Attempt At Kidnapping,--great Excitement--slave Catcher In Jail!

Detroit, April 20, '47. 'iuend Poster, - Our City was suddenly thrown ïto no small e.?.itemcnt about a week nee by the occurrence of a scfine wlnch doubt not will intere.-t many of your eaders, ns the fi-iends of human freedotn, iroving mnst conclusively in ts resulta vb,t miserable Itunling grouiid ibis is fut ecoming for that notorious clnss of; portsmen knnwn as Southern Slave Jatchers, and how ensily the best laid chemos and counsels of their vile accoinilices n our midst may be overthrown. On Wednesday last, a man, who subequently proved to be one of tho former las, (calling himself Dnnn, although it s presumed liere tliat this is not bis real ame,) froiTi the State of Missouri, was een for sometime loitering around the juilding known ns the United Statrs Court House, and in one of the upper ooms of which the U. S. District Judge olds his ofRcñ. About 5 P. M., one of ur constables named Cicolle, who as it ficrwards appeared, had for some two ays bfen engagod in the infamous eiTort, y coaxing, lying and threatening, suceeded in persuading n colored mnn nained Cromwell,and claimed ns a slave by Dunn, o accompany Kim ("rom his housR in the pper pari bt the city to the U. S. Court Iouse, using among other plens the lyng ene to which his office would give he pl-iusibility of truth, ihat he had n ubpoena for him as a witness to give eslimony respecting some alledged case n court, (all of of which of course was bare faced Oiïsehood, as no Court waa in ession or had b?en for weeks in that íuilding,). No sooner had they en'ered he building nnd pvsed into one of the side rooms from which a flight of uira ed to ihe rooms above thi.n they closed and lockedihe door, when, liko so many erocioustigers, Dunn, our precious specimen of hiimahity ; constable Cicotte, and a man by the name of Flint : (from he vülnge of Flint, Gene?ee Co., in our late, who occompanied Dunn from ihnt il.nco, where it seems he had also been srelung íor his lost prope rty ,) sprung upon the colorad man and attempled to gag and bind him, with a view, as it was suplosed, of dragging him up slairs before he U. S. District Judge, where Dunn dou'itless expecleJ to make stich representations as would obtain for him a certifícate, undor cover of whiuh he might hurry liim away into hopeless bondage Wiih the energy imparted from a feeling ihat it was a desperate struggle for Liberty, Cromwell succeeded in dragging his assailanls to a window opening upon Jeflerson Avenue and despite the humane efioris of Constable Cicotle, who was secn at'empting to cram a handkorcheif down his throat, by his out cry soon raised an alarm wliich spread rapidly through the neighborhood, and nlmoit in an insiant crowds of his colored friends and olhers were at the door rïemanding admission. - Although, no tlianks to thfe bloodhounds itiside, tbcy soon found llieir way in, and in fnr less time than it would lake me to describe the net, they wroiied the poor man from the merciless grasp of his sailants - leaving him to take care ol liimself, whicli he soon eviclenced abundant ability to do. His friends iitimfrdiaicly took out a warrant to approhpnd Dunn upon the charge of Kidnapping. Tliis was quickly done and an efFort made to arrest him. The crowd, wh ch had, n the mean time, bccoine somewhat formidable, had moved down the avenue a short distance in front of a building occupied by a man named Clark, who seomed to manifest much sympathy for the slnve catcher, and praling about injustice to him, false imprisonment, &c. &c, had inviled Dunn down to his store for greater security. To those who knew the man, his zea! and sympathy for l'.is kidnapping friend, wcre not surprising. But his cflbns, (if they were so dcsignedjto screen him f rom justicé, were of no avail, for in a few moments Dunn wasseen proceeding up the avenue in charge of an officor, followed and surrounded bv B crowd of our coloredcilizens and o:hê)s, who had no design to hurt a liair of his lead otherwise than " by duo process of law," and manifesting a stern yet peaceable purpose to have fuli justice done him. His examinntion not being concluded, he was remanded to ja il, where he spent the night. On the following day his exarnination was rosumed and after a long and patiënt investigntion of many hours, freaching I belicvo into tho following day,) resulted in his full commitlal upon the charge of Kidnapping - a crime made punishablo nuder th; Revised Statuies by confinemcnt in Siate Prison ! He is now safely lodged in VVayne county jail, awaiting his trial at the next term of our Court, (to bc held early next month,) charged wilh that heinous offencc ! Under these circumstances, strict pro)riely might (orbid some most just reflections upon the enormity of the outrage. Truth and justice, however, will permit us to say, that viewed in referonr.e to the spot chosen for its consummation - the vestibule of a United Statos Court of Justice - the limo - in bioad open lighf, and sorno of the personages 1 gaged in ii, our own city officers, (for moro than one is slrongly suspecled of liaving been engaged in the nefarious plot J and it presents one of the most mfamous, barefaced and mecenary schemes of villainy wbich hi commiinity has cvor witnessed. Much ns we feel disposed to repróbate the coriduct of Dunn, the nonviction is very general nmongourcitizens, tlmt the guili of his accomplices here was infinitcly more glaring. Be it known they are now well understood, and although in ihis inslance thoy may 1 bly escape " unwhipped of justice," they will doub'lcssly beware how they are canght in the discharge of any moresuch! official duties; (öt forsoolh long afierj their éfibrt to kidnnp liim had failed they : managed to swear out a wiit againstj Cromwcll for horsê stealing ! Hoping, thongh vainly. by this bare subterfuge to cover their guilty net. Much praise isdue to our worthy Mayor, James A. Van Dyke Esq.,"and other legal gentlemen engaged with him as counsel on bhnlf of our colored friends, Por ihe zenl and energy they manifested j n probing the nefarious plot, and elicit-j ing all the facts posdble in the ense that j justice miglit be meted out to the guilty urtors. Our colored friends also demeant.-d themselves vvith gieat propriety throughout the oxciting scène, giving fresli evidence lo our communiiy that ihcy are n peacenble, taw Bbiditlg class ; of citizcns, whüe at the same time ibeir I henrts and hands are ever rearly to aid their oppressed bre'hren when escaping from the curte of slavery. I am j bly informad thr.t Cromwell is an ! gent nnd worthy man, that he fórmérïyi resided and taught school in the Smte of i Indiana, aftcr which he removed toFlint, j in this State, wheré lie remalriéd until a few weeks since, when he removed to this city to reside, and liad just oponed a small store in the upper part of ouri city, where ly prudence and energy he j would doublless have secured an honest livclihood. Such was the man whom j these fues to human freedom sought to j brutalize nnd drng away into hopelessi bondage. May hlie resul ts ever tiend like infamous efForts. Tnily Yours,