OCR Text |
Show 262 APJ'Bl\DfX. surcs of their social intercourse, in the notorious facts, that a prison, strictly belonging to the government, is sometimes used as a jail for the stowage of negroes for sale- that human beings are publicly sold by auction, in the streets of Washington-and that companies of our colored brethren, chained together by ~he neck, are marched through that city, to the Southern States, without let or hindrance. llut these are facts which, taking place at the scat of govern-ment, and under the sole control and responsibility of Congress, involve the American people, as a nation, in the guilt of slavCJy; they degrade her character in the view of the nations of the earth, by affording a palpable contradiction to the principles on which her constitution was founded ; and, worst of all, they have a direct tendency to separate her from the favor of that perfectly righteous Being on whom the welfare of nations depends. 0~ the simple ground, therefore, of the true meaning of this article in the constitution, (viz. that the legislative control of Congress over the District, should be fully and freely exercised, in all cases which apply to its suitability as a seat of government for the confederate nation,) it seems unquestionably to follow that the abolition of slavery, within these limits, is matter of fairness to the states by which the District was ceded, as well as of justice to the nation herself. And further, the very same considerations which evince such a measure to be fair, afford abundant 0vidence that it is desirable and necessary-necessary to the comfort, the reputation, and the true prosperity of tl1e Union. Henry Clay has treated the abolitwn of slavery in the Distric~ as a mere introduction to ulterior measures, and as of small iro~ porta nee in itself; but the train of reasoning which has now been adopted, may serve to show that this object is, in itself, worthy of the most ardent and persevering endeavors. The Dis. trict of Columbia is the very point at which slavery, and all the guilt attached to it, comes into awful interference with the cha. l?REE AND l~n ~' IJ..N DL.V llE!\IAUKS 263 racter of the Union. Tl . · I lC nation owe tl '· I' . to t 1e cause of her ow I s 10 auo 1110n of it, tltere n lonor and it t . . ' and man. 1 egr~ty, m the sight of God In Art. iv, Sec. 3 of tl C . C ' lC onstttution pow is given to ongress " to make all Il eed •'u I rules and ' I e. r the territory, or other P rcgu atwns respecting ropcrty bel · In one of the terri to ·. l ongmg to the United States." rJes t JUs placed und th d' of Con<>ress-Fiorid I er e trect regulation b a-s avery exists Tl . I f' case analogous in its nat I . us, t lerc ore, is a < ure to t lat of the District f C I b' In permitting the continuance f I . o o urn m. ·' o s avery 111 Florida C anu the federal Union which it . . . ' ongrcss, guilt of I . . represents, arc mvolvcd in the . s avery .. It IS not mdeed an instance comparable i .pomt of aggravatiOn ' or in ,·t s b ear.m g on the h t f I n nation, to that of the District of C I b. ~ a rae er. o t lC · I . 0 urn Ia. It IS more !tke the mvo_vement under which the British nation labored I 'I I contmued in her West Indian c I . . ' w 11 e s avery differing from tl II o omes-a circumstance widely . W I . Je open a owance of the system in London -or m as 11ngton t tl ' . heart of the ,~a ' Je s~at of g~vcrnment itself, at the very na IOn s achng. Sull th . . even "t 1 ' ere 15 an mvolvement as I re ates to Florida; one which loudly calls C for the extinction of slavery in that t 't on ongrcss sake of the oppressed b t £ h ern ory, not merely for the nation at large. ' u or t e welfare and benefit of the If I am correct in my understandin of H ' on the subject, Florida was not includ g d . ~nry Clays remarks limits of a certain comJ>romise d be witlHn the geographical rna e etwecn the fi d I states, after that deplorable event th d . . rce an s ave sl ' e a m1sswn of M' · ave state into the A . U . IssourJ, as a ' mencan mon Th £ southerly location, therefore musts I. b e mere act of her ' urc Y e regarded a · no adequate obstacle t tl s presentmg o Je progress of the cau f . . mercy within he~ borders "'' se o JUShce and • • .L lie eternal rule o" · 1o • WU/t tloe direction o"t' " ng tt vanes not " tie compass. We are now com e t o two po.m ts of the subiect which . • ' reqmre |