I am aware, Sir, that I shall be reminded that judges, marshals,
attorneys, and many citizens, regard this law as Constitutional, and
stand ready to execute it, though it trample every principle of the
Declaration of Independence in the dust. Sir, no law can be enacted so
bad but that it will find men deluded or base enough to execute it.
The law of Egypt that consigned the new-born babe to the slaughter
found tools for its execution. The bloody decree of Herod found men
ready to obey the law of the country, though it commanded the
slaughter of the innocents of a province, Sir, tell me not of men
ready and willing to execute the law! My Redeemer, whose name I am
hardly worthy to speak, and yet whose name is all my trust, although
he knew no sin, yet he was crucified by law.
Again, Sir, it will be said that some whom the world calls Doctors of
Divinity and Doctors of Law have undertaken to prove that slavery was
guaranteed by the Constitution. If that be so, in the name of the Most
High God, tear out the red strip of blood; it was not written by the
Angel Gabriel, nor nailed to the throne of the Almighty.
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