and labelled by Charles McNamee, though one or two persons were in the
office while he was doing it; and Mr. Key certified, that on the first
day of the trial, before they were sorted, many persons in court took
different numbers of them to look at, but he believed they were all
returned, and he took pains to request them who took them to hand them
back to him. To the best of his belief, the pamphlets now in court were
the same which were delivered at the jail, without addition or
diminution.
_P. R. Fendall_ was connected with the office of the Colonization
Society. The Anti-Slavery Reporter was sent from New York in exchange
for the African Repository published by the Colonization Society; some
controversy had existed between the two Societies, and it was necessary
to read their attacks in order to be able to answer them. The papers
received were open for the use of members, and were sometimes loaned
to others to take away and read.
_Key_ then offered four numbers of the second volume of the Anti-Slavery
Reporter to the jury.
_Bradley_ claimed one as his, which never was in the possession of the
prisoner.
_Key_ requested him to be sworn, and
_Bradley_ testified, that he could identify the paper by several marks
which he pointed out. He received it in November last, in consequence of
a letter which he had written with a view to procure two or three, which
were sent on through the post office. He wrote for them in consequence
of conversation with Crandall; (but he was not allowed to state the
substance of what Crandall said.) How this paper came into Mr. Key's
possession he did not know, but this disappeared from his desk in court,
and two others had been taken from his office.
Considerable argument ensued upon the point, whether it was competent to
give in evidence a printed copy of a _known published libel_, or whether
in order to be evidence against the person on whom it is found, it must
not be a written copy. On one side it was argued that every one might
innocently have a printed copy, but the having a written copy would show
some extraordinary interest in the libel; and the books all spoke of a
written copy only as evidence of publication. For the prosecution it was
urged that having a printed copy was stronger evidence than a written
one, especially when the party had a number of copies of the same libel,
endorsed in his own handwriting with words that showed an interest, and
an intent to circulate it.
_The Court_ was of opinion that it was competent to give in evidence
such printed copies of the known published libel as were found upon the
prisoner with the endorsement "read and circulate."
Two witnesses were called, _Colclazier_ and _Tippet_, to testify to
conversations held with Crandall in the jail, in which he spoke in favor
of immediate emancipation and against slavery.
The case for the prosecution was here closed.
_Mr. Bradley_ then stated the opening of the defence. After some general
remarks upon the course taken by the prosecution, and difficulty of
getting witnesses here to testify in behalf of the prisoner, from so
great a distance, as well as the impossibility of putting in depositions
in a criminal case, without the District Attorney's consent, which he
would not give, he went on to call the attention of the jury to the
details he meant to prove. He intended to show Crandall's whole course
of life, from his boyhood up; that he was regularly educated as a
surgeon and physician, and settled in Peekskill; and that no man ever
obtained a higher character for probity and skill; that he never was a
member of an abolition society, and there was none in the place where
he lived; that he had no idea of stopping here when he came on, but came
as the attendant of an invalid family with whom he had resided; that the
pamphlets were packed up, not by him, but by the lady of the house, as
waste paper, without his even dreaming of their contents; and that the
endorsements were put on some two years ago. He would show also that he
had subscribed for temperance papers; but that the abolition papers were
sent to him without his knowledge of their contents; that after he
arrived here, and found this the best field in the world for the study
of botany, he concluded to stop and give a course of lectures, instead
of going to the West, as had been his intention previously, according to
arrangements he had made. The bundle that was given him in New York was
sent without his knowledge of their contents. It remained tied up till a
day or two before his arrest, when it was untied by Mrs. Austin; and, as
had been proved by the officers who arrested him, up to that moment they
had never been opened or even separated. He said he would show the law,
and bring it to bear upon the points of the case; and he declared if he
believed Crandall guilty of distributing or intending to distribute
incendiary papers, he would abandon his cause, and no longer consider
himself his counsel.
The following extracts of speeches made in the Capitol at Washington,
at the eleventh annual meeting of the Colonization Society, in which
slaveholders themselves made remarks which, it was urged by the
defendant's counsel, were quite as strong, and as much calculated to
excite sedition, as the words of the libel charged against the prisoner.
Mr. Key read the parts of his own speech not enclosed in brackets, to
show the difference of meaning in the whole papers, and the difference
of intent. The paragraph in brackets was read by Mr. Bradley.
The following is from Mr. Harrison's speech:
"But a dearer land to our hearts is too to be regenerated. A wretched
class, cursed with ineffectual freedom, is to be made free indeed, and
an outlet is to be opened to those who will voluntarily disencumber
themselves of the evil and the threatening ruin of another domestic
pestilence. Public opinion must be the only agent in this: the most
reluctant shall not be forced; the most timid shall not be alarmed by
any thing we are to do. Hitherto and henceforward our plan has been and
shall be without constraint on any one, and never shall we offer any
argument or invitation to humanity divorced from patriotism. To this
truly quiet, unofficious spirit, do I trust for bringing about the time
when we shall be one homogeneous nation of freemen; when those great
principles now true of us only in part, shall be true in the whole;
and when the clear light now in our upper sky only, shall brighten the
whole expanse of the American character."
