"The call for a meeting of the opponents of the fugitive slave law, at
Faneuil Hall, last night, collected a large audience, comprising a
considerable number of colored people. There were about three hundred
colored females in the galleries. The meeting was called to order by
Francis Jackson, and organized as follows:--Charles Francis Adams,
President; Samuel E. Sewall, Gershom B. Weston, Francis Jackson, and
Timothy Gilbert, Vice Presidents; J. W. Stone, and J. W. Thornton,
Secretaries.
"Upon taking the chair, Mr. Adams delivered a carefully prepared
address, in which he maintained that the law was repugnant to the spirit
of our institutions and the constitution, and fraught with as much
danger to free colored people as to fugitives.
"He was followed by Frederick Douglass, who described the consternation
the law had created among the colored people, free and fugitive, and
said that he knew of hundreds of both classes who were fleeing to
Canada. The free colored people were in fear of seizure by conspiring
complainants, aided by perjured affidavits.
"Richard H. Dana, Jr., after expressing regret that the meeting was not
made up of somewhat different material, of the leading men in all
branches of business, and of men of property and reputed respectability,
read a long letter from Josiah Quincy, senior, declaring against the
law, but at the same time expressing his belief that there was no real
ground for alarm, for, in his opinion, the enforcement of the law in
Massachusetts would prove to be impracticable.
"At the request of the President, Mr. Dana also read a series of
resolutions, author unknown, declaring that the moral sense of the
individuals composing the meeting, revolted against the law; denouncing
it as contradictory to the declaration of independence, and inconsistent
with the purposes of the constitution, and in direct violation of its
habeas corpus provision, and the right of the people to be secure from
unreasonable seizure, &c.; that the meeting could not believe that any
citizen of Boston and its vicinity could be so destitute of love of his
country and of his race, or devoid of a sense of justice, as to take
part in returning a fugitive; and that all present pledge themselves to
endeavor to aid and cooperate with all colored people endangered by the
law.
"Speeches were made by Wendell Phillips, James W. Briggs, of Ohio,
Charles Remond, and the Rev. Mr. Colver. The resolutions were adopted,
as a matter of course. The last one provided "for a committee of
vigilance to secure the fugitives and colored inhabitants of Boston and
vicinity from any invasion of their rights by persons acting under the
law," and the committee was styled and made up as follows:--"
The last resolution provides for a committee, of which Charles G. Davis
was one. Now I admit that Mr. Davis was in Syracuse, at the time. But he
admits that he volunteered upon his return. Why didn't he publicly
disclaim any assent to these proceedings? And if he did not, is he not
to be presumed to have assented? I want the public to know whether Mr.
Davis and those associated with him, abide by the doctrines avowed in
Faneuil Hall.
The Statute provides that whoever has been engaged in aiding, abetting,
or assisting, _directly or indirectly_, is criminal. I shall contend
that the defendant is directly implicated. He is more or less
implicated, in the opinions which have been promulgated, and from his
conversations with Mr. Riley. What next? He comes and asks whether a
certain man is a Southern man. Why? Is not a Southern man to go into a
United States Court? Has it come to this?
Mr. Davis then says to Sawin, "this is a d--d nasty piece of business,"
in the presence of the prisoner. He knew that such an expression was
calculated to have two effects; first, to discourage the officer,--and
secondly, to encourage and excite the prisoner. This was an indirect
aiding,--connecting it with the subsequent escape. He uses language of a
very unusual and violent character afterwards.
For some unaccountable reason Mr. Davis remains here; for it is
unaccounted for. Was he counsel?
I maintain he was not counsel. Mr. Riley did not know he was counsel
when he asked Shadrach in Wright's presence if Davis was counsel. Riley
didn't know it then. Shadrach appeared to be in doubt about it.
(It was suggested that there was no such evidence.)
What was he waiting for? What single thing did he do as counsel?
Mr. Lunt here reviewed the evidence of the transactions in the court
room more minutely. Davis pushed the door and stuck his back against the
post. One expression, "Take him out, boys," is the natural expression of
a stranger. The other words testified to by others were, "take him out."
