14 THE REAL QUESTION STATED. TO A COMMITTEE OF MERCHANTS. try’s interests against all assailants, err greatly when they contend with these men on any point but one. Their general principles cannot be refuted; their logic is irresistible; the errror, if any there be, is in their premises. They assert that negro slavery is unjust. This, and this alone, of all they say, is capable of being fairly argued against. If this proposition cannot be refuted, our Union cannot endure, and it ought not to endure. Our negro bondmen can neither be exterminated nor transported to Africa. They are too numerous for either process, and either, if practicable, would involve a violation of humanity. If they were emancipated, they would relapse into barbarism, or a set of negro States would arise in our midst, possessing political equality, and entitled to social equality. The division of parties would soon make the negro members a powerful body in Congress—would place some of them in high political stations, and occasionally let one into the Executive chair. It is in vain to say that this could be endured ; it is simply impossible. "What then remains to be discussed ? The negro race is upon us. With a Constitution which held them in bondage, our Federal Union might be preserved ; but if so holding them in bondage be a thing forbidden by God and Nature, we cannot lawfully so hold them, and the Union must perish. This is the inevitable result of that conflict which has now reached its climax. Among us at the North, the sole question for reflection, study, and friendly interchange of thought should be—Is negro slavery unjust ? The rational and dispassionate inquirer will find no difficulty in arriving at my conclusion. It is fit and proper; it is, in its own nature, as an institution, beneficial to both races ; and the effect of this assertion is not diminished by our admitting that many faults are practised under it. Is not such the fact in respect to all human laws and institutions ? I am, gentlemen, with great respect, yours truly,' CHARLES O’CONOR. To Messrs. Leitch, Burnet 4 Co.; George W. & Jehial Read; Bruff, Brother & Seaver; C. B. Hatch & Co.; Davis, Noble & Co. ; Wesson & Cox; Cronin, Hurxthal <fc Sears; Atwater, Mulford & Co, LETTER FROM CHARLES O’CONOR New York, Dec. 20,1859. Chas. O’Conor, Esq. : The undersigned, being desirous of circulating as widely as possible, both at the North and at the South, the proceedings of the Union Meeting held at the Academy of Music last evening, intend publishing in pamphlet form, for distribution, a correct copy of the same. Will you be so kind as to inform us whether this step meets your approval; and if so, furnish us with a corrected report of your speech delivered by you on that occa- •sion. Yours respectfully, LEITCH,' BURNET & CO., GEO. W. & JEHIAL READ, BRUFF, BROTHER & SEAVER, C. B. HATCH & CO., DAVIS, NOBLE & CO., (Formerly Furman, Davis & Co., WESSON & COX, CRONIN, HURXTHAL & SEARS, ATWATER, MULFORD & CO. Gentlemen : The measure you propose meets my entire approval. I have long thought that our disputes concerning negro slavery would soon terminate, if the public mind could be drawn to the true issue, and steadily fixed upon it. To effect this object was the sole aim of my address. Though its ministers can never permit the law of the land to be questioned by private judgment, there is, nevertheless, such a thing as natural justice. Natural justice has the Divine sanction; and it is impossible that any human law which conflicts with it should long endure. Where mental enlightenment abounds, where morality is professed by all, where the mind • is free, speech is free, and the press is free, is it impossible, in the nature of things, that a law which is admitted to conflict with natural justice, and with God’s own mandate, should long endure ? You all will admit that, within certain limits, at least, our Constitution does contain positive guarantees for the preservation of negro slavery in the old States through all time, unless the local legislatures shall think fit to abolish it. And, consequently, if negro slavery, however humanely administered or judiciously regulated, be an institution which conflicts with natural justice and with God’s law, surely the most vehement and extreme admirers of John Brown’s sentiments are right; and their denunciations against the Constitution, and against the most hallowed names connected with it, are perfectly justifiable. The friends of truth—the patriotic Americans who would sustain their country’s honor .against foreign rivalry, and defend their coun-
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