Anti-slavery bugle. [volume] (New-Lisbon, Ohio) 1845-1861, 1854-07-22
THE KIDNAPpER AND THE CHURCH.

Our readers will rCcollect Commissioner McAllis.
ter, Of Uarrisburgb, Pa, and how with ulacrity no
formerly performed his Office of slave catching. 1t
seems the Government is now deprived of his yal.
liable services, he having, with grent disintcrcstcd.
ness, resigned his commission, that he might tho
moro effectually sctvc the Church. j. MILLER
Mckls, the Philadelphia correspondent Of tho
OF the Anti-Slavery Standard, gives the following
account Of the affair
MAllister is Il member and IN ofice-bcarer in
inc episcopal Church, and the reasons Of his resig-
nation were of n religious character. not TINT Io
had any computations Of conscicnce-this was not
to be expccted-nor that the duties Of his Office
were at all repugDant to his feelings. Ouite the
contrary lie was unembarra ssed by INV scruples
ms once was we'll adapted to his particular turn Of
MIND, and the associations into which he was
thrown in the performance Of its duties seemed To-
be very much to his taste. In fact, the office was
the only one in which he had ever succeeded in
distinguishing himself. By this it is not denied
that he performed crclitably enough the duties of
LAY Reader, q position which, for a while, he occu-
pied but this secured him no distinction outside
OF the Church. The exercise of his prcrogativcs
rs Slave Commissioner gave him, on the contrary,
a very conspicuous place before the public. 1t was
a position, however, which others thought an un-
%enviablc one. The people considered his official
acts as atrocious, and the man himself they ies.
N NY NNShii u oBDih NHtillob Nv
Church Of which he was an officer; the character
of that body for respectability was in jeopardy, and
Tears were entertained of injury to its temporali-
ties. One man, on being solicited by the minister
to take a pew in the Church, fatty refused, saying
he would not disgrace himself by going to n Church
where Dick MAllister was Il Vestryman. This
was a state of affairs that required alteration. 1t
was resolved, ut the next election, that the obnox-
lous officer should not bc re-chosen. But to this
arrangement The Slave Commissioner was not con
Senting. a lively canvass cnsued, the result Of
which was thHt the Slave Commissioner was re-
elected by n majority of one vote. This led to in
creased excitement, and some disahection and
serious evils for awhile were threatened but they
were averted by one of those happy compromises
for which the people of this country are so famous
in an emergency. This was, that Mr.. M'Allister
should retain without molestation his Office as Yes
tryman, but should give up that of Commissioner
This arrangement was adopted M'Allister re-
signed his commission, and the Church is now at
peace.
As an additional item in this connection | NAV
mention that the cause of slavc-catching in Harris
burg has suffered another loss in the exile of Dep
putty Marshal Saunders. That functionary, not
finding enough to do in the regular course Of bust
ness, undertook a job on his own account and was
indicted for kidnapping. lie has not been able to
return to the State for more than n year, for fear of
the penitcntiary.