The southern press., 1851-09-20
Tho Array at thrIsllans,

s.1el1zze1el-....z1ssegA' "a
Tho Array at thrisilana.
a citizsu Of Maryland went on Thursday
Tight last to Christ.aua, Hear Lancaster, Penn,
aeconpanied BY an officer, with proper war
rant, according to the act of Congress, TO reclaim
two fugitive slaves. Their coming was expect
ed by The negroes, who assembled 10 resist the
law aud defend the freedom OF their brethren.
\ bloody aiffay ensued, ih which Mr.. Gorsuca,
The master was killed. and his son, who was
with hiin, seriously wounded. The slaves were
not ,keu, but since then several arrests have
been made on the charge OF murder. oH'
II has been asserted that the Abolitionists IN
that vicinity, when consulted beforehand, ad.
vised the negroes to arm themselves and shoot
down tie slave catchers. This, no ever, is de.
MED on the best authority. A letter which We
published on Saturday, from source sure TO be
accurately informed in this respect, says that
exac ly the contrary advice was given them, and
that they were explicitly told that it was better
to hee than fight. We have lio doubt This *
the truth, especially IA the Aboliionists there
about are Friends. II was good counsel, aud il
is to be drplored that the negroes did not fol-
low it.
Il is also asserted that the blacks were the first
to fire, as IL that rendered their act more henous;
but this il also denied on their part At any
rate, it appears certain that Dir. Gcrsuch was
bent on getting them at whatever cost, and
warned that refusal to surrender would be at.
tended BY bloodshed. Accordingly, il he did
not fire first, it was not from any intention to
spare life on his part; and the negroes in firing
did no more than they knew would be done ~
them.
. A great deal of horror is expressed ut the re-
suit, because white men perished attempting to.
l., tl, la.
Of the resisting negroes fallen inst cad, compar-
atively little would have been thought Off and
we presume no arrests would have been deemed
necessary.
For our part we are AZ deeply shocked at the
blo0dshed which has taken place as any one, but
we cannot hold the negroes guilty Of the crime
Of murder. They acted against one law 1t is
true, but they had another their side, and that
a law august and divine in origin, namely, the
law Of nature. They defended an inalienable
right, namely, the right to their own persons.
When that right is assaiIed, no human decree or
enactment can annul the authority Of the indi-
vidua to defend il, and to defend it, if he think
advisable, to the last. No ct OF Congress can
| make il right for one man TO convert another
into his personal property, or tcrong for that
| other to refuse 10 be SO treated. No statute of
mans making can abrogate the first and man
est Instinct of mans nature, for that is the crea-
ton of the higher power II Is not sufficient
for legislature to declare that certain indi-
viduals are and ought to be the slaves of GER
| tain others, for slavery is not matter Of law
in the pure and elevated sense of that term, hut
OF violence and by violence they that it lays
hands on are, in the eye of impartial and un-
sophisticated justice, authorized to resist it.
Would it not in truth have been a worse MUIR
der had the negroes been shot down in Dc.
Tending their freedom!
But whatever be the absolute natural rightin
this case, it is plain that the blacks fell into
lamentable error. They ought to have followed
the advice of their friends and escaped from the
country. No doubt that might have been done
even after the warrant was out for their arrest
for en- at sides they would have found aid and
comfort as they fled Even those wlro are nov
| loud in proclaiming the necessity Of sustairing
the odious, the infamous law for slave catching,
would then have helped them in their strait =
| Now, by their act, they have changed the case
| and made themselves to be regarded as aggres-
sors instead of sufferers. II is out Of the ques-
ton for fugitives TO think Of forcibly resisting
the authorities, and being so, il is wrong for
them to undertake it. 1t is wrong to seek and
defy msrtyrdom, where nothing is to bs gaioed
thereby The only safety for such persons IL
to get out Of this land Of liberty as fast as they
| can.
! We trust that this melancholy event may not
be without its use in fixing upon this enactment
among US the character that it bears in other
civilized countries Let il be seen asst is, shame
fol and inhuman. For, as We have said before,
this afiray is one Of its legitimate fruits. In the
Southern States, where slavery is at home,
bloodshed is frequent circumstance in attempts
1 al In hrip tha f,ct
soil IL is not surprising that its most horrid ac-
cessories should come with 1t. But for slavery
such things would not be; but for the Fugitive
slave law they would not be in the free States.
M Y. Tribune.