262 



CONGEESS, U. b. 



they were opposed to it they would vote against 

 it. Now, in counting the thirty-five States so 

 as to get three-fourths to agree to it, those 

 States that have not voted at all are counted 

 the same precisely as if they had voted against 

 it." 



The resolution came up again on April 8th, 

 when Mr. Sumner, of Massachusetts, after tak- 

 ing a view of the Constitution in reference to 

 any support it might afford to the institution 

 of slavery, said: 



" "We have already seen that slavery can find 

 no support in the Constitution. Glance now at' 

 the positive provisions by which it is brought 

 completely under the control of Congress. 



" 1. First among the powers of Congress, 

 and associated with the power to lay and col- 

 lect taxes, is that ' to provide for the common 

 defence and general welfare.' It has been 

 questioned whether this is a substantive power, 

 or simply incident to that with which it is as- 

 sociated. But it seems difficult, if not absurd, 

 to insist that Congress should not have this 

 substantive power. Shall it not provide for 

 the common defence ? Shall it not provide for 

 the general welfare? If it cannot do these 

 things it had better abdicate. In the discussions 

 on the Constitution in the Virginia convention, 

 Mr. George Mason, one of its most decided op- 

 ponents, said, ' That Congress should have 

 power to provide for the general welfare of 

 the Union, I grant.' (2 Eliot's Debates, 32T.) 

 But the language of Patrick Henry, to which 

 allusion has been already made, was still more 

 explicit. He foresaw that this power would 

 be naturally directed against slavery, and he 

 said: 



Slavery is detested. We feel its fatal effects. "We 

 deplore 'it with all the pity of humanity. Let all 

 these considerations, at some future period, press 

 with full force on the minds of Congress. Let that 

 urbanity which, I trust, will distinguish Americans, 

 and the necessity of national defence let all these 

 things operate on their minds ; they will search that 

 paper [the Constitution] and see if they have the 

 power of manumission. And have they not, sir? 

 Have they not the power to provide for the general 

 defence and welfare ? May they not think that they 

 call for the abolition of slavery ? May they not pro- 

 nounce all slaves free ? And will they not be war- 

 ranted by that power? This is no ambiguous impli- 

 cation or logical deduction. The paper speaks to the 

 point. They have the power in clear and unequivo- 

 cal terms, and will clearly and certainly exercise it. 

 Eliot's Debates, vol. 3, p. 590. 



"Language could not be more positive. To 

 all who ask for the power of Congress over 

 slavery, here is a sufficient answer; and re- 

 member that this is not my speech, but the 

 speech of Patrick Henry, who says that the 

 Constitution ' speaks to the point.' 



"2. Next comes the clause, 'Congress shall 

 have power to declare war; to raise and support 

 lirmies ; to provide and maintain a navy.' A 

 pover like this is from its very nature unlimited. 

 In raising and supporting an army, in providing 

 and maintaining a navy, Congress is not restrain- 

 ed to any particular class or color. It may call 



upon all, and authorize that contract which the 

 Government makes with fin enlisted soldier. 

 But such a contract would be in itself an act 

 of manumission; for a slave cannot make a 

 contract. And if the contract be followed by 

 actual service, who can deny its completest 

 efficacy in enfranchising the soldier-slave and 

 his whole family? Shakspeare, immortal 

 teacher, gives expression to an instinctive sen- 

 timent when he makes Henry V., on the eve 

 of the battle of Agincourt, encourage his men 

 by promising, 



"For he to-day that sheds his blood with me, 

 Shall be my brother ; bo he ne'er BO vile, 

 This day shall gentle his condition." 



" 3. There is still another clause : ' The 

 United States shall guaranty to every State in 

 this Union a republican form of government.' 

 There again is a plain duty. But the question 

 recurs, what is a republican form of govern- 

 ment ? John Adams, in the correspondence of 

 his old age, says : 



The customary meanings of the words republic and 

 commonwealth have been infinite. They have been 

 applied to every government under heaven ; that of 

 Turkey and that of Spain, as well as that of Athens 

 and of Rome, of Geneva and San Marino. John 

 Adamtfs Works, vol. x., p. 378. 



" But the guarantee of a republican form of 

 government must have a meaning congenial 

 with the purposes of the Constitution. If a 

 Government like that of Turkey, or even like 

 that of Venice, could come within the scope 

 of this guarantee, it would be of little value. 

 It would be words and nothing more. Evi- 

 dently it must be construed so as to uphold the 

 Constitution according to all the promises of its 

 preamble, and Mr. Madison has left a record, 

 first published to the Senate by the distinguish- 

 ed Senator from Vermont (Mr. Collamer), the 

 chairman of the Committee on the Library, 

 showing that this clause was originally sug- 

 gested in part by the fear of slavery. The rec- 

 ord is important, disclosing the real intention 

 of this guarantee. But no American need be 

 at a loss to designate some of the distinctive 

 elements of a republic according to the idea of 

 American institutions. These will be found, 

 first, in the Declaration of Independence, by 

 which it is solemnly announced ' that all men 

 are endowed by their Creator with unalienable 

 rights ; that among these are life, liberty, and 

 the pursuit of happiness.' And they will be 

 found, secondly, in that other guarantee and 

 prohibition of the Constitution, in harmony 

 with the Declaration of Independence, 'no 

 person shall be deprived of life, liberty, or 

 property without due process of law.' Such 

 are some of the essential elements of a ' repub- 

 lican form of government,' which cannot be 

 disowned by us without disowning the very 

 muniments of our liberties; and it is these 

 which the United States are bound to guaran- 

 tee. But all these make slavery impossible. 

 It is idle to say that this result was not an- 

 ticipated. It would be, then, only another 



