Eastern times. [volume] (Bath, Me.) 1846-1857, 1851-01-30
Slavery and the Constitution.
NUMBER FOUR.

III tue Ciause requiring IuSiiNe sia'eS " oo
given up on the claim of thier masters, the
Constitution evidently regards them as the
property of those masters, and as such entitled
to protection. But it by no means follows that
they are therefore Invested, even in the purview
of that instrument, of all the claims and at
tributes of humanity On the contrary, in the
aPportionmentof representatives, as, Yeltas of
direct taxes, each slave is distinctly recognized
as three ffths of a man. A strange inconsis-
tency of language this, which undertakes to
divide every individual ola certain portion of
the human family into fractional parts and
predicate humanity of definite number of
those parts, while denying il of the rest. But
so it is-and with the righteousness of the
thing, we have here and now nothing to do
Such inconsistency and absurdity must, in the
very nature of things, forever result from the
vain attempt TO reconcile the opposing elements
Of manhood and slavery The two ideas are
essentially antagonistic the one TO the other,
and there is no power by which you can fuse
them together into homogeneous compound.
| All attempts to do so must forever lead us into
an nextricable confusion AT one moment a
slave is the mere property of his owner.-to
be regarded and treated as such-a mere chat
tel 10 be bought and sold like other chattels, as
cattle, sheep and horses. All the rights of a
man, whether alienable or iualienable, are
alike denied him. He may neither buy nor
|
sell, marry, nor be given in marriage, testify
as witness, or hold property of any sort
True, he may have will of his own-but,
subject wholly to the ,cM of the naster-
And thus the man is degraded into the brute
So regarded in theory, and but little better
treated in practice. Let now this chattel, this
man-made brute, aim deadly blow at his
master or overseer, and what thenl Oh then
forsooth, his humanity reappears. He be-
comes at once mana moral agent-as fully
capable Of the commission of a crime, as any
other man-aye, and of atoning for it too, by
his own life blood. These are inconsistencies,
say, inseparable, in the nature of things,
4 2.
lished, and as long as ii shall be allowed. Be
ing founded in ,crong, no legislation can ever
make it right. And hence all attempts to
speak about il or reason from it as a right,
must of necessity result in sad confusion of
terms.
But wrong though it was and is-and an
| of he III.
day and generation, have found it to be; incon-
sistent as it is with all our professions of re-
gard for justice, and the inalienable rights of
man-still sldrery in our midst is fired, prac-
teal tdct-and, however much we may,-as
most of US do-deplore it, it is an evil whc h
defamation and vituperation will never cure,
| however they may aggravate it. Moreover, it
is easier, great deal. to inveigh against, and
malign it, than it is 10 provide for its extinc-
ton. 1t is one of those things about which,
the parties specially interested in it, are most
peculiarly sensitive. They feel the evil-they
are not wholly insensible to the crong; but
they feel too, that ii is an evi! with which no
body has any thing TO do but themselves.
That TO them is committed its exclusive man.
agement and control. All interference in the
matter, therefore, from abroad, is to them i'm
pertinent and offensive 10 the last degree. do
not say that these views are wholly iust-but
that they are honestly entertained by the
slaveholder-inwrought into his very frame as
among his most cherished and deep-rooted
convictions, who can question: So it is now
so 1t was in the days of the confederate on
And when the men of the revolution assembled
to unite and cement together, by bonds that
| time itself should never sunder the disiointed
members of the confederacy, they found this
! institution of slavery existing-frmly esab-
| lished in several of the States-and backed too
| by firm determination on the part of those
States, never 10 surrender the control and man
agement of it into other hands than their own :;
nor to enter into any union, under which pro
vision was not made for the recovery of their
runaway slaves. But a union must be had, at
all events. and at all hazards because only
by that was there any hope left of mainanin Q
| tilc independence We lidu dCHleNcu u Il Ger
tain extent, therefore, the claim set up was
complied with-the concession demanded was
made But the claim and the concession were
both adverse TO liberty-an invasion of natural
rights. That this was so, was felt TO be true
at the time, and that the proceeding, if justifi-
able at all, was only to be justified by the
strong necessities Of the case. Inasmuch then,
as the provision in question, is manifestly, in
lis operation, opposed to natural rights, is it
not too clear TO be disputed by any one, that
the rights conveyed and the obligations impos-
ed by it, are limited by the terms of the com
pact, ia irly and honestly interpreted! The
natural rights of the slave, or of him who is
claimed as such, are Invaded, and encroached
upon by this provision at the BEST and any at
tempt to extend this encroachment by implica-
ton beyond the terms of the compact, is abso-
lutely monstrous On this point at least,
however it may be with others, common sense,
law, justice, and humanity unite in teaching
the same doctrine And that doctrine is, that
all d,cs are TO be construed as strictly as the
terms thereof ,cN aUo,c, in taror Of liberty and
the natural, inherent rights Of the citizen. But
the Constitution is law-the supreme law of
the land-and as such is 10 be interpreted
strictly in favor of liberty It's no just ground
of complaint TO US of the North, as have else
,rhare conterded that n law should he enacted