Anti-slavery bugle. [volume], November 20, 1846, Image 1

About Anti-slavery bugle. [volume] (New-Lisbon, Ohio) 1845-1861

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PUBLISHED EVERY FRIDAY AT
SALEM, COLUMBIANA CO., OHIO.
JAMES BARNABY, Jr., General Jgent.
BKXJAMI.N S. JONKS,
J. ELIZADETII JONKS,
Epitors.
Pi'RLIshino Committee : Samuel Brooke,
James Harnaby, Jr., David L. Cialbrcath,
Lot Holmes.
From the Anti-Slavery Standard.
GOODELL ON THE CONSTITUTION.
[Concluded.]
Wo have finished our notice of all lhat Mr.
Goodell urges under the head of strict con
struction, and now pass to that part of his
book in which he tries to discover the mean
ing of the Constitution from the "prevailing
spirit" of the instrument.
The first point insisted on is the preamble,
which states the Constitution to have been
"ordained in order to establish justice and se
cure the blessings of liberty," itc.
"Liberty and Justice" are very changeable
terms, and tako their tone from the lips that
utter tliem. Mr. (Joodell thinks them so clear
and unmislakeable, as to include, everywhere,
the idea of emancipation and freedom. 80
do we., when they nre properly used. lSnt,
nnforuinaiely, men differ on this point. Li
berty and Justice to one man, mean aristo
cracy and an order of nobles to another, uni
versal suffrage to one individual, property
and equal laws to another, community of
goods and Fotirierisin to a third, no mar
riage and a general scramble. Now, we shall
find out what ideas the men of I7tW attached
to these words, by consulting the Constitu
tion itai-lf, which they declare they establish
in order to secure their idea of liberty and
justice. The Constitution, thorefure, is to
give a definition to the pro.unble, not the pre
amble to force a meaning upon the Constitu
tion. Valuable as is the aid of contemporaneous
interpretation, in helping us to understand
some ambiguities in the Constitution, we are
glad to have ono more opportunity of agree
ing with Mr. Coodell, in declaring our" full
and hearty assent to the following remarks of 1
his on the common reference to the indentions
of the frumcrt of the Constitution (Pa"e
83.)
"The design of the parlies to a written
agreement, is to be held ipi i t dislir.ct from
the designs of the men employed to draw up
the paper. And 'Wt. the people if the United
Slalei,' who adopted the Constitution, and
whose act and instrument it is, are not bound
to concede that our design, in adopting and
maintaining itwas, of necessity, identical
with what may be proved to have been the
design of the persons, or a portion of the per
sons we employed to prepare it for us. What
the Convention of 1787, or a portion of it,
intended to eject by the Constitution, is not
to be confounded with the designs, especially
the paramount orject of TUB PEOPLE
who adopted it. The objects of the Conven
tion, or members of it, may deserve our at
tention, and their testimony to the spirit of
their times, may command respect. Hot
their intentions are not to be substituted for
the intentions of THE PEOPLE, or con
founded with them."
The second point made is as follows:
The English Common Law knows no slaves :
(Abundant evidence is adduced of this.)
The United States Constitution is moulded
and fashioned on the model of the English
Common Law: (No proof, whatever, is giv
en of this.)
Therefore, it is an Anti-Slavery instrument.
The first point is beyond dispute, and the syl
logism would be an excellent one if the se
cond assertion could be maintained. As the
only evidence produced is an assertion of Mr.
T. 1). Weld, we shall postpone any criticism
until some real proof is adduced.
We may, however, state in pissing, that
the doctrine laid down, generally in this con
nection, by several Liberty party debaters,
that all acts of Parliament, contrary to reason
and justice, are void, and that the Judges
may treat them as such, is not law. This
principle is generally sustained by discon
nected quotations from Blackslone. His able
commentator, Mr. Christian, long ago reject
ed the doctrine. He says, "If an act of Par
liament should, like the edict of Herod, com
mand all children under a certain age to he
slain, the Judge ought to resign his office
rather than be auxiliary to its execution ; but
it could only be declared void by the same leg
islative power by which it was ordained."
