Green-Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1844-1884, 1844-04-20


of the honor of the Government Should he hes
itate to use these powers to prevent violation of
the constitution, or to resist he Legislative bodies
acting under the impulse ofan nfamed constitu-
ency, miscd and demanding of the government
what it would be manItestiy unjust and dishonora-
bic in the Government to gHant--aS, for instance,
the reputation of the National debt, or the fraud
ulcnt evasion of the obligations Of Il trcaty-he
would prove himself unworthy of the high trust
reposed in him. Such President as Washington
curing much for his country, little for himself
would in such cases, breast the torrent with all
his constitutional might, trusting, that in due time
wisdom would be justified Of her children But in
matters purely Of eaPed'sa.rDr p0}icy, the EXccu-
tive ought n0t TO he eXrnctcSf cherish the feet
my, or manifest the pertinac%y that is generally
considered allowable if not commendable, in ndi-
v,duas differently situated. His duty then is, to
fall in With the wishes of the people, matured and
embodied in the deliberations of their representa-
tiyes, although their views may, in important re-
spocts, differ from his
My answer to your third and last enquiry
" Would yon be aciliing 10 receive 1t as a SLAVE
Territory '-may be Anticipated generally, from
what have said in answer tb your second enqui-
ny. But trust that you wiz receive nduIgently
a brief explanation Of my views on this subject.
allow not human laws, be they primary or
secondary no matter by what numbers, or with
RIGHT to establish Slavery, to make properly Of my
Jeilo1c, created, equally with myself, in the image
Of Cod Individually, or as political communities
meu have no more ght to enact Slavery than they
have to enact murder, or blaspheny, or lacest, or
adultery. 70 establish Slavery is to dethroue
right, to trample on justice, the only true fouada
don Of vernmeut.-Government exist, not for
the destruction of liberty, but for its delenceS mot
for the humiliation ofmen's rights, but tieirlres-
tIa tI,s., t.ay.
law the element Of ujustice?-do they live by ad-
uniting it in practice' Then. do they; destroy
their own foundation, and absoIve all men fo1f the
duty of allegiance. Is any man besotted as; for
moment, to suppose that the Stakeholder has
any atom Of right to his slave; or that the Shave
has resting on him an atom of obligation f6tohey
the laws that enslave him, that rob him. of every
thing-of himself? No one: else why do lluSt
men of all countries rejoice when they hear: that
the oppressed ofany land have achieved their lib
Grty, at whatever cost to their tyrants! %sg%
On this ground, were there no other, | should
say, we cannot receive Texas as a SIave-Territo-
ry. We can have no right to continue chains,
which we have no right to forge or impose.
But there are other grouhds:-the Constitution
| Of the United States does nor permit The organlZa-
zion or The continuance Of Slavery on domain
brought witbn its eNcus;,e 5urs4ittiGH. None
of the specified powers authorize The establish
IIlFl !tNCS'd vi proper OI garry lng I1lO eAGCu-
tion any of these powers.
Again: Two Of the objects of the Government
set forth in the preamble OF the Constitution arc
TO establish justice and secure the blessings of lJer
", in the land. With Justice and liberty, slavery
is wholly incompatible. All men so regard it,
What, then, shall we do? Shall we so Interpret
the silence of the constitution on this matter as to
make it outweigh the establishment of justice, and
the perpetuation of the blessings Of liberty, those
high aims ofthe Union, expressed in the directes
terms? Surely not.
But, admitting, that, on Constitutional grounds
no valid objection can be made against the acGui
siton of foreign territory; who does not know
that every institution, law, usage or custom exist
ing in the acquired territory, Inconsistent with the
fundamental principles Of the government, max
mo the ACQUISITION, ceases, at the moment Of an
neXatOn, as Il matter Of course. This is so plain
! " the instruction ofcommon sense rs to call fol
nothing hut the mere statement OF Il. Thus, Whel
the District of Columbia was ceded to the Unite,
States, the Slavery then eXsti'g within it, bcini
irreconciIoabe with the fundamental objects OF tn
government, the establishment OF justice and tn
blessings Of liberty, became extinct the moment th
transfer was made. There was not-there is no
there cannot be, slave within the District o
Columbia, without totally disregarding not onl
the spirit but the letter of the Constitution. Th
legislative lndrectIon by which slavery was cor
'il"cu '' lHC DI5tllct dller the transfer, WAS NC
vice wholly unworthy the representation of peo
pie who had Just adopted such Constitution a
ours. Could the question Of the constituttOnGLtG
OF Slavery in the District, be submitted to a com
petent trlbunaI-one not made up of actual slave
holders, and others under the bias of slavery
there could not be a moment'sdoubt of the charac
ter of the decision. Before such tribunal, tn
slavery side Of the question would be too bald TO
argument. -
So too in regard TO the slavery that existed il
Louisiana and Florida at the . iIe OF their hanate
to The United States But it Z as determined o
by our rulers that Il should b. sustained. Wit
chat view, as the most feasible devise, proylso
was made in tie treaties of purchase, tor securln
to the then resident Shareholders OF tefrltorie
their right % of continuing to hold their slav
property. BY what authority? NO po!csr ha'
) been impaired by the people, (admltt'ng Tor argu
nlent'5 sake, that they could lmpart such power
to the government ITSELF or to any department. .
Office oft, to establish or continue slavery WilhI
; her iurisdctonal domain. To infer from the 81
: enGe of The Constitution in regard 10 slavery as
National G uvernmcnt-conce with 1u Know
edge, too that deisjeratoa on this subject, eh9aS
cd the attention of the convention; to ln'er, say
from this silence that the people INTENDED 10 csotl
f the President and lwo-thirds Of a quorum OF IN
Senate with authority to introduce slavery llto '.l
Government, and this, too, knowing as We W.
that justice and liberty had been pIaceG Us sehti
t nes in its vestihuIes, would not Only Do aoS"ro
= but emnently disrespectful to me very source
t Ill Constitutional authority. hau MT 1tAerso
., and Mr.. Monroe accepted Teates ProVio'hg ~
$ seeming their peculiar privileges anu lhhohitt
i TO an Order of Nobility, or helSious establish
r,ont tbot ro;oht have existed in Louisiana an
M - - L., ,,,ra reSuectVelV ccded the