more than one Of his
Apostles th" question, Who art thou thai,
Jndgcst another mans servant or another ,
The days of denouncing prophecy are past
ana when see that slavery has been per-
m''ted by Almighty God to exist from The
earliest periods Of history, sacred or pro
lane. down to the present day, though |
look forward with earnest hope and intense
desire to the day when It will be banlshed
from my country and from the world, I
have no vocation for the exercise Of force
or consiraInt or injustice, even for the lb
Grafton ofthe slave.
IT the abolition of slavery is ever TO be
effected IN this country. it must be either
by force. that is. by a civil and servile war,
or by the consen, Of the owners of the
slaves. All the abolitlonists and all the
anti.sIavery societies totally disc am all in.
'en''on or purpose to employ or TO sanction
the employment Of force, and complain.
WIN reason, that the lmputatlon of any
such design 10 them is Islander. Tmmn-
date emancipation, therefore, is in their
purpose TO be effected with the consent of
me masters, and without indemnity to
them. In what page ofthe volume of hu
man nature they found the recipe for this
ba'Son to the sore Of slavery, or in what
cen 10 the imagination 1t was devised, I
know not. FRANKLIN, it is SAID, made the
discovery that an effnsion of OIL will smoo, h
the stormy sea but no philosopher has vet
appeared TO make the experiment of pour.
ing It INTO the summit of a smoking crater
to exInGulsh the volcano within.
N'b the most sincere belief in the in
tegrity OF your intentions and with reye
renee tor The benevoIeuce and purity of
your purposes. let me ask those of YOU, nv
friends, who believe the immediate en,ancl
patton OF The slaves Of this country. with the
consent OF their masters. without indemnl-
~, and without the use Of force, practlca
ole th'ng, whether the success of your
moral suasinn up"" tl.c minds o; the slaves
hoGer' hitherto has been encouraging to
your hopes or expectations of untImeIv
prevailing upon them to give up at once
their opin~ns and their properly? Have
you converted many to the true faith OF
immediate emancipation without indemnity?
Is the temper with which your arguments
are received; nay, is he temper with which
they are urged, of that character which
conc'i,otes acqulescence and r,pens hest,
fancy into CONVICTION? With what feelings
towards you il the heart the STAKEHOLDER
impressed With what feelings are your
hearts Impressed towards the sIavehnder ;
"Do men ga her grapes Of 'horns, or figs OF
thlstles?" You appeal, with cxultaton.
to what you consider, perhaps premnlurely.
the successful result of the immediate
emancipation of slaves in the British Colo.
MES: and yet you "cavll the conditions -
yon reject all idea Of indemnity to he man
stealer, as you style him, at The very time
when you are petItioning his representa-
tive to llberate his slaves. II one hundred
millions Of dollars have been cheerfuIly.
magnanlmousy, paid by the People OF
Britain for the liberation of 800 900 slaves,
four times that sum at least would be re.
CURED Of The People ofrhls Uulon to hber-
ate the slaves held in bondage here, at the
same rate ofindemnity. But, at the pres.
ent market price Of slaves, that would not
amount TO one third part of indemnify for
the value lost. And how was the emanci
patton Of slaves in the British Colonies &C
compsbed' BY act of Parliament an
assembly in which the coonisrs had no
representation. In direct contradiction to
the principle upon which our Revolution
was founded. If the question had been
submitted to the decision of the Legislative
Assemblies OF the Colonies themselves, do
you imagine that any such emancipation
would have been effected even for twice or
three that amount Of the indemnity allow
ed by Parliament?
One OF the petitions transmitted to me at
the late session Of Congress to be presented
to The House of Representatives, sigued by
John Jay and 43 culzens of New York
prayed that Congress would propose an
amendment to the Constitution of the Uni
ted States, for the refusal TO admit any
new slave State into the Union. The De.
tlt'on did not specify the mode of amend,
ment desired, but | have long been of opln
ION that It the object is ever to be attained
peaceabIy aud with the consent of the
of which have but very
FAINT hope, it must be by tina, process. and
never will be accomplished BY any other /;
and took the occasion. when asking
leave of the House to present the petition,
to include IN the request the permission
also to present three resolutions Of amend
ment to The Constitution: I. Providing
I hat afier given day all children born
within The United States should be born
free. Q. That, with the exception of Flor
ida, no State, the Constitution of which
would sanction the institution of slavery
should ever be admitted into the Union