He goes down, and does not interfere, according to his own statement. He
shows no disposition to prevent a rescue.
The Commissioner inquires whether not interfering may not be indirectly
aiding and abetting.
_Mr. Lunt._ I am not ready to take that ground at present.
_The Commissioner._ He is undoubtedly liable, as a magistrate, and
subject to a fine of $300.
Mr. Lunt reviews the evidence of what took place in the entry, argues
that Mr. Homer could not have seen the whole disturbance, says that as a
professional man, he can't say it is proved beyond a reasonable doubt,
that Mr. Davis uttered the words "take him out, boys," and does not
think they would satisfy a jury, taken by themselves. But there was
reasonable cause for binding him over. Mr. Prescott shakes my confidence
in my preconceived opinions upon the subject, as to whether Davis went
out or not. I did not think before that Davis went out. Mr. Prescott
cannot be mistaken. Mr. Prescott's testimony is not met by the negative
testimony of Mr. Riley, for it was impossible that Mr. Riley could have
constantly watched the left hand or easterly door, while talking with
others or disputing with Mr. Wright. If he did go out then, he had an
opportunity to concert a signal with the colored men without.
Mr. Lunt argued to show the intenseness of Mr. Davis's interest and zeal
in opposition to the law, that it was avowed by him under oath upon the
stand; that showed his predisposition and excited state of mind upon the
subject, and the greater liability of his being betrayed into an act of
overt resistance to the law, if an opportunity occurred. This excited
state of mind continued in the court room, as was proved by his
addressing the officers in the abusive and sanguinary terms used by him.
Up to the moment of leaving the court room, and when expostulated with
by the officer, for saying he and others ought to have their throats
cut, he admitted that he had said so, and that he said so again. Clark
and Hutchins heard the cry--"Take him out boys;" and Byrnes, whose eye
was fixed on Mr. Davis, was certain that they came from him.
The words were uttered. He was in that peculiar state of mind, which
rendered such words the natural expression of his feelings, and they
were in perfect accordance with the general purpose of resistance to the
law publicly promulgated by his associates and co-laborers, who had been
formed into an organized body in this city. He did not content himself
with going out when Hutchins opened the door for him. He braced his back
against the door-post, and pushed against the door to open it wider.
Then came the cry--"Take him out, boys!" And Byrnes had sworn it came
from Mr. Davis. Connected with Mr. Davis's leaving the room was another
significant fact. Almost at the moment that he, quitting that part of
the room where the fugitive was, started to go out, the fugitive rose,
put on his coat, and appearing to be excited, walked forward, just as
the first cry was raised.
Mr. Davis lingers on the stair-case, and goes to his office, not knowing
or caring, he would have us suppose, what had been the issue. Upon this
evidence, it seems to me a clear case for holding the party over for
further examination and trial.
* * * * *
_Wednesday, Feb. 26._ Upon the opening of the Court the Commissioner
delivered his decision.
He commenced by stating the offence under the statute with which the
defendant is charged, and stated that he should confine himself
principally to the question whether the defendant was aiding or abetting
the person who had been arrested, and that the legal decisions upon the
construction of the statute were merely for the purposes of this
examination. The Commissioner then reviewed the evidence as to the
expressions of the defendant in the court room, and stated that it had
been proved that the defendant said the officers of the Court ought to
have their throats cut. No notice was taken in the opinion of the
evidence of Geo. W. Minns, Esq. The following extracts are made from the
opinion of the Commissioner.
"The defendant has also volunteered the statement in this court, when
called as a witness in the preceding examination, that he was glad the
prisoner was free, and when further questioned, he left it unexplained
whether that opinion also embraced the unlawful means that had been
used."
