Publisher's Synopsis
Excerpt from Speech of Mr. J. Barbour, of Virginia, on the Restriction of Slavery in Missouri
How has it happened, that these doctrines have slept till this moment? Where were they at the adoption of the constitution, in which slavery is recognized, &thcpr0per ty guaranteed by an express clause And shall we, the mere creatures of that instrument, presume to question its authority To every other sanction imposed by our situation, is the solemn oaththat we, will support it. Where are the consciences of gentlemen who hold this language? But, they assure us, that they do' not mean to touch this property in the old states. 'nhat, this eternal, and, as they say, immutable principle, consecrated by this fa mous instrument, and in support of which we have ap pealed to God, is to have no obligatory force on the very parties who made it but attaches instantly you cruss the Mississippi! What kind ofethics is this, that is bound ed by latitude and longitudeu-which is inoperative on the left, but is omnipotent on the right bank ofa river? Such doctrines are well calculated to excite our solicitude; for, although the gentlemen, who now hold it, are sincere in their declarations, and mean to content themselves with a triumph in this controversy, what security have we, that others will not apply it to the south generally i' This, sir, is no longer matter of speculation; you have heard the doctrine contended for already, not at cross roads, or in the city taverns, but in the legislative hall of a state. When it shall be resorted to by faction, who can pretend to prescribe its limits! Every page of history is full of melancholy proofs of the feebleness of that security, which reposes upon the moderation of the ambitious and designing. The means are always made to yield to the end. I, therefore, heard the doctrine with unmixed regret. I fear it is the beginning of new counsels, whose disas trous effects no one can foresee.
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