The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1860-03-24

The Original Bloody Programme OF
Seward and the Black Republican
Party.
We publish in another column to-day full
exposure of the fountain head, the text book,
the original programme, of the brutal and
bloody doctrines Of Seward and the black
republican party.
Anew England lawyer, Lysander Spooner,.
is the author of the doctrine of the unconstitu-
tionality of slavery, and in the book which we
to day expose to the public, he shows himself
to be possessed Of one of the most vigorous
and logical minds Of the age. In clearness and
closeness Of reasoning he surpasses Webster;
in range of thought and facile return to his
main argument he is equal to Choate, and In
subtle and searching analysis his superior can
not be found in the forum of the Union. So
keen is his logic, and go we'll knit, that if you
grant any one Of his premises he carries you
inevitably to his conclusions. There Is no
partial resistance to be made to his
argument Concede but hain and you will
soon find yourself enveloped in his Cyclopean
chains. Seward pronounces his programme
"the most effective way of working out the
great reformation which this nation is required
to make by the spirit of humanity"
him the very Gamaliel of the law. Wendell
Phillips and VIM. Lloyd Garrison strive to dis
sent, but are forced to bow their heads to his
argument, and find in the constitution they
have so long reviled as "a compact with
hell' the very instrument for their abolition
and revolutionary purposes. J. Fulton, Jr,
believes that ''the book is destined to give a
new phase to our struggle" Samuel E. Sewall
calls it 1.-THE great arsenal Of legal weapons to
be used in the great contest between liberty
and slavery" William L. Chaplin certifes
that if every lawyer could be induced to study
it lit would alone overturn slavery" But we
need not multiply opinions. We have the fact
that the whole black republican party, in every
phase of its progression, from VIM. II. Seward
to Tom Corwin, have surrendered to his pro-
gramme, and are pursuing the trail of his de-
auctions. Some of them may still think they
will arrive at different conclusion; but the
tail of the snake travels in the same direction
with the head.
In this book we find The master thought from
whence all the subordinate intellects of the
party have drawn their doctrines for the past
ten or fifteen years. Here are all the special
pleas that Seward has put forth, and the bloody
theories he has promulgated. They form the
entire doctrinal edifice of the black republican
party, and the political abolionists whose
demsgoguical appeals TO- day incite to fra
ternal war between the North and South.
Here is tho fountain head of the "higher law"
The book sets forth with the axiom that
nothing Inconsistent with justice can be law"
II recites the legal rule Of Interpretation, that
vorable to justice and the other to injustice,
shall be taken in the sense favorable to JUS
lice" and insists that constitutions shall be In
terpreted by the established rules by which all
other legal instruments are Interpreted. Adopt
ing this rule, it goes on to examine the colonial
charters and statutes, and argues that under
them slavery had no illegal" existence liz the
colonies up TO The time Of the Revolution.
But admitting for the sake of argument that
prior to the Revelation slavery had a constitu
tional existence, Mr.. Spooner starts anew with
the Declaration of Independence, which, with
powerful logic, he reduces to the following
syllogism:-The inalienable right to life, liber
ty and the pursuit of happiness is admitted
by it as a selfevident truth. Selfeviden,
truths are part of the law Of the land unless
expressly denied. This truth is therefore a
part of the law of the land, and makes slavery
illegal He then proceeds to show that none
Of the State constitutions in existence in 1880
established or authorized slavery. This brings
us to the point that slavery had no existence
at the time Of the adoption Of the constitution
Pursuing his subtle and logical train Of argu.