Property In Men

Tlm principie au vaneed by Hcnry Clny on ceveral ocqHsions, that "tliat ia proper' y which ihe l.aw drehres !o be property," is familiar to our readers. The same pos-ilion ;ig ërïdorsed by Cnssiirs M. Clay, a few monilts since, in ooe of his pub'isfied letters aiMresie. The A Iban)' Patriot contained reuly to thi.s posifion of the two C!nyp, a part of which wo copird into Snnl, With nn ediioii.il jinticp. in wlneh we said we shonld like to seo C. M. Clay's auswer to it . A late m:mber of the Trtie Amenerri bring-s llie fol - lowjngr response: "TIIAT IS PROPERTY WIUCÍÍ TI1E L.WV MAKES PROPERTY." The Sinri): ! cf Liberty aska me to an.vef the arpnmen.t r].1" lltc Albnny Polnnt, ucrainsi the postniote thnt "ulioi tho faw tunkos properly id )ro)erty."' It is the dnctri;;e V repub l'cruj povernmehts ÍÜát tiie mnjority efioöld rute BCCprdin to the ft;ndanicntal law: a man who resisis theliu-is atraiioranu outlaw, and is li.ible lo be, and ouwljt tu be shot do.rn with impunity Jh govcniment vpon earth can stand aa hour iipnn aivj olher principie thun thal, "Thai ichich the iuw makes propcity, is properly. ' One man lias aa mucli natural rialii to the lund as onother - vet if we intrude oun-elf into oor neiyhhr's field - wc arn shot down and the world excloim, "well!1" Why? becuuse it is the late! Air. C's wifeis d love with u?, we reciprócate her afleclion, if we attompt to seize uj.on, or we volnnlarily escnpe from the husband'e In ure, and he comes upen us and shoofs ti? down, hc is gnlilfss! and all say wel!! Why? becane the law hns ntaJe it so! My eon at 20 is full grown in person and n;ind. B. docoys him froin my enploy with more advantajreoitfl offere - e sne him for damage and recover, nnd al! say wt'll! Why? becauso tlie Ituv is so} We are n Turic and have two wive?, the Pntrnt comes and wins the affections of one nnd takes her, we i-hoot him down, and he has no redrets? Wliy] because it is the law! A Ihotisand similar cases might be adduced both in accordance with and in opposiMon th natur al law - both in accordunce with and njjninst revealed leligion - both in accordance nith andngninst the consciëntieus imprespions oí rnen wilh regard to rirht nnd wrong! Upon the the sime basis then does slavery stand: nnd the same course of ïeasoDing might induce any one to attnck tny other positivo instilution of law, thal leads hiin violeul'y or by pnyficül force or fraiul to reisiát slavery. In rcply lo the case put: ff we werè inviteil tó dinner in New York hnd eeizeri upnn nnd redtrced losluvery, wliat would we do? We reply thal we would u-e all the means whicb we deemed most erpedienl lor onr liberación froin nn unjusl bondage - a bondBge in violntionof all natural lsw. But if sucb were the Uw of New York, and tlie Patriot should at tcmpt to resist tho authorities by Torce and wa shot down, bowever mucli rnuch we inijjlit gratefully 6ympathise with bim, we would be constrained to scknowledge the justice ofhis fate. Because, in resistió by vio Jence even a tD-inife-stly nujust act, be viola - tod the principies of ail government by not to the lawg, till chnnped byconetitiüioual ineans - beca use in reMHtinff nn feit. Jaled case of oppresshm, lie ooèd :Sic door to the loss of evpry man's Libei ín the $:ate of New York, for without law there is no liberly - becau&e the resistance of law by violenco is rebelüon and treason, in all cases, nnd should be punished with the eeverest iniliction; becaiiEe U is the greateet f crimes I'V indticinga oihers. If the la ws of New York lenalizcd the bet ra val pf hospitality to ïbe proisest fraud and opprcssion, wliat onirlit t iitr P;itriot to do? He onghl to vse neither violence nor fraxid. He onlit to cali moral poner end the laws of Nature and rf God to his hfc!p, to cry aloud and spare not, to land io his anns n the defence of his cotislitufion al jïht of speech and the pres, and implore all cd men n all ihe world, to aid him by their cnuntennnce in werping the infamous etaiute from the code of ihe Sta'e. The peojjIp of the (Jm'jed States 5ee us in thnt posi lioTi! Will they embarrass us wilh frívoloús deiimic-iations nhout force nnd childi.