Lewisburg chronicle. [volume] (Lewisburg, Pa.) 1850-1859, 1855-08-31
Senator Sumner TO PaSsmore Williamson
LsLE SUPERIOR, OF board TEI NosTn STAR,
Saturday, Aug. II, 1853


Saturday, Aug II, 1855 !
My DEAR SIR: With astoIishment
and indignation 1 have learned the story
of your Imprisonment, and now, from this
distant retreat, where l am for the moment,
l mako haste to send you my sympathy.
From beginning to end-from side to
side, snd in every aspect-this transaction
can be regarded only as clear, indubitablc
and utterly unmitigatcd outrage. The
new-fanglcd doctrine, that sla7e-masser
can voluntarily import his alleged slave
of course with all the revolving incidents
Of Slavcry-into the Free States, is not
more odious than it is preposterous. 1t is
secuted by reason and disowned by univer-
sal jurisprudence. You were right in dis
regarding it. In stepping forward to re-
mind persons, claimed as slaves on this
pretcxt, that all such claim is baselsss, you
did good work. 1t was this knowledge
which filed them with confidence to regain
their God-given liberty. And for this it
appears that you have been brought before
a man who, dressed in little brief au-
thority," has cast you into prison. This
outrage is rendered more outrageous BY the
way in which it was done.
1t was perPctIated through the perver-
sion of the great writ Of habeas corpus.
This writ Of freedom and del;ycrancc,
which in England has often been styled
tho palladium of the Constitution-which
is recognized as a distinctive feature Of
Constitutional Government-which fnds
NO place in dcspotism, and which is the
very master-kcy appointed to unlock pris-
on-doors and let the oppressed 60 free
has been made in your case, by hocus-
pocus without precedent tne instrument
of Imprisonment and oppression.
Strange and disgraceful as all this is, it
must bo considered as the natural fruit OF
Slavery. Any person, whosoc7er he Lay
bc-whctLcr simple citizen or magistrate
who undertakes to uphold this wrong,
seems forthwith to lose his reason. He
may bo just, humane and decent in other
things, but in the support Of Slavery hc
becomes unjust, inhuman and indecent
often in obvious Inconsistencies of his de-
gradstion. Tie blindness which makes
him insens;5!, to wrong so transccndent,
naturally makes him insensib.e to the les
scr wrong by which it is maintained.
What is the writ Of habess corpus,th trial
by jury, the privilege Of debate, or your
liberty OK mine, in the estimation of per-
son who has already screwed himself to
the pitch of Injustice necessary for the
vindication Of an institution which scpa-
rates parent and child-which stamps wo-
man as . concubine-Which shuts the
gates Of knowledge, and which snatches
from the weak oil the hard-carned fruits Of
ncessant toil2
But there must be an end to these
:hings and as Shakespeare found q jewel
IN the toad's head, SO do find cheering
,men even in the injustice which has made
7ou its victim. There is an old saying
handed down from distant antiquity, that
Whose the gods wish to destroy they first
make mad )" and l have often of late been
by its truth. The Slave dig
Ircby is mad, and their overfowins mad
lcss runs through every agent and tool.
N all that they do-especially in the Flu
,itive Slave bill and is cruel enforcement,
he Nebraska bill and its felonious sdmi- /,
,istration, an6 now in the imprisonment
# an uuoifending citizen! rejoice to be-
ieye tina. there is sunm:s.aka6l, evidence Of
hat madness which precedcs fall. We
.ily the day is at hand when returning
usticc viii once more bear sway; then,
Imong the triumphs of Freedom, will be
reckoning with unjust judges.
Meanwhile accept my congratulations on
he portion Of responsibility and dignity, !
which is yours. 1t is a privilege to suffer
or truth and l envy no. the meanness Of
hat soul which would hesitate to prefer
Jour place within the stone walls Of pri
on to the cushioned bench of the magis-
rate BY whose irrational and tyranical
dict you have been condemned.
Believe me, my dear sir, with much rc-
ard, Very truly yours,
CHARLES SUMNER.
PassmoreWilliamson, Moyamensing Pri-
on, Philadelphia.
SWe learn that the Mitiiinburgers