Viewing page 1 of 3
This transcription has been completed. Contact us with corrections.
THE NORTH STAR. FREDERICK DOUGLASS,} Editors. M R. DELANY, } RIGHT IS OF NO SEX-TRUTH IS OF NO COLOR-GOD IS THE FATHER OF US ALL, AND WE ARE BRETHREN. WILLIAM C. NELL, Publisher. JOHN DICK, Printer. VOL. I. NO. 22. ROCHESTER, N. Y., FRIDAY, MAY 26, 1848. WHOLE NO.-22. The NORTH STAR is published every Friday, at No. 25, Buffalo Street, (Opposite the Arcade.) TERMS. Two dollars per annum, always in advance. No subscription will be received for a less term than six months. Advertisements not exceeding ten lines inserted three times for one dollar; every subsequent insertion, twenty-five cents. -------------------------------------------------- The object of the NORTH STAR will be to attack SLAVERY in all its forms and aspects; advocate UNIVERSAL EMANCIPATION; exalt the standard of PUBLIC MORALITY; promote the moral and intellectual improvement of the COLORED PEOPLE; and hasten the day of FREEDOM to the THREE MILLIONS of our ENSLAVED FELLOW COUNTRYMEN. ---- PUBLISHER'S NOTICES. ☞ All communications relating to the business matters of the paper, names of subscribers, remittances, &c., should be addressed to WILLIAM C. NELL, Publisher. ☞ Agents, and all others sending names, are requested to be accurate, and give the Post Office, the County, and the State. Each Subscriber is immediately credited for money received. ☞ Any person sending in the payment for four subscribers, to be forwarded to one address, may have a fifth copy for one year. ☞ All letters and communications must be post paid. ---- LIST OF AGENTS. MASSACHUSETTS.- R.F. Walcutt, 21, Cornhill, Boston; Nathan Johnson, New Bedford; Horatio W. Foster, Lowell; James N. Buffum, Lymmm; George Evans, Worcester; Bourne Spooner, Plymouth; Charles H. Seth, Springfield; David Ruggles, Northampton; H. Carpenter, Upton. MAINE.- Oliver Dennet, Portland. VERMONT.- Rowland T. Robinson, North Ferrisburg. CONNECTICUT.- Jonathan Leonard, Meriden. NEW HAMPSHIRE.- Weare Tappan, Bradford. NEW YORK.- Sydney H. Gay, 142, Nassau Street; James McCune Smith, 93, West Broadway; Joseph Post, Westbury, Queen County; Mary Harper,Albany; Elias Doty, Macedon; Willetts Keese, Peru, Clinton County; William S. Baltimore, Troy; J.F. Platt, Penn Yan; J.Jeffrey, Geneva; E.L. Platt, Bath. RHODE ISLAND.- Amarancy Paine, Providence. PENNSYLVANIA.- J.M.M'Kim, 31, North Fifth Street, Philidelphia; G. W. Goines, 8, Exchange Place, Ditto; H. Vashon, B, Bown, Pittsburg; William Whipper, Columbia; Isaac Roberts, Jacob L. Paxon, Norristown, Montgomery County. OHIO.- Christian Donaldson, Cincinnati; G.W. Carter, Ditto; Valentine Nicholson, Harveysburgh, Warren County; Samuel Brooke, Salem. MICHIGAN.- Robert Banks, Detroit. INDIANA.- Joel P. Davis, Economy, Wayne Co. ------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------- Communication. ------------------------------------------- A BRIEF ACCOUNT Of ISRAEL FRENCH, late of the vicinity of Richmond, Wayne County, Indiana; by his sister, EMMA STEER, now in the 75th year of her age. It has long been in my mind to write some account of my endeared brother's life and labors, for the edification and encouragement of his many valuable friends, who are still endeavoring to advance the cause of Peace and Righteousness in the earth; believing I know more of him than any person living, having been his friend and confidant through our youth - we held correspondence when separated; and during those seasons of absence, affinities of mind were revealed which endeared us still more to each other, and led us to prize the privilege of improvement in each other's society; and during the years of my widowhood, I was also one of his family for the last 23 years of his life. He was born in Frederick County, Maryland, the 21st of 10th mo., 1779. His disposition was naturally quiet, not inclined to interfere with the comfort of others, but very quick to resent imposition. Our mother died when he was only five years of age. In the course of his childhood and youth, being exposed to many trials, he so fully overcame or regulated his temper, that he was seldom ruffled by anything, yet always exhibited a keen sense of justice and firm independence of mind. He was very early impressed with Anti-Slavery feeling, in the following manner: Being on an errand one morning, he crossed the farm of a slaveholder on his way home, and meeting some little boys, went to play with them, till they heard a horn blow, when the boys ran quickly to the "quarter" for their breakfast. It being on his way, he went with them, and saw them receive their gourds of cold mush, containing only about two spoonfulls for each, and they kindly offered him some, but he took his leave, and walked home ruminating on their condition, and querying why it was that these