"NEGRO SLAVERY NOT UNJUST." A SPEECH BY CHARLES O'CONOR, At the Union Meeting at the Academy of Music, New York City, Dec. 19, 1859. MR. MAYOR AND GENTLEMEN: I cannot express to you the delight which I experience in beholding in this great city so vast an assembly of my fellow citizens, convened for the purpose stated in your resolutions. I am delighted beyond measure to behold at this time so vast an assembly responding to the call of a body so respectable as the twenty thousand New Yorkers who have convened this meeting. If anything can give assurance to those who doubt, and confidence to those who may have had misgivings as to the permanency of our institutions, and the solidity of the support which the people of the North are prepared to give them, it is that in the queen city of the New World, in the capital of North America, there is assembled a meeting so large, so respectable, and so unanimous as this meeting has shown itself to be in receiving sentiments which, if observed, must protect our Union from destruction, and even from danger. (Applause.) Gentlemen, is it not a subject of astonishment that the idea of danger, and the still more dreadful idea of dissolution, should be heard from the lips of an American citizen, at this day, in reference to, or in connection with, the sacred name of this most sacred Union? (Applause.) Why gentlemen, what is our Union? What are its antecedents? What is its present condition? If we ward off the evils which threaten it, what its future hope for us and for the great family of mankind? Why gentlemen, it may well be said of this Union as a government, that as it is the last offspring, so is it Time's most glorious and beneficent production. Gentlemen, we are created by an Omniscient Being. We are created by a Being not only All-Seeing, but All-Powerful and All-Wise. And in the benignity and the farseeing wisdom of His power, He permitted the great family of mankind to live on, to advance, to improve, step by step, and yet permitted five thousand years and upward to elapse ere He laid the foundation of a truly free, a truly happy, and a truly independent empire. It was not, gentlemen, until that great length of time had elapsed, that the earth was deemed mature for laying the foundations of this mighty and prosperous State. It was then that He inspired the noble-minded and chivalrous Genoese to set forth upon the trackless ocean and discover the empire that we now enjoy. But a few years, comparatively, had elapsed when there was raised up in this blessed land a set of men whose like had never before existed upon the face of this earth. Men unequalled in their perceptions of the true principles of justice, in their comprehensive benevolence, in their capacity to lay safely, justly, soundly, and with all the qualities which should insure permanency, the foundations of an empire. It was in 1776, and in this country, that there assembled the first, the very first, assembly of rational men who ever proclaimed, in clear and undeniable form, the immutable principles of liberty, and consecrated, to all time I trust, in the face of tyrants, and in opposition to their power, the rights of nations and the rights of men. (Applause.) These patriots, as soon as the storm of war had passed away, y, sat down and framed that instrument upon which our Union rests, the Constitution of the United States of America, (Applause.) And the question now before us is neither more nor less than this: whether that Constitution, consecrated by the blood shed in that glorious Revolution, consecrated by the signature of the most illustrious man who ever lived, George Washington (applause) whether that instrument, accepted by the wisest and by the best of that day, and accepted in convention, one by one, in each and every State of this Union-that instrument from which so many blessings have flown-whether that instrument was conceived in crime, is a chapter of abominations (cries of "No, no,") is a violation of justice, is a league between strong-handed but wicked-hearted white men to oppress, and impoverish, and plunder their fellow-creatures, contrary to rectitude, honor and justice. (Applause.) This is the question, neither more nor less. We are toll from pulpits, we are told from the political rostrum, we are told in the legislative assemblies of our Northern States, not merely by speakers, but by distinct resolutions of the whole body-we are told by gentlemen occupying seats in the Congress of the Union through the votes of Northern people that the Constitution seeks to enshrine, to protect, to defend a monstrous crime against justice and humanity, and that it is our duty to defeat its provisions, to outwit them, if we cannot otherwise get rid of their effect, and to trample upon the rights which it has declared shall be protected and insured to our brethren of the South. (Applause.) That is now the doctrine advocated. And I ask whether that doctrine, necessarily involving the destruction of our Union, shall be permitted to prevail as it has hitherto prevailed? Gentlemen, I trust you will excuse me for deliberately coming up to and meeting this questionnot seeking to captivate your fancies by a trick of words -not seeking to exalt your imaginations by declamation or by any effort at eloquence-but meeting this question gravely, sedately, and soberly, and asking you what is to be our course in relation to it? Gentlemen, the Constitution guarantees to the people of the Southern States the protection of their slave property. In that respect it is a solemn compact between the North and the South. As a solemn compact are we at liberty to violate