Port Tobacco times, and Charles County advertiser. (Port Tobacco, Md.) 1845-1898, 1846-02-26

their rights as freemen. The only right
which they possess above the law and by
virtue of the constitution is that which they
possessed while in state of slavery. 1t
grows out of that clause in the constitution
which guarantees to the Inhabitants of the
State of Maryland ''the right of trial by jury"
This rig hit the slave has always and does
now possess to the eXtent-that he can be
brought within action of court of justice.
This right, synonymous with that which
the slave possess, the free negro possess as
the only one which he can claim by virtue
of the constitutional others being the
fruits of his manumission, spring from leg
islative enactment exclusively. Thus the
right of freedom itself, the right of sueing
and being sued, the right Of holding prop
erty and of inheriting, and all others of a
kindred character, are primarily and entirely
the being of law, and for this reason are
liable to be altered, abolished, enlarged or
diminished at the pleasure of the Legislature
1t will hardly be denied by any one of
ordinary intelligence, but that if there ex-
lists the power to alter the law, the power
of repeal is necessary consequence. In
deed this is a conversion of the truth-for
the power to alter or amend is natural
and unavoidable result of the power to re-
peal or destroy, unless the tribunal autho-
rized to alter or amend has such power
by grant. In this case, however, no such
restriction exists in reference to the right OF
the Legislature to alter or amend, because
the authority to give the freedom was not
dervative authority, but was properly Gre
alive authority. If the Legislature had de-
rived the power to grant freedom from ano-
Their tribunal, and not from the people, the
case would be altered for in the case of
the exercise of a derivatiye authority, the
Legislature would have acted as the agent
of another and been restricted in its autho-
rity, and could not have gone beyond the
terms of the grant. But in this case the
people have given this freedom by lar, be-
cause the Legislature which passed the lav
acted as the agent of the people, and the
acts Of the agent and the principal are the
same. Here, then, exists the power, not
only to alter or amend, but to repeal or de-
stroy, on the rule that must by every one
be conceded, that "the power which creates
must ever uncreate" We constantly re-
strain them in the exercise of their original
rights given by law. Limitations are i'm
posed upon their egress from and regress to
the Standardization are affixed to their
right Of holding and using firearms, and
there never has been an attempt made, nor
could there be, to set limit to the power
of imposing restrictions upon them-and
this is an authority which never has and
cannot be exercised towards citizen under
the constitution, which gives equal rights to
all and exclusive advantages to none. They
are, then, clearly legal and not constitutions
al citizens, and are rightly and only constl-
tutional "inhabitants'' Of the State to the
extent alone they were so before they were
manumltted.
1t is manifest, from the nature of our gov
eminent, that they cannot claim their free
rights by virtue of the constitution. lfthey
could do so they could only derive such
rights from compact, for our Bill of Rights
declare that our government is founded IN
compact To have derived their freedom
then from the Constitution, they must have
been free at the time our constitution was
adopted-must have been on equal terms
with the whites-been represented in the
convention. and united in the compact which
produced our constitution. That they were
in such a situation no man who has any re-
gard to his reputation will assert.
! But this committee assume with full con
fdence that the act giving them their Tree
dom is clearly unconstitutional. Our gov
eminent is founded in equality, for, by al
express clause of our Bill of Rights, ne
.'monopolies" shall be granted because con
trary to the spirit of free government: In
deed, it is and must be conceded by all tina
the genius of our institutions of government
is perfect equality, and exclusive advantage
: or privileges 10 none. The Institution o
slavery grows out of the constitution, an'
the social organization of our society is de
rived from the same source. How thel
can you grant to one slave exclusive adVan
taqe while others are retained IN bondage
You carve out of the social compact o
which slavery is component part, CERTAIN
privileges and confer them on one part o
the slaves, while the other portion IS re
tanned in slavery.
) But the answer is made by some that
, is not privilege conferred on the slave
but that tits grant to the master, who give
the freedom or unequal advantages: Thl
| is doing indirectly what cannot be done I'll
rectly, and if it could not be given dlrectI
5 to the slave, because unconstitutional,
| lcould not be given through an agent. .'s