New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1857-04-08
yi,p;pia-s,s how fallen now stands indebted

1t is true as wa Ioinied out BY Mr.. sherrsu
Clsnens of Wheeling, Va, whrse communication III
reference to 5 previous one from Mr.. "iin'~
Goode1 we admitted into our columns, that oy "a
sct Of the Colonial Legislature Of Virginia, pa'sed
in 1923. free negroes, Indians and mulattoes' now
ever otherwise qualified by being ffeeholders, were
deprived Of the right of voting; and it ' also tia'
that the constitution Of Vrs mia, adopted IN I"o'
continued the right of suffrage as it then existed
under the Colonial laws, by which negroes were
excluded from voting. But it is al'o true
"A point 10 which Mr.. Sherrard Clemens does
net advert, and TO which We now beg leave 70 Cali
bis particular atteution-that in the interval DO
tween III aud 1857, the ant-slayery labors OF
Jefferson, apd those other Virgins patriots and
statesman 10 whom we have alluded, had begun 10
II axe themselves distinctly visible on the statue
book Of Virginia. In l77S, on the motion OF Jei-
f,rsoD, at that time member Of the Virginia
Assembly, . law was passed prohibiting the further
importation Of slaves, no. merely from Africa, ou'
from any place whatsoever. In l7s2 this was tol'
lowed up by the repeal Of the old Colonial s'a'a'e
which prohibited the emancipation Of slaves, except
the Governor and Council, and upon hcen'e
obtained from them-a restriction, it 10 TO be oo-
,erved, originally enacted by the very same
Coloni&l legislature which had undertaken to
exclude negroes, and other colOred persons
from the right Of suffrage. The passage oil
this law showed great progress in the
Anti Slavery sentiment of Virginia in the course
of thirteen yean. When Jefferson had first en-
tered the Virginia Assembly in 1869, he had pro-
cured Col. Bland, gu old able and higoly respecta-
be member 10 introduce o law of similar
character But st that time the motion was met
with much of the same ferocity which might be eI.
pected now from VitsiOis Legislature toward
spy Anti Slavery proposition. Bland was denounced
as Gan enemy to bis country" and was tteated-so
Jefferson tells us" with the greatest indecorum;"
and Jefferson himself as the secOnder of the mo-
ton, was not entirely spared. Yet thirteen years
after-a circumstance FROM which the Virgnans of
the present day might take lesson-this rejected
ard acsused proposition became the Law Of the
land; aid tire next year, namely, in l7o3 1t was
naturally followed by the repeal of the ether twin
ensctu ent depIiving LegrCes and mulatsoss OF the
right of voting; 10 place of which was substituted
provision "thst all free persons born within the
"territory of this c Immonweal'h' IT,. e., the Con-
monweah Of Virginis), "s5all be deemed cit zens
"of this Common wea;h." So the law Of Virginia
stood at the time of the adoption of the Federal
Constitution, and down to ibe year 1896, when, Ia
the progress Of that Pro-Slsvery reaction to which
we have already alluded-apd 10 the light, or rather
in The dal kDess Of which, Lot the light of cOtem-
porsry history and sentineCt, our five slsvehoding
Judges read the Federal ConstitutOn-it was re-
peaed, and the right of voting restricted to whites.
All this will be found fully set out, along with other
interesting historical matter bearing On the question
of Legro citizenship, ia q communication which We
publish to-day, and which We commend TO tho
special attention Of our readers. So much for Mr..
Sberrard Cemens's positive assertion that IN VIZ
GINA "neQfoes never were allowed to vote, either
"under he Colony or under the State" La at
tempting TO correct an error the part of one OF
our correspondents, a. 10 the length of time during
which negro suffrage vas allowed in Virginia, Mr.
Sheirard Clemens has hmren fallen and has At
tempted to lead US and cur readers into two mu n
more serious errors, thereby establish ug against him
self the charge which he brought but does not
tain sgaDst preceding spOndent, of " limited
inOwledae resul,Dg in fatal Misrepresentation
lie. Mr.. Sherrard Clemens take good heed esr, in
the book with which be threatens US and the pubic,
his Limited knowledge" msy lead him into other
fatal INTERPRETATIONS 1! is but too evident
that ct D, esepi be greatly overestmates the extent
Of his information and his ability to correct other
peoples erroIs.
But the blunders Of Mr.. Sherrsrd Clemens are
of lite cont eaueDce OF little interest 30 the pub
lie compared with those If the five slaveholding
Judges who control the decisions Of the Supreme
Court of the United States. At the time
Of the adoption Of the Federal Constitution
there existed in the Unon and tbere were rep
resented in the Federal Convention Of 1877 two
dferen sets of opinions on the subject of Slavery.
The great majority of the Convention and of the
people of the United Sates regarded Slavery a. an
evil, neral, political and economical, which the
sooner it was got rid of the better and which the
United States in their national capacity ought to do
nothing to strengthen or perpetuaie. Nor were
there any more ardent advocates in the Convention
of this view than the Virginia delegates, among
whom Mason and Madison were especially EN-
phatic. On the other hand the South Carolina
delegates held that Slavery in itself WAS no evil but
10 far a. lea,t as their own State was concerned
positive good, though even they seemed to set it
down as a temporary good, and to look forward like
the others to its ultimate abolition.
The practical question upon which the two par
tie, divided in the Federal Convention was, the
abolition of the slave trade, Unfortunately, yield