be the pursuit of the Central States, who wished to have a
vortex for every thing; that her distance would preclude
her from equal advantage; and that she could not prudently
purchase it by yielding national powers. From this it might
be understood in what light she would view an attempt to
abridge one of her favorite prerogatives. _If left to
herself, she may probably put a stop to the evil_. As one
ground for this conjecture, he took notice of the sect
of ----, which, he said, was a respectable class of people,
who carried their ethics beyond the mere _equality of
men_,--extending their humanity to the claims of the whole
animal creation.

"Mr. WILSON observed, that, _if South Carolina and Georgia
were themselves disposed to get rid of the importation of
slaves in a short time, as had been suggested, they would
never refuse to unite because the importation might be
prohibited_. As the section now stands, all articles
imported are to be taxed. Slaves alone are exempt. This is,
in fact, a bounty on that article.

"Mr. GERRY thought we had nothing to do with the conduct of
the States as to slaves, but ought to be careful not to give
any sanction to it.

"Mr. DICKINSON considered it as inadmissible, on every
principle of honor and safety, that the importation of
slaves should be authorized to the States by the
Constitution. The true question was, whether the national
happiness would be promoted or impeded by the importation;
and this question ought to be left to the National
Government, not to the States particularly interested. If
England and France permit slavery, slaves are, at the same
time, excluded from both those kingdoms. Greece and Rome
were made unhappy by their slaves. He could not believe that
the Southern States would refuse to confederate on the
account apprehended; especially as the power was not likely
to be immediately exercised by the General Government.

"Mr. WILLIAMSON stated the law of North Carolina on the
subject; to wit, that it did not directly prohibit the
importation of slaves. It imposed a duty of L5 on each slave
imported from Africa, L10 on each from elsewhere, and L50 on
each from a State licensing manumission. He thought the
Southern States could not be members of the Union, if the