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ly recur to your charge that Mr. Rutledge, in ac
cepting the proviso to Mr. Madison 8 amendment,
aeted inconsistently with his previous declaration,
that he would never consent to put it in the power
of hostile States, to disturb Slavery and the Slave
Trade, and that my argument is suicidal in citing
Constitution gave power to Congress to prohi-1 &s cv ;d 0nc e that he did not hold Congress had
hit the Slave Trade. But in your last, you deny I an y p 0wer to abolish the Slave Trade, without an
you said they had the power to declare the Trade I am(; ndment of the Constitution
THE GEORGIA TELEGRAPH.
For the Telegraph
The Slave Trade.
Mr. Cusnv.—In your reply to my first, youst.id
tires. Thev had been overborne by Abolition mem
bers, and not supported at home with the proper
piracy. You further *ay, you find the clause in I y ou w ;u rcm ark that the proviso did not cover
the Constitution giving power to Congress to pro- tho g) are Trac]0j ; t on]j for bid stopping import*
hlblt the Slave Trade, where Madison and <mr? I tions leaving the foreign Trade in Slaves aa before
body else found it, until two years ago! | Madison’s amendments, to which the proviso was at-
tached, put it in the power of the Northern States
bv a three-fourths vote, to change the Constitution
and abolish Slavery and the Slave Trado any time,
in spite of Georgia and South Carolina, the only
I Southern States in the Union, for North Carolina
have been still more obliged, if you had told where
Madison found that clause, for he could never tell,
though repeatedly pressed to the wall as violating
tho Constitution.
And further, I concede that if Congress lias po a ■
er to prohibit the Slave Trade, they, ns a matter of/refgsc,] t0 CO nic into the Union. Mr. Rutledge
course, have the power to declare it piracy, or l 3 ' I saw an Q appreciated his helpless position, and with
filet any other necessary penalty to render the I consumma t e ability he met the emergency, he ac-
prohibition effectual. As to all other* agrecii g I C cpted the amendment with the proviso, for it gave
with Madison, that the Constitution gave Congress I the South a probation of twenty years, in which
the power in question, I deny tJiat any Statesman, I time, with their vast Western Territory, out of
South of Virginia, either in ‘ ho Federal Conven- wllic j 110 malje new g tate8> an d with the probable
tion, or in the Congress that passed the anti-SLu e a ; d 0 f Maryland and Delaware, North Carolina
Trade laws, ever agreed that tho Constitution con- joining them, they could prevent any change of
ferrod anv such power; but on the contrary, ut-1 t i ic Constitution after 1808. Their anticipations
•terly denied there was any such power confcrrec; wcrc rca v lzC( ] i and at that period the South had it
and from that time to this, no two Jurists, nor Jn j, er power to hold Madison's amendment and
Statesmen holding to the power, have agreed as to prov j so j n a nd harmless, and they would
irbat part of the Constitution concedes it. Judge j laTC forever retained that power, had it not been
Story, in the case of “The St. Lewis,” found it in f or t jj 0 unconstitutioual “ Wilmot Proviso*” after-
the law of nations, that the trade in slaves being ward appplied to the Territories, of which heresy
contrary to that code, CoDgress bad the right lo y ir g; n ; a ; st {, c mother.
take cognizance of, and control it. The Suprem e
Court of the United States afterward repudiated
that notion, and adjudged the trado was sanctioned
by the law of nations. Chancellor Kent found it
in the prohibition forbiding stopping the import; i-
tion before 1808; but this was so manifestly alt-
surd, no one of any repute has followed him sine;
There are certain important facts in History you
seem to have forgotten, or entirely overlooked in
your replies to my communications. First, that nt
tho formation of tho Constitution, tho States and
Territories South of Virginia, were designated ts
Where, then, was the inconsistency of Mr. Rut
ledge, or the suicide of my argument ? He had
checkmated the Abolitionists, and they saw it af
ter it was too late; he had tied the Gordian Knot (
which they could not untie, so they commenced to
cut it, at the very next session of Congress.—
What they could not do legally, they commenced
to do by violence. Let us now trace tho history of
this illegal violence, and see whether the South
consented that it was constitutional for Congress to
prohibit the Slave Trade; keeping in view the fact
“the South,” or Southern States, and all North of that tho P rovis0 onl 7 a PP ,ied t0 the importation of
.. I clnr-nn inf a tli a TTnit«/1 Ctotne nml nnt f a tlm T n.) .1A
North Carolina, tho Northern States. Secondly,
that Jefferson, Madison, and most of the leading
politicians of Virginia, were rank Abolitionists.-'
That tho first Abolition Societies in America, were
in Virginia. That Jefferson put his hostile sent
ment into his “Notes on Virginia.” That in his
first draft of the Declaration of Independence, his
denunciations of negro Slavery were too violent
for the New England Delegates, and they struct
it out. But ho succeeded in smuggling into that
instrument, the wicked lie, that God created a I
men free and equal! a fallacy contradicted by a I
History and doily experience, and expressly deniei
by God himself in His Word. Madison was but %
protege and humble disciple of Jefferson. It is
true that subsequent reflection, and maturer judg
ment greatly modified their opinions, and wholly
changed their action. The results of the Frenc’i
Revolution,—the brutish capacity aud savageisn
of Africans, as manifested in St. Domingo, fright
ened Jefferson and his infidel followers into better
sense, and Virginia Abolition Societies died out;
and no more Delegates from Virginia attended the
Quaker Abolition Societies in Philadelphia; and
their once loved gabble got to sound to Jefferson,
“like a Fire Bell at midnight!” Keeping these
Historical facts in view, we can the better under
stand the Journals of the Convention that framed
the Constitution, and Journals and debates of the
first Sessions of Congress, that passed the anti
slaves into the United States, anil not to the Trade
generally.