lively, sensible, kind little creatures might not be as free as he was. A deep sense of the injustice of slavery fixed on his mind, and increased with time and observation; and he was afterwards the means of convincing their master's son so that he formed a resolution never to own a slave; and leaving Maryland, without any assistance from his father, settled in Ohio. At 10 years of age, my brother was apprenticed to a tailor, in Virginia, where he was exposed to many snares. Our father was a man of strict justice and integrity, and truly Christian spirit; but having placed his son according to the requisitions of the discipline, in a settlement of Friends, and with a member of the society, he trusted all would be well. When about to leave us, my sister set the alphabet, in writing, for him to learn, that we might correspond, which we did from that instruction alone on his part. He could only read the New Testament when he left us, but continued to improve by his own exertion and attention, during the very few leisure moments he could get, having no more opportunity of instruction till near 18 years of age. He was released from his hard servitude by an arbitration. Having suffered much abuse, he left the place with a determination not to return, and made application to a justice of the peace, which caused the case to be examined, and resulted in his liberty, after which, he devoted some time to the study of arithmetic, book-keeping, surveying, navigation, &c., and he might truly be said to be self-educated, for to the end of time with him, his comprehensive mind was ever embracing all that was useful in science and literature. At the period to which I have referred, being very deficient in what he conceived to be a competent knowledge of his trade, he settled to work in Baltimore, as the most likely place to accomplish his object. His health was sometimes affected by close confinement to business, and at those seasons, his relatives and friends in the country were refreshed by his sojourn among them. His disposition to add to the enjoyment of others, and not amuse himself at the expense of the feelings of any, ever rendered him a welcome guest. In all situations, he strictly avoided the use of spirituous liquors, though often urged to participate, as the practice was very common with many in those times, frequently remonstrating upon the deleterious influence thereof. In the city, he walked mostly alone, for he found there were those who would lead him into snares, many of which he saw, but was favored joyfully and thankfully to escape. He acquired a marked solidity of deportment, tempered with habitual cheerfulness; and he attended meetings of all religious societies, in which he was steady and attentive to their doctrines and ceremonies, and at length settled his min on sending for a certificate of his right in the Society of Friends, whose early doctrine he approved. He could not join with some religious authors in decrying human reason, believing it had preserved him from many dangers; that it was the recipient of the Divine Spirit, and co-operating together, evil was avoided, and good embraced, and thus good fruits produced in life and conduct. He always cherished a reverence for religion, but thought it was no so mystical as many suppose, but plain and clear, and comprehensive to a sound rational understanding. He thought the rationality bestowed on us by the Creator, by which we are distinguished from the brute creation, very different from the serpentine insinuations of pride, that greatest darkener of reason, and most subtle and potent enemy of mankind. It was, and continued to be, his belief that many who promulgated doctrines, shrouded in mystery, were probably unacquainted with real religion, and were but "blind leaders of the blind". He maintained an equal stand between priestcraft and that state of society which a rejection of religion has a tendency to create. He read the Scriptures much in early life, for he wished to understand them for himself, not depending upon the expositions of others. He prized many truths they contain, as most excellent for instruction, edification and comfort, and continued to do so through all the course of his life. though he chose the Society of Friends for his regard to the principles they early professed, he was not blind to their failings in his day, and often met with those who could not brook plain-dealing; but there were others with whom a lasting friendship was cemented thereby, and with the society of such as those, his mind was cheered though all the checkered scenes of life. About the 25th year of his age, he married Deborah Phillips, of York, Pennsylvania, who proved indeed a worthy companion of his pilgrimage.