espair.
It was a long, sad, silent procession down to the banks of
the Ohio; and as it passed, the death-knell of freedom tolled
heavily. The sovereignty of Ohio trailed in the dust beneath
the oppressor's foot, and the great confederacy of the tribes
of modern Israel attended the funeral obsequies, and made
ample provision for the necessary expenses! "And it was so,
that all that saw it, said, _There was no such deed done, nor
seen from the day that the children of Israel came up out of
the land of Egypt unto this day_; CONSIDER OF IT, TAKE
ADVICE, AND SPEAK YOUR MINDS!"

* * * * *

With the sad case of MARGARET GARNER we close, for the present, the
record of the Fugitive Slave Law, as its history has been daily
writing itself in our country's annals. Enactment of hell! which has
marked every step of its progress over the land by suffering and by
crimes,--crimes of the bloodiest dye, groanings which cannot fully
be uttered; which is tracked by the dripping blood of its victims,
by their terrors and by their despair; against which, and against
that Wicked Nation which enacted it, and which suffers it still to
stand as their LAW, the cries of the down-trodden poor go up
continually into the ears of God,--cries of bitterest anguish,
mingled with fiercest execrations--thousands of Rachels weeping for
their children, and will not be comforted, because they _are not_.

Reader, is your patriotism of the kind which believes, with the
supporters of old monarchies, that the Sovereign Power can do no
wrong? Consider the long record which has been laid before you, and
say if your country has not enacted a most wicked, cruel, and
shameful law, which merits only the condemnation and abhorrence of
every heart. Consider that this law was aimed at the life, liberty,
and happiness of the poor and least-privileged portion of our
people--a class whom the laws should befriend, protect, and raise
up. What is the true character of a law, whose working, whose fruits
are such as this meagre outline of its history shows? Is it fit that
such deeds and such a law should have your sanction and support?
Will you remain in a moment's doubt whether to be a friend or a foe
to such a law? Will you countenance or support the man, in the
church or in the state, who is not its open and out-spoken opponent?
Will you not, rather, yourself trample it under foot, as alike the