The speech of Mr. Key, the District Attorney, is as follows:
"On behalf of the Board of Managers, who had this night seen and heard
all that was calculated to animate them to a faithful discharge of
their duties, he begged leave to present a resolution of thanks for
the zealous co-operation of the Auxiliary Societies throughout the
United States. In the increasing exertions of these valuable branches
of the parent Institution, the Society believed itself to possess
the most satisfactory pledge that its design had received the
approbation, and would ere long enjoy the support of the great body
of citizens throughout our country. Such an anticipation was not to
be thought delusive, because the opposition made to the Society at
its commencement still continued. On the contrary, this very opposition,
properly considered, affords the fullest proof of the wisdom of our
object, and the fairest presage of its success.
"At its origin the Society found itself in a very extraordinary
situation. It had scarcely been formed when it was assailed by opponents
of the most contrary character, from the North and South. Men who held,
upon these subjects, the most opposite views, who agreed in no one
thing that related to our colored population, united in denouncing us.
This state of things, in some measure, still continues. But the Board
of Managers have long ceased to look upon it with alarm. They soon
perceived that a wisdom far higher than their own, was, in a way most
contrary to their expectations, gradually preparing the public mind for
a fair consideration and favorable reception of their measures. They
were compelled to see and to acknowledge that it was best it should be
so. Had the design of the Society been approved and supported in the
outset by either of these opposing parties, it must have encountered the
settled and irreconcileable opposition of the other; but as it is, the
Society, instead of being espoused by the North in opposition to the
South, or by the South in opposition to the North, has been silently
filling its ranks with converts from both. Its cause has been gradually
bringing over the moderate, the reasonable, the humane, the patriotic,
from all parties and from every portion of the Union to give their aid
and countenance to the support of a scheme which they once opposed only
because they misunderstood it. I have adverted to this extraordinary
opposition that the friends of the Society may not be dismayed by it;
and I take this occasion to address a few words to each of these classes
of opponents.
["I would premise what I have to say to them by stating two very plain
propositions. The first is, that the subject of slavery, in some way or
other, will come into the thoughts, feelings, and plans of men situated
as we are. It is vain to say--let it alone. There may have been a time
when the excitement now felt on this subject might have been stifled.
When it was determined by our fathers to secure to themselves and their
posterity the rights of freemen and the blessings of independence, then
should they have been warned of the exciting consequences that would
result from the acquisition and enjoyment of such rights. Then should it
have been shewn how they would lead to conceptions and discussions
dangerous to the rights of property and the public peace. Then should
they have been called to choose between these conflicting interests, and
to count the cost of what they might lose by declaring to the world that
all men were free and equal, and appealing to heaven for its truth. But
there was, then, no man cold enough for such a calculation; no man who
could darken the brightness of that day by raising such a question.
It is too late now. In this age, in this country, the agitation of
this subject is unavoidable. Legislation never can restrain it. Public
sentiment never will. You may as well forge fetters for the winds, as
for the impulses of free and exulting hearts; if speech and action could
be repressed, there would be excitement in the very looks of freemen.]
"The other proposition is this, that among the plans and descriptions
that relate to this delicate subject, it must happen that some will be
rash and dangerous.
"It is not to be expected, that men, not well informed of facts as they
exist, and misled by the ardor of an inconsiderate zeal, will not devise
projects and hold them out to others, which may be attended with the
most disastrous consequences. This is the nature of things. It must ever
be so upon every subject, which like this contains within itself the
elements of great excitement; more especially when that excitement is
connected with some of the best principles and feelings of the heart.
"Now, sir, put these two propositions together; that silence and
inaction are unattainable, and dangerous and improper projects almost
unavoidable, and what are we to do? Something we must do. However
desirous we might be to do nothing, it is impossible, because others
will not consent to do nothing; and if we relinquish the task of action,
it will infallibly fall into hands most unfit to receive it. Nothing
remains, then, but to devise something safe and practicable and place
it in prudent hands.
"And now, sir, I would respectfully ask our opponents, of both
descriptions, to consider whether this has not been done by the
establishment of this Society. I would ask the abolitionist to suspend
his own labors, and consider the object and the consequences of ours. I
would ask him if it is not better to unite with us in what is safe and
practicable, and may be managed with the consent of those, whose consent
is not to be dispensed with, than to attempt to force his own views upon
men, by means which they denounce as dangerous.
