Cleveland morning leader. [volume] (Cleveland [Ohio]) 1854-1865, 1861-11-30

EAs Rsss.I-. 3. Rss. .assEI. a.sssa- g

law IN that place. Mr. uOs0Oh We9 S Wv 3
q ana sentenced 10 fns Of $500 and SsS
months imprisonment In Cleveland jail That
be does not respect and viii not obey the
Fugitive SLAVE Law, Af Gordon frankly
ndmIsu, but the severity Of the sentence IS
beyond all reason. It Is a pure aetOfcruslty
and vindistivenssu upon the part Of The pre-
siding Judge, lOr Il rested with him to deter.
mine the amount Of Rns and impFisOnneRt /
Ks could aa well, 50 hF e compliance wih
the law Is concerned, have given Mr.. Gordon
tgenty.iour hours as six months eouEne-
ment Ata time when the lie Of the coun-
ry & sssGlea by Ghs slavs power, the people
are not ready to look with lenieney upon any |
servils and ra-judicisl bOWing down to |
worship the god Of slavery #t
YeUR HoHoR; Some things in my situ-
ation would seem 10 commend silence. The
form Of Q trial has been passed-my counsel
has been heard in defense Of marked ability
and 9 verdict Of guilty has been brought
in b. the jury. Nothing, therefore, remains
foF ne but 70 receive the sentence and endure
it 70 the bitter end. cannot say anything
that viii modify or mitigate its severity. Tet
stand before the court in the tnn conadence
Of rectitude, without any sense Of guilt or
abasemsnt utter no apologies, make no
confessions. Why, then, do Island branded
e q criminal before the court, and yet enjoy
feelings Of innate rectitnde Two reasons
contain the answer. First, the principal wit
ness in this prosecution has given testimony
in some points utterly false, in others i'm
mensely exaggerated. This put me il false
position before the jury. Had received a
new trial, as was requested, much of this
fslse impression could have been removed.
The second reasOn Il, that my conduct was
guided By eks cypress i0iR Of God os sessGled
n the SeTiptFes, standard clearly opposed to
the fugitive slave ensctments, and not rscog-
niEea By this tribunal. eaCu
The two slave hunters were neither threat
ened With hanging, or shooting, or # they
were, never heard Of it. till testiHed BY
them In court. The statement Is q mere fab
ricaeon-eVen the raw material manufac-
tured. Ny arrival on the ground was not
ten minutes before the whole tking was over.
/ One Of our colored young men had twice been
shot at, and wounded by them, or part of
their company. One claimed as q slave bad
been seized and violently dragged away.
Under all this proVocation the company
acted. When arrived, was told they had
recsived few stripes. Some ten or eteen
more were laidon, whilst l was present and
with nv consent. The men begged 5orbear-
ance, and the matter ceased. handed no
one a stick with directions to lay on more
told no one 70 suppress my name-slruck no
] Taauranfefcv nTr oath n
any. I did stand by with consent, whilst
ten, perhaps fifteen, lashes were laid on. l
did not knew Whether they were shareholders,
marshals, deputies or assistants, and it Is but
candid to say, did not care. then told
one Of them that the chastisement he had re
csiVed had been inflicted by some Of the best
men in the community, men who would not
hurt q hair Of his head, but protect him 70
the fullest extent in any decent business.
But that slave catching We could not toler-
ate. His reply was, "this will be lesson
to me. knew 1t was a mean business when
went into it, but thought could not well
help It. will 60 home and resign my
Office, and never do 30 again" Fad l con-
Ssnted to one-hah the severity, or been cApa-
bls of consenting to it as testised BY the
deputy, would despiSo myself and merit
the reprobation of all good men, Neither
the false testimony Of the witness, nor the
point given It In the bitter plesdings OF the
attorney, will be believed by any who know
me. What did do, thought then, and
still think was fully right. For the chsstise.
ment inflicted on these slave-catchers was
not on trial. That belonged to the jurisdic-
ton Of another court. I sm convicted OF
constructing process in the hands Of United
States Deputy Marshal, in his attempt to cap
ture and return to bondage fugitive slave.
That set was toward q judicial kidnapper,
armed with the authority Of q wicked and
diabolical statute. By the law of the Al
mighty, the STAKEHOLDER was capitelly pun.
ished. The law given amid the lightnings
of Sinai was, "He that stealeth nan, and
seIleth him, or II be be found In his hand,
shall surely be put to death" Three forms
of the crime are named: kidnapping, slave
trading and slRVeholding. In other capital
offenses the sentence was, be shall debut
in this, be shall surely be put to death.
All slavery begins with some torn OF man
stealing, and retains its essential element in
its forms of descent or transmission. Men
can neither buy nor inherit G better title
than the pretended owner has to sell or be.
queath. A hundred sales of stolen horse
don't make the title good; nor can that Of a
stolen man be better. Then can 9 marshal,
or deputy, acting for stakeholder to reclaim
a stolen man, be less guilty Is he notify the
same law an Official 6dnspper2 II God re-
quired the parent transgressoF to he put to
death, Is it sinful, and a crime to give his
proxy 3 few stripes? Was it not nerited
by these men, when they were trying their
utmost to drag back their victim TO perhaps
two hundred lashes and lifelong bondage
Job was declared by his Maker to be "a per-
feet and upright man, one who feared God
and eschsWed eViP'-the best or earth in his
day. Yet the good man says, "ths cause
that knew not searched out, and brake
the jaws of the wicked, and plucked the spoil
out Of his teeth" Did we do anything more
severe7
Again, by the Psalmist God says, deliver
the poor and needy, rid them ont os the hands
of the wicked" And again he says qthou
shalt not return to his master, the servant
that Is escaped from his master unto thee"
To the same purpOrt Is all that class Of texts
By which we are commanded "to feed the
hungry, clothe the naked, hide TIE c1tcast
bstray not him that wandereth.n Row, by
all these, and unoounted texts not ouotsd,
what the fugitive slave enactment requires
Is expressly forbidden, and Is therefore null
and without moral force.
And again, BY the best law Authority, it
has no legal force. From Blackstone. who
declares ths. call lava derive ths.- force from
the laws of nature, and those which DO not
are accounted no laws to the noble New
England judge, who refused to giTe up the
fugitive 70 bis claimant, until be wonld bring
"a bill Of sale from the Almighty HIMSELF
the best authorities speak one language. What
forcs then has the fugitive enactment
Simply the forre Of muscle, handouts, bowie
knives and pistols, used in its execution.
Compliance with such statute is crime.
ave must obey God rather than men"
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