At the first session of Congress, 1789, Parker,
from Virginia, started the subject, and proposed a
heavy tax, and declaring slavery was contrary to
Revolutionary principles and regretted they could
not abolish tho trade altogether. Jackson, from
Georgia, was not surprised at the quarter whence
the movement came. Virginia had a full supply of
slaves. Sherman, of Connecticut, begged Parker
to withdraw the motion, as it was creating great
excitement among the Southern members. Park
er protested he would not, and hoped Congress
would exercise all their power to restore to human
nature its Inherent right, and wipe away the foul
reproach of Slavery resting on our national char
acter. Madison supported him in an elaborate
Abolition apooeb. Finally the ruVjcct iras laid
over to Die next Session of 1790, when the war
was renewed never to cease afterwards. A peti
tion from an Abolition Qcaker Society was present
ed, praying Congress “to enquire if they had not
power to abolish tbe Slave Trade, and they had no
doubt the enquiry would result in measures of jus
tice and mercy.” This fire-brand, Hartly moved
to refer to a Special Committee. This was opposed
with great zeal, by all the- Southern members, and
they told the Quaker petitioners in the galleries as
spectators of the strife, that the Southern people
wanted no lectures on morality, from men who had
Slave Trade laws. Nothing but the great men of been notorious Tories, through the whole war of
South Carolina and Georgia saved the South from
the most pernicious measures. With zeal and a-
bility never surpassed, they staid the Abolition
flood that threatened to sweep away all the safe
guards of the Constitution from the Southern peo
ple. They could not prevent tbe grant of power
to so change the Constitution as to abolish both
Slavery and the Slave Trade after 1808, but they
distinctly warned their opponents that any such
interference would drive South Carolina and Geor
gia out of the Confederacy. They felt, however,
measurably secure, seeing that the Mississippi was
our Western limit, and by the compact of Session,
but five States could be made North-West of the
Ohio. No one can read the Journals of the Con
vention and the debates of Congress immediately
following, and not perceive that the Delegates
from South Carolina and Georgia never believed
the power was given to Congress to prohibit the
Slave Trade. There can be no doubt, had the
power been given in express terms, those two
States would have seceded from the Convention,
and joined North Carolina then already out of the
Union. The Convention knew and felt this dan
ger; they made no secret*of their fears, of tempt
ing those three States to form a separate Empire,
more than double the size of any in Europe, ex
cept Russia, stretching from Kentucky to Florida,
and from the Western line of Virginia to the Mis
sissippi. All the Compromises of the Constitution
touching Slavery, are due to South Carolina and
Georgia. So early as 177-1, a Convention of Dele
gates of the people of Virginia resolved to stop
the Slave Trade. And Jefferson and his follower,
after the State Government was formed, tried to
get a law passed abolishing Slavery prospectively.
And Madison, in the very first Congress after t ie
Constitution was adopted, suggested the prohibit
ing Slavery in all tho Territories, nis words were:
“Though Congress are restricted by the Consum
mation, from immediately abolishing the Slave
• Trade, yet there are a variety of ways by which
‘ they may countenance the abolition of that Traf-
• fi c ; They may, for example, respecting the iidro-
1 d action of slaves into the new States, to be foim-
• cd out cf the Western Territories, make regi la-
• tions such as are beyond their power in rclat.on
«to the old settled States; an object which I th nk
' well worthy of consideration!” So that if Mi.di-
son had then had it in his power, lie would h ive
made Kentucky, Tennessee, Alabama and Missis
sippi non-slaveholding States.
In the next place, in every debate and always,
tho opponents of Slavery and the Slave Trade,
placed their opposition solely on the ground that
both were equally morally wrong, and contrary to
natural justice; neither Jefferson nor Madison as
sumed any other ground. No one thought of
drawing a distinction between the morality of hold
ing slaves, and trading in slaves; if one were sin
ful, both were. It was generally admitted -.hat
the Trade could be got rid of sooner than slave-
holding, but that a moral obligation rested upon
all to get rid of both. We heard no such miser
able nonsense, as that it is sinful for a Sea Captain
to buy a slave out of the hands of Cannibals, but
quite innocent for Cotton Planters to buy them of
Christians, so as to make money out of them!
A word as to great names as authority in Con
stitutional questions. Abolition in Virginia, in ear
ly times, led Congress and the country into many
heresies, and the history of Federal Legislation
proves that Congress is, and always has been the
very worst and most dangerous school of Consti
tutional expounders. The Congress immediately
succeeding tho Constitution, passed many laws
most dangerous to Liberty; among the rest, a law
punishing any one by fine and imprisonment, at
the discretion of the Federal Judges, who should
speak or write against the Government! and an
other conferring on the President the power to
arrest, and send out of the country, without trial,
nay foreigner at his discretion. The Emperor Na
poleon has gone no further. As to Mr. Calhoun,
our political history, for forty years passed, shows
him to have been at times the advocate of every
political heresy ever started in the United States,—
Rank, Tariff, Internal Improvement, Wilmot Fro-
\ iso, and all. Nay, worse, he was a member of the
Cabinet in 1820. The President required of the
Cabinet a written opinion whether Congress had
the Constitutional power to prohibit Slavery in the
Territories, as lie had his doubts, and would not
sanction the Missouri Compromise Bill without
their approbation. The Cabinet, Mr. Calhoun
among them, gave a written and decided opinion,
that Congress had such power. Let me now brief-
the Revolution. Madison and his Abolition crew
came to the defence of tue Quakers end Hartiv’s
motion. Scott, an eminent lawyer from Pennsyl
vania, and one of Madison’s coadjutors, declared
Slavery and the Slave Trade were equally abomi
nable, and contrary to the principles of humanity
and the laws of nature, and therefore within the
power of Congress. All the members from Geor
gia and South Carolina denounced the reference of
the petition, for asking what Congress had no pow
er to grant. Baldwin, of Georgia, declared Con
gress had no more power to prohibit the Slave
Trade, than to establish an order of Nobility, or a
national Religion, and that the Quakers may ask
as well for the one as the other. Madison again
came to the rescue, and contended if there were no
express powers, yet Congress could kill off the
Trade by the exercise of implied powers. The
South was over-borne by numbers, and the refer
ence carried. The Committee consisted of a mem
ber from every State but Carolina and Georgia.—
After a month’s delay they reported seven Resolu
tions, which gave visa to a debate of unsurpassed
ability. But as the ulh is germain to this discus
sion, the others need uot be given. This 5th, “Re
solved, That Congress had authority to interdict
or regulate the African Slave Trade, so far as it
might be carried on by citizens of the United States
for the supply of foreign countries.'
