7. The Higher Law Tried by Reason and Authority (New York: S. W. Benedict, 1851). (54 p.)


Criticism of fugitive slave laws based on Biblical texts. “So, also, any law compelling me to aid in enslaving or re-enslaving a man is void. No law can possibly bind me to do that to another, while innocent of crime, which would be unjust and cruel, if done to myself. I cannot be bound to aid in robbing another of a natural and inalienable right. I cannot be made to commit injustice and cruelty by statute. There is no just distinction between the obligation of such a law, and that of a law commanding murder, which all will agree is void. My neighbor’s right to liberty is as inalienable as his right to life.”