Year: 1859

/ the man claiming to be in pursuit of a
fugitive, and |, by the perjury Of a
solitary wretch. would by another of
its provisions be helplessly doomed to
life long bondage, without the poSsi-
bility of escape.


Some may say that there is no dan
ger of free persons being seized and
carried of as slaves. No one need la
Dor under such q delusion. Sir, four
of the eight persons who were first
carried back under the act of 1850,
were afterwards proved to be free men.
They were free persons. but wholly at
the mercy Of the oath of one man.
And Tut last Sabbath afternoon a let
ter came 20 me from a gentleman in
St. Louis, informing me that a young
lady who was formerly under my in
structions at Columbus, a free person,
is now lying in the jail at that place.
claimed as the slave of some wretch
who never saw her before. and waiting
for testimony from relatives at Colum-
bus to establish her freedom. / could
stand here by the hour and relate such
instances. In the very nature Of the
case they must be constantly occur
ring. a letter was not long since
found upon the person of counter
feiter when arrested, addressed TO him
by some Southern gentleman in Which
the writer says:


"Go among the niggers; find out
their marks and sears; make good de-
scriptions and send to me, and I'll
find masters for 'em."


That is the way men are carried
"back" to slavery.


But in view of all these facts, say,
that, if ever again man is seized near
me, and is about to be carried south
ward as slave before any legal in
vestigation has been had, shall hold
it to be my duty as / held it that day,
to secure for him if possible legal
inquiry into the character of the claim
by which ne is held. And l go fur
ther; say that if it is adjudged illegal
to procure even such an investigation,
then we are thrown back upon those
last defcnces of our rights which can
not be taken from us, and which God
gave us that we need not be slaves.
| ask your Honor, while | say this, to
place yourself in my situation, and
YOU will say with me, that if your
brother, if your friend, if your wife, il
} your child, had been seized by men
who claimed them as fugitivcs, and
the law Of the land forbade you to ask
any investigation. and precluded the
possibility of any legal protection oil
redress-thcn you will say with me,
; that you would not only demand the
protection Of the law, but you would
call in your ncighbors and your
5 friends, and would ask them to say
r with you, that these your friends could
not be taken into slavery


And now l thank you for this leni
ency, this indulgence, in giving mar
uniustly condemned, by tribunal be
fore which he is declared to have nc
rights, the privilege of speaking in hi
own behalf. | know that it will dc
nothing toward mitigating your sen.
tence, but it is privilege to be allow


ed to speak, and l thank you for it
G | shall submit to the penalty. be i


what it may. But / stand up here t.
say, that it for doing what | did do oil
n that day at Wellington, am to go il
Jail six months, and pay fine of
thousand dollars, according to the Flu
: gitive Slave Law, and such is the pro


lection the laws Of this country affor,


me, ! must take upon myself the re
sponsibility of self-protection; when
+, come to be claimed by some periure,


wretch as his slave, ] shall never b
taken into slavery. And rs in tina


trying hour | would have others do L


me, as | would call upon my friend
! to help me, as ! would call upon you
i, your Honor, to help me; as | woul
: call upon you, to the District Attor
!, ney to help me; and upon You, L
Judge Bliss and upon you, to hi
counsel so help me GoD! stan
+, here to say that | will do all car


for any man thus seized and held
:. though the inevitable penalty Of 81
months Imprisonment and one thou


sand dollars fine for each offence hang


over me. We havc all common hr


manity, and you all would do that
your manhood would require it; an


no matter what the laws might be


you would honor yourself for doing i


while your friends and your childre


to all generations would honor you fc
. doing it, and every good and homes


man would say. you had done righ


(Great and prolonged applause.