Blackstone, himself, on a subsequent page of
his work, explains more definitely the gene
ral terms he had previously used. . On the
!Hst page of his first volume, he says:
'I know it is generally laid down more
largely, that acts of Parliament, contrary to
reason, are void. But if the Parliament will
positively enact a thing to be done which is
unreasonable, 1 know of no power, in the or
dinary forms of the Constitution, that is vest
ed with authority to control it; and the ex
amples usually alleged in support of this
sense of the rule do none of them prove, that,
where the main object of a statute is unrea
sonable, the Judges are at liberty to reject it;
tor that were to set the judicial power above
that of the Legislature, which would be sub
versive of all Government.
If we could conceive it possible for the Par
liament to enact that a man should try as well
his own causes as those of other persons,
there is no court that has power to defeat the
intent of the Legislature, when couched in
such evident and express words, as leave no
doubt whether it was the intent of the Legis
lature or not."
Chancellor Kent, also, of New York, the
highest living authority, though citing and
praising the few old cases which sustain a
different doctrine, concludes with Blackstone,
thus :
"When it is said in the books that a statute
contrary to natural equity and reason, or re
pugnant or impossible to be performed, is
void, the cases are understood to mean that
the courts are to give the statute a reasonable
construction. 1 hey will not read i I v nrraums.
out of respect and dutw to tlm lut,r;... ,i.!
anT verv uniuat or ahmir.l ni.,.m,... ......
within the contemplation of the law. But if
It should happen to be too palpable in its di
rection to admit of but one construction. Mv
tJ no dub' in the English law, as to the binding
efficacy if the Mute. The will of the Legis-
lature is the fiunrema lur nf tha lnn.1 r. ..,1
. lature is the supreme law of the land, and
demands perfect obedience," Kent' Comm.
1. 417.
A MITT
ill 1
VOL. 2.m 16.
AVERY BTOI
XO UK ION WITH
SALEM, OHIO, FRIDAY,
SLAVEHOLDERS."
NOVEMBER 20, 18-16.
jE.
WHOLE NO. 68.
I
lie then goes on to point out the brond dis
tinction between our Government and the
English. There, as there exists no written
Constitution, it might, with some plausibili
ty, be maintained that the courts had n right
to bring all laws to the test rf those great
principles of common sense and common jus
tice, in which nil mankind are agreed, and
which form the only thing lhat ran be called
a foundation for British law. Bui here wp
have a specific, limited, written Constitution.
It contains ALL the principles which the pen
pie, the nation, have agreed shall form the
foundation of our nntion-il law. Tin only
lest, llinrefore, to which our conits have liny
right to submit the action of the Legislature
is, to ask, .is it constitutional ? if so, it is le
gally binding on them no matter how un
just or how unreasonable it is. Such is the
frame-work of Government under which we
live. The perpetual mist ike or attempt to
mislead, on this point, will, wc hope, justify
this digression.
Section 3d is entitled, "Spirit of the Con
stitution, as attested liy history and by emi
nent civilians and jurists."
We wee aware lhat politicians jhad, ever
since the Revolution, done up a greal deal
of Anti-Slavery talk; but as no ore of the
"civilians or jurists" of the country ever
dreamed that the Constitution was an Anti
Slavery instrument, or denied the existence
of the pro-slavery clauses, known to lie con
tained in it, we were, we confess, surprised,
though mindful of llie hescttinnr sin of Yan-
keen, when we arrived lit this section. It
strikes us as the latest specimen of a drown
ing man catching at straws.
Mr. Goodell's next argument amounts to
this. There is nothing in the Constitution
forbidding Congress to abolish slavery, there
fore, H possesses the power. The use of such
an argument struck us as ex'rcmelv uncratp-
ful in him towards that very respectable body,
the .Imcndmrnls, the perversion of some of
which had done him such good service in se
curing for his hook the only plausihility it
can boast. The 10th Article of the Amend
ments expressly declares that,
"The powers not delegated to the I'niled
States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by
it to the States, are reserved to the Slates re
spectively, or to the people." Amendments,
Article X.
