Litchfield enquirer., 1858-10-14
THE SLAYER ECHO
From the London Times, Sept. 21.

From the London Times, Sept. 21.
 The Americans are trying "to do it them serves" Theyhave taken tteir maritime po- ice iiito thelr own hands, and are enjoying sweet experience of it's troubles and it's cost AS nation. we are bound to honor the iude- pendence, the self-respect and the love of work
 "hich nave stirred them at last to vndicate the honesty of their own flag for themselves. A child Of any spirit will do things for itself as soon as 1t can. At the earliest opportunity it Will emanclpate itself from the rough nterfer- ence of the blowsy servant girl with it's cloth ing, its washing, it's feeding and whatever ese is done for helpless little mortals. Sick of the menacing call, Master Johnny" the sure pre- face Of pull, rub with wet towel on the face and ears, violent investiture with sort of straight waistcoat, or the attempt to force half dumpng down his throat, Master on- ny screams defiance, and asserts the right of independent action. What if he upsets the basin, or tears his pinafore, or sends his pud- ding down his dress He is learlliug experi- ence, and will be handy in time--all the hand
 CT for having begun soon. The Americans don't Ike to have their national flag washed and secured iu the British laundry. Their feeling is that of the outlying hamlet in our own country, which the policeman has been rcqucs- ted to keep his eye upon. What if there be a poacher or two among them, that is no reason why the whole stree should be reduced to the condition of penal colony. But with me- Dolphin of the United States Navy, has just captured off the coast of Cuba slave brig with 3l4 Africans on board, the survivors of 455 who had left the mouth of tile Congo seven weeks before. The slayer first showed bad conscience by flying when none pursued then betrayed it's quality by dodging, under the be- lief that the Dolphin was British vessel then put on bold face by running up the Stripes and Stars and then had no resource but to surrender to what it now found to be States brig. Every shift had been exhausted Never was case clearer. The original name of the ship had been covered, and Echo" substitu- ted for open sea use. There was no captain or officer who professed to be in command, but mere gang of esperadoes--Grcck, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish and English of course not Americans. The Africans were on board, most of them mere lads, or even children, rot ting on the slave deck, the whole three hundred d in space which we shonld think incompatible wifh life even for an hour but for the experi- ence of a London reception" All was man- fest all was confessed the history of the voyage all known to day. Thus the United States had done their dut-, hunted down a irst-rate offender, and caught it fairly between thumb and fore-fnger
 But what was now to be done? Had the Echo been in the possession of blunderng British captain, trying in vain to decipher some rigmarole instructions drawn in by our Foreign Office, his mind wandering alternately to Ex- eter-Hali and the New York papers, we might have expected him to get into q muss of some sort. But this captain was an American, and of course knew how to do it. What did he do, then? He ran at once, with his 3l4 coal black, crisp-haired young savages, into the port of Charleston, South Carolina, where, by the State law, every black found iu the territory is declared slave. Such of our readers as have made it their special care to rcckcn up our diff ferences with Brother Jonathan will remember that on the arrival of every British ship ill the harbor of Charleston, she is boarded, and every black or colored person found in her is taken ashore and lodged in jail, only to be returned on board at the instant of sailing. By this law, which is much cherished and has often been loudly vndcatcd at Charleston as the palladium of the State, the whole of the 3l4 Africans ought to have been taken into the custody of the State. The Sheriff aud his le- gal advisers went even further According to their interpretation of the stern code of South Carolina. the Africans ought to have been de- clared slaves, and, we presume, sold accord ingly to the highest bidder The Attorney General, however, and the legal representatives of the Federal Union, gave the more mercful ard more reasonable opuion that the Africans were in the custody of the Federal authorities and that the State had nothing to do with them. Possession" they say, |" is nine points of the law," and, as the American captain had them actually under his flag, deck, and guns, that was substantial avermeut which it might have been difficult to dispose of So, what was the United States to do with them, now its right was establishedl The Charleston people had made the discovery that the poor darkies themselves did not want to go back to Africa. We can easily believe it. They had been hunted up from 500 miles in the interior how many had died before they were collected in the barracoon. no one can tell they had then suffered the middle passage" in all it's aggravated horrors, and now at length they were enjoying repose, plenty, kindness. and all that could win their simple hearts. They de- clared the coast of South Carolina to be just like that they had left they saw the green fields and the palm trees, and wished to remain where they were. We'll, perhaps it might have been best for them, after all Who can say for certainty? philauthropist, no orator. no Mrs. Beecher Stowe, will follow them into that space where they are now to disappear, and tell us their long future. The United States Government. it seems, has resolved to do its best for them, by sending them to Libe- ria in the far-famed Niagara a very grand, and as our own Navy will think, very singn- lar escort for three hundred and fourteen
 young niggers s-fed, Uttered, washed, and even