Horace Gray

“ It has been solemnly decided that the law of England abhors, and will not endure the existence of slavery within the nation; and consequently, as soon as a slave lands in England, he becomes ipso facto a freeman, and discharged from the state of servitude. Independent of the provisions of the Constitution of the United States, for the protection of masters in regard to domestic fugitive slaves, there is no doubt that the same principle pervades the common law of the non-slaveholding states in America ”

“ The slave, then, being absolutely free while in the free State, if his return changes his condition and remands him to slavery again, it must be either by reason of his own implied consent, or of the effect of the laws of the State into which he returns. But neither the old English law of villenage, nor the American law of slavery, will allow a man to become a slave by his own consent merely. ”

“ The most striking argument against allowing any binding force to the decision of the supreme court of Missouri is, that, as that decision was expressly founded on a refusal to allow any effect to rights secured by an act of congress admitted by that court to be valid, if the supreme court of the United States should hold itself bound by the decision, it would give effect, in a spirit of comity, to a decision which was arrived at only by refusing a like comity to the laws of the United States. ”

“ Since then not only individuals but States have been possessed with a dark and fell spirit in relation to slavery, whose gratification is sought in the pursuit of measures whose inevitable consequence must be the overthrow and destruction of our government. Under such circumstances it does not behoove the State of Missouri to show the least countenance to any measure which might gratify this spirit. She is willing to assume her full responsibility for the existence of slavery within her limits, nor does she seek to share or divide it with others. ”

“ Thus no fugitive slave is to be discharged from service by reason of "any law or regulation "in the State to which he escapes. Another familiar instance is the power given to congress to "regulate commerce," of which Chief Justice Marshall said: "It is the power to regulate; that is, to prescribe the rule by which commerce is to be governed. This power, like all others vested in congress, is complete in itself, may be exercised to its utmost extent, and acknowledges no limitations, other than are prescribed in the Constitution." ”

“ In every slaveholding State in the Union, the subject of emancipation is regulated by statute, and the forms are prescribed in which it shall be effected. Whenever the forms, required by the laws of the State in which the master and slave are resident, are complied with, the emancipation is complete, and the slave is free. ”

“ The words 'people of the United States' and 'citizens,' are synonymous terms, and mean the same thing. They both describe the political body who, according to our republican institutions, form the sovereignty, and who hold the power and conduct the government through their representatives. They are what we familiarly call the 'sovereign people,' and every citizen is one of this people, and a constituent member of this sovereignty. ”

“ In the midst of all such excitement, it is proper that the judicial mind, calm and self-balanced, should adhere to principles established when there was no feeling to disturb the view of the legal questions upon which the rights of parties depend. In this State, it has been recognized, from the beginning of the government, as a correct position in law, that a master who takes his slave to reside in a State or Territory where slavery is prohibited, thereby emancipates his slave. ”

“ The Chief Justice is of opinion that a State may still confer the character and all the rights of a citizen "upon an alien, or any one it thinks proper, or upon any class or description of persons"; but that, as a State has no power of legislation beyond its own limits, such rights must be restricted to the State which gives them, and can confer no corresponding rights as a citizen of the United States ”

“ And these definitions hold good to this day; for, under every system of law, all men are either freemen or slaves; freedom is the natural power to do what one pleases, unless restrained by force or law; and slavery is an institution of positive law, by which one man is subjected to the dominion of another, against nature. ”

“ Slaves were not, in legal parlance, persons, but property. The moment the incapacity or disqualification of slavery was removed, they became persons, and were then either British subjects or not British subjects, accordingly as they were or were not born within the allegiance of the British king. Upon the Revolution, no other change took place in the law of North Carolina than was consequent upon the transition from a colony dependent upon a European king to a free and sovereign State; slaves remained slaves ”

“ To the same effect is the opinion of the supreme court of North Carolina, as delivered by Mr. Justice Gaston, which we cite at some length, both for its great intrinsic merit, and to show that these views are not confined to any one section of the country: "According to the laws of this State, all human beings within it, who are not slaves, fall within one of two classes. Whatever distinctions may have existed in the Roman law between citizens and free inhabitants, they are unknown to our institutions. ”

“ Citizens, under our constitutions and laws, mean free inhabitants, born within the United States, or naturalized under the law of congress. If a slave born in the United States be manumitted, or otherwise lawfully discharged from bondage, or if a black man be born within the United States, and born free, he becomes thenceforward a citizen, but under such disabilities as the laws of the States respectively may deem it expedient to prescribe to free persons of color. ”

“ Subject and citizen are, in a degree, convertible terms, as applied to natives; and though the term citizen seems to be appropriate to republican freemen, yet we are, equally with the inhabitants of all other countries, subjects, for we are equally bound, by allegiance and subjection, to the government and law of the land. The privilege of voting, and the legal capacity for office, are not essential to the character of a citizen, for women are citizens without either ”

“ The power to prohibit slavery is one of the ordinary powers of legislation, which has been exercised in all those States which are now free, and also by congress from the foundation of the government. ”

“ The first is, that the laws of every empire have force only within the limits of its own government, and bind all who are subjects thereof, but not beyond those limits. The second is, that all persons who are found within the limits of a government, whether their residence is permanent or temporary, are to be deemed subjects thereof. The third is, that the rules of every empire from comity admit that the laws of every people, in force within its own limits, ought to have the same force everywhere, so far as they do not prejudice the powers or rights of other governments, or of their citizens. ”