The daily union., 1852-09-29

dlcia proceedings. This proposition be placed be-
yoBd question.
History painfully records that during the early days Of
The common law, and down 10 late period, sys-
lem oil slavery existed in England, known under the
name OIL uiIaia2ge. The slave generally called a
Uhfain, though IN the original Latin forms OF judicial
proceedings. natipus implying slavery by birth The in
cidenis OF this condition have been mnuiey described,
ana also the mutual remedies OF master and slave. all oil
when were regulated by the common law. Slaves
sometimes then. as now. escaped from their masters
Inc cain ior them after such escape prosecuted by
suil TO common law" 10 which, TO every suit al
common law, the trial by jury necessarily attached
blackstone, IN his Commentaries, (vol H., p s3.) IN
words which have been known 10 all the lawyers OF
lhe convention, said of vitains:
They could not leave thsr lord without his pemissi ion.
put they ran away, or We're purolned from him. might
catre."
This very word "action" Of ITSELF implies a suit al
common law" with trial by jury
From other sources we learn precisely what The ac-
oa WAS That gTeat expounder OF the ancient law. Mr..
hsrgrase says the Year Books and Books OF Entries
are fu OF the forms used in pleading title to villains
Enough noonger OF practical value in England they
main as monuments o Jurisprudence, and mementoes
OF baIbarous institution He thus describes the rem
edy oil The master at common law:
The lords remedy for fugitive villain was either by
as i is sometimes called II lord seized tho Villains
mos eectua mode OF recovering liberty by the writ Of
wr Of habsa corpus Ia the habss, The e,pro o
carnot he contested by pleading against the truth of and
consequently on haofas pas the question OF liberty
not 20 10 jury for trial. But in the hoaine rspgiaaao il
was otherwise. The plaintiff the defendants plead
Ing vainsge, had The same opportunity ofconieng it
when impeaded by the lord habendo. II the
lord sued natiro habendo, and the vIanagc de-
MED in which the sheriff could seize the villain
the lord was then 10 enter his plant in the county court and
as The sheriff allowed try question OF villain
age in his court the lord could not have any benefit
the writ without removing the cause by the writ Of p2ne
into the Kings Bench or Common Peas."-(20 HoceHs
State 7riars. SO note)
The authority of Mr. Hargrave is sufficient But
tpnlacn Va ali -
Digest oil Lord Chief Baron Comyns, which at The
adoption OF the constitution of the classics OF
our Jurisprudence, derive another description OF the
remedy OF the master:
II the lord claims an nhe in his villain who les
from his lord against his will, and lives in place
manor to which he is regardan the lord shall have ma.
he may seize him who does deny himself be a VILLAIN
But II the defendant say that he is tree man. the sheriff
pore before the justices in eyre or in ,re he ,.st
eoa"t upon at Compass Dtgea-pihGiaaas G. -
early writer of peculiar authority, Fzherbert, in
his Natura Breuiun, on the wrts of the common law
thus describes these proceedings:
The writ de natipo habsado eth for the lord who
clameh inheritance in any villain, uhsn hs pain
manor unto which he is regardan when he depareth
from his lord against the lords will and the shall be
am and deliver him his lord, If the villain confess
unto the sheriff that he is his villain bur il the villain say
70 the sheriff that he Is frank, Thea seemeth thar the
sheriff ought not to seize him 1t is in repevn If the
defendant claim property the sheriff cannot repevy the
hsnda aud so IL the villain say that he a freeman Nc
uen tue sheriff ought not seize him. bat then the ord
The pleas before The Justice. In eyre But IL
tho villain purchase writ dc hbrta obandg hef The
ces then that writ of hbsria prohanda is supersedea.
nso he 10 lord that he proceed not upon the writ nat,po
ought not TO seize the villain IN the time"-(Yoi
T.. ~ 7d)
THESE authorities not merely applicable 10 the gen,
eral question OF freedom, but they distinctly contemplate
he sutc
law" for their rendition Racsst1na speaks OF villains
who "ran away" Hagrave OF '1ugilye villains" Co.
nyns OF villain "who flies from his lord against his
will = and Fizhelbeu OF the proceedings OF the lord
'when his villain is run from him" The forms, wrts
counis pleadngs, and judgments, in these suits are ali
preserved among The precedents of the common law.
The wrlts are known as original wrts which the party
on eher sde al the proper stage could out OF right
without showing The writ OF i5erae prob Inda
Tor fugitive slave was in this FORM
"Lituisfs ProSaaSa
The king TO the sheriff, NC. and r Cher siste hnye
showed unto IA that whereas they free wone. and
ready prove their liberty claiming them to be hi
you thar II hs Aforesaid and shal! make YOU
touching the proving Of their liberty. then put lha ples
come into those parts BECAUSE proof OF h Wind belongeh
not 70 you 70 take and ia the time cause the said
he may be hsie R he win 70 prosecute his plea tbeeo
against the Aforesaid aad B And have there this writ
Witness, &c c,"-(Ftishab bert, vol 4 y. III
BY these various proceedings, all ending in trial by
lnry personal Liberty was sSardeJ even in the early
snTehned, and harbarogs days OF the common Law AM
person claimed as fugitive slave night invoke this rial
as a sacred right Whether The master proceeded by
seizure as he might, or by legal process the trial by
lury IN suit at common law before one of the high courts
q The ream was equally secured In the case OF seizure
ihe fugitive reversing the proceedings rliGhl institute
process against his master and appeal to court and Jury
ln the case OF process hy the maser the waehful law
secured 10 the fugitive the protection Ry no ur.
gencY OF force, by device of Process could any per-
son claimed as slave be deTauded OF this trial Such
was the common law. II It's early boast, that there
could be no slaves in England, fails to be true this a,
least may be its pride, that according its indspulsbe
guard of trial by jury.
These things may seem new TO US but they must have
been known 70 The members oil the Convention parcu.
lary 10 those IRON South Carolina, through whose anu.
enee The provision on this subject adopted Charles
Cotesworth P'nckney aud Mr. Ru,edge had studied law
at the Temple, one oil the English inns OF court.
woali he dscredt to them, and also to other learned
vsre not with the principles and precedents
directly applicable TO this subject, al oil which are set
down IN works OF acknowledged weight and al that lime
OF constant professional study, Only short time be-
lore In the OF SoRsrse they bad been most elabo-
rately examined In Westminster Hall. In forepsi, el
tort OF unsurpassed learning and elevation, which OF
ITSELF vindeaes for its author his great urdcal name
Mr. HarSraye had igy made Them known TO such
we're lie acquainted with the ancient sources But
even u we could suppose them unknown to the lawyers
oi me convention, they the less applicable in de-
lerminIng the true meaning OF the constitution.
Inc conclusion, from this examination, is explicit
Clearly and indisputahly IN England the country of the
common law, claim for fugitive slave /" suit at
eommon law" recognised among IFS old and settled
proceedings" TO question this, in the face OF authentic
principles and precedenls, would be pfeposierous. As
no hat tvrs ~ vfn 10,