ANTI-SLAVERY TRACTS. No. 9. New Series. THE DUTY OF DISOBEDIENCE TO THE FUGITIVE SLAVE ACT: AN APPEAL TO THE LEGISLATORS OF MASSACHUSETTS, BY L. MARIA CHILD. "Thou shalt _not_ deliver unto his master the servant which is escaped from his master unto thee. "--DEUT. 23:15. BOSTON: PUBLISHED BY THE AMERICAN ANTI-SLAVERY SOCIETY. 1860. APPEAL TO THE LEGISLATORS OF MASSACHUSETTS. I feel there is no need of apologizing to the Legislature ofMassachusetts because a woman addresses them. Sir Walter Scott says:"The truth of Heaven was never committed to a tongue, howeverfeeble, but it gave a right to that tongue to announce mercy, whileit declared judgment. " And in view of all that women have done, andare doing, intellectually and morally, for the advancement of theworld, I presume no enlightened legislator will be disposed to denythat the "truth of Heaven" _is_ often committed to them, and thatthey sometimes utter it with a degree of power that greatlyinfluences the age in which they live. I therefore offer no excuses on that score. But I do feel as if itrequired some apology to attempt to convince men of ordinaryhumanity and common sense that the Fugitive Slave Bill is utterlywicked, and consequently ought never to be obeyed. Yet Massachusettsconsents to that law! Some shadow of justice she grants, inasmuch asher Legislature have passed what is called a Personal Liberty Bill, securing trial by jury to those claimed as slaves. Certainly it is_something_ gained, especially for those who may get brown byworking in the sunshine, to prevent our Southern masters from takingany of us, at a moment's notice, and dragging us off into perpetualbondage. It is _something_ gained to require legal proof that a manis a slave, before he is given up to arbitrary torture andunrecompensed toil. But is _that_ the measure of justice becomingthe character of a free Commonwealth? "_Prove_ that the man isproperty, according _your_ laws, and I will drive him into yourcattle-pen with sword and bayonet, " is what Massachusettspractically says to Southern tyrants. "Show me a Bill of Sale fromthe Almighty!" is what she _ought_ to say. No other proof should beconsidered valid in a Christian country. One thousand five hundred years ago, Gregory, a Bishop in AsiaMinor, preached a sermon in which he rebuked the sin ofslaveholding. Indignantly he asked, "Who can be the possessor ofhuman beings save God? Those men that you say belong to you, did notGod create them free? Command the brute creation; that is well. Bendthe beasts of the field beneath your yoke. But are your fellow-mento be bought and sold, like herds of cattle? Who can pay the valueof a being created in the image of God? The whole world itself bearsno proportion to the value of a soul, on which the Most High has setthe seal his likeness. This world will perish, but the soul of manis immortal. Show me, then, your titles of possession. Tell mewhence you derive this strange claim. Is not your own nature thesame with that of those you call your slaves? Have they not the sameorigin with yourselves? Are they not born to the same immortaldestinies?" Thus spake a good old Bishop, in the early years of Christianity. Since then, thousands and thousands of noble souls have given theirbodies to the gibbet and the stake, to help onward the slow progressof truth and freedom; a great unknown continent has been opened as anew, free starting point for the human race; printing has beeninvented, and the command, "Whatsoever ye would that men should dounto you, do ye even so unto them, " has been sent abroad in all thelanguages of the earth. And here, in the noon-day light thenineteenth century, in a nation claiming to be the freest and mostenlightened on the face of the globe, a portion the population offifteen States have thus agreed among themselves: "Other men shallwork for us, without wages while we smoke, and drink, and gamble, and race horses, and fight. We will have their wives and daughtersfor concubines, and sell their children in the market with horsesand pigs. If they make any objection to this arrangement, we willbreak them into subjection with the cow-hide and the bucking-paddle. They shall not be permitted to read or write, because that would belikely to 'produce dissatisfaction in their minds. ' If they attemptto run away from us, our blood-hounds shall tear the flesh fromtheir bones, and any man who sees them may shoot them down like maddogs. If they succeed in getting beyond our frontier, into Stateswhere it is the custom to pay men for their work, and to protecttheir wives and children from outrage, we will compel the people ofthose States to drive them back into the jaws of our blood-hounds. " And what do the people of the other eighteen States of thatenlightened country answer to this monstrous demand? What saysMassachusetts, with the free blood of the Puritans coursing in herveins, and with the sword uplifted in her right hand, to procure"peaceful repose under liberty"? Massachusetts answers: "O yes. Wewill be your blood-hounds, and pay our own expenses. Only prove toour satisfaction that the stranger who has taken refuge among us isone of the men you have agreed among yourselves to whip into workingwithout wages, and we will hunt him back for you. Only prove to usthat this woman, who has run away from your harem, was bought for aconcubine, that you might get more drinking-money by the sale of thechildren she bears you, and our soldiers will hunt her back withalacrity. " Shame on my native State! Everlasting shame! Blot out the escutcheonof the brave old Commonwealth! Instead of the sword uplifted toprotect liberty, let the slave-driver's whip be suspended over ablood-hound, and take for your motto, Obedience to tyrants is thehighest law. Legislators of Massachusetts, can it be that you really understandwhat Slavery _is_, and yet consent that a fugitive slave, who seeksprotection here, shall be driven back to that dismal house ofbondage? For sweet charity's sake, I must suppose that you have beentoo busy with your farms and your merchandise ever to have imaginedyourself in the situation of a slave. Let me suppose a case for you;one of a class of cases occurring by hundreds every year. Supposeyour father was Governor of Carolina and your mother was a slave. The Governor's wife hates your mother, and is ingenious in inventingoccasions to have you whipped. _You_ don't know the reason why, poor child! but your mother knows full well. If they would onlyallow her to go away and work for wages, she would gladly toil andearn money to buy you. But that your father will not allow. His lawshave settled it that she is his property, "for all purposeswhatsoever, " and he will keep her as long as suits his convenience. The mistress continually insists upon her being sold far away South;and after a while, she has her will. Your poor mother clings to youconvulsively; but the slave-driver gives you both a cut of his whip, and tells you to stop your squalling. They drive her off with thegang, and you never hear of her again; but, for a long timeafterward, it makes you very sad to remember the farewell look ofthose large, loving eyes. Your poor mother had handsome eyes; andthat was one reason her mistress hated her. You also are your father's property; and when he dies, you will bethe property of your whiter brother. You black his shoes, tend uponhim at table, and sleep on the floor in his room, to give him waterif he is thirsty in the night. You see him learning to read, and youhear your father read wonderful things from the newspapers. Verynaturally, you want to read, too. You ask your brother to teach youthe letters. He gives you a kick, calls you a "damned nig, " andinforms his father, who orders you to be flogged for insolence. Alone on the hard floor at night, still smarting from your blows, you ponder over the great mystery of knowledge and wonder why itwould do _you_ any more harm than it does your brother. Henceforth, all scraps of newspapers you can find are carefully laid by. Helplessly you pore over them, at stolen moments, as if you expectedsome miracle would reveal the meaning of those printed signs. Cunning comes to your aid. It is the only weapon of the weak againstthe strong. When you see white boys playing in the street, you tracea letter in the sand, and say, "My young master calls that B. " "Thatain't B, you dammed nigger. That's A"! they shout. Now you know whatshape is A; and diligently you hunt it out wherever it is to befound on your scraps of newspaper. By slow degrees you toil on, insimilar ways, through all the alphabet. No student of Greek orHebrew ever deserved so much praise for ingenuity and diligence. Butthe years pass on, and still you cannot read. Your master-brothernow and then gives you a copper. You hoard them, and buy a primer;screening yourself from suspicion, by telling the bookseller thatyour master wants it for his sister's little boy. You find thepicture of a cat, with three letters by its side; and now you knowhow cat is spelt. Elated with your wonderful discovery, you areeager to catch a minute to study your primer. Too eager, alas! foryour mistress catches you absorbed in it, and your little book ispromptly burned. You are sent to be flogged, and your lacerated backis washed with brine to make it heal quickly. But in spite of alltheir