Burlington free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1827-1865, 1860-03-09
TIE NATIlyAL ExcIrEXENr.

astrOlOgers. it shall be an error If Judgment
and not of disposition if my Interpretation
of the ieverish dreams which are disturbing
the country shall tend % t0ment, rather than
to allay, the national excitement. / shall say
nothing unnecessarily of prisons, because,
IN our system, the public welfare and
happiness depend chiefly on Institutions,
and very little on men. 1 shall aliude but
briefly to incidental topics, because they are
ephemerdl, and because, even in the midst Of
appeals to passion and prejudice, it is
always sale to submit solid truth to the
deliberate consideration Of an honest and en-
lightened people.
1t will be an oyer1Jwins source Of shame,
as well as Of sorrow. if we, thirty millions
Europeans bv extraction, American by birth
or discipline, and Christians in faith, and
meaning to be such in practicc-cannOt so
combine prudence with humanity in our
conduct concerning The enc disturbing sub
Ject Of slavery, as not only t. preserve our
unoqualled institutions of freedom. but also
to enjoy their benefits with contentment
and harmony.
HERE AND NOW.
Wherever a guiltless slave exists. be he
| Caucasian, American, Malay. or African, he
is the subject Of two distinct and opposite
/ Ideas-One that he is wrongly, the other that
| he is rightly slave The balance Of num-
! bers on either side, how yer great, never COM
! pletelv extinguishes this difference of opinion,
| for there are always some defenders Of slavery
outside, even if there are none inside Of a
/ free State, while also there are always out
/ side, If there are not Insid. of every slave
State, many who assert with Milton. that
''nO man who knows aughJ can be so stupid
''tO deny that ali men naturally were born
/ free, being the image and resemblance of
God himself and were by priuieg7 above all
''the creatures, born 70 command anl not to
"obey. 1t often. perhaps generally happens,
however, that in considering the subject of
slavery. society seems To- overlook the natur-
al right. of personal interest or the slave him
self, and to act exclusively for the welfare of
the citizen But this TACT does not ma
terially affect ultimate results, for the elem
entary questi n Of the righttulness OF wrong
fulness OF slavery Inheres in every form that
discussion concerning it assumes. What is
Just to one class Of men can never be injurI-
Gus to another. and what Is unjust to any
condition of persons IN u state, Is necessarl-
ly injurious IN some degree 70 the whole
community. An economical question early
arises out Of the subject of Slvery-la5or
either Of freemen OF of slaves is the cardinal
necessity Of society. Some States choose the
one kind, some the other. Hence two
municipal systems widely different arise.
The Slave State strikes down aud af-cts TO
cxtinguIsh the personality of the laborer. not
only Il memb her Ot the political body, but
also as a parent, husband, child, neighhOr,
or friend. He thus becomes, IN a political
view, merely property without moral eaplci-
", and without domestic, moral, and social
relations, duties, rights, and remedies-a
chattel, an object OF bugain, sale, gIfc, in
heritante. n theft. His a-rninos are COM
pensated and his wrongs atOned, not 10
A.--~olf, h+ ~ bis o''-nar The State pro-
tects not the slave 5 q man, but the capital
of another men. which he represents. On
the other hand, the State which rejects slave
" encourages and auimates and invgUrates
the laborer by maintaining and developing
h s natural personality in all the rights and
faculties Of manhood, and generally with
the privil ges of cit z,nshIp. In the one case
capital invested in slaves becomes a great
political force, while in the other labor thus
elevated and enfranchised, becomSs the
dominating political power. It thus happens
that we may. for convenience sake, AMI not
iuaccurately, call Slave States capital States,
and Free States labor States.
The QUESTION THAT ARISES.
So soon a. a State feels the impulses Of
commerc5 OF enterprise or ambition, its
citizens begin to study the effects of these
systems of capital and labor respectively on
its intelligence, its virtue, Its tranquility.
its integrity or unity, its defence, its pros
perity, its liberty, its happiness, its aggrand-
izement, and its fame In other words, the
great question arises. whether Slavery is a
moral, social, and political good or a moral.
social, and political evil. This Is the Slavery
question at home. But there is mutual
bond of unity and brotherhood between man
and man throughout the world. Nations
examine freely the political systems Of each
other, ard of all preceding times; and accord
ingly as they approve or disapprove of the
two systems Of capital and labor respectively,
they sanction and prosecute. or condemn and
prohibit commerce in men. Thus, in ono
way OF in another, the slavery question
which so many among Us, who are more
willing TO rule than patient IN studying the
conditions Of society, think IS merely
accidental or unnecessary question that
might and ought to be settled and dismissed
at once, is, on the contrary, a worldwide and
enduring subject OF political consideration
and civil administration Men, States, aud
nations entertain it, not voluntarily, but
because the progress of society continually
brings it into their way. They divide upon
it, not Ferversely, but because, owing to
differences of constitution, condition, or
circumstances, they cannot agree.
WHAT OUR FATHERS THOUGHT AND DID.
The fathers of the Republic encountered it.
They even adjusted it 50 that it might have
given us much less than our present dis
quiet, had not circumstances afterwards
occurred which they, wise as they were, had
not clearly fOreseen. Although they had
inherited, yet they generally condemned the
practice of slavery and hoped for Its dis
continuance They expressed this when
they asserted in the Declaration of In
dependence. as a fundamental principle Of
American Society, that all men are created
equal, and have inalienable rights to life,
liberty, and the pursuit Of happiness. Each
State, however, reserved 10 itself exclusive
political power over the subject of slavery
within its own borders. Nevertheless, it
unavoidably presented itself in their consulta-
tions on bond Of Federal Union. The new
Government was to be a representative one.
Slaves were capital in some States, IN others
capital had no investments IN labor. Should
those slaves be represented as capital or as
persons, or should they not be represented
or taxed at all? The fathers disagreed.
debated long, and compromised at last.
Each State, they determined, shall have two
Senators in Congress. Three ffths of the
slaves shall be elsewhere represented and be
taxed as persons. What should be done If
the slave should escape into a labor State7
Should that confess him TO be chattel and
restore him as such. or might 1t regard him
as a person, and harbor and protect him as
a man? They compromised again, and
decided that no person held to labor or
service in one State by the laws thereof, es-
Gaping into another, shall by any law or
regulation of that State, be discharged from
such labor or service, but shall be delivered
up on claim to the person whom such labor
or service shall be due.
Free laborers would immigrate. and slaves
Il .-&o L. e.