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diff --git a/old/13986.txt b/old/13986.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..cee54f8 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/13986.txt @@ -0,0 +1,1184 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Speech of Mr. Cushing, of Massachusetts, +on the Right of Petition, as Connected with Petitions for the Abolition +of Slavery and the Slave Trade in the District of Columbia. In The House +Of Representatives, January 25, 1836., by Caleb Cushing + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Speech of Mr. Cushing, of Massachusetts, on the Right of Petition, +as Connected with Petitions for the Abolition of Slavery and the Slave +Trade in the District of Columbia. In The House Of Representatives, +January 25, 1836. + +Author: Caleb Cushing + +Release Date: November 9, 2004 [EBook #13986] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SPEECH OF MR. CUSHING *** + + + + +Produced by Curtis Weyant, Andrea Ball and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team. + + + + + + + +SPEECH OF MR. CUSHING, OF MASSACHUSETTS, + +ON THE + +RIGHT OF PETITION, + +AS CONNECTED WITH PETITIONS FOR THE + +ABOLITION OF SLAVERY AND THE SLAVE TRADE + +IN THE + +DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA: + +IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, JANUARY 25, 1836. + +WASHINGTON: PRINTED BY GALES AND BEATON, 1836. + + + + +SPEECH. + + +Mr. Cushing said: I hold in my hand several Petitions on the subject +of the slave interest in the District of Columbia. One of them, I +now present to the House. Upon it, I make the preliminary motion, +understood to be necessary in such cases, that it be received; and, +in reference to this question, I have some few remarks to submit to +the consideration of the House. + +This Petition prays for the abolition of slavery, and the slave +trade, in this District. It is respectful in its terms, being free +from the offensive expressions and reflections contained in some of +the Petitions on the same subject, heretofore presented; it is +signed by inhabitants of Haverhill, in the State of Massachusetts; +and among the subscribers are the names of citizens of that State +whom I personally know, whom I avouch to be highly respectable, and +who, whether mistaken or not in their views, are assuredly actuated +by conscientious motives of civil and religious principle. They are +constituents of mine; they have transmitted to me the Petition, +desiring me, as their Representative, to present it; and, under +these circumstances, much as I have deprecated such a commission, +and reluctant as I am to be instrumental in the introduction of any +matter of excitement upon this floor, I cannot permit myself to +hesitate in the discharge of this painful duty, believing, as I do, +that it is the constitutional right of every American, be he high or +be he low; be he fanatic or be he philosopher, to come here with his +grievances, and to be heard upon his petition by this House. + +These petitioners look to me to obtain them a hearing in this place; +they have a right to require this office of me; they have, in my +judgment a right to be heard; and so long as I have the honor to +hold a seat in this House, no constituent of mine, however humble +his condition or unwelcome his prayer, shall see his petition thrust +back in his face unheard while the gift of reason or speech remains +to me; for if it cannot be received and considered in the usual +forms of legislation, it shall be heard through the lips of his +Representative. Nor will I undertake to scan over-captiously, either +the object of his petition, or the language in which it is couched; +nor will I stop to inquire how far the petitioners and I myself +entertain the same opinions of the general subject-matter. And there +are particular inducements, which impel me to make a stand at the +present moment upon this Petition. + +I declare and protest in advance, that I do not intend, at this time +at least; to be drawn or driven into the question of slavery, in +either of its subdivisions or forms. At home, I am known to be of +those, who long ago foresaw and early withstood the coming of this +anti-slavery agitation. Of the many occasions when I have actively +interposed in this behalf, I hope to be pardoned for distinctly +citing one, as vesting in me some title to be candidly heard by the +House. I allude to a published Address upon the slave question, in +which I deliberately asserted the constitutional rights of the South +in this matter. It shall be my aim, on this occasion to do and say +nothing inconsistent with myself, with the letter of the +Constitution, or with the spirit of the various compromises of +interest and opinion incorporated into the union of these States. + +The members of this House have been frequently called, during the +present session, to vote upon divisions connected with petitions of +this nature. On those occasions I have been content to pronounce my +vote simply, and without explanation, leaving my reasons and motives +to be construed or misconstrued by others, as chance might order. To +have continued so to do, until the subject of present controversy +were finally disposed of, is the part I should altogether have +chosen, had circumstances permitted to me such a course. But, if I +have been a silent, I have not been an incurious, nor, I trust, an +uninstructed, spectator of events. It is rendered apparent that +those great matters, which occupy the public mind abroad, do now +occupy also this House. If other gentlemen, differing with me in +part or in whole, had voted without discussion, according to the +dictates of their individual judgment, each of us could fairly have +stood upon his personal convictions, and his personal estimation +elsewhere, for