- They settled in Maryland, in his native county, where he was surrounded by slaveholders, who gave him many opportunities of remonstrating with them upon the iniquity of dealing in human beings; and after he left Maryland, was often heard to say, he did not know but ought to have remained there, to labor for the extinction of slavery, for he was not satisfied with being out of sight of it, believing there was a great work to do, and he was desirous of performing his part in "breaking every yoke, and letting the oppressed go free." His remove to Ohio was in 1812; and the first anti-slavery effort he there engaged in, was the formation of the "Union Humane Society," one of the objects of which was to assist fugitives fleeing from oppression, in which service he was actively engaged. His house was the first that could be seen on entering Mount Pleasant, Jefferson county, Ohio, and this becoming known to them, they were enabled to gain its shelter without enquiry, where they were comfortably equipped and facilitated on their perilous journey. It required much vigilance on his part, as the manhunters frequently visited his premises; but his perils and sacrifices were cheerfully borne for the relief of the oppressed, and he was often hear to express his regret that they were obliged to seek so cold a clime as the Canadas to ensure their safety. He was always opposed to any scheme of colonization. believing they ought to have their liberty to remain where they were natives, in a state of freedom; but when any asserted their rights by taking flight, he would do all in his power to prevent their being re-taken, and subjected again to the evils of slavery. The "Society of Friends" in Ohio, was very pleasant to him for some years. Many of its most active members were among his personal friends, with whom he could enjoy much freedom in conversation. The meeting of friends and relatives from distant and different parts of the country, at a newly-established yearly meeting, made it seem like a family of love, and all this rendered it very interesting; but at length a time came when his family was shaken from the centre to circumference by the accusations against that faithful friend and anti-slavery laborer, Elias Hicks. It is well known to many that | his first offence to his principal accusers, was his testimony against slavery, and his labors with some who had grown rich in the society by trade in cotton goods, &c., which he deemed sinful, and deserving the name of "prize goods," against which the society profession to bear a loud and decisive testimony. Those who wished to "keep in the quiet," and enjoy themselves in their own comfortable, selfish way, accused Elias Hicks with holding and promulgating doctrines contrary to the ancient belief of the Society of Friends. This controversy was carefully examined by my brother, and being satisfied that he was in accordance with the early Friends, as much as when he was universally admired and applauded by all, he used his endeavors to show that there was not need of a division. He strove to be impartial in his investigations, sought opportunities of being where Elias Hicks was, both at meetings and in the private circle, without being known to him, that he might be able to judge of his spirit and doctrines; and being satisfied that he was actuated by a truly Christian spirit, he did no longer hesitate, but invited him to partake of the hospitalities of our home, during his sojourn amongst us. This caused a separation between him and many of his former social friends, who had now become full of party spirit. and they disowned him, and many others. Being thus separated, he entered into labors amongst the accused party. Having clearly seen, in the workings of this division, the pernicious influence of making a part of the meeting "select," by recommending ministers and appointing elders, he proposed that everything making way for real of supposed authority be dispensed with; that we who were associated might ever bear in remembrance the saying of Jesus, "One is your master, even Christ, and all ye are brethren." Many saw the propriety of this proposal, but were over-ruled and settled down in the old forms, which gave room for the aspiring again to assume the mastery, which was the cause of much labor and trouble to him, and many other pure-spirited friends in different parts of the society. And through the course of his many trials, and while a member of Indiana Y.M,, his convictions on this subject still deepened, strengthened, and were expressed to his friend John Mott, Michigan, only a few months previous to his death, in the following language: "The mischievous contrivance of Ordination, early friends bore a faithful testimony against; but that testimony was let fall when they began to approve "ministers" and appoint "elders."