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The air of England has long been too pure for a slave, and every man is free who breathes it.

— William Murray, 1st Earl of Mansfield

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Slavery

More quotes by William Murray, 1st Earl of Mansfield

An estimated value is a precarious measure of justice, compared with the specific thing.

Fisher v. Prince (1762)

A man wants no protection when his conduct is strictly right.

Bird v. Gunston (1785)

No degree of antiquity can give sanction to a usage bad in itself.

God forbid that the defendant should not be allowed the benefit of every advantage he is entitled to by law.

The law protects nothing in that very respect, in which it is, at the same time, in the eye of the law, a crime.

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What constitutes the bulwark of our own liberty and independence?

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The Autocrat of all the Russias will resign his crown, and proclaim his subjects free republicans sooner than will our American masters voluntarily give up their slaves.

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Attribution

Quote text and notes from Wikiquote: William Murray, 1st Earl of Mansfield (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source quality and labels are our own summary of what Wikiquote records.