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Show ) 294 ltUGI'riVJ.£ LAVES, )J;'l'C. together for a common object. The right to recover fugitive slaves went into the ConsLiLntion ns it went into tho Ortlinancc, simullancously and unanimously ; and it may be assumed upon the fncts of the case, and al~ the cvi tl1·nce of the day, that the Con titution, no more than the Onlinanec, could have been formed wiLhout the fu gitive Hlavc recovery clause contained in H. A right to recover shwcs is not only anthorizecl in the Constitution, but it is a right without which there wonld have been 110 Coustitution, and also no anti-slavery Ordinn,nco. One of tho early u.ct · of Conc.,.rcss, as cnrly ns F cbrnnr·y, 1793, was a stn.tutc to cnrry into efT ct the clause in the Constitution for tho reclamation of fugitives ft·om jnsticc and fugiti vcs from labor; and that stntu to made by the men who mn.dc tho Constitution, as inter·preted by men who had a right to know its meaning. 'l'hn.t n.ct con. i Led of four sections, all brief and clear, and the first two applied exclusively to fngitivcs from justice. rrho third and fourlh applied to fugitives from labor, embracing apprcnliccs ns well as slaves, and applying the same rights and remedi es in each case : and of these two, the third alone contains the whole provisions for reclaiming tho fugiti vc-the fourth merely containing penalties for the obstruction of that right. The third section, then, is the only one essential to tho object of this chapter, and is in these words : " That when a person hold to labor in any of the United States, or in either of the territories on the northwest or south of Ohio, under tho laws thereof, shall escape into nny other of said States or territories, the person to whom such labor is due, his agent or attorney, is hereby empowered to seize or arrest such fugitive from labor, and to take him or her before any judge of the circuit or distt·ict courts of the United States, residing or being within the State, or beforo any magistrate of a county, city, or town corporate, wherein such seizure or arrest shall be made, and upon proof to the FUGl'l'IV.lC ::;LAVES, E'rC. 295 8ati~faction of such judge or magiHtratc, cith 'r by oral tes· timony, or hy uffid av iL taken L ·!'ore n.ncl ccrtifictl by a mngist.ratc, of n.ny such Stale or terr itory, thai the person 80 cized and n.rr •sled, doth, under the laws of the ilatc or terri tory from which he or Rlt' fl ed, owe scrvieo Lo the persons claiming him or her, it Rhnll be the duly of such juclgo or macristntte lo g·ivc a certificate th 'reof to such claimant his 0 I agent or atLornry, which shall be su fn cient warrant for removing the ::;n.id ftwili ve from labor to tho Slate or terri· tory from which he or she fl ed." r_t'his act was pn.s~c tl on the recommcnt1u.Lion of President Wm;hin gton in co n ~e qu c n cc of a case havi ng arisen between l'cllnylvn.nia and Virginia, whi ·It showed the want of an act of Congress to cu.rry the clause in tho Constitution into cJTcct. It may be held Lo be a fu.i I' in terpretati on of tho ConsLiLution, aud by it the p!trly claiming the se rvice of Lbc fugitive in a11y State or terri to ry had tho ri g·ht to seize his slave whcnev ' l' he sa.w him, and to enrry him before a j udicial authority in the tate ; and upon naiuu.vit or ornl tc timony, showing his right, he was to receive a c ·rti fien.tc to tbnt effect, by virtue of which he might carry him 'back to the Slate from which he hu.d fled. This act, fully recognizing the right of the claimant to seize his slave by mere virtue of ownership, a11d then to carry him out of tho State upon a certificate u.nll wi Lhout a trial, was passed as good as unanimously by the second Congl'css which sat under the Constitution- the proceedings of tho Senate showing no di vi 'ion, and in the llou e only seven voting against tho bill, there being no separate votes on tho two parts of it, and two of these seven from the lave States (Virginia and Maryland). It docs not appear to what these seven objected- whether to tho fugitive slave sections, or those which applied to fugitives from justice. Such unanimity in its passage by those who helped to make the Constitution was h igb e v iueuce iu its favor; the conduct of the |