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Show 158 ATH.OCIOU:) J CDG E~. A. U. 1\JCG. their captain with hi ~ sworu, and flo uri hed it over hi~ head, and that 1\Ie sengcr walked about 1\Ioodields wiLh a green apron on the top of a pole. "\¥hat was done by one wa' done by all; in high t reason, all concerned arc principal ' ." So the prisoners were all convicted of high trca ' On; and I an1 a han1e<l to ... ay that all the judge concnrrcu in the propriety of the conviction cxcepL LorJ Chief Baron Ilalc, who, ns might be expected, J clivereu his opinion that there was no treason in the case, and treated it n1crely as :1 1nisdcmeanor. Such a proceeding had not the palliation that it ruine<l a personal enemy, or cru -heel a rival party in the state, or brought great forfeitures into the exchequer; it was a mere fanta tic trick played before high hensen to 1nake the ang ·ls weep.* * This case, thus characterized by Lord Campbell, srnecl as found~t~on for the remarkable attempt recently made among us to cmwert opposltlOn to the fu O'itive slave act into hi<rh treason. This uloodv idea was first tartcd 0 b • . by George T. Curtis, a slave-catching commissioner of Massachusetts, 111 his telegraphic despatch to Mr. \V cb::;ler, giving an account of the rescue 1 f 1 U S mar-at Boston, by a number of colored men, from the han( s o t lC' • • . shal, of a man named Shadrach, who had been seized on one of Comnus· !;Loner Curtis's warrants as a fugitiYc slave. Not lonO' after in September 18.)1 a l\lardand slaveholder named Gor· 0 ' ' ' · · 1 1 · such obtained front the notoriou · Edward D. Ingraham, the Phtlade P ua . . . . ' ll d f "t' ·e slaves. slavc-catchmg comm1 s1oner, warrant::; agamst four a ege ngl 1 ' . 1 II c procecdrd with an armed party and a depn ty mar~ hal to Chri ·tHtna, anc besieged a house in which the slaves \rcrc said to hase taken refuge. Int elligence had been recein~d of the approach of the part~·, and ~he slax~s manfully resolved to defend thcmsch cs, and, if possible, to nclucve the.rl t tl ci r ·tid anc freedom. Some of their colorccl friends gallantly ca11.e o 1 ' • generously shared their danger. Gorsuch, the ~b.vc-hnntcr, and the mat· f, . . t the othrr, shal entered the house, but were r e-pulsed, each party uwg .t 0 l>nt, as appears, without effect. The besiegers called for assi~tancc, an . 1 k h arsh·!l as au-meetmg Caspar Hanway. a white man, on h orse HlC ·, t c n1 • · • ' . th on·z ed b y t h c f ugt· tl·v e ,1 aw, comman d c d 1u ·! 'l au· 1 1· n arre.s tinOo ' the. sla' etso. Mr. Hanway, as became a republican and a Chris tian, rcfascd ouedJcncc the infamons mandate. ln the mean time the n egro es ma.dc, it wou~d seelln~: t t 'u·e JS a. sorti<', advancing on the enemy. Hanway cn.llrcl to th em 11° · 0 -'' ·· A. D. 166G.] J OliN K E LYS (~E. vVhen Chief Ju"tice K clyngc wa' upon the circuit, being without any check or r estr a int, he t hrew a. ide aU r eO'at·d to 0 moderation and to decency. Ile compelled the g ranJ jury of Somersetshire to finu a true bill contrary to their consciences - reproaching Sir II ugh ""\Vynd.ham, the foreman, as the head of a faction, and telling thmn ''that they were all his servants, and that he \VOu ld n1ake the be. t in England stoop.'' exhortation was unheeded. Gorsuch was shot dead, another was wonndcJ, and the r esidue of the . lave-cat<:hcn; sought safety in flight. At the next meeting of the United 1::ltates District Court for the Eastern ~istrict of P ennsylvania, this case was brought to the notice of the grand Jury by Judge K ane. Af~er r eciting the facts as they appeared in the newspapers, he uddecJ, that It was reported "that for some months back, gathering of people, strangers us well as citizens, hasc been held from time to time in the Yiciuity of the place of the recent outrage, at which exhortatious arc made and pledges interchanged to hold the law for the recovery of fugitire slaYes as of no validity, and to defy its execution." In other words, anti- lavery meetings had been held in Lancaster county, as in other parts of the frc~ states , anu·1 1• 11 tl1 ese mect·m gs one of the most detestable acts of modern legislation had been denounced as cruel and unj ust, and the people in attendance had expre sed th~ir determination n ot to partiC'ipate in shsc hunt . ." If' " s:n" d t l1 0 J. Udge, '· the circumstances to which I have ;:uhcrtcd [~·1 z: the riot at Christiana a11d the an ti-:-;lavery meeti11gs] have in fact t,tken place, they involYe the highest crime known to the law." And what crime i'l that? Treason. And what is treason ? The J"nd o-c answer-; " L . , :::> ' C\")'Ing war against the United latcs ." And whai had the aflilir at Cl.lristiana to do with war against the United States? Again Lhe judo·c H'- pltc·',; ' "An y com b"m at1·o n forci. bly to prevent or oppose ' the executio:::> n or enforcement of a provision of lhe Con titntion or of a public statute, if acc~mp,~n.ied by an act of forcible opposition in punmance of such eombinn. tJon,, IS embraced in the expression "leYying war against the Unilcd States, as used in the constitutional definition of treason. H ence, four ll P~roes combining to maintain their newly-rccoycred liberty uy forcibly resistinO' the ctrort · f 1 1 · f 1 · . · 1. • t) 11 ' s o a s a Ye-ca tc 1 er arc (l"ml t)' o CYYll1 0' war a (rams t t 10. Umtcd St ' o · :::> 0 . ates . th But the. judge's patriotic zeal against traitors did not confine itself to 0 enem1es of the United States actively engaged in the Christiana eampui gn. IIe re, m· deed, he went feu· beyo·n d o'Y cn the infamous J ndge |