worked in the North. In Boston, on the 15th of February, 1851, Shadrach, a colored waiter at the Cornhill Coffee-house, was arrested under a warrant issued by George T. Curtis, United States commissioner, on the complaint of one John de Bree of Norfolk, Va., a purser in the navy. The hearing was postponed until the 18th, and the prisoner was remanded to the custody of the deputy marshal. While his counsel were conferring with him, a number of colored men rushed in, seized Shadrach, carried him away in triumph, and finally sent him in safety to Canada. The excitement was intense. Tidings were sent to Washington,. and the President immediately issued a proclamation calling upon all citizens to assist in capturing the fugitive. On the 3d of April occurred another case. Thomas Sims, a fugitive slave, was arrested in Boston; and, after a hurried and summary examination before Commissioner Curtis, he was given up to his pursuers. The poor slave-youth begged one favor of his counsel. "Give me a knife," said he; "and, when the commissioner declares me a slave, I will stab myself to the heart, and die before his eyes." About midnight the marshal and two or mayor of Boston, attended by his three hundred policemen, all heavily armed, placed Sims on board the "Acorn" (owned by John H. Pierson), and sent him again into bondage. "And this,' exclaimed the negro, "is Massachusetts liberty!" He uttered these significant words on the memorable 19th of April.1 On the day following the arrest, a great public meeting was held on Boston Common, which was addressed by Mr. Phillips. On the 8th a rousing convention was held at Tremont Temple of all persons opposed to the Fugitive-slave Act, and the deepest feeling was manifested. On the evening of the same day another and a distinct meeting was held in the same place, which was addressed by Phillips, William Henry Channing, and others. On the 12th, the day of the rendition of Sims, a meeting was held in Washington Hall; and Phillips, Garrison, and Quincy were among the speakers. After crossing the Rubicon, in 1850, the recreant statesman of Massachusetts found that he could not retrace his steps. With a chagrin which at length carried him into his grave, and yet with a bravado which he must have borrowed from his slaveholding friends, he, in 1852, was led, not only to defend the compromise measures, but even to defame the antislavery men and their efforts. He also aspired to the presidency, as a reward for his conduct. 1 Sims was severely whipped after arriving at Savannah, and for two months was kept closely confined in a cell. He was then sent to a slave-pen at Charleston, and thence to a slave-pen at New Orleans. He was purchased by a brick-mason, and taken to Vicksburg, whence, in 1863, he escaped to the besieging-army of Gen. Grant, who gave him transportation to the North. I do not know whether, at the present writing, he is living or dead. In the election of that year, Franklin Pierce of New Hampshire, the candidate of the Democratic party, was chosen President. It was a victory for the pro-slavery party. All but four States recorded their votes in its favor. It was a victory which implied the indorsement of the compromise measures, and, further, that these measures should be regarded as final. To all this, notwithstanding the anti-slavery agitations which had been going on for nearly half a century, only one hundred and fifty thousand, out of more than three millions, refused to give their sanction. No darker day, not even in the most critical period of the war of the Rebellion, has ever marked the history of the American republic. |