If, by the rule of increase, to him that hath is given, so in the same degree new duties are superadded: nor can any man escape from their behests.

If the merchant be in reality our feudal lord, he must render feudal service; if he be our modern knight, he must do knightly deeds; if he be the baron of our day, let him maintain baronial charity to the humble,--ay, Sir, and baronial…

Even if I err in attributing to him this peculiar position, I do not err in attributing to him these duties; for his influence is surely great, and he is at least a man, bound by simple manhood to regard nothing human as foreign to his…

A wicked man is a deplorable sight; but a wicked law is worse than any wicked man, even than the wretch who steals human beings from their home in Africa; nor can its outrage be redressed by any incidental charities, perishing at night as…

Like the monster, it must be overpowered; like the robber, it must be chained; like the wild beast, it must be exterminated.

Thank God, the great volume of the Past is always open, with its lessons of warning and example.

It has taught me to make a proper distinction between the OPINIONS of men and their PERSONS.

The former I can freely condemn, without presuming to judge the individuals themselves.

And just in proportion as the moral nature asserts its rightful supremacy here will such a character be hailed of higher worth than the products of all the mills of Lowell, backed by all the dividends and discounts of State Street.

It is in collision with difficulty that the sparks of genuine character appear.

An unconquerable will, and instincts often profounder in their teaching than any learning, were now his counsellors.

During these researches he was confirmed in his original prepossessions, and aroused to undying hostility against Slavery, which he plainly saw to be without any sanction in the Constitution.

The great writ of Habeas Corpus was next invoked; and the ship, which had contumaciously proceeded on its way, was boarded in the Downs, happily within British jurisdiction, by a faithful officer, who, in the name of the King of England…

Alas! it is the natural influence of Slavery to make men hard.

The Slavery question could not be suppressed: the Chief Justice of England could not suppress it.

Drive out Nature with a pitchfork, and still she will return.

Hear this, merchants of Boston, justly jealous of the good name of your calling, and hang your heads with shame!

For all these gallant lawyers, champions of the Right, there is honor ever increasing, which the soul spontaneously offers, while it turns in sorrow from the counsel, only two in number, who allowed themselves to be enlisted on the side of…

But I undertake to affirm that no usage, professional or social, can give any apology for joining the pack of the Slave-Hunter.

No man can rightfully enforce a principle which violates human nature; nor can any subtilty of dialectics, any extent of erudition, or any grandeur of intellect sustain him.

As well pursue the fugitive with the hired whip of the overseer as with the hired argument of the lawyer.

As well chase him with the baying of the blood-hound as with the tongue of the advocate.

It is the lawyer's clear duty to uphold human rights, whether in the loftiest or the lowliest; and when he undertakes to uphold a wrong outrageous as Slavery, his proper function is so far reversed that he can be aptly described only in…

Still more, he was not naturally on the side of Liberty, as becomes a great judge, but always, by blood and instinct, on the side of prerogative and power,--an offence for which he was arraigned by his contemporary, Junius, and for which…

Let us at all hazards prevent the extension of Slavery and the increase of the Slave Power.