AN ARGUMENT ON THE UNCONSTITUTIONALITY OF SLAVERY, EMBRACING AN ABSTRACT OF THE PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL AND STATE CONVENTIONS ON THIS SUBJECT. By G. W. F. MELLEN. Shall I hold another in slavery, when I myself would be free! BOSTON: PUBLISHED BY SAXTON & PEIRCE. 1841. Entered according to act of Congress, in the year 1841, BY G. W. F. MELLEN, in the clerk's office of the District Court of Massachusetts. PREFACE. IN presenting the public with the present volume, we are aware it involves some presumption, as we are not connected with the learned profession of the law; but none, either abler or otherwise, having undertaken the task, we have ventured to raise our sail, and, with what skill and favorable winds we could command, have endeavored to steer our bark into the desired haven. We are aware that Mr. Alvan Stewart, of New York, with his great mind, has preceded us in the discussion of the constitutional question of the rights of slaveholders; but he did not touch the point which we thought lay at the foundation of this most interesting question; we have therefore considered it in a somewhat different aspect. While he supposed, because the States had not by their laws established slavery, therefore it did not exist, we, on the contrary, would affirm, that, according to our Constitution, it is impossible either for congress |