In the very teeth of this declaration, that
on.s is a limited Government, has no powers i
nut those granted to it anil that all not grant
ed are reserved Mr. (.coodell discourses thus:
"The absence of any restriction upon the
Federal Government, of the ordinary, the uni
versal power of all civil Cover imeiits to abol
ish the slavery existing within their territo
rial limits, is proof positive that no 'compn.
inise' or 'guaranty' in favor of slavery has
been made. We now add lhat this circum
stance furnishes proof that the Federal Go
vernment DOES possess power to abolish
slavery, and is bound to EXERCISE lliiit
power." p. 119.
"No ono then questioned the legitimate
power of civil government in general, to abol
ish slavery, and the exercise of that power to
that end was the rising fashion of the day, in
this country. Yet in forming a civil Go
vernment with supreme powers, no restriction
was even attempted to he made, upon the
power of the Government in that direction.
Of course, the power of the Government, in
lhat particular, is the same witli that of other
Governments ! !" p. 1 13.
"The Federal Constitution contains ho lim
itations of the power of the Federal Govern
ment in the matter of slavery. That Govern
ment, therefore, retains all the power over
slavery that any other civil governments hold.
And consequently, even in the absence of such
specific provisions as those we have consi
dered it would still be true that the Federal
Government is amply competent lo abolish
slavery." p. 120.
"These delegations of power comprise a
full description of the essential powers of a
'civil government,' and the 'establishment of
justice' is declared to be the end of the whole.
The general powers thus delegated lo the U
niled Slates, (aside from specific provisions,)
are sufficient for the abolition of slavery, un
less it can he shown (which it cannot) lhat
such a particular exercise of power is prohibi
ted in the Constitution!!" p. 1-20.
With such a specimen of construction,
which considers powers as granted because
they are not prohibited or even mentioned, it
would be waste of time to contend. We be
lieve the National Government, as the parch
ment asserts, to have no powers hut such as
are granted it, and as Mr. Goodell allows that
this has not been granted, hut only implied
in the nature of all other Governments, our
argument is at an end.
Under such a Governmentas ours, express
ly declared to possess no powers but those
delegated, one might as rightfully exercise a
power, expressly forbidden in the Constitution,
on the plea that it was necessarily implied in
the very nature of all civil government, as
claim one not granted, on such a plea.
Shortly after, he stumbles on the following
passage from the "Madison papers," relat
ing to Article I, Section 2, of the Constitu
tion :
"On motion of Mr. Randolph, the word
'servitude' was struck out, and 'service' unani
mously inserted the former being thought
to express the condition of slaves, and tho
latter the obligation of free persons." Vol.
3, p. 15U9.
And then Mr. Goodell reasons thus :
"We have the testimony of Mr. Madison,
then, to the fact, that Mr. Randolph and the
entire Convention, without a dissenting voice.
1 determined to frame Article I. Section 2, in
: such a manner that it SHOULD NOT be
understood to 'express the condition of slaves,'
but SHOULD be understood to 'express the
obligation of FREE PERSONS !"
Observe how readily, in spite of his correct
principle as to the intention, of the framers,
i r j:' .i
our disputant catches at anything in contem
poraneous interpretation which teems to sus
tain his side! If, however, he had flopped
1
j
'
i
i
i
to consider the whole article referred to, which
reads thus :
'Representatives and direct taxes shall he
apportioned iiinong the several Stales which
may be included within this Union, Record
ing to their rosprctive nmnbrrs, which shall
he determined by adding lo the whole num
ber of free persons, including those hound lo
serrice for a lenn of years, and excluding In
dians not taxed, three-fifths of ALL OTH ER
persons," &rt. United Stales Constitution,
Art. I, Src. .
He would have seen that his quotation from
Madison only strengthened our side. If they
were so careful to describe those bound loser
vire fur a term if years as free persons, who
were thn OTHER persons'! Being other
than "free persons," and other than those
"humid lor a term of years," they must be
the slaves.
The next subject considered is the legality
of the Stale slave laws as compared with
State constitutions a point irrelevant, and
one with which we have nothing now to do.
