Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1855-09-27
For the Chfonice
Illinois Correspondence.
Catching RUNAWAY Slaves. --S'avsry.--lnt;m'
perance. Afo'qaito,S.- Country, cis.

NOR this morning. so much sn that hoVo
commenced at !he wrong end OF my letter.
But must let OFF or III burst, and SO you
need not be surprised If say something out.
rsgeou: before get though. will antici.
pate your inquiry-What's the matter!-
We'll, sir. have seen matter enough" this
morning Tor vulume-matters enough to
excite any lover of "equal 6nd exact justice
to all men"-mattcr enough to excite the
sympathy of every philanthropist aud Chris
'ian--matter enough to call out the con-
demnation OF all Ia nest men-to call down
the curse of high heaven and to sh ck even
the devil in atroC'y. A human being, with
a hear, a he I'd and a SOUL chneted and lii up
by all the tender feelings and affections COM
mon TO humanity, and through whose veins
courseth the warm blood Of life, was about
dPylight, assuiled here in this town. by boy
and buldog-yes, young American and
an cd fOgy OF the canine race;-forbid to
proceed on his way--tlken by a band of ruf-
fans, in the shape Of ,Giiie men, and brutally
and cutragrousy thrust into Jail, to there
await in hunger and agony the execution or
the majestic law, or the orders of person
somewhere III the chivalrous South. This is
no fancy sketch that am writing, nor We; is
it a tragedy. but the simple story of a poor
mans wrongs. What was this mans CRIME,
He was fleeing from s'avery--tbe common
curse of the white ard black mai. And had
he not right To lre! Had not the children
OF Israel right to escape from the tyranny
o! Egyptian bondage! The answer of the
last viii equally answer that of the first. |
am o higher laws a5vocO e, nor yet would
, seek t. be an "agitator;" but shrink in
dspust from both the advocacy of that Z" low
er law" that permits dirty, mean white men
to catch decent runaway slaves, and the po-
Sllon of a 9 conservatives The gap between
the North and South is already vide enough
aud yet retain the union of the States, and as
love my country. would not add anything
, ID widen tI'' already dangerous gulf Without
just cause; but cannot find it within me,
to stand by aud see every principle of Justice
and the dearest rights Of man deliberately
and outrageuusNy viola ed, without raising
my voice against it. / say it was in violation
OF every principle of justIce--and it was. 1t
was done wi hout the orders of any officer of
any description. and without the known wish
or consent Of his master. ut it il useless
to talk about il. it is a common occurrence:
this is the socnnc slave that has been caught
since nave been here (four wpeks.) But it
certainly reflects no honor ON those CONCERN
ed in il, but is surely IA mark of the deepest
and darkest dcpraviiy. Such men bear their
insignia in their faces, aud the iackaSs is not
! less perfectly and easily distinguished ty his
ears, than the sIave-catcher by his sheep.
thief cUun'Cnance.
the desire to be free is, in some cases,
equal and in most cases stronger, than that
of life; and the man that would of choice.
make his busnps, to hunt and carry back
into slaver;, the poor fugitive, deserves to be
hanged on gibbet higher Than ii mans to
be there left to feed the yuure, that his 6l.
thy carcass migrt not curse the earth, and
that his dangling skeleton might be more
than an earthly warning to human depravity.
fon know that my views on this subj ect hith-
erto, have been through democratic glass. I
hold and revere the d rctrines of the immor-
tai Jefferson, aud can never for moment be-
| ieve that he ever taught or sanctioned such
a dnstnr lily mean doctrine as lhat uf slave.
catching NV doctrine hereafter will be:
Hep that free ,ciich is free. | have SAID that
Slav'ry is ii curse to the white man, and this
will b. plain TO every one that has seen as
much Of the influence Of slavery a. hlve.-
( 1t is deg aiing, >oca and morally, it
robs man OF that spirit OF progress md enter
prise that 20 emnently characterizes the
AHgI"-S xon race, and especially the Yankee
of the North.
: But hive dwelt on this long en"ugh, SO
| stop to tell youth Intemp"rance goes
hand in hand with SIavery;-rhey are twin
6rn'herS-the royal sons Of Ig ,orance and
/ ldIeness. There is no IN stalking either ,heir
relationship or genraogy; and under the
stronr light Of enlightened Chrsliani v, all
their habits a d hnunts. with their influences
and conditions, are perfectly apparent -
T,is hr curse "i S 'u'hrrn Illinois: and it
is rntirc,y owing to the besotied habits of the
original settlers. who generally hail from the
Slave Srr'cs- Tennessee and Nurlh CaroIi-
m Bnt the Yankees are fast roofing them
out, aud hope to soon see Sourhern Illinois
redeemed from its Egyptian darkn SIS.
| This country j. well adapted TO agriculture,
and i properly cultvtted would soon be in as
IL 'urishng condition as its northern nerh-
bors. II is heavily timhprrd, nut poorly wa.
tered; contains iron aud lead ures, and rr3.
hablv al | have soma o, o,iactions to the
conntry, the principal of which are, IN, long
rains and drouths that alternate each other,
rendering the climate somewhat unpleasant.
Another objection is, the millions os mosqui-
toes that live down here, and prey upln iel-
low when he is asleep. The mosquito, 2
supp ,se, belongs to the gnat tribe, and is a
regular descendant of one Nathaniel He ia
very pretty bird, as P ,ddy says, but he has
divil of sharp nose, and is remarkable for
singing "that same old tune" 1t is suppos-
! posed that it is rdtional air on the Mosqui-
to coast. The mosq lioes down here are not
as large as some that have heard of-being
as large as geese, and carrying brick to
whet their bi Is wilh--they are something
/ less than a canary. They have curious
way Of catching Them down here:-A trap,
called the canopy. is s"t, and a MN is put in
for n 'it-(a sweet sixteen, with rosy cheeks
and pouting lips, is said TO be Ihe bcst.) l
81, L,t Al