reby gave the slave his liberty.

Previous to this decision, the privilege of bringing slaves into
England, for temporary purposes, and of carrying them away, had long
been tolerated.

This decision was given in the year 1772.[6] And for aught I see, it was
equally obligatory in this country as in England, and must have freed
every slave in this country, if the question had then been raised here.
But the slave knew not his rights, and had no one to raise the question
for him.

The fact, that slavery was _tolerated_ in the colonies, is no evidence
of its legality; for slavery was tolerated, to a certain extent, in
England, (as we have already seen,) for many years previous to the
decision just cited--that is, the holders of slaves from abroad were
allowed to bring their slaves into England, hold them during their stay
there, and carry them away when they went. But the toleration of this
practice did not make it lawful, notwithstanding all customs, not
palpably and grossly contrary to the principles of English liberty, have
great weight, in England, in establishing law.

The fact, that England _tolerated_, (i.e. did not punish criminally,)
the African _slave-trade_ at that time, could not legally establish
slavery in the colonies, _any more than it did in England_--especially
in defiance of the positive requirements of the charters, that the
colonial legislation should be consonant to reason, and not repugnant to
the laws of England.

Besides, the mere toleration of the slave _trade_ could not make slavery
itself--_the right of property in man_--lawful any where; not even on
board the slave ship. Toleration of a wrong is not law. And especially
the toleration of a wrong, (i.e. the bare omission to punish it
criminally,) does not legalize one's claim to property obtained by such
wrong. Even if a wrong can be legalized at all, so as to enable one to
acquire rights of property by such wrong, it can be done only by an
explicit and positive provision.

The English statutes, on the subject of the slave trade, (so far as I
have seen,) never attempted to legalize the right of property in man,
_in any of the thirteen North American colonies_. It is doubtful whether
they ever attempted to do it any where else. It is also doubtful whether
Parliament had the power--or perhaps rather it is certain that they had
not the power--to legalize it any where, if they had attempted to do
so.[7] And the cautious and curious phraseology o