- This mode of ordination differs only in form from that of other sects. The results are the same. The office in all is to establish a privileged class, out of which will eventually grow a mercenary priesthood, and a sycophantic people. Money is not the only item of priest's wages. Flattery is the most delicious food to a weak and aspiring mind. And what, I ask, can gratify an inordinate self-esteem more than to be raised to the pinhacle of the temple, by those whose ears are in turn pleased by hearing from the gallery or "sacred desk," the beautiful sound of eloquent oratory? What a temptation is here presented for weak, vain mortals to steal the livery of heaven, and make it pander to their own low ambition! But let us, my dear friend, spend our little remaining energies in striving to demolish those images set up by our modern Nebuchadnezzars, and rear in its place a standard with this inscription: 'Salvation is of God, our Creator,' who seeth not as man seeth; He has promised to be the teacher of his people himself, requiring that all should use the talents committed to their care to promote his glory, and bring about a state of peace on earth and good will among men, by doing good to each other; commanding us to let our light so shine before men, that they, seeing our good works, may glorify him, our Father in Heaven. Therefore, let our watchword be, No secrecy, no proscription: light and love will redeem the world." His removal to the State of Indiana was in the year 1832; and in 1834, the Declaration of Sentiments of the American Anti-Slavery Society appeared, and it cheered our spirits to see the stand they had taken and the labor they proposed to engage in. It revived our hopes. He assisted in organizing societies and made way for lecturers; also encouraged young persons, who, in the freshness of feeling on first awakening to the importance of the subject, seemed prepared to speak profitably thereon. His house was ever open to all the friends of the cause, as many can testify who have partaken of his hospitality; and our meeting-house was never refused, though at Richmond, where the monthly meeting was held to which we belonged, they did not allow theirs to be thus occupied. Still continuing to attend monthly meetings, where a disposition to disown their members being very prevalent, he was often led to expostulate with the rulers, desiring the discipline administered in the spirit of love, that it might have a tendency to gather, rather than scatter. But a rumor being raised among them, that he wished to destroy order, and the name of order having become an idol among them, they were jealous of his proposition, to dispense with the "select meetings," and they kept up the cry of order, and slighted all labors of love to prevent disownment, till at length he became impressed with the belief that all excommunication was wrong, being an emanation from the spirit of Antichrist, and used for persecuting purposes. He would plead, that we ought to labor always, and not cast any off; that we should be willing to bear some burdens, often citing the parable of the lost sheep, which the shepherd would bear on his shoulders rejoicing. While these were his thoughts and feelings towards all, even the poor criminal in prison, preparations were making to disown him. Committees were appointed to visit and revisit our preparative meeting, and they produced a minute from a called "meeting for sufferings," requiring us to forbid the use of our meeting-house to anti-slavery laborers; warning us against "mixing with the world," (they were all the while actively engaged in political manœuvres, and every scheme which seemed to promise them the aggrandizement of wealth or power.)- They also required that none of our members should lecture in what way they termed, the present popular manner.- These demands he deemed unwarrantable and grievous infringments of his rights; and the cry of "mixing with the world," had not been able to deter him from attending to his apprehensionss of duty. They proceeded to lay down our preparative meeting, and attach it to their own, without which they could not take up a complaint against him; they made up a complaint, and having gone through the form, issued a testimony of disownment against him. He appealed to the Quarterly Meeting, not to contend for privileges which were no longer desirable, but to exhibit their bigotry and intolerance, and was looking towards carrying it to the Yearly Meeting; believing it to be his duty to arouse the minds of the people to the inroads and aggressions of sectarianism. But at this period, he was attacked by the prevailing fever of the country, which terminated his existence. They went through the form in the Quarterly Meeting, and confirmed, the judgment of the Monthly Meeting, after he was laid in his grave! His mind had been ardently and actively engaged in the dissemination of peace principles; and in all his