Anti-slavery bugle. [volume] (New-Lisbon, Ohio) 1845-1861, 1859-04-30
THE following letter came to hand at Too lsto an hour for In
ssrton In last weeks paper1
RESCUE TRIALS.
PARKER PILLSBURY.

DEAR BENZ: l presume that before this reaches
YOU, you will be in possession Of fuller and later
news as to the "Rescue Trials than / am inform.
ed of, as l am now in the State Of New York
more than a hundred miles further from Cleveland
than you are,-and, as l am remote from railroads
and mails, cannot know, at present, what is the
result of the trial, which l presume by this time
that you do.
When last / reported to you, Mr. Riddle had com.
menced his argument for the defence, which he con.
cluded the next day in the afternoon, having spoken
over four hours and a halt in oil, in very abs
and mastery manner, his speech Astounding in gilt:
lSerhng powers Of rhetoric and splendid passages Of
heroic and pathetic eloquence. lie argued tho
Higher Law" position very ably, and denied that
1t was treason to governmental allegiance to DO Q
Higher Law man, and said that the man who
secuted and ridiculed the Higher Law, and who
did not acknowledge and oct with true allegiance
thereto was neither a good man nor an honest mani
His ground was, that in agreeing to be bound
by the to,cer taU, we agreed to live up to it, or re-.
ceiUc the penalty, if we choose, or duty called on
us to violate it; which seems to me q very unsound
position, for no government would feel itself safe
in receiving such n qualified allegiance. The oath
to support the Constitution and laws, is to support
them, and not to break them at pleasure and receive
the penalty.
Bat take his position ms correct. Why docs not
he, for his clients, who have beyond the shadow Of
doubt, set the low at defiance, in spirit, and in fact
and in letter too, plead guilty, and ask for q son!
tence Of punishment, instead of laboring to show
that through some informality or legal bubble
they may escape from the penalty which they have
agreed to receive, and which, as good citizens they
ought not to decline. But after all, he said that
statute laws mus. be executed, even if they violat.
ed the Higher Law. But such violated laws mus,
be clearly shown acd definitely established, which
had not been the case here, for the Indictment did
not claim that John was held to Bacon's service
in Kentucky under the laws thereof which was
the language of the Constitution and also Of The
act oil793 to which the act Of 1850 was but An
amendment; and. although the act of 80 did no,
contain this language, yet as it was an amendatory
act, the language of the original act should be
used in the indictment and the laD under which
claim of service was made should be shown and
proved in court before the court could know .hss
he was legally held to Bacon's service, which had
not been done in this case.
He next claimed that the Power of Attorney
was not shown to be legally acknowledged as the
D assistant clerk of the court was not shown 20 b.
o legally authorised to act at all, and even if i. was
I shown that he was a legal officer of the court, il
did not follow that under the law of 80 he could
n discharge the functions that the law allowed only
the clerk to perform therefore, he held tho Pow.
a er of Attorney under which the indictment claim.
ed the arrest and holding. to be invalid.
u But the arrest and holding were not at all under
this document, but Under o writ of commission
and by a Deputy Marshall, which the Indictment
wholly ignored, and although the Deputy had been
summoned as a witness, and was in attendance he
had not been put on the stand.
lie then argued that the arrest was illegal, cont
>, trary to the form and spirit Of law, iahuman ADD
brutal in its inception, and execution ard com.
j., mented with terms Of just severity upon tho do.
. pravity of the boy of II years of age, Shakespeare
); Boynton, who with a lie in his mouth, went at the
y instigation and under the bride of Jennings to do.
:. coy John into the hands of the kidnappers, and
when the first lie failed him, he came back and
invented another, which Jennings accepted, and
!, he started again, and this time securing John. in.
vented still another lie to keep him in company
till the kidnappers should arrive and secure their
prey.
! The conflicting evidence on the point of identity
was next argued. The claim was for a "copper"
y colored negro, five feet eight or ten inches high,
weighing $50 to ITO pounds" and Bacon though,
he might weigh ITO to $50, while the evidences
showed that the man seized was black five feet,
four or fce inches high, and weighed from 100 TO
40 pounds, and so, evidently. was not the man
Bacon bad lost. The evidence tina, Joha, after bis
seizure, admitted that he was the man, and was
willing to 60 back, were not TO be taken. for he wal
In durance. and under fear Of the revolvers and
knives of his captors could be made to say apy.
>, thing they chose.
The people of Oberlin, supposing a freeman had
been kidnapped contrary to law. rushed to the res.
az cue, without concert or combination, as people
o, naturally would and ought to do. They had nc
knowledge that John ives legally held to Bacon's
lie service, that these men legally represented Bacon,
or that there was anything but an illegal kidnsp,
of ping of the man, as he claimed and argued VA,
h the fact.
Of Speaking Of the wickedness and ~inhumasitv Al
nd the law of 80, he said that if a fugitive slave cam,
err to him for shelter, food ard relief, that in spits .
nd and against oil laws that could be made he woul
as aid him, so help him the living God! Thi
ur brought down the house, with great applause
it and the packed court room clapped and stamped
uOisily till checked by the officers, the Judge soy
ii. ing that it must not be repeated. and the Distrie
lie, Attorney saying that he hoped liz case of its rsps
W. titiOn that all partisipatOrs would be committed
up Judge Spaulding of the defendants counsel. aros,
he and said that if there was a committal, it woult
al, be a large one, including the counsel for defence
nd Judge Baldwin, the District Attorney, said b,
CHI hoped the counsel for the defence did not PARTED
pate in such demonstrations. Mr. psulding reptile,
,st that they did participate in il, and justified 4 II