Burlington free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1827-1865, 1862-03-07

books, in his party zeal to prove that the fathers
of our country held the negro TO have no rights
which tho white man was bound to respect" he
has not only denied the rights OF and the liber
ties Of mankind, but has not left a foothold for
he liberty of the white man to rest upon.
That ll-starIed disqusition Of fancy who, trust
did not Intend to hang out the flag Of disunon,
is the fountain head Of this rebellion. (Applause)
No nation can adopt that Judgment as its rule and
live; the judgment has in 1t no element of politi-
cal vitality; will not say it is an invocation of
tho dead past; there never was past that ac-
cep.ed such opinions. (Applause.) How will
our American magistrate sink when arraigned, as
he will be, before the tribunal Of humanity; how
terrible will be the verdict against him when he
Is put in comparison with WashingiOn's political
teacher, the great Montesquieu, the enlightened
magistrate Of France, in what are esteemed the
worst days Of her monarchy. The argument from
the difference Of race which Taney thrusts for
ward with passionate confidence, a proof Of
complete disqualification, is brought forward by
MOntesquieu a scathing satire on all the brood
Of despots who were supposed to uphold slavery as
tolersble in itself. (Applsuse.) The rights of
mankind, that precious word which had no equiva-
lent 10 the language Of Hindostan, or Judea, or
Greece, Rome, or any ante-Christian tongue,
found its supporters in Washington aud Hamil-
ton, in Franklin and Livingston, in OTIS, George
Mason and Gsdsden, in all the greatest men Of
our early history The one rule from which the
makers of our first ccnfederacy, and then Of our
national constitution, never swerTed, is this:-To
fx constitutional disability on any one; what
ever might stand in the way Of any from
| opinion, ancestry, weakness Of mind, inferiority
Inconvenience Of any kind was itself not formed
into permanent Acknowledgement. The consti-
tuition Of the United States was made under the
recognized influence of I" the eternal rule of order
| and right" 60 that az far Its jurisdiction eX-
| tended II raised at once the numerous class who
had been cbattels into the condition of persons:
1t neither originates nor Perpetustes inequality.
Let the European skeptic about the large eI-
| tension Of the suffrage, come among US, and we
| Will show him a spectacle wonderful in his eyes.
grand beyond his power of conception. That
which In this contest is marked above all that has
appeared is the oneE Of heart and purpose with
| which all the less wealthy classes Of our people,
| Of all nationslities, are devoted to the flag of
the Union. The foreigners whom we have taken
to our hearts and received as our fellow citizens,
| have been true to the country that had adopted
| them, have been sincere, earnest and ready for
| every sacrifice. Slavery is the slow poison which
has wrought all the evil and proud and selfish
oligarchy are the authors of the conspiracy
(Great applause.)
If the opinions Of Washington on slavery and
on the slave trade had been steadily respected,
the country would have escaped all the calamity
| Of the present civil war. The famous Fairfax
meeting at which Washington presided, on the
18th Of July l7Ii, led public opinion in declaring
entire stop forever put to the wicked, cruel
and unnatural trade in slaves" [Applause.l The
traffic was then condemned immortality and
a crime. The sentiment was thoroughly American,
and became tradition-the living faith Of the pso-
| pie. The centuries clasp hands and repeat 1t TO
one another. Yesterday the sentiment OF Jefferson,
that the slave trade Is piratical warfare upon
| mankind, was reafirmed by carrying into effect
the sentence Of high tribunsl Of justice, and to
save the lives and protect the happiness Of thou
sands, slave trader was executed a pirate and
an enemy of the human race. This day furnishes
spectacle Of still more terrible retributive JUS
tice. The President Of the pretended Confederate
States of America is compelled 10 do public pen
in his robs of Office for foolishly and wicked
y aspiring to power that docs not and cannot exist
that dissolves and disappears as be draws near to
grasp 1t. His elevation is but
to pIllory, where he stands the de ision Of the
world. Richmond, which he thought to make his
capital, will soon be in the possession of one of our
generals another. and nothing can save him
from tho just wrath CT his country but a hasty
exile tAPplsuse.l
If the views Of Washington with regard to the ]
slave trade commend themselves to our approba- |
tion after the lapse Of nearly 30 years, his opn-
ions slavery so temperate and go clear that
if they had been followed they would have estab-
lished peace among as forever. On the 18th Of |
April, 1855, be wrote to Robert Morris; There |
Is not a man living who wishes moro sincerely |
than do 10 see a plan adopted for the abolition !
