BY S. B. ROW.
VOL 2.--NO. 40.
CLEARFIELD, WEDNESDAY, MAY 21, 1850.
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WHAT WOFLD I BE 1
ar w.c. bosxer.'
What would I be ? Not rich in gold,
And with a narrow heart ;
Or misanthropic, stern and cold,
Dwell from my kind apart ;
I would not be a man of war,
- Who looks on death unmoved
Give me a title dearer far
"The well beloved."
I would not wear a laurel crown,
Iti leaves conceal a thorn ;
Too oft the children of renown,
- Are friendless and forlorn.
Oh ! let me lead a blameless life,
By young and old approved,
Called, in the world of sin and strife,
'The well beloved "
God grant me power to guard the weak,
And sorrow's moaning hush,
And never feel upon my cheek
Dark shame's betraying blush.
And when at my Creator's call,
From earth I am removed,
- Let friendahip'broider on my pall.
-The well beloved."
TITE LAUGHING HERO.
AX INCIDENT OF THE MASSACRE AT OOLIAD.
It was the morning of the 17th March 183G ;
Aurora, mother of dews and mistress of golden
clouds, came, as she almost ever comes to the
living scenery of the plains of Goliad a thing
of beauty, queen of the sky, on a throne of
burning amber, robed in the crimson of fire,
with a diadem of purple, and streamers of
painted pink. Oh ! it was a glorious dawn tor
the poet to sing of earth, or the saint to pray
to heaven ; but neither poet's song nor saint's
prayer mado the matins of the place and the
hour. Alas ! no ; it was a very different sort of
music. -
A hundred hoarse drums roared the loud re
rtille that awoke four hundred Texan prison,
ers and their guard four times th-.ir number
of Mexican soldiers the elite of the Chief
Butcher's grand array.
The prisoners were immediately summoned
to parade before the post, in the main street of
the village, and every eye sparkled with joy,
and every tongue uttered the involuntary ex
clamation of confidence and hope
"Thanks, Santa Aana ! He is going to exe
cutu the treaty ! We shall be shipped back to
the United States ! We shall see our friends
once more !"
Such were the feelings which the American
volunteers, and the f;w Texans among them
greeted the ordvr to form in line.
The line was formed and then broke into two
columns, when every instrument of music in
the Mexican host sounded a merry march, and
they moved away with a quick step over the
prairie towards the west.
Five minutes afterwards, a singular dialogue
occurred between the two leaders ef the front
columns of the prisoners :
"What makes you walk so lame, Col. Neil 7
Are yon wounded 1" asked a tall, handsome
man, with blue eyes, and bravery flashing forth
in all their beams.
"Col. Fannin, I walk lame to keep from be
ing wounded ; do you comprehend 1" replied
the other with a laugh, and such a laugh as no
words might describe it was so luxurious,
like tho roar of the breakers of the sea of hu
mor; it was, in short, a laugh of the inmost
heart.
. "I do not comprehend you, for I am no ar
tist in riddles,'' lejoined Fannin, smiling him
self at the ludicrous gitj of his companion,
so strangely ill-timed.
"You discover thnt I am Lnuo in each leg,"
said Col. Neil, glancing down at the members
indicated, and mimicking the movements of a
conGrmed cripple, as he laughed louder than
ever. "And yet," he added in a whisper, "I
have neither the rheumatism in my knees, nor
corns on my toes, but I have two big revolvers
in my boots !" '
- "That is a violation of tho treaty by which
we agree to deliver up our arms," Col. Fannin
mournfully suggested. , ,
"You will sec, however, that I shall need
them before the sun is an hour high," replied
Neil. "Ah ! Fanni-j, you do not know the
treachery of these base-Mexicans."
At the ins tint tho sun rose in a sky of ex
traordinary brilliancy, and a million flower
cups flung their rich odors abroad over the
green prairie, as an offering to the lord of
light, when the mandate to "halt" was given
by Santa Anna's Aid, and the two columns
of prisoners were broken up and scattered over
tyie plain, in small hollow squares, encircled
on every side by Mexican infantry: and troops
of horse, with loaded muskets and drawn
Words. - And then came & momentary pause,
awful in its stillness, and disturbed only by an
occasional shriek of terror, as tho most timid
realized the impending storm of fire and ex
tinction of life's last hope.
