der which I am torn from my family and business by the supple
tools of the Slave Power, the slave-breeder and the slave-hunter, is
at variance with both the spirit and letter of the Constitution. Sir,
I place myself upon the Constitution, in the presence of a nation who
have the Declaration of Independence read to them every Fourth of
July, and profess to believe it. Yea, in the presence of civilized
man, I hold up the Constitution of my adopted country as clear from
the blood of men, and from a tyranny that would make crowned heads
blush. The parties who prostitute the Constitution to the support of
slavery are traitors--traitors not only to the liberties of millions
of enslaved countrymen, but traitors to the Constitution itself which
they have sworn to support. A foreigner upon your soil, I go not to
the platforms of contending parties to find truth. I go, Sir, to the
Constitution of my country: the word slave is not to be found. I read,
"We, the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect
Union, establish justice,"--yes, Sir, _establish justice_--"to promote
the general welfare, and to secure the blessings of liberty to
ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution
for the United States of America." These were the men who had
proclaimed to the world that _all_ men were created equal; that they
were endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights---life,
liberty, and the pursuit of happiness; and contended even unto death
for seven long years. Can it be, Sir, that these great men, under
cover of those hallowed words, intended to make a government that
should outrage justice and trample upon liberty as no other government
under the whole heavens has ever done? This dreadful power, that has
compelled the great political parties of the country to creep in
the dust for its favor; that has debauched to a large extent the
Christianity of the nation; that bids a craven priesthood stand with
Golden Rule in hand, and defend the robbing of mothers of their babes,
and husbands of their wives; that bids courts decree injustice; Sir,
I plant myself upon the Constitution, and demand justice and liberty,
and say to this bloody Moloch, Away! Sir, the world has never
furnished so great a congregation of hypocrites as those that formed
the Constitution, if they designed to make it the greatest
slaveholder, slave-breeder and slave-catcher on earth. He is a great
slaveholder that has a t