-b techni calities? or will they, in llie truetpint of roa non. religión and humanity, aid us in their cause and ours! ' The inquiry wbetber n.en really become Property by virtue of Lnw, and onglu, thereforr, to be treatrd as sih-Ii, is a momentous quefctici). lviriíí at the fouiidnMon of Ihe anti slavery en'erprise, nnd nvolving ihe most imporinnt practical comeqnences. VVaivingfor tbc present all abstract inquiry into the rigbt of property and ihe ob'igniion of laws in genera], we eIir.11 address ouiselves to tho coiiiidcration of ihe actual difll-rence of opiniou on the main point at isue, which we tur pose to e.xist bet ween Mr. Clay on one side. and oursrlvcs and the whole body of Abolitionists on the otlier. To show that diflerence more plainly. we will siale our posilion formallv, in direct conlrast wilh that which we euppoi-c hun toadvocite; and should we be so unfortunaleasto misapprehend his vietvu in ony particular, upon correction by Mr. Clay, we will rcciify the matter wilh ot;r readers. Our Eeveral views nny be 6tated in juxtaposition, thus:C. M. CLAV'.S POSITIO.N. Persons decía red by Law to be slavcs, Jo lliereby become actual Property, and tliould be retran'rd as fiicm: and the Law fieclaringr tliem io be Property is of bindiiiíj forcc up on Ihe Slnve, and the whole coinnuinity, and íhoiild be rospected by all Mankind.our pnsmon. llimirin beíugs do not become rcally Properly by viriue of La we dcclarmg their. to be such; but 6uch Lawp nrc of no binding forro wlialevcr, but may bo rihtfnlh resistefJ.evndcd or nul üfied, by ony ineans not ropiifinani to moral obligation.It will be peen that if we have apprehended Mr. Clay Hghtfy, or poeitions are direcily nnln;onisiic to each other, and ono of tis must be wrong opon a most importent point. We hold tiiot all trnths are consistent with cach othcr, howevcr vanoueand different may be their nature?. ESteh tnith harmoniz'-s and agrecs wit fi all oiher trtiths. Biil assuine an error 10 bc a lrutli, and troat it as such, curryiiiff it out into nil its lenritimoteconsequencee, and its true cliaisclfir wil! brcoinc oyiporent by i Is direct unlagonism lo olher acknoicleifged trUth's. Let us lesl ihe poíifionof Mr. Clay by this eiandard, and acertain the legitímate repnlfK. We unders'and Mr. Clny to affiim that the üüü by which the mastcra of laves holdthem ns Property js stmilnr in Us natnreand i:ospqoences to that by which the)' hold their nnda or otlver pniperty, tlnir wives, or lhe -ervires of ihrir m nor chiliiron. 4Upon the SAJIK BASIS DOES Sl.AVKhY STA."n." If hoil ses, Imi'J., Ciiiilean! hoit-es ore fo be eepect ?d in a cnniüiuiiii y as properfy, fr lhe anmc ñpaorK, nnl to the Fnnie pxtent, arr cvs lo fte a!so inciuded in the catalogi. VVhat are the coii5rt]tenccs whkh necessnrily reíiilt 'rum this ospertion? 1. Tlift wilfnj Jpstroc'ion of lioncs oro'hei prnperly. is n cn'me. The inrcrulinry ip ptuiisheii a? a Criinir.al. So wouliJ he he nhn ï=hoti)d go [hroiiirh the State of Kentm-ky (lestrovitijr j.ll tho cattle and horsrs lic coul( find. St Wonld ho be uho shouhl open a ilie gales of lhe posture?, and the doors of th .tnbpp, leoviup the movnble proporty of tli ownertostray away beyond rftovtery. A mrn, we tliink, wouid condemn such procped nsns criminal, and consider thi perpetrator deéërViftg of punishment. But Cntsius ar gv.rs thnt th? rïghf to a horse and a man, n nrticlos of properly stand "opon the same n.vsts." He who would opn the door fo human properfy to escnpe must thprefore b rrtjrá?'! by Casslus ns a criminal of th sume rank svith llié horre thicf ; for man and horse are both ogilimate property. Hencp in cnnsistency wth his principies, Mr. Clay m;st be a jnstifier of the imprisonnient o Rev. Calvin Fiiirbanks in the Kenlucky Peni onttary, for heljiingf slavcs tb eecape; and h muslapprove tl e punfchuaentüf Torrey for -imiiir offence in Ma ry land, and of all persons who help slaves to escape from a Slave StHte.But his posilion involves mere (hnn this. - Ho must condenin oil acceasories to tliei crimes. Suppose on individual in Obio sees t!ie linrse which he kr.ows has been unlmvful ly set loose in Kentucky, travelling the bighwoy. Ho priv.iiely takes hini to his stable 'c ds him, and sends 1) m on his way towards Canada, Jor the. rxpress purpose of geiting him out of the reach of kir otoner in Kenlurk'). Now, if he who set the horse loose in Kentucky be a criminal, so must he be who, with (he same motives, helps to carry out his intention in Ohio. According1 to Mr. Clay's position, property in sla ves is "upnn the same basis' with other propeny; and henee it s plain that every person in the Free States, who has helped a slave lo escape into Cannada knowincr him to belong to a master in n Slave State, musf be regirded as a criminal, to the same class wilh Tor rey and Foirbank, and deserving of punishment. - Henee the posifion ot Cassius airays him ajainst fifty or a hundred ihousand of the antislavery men and women of the Norlh whom lis principies rrquire him to considcr as Jla grant crimináis. We do not know of nn antislavery