and my
wife and my child I claim as mine. Jim and his mother are here. We have
arms to defend ourselves, and we mean to do it. You can come up, if
you like; but the first one of you that comes within the range of our
bullets is a dead man, and the next, and the next; and so on till the
last."

"O, come! come!" said a short, puffy man, stepping forward, and blowing
his nose as he did so. "Young man, this an't no kind of talk at all for
you. You see, we're officers of justice. We've got the law on our side,
and the power, and so forth; so you'd better give up peaceably, you see;
for you'll certainly have to give up, at last."

"I know very well that you've got the law on your side, and the power,"
said George, bitterly. "You mean to take my wife to sell in New Orleans,
and put my boy like a calf in a trader's pen, and send Jim's old mother
to the brute that whipped and abused her before, because he couldn't
abuse her son. You want to send Jim and me back to be whipped and
tortured, and ground down under the heels of them that you call masters;
and your laws _will_ bear you out in it,--more shame for you and them!
But you haven't got us. We don't own your laws; we don't own your
country; we stand here as free, under God's sky, as you are; and, by the
great God that made us, we'll fight for our liberty till we die."

George stood out in fair sight, on the top of the rock, as he made
his declaration of independence; the glow of dawn gave a flush to his
swarthy cheek, and bitter indignation and despair gave fire to his dark
eye; and, as if appealing from man to the justice of God, he raised his
hand to heaven as he spoke.

If it had been only a Hungarian youth, now bravely defending in some
mountain fastness the retreat of fugitives escaping from Austria into
America, this would have been sublime heroism; but as it was a youth of
African descent, defending the retreat of fugitives through America into
Canada, of course we are too well instructed and patriotic to see any
heroism in it; and if any of our readers do, they must do it on their
own private responsibility. When despairing Hungarian fugitives make
their way, against all the search-warrants and authorities of their
lawful government, to America, press and political cabinet ring with
applause and welcome. When despairing African fugitives do the same
thing,--it is--what _is_ it?

Be it as it may, it is certain that the attitude, eye, voice, manner,
of the speake