Year: 1862

trous effect. You first attack in the


weakest part Of the line Of your oppo.


nents. You attack in the District Of


Columbia. You carry your point here


That gives you confdcnee and courage to


attempt it elsewhere. Regarding it as


step in the progress, tht people Of the


United States are alarmed at the conse-


quences which may result from it, not


merely the people Of tlk South, but the


people of the North, who want to see


this great Republic preserved in peace,


and to see peace and justice going hand


in hand through every quarter Of it.


And there are people who believe that the


scrupulous preservation Of the country's S


good faith, towards every State and ev-
cry Territory, is the best way Of presery-


ing the affections of tho people and Of


maintaining the integrity Of the Union.


Is there not, then, danger that we create


a feeling Of apprehension which will


disturb our country to what extent


we cannot imagine? The weary rebels,
who are now fainting under defeats
: which our brave army have inflicted on
|, them, will feel new desperation with


every new assurance that peace is to bring


the spoliation Of their property of all dcs-


criptions. 1t will inspire an instructive


spirit of hostility and desperation. That


is the nature of man.


And will it not be said, Mr. Chairman,


that we are taking advantage Of the dis


turbed and distressed condition of the


country, which has banished from this


body, for time, the Representatives OF


ten Statas? VIII it not be said that that


which your predecessors could not do


you now do when the Congress and coun'


try are still mulitlated, and when there


is no entire representation of the people


here? You take advantage of this sort


of interregnum in the Constitution of th,


United States to do what you would no


be able to do when the people of the


United States were all represented


1t seems to me, gentlemen, that tho
good intended is very small, and not t.


be compared to the mischievous conse
quences which may reasonably be appre
: hended. ! am therefore opposed to it,


There is another principle applicable tC


this bill that it seems to me we ought


not to pass by at any rate, without some
reflection. There is question continu-


ally made, whether there can be property
IN man. do not intend to enter into
+ the discussion Of any question oithat sort
t II there can be property i'll man, all that


there is valuable in that property, the
, substance of that property, is in the labor
of the slave, is it not? This is all tn,
c value there is in it. You cannot hay,
t more Of him. Whether you hire o
r whether you buy, thaG is all the interest
: you can have in h;Is-s Those who dony
that there can be property in man canno
deny that there may be property in the
services Of a man. You do not deny
that there may he property in the servi-
, ces of the man who Is apprenticed tc
you.


| Now, whether the property be in mar
Q or in the services OF man, seems to M
+ immaterial upon any question whatever
9 1t is not upon any nice question of cas-
=. uistry, nor upon any nice technical qucS
e tion of law, that | desire to address thi
= committee upon this bill. Here is BY
law, constitutional law, a right given t.
f certain States, and in the District O


Columbia, to the service of persons whom


they hold as slaves, To take that from


is as little constitutional as it would be to


take from them any property which they


own. Can you do it? Can you do it in
the face of that Constitution which de-


clares that great important English prin-
ciple, that no man, no freeman, should be
deprived Of life, liberty, or property, but
by the Judgement of his peers, in accor-
r dance with the laws Of the land What
a mighty tower of strength there is in


this great principle. tits Of more value
in the influence it eXerts upon the minds
of the people than it is in the mere pro
t lection it gives to material property. Ii
is that, it is such like principles, it i,
such like forms Of law, i is such like


manly declarations of law. made by leg
islators and by people, with arms in thei


hands, demanding their rights as We
gained ours, as the people of Euglant


gained Magma Charta, replete with the


wisdom of the people, that give value tc
liberty. 1t is by these principles that ma,
f tions grow great and are made free; ev
cry man is sort of sovereign, a king with
in a certain dominion, is in the protection


Of his lite and his property, unless taker
: from him by the Judgement of his peers
5 or by the law of the land.


, Now, sir, does not this great principle
strike our minds when a proposition o
+ this sort is made? You may reject the
idea Of property in man you may re-
t ect slavery in all its aspects and in all
its interpretations ; let it be SO. If il
. were an original question proposed, you
}, would have few opponents; but it is here
!, so blended with our institutions, SO ben-
= ded with the property of the country
= blended with the domestic relations, with
/, all the social relations Of lille where it eX'
!, lists, that you not only take from man
, his property by this proposed law, but
Y you tear to pieces the social system which
/ has been built up with it, of which il
h forms a part, and very material and
It characteristic part
IS Now, gentlemen, | do not wish to be
J. understood here as arguing this question
e AS a lover of slavery not at all. | dc


not stand forward as the advocate oi II
# further than it is sanctioned by the laws
y the Constitution Of my country, the
!. tights Of my constituents, and OF all else
t. who in the Congress of the United State
II | am authorized to legislate for. Il
a it did not exist among us, dare say