Meigs County telegraph. [volume] (Pomeroy [Ohio]) 1848-1859, 1858-10-05
G0 iii lnuaitatt0.

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Sentiments of Eminent Revolutionary
Statesmen upen Negro Slavery;, as re-
CARDS its Wrongs, and Vioiotioms Of HIT
man Rights; as source of National
Weakness; and as TO its final ertincfion
Or abolition.
NO. t--cokTiNUEb.
FELLOW CITIZENS OF MEIGs COUNTY:
TO BE CONTINUED.
The following able and eloquent speech
of Hon. Joshua Atherton, of New tiamp-
shire, is all that is preserved of the de-
bates in the ConEeBtien Of that State,
called to ratify our National Constitu-
tion "Mr. President: 1 cannot be Of the
opinion of the honorable gentleman who
last spoke, that this paragraph is either 80
Useful or inoffensive as they seem to inn
agine, or that the objections TO it are so
totally void of foundation. The idea that
strikes those who are opposed 10 this
clause, so disagreeably and 30 forcibly, is,
hereby it is conceived tif we ratify the
Constitution) that we become consenterS
to, and partakers in, the sin and guilt of
this abomimable traffic, at least for GER
tain period. without any positive stipula-
ton that it should ever then be brought to
an end We do not behold in it that val
liable acquisition so much boasted of by
the honorable member from Portsmouth,
THAT AN END is THEN TO BE
PUT TO SLAVERY Congress may
be as much, or more puzzled put stop
TO it then, than we are now The clause
has not secured abolition.
We do not think ourselves under any
obligations to perform works Of superero-
CATION in the reformation of mankind we
do not esteem ourselves under any neces-
sity to go to Spain or Italy to suppress the
nquisition Of those countries or of ma
king a journey to the Carolinas TO abolish
the detestable custom Of euslaving the
F Africans but. sir, we will not lend the
aid Of our ratification 10 this cruel and in.
human merchandise, not even for day
There is great distinction i'll not takina
f a part in the most barbarous violation .
, the sacred laws of God and humanity
, and our becoming guarantees for its exer
else for term of twenty years. Yes, sir
, it is our full purpose to wash our hand
: clear of it; and, however unconcernet
spectators we may remain of such preda
D tory infections of the laws of our mature
- however unfeelingly we may subscribe t.
4 the ratification of man-stealng, with al
# its baneful consequences, yet | cannot bu
h believe, in Justice to human nature, that
, we reserve the consideration, and bring
: this claimed power somewhat nearer to on
n own doors, we shall form a more equitabl
e opinion of its claim to this ratification.
!, Let us figure to ourselves a company .
~ these man-stealers, well equipped for TIL
. enterprise, arriving on our coast. The
e seize and carry off the whole OF part {
It the inhabitants Of the town of Exeter
: Parents are taken and children left Q
- possibly they may be 80 fortunate as
{. have a whUls family taken and carried o
y together by these relentless robbers
Ii What must be their feelings in the hand
Of their new and arbitrary masters ?
70 Dragged at once from everything the
y held dearto them-stripped of every con
,e fort of life, like beasts of prey-they n
1t hurried on a loathsome and distressir
~ voyage to the coast Of Africa, or son
n other quarter of the Globe, where Il
- greatest price may await them I; and her
g if anything can be added to their miserie
10 comes on the rt-breaking scene
- parent is sold to one, son to another, al
l. daughter to the third Brother is Gle
at from brother, sister from sister, and p
le rents from their darling offspring! Br
n q ken with every distress that human natur
=, ~ can feel, and bedewed with tears of a
Ii guish, they are dragged into the last sta
b. of depression and slavery, never to beho
" the faces of one another again 7
y scene is too affecting. have not fortitu
IN to pursue the subject !'' Elliot, vol.
es pages 2o3-4. .--
m Judging from the above speech, slave
ne ''was to be put to an end" in the opinl
.. .. of at least portion of the New Ham
he shire Convention, when the slave ira
le should finally be abolished. Whett
r. they supposed it's destruction would matt
KS KS ally follow the prohibition of the slat
m be trade, or whether, with Patrick Hen
d, they held that the Constitution clearly n
us unequivocally gave Congress the power
es effect it, does not now appear. Howey
~ one thing is certain, and that is this Il
a. the whole Convention were against
he continuance of slavery and the slave-trs
to ard from the fact that they finally agrt
~ to ratify the Constitution, we are led