A great question
lies between these men. But Gray, standing on soil covered by this
Constitution, can be robbed of liberty, or the wages of his toil, only
by due process of law.
Article VII. says, expressly, in suits at common law, when the value
in controversy shall exceed twenty dollars, the right of trial by jury
shall be preserved. Here, sir, is a case involving the question of
liberty, and hundreds of dollars of money. The law, Sir, under which I
appear before you, overrides these plain provisions, and commits this
whole question to one man, and offers him a bribe to trample right and
liberty under foot. I know, Sir, it may be said that Jim Gray was a
slave, and not entitled to these humane provisions. Had he never worn
the chain of the oppressor, nor felt the lash of the bloody
task-master--had he been born in Canada, or any where else on the
globe--had he been a citizen of one of the States of this Union, and
never been enslaved, it would have been all the same. His liberty
would have been stricken down, and he been given to the party claiming
his life-long toil, and your Commissioner would have pocketed the
bribe offered by this law for doing such a crime against humanity and
the plainest provisions of the Constitution.
Pages:
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25