The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1885-06-03

y
him that the slave belonged to the
claimant? " A bill of sale from the
Almighty" was the memorable reply
The audience at this time broke out in
cheer that fairly shook the walls of
the old building in which they were con-
vened. When the reading of the letter
had been finished the Hon. Dorastus
Wooster, venerable citizen of Middle
bury, rose and stated that the decision
cited by Mr. Garrison was made in his
hearing, in the very room where the
society was then assembled! The
judge referred to was the Hon. Theophi-
lus Harrington of Clarendon, a justice
of the supreme court of the state from
1903 to 1913. The date of the trans
action cannot now be ascertained; but
the story, as told by Mr.. Garrison, is
believed to be inaccurate in this par
ticular, namely-that the slave was not
brought before the Judge, but that the
latter refused to issue warrant for his
arrest If the slave had been brought
before the judge and discharged the
case would have gone upon record but
no record of the transaction has been
found. 1t is of no consequence, how
ever, which version of the story is cor
rect, since the proof is clear that the
judge made the judicial declaration
ascribed to him. Slavery then existed
in New York, and it is probable that
the slave whose capture was desired
was from that state. Not another man
in the assembly besides Mr.. Wooster
appeared to have had any previous
knowledge of the decision. / certainly
had never heard of it before; but thence
forth for me the name Harrington was
the brightest star in the whole galaxy
of Vermont heroes, and | would fain
uplift it now for the admiration, not of
| Vermonters alone, but of all Americans
in all time to come. 1t certainly ought
to be commemorated and perpetuated
by the noblest devices of art, and to be
cherished forever as a household word
among those who breathe the air of the
Green Mountains. AT first thought it
seems strange that judicial decision
of such high moral significance, and so
purely typical of the spirit in which the
state of Vermont had its birth, did not
at once take its place in her annals as a
beacon-light for the ages to come, and
that the name of its author was not
instantly and spontaneously enrolled
among those of the heroes to be hence
forth celebrated by orators and poets
and perpetuated by the genius of the
sculptor. The words of the clear
headed, sound-hearted magistrate an
ticipated by more than a dozen years the
kindred sentiment of Lord Brougham:
Tell me not of rights; talk not of the
property of the planter in his slaves.
deny the right; | acknowledge not the
property. BE the appeal made
to the understanding or to the heart,
the sentence is the same that rejects
it. There is a law above all
the enactments of human codes-the
same throughout the world, the same
in all times: ~ it is the law
written by the finger of God on the
heart of man, and by that law, I'M
changeable and eternal, while men de-
spise fraud, and loathe rapine, and
abhor blood, they shall reject with in
dignation the wild and guilty fantasy
that man can hold property in man.
The British statesman and the Yer
mont judge, however widely separated
in point of rank and culture, were yet
one in moral insight and courage, and
their names should be together en-
shrined in the hearts of all the friends
of impartial liberty. But it is easy,
after all, to see why Judge Harrington
and his memorable decision have been
well-nigh forgotten. He spoke for the
negro at a time when his humanity was
half doubted, and his enslavement,
once begun, was deemed necessary in
order to avoid still greater evils.
The reader will be glad to learn
something more than l have thus far
told of Judge Harrington. Who and
what sort of man he was will be learned
from an extract of a letter written, at
my solicitation, by the Hon. E. p. Wal
ton of Montpelier, one of the trust
worthy historians OF Vermont: The
ophilus Harrington says Mr.. Walton,
was judge of the supreme court of
Vermont from December LIST, 1903, UNI
til his death, shortly after his reelection
in 1913. Gle was emphatically lay
man, and yet nominally a lawyer, since
he was admitted to the bar of Rutland
county after he had served three terms
as judge of that county court, and
about the time of his election to the
supreme court.) AS a judge, he was
eminent for his sterling common-sense
his skill in detecting the justice of each
case, and his ignorance of, and con
tempt for, the quips and quirks of the
law-alias special pleading. In an adj