On the motion to adopt this Report, Madison
and his anti-slavery forces for, and the able men
from South Carolina and Georgia against the mo
tion, put forth all their great powers. Nothing
new has been added by Boston Aboiuiomnt®,
gainst slavery, to the showing by Madison’s forces,
and no better defence of it has been made since
the arguments of Jackson, Baldwin, Smith, Burke,
and Tucker in those debates. And they complain
ed bitterly that they and their constituents had
been dragged to the Bar of the House and the
world, by a band of Quaker Abolitionists, to de
fend both their reputation and property against an
unconstitutional exercise of power. They showed
tho absurdity and injustice of thus following our
citizens out of the jurisdiction of the United States,
and then and there outlawing them while in the
pursuit of a lawful Trade in foreign countries, and
under foreign protection, and they contended it
was a breach of the compromise of the Constitu
tion. They pressed Madison so to the wall on the
Constitution, that Scott had to come to the rescue,
lie said, as to any understanding, or compromise
in the Convention, that Slavery was not to be dis
turbed, “he hoped there was no such trafficking,"
(t)iesc were bis words,) but if there was, he nor
nobody else were bound by it,—ho should take the
Constitution os it reads, and ho made out the pow
ers of Congress, thus: 1st. By the law of nations
all governments may prohibit tho introduction of
hostile emigrants, or those infected with the plague.
Slavery was worse than the plague. 2d. Congress
has power to regulate Trade, ergo they may de
stroy it. 3d. Congress has power to pass natural
ization laws, ergo they may declare all blacks and
whites free citizens, on treading our soil. 4th.
Congress has power to define and punish piracies
and felonies on the high Seas, ergo it has power
to do it on the coast of Africa.
Although these wcrc the best reasons offered for
exercise of the power, they are so manifestly ab
surd, that it was easy for tbe able lawyers from So.
Carolina nnd Georgia to confute them, and Gov.
Jackson complimented Scott upon liis candor, in
admitting that the Resolution covered the whole
subject of slavery, that there was no half-way
ground; if tho one could not be defended, neither
could the other,—if one was wrong, both were,
and that those who tried to draw a distinction,
were committing a fraud upon the Southern peo
ple.
In the midst ol the storm, Fisher Ames moved
to lay the whole subject forever on the table, and
regretted it had ever been introduced. Madison
was not to be put by so. He would consent, with an
amendment, that the Resolutions and Report be
entered on the Journals; which after a further
stormy debate was done. A great point was gain
ed, a wedge had been made to stick, aud they were
content to wait four ycurs longer, to see if the
South would secede, as the members from Georgia
and South Carolina threatened to do. As the ex
citement died aw ay, the Quakers, at the session of
spirit; they seem to have devoted themselves
henceforth chiefly to political trafficking, a Trade
that has ever since usurped the place of patriotism
and Statesmanship. The great political war be
tween the Democrats and Federalists had just be
gun, and was becoming a death-struggle, and the
Southern politicians had got to believe, that to
make Jefferson President, was of paramount im
portance to slavery, and it; would never do to raise
a fuss about anti-Slavery, for the Federalists could
prove Jefferson the earliest and rankest Abolition
ist in the world.
As the Quakers had pre-cured the passage of the
first antl-tilave Trade law in 1794, the free negroes
of Philadelphia took it into their heads to become
alike notorious, by getting TValn, the Representa
tive of the city, to draw a ad present alike petition
praying a more stringent, law against the Trade,
which was passed at the session of1800, and sanc
tioned by Jefferson, in spite of the clear demon
stration of its unconslitutiouality by Rntlcdge,
Harper, Lee and Randolph.
Thus the Quaker Abolitionists and free negroes
are the authors of the two first laws ever passed
against the Slave Trade. The next, of 1807, had
a more dignified origin ; it was recommended by
Jefferson in liis message, “for the prevention of a
great moral and political evil." lie was always
shremed enough to take carc not to undertake to
point out where, in the Constitution, he found the
authority for Congress to define and prevent mor
al evil; like Dogberry, he held it mathematically
true, that it is morally^ right for every body to up
set every thing that is morally wrong,—quod erat
demonstrandum.
If Congress had such power conferred, there
ought to be a Bench of Bishops setting with our
Senate, to give advico moral and Theological, be
fore they hang a man for being immoral, or doing
what they call evil; for otherwise it may turn out
the man had done nothing but what God had com
manded and ordained, and what Jesus Christ and
his Apostles sanctioned, and Christians and pious
men, in all ages, have practiced. But Jefferson
rejected the Bible, as a fable—like his disciples,
Garrison and Parker, he could make a purer code
than that! Had the Ghost that appeared to Eli-
pliaz, put the fearful question to these self-sufficient
philosophers,—“Shall mortal man be more just
than God f Shall a man be more pure than bis
maker?” They (to be consistent) would have an
swered, “Yes, wc would have had no slaves in the
world—wc would have made all men happy—we
would have made all meu equal—we would have
made no ‘Ethiopians, who cannot change their
skins.’ ”
This Bill of 1807 received the unanimous con
demnation of the Southern members, as unconsti
tutional, unjust and cruel. Holland, of North Car
olina, put the moral phase in a strong light, thus:
“Slavery, says he, is generally considered a politi
cal evil, and in that point of view nearly all are
disposed to stop the Trade. But has capital pun
ishment been usually inflicted for offences merely
political ? Fines and imprisonments are the com
mon punishments in such cases. The people of
the South do not generally consider slavcholding
as a moral offence. The importer might say to
the informer, I have done no worse than you, nor j
even so bad. It is true I have brought these
slaves from Africa, but only transported them from
one master to another; lam not guilty of bolding
* human beings in bondage,—you are, you have
‘hundreds on your plantation, in that miserable
‘condition. All admit, (he added,) that as slaves,
* they are infinitely better off in America than in
‘Africa. How then can the trade be immoral?”
