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"But all his efforts were in vain. Either the justice of the opposing cause, or the power of his adversaries, or the prejudged opinions or instructions of the members, rendered his reasoning and his eloquence equally unavailing. Out of a house of 168 members, the ratification was carried by a majority of 10.” 1

He closed his last speech with the following remarks:

"I beg pardon of this house for taking up more time than came to my share; and I thank them for the patience and polite attention with which I have been heard. If I be in a minority, I shall have the painful sensations which arise from the conviction of being overpowered in a good cause. Yet I will be a peaceable citizen! My head, my hand, and my heart shall be free to retrieve the loss of liberty, and remove the defects of that system in a constitutional way. I wish not to go to violence, but will wait with hopes that the spirit which predominated in the Revolution is not yet gone, nor the cause of those who are attached to the Revolution yet lost. I shall, therefore, patiently wait, in expectation of seeing that government changed, so as to be compatible with the safety, liberty, and happiness of the people."2

If Mr. Henry had lived in these days, and seen the subserviency of all classes of people to the slave power, we cannot but suppose he would have thought the free spirit which pervaded the land in the days of our Revolution had entirely left us, and that our people had become too debased to be reckoned among free nations. This power, as we have seen, early began to show it

Wirt's Life of Patrick Henry, p. 314.

2

Idem, p. 314..

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 African 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 alone 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.

CHAPTER XIII.

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.

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? or is

1

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? 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.

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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 Virginia which adopted the Constitution and recom

1 Mr. George McDuffie's Message to the legislature of South Carolina.

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