Cooper's Clarksburg register. [volume] (Clarksburg, Va. [W. Va.]) 1851-1861, 1856-12-19

again be- able 10 Commit mopssfeus OUT
RACES. s,al, 40 sane men must admit
that stealing and mur der are heinoqs
Grim es. Rhetber committed by the fanatic
oe ID e ROBBERY and is is the unmistakas
bleduey ofhones t, men. and honest Guy
ernments, to prevent keir>commlssion by
either the one or the other: And 1t is as
zuuiust 20 community "liow=s'sfana tlcal
slave thief to 90 at liberty. as it is to Il6-
crate an unfanatical stealer OF any other
kind of .propertY.zzs=;==ssssz;saEss;;.-.sszs-
Stealing is forbidden by the laws OF
God and Of man and. unless both codes
are wrong, no honest man can steal, ap>
prove of stealing. conceal stealing, nor
Shrink from cond emnitg 'ths 2praetice,
Honest men Gitfst'g 20 f6ffbef.? They must
favor honest prompt restitution nof Gall
kinds Of stolen property, without discr1rn .
fnation or reservation! d These are hard
savings only to th6sen' busy -b0dtes iR
o,her.men's s. matteis" who - 60 about Stir
ring up strife and ''contention'' who.
whilst claiming Piety and patriotism, are
foinenting passions aud creating ptejddl,
ces which lead to 'bEoodshl d aud civil Con
Yulsions. They are hard sayings 10 those
pests Of society. who. 10 igaia d Worthless
neighborhood n5torietyy, ehdanger the
Union BY mad efforts to secure a doubt
full Chance, amid the chaos Of revolution,
tor the release Of negro slaves upon south
ern plantations. -, - '', .-.1..', IT.
.oIItthas been said BY men whose j" cor
sciences" allowed them TO teach others
reignorant than themselves. that steal
ing, under certain circumstances, was not
a crime, but virtuous action. that the
public mind has been sufficiently peryer-
ted to allow ambitious politicians to sue
cessEully assail treaty stipulntions. and
stimulated them to struggle to exclude
the south from a common occupancy Of a
common possession. Governor Seward,
of New York, has labored to still more
confuse their already gross ideas Of right
and wrong in regard to the proprIety Of
the South: He wishes them to teach and
believe that although slaves have been
held and treated as property ever since
the days of Abraham, by every nation on
earth Of whose history We have any &C
counts, yet slaves are rot. and cannot be,
legally property In his speech at
Buffalo, last fall, Governor Seward says =:
Congress can establish slavery no.
where. Slavery was never established
rightfully anywhere. Nor was it ever es,
tablished by law
3 Governor Seward is WHISKY mistaken.
He has affirmed what cannot be proved.
The very contrary l have already proved.
Not only was slavery : established BY
law in Louisiana. but it was also estsb~
lished by law in all the French colonies.
See edict Of Louis Kill, dated April %,
1915. His assertion. therefore, is untrue.
/ have assumed that Governor Seward
meant statute, or written law. If ihe
meant either common, or the civil. or the
Mosaic law. his statement is absurd
Every intelligent man. in every nation
knows that slaves have been held for cen
turtles ny law-either by the military
statute, common, civil, or by the Mosaic,
or by ecclesiastical law. Slaves have been
bous ht, sold. and inherited. from the ear
Hest antiquity. and have been. and now
are. as much regarded By the laws as
property as any other kind whatever.
: Congress can establish slavery no,
where says Governor Seward. MOI
can it estahlish any other kind ofptoPef,
ty.' he might have added Just as truly
Congress cannot establish property
or, ia other words, it cannot recognize
and declare BY law what is property blu
after State has done so, it is the duty i
the Congress to pass laws to prevent il
spoliation by foreign enemies, or by tn
hand Of domestic violence. r.''' ~.
| The statement of Governor Seward i
met by saying, that Congress- can es
tablislr' property, or slavery, in cattle
horses, or sheep. nowhere was
ever established by law over these ami
mails anywhere Governor Seward cal
show no congressional statute giving hin
dominion even over the horse he rides
| He. owns. and holds possession OF him
and exacts his services. by virtue of til
uuwritten common law; aud that com
mon law has no other force, in such
case, than such as is given to it by til
statute laws ofthe State where he holds Iii
horse in bondage. Congress cannot 'estat
liSh' and regulate property rights even i
the coat Governor Seward wears upon hi
back. A State can. and does, declar
and define the rights Of men to all kind
Of property in their possession. What
property, is declared By the States wher
it is owned: and the protection OF
sgainst foreign violence, OF domestic in
SURF ection. is the sole duty in relation
it which has been conGded to The Unite
States by the Constitution.
The object Of Governor Seward, in try
ing to make overheated fanatics believ
that slavery was never Established b
law" it is difficult to conjecture, unles
we suppose he wished to augment th
number of those whose "conscicnces" al
low them to steal slaves. 'Ifhe can max
men believe, that slaves are not " proper
tY," fanatics can easily cause many .