The COURT announced that individual recognizances in the sum of $1,000 would be sufficient. These recognizances were accordingly made, and the trial thus adjourned until the second Tuesday in March, 1859. At various dates within the few days follow Pleas of abatement were entered for misno-ing severally appeared others of the arrested, mer in the cases of the persons arrested as and entered into their personal recognizances James R. Shepard, Oliver S. B. Wall, and as above. Such were: William E. Scrimmager. James Bartlett was in town, but not present in the court-room when his name was called. Ralph Plumb was allowed a few days to complete business engagements, pledging his parole to appear with as little delay as possible. The representatives from Wellington are expected to-morrow. Judge SPALDING gave notice that the accused were ready for, and requested trial immediately. The DISTRICT-ATTORNEY begged continuance for time to send to Kentucky for witnesses. Should need at least two weeks. Judge SPALDING thought that citizens of Ohio might think two weeks some time to lie in jail for the convenience of citizens of Kentucky. The COURT remarked that it was not necessary for them to lie in jail. They could be liberated on bail. Walter Soules, John Mandeville, THE FELONS' FEAST. An occurrence of much interest, and the next one of public concern which properly finds place in these records, is happily narrated by the senior editor of the Cleveland Morning Leader, in the following terms: A "FELONS' FEAST" AT OBERLIN. ened and Christian age, and in our boasted free strange and significant scene for this enlightRepublic, transpired at the peaceful and Godfearing and God-serving village of Oberlin, on the afternoon of Tuesday, the 11th of January, 1859. It was literally the "Feast of Felons," for the thirty-seven good citizens of Lorain county, indicted by the Grand Jury of the United States District Court of Northern Ohio under the Fugitive Slave Act, for the crime of a conscientious and faithful observance of the higher law of the Golden Rule, sat down with their wives and a number of invited guests to a sumptuous repast at the Palmer House. It was in the best sense a good social dinner, followed by a real "feast of reason and flow of soul." The entertainment was given by the indicted citizens of Oberlin to their brethren in bonds, as will be seen by the following citizens of Oberlin, who had been indicted by Card of Invitation. At a meeting of the the Grand Jury of the U. S. District Court at Cleveland, charged with rescuing the negro boy John Price, held on the evening of January 4, 1859, it was number of the citizens of Lorain county who Resolved, That it is expedient for the whole have been thus indicted to meet for the purpose of consultation and agreement as to the course to be pursued in the present emergency and for mutual comfort, and for this purpose to meet at the Palmer House on Tuesday, January 11th, at 2 o'clock, P. M., for dinner, and such other good things as may follow, and that we invite the citizens of Wellington, implicated with us, to participate on the said occasion as our guests. JAMES M. FITCH, Chairman. JACOB R. SHIPHERD, Secretary. The Indicted Present. Prof. H. E. Peck, Hon. Ralph Plumb, J. M. Fitch, O. S. B. Wall, James Bartlett, William D. Scrimgeour, David Watson, Wilson Evans, Henry Evans, John Watson, John H. Scott, Simeon Bushnell, Jacob R. Shipherd, Ansel W. Lyman, Oberlin; Wm. Sciples, Matthew Gillett, Abner Loveland, Lewis Hines, Eli Boies, Matthew DeWolf, John Mandeville, Daniel Williams, Loring Wadsworth, Walter Soules, Wellington; Henry D. Niles, This list embraces all of the thirty-seven who have been arrested. occur. These were the honored Men and Women of the "Felons' Feast." Among them were venerable gray-headed men, some of the early settlers of Lorain county-men who had felled the forest and built the humble log-cabins, school-houses, and churches of the wilderness noble men, good men, and true men — men of Puritan and Covenanter stock, of Revolutionary blood, of spotless reputation - indicted. criminals and for what? for violation of the Bible injunction, "Whatsoever ye would that others should do unto you, do ye even so unto them." At the table the Divine blessing was impressively invoked by the beloved Patriarch of Oberlin, Rev. JOHN KEEP; and after the good things so abundantly provided had been discussed, Prof. PECK announced that the "criminals" had invited SAMUEL PLUMB, Esq., to officiate as President. The President in a brief and happy manner stated the object of the social gathering, and referred to the deep sympathy felt by the men and women of Lorain for their brethren in bonds. He said the reading of letters from invited, but absent guests, would be first in order. Prof. Peck read the following Letter from George A. Benedict, Esq. HERALD OFFICE, Cleveland, Jan. 11, 1859. Prof. PECK AND OTHERS, Com. Gentlemen: At the latest moment I am compelled to decline your polite invitation to your festival of to-day. Business that cannot be postponed is my excuse. Allow me to say that the spirit which dictates the festival, and which gave rise to it, meets my heartiest sympathy. Yours, etc., GEO. A. BENEDICT. Mr. Horr read the following Letter from John M. Vincent, Esq. ELYRIA, Jan. 10, 1859. HONORED "37."