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union,'" &c. quoting the whole preamble to the jury, as if he thought that was the principle on which the government was to be administered.

In an address, delivered to Gen. Washington by the judges of the Supreme Court of the State of Pennsylvania, April 20, 1789, they make use of this expression:

"And we hope and pray the same Providence will carry us through the great work (which seems reserved for you) of establishing justice, insuring domestic tranquillity, promoting the general welfare, and securing liberty and independence to the good people of your native country to their latest posterity."

In Washington's answer, he observes,

"He should feel himself singularly happy in contributing to the glorious work."

Samuel Adams, in his address to the legislature of Massachusetts, on his induction into the office of lieutenant-governor of the State of Massachusetts, made use of this expression:

"If it be not improper on this occasion, may I beg leave to express a devout and fervent wish that gracious Heaven may quiet the public councils of the great confederate republic which compose it; so that the people may be highly respected and prosperous in their affairs abroad, and enjoy at home that tranquillity of mind which results from a well-grounded confidence that their personal and domestic rights are secure."

The foregoing extracts, we think, prove very clearly our fourth proposition, namely, that the people, by the adoption of these amendments in the

form they did, caused the liberty of every individual to be secure; or, in the words of the proposition, "the determination of the people no constitution should be formed that put the liberty of the individual in danger." This is the most important; the other two propositions of importance are, in fact, involved in this one; for, if this is true, the others must be. But we will proceed yet further.

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CHAPTER XIV.

THE PROCEEDINGS OF CONGRESS ON THE PRESENTATION OF THE PETITION BY THE SOCIETY OF QUAKERS FOR THE ABOLITION OF SLAVERY.

THE following observations were made in congress on the proposition to commit the memorial transmitted to the house of representatives, 1790, by the society of Quakers, on the subject of slavery. It is astonishing to find how analogous are the assertions made in those days to those made use of at the present time. While assertions are now made with prodigality, and attempts used to ward off discussion, one cannot but be reminded of the old adage, "The least said the soonest mended," practised by our most intelligent Southerners on this question of slavery; ay, even by those at the North who do not have any great desire to disturb this system. In this discussion, observe the address of Mr. Madison in wishing it given to a committee, not to be reported on, but that it might sleep; and how often has the subject, since that day, taken the same course, and the "tomb of the Capulets" been a safe resting-place for all such memorials till within a short time, when it would seem they had risen from their grave, and, by their resurrection, are enlightening the world!

We trust the stone has been rolled away from the door of the sepulchre, never more to close it; and man, disenthralled from the worse than death that has bound him to the car of a lordly master, will be able to walk forth in newness of life, rendering service to him only to whom service may be due.

As these proceedings were the first that took place after the adoption of the Constitution, we have concluded to copy them, that it may be seen what were the ideas advanced at that day, and also as they show distinctly that it was avowed and acknowledged by Mr. Madison that congress did have power over the subject of slavery. Whether, as a member of the original convention, he was willing to give congress power over the subject; or whether he was convinced, by the arguments urged by Mr. Henry in the convention of Virginia, that the power, by implication, was certainly given; or whether he found, in the necessary action of congress, it must be so; or, after the adoption of the amendments he could not but perceive such was the fact, we will not determine. In the language he uses on the subject, in the quotations that follow, it will be perceived he is very decided; and that, in his opinion, congress has undoubted power over the subject, though the delegates from South Carolina and Georgia attempted to advance the idea that congress had not. Not only Mr. Madison, but Mr. Gerry and others, maintained the contrary, and went so far as to tell the Southern members their speeches had no arguments in them. It seemed a self-evident proposi

tion with Mr. Gerry, that congress had power over the subject. Mr. Boudinot thought congress had done wrong in not exacting the ten dollars' duty on the importation of slaves, as it would encourage persons to put their capital in this unrestricted trade, in preference to those articles on which duty was paid. As no answer is reported to have been made to Mr. Madison's, Mr. Gerry's, or Mr. Boudinot's arguments, it is fair to conclude they were not answered; and the memorial was not acted upon, not because it was not constitutional to have carried out the ideas contained in it, but on account of the "begging" and "entreating" of the southern members, and their representing the dangers to which they imagined they might be exposed, the people of the North gave way.

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Mr. Gerry went into a calculation of what the slaves might then be worth; and the value he put upon them was ten millions of dollars; and he thought, though he said he would make no proposition of the kind, that congress might take the western lands for the purpose of paying for their liberty. While such a course might, at the present day, be adopted, and perhaps many in our land would gladly do it, provided the disgrace which slavery is bringing upon it could be blotted out, and the slave could be at once relieved from his chains; and because the North itself has more or less participated in the traffic, and has been the seller of the stolen property, and has received the wages of its iniquity, and therefore, in justice, if it now cause the purchaser to give it up, it

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