Chicago (IL) Press and Tribune, "Negro Stampede," November 17, 1859

          Negro Stampede.

   We learn from the Lagrange (Mo.) American, of the 12th inst., that about a dozen "likely, intelligent and valuable slaves" escaped from that city during last week, and are supposed to be now beyond the reach of pursuit. The editor, in speaking of this escapade, says that every "human being loves liberty," and that the "love of liberty is an innate principle that exists even among the beasts of the field." If the love of liberty is an instinct existing among the dumb and brutes of God's creation, how much more is it a sentiment, a feeling, glowing and burning within the bosom of every being created in God's own image! It is implanted in the human heart by the Almighty, and is eradicated only when the icy hand of death frees the soul from its earthly tabernacle. Its aspirations are as powerful in the bosom of the degraded and brutalized slave as in the heart of the proudest and lordliest master in the land. Subjection and tyranny cannot weaken or crush it. It is a natural right belonging to every man, and just so long as the desire and hope for freedom shall pulsate in the human heart, will slaves continue practically to assert their love of liberty.