[171] Annals of Congress, 15th Cong. 1st Sess., March 6, 1818, col. 232.

[172] The rule of the Roman law was explicit: Neque humanum fuerit ob rei pecuniariæ quæstlonem libertati moram fieri. This is a text of Ulpian (Digestorum Lib. XL. Tit. V., De Fideicommissariis Libertartibus, 37). In the same spirit is the mediæval verse,—

"Non bene pro toto libertas venditur auro."

[173] Works (ed. 1801), Vol. III. p. 55.

[174] Declaration of Rights, October 14, 1774: Journals of Congress, Vol. I. p. 29.

[175] Commentaries, Vol. II. p. 93.

[176] Argument in Sommersett's Case: Howell's State Trials, XX. 42.

[177] Ibid., 38, 39, note.

[178] Comyns's Digest: Remedy for a Villein, (C. 1,) Nativo Habendo.

[179] Fitzherbert, Natura Brevium, Vol. I. p. 77.