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Show llG 'l1 £1F. STATE CONVENTIONS. points in the Constitution proposerl to ns, and I sha11 begin with the exclusion of the religion, test. l\[nny appear to be much concern ,<1 ahont iL; but nothing is more evid ent, both iu rca ·on and the Iloly eriptures, than that religion is ever a maLtcr between Gou n11d individuals; antl therefore no man or men can impo ·e any religious test, without invading the essential prerogatives of our Lord J csus Christ. :Ministers first assumed this power undct· the Christian name; and then Constantine approvc<1 of the practice, when he adopted the profcs ion of Christianity, ns uu engine of State policy. And let the history of all nations be searched from that day to this, and it will appear that tbe impo ing of religious tests hath been the greatest engine of tyranny in the world. And I rejoice to sec so many gentlemen who are now giving in their rights of conscience in this great a11d important matter. Some serious minds discover a concern lest, if all religious tests should ) be excluded, the Congress would. hereafter e:tablish Popery, or some other tyrannical way of '''or: hip. But it is most ce1·tuin that no such way of worship can be established without any reli gious lest. J\fuch, sir, hath lJceu said about the importation of slaves into this country. I believe that, uccordi ng to my cn.paci I y, no man abhors 1hn.t wicked practice more than I do; I would. gladly make use of all lawful means toward the abolition of slavery in all parts of the land. llut let us con ider where we are and what we are doing. In the Articles of Confederation, no provision was made to hinder the importation of slaves into any of th ese Slnte ; but a door is now open hereafter to do it, and cuch State is at liberty now to abolish slavery as soon as they please. And let us rem em bet· our form er con ncction with Great Britain, from whom many in our own laud thiuk we ought not to have revolted. How did they carry on the slave 1'1IE S'l'ATE CONV.EN'l'IONS. 117 trncle? I know that the Dishop of Gloncestey·, in an an· nual sermon in Loudon, in Febrnary, 1776, endeavored to jn tify their tyra11ni eal clnims of power over ns hy ca ting the reproach of the sla.vc trade upon the American s. But at the clo ·c of the war, the Bishop of Chesler, in an n.nnnnl serm on, in Fcbr11nry, 17 3, in ~c nu o 11s l y owned that th eir nat.i,Jn is the mos t dee ply involved in the guilt of tlatt trade of any nntion in the world; and, al:o, that they ha\'C treated their slaves in the West Indies wor:e than tl JC French or Spaniards have done th eirs. 'l,htts slavery g row. more odi nu · through the world ; and as an honorable bo·cn tie man : aid t;Ome days :10'0 I I Thou o·h 1 b I M we cannot say that slavery is struck wi th an apoplexy, yet we may hope it wi ll die with consumption." Mr. Dawes said he wus sorry to heu r o many ohj l'etions raised against the paragraph n nd cr considcrativn. lie thought them wholly nufotttHl ed; that the blw·k inhttbitanls of the Sou thern Sta Les must be considered eith er ab slavc'R ' and n.s so much proprrty, OJ' in the character of so ma ny freem en; if Lhe former, why should they not be wh"~lly represented? Our own S tate laws and C o n sli tnti o ru~ wonl<l lead us to consider these blacks as fr eemen, nnd ~o indeed, would onr own ideas of natural ju stice. If, thctt, thry are freemen , t hry might form an eqnal basis for representaLi on as though Lh ey were all while in hal) it n.n ts. In either· view, therefore, he could not sec that the Not·thern Stales would suffer, but directly to the contrary. lie thought, however, that gentlemen would do well to connect the pas. age in dispute wilh an other article in the Constitution, that permi ts Congress, in the year 180 , wholly to prohibit the importation of slaves, and in the mean tirne to impose a du ty of ten dollars a head on such blacks us should be importee! before that period. 13 'Sides, by the new Constitution, every particular State is 1d't to its own opliou totally to prohibit the introduction of slaves |