The examiner. [volume] (Louisville, Ky.) 1847-1849, 1849-07-21
TIE Qssssses 81 Nesrs slavery and she New
Constitution.
sr ROBERT .. IREcKIsnpeE.
CONTINUED FROM FIRST PAGE.


; people who remain 10 her, must become NOR
q and more difficult, as the slaves Increase upo
the whites, and ditfuse themselves amongs
'hem; IN which the hereditary ignorance Of IN
poor whites is secured by all the power of soye,
eign acts and all the blessings Of education an
oil knowledge are counted by free people a
unworthy 10 be compared with the advantage
Of eternal slavery
IL is needless 10 multiply suggestions of thi
SORT IL Is true, that, Of late, have heard an,
seen lnnumerabe attempts 10 prove that SLAYER,
is not only beneficial to every community, bu
mat IL rs an indispensable element in States
which would attain the highest prosperity, o.
exhibit the highest civilisation. But the com
mon sense Of mankind is, happily, proof aeains
such inhuman fallacies. The human heart anC
| the human mind can never receive as true,
dogma which teaches that the degradation anC
| rum OF one portion Of our race, 10 necessary
condition Of the elevation Of another portion
nor ever scquiesce in the morality, OF Justice
or humanity, or political espediency of such
| proceeding even II it answered the end pro-
posed. Nor will States ever agree TO strip them,
selves Of the power, inherent in ell comm uni
Ties TO relieve themselves of the fearful evils re-
/ sulung from the Increase Of a suffering, degra.
ded and oppressed population. The Stale OF
hentueky ought TO act towards the owners Of
slaves, with justice and good faith; they oaghl
to treat the whole subject Of slavery with wis
ION and moderation; and, for myself, | have
constantly commended, that any changein regard
to IT, ought to be prospective, gradual and con-
nected with colonization. But MOTH ng seems to
me more clear, than that every view of the in
ierest and duty OF Kentucky, obliges her TO pro-
hibit the further importation Of slaves and pro-
hlbis her from using her sovereign power 70
make slavery Internationally perpetual
4. May venture NOE 10 name the sLipes
themseiUes' Can such a question be disposed
OF without considering that they are 200,-
QUO human beings, who, with their offspring
forever, are involved in III Every ore Of these
human beings, like Us, created in the image Of
Cod has like us, an immortal soul; Is, like us,
capable Of JOY and sorrow, will like US, lie down
ia the grave; and at the great day, stand with US
before the throne of God. They are property;
but still they are our fellow-men, our fellow
sinners, many of them our fellow-ehrist
Let Us not consider il unworthy of US 10 con-
template the bearing Of this question upon
them since their destiny is intimately connect
Cd with ours, and entirely dependent On our
acts.
l shall not speak of the private condition Of
slaves, or their individual treatment. What
now concerns US is the state of public law
The law as to all other subjects, is often better
on the statute book than in practice; for the
conduct Of men Is not always as good az their
principles, or professions. On this subject IL is
my opinion that the law is worse than the prac-
tee under il; aud this is one of the anomalies of
slavery, that the evil element in ii, constant
ly gets the mastery. Slavery, ms 1t exists by law
in this State, presents this aspect: lat The
rights of property are absolutely and univer-
sally abolished, as TO the slaves. ID The
rights of person and character are unknown, as
TO them, except as the interest Of the master
and the public peace may demand their recogni-
ton. Sd. The institution of marriage as be-
tween slaves, has no legal recognition, nor do
marital rights exist 10 them. 4th. The re-
lati0n Of parent and child. as between slaves, is
not recognised by the law, except in determia.
ing questions Of property. Now it is perfectly
obvious, that every one Of these rights is inner
ent in human nature, and that their existence
and their protection, lie al the foundation Of
human society which could not exist for day,
under any form, If these rights were universal
ly abolished. Moreover, they are all of divine
authority; and as the State itself-that is hu-
man sOciety-is ordained By GOD, we have one
Of Gods institutions abolishing as 10 immense
numbers of his rational creatures, the very
on which he has erected that in.ti-
tuition, and rendered possible the social state he
ordained for those Creatures. This is a conci.
lion Of things for whose Increase there can be
no justification, and whose everlasting coniinu- |
anee can be defended only upon grounds which, /
suoverJ the order Of nature, the ordinations of
heaven, and the foundations Of the social
state.
II is true, the law recognises these slaves as
property, and 1t is further true that the same
which passed these laws, cannot
violently set them aside, Irrespective Of the /
rights Of property created by them. But or 1
the other hand, II is certain, that every civil |
right Of the master in the slave clear as il may
be, 10 no clearer than a corespo nding and OPP |
pOsite natural right in the slave against /
he civil right Of the master, which natural 1
right the State abolished when il created the !
,iVil one. And surely 1t has as much power 10 /
abolish the civil right it created, as IL had TO /
abolish the natural right which God created /
and the slave has as great an interest In having |
ais natural right restored, as the master has in /
having his civil right continued. This State is /
he arbiter between them. While she listens
with calmness and the purpose TO do what is
right, 10 the claim of the master, so long and /
30 fully recognised by her; she cannot fail TO |
understand that there 10 plea, though there
be no voice nor utterance for ia mute but /
awful plea-working its way into her heart, for |
hose whose claim she has 90 long refused to |
recognise. 1t is one Of the sad conditions of all |
hat 10 evil on earth, that when We have once 1
lone wrong, we cannot fully and Immediately |
undo it. Moderation Isl part Of justice, and |
wisdom is element OF humanity. Still | re- |
:ur TO the same great solution Of these difficult |
les Do not increase them. DO not perpetu-
tie them. 1t is by gradual and prospective /
change in the established right and the estab-
ished wrong, that we can best extricate our
'elves from condition in which, 1t seems to |
ne, there 10 so much to deplore.
Errors the most opposed TO each other, are
ipt to meet at last in the same common conciu-
son. So il is here. The abolitionist and pro-
'lsvery man, agrees in nothing but the final re-
Iult Of their principles; that result being, how
.ver, the natural climax Of all Their arguments,
md itself a sufficient proof OF the error Of
both. They both contend that the black man
md the white man ought TO abide together for
'ver; whereas, IL reason or experience teaches
10 any lesson, IL 10 that they ought not. God
las been pleased to distinguish the races Of men
nhabiting this earth very remarkably from eash
,ther; and for purposes not yet fully developed,
las kept them, for a long course Of ages, dis
inct from each other. There can be no reason
lble doubt, that if all men were white, or all
black, or all red, the same causes which pro-
iuced and still sustain these distinctions, would
produce and sustain them again; and the same
'rovidential ends would require and would de-
7elop the same results once more. The sound
st conclusion of reason, and all the lessons Of
he past teach US, that all these races Of men
ievelO2 themselves more freely and more hap
lilly when mutually separated from each other;
md that there 10 an extreme difficulty if not en-
litter impossibIlity OF keeping them united in
he same community, except upon conditions
tightly injurious TO both, or fatal to one. For
there Is no condition Of her high and
astng progress more obvious to me, than the
smovsl from her bosom of the black race. 1t
5 for Kentucky, and for the white race here,
haf all The effnrts. of the nnrix with which act