the office of Receiver of Public Moneys; in 1853, President Pierce reappointed him to that office, which he continued to hold until it was abolished; in 1861, he was elected a delegate to the Constitutional Convention, and was made president pro tempore. In 1870, he was again elected a delegate to the Constitutional Convention, and again made president pro tempore. Although living in a strongly Republican district, he was always sure of an election whenever he consented to be a candidate. In his reminiscences, Linder relates the following incident of Col. Dement, which illustrates, to some extent, the character of the man. He says:

"Colonel Dement was not only brave, but in the face of danger he was cool, cautious, and prudent. That I am a living man to-day, I owe, perhaps, to his friendship, bravery and prudence. In 1837, after I was elected to the office of Attorney-General of Illinois, I got into a difficulty with a very desperate man, who was a member of the Senate, and he challenged me, and General James Turney was elected by him as his second, and he delivered the challenge to me. I accepted it, and referred him to Colonel John Dement as my second, who would fix the distance and select the weapons. Having expected this before I received the challenge, I had informed my friend Dement that I expected to be challenged, and that I should select him for my second, and should place my honor and life in his hands. He said to me: Linder, I will take charge of both; and, without letting your honor suffer, will take good care that you never fight; for if you do, he will be sure to kill you, for he is as cool and desperate as a bandit.' I replied, that the matter would be placed in his hands, and I should refer his second to him (Col. Dement) as my second, to arrange the distance and select the weapons with which we would fight. Accordingly, when Gen. Turney called upon Col. Dement, Dement informed him that we would fight with pistols at close quarters, each holding one end of the same handkerchief in his teeth.

'My God!' replied Gen. Turney, Col. Dement, that amounts to the deliberate murder of both men.'

'It don't matter,' said Dement, 'your principal is cool, desperate and deliberate, while my friend is nervous and

excitable, and if he has to lose his life, your friend must bear him company."

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Gen. Turney being a very humane and honorable gentleman, and really as much my friend as he was his principal's, said to Col. Dement: 'Colonel, this meeting must never take place; so let you and I take this matter in hand and have it settled in an amicable way, honorable to both parties.'

"The very thing,' said Col. Dement, 'that I have desired to bring about. Linder is a young man, and has just been elected Attorney-General of the State, and has an interesting wife, and little daughter only four years old, who have only been in this town (Vandalia) but a few days, and it would be next to breaking my heart to have the one made a widow and the other an orphan.'

"They agreed that a hostile meeting should not take place; and the matter was amicably and honorably arranged between the Senator and myself. We met, made friends, shook hands, and to the last day of his life we were the best of friends."

In every public trust Col. Dement filled the full measure of the law; he was able, honest and faithful. As a man he was modest and unassuming; as a citizen, no man stood higher; as a friend, he was warm and true. Politically he was a Democrat, but during the war for the Union he was an active supporter of the war; and his only son, Henry D. Dement, the present Secretary of State, was one of the first volunteers in the three years' service, enlisting in Company "A," Thirteenth Regiment infantry. The death of Col. Dement was deeply mourned by the community in which he had lived so long, and the General Assembly passed resolutions of condolence, and had them spread upon the journals, and a copy sent to the bereaved family.

CHAPTER XLVII.

ABOUT COLORED PEOPLE.

Governor Coles Fined $2,000 under the Black Laws-Why Black Laws were Enacted-Black Laws Approved-Vote of the State in 1862 on Article Prohibiting Colored Emigration-Vote of Soldiers on Prohibition of Colored Emigration-What Connecticut Did-What Massachusetts DidWhat the Nation Did-Transition from Slavery to Freedom-Whipped and Ordered from the State-A Case of Kidnapping-Tribulations of Free Negroes-A Free Colored Boy's Experience-Last Attempt to Return a Fugitive Slave-Trials of Contrabands-Mobbed on Account of his Vote -First Colored School-Blood-Hounds-Colored Jurors-Adoption of Amendments-First Colored Vote Cast in Cairo.

