Republican vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1849-1857, 1849-03-26


of or people are trodden under loot. 'sSlav,
: power" Oh sir, how the truth of history, il
+ the very matter implicated, and how the warn
! and kindly sentiment of national relationship
which glows in the bosom of every American
, wherever his home; how are they alike invaded
, and outraged by this offensive phrase, aud the
more oftenslye ends Of sectional prejudice, ami
} mostly, and deception, to which it is so often
| and so wrongfully applied The free action OF
TINS Government and the Liberties of our people
stricken down by the s'sla9e rower!n Why,
sir, does not every one Of US know, that of ali
the positive or governmental checks by which
the spread OF slavery has ever been restricted,
the most efhcacious and comprt hnnsiye OF all
Others by a thousand fold, is that which was put
upon it under the lead, and with the hearty con-
currence OF saveholding statesmen and slave
holding States! Was it not the restrictive or
anti slavery article of the ordinance OF 1887,
which if not prepared at the suggestion and by
| the hand of Mr. Jefferson himself. was certainly
prepared with his assent and sustained upon
the assent OF Virginia also! Was it not this
Which has protected the finest territory we ever
owned from the approach and presence of the
slave "a territory OF larger capabilities for the
growth and sustenance, and wealth. of civilized
man, than any other equal area. it is believed
upon the surface of the globe. And yet citizens
coming from that very country, no less than citi-
zens coming from other places, rise up in the
midst OF us here, and brand with abusive cpl
thets the very men and the very power that
gave this magnificent empire bridal Gowry ITO
free labor and to free soI''
The check imposed by the Government, which
IS next Ill order OF importance and of time, is
the constitutional prohibition against the impor-
tatlon OF slaves from Abroad prohibition
which was introduced into the Constitution upon
the votes both of northern and southern States,
but which would have gone into effect as early
as 1900, instead of 1908, the time fixed by that
instrument, had it not been for the strenuous and
unrelaxing resistance in the Convention of three
OF the northern ates-Massachusetts, New
Hampshire, and Connecticut. Virginia the great
| slave power' OF that day, and the one most re-
vlled by this epithe at this day, stood up for the
lnterdlct on the foreign importation at the earli-
est period. Massachusetts and her colleagues
at the latest. Virginia, disregarding her own in
terest, was willing at the earliest hour, to sweep
the traffic from the sea, and to leave those shu-
man cargoes2 that we hear of, to the wretched
land that produced them. Massachusetts and
I her colleagues, banking at all order SO generous
as this, dropped into the rear OF Virginia, and
chung perseyeringly chung, to the profits Of the
trade to the last hour that their associate III the
Convention would allow. And thus, by different
modes OF action on this one subject OF slavery
fostering it i'll the early days of the Government,
denounclng it tn the latter-ollr northern friends
have contrlyed, by process OF ingenuity CHAR
acterstically yaaakee, Il speak descriptiyely, not
derlslvely, to make out OF it pecuniary capital
then, and political capital now. Never was
there more available aubject in the hands Of
workmen more willing or more cunning to con-
troll It, The widows cruise, W hich conld not be
exhausted by pouring out, is but poor and faint
emblem of its value to then1 This though III
exhaustible, never grew greater. That did and
does. No matter how opposite the uses to
which these managers have applied it, whether
to those of merchandise of politics no matter
whether they nourished their opulence in former
years from the tears of the slave, or point to
them now in the homes of others, to arouse the
horror, and SO to shape the legislation of the
country, no matter W hat the form in which they
treat, or by which they metamorphose this sub
ject OF slavery, it springs up to their hands in
one never-ending, but increasing harvest of ad-
vantage.
!. There is yet another restriction of law which
has been placed by this Government upon the
geographical limits of slayery-that which was
placed upon it i'll 1920 by the well-known
Missouri compromise'-according 10 which ali
slavery was prohibited in the then territory of the
U. States, not embraced in the ordinance of 1887,
which lay north of thirty-six and half degrees
of latitude. need hardly say the real author
OF this restriction was himself slaveholding
! Representative ola slayehoding State-Henry
Clay, of Kentucky. Other persons than Mr.. Clay
may stand upon the Journals of Congress as the
formal movers and patrons of this measure, hut
the whole otemporary history of the act is ut
terly false and worthless, if he was not the
maser-spirit that conceived. matured, and car
ried it through. When this act was passed, the
great body OF the southern Representatives voted
against it. But since then they have not only
acquiesced in it, and maintained it inviolate,
but have cooperated with others in applying it
to Texas, and have proposed and pressed it as a
ground OF equitable settlement for the controver-
sy which now embarrasses and divides us
Here then, MIR, Chairman we have series of
legal acts, proceeding more or less directly from
the hands OF southern men and southern States,
all of which have gone to restrict the institution
; of slavery, both in its limits and political
strength, and all of which are entitled to be
heard as witnesses whenever the Hsaye power
that is spoken of is arraigned for its monstrous
and its constant atrocities upon freedom and hui
mainly With these acts of benefcent legisla-
ton let theseaccusers be content; & instead of ha-
: RAISING the Government and harassing the coun-
try with fanatical and unconstitutional efforts to
enlist the sanction and the power of law yet fur
Their on their side, let them be thankful for what
has been done, and leave all else to the controll
ing and natural influence of time and events.
may as well advert, Mr.. Chairman, at this
point as at any other to a practical question
which Is ottentimes asked by gentlemen here
who insist upon the exclusion of slavery from
our Mexican territory, and who maintain, at the
same time, that such exclusion does not preja.
dice or impair, in the least, the full and equal
right of the South and of her citizens to the use
and enjoyment of that territory We are asked
to say, how such exclusion can impair this e.
quality, seeing that northern and southern citi
f, Eel S, and all others, when they go into the ter
ritory as inhabitants, go there under the opera
! ton of the same law, and live there in the pos
session, in all respects, of precisely the sam,
rights How, then, can they be unequal Thi
question is easily answered, This Mexican ter
ritory being a conquest of the United States, et
fected by the united resources of all, both mel
and money, il consequently the joint and com
mon property OF all This is granted. AS tn
Joint and common property, then. Of all, it IS G