But the Bill passed, in spite of the opposition of
such men as Macon, Holland, Early, Randolph,
who, in one of his ablest efforts, declared the alien
and sedition and excise laws, however uncon
stitutional they were deemed, were nothing to this.
“It lays, (be exclaimed,) the axe at the root of all
‘ property in the Southern States; if Congress can
‘ thus abridge, alter, or modify the right of proper-
‘ ty in Slaves, they can go a step further and cman-
* cipato them.”
The Quakers again petitioned Congress, and the
Act of 1818 was passed, but not without the strong
opposition from Troup, of Georgia, and Barbour,
of Virginia, as a violation of the Constitution.
The last Act of 1820, making the Trade piracy,
was, and is a separate section to a Bill of quite a
different character, and seems to have been smug
gled through, in the midst of the Missouri Revo
lutionary Hurricane, when nobody believed the
ship of State worth a six month’s purchase. It
therefore received very little attention, and yet,
any candid man, on reading its provisions, must
pronounce the Law worthy of none but barbarians,
an Algerine law in all its parts.
And it is to be remarked of all these laws, they
arc for the protection of Africans only. Whiteslaves
from Asia and Constantinople may be trafficked
in ad libitum,—whites are of no account, negroes
everything with modern Pharisees.
There is another significant coincidence ; the
same month of March, 1807, tho American Con
gress and British Parliament passed tbe same law;
and tbe same year, 162.0, *om our infamous law
outlawing our own citizens all over the world as
pirates, and the British emancipation Act in the
West Indies; and still more significant, that gath
ering of blasphemous Tyrants, in 1815, at Vienna,
called the Holy Alliance, to rc-adjust and re-rivet
tbe manacles of the white slaves of Europe, Re
solved, “That the African Slave Trade is immoral
‘ and unjust, and contrary to national justice, and
pledging their governments to put it down,” and
To the Editor of The Georgia Telegraph,
Sir :—The Telegraph of the 29th June con
tains an article over the signature of “John
Hampden” which indulges in sundry strie
tures on the speech of Col. Hunter, and certain
remarks of yonrs accompanying its publica
tion in your paper of Juno Q2d. I feel every
respect for the excellent gentleman and able
lawyer to whom rumor ascribes the authorship
of the article in question, hut I must be ex
cuscd for saying that the communication re
ferred to docs not exhibit his usual accuracy
of statement, clearness of perception and fa
miliarity with tlio subject under consideration
“John Hampden” introduces his article by de
claring that he is “ in rinculis to support and
defend the Constitution.’’ I was not [aware
before that the mantle of Daniel Webster had
fallen upon any other individual in this coun
try. Mr. Webster when in life was regarded
as the “great defender of the Constitution,”
and it will be matter of profound gratification
to the country to know that the Sage of
Marshfield has left behind him an able repre
sentative in the person of “John Hampden.”
But what deadly blow aimed at the Constitu
tion has thus aroused the indignation of Hamp
den ? What desperate assault upon that sa
cred instrument is the shield of Achilles in
terposed to repel ? Let Hampden answer
this question. Alluding to the speech of Col
Hunter and the remarks of the Telegraph he
says “ that the proposition is, that the acts of
Congress prohibiting the slave trade are con
stitutional.” That, he says, he denies, and
holds all such acts a gross usurpation—nay
more, a violation of the Constitution.” “John
Hampden” denouncing as unconstitutional, acts
of Congress signed by Thomas Jefferson and
approved by James Madison his Secretary of
State—signed by James Monroe, and approv
ed by John C. Calhoun and Wm. H. Crawford,
members of his Cabinet! Oh modesty where
is thy blush ! But I forbear. Hampden, in
his last communication published in yonr pa
per of the Gth ult., says “you (that is the edit
or of the Telegraph) in your last say that the
Constitution gives such authority, (that is, au
thority to prohibit the slave trade) but neither
yon nor our friend Hunter point us to the
part of the Constitution where it can be found.”
Now, if Hampden will take the trouble to re
fer to the speech of Col. II. he will find that
the speaker contended that the slave trade was
prohibited by the policy of the F. Govern
ment, and the legislation of Congress founded
upon the construction given by the authors of
the Constitution, to the 9th section of the
first article of the Constitution, and to the
general grant of power contained in the
eighth section (8th) of the same article of the
Constitution, which declares “that Congress
shall have power to regulate commerce with
Foreign Nations, and among the several States
and with the Indian tribes.” The ninth sec
tion reads thus : “The migration or importa
tion of such persons as any of the States now
existing shall think proper to admit, shall not
be prohibited by the Congress prior to 1808,
but a tax or duty may be imposed on such
importation, not exceeding ten dollars for each
person.” At the adoption of the Constitu
tion in 17S7, negroes were admitted into the
several States that were imported directly
from the coast of Africa, and into none of
them more freely than the State of Georgia—
although as Hampden states—the Constitution
of Georgia, of 1793, afterwards prohibited
their introduction. Tho persons alluded
then, in this section, were Africans imported
from the coast of Africa into the several
States. This traffic had been carried on for
years, but principally in New England ship;
Now, while, as Mr. Hunter admits in his
speech, there is not to be found in the section
of the Constitntion just quoted, an express pro
hibition of the slave trade, yet it is undenia
ble from tho language employed In tbat sec-
tion, that it was the intention of the framers of
the Constitution, by this ninth section to con
fer upon Congress the power after the year
1808 to prohibit the African Slave trade. By
this ninth section it is expressly declared that
Congress shall sanction up 'to that time, tho
African Slave trade, but no longer—which by
necessary and unavoidable implication, gives
to Congress the right to legislate upon the
subject afterwards. It is a general rule
which obtains in the construction of statutes
that “a thing within the intention is as much
within the statute as if it were in the letter,
and such construction ought to be put upon
it as does not suffer it to be eluded.” Bac
Abr. Stat. 1—5—10. No candid or intelli
gent mind can read this 9th section without
coming to the conclusion that it was the inten
tion of tho framers of the Constitution, by
that section, to confer upon Congress the im
plied power to prohibit the African slave
trade from and after the period therein men
tioned. But we need not resort to implica
tion, however plain or strong it may be, to
sustain the exercise of the power on the part
Constitntion subject to be amended in that re
gard after 1808” as asserted by Hampden ?—
No, hut as “Hampden” very properly asserts
“they were putting a veto on the power of
Congress until 1803, and leaving them (Con
gress) free to exercise it afterwards.” Hamp
den proceeds to qualify this admission by add
ing “if Congress had possessed or exer
cised this power under the Confederation.”—
“ But no one (he says) had ever claimed
such power for Congress under tho Confedera
tion, and when that league was broken up, all
such domestic matters were left to be rcgula
ted by the several States to suit themselves.”
