no man has a right to acquire, or to purchase them; men
and their liberty are not _in commercio_; they are not either saleable
or purchaseable. One, therefore, has no body but himself to blame, in
case he shall find himself deprived of a man, whom he thought he had, by
buying for a price, made his own; for he dealt in a trade which was
illicit, and was prohibited by the most obvious dictates of humanity.
For these reasons, every one of those unfortunate men who are pretended
to be slaves, has a right to be declared to be free, for he never lost
his liberty; he could not lose it; his Prince had no power to dispose of
him. Of course, the sale was _ipso jure_ void. This right he carries
about with him, and is entitled every where to get it declared. As soon,
therefore, as he comes into a country in which the judges are not
forgetful of their own humanity, it is their duty to remember that he is
a man, and to declare him to be free. I know it has been said, that
questions concerning the state of persons ought to be determined by the
law of the country to which they belong; and that, therefore, one who
would be declared to be a slave in America, ought, in case he should
happen to be imported into Britain, to be adjudged, according to the law
of America, to be a slave; a doctrine than which nothing can be more
barbarous. Ought the judges of any country, out of respect to the law of
another, to shew no respect to their kind, and to humanity? out of
respect to a law, which is in no sort obligatory upon them, ought they
to disregard the law of nature, which is obligatory on all men, at all
times, and in all places? Are any laws so binding as the eternal laws of
justice? Is it doubtful, whether a judge ought to pay greater regard to
them, than to those arbitrary and inhuman usages which prevail in a
distant land? Aye, but our colonies would be ruined if slavery was
abolished. Be it so; would it not from thence follow, that the bulk of
mankind ought to be abused, that our pockets may be filled with money,
or our mouths with delicacies? The purses of highwaymen would be empty,
in case robberies were totally abolished; but have men a right to
acquire money by going out to the highway? Have men a right to acquire
it by rendering their fellow-creatures miserable? Is it lawful to abuse
mankind, that the avarice, the vanity, or the passions of a few may be
gratified? No! There is such a thing as justice to which the most sacred
regard is