And then the infernal work of wholesale
murder was begun, and a scene ensued such
as scarcely might be matched in the very an
nals of hell itself.' The roar of musketry burst
in successive poals like appalling claps of thun
der, but could "not utterly drown the prayers
of the living, the screams of the wounded, and
more terrible groans of tho dying ! : . -
Col. Fannin fell among tho first victims, but
not so the giant Neil. With the order of the
Mexican officer to his men to fire, our hero
stooped almost to the earth, so that the volley
paiicd entirely over himi He waited not for
a second ; thrusting a hand into the leg of
each boot, he rose with a couple of six shoot
ers, - deadly revolvers, and commenced dis
charging them with the quick rapidity of light
ning into the thickest ranks of his foes.
Panic-stricken with surprise and fear, the
Mexicans recoiled and opened a passage, thro'
which Neil bounded with the spring of a pan
ther and fled away as if wings were tied to his
heels, while half a dozen horsemen gave chase.
For a while it seemed doubtful whether the
giant Colonel would not distance even these,
so much had the perils of the occasion increas
ed the natural elasticity of his mighty mus
cles. But presently a charger fleeter than the
rest might be discerned gaining.on his human
rival, and approached so near that the dragoon
raised his sabre for a coup de grace. Neil be
came conscious of his danger, and hastily
slackened his speed, till tho hot stream of
smoke from' the horse's nostrils appeared to
mingle with his very hair ; and then, wheeling
suddenly, he fired another round from a re
volver, and the rider tumbled from his saddle.
The victim then renewed his flight. .
A mad yell of grief and rage broke from the
remaining troopers as they witnessed the fate
of their comrade, and its effect was immedi
ately evident in the augmented caution of their
pursuit for they galloped afterwards in one
body, thereby greatly retarding their progress,
so that Neil reached the river before them.
He paused not a moment, but plunged head
long down tho steep bank into the current, and
struck for the other shore ! The dragoons dis
charged their side-arms ineffectually, and gave
over the chase !
In a few minutes Neil landed, and as soon
as he felt satisfied that he was leally saved,
burst into an insnppressible convulsion of
laughter, and exclaimed :
"It will kill me ! just to see how astonished
tho yellow dovils looked when I hauled my re
volvers out of my boots !"
Such was Col. John Neil possessing a fund
of humor that no misfortune could exhaust,
and a flow of animal spirits which would have
enabled him to dance on the graves of all bis
dearest friends, or to have sung Yankee Doo
dle at his own execution.
SCIENTIFIC AGRICULTURE.
There was a time when this phrase was a by
word of scorn. Staid old farmers said they
wanted no such new-fangled notions, but were
content to sow and reap as their fathers had
done before them. But, fortunately for man
kind, this prejudice is passing away. Leibig
has demonstrated that, for every grain of wheat
which is grown, a certain quantity of potash is
taken up from the soil, and that, until this lost
ingredient is restored, cither by manuring or
by letting the ground lie fallow, the capacity
of that particular field to raise wheat is SO far
forth diminished. He has shown also that
what is true of wheat is true also of rye, oats,
Indian corn, grasses, and all other vegetable
products, tho ingredient taken up only being
altered. What the great agricultural chemist
has thus demonstrated in the labaratory, en
terprising farmers in Scotland and England
have proved practically in the field. Tho laws
which govern the growth of plants, have been
analyzed and exemplified as jujccessfnlly as
those which control the circulation of the
blood, tho uses of respiration, or the constitu
tion of air. To be successful in raising a good
crop is now almost as much a matter of known
cause and effect as the driving of a locomotive
or the lighting of a city.
