settled down to a quiet, industrious life. All of these were subject to the Fugitive Slave Law of 1850; if found by the owner or his agent they could be seized, torn from their families, and carried back to the South.

The most objectionable feature of this law to the Northern mind was found in the clause that made it compulsory on a citizen to aid the slave-hunter in capturing his prey. Thousands of people in the North believed that a man held in bondage for no crime - simply on account of the color of his skin and the accident of his birth had a right to escape, if he could, and their impulse was to aid him if in their power; but the command of the law was that they must aid his pursuer, regardless of feeling and conscience in the matter. The burning question then arose in the minds of many: Shall we obey the laws of our country or the higher law of conscience? With a large number the decision was for the latter; they determined to resist the law without regard to results. Any one can readily see with what extreme difficulty a law can be enforced when opposed by the moral conscious

ness of a large portion of the people in the midst of whom it is expected to operate.

The Fugitive Slave Law in Operation

There can be no better way of showing the reader how the Fugitive Slave Law worked than to cite a few examples of its practical application.

Smith

One of the first instances to attract attention was the case of William Smith of Columbia, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. was a colored man who had escaped from slavery long before, and had lived quietly at Columbia for several years with his wife and children. One day, while working on the street, he saw a slave-catcher approaching him, and, attempting to escape, he was shot dead.

Another instance, occurring in the same county in 1851, turned out differently and attracted far wider attention. A man named Gorsuch, from Baltimore County, Maryland, with his son and several friends, came into the county in search of two fugitives who had escaped three years previously. The party,

all well armed, found their prey near the little town of Christiana. The negroes had taken refuge in an old house, where, with several friends of their own color, they determined to fight for their freedom, the fugitives declaring that they would rather die than go back into slavery. A horn was blown as a signal to the colored people of the neighborhood, and in a short time a large number, armed with guns, axes, and clubs, had collected. Two white men also appeared, and were called on by the officer in charge to assist in making the arrest. This they indignantly refused to do. They belonged to the Society of Friends, and the Friends were ever vigilant in assisting the slave when possible.

The Gorsuch party demanded the surrender of the fugitives, and, on being refused, they opened fire. The fire was returned; Gorsuch was killed and his son severely wounded. President Fillmore soon afterward sent a large body of officers to the scene to arrest the offenders. Several men were brought to trial for resisting the law, but the moral sentiment in Pennsylvania rendered conviction extremely

difficult, and no punishments followed. two fugitives were never captured.

The

On numerous occasions fugitives were caught and carried back to the South; but the temper of the northern people was such that it was no easy task to enforce the law, and the fugitive was usually able to evade the slave-hunter; this was sometimes accomplished by the aid of men who defied the law and forcibly rescued the negro. This is well illustrated in the case of the "Jerry rescue" at Syracuse, New York. In October, 1851, a mulatto named Jerry McHenry, an industrious mechanic of Syracuse, being claimed by a man from Missouri as his former slave, was captured and imprisoned to await trial. Early in the evening twenty or thirty men, led by Gerrit Smith, a wealthy, great-hearted man, and the Rev. Samuel May, a man of unwonted courage, determined on the rescue of Jerry. With the utmost coolness they proceeded to the policeoffice, overpowered the officer, battered down the door, rescued the prisoner, and placed him in a carriage. After some days' concealment in the city, Jerry was sent to Canada,

T

where the laws of England made him a free

man.

The case of Anthony Burns of Boston attracted national attention and became the most famous of all the captures under the detested law. Burns was a colored waiter in a Boston hotel. He was a runaway from Virginia, and was captured by the slave-hunters in May, 1854. In a short time the city was in an uproar concerning Burns, who was confined in the court-house, the laws of the State prohibiting the use of the jail for such a purpose. The New England sense of justice was deeply offended, and the people acted on the principle laid down by Sumner that they would not permit a man who had lived peaceably among them for several years to be dragged back into slavery.

An excited meeting was held at Faneuil Hall and was addressed by Wendell Phillips and Theodore Parker. Late at night this meeting resolved itself into a mob, and the men that composed it proceeded to the court-house determined to rescue Burns if in their power. Here they found a crowd of colored men already