But this view of civil duty applies only to the citizen. It does not touch the fugitive. One liberty the slave always has,—whenever he deems it expedient, he may re-clothe himself in the rights which God and nature gave him, and which, though they may be ravished from him, can never be destroyed.
Until repeal, however, there is one opening for hope. If, as is said by Mr. Crittenden, in the opinion already cited, “Congress has constituted a tribunal with exclusive jurisdiction, to determine summarily, and without appeal;” and if, as he further says, “the judgment of every tribunal of exclusive jurisdiction, where no appeal lies, is of necessity conclusive upon every other tribunal, AND THEREFORE THE JUDGMENT OF THE TRIBUNAL CREATED BY THIS ACT IS CONCLUSIVE UPON ALL TRIBUNALS;” then the whole case in all its bearings and relations, its sources and its issues, comes before the commissioner; not even the supreme court of the United States can interfere with him; and the first question for him to “hear and determine” is, whether in truth there be any such law, whether the whole disgraceful enactment be not unconstitutional and void; and, therefore, whether his first and only duty be not to dismiss the proceedings, and to “let the captive go free.” I am not without hope that such will be the result; and thus, that many conscientious and law-abiding men will be relieved from the moral anxiety and conflict which now oppresses their minds.
Very truly, your obedient servant,
HORACE MANN.
FOOTNOTES:
[15] Since writing the above, I see that a man in New Jersey was so overcome with fright at the rumor that slave-catchers were in town, that paralysis and death speedily ensued.
SPEECH
Delivered at Dedham, November 6, 1850, by Special Request of a Convention of Whig Voters of the Eighth Congressional District.
Gentlemen and Fellow-Citizens;
Having been specially invited to appear before this meeting, and address it, my friend Mr. Russell has introduced me to you with many kind words; and he has emphatically announced me as “your old friend.” By so doing, gentlemen, he has touched a living chord in my heart; for, as I look around me, I see many familiar and dear faces, and am reminded that, in this town, I spent some of the happiest years of my life. The sight of every object around me awakens remembrances of home. Right opposite to us is the court house, in whose forum my feeble voice was first raised, and where, I thank God, it was never raised in behalf of the oppressor, nor on the side of any cause which I believed to be wrong. Around this church in which we are assembled are the streets where I used to walk, there is the pew where I used to sit, and all around me are persons whom, for years, I saw daily and knew intimately, and knew them only to respect. I feel assured that I do meet “old friends,”—true men, who carry their hearts in their hands, and whose lives are anchored to their convictions of duty.
Gentlemen, it is not without embarrassment that I address you. Yet I might plead a high example for my course, if I were worthy, in any respect, to mention myself in connection with my venerated predecessor, who has made the past history of his country so luminous with his wisdom and purity, and the name of this district which he represented so honored and memorable. Would to God I could carry you to some Pisgah height, and show you, under one view, the past, the present, and the future, as he was wont to do, when, as was his custom, he used to address you on those great topics which employed his energies,—on the principles by which you ought to be guided, and on the dangers to which you were exposed.