Again, (he says,) “they, the States, have cer
tainly never ceded this dangerous power.” I
have endeavored (and I think successfully) to
show that the States did cede this very pow
er to Congress, not under the Confederation,
it is true, but in that clause of the 8th Section
of the 1st Article of the Constitution already
pointed out, taken in connection with the im
plied power conferred upon Congress by the
9th Section. It is a general rule of construc
tion, that wjierc an instrument consists of sev
eral parts, the whole must be construed to
gether, so as to ascertain the intention of the
parties, and make every part take effect, if
possible. The application of this sound rule
of construction to the question under conside
ration, requires that clause 28 th of the 8th Sec
tion, and clause 43rd of the 9th Section of the
Constitution, should be construed together,
and being thus construed,, it will be found
that the conclusions arrived at in this article,
are the only just conclusions that can be fairly
deduced from them. The power to prohibit
the slave trade is derived from the general
grant to regulate commerce, but the exercise
of the power on the part of Congress is restrain
ed for a limited period by the 9th Section, and
upon the settled principle of construction, an
exception to a power otherwise unlimited,
shows that it was intended to be limited no
further than is expressed in the exception.—
The people vs. Utica Insur. Comp., 15 John.
Rep. 357.
A Delegate to the Montgomery Convention.
(to be continued.)
MACON, a-^.
Tuesday Morning, July 13,1858
Weather.
Wc arc having daily instalments of ramjiow,
I and just about a quantum suff. has fallen in this
I immediate region, we should judge, to meet the
necessities of the crops. North aud South of Ma-
I con excessive rains have injured the crops. In
Northern Georgia and Tennessee we hear that
[ Wheat has been materially injured by the wet
weather.
Important Deei S j 0u ~
In our last bsne we noticed :
Supreme Court whi
ing monthly wages
Constitutionality of the Slave trade
PROHIBITION.
The space consumed by our able correspondent
to-day, upon this topic, precludes, while it obviates
the necessity of Editorial remark on the subject.
Our space for general editorial matter is also very
much abridged, but it is better filled. Hampden
is always a welcome correspondent—no matter
how much lie differs with us; and both the com
munications exhibit a degree of care, ability and
research which will hardly fail to command the at- lI ' i ”“ u:u ’ aU(l _ u P on this judgment g U j
tentive consideration of the reader. wn * garnishment against
| and weekly and daily 5^ ^
- I and garnishment in force. Since a ^
er case has been decided which is J*
importance to the officers of the v
governments of this State. Th 0
case to which we allude were aCts
Mrs. Harriet E. Expcriem
against John A. Holt one of 0 „ * -
liccmcn, aud upon this judgment f C '. ,y
as follows •
ace held
: <V
S. W. Bail Road.
A change in the morning schedules of this Road
will be noticed in the advertising columns—to go
into operation next Thursday.
Iron Cotton Tics.
It is a supererrogatory business to invite atten
tion to the huge advertisement on this subject.—
Little else can be acen. The Iron Cotton Tic, how
ever, is destined soon to supersede tho bale rope,
and the subject is just now timely and interesting.
£=d^ J Mr. Wood invites the attention of visit
ors to the city, during this Commencement
week, to his splendid depository of specimens
of the Photographic art. It will be hard to
find better ones anywhere.
Ocmulgcc Schottish.
We find upon our desk, this morning, a
piece of Piano Music, thus entitled, composed
by Hermann L. Schreiner, and dedicated “to
Misses Mattie and Emma Hurt and Eugenia
Bass.” Published by Firth, Pond & Co., of
New York. We hope our friends, the broth
ers Schreiner, arc building up an Estate, while
they are thus establishing a reputation as
teachers and composers of Music.
Council of the city of Macon for «.***•
Holt. One of the officers of the chv*****
ment having answered that they *1
to Holt, counsel for plaintiff moved t
up judgment against the MayorZn**
for the amount of such indebted ^
was resisted by Holt’s counselnaanth*’
that there was no law authorizing t h e • ^
garnishments against & municiwl
for the salary of its officers. The m . rati(
before whom the case was first tried tf 1 ^
defendant’s objections and entered
on the answer. Holt’s counsel
carried the case up on a writ of cm; •
the Superior court. Here the certi
overruled upon the grounds that the «" v"
clause of the act of 1855-G repealed all othera?
upon the subject of attachment and Z?
ment—that of 1850 not excepted” ZTZ
the body of the act of ’05-f, ’ d tl:
in the same year, Great Britain, one of those ‘‘Ho- of Congress to pass laws to prohibit the Afri-
ly” Robbers, requires our commissioners to put it
in the Treaty of Ghent, that we agree and bind
ourselves to put down the wicked traffic in Afri
can Slaves. The object of all this is too transpa
rent to escape the discernment of any hut Gulls.—
AU our troubles with foreign governments, for the
last forty years, have arisen from our permitting
iorcigners to interfere or negotiate about our do
mestic affairs: wc denounce our own honest citi
zens as outlaws and pirates, to please and play into
the hands ol the infamous and designing Despots
of Europe. All these humiliating aud disgraceful
treaties and laws, I would blot from the American
Records. After that is done, it will he time enough
to decide whether we w ill change the Constitutions
of all the States, and admit slaves from Africa.—
But I hold that if we arc to have any more tropi
cal countries added to the Confederacy, such as
Mexico or Central America, it will entail a curse
tbat will destroy this Confederacy, unless wc open
the Slave Trado to supply laborers that will invite
an intelligent planting population into those coun
tries where whites cannot labor in the sun.
