Considering next the
provision for the surrender of fugitives from service, we have seen that
it was not one of the original compromises of the Constitution; that
it was introduced tardily and with hesitation, and adopted with little
discussion, while then and for a long period thereafter it was regarded
with comparative indifference; that the recent Slave Act, though many
times unconstitutional, is especially so on two grounds, first, as a
usurpation by Congress of powers not granted by the Constitution, and an
infraction of rights secured to the States, and, secondly, as the denial
of Trial by Jury, in a question of personal liberty and a suit at Common
Law; that its glaring unconstitutionality finds a prototype in the
British Stamp Act, which our fathers refused to obey as unconstitutional
on two parallel grounds,--first, because it was a usurpation by
Parliament of powers not belonging to it under the British Constitution,
and an infraction of rights belonging to the Colonies, and, secondly,
because it was the denial of Trial by Jury in certain cases of property;
that, as Liberty is far above property, so is the outrage perpetrated
by the American Congress far above that perpetrated by the British
Parliament; and, finally, that the Slave Act has not that support, in
the public sentiment of the States where it is to be executed, which is
the life of all law, and which prudence and the precept of Washington
require.
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