his justification in the eyes of his countrymen. But +that, much as it were in my view to be desired, is no longer +possible. What has happened here is enrolled already in the +unchangeable records of time and of eternity. It is become history. +It cannot be recalled; it cannot be blotted from the memory; it +cannot be expunged from the annals of the country. The winged words +uttered in this House have gone forth to the world, on their mission +of good or of evil. Debate we have; debate we must have; we are +goaded into debate; it is forced upon us; and from a quarter of the +Union whence, I am frank to say, I did not look for it to come; and +forced upon us in terms of dictation, which I cannot brook; since +they leave to me no alternative of escape from debate, but in the +passive surrender of some of the dearest of our birthrights, those +of free petition, free speech, and free conscience. I say, of free +speech and free conscience, both which are involved in the +resolutions moved some time since by a gentleman from Maine, (Mr. +JARVIS.) When these resolutions shall be distinctly before the +House, it will become its members to reflect whether they have the +constitutional right to attempt, or attempting, have the power to +enforce, what those resolutions seem to contemplate, a perpetual +prohibition of debate, and even of motions, upon a large and +comprehensive class of subjects. These rights, neither my +constituents nor myself feel disposed to surrender; and upon one of +these great liberties of the land, and for the sake of incidentally +vindicating the others, I shall, in due time, address the House at +length. + +My only object at this time, is to come to a fair understanding with +the House as to the cause to be pursued in the debate, and the +disposition it will make of these Petitions. + +At a very early period of the session, a gentleman from South +Carolina (Mr. HAMMOND) met such petitions with the motion that they +be not received. All the debates, which ensued thereon, terminated +in evasive and unsatisfactory votes for laying on the table, which +left every question of principle unsettled. + +Afterwards, on a similar objection to reception being made by a +gentleman from Georgia, (Mr. GLASCOCK,) my colleague (Mr. ADAMS) +appealed from a ruling of the Speaker on an incidental point of +order; which appeal, and the matters connected with it, have been +put off, day after day, and week after week, and still remain +suspended for some future time of consideration. + +Then came a set of resolutions applicable to a part of the prayer of +these petitions, moved by a gentleman from Maine, (Mr. JARVIS,) +under which there is a debate in progress, on an amendment moved by +a gentleman from Virginia, (Mr. WISE,) to the effect that Congress +have no power granted by the constitution to legislate on the +subject of slavery in this District. + +Finally, on the last occasion when petitions of this kind were +presented, the question of reception being raised, that question +was, by vote of the House, laid on the table; as happened this +morning in the case of those petitions presented by my colleague +(Mr. ADAMS;) the operation of which is, practically, to refuse to +receive the petitions. + +Now, I am wholly dissatisfied with this course of proceeding, and I +cannot submit to it in regard to the Petitions, which I am charged +to present. I hold that the question of reception, as it is in fact +and of necessity the first in order of time, so is it the first in +order of principle. It must not be pushed aside to make place for +the discussion of speculative resolutions, or for debate, on the +merits of the question raised by the prayer of these petitions. I +maintain that the House is bound by the Constitution to receive the +petitions; after which, it will take such method of deciding upon +them as reason and principle shall dictate. It should first lend an +attentive and respectful ear to the prayer of the People. Whether it +can or will grant that prayer, is an after consideration. I have +already kept back for several weeks the petitions committed to me, +in order to shape my course according to the deliberate decision of +the House; but that decision does not come; it is continually +procrastinated for the sake of considering questions, which, in my +view, are secondary in time and in principle to the question of +reception; and I can no longer consent that these my constituents +shall be held waiting, as it were, at the doors of the Capitol for +admission, when, as I read the Constitution, they have a right to +demand immediate entrance, and to be respectfully received by their +assembled representatives. + +I tender to the House, therefore, an alternative. I place this +Petition at their disposal. If they choose to fix absolutely on a +time certain for considering and deciding the question of reception, +so that this shall take precedence of the other debate, they will +then have this day, as usual, for its appropriate business of the +general presentation of petitions. But if they decide, as +heretofore, to lay the question of reception on the table, then I +shall feel myself constrained to take the floor upon another of +these Petitions, and to keep it, as under the late decision of the +House I have a right to do, until I have fully debated the whole +subject-matter. If the effect of this shall be to exclude all other +petitions for the day, I cannot help it. Be the responsibility on +their heads who raise this novel and extraordinary question of +reception, going to the unconstitutional abridgment, as I conceive, +of the great right of petition inherent in the People of the United +States. + +[The question, Shall this petition be received? was then, at the +motion of a gentleman from South Carolina, (Mr. HAMMOND) laid on the +table; when