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Show 290 OPINIONS OJ!' M.Al>ISON, J I~FJJ' ERSON, E~l'C. and the Ohio must evacuate their States, and most fortunate those who can do it first." And in this letter, after speculating on the probable consequence of the threatened disunion, he adds: 11 Should the sc i ~s ion take place, one of its most deplorable consequences would be its discouragement of the efforts of Enropcan natious, in the regeneration of their opprcHsivc and cannibal governments." In a letter of the same date (20th of December) to tho Marquis de Lafttycttc, he prophetically shadows forth, whut we now sec realized, with the same precision as if he wcro the histori ltn of to-day. "With us things are going well. 'fhc boisterous sea of liberty, indeed, is never without a wave; and that from Mis ouri is now rolling towards us. But we shall ride oYer it as we have done over all others. It is not n. murul question, bnt one merely of power. Its ol>jcet is t.o rai::;e a geographical principle for the choice of a Prcsidcn t, and the noise will be kept up till that is effected. All know that permitting the slaves of the South to spread in to the West, will not add one being to that unfortunate condition; that it will increase the happiness of th ose exi ·ling, and by spreading them over a large snrfuce will <.1 ilutc t he evil everywhere, uud fucilitatc the menus of getting fiually rid of it." So thought and so wrote J effen;on, on tlJC question which divided and threatened us then, as it divides and thrcutcng ns now. Mr. Jefferson was miui sLcr to France whilst the Convention sat which formed the Con~ tit uti on ; and Mr . .M nson, at whose relation he recorded this scrap of histo ry, wa. a member of that Convention, and it is dated at the family scat of the relator, (G unston llall ,) some four ycn.rs only after the event. September 30th, 1792. "Ex relatione G. Mason. The OPINIONS Oli' MADISON, JEF~-,EHSON, ETC. 2H1 Constitution, as agreed to, till a fort night before the Convcution rose, wnH S11ch an one ns he would hrtvc set his hand and henrt to. 1. The Pr sid cnt was to be elrctc<l for scvc•n years, then iu eligihlc for seven y ·nrs more. 2. Bot:ttiou in the Senate. 3. A vole of two-third' in the 1egiRl:ltnr' on particular sul>jcl'l.s, and expre.'sly on that of navigntion. The three New Bnghwd tnt 'R were COilRtantly with us in all qn 'stiuns-( lthodc I ~d a.n<l not thcrr, and New York seldo111 .) So that it wns these three Slates, with the five Southern ones, again :-;t P cnn sy lvn.nin, Jcrs y, nnd Delaware With respect to the importation of slave~, iL was left to Congress. 'rllis di ·Lurbcd the two southernmo.'i States, who knew thai Congress wouhl imtnc(lia.tcly suppress the importation of ~lav H. These two tntcs, therefore, truck up n b:trgnin with the three rew l~nglancl ln.Lcs: if they would join to admit, sl:tvcs for some years, the two southernmost State would joiu in chn.ngirw the clause wh ich r('quir 'd two-thirds of tho legislat ure in any vole. I t was done. These articles were rhnncrcd accordingly, nncl from thut moment the two outhern States n.nrl the three Northern ones joilled P en nsy l VUil ia, J cr:cy, and n ·lawn rc, Ullll lll:tdc the mujorit.y 8 to 3 ag:tinst u,•, in steat1 of 8 to 3 for us, as jt hud Lecn Lhrou~h the wh ule OilY 'Jltion. Under this coalition, the great prin c.:i plc, of the Com;iiLution were changed in tho last <lays of the Convention." In a leLtct· to Mr. Adams, dated January 22d, 1821, l10 says: "Olu· anxieties in this qnartcr arc all concentrated in tho question, What doc. the lloly Alliance in and out of Congre s mean to do with tL on the ~lis ·o uri qu estion ? And this, Ly the by, is but Lh , name of the case, il is only tho John Doe or Richard ltoe of th rj<'elrn •nt. The real question, ns seen in the Stales uali c.:t 'd with this unfortunate population, is, Are our slaves to be pre,·cnLed with freedom null a dagger? P or if CongTN;;s has the powe1· to regulate the conditions of tho iuhahiln.rJtH of Lhe Slu.tNl, within tho |