Substance of the Speech (Classic Reprint)

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Excerpt from Substance of the SpeechMr. Smith began with saying, that the following Petitions, numerously signed, had been presented to the Legislature, the present Session:To the Senate and Assembly of the State of New York:What a wonder, what a shame, what a crime, that, in the midst of the light and progress of the middle of the nineteenth century, such an abomination and outrage, as slavery, should be acknowledged to be a legal institution! Who, that reverences Law, and would have it bless the world, can consent, that its sanction and support, its honor and holiness, be given to such a compound of robbery, and meanness, and murder, as is slavery?Your petitioners pray, that your Honorable Bodies request the Representatives and instruct the Senators of this State in Congress to treat the legalization of slavery as an impossibility, and, moreover, to insist, that the Federal Constitution shall, like all other laws, be subjected to the strict rules of legal interpretation, to the end, that its anti-slavery character be, thereby, seen and established, and all imputations upon that character forever excluded.The slaveholder will be strong, so long as he can plead law for his matchless crime. But take from him that plea, and he will be too weak to continue his grasp upon his victims. It is unreasonable to look for the peaceful termination of slavery? whilst the North, and especially whilst abolitionists of the North, sustain the claim of the South to its Constitutionality. But, let the North, and especially abolitionists of the North, resist, and expose the absurdity of, this claim - and slavery, denied thereafter all countenance and nourishment from the Constitution, will quickly perish.Your petitioners will esteem it a great favor, if your Honorable Bodies will consent to hear one or more of them in behalf of the prayers of their Petition.January 22, 1850.To the Senate and Assembly of the State of New York:The undersigned Petitioners, request your Honorable Bodies to give Gerrit Smith a public hearing on the question, whether Slavery has any legal existence under the Federal Constitution?February 14, 1850.Mr. Smith said, that it was in consequence of these Petitions, that he had the privilege of speaking on this occasion. He confessed, that he felt embarrassed by the latter Petition. Its designation of himself had, as he apprehended, excited far higher expectations of his powers of advocacy than he should be able to satisfy.About the PublisherForgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.comThis book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully, any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.