"These facts have a legal bearing upon the _animus_, the wilful intent
with which any act may have been done, by the defendant to aid in the
rescue; and I should fail in the duty of a magistrate at this time, and
under all the circumstances surrounding this examination, to permit to
pass unrebuked any manifestation of a resistance to or contempt of legal
process, especially when coming from intelligent citizens and men in
official positions, whose countenance or encouragement may have
involved, and may again involve, the excitable and less informed in an
open violation of law. At the same time there is a plain distinction as
to the penal consequences, between a moral and a legal aiding or
abetting; and holding throughout these examinations, as I trust I may be
enabled to do, an impartial as well as a firm hand, care shall be taken
not to confound an indiscretion or a moral perversion, or any mere
expression of opinion, however gross, with a wilful act constituting
legal guilt. I fully recognise the doctrine suggested in the defence, of
the largest liberty within law, and also the right of the people to make
or amend constitutions and laws, by all constitutional means or reserved
powers."
* * * * *
"But so far as the defendant is here proved to have done any act, there
is no evidence which connects him criminally with a preconcerted plan of
rescue; and I take pleasure in adding that the conduct of the defence by
the learned counsel, and his testimony and disavowals, have greatly
aided me in coming to that conclusion." * * *
"Of this preliminary point of the evidence I do not find an aiding or
abetting within the provisions of the statute. But, in connection with
what immediately followed in the passing of the defendant out at the
door, the exclamation supposed by one witness to have come from him, his
position and his hand upon the door, immediately followed by the rush of
the rioters who surrounded it, and the absence of all evidence of
attempt on the part of the defendant to prevent the rescue, it
presented, on the part of the evidence for the prosecution, a strong
case of probable cause, that made it the duty of the district attorney
to bring the party to an examination. But in the view I take of a
preliminary inquiry in this form, and especially where not only the
evidence that would come before a grand jury, but the defence is gone
into, testimony stronger than probable cause should appear, in order to
hold the party to a trial." * * *
"Then is that proof found in the acts of the defendant as he passed out
of the door, in themselves or in their connection with his preceding
declarations and conduct?"
The Commissioner then reviewed the evidence of Mr. Byrnes, and come to
the conclusion that taking it as it stands it does not satisfactorily
prove that the defendant uttered the words ascribed to him. * * *
"The only other evidence refers to the manner the defendant went out of
the door. Hutchins, who passed him out, says that the defendant turned
his back to the wall, the outer corner of the casement, instead of going
directly forward, and put his head on the outer door, and then it
started and was forced open. This act, as it was exhibited to the
Commissioner, by the witness, is not inconsistent with the explanation
that it was the result of the rush and pressure without, and the force
there applied to the door; and if the attack was unexpected by the
defendant, his neglect to interpose resistance to the forcing of the
door, or to aid the officers, which it was his duty to have done, and
which, it has been urged by the district attorney for the prosecution,
with much force in the argument, may have been caused from sudden
surprise or agitation. And even if, as the previous and subsequent
conduct of the defendant might lead to infer, was a wilful omission of
duty, especially in a magistrate, yet, if unaccompanied by any act or
expression, aiding in, or inciting to the rescue, and in the absence of
a call from a proper officer for assistance, it is not the distinct
offence charged in the complaint, or defined in the statute; and the
party, if answerable, is so in another form and tribunal. It is further
to be considered, as suggested by the counsel for the defence, that the
decision in this hearing is not final, or in any legal form conclusive,
and as the defendant has a permanent locality, leaves the inquiry open
elsewhere, should this evidence or further proof require it. Upon the
whole evidence, therefore, and applying the rule which should govern
preliminary examinations, of not binding over a party accused, without
testimony beyond that which might constitute legal probable cause for
his arrest and examination, I shall order that the defendant be
discharged."
The commissioner now addressed the defendant personally, and
said--"Charles G. Davis, the court order you to be discharged, and go
without day."
Act of Congress of 1850.
AN ACT TO AMEND, AND SUPPLEMENTARY TO THE ACT, ENTITLED "AN ACT
RESPECTING FUGITIVES FROM JUSTICE, AND PERSONS ESCAPING FROM THE SERVICE
OF THEIR MASTERS," APPROVED FEBRUARY 12, 1793.
_Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United
States of America in Congress assembled_, That the persons who have
been, or may hereafter be, appointed commissioners, in virtue of any act
of Congress, by the circuit courts of the United States and who, in
consequence of such appointment, are authorized to exercise the powers
that any justice of the peace or other magistrate of any of the United
States may exercise in respect to offenders for any crime or offence
against the United States by arresting, imprisoning, or bailing the same
under and by virtue of the thirty-third section of the act of the
twenty-fourth of September, seventeen hundred and eighty-nine, entitled,
"An act to establish the judicial courts of the United States," shall
be, and are hereby authorized and required to exercise and discharge all
the powers and duties conferred by this act.
SEC. 2. _And be it further enacted_, That the superior court of each
organized territory of the United States shall have the same power to
appoint commissioners to take acknowledgments of bail and affidavit, and
to take depositions of witnesses in civil causes, which is now possessed
by the circuit courts of the United States; and all commissioners who
shall hereafter be appointed for such purposes by the superior court of
any organized territory of the United States shall possess all the
powers and exercise all the duties conferred by law upon the
commissioners appointed by the circuit courts of the United States for
similar purposes, and shall moreover exercise and discharge all the
powers and duties conferred by this act.
SEC. 3. _And be it further enacted_, That the circuit courts of the
United States, and the superior courts of each organized territory of
the United States, shall from time to time enlarge the number of
commissioners, with a view to afford reasonable facilities to reclaim
fugitives from labor, and to the prompt discharge of the duties imposed
by this act.
SEC. 4. _And be it further enacted_, That the commissioners above named
shall have concurrent jurisdiction with the judges of the circuit and
district courts of the United States, in their respective circuits and
districts within the several States, and the judges of the superior
courts of the Territories, severally and collectively, in term time and
vacation; and shall grant certificates to such claimants, upon
satisfactory proof being made, with authority to take and remove such
fugitives from service or labor, under the restrictions herein
contained, to the State or Territory from which such persons may have
escaped or fled.
SEC. 5. _And be it further enacted_, That it shall be the duty of all
marshals and deputy marshals to obey and execute all warrants and
precepts issued under the provisions of this act, when to them directed;
and should any marshal or deputy marshal refuse to receive such warrant
or other process, when tendered, or to use all proper means diligently
to execute the same, he shall, on conviction thereof, be fined in the
sum of one thousand dollars to the use of such claimant, on the motion
of such claimant, by the circuit or district court for the district of
such marshal; and after arrest of such fugitive by such marshal or his
deputy, or whilst at any time in his custody, under the provisions of
this act, should such fugitive escape, whether with or without the
assent of such marshal or his deputy, such marshal shall be liable, on
his official bond, to be prosecuted for the benefit of such claimant,
for the full value of the service or labor of said fugitive in the
State, Territory, or district whence he escaped; and the better to
enable the said commissioners, when thus appointed, to execute their
duties faithfully and efficiently, in conformity with the requirements
of the constitution of the United States and of this act, they are
hereby authorized and empowered, within their counties respectively, to
appoint in writing under their hands, any one or more suitable persons,
from time to time, to execute all such warrants and other process as may
be issued by them in the lawful performance of their respective duties;
with an authority to such commissioners, or the persons to be appointed
by them, to execute process as aforesaid, to summon and call to their
aid the bystanders, or _posse comitatus_ of the proper county, when
necessary to insure a faithful observance of the clause of the
constitution referred to, in conformity with the provisions of this act;
and all good citizens are hereby commanded to aid and assist in the
prompt and efficient execution of this law, whenever their services may
be required, as aforesaid, for that purpose; and said warrants shall run
and be executed by said officers anywhere in the State within which they
are issued.
