Worcester daily spy. [volume] (Worcester [Mass.]) 1850-1888, 1852-09-15
Conclnded

distinct things, wish my soul may never enter INTO bi
'eoie" OLIVER CROMWELL.
| Concluded
Learn now from the Diary of John Adams the re-
| snlts of this system:
8 The year l765 has been the most, 70 m orIe,hla
| year Oh my NE Ihat enormous engine fabricated
| by the British Parliament for batferng down ali
| Iights ana liberties of Amerca--I mean. the Stamp
Act-has raised and spread through tho yybola con
hnent spirit that will be recorded to onr ham.
win an future generations. In every COLONY from
georgia TO Ne" Hampshire inclusivelv. the stamp
! ulst,iDul' rs and inspectors have been comneIled
| W 'ne unconquerable rage of The people to re
i tleir olhces. such and so univer sal has
Deeh the resentment of the people that every man
VINO mas dared to speak in favor of the STAMPS or
10 soften the de'estalion in which they are held
now great soeyer his abilities and yrines had been
esteemed before, or whatever his fortune. connec-
ohs, ana ihhuehce had been, has been seen to sink
into universal contempt and ignominy"
The Stamp ctbecamea dead letter. At the
meeting OF Parliament numerous petitions were
presented, calling for its instant repeal Franklin.
at tnat Tune IN England, while giving his famous
testimony before the House of Commons, was ask
ed whetherhe thought the people of America would
submit to this Act If modified His brief emnhatic
response was: mo, never, unless compelled by
Iorce VI arms" Chatham, yet weak with disease
but mighty in eloquence, exclaimed in ever memo.
rable words: ''We are told Americans Obstinate
is aiHlOst open feD6lll0n.
that America has resisted. Three millions of peo-
pie so dead to all the feelings of liberty as volun-
tarily to submit to be slaves, would have been fit
instruments to have made slaves eff ali the rest
The Americans have been wronged; they have been
driven to madness. will beg leave TO tell the
House in few words what is really nv opinion
lis that the Stamp Act be repealed absolutely
Totally and Immediately" 1t was repealed With
in less than year from its original passage. de-
nounced and dlscredited, it was driven from the
Statute Book In the charnel house of history.
with the uncean things of the past it now rots -
Thither the Slave Act is destined to follow
Sir, regarding the Stamp Act candidly and eau
tiously free from the anmosties of the time il is
impossible not to see that, though graveIy uncon-
stitutional, it was at most infringement of civil
liberty only; not of persona! liberty There was an
unjust tax OF few pence, with the chances of
amercements by single judge without Jury; but
by provision of this Acc was the PERSONAL liberty
of any man assaulted Under it no freeman could
be seized as slave. Such an act though Justly
obnoxious to every lover of constitutional liberty
cannot be viewed with the feelings of repugnance
enkindled bya statute, which assas the personal
liberty of every man,and under which any freeman
may be seized as slave Sir, in placing the Stamp
by the side of the Slave Act, | do injustice to
that emanation of British tyranny Both, indeed,
infringe important rights; one of property: the 9th
the vital right of ALL which is to other rights as
the soul to the body-the right of man to himself
Both are condemned; but their relative condemna-
Ae1 mnsf be measured by their relative characters
the dollar that he earns; as Heaven to which we
all aspire, is higher than the earth, where every
accumulation of Wealth must ever remain; so are
the rights assailed by an American Congress higher
than those once assailed by the British Parliament.
And just in this degree must history condemn the
Slave ACT more than the Stamp Act.
Sir. might b re stop. 1t is enough in this place
and on this occasion, to show the unconstitutional
ity of this enactment Your duty commences at
Lon IL So 49, fun
law of the land should be repealed without delay.
But the argument is not yet exhausted Even if
this Act could claim any validity or apology under
the Constitution, which it cannot it lacks that es-
sentia support OF the public conscience of the
States where it is to be enforced which is the life
ofall law, and without which any law must become
dead letter
The Senator from South Carolina (Mr Buter)
was right when, at the beginning of the session,
he pointedy said that law which could be enforc-
ed only by the bayonet was no law. Sir, it is idle
to suppose that an act Of Congress becomes effec-
tive merely by compliance with the forms of leg
isatiOn. Something more is necessary. The Act
must be in harmony with the prevailing public sem
timent of the community upon which it bears. OF
course do not suggest that the cordial support of
every man or Of every small locality is necessary;
but do mean that the public feelings, the public
convictions, the public conscience, must not be
touched, wounded acerated, by every endeavor to
enforce it. With all these it must be far in har-
mOny, that, lk9 Olh61 laws, DY winch properly,
liberty, and life, guarded, it may be administer
ed by the ordinary process Of the courts, without
ieoparding the public peace or shocking good men.
If this be true general rule--if the public sup.
port and sympathy be essential to the life OF all law
this is especially the case in an enactment which
concerns the important and sensitive rights of
personal liberty In conformity with this principle
the Legislature Of Massachusetts, by formal reso-
luton, IN 1850 with singular unanimity declared:
ave hodIt to be TIE duty OF Congress to pass
such laws only in regard thereto as will be main
tanned by the sentiments of the Free States where
such laws are to be enforced"
The duty of consulting these sentiments re-
cOgnized by Washington. While President of the
United States, at the close of his administration,
he sought to recover a slave, who had fled to New
Hampshire. His autograph letter to Mr. Whipple,
the Collector Of Portsmouth dated a. Philadelphia,
Nov. 28th, 1876. which now hold in my hand and
which has never before seen the light, after de-
scribing the fugitive, and particularly expressing
the desire of"her mistress" Mrs Washington, for
her return, employs the following decisive Ian
guage: a
q do not mean. however, by this request that
such violent measures should be used as would ex-
cite mob or riot, which might be the case if she
has adherents, or even uneasy sensations in the
mi ids of well disposed citizens. Rather than
either of these should happen, would forego her
services altogether; and the example also, which
is of infinitely more Importance"
GEORGE WARRINGTON.
Mr. Whipple, in his reply, dated at Portsmouth,
Dec. %, 1876, az autograph copy of which have,
recognises the rule of Washngton:
81 will now, sir, agreeably to your desire: send
her to Alexandria, it be practicable without the
consequences which you except-lhat Of exciting
a riot, or mob, or creating uneasy sensations in
the minds of well disposed persons. The first can
not be calculated beforehand; it will be governed
by the popular opinion Of the moment, or the cir
cumstances that may arise in the transaction. The
latter may be sought into aud Judged OF by con-
versing with such persons without discovering the
occasion q far as have had opportunity, per-
celve that different sentiments are entertained on
this subject
\ The fugitive never was returned. but hved II
! freedom 10 a good old age, down to avery recen
period, monument of the just forbearance of hin
whom we aptly call the Father ofhis Country |
/ is true that he sought her return. This we mus
regret and find its apol )gy He was at the time
! STAKEHOLDER. Though often with Varions degree:
| of force expressing himself against slavery. and
/ promising his suffrage for its abolition, he did moi
coo this wronp as he saw il at the close of life in