Mr. (ioodell concludes with his general
idea of "Constitutional Law." His princi
ple is, that no Government can rightfully ex
ist, in llie siht of God, w hich does not pos
sess the authority to put an end lo such a
wrong as slavery. Hence, the American
1 'riiislitution, rightly considered, does confer
that pow er. We subjoin some extracts, lest
our readers should think us exaggerating, or
playing on their credulity, in asserting thai
so able a man as Mr. (Joodell seriously ar
gues lhat in human affairs a thing is, because
it ought lo he; that mankind always do what
they ought lo do. Certainly his argument, in
this connection, can hardly be understood
otherwise, since thn question at issue is not
what Constitution this nation ought to have
made, or whether the actual one is binding
on us, hut what sort of one we have actually
established, lint to our extracts:
"All this would be true, even upon the snp
I position that any artificial compacts or writ
ten parchments, could possibly construct a
civil Government that should be a civil Go
vernment, and yet not he vested with the
power of securing inalienable human rights:
a proposition we shall not stop to djscuss in
this place, though it may require attention
elsewhere." p. 12.0.
"A right in the Government, to wield pow
er for the enslaveipent of any human being,
is a right that, in the nature of thin us, can
never exist." p. 118.
"Does the pith and gist of the matter lie
in the papersthe parchment! Or lies it in
something beyond, or back of the parchment,
or the paper 1 Have we found the thing,
when wo have found llie parchment, the pa
per, or have we found only what purports to
be a statement, a description of the thing it
self ! p. I -10.
"What would be thought of the mathema
tician who should identify the sciences of
arithmetic, or geometry, or algebra, with his
booh; his approved and highly authoritative
booh on thosu subjects! W ho should never
speak of "arithmetic" with any higher mean
ing to the word than the book bo holds in his
hands? But such a village pedagogue, could
we find one, would well deserve a place be-sidu-the
grave Senator, or the learned Judge
of the Supreme Court, who has no higher
meaning to the phrase, 'the Constitution if the
I'nitrd States' than the written or printed
parchment or paper, agreed upon, and drawn
up by llie Convention that assembled in 1787
forgetful that a Constitution of Government,
like a theorem in algebra, or a fact in chem
istry, or botany, or zoology, or nstronoiny, is
a palpable, veritable, existing fact, whether
any hooks or papers have described them cor
rectly, or undertaken to describe tliem at all."
p. 148. !
"The Federal Convention, and 'we the
people of the United States' could no more
make a Constitution of civil government, out
of a cloth of our own fabric, and upon any
principles lhat might suit our own selfishness
or caprice a Constitution that should be va
lid and binding, than Dr. Combe, and an uni
versity of physiologists could nude, at their
own whim or pleasure, n constitution ol the
human body, that should be binding upon all
the anatomists and surgeons of a nation, or
on all who should have occasion to contract
their muscles, and move their limbs! In
both cases, it is God who has made the Con
stitutions." p. 152.
"To the case in hand. Human beings can
no more construct a civil government, witli
binding aulhoiity over human beings, yet
without llie power lo 'execute judgment be
tween a man and his neighbor,' than they
can construct a globe without the quality of
roundness, or a cube without six sides."
p. 151.
"A Constitution of civil government, there
fore, that tolerates slavery, is an absurdity
that cannot exist." p. 155.
" Man may discover, but cannot create
law." p. 153.
The reader will notice in these quotations
the evidence of that, the clergyman's frequent
error, (to which we have before adverted,) of
deceiving oneself w ith the ambiguity conceal
ed under llie word "law:" law, for instance,
in its first, broad meaning, standing for the
rule which God and nature point out and
sanction as proper and rightful; and law,
secondly, the rule, which certain individuals,
constituting the majority, have arranged, shall
be the settled plan of their society. All the
principles, which we have quoted above from
Mr. Goodell, would be apposite and in place,
if we were discussing the question whether
a wicked Constitution was binding on the cit
izen, or whether the individual would be jus
tified in supporting it. But we understand
him to bo seeking now to lind out, not the
duty of individuals in relation to wicked laws,
not what sort of a Constitution the American
people ought to have framed, but what sort
of one they have actually tried to set up.
When we ask for their actions, Mr. Goodell
tells us what their duties were. Alas, he is
too orthodox not to know that evidence of
what a man ought to have done, goes but
very little way to show what he actually fia-i
done.
It is a very pjaiisible theory, and may be
a very sound one, lhat no Government can,
in ihe eye of God, rightfully exist without
possessing the power to execute justice be
tween man and man. Every one is at liberty
to adopt it, if it strikes him favorably. But
whether the American people have or have
not tried to set up a Government without
granting it that power, is a totally different
question: a question of fact, not of thooiy.
