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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
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We cannot say" ( here hifr Lordship spoke in the name of all his brethren , the Judges on the Bench—• ' We cannot say" " the cause set forth by this return is allowed or approved of by the laws of this kingdom , and therefore the man ( meaning James
Somerset ) , must be discharged * " This clear decision of the Court of King ' s Bench has since been recognized and admitted by other courts as unquestionable , particularly in the case of Cay and Chrichton in 1773 , in the Prerogative Court ( Doctors'
Commons ) , by the then Judge , Dr . Hay , and afterwards in the High Court of Admiralty , on the 29 th of June , 1776 , in the case of Rogers , alias Rigges , against Jones . And yet 1 iiave still been oblige d * even afterwards , to interfere for the relief of several other
poor Negroes , and I always succeeded ( God be thanked ) in obtaining their liberty ; but I never proceeded so far in the prosecutions against their masters , as to press them for the
pecuniary penalties to which they are really liable by the Habeas Corpus Act , because I was always contented to stop proceedings as soon as they submitted and gave up the poor oppressed people .
As this long contested point is now so clearly determined , and the modes of proceeding for the relief of poor injured Negroes so thoroughly established , I think myself justified ( after so much labour and expense ) in declining to take upon myself any
further burthen of expense either of time or money , because I cannot really afford either of them at present : yet , as a farther answer to your third inquiry above-mentioned , I have subjoined the copy of a letter which I wrote on the 8 th of August , 1796 ,
to Mr . Harry Gandy , of Bristol , on his application to me in behalf of a poor Negro . I did not receive his answer till the next year ; it was dated exactly on the anniversary of my date , twelve months afterwards ,
( viz . 8 th of 8 th mo . 1797 , ) and contains a very handsome apology for having so long neglected to make his acknowledgment , and he added as follows : — "Thy acceptable letter had the desired effect : for in a day or two after it came to hand , I had another opportunity with the merchant and Captain Alleyn , who , on perusing thy
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letter , and finding us determined to defend poor Harry Harper , they readily relinquished their claim and released the prisoner , and settled the matter to mutual satisfaction : previous to which we had employed an attorney , " &c .
With respect to the present case of the poor boy at Falmouth , be assured that any person who shall attempt to carry him away out of the kingdom , against his will , must certainly be liable to a penalty of £ 500 , besides triple costs ; and that every persoa that-shall have been advising , aiding or asisting in any such forcible
carrying away , or even tiny attempt to carry him away , will also be liable to actions of debt for the same penalties : and this mode of proceeding by actions of debt is prescribed by law
to facilitate the recovery of the penalties , for which , either the boy himself or any other person is entitled to sue by the Habeas Corpus Act .
The only difficulty of the present case consists in the bad character of the boy , as he ** has been detected { you say ) more than once in a theft . " Now an habitual thief is ,
indeed , a slave in the very worst sense , being actually the property * as well afc the son ( by a fatal regeneration the wrong way ) of-the most * cruel of all slave-holders , the devil * himself , that
? ' prince of the power o £ the ~ air * the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience . " ( Ephes . ii . 2 . ) But as the spiritual slavery of the
poor lad has , probably , been occasioned by the unchristian negligence of a West Indian education s we may hope that a plain and friendly remonstrance addressed to hia
conscienceto his •* natural knowledge of good and evil , ' with the addition of a little Christian instruction ^ and charitable advice how he ought to resist the impulses of his worst master , ( his
master ' master , the spiritual slaveholder *) by praying for the assistance of the Holy Spirit ( which is absolutely promised to ail that will faith * fully ask for that supreme gift : in our Lord ' s name ; so that prayer for it .
* Among * a great variety of tracts , Mr . S . wrote one in support of diabolical agency and possessions in the most popular sense .
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S& £ Copy of a Litter to Dr * Fo * respecting m Ntpro Boy .
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), June 2, 1817, page 332, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2465/page/12/
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