The national era. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1847-1860, 1855-10-25
THINGS IN PHILADELPHIA.
PHILADELPHIA, Oct. Ia,

PHILADELPHIA, Oct. IA, 1855.
| have been to church this morning, and
heard once more our favorite and favored
preacher. / cannot remember the exact words
of the text 1t was from Isaiah Life" was
the topic The kinds of lives we lead in the
flesh (many of US merely "vegetating," for
the purpose of pampering our animal appe
tites) were the subjects of his animadversions.
OF course he introduced, as he can hardly help
doing, the cause for which he so often pleads,
and so nobly, the cause of Humanity Need
tell you who | mean? There is but one Fur
ness in the length and breadth of this land.
And, to her shame be it spoken, there is none
other, within the skirts of this fair city, who
will dare to preach as he does. The case which
now particularly occupies the public mind
THAT of Passmore williamson he alluded to,
as he does now on every Sunday, beautifully
and powerfully. How fervid was the eloquence
with which he described the life that, despising
every shame, was the only life worth living for
How earnestly he longed that men would learn
to live not for themselves, and how heartfelt
was his "thank God that one such man is
now living but land how deep was his humil-
iaton y that one man is in prisonl" / cannot
follow him in the eloquent appeal for suffering,
bleeding humanity everywhere, which ensued
and, like him, can only "thank God for the
token, that one lip is untrammelled!"
Judge Kane delivered an opinion, on Friday,
in court, refusing the application of Jane
johnson, made through counsel, to be released
from the application of the writ of habeas cor.
pus, which was issued to Passmore Williamson,
commanding him to produce her body, with
others, in court. 1t was this writ, to which
Passmore Williamson made the return that
was decided by the Judge to be contempt,
for ha 10 nod q hot
writ would be step towards his release.
was in court, and heard the whole of the deci-
sion, which was very lengthy, lit has not all
been published, and as false piece of sophism
as ever disgraced bench. By it, Pennsylva-
MIA and every other State in the Union, and
every national jurisdiction on the globe, is slave
territory! Slaves are property, as much so as
horses or cattle, sugar or molasses! and no
State or nation has the right to say what shall
be property in another State, nor can it inter-
fere with the owner in carrying his property
wherever he pleases Thus has the learned
Judge been made to toe the mark, and define
his position, thoroughly and monstrously Pro-
Slavery, and we thank him for the openness of
the avowal, however infamous!
have seen Passmore Williamson frequently,
since my return, in his prison. He appears
cheerful and hopeful, if not for himself. for the
cause. He certainly is firmly determined to
abide his time, without any compromise of his
integrity; and, from an intimate ACQUAINTANCE
OF more than thirteen years with him, can
say that l believe there is no one more free
from a spirit of braggadocio, or a love of no
toriety for martyrdom, for notoriety's sake: and
l know no one who so much despises cant and
hypocrisy as he does. He is true man in CIV.
eIything he does.
The Rum League here was the cause of the
defeat of the Anti Administration ticket, and
we smart under humiliation at the cause. There
seems to me to be a dark day brooding over our
land, when the light of Truth will grow dim,
and be almost entirely extinguished. How
long it may last, God only can tell but, that
it cannot last forever, that a brighter and more
glorious day will follow, no one who has any
faith in the omnipotence of Justice and Truth
can doubt. A long night of persecution fol
lowed the first efforts of the Reformers in Eu
rope. One hundred and ffty-fve years of dark
ness followed the first preaching of Reform by
Wickliffe, before Martin Luther appeared to
the world; and for twenty-five years did ne
labor before an English Bible was printed in
England; and it was not until twenty-one years
later, that John Knox completed the Reforma
ton in Scotland, or nearly two hundred years
after John Wicklitfe asserted that the holy wafer
was not the flesh of Christ.
| John Hampden langaished ten years vic