Delaware gazette. [volume] (Delaware, Ohio) 1855-1886, 1859-05-27
NO. s..


e should not be sentenced and one that | thin
n pertinent to the case. l have not had tri
e before jury of my peers. The common In
OF England and You will excuse me for refe
n ring that since | am but a private citizen
was that every man should be tried before
a jury of men occupying the same position in II
# social scale with himself, That lords should /
t tried before a jury Of lords; that peers of Ii
' realm should be tried bolure peers Of the realm
f raSsals before vassals, and aliens hetGre qiten.
and they must not come from the district wher
[ the crime WAS committed, lest the preiudiccs
either personal friends or ioes should affect til
!. accused. The Constitution Of the Unite
States gTtarantces-not merely 10 lis citizen,
Jpt to oa persons, trial before an impqdio
jury. | have lttd II" such trial.
The coiorcd man IS oppressed by certain uni
vcrsal and deeply fixed piejediccs Those j
f rors we'll known to have Shared largely il
these prelidceS. and therefore consider tla
they were neither impartial, nor were they
jury OF my peers. And tlic prci;jdiccs whicl
white people have against colorcd men grow
out OF the facts that we have as Il people con
s1del for two hundred years TO be Siares of the
whites We have been scoulgcd, crushed and
cruelty oppressed, and have submitted to it al
taneiy, n2ckly, peaccably--l mean people
and with rare individual cxccptions-and to
day you see lis thus mc2k'y submitting to tlij
penalties ofan infamous law. Now the Amer
leans have this feeiing-;ud it is an honorable
on"-that they will respect those who viii re-
bel at oppression. bu; deSpsc those who tanc
~ submit to outrage and wrong; and while Oul
F.. people as IA people submit they will as pco
pie be dcspiscd. Why. they will hardly meet
on terms of equality with us in a 7hialley shop,
in a car, at table or even at the altar of God
So thorough and hearty contempt have they
for those who will merely lie still under the hre
: of the oppressor. The Jury came ulo the box
with that feeling, and so the Court knows now,
and knew then. The gentlemen who prosecut-
cd me, the Court itself, and even the counsel
/ have that feeling.
was tried b. jury who were rrejudiced;
before court that was preudced; prosecuted
by IN officer who was prejndced; and defended
though ably, by counsel that was prcjudiced
And therefore it is your Honor, that urge by
all that is good and great ju manhood, that ]
should not be subjected to the pains and penal
ties Of this oppressive law, when I have not been
! tried, either by jury of my peers, or by jury
that were impartial.
One more word sir and have done. l went
to Wellington knowing that colorcd men had
no rights in the United States which white men
are bound to respect; that the Courts had so
decided; that Congress had 50 enacted; that the
people had so decreed.
There is not a sleot IN this wide country, not
even 10y the alter Of God nor in the shadow of
the shafts that tell the imperishable fame and
| glory OF the heroes Of the Revolution; no, nor
in the old Philadelphia Hail. #here any col
ored man may dare to ask u mercy OF white
man. Let me stand in that Hall, and tell the
United States Marshal that my father was a
Revolutionary soldier that he served under
Lafayette, and fought through the whole war
apd that he fought for my freedom much as
for his own and he would sneer at me, and
clutch me with his bloody fingers and say he
has right 10 make IA slave! And when
l appeal to Congress, they say he has a right
to make me slave when appeal to the
People, they say he has right to make me a
slave; and when | appeal to your Honor, yo,sr
Homer says he has a right to make me slave
! and if any man, white or black seeks an in
vcstigation of that claim, they subject them
selves to the pains and penalties of the Fugi
tive Slave Act for BLACK MEN HAVE NO RIGHTS
WHICH WHITE MEN ARE BOUND 70 Respect
Great Applau5c.) l. going to Wellington
with the ttflI knowledge of all this, knew that
if that man was taken to Columbus he was
hopeIessy gone no matter whether he wa ever
IN slavery before or not. l knew that l was
in the same situation myself, and that by tht
-, ,bafc
were to claim me as his slave and seize me, anC
my brother, being a lawyer, should seek to get
out writ Of habea5 corpus to expose the iat
sitv of the claim, he would be thrust into pris
on under one provision of the Fugitive Slave
Law, for interfering with the man claiming Il
be in pursuit of Il fugitive, and l. by the per
+ jury OF a solitary wretch, would by another o
its provisions he helplessly doomed 10 life lone
bondage, without the possibility Of escape.
Some may say that there is no danger c
free persons being scizad and carried OFF a
slaves No one need labor under such a delu
sion Sir, four of the eight Pcrzfas who wor
, first carried back under the act OF 1880 wer
afterwards proved to be free men. They wer
=, free persons, but wholly al the mercy of tn
: oath of one man. And but last sabbath a
ternoon letter came TO m" from a rentiema
= in -. Louis informing me that Young lad
+ who Was formerly under my instructions a
+ Columbus. a free p'rson. II now lying in tb
. Jail at that place, claimed Il, tn slave OF som
wretch who never saw her hcf rr. and waitlD
,, for testimony from relatives at Columbus
e.tabGsh her freedom ] could stand here h
q the hour and relate such instances. in Ii
4 very nature of the case they must be constant
Il occurring \ letter Wa not long since toun
Il upon the person of a connterialtcr when arre
= ted. addressed to him hy some ScutLera 60
P tclnan, in which.ihe winter sa!s:
h Go among the nig1ers--iind out the
e marks and scara-ncl. good descriptions an
:. send TO me-, and III find masters fr 'em'
4f This Is the way rlsn ar carried back y
;, slavery,
e. Bal in view Of all the facts | my. that,
K ever again man 70 seized near me-, and is aho'
,e to he carried southwark as a slave before AZ
" legal investigation has hocn had shall ho
d it 10 be my duty as | held It on that day,
r. secure ior him if possible Il LEGAL inquiry I'M
@. the character of tno claim Icy which he is hel
at Aud 90 further; | LAY tls,t if it i adiudl'
Of illegal Ia procure even snch an mYcstigatio
that VIC are thrown back upon these last d
id fcnces OF our rights which cannot be takcu iro
rs, an,l which God gave us that VIC need n
81 he slaves. ! ak your iloUor. wiule ! say tn
he to p ace yourself in my situation and you W
er say with me, that ii your brother II your trier
nv il ycur wife, il your child, had b"n seized
men who claimed them us iu%itiNcS aud
-, la,y of the land forbade You 10 ask any inv
NJ tgation, and precludod the possibility OF a
lcool urotection or rCdrVyS-thcn Won will s
40 with me. that You would not only demand
-, protection OF the law, hut You wond cal
il your nrGhborS and your friends and w"'
nm ask them 10 say with you that these irier
-, cc,,Id net be taken into slavery.