June 16, 1854
Here the paper publishes “extracts from a brave and eloquent ‘Discourse on Christian Politics, delivered in Williams Hall, Boston, on Whitsunday, June 4, 1854, by James Freeman Clarke, Minister of the Church of the Disciples’.
June 16, 1854
Under the Refuge of Oppression column, from the N. Y. Journal of Commerce, there is a concern that there will be an attempt in Congress to amend the Nebraska bill to repeal the Fugitive Slave Law. “…we venture to predict that the motion will be voted down by an overwhelming majority. The obligation to surrender fugitive slaves does not rest upon the Compromise of 1850 or that of 1821, (the latter of which expressly provides for the surrender of fugitive slaves escaping into the territory now covered by the Nebraska-Kansas bill,) but upon the Constitution.
Under the Refuge of Oppression, from the Boston Daily Mail, with a title The Purchase of Burns: “We confess, we could prefer no opinion, should our abolition neighbors resolve to purchase every slave south of the Mason and Dixon line. But they would find it too expensive. They have not the capital at their command. These wild, enthusiastic philanthropists have very little bottom. They are notoriously lazy. They seldom produce anything themselves, except windy speeches and crazy haranques….”
June 9, 1854
“Enclosed are $2 for The Liberator. At a time like this, I cannot lose sight of the pioneer paper….. We must do what has never yet been done, convert the North. .. … We must forget all past differences, and unite all our strength…..Our work now is not in Virginia or Carolina, nor even at Washington; it is here — in Massachusetts . Get the people of the State right, and there will be no more of these hateful Commissioner trials; but around every inhabitant will be thrown the protection of just laws….If I had any love for the Union remaining, the events of the last few weeks have ‘crushed it out’. But I do not forget that the same power which is needed to break from the Union may make the Union the means of abolishing slavery. At any rate, what we want now, is an abolitionized North… At least let us have union among ourselves.
June 9, 1854
The paper proudly prints a resignation of Joseph K. Hayes, because he has received an order which, “if performed, would implicate me in the execution of that infamous ‘Fugitive Slave Bill’”
June 9, 1854
“A man has been successfully kidnapped in Boston, and carried off to Virginia as the rightful property of another!…..One fact, at least, is settled : — No man can be carried from Boston as a slave, except by the military power of the United States, and at the point of a bayonet. Let another victim be seized, and the late excitement shall be as tranquility itself, in comparison with what will follow.”
Large portions of this edition of the paper are given to stories about Burns, and descriptions of his removal, as observed both in Boston, and other surrounding towns.
June 9, 1854
With its source not clear, under the title Triumph of Law, this notice says: “It is with great satisfaction we announce to our readers the complete triumph of law in Boston over one of the most ferocious gangs of Abolitionists, black and white, clerical and laical, that ever disgraced the country…..” Burns has been returned to his owner, Colonel Suttle. “Burns is represented to be rather stupid, and will probably be better off with his master than anywhere else. Certainly, he would not fare so well in the hands of the Abolitionists, by a long way. Col. Suttle is every where spoken of as a worthy and estimable man. Had he been deprived of his property by an Abolition mob, the excitement among his neighbors and friends would have been intense. As it is, the affair has created no small stir in that quarter.”
June 2, 1854
Arrested at the corner of Brattle and Court Street, Burns was taken to the Court House, where he was kept for the night by the Marshall. “During the day on Friday, Court Square was filled with a deeply excited and most anxious multitude, but no attempts were made to disturb the peace. On Friday evening, at only a few hours’ notice, an immense meeting of the citizens of Boston and vicinity was held at Faneuil Hal (far beyond the capacity of the building)..”
Most of the remainder of this issue tells the story of Burns, which has been told in other places, more fully several times, and cannot be quickly recorded here.
June 2, 1854
The Washington Sentinel, referring to an offer which has been extended for Henry Ward Beecher to settle in that city: “We know not what pay his Northern admirers might give him, though we can assure him that if, under pretence of preaching the Gospel, he undertakes to malign us after his old fashion, in our very midst, the people of Washington will pay him in tar and feathers, or some other similar currency. If he courts martyrdom, let him try the experiment.”
May 26, 1854
Notice that friends of Brown in England have “kindly contributed the amount necessary to secure his ransom from bondage, so that he can return to his native land without being subjected to the terrible liability of being seized as a fugitive.
May 26, 1854
Labeled as Another Triumph of the Slave Power, this notice of the passing of the bill, includes these words: ” …against an unprecedented demonstration of religious sentiment - against the laws of God and the rights of universal man - in subversion of plighted faith, in utter disregard of the scorn of the world, and for purposes as diabolical as can be conceived of or consummated here on earth - the deed is accomplished. A thousand times accursed by the Union which has made this possible!”