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Remarks of Richard H. Dana, Jr. Esq. Before the Committee on Federal Relations, on the Proposed Removal of Edward G. Loring, Esq. From the Office of Judge of Probate
Excerpt from Remarks of Richard H. Dana, Jr. Esq. Before the Committee on Federal Relations, on the Proposed Removal of Edward G. Loring, Esq. From the Office of Judge of Probate
The Legislature has been petitioned to address the Gov ernor, for the removal from office of one of the Judges. This judge is a Judge of Probate, holding an inferior jurisdiction, it is true, and on a small salary, but the Constitution places all the judges on the same tenure, and what may be done to one may be done to all. The petitioners do not ask you to remove this judge without cause. In whatever form the rea sons may be cast, the true and controlling reason is, that, as a Commissioner of the United States, he sent back a man into slavery. The petitioners submit the case to your considera tion, and desire you to take such steps as the law and your duty suggest to you. The governing motive of the peti tioners no doubt is that Massachusetts may do an act which shall both demonstrate her hostility to the Fugitive Slave Law, and punish a man who has executed it.
The Legislature has been petitioned to address the Gov ernor, for the removal from office of one of the Judges. This judge is a Judge of Probate, holding an inferior jurisdiction, it is true, and on a small salary, but the Constitution places all the judges on the same tenure, and what may be done to one may be done to all. The petitioners do not ask you to remove this judge without cause. In whatever form the rea sons may be cast, the true and controlling reason is, that, as a Commissioner of the United States, he sent back a man into slavery. The petitioners submit the case to your considera tion, and desire you to take such steps as the law and your duty suggest to you. The governing motive of the peti tioners no doubt is that Massachusetts may do an act which shall both demonstrate her hostility to the Fugitive Slave Law, and punish a man who has executed it.
28 pages, Paperback
Published January 1, 2024
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About the author
Richard Henry Dana Jr.
92 books62 followersDana was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts on August 1, 1815, into a family that first settled in colonial America in 1640. As a boy, Dana studied in Cambridgeport under a strict schoolmaster named Samuel Barrett, alongside fellow Cambridge native and future writer James Russell Lowell. Barrett was infamous as a disciplinarian, punishing his students for any infraction by flogging. He also often pulled students by their ears and, on one such occasion, nearly pulled Dana's ear off, causing his father to protest enough that the practice was abolished.
In 1825, Dana enrolled in a private school overseen by Ralph Waldo Emerson, who Dana later mildly praised as "a very pleasant instructor", though he lacked a "system or discipline enough to insure regular and vigorous study". In July 1831, Dana began his studies at Harvard College, though he was suspended for six months before the end of his first year for supporting a student protest. In his junior year, he had a case of measles which also caused ophthalmia and his weakening vision inspired him to take a sea voyage.
Rather than going on a Grand Tour of Europe, he decided to enlist as a common sailor, despite his high-class birth. He left Boston on the brig Pilgrim on August 14, 1834, on a voyage around Cape Horn to the then-remote California, at that time still a part of Mexico. On the 180-ton, 86.5 foot-long Pilgrim, Dana visited a number of settlements in California (including Monterey, San Pedro, San Juan Capistrano, San Diego, Santa Barbara, and Santa Clara and San Francisco). He returned to Massachusetts aboard the ship Alert on September 22, 1836, after two years away from home.
He kept a diary, and after the trip wrote Two Years Before the Mast based on his experiences. The term "before the mast" refers to sailor's quarters -- in the forecastle, in the bow of the ship, the officers dwelling near the stern. His writing evidences his later social feeling for the oppressed. After witnessing a flogging on board the Pilgrim, he vowed that he would try to help improve the lot of the common seaman.
After his sea voyage, he returned to Harvard to take up study at its law school, completing his education in 1837. He subsequently became a lawyer, and an expert on maritime law, many times defending common seamen, and wrote The Seaman's Friend, which became a standard reference text on the legal rights and responsibilities of sailors.
In 1825, Dana enrolled in a private school overseen by Ralph Waldo Emerson, who Dana later mildly praised as "a very pleasant instructor", though he lacked a "system or discipline enough to insure regular and vigorous study". In July 1831, Dana began his studies at Harvard College, though he was suspended for six months before the end of his first year for supporting a student protest. In his junior year, he had a case of measles which also caused ophthalmia and his weakening vision inspired him to take a sea voyage.
Rather than going on a Grand Tour of Europe, he decided to enlist as a common sailor, despite his high-class birth. He left Boston on the brig Pilgrim on August 14, 1834, on a voyage around Cape Horn to the then-remote California, at that time still a part of Mexico. On the 180-ton, 86.5 foot-long Pilgrim, Dana visited a number of settlements in California (including Monterey, San Pedro, San Juan Capistrano, San Diego, Santa Barbara, and Santa Clara and San Francisco). He returned to Massachusetts aboard the ship Alert on September 22, 1836, after two years away from home.
He kept a diary, and after the trip wrote Two Years Before the Mast based on his experiences. The term "before the mast" refers to sailor's quarters -- in the forecastle, in the bow of the ship, the officers dwelling near the stern. His writing evidences his later social feeling for the oppressed. After witnessing a flogging on board the Pilgrim, he vowed that he would try to help improve the lot of the common seaman.
After his sea voyage, he returned to Harvard to take up study at its law school, completing his education in 1837. He subsequently became a lawyer, and an expert on maritime law, many times defending common seamen, and wrote The Seaman's Friend, which became a standard reference text on the legal rights and responsibilities of sailors.
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