-DEAR SIRS: I regret that previous engagements will prevent me from joining in your festivities to-morrow. My fort" which I can in the future render, is at heart is with you, and any other " aid and comyour service. with the crime (?) of loving Liberty too well, Your position is a proud one. To be charged Patriots who gave us the "Declaration of Indeenrolls your names with that immortal band of pendence," and the foundation of a free gov ernment. Their sacrifices and sufferings, their firmness and resolution, we were early taught to admire and imitate. It has been left for our "latter day" rulers to teach us that all our cherished ideas of freedom are vagaries, and that the liberty of the American Union is only that of the white man to enslave the black. This will never do; such rank perversion of God's truth we will never allow. We will say low, who had been composing a revised edition to these rulers, as Arnold the poet said to Barof Watts' psalms and hymns: "You've proved yourself a sinful cretur, You've murdered Watts, and spoiled the meter, You've tried the Word of God to alter, And for your pains deserve a halter." "Brethren in bonds," let nothing drive you from the right. Iniquity shall not always triumph, and reason and justice shall not always be driven before might. "As our fathers have fought, and our grandfathers bled, And many a hero now sleeps with the dead, Let us nobly defend what they bravely maintained, Nor suffer our sons to be fettered and chained." As one in bonds with you, I remain yours, JOHN M. VINCENT. Prof. Peck then read the following Letter from S. Burke, Esq. ELYRIA, January 7, 1859. GENTLEMEN: Your esteemed favor of the 5th instant, inviting me to meet with you at the Palmer House in Oberlin on the 11th instant, for the purpose of manifesting our sympathy and partaking of a dinner with the "thirtyseven criminal" citizens of Lorain county, recently indicted in the United States Court at Cleveland, came duly to hand. In answer, permit me to say, that I shall endeavor to do myself the honor to meet with you and those whom you represent, at the time mentioned. Circumstances may transpire, however, that will render it impossible for me to meet you, in which event, permit me to reassure you and the other accused citizens of Lorain county, who may be present with you, that I have a deep and abiding sympathy with the oppressed and down-trodden race to which the fugitive John belongs, and that it is a part of my business, and in accordance with my nature, to resist tyranny and oppression in all its forms. If there is any doctrine or creed to which I give my full and unqualified consent, it is the doctrine of political equality and individual freedom; the right of man, black or white, native or foreigner, to carve out, under God, his own destiny, and choose his own rulers. Much as I feel flattered by the kind manner in which you have been pleased to refer to the fact that I have been chosen to aid in the defence of the parties indicted in the United States Court, I am not insensible of the fact that my known sympathy with the cause and the accused had much more to do with my selection than any probable service I could render you upon trial. Be that as it may, I can assure you I have watched with much interest the proceedings of the Government in these cases, and have been led to the conclusion that very few if any of the numerous persons indicted would be put on their defence, but I may be mistaken in this. It is said that "whom the gods would destroy they first make mad," and that symptoms of madness have recently appeared in high places, cannot be denied. What may be determined on, therefore, by the ruling madmen, I know not. Nor can I tell what farther sacrifices it may yet become necessary for the lovers of freedom to make, to render our own beloved and beautiful Óhio, in deed and in truth the land of the free and the home of the brave to deliver our people from the demoralizing spectacle of slave-catching and slave-hunting in our midst to render it safe for the humanely disposed among us to feed the hungry, clothe the