The weekly Anglo-African., 1860-05-12
Some Gorrsspon0ente.

PHILADELPHIA, May I, 1860.

y
in the defeat of the "unterrifed Democ-
racy.' Henry was re elected over Rob-
bins, the Democratic candidate, by respec-
table majority. So much for sustaining
freedom of speech The Peoples party
are triumphant, much to the disappoint-
ment of the Democrats So mote it be.
Tuesday was disagreeable day through
out. 1t was characterized by a constant
drizzle of rain, interpreted with hard show
ers, but no sunshine. The evening, l be-
lieve, was even worse than the other part
of the day; it seemed to rain harder, which
prevented lecture from taking place be-
fore the Philadelphia Library Company.
On Wednesday evening quite large
concourse of persons assembled at Israel
Church to express sympathy with our long
tried friend, VIM. Still, of whom much has
been said in our public journals of late.
The meeting was organized by appointing
Messrs. James M. Bustill President, Morris
Hall President, and Parker Il. Smith
Secretary. The call was read, whereupon
it was on motion resolved that it be ex-
planned The President gave permission
to any person who might wish to make the
desired explanation. Mr.. |. G. Wears ex-
planned it in few words A committee
of three was appointed to draw up resolu-
tons; the committee consisted of Messrs.
J. G. Gibbs, l. G. Wears, and B. G. Hill,
who reported set of resolutions, express
ing sympathy for Mr.. Still and censuring
the counsel for the plaintiff. Much discus
sion ensued upon the reading of the reso-
lutions-a kinds of frivolous notions were
entertained in opposition to them, and it is
with much regret that l record the fact
that a few individuals were there to disturb
the harmony of the proceedings. The
Rev. VIM. Douglass advanced the idea
that if the resolutions were passed, we
would be liable to be indicted for contempt
of court.
Mr.. Wears was not long in exposing its
fallacy. He showed that the court had
repueiated its own doings, by reconsider
ing its decision and releasing Mr.. Still
when he had been in prison but four days,
thus exempting him from the penalty, as
it has not the pardoning power. He stated
fact well known to many present, that
when VIM. Lloyd Garrison was convicted
of libel for publishing the truth about
slave dealer, meetings of sympathy were
held in many cities of the North; James
Forten presided over one in Philadelphia,
and nothing was ever said about contempt
of court. He further remarked that tech
nically Mr.. Still had plead guilty, but
morally he had not.
The Rev. Mr.. Douglass here raised
point of the moral turpitude of Mr.. Stills
action in writing the letter, and accused
him of confessing guilt as to malicious libel,
which Mr.. Still most emphatically and un-
equivocally denied. He said that no bill
of Indictment was presented to him by the
court, but that he said to his attorney, 'If
in acknowledging the writing of the letter,
1 plead guilty to the charge of libel, l will
not do it; but if, by acknowledgment / can
bring in important testimony, l will give
you permission to say to the court that |
wrote the letter" This explanation was
not satisfactory to the Rev. Mr.. Douglass
and some few others.
Mr.. George W. Comes moved that the
resolutions be laid upon the table, which,
being seconded, two or three speeches were
made much to my surprise, considering the
standing of the individuals, for supposed
they knew better than to discuss privileged
questions. Several points of order were
raised, and upon one of them Mr. Zedekiah
Purnell spoke at length upon the gag law.
These and similar demonstrations led me
to suppose that measures had been precon-
certed to defeat the objects of the meeting.
This may Or may not have been the case,
but gentleman has since informed me
that such was the case. Be that as it may,
such course of conduct was not only un-
warranted, but it showed either total ig
norance of deliberate usage, or design to
defeat the objects for which the meeting
was called. The motion to table the reso-
buttons was overwhelmingly lost The
resolutions were supported by Messrs. l.
c. Wears, VIM. Wells Brown, Samuel M.
Smith, and others. The opposition con-
sisted of the Rev. VIM. Douglass, j. 2. B.
Eddy, Sr., and those already mentioned.
Mr.. Alfred NJ. Green arose, holding in his
hands batch of resolutions, which he de-
sired to offer as substitute. | did not
learn their nature, nor was | able to tell
which side of the question he was on. The