The national era. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1847-1860, 1858-07-08

We snOulu SANCTION the procecC ng OF s g1sxecu
tive. A bill passed the Senate for tia rpose
and those interested attempted force rougl
this body, under the previous 1t estion, L btain
ed the floor by strategy, and Uttered ,rotes
against sitting in this hall to gislatt N tn
price and value of immortal things. re bill
however, passed, and Congre thu I 4 con
triouted its influence to render Amerif- pirac.
honorable.
Thus, Mr.. Chairman, has this Cover , at len
ita moral and political infius &c, tn IN tn
Executive and Legislative depes Anents :iolate
to plot out its solemn obligatc is pros aed il
the treaty of Client, instead o. sing X EST en-
deayors to entirely abolish the traffic -Idpes
We have lent our utmost ende-vors 1. Uphold
er courage and render it Honorable. have
done this through dishonorable >meanis through
fraud and falsehood. Sir, could. this Gs ernmen
be subjected to its own laws, ii>woulG i, liabl,
to ine and imprisonment Jo,- obtdh none
der false pretences.
In making these remarks, I Inn ave that
shall incur the criticism of TIL Sc VIII y they
will. " stand by our country, rigl or wr3 Ths
maxim is atheistic Twill stan by n.. z,vern
ment when it is in the right, bu when torons
| will do what can to set ii rig
During the session Of Congr IS in rnber
A D. 1885, slave ship was ia .tened Dndel
wharf 1t was the Enterprise, " siting cargo
They were purchased in this District any o
them were members of various tAurche I'D ont
was said to belong to the minis er who ssiatee
in the same church of which The ST. ssas
member. The whole cargo WIS gath Z here
under the eye Of the President and 8 srious
ministers of the Gospel, and W Is sale be re.
spectacle.
Some of the victims, howeve. were. y salts.
fed with their lot They preferred 18th by
their own hands, rather than met the 'r'ors Of
Southern barracoons. One Of them young
woman, threw herself from the Yong jge into
the Potomac, seeking a watery rave = RELIEF
from the horrors of this " As lericaj-@ piracy
Her sad fate excited the attention of of ouI
most talented poets, who has CO nmem 1ted the
sad story in beautiful verse. Bat the go wal
completed, and the victims aiken - board
after the manner practiced u son IL T~Africar
coast. Indeed, so far as the slave de was
concerned, there was nothing to .;nguish
this city from the many slave ff ctories africa
The sails were hoisted, lines last OF S.fd the
glorious flag of our Union raissa Tbe1 ip de-
parted under the stars and stipes We may
be seen upon niDe- tenths of thu. slave Ii thai
leave the African coast.
But the winds of heaven wers more " rabie
to human rights than our ExeeEtive or :. Sress
The ship was driven far out Of her CO, : and
after three weeks of tempestut us wee ~ =, the
owners OF the slaves being onSboard, } erred
running into Port Hamilton, in be islas4 Ber-
muda, and subjecting their slaves to Brit laws
rather than risk their own lives by p lining
longer at sea. The slaves of CO arse be- :, free
as soon as they came under the 5sotecti9 Brit
ish eractments. Those laws ha jurisds a not
only upon the island but they tended arine
league from the shore. This hf been t)pin-
ion entertained, and the doctri lie ADM , and
enforced, by all civilized natio,is, for 8 ntury
previous. This Government bs pract upon
it, and still practices upon it.. -
But our Executive had under AIKEN T. .phold
this American slave trade, and our III > ter at
London was at once instructed to obt Is CON-
pensation for the shareholders. The fontery
manifested in prosecuting suel CHI serves
in some degree TO mitigate thu contsi Ut oh
which every honorable, eve y higl minded
statesman must look upon it,. Of &C sc, the
British Minister respectfully dec lined a negoti-
alton upon the subject. He ws} consc is that
his Government as well as ours as bon by the
treaty of Client to use her best dearors e1frely
abolish the traffic in sla0es" Nor lould h~ase any