Yet, in spite of this, scientific agriculture is
still gretly neglected. Even one of Its first
laws, that no more land should be farmed than
can be thoroughly cultivated, is constantly ne
glected. Three agriculturists ont of every
four, in this State of Pennsylvania alone,
where generally cultivation is so thorough and
remunerative, undertake far more land than
they can properly manage. An agricultural
cotemporary, in view of this fact, estimates
that an improved economy in this matter
would add to tho net receipts of each farm, an
nually, an incrcaso of one-sixteenth over the
present yield of grains, or enough to pay all
the taxes now collected yearly off the land,
which amount, as is well known, to the round
sum of two millions of dollars. To each par
ticular farmer, it seems but a small leak ; yet
how vast is the aggregate ! The diflerence be
tween what might be done and what is done,
merely in this one matter, would, in thirty
years, make any farmer rich. It is a differ
ence that, at all times, would materially con
tribute towards giving us the agricultural mar
ket of the world, by giving us first an enor
mous surplus to sell.
Pat and his Pio. A rollicking Hibernian
of the light division in the Peninsula was once
trudging leisurely along the road with a pig in
a string behind him, when, as bad luck would
have it, he was overtaken by Gen. Cranfurd.
The salutation, as may be supposed, was not
the most cordial. "Where did you steal that
pig, you plundering rascal 7" "What pig,
glneralT" asked the culprit, turning round
with tho most innocent surprise. "Why, that
pig you havo behind you, you villain," said
tho General. "Well, thin, I vow and protest,
gineral," rejoined Paddy, nothing abashed and
turning round to his four-footed companion as
if he had never seen him before, "it is scan
dalous to think what a wicked world we live
in, and how ready folks arc to take away an
honest boy's charactor. Some blackguard,
wanting to get me in trouble, has tied that
baste to my cart ouch box!"
The Indian War is Oregon. Washington,
May 12 The President sent to the Senate, to
day, a number of documents relative to the
hostilities on the Pacific Coast. Gen. Wool,
nnder date of the 20th of March ; says the war
on Puget's Sound will soon be brought to a
close, unless prevented by Governor Stevens
determination to carry on the war independent
of the United States troops, and that the same
remark is applicable to Governor Curry, ad
ding that these Governors appear to bo run
ning a race, to see who can dip deepest into
the public treasury. "In the dense forest
of Puget's Sound, and tho Florida war, can
easily bo carried on at an expense of twenty
or thirty milions of dollars. The same will
apply to the mountain region and Puget's
Sound Valley. I have no doubt I could set
tle the contest in a short time, if the Gover
nors would withdraw from the contest.'
Gen. Stevens says, "Gen. Wool neglected
and refused to send a force for the relief of
myself and party when known to be in immi
nent danger, and believed by those who arc
best capable of judging, to be coming on to
certain death, and this, when he had at his
command an efficient force of regular troops,
lie has refused to sanction an agreement made
between Gen. Mason and Major Gaines, for
troops to be sent to my assistance, and order
ed them to bo disbanded. It was reserved for
the Oregon Volunteers to rescue us. There
has been a breach of faith somewhere. I ask
for an investigation of tho whole matter.
now de converted a Jew. A 'rale' hard
sinner, a native of the Emerald Isle, went to
confession the other day to his parish priest,
and so shocked the priest, with a recital of his
sins, that he exclaimed :
"My son, did you ever do a good thing in
your life ?"
"I did," said Tat, "I converted a Jew once."
"How was that ?" inquired the confessor.
"You see," said Pat, "the long nosed pork
Aiting mnrthering blaguard fell overboard, and
I put after his carcase in a boat. I sazed him
by the top-knot jest as be w as going down the
second time, and pulled bis head abovo the
surface, and says 1,
"If I save ye will ye bo a christain 7"
"I won't," says he ; and with that I deposi
ted his head about three feet unther again.
Pulled him up once more and put the question
a-new.
"Will ye bo a christian 7" to which he again
answered grnffly, "No."
"I gave him another dip, and brought him
up puffing like a porpoise.
'Will you be a christian, now 7" says I.
"Yes," says he, and his teeth were chatter
ing for all the world like a monkey that had
burned his toes.
"Well," says I, "you are now converted and
you had better die in the faith I" and so say
ing I held him under untill bis spirit had de
parted. "Brother Jonathan." The origin of this
term, as applied to the United States, is as
follows; When General Washington, after
being appointed commander of the army of
the Revolutionary War, went to Massachusetts
to organize it, he found a great want of ammu
nition and other means for its defence ; and
on one occasion it seemed that no means could
be devised for tho necessary safety. Jona
than Trumbull, the elder, was then . Governor
of the State of Connecticut ; and the General,
placing the greatest reliance on his Excellen
cy's judgment, remarked, "We must consult
brother Jonathan on the subject.' The Gen
eral did so, and the Governor was successful
in supplying many of the wants of the army j
and thenceforth, when difficulties arose and
the army was spread over the country, it be
came a by-phrase, "Wo must consult brother
Jonathan ;" and the name has now become a
desiguation for the vholo country, as John
Bull has for England.