SEC. 6. _And be it further enacted_, That when _a person held to service
or labor in any State or_ Territory of the United States has heretofore
or shall hereafter escape into another State or Territory of the United
States, the person or persons to whom such service or labor may be due,
or his, her, or their agent or attorney, duly authorized, by power of
attorney, in writing, acknowledged and certified under the seal of some
legal office or court of the State or Territory in which the same may be
executed, _may pursue and reclaim such fugitive person_, either by
procuring a warrant from some one of the courts, judges, or
commissioners aforesaid, of the proper circuit, district or county, for
the apprehension of such fugitive from service or labor, or by seizing
and arresting such fugitive where the same can be done without process,
and by taking and causing such person to be taken forthwith before such
court, judge or commissioner, whose duty it shall be to hear and
determine the case of such claimant in a summary manner; and upon
satisfactory proof being made, by deposition or affidavit, in writing,
to be taken and certified by such court, judge, or commissioner, or by
other satisfactory testimony, duly taken and certified by some court,
magistrate, justice of the peace, or other legal officer authorized to
administer an oath and take depositions under the laws of the State or
Territory from which _such person owing service or labor_ may have
escaped, with a certificate of such magistracy or other authority, as
aforesaid, with the seal of the proper court or officer thereto
attached, which seal shall be sufficient to establish the competency of
the proof, and with proof also by affidavit, of the identity of the
person whose service or labor is claimed to be due as aforesaid, that
the person so arrested does in fact owe service or labor to the person
or persons claiming him or her, in the State or Territory from which
such fugitive may have escaped as aforesaid, and that said person
escaped, to make out and deliver to such claimant, his or her agent or
attorney, a certificate setting forth the substantial facts as to the
service or labor due from such fugitive to the claimant, and of his or
her escape from the State or Territory in which such service or labor
was due to the State or Territory in which he or she was arrested, with
authority to such claimant, or his or her agent or attorney, to use such
reasonable force and restraint as may be necessary under the
circumstances of the case, to take and remove such fugitive person back
to the State or Territory from whence he or she may have escaped as
aforesaid. In no trial or hearing under this act shall the testimony of
such alleged fugitive be admitted in evidence; and the certificates in
this and the first section mentioned shall be conclusive of the right of
the person or persons in whose favor granted to remove such fugitive to
the State or Territory from which he escaped, and shall prevent all
molestation of said person or persons by any process issued by any
court, judge, magistrate, or other person whomsoever.
SEC. 7. _And be it further enacted_, That any person who shall knowingly
and willingly obstruct, hinder, or prevent such claimant, his agent or
attorney, or any person or persons lawfully assisting him, her, or them,
from arresting _such fugitive from service or labor_, either with or
without process as aforesaid; or shall rescue, or attempt to rescue,
_such fugitive from service or labor_, from the custody of such
claimant, his or her agent or attorney, or other person or persons
lawfully assisting as aforesaid, when so arrested, pursuant to the
authority herein given and declared; or shall aid, abet, or assist such
person, so owing service or labor as aforesaid, directly or indirectly,
to escape from such claimant, his agent or attorney, or other person or
persons, legally authorized as aforesaid; or shall harbor or conceal
such _fugitive_, so as to prevent the discovery and arrest of such
person, after notice or knowledge of the fact that such person was a
fugitive from service or labor as aforesaid, shall, for either of said
offences, be subject to a fine not exceeding one thousand dollars and
imprisonment not exceeding six months, by indictment and conviction
before the district court of the United States for the district in which
such offence may have been committed, or before the proper court of
criminal jurisdiction, if committed within any one of the organized
Territories of the United States; and shall moreover forfeit and pay, by
way of civil damages to the party injured by such illegal conduct, the
sum of one thousand dollars for _each fugitive so lost_ as aforesaid, to
be recovered by action of debt in any of the district or territorial
courts aforesaid, within whose jurisdiction the said offence may have
been committed.
