Indiana Centinel, Volume 4, Number 2, Vincennes, Knox County, 22 April 1820 — Page 1

J MMAlA ; CENT INEL & PUB jLIC A DTE

Jl

PUBL'HIED EVERY SATURDAY, BY .V. BL.1CKM&Y, Opposite the Hank cf Vincenr.es.

TERMS OF VUBLIGJITWX. Two Dollars, in adv ance, Three in 6 months, or Four Collars at the end of the year. No subscription vrill be discontinued Until all arrearages are paid. Advertisements inserted on tho usual terms The Cash must accompany adTertiscmcnts. LJA1 OFFICE JIUXEV. , The Receiver of Public Monies has been instructed to receive in payment for Lands sold in the District of Vihcennes, notes on the following Banks, IJ.i-.ik of the United States & Branches, Bank of Virginia and its Branhces, Farmer's I .ink of Virginia and branches, Bank of ','enn. (Philadelphia) of No: th America do. Farmers and Mechanics Bank do. Mechanics l!ar:k of City &, County, do. Co nt:Mcial Ban of Peun. do cViujikitl Hank do Bank of Northern liberties do of !:arvland ol Baltimore of Columbia (District of Columbia Union. Bank of Georgetown do Patriotic Bank of Washington do Bank of Washington da of Metropolis do of Alexandria do New York 3a:ik, New York Manhattan Co. do. Mechanics Bank do Me rchants hank, do do... TJnioii Bank, . do. Btnk of America do, Rank of Chilicothe, Ohio. State Bank of Indiana, at Vincennes. Bjrak of.IMinoi, at iShawnee-To.yn, Jiunk of Missouri, at St. Louis, Bank of Mississippi and branches do. of New -Orleans, do. of Louisiana. Planters, hank do. No note of iess than five dollars is re Ceivable. (Corrected Weekly.) it. a . . -I. r - r i n iir BY AUTHORITY. Laws of liic 7 ; r lt:th CONGRESS tiM AN ACT further to suspv no, for a limited time, the sale or forfeiture of Laod. for failure m completing the p.HUlPIlt t' cu-nn. lie it enacted by the Ssnnte and House of Hepresentatires of t'.e United Staffs of America in Congress assembled, That the operation of the jd.rlli condition qf the fifth pvctirn of ihejict. entitled "An art to amend the act, entitled An act providing for the sale of the lands of the Unit ed States north west of the Ohio, ni d above the mouth of Kentucky river," he, and the same is hereby, suspended until the thirty -first dav of March, one thousand eight hundred and twenty -one, in favor of the purchasers of public land?, nt any of the land-oftices.of the United States: Provided, That the benefit of this act shall not be extended to any one purchaser for a greater quantity than six hundred and ioitv acres. II. CLAY. Speaker cf the House of Representatives. JOHN GAILLAHD, President of the Senate pro tempore, aiat ch SU, 1820 Approved : James monroe. From the Xeic-Vork Evening rost. Finkneys" Speech. We have been looking out tor the speech of this gentleman in the senate on th slave question, to which it is said by the Virginian none but itself can be i7s pcrafell.'bat as it does not yet appear, and the pui lie are on tiptoe to sie what such a great orator can say in favor ol the f us iun f laverv,v over io'W and boundles rtuio'is, let us n the mean while give a sample of eloquence on the vime tvic taken from a nr'-.ited i-afsphb: whici li iw lie before u entitled 'Speech of Willij'ii I'inkney. e). in the 21-rjc cf lieleztcs ff .Varjl'ind at tutir S'ssion in ,Miv;;''(i' US'V the same William Fiht;i. The icpoit of a committee retv- .::?iirv the abolition of slavery in !a-v !a::d, being under consideration. 31 r. Htikney addressed the hous as folio v. : Mr. Speaker A I have formerly hid the hurru- of giving my sentiment to the house of delegates, on the measures Cow under their consideration, and the mortification too of feeling tho,e senliiiieiit.s tiieganled, 1 should hardly think of lending them again the aid of my feeble e rei ti mis, if I w as noi too thoroughly persuaded of their ir..port::nce to imagine I had done my duty by giving them my approbation in silence. That I have every possibU reason to b discouraged from the prosecution et regulations of thit sort, it would be folly in me to dojht : for I have more than once beta sar'ry ta Cid, that iu z ttu2-!

