maining above six months. This Pennsylvania system of gradual emancipa tion had been imitated in the states of Connecticut, Rhode Island and New Hampshire. The other eight states retained their old colonial slave-holding systems. But New York, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, and Virginia had prohibited the further importation of slaves, and in Virginia and Maryland the old colonial restrictions on emancipation had been repealed, leaving thereby full play, and not without considerable results, to the conscience and generosity of the slave-holders. Jefferson and Wythe, as commissioners to revise the statute law of Virginia, had agreed upon a bill for gradual emancipation; but when the revision of the statutes came before the House of Delegates (1785), Jefferson was absent as minister at Paris, those who shared his opinions thought that the favorable moment had not arrived, and the bill was not brought forward. Even in New York, an attempt (1785) to pass an act for the gradual abolition of slavery had failed to succeed. Yet in all the states, from North Carolina northward, warm opponents of slavery and ardent advocates for emancipation were more or less numerous, including many distinguished citizens. Influenced, perhaps, by the sarcasms thrown out in the federal convention, Rhode Island, shortly after the adjournment of that body, had passed a law (Oct., 1787) forbidding its citizens to engage in the slave-trade. The kidnapping of three colored persons at Boston, enticed on board a vessel and carried to the West Indies, where they were sold as slaves, produced a great excitement in Massachusetts, and occasioned (1788) a similar prohibitory act therean example speedily imitated by Connecticut and Pennsylvania. But as the federal constitution gave to congress the exclusive regulation of commerce, it had become very questionable whether these laws retained any force.

Nor was the opposition to slavery confined to legislative acts alone. The united synod of New York and Philadelphia, while constituting themselves as the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in America, had issued a pastoral letter (1788), in which they strongly recommended the abolition of slavery and the instruction of the negroes in letters and religion. The Methodist Episcopal Church, lately introduced and rapidly increasing, especially in Maryland and Virginia, had even gone so far as to disqualify slave-holders to be members of their communion. Coke, the first bishop, was exceedingly zealous on this subject; but the rule was afterwards relaxed. In consequence of the efforts and preaching of Woolman and others, opposition to slavery had come to be a settled tenet of the Quakers.

The same opinions had been taken up as matters of humanity and policy as well as of religion. A society "for promoting the abolition of slavery, for the relief of free negroes unlawfully held in bondage, and for improving the condition of the African race," had been organized in Philadelphia (1787), of which Franklin was president, and Dr. Rush and Tench Coxe secretaries. A similar society had been formed in New York, of which Jay was an active member; and this example already had been or soon was imitated in all the states form Virginia northward.*

*Hildreth's History of the United States.

A petition from the yearly meeting of the Quakers of Pennsylvania and Delaware, seconded by another from the Quakers of New York, had been laid before the House, in which it was suggested whether, notwithstanding "seeming impediments," occasioned by "the influence and artifice of particular persons, governed by the narrow, mistaken views of self-interest," it was not within the power of congress "to exercise justice and mercy, which, if adhered to," the petitioners could not doubt, "must produce the abolition of the slavetrade."

Hartley moved the reference of this memorial to a special committee. Supported by Madison and his colleagues, Parker, Page, and White, by Lawrence, Sedgwick, Boudinot, Sherman, and Gerry, this motion was violently opposed by Smith of South Carolina, Jackson, Tucker, Baldwin, and Burke, not without many sneers at "the men in the gallery "the Quaker deputation appointed to look after the petition-" who had come here to meddle in a business with which they had nothing to do." Finally, on a suggestion of Clymer's, supported by one of the rules of the House, the memorial was suffered to lie over till the next day.

At the opening of the session that next day, Feb. 12, another petition was presented relating to the same subject, coming from the Pennsylvania society for the abolition of slavery. It was signed by Franklin as president—one of the last public acts of his long and diversified career. He died within a few weeks afterward. "That mankind," said this memorial, "are all formed by the same Almighty Being, alike objects of his care, and equally designed for the enjoyment of happiness, the Christian religion teaches us to believe, and the political creed of Americans fully coincides with that position. Your memorialists, particularly engaged in attending to the distresses arising from slavery, believe it their indispensable duty to present this subject to your notice. They have observed, with real satisfaction, that many important and salutary powers are vested in you for promoting the welfare and securing the blessings of liberty to the people of the United States; and as they conceive that these blessings ought rightfully to be administered, without distinctions of color, to all descriptions of people, so they indulge themselves in the pleasing anticipation that nothing which can be done for the relief of the unhappy objects of their care will be either omitted or delayed.

