Year: 1859

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 Columbus 10 establish her free


DOM l could stand here by the hour and re


late such instances. In the very nature o,


the case they must be constantly occurring


A letter was not long since found upon the
+ person of counterfeter when arrested. sd


dressed to him by some Southern gentleman,


III which the wri er says:


'Go among the niggers; find out their


marks and scars: take good descriptions and
send to me. and I'll find masters for en-


That is the way men are carried back
to slavery.


But 10 view of all these facts, say. that If
ever again man is seized near me, and is
about to be carried southwark as a slave be-
fore any legal investigation can be had,
shall hold it 10 be my dnty. as l held it that
day. TO secure for him if possible le-
gal inquiry into the character of the claim
by which he is held. And 1 go further;
say that il it is adj judged illegal to procure
even such an investigatation, then we are
thrown back upol those defences, of our
rights which cannot be taken from US and
which God gave US that we need not be slaves
| ask your Honor. while l saw this, to place
yourself in my situation. and you will say
with me, that if your brother. il your friend


if your wife, if your child, had been seized
by men who claimed them as fugitives, AMI
the law of the land forbade you to ask an in
vestigation, and precluded the possibility of
any legal protection or redress-then you
will say with me. that you would not only
demand the protection of the law but you
would call in your neighbors and your friends
and would ask them to say with you, that
these your friends could not be taken into
slavery.


And now 1 thank you for this leniency.
this indulgence, in giving man unjustly
is declared to have no rights. the privilege
of speaking in his own behalf. know that
it will do nothing toward mitigating your
sentence. but it is a privilege to be allow
ed to speak, and thank You for it. l shall
submit to the penalty. be it what it may
But stand up here to say. that if for doing
wat did do that day at Wellington.
an to go to Jail six months. and pay fine
of thousand dollars, according to the Fu-
gltive Slave Law, and such is the protection
the laws Of this country afford me, must take
upon myself the responsibility of self protec-
ton, when come to be claimed by some
perjured wretch as his slave, l shall never
be taken into slavery. And as in that trying
hour | would have others do to me. as l would
call upon my friends to help ME, as l would
call upon your Honor. to help me; as l would
call upon you Ito the District Attorney to
help me; and upon you, (to Judge Bliss).
and upon you. (to his caunsel), stand here
10 say that l will do all l can for any man
thus seized and held. though the inevitable
penalty of SIX months imprisonment and one
thousand dollars for each offence hangs over
me! We have all a common humanity, and
you all would do that; your manhood would
require it, and no matter what the laws might
be. you would honor yourself COR doing it.
while your friends and your children to all
generations would honor you for doing it.
and every good and honest man would say
you had done right (Great and prolonged
applause in spite of the effor;s of the Court
and Marshal-)