The Lancaster gazette. (Lancaster, Ohio) 1846-1852, 1848-01-07
IIarbOring Slaves.


holders. TO pursue their runaway slaves
into the flee States and there TO recap.
ture them, and the duties of citizens Of
the free States in such cases, are very
imperfectly understood by the public al
large. For this reason, we give place to
the charge of Judge Mclean, delivered
on Tuesday last, in the United States
Circuit Court, at Columbus, to the jury
in The case of DrskilI VS.. Parish. This
suit, we remind the reader, was brought
to recover penalty. as directed in the
US. Law, from Parish, citizen of San
dusky, for harboring the slaves of Dris-
kill, a Kentuckian.
The charge was in substance as fol.
lows, the Court having reverted to the
cause of action, as laid in the declaration
and having referred to the act of Congress,
under which the suit was brought:
"Ihe declaration charges Two offences.
lst. Obstructing and hindering. g. Har.
boring and conccaling, The law re-
quires that the persons who hiuders or
obstructs the arrest Of escaping slaves,
must do it knoa0ingly and a0iliingly.
In regard to harboring and concealing
it must be done with the intent to elude
the vigilence of the master. There may
be surrounding circumstances which will
prevent the harooring from being vio.
ation of the law. As in the case Of
peace officer, who may have arrested an
escaping slave, for violating the peace,
and who may refuse to deliver him up un.
I'll the law has been satisfied.
Resistance to the master may be made
without actual force being employed--as
by words, or gestures. There should be
such AN interposition as to prevent the
arrest, in order TO make. the party guilty
who interposes
The law gives penalty of FIVE hun.
dred dollars for harboring and conceal.
ing; also for obstruciing and hindering.
The penalty is no more, when two or
more persons are concealed or harbored
at the same time. The law does not
separate them, and give the penalty to
each individual.
In Ohio, where slavery is not tolerated
the law presumes every one TO be free.
In Kentucky, the law presumes all
colored persons to he slaves, until the
contrary is shown. This Court is bound
to take notice of the laws of each State;
and where service is alleged to be due,
it must be proved by the law of the place.
You are accordingly bound TO believe
that these fugtives escaped from labor;
. and that he, to whom they owed service,
had right to pursue and retake them.
: 1t was not essential that the agent
! should have entered the plaintiffs gate,
in order 20 make the arrest If he gave
notice of his intention it was sufficient,
, were he prevented, BY any means, 10 a
, mount TO a hindrance. But he was
bound 10 give notice that the persons
were liable to arrest. That this was Civ.
} en- you must satisfy yourselves.
To constitute harboring, there must
: be conceament with an intention to de.
, feat the claims of the master.
3 The words harboring and concealing
I, are synonymous terms.
Z You must construe the proof strictly;
$ for the defendant might have been prose
D cuted by an indictment, and because
penalty attaches tohim if guilty
Finally, you are bound to carry ou
d the law, as it has been given You. Yo
d are not to let any excitement, or pre.cou
o ceived opinions on the subject of SLAYER
n swerve you from the strict line of you
v duty. If you lose sight of the law AM
the constitution, you will be lost in tn
$ maze of uncertainty and error. "Accor
d ding to the law and the facts, so let you
q verdict be-"
The jury having been absent about a
hour, sent to the Court for instructions
asking whether the penalty-should the
d find one for the plaintif-should be lai
/, separately on the four counts as set fort
. in the declaration. Two for hnderin
e the arrest, and two forharboring aud cor
cealing.
The Court had the jury recalled, an
N nstruciing that the charge of hinderin
the arrest of the two persons-Jane an
!" Harrison Garrison-was but one offenc,
3 The same in regard to the other tw
# counts, for harboring and concealng.-
ID They must specify the counts if the
d found for the plaintiff Should they fin
!. for the defendant, their verdict would b
er general.
* The Jury brought in verdi !ct of 90
ID damages.
We may also state that similar We
le dict has been recently given in anotht
10 case at Pittsburgh.- ZanesoiHe COurte
i RELIEF TO THE PooR.-But little
= known ofthe extent ofthe distress anon
L. L. the poor of this city, and still less of II
- individual instances of suffering, and ii
- detail ofthe relief afforded by the publ
~ authorities and benevolent individuals
~ The Township Trustees are kept vel
- - busy. Between the lst and 10th of D.
- - cember, they have supplied fuel to #
;" y, hundred and eighty, one families, and stint