try which has set even distant Europe in a ferment, and lavished the blood of thousands in defence of its liberties, against the encroachments of an arrogant and abandoned government, the cause cf freedom was yet the most unpopular in which an advocate could appear. The alarms occasioned by mistaken ideas of interest, the deep-rooted crrvadices

which education has festered and had matured, the cencral hereditary ccntempt fcr those who arc the objects of these provisions, the common dread of innovation, and, above 'all, a recent defeat, arc obstacles which would seem sufficient to damp, if not entirely extinguish, the ardour of evertion. But with me these difficulties only serve to rouse every faculty of mind ct body, which the occasion demands, and to-call forth that spirit of perseverance, which no opposition can subdue, but that which aiioids me conviction oi my error. Mr. Speaker, in my judgment, this is no common cause. If ever there were cases which demanded particular interference, such are now before you. For the honor of human nature, for the sake of justice, from a respect to the interests of the community, they ought to receive; the particular attention, the impartial, deliberate decision of the legislature. Put, while the illusion of pride and selfishness, or th? clouds ol early illfounded epinions, blind us to the truth 5 while we continue to be fettered by the clogs of predetermination, nnd obstinate, unbending prejudice; while we struggle to resist the force cf argument, and wilfully stifle conviction in the birth, we can at best pretend to no more than the mere mockery of invest.gation. From this body, however, I presume this report will meet a better fate. They will weigh it as its importance merits, they will trace it through every labvtinth of iig consequences, and while thev guard the public welfare from the danger of ill-judged innovation, they will not forget that something is due to humanity, and the great principles of moral justice. Under this impression I shall once mure venture to give my sentiments a large upon the piopositions of the committee ; and 1 call upon those wh.Mpu-r trom in?, to watcn every as.'rti n and every arumcrt I advance, ;md H they can refute the one, or contradict the other, I yield the pyint for ever. T hall u'-t detain you, Sir, wiih any observations on tho3 parts of the report which prohibit thti fraudulent, or compulsory exportation cf tree blacks or .?uiatt es, or the exportation of slaves to the West India islands, &c. nor on (hat clause which recommends the retor the mere cfjciu of the parents. Who doubts on these poinls nn'j will, in all likelihood, doubt for eer. I consider them as too evidently prop-1 cr, to need dluvtrat'mn. But there is another prt vi t ir. report, whicn gentkernen either do, or auect to think less clear and obviou?. 'ibis must be considered, hecaufe to be acceded to, it only requires t iie u mieitood. You are called upon to say. Sir, whether the owner of a slave, 4 hail be permitted to give him his iibertv bv a mode of conveyance which he may effectually use (and at a time. v. hen it is clearly lawful tor him) to transfer the property of that slave to another. By an existing law no slave can be manumitted by las master, during his last sickness, or at anv time bv his last will and testament ; that is, when liberty (the great birthright of every human creaturt-) is to be restored to its plundered proprietor. V 'U must be careful to make the restitution at a particular time, 1 M

and in one specified manner, or yourjias dear to me as that country itself.

generous intentions shall be frustrated ; but if you are desirious of passing any worthless goods ami chattels, you mav p ' i feet the transfer at any time, and almost in any way. Trie door to freedom is fenced about w i th such ba"barous caution, that a stranger would be naturally led to believe that our itatemen considered the existeuce of its opposite among us as the sine quz von of our prosperity : or, at least that they regarded it as an act of the mcst attrocious criminality to raise an humble hoiulsman from the dust, and place him on the stage ul life, on a level with their citizens. To discover the grounds cf their conduct would surely be no easy task ; to shew that, let them be what thev may, an enlightened legislature shcuid blush to own them, a schuul-boy would have sufficient ability. Mr. Speaker, iniquitous, and mo?t dishonorable to Maryland, is that dreary system of partial bondage, which her laws have hitherto supported with a so licitude worthy of a better object, and her citizens by their practice countenanced. Founded in a disgraceful trafiick, to which the parent country lent her fostering aid, from motives of interest, but which, even she, would have disdained to encourage, had Kngland been the destined mart of such inhuman merchandize; its continuance is as shameful as its ori gin. Kternal infamy await the abandoned miscreants, whoe selfish souls could ever prompt them to rvb unhappy Aftic

;VINCENNES. (INI).) SATURDAY, APJUL 2- I8.

