Richmond palladium. [volume] (Richmond, IA [i.e. Ind.]) 1839-1854, 1848-08-09

your Statesman have pronounced it, and
40 oil your eminent men with the excep. /
ton Of q few in modern times. have re-
gnrded it, how il it that you call upon me
10 extend it to those vast dominions which
you have recently acquiredl Is it true
that am obliged TO receive into my family
man with the small pox or the leprosy.
that they may be infectedl know you
do not consider il in that light now.
But the gentleman from Virginia has
said that il must be done. Why? Be-
cause it is compassion to the slave. lie
cannot be nurtured in Virginia; your lands
are worn out Sir, that statement sounded
oniiiinous in my ears. 1t gave rise to some
reflection! Why are your lands worn
out! Are the lands Of Pennsylvania worn
out! Are those Of Connecticut worn out!
Is no. Massachusetts more productive to-
day than when the foot Of the white man
WAS & ;s rs: impressed upon her soil! Your
lands arc worn out because the slave has
turned pale the land wherever he has set
down his black foot! IT is slave-labor that
has done all this And must we then ex.
tend to these territories that which pro-
duces steriliiy wherever it is found. till
bleak and barren desolation shall cover
the whole land! II you can call upon
me as a matter Of compassion to send the
slave 10 California and Oregon. you can
call upon me by the same sacred obliga-
ton to receive him into Ohio a. a slave;
| aud would be just as much bound. a.
citizen OF Ohio. TO say that the Constitu-
ton should be construed so as to admit
slaves there. because they have made the
land in Virginia barren, and they and
their masters were perishing. till Ohio had
also become bowling wilderness. That
reason will not do. Sensitive as they may
appear to the morbid benevolence spoken
| of-with which have no sympathy at all
and tender-hearted as ! am. can sec
through tl,at-the citizens OF Ohio cannot
accept men upon such terms.
| What is there in the way then. Of my
| giving an intelligent vote on this subject!
| Nothing at all. would take this bill in
moment il | had faith in the processes
Through which that law is to pass until it
becomes law in the chamber below. But
! ! have not that faith, and | will tell the
gentlemen whv. II is a sad commentary
upon the perfection Of human reason that,
with but very few exceptions. gentlemen
coming from a slave S.ate-ahd mink
have ono behind me who ought always to
be before me Mr.. Badger with very
few exceptions. all eminent lawyers on
this floor. from that section Of the country.
have argued that you have no right to pro-
hibit the introduction Of Slavery into Ore
gon, California aid New Mexico; while, on
the other hand, there Is not a man in the
free States, learned or unlcarned. clerical
or lay. who has any pretensions to legal
knowledge, but believes in his conscience
that you have right 10 prohibit Slavery.
Is not that a curious commentary upon
that wonderful thing called human reason?
i Mr.. CHpEawoop-lt is regulated by
line!
\ Mr.. CoHwlN-Yes. by 36o 80, and
what is black on one side Of the line and
white on the other, turning to jet black
again when restored to its original locali-
nv How is that. Can have confidence
in the Supreme Court Of the United
|, States when my confidence fails in Sena-
tors around me herel DO ] expect that
the members Of that body will be less care.
, full than the Senators from Georgia and
, South Carolina 70 form their opinions with.
, out any regard to selfish considerations!
; Can suppose that either Of gentlemen. or
, the gentleman from Georgia on the other
side Of the chamber. Mr.. Johnson.1 or
tho learned Senator from Mississippi. MIR.
Davis who thought it exceedingly in
famous that we should attempt TO restrain
the Almighty in the execution Of His Pur-
poses as revealed to US by Moses-can
suppose that these Senators. with all the
terrible responsibilities which press upon
us when engaged in legslating for whole
Empire, came to their conclusions with
out the most anxious deliberation! And
vet, on ono side Of the line, in the Slave
81 States, the Constitution reads yea, while
OH the other, after the exercise of an equal
degree Of INTEL gence, calmness. and de-
: liberation, the Constitution is found to
read nay.
admire the Supreme Court OF the
United States as a tribunal. l admire the
, wisdom which contrived it. ! rejoice in
the good consequences come to this Re.
|, public from the exercise Of its functions
also revere the Senate Of the United
States; but here is the most august body
in the world. they say composed Of men
who have wasted the mid night oil from
wear 10 vear-men who in cloisters, in
courts, in Legislative halls, have been reap
ing the fruits Of ripe experience, coming
here. and suddenly their mighty intellect,
able to scan every thing. however minute.
& comprehend everything however grand.
utterly fail them, and they kneel down in
dumb insignifcance and implore the Su-
preme Court to read the Constitution for
them.-l think the Senator from South
1 Carolina must have had some new light up
on the subject within the last few years.
and that several Of my Democratic friends
on oil sides Of the Chamber must have
been smtten with new love for the power
Of the Supreme Court. Doyou remember
the case adverted to by the Senator from
II New Jersey to day! lrecollect very well
when we did not stop to inquire how the
Supreme Court had decided or ordained. 1t
had decided with John Marshall at its
hcad-a man whose highest conjectures
upon the subject Of Constitutional law has
alwayshad with me as much weight as
L n.