The southern press. [volume] (Washington City [i.e. Washington, D.C.]) 1850-1852, 1851-12-13


on which side the balance lies.
Mr. Brent now reviewed the testimony des.
cribing the occurrences at Christiana On the
! fatal ll,h. He went over the whole evidence
from the visit of Williams to Christina, to noti-
fly Of the coming Of the officers, up to the hold
! ing of the inquest over the body of Edward Cor
such. The part taken by Hanaway was partic-
ulary dwet upon A considerable portion of
Brenfs argument was upon the subject Of pre-
concert. This he commended was shown by the
visit of Williams-the blowing of horns, on the
morning of the occurrence, at an early hour, be-
fore day break, and the early presence Of Hama
way at Parker's house, on horseback, and the
presence of Scarlet, on a sweating horse, whose
business it was to give notice to all the blacks
around the country.
With regard to the witness Kline, the gentle
men held that he was corroborated on every
material point. The witness for the defence
had corroborated him--even Lewis, one of the
participants, had shown that he was entirely
worthy Of belief. The jury we're not there to try
whether Kline acted cowardly or not, as an at
tempt had been made to show.
Mr.. Brent commanded that the testimony Of
Elijah Lewis, had had the effect to break down
tne defense. He then went over II and showed
its discrepancies. Lewis was on the ground at
the time of the outrage. He had witnessed the
shooting down of Edward Gorsuch. Yet when
the cOroner's jury was called to sit upon the
body, he had no testimony to give upon the oc
currence. He had been asked to identify sew
eral Of the Blacks active at the scene, but gave
no information Of it to The authorities, that toev
might be punished. He, an officer Of the United
States, (for he has told US that he is post
mastery sworn to support the Constitution and
the laws, he is present, and witnesses this great
outrage, and made no effort to check it, or to
cause the arrest OF the offenders. : ....... ..
! Mr. Brent alluded to his position, and that OF
the State of Maryland. she does not desire the
nlood of the prisoner. She desires to see jns
tce done, and nothing more. 1t had been said
by the counsel for the defense the other day,
that Maryland thirstipg for the blood Of an Abo,
Iitonist, VS. willing to have that of any Penn
sylvanan He did not expect to hear his State
insulted in that manner, and he could not let the
opportunity pass without denouncing the accu
saton az utterly and entirely false. The people
of Maryland would be satisfied with the verdict,
whatever that verdict might be. They would
read the evidence, and take such course after
wards as they d. emed proper. .....
| Mr. Brent now add -essed himself to the court
and referred to numerous decisions on the law
points of the case He cited from the decisions
Of the courts that had tried the Western insur.
gents, the Southampton conspirators, Burr and
Bl4nnerhasset &c. u.s.. ..
t, FOR THE DEFENSE.
| He was followed by Mr.. John NJ. Reed for
the prisoner, who began by congratuatng the
Jury at the progress Of the case; its near ap.
proach to close. The gentleman who had
Just taken his seat, hid made long and an clab
crate speech. Much of il had surprised him, but
no part of it more than the position assumed by
him in regard to the Fugitive slave law The
gentleman had pronounced the Fugitive slave
law unconstitutional. u. ...
Mr.. Brent here arose and said that he could
not consent that his position be misrepresented.
| never said that it was unconstitutional, but
that the master had right TO recover his prop
erty in Northern State.
Mr.. Read understood that the learned gen.
tleman sail, that the party who invaded the
house of Mr. Chamberlain and took the man by
the throat, put the pistol 10 his head, and vio
lated the sanctiiy Of the house Of Pennsylva-
MIA citizen, acted in conformity with a constitu-
tional right We hold ourselves bound by the
Constitution and the law of the land. We
don't 90 TO the jury upon such principle as that,
: but we do intend TO 90 to the jury for an inno-
cent man, whose fortune is bankrupt, and who
has been torn from his family. II we are bound
to observe the Fugitive slave law, the Southern
master is bound TO do the same.
!. II the Southern master seizes his slave he is
bound to take him before a commissioner 10
prove his identity. What was the object Of that
law? II was to protect the South, and also the
rights Of the Shrth. II | had been in that house
would have taken the liberty of doing that
which is frequently done in the Sou,h-shot one
Of those tcoundrels Why were not Perry,
Marsh, and Bill Bar examined herel They
would have shown you that they were not the
owners, neither had they the authority to carry
poor man beyond the lines. Ii YOU don't turn
negro. catcher, we will indict you for treason.
l. this the doctrine have held two public
offices-one, the United States District Attor.
new, and the other, Attorney General Of this
State, but never thought il necessary or proper
20 press a case like the present, without proof Of
identity | have never thought IL proper 10
spread facts before jury without giving the
Other side an opportunity If answering. What
is the object Of prosecutionl IL liz not revenge
or Qualification. No. IL is simply justice. The
argument is that an innocent man must be sacri.
feed on the altar Of the Union. was first going
10 di -cuss the law-secondly, the application OF
the law To tn evidence. The State Of Maryland
il represented as kind, humane State 10 the free
blacks ! never have been in favor Of slavery,
and hope never shall. The question is not
whether the Union will stand--of that LbaYe
no doubt. II does not depend on a few poll
ticiqns, a few shareholders, or few capitalists.
have lived long enough TO disbelieve such
things.
' We will not permit any Southern master to
come into the State Of Pennsylvania, in violation
&C law, and tear a man awav, without proving his
identity. In the State Of Virginia house can't
be searched without warrant under oath How
many free negroes are there in Maryland? TO-.
600 some Of whom come into our State and
are transmitted into fugitive slaves. There are
10000 slaves in the State OF Maryland. In
Pennsylvania every man is presumed to be a
free man until he is proved TO be slave. We
have $4,000 free colored people, and we are more
,ngly bound to give them protection than the
whites, because we have the courts, the juries,
and make IN" laws
In Maryland every colored man, of the IF
,eenth part Of a black shade, is presumed TO be
slave | understand that the State Of Mary.
land has no law ag linst freedom. II free black
poes into that State. BY accident or otherwise,
o