The national era. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1847-1860, 1850-05-23

in svowng that am one among the many whom
his recently expressed opinions have failed "a
convince, ii is due to myself, however Indifferent
il may be to him or 10 his friends, that should
express my admiration Of his powers my graft
tude for his past services and the difTdence with
which dissented at first, from his views But
have pondered upon them long, and the longer
have pondered, the more questionable they appear
shall therefore venture upon the perious task OF
inquiring into their correctness; and while | do
it with the Difference and respect which belong to
his character, shall do it also with that fidelity
TO conscience and TO judgment that belong to
mine. He is great, but truth is greater than us
all
| shall confine myself mainly and perhaps
wholly, to Mr.. Webater's views, because he has
argued the cause Of the South with vastly more
ability than it has been argued by any one among
themselves If his conclusions, then, be not tena-
BILE, their case is lost*
Mr. Webster casts away the PrOviso alto
gether lie says e. II resolution or lar peye
NOR betore us 10 proride Territorial Government TO,
Ne'o MEXICO, mould NOT pOte 10 pr any prohibition
uro IL phatepey Page a. The reason given L.
that slavery is already excluded from "Calfor.
MIA and New Mexico v Z" by the law of nature, Of
physical geography the law of the formation OF
the earth.n-Page AZ. california and New
Mexico are Asiatic in their formation and scenery
They are composed of vast ridges of mountains OF
enormous height, with broken ridges and deep
valleysn-P0ge 43.
Now, this is drawing moral conclusions from
physical premises. Ii is arguing from physics
to metaphysics 1t is determining the law Of the
spirit by geographical phenomena 1t is under
taking to settle by mountains and rivers, and not
by the Ten Commandments, a great question of
human duty. IL abandous the second command
ment Of Christ and all Bills of Rights enacted in
conformity thereto, and leaves our obligations to
our "neighbor " to be determined by the accidents
of earth and water and air. To ascertain wheth.
er people will obey the Divine command, and
do TO others as they would be done by it looks at
the thermometer. What a problem would this
BET Required the height shove the level of the
sea at which the oppressor will undo the heavy
StfusRs ana let che 0PpSe5sea 70 free; AMID 81 ON
every yoke, to be determined barometricalyD
Alas this cannot be done. Slavery depends not
upon Climate, but upon Conscience Wherever
the wicked passions of the human heart can 20,
there slavery can 60. Slavery is an effect Av-
arice, sloth, pride, and the love Of domination are
its cause. In ascending mountain sides, at what
altitude do men leave these passions behind them
Different vegetable growths are to be found at
different heights, depending also upon the zone
This can understand. There is the altitude of
the palm the altitude Of the oak, the altitude of
the pine, and, far above them ALL the line of per-
petual snow. But, in regard to innocence and
guilt, where is the mhte line? How high up can
a stakeholder 60 and not lose his free agency 2
At what elevation will the whip fall from the
hand Of the master, and the fetter from the limbs
of the slave2 There is no such point. Freedom
and slavery on the one hand. and climate and ge.
ology on the other, are incommensurable quaint
ties. We might as we'll attempt to determine q
question in theology by the cube root, or a CUES
tion in ethics by the Black Art. Slavery being a
crime founded upon human passions can 60 wher-
ever those passions are unrestrained. Ii has ex-
listed in Asia from the earliest ages, notwithstand
ing its formation and scenery 1t labors and
groans on the TANKS of the Ural mountains now
There are to-day forty-eight millions of slaves in
Russia, not one rood of which comes down 90
low as the northern boundary of California and
New Mexico.
Had Mr.. Webster's philosophy been correct
then California was at superfuous pains wher
she incorporated the Ordinance of 1857 into hel
Constitution. Instead of saying that SLAYER!
and involuntary servituds, texcept Tor crime,
shall be forever prohibited she should have said
" Whereas by q law of nature, of physical geoe
raphy, the law Of the formation of the earth,
slavery cannot exist in California therefore W
enact the will Of Godn
Should it be said that slavery will not 20 int
the new Territories, because it is Improbable,
ask, where is it profitable? Where is ignoranc
so profitable as knowledge? Where is ungodli
ness gain, even for the things of this life7 How
little is the hand worth at one end Of an arm, /
there is not brain at the other2 Do not Mary
land, Virginia, North Carolina and other States
furnish witnesses by thousands and tens Of thou
ga nds that slavery impoverishes etwith wha
enthusiasm they cherish It, Generally, igno
rance is necessary concomitant of slavery o
white persons, over twenty years Of age, unable
to read and write, there were, according to thu
last census s., 7s7 in Virginia, $4,000 in NORTH
Carolina, s. 5l3 in Tennessee, and so forth.
have q letter before me, received this morning
dated in Indiana, in which the writer says he re-
moved from North Carolina, in 1902, when he
never seen a newspaper in his life Can there be
genius, the inventive talent, or profitable labor
where ignorance is so dense Can the oppres-
sion that tramples out voluntary industry, intel
ligence, enterprise, and the desire Of independ-
ence, conduce to riches Yet this Is done wher-
ever slavery exists and is part and parcel of its
working Is any other form Of robbery profitable 2
Yet individuals and communities have practiced
Il and lived by II, and we may as well rely upon II
" law Of physical geography TO arrest one as the
other tits not poetry, but literal truth that the
breath Of the slave blasts vegetation his tears
poison the earth, an! his groans strike II with
steriity. II would be easy 70 show why the mas
ter does not abandon slavery, even amid the desc
lation with which II has surrounded him. There
Is a combination Of poverty and pride, which sla-
very produces, ths doctrine Of natural appliance,
and which, therefore, IL exactly fits The help
lessness Of the master In regard to all personal
wants seems 10 necessitate the slavery that has
besotsen IL. All moral and religious principles
are lowered till they conform to the daily prac-
tice Custom blinds conscience, until, without
any attempt to emancpate or ameliorate their
victims, men can preach and pray and hold slaves
as Hamlets grave-digger jests and sings while he
turns up skulls.
Bot slavery cannot 20 into California or New
Mexico, because their staple productions are not
tobacco, corn, cotton, or rice D-Page A. These
are agricultural products But Is slave labor
confined to agriculture Suppose that predfh
slavery will not become common in the new Ter
ritories Cannot meniall IL slaves cannot co
6eld-work, cannot they do house-work7 There
IL an opening for hundred thousand slaves to-
day In the new Territories, for purposes Of domes
tic labor And beyond this, Yet ask, who possess
60 any such geologic vision that at distance OF
thousand miles, he can penetrate the valleys and
gorges Of New Mexico, and say that gold viii
net yei be found there as ii is in Californis-not
in sand and gravel only, but in forty-eght pound.
ers and in 6fty-sixes7 This is the very kind OF
labor on which slaves, In all time, have been 30
extensively employed-the very labor on which
million Of slaves In Hispaniola lost their lives,
within few years after its discovery by Column
bus Gold deposites are now worked within twenty.
FIVE miles Of Santa Fe. The last account which
| have seen, of company Of emigrants passing
from Santa Fe to California by the river ella,
announces rich discoveries Of gold upon that
river. A fellow-citinen Of mine has just returned
home, who says he saw a slave sold at the mines
in California, in September last. As yet, the
distant regions Of the Gila and the Colorado can
not be worked, because Of the Apacbes, the Utahs,
and other tribes Of Indians But admit slavery
there, and the power Of the Government VIII DC
invoked to exterminste these indians, rs II was
hefo.a IA svt.rmirate the Cherckets and Semi