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قراءة كتاب Report of the Proceedings at the Examination of Charles G. Davis, Esq., on the Charge of Aiding and Abetting in the Rescue of a Fugitive Slave: Held in Boston, in February, 1851.
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Report of the Proceedings at the Examination of Charles G. Davis, Esq., on the Charge of Aiding and Abetting in the Rescue of a Fugitive Slave: Held in Boston, in February, 1851.
REPORT
OF THE
PROCEEDINGS AT THE EXAMINATION
OF
CHARLES G. DAVIS, ESQ.,
ON A
CHARGE OF AIDING AND ABETTING IN THE RESCUE OF A FUGITIVE SLAVE.
HELD IN BOSTON, IN FEBRUARY, 1851
United States vs. Charles G. Davis.
BOSTON: WHITE & POTTER, PRINTERS, 4 SPRING LANE.
1851.
NOTE.
The following Report is published at the request of numerous persons who are of opinion that all which is known of the operation of the Fugitive Slave Bill, should be spread before the public. To the legal profession it will be of interest, as developing new points in the construction and application of a Statute, destined to be of great political importance now, and in future history. They will be able to judge of the constructions upon the Statute, and of the law of evidence, as laid down and applied by the Commissioner, and contended for by the representative of the Government. Not the profession alone, but the public, can judge of the temper, and manner, as to parties and witnesses, in which the prosecution was pressed, and the judicial duties performed.
It will be well for every reader to bear in mind that this is the tribunal to which the late Act of Congress gives final jurisdiction in deciding whether a man found a free inhabitant of a free state, shall be exiled, and sent into endless slavery.
The Commissioner tries an issue, on the result of which, all the hopes of a fellow man for the life that is, and that which is to come, are suspended; and his judgment is "conclusive on all other tribunals."[A]
It will be well for us, as citizens, to remember, that the attempt is making to establish this act, passed by the vote of less than half of the Representatives of the people, as the unalterable law of the country; to treat as treason and disaffection to government, all attempts to rouse the public to efforts for its repeal; and, by unprecedented coalitions, that might almost be called conspiracies, of public men, to destroy the character and means of influence of all who lend their aid in these efforts. Even a public discussion of the subject, is cause for suspicion and inquiry.
We would ask every reader, on rising from the examination of this trial, taken in connexion with the President's Proclamation and Message, the late debate in the Senate, and the recent letters and speeches of leading men of both parties, to say, for himself, whether these are not times, not only of danger to the liberty of colored men, but of serious apprehension for our independence and dignity as men, and our rights as citizens.
[A] See the Opinion of Attorney General Crittenden.
REPORT.
On the 13th of February, A.D. 1851, one John Caphart, of Norfolk, Va., came to Boston, in pursuit of one Shadrach, alleged to be a fugitive slave and the property of John Debree, a purser in the navy, and attended by Seth J. Thomas, Esq., as counsel, made his complaint, as agent and attorney of the said owner, before George T. Curtis, Esq., U. S. Commissioner. On the evening of the 14th, the following warrant was placed in the hands of special marshal Sawin, and served, Shadrach offering no resistance, about half-past 11 on Saturday forenoon, the 15th, at the Cornhill Coffee House, where Shadrach had been employed for some months as a waiter:—
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.
[Seal]Greeting:
These are, in the name of the President of the United States of America, to command you, the said marshal or deputies, and each of you, forthwith to apprehend one Shadrach, now commorant in Boston, in said district, a colored person, who is alleged to be a fugitive from service or labor, and who has escaped from service or labor in the state of Virginia, (if he may be found in your precinct), and have him forthwith before me, one of the commissioners of the circuit court of the United States for the Massachusetts district, at the court house in Boston aforesaid, then and there to answer to the complaint of John Caphart, attorney of John De Bree, of Norfolk, in the state of Virginia, alleging under oath, that the said Shadrach owes service or labor to the said De Bree, in the said state of Virginia, and while held to service there under the laws of the said state of Virginia, escaped into the state of Massachusetts aforesaid, and praying for the restoration of the said Shadrach to the said De Bree, and then and there before me to be dealt with according to law.
Hereof fail not, and make due return of this with your doings thereon, before me.
Witness my hand and seal at Boston, in the said district, on this fourteenth day of February, in the year of our Lord, one thousand eight hundred and fifty one.
for Massachusetts District.
The following return was endorsed upon the warrant:—
In obedience to the warrant to me directed, I have this day arrested the within named Shadrach, and now have him before the commissioner within named.
A hearing was had in the U. S. court room, and several papers, being affidavits and certificates of a record, were exhibited by the complainant's counsel, as the evidence under the 10th section of the Fugitive Slave Law so called, that Shadrach was a slave in Virginia, that he was owned by said De Bree, and that he escaped on the 3d of May, 1850. At the request of counsel these papers were read and admitted as evidence in the case, subject to such objections as might be made to their admissibility as legal evidence thereafter.
There were present as counsel for Shadrach, S. E. Sewall, Ellis G. Loring, Charles G. Davis, and Charles List, and as they had not had an opportunity to examine the documents produced by the complainant, and were therefore not satisfied of their sufficiency, they asked for a postponement, to February 18th, and the commissioner adjourned the further hearing of the matter until 10 o'clock, on Tuesday, February 18th, and passed the following order:—
United States of America, District of Massachusetts, February 15th, 1851.—And now the hearing of this case being adjourned to Tuesday the eighteenth day of February instant, at ten o'clock in the forenoon, the said deputy marshal, who has made return of this warrant, is hereby ordered to retain the said Shadrach in his custody, and have him before me at the time last mentioned, at the court house in Boston, for the further hearing of the complaint on which this warrant is issued.