And unfortunately, men so often do what ihey
have no right to do, lhat it will require no
overwhelming amount of evidence to convince
us tlixt the American people have been tread
ing in this broad and popular path.
( To assume that all rightful Governments
lve necessarily certain powers, and then ar
gue that a particular human, man-made Go
vernment, which is nv no means necessari
ly a iiioiitici, one, does possess those pow
ers, because it ought to possess them, is sure
ly an easy method of proof, but unfortunate
ly, not a very convincing one.
. The whole of the last quarter of Mr. Good
ell's book is excellent to convince a candid
man that he ought not lo support the actual
('institution of the United Slates, hut it
seems lo us utterly out of place in an argu
ment purporting to show w hat that Constitu
tion actually is.
And so we say farewell to Mr. Goodell. p.
Mrs. Child's Views of the Recent Slave
Case.
Mrs. Child has a letter in the Boston
Courier on the subject of the recent Slave
Case, from which wo copy as follows:
On the side of freedom
there was hearty eloquence, and great clear
ness and directness of argument. On the
side of despotism, there was legal acutencss
and hair splitting. It is all the ablest man
run do, under such circumstances. It is im
possible to be eloquent in such a cause. If
a niun has any heart, it rises tip, and looks
su? sadly and upbraidingly into the eyes of
bi intellect, that it lakes away his strength.
Arid even if he has no heart, he is still troub
led with an awkward consciousness that it
does not sound well to sustain the system of
human slavery, in Ihe nineteenth century,
arid with the ears of a free Stale for listeners.
Therefore, the best a lawyer can do in such
a dilemma is to disguise and cover up the
hateful idea, and wind and twist adroitly, to
keep the devil hidden behind a stump.
Judge Edmonds, after a patient hearing,
discharged the colored lad, on the ground
that, if he were a slave, there was neither
the owner nor the arrent or attorney hern to
clfiliiFlTTm," and therefore no one had a right
lo distrain him of his liberty.
His release was a signal for furious excite.
nient among the upholders of that benign
and patriarchal system, which true-blue De
mocrats so often embellish with the soft and
courteous name of "involuntary annrenticr.
ship;" but which those who handle things
without gloves call the accursed system of
human slavery. The captain, probably not
ironi in ieenng io llie poor lad, hut looking
only lo his own safely, ollered 50 to who
ever would catch him. Sine hundred police
men, vertmlly authorized by ihe Mayor,
were instantly on iho qui rive to secure the
prey. I lad a menagerie of tigers and hyenas
been let loose on a poor little panting hare,
there could not have been a hotter pursuit.
L' 1 . . " . ,
i-.vrry vessel ami sieamuoat was watched :
every avenue lo the city was watched. They
even curried ineir vigilance so tar as to fol
low and inspect certain wooden boxes, con
veyed from one of the missionary offices.
In one of these suspected boxes, the livino-
Gospel of Freedom, bound in black, was
round.
Then great was the exultation. The man
hunters disputed among themselves who had
the principal share in this noble transaction;
and paragraphs were put in the paper to set
tle what particular individuals undouhtedly
deserved lite honor. Perhaps the city au
thorities may pass a vote to erect them a
monument of brass on the Battery, where it
will be coiuq icuous in all strangers arriving
in the metropolis of what they suppose to be
a free Stale. Their sons would probably be
glad to let verdigris fill tit) the names; but
the Mayor, who seems so peculiarly desir
ous to oblige our Southern masters, might,
during his administration, cause the brazen
record to be kept bright, though it would
pass any man's power to make it clean.
And if the Empire Slate really aspires lothe
magnanimous, me iruiy uemocrauc mission
of being Slave-calcher to the South, I would
propose lhat a banner float from the Slate-
House in Albany, and the City Hall here,
bearing the proud .motto, Excelsior ! and
underneath, the State of New York, with
Liberty Pole in one hand, and in the other a
trembling Slave led back in chains to his
master.
I could not but think what woi Id have
been the emotions of old Franklin and Jay,
and Putnam and Warren and a host of other
revolutionary heroes, had they suddenly
dropped down into the midst of that excited
crowd, w ho, for fifty pieces of silver, were
Hunting a poor young soul into slavery.