of her son?, and freight them hither bv thousands, to poison the fair Eden of liberty with the rank weed of individual bondage ! Nor is it more to the credit ot our ancestors, that they did not command these ravage spoilers to bear their hateful cargoes to another shore, where the shrine of freedom knew no votaries, and every purchaser would at once be both a master and a slave. In the dawn of time, Mr. Speaker, when the rough feelings of barbarism had nut experienced the softening touches of refinement, such an unprincipled prostration of the inherent rights of human nature would have needed the gloss of an apology ; but to the everlasting reproach of Maryland, be it said, that when her citizens rivalled the nation, from whence they emigrated, in the knowledge of moral principles, and an euthusiasui in the cause, cf general freedom, they stooped to become the purchasers of their fellow creatures, and to introduce an hereditary bondagt into the bosom of their country, which should widen with every successive generation. For my own part, I would willingly draw the veil of oblivion over this disgusting scene of iniquity, but that the present abject state of those who are descended from these kidnapped sufferers, perpetually brings it forward to the memory. But wherefore should we confine the edge of censure to our ancestors, or those from whom .they, purchased f Are we not equally guilty? "They strewed around the seeds of slavery $ ire cherish and susr tain the growth. They introduced the system ; 2:3 enlarge, invigorate, and confirm it. Yes, let it be handed down tu posterity, that the people of Maryland, who could fly to arms with the promptitude of Roman citizens, when the hand of oppression was lifted up against them selves ; who could behold their country desolated and their citizens slaughtered: who could brave yith unshaken nrmness every calamity cf war, before they would submit to the smallest infringement of their rights ; that this very people could yet see thousands of their fellow-crea tures, within the limits of their territ tory, bending beneath an unnatural yoke; and, ins tead of being assiduous to destroy their shackles, anxious to immortalize their duration, &o that a nation of slaves might fcreer exist in a country where freedom iitsbast. Sir, it ia really matter of aitonUhmeut to me, that the people of Maryland do not blush at the very name of 'freedom. 1 admire that modesty does not keep thera silent in her cause. That they who have by the deliberate acts of their legislature, treated her most obvious dictates with contempt ; who have exhibited, for a long series ofyeats, a fp.ctac'.e cf blavtti-y which they still are solicitous to perpetuate ; who, not content with e.vp.jjMn,; to the world for near a century, a speaking picture of abom inable or-nr e oppression, are still ingenious to p-event tr.e l,in? it of hand of jrei -erositr from robhalf us horrors : that it" should strp forwasd as the zealous partisans of freedom, cannot but astonish a person who is not casuist enough to reconcile antipathies. .For shame," sir, let 113 throw oil the mask: 'tis a cobweb one at best, ami th? world will see through it. It will not do thus to talk like philosophers, and act like unrelenting tyrants ; to be perpetually sermonizing it with liberty for our te.rt, and actual oppression for our commentary. But, sir, is it impossible that this hotly should feel for the reputation of Maryland ? Is national honor unworthy of consideration ? Is the censure of an en. lightened universe insufficient to alarm us r It mav proceed from the ardour of youth perhaps, but the character of my rountrv anion- the nations of th wr.rU .... . 1 . What a motley appearauce must Mary land at this moment make in the eyes of those who view her with deliberation ! Is she not at once, the fair temple of freedom, and the abomiuable nursery of slaves; the school for patriots, and the foster-mother of petty despots ; the assertor of human rights, and the patron cf wanton oppression ? Here have emigrants from a load tyranny found au asylum from persecution, and here also have those who came as rightfully free as the winds of heaven, found an eternal grave for the liberties of themselves and their prosterity ! In the mm a of Gad should we not attempt to wipe away this btigma, afar as the impressions of the times w ill allow ? 1, we dare not strain legislative authority so as to root up the evil at once, let us do all we dare, and lop the earnberaticc ot its branches. I would sooner temporize than do nothing. At least we should shew our wishes by it. 11 x 1 i 111 1 nut leal cnaracier snouia nave no more than its usual weight with us, let us cramine into the policy of thus per petuating slavery among us, and also consider this regulation in particular, ith the objections applicable to each. That there9ult will be favorable to us, I have no doubt. That the dangerous consequences of this system of bondage have not as yet been felt, does not prove thev never will be. At least the experiment has not been suiliciently made to preclude spec ulaiion ana conjecture. 10 me, sir, nothing for which I have not the evideco pf rnjr sxiP b mure tLear, thin

