Cleveland morning leader. [volume] (Cleveland [Ohio]) 1854-1865, 1859-04-13

r. ~ N'NPieHie Oourb Dy which the owner of
.Ig,e'yo Is granted the same right in seizine !
siave IN any State that he has in the STATE csoe
= which the slave escapeJ.) ''''
, Il has been always held in our higher c,,,rt.
lhat thls right must be held sacred
having thus laid down the law, propose 1,
speak upon the question Of facts which hav,
} Ueeh brought out before you here. Was IN,
save John the slave Of Johu G. Bacon anf
was he owing servillde to him al tbis time
bacon swears he knew the mother Of John. am
10 hentucky the maternity Of a slave determine,
DIS state, whether OF slavery or freedom. Ba.
con sWeaIs he knows the mother and knew the
grandmother Of John, aud that they were both
saves Jennings testifes that he knew John
z save owned by Bacon. Another near
heiRhoor OF Mr. Bacon (MitcbslD swears tbat
no knew both John and his mother 10 he slayss
ing evidence we introduce and il ia no. con.
lraalcted' II then this kind Of evidence Is such
as tne law will hold sufficient then the case l.
established The right of property in the slave
John is then settled. His escape Is nert 4, he
established. After leaving his master no 10
lound at Oberlin, the grand barbor of f,git;ys
slaves The defence evidently will seek ,o
prove that this boy John of 0berlin, Was not
identical with the one who escaped from Ken
sucSy' (here was read the description of John
70 ~ louuu IN the power OF Attorney granted by
pacoh TO Jennlngs) The defence denv thai
tnls description agrees with the Oberlin ,Jobn.
but their witnesses express merely ! mate ~
opinion, which must be taken with due ALLOW
Aree' (Review of the evidence upon these
points--showing that however their opinion.
might differ in slight particulars, the marks Of
Identity We're too strong to be set aside. and tbe
boy had himself admitted in public and private
that he was the slave of Mr.. Bacon. and tbo,
he was going back to his old honey But Il is
sad Il at in order to be chargeabIe under tbi,
lnplctnent' OF having rescued fu9itiye slave
nom lioli 'i'ose having him in custody, it is neces
f s'ly 70 snow some notice to have been given Co
eHo one lndlcted, that the negro was truly fi
gltlVe' Now any circumstance which Ia coIcn-
lated to give such knowledge, is sufficient no.
uce oil the fact (Here read from the opn.
ION ofJudgo MoLEAN in the case of Giltner vs.
uorham' Mclean, p. AIS, to the effect that
beng present in the crowd that made tho res
cue and encouraging it on by words or deeds
rendered the one thus present, guilty of the res.
cue Also from the opinion of Judge McLE,N
on to the proper mode of arguing such cases. in |
United States Courts.) Now saw it was pndcr. |
stood by the people of Oberlin. who went +,
wellington to rescue John, that he was q 6,g;-
tive slave, although some of their witnesses
have said that it was generally understood mai
he had been kidnapped. All agree that the how
lau been taken away by Southernets, who IN.
ended 70 take hun South for a slaye John
himself had said that he had at one time before
'tarVeu 10 go back home to Kentucky, but was
~. ,,t.oPpeu ana Drought back. From all these con.
lltlons It is evident that it was generally knoyr
md understood that he was taken as I,oi,;va
some OF the witnesses have said that thew went
2 wellington to rescue fugitive slave; tho
hant and conversation at that place was uoon the
escuo, o2erytAs, Avo;.-' - anu it is indisputable
he boy was fugitive. 1t was known tnat the
Marshal (Mr. Lowe) had warrant from the
Com. at Columbus, for the arrest and seizure of
fugitive and they were under sacred obliga.
ions to assist and not to oppose his serving
he papers OF authority which he had Proc.
amation was also made by word of mouth, of
he authority with which they were clothed
The warrant was read in public, but it is high
y probable that there were not five men in the
,rowd who did not know before that John was
fugitive slave The negro John had hmselr
declared that he must go back as his master
mad sent for him. 1t is improbable that the
slightest fear of kidnappers agitated any sensi-
bic citizen of ObeTlin, and it does not need the
Oberlin "higher law" to protect free negroes ia
Ohio 1t does not need the Intervention of q
'chid of God, like Lincoln, TO protect them;
the children of this world are wise and compo-
tent enough for this.
1t is to be regretted that all of the Oberlin
people who were at Wellington were not as
reasonable and as honest as Mr Patton, whose
conduct, although he came from Oberlin, was
in the extreme and to all his fellow /
students at Oberlin, let me say, 90 and do
"a. -. l,,1l la -
country. He, finding that these SOulherners
had the proper authority, advised the crowd to
take heed what they did, and not TO madly rush
against the lawful authority held by Jennings
and Lowe. Another witness, (ButlerO who,
like Patten, has been studying law, endeavored
to get horse to go TO Elyria TO get u writ of
habeas corpus from a Probate Judge, which
should set aside the decision of the Supreme
Court of the United Stales(O 1t makes no dii-
ference one way OF another whether the power
of attorney was shown or not. One witness
says the power of attorney was shown, and an.
other that il was not. 1t is claimed by us that |
this power of attorney was shown, and it can
be proved that both these papers were exhibited |
as the authority on which the hoy was taken.
/ do not say that any witnesses intend to testi-
fy falsely, but some of them find it difficult to
recolIect anything TO the advantage of the
But had there been 10 papers at |
ALL the master could still have a right to take |
the fugitive slave. This indictment, it is claim
ed by the defence, does not show that John
owed service to Bacon under the laws of the
State ofKentucky, and consequently is not val
id, bnt the Constitution does not require il TO
contain the words "under the laws of any
State or Territory The indictment is in the
words of the statute.
1t has been shown by the testimony that the
crowd did in the midst of crowd of witnesses,
and against the wishes Of the boy himself and
against the rights OF his master, take him away.
This man Bushnell was one of that crowd, and
took the negro away. He told one man that
he had no business in the company without a
gun He was at Wellington in buggy ready
to carry the negro away j understand that at
Obcrlin there are folks who have so little regard
for the laws of the country that they will i'm
pugu these laws, and consider the matter
good joke The question is-aTe the laws OF
the United States to be obeyed, or are they
not Is "higheT law" to take precedence Of
the laws Of the country / have confidence
that this Jury will in their verdict sustain the
laws, and with thanks for your attention,
close (having spoken two hours and half)
The case for the defence was then opened by
Mr. RIDDLE,
He would not attempt to discuss matters
foreign TO the subject nor occupy much time,
but there were many points which would be
touched upon in a consideration of the case
The very novelty of the proofs and the subject |
matters Of those proofs which are brought into |
this case, give il an Importance which precludcs
any time spent in defamation or useless discus
sion.
We all have an interest in this case as ci,i- |
zens of Ohio and YOU, gentlemen of the jury |