A New Motive. A member of Congress
making a speech a few days ago, illustrated
his subject thus: "A certain individual in
Kentucky once sought a matrimonial connex
ion with a very clever lady there. Ho said
that be did not want to marry her for love nor
money, but merely that he might disgrace tho
family." Excessive laughter succeeded the
telling of this anecdote.
The trial of Baker for the murder of Poole,
in New York city, has been abrubtly suspend
ed in consequence of the sickness of a juror.
Tho whole jury, obtained after summoning
1,250 men, havo been dismissed, and a new
panel of 1,000 men ordered to be summoned
by tho 1st Tuesday of June.
Extra Baggage. A Frenchman wishing to
take the stage for Buflalo, was asked by the
driver if ho had any extra baggage 7 "Extra
baggage !" replied he. "Vat do you call dat7
Me have no baggage at all, but my tree big
trunks, five dogs, and von black girl!"
"Sonny, who's yonr father?" "Mr. Jen
kins." "What Jenkins?" "The Jenkins
what kicked you yesterday for 'sassing' our
servant girl.", It is unnecessary to say that
the examination stopped there.
Mrs. Sarah Courson, of West Miltord, New
Jersey, recently cloped with David White of
the same . place. She is ono of six sisters,
who have all left their husbands and aro now
living with other men. ... .
CLEARFIELD, PA., MAY 21, 185C.
LETTER FROM KANSAS.
Wc have been handed the following inter
esting letter by tho gentleman to whom it is
addressed. It was not designed by the writer
for publication ; but as it treats of a subject
in which every citizen of our country is deep
ly interested, the liberty of giving publicity
to it has been taken by one who hopes that
good may be accomplished thereby.
CorNctt Citt, March 10th, 183G.'
Rev. J. J. Hamilton : My dear, dear Broth
er: I received your short letter by way of
George. Now I just want to ask whether you
wero flying when you wrote it, for I certainly
felt much as if I had a pair of wings when I
read it, but only to fly ono way : for a thousand
silken chords seemed to draw me toward you
so strongly that I fairly began to be afraid of
my bonds afraid lest I could never break
them, and afraid that they would break. My
heart seemed to jump up in my throat and flut
ter about so, that for some time I could not
get it calmed down again to its proper place.
Indeed it did not seem as if we could be so far
apart, and if we live, I hepe we may not be so
a great while, but I don't know.
I have just been reading in tho Banner a
proposition to substitute Christian coloniza
tion, in place of foreign missions. Now it
does seem to me as ir that is jutl the thing.
Only in the first place let the colony be prop
erly selected and organized. Let all branches
of labor be duly and economically represent
ed; and in all things show the heathen how to
live. I grow more and more persuaded that
reform in the use of our bodies must accompa
ny any high attainment in godliness. This re
form may precede that spiritual change which
is the beginning or Christianity, to a great ex
tent. A man may fully conform to the laws of
nature in respect to bis lody without ever be
coming a christian. But he cannot make much
progress in godliness, without such reforma
tion accompanies it. The cannibal must , re
form his practices. The raw bccf-catcr of Ab
yssinia mast reform." The drunkard among
ourselves, must reform ; and all the coffoc,
whiskey, tea, to"bacco, pill and potion takers,
must Icavo off these things, at loast to a great
extent, before they can attain a very high de
gree of godliness. To this end we should join
every endeavor to deliver ourselves, together
with the rising generation, out of all these bad
habits into which we have fallen, for in so do
ing we shall have taken an indispensable pre
paratory step toward christianizing them.