it? (Cries of "No, no!") Are we at liberty to seek or take any mean, petty advantage of it? (Cries of "No, no!") Are we at liberty to con over its particular words, and to restrict and to limit its operation, so as to acquire, under such narrow construction, a pretence of right by hostile and adverse legislation? ("No, no!") -to interfere with the interests, wound the feelings, and trample on the political rights of our Southern fellow-citizens? ("No, no, no!") No, gentlemen. If it be a compact, and has anything sacred in it, we are bound to observe it in good faith, honestly and honorably, not merely to the letter, but fully to the spirit, and not in any mincing, half-way, unfair, or illiberal construction, seeking to satisfy the letter, to give as little as we can, and thereby to defeat the spirit. (Applause.) That may be the way that some men keep a contract about the sale of a house or of a chattel, but it is not the way honest men observe contracts, even in relation to the most trivial things. ("True," and applause.) What has been done, having a tendency to disturb harmony under this Constitution, and to break down and destroy the union now existing between these States? Why, gentlemen, at an early period the subject of Slavery, as a mere philosophical question, was discussed by many, and its justice or injustice made the subject of argument leading to various opinions. It mattered little how long this discussion should last, while it was confined within such limits. If it had only led to the formation of societies like the Shakers, who do not believe in matrimony; societies like the people of Utah, destined to a short career, who believe in too much of it (laughter); or societies of people like the strong-minded women of our country, who believe that women are much better qualified than men to perform the functions and offices usually performed by men (laughter) and who probably would, if they had their way, simply change the order of proceedings, and transfer the husband to the kitchen, and themselves to the field or the cabinet. (Laughter and applause.) So long, I say, as this sentimentality touching Slavery confined itself to the formation of parties and societies of this description, it certainly could do no great harm, and we might satisfy ourselves with the maxim that "Error can do little harm as long as truth is left free to combat it." But unfortunately gentlemen, this sentimentality has found its way out of the meeting-houses-from among pious people, assemblies of speculative philosophers, and societies formed to benefit the inhabitants of Barioboolagha-it has found its way into the heart of the selfish politician; it has been made the war-cry of party; it has been made the instrument whereby to elevate not merely to personal distinction and social rank, but to political power Throughout the non-slaveholding States of this Union, men. have been thus elevated who advocate a course of con duct necessarily exasperating the South, and the natural | compact, to separate from us and to dissolve it? Why effect of whose teachings renders the Southern people insecure in their property and their lives, making it a matter of doubt each night whether they can safely retire to their slumbers without sentries and guards to protect them | achieved by us, but by a nation that has ceased to exist. gentlemen, the greatness and glory of the American name will then be a thing of yesterday. The glorious Revolution of the thirteen States will be a Revolution not against incursions from the North. I say the effect has been to elevate, on the strength of this sentiment, such men to power. And what is the result the condition of things at this day? Why, gentlemen, the occasion that calls us together is the occurrence of a raid upon the State of Virginia by a few misguided fanatics-followers of these doctrines, with arms in their hands, and bent upon rapine and murder. I called them followers, but they should be deemed leaders. They were the best, the bravest, and the most virtuous of all the abolition party. (Applause.) On the Lord's day, at the hour of still repose, they armed the bondman with pikes brought from the North, that he might slay his master, his master's wife, and his master's little children. And immediately succeeding to it-at this very instant-what is the political question pending before Congress ? A book substantially encouraging the same course of provocation toward the South which has been long pursued, is openly recommended to circulation by sixty-eight members of your Congress. (Cries of "Shame, on them," applause, and hisses.)-Recommended to circulation by sixty-eight members of your Congress, all elected in Northern States (hisses and applause) -every one, I say, elected from non-slaveholding States. And with the assistance of their associates, some of whom hold their offices by your votes, there is great danger that they will elect to the highest office in that body, where he will sit as a representative of the whole North, a man who united in causing that book to be distributed through the South, carrying poison and death in its polluted leaves. ("Hang him!" and applause.) Is it not fair to say that this great and glorious Union is menaced when such a state of things is found to exist? when such an act is attempted? Is it reasonable to expect that our brethren of the South will calmly sit down ("No") and submit quietly to such an outrage? (Cries of "No, no.") Why, gentlemen, we greatly exceed them in numbers. The non-slaveholding States are by far the more populous; they are increasing daily in numbers and in population, and we may