Staunton spectator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1849-1896, 1852-11-24
THE STAUNTON SPECTATOR,
.sTAUNTON:-
WEDNESDAY. NOVEMBER "a, 1885,
The Late Slave Case.

EnG Late Slasc S6Scs
The recent decision of Judge PAINE of the Su-
peror Court of New York City, in reference to
the slaves of a citizen of Virginia carried to that
port to take passage for Texas, has excited degree
Of feeling among Southern people which Will not
easily be allaycd. We have heretofore given the
leading facts of the case, but the Importance OF the
principle involved justifes brief recapituiatioa
with the addition of some further particulars.
On the 9Th instant Mr.. JONATHAN LENNON
and wife, of Bath County, Virginia, arrived at
New York, with eight slaves-two women, one
man. and five children. The slaves were held by
Mr. LENNON in right of his wife. she having in
herted them from her father, Mr.. DOUGLASS, OF
Allegheny County. They were taken to New
York not for the purpose ofresdng there, but only
to be transferred in the port from one vessel to an
other. The Abolitionists having been advised by
telegraph, it is said, of their coming, had writ OF
habeas corpus prepared and placed in the hands o.
an officer; and the day after their arrival the ne
groes were taken before Judge PAINE and their
liberation demanded on the ground that having
been brought into free State by their owners,
they could not legally be held in slavery. The
case was argued by counsel at great length and
= e',,-lav the 18th, the Judge delivered wiz.
ten opnion eOICIuuIlIS Win Ills judgment ''that
tie eight colored persons mentioned in the writ be
discharged" The counsel for the claimants ask
ed that the slaves might be retained in custody
until writ of error to the Supreme Court could
be obtained; but there was no power or disposition
to do so. and they were carried off in triumph, con-
Quoted by strapping negro called Louis Napo-
leon An appeal may still be takeh, but it can
have no effect in restoring the slaves to theif own
ers, as they were no doubt Immediately concealed
or conveyed beyond the jurisdiction Of the Court
Thus the matter stands. MIR. LENNON has lost
his property, for which there seems to be no rem
dy. A Court of Appeals may reverse the decision
of the inferior Judge, but the slaves gone, and
Judges in this country are not held responsible
pecuniarily for their decisions, as in Norway
hard lis the case of the owners, the consequent
ces to the whole country, likely to ensue, are still
more deplorabe. The Compromise measures, it
was hoped, had settled all matters in controversy
between the two sections of the Union-this affair
has opened new wound which will bleed and
Tester :, .,
Of the injustice of Judge PAINE sdecision there
is but one opinion at the South, and also among
all persons at the North untinctured by fanaticsm.
The decision was professedly based on the statute
law of New York and the law of nature. The
former. however is subordinate to the Constitution
of the United States, and the latter might just as
well be called into requisition to decide mans
right to his horse. If the slaves had been .fagi-
tees the right of the owners to reclaim them would
not have been denied but having been introduced
into the State by the owner, voluntarily, the case,
in the opinion of the Judge, was entirely different.
Had Mr.. LENNON gone to New York for the
purpose of remaining and becominga citizen of the
State, he undoubtedly would have had no right to
retain the slaves in his possession. But he was
there in transiu for abriefperiod, and while there
he and his property were shielded by the Consti-
tuition of the United States, which provides that
'The citizens of each State shall be entitled to all
the privileges and immunities of citizens in the
several States" To get around this clause Judge
PAINE gives it most ridiculous Interpretation, as
serting that its meaning is, that citizen of Viz
rinia while in New York is entitled to ''all the
privileges and immunities" of citizens othe latter
State The absurdity Of the construction is thor.
oughly exposed by the New York Day Book,
which says that according to it, citizen of Vir-
ginia would have right to vote in New York, be
eligible to office, SC.
This act ofjudicial robbery will probably lead to
some retaliatory measures on the part of Virginia
and other States We trust that nothing incon-
siderate will be done by our Legislature, but the
outrage seems to US fully TO justify an act consca-
ting New York vessels, other species of proper
ty, coming within the limits Of the State. The
New York Journal Of Commerce. expresses the hope
that the Legislature of that State will repeal the
statute on which the decision of Judge PAINE was
founded, and also appropriate $4,000 to repay Mr..
LENNON for his losses. In the mean time, the
Journal proposes private subscription of $4,000,
to be refunded by Mr.. LENNON when he shall be
able to dot, and says that $500 have already been
pledged on condition that the whole amount shall
be raised. An act of the Legislature, however,
such as suggested, is the only satisfactory repara-
ton that can be made.