The Lansing state Republican. [volume] (Lansing, Mich.) 1855-1874, 1860-07-04

i. ~ Uy eiu8io u1HOW opeItuTcs Uus btyfc0 y
Chinese pride the Hotel of the Beatitudss.
II 10 natural that Senators thus insensible I
the true character of Slavery, should evince q
equal insensblty to the true character of the Cor
stitution. This 10 shown in the claim now made
and pressed with unprecedented energy, degrs
ding the work Of our fathers, that by virtue q
the Constitution, the pretended property in ma
is placed beyond the reach of Congressional ju
risdiction, 60 that the Slave-master may at q
times enter the broad outlying Territories of tn
Union with the victims Of bis oppression, an,
there continue to hold them by lash and chain
Such are the two assumptions, the first al
assumption of fact, and the seeond IN assump
ton of constitutional law, which are now mad,
without apology or hesitation. I meet then
both. To the first I oppose the essential Bar
barism Of Slavery, in all its influences, whethe
high or low, as Satan is Satan still, whethe
towering in the sky or squatting in the toad
To the second oppose the unanswerable, ire
sistble truth, that the Constitution of the Uni
ted States nowhere recognises property in man
These two assumptions Naturally 60 together
They are "twins" +" sucked by the same wolf
| They are the "couple" in the present slave
hunt. And the latter cannot be answered with
out exposing the former. It is only when Slave
ry is exhibited in its truly hateful character, that
we can fully appreciate the absurdity of the as
sumption, which in defiance of the express letter
of the Constitution, and without single sentence
phrase, or word, upholding human bondage,
yet foists into this bameless text the barbarious
idea that man can hold property In man.
On former occasions, have discussed Slavery
only incidentally; as in unfolding the principle
that Slavery is Sectional and freedom National
in exposing the unconstitutionality of the Fugi.
tive Slave Bill in vindicating the Prohibition Of
Slavery in the Missouri Territory; in exhibiting
the imbecility throughout the Revolution of the
Slave States, and especially of South Carolina /;
and lastly, in unmasking the Crime against Kan.
sas. On all these occasions, where l have spo-
ken at length have said to little of the charac-
ter of Slavery, partly because other topics we're
presented, and partly from disinclination which
have always felt to press the argume ent against
those whom knew to have all the senstiveness
of a sick man. But, God be praised, this time
has passed, and the debate is NOW lifted from
occurred in our history; rarely in any history !;
nor can this debate close or subside except with
the triumph of Freedom.
FIRST AssuMrrIos.-Of course / begin with
the assumption of fact
1t was the often-quoted remark of John Wes-
ley, who knew well how to use words, a also
how TO touch hearts, that Slavery was "the sum
of all vanies." The phrase is pungent; but it
would be rash in any of US to criticize the testi.
mOny Of that ill1strous founder of Methodsm,
whose ample experience of Slavery in Georgia
and the Carolinas seems to have been all con-
densed in this sententiour judgment. Language
is feeble to express all the enormity Of this insti
tuition, which is now vaunted a. in itself form
of civilization, ennobling" at least to the mas.
ter, if not the slave. Look at in whatever light
you will, and it ia always the scab, the cankeI,
the " bare-bones," and the shame Of the coun-
try; wrong, merely in the abstract, as is often
admitted by its apOlogists, but wrong in the
also, and possessing no single element of
right. Look at it in the light of principles, and it
is nothing less than huge insurrection against
the eternal law of God, involving in its preten.
sons the denial of all human rights, and also the
denial of that Divine Law in which God himself
is manifest, thus being practically the grossest lie
and the grossest Atheism. Founded in violence,
sustained only by violence, such wrong must by
a cure law of compensation blast the master as
well as the slave; blast the lands on which they
live; blast the community of which they are part
blast the Government which does not forbid the
outrage; and the longer it exists and the more
complety it prevails, must its blasting influences
penetrate the whole social system. Barbarous in
origin; barbarous in its law; barbarous in all its
pretensions barbarous in the instruments it en-
ploys; barbarous in consequences; barbarous
in SPIRIT barbarOus wherever it shows ITSELF
Slavery must breed Barbarians, while it devel.
ops everywhere, alike in the individual and in the
society to which he belongs, the essential ele.
ments of Barbarian. In this character it is now
before the world.
In undertaking now to expose all the BARBAR.
ISM OF SLAVERY, the whole broad field is open
before me. There is nothing in its character,
its manifold wrong, its wretched results, and es-
pecally in its influence on the class who claim
to be "ennobled" by it, that will not fall natu.
rally under consideration.
know well the difficulty of this discussion in
volved in the Illuminating Truth with which l be-
gin. Senators on former occasions, revealing
their sensibility, have even protested against
any comparison between what were called the
1.-TWO civilizations" meaning the two social sys.
TENS produced respectively by Freedom and by
Slavery. The sensibility and the protest are
not unnatural, though mistaken. 1.-TWO civili-
zations!" Sir, in this nineteenth century of
Christian light there can be but one Civilization,
and this is where Freedom prevails. Between
Slavery and Civilization there is an essential in.
compatibility. If you are for the one, you can.
not be for the other; and Just in proportion to
the embrace of Slavery is the divorce from Civ
iization. That Slave.masters should be disturb.
ed when this is exposed, might be expected. But
the assumptions now 80 bOastfully made, while
they may not prevent the sensibility, yet surely
exclude all ground of protest when these assump.
tions are exposed.
Nor is this the only difficulty. Slavery is a
bloody Touch-me.not, and everywhere in sight
now blooms the bloody flower. 1t is on the way
side as We approach the national capital; it is
on the marble steps which We mount; it faunts
on this floor. / stand now in the house of its
friends About me while speak are its most
sensitive guardians, who have shown in the past
how much they are ready either to do or not to
do where Slavery is in question. Menaces to de.
ter me have not been spared. But should i'll
deserve this high post of duty here, with which
l have been honored by generous and enlight-
ened people, if l could hesitate Idolatry has
been often exposed in the presence of idolators,
and hypocrisy has been chastised in the presence
of Scribes and Pharisees. Such examples may
give encouragement to Senator who undertakes
in this presence to expose slavery; nor can any
language, directly responsive to the assumptions
now made for this Barbarism, be open to ques.
ton. Slavery can only be painted in the sternest
colors; but cannot forget that natures sternest
painter has been called the best.
The BARBARIsX OF SLAvIRY appears; fret in
the the character Of Slavery, and secondly in the
character Of Stare masters. Under the first
head We shall naturally consider C) the Law of
Slavery and its Origin, and (2) the practical re-
suits OF slavery as shown in comparison between
the Free States and the Slave States. Under
the second head We shall naturally consider (l)
slave-masters as shown in the law Of slavery; (2)