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Show 260 TilE MJSSO lTRI QUES'l'ION. tl. on sh on ld b e placed·' and that, from the year 1808, Con- .. < • gress S1 lO U ld po Sses.c-) the COITilJlelc pow. er. to stop Cttb.e r or both, as t 11 cy tm· g llt sn 11pos' e th. e pubhc mter,c st re. q.m red; theart1. c1Q ,t1le t.c f ol·e , i · a neo'.a} tt~;e J71 'C.' f !1W?Il, I estrmnmg fo r twcn1 y years, n.t l(l oo· i vin no· the power af Ler. . f )1. 1·ns4 The reasons < \:.' t-1·a' iuinb<r the })Ower to prevent rmgra- tt. on 11 1· L1 1 er f 0 1. twenty ye'a rs ' were, to the be t •o f my rccol- ]cCil.O ll t 11C SC : TJ1'a t a'- s 1 a< t this tillJC, we had Immense and almost ' 1. mmea S\tt•ablc territory ' p. eopled. by not more than -11. 1two Dll !OTIS a1 c1. .•.,~ h·~1 lf of inhabtla.n ts, 1. t was of very g. reat consequence 4t- O cncourn'< brc the cm1 g.r atJon of able, sk.1 1.lf ul, and 1.1 1 (1 u s t. n· ou Ji:J' ut'O])Cans. The WIHC co., ndnct of W• illiam Penn an d tl JC \Ill ·X a• m}>le<l b< rrowth of I cnnsylvama, were c . d' It "S .., 1·d that the portals of the only temple of 1 te . w.. ~· ' ' true fr eed om n 0 \V ex.) ·tin o<r on earth shoul.d be th. rown ope. n to a. II man Io ·n d., tl1at <a ll foreib<rncrs of mdustnon• s halJlls should be welcome, and none more so than m?n of sc~ence, at1d snc h as may bl.·111g ~t-0 us arts we are unacquallllecl w1th, o. r the f ·fcct'1 means o pet ng thos· in which we arc not yet s_uffic1enlly sI \-.1' ll e<.1 - cap ·1 t<n• J 1· 5~l1,.,J! whose wealth may a(1tl lo our commerce or domestic improvement. ; let tlw door he ev~r and. most affectionately open to illu strions exiles and suflercrs m the can c of liberty; in short, op n it liberally to science, to merit, nnd talents, wherever found, and receive and make them your own. That the snfest mode would be to. pursue the course for twenty years, and not, before that penod, put it at all iuto the power of Congre. s to shut it; that, by tl.1at time, the Union wonld be so settlecl, nnd onr populatiOn would be so much increased, we conl(l proceed on our own stock, without the farther accession of foreigner ~ that us Congress were to he prohibited from stopping the Importation of . lave. to sot tle the Sontlwm Stales, n8 no obstacle was to be thrown in the way of their iucrcase n.nd settlement for thnt peri ocl, let it he so with the Nor.thern n~d Eastern, to whieh, particnlnrly New York and Plnladelphu1, I THE MISSOURI QUESTION. 261 it was expected most of the emigrants would go from Europe: and it so happened, for, previous to the year 180 , more than double us many Euro pea n ~ cmigrnted to these States, as of .A.frieans were imported in to the Southern States. I have, sir, smiled at the i<len. of some gentlemen, in , uppo. ing that Congress pos ·csscd the power to insert tlt i8 amendment, from that which is g ive n in the Constitution to regulate commerce between the several States ; and soltlc l1ave asscrtccl, that under it, they not only have the power to in hibit slavery in Missouri, but even to prevent the migration of slaves from one State to an other- from J\1ary Janel to Virginia. The true aud peculiarly ludicrous mann er in which a gentleman from that State lately treated this part of tlte sul,ject, will, no doubt, induce an aban tlonmcnt of this pretended right; nor shall I stop to answer it until g ' nll cmrn can convince me that mi<rration docs not mean change of residence from one cou ntry or climate to another, and that the United States are not one coun try, one nation, or oue people. If the word does mean Hs I co ntend, and we arc one people, I will then ask how it is possible to migrate from one part of a country to another part of the same country ? Surely, sir, when such straws as these are caught at to support a right, the hopes of doing so must be slender indeed. I will only mention here, aH it is perfectly within my recollection, that tho power was given to Congres8 to regulate the commerce by water between the States ; and it being feared, by the Southern, that the En.stcl'!1 would, whenever they could, do so to the disadvantage of the Southern States, you will find, in the 6tll section of the 1st article, Congress arc prcvenie(1 from taxing exports, or giving preference to the ports of one State over another, or obliging vessels bound from one Stale to clear, en ter, or • pay duties in another; which restrictions, more clearly than .•• • ' |