efforts, your intelligent mind is too cunning for them. Beforetwenty years have passed, you have stumbled along into the Bible;alone in the dark, over a rugged road of vowels and consonants. Youkeep the precious volume concealed under a board in the floor, andread it at snatches, by the light of a pine knot. You read that Godhas created of one blood all the nations of the earth; and that hiscommandment is, to do unto others as we would that they should dounto us. You think of your weeping mother, torn from your tenderarms by the cruel slave-trader; of the interdicted light ofknowledge; of the Bible kept as a sealed book from all whose skinshave a tinge of black, or brown, or yellow; of how those brown andyellow complexions came to be so common; of yourself, the son of theGovernor, yet obliged to read the Bible by stealth, under thepenalty of a bleeding back washed with brine. These and many otherthings revolve in your active mind, and your unwritten inferencesare worth whole folios of theological commentaries. As youth ripens into manhood, life bears for you, as it does forothers, its brightest, sweetest flower. You love young Amy, withrippling black hair, and large dark eyes, with long, silky fringes. You inherit from your father, the Governor, a taste for beautywarmly-tinted, like Cleopatra's. You and Amy are of rank to make asuitable match; for you are the son of a Southern Governor, and sheis the daughter of a United States Senator, from the North, whooften shared her master's hospitality; her handsome mother being aportion of that hospitality, and he being large-minded enough to"conquer prejudices. " You have good sympathy in other respects also, for your mothers were both slaves; and as it is conveniently andprofitably arranged for the masters that "the child shall follow thecondition of the _mother_, " you are consequently both of you slaves. But there are some compensations for your hard lot. Amy's simpleadmiration flatters your vanity. She considers you a prodigy oflearning because you can read the Bible, and she has not thefaintest idea how such skill can be acquired. She gives you herwhole heart, full of the blind confidence of a first love. Thedivine spark, which kindles aspirations for freedom in the humansoul, has been glowing more and more brightly since you have emergedfrom boyhood, and now her glances kindle it into a flame. For herdear sake, you long to be a free man, with power to protect her fromthe degrading incidents of a slave-girl's life. Wages acquire newvalue in your eyes, from a wish to supply her with comforts, andenhance her beauty by becoming dress. For her sake, you areambitious to acquire skill in the carpenter's trade, to which your, master-brother has applied you as the best investment of his humancapital. It is true, he takes all your wages; but then, by acquiringuncommon facility, you hope to accomplish your daily tasks inshorter time, and thus obtain some extra hours to do jobs foryourself. These you can eke out by working late into the night, andrising when the day dawns. Thus you calculate to be able in time tobuy the use of your own limbs. Poor fellow! Your intelligence andindustry prove a misfortune. They charge twice as much for themachine of your body on account of the soul-power which moves it. Your master-brother tells you that you would bring eighteen hundreddollars in the market. It is a large sum. Almost hopeless seems theprospect of earning it, at such odd hours as you can catch when thehard day's task is done. But you look at Amy, and are inspired withfaith to remove mountains. Your master-brother graciously consentsto receive payment by instalments. These prove a convenient additionto the whole of your wages. They will enable him to buy a new racehorse, and increase his stock of choice wines. While he sleeps offdrunkenness, you are toiling for him, with the blessed prospect offreedom far ahead, but burning brightly in the distance, like aDrummond Light, guiding the watchful mariner over a midnight sea. When you have paid five hundred dollars of the required sum, yourlonely heart so longs for the comforts of a home, that you can waitno longer. You marry Amy, with the resolution of buying her also, and removing to those Free States, about which you have often talkedtogether, as invalids discourse of heaven. Amy is a member of thechurch, and it is a great point with her to be married by aminister. Her master and mistress make no objection, knowing thatafter the ceremony, she will remain an article of property, the sameas ever. Now come happy months, during which you almost forget thatyou are a slave, and that it must be a weary long while before youcan earn enough to buy yourself and your dear one, in addition tosupporting your dissipated master. But you toil bravely on, and soonpay another hundred dollars toward your ransom. The Drummond Lightof Freedom burns brighter in the diminished distance. Alas! in an unlucky hour, your tipsy master-brother sees your gentleAmy, and becomes enamored of her large dark eyes, and the richgolden tint of her complexion. Your earnings and your ransom-moneymake him flush of cash. In spite of all your efforts to prevent it, she becomes his property. He threatens to cowhide you, if you everspeak to her again. You remind him that she is your wife; that youwere married by a minister. "Married, you damned nigger!" heexclaims; "what does a slave's marriage amount to? If you give meany more of your insolence, you'll get a taste of the cowhide. " Anxious days and desolate nights pass. There is such a heavy pain atyour heart, it is a mystery to yourself that you do not die. Atlast, Amy contrives to meet you, pale and wretched as yourself. Shehas a mournful story to tell of degrading propositions, and terriblethreats. She promises to love you always, and be faithful to youtill death, come what may. Poor Amy! When she said that, she did notrealize how powerless is the slave, in the hands of an unprincipledmaster. Your interview was watched, and while you were sobbing ineach other's arms, you were seized and ordered to receive a hundredlashes. While you are lying in jail, stiff with your wounds, yourmaster-brother comes to tell you he has sold you to a trader fromArkansas. You remind him of the receipt he has given you for sixhundred dollars, and ask him to return the money. He laughs in yourface, and tells you his receipt is worth no more than so much brownpaper; that no contracts with a slave are binding. He coolly adds, "Besides, it has taken all my spare money to buy Amy. " Perhaps youwould have killed him in that moment of desperation, even with thecertainty of being burnt to cinders for the deed, but you are toohorribly wounded by the lash to be able to spring upon him. In thathelpless condition, you are manacled and carried off by theslave-trader. Never again will Amy's gentle eyes look into yours. What she suffers you will never know. She is suddenly wrenched fromyour youth, as your mother was from your childhood. The pall ofsilence falls over all her future. She cannot read or write; and thepost-office was not instituted for slaves. Looking back on that dark period of desolation and despair, youmarvel how you lived through it. But the nature of youth is elastic. You have learned that law offers colored men nothing but its_penalties_; that white men engross all its _protection_; still youare tempted to make another bargain for your freedom. Your newmaster seems easy and good-natured, and you trust he will prove morehonorable than your brother has been. Perhaps he would; butunfortunately, he is fond of cards; and when you have paid him twohundred dollars, he stakes them, and you also, at the gaming-table, and loses. The winner is a hard man, noted for severity to hisslaves. Now you resolve to take the risk of running away, with allits horrible chances. You hide in a neighboring swamp, where you arebitten by a venomous snake, and your swollen limb becomes almostincapable of motion. In great anguish, you drag it along, throughthe midnight darkness, to the hut of a poor plantation-slave, whobinds on a poultice of ashes, but dares not, for fear of his life, shelter you after day has dawned. He helps you to a deep gully, andthere you remain till evening, half-famished for food. A man in theneighborhood keeps blood-hounds, well trained to hunt runaways. Theyget on your track, and tear flesh from the leg which the snake hadspared. To escape them, you leap into the river. The sharp ring ofrifles meets your ear. You plunge under water. When you come up totake breath, a rifle ball lodges in your shoulder and you plungeagain. Suddenly, thick clouds throw their friendly veil over themoon. You swim for your life, with balls whizzing round you. Thanksto the darkness and the water, you baffle the hounds, both animaland human. Weary and wounded, you travel through the forests, youreye fixed hopefully on the North Star, which seems ever beckoningyou onward to freedom, with its bright glances through the foliage. In the day-time, you lie in the deep holes of swamps, concealed byrank weeds and tangled vines, taking such rest as can be obtainedamong swarms of mosquitoes and snakes. Through incredible perils andfatigues, footsore and emaciated, you arrive at last in the Statescalled Free. You allow yourself little time to