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Show 42 not the whole. reply, that the general end, for which legislation touches property is, to make it more. secure. It levies taxes for the execution of laws, under whiCh all property is safe. I reply again, that a righteous legisl~t.ure, in touching property, still shows it respect, by equal.lzmg, as far as possible, the burdens it imposes, and by makmg compensation when it can for what it alienates or destroys. I am awa~e, indeed, th~t legislation may, in certain circumstances, make important changes in the tenure of prop~rty; and the reason is, that property is not the only human r~g.ht, and consequently that it may sometimes come into colh~wn with other rights, in which case, all are to be reconctl.ed according to the highest moral law. Thu.s, a com.mumty threatened with destruction, may appropnate to Jts use what it cannot restore, or it may set bounds to the individu· al accumulation of wealth, where this shall plainly menace ruin to its institutions. The right of gaining property, being universal, does itself require, that the individual shall not be suffered so to accumulate, as to take from multitudes the chance of earning means of support, or as to create a power dangerous to the rights of any class of citizens. According to these principles, entails may be forbidden, and laws, relating to testaments, may be so framed as to break up overgrown estates. But in all these cases, legislation, in touching property, treats it with reverence, and acknowledges its foundation in immutable justice. There are, then, principles of property, which no laws can move. Man cannot make and unmake it at will. As he is physically unable to turn the sun and air into private possessions, so he is morally incompetent to turn his fellow-creatures into chattels. Both cases are out of the province of law. Even Mr. Clay, in urging the wrong which would be done to slaveholders, should the law strip them of their slaves, acknowledges that law is not the supreme rule of right; for, if it were, with what face could they complain of being wrongfully dispossessed ? 43 Mr. Clay, having thus summarily settled the validity of the slaveholder's claim, goes on to affirm, that the opposite doctrine, the doctrine that man cannot be rightfully seized and held as property, is" n visionary dogma," "the wild speculation of theorists and innovators." Does not 1\fr. Clay know, that the English nation, from its highest to its lowest ranh:s, with scarce an exception, pronounces the pretended right of property in men, an aggravated wrong ? Does he not know, that this same doctrine pervades the continent ? that, indeed, it is the acknowledged sentiment of Europe, with the exception of Russia and Turkey ? Does he not know, that it is the faith of the vast majority of the free States ? In truth, I know none, who, in their hearts, believe, that man may rightfully be made property, with the exception of some technical lawyers, a body too much inclined to exalt precedents above principles, to make the statute book the standard of truth and duty, and practically to recognise no higher law than that of a majority or a king. I maintain, then, that the slaveholder has no defence in law, or in the opinion of the civilized world, for continuing to hold slaves. He is bound to free them, and to do it the sooner on account of their great value. He has held this vast amount of others' property long enough, and the rightful owners have ground for urgency in proportion to the extent and duration of their wrongs. "But must the slaveholder make himself poor," says many a man at the North, as well as at the South. I answer, by asking those who put the question, what they would deem to be their own duty, should they find themselves in possession of 11 large amount belonging to their neighbour ? Would they go on to hold it, because honesty would make them poor ? Then they are criminal, and deserve to join their partners in the State-prison. He who is just, only as long as justice will secure him a warm home and the comforts of life, should be called by his right name, |