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Show 252 'l'lU~~ .M IH~OU HI QU.h:. ''l'lON. privcd or nny rcprcsentntion for (\,largo n.nd ~mporln.nt part f our 1101mlation, more valuable io the Un1on, u.s cnn be 0 . . shown, thn.n nny equal numl> •r of inhalnta.nts 111 ihc North-em and B:1.stcrn tatcs can, from their silu~ttion, climatr, nnc1 product ion., po:sihly l>c. 1 f I ·au prove this, I think 1 shn.ll IJc able to 1;how most clearly the true mot i vcs whieh have given rise to thiH nwn$lll'C; to strip the thin, the cobwcl> veil from it, as w 'II ns the pr 'i<'n<1cc1 oncR of reli gio n, llUmanily, and love of liberty; nnd to show, to usc the Hol't 1 •rms the tlceornm of dchalc ohlig('s m to tL c, the cxtn'mo want of modci:i!y in thoHc who are nlr<'ncly as fully rcprcscntc<. l here ns tiH'Y can be, to go Lh<' p;rcni lengths they do in endeavoring, by every effort in th eir powrr, pul>lic a11d private, to take from the oulht'rii :wd \V e:tt:m latcH, which arc alrc:t<ly so greatly a11cl UilJUHtly dcpnv 'd of an important part of the r<'prr. nin.tion, a still grcntcr slmrc; to endeavor to establish the lirsi prcecdvnL, whit'h extreme rashness and temerity have ever presutn '<1, thttt Congress has n right to touch the quest ion and legislate on slavery; thereby shaking the property in Lh 'Ill, in the South rn and "\Vc·tern 1tatcs, to its very foundation, and making nn n.Llack whieh, if su ·ces~ful, mm;t convince them that tho Northern u.ncl Ba.Hlcm La.tcs are Lh<'ir grcate:L enemi es; that th 'Y arc preparing mc[lsurcs for them which even Great Britain, in the heal of the Revolutionary war, a11d when all bet· pa. sions were ron sed by ha.trc<l and revenge to the highest pitch, never vcnlurc<.l to infiict upon them. Instead of a cout-.·c like this, they ought, in my judgment, sir, to be highly plcn. ·e<l with their present ·ituation; thut they arc fully represented, while we have lost so great n. sbare of our rcpr scntation; they ought, sir, to be hi <rldy pleased at the d xtcriiy ancl mnnngamcni of their members in the Convention, who obtained for them this gren.i advnn· t .. r,.c · nnd al.>ove all with the moderation und forl.>cu.mnce .. ,o ' ' ' with \\ hich tbe Sou thorn UtH1 W Ci:itcrn States have alwnys 'l'll.E MJSSOlJUl QUES'l'JON. 2G3 borne th ir bitter provocatiom; on thiA snhjc t, un<l now bear the open, avow '<1, and, by many of the ahl si men o.mong them, nn<.li HgniAed allo.ck 011 our most vn.lun.blc rights nnd prop ·rLics. At the cornm ncemcni of onr rcvolutionnry Rtrnp:glc with Great llritn.in, n.ll the "tal s had RlnveA. The N 'W J(jngln.nd to.tc had nnml.>crR of th m, nncl trent ccl them in the snmo mo.nnet· the Sonth rn <lid. The North 'l'll n.nd Miudlc States hn.tl still more numerous l>odics of them, although not so 11nmcrous as tllC ouih ern. 'l'hcy n.ll entered into that great conLe. t with f.:imilar views, propcrti ' , n.nd dcsiCYns. Like hrcihren, they contended for the lJ 'nefit of tho whole, leaving io eaeh the right io pursue its happiness in its own way. 'l'hcy thus nobly toiled and bled together, really Jiko brethren; and it is a most rcmnrlmblc fact that, noiwithstan< ling in the course of the Revolution Lltc ouLh crn Sto.tes were continually ovct'l'llll by the British, and that every negro in th 'tn had an opportunity of leaving their owners, few did; proving thcrchy not only a most remarkable ntlachmcnL to tlteir own r. , but the mil<.lncss of lho treatment, from which their o.fi',ction spra.ng. 'rhey then were, as they st.i ll nre, ns valunhlc n. pari of our population to the Union a~; any oth 'r cqunl uumher of inhabitant.'. They were, in t1nm erous in Uwc 's, tho pioneers, nnd in all, tlte labor 'l'S of your armies. 'eo their hancl.· were owing the ct·eclion of the greatest pari of the fortifkations raisetl for the protection of onr country; some of which, particularly Fori Moult.riC', gave, at that cnrly p ' riod of' the iucxpcricncc nn<l untri<'cl valor of our ciLiz; ns, immortality to American arm~; an<.l in the Northern Stales numerons bodies of th m w rc enrolled into und fougltt, by the ides of the whites, the l.>atllcs of the }~evolution . 'l'hings went on in this way until the period of onr attempt to form our first national compact, the confcdera- |