naked, or relieve the distressed, without fear of Government spies, or running the risk of fines, forfeitures, and prison bars and bolts. But whatever the sacrifice may be, I feel that our people are prepared to make it, and that Ohio will yet be free that when the panting fugitive from oppression shall breathe the air and tread the soil of our noble State, his chains will fall off, and his natural, inalienable rights of personal liberty, personal security, and the right to enjoy the fruits of his own labors be restored to him. Allow me, in conclusion, to say, that whatever aid I can render you and those whom you represent, either before or after Judgment, in or out of Court, shall be freely and cheerfully given. I am, Gentlemen, very respectfully, etc., S. BURKE. To H. E. PECK and others, Committee, Oberlin, O. REGULAR TOASTS. 1st. The Inalienable Rights of Man -Founded in Nature as constituted by God, and well recited by our Fathers in the Declaration of Independence. Geo. G. Washburn, Esq., editor of the Lorain Independent Democrat, ably responded to this sentiment. He spoke of the extraordinary fact, that in the middle of the 19th century, American citizens have met to ask whether man has any inalienable rights. He referred to man's inalienable rights, to the higher law, the law of the Creator of all, and to the hoaryheaded men around him who had been arraigned as criminals for violating the Fugitive Slave Act. Mr. W. declared that the detested law never could be enforced in Lorain, and closed by offering the following sentiment, which met with a hearty response: The Fugitive Slave Act-Making war as it does upon all that is manly in man, we will hate it while we live, and bequeathe our hatred to those who come after us when we die. No fines it can impose or chains it can bind upon us, will ever command our obedience to its unrighteous behests. 2d. Good Will to Man The best bond of Society; the surest support of Government; and never more fully developed than when at the call of the weak and oppressed it resists the tyranny of wicked rulers. Father Keep said he could not discuss such a sentiment. We all know what good-will to man means. It embodies that sweetest element of human life. It is eulogized. Why is it eulogized? It is the best bond of society.What is the other part of the eulogy? It is the strength of government. What is the strength of government? It is truth, integrity, charity, humanity, love. This is the eulogy pronounced on good-will to man. The best development of this sentiment is when, at the call of the weak and the oppressed, it resists tyranny. Good-will is forbearing, long* suffering, and, through kindness, heaps coals of fire on the head of the oppressor; but, said the Christian of nearly four-score, with the energy of '76, there is a point where forbearance ceases to be a virtue. When that is reached, let the tyrant perish! [Great applause.] 3d. Loyalty to God and loyalty to human Government when it is loyal to God The Patriotism which inspired our Fathers and shall prompt us and our children. To this sentiment Prof. Peck responded. He | mote by every possible means the dignity and said: well-being of the noble commonwealth of which we are a happy part. But we also mean to teach them that they will not be dutiful to the State, if they do not hold her to her duty to God; that they will be traitors if they obey laws which break the laws of Heaven. And we trust that they will have sufficient self-respect to stand to such patriotism as was our inheritance and as shall be their patrimony, even if in so doing they encounter bonds or death itself. 4th. Personal Sacrifices-The seed of to-day which brings the harvest for to-morrow. Mr. John M. Langston eloquently responded to this sentiment. He inquired — what is the work of the American citizen of to-day to accomplish? It is this. He is to reinstate the Declaration of Independence, and to reinstate the Constitution of the United States. American Slavery has stricken down the first; the Fugitive Slave Law the latter. Shall we meet this duty? To do it we must make sacrifices go to prison, or, if necessary, go out on the battle-field to meet the Slave Oligarchy. Mr. L. closed with the following sentiment : There is current in society an idea that there is no patriotism where there is not an acknowledgment of the maxim, "our country, right or wrong." But such was not the doctrine of our noble fathers. They esteemed patriotism a cardinal virtue. They were to the last degree loyal men. King and country never rightfully asked of them any sacrifice that they did not cheerfully render it. They loved to offer even life itself for the protection of the realm against its foes. But