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self, and had its influence even over Mr. Henry ; and, while he and the Virginia convention were exerting themselves to secure liberty to their own race, the principles of the revolution had already been so far lost upon them that they were then willing to engraft the system of slavery upon the country, as will be perceived by the resolutions they proposed. It will be noticed, however, that these amendments, that Virginia proposed, secured to the individual “freeman" nearly all the rights. for which Mr. Henry had so powerfully contended, and probably it was through his influence they Were brought about. We shall soon see how those amendments were treated by the congress who took them under consideration, and what amendments were proposed and adopted by them.
Mr. Henry, it would appear, had perfect confidence in the power of the Anglo-Saxon race for self-government; but, for some reason or other, he did not have the same confidence in the Afriean race : why it was so we are not able to say, , unless it arose from early education. We , all know how hard it is to throw off the impressions of our childhood, and how difficult it is to suppose that any practices to which we have been accustomed are wrong, let them be of what nature they may ; and it is to this alones we can ascribe the course Mr. Henry took on the subject of slavery. It is difficult to explain how a man so conscientious, and so jealous of his own and others' rights, when those others were not connected with the African race, could take such an exception to this
people, and particularly when he lamented with so much feeling the cruelties practised upon them in the operation of the slave-trade. We can account for it in no other way than that he let his selfishness get the better of his judgment, or, that the early habits of his youth, and of those around him, and the assertion so falsely and yet so perseveringly made, that the negro, if free, would be a savage, or that he could not take care of himself, or that the general liberty of the country would be endangered, had such a powerful hold on his mind he could not be convinced to the contrary by his own better thoughts, or by the suggestions of others.
EXTRACTS FROM PROCEEDINGS OF CONGRESS ON THE ADOPTION OF THE AMENDMENTS.
THE following extracts were taken from the Massachusetts Centinel, published in 1789 and 1790. They comprise some observations made by Washington on his accession to the presidency, the views of the Constitution held by some of the courts, and the proceedings of congress on the subject of the amendments.
It will be perceived the judges of the courts of New York and Pennsylvania referred directly to the preamble of the Constitution as the basis on which the government was to be founded, and they refer to it as with jealous care; and one of them reminds the distinguished man who was to take charge of the government that such was the view they should take of the purpose for which the new Constitution was formed. o
Washington acknowledges the principle, and says “he should feel himself singularly happy in contributing to realize the glorious work.” And yet how has that “glorious work’ been realized . Has justice, the general welfare, the liberty of themselves, or their posterity, been realized 2 or is,
there not at this present time as many, if not more, absolute slaves in the country than there were freemen then Instead of slavery being considered a curse, as it should be, the attempt has been made to make us believe it was a blessing, " — a god, to which all must bow down, or else be crushed beneath the wheels of the avenging deity. Can any man expect or dare hope for an office, of either trust or emolument, under our government, without first acknowledging the supremacy of this inexorable god Must they not cringe and kiss his toe before they can be taken into favor 2 and then, forsooth, when this is done, they may be very devils, and they are changed into angels of light, deserving the highest consideration and the rewards of the highest honesty and intellect ; or, at least, they must openly and publicly denounce all those who call his authority in question, and consider them as outcasts of society, whom to insult and treat with contumely is but giving them their just deserts. Such is the “glorious results’’ to which our free Constitution has brought us, or it is endeavored to bring us. But, to return to the proceedings of congress on the amendments, it will be perceived Mr. Madison introduced, probably not without consultation, a series of resolutions for their consideration. It will be borne in mind Mr. Madison was a Virginian, and was a member of the convention of Wirginia which adopted the Constitution and recommended the amendments that have been quoted in a former part of this work, as a part of the proceedings of that convention, and that, in the resolutions he now offers for the consideration of congress, he dares not, or, from his own sense of justice, he will not, introduce the word “freeman,” in contradistinction to any other class of men, in any one of the amendments he introduces for their consideration ; and, although we have not been able to get a report of all the speeches made on these amendments, yet, in those we have seen, there is not a word in favor of making any distinction among the various classes of men in the country, for whose “general welfare * the government was “established.” In this instance it cannot be said that the word “freeman o’ was overlooked or forgotten. Two States, to say nothing of South Carolina and Georgia, had brought forward their claim to have it incorporated in the Constitution; but, when brought before the representatives of the people, it received no countenance. They were well aware of the damning disgrace it would bring upon their deliberations, and they cast it out as evil; or, whatever may have been their considerations, this word appears not on the record; and, by its not appearing there, when so directly suggested to the minds of the delegates in congress by the States above mentioned, together with the counter resolutions made by Massachusetts, and made, too, as was said in the convention of Massachusetts, for the very purpose of having an effect upon the individual in
* Mr. George McDuffie's Message to the legislature of South Carolina,