"They had the hearts of freemen to the last ;
And the free blood that bounded in their
veins.
Was shed for freedom with a liberal joy.
JJut had they guessed, or could they but
have dreamed.
The great examples which they died to show
Would fall aojlat, would shine so fruitless
here.
That men should gay, 'For Liberty these
died,
Therefore let us be Slaves!' had they thought
this,
Oh, then with what an agony of shamo,
Their blushing faces buried in the dust.
Had their great spirits parted hence to Heav
en!" Well, they caught the fugitive, and may
they live to be ashamed of it, in calmer and
w iser moments. A second writ of habeas
I corpus was served to deliver him from their
hands, and he was again brought before
Judge Edmonds.
There was a law passed by the New York
Legislaiurc, in 1817, that in case a person e
scaped from service or labor due in nnothcr
Stale, and secreted himself on hoard a vessel,
the Mayor of a cily might give tho captain n
certificate, authorizing him to convey him
hack whence he came. Mr. Blunt, counsel
or ine captain, conienued tnal mu law was
a police regulation, similar lo those applied to
paupers ami criminals; and therelore the h.iy
was propiriy under the jurisdiction of the
Mayor, not ol the Circuit Court.
1 lie counsel for the fugitive denied this
construction. He said tho law of 1817 was
manifestly intended expressly for slaves ab
sconding from their masters. That if the
law was constitutional, it was repealed by a
subsequent law passed in 1810, which ex
pressly lok such cases out of the hands of
the Mayor, and every other officer, until the
proof had been settled by tii.il b.ifore a jury.
And in case the law of 1817 kIioiiIJ not be
admitted lo be repealed by subsequent legis
lative action on the subject, they fell back on
the unconstitutionality of both laws, because
they both interfered with the supreme law of
Congress, passed in 1793, which is unneces
sary to quote here, so often have tin changes
been rung upon it in Boston, during the Fast
Iwelve years.
Ihe counsel for the can tun reidilv admit
ted the paramount authority of the law of
'93, and Judge Story's celebrated decision
was as usual mournfully conspicuous on the
side adverse to human freedom. But his
chief reliance seemed to be on the argument
that the law of 1817 was a police reflation.
and as such did not interfere with the superi
or law of Congress. Therefore the Mayor
had a right to authorize the captain to carry
the lad hack, as he would a pauper. lie
said ho would not be sending him hack to
slavery ; it would merely set him on the
wharves ol Savannnah, whence he came.
and the lad could then go where ho pleased.
i iookro a: nun cioseiy, to see n he blushed
while he was making this sophistical hair
splitting; huthe did not. Lawyers have
great power ol countenance.
Mr. Mckeon, who, I am happy to sav is
a Democrat, performed his official duly well
anu aoiy, in ueuau ol me "lugltive Irora in
justice.
Mr. White put his arguments vt ilh remark
able force, clearness and eloquence. John
jay, granuson ol old John Jay, threw him
self into the cause with all his heart and soul.
Ihe noble, the beautiful votins man! I
have Ions observed his manly and UDrirht
course with love and honor : and from the
depths of my heart do I lhank him for his ex
ertions in this case. Most young men dw in
ula wnen standing in the halo ol illustrious
progenitors; but John Jay stands in the
blaze of their reputation, noble in his own
right, by undeviating integrity, and a heart
always true to human freedom.
Amid the manifestation of much misdirec
ted feeling, it was pleasant to observe that a
largo proKrtion of the public gave their
sympathies to the fugitive. When the coun
sel for the captain evinced legal acuteness in
his argument, there were no signs of appro
bation from the audience; but when the op
posite counsel made a clever hit at the "pa
triarchal system," the general satisfaction
was expressed by smiles, and suppressed
murmurs, like a tree stirred by the winds
Out of doors the general inquiry was, "Will
the poor fellow get off!" Even some of the
police, asked, in a tone of vexation, "Why
iflA lan.n .liil' C- I.. i
wUv ...... . menus lai,o care anu
hide nun, when. they once had him!" Tam
many Hall vociferations fall into manir hnn.
