I have
already shown to you, by the passages I have cited from the opinions of
Lord Stowell and of Judge Story, how they regard this subject. They say
that the slave who goes to England, or goes to Massachusetts, from a
slave State, is still a slave, that he is still his master's property;
but that his master has lost control over him, not by reason of the
cessation of his property, but because those States grant no remedy to
the master by which he can exercise his control.
There are numerous illustrations upon this point--illustrations
furnished by the copyright laws, illustrations furnished by patent laws.
Let us take a case, one that appeals to us all. There lives now a man
in England who from time to time sings to the enchanted ear of the
civilized world strains of such melody that the charmed senses seem to
abandon the grosser regions of earth, and to rise to purer and serener
regions above. God has created that man a poet. His inspiration is his;
his songs are his by right divine; they are his property so recognized
by human law; yet here in these United States men steal Tennyson's works
and sell his property for their profit; and this because, in spite of
the violated conscience of the nation, we refuse to give him protection
for his property.
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