Anti-slavery bugle. [volume] (New-Lisbon, Ohio) 1845-1861, 1857-06-13
From the N. Y. Tribune.
~PR0.SLAVERY GAGS.

ELKroN, Cecil Co., Nd, May q, 1857,
At the April term of the Circuit Court of Dor.
chester County (Md.). Sam Green, a free negro,
was tried for having in his possession certain in
c~endiary papers, &c., and thus aiding slaves to es-
cape. 1t appears that a volume of Uncle TOMS
Cabin" q map of Canada, several schedules of
routes to the north, and a letter from his son ian
absconded slave) who is in Canada, &c, were found
in his house, but for some cause or other the Court
hold that the lag nnder which he was indicted
Was not applicable TO the case, and he Was accord
|iagly acquitted. he Was then immediately ii.
raigned upon another ndictment-for having in
his possession "Uncls Tome ~Oabiu"-tried, con.
victed and sentenced to ten years imprisonment
in the penitentiary. Upon this conviction The
EHton Cecil co., Democrat Of the 3d.. inst, thus
editorially comments:
This is the second evidence within our know
ledge under the act forbiddiDg the circulation of
incendiary publications in Maryland. If Uncle
TOMS Cabin comes under this class of publica.
tons, a number of our most respectable citizens
are liable to the fate Of Green. The law in CUES
tion is exceedingly stringent on this point, and it
becomes our citizens generally to acquaint them
selves with its provisions. 1t will be remembered
that a newspaper in a neighboring state THE
Blue Hens Chtcken) fell under its ban, and the ed
itor dared not come into this county. THE New
YORK TRIBUNE, it is said, would also be prohibited
from circulating here, if the law were duly enforc.
ed and it has been said, in The Worcester Shield
lhaI ceitaih iaupuage VI 4 ne NeU- ORR CnrtStiQH
AdUocdte dsd Journal in reference to the bred Scott
case. is regarded in that quarter as 'incendiary,
and intimation of legal process limited at. The
provisions of this Law ought to be correctly under
stood by all who are in the receipt of Abolition
phamphlets or newspapers. or they might unwit
tingly fall into tronble."
THE Democrat is somewhat out in regard to its
law, as the act of Assembly under which Green
was convicted is that of 1871, and does not refer OF
all to the whites. 1t declares that if any free ne.
gro or mulatto shall knowingly call for, demand or
receive have in his or her possession, any Adolf
ton handbill, pamphlet, newspaper. pictorial rep
resentation, or other paper of an in1amatory char
acter, having a tendency to create discomfort
among or stir up to instruction the people Of col.
or IN this State, he or she shall be deemed guilty
of felony, and shall upon conviction, be sentenced
to not less than ten nor more than twenty years
imprisonment in the Penitentiary. We have O
law however-that of 1S35-which declares it a
for any person knowingly to circulate among the
thereof any pictorial representation
or any pamphlet newspaper, handful or other pa
per, printed or written, of an infamatory charac-
or calculated to create discomfort and stir up
to Instruction the people of color of this State; or
for any citizen to make print or engrave any pic
torial representations; or to write or print any pam
newspapers, ~handbill, or other paper of an
nature, &C.. and any one, upon the
of such ofense, shall be sentenced TO
not less than ten or more then twenty years i'm.
prisonment N the Penitentiary.
These you will see, are pretty stringent laws,
both upon white and black men, and tho only
question about which there is any doubt, is as to
what constitutes "infamatory," or as the phrase
now is, "incendta,y" matter. If nigger-driviug
juries and newspapers in the interests Of Pro-Slave
ry party leaders are TO settle the matter for us, and
tell us that "Uncle Toms Cabin" "THE N. Y.
TRIBUNE" Christian Advocate and Journal" &C.,
and included in the category, we may soon expect
to be placed under the ~strictest surveillance and to
have a petty lickspittle officer sneaking into all our
houses to ascertain whether we are engaged in
reading or writing incendary articles. And that
there are plenty Of men among US who would like
to see such laws rigidly enforced cannot be doubt.
ed for a moment. The quotation which we have
given from The Democrat, shows conclusively
that if such laws are not in high favor with the
editor, he hasn't the courage to denounce or say
aught againt them. He thinks them all right
The case Of "The Blue HENS Chicken" referred
to-, occurred some seven years ago, when the ex
Hon. Ezekiel f. Chambers, q violent Pro.Slavery
fanatic. was on the bench. At the April 1850
Term of the Circuit Court for this Cecil County,
the editor, William T.. Jeandell, was indicted for
circulating incendiary publications, but Governor
Thomas refused 10 demand him. At the following
October Term this Indictment was quashed, and a
new one found, but the Governor again refused
to demand ~Jeandell, and intimated that prosecu-
tons under such indictments wouldn't pay. The
people since then have permitted the Hon. Ezekiel
to retire to the shade Of private life. where his mig
ger-driving proelivites cannot work 80 much iniu-
ry to the community. But while such tyrannical
laws remain on our statute books. and while such
as tho Judge, who think las ! heard him remark a