But I set out to write to you a few words on
another subject. You cannot but have noticed
that I have said almost nothing in my former
letters, on the subject of slavery. This was
for fear that they would never reach you if I
did. Two of the letters which I sent to George,
as near as I can learn, never got there ; and
some of thoso that he did get, he told me, had
evidently been opened. Early in tho season
our letters went to Westport, and the P. M. at
that place is the man whom the Missourians
elected for our Sheriff, that is in the adjoining
county, and who led them at tho raid of last
December. Our letters now go to Indepen
dence, the P. M. of which is more honorable,
as we believe.
The lost letters were suppressed, as I sup
pose, because of some rcferenco to what I saw
at nickory Point, on ray way out. This is
tho same place where Dow was shot. Well,
in the Spring, on my way hero, I stopped at
Bull Creek, a pro-slavery stopping place, 12
miles east of Hickory Point. Hero I heard
dark hints about hurricanes, cabins blown
down, &c. Agreeably to this, I saw four cab
ins torn down at nickory Point. It appeared
that tho Missourians had begun to settle there,
and were determined to keep eastern men from
settling around them, at all hazards. The
Yankees soon came in, however, in such num
bers, that they couldn't carry on the game ;
for they got a pretty large company there,
armed with Sharp's rifles, and drilled to suit
the times. I now write to lot you know that
my former sentiments on this subject have
been intensely aroused by coming hero; . and
if this letter don't reach you, I mean, (if not
killed first, as I may be,) to re-write it, in sub
stance, and send it by some one going cast,
completely past that blighted stato. I wish I
were with you a whilo to talk the matter over,
for writing is so tedious to me, as I suppose it
is to yourself and almost everybody. But to
get back to this detestable, abominable, horri
ble, cabin-tearing, man-killing thing of slave
ry. Why, it's almost every thing that's bad !
And yet we're told that it is christian o yes !
Is it not Christ-like 7 Are not its fruits holy,
and pure, and gentle, and lovablo 7 Just the
things to awaken our better feelings, and draw
out our nobler sentiments 7 To restrain our
bad passions, such as hate, and lust, &c. But
I must hold on, or I shall get excited, and it's
altogether too cool yet for that. But I do
want to see christians moro freo to consider
tho scriptural validity of chattel slavery.
All creatures are the property of the Crea
tor, and no creature can have any right to ex
ercise any control over another, without the
approbation of Ilim who is tho source of all
authority. Now, for my part I can find no
commission emanating from God for the prac
tice of chattel slavery ; if indeed for any ser
vitude whatever, -except that due to himself.
"Thou shalt worship the Lord tby God, and
him oy shalt thou serve" : The new testa
ment docs indeed speak of servants and mas
ters, so by permission, perhaps, as kings and
conquerors are. It speaks of masters and ser
vants as if such relation were possible within
the pale of the church ; but as it is not expli
cit in defining the nature and limits of such
possible servitude, we must look for them in
the tenor of its teaching, which it maintains
throughout. The tenor is love, and in the law
of love do we find abundant instrnction to dis
pel all the darkness which hangs round the sor
ceress of slavery, and to drive her out to the
light of day. (Matthew 20, 25, and 22, 27.
Mark 10, 42 and 12, 20. Luke 22, 25. John
13, 84, and 13, 12. Love to God is the great
est commandment, and love to man the next;
and this commandment of love is the highest
law, even the decalogue being supplementary
to it. On it hang all the law and the prophets.
It is the fulfilling of the law. Tho whole Bi
ble Is based upon it all the revelations are
pervaded by it. God so loved the world that
he gave his only Son to be sacrificed for the
sins of it ; and the son's commandment is
love pure and holy, godlike love ; even to
ward enemies, for we are enjoined to assimi
late ourselves as nearly as possible to him, and
he loved us while wo were enemies. The ser
vant is not greater than his master, and the
master came not to be ministered unto, but to
minister, and to give his life a ransom for ma
ny. Anything which is inconsistent wi'.h the
holiness of this principle is interdicted, such
as pride, avarice, falsehood, drunkenness, a
dultery, murder, &c. Oppression in every
form is denounced with terrible thrcatcnings.
Mercy to the merciful, and judgment to the
oppressor, is the constant tenor of scripture.
