nsfield, with discreditable reluctance, sullying
his great judicial name, but in trembling obedience to the genius of the
British Constitution, pronounced a decree which made the early boast a
practical verity, and rendered Slavery forever impossible in England.
More than fourteen thousand persons, at that time held as slaves, and
breathing English air,--four times as many as are now found in this
national metropolis,--stepped forth in the happiness and dignity of free
men.

With this guiding example I cannot despair. The time will yet come when
the boast of our fathers will be made a practical verity also, and
Court or Congress, in the spirit of this British judgment, will proudly
declare that nowhere under the Constitution can man hold property in
man. For the Republic such a decree will be the way of peace and safety.
As Slavery is banished from the national jurisdiction, it will cease
to vex our national politics. It may linger in the States as a local
institution; but it will no longer engender national animosities, when
it no longer demands national support.

II.

From this general review of the relations of the National Government to
Slavery, I pass to the consideration of THE TRUE NATURE OF THE PROVISION
FOR THE RENDITION OF FUGITIVES FROM SERVICE, embracing an examination of
this provision in the Constitution, and especially of the recent Act
of Congress in pursuance thereof. As I begin this discussion, let me
bespeak anew your candor. Not in prejudice, but in the light of history
and of reason, we must consider this subject. The way will then be easy
and the conclusion certain.

Much error arises from the exaggerated importance now attached to this
provision, and from assumptions with regard to its origin and primitive
character. It is often asserted that it was suggested by some special
difficulty, which had become practically and extensively felt, anterior
to the Constitution. But this is one of the myths or fables with which
the supporters of Slavery have surrounded their false god. In the
articles of Confederation, while provision is made for the surrender of
fugitive criminals, nothing is said of fugitive slaves or servants;
and there is no evidence in any quarter, until after the National
Convention, of hardship or solicitude on this account. No previous voice
was heard to express desire for any provision on the subject. The story
to the contrary is a modern fiction.

I put aside, as equally fabu