soon overwhelm the Southern vote. If we continue to fill the halls of legislation with abolitionists, and permit to occupy the executive chair men who declare themselves to be enlisted in a crusade against Slavery, and against the provisions of the Constitution which secure that species of property, what can we reasonably expect from the people of the South but that they will pronounce the Constitution, with all its glorious associations, with all its sacred memories this Uuion, with its manifold present and promised blessings-an unendurable evil, threatening to crush and The name of Washington will be, to us at least at the North (cheers), but as the name of Julius Cæsar, or of some other great hero who has lived in times gone by, whose nation has perished and exists no more. The Declaration of Independence, what will that be? Why, the declaration of a State that no longer has place among the nations. All these bright and glorious recollections of the past must cease to be our property, and become mere memorials of a by-gone race and people. A line must divide the North from the South. What will be the consequences? Will this mighty city-growing as it now is, with wealth pouring into it from every portion of this mighty empire-will it continue to flourish as it has done? (Cries of "No, no!", Will your marble palaces that line Broadway, and raise their proud tops toward the sky, continue to increase, until, as is now promised under the Union, it shall present the most glorious picture of wealth, prosperity, and happiness, that the world has ever seen? (Applause.) No! gentlemen, no! such things cannot be. I do not say that we will starve, that we will perish, as a people, if we separate from the South. I admit, that if the line be drawn between us, they will have their measure of prosperity, and we will have ours; but meagre, small in the extreme, compared with what is existing and promised under our Union, will be the prosperity of each. Truly has it been said here to-night, that we were made for each other; separate us, and although you may not destroy us, you reduce each to so low a scale that well might humanity deplore the evil courses that brought about the result. True, gentlemen, we would have left, to boast of, our share of the glories of the Revolution. The Northern States sent forth to the conflict their bands of heroes, and shed their blood as freely as those of the South. But the dividing line would take away from us the grave of Washington. It is in his own beloved Virginia. (Applause and cheers.) It is in the State and near the spot where this treason that has been growing up in the North, so lately culminated in violence and bloodshed. We would lose the grave-we would lose all connection with the name of Washington. But our philanthropic and pious friends who fain would lead us to this result, would, of course, comfort us with the consoling reflection that we had the glorious memory of John Brown in its place. (Great laughter and cheers.) Are you, gentlemen, prepared to make the exchange? (Cries of "No, no.") Shall the tomb of Washington, that rises upon the bank of the Potomac, receiving its tribute from every nation of the earth-shall that become to destroy their most vital interests-to make their coun-the property of a foreign State-a State hostile to us in and that whatever treaties or compacts, or laws, or con-trine. There are some principles well known, well understitutions, have been made to sanction and uphold it, it stood, universally recognized and universally acknow try a wilderness. Why should we expect them to submit to such a line of conduct on our part, and recognize us as brethren, or unite with us in perpetuating the Union? For my part I do not see anything unjust or unreasonable in the declaration often made by Southern members on this subject. They tell us: "If you will thus assail us with incendiary pamphlets, if you will thus create a spirit in your country which leads to violence and bloodshed among us, if you will assail the institution upon which the prosperity of our country depends, and will elevate to office over us men who are pledged to aid in such transactions, and to oppress us by hostile legislation, we cannot much as we revere the Constitution, greatly as we estimate the blessings which would flow from its faithful enforcement-we cannot longer depend on your compliance with its injunctions, or adhere to the Union." For my part, gentlemen, if the North continues to conduct itself in the selection of representatives to the Congress of the United States as, from, perhaps a certain degree of negligence and inattention, it has heretofore conducted itself, the South is not to be censured if it withdraws from the Union. (Hisses and applause. A voice-"that's so." Three cheers for the Fugitive Slave Law.) We are not, gentlemen, to hold a meeting to say that We love this Union; we delight in it; we are proud of it; it blesses us, and we enjoy it; but we shall fill all its offices with men of our own choosing, and, our brethren of the South, you shall enjoy its glorious past; you shall enjoy its mighty recollections; but it shall trample your institutions in the dust." We have no right to say it. We have no right to exact so much; and an opposite and entirely different course, fellowcitizens, must be ours-must be the course of the great North, if we would preserve this Union. (Applause, and cries of "Good.") And, gentlemen, what is this glorious Union? What must we sacrifice if we exasperate our brethren of the South, and compel them, by injustice and breach of its feelings, and we to it in ours? Shall we erect