FSt, simple Souls, who nnnnnt h.A o.a.ln In
aerstand that freedom is good for one man,
and not good for another. The popular
heart beats truly and kindly, where popular
understanding fairly comprehends on which
. ' ..... aw u.-
side the right is. More and more this comes
to be understood and felt, even amid all the
obstructions it must necessarily meet in a
great emporium of trade. Such trials as
these, perhaps, do more than any olher sin
gle influence to enlighien the eyes, and right
ly guide the sympathies of the public.
A few years ago, an athletic Irishman,
standing by his coal cart, heard in our streets
the cry of "Stop thief!" and saw a black
man running. At one bound, he caught the
fugitive. The pursuer came up umTihank
ed him, saving, "The rascal is my slave."
"Slave !" exclaimed the astonished Irish
man; and slipping behind the master, he ad
roitly caused his feet to slide from under
him, while he called out to the negro, "Run,
man, run! ' While he assisted the master
no to rise, he said, "By St. Patrick, if you
had only called out 'Stop slave!' 1 should
have known in the beginning whose heels to
trip up."
It is to be presumed that he was a newly
arrived emigrant, and had not the fiery spark
of Irish freedom naturalized out of him, in
the process of making him "a true blue De
mocrat, dyed in the wool." In Hoston, the
public have learned pretty thoroughly whose
heels lo trip up, in similar cases ; and unless
I mistake the Iree character of the State of
New York, they are fust learning it here al
so. I have written more sarcastically than usu
al, but it is the voice of honest indignation,
not of ill-will toward any living creature.
The freedom which is so necessary to my
own existence, 1 would guard as the sacred
right of every human being, without refer
ence to their nation, creed, or color. I am
charged with the electricity of freedrm, and
whoever touches me with word or deed of
despotism, must expect to see the sparks fly.
My severe allusions to Democracy do not
arise from the slightest degree of party-feeling.
Uut because 1 do truly and cordially
sympathize with the broadest theories of hu
man brotherhood, therefore am I the more
fiained and disgusted by the absurd and ug
y incongruity between pro-slavery practice,
and clamoroui professions of free pnnriples.
One latb specimen of this kind t-xcih-J my
indignation to an unusual ucgrc-. Ly u.r
old consuiuttou of Hits state, no colored man
was allowed to vote unless ho possessed a
fgf.lll remittances to be tmide, and nil letter!
relating to ihe pecuniary tJf a in if the paper,
to be mldressed (post paid) to the General'
1gent. Communicatwns intended for inter'
lion lo be addressed to the Editors.
OTkrms: tl,50 per annnm, or l,75
(inrariably required) if not paid within six
month of the time of subscribing.
Advkrtiskments making less than a square
inserted three times for 75 cents: -ono
squac $1.
Printed for tht Publishing Committee hf
I.. . II tIM.OOl).
freehold estate of the value of $250. Whoi
the new constitution was being formed n ef
fort wai made lo extend to this unoU'ending .
ami persecuted class the same rirht of suf
frage grnnted to all other citizens,not crimin
als. This was nverru!ed by democratic In
fluence, and the law remained unchanged.
Not satisfied with this, some of them wished
to lake away even the small privilege which
had been grunted in lieu of equal rights. They
had the shamelessness to urge that coloied
peope who possessed a freehold estate of the
required value ought not to be allowed lo vole,
because it was a violation of democratic prin
ciple to make property Ihe basis of suffrage.
'I his vindication of tyranny, in the sacred
name of liberty, seemed to me the very cli
max of hypocrisy. Even Italian banditti
will not let the handles of their daggers be
made in Ihe form of a cross.
Saturday morning. A messenger from the
Court informs me that the boy is again dis
charged, with long but very luminous rea
sons from Judge Edmonds why he was com
pelled to decide that the arrest vras an illegal
one. The lad was immediately surrounded
by eager friends, who carried him out of the
cily at fell speed, amid loud hurras. Thank
God, men cannot be telegraphed from Geor
gia, if neu-s can; otherwise, during these
long formalities of law, the master might have
come upon the poor fellow, and all his hours
of agonizing fear and anxiety might have en
ded in a return to slavery.
