The examiner. [volume] (Louisville, Ky.) 1847-1849, 1848-08-19

4
extended. Yet IL is now proposed, IA some OF
lhe State legislatures and in this Capitol, TO do
precisely the same thing In regnfd 10 the terrific
| ny Of Oregon, which was done BY Greet Britain
to her transatlantic possessions; NOS merely to
egalise slavery there, but to prohibit its inhabi
tants from prohibiting IL. Though three thou
sand miles west Of Great Britain, she had GER
tain constitutional rights over us, and could uf
feet our destiny. Though the Inhabitants Of
Oregon are three thousand miles wesi Of us, yet
We have certain constitutional rightsove them.
and can affect their destiny. Great Britain nm
nulled our laws for prohibiting slavery. We
propose TO annui an existing law Of Oregon pro-
hibiting slavery. II the execrations Of mankind
are yet too feeble and too few 10, punish Great
Britain for her wickedness, what scope, what
fulness, what eternity Of execration and anath-
ema, will be a sufficient retribution upon Us, II
we volunteer 70 copy her example. Ii was in
the eighteenth century, when the mother coun-
try thus made merchandise Of human beings-a
time when liberty was a forbidden word In the
languages OF Europe IL is in the nineteenth
century, that we propose TO re-enact, and on an
ampler scale, the same execrable vilainy-a time
when liberty is the rallying cry Of all Chrisisn-
dom. So great has been the progress Of liberal
ideas, within the last century, that what was
yenial at its beginning Is objectionable az lis
close. To drive coffles Of slaves from here 10
Oregon, in the middle Of the nineteenth century
| Is more infamous than IL was TO bring cargoes
Of slaves from Africa here, In the middle Of the
eighteenth. Yet such Is the period that men
would select 10 perpetuate and to increase a ,
horrors Of this traffic.
| Sir. how often, on this floor, have indignant
circumstances been addressed 10 the North, for
sgltatng the subject Of slavery? How often
have we at the North been told that we were
melting instruction. fomenting seryils war,
putting the black mans knife TO the white
mans throat7 The air Of this Hall has been
filled, ia walls have been as IL were sculptured
| by Southern eloqucnce, with images Of devasta-
led towns. Of murdered men and ravished wo-
snsn; and, as defence against the iniquilies Of
NE t1s'itution, they have universally putt the
piel uist the calamity was entaled upon them
I ~ lhf Anether country, thus -itrnadc a part OF
the world they were born into,e ard, Wherefore,
tsey cuasla not help az 4 have 1s<ss do
apssd Il allow Its full weight 70 flsis PalIiaiion
Boa II tieyfow insist upon pcrpetrating, against
the whole Western world, which happens Ut
present 10 be under our control, the same
wrongs. which, in darker days, Great Britain
perPsireaed against them, they will forfeit eve
ny claim 10 sympathy. Sir, here Is a test. Let
not Southern men, who would now force slave
~ upon new regions, ever deny TIA; their slave
ry at home is chosen, voluntary, beloved
cTinae.
But let us look, sir, at the moral character of
slavery. II is proposed not merely 10 continue
this institution where IL now exists, but TO ex-
tend IL to the Pacific ocean--to spread IL over
the vast slopes Of the Rocky mountains. Sir,
the conduct Of governments, like the conduct Of
individuals, is subject to the laws and retribu-
lions Of Providence. II, therefore, there is any
Ingredient Of wrong in this institution, we ought
not to adopt il, or 10 permit 1t, even though it
should pour wealth in golden showers over the
whole surface OF the land. In speaking OF the
moral character Of slavery, sir, | mean to utter
no word for the purpose Of wounding the feel
ings of any man. On the other hand, mean
| not 10 wound the cause OF truth by abstaining
| from the utteraisce Of a word which ought 10
speak.
The Institution OF slavery is against natural
right. Jurists, from the lime Of Justinian--
orators, from the time Of Cicero-poeta, from
the time Of H0mer--decAre II to be wrong.