"Sir, this is the appeal which has been made by the Society, and which
it yet makes to one class of its opponents. Nor is it altogether
unsuccessful. Many active and benevolent men are now with us, who, but
for this Society, would have been working on their own more questionable
projects, and vainly attempting what, perhaps, can scarcely be pursued,
with safety to the peace and happiness of the country.
"And may we not appeal also to our brethren of the South--and ask their
fair consideration of the two propositions I have suggested? If feeling,
discussion, and action, in reference to a subject upon which they are
so sensitive, cannot be extinguished, is it not wise to endeavor to
moderate and restrain them? May they not, if they cannot give their
approbation to our Society, as good in itself, at least bring themselves
to tolerate it as the preventive of greater evils? May it not be wise
for those who must know that there are schemes more alarming to their
interests than colonization, to suffer us to enlarge our sphere of
action, and bring those who would otherwise be engaged in dangerous and
injudicious projects, to unite in our safer labors? May we not claim at
least this merit for our labors:--that they are safe? May we not appeal
to the experience of eleven years, to show that the work in which we
are engaged can be conducted without excitement or alarm? And who are
we, we may be permitted to ask, to whose hands this charge has been
committed? We have the same interests in this subject with our Southern
brethren--the same opportunity of understanding it, and of knowing with
what care and prudence it should be approached. What greater pledge
can we give for the moderation and safety of our measures than our own
interests as slaveholders, and the ties that bind us to the slaveholding
communities to which we belong?
"I hope I may be excused if I add that the subject which engages us, is
one in which it is our right to act--as much our right to act, as it is
the right of those who differ with us not to act. If we believe in the
existence of a great moral and political evil amongst us, and that duty,
honor and interest call upon us to prepare the way for its removal, we
must act. All that can be asked of us is, that we act discreetly--with
a just regard to the rights and feelings of others;--that we make due
allowances for those who differ with us; receive their opposition with
patience, and overcome it by the fruits that a favoring Providence, to
which we look, may enable us to present from our labors."
The next passages were from a speech of Mr. Custis, as follows:
"Sir, the prosperity and aggrandizement of a State is to be seen in its
increase of inhabitants, and consequent progress in industry and wealth.
Of the vast tide of emigration, which now rushes like a cataract to the
West, not even a trickling rill wends its feeble course to the Ancient
Dominion.--Of the multitude of foreigners who daily seek an asylum and
a home, in the empire of Liberty, how many turn their steps toward the
regions of the slave? None. No not one. There is a malaria in the
atmosphere of those regions, which the new comer shuns, as being
deleterious to his views and habits. See the wide-spreading ruin which
the avarice of our ancestral government has produced in the South, as
witnessed in a sparse population of freemen, deserted habitations,
fields without culture, and, strange to tell, even the wolf, which,
driven back long since by the approach of man, now returns, after the
lapse of an hundred years, to howl o'er the desolations of slavery.
"Where, I ask, is the good ship Virginia, in the array of the national
fleet? Drifting down the line, sir,--third, soon to be fourth. Where
next?--following in the wake of those she formerly led in the van: her
flag still flying at the main, the flag of her ancient glory; but
her timbers are decaying, her rigging wants setting up anew, and her
helmsman is old and weatherbeaten. But let her undergo an overhaul, let
the parts decayed by slavery be removed, and good sound materials put in
their stead, then manned by a gallant crew, my life on it, the old thing
will once more brace upon a wind, aye, and show her stern to those who
have almost run her hull under.
"Let me say, sir, in this legislative hall, where words of eloquence
have so often "charmed the listening ear," that the glorious time is
coming when the wretched children of Africa shall establish on her
shores a nation of Christians and freemen. It has been said that this
Society was an invasion of the rights of the slaveholders. Sir, if
it is an invasion, it comes not from without. It is an irruption of
liberality, and threatens only that freemen will overrun our Southern
country--that the soil will be fertilized by the sweat of freemen alone,
and that what are now deserts will flourish and blossom under the
influence of enterprise and industry. Such will be the happy results
of this Society.
"Let the philanthropist look at the facts. Nearly two millions of this
unhappy people tread our soil. In the Southern climate their increase is
more rapid than that of the whites. What is the natural result, if some
means are not applied to prevent it? What is now, compared to our own
population, but as a mole hill, will become a mountain, threatening with
its volcanic dangers all within its reach. What is the next consequence?
Why, as in the slave colonies of other countries, you must have an army
of troops to keep in awe this dangerous population. What a sight would
this be in a land of liberty! The same breeze that fanned our harvests,
that played among the leaves of the cane and the corn, would also rustle
banners of war! By the side of implements of agriculture, employed in
the works of peace, will appear the gleam of arms. Shall it be said that
we are not liable to the same vicissitudes that have overtaken other
nations? No, sir; we are operated upon by the same circumstances to
which other nations have been subjected.--The same causes will produce
the same effects, as long as the nature of man is unchanged, in every
clime.
