Anti-slavery bugle. [volume] (New-Lisbon, Ohio) 1845-1861, 1855-08-04
THE WHEELER SLAVE CASE.

h WHEELER SLAVE CASE.
Judge Kane has carried himself through this
case so that he cannot fail to receive the loudcst
of slave ~cOtchers' lie has adroitly pros
titutcd that terror Of kidnappcrs, the writ of ha.
bear corpus, to purposes of slave catching and to
tho imprisonment Of the Friends of freedom. No
judicial tyrant ever more outrag9ously abused his
power than he has d%one-none ever offered a eros-
scr insult to the people and moro condemned their
personal liberties than he has done in the case Of
Passmore Williamson.
Mr.. Williamson was brought before Judge Kane
on tho 9th ult., for a hearing on two charges, con-
tempt of court and perjury! 1t is alleged the Of.
fences were committed in Mr.. Williamson's return
to the writ Of lIabeas corpus, that the slaves he
was commanded to bring into Court were not and
had never been in his custody. The charge for
perjury was not prosecuted. A conviction would
be tedious and perhaps doubtful. For contempt,
Judge Kane could punish more summarily. So
this charge was selected for punishment, and Mr..
Williamson hurried off to Jail for. telling the liter
al truth, his judicial prosecutor knowing it to be
such. Such perversion of j~ustice-such outrage
of personal liberty ought to start the moral dull
ness of even Pennsylvania hunkers. Where are
'hS D'utO Va tuhcO uiIlu ! hUeTe Is D0r
self respect? Docs she intend to submit quietly
to the slave laws of North. Carolina and the Dis.
trict Of Columbia, and let her own citizens lie in
jail at the bidding of the slave power, for rescu-
ing the widow and the orphan from the grasp of
their m~erciless oppressor? Her Courts ought to
vindicate the writ of habeas corpus and assert
their independence by releasing Mr.. Williamson
without delay. They have clearly the right and
it is clearly their duty SO to do.
The ridiculous charge of highway robbery on
which several colored men were arrested has been
abandoned by the Prosecuting Attorney. But the
Magistrate has required them to give bail for
their appearance for trial on the charge of riot
three of them in the sum of $1,000 and three also
in the sum of $500 each.
The Cayuga Chief discourses scnsibly on this
subject. Miss Emma Brown, its home editor, has
a heart that beats for freedom.
1t appears that one of our foreign ministers, a
Mr.. Wheeler, of North Carolina has got into a
difficulty with some of the colored people of Phil
~adelphia. While waiting for a boat, some colored
gentlemen robbed him Of his jewls,-that is three
slaves. If anything could disgrace our country,
since the annexation of Texas, the sending slave
holders with their slaves, to foreign courts, would
be the surest way to effect that object. 1t certain.
ly must give the poor, oppressed foreigners, an
exalted opinion Of our republ can Institutions
Such functionaries should carry along with them
as a part Of their outfit, their handouts, gads
and dirks. This would enable them to give the
| foreign heather, some practical lectures on North
American freedom. We rejoice in the nerve of
the blacks, in s%natching the helpless victims from
a high government pet, though we should not
wonder if Gen. Pierce should send on the big
a ships of war to play Grey T0wn with the old Qua.
e kcr City. We rejoice at every rupture on the sla-
] very question:. w q arc NOT ono Mt those who aru
peace, when there is no peace. We can see no
. peace or prosperity for the north, save in a total
+ and irreyersible dissolution of the Union. Tho
constitution as far as the South is concerned, has
T. long been n dead letter. Its provisions have been
secuted and repudiated, except so far as it was
= binding upon the North. No law, compact or COM
c promise, has any binding effect upon the South,
e provided it in the least interferes with their idol
= institution. No northern man with northern opin-
ions, can safely travel in southern territory. And
had the disgraceful outrages in Kansas, been per-
petrated by subjects Of a foreign nation, instead
e of southern ruiians, the whole country ere this
would have been in arms to avenge the wrong.
C We repeat, that we look with increased hope
. upon every succeeding rapture, for although the
North generally comes out second best, yet every
outrage arOuscs a moro united and determined
Sc spirit in the breast of our hardy yeomanry, and
to fate points uuerringly to the future, when defeat
j. and disaster, shall oyertake and abide with the
discounted and ~disgraced Oligarchs Of the South
t "Those whom the Gods design to destroy, they
first make mad" In their murderous war with
III Mexico. their constant aggressions upon the North
10 and their rapacious g~rasping for Cuba, and Other
- slave territory, the South have shown themselvei
We mad, and have Justly incurred the hate and abhor
m renee of every friend OF freedom in the civilized
h. world. We so for arming the colored portion o
4 our population, and sending volunteers armed t.
" the teeth, TO meet their bowie-knife rufians in Kan
u sas. Not another fugitive should be sent South
u under any circumstances, or pretense whatever
As And if slave holders with their blood-hounds an,
n northern lackeys, are caught this side the line
" slave-hunting, their own prescription of LyncJ
and feathers, should de applied literally to thei
ciivalrous backs. The sooner matters are brough
to a crisis, the better for the North, and the world