a monument among the arid hills at North Elba, and deem the privilege of making pilgrimages thither a recompense for the loss of every glorious recollection of the past, and for our severance from the name of Washington? He who is recognized as the Father of his Country? (Cries of "No, no," and cheers.) No, gentlemen, we are not prepared, I trust, for this sad exchange, this fatal severance. We are not prepared, I trust, either to part with our glorious past or to give up the advantages of our present happy condition. We are not prepared to relinquish our affection for the South, nor to involve our section in the losses, the deprivation of blessings and advantages necessarily resulting to each from dis union. Gentlemen, we never would have attained the wealth and prosperity as a nation which is now ours, but for our connection with these very much reviled and injured slaveholders of the Southern States. And, gentlemen, if dissolution is to take place, we must part with the trade of the South, and thereby surrender our participation in the wealth of the South. Nay, more we are told from good authority that we must not only part with the slaveholding States, but that our younger sister with the golden crown-rich, teeming California, she who added the final requisite to our greatness as a nation-will not come with us. She will remain with the South. Gentlemen, if we allow this course of injustice toward the South to continue, these are to be the consequencesevil to us, evil also to them. Much of all that we are most proud of; much of all that contributes to our prosperity and greatness as a nation, must pass away from us. The question is should we permit it to be continued, and submit to all these evils? Is there any reason to justify such a course? There is a reason preached to us tor permitting it. We are told that Slavery is unjust; we are told that it is a matter of conscience to put it down; is still unholy, and that we are bound to trample upon treaties, compacts, laws, and constitutions, and to stand by what these men arrogantly tell us is the law of God and a fundamental principle of natural justice. Indeed, gentlemen, these two things are not distinguishable. The law of God and natural justice, as between man and man, are one and the same. The wisest philosopher of ancient times-heathen philosophers-said, The rule of conduct between man and man is, to live honestly, to injure no man, and to render to every man his due. In words far more direct and emphatic, in words of the most perfect comprehensiveness, the Saviour of the world gave us the same rule in one short sentence-" Love thy neighbor as thyself." (Applause.) Now, speaking between us, people of the North and our brethren of the South, I ask you to act upon this maxim-the maxim of the heathen-the command of the living God: "Render to every man his due," "Love thy neighbor as thyself." (Applause.) Thus we should act and feel toward the South. Upon that maxim which came from Him of Nazareth we should act toward the South, but without putting upon it any new fangled, modern interpretation. We should neither say nor think that any Gospel minister of this day is wiser than God himself-than He who gave us the Gospel. These maxims should govern between us and our brethren of the South. But, gentlemen, the question is this: Do these maximsjustify the assertion of those who seek to invade the rights of the South, by proclaiming negro Slavery unjust? That is the point to which this great argument, involving the fate of our Union, must now come. Is negro Slavery unjust? If it be unjust, it violates the first rule of human conduct, "Render to every man his due." If it be unjust, it violates the law of God, which says, "Love thy neighbor as thyself," for that law requires that we should perpetrate no injustice. Gentlemen, if it could be maintained that negro Slavery is unjust, is thus in conflict with the law of nature and the law of God, perhaps I might be prepared-perhaps we all ought to be prepared to go with that distinguished man to whom allusion is frequently made, and say, there is a "higher law" which compels us to trample beneath our feet, as a wicked and unholy compact, the Constitution established by our fathers, with all the blessings it secures to their children. But I insist and that is the argument which we must meet, and on which we must come to a conclusion that shall govern our action in the future selection of representatives in the Congress of the United States-I insist that negro Slavery is not unjust. (Long continued applause.) It is not unjust; it is just, wise, and beneficent. (Hisses, followed by applause, and cries of "Put him out.") Let him stay, gentlemen. PRESIDENT.-Let him stay there. Order. MR. O'CONOR.-Serpents may hiss, but good men will hear. (Cries again of "Put him out;" calls to order; confusion for a time.) THE PRESIDENT. -If anybody hisses here, remember that every one has his own peculiar way of expressing himself, and as some birds only understand hissing, they must hiss. (Applause.) MR. O'CONOR.