As soon as this determination was made known, the parties began to move
off. Captain Laird, however, who kept close to Strong, laid hold of him
before he had quitted the room, and said aloud, "Then now I seize him as
my slave." Upon this Mr. Sharp put his hand upon Laird's shoulder, and
pronounced these words, "I charge you, in the name of the king, with an
assault upon the person of Jonathan Strong, and all these are my
witnesses." Laird was greatly intimidated by this charge, made in the
presence of the Lord Mayor and others, and fearing a prosecution, let
his prisoner go, leaving him to be conveyed away by Mr. Sharp.

But the great turning case was that of James Somerset, in 1772. James
Somerset, an African slave, had been brought to England by his master,
Charles Stewart, in November, 1769. Somerset, in process of time, left
him. Stewart took an opportunity of seizing him, and had him conveyed on
board the _Ann and Mary_, Captain Knowles, to be carried out of the
kingdom and sold as a slave in Jamaica. The question raised was,
"Whether a slave, by coming into England, became free?"

In order that time might be given for ascertaining the law fully on this
head, the case was argued at three different sittings--first, in
January, 1772; secondly, in February, 1772; and thirdly, in May, 1772.
And that no decision otherwise than what the law warranted might be
given, the opinion of the judges was taken upon the pleadings. The great
and glorious issue of the trial was, "That as soon as ever any slave set
his foot upon English territory he became free."

Thus ended the great case of Somerset, which, having been determined
after so deliberate an investigation of the law, can never be reversed
while the British Constitution remains. The eloquence displayed in it by
those who were engaged on the side of liberty was perhaps never exceeded
on any occasion; and the names of the counsellors, Davy, Glynn,
Hargrave, Mansfield, and Alleyne, ought always to be remembered with
gratitude by the friends of this great cause.

It was after this verdict that Cowper wrote the following beautiful
lines:--

"Slaves cannot breathe in England; if their lungs
Imbibe our air, that moment they are free;
They touch our country, and their shackles fall.
That's noble, and bespeaks a nation proud
And jealous of the blessing. Spread on, then,
And let it circulate through every vein
Of all your empire, that where Bri