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| CHARLES D. CLEVELAND. 729 abject condition of ignorance and vice, withholding from them the very key of knowledge; that system which is at war with every principle of justice, every feeling of humanity; that system which makes man the property of man, and perpetuates that relation from one generation to another; that system which tramples, continually, upon a majority of the commandments of the Decalogue; that system which could not live a day if it did not give one party supreme control over the persons, the health, the liberty, the happiness, the marriage relations, the parental authority and filial obligations of the other;—if you choose to cling to such a system, cling to it; but you shall not cross our line ; you shall not bring that foul thing here. We know, and we here repeat it for the thousandth tima to meet, for the thousandth time, tho calumnies of our enemies, that while wo may present to you every consideration of duty, we have no right, as well aa no power, to alter your State laws. But remember, that slavery is the mere creature of local or statute law, and cannot exist out of the region where such law has force. ' It is so odious,' says Lord Mansfield, ' that nothing can be suffered to support it, but positive law." " We would, therefore, eay to you again, in the strength o( that Constitution under which we live, and which no where countenances slavery, you shall not bring that foul thing here. You shall not force the corrupted and corrupting blood of that system into every vein and artery of our body politic. You shall not have the controlling power in all the departments of our government at home and abroad. You shall not ao negotiate with foreign powers, as to open markets for the products of slave labor alone. You shall not so manage things at home, as every few years to bring bankruptcy upon oar country. You shall not, in the apportionment of public moneys, have what you call your ' property ' represented, and thus get that which, by no right, belongs to you. You shall not have the power to bring your blaves upon our free soil, and take them away at pleasure; nor to reclaim them, when they, panting for liberty, have been able to escape your grasp; for we would have it said of us, as the eloquent Curran said of Britain, the moment the slave touches our soil, ' The ground on which he stands is holy, and consecrated to the Genius of UNIVERSAL EMANCIPATION.' " Thus, fellow-citizens, we come to llw: great object of the Liberty Parly: ABSOLUTE ASD UNQUALIFIED DIVORCE OF THE GKSERAI, GOVERNMENT FROM ALL CONNECTION WITH SLAVI:RV. We would employ every constitutional means to eradicate it from our entire country, because it would be for the highest welfare of our entire country. We would have liberty established in the District, and in all the Territories. * * We would have liberty of speech and of the press, which the Constitution guarantees to us. We would have the right of petition moat sacredly regarded. We would secure to every man what the Constitution secures, ' The right of trial by jury.' We would do what we can for the encouragement and improvement of the colored race, and restore to them that inestimable right of which they have been BO meanly, as well as unjustly, deprived, the RIGHT OF SUFFRAGE. We would look to the best interests of the country, and the whale country, and not legislate for the good of an Oligarchy, the most arrogant that ever lorded it over an insulted people. We would have our commercial treaties with foreign nations regard the interests of the Free states. We would provide safe, adequate, and permanent markets for the produce of free labor. And, when reproached with slavery, we would be able to say to the world, with an open front and a clear conscience, our General Government has nothing to do with it, either to promote, to sustain, to defend, to sanction, or to approve. " Thus, fellow-citizens, you see our objects. You may now ask, by what means we hope to attain them. We answer, by POLITICAL ACTION. What is political action? It is acting in a manner appropriate to those objects which we wish to secure through the agency of the different departments of Government. * * The only way in which we can act constitutionally, is to go to the ballot boi, and there, silently and unostentv |