their loyalty enjoined of king and country one imperative condition that the State itself should recognize Divine law. "GOD and our country was their maxim. They held that when the State refused the behests of God by assuming prerogatives which did not belong to her, or by enacting laws which contradicted justice, she did that which disgraced and dishonored herself, and that patriotism could render to her no other service so useful as that of compelling, by steadfast resistance of her usurpations, her return to her broken allegiance. So was it that they never esteemed themselves more loyal than when they brought the Stuart to the block for arrogating to himself powers which belonged to God alone. So was it, too, that they thought they were acting as patriots when they turned their backs on home because liberty was restrained there, and sought freedom in a savage land; and so was it, too, that they felt that loyalty itself required them to enter armed protest against the royal | encroachments on right which followed them to R. G. Horr, Esq., ably discussed the sovertheir wilderness retreat, and to try the chances eignty of the State, and the voice of the peoof war with Fatherland, which they loved as ple. They will be felt. They have been felt their own firesides were hardly loved. in Wisconsin, and thirty-seven is a good number for the Supreme Court of Ohio to commence on. Mr. H. made many happy hits and several hard ones. He said the Fugitive Slave Law sometimes sunk men below the depths of manhood, and they became a Dayton! [Much laughter and applause.] He had no sentiment to offer — he read the right sentiment in the face of every man and woman in the assembly. .0 And the doctrine of patriotism which our fathers nobly illustrated has come down to us and is our doctrine. We hold that our prayers, our labor, and our blood are due to our country when she needs them. We mean to make patriotism a part of our religion, and to be behind none in prompt and earnest service for the honor and good of the commonwealth. But we hold that the commonwealth can prosper only when she is loyal to God, and that when by framing iniquity into law" she puts herself in the place of God, she does that which must, sooner or later, bring ruin upon herself, and hence that we are no traitors but rather truest liege-men when we declare that we will obey no law in which impiety is thus flaunted in the face of Heaven. We cannot obey the fugitive slave act, not because we do not love and honor our country, but because we cannot do that which will reflect deepest dishonor and disgrace upon her. And the faith we have got from our fathers we mean to hand down to our children. We mean to rear them in devout allegiance to God and fervent patriotism to the country and institutions given us of God. We mean to teach them to respect law and its ministers, to pro The Rescuers of John Price -the Rescuers of Benjamin Rice—the Rescuers of the Bells Their conduct should immortalize their names. 5th. The sovereign authority of the State, and the voice of the people—The refuge of American citizens from the tyrannies of federal enactments not sanctioned by justice and the Constitution. 6th. The Alien and Sedition Law of 1798 and the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850-Alike arbitrary, undemocratic, and unconstitutional. As did the one, so may the other rouse the country to a political and moral revolution which shall restore the doctrines of Personal Liberty and State Rights which centralizing power has wantonly violated. R. Plumb, Esq., rose and said: MR. PRESIDENT The sentiment you have just read carries us back in our national history to the early days of the republic, to the very infancy of our Constitution. The year 1798 was memorable for producing the Alien and Sedition laws of federalism. The alien laws, as you well know, conferred upon the President the power to remove, in a summary manner, any alien or foreigner who might be deemed by him unsafe to the government - while the sedition laws made criminal and punished with fine and imprisonment any one who might dare to oppose any measure of the Government of the United States, or any of its laws, or to intimidate or prevent any officer under that government from undertaking or performing his duty. It was also enacted, that if any person should write, print, utter, or publish any false, scandalous, or malicious writing against the Government, Congress, or President of the United States, or aid in doing so with intent to defame them or bring them into disrepute, or to excite any unlawful combinations for opposing any law of the United States, etc., he should be liable to fine and imprisonment. Under this famous