The people of Illinois, until the new order of things, have ever had a fondness for black laws. There was a stringent law passed by the State Legislature in 1819, which was similar in character to that passed in 1853. Under this law, in 1825, a suit was instituted against Governor Coles in the Circuit Court of Madison county, to recover a penalty prescribed by that law; he pleaded the statute of limitation, but the court overruled the plea, and judgment was given against him for $2,000. A motion was made for a new trial, which the court took under advisement, and before it was decided the Legislature passed an act releasing all penalties under the act of 1819, including those in litigation; but the court declined to grant a new trial, when the case was appealed to the Supreme Court, where the judgment was reversed, and Coles discharged from all liability. (See Gillespie's Recollections of Early Illinois.)

BLACK LAWS-WHY ENACTED.

The changed state of our civilization, as regards the colored race, makes it of interest to the reader to know what the black laws of 1853 were, and how they came to be a part of the laws of the State. Article fourteen of the constitution of 1848 reads as follows: "The General Assembly shall, at its first session under the amended constitution, pass such laws as will effectually prohibit free persons of color from immigrating to and settling in this State; and to effectually prevent the owners of slaves from bringing them into this State, for the purpose of settling them here." The General Assembly of 1853, acting in accordance with this provision of the constitution, passed the following act, which was approved February 12: "AN ACT TO PREVENT THE IMMIGRATION OF FREE NEGROES INTO THIS STATE.

"SECTION 1. Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, represented in the General Assembly, That if any person or persons shall bring, or cause to be brought, into this State, any negro or mulatto slave, whether said slave is set free or not, he shall be liable to an indictment, and, upon conviction thereof, be fined for every such negro or mulatto, a sum not less than one hundred dollars, nor more than five hundred dollars, and imprisoned in the county jail not more than one year, and shall stand committed until said fine and costs are paid.

"SEC. 2. When an indictment shall be found against any person, or persons, who are not residents of this State, it shall be the duty of the court before whom said indictment is pending, upon affidavit being made and filed in said court by the prosecuting attorney, or any other credible witness, setting forth the residence of said defendant, to notify the Governor of this State, by causing the clerk of said court to transmit to the office of the Secretary of State a certified copy of said indictment and affidavit, and it shall be the duty of the Governer, upon the receipt of said copies, to appoint some suitable person to arrest said defendant or defendants, in whatever State or county he or they may be found, and to commit him or them to the jail of the county in which said indictment

is pending, there to remain and answer said indictment, and be otherwise dealt with in accordance with this act; and it shall be the duty of the Governor to issue all necessary requisitions, writs and papers, to the Governor or other executive officer of the State, territory or province where such defendant or defendants may be found: Provided, that this section shall not be construed so as to affect persons, or slaves, bona fide traveling through this State, from and to any other State in the United States.

"SEC. 3. If any negro, or mulatto, bond or free, shall hereafter come into this State and remain ten days, with the evident intention of residing in the same, every such negro or mulatto shall be deemed guilty of a high misdemeanor, and for the first offence shall be fined the sum of fifty dollars, to be recovered before any justice of the peace in the county where said negro or mulatto may be found. Said proceedings shall be in the name of the people of the State of Illinois, and shall be tried by a jury of twelve men. The person making the information or complaint shall not be a competent witness upon said trial.

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SEC. 4. If said negro or mulatto shall be found guilty, and the fine assessed be not paid forthwith to the justice of the peace before whom said proceedings were had, it shall be the duty of said justice to commit said negro or mulatto to the custody of the sheriff of said county, or otherwise keep him, her or them in custody; and said justice shall forthwith advertise said negro or mulatto, by posting up notices thereof in at least three of the most public places in his district, which said notices shall be posted up for ten days, and on the day and at the time and place mentioned in said advertisement, the said justice shall, at public auction, proceed to sell said negro or mulatto to any person or persons who will pay said fine and costs, for the shortest time; and said purchaser shall have the right to compel said negro or mulatto to work for and serve out said time, and he shall furnish said negro or mulatto with comfortable food, clothing and lodging during said servitude.

"SEO. 5. If said negro or mulatto shall not, within ten days after the expiration of his, her, or their time of service as aforesaid, leave the State, he, she or they shall be liable to a second prosecution, in which the penalty to be inflicted shall be one hundred dollars, and so on for every subsequent offence the penalty shall be increased