Mr. CUSHING resumed the floor and said:] + +I now present to the House a Petition signed by inhabitants of +Amesbury, in the State of Massachusetts, among the subscribers to +which are persons whom I know and avouch to be citizens of the +United States. They pray for the abolition of slavery and the slave +trade in the District of Columbia, and in the Territories under the +jurisdiction of the United States. I make the preliminary motion +that it be received; and, upon that motion, I proceed to express my +views to the House. + +Steering clear of all the inflammable matter intruded into these +debates, gauging myself to the standard of the most absolute +moderation, and resolutely tying down my thoughts to the real point +in issue, what I propose to examine is the single naked question of +the constitutional right of petition, as involved in the disposition +of these petitions. + +Looking into the Constitution I find, among the amendments proposed +by the Congress of 1789, and the very first of the number, the +following article: + +"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, +or prohibiting the free exercise thereof, or abridging the freedom +of speech or of the press; or _the right of the People_ peaceably to +assemble and _to petition the Government for a redress of +grievances_." + +Long before I had imagined that such a right would ever be called in +question, I remember to have read the remark of a distinguished +jurist and magistrate of the State of Virginia, (Tucker's Notes on +Blackstone,) complaining that the concluding words of the clause I +have cited from the Constitution did not so strongly guard the great +right of petition, as the liberties of the People demanded. On the +other hand, a still more distinguished jurist and magistrate, of my +own State, (Story's Commentaries,) in remarking upon the same +article, expresses the opinion that it is ample in terms; because, +he adds, "It (the right of petition) results from the very nature of +the structure and institutions of a republican government; it is +impossible that it should be practically denied until the spirit of +liberty had wholly disappeared, and the People had become so servile +and debased as to be unfit to exercise any of the privileges of +freemen." These eminent constitutional lawyers agreed in opinion of +the importance of the provision; they differed only in thinking, the +one, that the right of petition could not be too clearly defined; +the other, that whether defectively defined or not in the letter, +the People would take care that it should in spirit be faithfully +observed. While the first entertained a wise jealousy of the +encroachments of the People's representatives, the other looked for +the protection of the public rights to the People themselves, the +masters of the People's representatives. And as the fears of the +former have been verified too speedily, I trust that the hopes of +the latter will be not less truly realized. + +There are some things in the context and phraseology of this article +of the Constitution, which may deserve attention. It speaks of +"_grievances_" in the general; not "_their_ grievances," the +_personal_ grievances of the individuals petitioning, but anything, +public or personal, which they deem to be a grievance. It is the +same article, which allows to us the free exercise of our religion, +and the liberty of speech and of the press. With these primary and +fundamental rights of a free people, it associates the right of +petition. But there is this peculiarity in the language of this +clause of the Constitution. The words applicable to our subject are, +"Congress shall make no law abridging the right of the People to +petition the Government for a redress of grievances." The right of +petition, therefore, is not a privilege conferred by the +Constitution. It is recognised as a pre-existing right, already +possessed by the People, which they still reserve to themselves, and +which Congress shall not so much as touch with the weight of a +finger. The People, in their constitution, say to Congress,--We +place in your hands our right and power of collecting a revenue to +provide for the common defence and general welfare of the Union; our +right and power to regulate commerce, to coin money, to declare war, +and to raise and support armies and navies for its prosecution. Upon +these and other subjects you may exercise the discretion, which we +repose in you by virtue of our constitution. But this you shall not +do:--you shall not, until after the expiration of twenty years, +prohibit the migration or importation of such persons as we think +proper to admit; you shall not pass any bill of attainder; you shall +not lay any tax or duty on exports; and you shall make no law +prohibiting the free exercise of religion, or abridging the freedom +of speech or of the press; or the right of the People peaceably to +assemble and petition the government for a redress of grievances. +These our great natural rights we keep to ourselves; we will not +have them tampered with; respecting them we give to you no +commission whatsoever. And rights which Congress itself, the entire +Legislature, consisting of the President, the Senate, and the House, +acting in their combined functions in the enactment of a law, is +forbidden to abridge,--can this House alone undertake, by a mere +resolution or vote, practically to deny, abolish, and destroy? Sir, +if we can successfully do it, I have greatly misconceived the +democratic ancestry, the democratic principles, and the democratic +energy of the People, whom we are appointed to serve in this House. + +The right of petition, I have said, was not conferred on the People +by the Constitution, but was a pre-existing right, reserved by the +People out of the grants of power made to Congress. To understand +its