Report of the Proceedings at the Examination of Charles G. Davis, Esq., on the Charge of Aiding and Abetting in the Rescue of a Fugitive Slave: Held in Boston, in February, 1851.

by Charles G. Davis; United States. Circuit Court

Answer. The person rescued was the person arrested under the warrant, but cannot say he was the person named in the warrant.

The Commissioner. Do you contradict your return? The return is conclusive.

Mr. Lunt. Mr. Riley, do you mean to contradict your return! I warn you, Sir!

Mr. Dana. He has contradicted it. Mr. Riley, you didn't know that the person you arrested was the man named in the original warrant and complaint, as the slave of Debree?

Mr. Lunt. I warn you, Mr. Riley, not to give that testimony! I warn you, Sir!

The Commissioner. The return of the officer is conclusive.

Mr. Dana. Does the Commissioner mean to rule that a man may be hung in a criminal case, on the return of an officer in another, and that a civil case? This case goes further. Here the very man who made the return is on the stand. Cannot we show by him that a part of this return is matter of form, and that he does not know whether it is true or not?

The Commissioner. I think, Sir, the return of the officer is conclusive in all these proceedings.

Mr. Dana. But the fact is already in—and the return is nullified. The objection is too late.

The Commissioner. If he has answered, it may go in, de bene esse.