Anti-slavery bugle. [volume] (New-Lisbon, Ohio) 1845-1861, 1851-03-01
SlavehOldlng Outrage.

The New York Anti-Slavery Stnndarn
relates the following statement OF fucts'- =
I'VE were waited upon, on Friday OF 'ass
week. by n man advanced IN life, ana vi
bumble and uuaspiring manners, marking
hin, nj n glance. as ono of those quiet and M
ofI;,usiye individuals whose aim ~ llic Is 10
Offend nobody. and whose strongest charac-
teris,ir is 10 he nj peace with all tho worid.
lie arrived i'm this city the day before ifo'n
Charleston, :. c.. mud his object III cnliihS
unon ,s ,yns TO state the circumstances uIi-
der which lac lelt the south. His name, he
snid. was Elijah w. Harris, aud Dnnpar'oh,
MI. was his, birthplace. For elshtseh
months Inst past hc has resided ~ Soutii Oar-
olina. purs,iing the humble nvOcauoh OF
teaching in county districts, eklng ou' ucre
bv scauiy subsistence. On tho snI9ect OF
Slavery, he had always guarded llls express
Sims. when he had venttred 10 make ANY,
with extreme care, confident that ny tha'
course he could hardly cause offence TO come,
and particularly as his opinions, so iar as ne
presumed TO have any, were opposed To those
or the Abolitionists. lie recOllects, on one
occasion. deprecating the extreme agitation
of the subject ia the last session OF Con-
gress; on anuiher, and more recently, de-
clinug to read aloud paragraph ~ iie ~
II. Congregational Journal nliuding 10 me
subject. aud at another, in submitting whetIl-
or South Carolina was not going btilc 100
far in proposing to dissolve the Unlon. tur-
ther Than this he was not conscious OF nav
ing given offence, and one would have sup.
posed that even Quatilebum himself could
hardly have suspected reasonable intent III
such acts.
However. on Thursday, the 9th ult., be
| 4 RnrnxgpI District
| South Carolina, on Il writ issued by Justice
Robertson. of that place, as having offended
against some law of the State in relation TO
the agitation of the subject of Slavery. lie
was Immediately carried before that functions
| airy. aud there confronted with the Comlnlt-
! tee of Safety, of Clinton, composed OF the
most respectable natives of that vicinity
! Here his trunk, which WINS arrested under the
same writ as himself, was searched, and was
found guilty of containing n Sermon which
some friend had sent him, and which he had
neglected to burn, preached by the Rev. MIR.
! Putnam of Dnnbarton, in which the subject
Of slavery wRs treated. The document was
examined, and pronounced incendiary by the
Committee, and Mr.. Harris wns quietly IN
formed that tint was enough TO hang him
they were, however, in consideration probn-
bly, of the gray hairs and unusually unof-
fensive character of the prisoner, disposed
TO be ncrciiiil, and commuted his punish
ment TO perpetual banishment from that
Empire, after having undergone the ordeal
of public whipping on the bare back, or
coat of tar and feathers. Ofthese two mer-
ciful punislIments they gave him his choice
| but declaring himself on his conscience, free
| from any thought of treason against the
State or her institutions, Mr.. Harris declined
| either. But, at length, compelled 10 make n
choice, lest worse heial him, he gave the
preference 10 the tarring aud feathering as
ihe least painful, and was led by the natives
out of doors. IN the presence of n con-
course of the neighhoring savages, he was
stripped naked 10 the waist, and coat of
tar was plentitilly applied from his head
downward aud covered with feathers. The
law and the dignity of the State vindicated,
| the ceremony was ended, and the guilty man
was dismissed with an Injunction TO leave for
the North before the following Sunday morn
ing. This interval allowed him, Mr.. Harris
proposed to use in collecting small dues ac-
crung from bis school keeping; but wheth-
er the Committee concluded the debts due so
bad man ought not TO he paid, and that the
baggage which he would he compelled TO
leave at his residence a few miles distant
was a lawful prize, or his continued presence
was incompatible with the safety of the
State, they soon after announced that he
must leave the next morning. So the next
morning accordingly, after shaking off the
feathers against them, he departed for
Charleston. On the 18th he arrived in this
city, and his half shayen head, and other
marks, still bear witness TO the outrage OF
which he was the victim.