violated this very week, in this very city, by the slave-hunters bore, by the very officers of the State? What is
the meaning of this? Every law which favours the accumulation of money, must be kept; but those which
prohibit the unjust accumulation of money by certain
classes—they need not be kept.[1]
No doubt it would be a great pity to have the city government careful to keep the laws of the city,—to suppress rum-shops, and save the citizens from the almshouse, the gaol, and the gallows. Such laws may be executed at Truro and Wellfleet; but it is quite needless for the officers of "The Athens of America," to attend to the temperance laws.[2] What a pity for the magistrates of Boston to heed the laws of the State! No; it is the Fugitive Slave Law that they must keep.
II. A great deal of pains has been taken to impress the people with their "moral duty to obey the Fugitive Slave Law." To carry it out, government needs base men; and that, my brothers, is a crop which never fails. Rye and wheat may get blasted many times in the course of years; the potato may rot; apples and peaches fail. But base men never fail. Put up your black pirate-flag in the
- ↑ It was well known that the laws of Massachusetts were violated, but no prosecution of the offenders was ever begun. The committee to whom the matter was referred thought that the Supreme Court of Massachusetts was not to be trusted to vindicate the laws of the State, against kidnappers in Boston.
- ↑ In November, 1851, the City Marshal reports to the Board of Aldermen the following facts:—There are fifteen hundred places in Boston
where intoxicating drinks are sold, in violation of the laws of Massachusetts.
Kept by Americans 490 Kept by foreigners 1010 Open on Sunday 979 Groceries that keep intoxicating drink 469 Other places 1031 All the "first class hotels," except four, have open bars for the sale of intoxicating drink. The government of Boston,—which violate the laws of Massachusetts, to kidnap a man, and deliver him to his tormentors, asks the City Marshal to give such information as is calculated to shock the progress of crime and intemperance. He reports—"Execute the laws!" In 1851, Boston has the honour of kidnapping one of her inhabitants, and sending him to Slavery, and of supporting fifteen hundred rum-shops, in continual violation of the laws of Massachusetts.
