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Show 302 FUGlTlVE ~LAVES, ETC. or labor mo.y be duo. I uuderslund th at, in the State or Mas achnsetL , this provi ion of t he Con 'lltution has been de •itl •d by the court not lo in clude t he case of a slnvo bronghL by his ma:)ter into the Btate and e.'capino- thence. Bnt the co urt s of law in thi ~ State have un if'ormly given a di[erent construcLion to t.he Rame arLi ·le of the Com;titution I n.ncl hare n.lways de('ided thai it cl oc·s mbracc the case of n. ~lave broug-ht by his ntaRLcr into this Stale, and cscap i11g fr om him hero. Con cquently, uudcr this judicial construction of the Con.·titution, and withuuL, nml in defiance or 1111y ]n,w or rcp;ul at ion of thi ' Stal e, if' the sln,ve escnpe from hi 111a.'Lcr ill this talc, he must be resto recl to him, when claimccl at any time during 1ti1-l mnstc r's temporary 80• journment, within the Slate•, vvhdher that sojo urnment be six months, nine nwnths, or lotwcr. It is not for rue to say that tlti.· decision is ctTOtt CO tt., nor i. it for our ]eo-islaLure. AeLing- under its authority, they p:-tssed the ( law to which you obj ec t, for the purpo e not of conferring 11cw powers or privileges on the slav e-owner, but lo prevent his abu. e of that whi ·h the Coustiluti on of the United Stales, thus exponntlcd, , ecurcH to him. 'l'hc law, us I understood it, wu · in lc m1ed to fix a period of time as n tc ·t of transient. pa:sa.g · ihroug·h, or temporary re ·idcnce in the Stale, within tho pro v i~ions of the ConstituLion. 'l'hc duration of uine months i not material in the question, aud if it be uunccessarily long, may ancl ought to he abridged. But, if no such law exi1:1ted, the right of the master (under the con, truction of the Constituti on before mentioned) would be ind efinit e, and the slave mn. t be surrendered to him in all cmws of traveling throngh or pa ·sngc to OJ' from the Stn te. 1 f I llaYe co rreclly apprehended 1 he . ulJject, this law is on~ not couf'·rring a, right upon any pcnWtl to import slaves into th ' Stale, and hold them here as such, but is an attempt at rc, triction upun the constitutional right of the mn. tct·: n qnn.lificnlion, or nt lenst n dcfiuilion FUGITIVE , LAVES, ETC. 303 of it, and is in favor of the slave. Its repeal, therefore, would have the cfTcct t.o pnt in greater jeopardy the class of persons you propose to benefit by it. "While the constru ·tion of the Constitution adopted here is maintained, the law it would seem ought to remain upon our statute book, not as nn encroachment upon the rights of man but a protection fur them. " But, gcntl nwn, being flcsirous to be entirely candi rl in this communication, it is proper I shoulrl n<l<l, that I am not conv inced it would he either wise, exped ient or hu mane to declare to our fellow citizens of t ho Sonthern n.nd Sonthwestern States, thnt if they t ravel to or from OJ' pn.. s through the State of N cw York, thc·y shall not bring with them the attendants whom custom, or education, or habit may havo rendered nccrssary to them. I hn,v not be n able to discover any o-ood ohjcet to be aLtai ned by such an act of inhospitali ty. It cortninly cnn work no injury to us, nor can il be injurious to the unfortun nle beings held in bondage to permit th m, once pcrhap. in tit ·it· lives, and nt mo,t. on occa ions few anti far between, to visit n. connt.ry where slavery is unknow n, I can even conceive of benefits to the great can e of human li berty, from the cultivation of this intercom· e with the South. I can ima gine lJnt one ground of oujection, which i ~, that it may be regarded as an implication that this St11te snuc:;Lioned slavery. If this objection, were well grounded, I bhould at once condemn the law. But, in tru th tho Inw does not imply nny such anction. The same statute which, in neces. ary ohccli •uce to the Constitu tion of tho Unitccl States as expounded, declares the exception, condemn , in tho mo:t clear nnd dcfinito terms, nll lturn n.n bondn gcs. I willltOL press the con. idcrn· tion flowino- from the nnlnre of our Union, nud the mntnal b concessions on which it was foundc(l, ngn.inst the propriety of such o.n exclusion as your que. lion contemplates, apparently for the rurpo c only of avoiding ntl implication not |