The southern press. [volume] (Washington City [i.e. Washington, D.C.]) 1850-1852, 1851-05-07
From the .Nep York Tribune.

The FUGITIVE SLAVE LAw-The great battle
of this generation, between freedom and slavery,
has been fought, and won by those who from
1876 TO 1850, resolutely upheld, during all the
fierce conflicts Of those years, the Wilmot Pro-
vso. The contest on the proviso secured our
Mexican territories to freedom. In this great
result we behold its glorious reward. We may
therefore, in the main, be content with the fruits
Of that contest. Had it not been for the agita-
ton upon the subject of slavery, and the power
full demonstration Of the free States slaves
would now be washing the golden sands of Cali
fornia, and barren New Mexico herself would be
bowling in still more hopeless sterility before
the whitening tread Of African servitude But
thanks TO the indomitable spirit Of freedom IN
the North, the future millions who are 10 inhabit
the vast valleys Of the ella, the Colorado, the
Fan Joaquin, and Sacramento, have the unspeak-
able boon of liberty for their inheritance. This
is the animating spectacle presented to our gaze
as we survey the field whereon have fought for
wears the champions Of free-soil. In this rich
harvest true friends Of liberty everywhere share,
and may rejoice in its abundance. They may
well regard it with proud satisfaction, and re-
pose in tranquility over what is thus achieved
for the cause of humanity.
But the offensive lees Of the agitation from
winch all ltllS has VtsUiltuFHS UOW ntiu w tut
nostrs of the successfnH party in the contest,
in the form of the Fugitive slave law As in the
dispensatior of Providence, unmixed good Is
seldom the lot even Of those upon whom earth
ly blessings are most abundantly shoWered, go
we should not wonder that the share Of good
which has fallen TO the adversaries of slavery, in
this contest, should be dashed with an unwe-
come admixture. But il would be the height
of npratitnde, as well as the height Of stoidity,
to fail TO recognize and enjoy what we have of
good in our existing circumstances, because all
IL not GOOD The devil was in Paradise.
We are not Of those who are cut 10 the quick
by the operation of the Fugitive slave law. II
is wicked enough no doubt But we precipitate
ourselves into no tumult of passionate objurga-
ton over its natural operation Of succe ssfully
returning slave to his servitude. We rejoice
in the escape Of human being from slavery.
We lament his seizure and return TO bondage.
But we preserve the expression Of our pro-
foundest emotions upon the subject of slavery,
FOR the seasons Of our contemplation Of the
monster iniquty, rs its gigantic proportions rise
to view In the shape Of the three millions Of our
fellow-countrymen who daily rise in the morn.
inr and lie down at night under the lash Of the
task master. Il is painful to behold single in
dividual In slavery; but a thousand times more
bitter, infinitely more poignant to the reflective
mind, Is the thought Of that stupendous aggre-
gate OF wrong suffered by the millions who
hopelessly toll In the cotton fields and rice
swamps Of the South.
In the triumphant march Of the cause Of free
dom finally marked by the signal events alluded
TO. we find the liveliest satisfaction. Thatcause
had suffered no serious interruption in its career
though assacd at every step by open foes and
treacberous friends. Its course has been steadily
forward, its conquests unequivocal and glorious
The operation Of the Fugitive slave law is but
the picking of Of here and there straggler by
the enemy But while even this loss is TO be
deplorcd, we can hardly regard il otherwise than
as an inevitable evil. The very act OF moving
souadrons through an enemy's country involves
the necessity Of loss. The most fortunate and
successful battallions do not come out Of con-
test unscathed. Let us count our gains and
consider, but not magnify, our losses.
The violent agitations Of the time upon the
law will cease, and comparative tranquility be
restored, while the rich blessings secured by the
friends Of freedom, In the late contest with sla-
very. will glow with an ever increasing lustre
and develop from age to nge in an ever increas-
ing magnitude.
The law Of 1850 must turn out to be an in;
operative enactment. Indeed, it Is practically
nulfed already, when II costs, as in the case Of
Sims, FIVE Thousand dollars to catch and return
a single runaway. But II il is TO be anything
but acknowledging act, lying dead on the statute
book, It's repeal, or essential modification, is in
syltabls. Its one hidsous feature, giving to Z