The Liberator

Several Interesting Inquiries have grown out of the Latimer case; and, although the excitement which pervaded the city has partially subsided, it is not expedient that it should entirely die away, till some further explanations shall have been presented.

It is notorious that Latimer was sold by J. B. Gray, and paid for by a Mr. Colver. Have any of the laws of the State been violated by this transaction? If so, by whom? If by Colver, why is he not prosecuted for the offence? If by Gray, why is he not demanded of the civil authorities of Virginia, that he may be sent here and punished as a fugitive from justice?

If the jailor made an improper use of the jail, why does the Sheriff retain him in office? If the Sheriff acquiesced in the misuse of the jail by one of his deputies, the deputy may perhaps plead exemption from punishment: But it is denied that the Sheriff authorized or approved the conduct of the jailor. Then is it not manifestly the duty of the Sheriff to remove him? And if the Sheriff neglect or refuse to remove him, is not the Sheriff obnoxious to removal by the Governor and Council?

These questions are asked, emphatically, every day; and there is another inquiry which is occasionally heard, in a tone not far removed from a whisper; viz. Whence does the Chief Justice derive his authority to hold a court in a private room, and place an officer at the door, to prevent the ingress of the people? We would not be supposed to question the authority of the Judge; but there are some people so inquisitively meddlesome, as to be for ever on the look-out for something to grumble at; and to keep them from grumbling at us, we state these inquiries.