trials he manifested a truly Christian spirit, and through all the last summer of his life, seemed more and more pleasant and resigned, and remarkably so in his last illness, which was about nine days. His head was affected with fever at night, but in the morning he could rise and be cheerful with his family, every day until the last, expressing great enjoyment in the beauties of nature, taking notice of the notes of the birds, and with remarkable innocent cheerfulness desiring his family to "dwell upon all the pleasant pictures. He departed this life on the 13th of 8th month, 1846, in the 67th year of his age; and his faithful wife about three weeks after, leaving a much bereaved sister and daughter, and many other friends, to feel the loss of their precious society. 5th month, 3d, 1848. ---------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------- Selections. ---------------------------------------- EXTRACT From the Speech of Mr. GIDDINGS, of Ohio, on the Resolution of Mr. PALFREY to inquire whether the Members of Congress had been threatened by a lawless mob. Mr. GIDDINGS said - Before entering upon the subject more immediately under consideration, I must be permitted to say, that I have no intention to reply to those personal attacks that for three days have been made upon me. They are unbecoming the dignity of a legislative body; they are equally unsuited to the occasion. We are discussing the rights of humanity - a subject dignified and solemn. The eyes of the nation and the civilized world are upon us; and, Sir, I cannot demean myself so much as to reply to those personal invectives which have been so liberally heaped upon me. The subject of slavery, which has now been before us for some days, was not introduced by myself nor by any Northern man. the resolution of my friend from Massachusetts (Mr. PALFREY) does not allude to it; yet it has been forced upon us by slaveholders, and Northern men cannot avoid it. I regard it as inappropriate, but have no alternative but to meet it, or admit my inability to oppose the arguments advanced. The gentleman (Mr. Haskell, of Tennessee,) charges me with uttering sentiments on this floor, and out of this House, which have tended "to excite the slaves to rebellion, and to produce this state of things," by which, I suppose he means their attempt to escape from slavery; for doing this he thinks I "ought to hang as high as Haman;" and that the House ought to expel me, for thus daring to give utterance to the honest sentiments of my heart, when such utterance may excite the slaves to regain their liberty. Mr. Speaker, I will inform that gentleman, with all sincerity, that it is too late in the day to attempt to seal the lips of Northern Representatives in regard to the slave trade or any other subject which comes before this body. I give notice to that gentleman, and to all others, that I shall speak just what I think on any and every subject which comes before us. It is my intention to call things by their right names, and to speak, so far as I am able, in such direct, plain, and simple language, as to be understood. It is true, that the freedom of speech has been put down in this Hall; it was for years trampled under foot by the slave power. I sat there during several sessions of Congress, in degrading and humiliating silence, and often listened to the supercilious tirades of Southern members against myself, and against the advocates of liberty, while I was not permitted to reply. The slave power then reigned triumphant in this body. Sir, it is well known that, for asserting in this House some of the plainest principles of constitutional law, I was censured and driven from my seat here. But, thank God, after years of toil and effort, we have regained the freedom of debate. And now, I say to the slaveholders present, we shall never again surrender it. When members here shall cease to enjoy the privilege of speaking their minds, and representing the views and wishes of their constituents, my people will send some other man to Congress, or they will cease to be represented in this body. Why, Sir, does the gentleman from Tennessee expect that I am to ask him, or any other member, what I shall say, when I shall speak, and how I shall say it? Do Southern gentlemen suppose they can bring into this body the practices which they pursue on their plantations? Sir, they forget the theatre on which they are acting. They forget that they are among freemen. they surely think themselves among slaves, accustomed to crouch and tremble at their frowns. This Hall is not the place for display of supercilious dictation. Such traits of character are but poorly suited to the dignity of legislation. They will not be tolerated by gentlemen who know their rights, and have the spirit to maintain them. What, Sir, are we to sit here and listen to