Cleveland daily leader. [volume] ([Cleveland, Ohio]) 1865-1873, 1866-02-14

y
ever" were words of despair. 1t was the
desire of Washington's heart that Yir-
ginia should remove slavery by pntlic
act; ana as the prospects of general
emancipation grew more and more dim,
he, in utter hopelessness of the action of
the State, did all he could by bequeathing
freedom to his own slaves. Good and
true men had, from the days of l776,
thought of colonizing the negro in the
home of his ancestors. But the idea of
colonization was thought to increase the
difficulty of emancipation and in spite
of strong support, while it accomplished
much good for Africa, it proved imprac-
ticable as a remedy at home. Madison,
who in early life disliSed slavery SO much
that he wished "to depend as little as pos
sible on the labor of slaves" Madison,
who held that where slavery exists, "the
republican theory became fa.lacious F"
Madison, who in the last years Of his life
would not consent to the annexation of
Texas, lest his countrymen sho"id fill it
with slaves; Madison, who said, "slavery
is the greatest evil under which the natiUn
labors, a portentious evil, an evil, moral,
political and economical, a sad blot on our
free country" went mournfully into old
age with the cherries words: No salts
factory plan has yet been devised for
taking out the stain
NEW VIEWS OF SLAVERY.
The men of the Revolution passed
away; new generation sprang up, i'm
patient that an institution to which they
clung should be condemned as iuhun1an,
av,l -, ha Abraas nF dc
content at the selEreproach of their
fathers, and blinded by the lustre of
wealth to be acquired by the culture of II
new staple, they devised the theory that
slavery which they would not abolish, was
rot evil, but good. They turned on the
friends of colonization, and confidently
demanded, "Why take black men from a
civilized and Christian country, where
their labor is a source of immense gain
and power TO control the market of the
world, and send them to a land of igno-
rance, idolatry and Incidence which was
the home of their forefathers, but not
theirs Slavery is a blessing. Were
they not in their ancestral land naked,
scarcely lifted above brutes, ignorant of
the course of the sun, controlled by ma
ture? And in their new abode, have
they not been taught to know the differ
ence of the seasons, to plow, and plant,
and reap, to drive oxen, to tame the
horse, to exchange their scanty dialect for
the richest of all the languages among
men, and the stupid alteration of follies
for the purest religion? And since
slavery is good for the blacks, it is good
for their masters, bringing opulence and
the opportunity of educating race. The
slavery of the black is good in itself; he
shall serve the white man forever" And
nature, which better understood the quail
ty of feeting interest and passion, laughed,
as i caught the echo: "man and "for-
everp
SLAVERY AT HOME.
A regular development of pretensions
followed the new declaration with logical
consistency. Under the old declaration
every one of the States had retained, each
for itself, the right of manumitting all
slaves by an ordinary act of legislation ;
now, the power of the people over servi-
tude through tn ir Legislatures was cur
tailed, and the privileged class was swift
in imposing legal and constitutional OBJ
structions on the people themselves. The
power of emancipation was narrowed or
taken away. The slave might not be
disquieted by education. There re-
manned an unconfessed consciousness
that the system of bondage was
wrong, and restless memory that
it was at variance with the true American
tradition; its safety was therefore to be
secured by political organization. The
Lot 10 4hn Topr4iHtr4iAr,
took care for the predominance of free
dom in Congress, by the ordinance of
Jefferson; the new school aspired to
secure for slavery an equality of votes in
the Senate; and while it hinted at an
organic act that should concede to the
collective South veto power on national
legislation, it assumed that each State
separately had the right to revise and null
lily laws of the United States, according
to the discretion of its judgment.
SLAVERY AND FOREIGN RELATIONS.
The new theory hung as basis on the
foreign relations of the country; there
could be norecognition no of Hayti, nor even
of the American colony of Liberia; and
the world was given to understand that
the establishment of free labor in Cuba
would be reason for wrestling that island
from Spain. Territories were annexed !;
Louisiana, Florida, Texas, half eff Mexico (;
slavery must have its share in them all,
and it accepted for time a diving line
between the unquestioned domain of free
labor and that in which involuntary labor
was to be tolerated. A fow years passed
away, and the new school, strong and ar
rogant, demanded and received an apol-
ogy for applying the Jefferson prSviso to
Oregon.
sQUATTER SOVEREIGNTY.
The application of that proviso was in
terrupted for three administrations but
justice moved steadily onward. In the
news that the men of California had chosen
freedom Calhoun heard the knell of de-
parting slavery; and on his death-bed he
eounseled secession. Washington, and JEFF
ferson, and Madison had died despairing
of the abolition of slavery Calhoun died
in despair at the growth of freedom. His
system rushed irresistibly to its natural
development. The deathstruggle for Cal
ifornia was followed by short truce; but
the new school Of politicians who said that
slavery was not evil, but good, soon sought
to recover the ground they had lost, and
confident of securing Texas, they demand
ed that the established line in the terri
tories between freedom and slavery should
be blotted out. The country, believing il
the strength and enterprise, and expansive
energy of freedom, made answer, though
reluctantly: "Be it so; let there be nC
strife between brethren let freedom anC
slavery compete for the territories OF
equal terms, in fair field, under sR i'm
partial administration; !" and on this theory
if on any, the contest might have beeI
left to the decision of time.
DRED SCOTT DECISION.
The South started back in appalmen
from its victory; for it knew that fai
competition foreboded its defeat. Blu
where could it now find an ally to save i
from its own mistake? What have mex
to say is spoken with no emotion but regret
Our meeting to-day is, as it were, at thu
grave, in the presence of Eternity, anC
the truth must be uttered in soberness ant
sincerity. In great republic, as was OBJ
served more than two thousand years age
any attempt to overturn the state owes 1t
strength to and from some branch of tn
government. The Chief Justice of tn
United States, without any necessity o
occasion, volunteered to come to the res
cue of the theory of slavery. And from
his Court there lay no appeal but to tn
bar of humanity and history. Against tn
Constitution, against the memory of thu
nation, against previons decision, agains
a series of enactments, he decided that tn
slave is property, that slave property
| entitled to no less protection than an,