sedition law, Matthew Lyon, a member of Congress from Vermont, was indicted for using the following words in a letter to a Vermont newspaper: "Whenever I shall, on the part of the Executive, see every consideration of the public welfare swallowed up in a continual grasp for power, in an unbounded thirst for ridiculous pomp, foolish adulation and selfish avarice; when I shall behold men of merit daily turned out of office for no other cause but independence of sentiment; when I shall see men of firmness, years, and ability discarded in their application for office for fear they possess that independence, and men of meanness preferred for the ease with which they take up and advocate opinions, the consequences of which they know but little of; when I shall see the sacred name of religion employed as a State engine to make men hate and persecute each other—I shall not be their humble advocate." Yes, fellow-citizens, this true man, this loyal citizen, was dragged before a District Court of the United States, upon this indictment tried, found guilty, fined $1,000, and imprisoned four months. But what was the effect of these laws and of this and kindred indictments and trials under them? The pen that drafted the immortal Declaration of Independence, was again wielded by Thomas Jefferson in defence of the Declaration, the Constitution, the sovereignty of the States, and the rights of the people. In 1798, the Legislature of Kentucky passed the resolutions drafted by Jefferson, while the next year the Legislature of Virginia passed similar setiments from the pen of James Madi son. Mr. President, I hold in my hand a copy of the Kentucky resolutions as Jefferson penned them, the second of which reads as follows: true, as a general principle, and one of the amendments of the Constitution having also declared that 'the powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people'-therefore the Act of Congress passed July 14th, 1798, entitled An Act in addition to an Act for the punishment of certain crimes against the United States,' and all other of the Acts which assume to create, define, or punish crimes other than those enumerated in the Constitution, are altogether vOID and of NO FORCE, and that the power to create and define such other crimes is reserved, and of right appertains solely and exclusively to the respective States, each within its own territory." These resolutions, the whole of them, ladies and gentlemen, will repay a faithful perusal by us all, women as well as men, because of the importance of the doctrines which they contain, and the appropriateness to the times in which we live. This brings us to the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850. That act was conceived in sin and brought forth in iniquity. The slave power not only demanded the passage of the Act, but they also required the greatest statesmen of our land, then living, should give their voice and their vote for the infamous measure — - not caring that the voice and vote demanded should consign to infamy those who but for this and similar debasements would have been embalmed in the grateful memories of the latest generations. But the Act was passed, and now mark the similarity between the Act and that of its illustrious predecessors. The sedition law of 1798 defined crimes unknown to the Constitution, and authorized the Courts of the United States to punish those pretended crimes by imprisonment and fines. The Fugitive Act of 1850 defines crimes unknown to the Constitution, makes it a crime to feed the hungry, clothe the naked, and help the weary traveller on his journey, and authorizes the U. S. Courts to punish those pretended crimes by imprisonment and fine. Jefferson and Madison, those illustrious founders of genuine Republicanism, whose labors were blessed to the complete rout of the Federalism of their day, held that such enactments were VOID and of NO BINDING FORCE, and so do we, the thirty-seven criminals of Lorain. Ladies and gentlemen-since I had the honor to appear before the august tribunal that is to try us in March next, and enter my plea as a 2. Resolved, That the Constitution of the criminal, I have endeavored to look over my United States, having delegated to Congress past life with becoming seriousness, that I might, the power to punish treason counterfeiting if possible, find in what my crime consists. Í the securities and current coin of the United States-piracies and felonies committed on the high seas, and offences against the laws of nations, and no other crimes whatever, and it being find many things for which I ought to be condemned, but surely the wrong things of my life were not included in what I did on the 13th of September, 1858. |