such language? I would advise the gentleman from Tennessee to read the Constitution of the United States; to study the spirit and genius of the Government of which he is a member; to learn the privileges and duties, and endeavor to catch the spirit and inspiration of an American statesman. His thoughts will then be free as the winds of heaven, and he will look with ineffable contempt upon upon all efforts to restrain the freedom of debate. When the proposition of the gentleman to restrain the freedom of debate shall be published in my district, the schoolboys will laugh at its absurdity. But the gentleman thinks that my language in this Hall has excited a love of liberty among the slaves. As to that, I have made no inquiry. If it has imparted to them information, or iaspired them with a desire to regain the rights which God has given them, I shall rejoice at it. I would not desist from speaking truth in this Hall, if all the slaves in the universe were listening to me. No, Sir; if I had the power, I would, from this forum, give to every slave, south of Mason and Dixon's line, a perfect knowledge of his rights. I would explain to their understanding the oppression that weighs down their intellects, and shuts out truth from their comprehension. I would explain to them the outrage which has robbed them from their humanity, reduced them to the level of chattels and subjects them to sale like brutes in the markets. Could my voice be heard by them from this Hall, I would teach them that they are brethren, and candidates for the same immortality with us. Mr. GAYLE, of Alabama, desired to inquire of the gentleman from Ohio, (Mr. Giddings,) if these sentiments were not now uttered in the hearing of slaves? Mr. GIDDINGS.- The gentleman from Alabama perhaps could answer that question more accurately than myself. I know not whether such persons be present. I hope there may be some to hear me; and if the utterance of such truths as these can teach them how to release themselves from bondage, God knows their redemption draws nigh. No, Sir; I would say to gentlemen- "Go tell your slaved how choleric you are, and bid your bondmen tremble," but come not here and threaten to expel and to hang the representatives of freemen for giving utterance to the sentiments which they entertain. Gentlemen may play the tyrant on their lacerated flesh to quiver with the lash, but they shall not impose silence upon Northern men, not dictate the language we shall use on this floor. Mr. GAYLE inquired if the gentleman alluded to him, when he spoke of the flesh being made to quiver by the lash. He never used the lash on his slaves. They would not accompany him here, because they were afraid the abolitionists would skin them. Mr. GIDDINGS.- The gentleman's statement shows to what depths of degradation slavery can reduce the immortal mind. The gentleman from Alabama has been so far successful as to teach his slaves to hug their chains, and to shudder at the thought of being free. He has driven from their minds the instinctive love of liberty. these facts show the most horrid characteristics of that i stitution. It blots out the intellect, and reduced man, created in the image of his God, to the level of brutes. That gentleman dare not teach his slaves to read the Word of God. It would subject him to punishment in the Penitentiary of his State, where he to do it. Nor need we go to Alabama to find such laws. If, Sir, you pass over the river (Potomac) lying before our windows, and on its southern bank to attempt to kindle in the dormant intellect of a slave the hope of a future life, by teaching him to read the Holy Scriptures, you will be liable to an incarceration in the penitentiary of that Old Dominion, of which we hear so often and so much in this House. Yes, Sir, it is regarded as a crime to teach a slave to read the Word of God, in this Christian land - this land of sabbaths, and ministers, and Bibles, and slaves. Mr. VENABLE begged to say to the gentleman from Ohio, that he was no Methodist, though he highly respected that sect. He was a Presbyterian; but he would refer the gentleman to the Epistle of Paul to Philemon, from which that gentleman would learn, that Paul did not tell servants to run away from their masters, but to return back to them. When the gentleman from Ohio can bring evidence to show that he is better, wiser, and holier than Paul, he would listen to his counsels and not till then. I think the gentleman is too much excited for a Presbyterian. By what authority does he pronounce Onesimus a slave? Was he not a hired servant, such as we of the North employ, and pay for their labor? Did Paul direct that he should return to slavery? No; he commanded that he should be received as a brother. But the gentleman from North Carolina ha attempted to press St. Pail into a justification of