Meigs County telegraph. [volume] (Pomeroy [Ohio]) 1848-1859, 1858-09-07

speaks of him thus: HOWE man ell
dowed by nature with a x'gorous under
standing, which had bset we'll cultivated
by liberal education. lIs vas sound
Constitutional lawyer, a. l.IIpagh he had not
practiced or been bred q the profession.
His mind had, evidcntly Neen well stored
from the best political zstiisrs of his
time" (Page 1879 az events he
was true friend TO the i8hie Of mankind,
and an able membsr ihe Conyention
which framed our National Consultation.
He was, further, the author Of the first
Declaration Of Rights ever published in
America!
On the 18th of May. tl776, the people
of Virginia, in Convention assembled, de-
clared their State independent, and Car
ried that declaration into effect, by franz
ing Constitution for their Government.
The Declaration of Rights, which, on The
18th day of June (l776) they made
part of their Constitution, was drafted, as
we before said, by George Mason, ana
contained the following:
/. That all men are created equally free
and independent, and have certain inher-
ent matural rights, of which, they cannot,
6y any compact, deprive or divest their
posterity, among which ale the enjoyment
of life and LIBERTY, with the means ofac-
quiring and possessing property, and pur-
suing and obtaining happiness and safety.
2. That all power Is, by God and ma-
ture, vested in, and consequently derived
: from, the people; that magistrates are their
trustees and servants, and at all times
8 amenable. ''Niles' Principles and Acts"
page 1913.
r After reading the radical views of Col
il Mason upon the natural rights of man, the
d mind will, in some measure, be prepared
IF for the following indignant denunciatlons
l. of slavery and the slave trade, which may
Il be found in speech of his, made in the
;s Convention which framed our National
n Constitution, on the 22d of Aug, 1887.
~ The speech reads: 'irhis Internal traffic
" originated in the ayarice Of British mer-
:. chants. The B,itisir. Gossrnu,ent con-
4 stantly checIed llaesSattsHlss of Virginia
Nj to put stop to Il The pfesent question
,E concerned not the impotiiag States alone,
Y. Jut the Dhole Union. The evi! of having
IF slaves was experienced during the late
war. Had slaves been tEeated as they
50 might have been by the enemy, they
of would have proved dangerous Instruments
re in their hands. But their folly dealt by
IS the slaves as they did by the tories. He
Mt mentioned the dangerous insurrections o
n slaves in Greece and Sicily; and the in
be sLructions given by Cromwell to the Com
At mlssioners sent to Virginia, to arm The
e- servants and slaves, in case other means
%. of obtaining its submission failed. Mary
,at land and Virginia, he said, had already
ri prohibited the importation of slaves eX
ng pressly. North Carolina had done TIN
n, same in substance. All this would be il
ell vain if South Carolina and Georgia be a
w. liberty to import. The western people ar
he already calling out for slaves for their neN
in lands, and will fill that country wit
,lv slaves, if they can be got through Sout
III. Carolina and Georgia. Slavery disco~'
be ages arts and manufactures. The poo
e!espise luJor aUhen performed 5y st0Vo'
lid They prevent the emigration of whites
no. who really enrich and strengthen a cour
.he try. They produce the most perniciou
On. effects upon manners. Every master {
of slaves is born a petty tyrant They brin
bt- the Judgment of Heaven on countr.
hat AS nations cannot be punished Oh rt
90 warded in the next world, they must be
er- this. BY an inevitable chain of cause an
effects, Providence Furnishes national sir
nts by national calamities. He lamented Lki
oc- some of our eastern brethren had, from
on, lust of gain, embarked in this nefariou
,ilc traffic.
the GAS to The States being in possession
ov- the right to import, this was the case wit
of many other rights, now to be proper
un- given up. He held it essential, in ever
it, point of view, that the General GOver1
lin nent should have power to PREVEN
sed THE INCREASE OF SLAVERY
ant (See Elliots Debates, vol. S, page Is
ties This vol. contains the "Madison p
it pers''-a Report of Debates in the Fe'
lch eral Convention by James Madison. Fro
.iti- his report we quote Mr.. Mason's speech
ich Again we quote speech of Mr.. M
cry sons, made in the Virginia ConventiC
ems called to ratify the National Constitutio
tain 1t was delivered June Is, 1888, and is
follows: "Mr. Chairman, this is fat
AIRY section, which has created more DANCE