rest, so eager areyou to press on further North. You have heard the masters swear withpeculiar violence about Massachusetts, and you draw the inferencethat it is a refuge for the oppressed. Within the borders of thatold Commonwealth, you breathe more freely than you have ever done. You resolve to rest awhile, at least, before you go to Canada. Youfind friends, and begin to hope that you may be allowed to remainand work, if you prove yourself industrious and well behaved. Suddenly, you find yourself arrested and chained. Soldiers escortyou through the streets of Boston, and put you on board a Southernship, to be sent back to your master. When you arrive, he orders youto be flogged so unmercifully, that the doctor says you will die ifthey strike another blow. The philanthropic city of Boston hears thebloody tidings, and one of her men in authority says to the public:"Fugitive slaves are a class of foreigners, with whose rightsMassachusetts has nothing to do. It is enough for _us_, that theyhave no right to be _here_. "[1] And the merchants of Boston cry, Amen. [Footnote 1: Said by the U. S. Commissioner, George Ticknor Curtis, at a Union Meeting, in the Old Cradle of Liberty. ] Legislators of Massachusetts! if _you_ had been thus continuallyrobbed of your rights by the hand of violence, what would _you_think of the compact between North and South to perpetuate yourwrongs, and transmit them to your posterity? Would you not regard itas a league between highwaymen, who had "no rights that you werebound to respect"? I put the question plainly and directly to yourconsciences and your common sense, and they will not allow you toanswer, No. Are you, then, doing right to sustain the validity of alaw for _others_, which you would vehemently reject for _yourselves_in the name of outraged justice and humanity? The incidents I have supposed might happen to yourselves if you wereslaves, are not an imaginary accumulation of horrors. The things Ihave described are happening in this country every day. I havetalked with many "fugitives from injustice, " and I could not, withinthe limits of these pages, even hint at a tithe of the sufferingsand wrongs they have described. I have also talked with severalslaveholders, who had emancipated themselves from the hatefulsystem. Being at a safe distance from lynching neighbors, they couldventure to tell the truth; and their statements fully confirm allthat I have heard from the lips of slaves. If you read SouthernLaws, you will need very small knowledge of human nature to beconvinced that the practical results must inevitably be utterbarbarism. In view of those _laws_, I have always wondered howsensible people could be so slow in believing the actual state ofthings in slaveholding communities. There are no incidents in history, or romance, more thrilling thanthe sufferings, perils, and hair-breadth escapes of American slaves. No Puritan pilgrim, or hero of '76, has manifested more courage andperseverance in the cause of freedom, than has been evinced, inthousands of instances, by this persecuted race. In future ages, popular ballads will be sung to commemorate their heroicachievements, and children more enlightened than ours will marvel atthe tyranny of their white ancestors. All of you have doubtless read some accounts of what these unhappymen and women have dared and endured. Did you never put yourselvesin their stead, and imagine how _you_ would feel, under similarcircumstances? Not long ago, a young man escaped from slavery byclinging night and day to the under part of a steamboat, drenched bywater, and suffering for food. He was discovered and sent back. Ifthe Constitution of the United States sanctioned such an outrageupon _you_, what would _you_ think of those who answered yourentreaties and remonstrances by saying, "Our fathers made anagreement with the man who robs you of your wages and your freedom. It is law; and it is your duty to submit to [Transcriber's note:word cut off] patiently"? I think you would _then_ perceive thenecessity of having the Constitution forthwith amended; and if itwere not done very promptly, I apprehend you would appealvociferously to a higher law. A respectable lady, who removed with her family from Virginia to NewYork, some years ago, had occasion to visit the cook's cabin, toprepare suitable nourishment for a sick child, during the voyage. This is the story she tells: "The steward kindly assisted me inmaking the toast, and added a cracker and a cup of tea. With theseon a small waiter, I was returning to the cabin, when, in passingthe freight, which consisted of boxes, bags, &c. , a little tawny, famished-looking hand was thrust out between the packages. Theskeleton fingers, agitated by a convulsive movement, were evidentlyreached forth to obtain the food. Shocked, but not alarmed by theapparition, I laid the cracker on the hand, which was immediatelywithdrawn. No one observed the transaction, and I went swiftly tothe cabin. In the afternoon, I went to the steward again, in behalfof the little invalid. Finding he was a father, I gave him presentsfor his children, and so ingratiated myself into his favor, that Ihad free access to the larder. Whatever I could procure, I dividedwith the famished hand, which had become to me a precious charge. Asall was tranquil on board, it was evident that I alone was aware ofthe presence of the fugitive. I humbly returned thanks to God forthe privilege of ministering to the wants of this his outcast, despised and persecuted image. That the unfortunate being was aslave, I doubted not. I knew the laws and usages in such cases. Iknew the poor creature had nothing to expect from the captain orcrew; and again and again I asked myself the agonizing questionwhether there would be any way of escape. I hoped we should arrivein the night, that the fugitive might go on shore unseen, underfavor of the darkness. I determined to watch and assist the creaturethus providentially committed to my charge. We had a long passage. On the sixth day, I found that the goods were being moved to come atsomething which was wanted. My heart seemed to die within me; forthe safety of the sufferer had become dear to me. When we sat downto dinner, the dishes swam before my eyes. The tumbling of thefreight had not ceased. I felt that a discovery must take place. Atlength, I heard sudden, Hallo! Presently, the steward came andwhispered the captain, who laid down his knife and fork, and went ondeck. One of the passengers followed him, but soon returned In alaughing manner, he told us that a small mulatto boy; who said hebelonged to Mr. ----, of Norfolk, had been found among the freight. He had been concealed among the lumber on wharves for two weeks, andhad secreted himself in the schooner the night before we sailed. Hewas going to New York, to find his father, who had escaped two yearsbefore. 'He is starved to a skeleton, ' said he, 'and is hardly worthtaking back. ' Many jokes were passed as to the manner of his beingrenovated, when he should fall into the hands of his master. "The unfortunate child was brought on deck, and we all left thecabin to look at him. I stood some time in the companion-way beforeI could gain strength to move forward. As soon as he discovered me, a bright gleam passed over his countenance, and he instantly heldout to me that famished hand. My feelings could no longer becontrolled. There stood before me a child, not more than eleven ortwelve years of age, of yellow complexion, and a sad countenance. Hewas nearly naked; his back was _seared with scars_, and his fleshwas wasted to the bone. I burst into tears, and the jeers of otherswere for a moment changed into sympathies. It began, however, to besuspected that I had brought the boy away; and in that case, thevessel must put back, in order to give me up also. But I related thecircumstances, and all seemed satisfied with the truth of mystatement. "I asked to be allowed to feed the boy, and the request was granted. He ate voraciously, and, as I stood beside him, he looked into myface at every mouthful. There was something confiding in his look. When he had finished his meal, as I took the plate, he rubbed hisfingers softly on my hand, and leaned his head toward me, like aweary child. O that I could have offered him a place of rest! that Icould have comforted and protected him! a helpless _child_! afeeble, emaciated, suffering, innocent _child_, reserved for bondageand torture! "The captain informed us that the vessel had been forbidden to enterthe port with a fugitive slave on board. He must discharge hercargo where she lay, and return, with all possible dispatch, toNorfolk. Accordingly, we came to anchor below the city, and thepassengers were sent up in a boat, I said to the captain, 'There isa great ado about a poor helpless child. ' He replied, 'The laws mustbe obeyed. ' I could not help exclaiming, 'Is this the land ofboasted freedom?' Here was an innocent child treated like a felon;manacled, and sent back to slavery and the lash; deprived of thefostering care which even the brute is allowed to exercise towardits young. The slender boy was seeking the protection of a father. Did humanity aid him? No. Humanity was prevented by the law, whichconsigns one portion of the people to the control and brutality ofthe other. Humanity can only look on and weep. 