"The proceedings of this House in 1790, in reference to petitions on the matter of the slave trade, and of slavery in the States, have been cited. It has been said that those petitions were not received"

Caleb Cushing was referring to the proceedings of the House of Representatives in 1790, in regards to petitions concerning the servant trade and slavery in the United States. It appears that the petitions were not gotten by the House, as Cushing kept in mind. This could be translated as an indication of your house's aversion to resolve the problem of slavery, or it might be viewed as a sign of your house's lack of power to do anything about the concern. In any case, it is clear that the House was not ready to take action on the matter. This could be viewed as a reflection of the attitudes of the time, which were mainly in favor of slavery and the servant trade. Cushing's quote serves as a pointer of the House's inactiveness on the issue, and of the attitudes of the time.