The Express.
London, England, 1850-10-29 00:00:00

is this. But 'soh a policy surely- befits such al
country u Britain, which, having coma forward as a
mediator, ought not to sanction tyranny and ouquat.

Tar Fugitive Slave BM, to whith, as a blot of ,
American legislatioe, we have already drawn the
attention of onr readers, bas begun much earlier than
we anticipated to develop its reel character and me-
smeary eessequences. Of the several measures adopted
en* the repent session of Congress having a refer-
Mee feed se indirect to the subject of slavery, we
treated this as the only one which could be regarded
es a cionseeskin to the views and exigencies of the
oath. Dad wen this, we ventured to predict, would,
la its wositiag, tend to promote the designs of the
abolitionist, so that, ere long, the south would dis-
cover that it had virtually capitulated at all points.
In this we were not mistaken, and recent events in the
city of New York and elsewhere ge to show that, in
the Fugitive Slave Bill, the cause of abolitionism is
about to recognise a wire active and efficient coad-
jutor than in the admission of California as a free
state, the settlement of the Texan boundiu7, the erec-
tion into territories of Utah and New Mexico, oe
the abolition of the slave trade in the district of
Columbia—or, in fact, than in all these measures pot
together,
The'

e bill bad scarcely passed into a law ere the
cupidity of the south ventured, by taking advantage
of its provisions. to test the patience and forbearance
of the north. The scene of the first unary enacted
under the sanction of the measuie was the city of
New York, in which it has aroused a feeling not tur-
bulent but deep, the echoes of which have by this
time reverberated throughout the length and breadth
of the free north, giving rise, in some minds, to
alarm, and awakening in ell the deepest resentment.
It appears that a colon/el man of the name of
Helmer had been for the list two years a resident
of the pity, daring all or a part of which time he had
been in the employment of an estimable citizen
largely connected with the shipping business of the
port. He was a mulatto, or advanced still a degree
'mane to the European. He lived with his wife and
children in Williamsburg, one of the suburbs of New
York, situated on Long Wand, from which he pro.
ended daily to the city to attend to the duties as-
signed him by his employer. It was whilst landing
one morning recently from the ferry boat that he was
accosted by an officer of the Federal Courts in the
city, and requested to accompany him to the City
Hall, where his presence was required as a wit-
ness in a case about to be opened there. Bus-
pecting nothing, he accompanied the officer to
the court, where, to his surprise and horror, he
was claimed as a runaway slave by two men, who
were lying in wait to pounce upon him when fairly
entrappedbn .
The ooxious character of the mestere, and the
utter impossibility of giving a straightforward effect
to its provisions in the free stake, are thus forced
upon us by the discreditable incidents which marked
the very first stage of the very first case instituted
under its sanction. The warrant of arrest was a lie,
and the subsequent proceedings in the case were in
keeping with the unmanly meanness of its in-
ception. The justific.tion of the subterfuge
by which the unhappy wretch was lured into the
clutches of his pursuers, is, that had he been openly
and regularly arrested at the ferry, his transfer thence
to the City Hall might have given rise to some
die
turbacc. But what does this amount to but a con-
fession on the part of the New York authorities, that
the law cannot, with safety to the publ:c peace, be
openly enforced ? Nor can it always be surreptitiously
carried out, for blacks, both freemen and runaways,
will hereafter be on their guard against heiog en-
trapped as poor HAMLET was. Nothing, therefore,
seems left, compatible with the public peace,
but to let its provisions lie in abeyet.ce, seeing
that on the very first occasion of their being called
into action, it was deemed essential to the cause of
public order to resort to a cowardly violation of the
forms of law. If such a course was then deemed
necesaary, it will be much more so now, when we
consider the profound and wide-spread feeling of
resentment to which this startling event has given

