The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1899-06-25

sion, Mr.. Mason, of Virginia, said:
This Internal traffic originated in the
avarice of British merchants. The
British Government constantly checked
the attempt of Virginia to put stop to
it. Maryland anu Virginia had already
prohibited the importation of slaves ex-
pressly, and North Carolina had done
! the same in substance"
Declaring then in the strongest terms
his opposition to slavery. he concluded
Nv stating that g he lamented that some
of our Eastern brethren had from lust
of gain. embarked in this nefarious traf-
, fic."
Luther Martin. of Maryland, de-
clared the slave trade ito be incon-
sistent with the principles of the Revolu
ton and dishonorable to the American
character to have such feature in the
Constitution
In this state of things. Gouveneur
| Morris, adverting to the circumstance
| that the sixth section of the same article
then under consideration, contained a
provision that no navigation act should
pass without the consent of two-thirds
of the members present in each house
n provision particularly affecting the in
terests of the New England States-sug-
gested that this, together with the fourth
and fifth sections, should be referred to
a committee. in order that a bargain
might be formed between the parties out
of these elements of special local inter
est on k.- side and the other
The secession was adopted, and on
the second day afterward the committee
reported. extending the slave trade to
1910. and striking out the provision re-
quiring two-thirds vote to enact ma
! vigatiOn law.
When the report came up in the Con
vention, General Pinckney. of South
Carolina, moved to extend the slave
trade to 1908. and the motion was sec
onded by Mr.. Gorham, of Massachu-
sets.
Mr.. Madison earnestly and eloquently
opposed the motion. declaring it to be
jdishonorable to the American character,
but his opposition was in vain.
| Hand in hand, Massachusetts and
South Carolina led the cohorts of slav-
cry, and the motion prevailed. in all the
New England States. with South Caro-
lina Georgia. Maryland and North Caro-
lima voting for it, and Virginia. Penn
sylvania, New Jersey and Delaware vot
| ing against it.
| Luther Martin was a member of the
committee. to which | have alluded, and
| in letter afterward to the Maryland
House of Delegates. says:
Il found the Eastern States. notwith-
standing their aversion to slavery, Were
very willing to indulge the Southern
States, at least with temporary liberty
to prosecute the slave trade. provided
the Southern State in their rurn would
crafty them by laying no restriction on
the navigation acts
| Grand, even in her desolation, Virginia,
noblest of ancient or mo Tern common
wealths, can point to this record and
hear in contemptuous silence the taunts
and sneers of the political Pharisees,
who mock at her calamity"
DECLARATION OF INDEPEND-
ENCE.
! Although Jefferson had failed in his
attack on African slavery, he did not for
| a moment relax in his opposition to the
arbitrary and oppressive measures of the
| British King.
In 1172 the people of Rhode Island be-
gan the Revolution by burning the
British war vessel Gaspie, in Nara
gansett Bay, and when the ministers of
George the Third claimed the right TO
/ transport the persons accused from
Rhode Island to England for trial, JEFF
ferson saw at once that the time had
come for joint and concerted action be
tween all the colonies To concede this
claim as to the humblest citizen. was to
surrender the liberties of all. In the
early part of March, 1772, Patrick Hen
~, Richard Henry Lee, Francis Light
foot Lee, Dabney Carr and Thomas
Jefferson met at the Raleigh Tavern, in
Williamsburg, Virginia. and drew up the
famous resolutions pledging Virginia to
stand by Rhode Island, and creating a
committee of eleven. whose duty it
should be to correspond with the other
colonies, and concert measures for the
general defence.
1T is singular with what pertinacity
amidst all the passionate de-
bates and resolves of this eventful
period, Jefferson and his associates still
chung to the idea of loyalty to the king
Not till 1715 did he reluctantly come to
the conclusion that the colonies must
separate from the mother country.
Thus had the Commons of England adj
vanced step by step until the head of
Charles the First rolled from his should
ers before his palace at White Hall, and
thus had the GIrondists given place to
the revolution, until Louis the Sixteenth
and Marie Antoinerte died beneath the
axe of the GuillOtine. In 1874 the people
of Boston threw into the harbor the IA
nous shipment of tea, and the King OF
England retaliated by closing the port.
Again, Jefferson and his associates met
at the Raleigh Tavern, and resolved to
stand by New England. Massachu-
sets and Virginia then stood shoulder
to shoulder, and who could have believed
that in less than a century the same
states would grapple in deadly conflict?
On June Dist, 1875, Jefferson took his
seat as member of the Continental
Congress, and in June, 1776, wrote, with
his own hand, the Declaration Of hm.ri-
can independence, the most sublime en-
unciation, save one, evcc made to the
human race.
That "all governments derive their just
powers from the consent of the govern
ed" is but a corollary from the divine
injunction. ''All things whatsoever We
would that men should do to you, do We
even so to them
Taont har thnca two yraat truthe. an,