Such love is impulsive in the hearts of those
who are affected by it, and imparts a yearning
sympathy for the whole human family ; but at
the same time it is a duty to God. Now if we
examine the nature of chattel slavery, in view
of such a duty, we shall find that it is based
upon a fundamental falsehood, for it teaches
the master that a servant of God like himself,
is his absolute property. Not anything, how
ever, can be tho property of a creature, where
all is God's, for the idea of absolute ownership
implies an independent existence. Much less
can one moral agent bucome the rightful pro
perty of another, without a direct commission
from God authorizing it to bo so. You can
not serve two masters, and thcro is one mas
ter, even Christ, to whom all obedience is due.
Place then, the master and tho slave under tho
law of love, and tho shackles virtually fall ;
for that law transformed them into brothers,
and sets them upon a common level. (Phile
mon, 16.) Now we find that the fruits of chat
tel slavery arc in perfect accordance with this
view of its nature. It cultivates pride, arro
ganco and presumption, and justifies the ruoat
bitter oppression ; it is the hot-bed of idle
ness, hatred, lust and murder. All past and
present experience goes to confirm this fact.
It is an indisputable verity, instances to the
contrary being merely exceptions to the gen
eral rule. Cherishing such views, must we not,
as Christians, rcgaid American chattel slavery,
as a gigantic power of evil, blinding us by her
very magnitude and proximity ; and looming
up with an illimitable blackness of living
death, which palls tho power of utterance, aud
the last, the brightest hope of the human race,
for peace and enfranchisement on earth 7 Av
arice, drunkenness and lust, are her paramours;
and like the sin of Milton, whose younger sis
ter she is, she brings forth a borriblo progeny
of hell-hounds ; which do not at present, like
them, return to destroy their dam, because
sho is still most prolificly pregnant with the
same detest ible brood. Theso are the incar
nate gholus sent forth to feed aud fatten upon
the bodies and - souls of men ; aud fiercely do
they yelp and yell, if a victim escapes their
fangs ; for they are like their parents. They
support their mother as sho docs them ; and
they struggle to extend her dominion, for she
is in her very nature aggressive,like a beast of
prey. Already does her hideous body cover
the fairest half of tho land, and the remainder
is involved in her shadow, and in a tumult at
her approach. Nor will she pause whilo the
temples of freedom and truth are standing so
near, for their light has a talismanic influence
upon her, which sho cannot endure. Tho bay
of her furies Is heard from coast to coast, and
the fearful are trembling and submitting to her
sway. Those who resist her, must die j and
those who yield, she harnesses to tho car of
her oppression, transforming them into beasts,
to do her will and to satisfy her desires. A
panic prevails, for "a horror of great dark
ness" has fallen upon the land. Even profes
sing Christians aro casting their incense pro
fusely upon her altar ; and ministers or tho
gospel, from their pulpits, aro sanctifying tho
sorceress in tho eyes of the people.
Now what should true Christians do in a cri
sis liko this 7 Those who do not cling to the
world, nor bend the knoo at the shrine of its
idolatries. Thoso who worship God, and love
his pcoplo as an undivided brotherhood ; and'
even lovo and pity their enemies who oppose
themselves. Should they not stand forth from
these errors, in an unbroken phalanx, pano
plied from heaven, to meet this devouring ter
ror with the sword of truth 7 It is not the
Christian's part to hold his peace, but to "cry
aloud ;" to "sound the trumpet, to warn the
wicked man from his evil way," "to turn him
from darkness to light, and f rom tho poer Of
satan to God." Were all professing Chris
tians in our country, united and true, no strong
hold of satan could long endure heir attacks,
and even the sorceress of slavery ,weuld quick
ly fall at their rebuke. But it is' not a time of
fault-finding ; it is a time to be up and doing.
O that my voice could be heard upon every
hearth stone, to entreat the people to take a
bold stand on the side of liberty ; and to plead
with them by all the blessings which they en
joy, and by every winning tenderness which
meets a responsive throb in the human heart,
te .lend us a helping hand ; to devote their
prayers, their .vefci and their spmpathies to'
our success ; and also to fit out their sons and
their daughters, and send them here quickly,
to aid us in ptanting the standard of peace,
upon the battle ground of freedom.' Yon','
brother, are qualified to speak and to be heard.
