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Show 26 MASSAcng. morning had beaten l1igh with expectation. 'l1hcir bones l1.:wc been bleaching in tltc sun for thirty-seven years, and may yet be seen scattered among tile ruins of that ancient fortillcation. Twenty-two years elapsed, ancl a representative in Congress, from one of the free States, reported. a bill giving to the perpetrators of these murders a gratu ity of llvc thousand dollars from the public treasury, as a token of the gratitude which the people. of tbis notion felt for the soldierly and gallant manner in whicl1 the crime was committed toward them. 'l.'hc bill passccl botb houses of Congress, was approved by the Prcsidcn t, and now stands upon our statute book among the Ia ws enacted at tlw 3d Session of the 23th Congress. 'l'hc facts arc all found scattered among the various publ ic documents whiclt repose in the alcoves of our National Library. But no historian l>as been willing to co1Jcct and publish them, in consequence of the deep disgrace which they rcOcct upon the American arms, and upon those who then controlled the gov· crnrncnt. FEW Jaws ]rave ever been passed better calculated than this to harden tl1c hca1t and benumb the conscience of every man who assists in its execution. It pours contempt upon the dictotcs of j usticc and humanity. Jt levels in the dust the barriers erected by the common Jaw for the pmtcction of personal liLcrty. Its victims arc native born Americans, unc1Hngcd with Crime. rrbcsc men nrc seized, without notice, n.nd instantly carried before an officer) by whom they arc generally hurried off into a cruel bondage1 for the remainder of their days) and some~ times wjthout time being allowed for a parting interview with their families. Such treatment woulcl be cruel toward criminals; but tl1cse men a.rc adjudged to toil, to stripes1 to ignorauce1 to poverty, to hope~ less degradation, on the pretence that they "owe scr· |