'The laws must beobeyed. '" Legislators of Massachusetts! suppose for one moment that poorabused boy was your own little Johnny or Charley, what would you sayof the law _then_? Truly, if we have no feeling for the children of_others_, we deserve to have our own children reserved for such afate; and I sometimes think it is the only lesson that will teachthe North to respect justice and humanity. It is not long ago, since a free colored man in Baltimore wasbetrothed to a young slave of eighteen, nearly white, and verybeautiful. If they married, their children would be slaves, and hewould have no power to protect his handsome wife from any outragesan unprincipled master, or his sons, might choose to perpetrate. Therefore, he wisely resolved to marry in a land of freedom. Heplaced her in a box, with a few holes in it, small enough not toattract attention. With tender care, he packed hay around her, thatshe might not be bruised when thrown from the cars with otherluggage. The anxiety of the lover was dreadful. Still more terriblewas it, when waiting for her in Philadelphia, he found that theprecious box had not arrived. They had happened to have an unusualquantity of freight, and the baggage-master, after turning the boxover, in rough, railroad fashion had concluded to leave it till thenext train. The poor girl was thrown into a most uneasy position, without the power of changing it. She was nearly suffocated for wantof air; the hay-seed fell into her eyes and nostrils, and itrequired almost superhuman efforts to refrain from sneezing orchoking. Added to this was terror lest her absence be discovered, and the heavy box examined. In that state of mind and body, sheremained more than two hours, in the hot sun on the railroadplatform. At last, the box arrived in Philadelphia, and the loverand his friends conveyed it to a place of safety as speedily aspossible. Those who were present at the opening, say it was the mostimpressive scene they ever witnessed. Silently, almost breathlessly, they drew out the nails, expecting to find a corpse. When the coverwas lifted, she smiled faintly in the anxious face of her lover. "OGod, she is alive!" he exclaimed, and broke down in a paroxysm ofsobs. She had a terrible brain fever, and when she recovered fromit, her glossy hair was sprinkled with gray, and the weight of tenyears was added to her youthful face. Thanks to the vigilance andsecrecy of friends, the hounds of the United States, who use theConstitution for their kennel, did not get a chance to lap the bloodof this poor trembling hare. Legislators of Massachusetts! suppose this innocent girl had beenyour own Mary or Emma, would you not straightway demand amendment ofthe Constitution, in no very measured terms? And if it could not beobtained right speedily, would you not ride over the Constitutionroughshod? If you would not, you do not deserve to have suchblessings as lovely and innocent daughters. You have all heard of Margaret Garner, who escaped from Kentucky toOhio, with her father and mother, her husband and four children. TheCincinnati papers described her as "a dark mulatto, twenty-threeyears of age, of an interesting appearance, considerableintelligence, and a good address. " Her husband was described as"about twenty-two years old, of a very lithe, active form, andrather a mild, pleasant countenance. " These fugitives were shelteredby a colored friend in Ohio. There the hounds in pay of the UnitedStates, to which "price of blood" you and I and all of uscontribute, ferreted them out, and commanded them to surrender. Whenthey refused to do so, they burst open the door, and assailed theinmates of the house with cudgels and pistols. They defendedthemselves bravely, but were overpowered by numbers and disarmed. When Margaret perceived that there was no help for her and herlittle ones, she seized a knife and cut the throat of her mostbeautiful child. She was about to do the same by the others, whenher arm was arrested. The child killed was nearly white, andexceedingly pretty. The others were mulattoes, and pretty also. Whathistory lay behind this difference of complexion, the world willprobably never know. But I have talked confidentially with too manyfugitive women not to know that very sad histories do lie behindsuch facts. Margaret Garner knew very well what fate awaited herhandsome little daughter, and that nerved her arm to strike thedeath-blow. It was an act that deserves to take its place in historyby the side of the Roman Virginius. The man who claimed this unfortunate family as chattels acknowledgedthat they had always been faithful servants. On their part, theycomplained of cruel treatment from their master, as the cause oftheir attempt to escape. They were carried to the United StatesCourt, under a strong guard, and there was not manhood enough inCincinnati to rescue them. What was called law decided that theywere property, and they were sent back to the dark dungeon ofinterminable bondage. The mother could not be induced to express anyregret for the death of her child, --her "pretty bird, " as she calledher. With tears streaming from her eyes, she told of her own toilsand sufferings, and said, "It was better they should be killed atonce, and end their misery, than to be taken back to slavery, to bemurdered by inches. " To a preacher, who asked her, "Why did you nottrust in God? Why didn't you wait and hope?" she answered, "We didwait; and when there seemed to be no hope for us, we run away. Goddid not appear to help us, and I did the best I could. " These poor wretches were escorted through the streets by a NationalGuard, the chivalry of the United States. There was not manhoodenough in the Queen City of the West to attempt a rescue; thoughthey are very fond of quoting for _themselves_, "Give me Liberty, orgive me Death!" Men satisfied themselves by saying it was all doneaccording to _law_. A powerful plea, truly, for a people who boastso much of making their own laws! These slaves were soon after sent down the Mississippi to be sold inArkansas. The boat came in collision with another boat, and manywere drowned. The shock threw Margaret overboard, with a baby in herarms. She was too valuable a piece of property to lose, and theydrew her out of the water; but the baby was gone. She evinced noemotion but joy, still saying it was better for her children to diethan to be slaves. The man who could not afford to let this heroic woman own her littleones, was very liberal in supporting the Gospel, and his wife was amember of the church. Do you think that mother had a murderer'sheart? Nay, verily. Exceeding love for her children impelled her tothe dreadful deed. The murder was committed by those human hounds, who drove her to that fearful extremity, where she was compelled tochoose between Slavery or Death for her innocent offspring. Again I ask, what would be your judgment of this law, if your _own_daughter and infant grand-daughter had been its victims? You knowvery well, that had it been your _own_ case, such despotism, callingitself law, would be swept away in a whirlwind of indignation, andmen who strove to enforce it would be obliged to flee the country. ----"They are slaves most base, Whose love of right is for _themselves_, and not for all the race. " I was lately talking with Friend Whittier, whose poetry so stirs thehearts of the people in favor of freedom and humanity. He told me hethought the greatest pain he ever suffered was in witnessing thearrest of a fugitive slave in Philadelphia. The man had lived theremany years; he bore a good character, and was thriving by hisindustry. He had married a Pennsylvania woman, and they had a finefamily of children. In the midst of his prosperity and happiness, the blood-hounds of the United States tracked him out. He was seizedand hurried into court. Friend Whittier was present, and heard theagonized entreaties of his wife and children. He saw them clingingto the half frantic husband and father, when the minions of a wickedlaw tore him away from them for ever. That intelligent, worthy, industrious man was ruthlessly plunged into the deep, dark grave ofslavery, where tens of thousands perish yearly, and leave no recordof their wrongs. "A German emigrant, who witnessed the scene, pouredout such a tornado of curses as I never before heard, " saidWhittier; "and I could not blame the man. He came here supposingAmerica to be a free country, and he was bitterly disappointed. Pityfor that poor slave and his bereaved family agonized my heart; andmy cheeks burned with shame that my country deserved the red-hotcurses of that honest German; but stronger than either of thosefeelings was overpowering indignation that people of the Free Stateswere compelled by law to witness such barbarities. " Many of you have heard of William and Ellen Crafts, a pious andintelligent couple, who escaped from bondage some years ago. Shedisguised herself in male attire, and passed for a white gentleman, taking her darker colored husband with her as a servant. When theFugitive Slave Act went into operation, they received warning thatthe hounds were on their track. They sought temporary refuge in thehouse of my noble-hearted friend, Ellis Gray Loring, who thenresided in the vicinity of Boston. He and his family were absent forsome days; but a lady in the house invited Mr. Crafts