The New York herald., 1851-11-29

necessarily wounded BY the defendant and his ssso-
cstes, bile carrying out their animation aud con-
void theacs of Congress referred in them
Such, gentlemen Of the jury, s the general outline
of tho FACTS, which propose laying before you, in
order to sustain the accusations contained in the in
dictment The details Of the testimony, - you will
receive it from the witnesses, will fully complete
this sketch. If the result Of the investigation ex-
hibits the state of facts which anticipate, it will
bs eontended on hehslf OF the United States, that
the crime Of high treason has been established
against the defendant; and that you faithfully, hon.
estly, and fearlessy responding to the obligations
Of your oaths, will say % by your verdict. Treason
against the United States, q defined in the third
tion, consists in levyng war against them, or in ad
herring to their enemies, giving them aid and COM
fort. The crime charged against this defendant is
that embraced under the first of these subdivisions,
viz: that Of levying war against the United States.
The phrase levying war, was long before the adop.
tion the constitution, phrase Of we'll known legal
signifcatiOn, embracing such q forobe resistance
to the laws, ,s that charged against this defsad.
received similar construction from the federal ju
dietary, and may now be considered as q settled
principle of the criminal code of the United States
predcatsd viii be- submitted to the court and your
selves in the course ofthis address, 10 that which
regard as its appropriate place. The act Of Con-
gress, which the defendant is charged to have for
act, approved On the 18th Of September. 1850, on
titled, Gan act to amend, and supplementary to
the act entitled, AN act respecting fugitives from
Justice and persons escaping from the service of
osn sss and Ss Of 1852
based on the provision of the second section Of
the 4th article Of the constitution of the United
States and are intended to carry into full and faith
full execution, the clear, positive, and lnequivo-
tion which | allude to, declares that "No per
son held to service or labor in one State
under the laws thereof, escaping into another,
shall, in consequence Of any lay or regulation
but shall be delivered up, on claim of the party to
whom such service or labor may be due" It is
almost needless to say, that without this provision
the constitution of the United States never could
have been adopted; the existing nationai Union
never could have been formed, and the powerful,
prosperous, and glorious republic Of the United
States never could have existed among the nations
of the earth. OF the value of this Union net only
to US as q separate people, but to the common fa-
mily Of mankind, admit my utter inadequacy to
form an estimate regarding it one of those great
blessings of Divine Providence, which human intel
lect cannot fathom, and which increases IN appre-
ciaton with the progressive deveopemeat Of its be-
nefts. The constitution of the United States, you
are aware, was adopted by q convention of the
people of the States, on the 18th OF September,
1881 At the second session of the Second Con-
gress, held under that instrument viz on the 18th
day Of February, 1873, was passed the "Act
respecting fugitives from justice, and persons
escaping from the service Of their masters" It's
provisions were plain, simple, and clear, mani
Testing On the part of its trainers, many Of whom
had been members of the National Convention,
which had previously framed the constitution,
frank, honest, and sincere disposition to carry
into effect constitutional injunction, which most
probably was unp palatable to some of them. The
law is sufici emily brief to justify ny reading por
tion eft The third and fourth sections Of it are
as sfollows:-"Sec. 3. That when person held to
labor in any Of the Unitet States, or in either of
kka<o n-,a tha pnrkh al nufh nf tha
river Ohio, under the laws thereof, shall escape
into any other of the said States territory, the
person to whom such labor or service may be due,
his agent or attorney is hereby empowered to seize
st such fugitive from labor, and to take him
her before any judge of the Circuit or District
Courts of the nted States, residing being within
the State, or before any magistrate OF q county,
city, or town corporate, wherein such seizure or ar
rest shall be made and upon proof to the satisfac-
ton Of such judge magistrate either by oral tes-
timony or affidavit taken before and certified by
magistrate Of any such State or territory that the
person seized arrested DOTH under the laws of
the State or territory from which he or she fled,
service or labor to the person claiming him or
her. it shall be the duty Of such judge magistrate
to give certificate thereof to such claimant, his
agent attorney, which shall be sufficient warrant
for removing the said fugitive from labor to the
State or territory from which he or she fed. Sec.
T. That any person whe shall, knowingly and vii
ingly, obstruct hinder such claimant, his agent
att )rney in sezing, arrestng sush fugitive
from labor, or shall rescue such fugitive from such
claimant, his agent, attorney, when 50 arrested
purtuant to he authority:herein given or declared,
shall harbor conceal such person, after notice
that he or she was fugitive from labor, as afore.
sad SHALL for either Of the said offences, forfeit and
pay the sum of Eve hundred dollars, which penalty
may be recovered by and for the benefit OF such
claim ant, by action OF debt, in any court proper to
try the same; saving, moreover, to the person
claiming such labor service his right Of action for
or on account Of the said injuries, either ofthem
For series of years after its passage, this law was
quietly executed according to its spirt and letter,
neither State legislatures nor State judiciaries
throwing any obstructions in its way. On the
citing topic Of domestic slavery, peace reigned
within our borders In such Of the States
as deemed this institution incompatible with
their interest, or where 1t was repugnant to
the popular feeling, 1t was abolished cautiously,
prudently and progressively. But every where, the
solemn obligations Of the constitution, to surrender
the absc snding slave to his rghtful claimant was
admitted, respected, and complied with. Men had
not then become wiser tn an the laws, nor had they
learned to measure the plain and unambiguous let
ter Of the constitution by an artificial standard OF
their own creation; and to obey or disregard IL
cordipg a. IL came up to, or fell beneath 1t.
change, ho owever, came DER the spirit Of q portion
of the people of some Of the States. This change
ofsentiment manifested itself in the enactmens
Of State Legislatures, and in the decisions Of State
judiciaries consequent upon them, which created
such embarra.ments and difficulties In the execu.
tion fthe act Of l7Y3 as to render 1t, practically
speaking, a dead letter In sone Of the states. do
not propose to enter into any detailed history Of this
legislation or Of these adjudcations That would be
alike fatigung to you, and Of little value in the
consideration Of the matter in hand | will, hsw-
ever, refer to the legislation Of our own Common
wealth, which, though generally characterized by
fidelity to the national compact, still shows that
this new influence, to a certain extent, had even
affected her usually steadfast and solid character
On the 10Th Of March, 1895, the Legislature of
Pennsylvania passed an act entitled "An act
to give effect to the provisions Of the constitution
of the United states, relative to fugitves fro m la
bor for the protection Of free people Of color and
to prevent Kidnapping" This statute purporting
to be intended to give effect to the provisions of the
constitution, relative to fugitives from labor de-
prived all the aldermen aud justices Of the peace
Of power to hear and decide upon the cases Of such
fugitives, confning their authority to the issuing
Of warrants for the arrest Of such fugi.ives which
warrants were, hewever, to DO made returna able
before, and the complaint to he heard by Judge
Of the proper county. The ninth section Of the
act declaring that no alderman or justice Of tae
peace should take cognizance Of the case Of any
fncitire from labor from any of the I-nitnd