man or wotnnn in the Free Stafes, who does not help the flying fugitivos as they need, nr justify the practise in others. Ant some of them aio, in lliia respect, very great winners. Oi:r ovvn individual oilènces of lliis kind are more tbai we can nnmber; and if wc are lo be charged niih them, the indictmen should be Inid not on'y for past oflrnces, but for a continuance in the praciice. VViH Mr Clay affirm, as his principies wonld imply that we are therefoie deserving of the Stote Prison pena'ty? 2. Mr. Clay concedes that eorne kinds o! property may be defended by force, if necesenry, and tlie intruder "shot down." He alsosays that "Slavery stands on the same basis." It foüowF, then, that elavcholders ma) rihtfully defend th:s kind of property b force, and "èhoot down" the property iiself when attrmpting to escnpe, or tbose who would intorierc to prevrnt his right of recapture. Tliis is rxprestly asserted by Mr. Clav iti the extract above, where he has suppoccdhimselfa slaveand the Editor of the Patriot hira to regrain hifi freedom by force: if phot down Mr. C. says, "we would be cjh tlrained to ncknowledge the justícb of his fatk" - a sentiment that will fïnd few to respond to it at the Nurth except Prosloverv men. This principie would juslify a perpetval war in defence of Slavery. It-wou!d nlsojiistify all the fitripe?, tortures, privationf and torments inflirted upon slavee to keep thern from running away; for if a man have the legal right to a piece of property, he moy ii?e all the ineans necessary to its preserva - tion and defence. 3. If tiie slove be really property, be slii-uld not resist or evade the lavv which mokes him eurh, but ehould conscientinusly obkv it, until the law vvhich mide him Propeny shull dechire him to bo a min. Thi principie is directly admittrd by Mr. CIny; for he snys of tho Editor of che Patriot, in the caee supposed: "In resist ing by violence even a manífestly uiijusl act, he violated the principies oj aÏÏ govrrnmmls, by not submittíNg to thk law.till changed Ly constilutional mcans" 'The resistance of )nv by violence is rebelUon and trenson in all enses, nnd shonld be punished willi the terereslinflict Ion.' "It is ihcgreatest of crimes, by inducing1 a'l otliere." "He onofhl to use neilher violknce nor fraud.1'Now, if Cassiu would not approve of the use of 'violenco or frBud' by anolher person in behalf of kis liberty, il mny fairiy be presumed he would not u?e ihem himsclf. But fhr principies advanced by liim cover the who'e ground; for, were he made a sla ve by law. und sliou'd bo resist tint law by vinlence, hp would confessedly be uihy of ulhe grntlest of crimes." nnd ehould therefure be "punishtd icith ike severcst injlictions." Neiiher wonTd he íry to libérate himsclf by "fraud" bu' wouid voluntarily "stibfnit h niself ïo the law" which made him a slavc, til) it fhould be ♦changed by conslilutional ineans." In o word, he tvould neither fight nor run nway, but eerve a t-lave for life, Dnie-s hbrrnted bv Lnw. Now we don't believe a word of all iliip. We don't believe the Wittfom of nil the Fegirtla tures in the Union would hold Mr. Clay as a slnve, if he coold evude their lawe by flight; nnd if we have not grently mi.-jndgea the man from the wnrlike tenor of hie fpeecnep, we should possibly look for fome demonslrations of "violence" in opposilion c átich a )nw. We believe he is too much of o man to yield Iiimself a elave for life, wi'houc makingr a eingie effbrt for hie freedom, mcrrly becnuse a set of ecoundrela bad declared him to bc "prnptrty !" 'By these principies Mr. Clny condemns the acl8 uf our Revolutionary Father&, who resisted oppressiun by ''vrölente,' nnd thereby, nccord'mg to hia system, becaine gnilty of "the grpatpst of crimes', - one which Iesrrvos the "scverest infliction." Thus h eondemnn ihe pütriois of n II ennntries wh have re?isled oppressinn by forc, nnd throug these principies he teuches bis plavish nnd de hnsinor spntiments to o tl his fellow country m-n. His Non-Resisiance is of o kind aiu c]fsriP8 thnt would be ahjnred by every Q,uake or Gurrisonite 1 the land. 5. Were Mr.-, Clny nnd his fotnily mad slnves for ÜCe by the Legislatura of N. Yurk ie would not only remnin a. peaeeable slave hut. rs n good father, nnd a moral beirg, b woiiíd be boiind to teach hischildren their du ly. Inslead of repen ting to them, with con Bcioua pride, the poetry recently usrd by him no 8tronLfly expressing the sentiment uf a fre man- Think through tchoin Thy life blood trncks its pnrenl Jake, And then strike homr" ho might say with great force and pro priety,- "Think throij(jh whom Your life blood tracks its parent lake, And then - bk slavks!'" 