Anti-slavery bugle. [volume] (New-Lisbon, Ohio) 1845-1861, 1858-05-29

was more than court OF iustico-immediat
lily serve it, under penalty of $1,000. (Othc
sections were reviewed.)
In the last section it is provided, that any whit
Imam can sit down before any Court in Georgia, an
} swear that he has lost black man with certai
marks upon him.-his nose uncommonly Hat, hi
, shns having unusually rotund cucumbe
! curve or any other mark by which tho defendant
of Ham can be distinguishod-an having swor
to this, with one to crcss examine him or detcC
his perjury if he commits it, the Court sets il
! broad seal to It, and he comes to Cincinnati
appears before Mr.. Commissioner Newhal, gets
warrant, and goes out into the streets to find
} man who answers to his description,
Mr.. Corwin commented sharply upon the inc
quality of such law which placed the whole
S. army, navy and treasury at tho disposal of
slave owner to recapture bis property. lie though
it monstrous, although Necessary, because whe
men sought power which God Almighty had noye
given, they had to maintain it by means. lie ha,
, never sanctioned.
The law was to be obeyed but if anything more
were to be conceded by the North ho didn't know
what it was to be. lie contended for the stric
Interpretation Of the law, and reasoned from thu
plain meaning of the clause referred to above, tina
it was the same as-"so that he shall prerent dc. ,
1t is conceded he said, by the prosecutor and by
the Judge, that you may give food to the hungry
and shelter to those who need it, Here, Mr.
Corwin paused to take up his glass Of water, but
Immediately put it down, and lifting up his voice
till it rang through the room, he said, with his
eyes flashing, and his form erect. l don't care
what may be the opinion of the prosecutor. No
matter what it may be. There is no law that shall
prevent me from doing as the Great Father conn
mands, give bread to him who needs it, and to the
weary man shelter from the storm. (Clapping of
hands, which was promptly checked by the Court J
This you may do, and not aid and abet him to es
capo. If slave crawl up to you if he have n
lwife-slaves have wives: it is said that slaves
have hearts and afectons--Judge Mclean says
they have souls, but that is not clear under the
laws of Kentucky; Qaughter) it such an ami
NAL creeps to the poorest man in Ohio, who sup
ports himself by his daily labor, to the
residence of the richest man, and says, 81 am
fleeing from my master; have been without food
for days hunger has reached out its skinny finger
and clutched my throat give me food and let me
rest"-there is no law so punish him who does it
unless he hurries him away from his master. |
may take the vilest thief that haunts the cutters
of your city, when he has broken from the Peni-
tentiary and feed him till he is fat, and there is
no law to punish me.
Shall it be said that man aids tho fugitive to
escape, because he does not suffer him to starve
Shall twelve honest men of high morality, imbued
with the spirit of Christianity, punish man who
has obeyed the direct precepts of Jesus of Naza-7
reth =? There is no such law There never was !!
No stakeholder could enact such o law. 1t is i'm
possible
In the 2Gth or 9th chapters of Matthew, you
will find that when we come to stand before the
great Judge. He will say to the good Because ye
have given me bread and water and shelter, have
done just what Connolly did. 90 to my right hand
among my sheep-to the others. Depart, because
ye have not done it. This doctrine has been taught
in your Sunday Sohools--there is not girl II
years old in the city. who has not read it, it has
become incorporated in your community, and shall
it be pretended that there is q law to forbid this
Why, what a strange anomaly would Church
be, founded on the other principle The parson
would say, because you have starved q man, ye
shall 90 away into everlasting life. By this shall
We know that We have passed from death unto lie,
because you have killed Il niger Shall it be
pretended that q law can be made commanding us
to violate. not Christianity only, but the common
feelings OF humanity a? Let it not DC believed till
the gentleman Mr.. Matthews) has gone to his
grave, with solemnties which he never could have
had if hespropagated such internal doctrine.
APPEAL TO THE JURY.
There nre some principles which you should
under stand. You should know that it requires
more proof to establish matter the criminal
side of Court than on the civil To convict a man
you need stronger evidence than you do to estab-
lish fact about property. After enlarging sOme'
what upon this point, he continued-ln that old
country whence the trial by jury it is Gus
tom for the judge TO require the prisoner TO hold
up his hand he says guilty not guilty, and the
judge too holds up his hand and when the prisoner
says not guilty, utters prayer that the right may
prevail. In some sort Of approximation to the way
in which the law is to be applied to us arc we to
apply it to others. Mercy must be mingled in the
cup of Justice. Are we not taught that when
the wings of the cherubim that shielded the altar
were folded up, Mercy was found on the right
hand and Justice on the left 4? While exercising
the solemn prerogatiyes of the ]aw-giver. let us
tha Of ma nd
if we find that wrong has been committed but
through mistake, let not enforce the letter that
killeth, but resort to the spirit that makeh alive
All the proof of the guilt of the defendant up
to his two letters here produced, is that the two
negroes were found in room sometimes occupied
BY the accused and that he was sometimes found
there. If there is anything else it must be the
testimony Of Mr.. Riley, who two days before the
negroes were discovered. saw Connolly going
through tt streets with some bread and some
other articles rolled up in newspaper of which
he and his brother were to make their supper, the
the exigencies Of their calling requiring them to
work early in the evening and preventing their
going to their usual meal.
There is nothing beyond this but his voluntary
letters DO these look as if my client were dis
honorable or dishonest in his motives? In them
he appeals to the secret knowledge which he knew
the Prosecuting Attorney must have that the man
who discovered him was the one who got away
the negroes
Mr.. Corwin explained the letters and Connellys
conduct on the.hypothesis that he was the victim
of conspiracy among some of the Marshas,
whose speculations in the Gaines case he had been
instrumental in exposing. One of these men hav
ing decoyed away the slaves, asks Connolly to let
them go to his room, with that generous. reckless
confidence which he gives every one, he answered
Yes. Then this perhdious rascal. this scoundrel,
goes to Col. Wthers-there's a feller by the name
of Connolly, who reports for newspaper that's got
your niggers. But you mustn't tell who told you,
and Col. Withcrs promises never to reveal it.
Why does that villain skulk from public observa-
ton if he only revealed the whereabouts Of some
fugitves? You lawyers understand why. Does
innocence shun tho light is willing to be
known. All this the United States Government
knew ; the District Attorney knew the Marshals
knew. l ask you whether the Government Of the
United States is likely to add to its lustre by en-
ploying liars spios, common informers to execute
its great purposes Of preserving the entirety unity
and harmony OF the Republcf