The national era. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1847-1860, 1859-07-28


Legislature in 1882, uttered sentiments which,
if uttered now, would excommunicate him from
the Democratic fold, as fanatic and traitor
to his party. / will quote his exact language !:
Slavery, it is admitted, is an evil. 1t is an
: institution which presses heavily against the
best interests Of the State. It banishes free
white labor; it exterminates the mechanic,
the artisan, the manufacturer; it deprives
them of occupation; it deprives them of bread !;
it converts the energies of community into
Incidence, its power into imbecihty, its eff
cheney into weakness. Sir, being thus injuri
Gus, have we not right to demand its exter-
mination? Shall society suffer, that the slave
holder may continue to gather his crop of hui
man flesh? What is his mere pecuniary
claim, compared with the great interests of the
common veal? Must the country languiSh,
droop, die, that the STAKEHOLDER may flourish
Shall all interests be subservient to one-all
rights subordinate to those of the STAKEHOLDER
Has not the mechanic, have not the middle
classes, their rights-rights incompatible with
the existence of Slavery 2"
Noble sentiments these, and nobly spoken
All honor to the head and the heart OF Mr..
FAULKNER, in 1882. Would to God that such
sentiments pervaded the hearts of our rulers
now. Would to God that Mr.. FAULKNER dared
utter them on this floor, in 1859 But to show
the deplorable and almost infinite declension
of our rulers. / will quote from Senator HAM
MoND's speech, delivered in the other wing of
the Capitol last session
" In all social systems there must be class
to do the mental duties, to perform the drudg-
cry of life. That is, a class requiring but
low order Of intellect, and but little skill. Its
requisites are vigor, docility, fidelity. Such
class you must have, or you would not have
Il Il.
ton, and refinement. 1t constitutes the very
mud-slls of society and of political govern
ment; and you might as well attempt to build
house in the air as to build either the one
or the other, except on this mud-sill.p
Here is full and perfect denial, by one Of
the chief rulers of our Republic, of the capacity
of man for selfgovernment. The great mass
of the people must forever remain "mmd-siHS"
for society to rest upon. Progress, refinement,
civilization, all depend on a social system
which divides the people into two distinct classes,
" mud sill" and gentlemen. What commentary
on the degeneracy of our rulers What libel
on our free institutions What an insult to the
intelligent masses of our American citizens
Jefferson denounced the whole commerce be-
tween master and slave as a continual exercise
of the most unremitting despotism on the one
hand, and degrading submission on the other;
and, in his Notes on Virginia, he emphatically
asks
"With what execration should the statesman
be loaded, who, permitting one-half of the citi-
zens thus to trample on the rights of the other,
transforms those into despots, and these into
enemies destroys the morals of the one part,
and the amor pGtriCe of the other? Can the
liberties of nation be thought secure, when
we have removed their only firm basis--a con-
viction, in the minds of the people, that these
liberties are the gilt of God that they are not
violated but by his wrath Indeed, / tremb!e
for my country when reflect that God is Just,
and that his justice cannot sleep forever"
Jefferson looked upon statesmen, who simply
permitted Slavery to exist, as deserving the ex-
ecration of their fellow-men. He trembled for
his country because they simply permitted it.
What then, must be the feelings of men of JEFF
fersOn's type at the present time, when the great
Democratic party, holding the Government of
the country in its hands, and every branch of
the Government, asserts and maintains that Sa-
very is a hearenly blessing that the right Of
property an sldres as before and higher than
any constitutional sanction, and as Unreliable
: as the right Of the Oaoner Of any property ,chdt
euer !"
What contrast between the sentiments, opin-
ions, and acts, Of the early and the present ru-
lers of our country Black and white, light and
darkness, truth and falsehood, are no wider
apart. The former recognise the great princi-
plies of human rights and human equality, writ
ten, by God himself, in the constitution of every
man. The latter deny the existence of any such
principles, and assert that the inequalities of
men are so great, that one class has no rights
ichateoer that another class as bound to respect"
From the birth of our Republic, and even be-
fore its birth, when the States were separate
Il !
North, was regarded by all men as great moral,
social, and political evil Then, all at once, the
South became pregnant with, and quickly gave
birth to, near idea. Slavery was suddenly
transformed from an evil to "hedcenly bless
ing; F" an institution ordained by God himself
for the good of the black man as well as the
white. Congress took the new idea to its bosom;
gave it perfect freedom of expansion by the alb
rogation of all restrictions to its spread; the
Supreme Court adopted it, reversed its former
decisions against it, nursed it, and clothed it
with the gorgeous robes of its judicial errnine;
the President embraced it, fondled it in his lap
made it his pet child, and, before it was two
years old, baptized it in the blood of free Kan
sas. But no adoption, no dress, no baptism, can
ever make it anything than the chief curse of
the nation the adherence of men and of an
gels the adherence of nature and of God the
adherence of all intelligences throughout the
universe, except the invisible demons of wrath
| might multiply the comparisons indefinitely,
tending to show the moral and political degen-
eracy Gf the rulers of our country but / will
close by comparing the Constitution of the Uni
ted States with the Constitution of Oregon. The
former was sanctioned by the great and good
men of the Republic, who placed their lives,
their fortunes, and their sacred honor, on the
altar of universal liberty. The latter has just
been sanctioned by the men now in authority,
who have turned this GoVerement into great
workshop, in which to forge chains and man
acles for down-trodden humanity; and who
deny, not only liberty, but life even, to whole
race of their felow-men. A man now, who loves
Liberty, and believes in a righteous retribution,
may well exclaim, tremble for my country
lcheR reflect that God as just and that HIS
justice canpat siesg fereuer."
The Constitution Of The United States declares
that it was adopted to establish justice, and
secure the blessings Of liberty y shat no man
should be deprioed Of life, liberty or property,
bit by due process Of law :" that Z" the citizens
,0t each STATE SbGU be entitled TO all the priOi-
5leges and iDtmunities u ctftzeRs an the sereral
States"
: The Constitution Of Oregon contains Sec
lion which provides that
No free negro or mulatto, not residing in
TIE State at the time of the adoption Of this
Constitution, shall ever come, reside, or be,
within this State, Of hold any real estate, or
make any contract, or maintain any suit there
). in; and the Legislative Assembly shall pro.
vide by penal laws for the removal, by public
officers, of all such free negroes and mulattoes,
and for their effectual exclusion from the
State, and f9g he punishment of persons who
shall bring them i6to the State, or employ or
harbor them therein" ="
1t will be seen at glance that this provision