0 speak out in this sacred cause and rouse up
the people from their apathy ; for ravens aro
devouring tho sacrifice and Why will they
sleep 7 -
Perhaps yon may thfok that my feelings car
ry me away. Well they have carried me to
Kansas. Now supposo that yours should bring
you here too, as doubtless they will do, by and
by. Why, you would come right on to Coun
cil city, to see John and learn how Christiani
ty prospered here. But as you approach the
place you see a gathering in the distance, and
wonder what it can be, whether it is a camp
meeting, or what. Then you meet some wild
desperate looking men, and inquire the causa
of the assemblage. "Wal, they're going to
hang two or thrco d d abolitionists," says
one of them. A convulsive shudder almost
takes your breath, and for a moment yon can
not stir nor speak. The earth seems to roll
away from beneath your feet, and heaven to
open wide. But partly recovering, you inquire
further, is it a lynching affair 7" "O no, It
is accordin' to law ; they're" hatn'gin' 'em ac
cordin' to law." "What have they done?"
"Wal, one of 'em printed 6tuff in his paper a
gin hold in' niggers; and another one is a
preacher, and preached a sarmon agin it and
t'other one helped a nigger to git off." Not
at all relieved by the idea of hanging aboli
tionists according to law, you hurry on. The
citizens are gathered in clusters here and
there, in apparent anxiety. You perceive that
they are mostly eastern men, and wonder how
they can submit to such atrocity ; but on ap
proaching the scaffold, you find it guarded by
a band of soldiery. The off-scouring of earth,
drunken and depraved, are cursing and jeering
around. Then the prisoners come forward.
The first is a determined, resolute and rather
reckless looking man, this is the printer. Tho
next is an inoffensive grey headed man ; this
is the preacher. The last one is John. la
the impulse of the moment, you forget where
you are and you rush forward but a bayonet
stops you. You apply to tho sheriff and ob
tain permission to speak with the prisoner.
In your agony you almost upbraid him. "Why
arc s ou here 1 why didn't you keep out of
this trouble 7" "Wait brother," say he "let
me tell you my story. A short time ago, a
victim came to my cabin and begged a loaf
of bread. I spoke to him rather sharply, and
asked him where he had come from, that be
should be around begging bread. He sigh
ed as if in despair. You must be a run-away.'
'Master,' he asked, 'are you a Chris
tian 7, At this, the devil tempted me to an
swer no, for I knew the embarrassment under
which an affirmative answer would place me.
But I could not, and so I answered that I bop
cC I was. 'Then,' said he, you could not give
up a brother into this miserable servitude.'
The law requires mc to do it. But the law of
God,' he responded, his face brightening as he
spoke, says: Thou shalt not return a servant
unto his master which hath escaped from hit
master unto thee.' 'That was the Jewish law.
Tho new Testament Bays, Servants obey your
masters. Yes but it also says, If they per
secute you in ono city flco into another.' Ah
but wc must be subject to the powers that be.
0,' he replied, the apostle adds : For he is
tho minister to thec for good. When ho be
comes an agent or evil, how can we then sub
mit to him in all things, seeing we must trans
gress tho direct commands of God to do so?
1 fell into tho hands of a hard master, who
sold my wife and children, aud ordered me to
live with another slavo woman. - This I could
not do, neither Recording to my religion, nor
my inclinat ions. So when be flogged me to
forco me into submission, I ran away ; and now
he is after mc with the hounds. Please give
me a loaf cf bread, and a pair of old ahoea
which I will put on after I have gone a little
way, to confuse tho dogs. I could not refuse,
but gave him what he wanted. Then the
hounds came right to my place, and when his
master inquired around, ho ascertained that
one of the neighbors had seen me give him
something. This was enough." The Sheriff
now breaks off j-our interview and orders the
prisoners to ascend the scaffold. With a aick
ning horror in your heart, yoo turn and hurry
away from that execrable scene. Yon can hard
ly go forward, and you dare not look back.
Everything seems floating around you. The
whole earth soems quakeiBg and about to break
in pieces, ond you woudcr why it don't. . Af
ter awhile your mind becomes somewhat com
posed, and looking up to heaven, you reserve,
that you will go back-and cry out against tola
Jicmaindtr on tht Fourth ragt.
w
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