'Your father as well as yoi', were bor free, but have been made slaves by lnw by th mosi Oiitrageous injusnce. But you must no resist this law by "viülf-nce;'' for tnnt is th "greatetfl óf crime.;' nor must you evnde i by "fraud:" for then you would wronp yon master. You nre his propertv os ranch ns his horse is; and you ore to rrgard yourselves as "standing on the same basis.' You must not listen to the Abolitionists who would persuade you to run away into Vermont: for that would bo a "Jravd1 upon the law: and tbis law is to be obeyed by you as good slavee, nntil it shall be repealed, or unlil you go down to your graves.'' Bul we will not pursue the subject further. All our feelinga of mnhhood revolt and cry aloud against such an absolute, total and shameless degradntion of every mnnly feelin: and vet we appeal to the reader if ihese consrqurncps do not legitiinnlely and inevitablyfolio w ff om the principie be hos laitl down,that the right to slaves "stantls upon the same busia" with tlie right to all otherproperly. There is no middle ground on this qnestion. If elavesbe reully property in lilis sense, then U s diity as moral beings to remain so until frerd by law; mini&ters are riglit in teaching "obedience to tnnsters" as a reliyious duty: m asters are justifiabre n using al mear.s necessary to keep them fia ves, and the mary thousands of Abolitionista who hive helped slaves to escape have done a grievciis wrong, and should do (?o no more, But i slaves be not property- if the la iva declaring them lo be such are of no more binding forcé tlian laws made by pirates or banditti for the government of their rnhbed and pltindere victimp - then theslave does well to brenk the laws which bind them- and we do well to help him to escape, orto do any thing elsc that he, asa free mnn, mny properly d; an all the aggressions of the Slaveholders, or them and on us, are so many insta neos of unprovoked wrong and wickednesp. If the slaves be property. we should let them alone, or aid the masters in keeping ihcm in subjection: if they be not property we shoulc regard and trent them as free-men, and their pretended owners aa manstealers,nnd as guilty of outragoou8 wrons lo their fellow men. - On one eide of this question every Northen Abolitionist and antislavery paper, both Ol Orgoiiization and Liberty party, are arrnyed, and on the other are fcund the Slnveholders and Casaivs M. Clay! One word more, and we have Jone. Neither we, nor any other anti&lavery man in our kiioivlcdge wibhes to 'enibarrass ' Mr. Clay with "frivolous denunciations" or "childish technicaüties." We believe he is duing a good work in Kentucky.&t we would not pul a straw in his way: but we cannot consent to be silent while through his poper he spreads in all qunrtcrs principies which virtually jüstify the SJaveholder, represent íálnves as actual tríerchandize, ard those who help i hem lo their liberty as crimintls, anJ iocul cate a pystem of passive obedience to arbitra ry and tyrannical power the most revolting nnd abhorrent to every one who has within )im the spirit of a free man.{L? The BuffaloPilot, a neutral paper of some ability, has an article on the next Presidency. The three prominent candidates of the Democratie party are Calhoun, Cass and VVright, of whom the Pilot considers the prospects of Cass to be the best, as he is a Western man, is right with his part}' on Texas and Oregon, and on the TarifT. Silas Wright is representcd as failing in popularity. Of the Whigs, the Pilot says: "The Whig party is peculiarly situated. Unless Mr. Clay shall be ngain taken up, we know of noone in the ranks of the party who can draw out a general support, or who can enter the field with any hope of success against a candiciate brflught forward with unanimity by the other party. As things are now tending, we should not bc surprised if Mr. Clay was ngain called inlo the field, if he wil! suffer his name to be used. Thereseems lo be a general feeling in favor of such a measure, in every part of the country." 05 A writer in the N. Y. Tribune recommends, in cases whero poisons have been laken info thestomachs, if no antidotes be at hand, to administer water to the patiënt very plentifully. If the poison produce a burning sensalion, let the water be cold; otherwise, it should be partial'y warmed. ff?" "A school girl's first attempts" are not without merit, and are favorable indications for the future: but they have defects in the sentiment and subject matter owing, perhaps, to the want of mature judgment which induce us to decline their publication.