The spirit of democracy. [volume] (Woodsfield, Ohio) 1844-1994, 1860-10-24


q Shareholder. except as inheriting slaves
from his ancestors. He failed to tell us
that his father, or his ancestors, whose
property he inherited, were not civilized,
or in, favor of civilization. [Shouts of
laughter and applause. 1nasmuch, too,
as he Informed the world for the first time
that in early life he was a slaveholder-I
the owner of human beings, regret that
he did not inform US whether be still holds
those chattels. Renewed laughter. Or
|if he ceased to be STAKEHOLDER how he
got rid of them. Cries of "sold them,'
laughter and applause. sssssla
Did he emancipate them? T"No," and
laughter. Did he sell themi T"Yes,
yes" and great merriment Or did he
lose them under the laws of New York?
["Oh no" TOO smart for that" "Sold
them.' c sa ga.
do not care about pushing the inquiry
what became Of his negroes, for my object
in referring to this subject is to discuss
the principles of government involved.
The broad charge has been made by Mr..
Sumner, that the slaveaolding States are
barbarous, that slavery is barbarous, and
that shareholders are barbarous; and Mr.
Seward now declares that civilization Can
never prevail where slavery exists, and
consequently slavery must be abolished,
and equal rights established in each of the
States. Equal rights! How? All white
men possess equal rights in nearly all, if
not all, the States of the Union. The
equality of rights for which he is contend
ing, therefore, does not relate to the white
man alone, but is an equality of rights be-
tween the white man and the negro, and
in order to prevent the conclusion that be
would confne that equality of rights be.
tween the whLes and the negroes to civil
rights only. he goes further and says that
universal suffrage must prevail. .ssss
Well, he was talking to the people of
illinois. Here we have universal suffrage
for all white citizens. Here all white men
are pus on an exact equality under the
law, and SO they are, in nearly every other
State. He tells you that your elective
franchise must be so enlarged as to make
it universal, thus putting the negro on an
equal footing with the white man. Cries
of .Never, never" Such is the plain
meaning of Mr.. Seward's, speech. This
is not the first time that that distin
guished Senator has avowcd the doctrine
of negro equality with the white man.
do not question his sincerity in thi
avowal. So far as I know he has beer
consistent in the advocacy of this doctrine
. and be is little more honest than tn,
smaller politicians of his party. who den!
negro equality while supporting principles
that lead directly and inevitably to tina
3 result. CCheerss iaiaasar ~ sasdgisq 8
Following 10 the lead of Mr.aLincolI
= two years ago. Mr. Seward. in his speecl
in this city, quotes the Declaration of In
|. dependence that oil men were created
e equal, and endowed by their Creator will
: certain inalienable rights, among lwhicl
l are life, liberty, aud the pursuit of happi
9 ness" He makes that quotation in orde
n to show that the Declaration of Indepen
t dence puts negroes on an equal footing
e with white men. He insists, as Mr.. Lin
o coin does, and so far as know the Who'll
9 Republican party do, that in the Declare
5 tion negroes are asserted to have bee
VI placed by the Creator on an equal :ootin
8 with white men I deny that proposition
It Cries of $50 do I.n] a The Declaratio
. Of Independence had, no reference to ne
(! groes when it spoke of all men bein
e equal 1t had reference to the white mer
d the men of European blood and Europes
y descent. 1t was speaking of the Ameri
lr cans in respect to their comparative right
e with the British subjectsin England, whe
|. it declared that all men were created equa
d Any man who asserts that the signers |
b the Declaration of Independence intende
l. to place negroes on an equal footing wit
le white men, must be guilty of cha-gin
n those signers with being hypocrites ".
rs Jefferson, when he drafted that instrumen
1t and all the great heroes who signed i
had meant to include negr oes in i
,tl they were bound as honest men to hay
N emancipated every slave they had tn,
N very day. .aTCriess of "Good,' and al
l. plause. They did not thus omancipat
George Washington held his to the ds
20 of his death, and SO did Thomas Jefferso
iI and each of. the other signers of the D,
,e claratiou of Independence so far, as =
ID know from history. These facts show th'
IL that Declaration never intended to asse
;. that negro slaves were the equals of viii
of men. Loud AMI continued applause. ]
re But the Republican party now plan
e itself immovably upon this doctrine. N
ID Seward, in his speech, declares that this
30 the grand central idea of the Republics
ID party. Thesrights of the negro; the equa
ia ity of the negro with the white man, un
al versal suffrage, extending to negroes
10 well as to white men. is the grand centr
n idea of the Republican organization. q,
to Mr.. Seward tells us that this ineqnali
I between the white man and the negr
10 this inequality in the representation of tt
States, this inequality in the rights Of 81
of frage, are directly hostile to the Repuhl
h. eau creed. Where did he find the es
in denco of these inequalitiesf They are