slavery. What is slavery, and what are its effects? Why, Sir, a gentleman, (Mr. CLAY,) once a member in the other end of the Capitol and a slavehelder, of accurate information, some years since stated, that the average life of slaves, after entering upon the sugar plantations, was only five years, and upon the cotton plantations only seven years. That is to say, they are driven so hard at labor as to destroy the lives of the whole of them every five and seven years upon an average. Now, Sir, is it not as much murder to destroy the life of our fellow-man, by a torture of five or seven years, as it would be to strike him down at home? Yea, is not this prolonged torture a refinement in cruelty? I have no time to refer to the almost total obliteration of moral sentiment, to be found not only among slaves, but among all slaveholding communities. Why, Sir, it is said, and I believe with perfect truth, to be no unusual thing of slaveholders to sell their own children as slaves. Brothers are said to traffic in the bodies of their fathers, sons and daughters. Such crimes have no names. Yet the gentleman from North Carolina represents St. Paul as approving, and even enjoining slavery, with all its concomitant iniquities. Well, might the great John Wesley denounce slavery, as the sum of all villanies; for it is so in fact. It is not merely murder, for it takes life by a slow and regular process of torture. It is not merely theft, for it steals not only the property and the treasures of men, but it takes from them their intellectual enjoyments. It is not merely robbery, for it robs man of himself. The essential elements of all these crimes, in their most aggravated form, are comprehended in the term slavery. And Scripture is quoted to justify such appalling wickedness.- Why, Sir, if I entertained such sentiments, I would abjure my religion, and turn Pagan These arguments are put forth by Presbyterians. The general assembly of that church, some thirty years since, declared slavery to be "inherently sinful: and of course it must be offensive to God, and to all good men." ------------------------------------- SLAVEHOLDING JUSTICE. ---- The following is an extract from the Editorial Correspondence of the Ohio True Democrat. WASHINGTON, April 23, 1848. As an evidence of the manner in which justice is administered here, I would state that the three prisoners who were bound over to appear at court and answer to the charge of aiding in the escape of the negroes, are each required to give bail in the sum of $76,000! This is a country where the Constitution requires that excessive bail shall not be demanded. One of the men, as I have already stated in a previous letter, was proved to be innocent on the examination. Still he was bound over, and bail required to the amount of $76,000. He did thing some of applying for a habeas corpus, for the purpose of having the amount reduced by Judge Cranch. He could give bail in the sum of $5000. But we were given to understand that if released, he would not leave the city alive. The jail is constantly watched by men who have nothing to do with it, but who are determined that no one of the prisoners shall ever be acquitted. The jailor has strict orders not to permit any one to have any conversation with them except in his presence - not even their counsel. The prisoners are confined in cold cells with brick floors, and nothing to sleep on except a single blanket. As yet they have not disclosed the names of any persons who were engaged in the enterprise with them, and they assured me that they never would do it. A part of the negroes are still in jail. Some of them have not yet been claimed by their masters, and others are kept there until a good sale can be made of them. The question arises-- By what authority are they there? The jail is the property of the people of the United States, erected by their money, for the purpose of receiving and keeping those charged or convicted of crimes committed in the District. By what authority, then, is it used for the keeping of the negroes? The Marshal of this District is appointed by the President; he is paid out of the public treasury. Is he thus appointed and paid to be employed in the capture and safe-keeping of runaway negroes? Do the people of the United States pay him for this purpose? And who pays for the keeping of these negroes in jail, their food, &c.? The Marshall of this District has applied to Congress to pay him the sum of $5,361 44, for keeping runaway slaves prior to these, and probably he will soon present another bill for keeping these. And what is worse, he has not only applied, but the Judiciary Committee has sanctioned the application, and Mr. Taylor of Ohio, one of that committee, has reported in favor of allowing the claim. These runaways were not committed to jail by any order of