Burlington hawk-eye. [volume] (Burlington, Iowa) 1845-185?, 1850-10-03
DECISION OF JUDGE PEARSON,
IN The Case Of the Fugd're Siares.


The dicsipn of the Court al Harrisburg.
mentioned under the summary OF intelii-
gence in late papers, that 1.-The stealing oi
horse by a slave 10 make his escape
wi.h,' is no violation Of law, and the dis
charge oflhe fugitive slaves, is made the
subject OF comment in several papers,
The proceedings Of the Judge, as we an
ticipsted, are condemned in decided terms.
The Philadelphia Evening Bulletin says:
I'VE confess that The decision Of the
Judge somewhat surprises u,. II may
be very good law, bn, it is very bad NOR
ais. Aware that il would be difficult. in
the present state OF public opinion, to find
a jury willing to pronounce the negroes 10
be fugi'ives, the masters took advantage
ofthe fact that the slaves had run away
with some horses, and had them arrested
for larceny. This was circuitous way
10 reach the end, bu, i, was made necessa-
ry by the feeling Harrisburg. Had the
prisoners been remanded to Prison, as the
masters and public expec' ed, a requi>i,ion
would have been obtained from Virginia,
and the slaves carried back to their native
state. But the Judge frustrated this
scheme, 10y declaring that the negroes had
committed no larceny! In other words,
he declared that il was not robbery for
slave TO take his masters horse in order
TO effect his escape! We have sways un-
der>tool, and Blackstone explicitly teach.
e>, that when horse is thus taken it is
larceny, unless the criminal means TO re :.
store him, which the negroes, it is con-
ie>sed, never intended to do. But the de-
cision is to be condemned qni,e as much
! for its influence in other cases, as for ef-
feet in this. II slave may steal a horse
to secure his escape, a clerk may take
money TO meet his necessities; in word,
all law may be laid aside, and each ,nal,
be allowed 10 cheat and rob, il exact pro-
portion a. he thinks his wants demand"
The Editors Of the N. York Observer
offer the following comment on this decis-
sion:
1--WE can hardly credit it, that civil
court in Pennsylvania decided that the
slave W ho steals horse TO escape with
commits no crime We pee, an error
in The reporter. Til, is the doctrine ol
Gerrit Smith and company, and from that
quarter it surprises nobody; but for civil
court to sanction it, is, we believe, nnpre-
ceden,ed. lfthis is sound morality, in
the eye of the law too, it will he proper
for the negroes a, Harrisburg 10 steal the
Judges horses TO take them further; ant
in case they should need relays on theil
way to Canada, they may find them in thu
pastures at Pe,erboro.' We have the sin
cerrs' sympathy for the fugitive slave, ant
for all slaves, but We do not believe tha
an armed flight, on stolen horses, is tn
legitimate method Of procedure. Whihe
do these doctrines tend, as it regards th
morals OF both blacks anj whites? Nhe
our three millions of slaves ~ ith their nu
> ,nerous free-negroes and white sympa,hi
sers d, the north, shall be thoroughly i'm
bued with them, what security will ,her
be, no, for horses merely, but for any sol
of property? The Cazrnovia conventio
:, tells the slave TO break locks, as well a
steal horses, and also 10 furnish himse
with weapons Of death, and use them b
the way. The advice would 60 but ste
further in the same direction, which sho'
bid him murder sleeping family 10 Sc
cure the silence and safety Of an unpur
, sued retreat. Men know not what the,
do, when, upon any pre,ex, of ph'lan'hre
ply, they uns-tlle the foundation OF rgh
teon>ness itself"
:. Those who a,temp, to justify proceed
! ings OF this sort, or who are al ing the e
forts OF fugitive slaves to escape from tn
authority to which the precepts OF tn
l. New Testament command them TO submit
are nullifying the divine rules of ords
taught by the Word of God, aud destroy
ing the sanctions of law enacted for III
3. security of life and property. When >"t
verting that article OF the Constitn'lol
which requires the restoration Of the fl
g:tive servant 10 his master, their philal
lhropic deeds and doctrines tend directl
, to the introduction OF anarchy, crime all
y outrage.