affirming the infamy. When the bill
passed, Gentlemen, you remember how Mr. Webster rejoiced:--

"Now is the winter of our discontent
Made glorious summer,"

was his public outcry on the housetop! And Boston fired a hundred guns
of joy! Do you know _who_ fired them? Ask Mr. Attorney Hallett; ask
Mr. Justice Curtis. They can "instruct the jury."

Gentlemen, you know the operation of the fugitive slave bill. It
subverts the Purposes of the Constitution, it destroys Justice,
disturbs domestic Tranquillity, hinders the common Defence and the
general Welfare, and annihilates the Blessings of Liberty. It defies
the first Principles of the Declaration of Independence,--think of the
fugitive slave bill as an appendix to that document! It violates the
Idea of Democracy. It contradicts the very substance of the Christian
Religion--the two great commandments of Love to God, and Love to man,
whereon "hang all the Law and the Prophets." It makes natural humanity
a crime; it subjects all the Christian virtues to fine and
imprisonment. It is a _lettre de cachet_ against Philanthropy.

Gentlemen of the Jury, you know the fugitive slave bill is
unconstitutional. I need not argue the matter; it is too plain to need
proof. See how it opposes Justice, the ultimate purpose of human law;
nay, the declared objects of the Constitution itself! But yet its
unconstitutionality has been most abundantly shown by our own
fellow-citizens. I need not go out of Massachusetts for defenders of
Justice and Law. You remember the Speeches of Mr. Phillips, Mr.
Sewall, Mr. Rantoul, Mr. Sumner, Mr. Mann, the arguments of Mr.
Hildreth. The judges before you by nature are able-minded men, both of
them; both also learned as lawyers and otherwise well educated,--I
love to honor their natural powers, and their acquired learning; would
I could offer higher praise. Now, I will not insult their manly
understanding with the supposition that either of them ever thought
the fugitive slave bill constitutional. No, Gentlemen, it is not
possible that in the _personal_ opinion of Mr. Sprague, or even Mr.
Curtis, this bill can be held for a constitutional law. But the Court
has its official dress: part of it is of silk--or supposed to be,--the
gown which decorates the outward figure of the man who wears its ample
folds; it is made after a prescribed pattern. But part of it also is
made of _opinion_ which hides the ability and learning of the
honorable Court. Th