The Sun.
London, England, 1853-09-20 00:00:00

THE FUGITIVE SLAVE LAW.

The New York Tribune gives the following ac-
count of a disgraceful and brutal attempt to arrest
a fugitive slave at Wilkesbarre, Pennsylvania. An
attempt has been made by a person calling himself
" Deputy Marshall Wynkoop" (a brother to Colo-
nel. Wynkoop), another, answering to the name of
" Joe Jenkins," and three other assistants from
Virginia, to arrest as a fugitive slave a coloured
waiter in the dining-room of the Phoenix Hotel in
this place. Immediately after their receiving their
breakfasts at the hands of " Bill," the unsuspect-
ing fugitive, who is a tall, noble-looking, remark-
ably intelligent and active mulatto, nearly white,
they suddenly from behind knocked him down with
a mace, and partly shackled him ; but by a despe-
rate efort, and after a most severe struggle, with
the whole five upon him, he shook them off, and
with the aid of his handcuffs, which were only fast
upon his right wrist, he inflicted some hard wounds
on the countenances of some of the Southerners,
the marks of which they will probably carry to
their graves. But, notwithstanding the fearful
odds against him, he managed to break from
their grasp, and, with the loss of everything upon
him but a part of his shirt, and covered with
blood, he rushed -from the house and plunged
in the river close by, exclaiming, " I will be
drowned rather than taken alive." His pursuers
fired twice at him on his way to the river without
checking his speed, and on reaching the bank, they
presented their large revolvers, and called on the
fugitive, who stood up to his neck in the water, to
" come out and surrender himself, or they would
blow his brains out." He replied, " I will die first."
They then deliberately fired at him four or five dif-
ferent times, the last ball supposed to have struck
on his bead, for his face was instantly covered with
blood, and the poor fellow sprung and shrieked out
in agony, and no doubt would have sunk but for
the buoyancy of the water holding him up. The
people around, who had by this time collected in
large numbers, were becoming excited, and could
no longei refrain from crying out " Shame, shame!"
which had the effect of causing the Southerners to
retire a short distance in evident consultation. The
slave, not seeing his pursuers, came to the shore ;
but not being able to support himself in the water,
he lay down on the edge completely exhausted, be-
came senseless, and was supposed to be dying ; on
hearing which the slave-catchers remarked coolly
that " Dead niggers were not worth taking south."
Some one shortly brought a pair of pantaloons and
put on the fugitive, who, in a few minutes, unex-
pectedly revived, and was walking off from the
river, partly held up by another coloured man,
named Rex, on seeing which his pursuers again
headed him, drew and presented their revolvers,
and called upon him to stop, threatening to shoot
any one who assisted the fugitive. Rex, who drew
back, exclaimed to the slave, " Put, Bill, to the
water again"; don't be taken alive !" The poor
fellow, seeing himself alone, for there was a general
drawback on the revolvers being presented, turned
and plunged into the river again, where he re-
mained upwards of an hour, with nothing above
water but his head, covered with blood, and in full
view of the hundreds who lined the high banks.
His claimants durst not follow him into the water,
for, as he afterwards remarked, "He would have
died contented could he have carried two or three
of them down with him." In the meantime some
of the citizens, thinking there was no law justify-
ing such barbarity, were taking means to have the
kidnappers arrested. They soon, however, saw
the sentiment of the community was strong against
them, and drove off before an officer could be found
to arrest them. A telegraphic dispatch to the
constable in Hazleton caused their detention
there ; but he was overawed by several pom-
pous United States' officers, and they were allowed
to go again. After their departure, the fugitive,
afraid to come out there again, waded some dis-
tance up the stream and got out above, and was
found by some coloured women flat on his face in
a cornfield. The women carried him off to a place
of safety, dressed his wounds, and at night he will
be far on his way to Canada.
Such are the plain, unvarnished facts. You can-
not overstate the barbarity of the scene, the ex-
citement of the people, or the ferocity of the slave-
catchers. But having recently felt the rigours of the
Fugitive Slave Law here, there was a general fear
of the officers, who bullied and browbeat any one
who ventured to speak above his breath, exclaim-
ing occasionally, " Gentlemen, you can have him
for $l,OOO ; but we are United States' officers ; re-
sist us at your peril."
We felt ashamed of our country, and almost
longed to be in Austria or Russia, where human
rights are more respected.
Nothing in Mrs. Stowe's work equalled the
brutality displayed by this Pennsylvania Marshall
and the Virginia slave-hunters. Had some bold
spirit led the way, the citizens would have de-
demolished them on the spot. As it is, the result
has been good. The blood-thirsty villains were
baffled—the " property" escaped (though, pro-
bably, a cripple for life, if, indeed, he should live,
for he was quite light-headed during the day), and
there has been more anti-slavery feeling axcited,
and more hatred to the Fugitive Slave Law
aroused, than could have been done with years of
lectures or addresses.

STATE OP RANGOON.—The Calcutta Star says since
our last issue we have received two mails from Rangoon,
which have brought us lamentable accounts of the
misery and destitution of the entire population of Pegu.
• There is a famine in the land. Rice, the staple produc-
tion of the country, and upon which its inhabitants are
as much dependent for existence as the Irish were upon
potatoes before the famine of 1846, is so excessively
dear, that it is beyond the means of any but the richest
to purchase enough to keep body and soul together. A
small basketful, which is here sold for about a shilling,
there costs sixteen ! A letter from Prome of the 11th
of July states :—" Some hundreds of families came in
from the jungles a week or two ago in a state of starva-
tion indescribable. Forty of them died in one night."
A most liberal subscription, amounting to 600 r., was
raised among the officers at that station, and many
starving people were relieved ; but, though the subscrip-
tion was a most humane and munificent one, we may
ask, what, unless a miracle could be performed, is so
little among so many ? Ely the last accounts the scar-
city had been only in the most partial manner alleviated
by the arrivals of rice from Calcutta ; but there were
1J to 20 vessels loading grain on the Ist inst. of an
average tonnage of 500 tons, and of which, we believe,
some have already left for Rangoon. In the meanwhile
the whole country is overrun with bands of dacoits.
The river is so infested with them, that no merchant will
venture up ; and it is said, that even the commissariat
with a strong guard dreads the passage. The Rangoon
Chronicle which we last received was full of nothing
else but murders, dacoities, starvation, and cholera.
THE ASSAULT UPON WOMEN AT MANCHESTER.—
Isaac Davis, the man charged with a savage assault
upon a woman named Ellen Oakes, was again brought
before the city magistrates at Manchester yesterday
morning, when a certificate was produced from the medi-
cal officers of the Royal Infirmary, declaring the com-
plainant out of danger. He was sentenced to the ex-
treme penalty of six months' imprisonment, with hard
labour.