nature and extent we must, therefore, look beyond and behind the +Constitution, into the anterior political history of the country. + +And, in the first place, I beg of the House, and especially of the +gentlemen who so ably represent Virginia on this floor, to remember +how this article found its way into the Constitution. + +You well know, sir, that when the Constitution was submitted to the +People of the respective States for their adoption or rejection, it +awakened the warmest debates of the several State conventions. Some +of them, in accepting the proposed plan of government, coupled their +acceptance with a recommendation of various additions to the +Constitution, which they deemed essential to the preservation of the +rights of the States, or of the People. The Commonwealth of +Massachusetts insisted, among other things, on the adoption of that +memorable amendment, to the effect, "that it be explicitly declared +that all powers not expressly delegated by the aforesaid +constitution, are reserved to the several States to be by them +exercised." Having attained this object, and thus clearly +ascertained what powers it was that she parted with to the Federal +Government, she felt less anxious in regard to some things which in +other States, were deemed important. Especially, she did not, for +herself demand the insertion of those general clauses of political +doctrine popularly called, at that time, after the celebrated +English bill of rights, and known in some modern European +constitutions by the name of _guaranties_. She was less tenacious on +this point, inasmuch as her own Constitution was very full in this +respect. It contained two clauses material to the present question, +in the following words: + +"All power residing originally in the People, and being derived from +them, the several magistrates and officers of government, vested +with authority, whether legislative, executive, or judicial, are +their substitutes and agents." + +"The People have a right, in an orderly and peaceable manner, to +assemble to consult upon the common good; give instructions to their +representatives; and to request of the legislative body, by the way +of address, petition, or remonstrance, redress of the wrongs done +them, and of the grievances they suffer." + +These clauses being in her own Constitution, I say, and it being +understood by her that all powers not granted to the United States +were reserved to the States, she felt that she was safe in agreeing +to the fundamental compact of the Union. + +The People and the Commonwealth, of Virginia reasoned differently +from this; and I will not stop to argue whether they did or did not +reason more wisely than Massachusetts. They said, We choose to leave +nothing doubtful which language can render certain, in a matter of +so much moment. We are laying the foundations of a government, which +we hope may outlast the Pyramids. We know, from old experience, that +the depositaries of the popular power are ingenious in the finding +of glosses and interpretations to abstract from the popular rights. +Let us see to it that this constitution contain such express +recognitions of the rights of the People as it shall be impossible +to misunderstand. We will write, upon its very front the great +doctrines of liberty in characters of light, which, like the burning +letters in the banqueting-hall of Belshazzar, may blast the +eye-balls of whomever shall meditate treason to the democratic +rights we have conquered with our blood and our fortunes. +Accordingly, the convention of Virginia proposed, to amend the +Constitution by inserting therein the following, among other +clauses: + +"That all power is naturally vested in, and consequently derived +from, the People; that magistrates, therefore, are their trustees +and agents, and at all times amenable to them." + +"That the People have a right peaceably to assemble together to +consult for the common good, or to instruct their representatives; +and that every freeman has a right to petition the Legislature for +redress of grievances." + +New York, North Carolina, and Rhode Island proposed, either +literally or in substance, the same provision; and the consequence +was, the addition to the constitution of the article, which I am now +discussing, on the right of conscience, speech, and petition. And, +such being the history of this clause, I look to the gentlemen from +Virginia especially, constant and honorable as they are in their +attachment to constitutional principles at whatever hazard, to go +with me in maintaining inviolate this great original right of the +People. + +But we shall not fully appreciate the force and value of this +provision, if we stop at this point of the investigation. The right +of petition is an old undoubted household right of the blood of +England, which runs in our veins. When we fled from the oppressions +of kings and parliaments in Europe, to found this great Republic in +America, we brought with us the laws and the liberties, which formed +a part of our heritage as Britons. We brought with us the idea and +the form of our legislative assemblies, composed of elected +representatives of the people; we brought with us the right of +petition, as the necessary incident of such institutions. For when, +in the whole history of our father-land, has the right of petition +ever undergone debate and question? Go back to the old parliamentary +rolls, coeval with Magna Charta; peruse the black-letter volumes in +which the early laws and practices of the English monarchy are seen +to be recorded; and so far as you find a government to exist, you +find the right to petition that government existing also as an +undeniable franchise and birthright of the humblest in the land. The +Normans came over, lance in hand, burning and trampling down every +thing before