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Show ) 140 them; that among oth er thirr g·s remainin g· with them are lihnty of the pres:, ri ght of cons<: i<'ncc, and some other c-;s ' ntial right s. Could you tl erisc nny cxpn•ss form of wnrds by which the ri g-hts co ntai ned in the ui ll of r irrhts of Virginia could be better ecurcd or more fully <'O lll iH'e- 1H· rH1et1 ? \VIra l is the pnpcr \\"lri('h be o.ITen; in the fur111 of' a bill of rights ? \Villthnt better sec ure our rights than a declaration like this ? All rights arc th erein declared to be completely vested in the people, unless expressly given away. Can there be a more pointed or positive reservation? That honorable genllematl, and some others, have insisted that th e aboli tiou of slavery will res ul t from it, and at the same time have compln.ined that it encourages its cuutinuation. 'l,he inconsistency proves, in some degree, the futility of their arguments. But if it be not conclusive, to satisfy the committee that there is no danger of Cilfran cbiscmcnt taking place, I beg leave to refer them to the paper itself. I hope that there is none here who, conf; iclcring the. nbjcct in the calm light of philoso phy, will advance an ohjcctiou di .·honorable to Virginia-that, at the moment tl1 cy are sec nring the the right. of th eir citizens, an ohj C'clion is started that there is a park of hope that those uufortunate men now held in bondage may, by the operation of the general government, be made free. But if nny gentleman be terrified by this apprehension , Jet him read the system. I ask, and I will ask again and ogain, till I be an swered (not by declamation), \Vhere is the part that has a tendency to tho abol1'tion of ,·la1 er-y ~ Is it the cln.u. c whi ch says that 11 the migration OJ' importati on of such p<' rso ns as any of the States now existing shall think proper to udmit shall be prohibited by Congress prior to the year 1808" ~ 'rilE S'I'ATg CO , VEN'l'IO~S . l ·ll ~'hi s is an exception from the power of regulating commerce, and the re tri cLion is only to conti nue till 180 . Then Congress can, by the exercise of that power, prevent fu ture importations ; but docs it afTecL the cxi~ting state of slavery? \V rc iL r ight here to mention what passefl in Convention on the occasio n, I might t.cll you that the Southern State , even South Carolina herr 'elf, conceived th1's JJr Op(wty to be sr•cu1·e by the:·w word ·. I beli eve, whatever we may think here, that thoro was not a member of the Virfr inia delegation who had the smalle~t sw;picion of the abolit1·on of sla1•ery. Go to their meanIng. P oin t out the clause where this formidable power of emancipation is i n ~ert eel. Bnt another ela"1se of the Constitution prove the absurdity of the sn pposi Lion. T he words of the clause are, "No persons held to service or labor in one State, under the lnws thereof, escaping in to another, shall, in consequence of any law or regulation therein , be· di. charged from snch service or labor, but shall be deli vered up on claim of the party to whom such service or labor may be due." Every one knows that slavfs arc held to service and labor. And when authori ty is given to owners of slaves to vindicate their property, can it he snpposed they can be d('pn·red of it? 1 fa citizen of t his State, in consequence of this clause, cn.n take his run away slave in Maryland, can it be seriously thought that, after taking him and bringing him home, he could be made free ? I observed that the honorable gen tlcman 's proposition comes in a truly que tionab le hapc, and i sti ll moJ·e cxtmordinnry and un accoun table for another consiU<'ration- that al though we went, article by article, throug-h the Constitution and nlthotwh we did not CXJ)ect a general ' t'l revi ew of the snbject (as a most comprehensive view had been taken of it before it was regularly debated), yet we |