"From a persuasion that equal liberty was originally the portion, and is still the birthright of all men, and influenced by the strong ties of humanity and the principles of the constitution, your memorialists conceive themselves bound to use all justifiable endeavors to loosen the bonds of slavery, and promote a general enjoyment of the blessings of freedom. Under these impressions, they earnestly entreat your serious attention to the subject of slavery, that you will be pleased to countenance the restoration of liberty to those unhappy men who alone, in this land of freedom, are degraded into perpetual bondage, and who, amid the general joy of surrounding freemen, are groaning in servile subjection; that you will devise means for removing this inconsistency from the character of the American people; that you will promote mercy

and justice toward this distressed race; and that you will step to the very verge of the power vested in you for discouraging every species of traffic in persone of our fellow-men."

the

Immediately after the reading of this petition, which could not have much tended to soothe the excitement of the day before, Hartley called up the Quaker memorial, and moved its commitment. In opposition to this motion, Tucker and Burke took the ground that the memorial contained an unconstitutional request, as congress had no power to meddle with the slave-trade for twenty years to come. Tucker pronounced it "a mischievous attempt, an improper interference, at the best, an act of imprudence." Burke was certain that the commitment "would sound an alarm and blow the trumpet of sedition through the southern states."

"I cannot entertain a doubt," said Scott of Pa., in reply, "that the memorial is strictly agreeable to the constitution. It respects a part of the duty particularly assigned to us by that instrument. We can at present lay our hands on a small tax of ten dollars. I would take that; and if that is all we can do, we must be content. I am sorry the framers of the constitution did not go further, and enable us to interdict the slave-trade altogether, for I look upon it to be one of the most abominable things on earth; and if there were neither God nor devil, I should oppose it on principles of humanity and the law of nature. For my part, I cannot conceive how any person can be said to acquire a property in another. The petitioners view the subject in a religlous light; but I stand not in need of religious motives to induce me to reprobate the traffle in human flesh. Perhaps, in our legislative capacity, we can go no further than to impose a duty of ten dollars; but I do not know how far I might go if I was one of the judges of the United States, and these peoplo were to come before me and claim their emancipation. I am sure I would go as far as I could," Jackson maintained, in reply, "the qualified property of the master in his slaves;" he referred to the example of the republics of antiquity; and relied "on the whole current of the Bible, from Genesis to Rovolations," as proving that religion was not against slavery.

Sherman "could see no difficulty in committing the memorial. It was prob able the committee would understand their business, and perhaps they might bring in such a report as would be satisfactory to gentlemen on both sides of the House" Baldwin "was sorry that a subject of so delicate a nature, as respected some of the states, had been brought before congress. Such gentlemen as had been present at the formation of the constitution could not but nollect the pain and dificulty which this subject had then occasioned. So tender were the southern members on this point, that the convention had wellnigh broken up without coming to any determination. From extreme desire to preserve the Union and to establish an efficient government, mutual concessions had resultat, concessions which the constiration had jealously guarded. The moment we go to jostle on that ground. I fear we shall fed in tremble under our fet. The clause in the constitution, that no expitatio

*Aw?? Ne Mi£ ennyt in proportion to the census was intended to prevent

congress from laying any special tax upon slaves, lest they might in that way so burden the owners as to bring about a general emancipation. Gentlemen have said that this petition does not pray for the abolition of the slave-trade; I think, sir, it prays for nothing else, and that, consequently, we have nothing more to do with it, than if it prayed us to establish an order of nobility or a national religion."

