Page:Copley 1844 A History of Slavery and its Abolition 2nd Ed.djvu/229

Rh that few Mr. Sharp was one, and finding that he was not likely to gain satisfactory information from others, he determined to rely on his own industry, and devote two or three years to the study of the English law, that he might be the better qualified to advocate the cause of the miserable people whose case had so powerfully excited his compassion. This was indeed an heroic sacrifice, and in due time it met its reward.

In 1769 Mr. Sharp published the result of his inquiries, in "A Representation of the Injustice and dangerous Tendency of tolerating Slavery in England." In this work he clearly refuted the long established opinion, producing against the decision of Lord Chief Justice Holt, many years before, that a slave on coming to England became free. He also refuted it from the ancient law of villeinage in England, and by the axiom of the British constitution "That every man in England is free to sue for and defend his rights, and that force cannot be used without a legal process." This valuable book was widely distributed, especially among the lawyers; thus awakening inquiry and extending knowledge on the subject, and affording an opportunity of acknowledging or of refuting the doctrines it contained.

While this work was in progress, other cases occurred of putting the law of the subject to a practical test. An African slave, named Hylas, prosecuted a person for having kidnapped his wife and sent her to the West Indies. The result of the trial was, that the offender was compelled to bring back the woman to her husband within a given time. In 1770, Thomas Lewis, an African, was seized by two watermen, in a dark night, and