-Gentlemen, there is an animal upon this earth that has no faculty of making its sentiments known in any other way than by a hiss. I am for equal rights. (Three cheers were here given for Mr. O'Conor, three for Gov. Wise, and three groans for John Brown.) I beg of you, gentlemen, all of you who are of my mind at least, to preserve silence, and leave the hissing animal in the full enjoyment of his natural privileges. (Cries of "Good, good," laughter and applause.) The first of our race that offended was taught to do so by that hissing animal. (Laughter and applause.) The first human society that was ever broken up through sin and discord, had its happy union dissolved by the entrance of that animal. (Applause.) Therefore I say it is his privilege to hiss. Let him hiss on. (Cries of "Good, good," laughter and applause.) Gentlemen, I will not detain you much longer. (Cries of "Go on, go on.") I maintain that negro Slavery is not unjust-(a voice-"No, sir," applause,) that it is benign in its influence upon the white man and upon the black. (Voices-" That's so, that's so," applause.) I maintain that it is ordained by nature; that it is a necessity of both races; that, in climates where the black race can live and prosper, nature herself enjoins correlative duties on the black man and on the white, which cannot be performed except by the preservation, and, if the hissing gentleman please, the perpetuation of negro Slavery. We ledged among men, that are not to be found written in constitutions or in laws. The people of the United States, at the formation of our Government, were, as they still are, in some sense, peculiarly and radically distinguishable from other nations. We were white men, of what is commonly called, by way of distinction-the Caucasian race. were a monogamous people; that is to say, we were not Mohammedans, or followers of Joe Smith-with half a dozen wives apiece. (Laughter.) It was a fundamental principle of our civilization that no State could exist or be tolerated in this Union, which should not, in that respect, resemble all the other States of the Union. Some other distinctive features might be stated which serve to mark us as a people distinct from others, and incapable of associating on terms of perfect political equality, or social equality, as friends and fellow-citizens, with some kinds of people that are to be found upon the face of the earth. As a white nation, we made our Constitution and our laws, vesting all political rights in that race. They, and they alone, constituted, in every political sense, the American people. (Applause.) As to the negro, why, we allowed. him to live under the shadow and protection of our laws. We gave him, as we were bound to give him, protection against wrong and outrage; but we denied to him political rights, or the power to govern, We left him, for so long a period as the community in which he dwelt should so order, in the condition of a bondsman. (Applause.) Now, gentlemen, to that condition the negro is assigned by nature. (Cries of "Bravo," and "That's so," and applause.) Experience shows that this race cannot prosper that they become extinct in any cold, or in any very temperate clime; but in the warm, the extremely warm regions, his race can be perpetuated, and with proper guardianship, may prosper. He has ample strength, and is competent to labor, but nature denies to him either the intellect to govern or the willingness to work. (Applause.) Both were denied him. That same power which deprived him of the will to labor, gave him, in our country, as a recompense, a master to coerce that duty, and convert him into a useful and valuable servant. (Applause.) I maintain that it is not injustice to leave the negro in the condition in which nature placed him, and for which alone he is adapted. Fitted only for a state of pupilage, our slave system gives him a master to govern him and to supply his deficiencies: in this there is no injustice. Neither is it unjust in the master to compel him to labor, and thereby afford to that master a just compensation in return for the care and talent employed in governing him. In this way alone is the negro enabled to render himself useful to himself and to the society in which he is placed. These are the principles, gentlemen, which the extreme measures of abolitionism compel us to enforce. This is the ground that we must take, or abandon our cherished Union. We must no longer favor political leaders who talk about negro Slavery being an evil; nor must we advance the indefensible doctrine that negro Slavery is a thing which, although pernicious, is to be tolerated merely because we have made a bargain to tolerate it. We must turn away from the teachings of fanaticism. We must look at negro slavery as it is, remembering that the voice of inspiration, as found in the sacred volume, nowhere condemns the bondage of those who are fit only for bondage. Yielding to the clear decree of nature, and the dictates of sound philosophy, we must pronounce that institution just, benign, lawful and proper. The Constitution established by the fathers of our Republic, which recognized it, must be maintained. And that both may stand together, we must maintain that neither the institution itself, nor the Constitution which upholds it, is wicked or unjust; but that each is sound and wise, and entitled to our fullest support. We must visit with our execration any man claiming our suffrages, who objects to enforcing, with entire good faith, the provisions of the Constitution in favor of negro Slavery, or who seeks, by any indirection, to withhold its protection from the South, or to get away from its obligations upon the North. Let us henceforth support no man for public office whose speech or action tends to induce assaults upon the territory of our Southern neighbors, or to generate insurrection within their borders. (Loud applause.) These are the principles upon which we must act. This is what we must say to our brethren of the South. If we have sent men into Congress who are false to these views, and are seeking to violate the compact which binds us together, we must ask to be forgiven until we have another chance to manifest our will at the