lways bestrode the necks of the
people,--not that they wanted to do it, but because the people were
better off for being ridden. That is their argument; and this argument
of the Judge is the same old serpent, that says, "You work, and I eat;
you toil, and I will enjoy the fruits of it." Turn in whatever way you
will,--whether it come from the mouth of a king, an excuse for enslaving
the people of his country, or from the mouth of men of one race as a
reason for enslaving the men of another race,--it is all the same old
serpent; and I hold, if that course of argumentation that is made for
the purpose of convincing the public mind that we should not care about
this, should be granted, it does not stop with the negro. I should like
to know--taking this old Declaration of Independence, which declares
that all men are equal, upon principle, and making exceptions to
it--where will it stop? If one man says it does not mean a negro, why
not another say it does not mean some other man? If that Declaration is
not the truth, let us get the statute-book in which we find it, and tear
it out! Who is so bold as to do it? If it is not true, let us tear it
out. [Cries of "No! No!"] Let us stick to it, then; let us stand firmly
by it, then.

It may be argued that there are certain conditions that make necessities
and impose them upon us, and to the extent that a necessity is imposed
upon a man, he must submit to it. I think that was the condition in
which we found ourselves when we established this government. We had
slaves among us; we could not get our Constitution unless we permitted
them to remain in slavery; we could not secure the good we did secure,
if we grasped for more; but, having by necessity submitted to that much,
it does not destroy the principle that is the charter of our liberties.
Let that charter stand as our standard.

My friend has said to me that I am a poor hand to quote Scripture. I
will try it again, however. It is said in one of the admonitions of our
Lord, "Be ye [therefore] perfect even as your Father which is in heaven
is perfect." The Saviour, I suppose, did not expect that any human
creature could be perfect as the Father in heaven; but He said: "As your
Father in heaven is perfect, be ye also perfect." He set that up as a
standard, and he who did most toward reaching that standard attained the
highest degree of moral perfection. So I say in relation to the
principle that all men are created equal, let it