The same ground, the unconstitutionality of the object prayed for, was relied upon by Smith of South Carolina, as a reason for not committing the memorial. "Notwithstanding all the calmness with which some gentlemen have viewed the subject, they will find that the mere discussion of it will create alarm. We have been told that, if so, we should have avoided discussion by saying nothing. But it was not for that purpose we were sent here. We look upon this measure as an attack upon property; it is, therefore, our duty to oppose it by every means in our power. When we entered into a political connection with the other states, this property was there. It had been acquired under a former government conformably to the laws and constitution, and every attempt to deprive us of it must be in the nature of an ex post facto law, and, as such, forbidden by our political compact." Like the other speakers on that side, Smith indulged in a good many slurs on the Quakers. "His constituents wanted no lessons in religion and morality, and least of all from such teachers." Madison, Page, Gerry, and Boudinot advocated the commitment. As to the alarm which it was said would be produced by committing the memorial, Page thought there might be greater ground for alarm should they refuse to commit

"Placing himself in the case of a slave, on hearing that congress had refused to listen to the decent suggestions of a respectable part of the community, he should infer that the general government, from which great good was expected to every class, had shut their ears against the voice of humanity. If anything could induce him to rebel, it must be a stroke like this, impressing on his mind all the horrors of despair. Were he told, on the other hand, that application was made in his behalf, and that congress were willing to hear what could be urged in favor of discouraging the importation of his fellow-wretches, he would still trust in their justice and humanity, and patiently await their decision. Presuming that these unfortunate people would reason in the same way, he thought that to commit the petition was the likeliest means to avert danger. He lived in a state which had the misfortune to have in her bosom a great number of slaves. He held many himself, and was, he believed, as much. interested in the business as any gentleman in South Carolina or Georgia. Even were he determined to hold them in eternal bondage, he should feel no uneasiness at the reference of the memorial, relying on the virtue of congress, and their disinclination to exercise any unconstitutional power." "Though congress were restricted by the constitution from immediately abolishing the slave-trade, yet there were a variety of ways," so Madison remarked, “by which they might countenance the abolition of that traffic. They might, for example, respecting the introduction of slaves into the new states to be formed out of the western territory, make regulations such as were beyond their power

in relation to the old settled states, an object which he thought well worthy of consideration."

Gerry "never contemplated this subject without reflecting what his own feelings would be were himself, his children, or his friends placed in the same deplorable circumstances. He thought the subject-matter of the memorial clearly within the powers of congress They had the power to lay at once a duty of ten dollars per head on imported slaves. They had the right, if they saw proper, to propose to the southern states to purchase the whole of their slaves, and their resources in the western territory might furnish them with the means. He did not intend to propose any scheme of that kind, but only referred to it, to show that congress had a right to deal with the matter."

The question being taken by yeas and nays, the reference was carried, fortythree to eleven. Of these eleven, six were from Georgia and South Carolina, being all the members present from those two states, two were from Virginia, two from Maryland, and one from New York. North Carolina was not yet represented.

The special committee to whom the memorial was referred, consisting of one member from each of the following states, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Virginia, after a month's delay, brought in a report consisting of seven resolutions: 1st. That the general government was expressly restrained, until the year 1808, from prohibiting the importation of any persons whom any of the existing states might till that time think proper to admit. 2d. That, by a fair construction of the constitution, congress was equally restrained from interfering to emancipate slaves within the states, such slaves having been born there, or having been imported within the period mentioned. 3d. That congress had no power to interfere in the internal regulation of particular states relative to the instruction of slaves in the principles of morality and religion, to their comfortable clothing, accommodation, and subsistence, to the regulation of marriages or the violation of marital rights, to the separation of children and parents, to a comfortable provision in cases of age or infirmity, or to the seizure, transportation, and sale of free negroes; but entertained the fullest confidence in the wisdom and humanity of the state legislatures that, from time to time, they would revise their laws, and promote these and all other measures tending to the happiness of the slaves. The fourth asserted that congress had authority to levy a tax of ten dollars, should they see fit to exact it, upon every person imported under the special permission of any of the states. The fifth declared the authority of congress to interdict or to regulate the African slavetrade, so far as it might be carried on by citizens of the United States for the supply of foreign countries, and also to provide for the humane treatment of slaves while on their passage to any ports of the United States into which they might be admitted. The sixth asserted the right of congress to prohibit foreigners from fitting out vessels in the United States to be employed in the supply of foreign countries with slaves from Africa. The seventh expressed an