| | * "With consistency, beautiful and undeviating, human life, from its commencement to its close, is protected by the common law. In the contemplation of law, life begins when the infant is first able to stir in the womb. By the law, life is protected not only from immediate destruction, but from every degree of actual violence, and, in some cases, from every degree of danger." - Of the Natural Rights of Individuals, 1790<ref>[http://teachingamericanhistory.org/library/document/of-the-natural-rights-of-individuals/ Of the Natural Rights of Individuals]</ref> | | * "With consistency, beautiful and undeviating, human life, from its commencement to its close, is protected by the common law. In the contemplation of law, life begins when the infant is first able to stir in the womb. By the law, life is protected not only from immediate destruction, but from every degree of actual violence, and, in some cases, from every degree of danger." - Of the Natural Rights of Individuals, 1790<ref>[http://teachingamericanhistory.org/library/document/of-the-natural-rights-of-individuals/ Of the Natural Rights of Individuals]</ref> |
| | * "Slavery, or an absolute and unlimited power in the master over the life and fortune of the slave, is unauthorized by the common law. Indeed, it is repugnant to the principles of natural law, that such a state should subsist in any social system. The reasons, which we sometimes see assigned for the origin and the continuance of slavery, appear, when examined to the bottom, to be built upon a false foundation. In the enjoyment of their persons and of their property, the common law protects all."<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=lIs0AAAAMAAJ&pg=PA488 Lectures on Law], p. 488</ref> | | * "Slavery, or an absolute and unlimited power in the master over the life and fortune of the slave, is unauthorized by the common law. Indeed, it is repugnant to the principles of natural law, that such a state should subsist in any social system. The reasons, which we sometimes see assigned for the origin and the continuance of slavery, appear, when examined to the bottom, to be built upon a false foundation. In the enjoyment of their persons and of their property, the common law protects all."<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=lIs0AAAAMAAJ&pg=PA488 Lectures on Law], p. 488</ref> |
| | + | * "Human law must rest its authority, ultimately, upon the authority of that law, which is divine."<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=B1hHAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA93 The Works of James Wilson, Associate Justice of the Supreme Court ..., Volume 1]</ref> |