them, and cutting off the Saxon dynasty and the Saxon +nobles at the edge of the sword; but the right of petition remained +untouched. In all succeeding times, from the day when the barons at +Runnymede pledged themselves to deny to no man redress of his +grievances, through every vicissitude of revolution and of war, down +to the day when our forefathers abandoned their native country, the +same right of petition continued without challenge. In the next +reign, it is true, that of the misguided Charles I, the king invaded +the public liberties; and he expiated the wrong, as he merited, by a +felon's death. After the Commonwealth had passed away, came the +petition of right, and with it the statute of the 13 Charles II, +distinctly recognising the old right of petition, and regulating the +mode of its exercise; and again, after the dethronement and exile of +James II, the Bill of Rights and the statute of I William and Mary, +again recognising and regulating the right of petition as it has +been exercised at all times throughout Great Britain. + +Now, I ask gentlemen to point me, in all or any of the periods under +review, to the precedents of a refusal by Parliament to receive +petitions. I invite them to turn over the histories of parliamentary +proceeding, and cite me the examples of petitions being thrust out +of the House of Commons or of Lords, at the instant of presentation, +on the ground that the prayer of the petition ought not to be +granted. Will they do it? Can they do it? Is it not perfectly +notorious, on the contrary, that every subject is freely admitted to +be heard in his petition, provided it be respectful in terms, even +although he pray expressly for a downright revolution in the +government, as did the thousands of petitioners who thus carried +through, in our own time, the great measure of parliamentary reform? +And shall the People in republican America, with its written +constitution for the protection of the public rights, and by a body +of strictly limited powers,--shall the People here be forbidden to +do that which they may freely do in the monarchy of England, having +no guaranties for the public liberty except laws and prescriptive +usages, all of them confessedly at the will of an omnipotent +Parliament? Forbid it, reason! Forbid it, justice! Forbid it, +liberty! Forbid it the beatified spirits of the revolutionary sages, +who watch in heaven over the destinies of the Republic! + +Aye, but, say gentlemen, if such things are not done by the +representatives of the People in monarchical England, they have been +done by their representatives in democratic America. We are told of +precedents at home. What are those precedents? + +To begin, I throw aside, as wholly inapplicable to the question, or +at least as evasive of it, the case of petitions refused on account +of disrespectful language towards the persons or the body +petitioned. Those constitute a standing exception, independent of +the merits of the subject. + +The proceedings of this House in 1790, in reference to petitions on +the matter of the slave trade, and of slavery in the States, have +been cited. It has been said that those petitions were not received. +That is a mistake, as any gentleman may satisfy himself by +recurrence to the journals of the House. The petitions were +received, committed, and debated on report, as I shall have occasion +hereafter to state at length. + +One other case is cited, that of the petition of Vicente Pazos, +agent of New Granada, which, in the year 1818, the House refused to +receive. But the printed debates of that day show clearly the ground +of rejection. Mr. Forsyth moved that it be not received. "He stated +that, as the petitioner was the agent of a foreign power, and +applied to Congress as an appellate power over the Executive, he +thought it improper that he should be thus heard." And the question +was decided upon this single point. I heartily approve the remarks +then made by a distinguished statesman, now no more, who at that +time represented Massachusetts on this floor. + +Mr. Mills, of Massachusetts, said that "the right of petition was a +sacred one, and belonged equally to the meanest and the greatest +citizen in the nation; and if such a petition as this, implicating +the conduct of the Executive, had been presented from the meanest +citizen, he would receive it; and if it complained of grievances +without pointing out redress, it would be the duty of the House to +give the proper redness; but it was to our own citizens only he +would turn this listening ear. What right had a foreign subject to +petition this House?" + +Sir, I have incidentally touched upon the argument of precedents, +and shown how untenable it is; but I care not if there were a +thousand precedents of refusal to receive petitions. Such a fact, if +it existed, would not abate my zeal on this point, or shift, in the +minutest degree, my position. Upon the Constitution, upon the +pre-existing legal rights of the People, as understood in this +country and in England, I have argued that this House is bound to +revive the Petition under debate. It is impossible, in my mind, to +distinguish between the refusal to receive a petition, or its +summary rejection by some general order, and the denial of the right +of petition. I have no such microscopic eye as to enable me to +discern the point of difference between the two things. This +procedure may be keeping the word to the ear, but it is breaking it +to the sense: and I go upon general, abstract, original, fundamental +principle, the great principle of democratic liberty, which is the +foundation stone of this Republic. It is for the sacred and +inalienable rights of the People that I here contend. I should +regard the exclusion of petitions from the consideration of the +House as a highhanded invasion of