Echoes of Harpers Ferry

Page 80

George B. Cheever. another, and for :-tny and all laws tlwt Con gre~:-; mio-11t J>n~s ,-, ...... ' sanctioning nntl deft'nding propert.\' in man. This is tr<'a 011 to truth, God, our country, Hnd our <.'Oilllt ry's Fr<'<'dom, 1 h:lt if rightly Yisited, wou ld pl<~ee the nuthors an<l :-;uppor t.'r::; of it l)('n Path the condemnation appoiutt>d for it in the 'ronl of God. Nothing can be more monstrou , more atrotiou~, than the foi sting in of . ueh n claim and t':1nction of propert in 11 lii1HUl Lu m. ngs m. to t I c . . I' y 10 onstltulwn Ot our Freedom, \\'lt<·n not onl~ is no po:sibilit~ of ~uch claim rrfcrred to, eYcn by inti­m.: t !J?n, but the ~lung 1 · not even nameu, is not a subjeet 'nthw the who~e 111 ·trument; and the whole aim, P.pirit, pur­pas<', and dodrme of the whole are again t it, r<'IHleriug it im­po~ s ible. _It is a forgf!ry, a~ ~nflnit e fraud, a bounc11cs. rasen1ity, more Wl c.kcd, more permcwu , than was ever pcrpetrnf(•d in any n:lliOll under heaven. There is a ca 'C in l·t''V n C''l . \ of' • c • ' • • c se }ll'C-i<' nded n ght to made property, now }H'lH.ling in N ·w York between the State and the City, as to the pos~<'s:--ion of wate; loL, filled in along the shore of the harbor. There w:1s a c~nt1.·act conveying nil the land, many year:-; ago, to the city wtthm the low-water mark. Since that day the city ~~~15 O'One on swelling and extending by made land f~u· beyo11 <1 the 7hen 10\~-wate:.r mark, and now the State claim~, and justly c1Hirn1', n ~~t.Ie to all the property thus created by the city, outside the Ol'lgmal '~atc~·-line. There , tnnd~, pictured, in this very ca:se, our Conslltutwn, and the made land oC ~a tnn intruded upon it beyo~d the water-line, beyond the line of 1·ight, and justice, and ~ JJb rty. There is the line, -low tidr, low-water mark, no Slaver!, no prop rty in man on thi , ide, the l:md side, and no anthont! wlmt . ver on the other . ide, no step beyond the ~wnd; servtce ~UP 1s the lowe:-t watr r-mark. But lH.')'OIH1 this, lll bou~Hllc. 3 forgrry nn<l ' ' ill:my, in as~nmption oC wrona in e:tcnsLOn. of a ·eeming right into infinite wrong, your Sl~:ve- 1 ower oligarchy, minions, have filled in with all the clement~ of ('Ol'l'lll)tion ' bronc,.r.,l 1t ·''•J 1<]. ( 1u a· 1pe(1 1u, y pat· (l scaveno-er."' the water-lots of the Co n. ·t 1· tu t'1 0n; w1· t 11 t 11 e whole parapnh ern' alia George B. Cheever. 153 of Slavery, dor·ks, wharv s, jail~, wnr hou. cs, bnstilcs, elwins, bloodhou nds, mar::;hnl · ; h<>r' the Fugitive Slave Bill, there the Dred Scott Decision, till the m~u1e land of despotism gov­erns, changes, d '::;troy.' the whole channel, and Hotl1ing but inju;;tice prevail:. . Now, it is the duty of your State, of each sovcretgn Free ~tate, to step in nnd . ay to these in vad 'rs, the. scpmtter~ on the premise. of lib ·rty, Away with you and your enet~oach­m •nts ! Take back your stru cture:;;, you r made land of Satan, within your own low-water line, or gi\'e th rm up to the po. ­se::;~ ion and uf;e of' frc 'dom and j usti c. "\V e hold you to t!Je boml. I f you can make Sln.very out of service d/((', if you can find or make one iota of sanct ion for the claim of prop­erty in man, show your authority in God'' nam~. I t ~ust be as plain as the sun in th . e hcav •nf'. The tlunp: chumed mu:;L be written out in Cull, Pt{Ol'l~ RTY IN 1\iAN. But you not only have no :-:;hadow of . uch claim, no in timn.t io~1 !ooking tltc;L way, no mention nor de~criptiun of' the st at~' of SlaYer!, or or . u ·h a pos:-;ihi lity uuder heaven n:-; that of property . lll man ; but in f~t 't there was no civiliz 'd gov '1'11lllCllt or nat10n under h ·ax )n, at the time wlt n your Constitution was framed, where nny stat ' man of . any pat· t y, Ol· <'h' at·•a ct. c·r ' or io:'- rade ll l 1 (l to I)Llt l·,,to the o-ov rnment m. trume11t of WOll <. Ul\'C <.ar c • o . 't civili zed Stat the propo. ition or sanction of such a cnmc : 1 g:tiwt God and man, or the pos ibility of admitting it .. Aml any set of men who mi ght have ventured such an 111 .ult ao-·1inst humanity and religion, at the arne tim prelcndmg en< ' I " 11 to Lelieve, and op •nly and sol mnly announ<'Jng,. t l:l~ ~ 111 n b f . l Cf'1 11 •11 and ·1re endow '<l wtlh mall nable arc orn rcc an( " t ' , ' .. right., uch n.s lif'e, liberty :-tnd the pur~ uit of' happine:;l'," ~,·ould ltavc been corned by the whole world; : nch a ct ot 1~ " 11 could not have publish ·<1, would not have ~a1·~d to puult~h, any avowa1 o f. tltc l)0':-;~. '1 l>ility of a.ny con l ttut10na. l s. anrt 1.0 11 of proper Ly in mau, in the i~tee of the scorn a11U 11H.1lgnatJOn that would every where have m ·t them. ' Now the providence of God ha., upset all mans calcula- .