court; there is no law requiring the jailor to receive them; the Marshal volunteered the use of the jail for this purpose, and now comes to Congress and asks the people of the United States to pay him for it, and Mr. Winthrop's Committee on the Judiciary, report a bill to pay him for it! One hundred and eighty-three colored persons were this committed. No one of them was charged with any violation of the law. Some were confined as "runaways," some for "safe-keeping," some as "petitioners for freedom," all put in prison by the order of some private person, except in a very dew instances, where having been kept for several months and sometimes for more than a year, they were discharged by order of court. I notice that one poor fellow, put in jail by order of Moses Graham, remained there 1,240 days, or three years and five months, and then was discharged, by order of F.S. Key; and for keeping this negro, the Marshal charges the United States $421.60, and the Judiciary Committee have report in favor of taking his money out of the pockets of the people, and paying it to him. Here was a man put in jail by order of a private individual, and kept there three years and five months, lying upon the cold brick floor. In what other land would it be tolerated? Had he committed any crime? Not any.-- He had attempted to escape from slavery to a land of liberty, and for this attempt, for three long years and a half he was shut out from the light of day! And remember, this was done in the District of Columbia, where the people of the United States represented in Congress have 'exclusive jurisdiction;' and now they are asked to pay more than four hundred dollars for this barbarity; and a committee, a majority of whom are Northern men, report in favor of the payment! And this is but one solitary case out of one hundred and eighty, in which the Marshal asks pay. ---------------------------------- KIDNAPPING. ---- We find the following letter relating to the particulars of an atrocious act of kidnapping in this State, in the Pennsylvania Freeman. The editor of that paper states that one of the kidnappers was recognized as a slave-hunter from Maryland; and adds that the friends from Philadelphia followed them to Baltimore, where they learned that the girl had been carried to Virginia.- Means are in train to recover her if possible : ---- DONINGTOWN, 19th 4 mo., 1848. "MY DEAR FRIEND: - This morning our family was aroused by the screams of a young colored girl who had been living with us nearly a year past; but we were awakened only in time to see her borne off by three white men, ruffians indeed, to a carriage at our door, and in an instant she was on her way to the South. I feel so much excited by the attending circumstances of this daring and atrocious deed, as scarcely to be able to give a coherent account of it, but I know that it is my duty to make it known, and I therefore write this immediately. As soon as the house was opened in the morning, these men, who were lurking without, having a carriage in waiting in the street, entered on their horrid errand. They encountered no one in their entrance except a colored boy who was making the fore; and who being frightened at their approach, ran and hid himself; taking a lighted candle from the kitchen, and carrying it up stairs, they went directly to the chamber where the poor girl lay in a sound sleep. They lifted her from her bed and carried her down stairs. In the entry of the second floor they met one of my sisters, who hearing an unusual noise had sprang from her bed Her screams, and those of the poor girl, who was awakened to the dreadful truth, aroused my father, who hurried undressed from his chamber on the ground floor. My father's efforts were powerless against the three; they threw him off with frightful imprecations and hurried the girl to the carriage. Quickly as possible my father started in pursuit, and reached West Chester, only to learn that the carriage had driven through the borough at full speed half an hour before. They had two hoses to their vehicle, and there were three men besides those in the house. These particulars we gathered from the colored boy Ned, who, from his hiding place, was watching them in the road. Can anything be done for the rescue of this girl from her kidnappers? We are surprised and alarmed; this deliberate invasion of our house is a thing unimagined. There must be some informer who is acquainted with out house and its arrangements, or they never would have come so boldly through. Truly there is no need to preach about slavery in the abstract, this individual case combines every wickedness by which human nature can be degraded. Truly thy friend, MARY B.THOMAS. ------------------------------------- Twenty-four dollars purchased the whole city and county of New York 220 years ago. M35102-1 2017.36.5
