Fremont weekly freeman. [volume] (Fremont, Sandusky County, Ohio) 1850-1853, 1850-06-29
From the Huron Reflector.
Johnston on slavery,

'The State of Ohio vs. Forbes and Armitage.
arrested upon the requisition of the Govern
ment of Ohio, on charge of kidnapping Jerry
Phinney. and tried before the Franklin Cir
cult of Kentucky, April 10, 1896" the follow
ing beautiful and forcble sentiments CON
tanned in the arguments of the Attorney of the
State of Ohio, in the case, William john
ston, the present Wing candidate for Cover
nor. in his view of Slavery "as it has existedI
and now exist in the United States" Mr.
Johnston says:
".SLavery is not recognized By the laaos Of
nature. This broad self-evident truth is laid
down in the Declaration of Independence,
"that all men are created equal: that they are
endowed by their Creator with certain I'M
aliendble rights; that amongst these are lifp,I
liberty and the pursuit of happiness" The
great men who put forth this declaration did
not mean to say all men, except negroes, are
created equal, and endowed BY their Creator
with the tndlienaJle right Of liberty. Nor did
they mean by this declaration to anual existing
institutions at variance with the great self-eYi-
dent moral truth-as slavery undoubtedly is
but they meant then, and for all future time,
for themselves and their posterity-to set up
this great and self evident moral truth, as the
standard by which all law, and all civilization
should thereafter be tried mot to unrayel an
evil already too intimately interviewer with
the warp of society to be removed without
destroying its texture; but in the name of
their country, whose independence they
sought to establish, and in the name of the
Creator, who bestowed these "unalienable
rights to protest against its future progress.
This doctrine is in strict accordance with the
original charter given by God our great an
cestor, before sin or oppression had marred
the beauty and glory of bis new creation
With the archetypes of all that was beauti-
full and good before his mighty eye, God said,
let us make man in our oUn image, after
our likeness; and let them have dominion
over the fish of the sea, and over the fowls
of the air, and over the cattle, and over
all the earth. So God created man an has oqOR
image; in the image of God created he him;
male and female created he them As they
stood thus before the bridal altar, glowing in
the charms of youthful love, with this immense
dowry before them, he pronounced upon them
the charter of their future estate. "And God
blessed them and said unto them, be fruitful
and multiply and replenish the earth, and
subue it; and dominion over the fish of the
sea, and over the fowls of the air, and over
every living thing that moYeth upon the earth
| All that was not conveyed to man by this
charter, the Grantor reserved to himself
And that there might be no misunderstanding
either as to the property granted, Of names Of
the creatures included in the grant, he gave
him "livery of seizen''- brought the mighty
menagerie "to Adam, to see what he would
call them; and whatever Adam called every
living creature, that was the name thereof -
As if God had said to man-Catch that
bounding steed, and put the brand on his
crest. and thy caparison on his back, and make
him bear thee wither thou shalt list. Seize
that powerful OK, andtputting thy yoke on his
neck compel him to plough the SOIL Shear
that sheep and clothe thyself with his feecy
spois. Snatch down the eagle from the clouds
and draw up leviathan from the Deep Make
/ all living creatures in the heavens above, in
the earth beneath, and in the waters under
the earth, thy slaves; for they are thine; but
as for thee, and thy posterity, by this beauti-
full bride, l have stamped nsy owa image upon
you. YE ARE NINE Thus stood the naeana
and tuua of the pristine world 1t is not pre-
tended that the divine law of property, thus
laid down, has been respected: or that Sla-
very has not existed since very early period
| of history. Alas! who can look around him
on the wrongs and oppression which wiring the
hearts of innocent millions without, or feel
the workings of ten thousand bitter pangs
within, without acknowledging that society
has been sadly bruised and disiointed by the
fall of mani The first man that was born of
woman murdered the second, and thus on, de-
pravity, disorder, and oppression spread over
the whole inhabited earth. We see wars
arise, and prisoners of war sold into slavery !;
say, whole nations carried away captive, and
sold into bondage as punishment for their
crimes the nations thus Furnishing them, fire.
lquently not less criminal than themselves
We see depravity and wiekedness, by Divine
permission, working out their own penalty and
their own cure; but this does not alter the
Divine law. Still, property in man is contrary
to the law of nature. 1t exists, and is tolera-
ted in society, like some hereditary disease!''
| Applying the Ordinance of 1881 to the
case be said
"Slavery may not come upon the soil of
Ohio, or even leave its footprint in the sand
above the low-water mark The Ordinance of
1887, like the blessing of a patron saint, infus-
ed into the soil of Ohio an incapacity to sup
port the footsteps of any other than a freeman.
The name of Nathan Dane is as dear to us
as the name of Daniel Boone is to Kentucky.
We are not privileged to inter his bones and
erect his monument in the results of his far
seeing policy This Ordinance has clothed
thousands of fields with waving corn; covered
thousand of hills with bleating sheep; set in
motion thousand plashing water wheels, and
ten thousand busy spindles; erected thousands
offree and public schools; and made thousands
ofhardy intelligent parents, or with their sons
at their heels, each tills his hundred and sixty
acres of land. exult in the thought that there
is no State like the State of Ohio, Yet il
the doctrine should be established, that the
Ordinance is only to affect the right of those
who reside within the Northwestern Territory,
and that those who reside out of it, though
parties to the compact, are not bound by it
but may carry their slaves with them, when
and where they please, to work an hour,
a day, aweek, month, or six months, then
this Ordinance, the poor mans shield, the
free mans boast the inspiring soul of the
Northwestern Territory, is fail and worthless,