ballot-boxes. We must tell them that these men shall be consigned to privacy (applause), and that true men, men faithful to the Constitution, men loving all portions of the country alike, shall be elected I am fortified in this opinion by the highest tribunal in our country, that venerable exponent of our institutions, and of the principles of justice-the Supreme Court of the United States. That court has held, on this subject, what in their stead. And, gentlemen, we must do more than wise men will ever pronounce to be sound and just doc-promise this we must perform it. (Loud applause, fol lowed by three cheers for Mr. O'Conor, and a tiger.) But a word more, gentlemen, and I have done. (Cries of" Go on.") I have no doubt at all that what I have said to you this evening will be greatly misrepresented. It is very certain that I have not had time enough properly to enlarge upon and fully to explain the interesting topics on which I have ventured to express myself thus boldly and distinctly, taking upon myself the consequences, be they what they may. (Applause.) But I will say a few words by way of explanation. I have maintained the justice of Slavery; I have maintained it, because I hold that the negro is decreed by nature to a state of pupilage under the dominion of the wiser white man, in every clime where God and nature meant the negro should live at all. (Applause.) I say a state of pupilage; and, that I may be rightly understood, I say that it is the duty of the white man to treat him kindly; that is the interest of the white man to treat him kindly. (Applause.) And further, it is my belief that if the white man, in the States where Slavery exists, is not interfered with by the fanatics who are now creating these disturbances, whatever laws, whatever improvements, whatever variations in the conduct of society are necessary for the purpose of enforcing in every instance the dictates of interest and humanity, as between the white man and the black, will be faithfully and fairly carried out in the progress of that improvement in all these things in which we are engaged. It is not pretended that the master has a right to slay his slave; it is not pretended that he has a right to be guilty of harshness and inhumanity to his slave. The laws of all the Southern States forbid that; we have not the right here at the North to be guilty of cruelty toward a horse. It is an indictable offence to commit such cruelty. The same laws exist in the South, and if there is any failure in enforcing them to the fullest extent, it is due to this external force, which is pressing upon the Southern States, and compels them to abstain perhaps from many acts beneficent toward the pegro which otherwise would be performed. (Applause.) In truth, in fact, in deed, the white man in the slaveholding States has no more authority by law of the land over his slave than our laws allow to a father over his minor children. He can no more violate humanity with respect to them, than a father in any of the free States of this Union can exercise acts violative of humanity toward his own son under the age of twenty-one. So far as the law is concerned, you own your boys, and have a right to their services until they are twenty-one. You can make them work for you; you have the right to hire out their services and take their earnings; you have the right to chastise them with judg ment and reason if they violate your commands; and they are entirely without political rights. Not one of them at the age of twenty years and eleven months even, can go to the polls and and give a vote. Therefore, gentlemen, before the law, there is but one difference between the free white man of twenty years of age in the Northern States, and the negre bendman in the Southern States. The white man is to be emancipated at twenty-one. because his God-given intellect entitles him to emancipation and fits him for the duties to devolve upon him. The negro, to be sure, is a bondman for life. He may be sold from one master to another, but where is the ill in that?-one may be as good as another. If there be laws with respect to the mode of sale, which by separating man and wife do occasionally lead to that which shocks humanity, and may be said to violate all propriety and all conscience-if such things are done, let the South alone and they will correct the evil. Let our brethren of the South take care of their own domestic institutions and they will do it. (Applause.) They will so govern themselves as to suppress acts of this description, if they are occasionally committed, as perhaps they are, and we must all admit that they are contrary to just conceptions of right and humanity. I have never yet heard of a nation conquered from evil practices, brought to the light of civilization, brought to the light of religion or the knowledge of the Gospel by the bayonet, by the penal laws, or by external persecutions of any kind. It is not by declamation and outcry against a people from those abroad and outside of their territory that you can improve their manners or their morals in any respect. No; if, standing outside of their territory, you attack the errors of a people, you make them cling to their faults. From a sentiment somewhat excusable-somewhat akin to selfrespect and patriotism-they will resist their nation's enemy. Let our brethren of the South alone, gentlemen, and if there be any errors of this kind, they will correct them. There is but one way in which you can thus leave them to the guidance of their own judgment-by which you can retain them in this Union as our brethren, and perpetuate this glorious Union; and that is, by