that it will one day destroy that reverence fcr liberty, which is the vital principle of a republic. White a majority ot your citizens are accustomed to rule with the authority of despots, w-.tbin particular limits : w'hile your youth are reared in the habits of thinking that the great rights of human nature are not so sacred but they may with innocence be trampled cn. "can i"t be e.rpected that the public mind should glow- with that generous ardor in the cause of freedom, which alone can save a government like ours from the lurking dajmon ol usurpation r Doyeu not dread the contamination of principle? Have vou no alarms for the continuance of that spirit which once conducted us t victory and independence, when the talons of power were unclasped for our destruction ? Have you no apprehensions lest when the votaries of freedom sacrifice also at the gloomy altars ot slavery, they will at length become apostates from the former ? For my own part, I have no hope that the stream of general liberty will flow forever, unpolluted, through the foul mire of paitial bondage, or that they who have been habituated to lord it over others, will not in time be base enough to let others lord it over them. If thev reisi, it will be a struggle ofprido and sclfishnesSf not of principle. There is nn mcrim in politics more evidently jut, than that laws should be relative to the principle of government. But docs encouragement of tivii slavery hy legislative acts, correspond with the principle of a democracy.1 Call that principle what you w ill, the love of cquaHtv,

as defined by 6ome 5 of liberty. ;ts understood by ethers ; such conduct is manifestly in violation of it. To leave the principle of a government to its own operation, without attempting either to favor or nndennine it. is often dangerous ; but to make such direct attacks upon it by striking at its very root, is the perfection of crooked policy. Hear what has been said 011 this point, by the noblest instructor that ever informed a statesman. " In tfespofic countries (says Mcntesquieu.) where they aie already in a state of political slavery, civil slavery is more tolerable than in other govern ments. Lvery one ought there to be contented with necessaries and with life. Hence the condition of a slave is hardly more burthensumc than that of a subject. But in a monarchial government, where it i of the utmost consequence that hitman nature should not! be debased or dispirited, there ought to be no slavery. In democracies, where they arc ail upon an equality, and in aristocracies, where the laws ought to endeavor to make them so as far as the nature, of the government will permit, slavery in contrary to the spirit vf the constitution ; it only contributes to give a power and luxury tn the citizens, which they ought not to poses.,, Such must have been the idea in England, when" the general voice of the nation demanded the repeal of the sta'uta cf I'd v. aid VI, two years after its passage, by which their rogues and vaabonds were to be enslaved frr their punishment. . It could not have been compassion for the culprits, that excited ihis aversion to the law, for they deprived none But the spirit of t'"c people could not brook the idea of bondage, even as a penalty judicially inflicted They dreaded its consequence; they abhorred the. example ; in a word, they reverenced public liberty, and hence detested eve ry species ot slavery. Mr. speaker, the thing is impolitic m another respect. JVcver will your country be productive ; never will its agricuttnre, its commerce, or lis mannjacturers, flourish, so lonz as they depend on reluctant bendsmen for their progress. hven the very earth itself (savs some celebrated author) which teems with profusion under the cultivating hand of the free-born laborer, shriidss into bar renuess from the contaminating sweat 0 a store." This sentiment is not more figuratively oaautuui man skitaniiaiir just. burvey the countries, sir where the hand of freedwm conducts the ploughshare, and compare their produce with yours, lour granaries, in tu? view, ap pear like the store house of emmet, the cause of this disparity between the fruits ol a freeman's voluntary labors, animated by the hope of profit, and the slow paced efforts ot a slave, v.ho acts from compulsion only; who has no imitement to exertion, but fear ; no prospect ot' remuneration to encourage, would he insulting the understanding. The eu.e and tlu eilect are too obvious to escape observation. Hence, Mr. Speaker, instead of throwing obstacles and discouragements in the way of manumissions, prudence and. policy dictate that no opportunity should b lost of multiplying thera with the consent of the owner. But objections have hitherto been made, and I suppose will be made again, now, against the doctrine I am copending for. I will consider them. It has been said that " freedmen arc the convenient tools of usurpation :" and I have heard allusions made to history for the confirmation of this opinion. Let, however, the records of nncient and modern I events be ecrUz I YiU veu

NO. 2.

