Lynchburg daily Virginian. [volume] (Lynchburg [Va.]) 1852-1861, 1852-11-19
Importnn, Decision OF Judge Paine.

Important Dccisionof Judge Paine,
SUPERIOR CoURr.-The People. &c cr rel.
Louis Napoleon rs Jonathan Lennon Res.
pondent
PAINE, ! This case comes before me unona
vii ofbabens corpus, issued tothr respondent,
requiring bin to have the bodies Of eghrcolor-
Cd persons, lately talcn from the steamer Guy
OF Richmond, aud now confined IN house IN
this cry, before me- together with the cause of
their Imprisonment and detention.
TIE respondent has returned to this wit
thu said eight colofed persons are The proper
~ OF his WIFE JuIei Lennon. Who Inns been
their owner for seveal years past, she beag a
resident oil Virginia, ~lav,hodlng Site aud
lhal by the Constitution and aNs OF that State
they hive been and still arc hound 10 her ser
wee slaves th5t she i nov, with her sad
slaves Or property m haHsitu from Virginia
10 Texas. another sIavebodiug State, and by
The Constitution and laws of which she would
be entitled 10 said slaves. and 10 their ser, ice
thai she never had any intention Of bringing.
md dl1 mol bGuR, them ro ibis State 40 r..
main 81 resld,; bat VAS passing through The
hhruor oi New York, on her way from Vir.
gna II Texas when size was compelled by
necessity 10 touch or land without intending
To remain longer than WIS necessary And
she u lists that said persons not free, but are
slaves as aforesaid, aud TINT she IS entitled to
their possession and custody.
To tbs return HE reIotor has putin gene
rnl demurrer.
! certainly supposed, when this case was
presented to me, that, as there could be no
a spnte about the Facts, there would be- no de-
ly nor difficulty IN jisposlng OF it. But, upon
thr Argument, the counsel fer the respondent
cited several eases " hieh satisfied me that this
case could not be decided uuti those had been
carefully examined.
The principle which those cases tend more
or l,s5 iorclbIy 10 sustain, IS, HAT if an owner
of slaves is merely passing from home with
lhcm, through free State, into another slave
State, without any intention of remaining, the
slaves " bile IN such free State will not be al
lowed to assert their freedom A that is pre-
cisely the state OF facts constituting this case. it
becomes necessary 10 inquire wetherthe doc
trlnc of those cases can be maintained upon
general principles, and Wether the law OF this
Suite does not differ from the laws Of those
States where the decisions were made.
. shall FIRST consider whether those cases car
n he sustained upon general principles.
< The ftst case of the kind which occurred
. Was that OF Se1caWS iSiaees. " bieh was decided
r IN Indiana, in 1929, by Judge Morris. AMI will
be found reported in } Am .Iurist, 40t. Tie
, return 10 the habeas corpus stated that Sewal
. resided IN Virginia, and owned aud held the
ia, cs under the laws OF that State; hat he wa.
cmlgratng with them TO Missouri aud on hls
way was passing through Indiana, when he
was served with the habeas corpus.
II however appeared on the hearing that Sc.
wall vas not gong TO Missouri to reside, bur
Ia Illinois, a STATE whose laws do not allow oi
Slavery. The Judge for this reason discharged
the slaves. This case, therefore, is notin point,
and would be entirely Irrelevant to the present,
"ere II not Tor n portion 9th Judges opin-
ion Inch was not called for by the case be.
, fore lam but applies directly 10 the case now
: before me.
by the law he says .'or nature and OF
nations. (Nattel, lG0) and the necessary and
} legal consequences resulting from the civil and
D political relations su'sislng hetw cen the citi-
zens as we'll as the States of this Fcderatv.
Republic, have no doubt bat the citizen of :,
lave State has right 10 pass, upon bushes
or pleasure, through any Of The States, attended
hy his slaves or servants bile he rttsins the
: character and rights 81 citizen of slave State
his right 10 retain his slaves oald be urqnes.
toucd An escape from thrpucndanc.s upon
the person Of his master, while on IA Journey
through a free State, should he considered as
an escape from the State where the nrastcr ha
right of citizenship and by the luw, Of " hjch
| the service Of the slave was due. The emf
; grant from one State to another might be con-
sidered respectively as the citizen or resident
If the Stote TO which he was removing; and
should be protected in the enjoyment of those
\ NIGHTS he acquired in the Suite from which he
l. e"ngr ated' and which are recognized and pro-
ST 'ee'ed by the laws of the State to which he is
as S'..S. bat this right, | conceive, cannot he
a. 4e, ~, from any provision Of positive law"
n ne mex Case rei, dnpon is Willard rs. TIE
y .ol5f = Heammon's Rep. 46D aud which
is y Tas decided IN the State Of Illnu, in lSI3.-
c., was az indictment Tor secrcing woman g.
s'' Nv "e service 10 a resder, Of I.oui,iaha