the imprescriptible rights of the +Constituency of the country, of whom we are the representatives, not +the dictators; and it is for that reason I take my stand against it +on the very threshold. + +Sir, I am a republican; and I desire to see this House observe the +principles of that democracy which is ever on the lips of its +members, and which, I hope, is in their hearts, as I know and feel +it is in mine, and mean it shall be in my conduct. This Republic was +called into being, organized, and is upheld, by a great political +doctrine. That doctrine is, that the People alone are supreme; that +they are the fountains of power; that all magistrates are the +delegated agents of the People, for the purposes limited and +prescribed in their letters of appointment, and the general laws of +the land; that the constituents of a member of this House have the +right to give instructions to him individually; and that every +individual one of the People has a right to be heard by petition on +the floor of this House. These are among the things which I +understand to constitute the principles of democracy: those general +principles, which I learned in my boyhood with my catechism, in the +bill of rights prefixed to the constitution of my own State; which, +on maturer study, I have seen to be avowed more or less distinctly, +in all the constitutions of this Republic, and of each of its +constituent Republics; which I perceive to be defended and applauded +in the writings of the great text authors of political science in +modern times; and which after being for the first time practically +exemplified in our own institutions, have gone forth over the +universe, toppling down thrones, and raising up freemen, through all +the nations of Christendom. + +And whilst I feel impelled by such convictions to resist the summary +rejection of this Petition upon principle, I am irresistibly led to +the same conclusion by considerations of policy and expediency. I +deny that such considerations should decide the question; but seeing +they have been urged into it, I shall concede to them all due +respect. + +We have been told that the prayer of the Petition is for a thing +which the Constitution does not permit to Congress, and so the +petition itself should not be received. I ask of the House how it +appears that we have no right by the Constitution to legislate upon +the subject matter of the Petition? It may be so; and it may not. +One member of the House has earnestly averred that it is; another +that it is not. Which of them is right? I confess, for myself, that +I cannot think it becomes the House to decide either way, upon the +mere _ipse dixit_ of individual members. Besides, the Petition calls +in question not only slavery, but also the _commerce in slaves_. And +will any gentleman affirm that the slave trade of the District is +among those holy things which Congress may not constitutionally +handle? Is this District set apart by the Constitution, under +whatever changes of opinion or fact the progress of civilization may +introduce, to be unchangeably and forever a general slave market for +the rest of the Union? I confess that I, again, am disappointed in +that, among all the confident things said in denial of the +constitutional powers of Congress in this matter, there has not +been, so far as I remember, any systematic argument on the perfectly +distinct branches of the double constitutional question involved in +it, namely, the slave property, and the slave traffic, of this +District. And what shall be said of our constitutional power in the +purchased Territories, under the jurisdiction of the United States, +to which some of these petitions apply? And what clause of the +Constitution restricts the right of Petition to constitutional +things? This House cannot grant beyond its powers; these are limited +by the Constitution; but the People may petition for any thing; for +the right of petition is, by the constitution, secured forever +against any and every limitation or restriction. + +But then it is said that the subject-matter of the Petition does not +admit of debate; that the deliberate consideration of it, and the +decision of it in the ordinary course of business, would be fraught +with disastrous consequences to the peace of the South, and the +general tranquillity of the Union. Deeming this argument of more +weight than the other, I will give to it more careful attention; +especially as, on this point, gentlemen have appealed with great +force of language to the patriotic consideration of the North. + +In the first place, I aver that I, and those with whom I have acted +or voted, did not seek debate on this subject. We felt anxious, +almost universally, to avoid it. The members from Massachusetts, at +least, have not invited, and, until it had been under discussion +among other gentlemen for a whole month, they scarcely participated +in, the agitation of the subject in this House. We sat here week +after Week, submitting, for the sake of public peace, to hear in +silence the harshest reflections upon our constituents; and +listening, with surprised curiosity, to the strangest legal and +political heresies, uttered as confidently as if they were gospel +truths communicated by divine inspiration. One of my colleagues (Mr. +ADAMS) did, indeed, beseech gentlemen not to provoke him to a +discussion of the subject; and thus it went on, untouched by us, +until another of my colleagues (Mr. HOAR) could no longer abstain +from the temperate defence of the Constitution and of his +fellow-citizens. + +In the second place, I do devoutly believe that gentlemen misjudge, +if they suppose that agitation out of doors is to be arrested by the +quashing of these petitions on their very introduction to this +House. With my whole heart I accord in the view of the subject taken +some time since by an honorable gentleman from New York, (Mr. HUNT,) +and which I know is taken by one of the wisest and most trusted of +the statesmen of Virginia, now a member of the other branch of +Congress. If there be any plausible reason for supposing that we +have the right to legislate on the slave interests of the District, +you cannot put down the investigation of the subject out of doors, +by refusing to receive petitions. On the contrary, you give the +petitioners new force and efficiency, by giving them a new cause of +complaint and of excitement. Nor do you attain any thing, so far as +this House is concerned; for, by shutting out petitions, you do not +shut out debate; any member of the House can bring on debate any +day, by moving some general resolution applicable to the subject. On +the other hand, if it be so certain that Congress have no power in +this matter, or having power, ought not to exercise it, then let the +House establish those points in the usual way, by a deliberate +report, elaborated in the closet, by a committee of the ablest men +upon this floor, and considerately adopted by the House. The +argument by which this course is withstood, goes upon a false +assumption. It assumes for granted, that the People of the United +States are not to be reasoned with; that their opinions can be put +down by bold and broad assertions at this or the other end of the +Capitol; and that they are not to be trusted with the facts and law +of the case. Here, again, as I conceive, gentlemen forget that this +government is a republican one, resting exclusively in the +intelligence and virtue of the People. I, for one, am willing they +should look into any of the clauses of the Constitution, and be +fully informed of the merits of every question arising under it, +never doubting that, in the end, their decision upon it will be +just, true, and patriotic. Or is it that gentlemen are afraid to +meet a proper scrutiny of the subject? Do they shrink from a fair +and full examination of its merits or demerits? + +Sir, allusion has been made, in an early stage of this debate, to +the history of the excitement which once pervaded a considerable +part of the country, in reference to the transportation of the mails +on the Lord's day. It is undoubtedly a pregnant case, directly in +point. But I have another case, yet more cogent and pertinent. + +Within less than one year after the adoption of the Constitution, +there came to Congress petitions, chiefly from New York, +Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Virginia, and especially from the +Society of Friends, praying Congress to suppress the slave trade, +and to interpose, in various ways, within the limits of the several +States, in the melioration of the condition of the colored +population of the South. I have examined the journals giving the +record of the proceedings in this House; I have looked into the +history of the times, to understand the grounds of the disposition +then made of those petitions. In the outset, I will observe, that +the debates on the subject present a remarkable parallel with what +has taken place under my own eyes in this House. Messrs. Jackson, +Baldwin, Tucker, Smith, and some other gentlemen from the South, +insisted, as we now hear it insisted, that the petitions should be +summarily rejected, without commitment. They alleged the same +reasons; such as unconstitutional object, and pernicious effects of +the discussion upon the interests of the slaveholding States. One +gentleman did, I believe, what I suppose would hardly be done at +this day, entering into an elaborate vindication of the +trans-Atlantic slave trade. But there was one most eminent and most +patriotic member of that House, a man as calm in judging as he was +deliberate in acting; who had himself been instrumental among the +first in laying the foundation of this Union; who since then has +successively filled the highest stations which the laws of his +country acknowledge; and who yet lives, in a venerable old age, to +receive the admiration of his countrymen, and to enjoy the rare +felicity of surviving, as it were, a witness of the honors bestowed +upon him by posterity. _Sero redeat in coelum._ Long may it be ere +he depart from among us, to take his place among the great and +glorious of other times. Sir, the House well anticipate that I have +in my eye JAMES MADISON the younger, who stood forth to pour upon +the troubled waves of that day the oil of peace and gladness. God +grant there may yet be found among his patriotic countryman, some +good and great man--a better and a greater there cannot be--now to +perform the self-same office for the Republic. + +At that crisis, in the very greenness of the immature youth of the +Constitution, when it was least able to bear the shock of sectional +collision, Mr. Madison, Southerner as he was, steadily opposed his +friends from the South and successfully advocated the commitment of +the petitions. I submit to the House his speech, as I find it very +briefly reported in the newspapers of that day. + +"Mr. Madison observed, that it was his opinion yesterday that the +best way to proceed in this business was to commit the memorial +without any debate on the subject. From what has taken place, he was +more convinced of the propriety of the idea. But, as the business +has engaged the attention of many members, he would offer a few +observations for the consideration of the House. He then entered +into a critical review of the circumstances respecting the adoption +of the constitution, the ideas upon the limitation of the power of +Congress to interfere in the regulation of the commerce in slaves, +and showing that they undoubted were not precluded from interposing +in their importation, and generally to regulate the mode in which +every species of