to come in andstay till they returned. "No, I thank you, " he replied. "There is aheavy fine for sheltering fugitives; and it would not be right tosubject Mr. Loring to it without his consent. " "But you know he is atrue friend to the slaves, " urged the lady. "If he were at home, Iam sure he would not hesitate to incur the penalty. " "Because he issuch a good friend to my oppressed race, there is all the morereason why I should not implicate him in my affairs, without hisknowledge, " replied this nobleman of nature. His wife had slept butlittle the previous night, having been frightened by dreams ofDaniel Webster chasing her husband, pistol in hand. The evening wasstormy, and she asked him if they could not remain there tillmorning. "It would not be right, Ellen, " he replied; and with tearsin her eyes, they went forth into the darkness and rain. Was _that_a man to be treated like a chattel? How many white gentlemen arethere, who, in circumstances as perilous, would have manifested suchnicety of moral perception, such genuine delicacy of feeling?England has kindly received that worthy and persecuted couple. Allwho set foot on _her_ soil are free. Would to God it were so inMassachusetts! It is well known that Southerners have repeatedly declared they donot demand fugitives merely to recover articles of property, or forthe sake of making an example of them, to inspire terror in otherrunaways; that they have a still stronger motive, which is, tohumiliate the North; to make them feel that no latitude limits theirmastership. Have we no honest pride, that we so tamely submit tothis? What lethargic disease has fallen on Northern souls, that theydare not be as bold for Freedom as tyrants are for Slavery? It wasnot thus with our fathers, whose sepulchres we whiten. If old BenFranklin had stood as near Boston Court House as his statue does, doyou believe _he_ would have remained passive, while Sims, theintelligent mechanic, was manacled and driven through the streets, guiltless of any crime, save that of wishing to be free? _My_ beliefis that the brave old printer of '76 would have drawn down thelightning out of heaven upon that procession, with a vengeance. What satisfactory reasons can be alleged for submitting to thisdegradation? What good excuse can be offered? Shall we resort to theOld Testament argument, that anodyne for the consciences of"South-Side" divines? Suppose the descendants of Ham were ordainedto be slaves to the end of time, for an offence committed thousandsof years ago, by a progenitor they never heard of. Still, thegreatest amount of theological research leaves it very uncertain whothe descendants of Ham are, and where they are. I presume you wouldnot consider the title even to one acre of land satisfactorilysettled by evidence of such extremely dubious character; how muchless, then, a man's ownership of himself! Then, again, if we admitthat Africans are descendants of Ham, what is to be said ofthousands of slaves, advertised in Southern newspapers as "passingthemselves for white men, or white women"? Runaways with "blue eyes, light hair, and rosy complexions"? Are these sons and daughters ofour Presidents, our Governors, our Senators, our Generals, and ourCommodores, descendants of Ham? Are _they_ Africans? If you turn to the favorite New Testament argument, you will findthat Paul requested Philemon to receive Onesimus, "no longer as aservant, but as a brother beloved. " Is _that_ the way Southernmasters receive the "fugitives from injustice" whom we drive back tothem? Is it the way we _expect_ they will be received? In 1851, theintelligent young mechanic, named Thomas Sims, escaped from a hardmaster, who gave him many blows and no wages. By his own courage andenergy, he succeeded in reaching our Commonwealth, where mechanicsare not compelled by law to work without wages. But the authoritiesof Boston decreed that this man was "bound to such service orlabor. " So they ordered out their troops and sent him back to hismaster, who caused him to be tied up and flogged, till the doctorsaid, "If you strike another blow, you will kill him. " "Let himdie, " replied the master. He did nearly die in prison, but recoveredto be sold farther South. Was _this_ being received as "a brotherbeloved"? Before we send back any more Onesimuses, it is necessaryto have a different set of Philemons to deal with. The Scripture isclearly not obeyed, under present circumstances. If you resort to the alleged legal obligation to return fugitives, it has more plausibility, but has it in reality any firm foundation?Americans boast of making their own laws, and of amending themwhenever circumstances render it necessary. How, then, can theyexcuse themselves, or expect the civilized world to excuse them, formaking, or sustaining, unjust and cruel laws? The Fugitive Slave Acthas none of the attributes of law. If two highwaymen agreed betweenthemselves to stand by each other in robbing helpless men, womenand children, should we not find it hard work to "conquer ourprejudices" so far as to dignify their bargain with the name of_law_? That is the light in which the compact between North andSouth presents itself to the minds of intelligent slaves, and weshould view it in the same way, if we were in their position. Lawwas established to maintain justice between man and man; and thisAct clearly maintains injustice. Law was instituted to protect theweak from the strong; this Act delivers the weak completely into thearbitrary power of the strong, "Law is a rule of conduct, prescribedby the supreme power, commanding what is right, and forbidding whatis wrong. " This is the commonly received definition of law, andobviously, none more correct could be substituted for it. Theapplication of it would at once annul the Fugitive Slave Act, andabolish slavery. That Act reverses the maxim. It commands what iswrong, and forbids what is right. It commands us to trample on theweak and defenceless, to persecute the oppressed, to be accomplicesin defrauding honest laborers of their wages. It forbids us toshelter the homeless, to protect abused innocence, to feed thehungry, to "hide the outcast. " Let theological casuists argue asthey will, Christian hearts _will_ shrink from thinking of Jesus assurrendering a fugitive slave; or of any of his apostles, unless itbe Judas. Political casuists may exercise their skill in making theworse appear the better reason, still all honest minds have anintuitive perception that no human enactment which violates God'slaws is worthy of respect. By what law of God can we justify thetreatment of Margaret Garner? the surrender of Sims and Burns? thepitiless persecution of that poor little "famished hand"? There is another consideration, which ought alone to have sufficientweight with us to deter us from attempting to carry out thistyrannical enactment. All history, and all experience, show it to bean immutable law of God, that whosoever injures another, injureshimself in the process. These frequent scuffles between despotismand freedom, with despotism shielded by law, cannot otherwise thandemoralize our people. They unsettle the popular mind concerningeternal principles of justice. They harden the heart by familiaritywith violence. They accustom people to the idea that it is right forCapital to own Labor; and thus the reverence for Liberty, which weinherited from our fathers, will gradually die out in the souls ofour children. We are compelled to disobey our own consciences, andrepress all our humane feelings, or else to disobey the law. It isa grievous wrong done to the people to place them between thesealternatives. The inevitable result is to destroy the sanctity oflaw. The doctrine that "might makes right, " which our rulers consentto teach the people, in order to pacify slaveholders, will come outin unexpected forms to disturb our own peace and safety. There is"even-handed justice" in the fact that men cannot aid in enslavingothers, and themselves remain free; that they cannot assist inrobbing others, without endangering their own security. Moreover, there is wrong done, even to the humblest individual, whenhe is compelled to be ashamed of his country. When the judge passedunder chains into Boston Court House, and when Anthony Burns wassent back into slavery, I wept for my native State, as a daughterweeps for the crimes of a beloved mother. It seemed to me that Iwould gladly have died to have saved Massachusetts from that sin andthat shame. The tears of a secluded woman, who has no vote to give, may appear to you of little consequence. But assuredly it is notwell with any Commonwealth, when her daughters weep over herdegeneracy and disgrace. In the name of oppressed humanity, of violated religion, ofdesecrated law, of tarnished honor, of our own freedom endangered, of the moral sense of our people degraded by these evil influences, I respectfully, but most urgently, entreat you to annul thisinfamous enactment, so far as the jurisdiction of Massachusettsextends. Our old Commonwealth has been first and foremost in manygood works; let her lead in this also. And deem it not presumptuous, if I ask it likewise for my own sake. I am a humble member of thecommunity; but I am deeply interested in the welfare and reputationof my native State, and that gives me some claim to be heard. I amgrowing