Anti-slavery bugle. [volume] (New-Lisbon, Ohio) 1845-1861, 1851-12-27

sirucd into an assertion that the Fugitive Slave
Law was unconstitutional.
Mr.. Rea1-I know the Attorney General Of
Maryland, whom am proud to call my friend,
did not intend to say SO but he said that the
stakeholder could enter the house Of any Penn
sylyanian, in day or night by tho sole suthority
of tho Constitution, without authority from a
commissioner or judge, and without even
power Of attorney, If the master was present.
Now, gentlcmcn, if this be law, then ! say that
Pennsylvania is not a State that will long sus-
tain the COMPROMISES which havo been made
between the North and the South within the
last eighteen months. There nre two sides to
every compromise and il this is the mode in
which the South understands the Fugitive Slave
Law. am sure this State will not consider
itself bound to acquicscc in its provisions,
What, gentlemen, arc VIC TO be told that a
Stakeholder can come into our houses at any
time, and arrest by violence and carry off a
man whom he may call slave, without war
rant or authority' No Had been present
when this outrage was pcrpctratcd at Chamber
lain's, should have acted as some Of the gen.
tlcmen in the South frequently do-shot the
scoundrcls on the spot who camo to kidnap the
man in such mode. We arc asked why tho
perpetrators Of this outrage arc unpunished ;
Why, who will prosecute such ruiiians; If q
farmer attempts it, his barn is at once destroyed
by FIRE; If any one attempts, it, he is liable at
all times to violence and personal injuries.
We have had long lecture from tho gentle
man from Maryland on the subject of our de-
pertinent to the South and the stability of the
Union. Thank Heaven gentlemen, the Union
docs not depend upon the opinion of a few poll
ticians, few Shareholders, or few capitalists.
Its pcrmancnoy rests upon the sovereign pco-
pie, with whom it had its origin and so long
as they arc sound, we need not fear for its sta
bilify.
In Pennsylvania, wo regard cveryman, white
or black, as a freeman, until the contrary is
proved by due course of law. In Maryland,
every man who has the least shade of black in
his com. lcxion is deemed to be slave. If a
free negro goes into that State, he is put in jail
and, if he canno, pay the fne and Jail fees i'm
posed upon him, he is sold into perpetual slave
ry. This is tho difference between US; and
have we nothing to complain of at the hands
IF our Southern brcthrcn'
remember a case Of requistion for no.
.orious kilnappcr who scduccd negro born
IN New Jersey into Maryland, and had him
here sold into slavery. This was before the I
lime my learned flend was Attorney General.
Mr.. Brent. Who was II, sir
Mr.. Read.-Thomas McCroa, as great a
scoundrcl as can be found in the State but he
WAS not given up. And have the Southern
Statos themselves no laws upon the subject
no acts Of Assembly by which they permit
STAKEHOLDER TO arrest black man without war
rant or authority, on mere claim that he is a
slave; They have. And is not this viola
ton of the Fugitive Slave Law: Is not this a
violation Of the Compromised 1t is not tho
law, gentlemen, as understood here, that man
may disregard the provisions Of the Fugitive
Slave Law, and seize his slave wherever he
may find him, and enter any mans house to do
so, without a warrant supported by oath. If
a man attempts to carry out the provisions OF the
Constitution in this way here, he is a kidnap-
per, and exposes himself to the dangers of be.
ing resisted as such.