"I trust, sir, that the march of mind is now upon its glorious way. I
trust that the minds of all have been sufficiently opened to the true
interest and glory of the country, to agree with me, that this is no
fitting place for the slave. That this country must, at some future
time, be consecrated to freemen alone. There are many individuals in the
Southern country, of which I am a native, who predict that the plan must
fail. They say we shall go on and partially succeed, that a portion of
the black population will go out to the colony, and after residing there
a short time, become discontented, when the plan must be given up--and
that the evil which we have endeavored to remove will be only the worse
for our exertion to obviate it. But this, sir, will not hold true. It
was, as it were, but a few day since, a small number of individuals were
thrown upon the shores of Africa. And what is the result? Here let it be
said--in the palace of legislation--that this people, but just now a
handful, are rising to consequence, and to a capability of the enjoyment
of political and civil rights;--and let us say to those who doubt--this
is the evidence in favor of our plan! Ought not this to join all hearts,
and call forth renewed exertions from those whose labors have thus far
been crowned with unexpected success?
"May not this be looked upon as a glorious work, the success of which
has been demonstrated! And when the time shall come,--and I trust in
God it will come--when this free and enlightened nation, dwelling in
peace and happiness under the mild influences of its government and
laws, shall have fixed deep the foundations of civilization in that
distant land, hitherto only known for its wide-spread deserts and its
savage race. Oh! sir, what will be the gratitude of that people, who,
transferred from the abode of their bondage, shall enjoy the rights
of freemen in their native clime!--And, oh sir, when we look to
ourselves--when we see the fertilization of those barren wastes which
always mark the land of slaves--when we see a dense population of
freemen--when lovely cottages and improved farms arise upon the now
deserted and sterile soil--and where now deep silence reigns, we hear
the chimes of religion from the village spire;--will you not--will
not every friend of his country, thank this Society for its patriotic
labors! Yes! Kings might be proud of the effects which this Society will
have produced. Far more glorious than all their conquests would ours be:
for it would be the triumph of freedom over slavery--of liberality over
prejudice--and of humanity over the vice and wretchedness which ever
wait on ignorance and servitude!"
_B. Hallowell_, having affirmed, stated that he knew Crandall, and
that he came here in May last, with introductions from very respectable
sources. Dr. Crandall had also been here about a year before, at
which time he (Mr. H.) wished to engage a person at his seminary in
Alexandria, as a lecturer on botany. He offered him $100 a year, and
encouraged him to believe that he would considerably add to that income
by making up different classes during the year. Dr. Crandall said, at
the time, that he would take it into consideration, and if he should
determine upon it, would move down. The Doctor did not return in time to
fulfil that engagement. But he brought with him letters showing that he
was a christian, a man of science, and a gentleman. He understood it to
be Dr. Crandall's object to have a class not merely for one session, but
for every summer, while he remained here. It was about the last of May
or first of June when Dr. Crandall returned.
_General Fowler_, of Georgetown, stated that he knew Dr. Crandall,
and that he was introduced to him, soon after he came, by a person
interested in botany, as a man well acquainted with that science.
Witness was fond of hunting after wild flowers, and proposed to take
excursions with Dr. Crandall. They went out botanizing, six, eight,
or ten times together. Their conversation was confined to that
subject, and witness had no reason to suppose that Dr. Crandall had
any incendiary pamphlets, or was at all engaged in the circulation
of them. His conduct, so far as he had seen him, was that of a
gentleman. He never knew him to converse with any negro. He never
had any pamphlets with him, to his knowledge. Dr. Crandall's
knowledge of the science was far beyond that which witness professed
to have.
_Ward B. Howard_ stated that he had known Crandall some years: at least
for seven or eight years. Witness was then resident at Peekskill. His
reputation was good, and he never heard that he was an abolitionist.
Witness himself had no fancy for abolitionists. There was no society
of them at Peekskill. Crandall resided in Peekskill seven or eight
years, and had, as he understood, attended the medical lectures at
Philadelphia, and received a diploma there. He had brought letters of
introduction to witness when he came to Peekskill, with the view to
settlement there. Dr. Crandall was actively engaged as an agent for the
temperance society. Witness would not now know the handwriting of the
traverser. He might know the signature, but not the general handwriting.
_Jackson O'Brown_ was living at Peekskill when Dr. Crandall first came
there. He boarded with him nearly two years, and had an opportunity of
seeing much of his character; a great part of the time he roomed with
him. The witness never heard that he was engaged in the abolition
societies, though he knew he was an active member of the temperance
society.