tor of great power. Instead of
ruling it out of the courts, it was clothed with the ample garments of
judicial respectability.

The first article of the immortal Declaration of Independence was a
mighty shield of beautifully wrought truths, that the authors intended
should protect every human being on the American Continent.

"_We hold these truths to be self-evident:--that all men are
created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with
certain inalienable rights; that among these are life,
liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. That to secure these
rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their
just powers from the consent of the governed; that whenever
any form of government becomes destructive of these ends, it
is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it, and to
institute a new government, laying its foundation on such
principles, and organizing its powers in such form, as to
them shall seem most likely to effect their safety and
happiness_."

It was to be expected, that, after such a declaration of principles,
the United States would have abolished slavery and the slave-trade
forever. While the magic words of the Declaration of Independence were
not the empty "palaver" of a few ambitious leaders, yet the practices
of the local and the national government belied the grand sentiments
of that instrument. From the earliest moment of the birth of the
United-States government, slavery began to receive political support
and encouragement. Though it was the cruel and depraved offspring of
the British government, it nevertheless was adopted by the _free
government_ of America. Political policy seemed to dictate the methods
of a political recognition of the institution. And the fact that the
slave-trade was prohibited by Congress at an early day, and by many of
the colonies also, did not affect the institution in a local sense.

The Tory party accepted the doctrine of property in man, without
hesitation or reservation. Their political fealty to the Crown, their
party exclusiveness, and their earnest desire to co-operate with the
Royal African Company in the establishment of the slave institution in
America, made them, as per necessity, the political guardians of
slavery. The institution once planted, property in man having been
acquired, it was found to be a difficult task to uproot it. Moreover,
the loss of the colonies to the Brit