SPEECH IN THE SENATE, ON A MOTION TO REPEAL THE FUGITIVE SLAVE
ACT, AUGUST 26, 1852.
Nihil autem gloriosius libertate præter virtutem, si tamen libertas recte a
virtute sejungitur.--JOHN OF SALISBURY.
If any man thinks that the interest of these Nations and the interest of
Christianity are two separate and distinct things, I wish my soul may never
enter into his secret.--OLIVER CROMWELL.
Mr. Madison thought it WRONG to admit in the Constitution the idea
that there could be property in men.--_Debates in the Federal Convention_,
August 25, 1787.
"O Slave, I have bought thee." "That is thy business," he replied.
"Wilt thou run away?" "That is my business," said the slave.
_Arabian Proverb._
Aliæ sunt leges Cæsarum, aliæ Christi: aliud Papinianus, aliud Paulus
noster præcipit.
ST. JEROME, _Epistola ad Oceanum de Morte Fabiolæ_.
If the marshal of the host bids us do anything, shall we do it, if it
be against the great captain? Again, if the great captain bid us do
anything, and the king or the emperor commandeth us to do another, dost
thou doubt that we must obey the commandment of the king or emperor,
and contemn the commandment of the great captain? Therefore, if the
king or the emperor bid one thing, and God another, we must obey God,
and contemn and not regard neither king nor emperor.
HENRY VIII., _Glasse of Truth_.
Si _la peste_ avoit des charges, des dignités, des honneurs, des
bénéfices et des pensions à distribuer, elle auroit bientôt des
théologiens et des juris-consultes qui soutiendroient qu'elle est de
droit divin, et que c'est un péché de s'opposer à ses ravages.
ABBÉ DE MABLY, _Droits et Devoirs du Citoyen_, Lettre II.
_Cleanthes._ What, to kill innocents, Sir? It cannot be. It is no
rule in justice there to punish.
_Lawyer._ Oh, Sir, You understand a conscience, but not law.
_Cleanthes._ Why, Sir, is there so main a difference?
_Lawyer._ You'll never be good lawyer, if you understand not that.
_Cleanthes._ I think, then, 'tis the best to be a bad one.
MASSINGER, _The Old Law_, Act I. Sc. 1.
Among the assemblies of the great
A greater Ruler takes his seat;
The God of heaven as judge surveys
Those gods on earth and all their ways.
Why will ye, then, frame wicked laws?
Or why support the unrighteous cause?