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Show 380 TIIE AGI'l'A'I'TON IN 1847-50. crime, nncl by clue course of law and to reduce 1 · t . . . ' um o tho conditiOn of a slave, 1s a grievous wrono- I t b . b ' y no means follows, however, that tins n.tlmit.Le<l rig ht should . . . , . . ' uI I c1 e t ' all cu cumstn.nces, be at once virHIIcn.tcll by rcstorin o- tl . . o 10 s 1a vo to fr crlom ; nor JS 1t true that tho ma ter who I'ef IJ . . . ' lleS~,lllS to vrn<lrcate the rrght by s tti ng· free lris hondsm"r1 'tl • • • tv I WI rout rcgarrl to smTonndlll g e1roum. t<Lnccs and fitness of tl · l l l . . . lJ 11 g'R or o o) rrratiOns res Llng upon hirns If to society .... 1 t ' 1 ' . . ' ~~.nu o t ro Hlavc .h rmsclf, 1s guilty of a g rievon·R wro11g , or a wrong of a11y kllld. If t~lCre is an unyielding obligation upon 0110 llla ster to free hr slaves, becau e of this ab:tract ri ()'ht it nrust rc. t upon all slaveholders alike: no one need 0b ~ ll o.f the di ·~str~ u conse~ue11ces which would follow theepr~:- tiCal npphcatron of tl11s doctrine by immed iate e · • • L mancrpn.- tiOn m our southcm States. ueh a co ur:e of proceeding ~h ere, would be unjust and cruel to the 'laves themselves; 1t would destroy lavery by clc. troy ing the slavcH. '1, [' 't '11 0 usc a avon e 1 ustration, it would be like plung ing the knife t· o the heart of tho patient in atLcm1)tiuo· to remove " 1.1 1 o "" u em- Is 1 from tiro surface. Slave.ry exists, aud always lras existed, among the cliffercr. r t natron s of tho earth, from 1lro carl irs t period in tho ]ut; lory of ma11, among t he Hrl ci vili~e<l and barbarous ns \vcll as tho uncultivated and rcfjnc<.1 ; and while, with' the fo.rmer, the treatrn cllt of the s]a,·e is op pre::;~ ive and cru el wrth tho latter Iris condition is much meliorated and irn~ proved, being modified by, and made to p::utake, in some measure, of the civilization, if not the cultivation of those among whom his lot is cast. Compared with th ~ slaves of other countries, and, it is said, oven with the free peasantry of ~o~nc, .the condition of our so uthern slaves is greatly np ~I:IOr, Ill all that constitute tiro su bstantial comforts anti hnppurc ·s of lifo. And, sir, if slavery is to oxi~t at all it ran be irr no bott or trO rm, at Ic ast, no bettor has over be'e n suo-gested, than that which prevails iu our southcru States· ' THE AGI'l,A'J'ION IN 1847-50. 381 nor, in my jnclgment., is there any people, anywhere, in whose charneL r for in telligence, benovoll'nco and humanit y, the 010st exacling friend of' tho ucgro race can hope to (in tl stronger pledges agn.inst tho aL uso of power over thoRc who arc bound to the ir service, or· surer guarantees that their duties and obligations towanls them would he faithfully performed, tlra.n !U'C found in thai of our southern fcllow-citi:t,ens. Tho relation of master a1Hl servant, im-oses reciprocal dut.ies n.rHl obligations upon the pn.rticspso rvice and obodienec bein g cl ue from tho servant, care and rolection from tiro rnastcr. \Vhen lheHe mutual duties and ~bligntions arc fni llrfully observo!l, ph ilanthropy has little to weep over in contomplu.ting tho conuition of the servant. * * * * * * Mr. Chairman, I cannot read tho second section of tho fourth article of tho Constitution without coming to the conclusion that it waH in tend '<1 the fugitives from service or labor, that is slavery, t here spoken of, were to he delivered np promptly nnd su mnH~rily, and w.i tltout Ll~c delay of .a formal trial by jury. rrJu . same S CtLOn provHlcs that fugi tives from justice shal l, on demand of Lire exeeutive autlrority of n State, "l>e del ivered up, to be removed," &c. Wilh regard to fngitivos from service or la.hor, the provision is, they shall not "be discharged from such service or labor, but shal1 be deli·ver·ed vp on claim of the party to whom such service or labor may be due." In neither case is it said by whom or l>y what authority they shall be delivered up. In the case of fugitives from justice, the delivery up has always been dono by tho executive of one Slate upon the demand of tho oxeontivc of an other Sta.te ; but in tho case of fugitiv es from serv iee, such has not been the practice thon()'h the words nrc a1mo. t identi ·n.l. The delivery ' b up is to be done by somebody. Clearly it is not the duty of each individual citizen to do it. I t mnst devolve on the Stale nuthority, or on that of the United States, and it is |