old; and on this great question of equal rights I havetoiled for years, sometimes with a heart sickened by "hopedeferred. " I beseech you to let me die on Free Soil! Grant me thesatisfaction of saying, ere I go hence-- "Slaves cannot breathe among us. If their lungs Receive _our_ air, that moment they are free! They touch _our_ country, and their shackles fall!" If you cannot be induced to reform this great wickedness, for thesake of outraged justice and humanity, then do it for the honor ofthe State, for the political welfare of our own people, for themoral character of our posterity. For, as sure as there is aRighteous Ruler in the heavens, if you continue to be accomplicesin violence and fraud, God will _not_ "save the Commonwealth ofMassachusetts. " L. MARIA CHILD. APPEAL TO THE CONSTITUTIONALITY OF THE FUGITIVE SLAVE ACT. The Hon. Robert Rantoul, Hon. Horace Mann, Hon. Charles Sumner, andother able men, have argued against the Constitutionality of theFugitive Slave Bill, proving it to be not only contrary to the_spirit_ and _meaning_ of the Constitution, but also to beunauthorized by the _letter_ of that document. That this nefariousBill is contrary to the _spirit_ and _intention_ of the Constitutionis shown by the published opinions of those who framed it; by thedebates at the time of its adoption; and by its Preamble, which setsforth that it was ordained to "establish _justice_, ensure domestic_tranquillity_, promote the _general welfare_, and secure theblessings of _liberty_. " The arguments adduced to prove that thisbill is unauthorized by the _letter_ of the Constitution, I willendeavor to compress into a few words. Article 10 of the Amendments to the Constitution expressly providesthat "_Powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution_, nor prohibited by it to the States, _are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people_. " Article 4 of the Constitution contains four compacts. The first is: "Full faith and credit shall be given in each of the States to the public acts, records, and judicial proceedings of every other State. And the _Congress may, by general laws, prescribe the manner in which such acts, records and proceedings shall be proved, and the effect thereof_. " Here, _power is expressly delegated by the Constitution to theUnited States_. The second compact is: "The citizens of each State shall be entitled to all privileges and immunities of citizens in the several States. " Under this provision, an attempt was made to obtain some action ofCongress for the protection of colored seamen in slaveholding ports;but it was decided that Congress had no power to act on the subject, because _the Constitution had not delegated any power to the UnitedStates_ in the clause referred to. Slaveholders are very strict inadherence to the Constitution, whenever any question of _protection_to colored people is involved in their decisions; but for purposesof _oppression_, they have no scruples. They reverse the principleof Common Law, that "in any question under the Constitution, _everyword is to be construed in favor of liberty_. " The third compact is: "A person charged in any State with treason, felony, or other crime, who shall flee from justice, or be found in another State, shall, on demand of the Executive authority of the State from which he fled, be delivered up, to be removed to the State having jurisdiction of the crime. " It has never been pretended that Congress has any power to act insuch cases. There is no clause _delegating any power to the UnitedStates_; consequently, all proceedings on the subject have been leftto the several States. The fourth compact is: "No person held to service or labor in one State, under the laws thereof, escaping into another, shall, in consequence of any law or regulation therein, be discharged from such service or labor, but shall be delivered up on claim of the party to whom such service or labor may be due. " If the framers of the Constitution had meant that Congress shouldhave power to pass a law for delivering up fugitives "held toservice or labor, " they would have inserted a clause _delegatingsuch power_, as they did in the compact concerning "public acts andrecords. " The Constitution does _not_ delegate any such power to theUnited States. Consequently, Congress had no constitutional right topass the Fugitive Slave Bill, and the States are under noconstitutional obligation to obey it. The Hon. Horace Mann, one of Massachusetts' most honored sons, inhis able speech on this subject in Congress, 1851, said:--"In viewof the great principles of civil liberty, out of which theConstitution grew, and which it was designed to secure, my ownopinion is that this law cannot be fairly and legitimately supportedon constitutional grounds. Having formed this opinion with carefuldeliberation, I am bound to speak from it and to act from it. I haveread every argument and every article in defence of the law, fromwhatever source emanating. Nay, I have been more anxious to read thearguments made in its favor, than the arguments against it; and Ithink I have seen a sound legal answer to all the former. " * * *"It is a law that might be held constitutional by a bench ofslaveholders, whose _pecuniary interests_ connect them directly withslavery; or by those who have surrendered themselves to apro-slavery policy from _political hopes_. But if we gather theopinions of unbiassed and disinterested men, of those who have no_money_ to make, and no _office_ to hope for, through the triumph ofthis law, then I think the preponderance of opinion is decidedlyagainst its constitutionality. It is a fact universally known, thatgentlemen who have occupied and adorned the highest judicialstations in their respective States, together with many of theablest lawyers in the whole country, have expressed opinions againstthe constitutionality of this law. " * * * "When I am called upon tosupport such a law as this, while it lasts, or to desist fromopposing it in all constitutional ways, my response is, Repeal thelaw! that I may no longer be called upon to support it. I demand it, because it is a law which conflicts with the Constitution of thecountry, and with all the judicial interpretations of thatConstitution, wherever they have been applied to the white race. Because it is a law abhorrent to the moral and religious sentimentsof a vast majority of the community called upon to enforce it. Because it is a law which, if executed in the Free States, diveststhem of the character of Free States, and makes them voluntaryparticipators in the guilt of slaveholding. Because it is a lawWhich disgraces our country in the eyes of the whole civilizedworld, and gives plausible occasion to the votaries of despoticpower to decry republican institutions. Because it is a law whichforbids us to do unto others as we would have them do unto us, andwhich makes it a crime to feed the hungry, to clothe the naked, andto visit and succor the sick and imprisoned. Because it is a lawwhich renders the precepts of the Gospel and the teachings of JesusChrist seditious; and were the Savior and his band of disciples nowon earth, there is but one of them who would escape its penalties bypretending to 'conquer his prejudices. '" * * * "Suppose the wholebody of the white population should be as much endangered by thislaw, as the colored people now are, would the existence of the lawbe tolerated for an hour? Would there not be a simultaneous anduniversal uprising of the people against it, and such a yell ofexecration as never before burst from mortal lips?" The Hon. Charles Sumner, always true to the right, as the needleto the pole, in his learned and able speech in Congress, 1852, said:--"The true principles of our political system, the historyof the National Convention, the natural interpretation of theConstitution, all teach that this Act is a usurpation by Congress ofpowers that do not belong to it, and an infraction of rights securedto the States. It is a sword, whose handle is at the NationalCapital, and whose point is every where in the States. A weapon soterrible to personal liberty the nation has no power to grasp. "* * * "In the name of the Constitution, which it violates; of mycountry, which it dishonors; of humanity, which it degrades; ofChristianity, which it offends, I arraign this enactment, and nowhold it up to the judgment of the Senate and the world. " * * * * "The Slave Act violates the Constitution, and shocks the publicconscience. With modesty, and yet with firmness, let me add, itoffends against the Divine Law. No such enactment can be entitled tosupport. As the throne of God is above every earthly throne, so arehis laws and statutes above all the laws and statutes of man. Toquestion these, is to question God himself. But to assume that humanlaws are above question, is to claim for their fallible authorsinfallibility. To assume that they are always in conformity withthose of God, is presumptuously and impiously to exalt man to anequality with God. Clearly, human laws are _not_ always in suchconformity; nor can they ever be beyond question from eachindividual. Where the conflict is open, as if Congress should demandthe perpetration of murder, the office of conscience, as finalarbiter, is undisputed. But in every conflict, the same queenlyoffice is hers. By no