New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1850-11-02
The Boston Slave Hunt and the Vigilance COma
mittec.
Correspondence of Tie Tribune,


Correspondence of Tie Tribune
BosToy, Thursday, Oct. 81.
The slave hunters, Knights and Hughes left
the City yesterday at clock P. NJ, fully per
suaded, after weeks trial. that all attempts to
arrest Mary and Ellen Crafts in the City of Bos
ton, were worse than useless. Yet not a blow has
been struck or an act of violence done
A, soon as it was known that they were abou
to take out warrant, the Vigilance Committee
was called together, and various subcommittee
appointed. Among these was committee of lie
gal gentlemen, whose duty it was to give Crafts
the benefit of every legal weapon Of oilense or de-
Tense. His committee consisted OF S. G. SewaL,
Charles Sumner r. II Dana, jr, John c. Park and
George Minot In addition to these gentlemen,
Charles G. Loring Esq, one Of the most distin-
euisbed LAWYERS in the State, volunteered his SER
vices. After full deliberations this committee no
tilted the Commissioners that if they acted under
the law they would be sued on the ground of the
unconstitutonality of their appointment, and that
the same course would be taken with the Mar
shall and his deputies, or any other persons VINO
should act Underthe direction OF theCommlss1onors
The ground was taken that the process under this
law ia civil process and that the outer door al
house c0nuotGe 6roken IN for the purpose OF serv-
ing it, and the Marshal was notified accordingly.
Crafts moved his bed and clothing into his shop,
and made it bis domcil-his castle.
In the meantime Gratis, on his own response
bltv, without advice from any parties deter
mined on resistance. He armed himself fully,
md made up his mind to sell his freedom with his
fife. His shop is in the midst OF the negro popu-
aton who were Ill state OF intense excitement,
armed and determined upon resistance. NO man
conld apuroach within hundred yards OF Gratis S
shop without being seen by hundred eyes and
\ signal would call powerful body at moment 8
warning The Marshal's assistants made recon
noisanccs and perfectly satisfied that IL t1G
"outer-door" doctrine prevailed, the procesScoulu
not be served at all, and If that doctrine was NOT
adhered TO, the process couia oy NC sciNV' " AS''
It must be distinctly understood that this torci-
he resistance was matter with which the Com,
mittecs had no concern whatever Ihey cohilheu
| themselves to legal measures solely
Asan Offset to the Roman simplicity and gran
deur of this poor man, seated calmly at work at
his saddlor,s bench. in an upper coamper' the
Spartacus Of his race, there was Ludlcrous slde
of the picture. Knight and hughes We're them-
selves arrested and held to bail IN $4,000 each,
ON n charge of SANDER. Altersome difficulty they
found bail The next day they were arrested on
a charge Of conspiracy to kidnap William Gratis,
! and again in the afternoon on similar charge as
TO Ellen Crafts Two arrests day was Their
! smallest allowance. After the last arrest the
/ excited crowd OF negroes followed Knight
carriage and he took flight through Court
and everett streets, over East Cambridge
bridge. running tolls, TO East Cambridge and
thence to Porer's The moboycrtook and threat
! ened him and it was with difficulty that some
Of them were kept from violence but no actual
| violence was inflicted. knights was thoroughly
alarmed portion of the Vigilance Committee
waited upon him and Hughes and told them tnat
| they had no intention to threaten them ouc VhaI
| tLcir presence perilled the peace OF the city as
Vol ms their own lives. They promised to leave
the civ the next morning; but when the morning
came they were not gone. Several complaints
| were made against them, and prepared TO De
seryed-oue for carrying concealed weapons an
other for smoking in the streets contrary to the
City Ordinance another under the statute against
.,pfofane cursing and swearing Ia plenty OF winch
tHev did) another for missing toll over the bridge
ana still another for list d17rtHS through the town
If Cambridge Truly the BOst0nlans are law
abiding ucople The combination OF the traglcai
and the comcOl, the serious and the mdiorous
with the harassmcnt of handbils, arrests, and
crowds at their heels wherever they went, and
the certainty that their process could not be
! served without bloodshed, overcame then oostl-
| nacy and they took the express tram Tor tne
South waited upon by large and respectable
Knie6ts and Hughes are said to be men of a
low description, mere hrelngs or spectators, de
serving no better treatment than they received
! These various arrests, however, were not illaue
bythe legal committee, but were the voluntary
suggestions of parties, taking the responsibility
mon themselves The committee were prepared
| to serve writ de h0mine rephg7Gndo upon the
/ Marshall the moment the arrest should be made,
ard thus to raise an issue between the State and
| National tribunals. They also proposed to hold
Crafts to bail for debt III order to try the question
/ whether the certificate of the Commissioner Will
override the civil processes OF the State, made Tor
| other PURPOSES As last resort, Gratis was to
be arrested on a criminal charge, for violent as
saults with dangerous weapons, ii he used them
and thus raise the final question OF precedence be-
| tween criminal process OF the state and the GER
ti4icote of the Commissioner. Ii no other criminal
charge could be raised, it was proposed, with his
ov,, consent to arrest him for ornication, (Which
is criminal otlense in Massachusetts, on account
! of the invaldity OF his slave marriage
These various technical opsWuctiohs ana CON
tryances were raised not against the Cohsttut'oh,
but against the odious and unconstitutional stat
nte Had the statute been no more than the Con-
stitutjon requires, no legal resistance would nave
| been made, except on the real issues between the
parties AS for the torcible resistance oil the ne
| eroes how can they distinguish between the Con
! stitnfion ard statute They only receive the
simD}e idea that without trial or notice. father
mother husband, wife or child brother or SISTER
NAV be snatched from each other, and from nome
| and hurried into captivity III an unknown anu hos
tile land.
There arc rumors that the President has author
ised the Marshal to employ portion OF tue stana,
inc army to enforce his precept and to punish
F.. offenders. W DO not believe he has done, or ih-
tends to do any such thing. He knows that the
| whole standing army of the United states, "hlch
! took Mexico and Monterey, cannot break down
moor mans outer door to serve civil process or
punish any citizen FOR any crime whatever
10 The above letter comes from re"
I, ,,o,,rno o,,d ,,,ox- hn yalin1 rn0n rs