good reason why England shout disgra ,herself
by an open and obvious disregs I'd Of be solemn
compact even if the Governme 1t of tn United
States requested it. England b ID fsithi lily car
ried it out by entirely abolsEiig it al ,ne the
people of her West India island. She I'd gone
further, and abolished Slavery in all he domin-
ions and was then using her bi st enid vors to
suppress it on the coast of a RIGA ae now
refused to stain her honor by tncoura az this
american piracy. The slaves hsd been olInta-
rily brought within the jurisdic ion of : .r laws
by direction Of their oacners, and were Fl ). Nor
conld her statesmen discover say GOO reason
why the people of England. shoi Id pay oecula-
tors in human flesh for their loss Of hum csttle
The genius of Mr.. Calhoun alone u cared
equal to the emergency. He stood ack N.iedg-
ed at that time the most able !Snd cor Dtuous
of Southern statesmen. He saw that aw of
nations in regard to the local jnIlsdictio c each
Government must be modified, Entirely aged,
before any plausible argument Ct aid be - snced
in favor of this claim. He tier sfore in /, iuced
resolutions into the Senate, daclering, u when
a ship or vessel enters the ,poet of +. endly
Power, through stress of weathes or uni {, dable
accident, she carries with her She Law # the
State from whence she sailed, aud tn, Persons
on board in all their relatitns are (s1trolled
by the laws of such State. In anothe resolu-
ton he declared that the Slaves on ard the
enterprise, while lying In Pert Hamik pa con-
tinued to be legal slaves. This Taoveme I was a
bold one.
| was at the time a member ~ this DIV, and
well recollect the astonishmeIt expf sed by
members OF the House at these ,'rOpOs' Jns.
Mr.. Webster was regarded Is ne abb states
man OF the free States. He WIS V jig, and
believed to have some aspiration. 8 for Pres-
dency. All eyes were turned to him . hopes
OF the lree otates appeared 70 rest on q, more
than on any other man. We felt thai ar easy
victory and high honors awsite6 him Is D., con-
test about to come off.
The resolutions were presented on t 18th of
March, 1910, and came up for consid a ion a
few days subsequently, whsnt Mr.. / ter, of
Michigan, young member Of Chat DO ', spoke
against them. They were then sormall, re ;erred
to the Committee on Foreign Relations vi o re-
ported them back with some Yer bal ans d. rents,
but substantially as introduced; and it due
formality and solemnity they. cf,me up o, final
action on the 18th of April. ar Cha. a. d Mr.
Calhoun, and perhaps one or .wo otter le aaors
from the slave States, spoke ia favor { hem,
declaring their readiness to curtain, tb il ,titu-
ton at any sacrifice; but no voice W aised
for humanity, for justice, f0r the han e our
nation. Mr.. Webster was silxat, AM ,cord
shows that the vote in favoI Of the RI )ir tons
was unanimous. The nametAf Mr.. II st. and
other Northern Wing Senatoiig 10 nj ,p ar on
The roll Of Votes given on that lccasio D.,
1t is not fer me to characte ize th, i~>t. The
pen of the historian yet remsi Is pare d re-
gard to IL My own political pathw5 % been
rugged storms have ragged ar und M many
years have come and gone, at the ~ tions of
my own mind on that occasil. will * so,n be
forgotten. I saw, or thougn I saw clearly
as now realize the effect at tendeS- of that
act, 1t was intended to stop he whee u frog
ress, OF civilization, and rest re the Ia Inish
doctrine, that africans hare o rights a white
men are bound TO respect" Che ad ats of
the slave trade then felt TN the S.le was
fully committed to the suppo Of this lperi-
can piracy. 1t constituted ae most lortant
S.ep tnen taken towards the 'osition Z III. the
Executive and his supporters now OCT, !,
When Mr.. Tyler became D residen:,s - allied
Mr.. Webster to the Cabinet, al that6 il 10 ASH
ed statesman was soon const aimed 10 ia his
moral and political powers :; her for Z % inst
this slave trade.
On the 9th October, 1877. the B. .-rreoIe