The national era. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1847-1860, 1850-02-28

such slave may be found, for the purpose Of Ia
king him" Should this asserted right be ncor-
porated into the compromise bill then may South
ern ruffsns and Northern doughfaces ere long
| be roaming through our bed rooms and ransack-
| ing our closets in search Of prey Should an at
tempt be made to enforce the heaviest sanctions
for which MIR. Clay is ready to vote, he may be
assured the prisons in New York and New Eng
| land are too few to hold the vast multitude of
men and women who would willingly tenant them
rather than peril their souls by betraying the flu
gitive, or assisting in his capture. Mr. Clay very
kindly declines requiring "a private individual
10 make The tour Of ms rhols S0te in search Of
slave but he insists that all mho were present when
the game is started ought to follow the hounds
Could he but enforce this obligation, we should
have some grand turn-outs in New York and
New England some like the one fancied by the
poet:
GOOD luck 10 our hunters how nobly they ride,
In the glow Of their ZEAL and the strength Of their pride
The priest with his cassnek flung back On the Wind,
Just screening the polite statesman behind
The saint and the sinner with cursing and prayer
The drunk and the sober ride merrily there
oh goodly and grand Is our hunting 70 see
In this land Of the brave and this home of the free -
Right merrily hunting the black whose sin
Is the curl Of his hair and the hue Of his skin.
SO speed to their hunting DER mountain and glen,
ihrough cane-Drake ana forest-the hunter OF mem"
But the Constitution This instrument de-
clares, in substance, that the fugitive slave shall
be delivered up but Mr.. Clay, believe, is the
first lawyer who has oontended that the obliga-
cation of delivery rests upon private individu-
ais" Even Mr. Mason, in his speech, insists that
the mandate to deliver up is addressed to the
jurisdiction Of me STATE into which the fugitive
may escape" OF course, individual citizeas, as
such, are under no constitutional obligations 10
volunteer to catch slaves But suppose positive
law should enjoin each individual to betray or
aid in capturing the fugitive the questiouput BY
the Apostles, when legally forbidden TO teach In
the name of Jesus, would then recur: Whether
it be right, in the sight of God, to hearken unto
you more than unto God, Judge ye" IL is not
merely the right, but the duty of Christian to
refusesn dotiee ssssSty2Ss 60 any and every isw
of man which he believes contravenes the CON-
mands of his Maker and then, like the Apostles.
to offer no forcibe resistance to the penalties at
tached to his disobedience
Mr.. Clay may rest assured that the bill of
pains and penalties promised in his 18th resou-
ton will not have the composing influence he
anticipates. Filling our prisons with pious, be-
nevolent, knd-hearted men and women, will
have little effect in suppressing agitation. In |
his compromising anodyne, Mr.. Clay has omit
ted an important ingredient Ample provision
is to be made for the recovery of Southern |
slaves, but none for the recovery of Northern |
cai1tw. IL the Constitution gives the South |
ern planter right to seize his slave in New |
York or Massachusetts, equally explicit is the |
grant to citizens of those States to enjoy all the |
rights of citizenship in South Carolina. Yet, If
certain of our citizens freehoders and electors at
home, think proper to visit that State prison is
the only dwelling they are permitted to occupy
and should the State to which they belong send
an agent to inquire why they are immured in
Jail, and to bring their case before the Supreme
Court of the United States, he is compelled to
flee at the hazard Of his life
s. The last item Of this grand compromise is
virtually guaranty that the American slave
trade, vile and loathsome as it is, shall be held
sacred from prohibition or obstruction by the
Federal Government for all time to come. The
stars and stripes shall forever protect each coast
ing vessel that shall be frieghtcd with human
misery and despair, and manaced cofiles shall,
without molestation, be driven across the conti-
nent from the Atlantic to the Pacific The slave
trade in the District that is, in one single market
Mr.. Clay pronounces "detestable,n aud talks with
horror Of the eofeges which pass along our ave.
nues Of manacled human beings But why this
sudden outburst of indignation against lawful
commerce Is it dishonorabe to sell merchan-
dise2 Has not Mr.. Clay himself proclaimed
:" that is property which the law makes proper.
|
man-merchants Is il base to buy and sell hui
man beingsl Mr. Clay forgets that this detest
able trade" is, in fact supported by the gentle
| men breeders who sell and the gentlemen planters
who buy. But this trade, which is so detosta
BILE" and these corieges, which are 30 horrible on
a very little scale, are now to assume national
| Importance, protected and sanctioned by the Gov
eminent of the whole Republic
Such, sir, is the magnsnimous compromise which
| n 1...
now that the elections are oUeY and the solemn
pledges made in favor of the Wimot Provso
supposed to be forgotten, are wiling1o accept ms
mighty boon to human rights, and mighty bar
rer against the further encroachments Of the
slave power. In my ears, the only language ad
dressed by these eight resolutions to the North,
is the cry Of the horse leech-gipe, giue. No test
can detect In them, no microscope can make visible
the most minute concession to human liberty.
Not one sing Of Territory does the proposed
compromise secure from slavery, that is not slrea
dy rescued from it's power. Notone single human
being will IL save from bondage.
The extension of the Missouri line to the Pa.
cifc would at least have rendered all the north
Of II free soil but, says Mr.. Clay, most truly, |
although with frankness almost insulting to the
North-"I say, sir, in my place here, that IL Is
much better for the SoUTH that the whoIe Snbjtq
should be open on both sdes an imaginary iDe Of
800 3d. than that slauery should be merdieed posi-
tipely north of $50 30 pah freedom 10 admit OF en-
clude il south of 800 30', al The mill o(the peoplew
But, Mr.. Clay exclaimed, "no earthly power
could induce to vote for the positive introduce
ton of slavery south or north Of that lineo and
at this heroic avowal the galleries applauded.
But the galleries are not deeply versed In South
ern tactics Mr. Clay need apprehend no coer-
cion to extort his reluctant vote for purpose no
one desires or demands. The South have, with
one voice. denied the power Of Congress either to
prohibit or establish slavery In the Territories.
Said Mr. King Of Alabama in reply Eve ask
no act Of Congress to carry slavery anywhere. ]
believe we (Congress) have just as much right to
prohibit slavery In the Territories, as to carry II
there We have no right to do one or the otherD
Other Southern Senators avowed their concur
renee in the doctrine advanced by Mr.. King.
Hence Mr. Clay's defiance Of any power on earth
TO make him do what nobody wants him to do,
was, at least, rhetorical flourish.
Bat If this pretended compromise is, rs con-
tend a full and unqualified surrender Of all the
demands Of the North, why did certain ultra Sen
ators object to it7 A show OF resistance might
have been deemed polite, as tending to make
Northern men suppose there must be something
granted to them, although they could not tell
what. IL may also suit the party purposes Of
some to prolong the present agitation that they |
may manufacture more patriotism for the South
ern market And, lastly, II any really wish to
form separate Republic, 10 which they expect |
to have more power than they now enjoy, they will
Of course reject All concessions, however great. |
But it Is incredible that the mere Shareholders, the
men who are only anxious to open new markets for |
the sale Of their stock and to acquire more votes
in Congress, should be averse to n proposition
that offers them all they have ever asked, and all
that Congress can give them with the exception
Of the suppression Of the right Of petition, and
the censorship Of the Post Office; and these are
not now In issue
Bat we are told that unless we yield 10 the de-
mands Of the Shareholders, they will dissolve the
Union And what are these demands, which Mr..
CI.u ad.aita Wa haxe full rinht IN refusel Why