I thank you for this patient bearing, and will
trouble you no more.
JOHN HAMPDEN.
From Humboldt's Cosmos.
The Book of JTob.
The Book of Job is generally regarded as the
most perfect specimen of the poetry of tho He
brews. It is alike picturesque in the delineation
of individual of phenomena, and artistically skillful
in the didactic arrangements of the whole work.—
In all the modern languages into which tho Book
of Job has been translated, images drawn from
the natural scenery of the East leave a deep im
pression on the mind.
The Lord walketli on the height of the waters,
on the ridges of the waves towering high beneath
tbe force of the wind.” “The morning red has
colored the margins of the earth, and variously
formed the covering of the clomls, ns the hand of
man holds the yielding clay.”
The habits of animals arc described, as for in
stance, those of the wild ass, the horse, the buffalo,
the rhinoceros and the croekodilc, the eagle and
the ostrich. TVe see “pure ether spread, during
the scorching heat of the south wind, as a melted
mirror over the parched desert.”
The poetic literature of the Hebrews la not defi
cient in variety of form; for while the Hebrew
1794, stirred up Congress again, with another pe- \ poetry breathes a tone of warlike enthusiasm,
tition, and this time with better success; it induced
from Joshua to Samuel, the little book of the glean
er Ruth presents us with a charming and exquisite
them to pass the first law against the Slave Trade, j picture of nature . GoetllC) at tIie p^od of his en
and with hardly any opposition; the South had j thusiasm for the East, spoke of it “as the loveliest
become discouraged, or rather their Represents-1 of epic and idyl poetry which we po°=es*.”
can slave trade. The eighth section of the
Constitution puts this question at rest. That
section already quoted, declares “That Con
gress shall have power to regulate commerce
with Foreign Nations, and among the several
States, aud with the Iudian tribes.” To
“regulate commerce” meant that Congress
should exercise the right to determine what
were and wbat were not legitimate subjects of
commerce with foreign nations, and African
slaves having been the subject matter of com
merce between the several states and foreign
nations, Congress, by virtue of this general
grant, wn3 directly clothed with the power and
duty of determining whether this traffic in
slaves imported from the coast of Africa
should he continued or not. Taking the
whole clause together it obviously amounted
to an entire surrender on the part of the
States to Congress of all power of legislation
on tbe subject. It stood then, as it docs
now, among the powers expressly delegated to
Congress, and of course was not reserved to
the States or people. In support of this po
sition tho act of 1820 (signed by Mr. Monroe)
is entitled “Ae -ict to continue in force an act
to protect the commerce of the United States
and punish piracy,'’ &c. See the report of the
committee to which President Monroe’s mes
sage of December. 1824, on this subject was
referred. In this very able report the va
rious ac^i of Congress, Treaties, &c., on this
subject arc refered to and reviewed. The report
bears date February 25th 1825, and is drawn
up by some of the most distinguished men in
tlio 18th Congress. This unlimited power of
legislation on the subject of prohibiting the
African slave trade having thus been express
ly delegated to Congress by the 8th section of
the Constitution,* when the framers of that in
strument afterwards enmo to insert the 9th
section they imposed words of restraint upon
this otherwise unlimited power, by declaring
“that the migration or importation of such
persons as any of the States now existing shall
think proper to admit, shall not be prohibited
by the Congress prior to 1808.’ \\ hat, then,
did the convention by this 8th article of the
Constitution intend to do? “To leave the
Knoxville Female Seminary Ex
' AMINATION.
Mr. Editor :—On Friday, 25tli June, the
Examination catre off in the Knoxville Female
Seminary, and I propose to give you a brief
sketch of the Exercises on that day.
Tbe forenoon was consumed in the exami
nation of the primary classes—in Reading,
Arithmetic, Grammar, Geography, &c.
In the afternoon the Classes in the higher
branches were examined, viz ; Rhetoric, Phi
losophy. Chemistry, Botany, Algebra, Physi
ology and Evidences of Christianity, and for
clearness, decision and promptness in answer
ing the different interrogatories, I never in all
my life saw them excelled. Proving conclu
siycly that here at home, in our own beautiful
village, a young lady may receive a far bet
ter education than she can in many of the one
horse colleges of the country. I venture the
assertion, that many of the young ladies of
this School can stand a successful examination
with the Graduates of some of our Colleges.
The examination of the Classes dosed about 6
o’clock, P. M.
At early candle-light wo returned to hear
the Compositions read. The room was bril
liantly lighted, and decked from one side to
the other with wreaths of beautiful flowers,
where soft fragrance filled the room, making
the very air we breathed sweet as the “dews
of Herman.” The pupils occupied the stage
and ante-chamber, while the balance of the
house was filled to overflowing with ladies and
gentlemen.
There had been a large audience all day to
hear the examination, but at night there seem
ed to be a “ mighty host that no man could
number.” And’the balmy breeze that stirred
through the house, the sweet fra b ranee of a
thousand flowers, the rich display of beauty,
and the sweet songs of the young ladies, were
doubtless calculated to make a young man feel
an “aching void” somewhere near the Jlegio
Cardiaca; but your humble correspondent
being old, “careth for none of these things.”
