the intention of some, or however this language may have been construed since the Constitution has been adopted, the language cannot in any way be applied to the slave; for, as we have said before, he is a thing; he possesses and can possess nothing; consequently he cannot owe any thing; and that it was in view of these facts the clause was permitted to pass. Consequently, whether a slave was brought from the South to the North by his master, or came of his own accord, he could or should not be treated otherwise than as a freeman, possessing all the rights of a freeman, so long as he conducts himself with propriety, and has entered into no contract with his master for services to be rendered. These, however, are but the views of a private citizen, and they may be of little worth. We, however, should be inclined to treat the planter as the Jew of Venice was treated, and say to him, if a pound of flesh is really owed to you, take it, but do not spill a drop of blood; step not beyond the written language. We do not make use of this language in the spirit of caviling, or in a spirit of dishonesty, to get rid of the obligations that are properly imposed upon us, but would simply apply the language as it would be applied in its ordinary construction. We should not think it necessary to go out of our way to construe the language to favor the slaveholder, as we should have to do did we render it to comply with his wishes. Let us not be misunderstood. We do not advance the idea, that this clause of the Constitution was brought forward for the purpose of

securing the runaway apprentice, or the person who had sold his time; but, on the contrary, we do suppose it was advanced for the purpose of securing the runaway slave; but those who did not wish to be guilty of this crime, of returning a slave to his master,- not only refused to entertain a direct proposition of the kind, but also an indirect one, and so amended the latter by adding the words "to whom such service or labor may be due," as effectually destroyed its character as a clause by which a runaway slave might be recovered.

In speaking of the settlement of New York, Mr. Bancroft says,

"Thus did various nations of the Caucasian race assist in colonizing our central States. The African, also, had his portion of the Hudson. The West India Company, which sometimes transported Indian captives to the West Indies, having large establishments on the coast of Guinea, at an early day introduced negroes into Manhattan, and continued the negro slave-trade without remorse. We have seen Elizabeth of England a partner in the commerce, of which the Stuarts, to the day of Queen Anne, were distinguished partners: the city of Amsterdam did not blush to own shares in a slaveship, to advance money for its outfits, and to participate in the returns. In proportion to population, New York had imported as many Africans as Virginia. That New York is not a slave State, like Carolina, is due to climate, and not to the humanity of its founders. Stuyvesant was instructed to use every exertion to promote the sale of negroes. They were imported sometimes by the way of the West Indies, often directly from Guinea, and were sold at public auction to the highest bidder. The average price was less than one hundred dollars. The

monopoly of the traffic was not strictly enforced, and a change of policy sometimes favored the export of negroes to the English colonies. The enfranchised negro might become a freeholder."

"With the African came the African institution of abject slavery; the large emigration from Connecticut engrafted on New Netherlands the Puritan idea of popular freedom," &c. "Their presence and their activity foretold a revolution." 1

William Penn, in a letter to his wife on taking leave of his family, writes, "Live low and sparingly till my debts are paid," 2 though he wished no expense to be spared in the education of his children; for, by parsimony here, he considered all lost that was saved; but agriculture he proposed as their employment. "Let my children be husbands and housewives;" evidently meaning, whatever may have been his practices respecting the holding of slaves, that his children should depend upon themselves for their own support. It may be asked if William Penn thought all was lost that was saved in not instructing his children, what must have been lost to the country, if he was correct, by not instructing the children of the African? The sum, we think, would be more than twelve hundr 1 millions of money; and who can doubt but it as been !

I

We have before quoted the remarks made by Mr. Haynes of the character of the people of South Carolina, and have also spoken of the inhabitants

1 Bancroft's History of the United States, vol. ii. p. 303.
2 Bancroft's History, vol. ii. p. 370.

of North Carolina, and it may not be necessary for us to go farther in our quotations, to show the nature of the population that came to these shores. Much might be brought from other sources, but we will make what we have quoted suffice. While slavery was introduced at an early age by the aristocracy, including kings and queens, and, like alcohol, served to intoxicate the people, and came very near making them forget the very nature of man, yet the love of liberty continued to increase and expand in this country, through all the various conflicts it had to maintain, till, finally, it burst out in our revolutionary struggle. The Declaration of Independence, as has been said, formed a new era in the history of mankind; all seemed to be impressed with the importance of liberty, and more confirmed in their views. Yet slavery existed, and what was to be done? were inclined to let it rest, and work out its own cure as best it might. Others, on the contrary, were anxious to have it expelled the land, sensible of the inconsistency which they as a people exhibited while these violations of man's rights continued. When first introduced, like spirituous drinks, few were sensible of the evils that might result; and, while the practice appealeh, the h selfish principle of our nature, many gave way to this feeling, and were willing to let future consequences take care of themselves.

Many, no doubt,

It has been remarked, the first cargo of slaves ever brought into this country arrived in Virginia on the same day that the Pilgrims arrived on

the shores of Plymouth; and the Dutch captain who brought, could not find a market for them, and, upon his refusing to take them away, the people at last took pity at their forlorn situation, and giving a small compensation, received them to their houses. Hence arose that mighty evil that is now threatening destruction to our social institutions.