Washington sentinel. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1853-1855, 1855-02-22
Harvard University-The Rejection Of
Judge LOring.

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We take from the New York Day Book of
the 10th inst. the following sound and sensible
article:
Never, we venture to say, has an institu.
ton, the conduct of whose affairs are presumed
to be in the hands Of men of position and in
| telhgence, committed such an act of madness
and insanity as Harvard University in the re-
lection Of Judge Loring, as law lecturer on ac-
count of obedience to the law in demanding
the fugitive slave Burns to his master. What.
ever opinion person may entertain of slavery
abstractly considered, we do not see how his
mind could be so warped as to counenance
disobedience to an express statute enacted by
the people. The very persons who claim the
privilege thus to disobey law, and to persecute
others for not doing the same, are the loudest
in their protestations against those who do not
obey every statute which they consider Just
and proper. A question of fact came before
Judge Loring, upon which he was bound to ex-
press an opinion. He was no more responsible
for the law, whether it were good or bad in his
own estimation, than any other member of So
ciety, and all that was required of him was to
state, in his decision, what the evidence pre-
scented to him proved. A jury is called upon
to decide in regard to certain statements that
may be made before them and not to determine
how the result of those statements shall affect
any particular person or persons. If Jury
take it into their heads to make the law, they
rob the people of their prerogative and assume
responsibility which cannot be shouldered
with impunity. Judge Loring, in his decision
in regard to Burns, merely stated the truth as
the evidence before him proved and as an hon.
est, law-abiding man, he could have done no
less nor no more.
A1thouob ithaca r,pJarnao.ol
SO plain and unequivocal, yet there are found
men-men who claim to possess no trihing
amount of virtue and inteligence-who place
The brand Of Interpretation upon an individual
who has the honesty to stand up for good order
in tho midst of the upheavals Of wildness and
tanaticism, which shake less settled minds about
him.. Judge Lorings position, in our estima-
ton, is one of no ordinary nobility. In imme.
date contact with the most depraved public
sentiment where dreamy distractions and Wis
ionary impracticabities are placed instead of
sound principles Of justice and morality, he
stands as the personihcation of obedience to
law. With whitening rebuke, he can point
them to their own sumptuary acts, and con-
denim them out Of their own mouths. And
yet, with blindness which passes comprehen-
sion, they do not see the inconsistency of their
conduct or the dangerous precedents they are
making for future generations.
The remarkable observation which fanati-
cism or one idea philosophy produces on man.
kind, is one of the most melancholy features of
our time, and never has it been more power.
fully illustrated than in the case now referred
to. 1t forcibly illustrates the great principle
that a course of error always leads to greater
and greater blindness, until the poor victim is
actually bound hand and foot in the prossest
misconceptions. In the formation of opinions, |
as well as in the management of business
affairs, in order to be right we must start |
right. The Abolitionists of Boston have
mounted a hobby of narrow minded philosophy |
which can see no good in society unless it con. |
forms to the strict letter Of their creeds. They |
have ignored the great fountain of truth, and |
in seeking from their own wells and cisterns |
they have fallen into swamps, quagmires, and |
mud holes which has covered them with the |
filthy denominations Of vanity, pride, and con-
ceit. The overseers Of Harvard University |
will, when the age RECEIVERS from its nitrous |
oxyd intoxication be regarded with pity and |
surprise, while the stand taken by Judge Lor.
ing will shine as bright oasis in the midst of |
an age when abstract theories were placed for
real truth, and when common sense was OBJ.
scured by the vain deductions Of human