The national era. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1847-1860, 1854-10-12
IooprR1eHr SECURED BY THE AUTHoR-I
For the National Era.
THE LEGAL TENURE OF SLAVERY.
LETTER Xxx.

For the National Era.
THE LEGAL TENURE OF SLAVERY.
LETTER Xxx.
SLAVERY CANNOT BE LOCALIZED.
To the Friends of A,nerican Liberty:
Having proved that American slavery mas
never been legalized, now proceed TO prove
| that such practice as that OF siavenoioing, IN
| the American sense of that term, Is incaPaoie
of lepalization / affirmed this IN tne pegin-
ming of the present discussion, onS waved -
for a time in order to show that, In matter OF
fsn. auer;can slavery has never been estab-
I;sbed bv that slocal, municipal, positive law,
nh;cb eyen the Southern courts have declared
to be INDISPENSABLE to its legality. l have
nroved this. by the entire legal history of the
Slave trade and of slavery by the history OF the
| Colonies. by the history of the Revolution, by
the history of our free institutions, by the di-
rect testimony of sleveholding statesmen and
iurists, and, finally by the timid policy and
extraordinary decisions Of the Federal judges,
either refusing to hear any arguments against
the legality of slavery, or else evading the
force of those arguments by opinions subverslve
of the elementary principles of law, as ION
other subiects) insisted upon by themselves,
| while at the Same time admitting and confirm
ing the main fact, that there are no acts OF
legislation in this country establishing slavery.
| In the absence of any positive law, we are
thus thrown back again upon the common law.
Let us look at few of its declarations:
l. DEFINITIONS OF LAW.
9Law-the rule and bond of mems actions
or it ;s n rule. for the well government of civil
society, to give to EVERY man that which doth
BELONG to himn-JacoDs Laao Dictionary.
aWhstever is JUST is also the true LAW; nor
can this true law be abrogated by any written
Northumberland.
According to the Greeks, the name OF LAW
implies on equal distribution Of goods; accord
| ing to the Romans, an equitable discrimination
| between good and evil. Tho two dehnitione OF
law should, however, include both characters
| tics"-Ib.
"No law but that of justice should either be
proclaimed as law, or enforced as law."-Ib.
"The precepts of law are to live honestly, to
hurt no one, to give to every one HIS DUE."-
Justinian and Blackstone.
"The essence of all LAW is JUSTICE. What
is not just is not law; and what is not law
ought not to be obeyed."-Hampden.
Municipal law ID properly defined to be q
rule of civil conduct prescribed by the supreme
power in State, commanding what is RIGHT,
and prohibiting what is blackstone.
political LAW is the authority OF any socie-
ty stamped upon MORAL W'therspoon.
Hear the causes between your brethren,
and JUICE RIGHrEoUsLY between every man
and his brother, and the stranger that is with
him"-l1oses. De,st, / 16, II.
"And they 1.-THE judges) shall judge the peo-
pie with JUST JUDGMENT."-Io Dsut, is: 10.
aye shall do no UNRIGHTEoUsNEss in judg-
mcntn-Ib. Leu, 10: IS.
off there be a controversy between men, and
they come into Judgment thet the judges may
Judge them, then they shall justify the righte-
Gus and condemn the wicked" ID. Deut.,
IS: l.
"That which is ALTOGETHER JUST shalt
thou follow"-Ib. Deut, l6: 20.
"In RIGHTEOUSNESS shalt thou judge thy
neighbor"-Ib. Leu, 10: Is.
Execute Judgment &. e. justice) between q
man and his eighbor."-Jeremiah, 7: 35.
execute JUDGMENT in the morning and
deliver the spoiled out Of the hand of the op-
pressor."-Ib., 81: ~.
This is law. This is its definition. This is
the meaning Of the term, according to the
standard law writer's acknowledged as author
| tiles in this country. This is law, according
| to the great masters Of the science of law In
England, and among the ancient Greeks, Ro-
mans, and Hebrews How much of legal au-
thority for slavery can eny lawyer get out of
it? Or how, according to these definitions of
law, is it possible to legalize slavery?
| Compare them with the American slave
opde, and see how they look, side by side. That
code declares human being to be chattel
personal, entirely subject to master, to whom
| against his own willy he is said to belong 1t
sanctions compulsory labor, without wages,
denies the right of the slave to make a con-
tract to contract marriage, to enjoy the family
relation, to enjoy the benefits of education and
| the FREQ exercise of religion.
Now, the simple question is, whether this
code, thus characterized {" gives to every man
what doth belong to him?n Whether it is
"just1n Whether it "implics an equal dis
tributon of gcods?" Whether it makes an
equitable discrimination between good and
evil?" Whether it "prescribes what is right,
and prohibits what is wrong?" Whether it
stamps the authority of society on moral
duty?" Whether, in administering it, the
judges can "judge righteously;" can "judge
the people with just Judgment" can follow
that which is altogether just )" can execute
justice between o man and his neighbour can
deliver the spoiled out of the hand of the op-
pressor 2"
If you can say " Yes" to all these questions,
then you can say that chattel slavery is legal
or that it may be lsgaiized. But if you are
compelled to say No." then you are compelled
to deny that it is legal, can ever be legalized
There is no way OF escape from this, but by
getting up some new idea Of law, some new
definition of it, some new meaning of the term
unknown to either the ancient or the modern
teachers of legal science. And this you can.
not do, without setting up your own authority
OF that of the shareholders and their satellites
against all the high authorities We have cited
and many more of the same oharacser-agains,
Jacob and Blackstone against Cicero and Jus
| tiniap nDAinst Hampden and Withersnoon
against Moses and jeremiah, and all the in
spired commentators upon the laws of Moses.
Thus we hurl back upon the indicators d
legalized slaveholding the charge of being in
noyators, unsettling all the ancient landmark
of jurisprudence, and setting up their OWE
preteneions to legal knowledge, in contempt o.
the concurrent testimony and deliberate YER
diet of ell civilized nations and ages
H. GENUINE LAW DISTINGUISHED FROM CouN
TERFEITs.
Gall lGws derive their force from the law O
nature; and those which do not, are accounted
as no laws"-Fortescue.
1.-THE reasonableness Of law is the soul O
lawn-Noyes.
"The right of the case is the law of tn,
case."-SsUeral Jurists.
can act of Parliament may be void from III
! first creation, In an act against natural equity
for the laws of nature are immutable-they
J are the law of laws."-Hobart
at is generally laid down that acts of Par
Lament contrary to reason are void."-Lyttie
ton.
; "Statutes against fundamental morality ar,
void"-Judge Mclean.
!: eff it be found that a former decision
! manifestly absurd and unjust, it is declared
not that such sentence was bad law, but that i
| was NOT lawU