The Captain brought a suit against the lad
for assault anil battery, for resisting hie at
tempt lo put him in iron9 ; and tho Mayor de
manded ISIOOO hail. But the friends of the
fugitive, in order to meet this, hrouoht tt
counter suit against the Captain. Finding it
was iiKeiy to prove a troublesome tillatr, it
was agreed mutually to withdraw thp suite.
There is a slow fire under public opinion, in
this matter; and pro-slavery men cannot al
ways tell how to ralciil .ic Ihe rise of the
thermometer.
Seven colored men have boon arrested for
attempts lo rescue Ihe I id. A sir.uiL'o social
jumble is this in which we live where men
are even more liable to he imprisoned for
obeying noble and generous impulses, than-
for acting from base and selfish ones. Uut
the mixture of freedom and slavery in the
elements of the same go eminent must of
course make a strange jumble. L. M. U.
Polygamy and Adultery in the Church,
Our readers have often been informed that
polygamy has been allowed in some ol the
mission churches under the charge of the A
merican Hoard, but we presume "thnt it will
startle them to bear that adultery ex'w J.i
the mission churches. Such is declared to
- " us uiuujmii uui iii me re
cent meeting of tho American Board by Rev.
Mr. Paiton. The following is extracted from
tho report of Mr. Palton'u speech as given in,
the Boston Recorder;
"Mr Patton then read a portion of a letter"
written by Rev. Mr. Griffin, a missionary in
Oregon, who went out under the pntronage"
of a pan of the churches in Litchfield county,
Ct. Mr. G. suites that he found churches
there, whose members were living ton-ether
without marriage that he endedvored'for a
time to persuade in private to marry, but not
succeeding, was forced to preach on adul
tery. This raised a storm. The people K
belled, and were sustained by every Protest
ant Missionary whom Ihey consulted, who
declared that the time bad not yet come to
make a stand against adultery. The letter
charged the Methodist missionaries with
special opposition on this account to Mr. G.,
and with baptizing the children of unconvert
ed parents, and administcrirg tho LorJ'a
Supper to one of their mpinhers who swore
he would not marry his woman."
Here Patton was interrupted by half a doz
en persons vehemently, and in some cases
calling him to order, and endeavoring to si
lence him. When he could again he heard.
Mr. Pation remarked ? "As the letter seems
to be so obnoxious to the members of the
Hoard, I will not quote from it further, only
observing that 1 reirrel not himr nl.u , .i
a few sentences in addition, which implicate
ono or more missionaries of this Board."
What the extent of this mailer urm,lA
"pear o be, if all the facts were bromrht in.
light, we cannot say, but the above, if it can
be relied upon, is sufficiently awful to star
tle the religious wt rid. Methodist ministers
declaring that the time has not come to take
a stand against adultery ! Methodist minis
ters administering the Lord's Supper to men
who swear they will not marry the women
with whom ihey cohabit!! . Can any one
tell in what century we live! Such a Gos
pel can never save the world. True IFts-leyun,
Value of Mexico.
A Massachusetts paper asks in reference
to the taking of Monterey,
Now what would have been said to the
negotiator who in his diplomacy should have
ofl'i red S00 American citizens, 300 of them
to have their heads knocked off and 200 lobe
battered and bruised, cut to piece without
mercy, for, say. New Mexico, California.
and the coast as far as Tainpicot or for the
whole of Mexico 1 Who would have paid
the price! by the man who should have
proposed it would have been put in iron wrist
bands as a mad man, it he had not been
drawn and quartered by popular indignation.
And what more are we to get for this 500
now sacrificed by the policy of Mr. Polk
sanctioned by Mr. Wtuthrop and Governor
Briggs."
Abolitionism The underground railroad
is at present in active operation, and we are
not at all surprised at it, for there are hun
dreds of Jree negroes In our cily at this pres
ent tune who are here contrary to law: be
sides, there is what is termed a Sorthern Af
rican Church organized in tht-, city, in which
woamcndibly mf.,,,., j, a very viul. t hl
o'llion i.aranuc u a deliv.-r.-d a f, .;.,1,,J
V 0."'-"i '':.. u.i-sux.; , ,
M lo s when a,. , .... uv. ol -jMli,,-cal
,i,trn is m existence
la out very
iiiiusi sr. ujuii Uvcillc.