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First Arrest under the New Fugitive Slave Bill.
Our readers will find in another column a full account of the arrest, examination, and reclamation of a negro named James Hamlet, a fugitive slave from the state of Maryland. About two weeks ago Hamlet ran away from his owner and fled to New York, where he resided, as we learn, for the past two years. Under the fugitive slave bill he was taken into custody, at the insistence of his owner. His identity, and the fact that he was the property of the owner were proven, and an order was issued by the F.S. Commissioner directing him to be given up to the owner. The proceedings occupied but a very few hours - the legal demands of the plaintiff were granted and the provisions of the bill recently passed by Congress were complied with.
This is the first arrest that has taken place under the Fugitive Slave Bill, and we have no doubt it will not be the last. The bill will be taken advantage of by many other Southern people, whose negros were enticed or ran away from their employers within a few years. As might have been expected, the recapture and arrest in this case, caused a commotion throughout the city, especially among the colored population, and the ultra abolitionists, who set all laws at defiance, and whose existence would be a void, if slavery did not exist. There is reason to believe that the former will combine for the purposes of resisting the law, but the law must be vindicated, and it will be vindicated and upheld by all good citizens. Our colored population may attempt a breach of the peace, but if they do so, they know full well the penalty which they will incur, and the punishment which will assuredly be meted out to them - New York Herald, 28th.