resolving-without reference to the political party or faction to which any one of you may belong, without reference to the name, political or otherwise, which you may please to bearresolving that the man, be he who he may, who advocates the doctrine that negro Slavery is unjust, and ought to be assailed or legislated against, or who agitates the subject of extinguishing negro Slavery in any of its forms as a political hobby, that that man shall be denied your suffrages, and not only denied your suffrages, but that you will select from the ranks of the opposite party, or your own, if necessary, the man you like least, who entertains opposite sentiments, but through whose instrumentality you may be enabled to defeat his election, and to secure in the councils of the nation men who are true to the Constitution, who are lovers of the Union-men who cannot be induced by considerations of imaginary benevolence for a people who really do not desire their aid, to sacrifice or to jeopard in any degree the blessings we enjoy under this Union. May it be perpetual. (Great and continued cheering.) THE REAL QUESTION STATED. LETTER FROM CHARLES O'CONOR TO A COMMITTEE OF MERCHANTS. NEW YORK, Dec. 20, 1859. CHAS. O'CONOR, Esq.: The undersigned, being desirous of circulating as widely as possible, both at the North and at the South, the proceedings of the Union Meeting held at the Academy of Music last evening, intend publishing in pamphlet form, for distribution, a correct copy of the same. Will you be so kind as to inform us whether this step meets your approval; and if so, furnish us with a corrected report / of your speech delivered by you on that occasion. Yours respectfully, LEITCH, BURNET & CO., DAVIS, NOBLE & CO., (Formerly FURMAN, DAVIS & Co.,) GENTLEMEN: The measure you propose meets my entire drawn to the true issue, and steadily fixed upon it. Το effect this object was the sole aim of my address. Though its ministers can never permit the law of the land to be questioned by private judgment, there is, nevertheless, such a thing as natural justice. Natural justice has the Divine sanction; and it is impossible that any human law which conflicts with it should long endure. Where mental enlightenment abounds, where morality is professed by all, where the mind is free, speech is free, and the press is free, is it possible, in the nature of things, that a law which is admitted to conflict with natural justice, and with God's own mandate, should long en dure? You all will admit that, within certain limits, at least, our Constitution does contain positive guaranties for the preservation of negro Slavery in the old States through all. time, unless the local legislatures shall think fit to abolish it. And, consequently, if negro Slavery, however humanely administered or judiciously regulated, be an institution which conflicts with natural justice and with God's law, surely the most vehement and extreme admirers of John Brown's sentiments are right; and their denunciations against the Constitution, and against the most hallowed names connected with it, are perfectly justifiable The friends of truth-the patriotic Americans who would sustain their country's honor against foreign rivalry, and defend their country's interests against all assailants, err greatly when they contend with these men on any point but one. Their general principles cannot be refuted; their logic is irresistible; the error, if any there be, is in their premises. They assert that negro Slavery is unjust. This, and this alone, of all they say, is capable of being fairly argued against. If this proposition cannot be refuted, our Union cannot endure, and it ought not to endure. Our negro bondmen can neither be exterminated nor transported to Africa. They are too numerous for either process, and either, if practicable, would involve a violation of humanity. If they were emancipated, they would relapse into barbarism, or a set of negro States would arise in our midst, possessing political equality, and entitled to social equality. The division of parties would soon make the negro members a powerful body in Congresswould place some of them in high political stations, and occasionally let one into the executive chair. It is in vain to say that this could be endured; it is simply impossible. What, then, remains to be discussed? The negro race is upon us. With a Constitution which held them in bondage, our Federal Union might be preserved; but if so holding them in bondage be a thing forbidden by God and Nature, we cannot lawfully so hold them, and the Union must perish. This is the inevitable result of that conflict which has now reached its climax. Among us at the north, the sole question for reflection, study, and friendly interchange of thought should be-Is negro Slavery unjust? The rational and dispassionate inquirer will find no difficulty in arriving at my conclusion. It is fit and proper; it is, in its own nature, as an institution, beneficial to both races; and the effect of this assertion is not diminished by our admitting that many faults are practised under it. Is not such the fact in respect to all human laws and institutions? I am, gentlemen, with great respect, yours truly, CHARLES O'CONOR. To Messrs. Leitch, Burnet & Co.; Geo. W. & Jehial Read; Bruff, Brother & Seaver; C. B. Hatch & Co.; Davis, Noble & Co.; Wesson & Cox; Cronin, Hurxthal & Sears; Atwater, Mulford & Co. HERSCHEL V. JOHNSON ON SLAVERY IN THE TERRITORIES. On the 7th of July, 1848, while the bill to establish the Territorial Government of Oregon was under consideration in the United States Senate, the Hon. Herschel V. Johnson, then