Facts for the Times

TESTIMONY OF STATESMEN, PHILOSOPHERS, AND CHRISTIANS:

WASHINGTON in a letter to LAFAYETTE, says: FT 30.8

“Your late purchase of an estate in the Colony of Cayenne, with the view of emancipating the slaves on it, is a generous and noble proof of your humanity. Would to God a like spirit might diffuse itself generally into the minds of the people of this country.” FT 30.9

the declaration of independence, the principles of which were held so sacred by fifty-four men, that they vowed to lay down their honor, fortunes and lives, for its support; and which is now acknowledged (theoretically) by both the civil and ecclesiastical powers of this great nation, says: FT 31.1

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal; and endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” FT 31.2

Mr. MADISON, author of the Constitution, says: FT 31.3

“It is wrong to admit into the Constitution the idea that there can be property in man.” FT 31.4

“Where slavery exists, the republican theory becomes still more fallacious.” FT 31.5

Mr. MONROE, in the Virginia Convention, said: FT 31.6

“We have found that this evil has preyed upon the very vitals of the Union, and has been prejudicial to all the States, in which it has existed.” FT 31.7

JOHN RANDOLPH, while in Congress, said: FT 31.8

“Sir, I envy neither the heart nor the head of that man from the North, who rises here to defend slavery on principle.” FT 31.9

HENRY CLAY, in the United States Senate, in 1850, said: FT 31.10

“So long as God allows the vital current to flow through my veins, I will never, never, never, by word or thought, by mind or will, aid in admitting one rood of free territory to the everlasting curse of human bondage.” FT 31.11

Mr. LEIGH, in the Legislature of Virginia, in 1832, said: FT 32.1

“I thought, till very lately, that it was known to everybody that, during the Revolution, and for many years after, the abolition of slavery was a favorite topic with many of our ablest statesmen, etc.” FT 32.2

Mr. CHANDLER, in the Virginia Legislature, in 1832, said: FT 32.3

“It is admitted by all who have addressed this House, that slavery is a curse, and an increasing one. That its future increase will create commotion, cannot be doubted.” FT 32.4

Mr. SUMMERS, at the same time and place, said: FT 32.5

“The evils of this system cannot be enumerated. They glare upon us at every step.” FT 32.6

J. C. FREMONT, says: FT 32.7

“I am opposed to slavery in the abstract, and upon principles sustained and made habitual by long settled convictions. FT 32.8

Francis P. Blair, in an address to the republicans of Maryland, in 1856, said: FT 32.9

“In every aspect in which slavery among us can be considered, it is pregnant with difficulty.” FT 32.10

James G. Birney, says: FT 32.11

“We have so long practiced injustice, adding to it hypocrisy, in the treatment of the colored race, both negroes and Indians, that we begin to regard injustice as an element—the chief element of our Government.” FT 32.12

Hon. William Pinkney. This eminent lawyer and statesman about seventy years ago, said: FT 33.1

“By the eternal principles of natural justice, no master in the State has a right to hold his slave in bondage a single hour.” FT 33.2

LUTHER MARTIN, of Carolina, in 1787, said: FT 33.3

“Slavery is inconsistent with the genius of republicanism, and has a tendency to destroy those principles on which it is supported, as it lessens the sense of the equal rights of mankind, and habituates us to tyranny and oppression.” FT 33.4

JOHN JAY, first Chief Justice of the U. S., in a letter dated Nov. 17, 1819, on the abolition of slavery, says: FT 33.5

“Till America comes into this measure, her prayers to Heaven will be impious. This is a strong expression, but it is just. I believe that God governs the world, and I believe it to be a maxim in His, as in our courts, that those who ask for equity, ought to do it.” FT 33.6

John Quincy Adams, says: FT 33.7

“It is among the evils of slavery, that it taints the very sources of moral principle. It establishes false estimates of virtue and vice; for what can be more false and more heartless than this doctrine, which makes the first and holiest rights of humanity to depend upon the color of the skin?” FT 33.8

DANIEL WEBSTER, in a letter dated February 15, 1850, said: FT 33.9

“From my earliest youth, I have regarded slavery as a great moral and political evil.” FT 33.10

NOAH WEBSTER, the great American vocabulist, says: FT 33.11

“That freedom is the sacred right of every man, whatever be his color, who has not forfeited it by some violation of municipal law, is a truth established by God himself, in the very creation of human beings. No time, no circumstance, no human power or policy can change the nature of this truth, nor repeal the fundamental laws of society, by which every man’s right to liberty is guaranteed.” FT 33.12

PITT says: FT 34.1

“It is injustice to permit slavery to remain a single hour.” FT 34.2

COWPER, says: FT 34.3

“Slaves cannot breathe in England; if their lungs
Receive our air, that moment they are free.
They touch our country and their shackles fall.
That’s noble, and bespeaks a nation proud
And jealous of the blessing.” FT 34.4

Dr. JOHNSON, says: FT 34.5

“No man is by nature the property of another. The rights of nature must be some way forfeited before they can be justly taken away.” FT 34.6

LAFAYETTE says: FT 34.7

“I would never have drawn my sword in the cause of America, if I could have conceived that thereby I was founding a land of slavery.” FT 34.8

CICERO says: FT 34.9

“By the grand laws of nature, all men are born free, and this law is universally binding upon all men.” FT 34.10

SOCRATES, says: FT 34.11

“Slavery is a system of outrage and robbery.” FT 34.12

PLATO, says: FT 34.13

“Slavery is a system of the most complete injustice.” FT 34.14

ALBERT BARNES, (Presbyterian Commentator,) says: FT 35.1

“There is a deep and growing conviction in the minds of the mass of mankind, that slavery violates the great laws of our nature; that it is contrary to the dictates of humanity; that it is essentially unjust, oppressive and cruel.” FT 35.2

THOMAS SCOTT, (Presbyterian Commentator,) says: FT 35.3

“To number the persons of men with beasts, sheep, and horses, as the stock of a farm, or with bales of goods, as the cargo of a ship, is, no doubt, a most detestable and anti-christian practice.” FT 35.4

BISHOP HORSELY, (Episcopal,) says: FT 35.5

“Slavery is injustice, which no consideration of policy can extenuate.” FT 35.6

BISHOP PORTEUS, (Episcopal,) says: FT 35.7

“The Bible classes men-stealers, or slave-traders among the murderers of fathers and mothers, and the most profane criminals on earth.” FT 35.8

Dr. FRANCIS WAYLAND, one of the most learned and distinguished Baptists now living, says: FT 35.9

“Slavery violates the personal liberty of man as a physical, intellectual, and moral being.” FT 35.10

JOHN WESLEY, says: FT 35.11

“Men-buyers are exactly on a level with men-stealers. American slavery is the vilest that ever saw the sun; it constitutes the sum of all villainies.” FT 35.12

Dr. A. CLARKE, says: FT 35.13

“Slave-dealers, whether those who carry on the traffic in human flesh and blood; or those who steal a person in order to sell him into bondage; or those who buy such stolen men and women, no matter of what color, or what country; or the nations who legalize or connive at such traffic; all these are men-stealers, and God classes them with the most flagitious of mortals.” FT 35.14