SEC. 8. _And be it further enacted_, That the marshals, their deputies,
and the clerks of the said district and territorial courts, shall be
paid for their services the like fees as may be allowed to them for
similar services in other cases; and where such services are rendered
exclusively in the arrest, custody, and delivery of the fugitive to the
claimant, his or her agent or attorney, or where such supposed fugitive
may be discharged out of custody for the want of sufficient proof as
aforesaid, then such fees are to be paid in the whole by such claimant,
his agent or attorney; and in all cases where the proceedings are before
a commissioner, he shall be entitled to a fee of ten dollars in full for
his services in each case, upon the delivery of the said certificate to
the claimant, his or her agent or attorney; or a fee of five dollars in
cases where the proof shall not, in the opinion of such commissioner,
warrant such certificate and delivery, inclusive of all services
incident to such arrest and examination, to be paid in either case by
the claimant, his or her agent or attorney. The person or persons
authorized to execute the process to be issued by such commissioners for
the arrest and detention of fugitives from service or labor as
aforesaid, shall also be entitled to a fee of five dollars each for each
person he or they may arrest and take before any such commissioner as
aforesaid at the instance and request of such claimant, with such other
fees as may be deemed reasonable by such commissioner for such other
additional services as may be necessarily performed by him or them: such
as attending to the examination, keeping the fugitive in custody, and
providing him with food and lodging during his detention, and until the
final determination of such commissioner: and in general for performing
such other duties as may be required by such claimant, his or her
attorney or agent, or commissioner in the premises; such fees to be made
up in conformity with the fees usually charged by the officers of the
courts of justice within the proper district or county, as near as may
be practicable, and paid by such claimants, their agents or attorneys,
whether such supposed fugitive from service or labor be ordered to be
delivered to such claimants by the final determination of such
commissioners or not.
SEC. 9. _And be it further enacted_, That upon affidavit made by the
claimant of such fugitive, his agent or attorney, after such certificate
has been issued, that he has reason to apprehend that such fugitive will
be rescued by force from his or their possession before he can be taken
beyond the limits of the State in which the arrest is made, it shall be
the duty of the officer making the arrest to retain such fugitive in his
custody, and to remove him to the State whence he fled, and there to
deliver him to said claimant, his agent or attorney. And to this end the
officer aforesaid is hereby authorized and required to employ so many
persons as he may deem necessary, to overcome such force, and to retain
them in his service so long as circumstances may require; the said
officer and his assistants, while so employed, to receive the same
compensation, and to be allowed the same expenses as are now allowed by
law for the transportation of criminals, to be certified by the judge of
the district within which the arrest is made, and paid out of the
treasury of the United States.
SEC. 10. _And be it further enacted_, That when any person held to
service or labor in any State or Territory, or in the District of
Columbia, shall escape therefrom, the party to whom such service or
labor shall be due, his, her, or their agent or attorney, may apply to
any court of record therein, or judge thereof in vacation, and make
satisfactory proof to such court, or judge in vacation, of the escape
aforesaid, and that the person escaping owed service or labor to such
party. Whereupon the court shall cause a record to be made of the
matters so proved, and also a general description of the person so
escaping, with such convenient certainty as may be; and a transcript of
such record authenticated by the attestation of the clerk, and of the
seal of the said court, being produced in any other State, Territory, or
District in which the person so escaping may be found, and being
exhibited to any judge, commissioner, or other officer authorized by the
law of the United States to cause persons escaping from service or labor
to be delivered up, shall be held and taken to be full and conclusive
evidence of the fact of escape, and that the service or labor of the
person escaping is due to the party in such record mentioned. And upon
the production by the said party of other and further evidence, if
necessary, either oral or by affidavit, in addition to what is contained
in the said record, of the identity of the person escaping, he or she
shall be delivered up to the claimant. And the said court, commissioner,
judge, or other person authorized by this act to grant certificates to
claimants of fugitives, shall, upon the production of the record and
other evidences aforesaid, grant to such claimant a certificate of his
right to take any such person identified and proved to be owing service
or labor as aforesaid, which certificate shall authorize such claimant
to seize or arrest and transport such person to the State or Territory
from which he escaped: _Provided_. That nothing herein contained shall
be construed as requiring the production of a transcript of such record
as evidence as aforesaid; but in its absence, the claim shall be heard
and determined upon other satisfactory proofs competent in law.
HOWELL COBB,
_Speaker of the House of Representatives._
WILLIAM R. KING.
_President of the Senate, pro tempore._
Approved September 18th, 1850.