, 1842-02-19

VI NoF. Iepiy, Dut we SuUJoln Inc cOnclu-
sion, and recommend it to the readers attention ::
"You are probably aware that Work and two
confederates, were indicted and convicted for
stealing certain slares the property of a citizen of
this State. They were not, at the time of the
commission of the offence, nor had they ever been
so far as my knowledge extends, inhabitants or
citizens ofthe State, but came here expressly for
the purpose of perpetrating the act for which they
were convicted.
They allege as a justification of their acts, and
they still persist in their opinions, that they were
actuated by the desire of setting the slaves at lib
erty, that according to their opinion, man should
not be made the subject of property-in short,
that they belonged to that class or society denom-
mated abolitionists.
SO little were their alleged motives appreciated
by the objects of their enlarged philanthropy
that the slaves went directly TO their master, dis
closed the whole design, and aided in the arrest
ofthe offenders, thus adding another to the almost
innumerable instances ofthat fidelity and attach
-ment to their masters, which so extensively pre-
vail among the slaves in this State; SO different
from that feeling which is alleged to exist be-
tween the master and the slave, by those who
know US not, and whom we know only as the
dlsturberS of our repose, and the violatorS of our
rights. No such declared motives could appear
in testimony upon their trial, being forbidden by
that rule of law, which prohibits the declarations
of the accused from being given in evidence in
his own favor, but | have mentioned them for the
purpose of placing their acts in, what they would
undoubtedly consider, the most favorable light
Assuming their alleged motives to hay been their
only inducemcnt TO the commission ofthe offence,
the mischief to this community is the same, and
only shows The necessity of redoubling our vigi-
lance, and providing the exemplary punishment
of offences of this class.
The time has at length arrived, when the Sc
curity of our domestic institutions rests upon our
own ability to protect ourselves. We have seen
our domestic relations made the subject ofthc de-
liberations of a Foreign Assembly, arrogantly as
Stunning the lofty appellation of 1.-The Worlds
Convention = and presuming to deliberate upon
the most expedient mode Of depriving us of our
property. Itsecms indeed from a late occurrence,
that even the national flag affords but a feeble
protection TO our rights.
In our own country, we have seen the consti-
tuition of the United States set at defiance. That
plain provision. which declares that 4 s'pcrson
charged in any State with treason, felony or 9TH
er crime, who shall flee rom justice, and be found
in another State, shall, on the demand of the En-
ective authority of the State from which he fled,
be delivered up to the State having jurisdiction of
the crime has been strangely construed not to
embrace felons who steal from us our slaves and
escape with them into non-savcholding States:
OF what benefit to us is the Union of the Ststes,
if thieves may enter our territory, steal from lis
our property, and escape all punishment by Ia
king refuge in non-slaveholding States? Can il
be supposed for a moment that we will quietly
submit 10 such palpab.e violations of our consti-
tutional rights? Or can it be expected that, when
the thief is taken in the act, within our own lin
its, and the jury have assessed his punishment,
the Executive Of the State is at liberty 10 exert
the pardoning power. and qualify the culprit for
a repetition of the offence?
The people of the slaye-holding States have
freely shed their blood and expended their mo-
ney in defence of the Union; aye, even in defence
of the territories of those very States, from
which they have since suffered such grievous
wrongs. They have, without a murmur, con-
sented to the expenditure of vast sums of the
national treasury for the protection and defence
of those States, and they are now willing 10 suf-
fer any pr~ivation, and to undergo any sacrifice,
for the preservation, in lis integrity, of the ma
tional constitution.
According to the decisions of the judicial tri-
bunals of some of the non-slavc-holding States;
if a citizen of a slave-holding State enter with
his slave, any of those States, the slave becomes
free and cannot be forced TO return. Until with
in a few years a law prevailed in several of the
European States, vesting the effects of deceased
foreigners in the sovereign, TO the exclusion of
foreign heirs. "Why,'' exclaims the eloquent
Vattel, sdoes there still remain any vestige of so
barbarous a law in Europe, which is now so en-
lightened and so fall of humanity" In some OF
the States of this Union, we find a law equally
barbarous-a law which sets at defiance both
comfy and Justice. Such laws are indeed cal
culated to render us alien in feeling and in inte-
rest.
Surrounded by fanatics, who are countenan-
ced, if not encouraged, in their diabolical de-
signs, by the civil authorities, not only OF foreign
nations, but of sister States, shall we fold our
arms and quietly gaze upon the torch of the IN
cendiary, in calm despair, without making an eff
fort to defend our lives or protect our property?
If so, we deserve TO perish.
Our laws may seem harsh to those who are
ignorant of the wrongs we have suffered, and
the dangers that surround us, but when 1t is
known that the Constitution of our common
country has been set at delinance for the purpose
of d~epriving us of our property, and that our
fresides have been repeatedly violated for the