towards South Carolina and Georgia.  Let us not intermeddle.  As population increases, poor laborers will be so plenty as to render slaves useless. Slavery, in time, will not be a speck in our county.  Provision is already made in Connecticut for abolishing it; and the abolition has already taken place in Massachusetts.  As to the danger of insurrections from foreign influence, that will become a motive to kind treatment of the slaves.

“Gen. PINCKNEY declared it to be his firm opinion, that if himself and all his colleagues were to sign the Constitution, and use their personal influence, it would be of no avail towards obtaining the assent of their constituents.  South Carolina and Georgia cannot do without slaves.  As to Virginia, she will gain more by stopping the importations.  Her slaves will rise in value, and she has more than she wants.  It would be unequal to require South Carolina and Georgia to confederate on such unequal terms.  He said, the royal assent, before the Revolution, had never been refused to South Carolina as to Virginia.  He contended, that the importation of slaves would be for the interest of the whole Union.  The more slaves, the more produce to employ the carrying-trade:  the more consumption also; and, the more of this, the more revenue for the common treasury.  He admitted it to be reasonable, that slaves should be dutied like other imports; but should consider a rejection of the clause as an exclusion of South Carolina from the Union.

“Mr. BALDWIN had conceived national objects alone to be before the Convention:  not such as, like the present, were of a local nature.  Georgia was decided on this point.  That State has always hitherto supposed a General Government to 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.