nk the assertion that it was not the
Lord's intention to hold the people of the United States under the law
of the Ten Commandments, as they were given to the Jews alone, some four
thousand years before the United States existed as a nation.
Massachusetts never abolished slavery by legislative act; never
intentionally abolished it. In 1780 that State adopted a new
Constitution with a Bill of Rights, declaring "All men born free and
equal." Upon this, some slaves demanded their freedom, and their masters
granted it. The slavery of men and _women_, both, was thus destroyed in
Massachusetts without intention on the part of the framers of the
Constitution, and this, because it is a legal rule to argue down from
generals to particulars, and that the "words of a statute ought not to
be interpreted to destroy natural justice;" but as Coke says, "Whenever
the question of liberty runs doubtful, _the decision must be given in
favor of liberty_."

_Digest C.L._

When a Charter declares "all men born free and equal," it means,
intends, and includes all women, too; it means all mankind, and this is
the _legal interpretation_ of the language.

To go back to the Constitution of the United States, let us examine if
women were not intended. The first amendment reads, "Congress shall make
no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free
exercise thereof, or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press;
or the right of the people peaceably to assemble and to petition the
government for a redress of grievances."

No mention is there made of women, but who will deny it was not intended
for them to enjoy the right of worshipping as they choose? Were they not
to be protected in freedom of speech, and in the right of assembling to
petition the government for a redress of grievances? Not a man before me
will deny that women were included equally with men in the intention of
the framers.

The Sixth Amendment reads, "In all criminal prosecutions, the accused
shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury
of the State and District wherein the crime shall have been committed,
which District shall have been previously ascertained by law; and to be
informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted
with the witnesses against _him_; to have compulsory processes for
obtaining witnesses in _his_ favor; and to have the existence of counsel
in _his_ defense."

The wor