rise.
HAMLET was claim° I by the two men who ley in
wait for him, within the precincts of the court whose
officer was aiding the en in their conspiracy, as the
property of a Mrs. MART BROW'', of Baltimore. The
charge against him was that ab iut two years ago,
without the consent of MART BROWN, he had con-
veyed his own person, the property of the said
MART, not of the state of Maryland into that
of New York. The charge was substantiated by the
claimant., who purported to act as MART BRowN's
spots in the matter, although no proof of their iden-
tity or authorisation wee either tendered or asked.
On this e-idence, HAMLET being unable to rebut it,
he was adjudged by the comm asioner a slave, and
certificated by him as such, to which certificate the
commissioner is entitled by the act to ten dollars,
whereas, had he not certificated, he would have been
entitled Duly to five. Toe convicted (?) slave was
then handed over to the claimants, who immediately
made oath that they had reason to believe that a
rescue would be attempted, unites the authorities
provided them with a force sufficient to enable them
to transfer their prey to Baltimore. The slave was
thereupon promptly consigned to the custody of the
marshal of the district, whose son, as deputy marshal,
inducted the discreditable escort.
The bare recital of these tae's will suffice to justify
all that we said of this measure when we explained
its provisions some time ego. The whole proceeding
was the work if only two or three boars. Neither
HAMLET'S employer, nor his fritod., the abolitionists,
nor even his wife or children, were aware of what was
transpiring until the unfortunate man was out of the
jurisdiction of New York and far on his way to Balti-
more. The excitement amongst the free coloured
population of the city, the resentment of the aboli-
tionists, the indignation of the employer, and
the agony of the wife and children, may be better
conceived than described, when the facts of the
ease were at length made known to the public. A
meeting of the coloured population was immediately
held, and resolutions appropriate to the occasion were
adopted. The abolitionists were at once astir, to pat
their committee of vigilance on a better footing for
action. No one knew on what head the covert blow
might next tall. No black felt himself safe, for,
whether bond or free, what chance would he have
spinet such proceedings as characterised the case of the
kidnapped HAMLET? It is quite probable that HARLOT
was a runaway slave, and, by the laws of Maryland,'
the property of MART BROWN; but on the other hand,
it is possible that he was not, but a freeman of the
state of New York, born there of emancipated parents.
Whilst it was not shown that he was not so, neither
the time nor the opportunity was given him to prove
himself a freeman, if he were so. He was not per-
mitted to communicate with his friends or with his
witnesses, if he had any, nor was he allowed the car
solation of the slightest intercourse with those who
were nearest and dearest to him. He was literally
kidnapped, kidnapped in • court of justice, and by
the aid and co-operation of the officers of justice, and
all under the sanction and provisions of a law whisk
should have been entitled " An Act to enable Moada-
mere to kidnap negroes and mulattoes in the fine
States."
We have already alluded to the deep feeling of res
sentment which this atrocious cue has sesweed
throughout the northern section of the co .
So intense was the feeling in New Yurk that a es
seriptioa was at once set on foot to purchase the free-
dom of the captured man, and he has since returned
to New York, a num of eight hundred dollars
having been paid for his release. Late accounts say
that he returned to find his children motherless, his af
flicted wife having died in convulsions, on her husband's
fate having been communicated to her. The whole pro-
°ceding, with all the incidents which marked it, has
so concentrated the attention of the whole north upon
the odious measure in question, that its speedy repeal
may be regarded as a matter of certainty. Thou
who voted for it are becoming "marked men in their
respective localities, and strong efforts are being roads
to err-lade them for the future from all places
of emolument or dignity. At Springfield, Massa-
absesstts, the excitement is intense. The town is
nearly in the centre of the state, and it has long been
a favourite resort of runaway slaves. On learning HAM-
LET% fate, many of those now resident in Springfield
cod its neighbourhood prepared to fly into Canada ;
bat they were advised by the people of the town to
remain, on the assurance that they would be protected.
The representative of Springfield voted in congress
ire the bill, since which time he has been ostracised
le his oonatituents.
It is sat to a few points that such demonstrations
len seedasi. The telegraph continues to announce