of slavery" On the 9th of September Of the sane |
year be avowed his resolution never to possess
another slave by purchase adding, " it being !
among my first wishes to sec some plan adopted |
by which slavery in this country may be abolished
by law In conformity with these views, the old |
Confederation of the United States, at . time when
the Convention for framing our Constitution was
in session, by a unanimous vote, prohibited slave
~ forever in all the territory that then belonged
to the United States. Applause. And one Of
the very first acts-of Washington, as President,
was to approve law by which that ordinance
might continue to have full Effect On the 9Th |
Of May 1884, in the midst Of his as President
he devised plan for the sale of lands in Western
Virginia ard Western Pennsy ylvanis, and after
giving other reasons for his purpose, he adds: 81
have another motive which makes me earnestly
wish for the accomplishment of these things; itis
indeed, more powerful than all the rest namely,
to liberAte a certain species of property which
possess, very repugnantly to my own feelings"
LApplause.l And 10 less than three months,
after ho wrote that Farewell Address 10
which we this day have listened be felt himself
justified in announcing TO Europe his hopes tor
the future in these words" Nothing is moro
certain than that Maryland and Virginia must
have laws for the gradual abolition of slavery.
and at period not remote (Applause) But
though Virginia and Maryland have not been
wise enough to realize the confident prediction Of
|
permitted In the District of Columbia, from which
Madison desired to sec 1t removed--ths caute of
freedom has been steadily advancing.
Let US be grateful TO q good Providence which
has established liberty as the rule Of our country
beyond the possibility ofa relapse. For myself,
was one who desired 10 postpone, or rather hop
ed altogether TO avoid the collision which has
taken place, trusting that society by degrees
would have worked itself clear by its own innate
strength and the virtue and resolution Of the COM
munity. But slavery has forced upon US the is
sue. and has lifted up its hand 10 strike a death
blow at our existence as people. 1t has svowed
itself d sperate and determined enemy Of our
national life, Of our unity as a republic; and
henceforward no man deserves the name Of a
statesman who would consent to the introduction
OF that element OF weakness and division into any
new Territory, or the admission Of another slave
State into the Union. (Grest and prolonged cheer
ing.) Let US hope rather that the prediction OF
Washington will prove trus, and that Virginia
and Maryland viii soon take their places as free
States by the side Of Ohio and Pennsylvania-
cloud aprlauSc) l,l--.-.- =
Finally, the people Of the United States must
this day derive from the example Of Washington
a lesson Of perseverance. We have been forced
into strife from which there has been no safe es-
cape but by the manifestation of an immense
superiority Of strength. The ages that are to
come will hold close and severe reckoning with
tho men in power to-day on the methods which
I
them. In the present state Of things tho worst
rashness is that which yields to compromife from
the feverishness of impatiencs. (Hear, and loud
cheers.) All the wise and good of the world have
their eyes upon US. All civilized nations are
waiting to see If we shall have the courage TO
make IL manifest that freedom is the snimating
principle OF our constitution, and the life of the
nation. But here, too, on this day we have only
TO read the counsels Of Washington. When by
his will he left swords to his nephens, he wroti
These swords are accompanied with tho injunc-
ton not to unsheath them for the purpose Of she'd
ding blood, except it be for self deeni,, in de-
fence Of their country or its rights; and in the
latter case TO keep them unshsathed. snd prefer
falling with them in their hands 70 the relinqu;sh
ment thereof" The President Of the United
States has charged US this day 10 meet and take
counsel from the Farewell Address Of Washington.
We charge him in return, by his oath Of Office, by
his pledges TO the country, by the blood that has
been shed and the treasure that has been sxpend-
cd, by the security Of this generation, by the
hopes of the next, By his desire to stand we'll with
tfrd onA to ka .hc-. - L. fff.