, and never
has been, a disposition in the North to interfere with these interests
of the South. Such interference has never been supposed to be within the
power of government; nor has it been in any way attempted. The slavery
of the South has always been regarded as a matter of domestic policy,
left with the States themselves, and with which the Federal government
had nothing to do. Certainly, Sir, I am, and ever have been, of that
opinion. The gentleman, indeed, argues that slavery, in the abstract, is
no evil. Most assuredly I need not say I differ with him, altogether and
most widely, on that point. I regard domestic slavery as one of the
greatest evils, both moral and political. But whether it be a malady,
and whether it be curable, and if so, by what means; or, on the other
hand, whether it be the _vulnus immedicabile_ of the social system, I
leave it to those whose right and duty it is to inquire and to decide.
And this I believe, Sir, is, and uniformly has been, the sentiment of
the North. Let us look a little at the history of this matter.

When the present Constitution was submitted for the ratification of the
people, there were those who imagined that the powers of the government
which it proposed to establish might, in some possible mode, be exerted
in measures tending to the abolition of slavery. This suggestion would
of course attract much attention in the Southern conventions. In that of
Virginia, Governor Randolph said:--

"I hope there is none here, who, considering the subject in the calm
light of philosophy, will make an objection dishonorable to Virginia;
that, at the moment they are securing the rights of their citizens, an
objection is started, that there is a spark of hope that those
unfortunate men now held in bondage may, by the operation of the general
government, be made free."

At the very first Congress, petitions on the subject were presented, if
I mistake not, from different States. The Pennsylvania society for
promoting the abolition of slavery took a lead, and laid before Congress
a memorial, praying Congress to promote the abolition by such powers as
it possessed. This memorial was referred, in the House of
Representatives, to a select committee, consisting of Mr. Foster of New
Hampshire, Mr. Gerry of Massachusetts, Mr. Huntington of Connecticut,
Mr. Lawrence of New York, Mr. Sinnickson of New Jersey, Mr. Hartley of
Pennsylvania, and Mr. Parker of Virginia,--all of them, Sir, as you w