tore my belief that no instarce can be found to give a sanction to anv such :da, I:i Rome it was clearly oiherwie. . We have the evidence of Tiberit'..GriCn elms, confirmed by Cicero, and -approved by MontesCjUir u, that the incorpo-. ration of the freed men ir.to' the city tribes, reanimated the drooping spirits of democracy in that repubiic, and cheeked the career of Patrician nihece, Mo far, tiirrr fore, were properlyiuadii emancipations from contril uting "to tnc downfai of Home, that they clearly served to procrastinate her exigence, by reboring that equipoise nthc conMit ition which an ambitious aristocracy wcra perpetually laboring to destroy. How much more rational, Mr.Speaker would it be to argue, that slaves are the fit machines by which on usurper midlife effect his purposes, and there is therefore nothing which a free government our! it more to dread thaa a diffusive private bondage within its territory. A promise of manumission might rouse every bondsman to aims, unde5 the conduct of aspiring leaders ; and.invited l)y the fascinating prospect of f:cedom, they might rcie such a storm ia Mnryhnd as it would be ditiicnlt to -p-pease. Survey the conduct of the slavey w ho fought against Hannibal in the seo ov.d Punic war. Itch ing on the assurancei of the fcte, who hud embodied them with the Bonvn legions, that coaquest should give them iilu ry, not a man disgraced himself by flight ; but, IhV new , prhop, to iho field f batt'e, they cout.ided with the resolution of e tersns. With the same promptitude and intrepidity would they have turned their nuns against the ei nte (heniselves,if the same a-surancf s hud been given thent by any enterprising citi'.en who sought their drstruction, from motives of on.t ition or revenge. The love of liberty i inherent in human nature. To stille or annihilate it, though not impossible, is yet difficult to be accomplished. K sy to be .wrought upon, as well as powerful and active in its exerticrs, wherever it is net gratified, there is danger. fJras tifv it, and vcu ensure vour afetv. Thus did Sylla think, who, before he abdicated the dictatorship, g:ve freedom to 10, 000 slaves, and lands to a number of lcgions. By these mens he was enabled t notwithstanding all his precedent enormities, to live nnmo:eted as a privuie citizen, in the boson of that state where lift had acted the most lawful deed-of cruelfy and usxirpalion. For, by manumitting these slaves, the usurper secured their fidelity and attachment forever,;;" dispo.?d fhom to support and rcverurr 1 is cause at every possible hazard Komc knew thii, and therefore :yi wai sv cure in Ids relirem?r.v. This cxamp'.: .thcr.vs that sTaves are the pixiprr, rial t implements of usurpation, and therefore a serious and alarming cvii in every free community With much to hope for by 1 c, .. ?, and noth:ng to lose, ir i. -.-.- r.o aw of conseqe'.ccs. D':-:k ci their rights hy the oris cf gc.M:-:.:nent arc its rifizrt:!;, he have -iO checks of t itr or of consriencr?; but are stimulated by the desire of revenge, to cr.read vide the horrors of des.'dntinn, sod to subvert the foundations of that IhVrlv, of which the' have never participated, and which thfy have oulybeen pf-r"!utted to envy in othi rj Bat wnere siaves are maivimiitea h government,or in consequenc?: of its provisions, the same motives which have attached them to tyrants, whn the set of emancipation h?s flowed from them, would then attach them to government, ihey aro then r.o longer the creatures or despotism. They are bound by gratitude as well as by interest, to eek tlie welfare of that country from which they have derived the restoration cf thei plundered rights, and with whose prosperily ti:c:r own i if'Sf parabiy ir.vo'vtd An apo-ta-cv from tl-ese nrincinle':, which farm tho good citizen, would, under sticn cirmunstanc, ui rr..t ti impossible. Whe we sec fre d n"i sfrupulcttsiy faithfid t.'Jt a l.t v, less, abandoren vi m.n, troin wnonx Uy mv veceivrd their liberty, rati wt Un:uo-e thevwiii not tewsiu th-; bounty of a free 'government wiih th same gratitude ! lie yl.o best krovvs the value of a bleinng, is generally t!i most assiduous in its preservation ; and no man is, so competent to judge of that valu, as be from w hom th; b!?sirg hS been dr tailed. tfece the man thr.t b is felt the yoke of bondage, must for extw prove the ass' rtor of frcrrloin, if h i;J fairly admittt-J to the equal enjoymer t of its benefits. To shr-.v, Mr. Speal'Pr, that my iora of the danger ariring from the nun ber of sms in a free govsrnmc: , is ro novelty in politics, permit n.e once morn to read a passage from 3lonteq':icu. u The nniltit-d of slaves is no grie-t vance in a despotic stt'2, where tb ov litical s'avery of the wltole body takes awaytheser.se of licil slavery. But in moda-alc tates it is a pcd.it of the higit-t est irniortanee that there sho-dd not be a great number of sluves. The pol:'ual liberty of thre states L.dds to the va ;o of civil liberty, and he who is deprived of the latter isalso deprived of the former. He sees the happine-s oCa society of which he is not so nruch asa memher; he . sees the happine of a. sorif tv c: which he is not so much as a iwmjLf r ; he sees the security of others fenc;d bylaws, himself without any protection, lip" sm bis p. soul th cao jhr wei1;