business shall be transacted. He adverted to the +Western country, and the cession of Georgia, in which Congress have +certainly the power to regulate the subject of slavery, which shows +that gentlemen are mistaken in supposing that Congress cannot +constitutionally interfere in the business in any degree whatever. +He was in favor of committing the petitions, and justified the +measure by repeated precedents in the proceedings of the House." + +I produce this speech, not for the purpose of adopting all its +views, for some of them I confess are new to me, and such as I have +not had time or means to investigate, but in order to show +conclusively what Mr. Madison deemed wise and proper to be done in a +contingency so precisely like the present. Accordingly, all the +petitions were committed to a select committee; that committee made +a report; the report was referred to a committee of the whole House, +and discussed on four successive days; it was then reported to the +House with amendments, and by the House ordered to be inscribed in +its journals, and then laid on the table. + +That report, as amended in committee, is in the following words: +"The committee to whom were referred sundry memorials from the +people called Quakers; and also a memorial from the Pennsylvania +society for promoting the Abolition of slavery, submit the following +report, (as amended in committee of the whole.) + +"First, That the migration or importation of such persons as any of +the States now existing shall think proper to admit, cannot be +prohibited by Congress prior to the year 1808." + +"Secondly, That Congress have no power to interfere in the +emancipation of slaves, or in the treatment of them, within any of +the States: it remaining with the several States alone to provide +any regulation therein which humanity and true policy may require." + +"Thirdly, That Congress have authority to restrain the citizens of +the United States from carrying on the African slave trade, for the +purpose of supplying foreigners with slaves, and of providing, by +proper regulations for the humane treatment, during their passage, +of slaves imported by the said citizens into the States admitting +such importations." + +"Fourthly, That Congress have also authority to prohibit foreigners +from fitting out vessels in any part of the United States for +transporting persons from Africa to any foreign port." + +Now, I entreat the House to call to mind the effect of these +proceedings. There was no insurrection, no servile war, no agitation +in the South. Congress calmly and considerately examined the whole +broad question, not of the slave trade only, but also of the slave +interest. It decided how far it could go, and how far it would go. +Its decision went forth to the world, and settled the questions +involved in it, as it were, forever. Nearly fifty years have since +elapsed, and I am not aware that the points then adjudged have at +any time since been drawn into debate or controversy. And I do +declare my solemn conviction, that if the House would now pursue the +same course, and dispassionately determine what it can or cannot do, +and make that determination known to the country in a respectful +way, the result would be precisely the same in this vexed question +of the District of Columbia. + +Entertaining these opinions of the course to be pursued, I beg of +gentlemen to look at the question, as I have done, in a calm review +of facts and of principles. They deprecate all agitation unfriendly +to the peace and reciprocal good-will of the different sections of +the country. So do I, most heartily; and in my own humble sphere I +have earnestly exerted myself to this end. And I do, unwillingly but +decidedly, avow my conviction, derived from abundant personal +observation, that it is not by the summary suppression of petitions, +it is not by _Lynching_ this or any other petition, that +tranquillity is to be restored, and harmony assured, either in the +South or the North. And whilst I entreat of individual members of +the House to regard this question in calmness, and conclude it in +judgment, as they would any lesser question, I warn and adjure the +House itself, as a constituent branch of this government, to beware +lest, in deciding this general question of the right of petition, it +overleap the bounds prescribed to it by the Constitution. + +Men of Virginia, countrymen of Washington, of Patrick Henry, of +Jefferson, and of Madison, will ye be true to your constitutional +faith? Men of New York, will ye ride over the principles of the +democracy ye profess? Men of the West, can ye prove recreant to the +spirit of sturdy independence, which carried you beyond the +mountains? Men of New England, I hold you to the doctrines of +liberty which ye inherit from your Puritan forefathers. And if this +House is to be scared, by whatever influences, from its duty, to +receive and hear the petitions of the People, then I shall send my +voice beyond the walls of this Capitol for redress. To the People I +say, Your liberties are in danger; they, whom you have chosen to be +your representatives, are untrue to their trust; come ye to the +rescue; for the vindication of your right of petition, to you I +appeal; to you, the People who sent us here, whose agents we are, to +whom we shall return to render a reckoning of our stewardship, and +who are the true and only sovereigns in this Republic. + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Speech of Mr. Cushing, of +Massachusetts, on the Right of Petition, as Connected with Petitions +for the Abolition of Slavery and the Slave Trade in the District of +Columbia. In The House Of Representatives, January 25, 1836., +by Caleb Cushing + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SPEECH OF MR. 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