Sir,—
I do myself the honor to forward two numbers of the Hobart Town "Britannia" newspaper, begging you at the same time not to consider it an improper intrusion if I offer a few remarks on one of the clauses in the Constitution your State has recently adopted. I assure you, Sir, they are not occasioned by any feelings but those of respect for the high position you hold, and of deep sorrow, (as a free white man,) at the adoption of the first principle of slavery, by a community speaking the English language, the descendants of a nation to which I am proud to belong, and under whose government I have had the honor to hold military and civil service, many years.
By journals recently received in this Colony it appears, that although the Californian Constitution is mainly founded on principles of civil and religious liberty, a distinction has been made between the white and coloured races. In one of these journals it is said, that "as all men are by nature equal," those who have resided a certain period in the State, shall, if they think proper, receive all the rights of Citizenship, "with the exception of Africans and their descendants;"—in another it is, "with the exception of Indians, Mexicans, and their descendants." Which of the two is correct I know not, neither does it matter, it being evident that a distinct line has been drawn between the black and the white man.
In the course of my life, Sir, I have seen much of what I consider the debasing influences of slavery, and I have observed (several hundred miles inland) the grievous wrongs heaped upon the Indian tribes of the vast American Continent; I am, therefore, excited with the indignation all free men should feel at observing the first principles of slavery renewed, and about to be acted upon, on the shores of the Pacific, and in the nineteenth century, by those who, I did hope, would have risen above the prejudices of the past in their full understanding of the rights of all men. I venture to ask, Sir, was such a sacrifice necessary?