a member of the Senate, from Georgia, and now a candidate for Vice-President on the ticket with Mr. Douglas, made a lengthy speech from which we extract the following: It remains now to consider the question involved in the amendment proposed by the Senator from Mississippi (Mr. Davis). That question is, whether it is the duty of Congress to guarantee to the slaveholder, who shall remove with his salves into the territory of the United States, the undisputed enjoyment of his property in them, so long as it continues to be a Territory. Or, in other words, whether the inhabitants of a Territory, during their Territorial condition, have the right to prohibit Slavery therein. For the purpose of this question, it matters not where the power of legislating for the Territory resideswhether exclusively in Congress, or jointly in Congress and the inhabitants, or exclusively in the inhabitants of the Territory; the power is precisely the same no greater in the hands of one than the other. In no event, can the slaveholder of the South be excluded from settling in such Territory with his property of every description. If the right of exclusive legislation for the Territories belongs to Congress, then I have shown that they have no Constitutional power, either expressed or implied, to prohibit Slavery therein. But suppose that Congress have the right to establish a Territorial Government only, and that then, all further governmental control ceases; can the Territorial Legislature pass an act prohibiting Slavery? Surely not. For the moment you admit the right to organize a Territorial Government to exist in Congress, you admit, necessarily he subordination of the people of the Territory-their lependence on this Government for an organic law to give them political existence. Hence all their legislation must be in conformity with the organic law; they can pass no act in violation of it-none but such as permits. Since, therefore, Congress has no power, as I have shown, to prohibit Slavery, they cannot delegate such a power to the inhabitants of the Territory; they cannot authorize the Territorial Legislature to do that which they have no power to do. The stream cannot rise higher than its source. This is as true in governments as in physics. It is idle, however, to discuss this question in this form. For if Congress possess the power to organize temporary governments, it must then possess the power to legislate for the Territories. If they may perform the greater, they may the less; the major includes the minor proposition. Hence Congress has, in all cases since the foundation of our government, reserved a veto upon the legislation of the territorial governments; it is absolutely necessary, in order to restrain them from violations of the Constitution and infringements of the rights of the States, as joint owners of the public lands. If, therefore, the act of the Territorial Government, prohibiting Slavery, should be sent up to Congress for approval, they would be bound to withhold it, upon the ground of its being an act which Congress themselves could not pass. But suppose the right of legislation for the Territory be in its inhabitants, can they prohibit Slavery? Surely not; and for reasons similar to those which show that Congress cannot. The Territories are not independent of, but subordinate to, the United States; and therefore their legislation must be subordinate. Let us look at some of the limitations which this condition imposes. Under the Constitution, "No title of nobility shall be granted by the United States;" "Congress shall make no law respecting the establishment of religion, or pertaining to the free exercise thereof; no religious test shall be required as a qualification to any office or public trust under the United States," etc. It is true, these restrictions do not apply in terms to the Territories; but will it be contended for a moment that they would have the right by legislation to lay these impositions upon citizens of the States who emigrate thither for settlement? Sovereignty follows the ownership of the domain, and therefore the sovereignty over the Territories is in the States in their confederated capacity; hence the reason that the legislation of Congress, as the agent of the States respecting the Territories, must be limited by the object of the trust, the situation and nature of the property to be administered, and the respective rights of the proper owners. Now, if the sovereignty over the Territories is in the States, and the right of legislation not in Congress, but in the inhabitants of the Territories, it is evident that they can have no higher right of legislation than Congress could have; they must be bound by limitations just mentioned; and if the prohibition of Slavery in the Territories by Congress be inconsistent with these limitations, its prohibition by the territorial legislature would be so likewise. If possessing the right of legislation, the inhabitants of the Territories are bound by the limitations to which I have alluded, it may be asked, who holds the check upon their action? I reply, that it is indispensable for Congress to exercise the veto upon their legislation. Who else shall prevent their passing laws in violation of the equal rights of the States in the Territory, which is the common property of all? Without the retention of a veto upon the legislation of the Territorial Governments, it would make the inhabitants of the Territory independent of Congress; aye, it would establish the proposition, that the moment you conquer a people they rise superior to the government that conquers. New-Mexico and Califor |