The writers on moral or ethical scisnee-the
expOu nders OF the law Of nations and Of Cod
denounce slavery ms an invasion OF the rights of
man. They find no warrani for il in the eter-
nal principles OF justice and equity; and in that
great division which they set forth between
| right and wrong, they arrange slavery in the
catalogue Of crime. All TN noblest instincts
Of human nature rebel against It. Whatever
has been laugh, By sage. or sang by poet, in ia
Vor Of freedom, is virtual contemplation Of
slavery. Whenever We applaud the great cham
Pions Of liberty, who, BY the sacrifice Of life in
the cause Of freedom. have won the homage Of
the world and an immortality Of fame, we re-
cord the testimony Of cur hearts against slavery.
Wherever patriotism and philanthropy have
glowed brightest-whsrcyer piety and a desout
| religious sentiment have buried most iervently,
there has been the most decided recognition Of
The universal rights Of man.
Sir let US anslyse ilIis rahjsct. and - n sia.,
very be not the INST toHapafh and ctAcenfla
ted. and condensed SEsena 81 wrsaF which
the depravily Of uiea llsis evei issenteas siava
nv 10 said 20 have lad iis origin N Wak II -
ssussE''~t ssss sht ffak hss " sirAs - tFFEi1
life OF his captive; and sl.sg n be seassd fi,af
| life, he made II his own, and taus ae.lairssi
right TO controlit- | deny the right Of the cap
tor to the life Of his captive; aud even II this
right were conceded, | deny his right to the life
Of the caPtiye's offspring. But this relation be-
tween caPtor and eaptvs preclades the idea Of
peace; for no peace can DO made where there il
no free agency. Peace being precluded, IL fol.
lows inevitably that the state Of war continues.
Hence, the state of slavery is a state Of war, and
though active hostilities may have ceased, they
liable TO break out, and may rightfully break
out, at any moment. How long must our fell
low-citi7ens, who were enslaved in Algiers,
have continued in slavery, before they would
have lost the right Of escape, or Of resistancel
The gentleman from Virginia, Mr. Bccock, }
in his speech this morning, put the right Of the
stakeholder upon a somewhat different ground.
He said man might acquire property in horse
before the existence of civil society, by catching
a wild one. And SO, he added, one man might
acquire property Ia another man, by sabduing
him TO his will. The superior force gave the
right, whether TO the horse or TO the man. Now,
il this be so, and 1T at any time the superior
force should change sides, then Il follows In
evitably, that the relation Of the parties might
be rightfully changed by new appeal to
force.
The same gentleman claims Bible authority
fer slavery. lie says: al see slavery there toll
Grated, had almost said inculcated. ! see such
language as this: Both thy bondmen and thy
bondmalds shall be of the heather that are round
about you; of them shall you buy bondmen and
bondmaIds; and ye shah take them as an in
heritance for your children after you, TO inherit
| them for possession, &e.'" Does not the
gentleman know that the Same authority, at a
much later period, commanded the Israelitish
slaves to despoil their Egyptian masters, and TO
escape from bondage7 Surely the latter is the
better authority, for IL Is Of subsequent date
| IL the gentleman's argument is sound, he is
bound 20 advocate a repeal OF the act OF 1873. =
IL the gentleman's argument is sound, the free
States, instead Of surrendering fugitive slaves 10
their masters, are bound TO give those masters .
Red-sea reception and embrace; and the escape
of the children Of Israel into Canaan is a di-
rect precedent for the underground railroad to
| Canada ret
Both the gentleman from Kentucky, Mr..
French) yesterday, and the gentleman from
Virginia to-day, spoke repeatedly, and without
lths slightest discrimination OF ga slave and q
fnursc, En- save uuu y ufulcs NV sssv~s'i
we think, sir, of a teacher Tor our children, or
even of tender Of cur cattle, who did not re-
cognise the difference between men and mules