Compositions were read by eight young la
dies, and they were as beautiful, chaste and
elegant, as it has ever been my good fortune
to hear.
After the Valedictory, and singing by the
School, Dr. Simpson proceeded to deliver the
Literary Address." He spoke for about one
hour; claiming for woman a high standard of
Education, and pointing out some defects in
tho proseut system. He claimed for Georgia
the honor of recognizing in the Wesleyan Fe
male College, the oldest Institution of the kind
in the United States, and perhaps in the world.
After the Address, the Exercises were announ
ced as suspended till the first Monday in Au
gust.
This Institution has been for the last twelve
months, under the control of Miss Lowinan, a
young lady with a literary* education equal
led by few. She is a high-toned lady, in eve
ry sense of the term, and would doubtless be
an honor to any Institution with which she
might be connected. May the Knoxville Fe
male Seminary live and flourish like a green
bay tree. W. J. S
Commencement Exercises.
The Commencement Exercises of the Wes
leyan Female College take place during the
early portion of this week.. Yesterday (Sun
day,) the venerable Dr. Lovick Pierce preach
ed the Commencement Sermon in the Metho
dist Episcopal Church, before a vast auditory,
crowding the house much beyond its conveni
ent capacity. His subject, as we understood,
(for we were unable to be present,) was upon
the appropriate ornaments of women, (a meek
and quiet spirit) as contradistinguished from
the excessive material adornments of the pres
ent day.
To-day. (Monday.) is devoted to the Junior
Exhibition, and Examination of pupils in the
Ornamental Department.
The Regular Commencement Exercises take
place Tuesday and Wednesday, and on the
latter, the Hon. Washington Poe delivers the
Annual Literary Address.
nicipal as well as other corporations ‘ D f'
ant’s counsel appealed from this decision!;'
Supremo Court, where the judgment of ?
Court below was reversed, fo delivering
decision, His Honor, Judge LumpU
that it was very questionable whether a mZ : '
pal corporation ever has been a snbject' '
garnishment; certainly not before the act!-'
1332, and that it was a legitimate const^ ;
of this act to say that it referred only to
vate and not to public corporations
nicipal corporation is a
A at
TIie Supreme Court
Commenced the third week of its session on
yesterday. About thirty-five causes have been
argued, and some fifty or more remain on the
docket. We understand there are three mur
der cases from the Chattahoochee Circuit to
be argued. The Court will be in session three
weeks longer. From what we can see and
hear, the Judges earn the pitiful salary they
are receiving, and doubtless realize the truth
of the remark of the celebrated lawyer who
said that “Lawyers work bard, live well and
die poor.” We notice quite a number of the
legal profession are in attendance on the Court,
nd we iropc if this notice should strike their
eye, tbat they will favor the Telegraph with a
call, read the papers, and make themselves at
home generally.
TIie Independent South.
We have received the first number of a new
weekly journal with this title, recently estab
fished at Griffin, by A. P. Burr, Esq., late of
the American Union. It is as neat a specimen
ofnewspaper typography as we have ever seen,
and compactly filled with interesting matter
original and selected. The leading idea of the
paper, we believe to be, that the South will he
more prosperous and secure as an indepen
dent government, than in the present Confed
eracy. A comfortable consideration this will
be when necessity compels a separation.
Young America’s Visit to Atlanta.
IVe copy from the Atlanta Intelligencer a grati
fying notice of their excursion. The Company re
turned highly delighted with their reception, and
speak in glowing terms of the generous hospitality
of the Firemen and citizens of Atlanta.
Wc understand that in the second trial, on Tues
day morning, Young America threw horizontally,
173 feet and 6 inches.
Tue Wav it is Done.—In the year 1772,
man in England astonished the natives by
having a loaded cannon fired at him at a dis
tance of ten yards only, and catching the ball
—a nine pounder—in the hand. On the pay
ment of a considerable sum he divulged his
secret, which was thus: When the proper
charge of powder was ready, a little of it was
put in the cannon, then the ball run in, and
the rest of the powder put in after it. The
wadding was then rammed tightly in ; when
tired, the report was as loud as usual, but ow
ing to there being a small quantity of powder
behind the ball, it would only carry about
twenty yards. Cannon loaded in this way
and fired against thin pine boards, at a dis
tance of twelve or fifteen yards, make no im
pression.
Devotion to Science.
Our Savannah contemporaries the past week,
have been deep in the discussion of Electricity
as an anaesthetic agent in dental operations.
Our friend. Prof. Loomis, who denies its effica
cy, has been having it tested experimentally
upon himself in the application of the forceps
to stumps and sound teeth, too. Wc call that
“the pursuit of knowledge under difficulties.”
It illustrates a devotion to science, equalled
only by Dr. Sitgreaves, in Cooper’s Spy, who
broke his own hones in order that he might
personally enjoy the beautiful harmony of sci
ence co-operating with nature in the myste
rious process of reunion. We like Dr. L’s.
mode of investigation—we do. There is noth
ing superficial about it—the results are certain,
and a very definite and clear idea must follow
the extraction of every stump and grinder.—
But still, as there are certain limits to this par- . f . Tamp 3 ’
ticular field of inquiry, we beg our friend to TJle L>
1 J b An Editorial in the Talla™**^ o bei ;/"
having all co-ordinate departments of a COa
plete government and is something more & '
a private corporation. The second sctlic!
of the act of 1850, conferring the power of cjr
nisheeing the salary of the officers of JL
corporations where such salary does not
five hundred dollars per annum, cxprcsslm
cepts municipal corporations from the proas
of garnishment. Although the act of 18554
repeals all other acts upon the subject of i
tacbment and garnishment, it has nothin;'
do with that of 1850, which was passed ford,
purpose of exempting effects from being ^
sheed.
The case was argued with considerable aVil-
ity by O. A. Lochrane and John Lamar, AfUir-
neys for plaintiff in error, and Massey as,)
Whittle for defendants.
