Anti-slavery bugle. [volume] (New-Lisbon, Ohio) 1845-1861, 1846-09-11
From The .anti- Slavery Standard.
GO0DELL ON THE CONSTITUTION.

pamphlet on the Constitution, and though
aware of the maxim, " de mortuis nil nisi bo-
num-" (never censure the dead,) still feel dis
posed to put on paper a few thoughts that
occurred to us in reading it a year ago: they
may fill a'column-and may fill two-be fin
'lshed In this paper, or extend to another, as
the mood may be. We have been sometimes
Haunted with being afrsil TO attempt an an
.swer to WilliamfGoodel and Lysander Spoon
'er; and truly we have been afraid, but, in an
other sense from that which was intended
afraid, that is to say, lest in the utter forget
tulness of the whole subject, we should run
abe dreadful risk of never being read. The
time to discuss the Constitution was while
we had one-wirile the successive admins
7ratlons deemed it necessary, out of s'decent
respect TO the opinions Of mankind to keep
mp the forms Of the Constitution, thonrhthey
dlsregarded lis spirit--as the Roman Empe-
ror carefully preserved the consulship, though
he put in his horse for consul. But now tbot
the South has finally triumphed-bas 6xed
in her imperial cap the bloody plume of Tex.
an fellowship-the force of constitutional OH
.servance is no longer necessary, and there
seems to be a general inclination TO discon-
tinue the pretence. Henceforth constitution
al discussions will be of little comparative
importance.
Though we made some effort, we were
never able to procure a copy till long after the
praises of Mr.. Goodell's argument had been
sounding through the press of the late Liber-
ty party, which must account for any SEEM
ing neglect. Our criticism does not spring
from any disrespect to Mr.. Goodell's logical
ability we are among those who appreciate
it very highly. TO his able discussions of
the Church and Slavery, and to his vigorous
criticism of Adams's scruples about the pow
.er of Congress over the District of Columbia,
we owe, in common with others, a debt,
which none are willing to pay. His previ-
Gus essays seemed to mark him out as PIE
eminently capable of graphing with the dis
cusslon OF such a question as that to which
he dcvotes these pages. But judging him
by these pages he proves ludicrously incom-
petent. We are inclined to attribute the fault
not 10 the man. but t. the profession, if we
are right in supposing that Mr.. G. was edu-
Gated for the pulpit. Clergymen almost al
ways blunder when they talk of law. We
wonder whether the same is true of lawyers
when they try their hands at Divinity
Clergymen are constantly transferring the
doctrine Of the right of prirate judgment from
the field of religion, where it is native and
well-rooted. to the arena of civil law, where
it is an absurdiy. They have never been
dDlp 10 see lHdl tue WUIu law IdS more
than one meaning. They rom 10 the inter-
probation of statutes, bringing with them the
rules of evidence, sources Of proof, &C., &C.,
familiar to the pulpit, and the world laughs
at the result, as it used to do at the elder
mathematicians, who repudiated Christianity
because the evidence for the Gospels was not
of the same quality as that which proved that
two and two made four, and that all the an
giles of a triangle were equal to two right an
giles. We make this criticism seriously, and
shall have occasion TO illustrate it when we
come to Mr.. GoOdells general principles Of
Constitutional law. Brilliant exceptions TO
it only prove the rule
The first thing that struck us about the
book was the great mass of useless quotation
and reference. 1t is a store-house, to which
any one may have recourse, who stands in
noed Of any of the common quotations of the
Abolitionists Of the last sixteen years. Old
Jere. Mason, aware of the rottenness of his
cause, when acting as counsel for Avery, is
said to have adopted the plan of confusing
the Jury by examining Witnesses for thirteen
long days, well knowing that M man would
dare convict when his conscience and intel
lect were both smotheTed down with such a
mass. The result proved his cunning-the
despairing jury took refuge in a verdict of ac-
uulttdI. a SllllIdE luStlIlCl might NAVE leo
10 the plan of this book OF the hundreds
who have sounded its praises, not ten have
ever read it through. We think we see them
now ~glancing through its ~pages-notiag its
elaborate quotations from Blackstone and the
~Judges-amazed at the importance of die
1ionary defnitions-charmed with the staring
capitals and enticing italics-and then laying
it pravely down, with a shake of the head,
murmuring, ga very learned book. How
Goodell always eXhausts a subject" And
the next person they meet finds them decided
in the opinion that " the Constitution is an
Anti-Slavery instrument. Goodell has prov
ed it beyond a doubt"
Mr.. Goodell tests the relation Of the Con-
~sti,ution to Slavery, firstly, by "s,rict con-
struction,' secondly, by reference ito the
shirt of the instrument" and closes with his
general views of constitutional law" We
shall have a word to say on each. The book
does not admit of an answer. One might as
well answer an encyclopedia. Mindful,
therefore, of Coleridge's maxim, that, 'to de-
eide whether a joint of meat is poisoned, one
needs taste but mouthful, and is not obliged
to eat it all through we shall take a glance
at his main points, and content ourselves with
a specimen.
We might object to the absurd definition
given of strict construcUon, out there Is
not time; we pass TO the first example. Il
is as f~ollows-after quoting, No person held
to service or labor in one State, under the
laws thereof, escaping into another, shall, ir
consequence of any law or regulation therein
be discharged from such service or labor bn
shall be delivered up on claim of the party tt
whom such service or labor may be due."-
Constitution, .Art. ", Sec. ?, Clause 3 Mr.
Goodell says:
"Tell us by the rules Of grammar, who i
IL, that shall be delivered up &C., under thi
clausel
"According to the principles Of gramma