louse, wherein it was granted that slaves, so soon as they should
come into Tholouse, should be free." These cases were cited with much
approbation in the discussion of the claims of the West India slaves
of Verdelin for freedom, in 1738, before the judges in admiralty, (15
Causes Celebres, p. 1; 2 Masse Droit Com., sec. 58,) and were
reproduced before Lord Mansfield, in the cause of Somersett, in 1772.
Of the cases cited by Bodin, it is to be observed that Charles V of
France exempted all the inhabitants of Paris from serfdom, or other
feudal incapacities, in 1371, and this was confirmed by several of his
successors, (3 Dulaire Hist. de Par., 546; Broud. Cout. de Par., 21,)
and the ordinance of Toulouse is preserved as follows: "_Civitas
Tholosana fuit et erit sine fine libera, adeo ut servi et ancillae,
sclavi et sclavae, dominos sive dominas habentes, cum rebus vel sine
rebus suis, ad Tholosam vel infra terminos extra urbem terminatos
accedentes acquirant libertatem_." (Hist. de Langue, tome 3, p. 69;
Ibid. 6, p. 8; Loysel Inst., b. 1, sec. 6.)

The decisions were made upon special ordinances, or charters, which
contained positive prohibitions of slavery, and where liberty had been
granted as a privilege; and the history of Paris furnishes but little
support for the boast that she was a "_sacro sancta civitas_," where
liberty always had an asylum, or for the "self-complacent rhapsodies"
of the French advocates in the case of Verdelin, which amused the
grave lawyers who argued the case of Somersett. The case of Verdelin
was decided upon a special ordinance, which prescribed the conditions
on which West India slaves might be introduced into France, and which
had been disregarded by the master.

The case of Somersett was that of a Virginia slave carried to England
by his master in 1770, and who remained there two years. For some
cause, he was confined on a vessel destined to Jamaica, where he was
to be sold. Lord Mansfield, upon a return to a _habeas corpus_, states
the question involved. "Here, the person of the slave himself," he
says, "is the immediate subject of inquiry, Can any dominion,
authority, or coercion, be exercised in this country, according to the
American laws?" He answers: "The difficulty of adopting the relation,
without adopting it in all its consequences, is indeed extreme, and
yet many of those consequences are absolutely contrary to the
municipal law of England." Again, he says: "The return states