To all this there is one simple answer, and Congress must make it.
A clause of the Constitution, contrary to all commanding rules of
jurisprudence, has been interpreted to sanction the hunting of slaves;
and the same clause, thus interpreted, has been declared, contrary
to all testimony of history, to have been an original compromise of
the Constitution and a corner-stone of the Union. On this clause,
thus misinterpreted and thus misrepresented, an Act of Congress is
founded, which, even assuming that the clause is strictly applicable
to fugitive slaves, is many times unconstitutional, but especially in
three several particulars: (1.) as a usurpation by Congress of powers
not granted by the Constitution; (2.) as a denial of trial by jury in
a case of personal liberty and a suit at Common Law; and (3.) as a
concession of the case of personal liberty to the unaided judgment of
a single petty magistrate, without any oath of office, constituting no
part of the judicial power,--appointed, not by the President with the
consent of the Senate, but by the court,--holding office, not during
good behavior, but merely during the will of the court,--and receiving,
not a regular salary, but fees according to each individual case. But
even if this Act were strictly constitutional in all respects, yet,
regarding it in its painful consequences and in its Rebel authors, it
is none the less offensive; for from the beginning it was a scourge
to the African race and a grievance to the whole country, a scandal
abroad and a dead-weight upon the Union at home, while it was the arch
contrivance of men who at the time were rebel at heart and are now
in open rebellion, devised as an insult to the Free States and as a
badge of subjugation. Such a statute, thus utterly unconstitutional
in every respect, and utterly mischievous in all its consequences and
influences, while peculiarly obnoxious in its well-known authors, ought
to be repealed without delay. If possible to parliamentary usage, it
ought to be torn from the volumes of the law, so that there should be
no record of such an abuse and such a shame.
Unhappily, the statute must always remain in the pages of our history.
But every day of delay in its repeal is hurtful to the national cause
and to the national name. Would you put down the Rebellion? Would
you uphold our fame abroad? Would you save the Constitution from
outrage? Would you extinguish Slavery? Above all, would you follow the
Constitution and establish justice? Then repeal the statute at once.