Daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, Va. [W. Va.]) 1859-1865, 1864-04-04

loRssisH bAvs SAID that il conside cred neer,
slavery political Misfortune. vuThs phras
l was too mild. Il Ii q cancer, a slow con
saming caneef=a Eltherlug pestilence. a,
unmitigated earse 80 4
lsWasibornifnla q lle State Was nurset
oy ve;-mysI ID has been saved by {
sI!t save. q vas ssneyer Nor.h of th,
onss4peake Bay. ~ friends, my family
| my sSmpatiesSimy Education are .Virgtnian
yet consider nee 20 slavery as a poiitica
cancer and enrse AadFsbs Aqs taught me 8.
Nor did sthe sts ssmen Of Virginia con.
nne ,,.l!e tnemsesye 70 single expressions o.
nSstility 70 slAyet7 They proposed, they
iAuyocated, and u "a anticipated the adop,
1oniot plans tpfii. eemoval. Jefferson de.
cIareds HE lbsltef,g Ut the spectacle of Jus.
10 the seenHicssWtta Avarice, for the over.
saroWsoii slayeFy e1ld SOON be witnessed
IN virginia. W shington expressed his
conviction that 1esf day when Virginia
remote.1
Fer from degiEiu that the general gov.
erumeat s6olldsb eFgsted to uphold sIa-
very Nifgipias r n stine could 70 Imprsss
hostility 70 the system 4 17sss
. The first Amsrican Congress assembled
in l7I4. Our fathers, then convened for
the purpose Of comforting together on the
best means Of ofgdeliverAnce from British ag.
gresslon, upoq their own rights, were re-
minded naturally and pecessarily, of the
rights. of the enslaved. Acting uuder a
deep sense Of the responsibility which their
own, relations 70 slavery impose upon them,
they subscribed aud published a solemn
declaration and covcuSnt against the traf.
hetug human fisshg These rwerej their
Wotdss Awe EGlllnot import or purchase
any slave imported after the first ,dav of
December next (l774) after which we will
wholly discontinue the slave trade, and
viii neither hire our vessels, nor sell our
commodities or manufactures to those who
are concerned in it." This was The lirst
testimony of the,AmRricau people against
slavery! ltWAs a solemn testimony under
the most affecting circum sta aces; Virginia,
through her delegates, united in il, aud
was bound by Il.
Intless thAntwoiyears afterwards, when
the'people bad been driven by the prldo
aud violence of transatlantic tyranny to
the last appeal Of nations, the Congress of
the Colonies, invoking the witness OF Heay.
en- to the reetithds ottheir Intentions, put
forth the Justly celebrated Declaration of
Independence Scorning to place the vim
dicatton oftbeir own resista1ce TO Oppres.
sion upon lower or narrower ground, they
planted themselves at once upon the i'm.
moveable foundation of the inaliena BILE
Fights of man. ave hoIdn say they ..thess
truths to be self evident; that ALI MIN are
created EoUAL; that they are endowed by
THEIR CREATOR with certain lHALIEHABLR
rights; that amuug these are life, LIREarY
aud the pursuit of happiness" This declar
alton pledged the nation anew against sIa.
very. 1t announced torfIhe fret time to
the world ( the doctrine, Of equal tights OF
all men to liberty, as the l6ndGmeutRI
Of Afnauonal credi If upheil
this right to liberty, not as hePttyea frbSd
my eonstttdtte ot t-humNuy %.
ls liable 10 be divested by ahS haman flSs.
but as. partlof the constituted 81 B s 81 Z;
nature, ordained by the author of the code
of Heaven. Let it be remembered, that
this declaration. was the composition of a
Virginia stAtesmau, conspicuous tor his
of slavery, and that it Was SO
Nhen we generously supported and de.
ended them in Virginia, und by Virgin
ans. tft 49, sft-.
The war of Independence at length ceas.
id. But while the echos OF battle yet re-
reiterated from our hills, and ltugered
lloug our valleys, the Congress put forth
\ final address TO the people. "Let it be |
"lhey said, ':Ihat it has been
he pride aud boast of America, that the |
tights for which she eoutsnded were the |
RIGHTS OF HUMAN NATURE. BY the blessing |
II the AUTHOR of these RiGUrs, or the means
sxerted for their defense, they have pre-
Vailed against all opposition, aid form the |
1asis of thirteen independent States No
Instance has heretofore. occurred; nor can |
auy instance be expected hereafter to oc-
cuE, in which the unadulterated forms of |
-epublicau government can pretend TO SO |
air an.opportnnity of justityiug themselves
~ their fruits This address was also
he competition of a Virginia statesman,
md adopted, as the voice of Congress, by
Virginia votes. , ~ -s
Not many years elapsed before an oppor-
tuutty was:presented to the American Con-
yress, for giving to the world u signal proof
of its fidelity to that doctrine OF human
rights. TO which the nation stood thus sol.
emuly pledged: That immense Territory
from,the western limits of Penn
.ylVAnia to the Mississippi, and from the
Ohio TO the lakes, had become, .by, the css.
sions of the several claimant States, the
ludispIted domain of the nation. Ia ma
king theee cessions, Virginia took the lead,
under the charter almost the
whole OF all that is nov Ohio, Indiana and
Illinois. She maguauimUusiy surrendered
her pretensiOnsto the common good, stip.--
ulating only, That the States TO be erected
within the!ceded limits, should be republi-
can aud Eovsreigu.
The acquisition OF the Northwestern ter
ritory deVolyed on Congress the duty of
a system of law for the govern.
ment fits tnBabitanls, But Congress did
more. 1t promulgated in 1887, au ordi.
nance by which the fundamental urinciples
for which the war Of Independence had
been waged,an established, as the uudl-
terable basis Of the laws and constitu.
tions OF The States to be- formed within
the Territory. THIS ordinance auiuuunckd
its purpose 10 be; the eestablishmeuto of "the
principles Of civil and religious lihertyi'in
The new. States, and as necessary toithis
end It declared that there should he ..nei-
ther slavery nor Involuntary seryitude
.snL.A an-- -.