Our young friend and fellow townma
John Lamar, was admitted to plead and pm-
lice Law in the Supreme Court of thissta
on Wednesday last.
Can’t Learn.
The New York papers publish the proceed
ings of a recent meeting in Kingston, Islaidi
Jamaica, called under the auspices of the get
eminent, to invite free negro emigration fra
the United States to that island, for the pat
pose of restoring its ruined agricultural f<
tunes. The Hon. Edward Jordan, Mayors
Kingston, presided, and the chief luminary:
the occasion was a certain Hon. Alesana;
Barclay, who appears to have made a toon
observation in the United States with a vie*
to the developement of this particular proji
lie narrates the result in a long speech, be
which we take the following:
a'ltaw a great many free colored rnlUack
New York, whose improper habits resderti bat fat
unsuitable; in fact they would be a iitpvct b':
antntry ; but in the Southern States I ur umtoj U
very best men who could be obtained. I inmedto'
placed myself in communication trUi lie color*
icople, by whom I was well treated, sodttejwa]
>odyof whom I found were well disposed to
hero.”
Now let the reader mark the strikingm»|
tration afforded by speaker aud meeting
the old adage, “that none are so blind asth«:
who will not see.” It is a meeting called
import laborers into Jamaica, on islands*®
ing with black vagrants who were valuta
laborers, until emancipation gave them theh-
berty of refusing to labor. Wholly demon!
ized and worthless by being freed, they vt
pests and burdens, and new laborers mot “
supplied. This Agent goes to New lort-
and among the swarms of emancipated sept*.
there, finds few or none suitable for hi= p®-
pose—“i» fact they tcould be <i dtserstt / - -
country”—and why ? Manifestly for **
reason that demoralized the blacks of
—to wit: the liberty to be idle and
Not until he gets “in the Southern St.-;
where the free negroes five, for the most pl
under the moral and legal sanction, i- ^ “
straints of slavery, docs he find snv f
serve his turn. Now it is in the ^ i
their own experience and the most inevita-^
deductions from the observations oft W J
-peaker, that tfce meeting then
solve that the Island would be great-!
ted by the accession of this popul-* 10 ®
American brethren”) from the States,
promise them profitable labor oa ti e
now going to ruin, and rt-sideuc*= J
principal towns in stately dwe in £^l
crumbling to pieces”—wealth indane]
cial position in the Island of Jmn* e j' .|
that freedom destroyed t e
borer in Jamaica—and failing to n ■
the North, they cannot see that tre
stroyed him there also. FmduBg ^
South, under the restraints ° * reC ,>:.
cannot sec that their proposition
him beyond those restraints is u (
of the same experiment which hr o,
the ruin of their island, and sen
in quest of laborers.
—— t Fi» rii i
restrain his ardor considerably within the point
of exhaustion.
Good Hits.—In the trial of “Jim Lane,”
at Lawrence, Kansas, for the murder of Jen
kins, the attorneys indulged in a good deal of
pungent wit and sarcasm. One littlc/w-M be
tween the counsel was so pointed and oppor
tune that it is worthy of note:
Col. Young insisted that In law, the man
slain is supposed to be wrongfully slain.
Mr. Coe—That is the law of England not of
America.
Col. Young—If there is any hook on God’s
earth that contains any other doctrine, I’ll
agree to eat it without greasing. (Laughter.)
Mr. Coe—Then you’ll have more law in
your stomach tliau you ever had in your head !
(Roars of laughter.)
The Feood atOairo.—It appeavs the dam
age done by the flood at Cairo, III., is far less
than at first reported. The Mayor of that place
ritmg to the Chicago Times: “Cairo is far
from being destroyed. A considerable portion
of our town is inundated, but no house of auy
considerable size has yet been destroyed or is
expected to be. The loss principally is in fen
ces, outhouses, goods, furniture, &c. Princi
pal bn Jnets houses still above the water, and
ill continue so. The loss as yet is inconsid-
able, and will soon be repaired.
Gov. Brown ami the Wits.
We seo by the opposition prints that a car-
ricature of Gov. Brown has been devised, in
which he is represented in the act of balancing
bank hooks with a pair of scales—a desperate
expedient, wc suppose, suggested by the im
possibility of doing it in any other way. It
will take heavier missiles than thU to disturb
the public confidence in the old-fashioned in
tegrity, fearlessness and independence of
Gov. Brown. The versatility of the opposition
press in their attacks upon the State adminis
tration is admirable. Some months ago they
were groaning over the “ prodigal expendi
tures" on the State Road, and now they are
groaning about “short sighted parsimony.”—*
“It paid nothing into the Treasury,” and they
lamented—it pays, and they weep or scoff as
the humor seizes them. We are afraid they
are hard to please, aud that no conceivable
course of Gov. Brown, or any possible condi
tion of public affairs out of their own hands,
would give them satisfaction. It may be fear
ed that the world will have to move on with
out their endorsement, unless they get better.
Journal of last Saturday, assure^ Ijg
extertained before, that the s jjl
mary execution of four men ne
lishedin the Savannah
position upon that paper.
Journal says :— . tbis
Gentlemen from ^V 3 !} 0 . Ww^’tzSI
that piace since the date oft « f„j ge irf-
dounce the whole stfctemen « g on j 0 1
to end. There is no
T. Bowen,” and no sack P Lucwo
a^dCoLX^SrooWt’
Rich Gold tc’'' |
Dr. ittnwwd,
taken from a mine lately discove^ ^ gjl
ty, Georgia, near Altoona, an
of his brother in connection : ' I
ts Verdery. Two of these spe«® , , Jg e. * £l( I
of quite V*** « "V fn d "
else than pure virgin gold. - ^ it
of remarkable richness. * /Oifor?*- *
several gentlemen familiar with
bearing quartz said they had ^ fs£J d
them in that modern °P“ r ' le4( jiJ
havobatjustcommencedan progro;; . v-
increase m tichne;» * d f the 1
not say that the antieip-
are not to he measure u b> n -