The national era. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1847-1860, 1852-09-09

80 close crOWdlng, we simply reply, tnat we
cannot admit that argument because it devotes
the whole world to inevitable slavery. For, if
you already need a greater expanse Of territory
for comfortable room, that, too, will soon be
crowded with three slaves to square mile
and the argument for further conquest and ex-
pansion will come back upon us. Yielding
again, the argument will speedily recur again
1t will be a never-ending, still-beginnng pre-
text for extension, until the whole world shall
become a vast realm of slavery-even the free
States being engulfed with the rest so that the
dove of freedom will have no spot on the sur
face of the globe where she can set her foot
And now, notwithstanding the infinite evil
and wrong of slavery, intrinsic in it, and in
separable from it; notwithstanding the virus
with which it poisons all our free institutions
its exclusion of Independent communities from
the brotherhood of the Union its hardening
the nations heart against all people struggling
for liberty; its understanding; its attempt to
transfer the whole false English code of high
treason into our law; and all its debasement
of the republican sentiment and the moral
sentiment of this country-nOtwithstand all
this, the Baltimore Conventions decree that the
subject of slavery shall be agitated among us
no more forever.
Look at the comprehcnsiveness of this inter
diet 1t embraces all subjects. 1t forbids the
political economist from discussing the relative
productiveness of free and slave labor. Ii for
bids the educationist from demonstrating that
a slaveholdng people must always, from the
necessity of the case, be an ignorant people-a
people divided not only into castles of wealth,
but into castles of intelligence. 1t forbids ge-
MUS from presenting Truth in the glowing
similitudes of Fiction and that divine hearted
woman, the authoress of " Uncle Toms Cabin,
is under the Baltimore ban. 1t forbids the
poet, whose lips from Olden days have been
touched as with live Goals from off the heaven
ly altar-from ever again kinding the hearts
of mankind with divine enthusiasm for lib
erty. 1t strikes out all the leading chapters
from the book of the mOralist. 1t puts its seal
upon the lips of the minister of Christ, when
he would declare the whole counsel of God,
and f0rbids him ever again to preach from the
text Whatsoever we would that men should
do unto you, do We even so unto them ALI
worldly prosperity, education, genius, morality,
religion, truth-are struck out by these Balti-
more Conventions in their maniacal partisan
ship.
The noblest men whom God has ever sent
into the world-patriots, reformers philanthro-
pists apostles, and Jesus Christ himself-are on
tors, men-stealers, the wholesale murderers and
robbers of nations, are on the side of slavery.
The Baltimore Conventions enlist under the
banners of the latter. They affiliate with the
House of Hapsburg, and with Nicholas with
the King of Naples, and with the "Prince
President" of France. One might almost
suppose they had plagiarized their resolves
from the Paris MOniteur, where that ape who
mimics the imperial grandeur he cannot COM
prehend, records his tyrannical DEGREES against
freedom of speech. Louis Napoleon decreed
free discussion out of existence in France. Six
hundred men at Baltimore decreed the same
thing for this country. The ape succeeded
they fail.
And how are these resolves to be construed,
provided new questions respecting slavery arise,
or questions already started are precipltated
upon us Should an attempt to annex Cuba
in order still further to aggrandze the Slave
Power, be made-and if General Pierce should
be elected such attempt doubtless will be
made-Or should new slave State, with
slave Constitution from California, apply Tor
admission-or should Mexico be again dlsmem-
bered to form new slave territory and new slave
States-in the occurrence of these events, or
of either of them, how are these Baltimore res
olutons to be then construed We know per-
fectly we'll what claim will be set up. 1t will
be said that the new events come within the
terms of the prohibtion-the casus fGde,1S-
and bind the nation to silence. 1t will be
claimed that the resolutions cover not only all
subjects but all time and enslaye our chill
dren as well as ourselves
have exposed the character and extent of
those resolutions Let me now expose their
motive. | charge upon those Conventions the
10 oil
by torce-as in this House and in the Senate
the same spirit once rejected petitions, and
would now silence debate--because they are
conscious they cannot meet it by argument.
The Fugitive Slave Law, for instance, is as
sailed by the jurist, because it is unconstitu-
tonal; by the patriot because it disgraces the
country in the eyes of the civilized world by
the religious man, because it is unchristian
and by every one who has the sentiment of
humanity in his bosom. for its unheard-of cru
city. The uphOlders of that law can answer
no one of these arraignments Their only re-
source therefore, is the dastardly denial of
discussion and free speech-lke Louis NapO-
leon, who having no possibility of reply to the
accusations of treachery, perjury, and usurpa-
ton, forbids the accusations to be made. |
Among all our constitutional judges and among |
all those mock judges called Commissioners,
there is not one who has met the arguments
against the constitutionaity of this law. They
ntrench themselves behind a feeble rampant
of presidents as their only defence. Judge Nog-
gins decides it to be constitutional, because Judge
Scroggins has decided it to be so. And wheh
we look back to Judge Scroggins for light, we
find he decided it to be constitutional, because
Judge Spriggins had held it to be So Cher
Justice Shaw. of Massachusetts whom re-
gard as one of the ablest judges who ever ad-
ministered the common law, anywhere, vrtu-
ally admitted. in the Sims case that 1t the ques-
ton of the consttutonality OF this law were
new one the affirmative could not be sustained,
repeat then, it is a dastardly order to keep
silence. because they cannot meet discussion.
Necessity is their only defence,
and with necessity,
The tyrants plea excuse their devilish deed
Let me state in few simple propositions,
the unconstitutionality of the Fugitive Slave
Law, which has been so much elaborated else
where:
Excepting the Army and Navy, the Consti-
tuition of the United States declares that no
person shall be deprived of life. lib
erty, or property, without due process of law
II also declares that " in suits ut common law
where the value in controversy shall exceed
twenty dollars, the right of trial by jury shall
be preserved
Now, every ease of claim for an alleged
slave necessarily involves both the question of
liberty and the question of property
By the Constitution of every free State in
this Union, every person within it is presumed
to be n free man; or, in other words there is
never any prima tacie presumption that any
man within it is slave Every man is pre-
sumptively free until proved to be otherwise
IL the civil condition or status of slavery is to
be fastened upon any one, it must be done by