1854

                            SLAVERY IN MASSACHUSETTS

                             by Henry David Thoreau

  I LATELY ATTENDED a meeting of the citizens of Concord, expecting,
as one among many, to speak on the subject of slavery in
Massachusetts; but I was surprised and disappointed to find that
what had called my townsmen together was the destiny of Nebraska,
and not of Massachusetts, and that what I had to say would be entirely
out of order. I had thought that the house was on fire, and not the
prairie; but though several of the citizens of Massachusetts are now
in prison for attempting to rescue a slave from her own clutches,
not one of the speakers at that meeting expressed regret for it, not
one even referred to it. It was only the disposition of some wild
lands a thousand miles off which appeared to concern them. The
inhabitants of Concord are not prepared to stand by one of their own
bridges, but talk only of taking up a position on the highlands beyond
the Yellowstone River. Our Buttricks and Davises and Hosmers are
retreating thither, and I fear that they will leave no Lexington
Common between them and the enemy. There is not one slave in Nebraska;
there are perhaps a million slaves in Massachusetts.

  They who have been bred in the school of politics fail now and
always to face the facts. Their measures are half measures and
makeshifts merely. They put off the day of settlement indefinitely,
and meanwhile the debt accumulates. Though the Fugitive Slave Law
had not been the subject of discussion on that occasion, it was at
length faintly resolved by my townsmen, at an adjourned meeting, as
I learn, that the compromise compact of 1820 having been repudiated by
one of the parties, "Therefore,... the Fugitive Slave Law of 1850 must
be repealed." But this is not the reason why an iniquitous law
should be repealed. The fact which the politician faces is merely that
there is less honor among thieves than was supposed, and not the
fact that they are thieves.

  As I had no opportunity to express my thoughts at that meeting, will
you allow me to do so here?

  Again it happens that the Boston Court-House is full of armed men,
holding prisoner and trying a MAN, to find out if he is not really a
SLAVE. Does any one think that justice or God awaits Mr. Loring's
decision? For him to sit there deciding still, when this question is
already decided from eternity to eternity, and the unlettered slave
himself and the multitude around have long since heard and assented to
the decision, is simply to make himself ridiculous. We may be
tempted to ask from whom he received his commission, and who he is
that received it; what novel statutes he obeys, and what precedents
are to him of authority. Such an arbiter's very existence is an
impertinence. We do not ask him to make up his mind, but to make up
his pack.

  I listen to hear the voice of a Governor, Commander-in-Chief of
the forces of Massachusetts. I hear only the creaking of crickets
and the hum of insects which now fill the summer air. The Governor's
exploit is to review the troops on muster days. I have seen him on
horseback, with his hat off, listening to a chaplain's prayer. It
chances that that is all I have ever seen of a Governor. I think
that I could manage to get along without one. If he is not of the
least use to prevent my being kidnapped, pray of what important use is
he likely to be to me? When freedom is most endangered, he dwells in
the deepest obscurity. A distinguished clergyman told me that he chose
the profession of a clergyman because it afforded the most leisure for
literary pursuits. I would recommend to him the profession of a
Governor.

  Three years ago, also, when the Sims tragedy was acted, I said to
myself, There is such an officer, if not such a man, as the Governor
of Massachusetts- what has he been about the last fortnight? Has he
had as much as he could do to keep on the fence during this moral
earthquake? It seemed to me that no keener satire could have been
aimed at, no more cutting insult have been offered to that man, than
just what happened- the absence of all inquiry after him in that
crisis. The worst and the most I chance to know of him is that he
did not improve that opportunity to make himself known, and worthily
known. He could at least have resigned himself into fame. It
appeared to be forgotten that there was such a man or such an
office. Yet no doubt he was endeavoring to fill the gubernatorial
chair all the while. He was no Governor of mine. He did not govern me.

  But at last, in the present case, the Governor was heard from. After
he and the United States government had perfectly succeeded in robbing
a poor innocent black man of his liberty for life, and, as far as they
could, of his Creator's likeness in his breast, he made a speech to
his accomplices, at a congratulatory supper!

  I have read a recent law of this State, making it penal for any
officer of the "Commonwealth" to "detain or aid in the...
detention," anywhere within its limits, "of any person, for the reason
that he is claimed as a fugitive slave." Also, it was a matter of
notoriety that a writ of replevin to take the fugitive out of the
custody of the United States Marshal could not be served for want of
sufficient force to aid the officer.

  I had thought that the Governor was, in some sense, the executive
officer of the State; that it was his business, as a Governor, to
see that the laws of the State were executed; while, as a man, he took
care that he did not, by so doing, break the laws of humanity; but
when there is any special important use for him, he is useless, or