earthly power can she be dethroned. Eachperson, after anxious examination, without haste, without passion, solemnly for himself must decide this great controversy. Any otherrule attributes infallibility to human laws, places them beyondquestion, and degrades all men to an unthinking, passive obedience. The mandates of an earthly power are to be discussed; those ofHeaven must at once be performed; nor can any agreement constrain usagainst God. Such is the rule of morals. And now the rule iscommended to us. The good citizen, as he thinks of the shiveringfugitive, guilty of no crime, pursued, hunted down like a beast, while praying for Christian help and deliverance, and as he readsthe requirements of this Act, is filled with horror. Here is adespotic mandate, 'to aid and assist in the prompt and efficientexecution of this law. ' Let me speak frankly. Not rashly would I setmyself against any provision of law. This grave responsibility Iwould not lightly assume. But here the path of duty is clear. By theSupreme Law, which commands me to do no injustice; by thecomprehensive Christian Law of Brotherhood; by the Constitution, which I have sworn to support, I am bound to disobey this Act. Never, in any capacity, can I render voluntary aid in its execution. Pains and penalties I will endure; but this great wrong I will notdo. " * * * "For the sake of peace and tranquillity, cease to shockthe public conscience! For the sake of the Constitution, cease toexercise a power which is nowhere granted, and which violatesinviolable rights expressly secured. Repeal this enactment! Let itsterrors no longer rage through the land. Mindful of the lowly, whomit pursues; mindful of the good men perplexed by its requirements;in the name of charity, in the name of the Constitution, repeal thisenactment, totally, and without delay! Be admonished by these wordsof Oriental piety: 'Beware of the groans of the wounded souls. Oppress not to the utmost a single heart; for a solitary sigh haspower to overset a whole world. '" Robert Rantoul, Jr. , whose large heart was so true to Democratic_principles_, that the _party_ wanted to expel him from their ranks, (as parties are prone to do with honest men, ) opposed the FugitiveSlave Bill with all the power of his strong intellect. In a speechdelivered in 1851, he said: "I am as devotedly attached as any otherman to the Union of these States, and the Constitution of ourgovernment; but I admire and love them for that which they secure tous. The Constitution is good, and great, and valuable, and to beheld for ever sacred, because it secures to us what was the _object_of the Constitution. I love the Union and the Constitution, not for_themselves_, but for the great _end_ for which they werecreated--to secure and perpetuate _liberty_; not the liberty of a_class_, superimposed upon the thraldom of groaning multitudes: notthe liberty of a _ruling race_, cemented by the tears and blood ofsubject races, but _human_ liberty, _perfect_ liberty, common to thewhole people of the United States and to their posterity. It isbecause I believe all this, that I love the Union and theConstitution. If it were not for that, the Union would be valueless, and the Constitution not worth the parchment on which it is written. God-given Liberty is above the Union, and above the Constitution, and above all the works of man. " * * * * * TESTIMONIES AGAINST THE FUGITIVE SLAVE ACT. The Hon. Josiah Quincy, senior, whose integrity, noble intellect, and long experience in public life, give great weight to hisopinions, made a speech at a Whig Convention in Boston, 1854, fromwhich I extract the following:--"The circumstances in which thepeople of Massachusetts are placed are undeniably insupportable. What has been seen, what has been felt, by every man, woman andchild in this metropolis, and in this community? and virtually byevery man, woman and child in Massachusetts? We have seen our CourtHouse in chains, two battalions of dragoons, eight regiments ofartillery, twelve companies of infantry, the whole constabularyforce of the city police, the entire disposable marine of the UnitedStates, with its artillery loaded for action, all marching insupport of a Praetorian Band, consisting of one hundred and twentyfriends and associates of the U. S. Marshal, with loaded pistols anddrawn swords, and in military costume and array; and for whatpurpose? _To escort and conduct a poor trembling slave from a BostonCourt House to the fetters and lash of his master!_ "This scene, thus awful, thus detestable, every inhabitant of thismetropolis, nay, every inhabitant of this Commonwealth, may becompelled again to witness, at any time, and every day in the year, at the will or the whim of the meanest and basest slaveholder of theSouth. Is there a man in Massachusetts with a spirit so low, sodebased, so corrupted by his fears, or his fortune, that he isprepared to say this is a condition of things to be endured inperpetuity by us? and that this is an inheritance to be transmittedby us to our children, for all generations? For so long as thefugitive-slave clause remains in the Constitution, unobliterated, itis an obligation perpetual upon them, as well as upon us. "The obligation incumbent upon the Free States _must be obliteratedfrom the Constitution, at every hazard_. I believe that, in thenature of things, by the law of God, and the laws of man, _thatclause is at this moment abrogated, so far as respects commonobligation_. In 1789, the Free States agreed to be field-drivers andpound-keepers for the Slaveholding States, within the limits, andaccording to the fences, of the old United States. But between thatyear and this A. D. 1854, the slaveholders have broken down the oldboundaries, and opened new fields, of an unknown and indefiniteextent. [1] They have multiplied their slaves by millions, and areevery day increasing their numbers, and extending their field intothe wilderness. Under these circumstances, are we bound to be theirfield-drivers and pound-keepers any longer? Answer me, people ofMassachusetts! Are you the sons of the men of 1776? Or do you 'lackgall, to make oppression bitter?' [Footnote 1: The Hon. Josiah Quincy, while in Congress, alwaysopposed the annexation of foreign territory to the United States, onthe ground of its unconstitutionality. ] "I have pointed out your burden. I have shown you that it isinsupportable. I shall be asked how we are to get rid of it. It isnot for a private individual to point the path which a State is topursue, to cast off an insupportable burden; it belongs to theconstituted authorities of that State. But this I will say, that ifthe people of Massachusetts solemnly adopt, as one man, in thespirit of their fathers, the resolve that they will no longer submitto this burden, and will call upon the Free States to concur in thisresolution, and carry it into effect, the burden will be cast off;the fugitive-slave clause will be obliterated, not only without thedissolution of the Union, but with a newly-acquired strength to theUnion. ". In the spring of 1860, there was a debate on this subject in theLegislature of New York. In the course of it, Mr. Smith, ofChatauqua, said:--"How _came_ slavery in this country? It came herewithout law; in violation of all law. It came here by force andviolence; by the force of might over right; and it remains hereto-day by no better title. And now we are called upon, by the rulingpower at Washington, not merely to tolerate it, but to legalize itall over the United States! By the Fugitive Slave Bill, we areforbidden to shelter or assist the forlornest stranger who everappealed for sympathy or aid. We are required by absolute law toshut out every feeling of compassion for suffering humanity. Finesand imprisonment impend over us, for exercising one of the holiestcharities of our religion. Virtue and humanity are legislated intocrime. Let us meet the issue like men! Let us assert our utterabhorrence of all human laws, that compel us to violate the commonlaw of humanity and justice; and by so acting assert the broadprinciples of the Declaration of American Independence, and theletter and spirit of the Constitution. If the North was as devotedto the cause of Freedom as the South is to Slavery, our nationaltroubles would vanish like darkness before the sun. Our countrywould then become what it _should_ be, --free, happy, prosperous, andrespected by all the world. Then we could say, truthfully, that sheis the home of the free, the land of the brave, the asylum of theoppressed. " In the same debate, Mr. Maxson, of Allegheny, said:--"All laws, whether Constitutions or statutes, that invade human rights, arenull. A community has no more power to strike down the rights of manby Constitutions, than by any other means. Do those who give usawfully solemn lessons about the inviolability of compacts, meanthat one man is bound to rob another because he has _agreed_ to? Inthis age of schools, of churches and of Bibles, do they mean toteach us that an agreement to rob men of their rights, in whateversolemn form that agreement may be written out, is binding? Has themorality of the nineteenth century culminated in _this_, that a merecompact can convert vice into virtue? These advocates of therightfulness of robbery, because it has been _agreed_, to, and thatagreement has been _written down_, have come too late upon thestage, by more than two hundred years. Where does the proud EmpireState wish to be recorded in that great history, which is being sorapidly filled out with the records of this "irrepressibleconflict"? For myself, a humble citizen of the State, I ask noprouder record for her than that, in the year 1860, she enacted that_the moment a man sets foot on her soil, he is free, against theworld_!" Wendell Phillips, one of earth's bravest and best, made a speech atWorcester, 1851, from which I make the following extract:--"Mr. Mann, Mr. Giddings, and other leaders of the Free Soil party, areready to go to the death against the Fugitive Slave Law. It nevershould be enforced, they say. It robs men of the jury trial, it robsthem of _habeas corpus_, and forty other things. This is a very goodposition. But how much comfort would it have been to Ellen Crafts, if she had been sent back to Macon, to know that it had been donewith a scrupulous observance of all the forms of _habeas corpus_ andjury trial? When she got back, some excellent friend might have saidto her, 'My dear Ellen, you had the blessed privilege of _habeascorpus_ and jury trial. What are you grieving about? You were sentback according to law and the Constitution. What could you wantmore?' From the statements of our Free Soil friends, you wouldsuppose that the _habeas corpus_ was the great safeguard of aslave's freedom; that it covered him as with an angel's wing. Butsuppose _habeas corpus_ and jury trial granted, what then? Is anyman to be even _so_ surrendered, with our consent? No slave shall besent back--except by _habeas corpus_. Stop half short of that! Noslave shall be sent back!" Rev. A. D. Mayo, of Albany, is one of those clergymen who believethat a religious teacher has something to do with questionsaffecting public morality; and his preaching is eloquent, because heis fearlessly obedient to his own convictions. In a Sermon on theFugitive Slave Bill, he said:--"Remember that despotism has nonatural rights on earth that any man is bound to respect. I knowthere is no political party, no Christian sect, no Northern State, as a whole, yet fully up to this. But the Christian sentiment of thecountry will finally bring us all to the same conclusion. " NO SLAVE HUNT IN OUR BORDERS! What asks the Old Dominion? If now her sons have proved False to their fathers' memory, false to the faith they loved; If _she_ can scoff at Freedom, and its Great Charter spurn, Must _we_ of Massachusetts from truth and duty turn? _We_ hunt your bondmen, flying from Slavery's hateful hell? _Our_ voices, at your bidding, take up the blood-hound's yell? _We_ gather, at your summons, above our fathers' graves, From Freedom's holy altar-horns to tear your wretched slaves? Thank God! not yet so vilely can Massachusetts bow, The spirit of her early time is with her even now. Dream not, because her Pilgrim blood moves slow, and calm, and cool, She thus can stoop her chainless neck, a sister's slave and tool! For ourselves and for our children, the vow which we have given For Freedom and Humanity, is registered in Heaven. No slave-hunt in _our_ borders! No pirate on _our_ strand! No fetters in the Bay State! No slave upon _our_ land! J. G. WHITTIER. THE HIGHER LAW. Man was not made for forms, but forms for man; And there are times when Law itself must bend To that clear spirit, that hath still outran The speed of human justice. In the end, Potentates, not Humanity, must fall. Water will find its level; fire will burn; The winds must blow around this earthly ball; This earthly ball by day and night must turn. Freedom is typed in every element. Man _must_ be free! If not _through_ law, why then _Above_ the law! until its force be spent, And justice brings a better. When, O, when, Father of Light! shall the great reckoning come, To lift the weak, and strike the oppressor dumb? C. P. CRANCH. ON THE SURRENDER OF A FUGITIVE SLAVE. Look on who will in apathy, and stifle, they who _can_, The sympathies, the hopes, the words, that make man truly man; Let those whose hearts are dungeoned up, with interest or with ease, Consent to hear, with quiet pulse, of loathsome deeds like these. I first drew in New England's air, and from her hardy breast Sucked in the tyrant-hating milk, that will not let me rest; And if my words seem treason to the dullard and the tame, 'Tis but my Bay State dialect--our fathers spake the same. Shame on the costly mockery of piling stone on stone To those who won _our_ liberty! the heroes dead and gone! While we look coldly on and see law-shielded ruffians slay The men who fain would win their _own_! the heroes of _to-day_! Are we pledged to craven silence? O, fling it to the wind, The parchment wall that bars us from the least of human kind! That makes us cringe, and temporize, and dumbly stand at rest, While Pity's burning flood of words is red-hot in the breast! We owe allegiance to the State; but deeper, truer, more, To the sympathies that God hath set within our spirit's core. Our country claims our fealty; we grant it so; but then Before Man made us _citizens_, great Nature made us _men_! Though we break our fathers' promise, we have nobler duties first, The traitor to _Humanity_ is the traitor most accurst. _Man_ is more than _Constitutions_. Better rot beneath the sod, Than be true to _Church_ and _State_, while we are doubly false to God! JAMES RUSSELL LOWELL. STANZAS FOR THE TIMES. Shall tongues be mute, when deeds are wrought Which well might shame extremest hell? Shall freemen lock the indignant thought? Shall Pity's bosom cease to swell? Shall Honor bleed? Shall Truth succumb? Shall pen, and press, and soul be dumb? What! shall we guard our neighbor still. While woman shrieks beneath his rod, And while he tramples down, at will, The image of a common God? Shall watch and ward be round him set Of Northern nerve and bayonet? And shall we know, and share with him, The danger and the growing shame? And see our Freedom's light grow dim, Which should have filled the world with flame? And, writhing, feel, where'er we turn, A world's reproach around us burn? No! By each spot of haunted ground, Where Freedom weeps her children's fall; By Plymouth's rock, and Bunker's mound; By Griswold's stained and shattered wall; By Warren's ghost; by Langdon's shade; By all the memories of our dead; By their enlarging souls, which burst The bands and fetters round them set; By the free Pilgrim spirit, nursed Within our bosoms yet; By all above, around, below, Be ours the indignant answer--NO! J. G. WHITTIER. VERMONT PERSONAL LIBERTY LAW. AN ACT TO SECURE FREEDOM TO ALL PERSONS WITHIN THIS STATE. _It is hereby enacted, &c. :_ Sec. 1. No person within this State shall be considered as property, or subject, as such, to sale, purchase, or delivery; nor shall anyperson, within the limits of this State, at this time, be deprivedof liberty or property without due process of law. Sec. 2. Due process of law, mentioned in the preceding section ofthis Act shall, in all cases, be defined to mean the usual processand forms in force by the laws of this State, and issued by thecourts thereof; and under such process, such person shall beentitled to a trial by jury. Sec. 3. Whenever any person in this State shall be deprived ofliberty, arrested, or detained, on the ground that such person owesservice or labor to another person, not an inhabitant of this State, either party may claim a trial by jury; and, in such case, challenges shall be allowed to the defendant agreeably to sectionsfour and five of chapter one hundred and eleven of the compiledstatutes. Sec. 4. Every person who shall deprive or attempt to deprive anyother person of his or her liberty, contrary to the precedingsections of this Act, shall, on conviction thereof, forfeit and paya fine not exceeding two thousand dollars nor less than five hundreddollars, or be punished by imprisonment in the State Prison for aterm not exceeding ten years: _Provided_, that nothing in saidpreceding sections shall apply to, or affect the right to arrest orimprison under existing laws for contempt of court. Sec. 5. Neither descent near or remote from an African, whether suchAfrican is or may have been a slave or not, nor color of skin orcomplexion, shall disqualify any person from being, or prevent anyperson from becoming, a citizen of this State, nor deprive suchperson of the rights and privileges thereof. Sec. 6. Every person who may have been held as a slave, who shallcome, or be brought, or be in this State, with or without theconsent of his or her master or mistress, or who shall come, or bebrought, or be, involuntarily or in any way in this State, shall befree. Sec. 7. Every person who shall hold, or attempt to hold, in thisState, in slavery, or as a slave, any person mentioned as a slave inthe sixth section of this act, or any free person, in any form, orfor any time, however short, under pretence that such person is orhas been a slave, shall, on conviction thereof, be imprisoned in theState Prison for a term not less than one year, nor more thanfifteen years, and be fined not exceeding two thousand dollars. Sec. 8. All Acts and parts of Acts inconsistent with the provisionsof this Act are hereby repealed. Sec. 9. This Act shall take effect from its passage. Approved November 25, 1858.