The national era. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1847-1860, 1850-09-05
l44
[oonr1nrrn FROM FIRST rAeE.l

ulCtlOn.
I'll 80 u,arals not unfreauently spring from the
;,nsrfsc,ion of language and the improper use
- - ,r;tbout q fixed and determinate mean
ino In fact il has long been cause OF complaint
a,6org ingenious and thoughtful men, that our
language rude and imperfect at beet, and mostly
conyersant about material and sensible objects,
was wholly inadequate TO express the refined dis
tinctons of moral and speculative philosophy, as
the rudest tools are unfit and unsuitable to the
refined and delicate purposes and operations Of
the watch maker aud the surgeon. And this
apprehend, is the reason why 80 many errors have
been committed by distinguished gentlemen in
the course Of this discussion. They unquestion-
ably result not from inadequate or confused ideas
in their own minds, but from the imperfeciOn of
the medium through which they are obliged, for
the want Of better to communicate their thoughts
to us. Now, to ordinary capacities, to common
minds, unclOuded by distractions, and capable Of
using common language in its usual and ordinary
acceptaton, there can be no doubt that the juris-
diction or authority of the General Government
is paramount within the States. That is, that its
jurisdiction is superior TO that Of any other. The
language Of the Constitution on this point is plain,
and will admit of no controversy. IL declares that
tbs Constitution. and The laws or Inc Unuea
States which shall he made in pursuance thereof
$50 ~ <5-Ass~-- -. - -
der the authority of the United States, shall be
every State shall be bound thereby, anything in
the Constitution or laws Of any State to the con,
traTy Notwithstanding Concede the startling
proposition maintained by these gentlemen, and
the banner Of African slavery could be made Il
float over the soil Of every free State in thil
Union, entirely overriding the local or State law
prohibiting it, and the General Government sue
cessfully invoked 10 defend and maintain it Suct
is the inevitable conclusion to which we are con
hu nd dno lrin 10
The municipal regulations of the slave States
like those Of the free States are powerless beyond
their own jurisdiction. They are without any
authority or consideration whatever in the Other
States, or in the Territories belonging TO the Uni
ted States, except what is imposed by the Consti
tuition, or is exacted by the comfy which modern
Christian civilization requires should always ex-
ist between cOnerminous and independent States
The pecuarities in the legislation or laws of one
State, or any given number Of States, can no more
be transplanted into the Territories of The United
States as a right attendant upon the persons OF
those who may choose TO emfgrate thItner tnaH
those of all the other States.
The rights of ali the States in this particular.
are perfectly rtfnsi md they are dependents
within their own jurisdiction and no one State
has, in this respect, any superiority, whatever its
laws or local institutions may be, over another.
Congress has the paramount and exclusive right,
if it exists anywhere. of which no sane man, at
this time Of day, can justly entertaiR a doubt to
legislate for the Territories, and no State in
terfere with or control its exercise. shall not
stop to discuss the question, sometimes mooted,
whence the right springs which has been go fire.
quently exercised for the last half century.
II is sufficient for my purpose to know that the
General Government has acquired territory in a
variety of ways-by treaty, by acts of legislation,
and by conquest and purchase; and whether the
right TO govern it, after the acquisition is made
is TO be referred TO the war-making power, or the
treaty-making power, or arises from some other
grant of power in the Constitution, is perfectly
immaterial; il exists as an incident to the exer-
else Of the power to acquire territory, if in no
other way. 1t is expressly provided in the Con-
stitutiOn, that Congress may make "all needful
rules and regulations for the government of the
Territories and Of course no other sovereignty
has any control over them while they remain sub
ject to the jurisdiction of Congress Some of the
States composing this Union prohibit slavery
while others tolerate it, and the rights of the
specive States and the citizens of EACH are equal
No one may claim superiority over the other
they all possess alike the attributes Of qualified
sovereignty A citizen Of Northern State in
which slavery and involuntary servitude are for
ever interdicted, emigrating 20 the Territories of
the United States, has the same right with the
citizen Of Southern State, which tolerates the
institution of slavery to carry with him the local
laws of his own State. These laws being contra
dictory and Inconsistent with each other could
not exist together in the same community, and
hence the sbsurdity of the right claimed by some
Southern gentlemen to carry slaves into the Ter
rtories and hold them in bondage merely because
they are permitted to do so by the laws of some
of the States When emigrants pass from the
jurisdiction Of their respective States into the
Territories, they leave behind them the laws of
their former domcil as they do the judicial trbu-
malls, and the executive officers whose duty it is
TO enforce them They pass under new jurs-
diction, possessing the right to make laws, and
the power TO enforce them, independently Of the
States whence they came. The citizens of the
different States and of other countries meet in
the Territories upon terms of perfect equality,
neither having the right to bring with him the
institutions of the State or sovereignty whence
he emigrated, or to claim, n right, their protec-
ton or adoption within the new jurisdiction. A
contrary doctrine would lead, in practice to end
less conflicts and interminable difficulties Stand
ing upon free soil, the common property of the
United States, and confdng in its protection, the
rights of all would be equally respected. The
protecting @gis Of the Constitution would be over
all alike for it has expressly provided that the
citizens Of each State shall be entitled to all the
privileges Of the citizens Of the several States'-
provision which must be entirely abrogated be-
fore the new doctrine can obtain. Its transparent
fallacy is so obvious and so plain, that apology
is due for the time spent in exposing it, The ar
gument in support of it, even in the hands Of its
eminent advocates, fails TO become respectable,
and scarcely rises TO the dignity Of shallow soph-
istry.
The relation Of master and slave is said to be
one Of long standing-it is patriarchal institu-
ton; and we have listened to elaborate declana-
ton upon the origin and antiquity of slavery, and
its advocates have sought to deduce an argument
from that source, to justify extending over it the
protecting care of the General Government and
introducing it into the Territories of the United
States 1t has existed, we are assured, from the
earliest times; its venerable and shadOwy form
may be seen in the twilight of history aud surely
some respect is due TO its great age if on other
account IL has always been abused and vifed
by its enemies till its name has acquired an fen.
sive odor, and is about to be driven in disgrace
from its former haunts end its ancient home
What more worthy the fame Of great gallant
and free people, than to extend the rights oil
hospitality to the venerable outcast and give it
resting place and permanent home under our
glorious stripes and stars, where il can renew its
failing strength, enlarge its withered dimensions
and again put on the yigor Of its youth and it,
manhood Its enemies should be prosecuted for
their numerous libels and be hushed to silence
and its name be rescued from the unjust odiun
which has rendered it hateful and ignominious
This, sir, is substantially the duty which W,
are required to perform and if We hesitate, OIL
falter, fail to obey this glorious fabric of FREE
government, reared by the skill and the toll, anC
cemented by the blood of patriots, who preferre,
death to slavery, Is TO be demolished, and thi
Union to be dissolved We are left free, of course
to make our election but il is a kind of freedom
after ALL not very unlike that which the travelle
enjoys, with the highwayman's pistol at his breast
II there is anything in the origin and antiquit!
of slavery, or in the history of human bondage
in any of its forms, to commend il to favorabl