They are the arguments that kings have made for enslaving the people in
all ages of the world. You will find that all the arguments in favor of
kingcraft were of this class; they always 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, if
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 slavery
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; and 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.