Page:The Under-Ground Railroad.djvu/30

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or without process, as aforesaid; or shall rescue or attempt to rescue such Fugitive from service or labor, from the custody of such claimant, his, or her agent or attorney,or other person or persons, lawfully assisting as aforesaid, when so arrested, pursuant to the authority herein given and declared; or aid, abet, or assist such person so owing service or labor as aforesaid, directly or indirectly to escape from such claimant, his agent, or attorney, or other person or persons legally authorized as aforesaid; or shall harbour or conceal such Fugitive, so as to prevent the discovery and arrest of such person, after notice or knowledge of the fact that such person was a Fugitive from service or labor as aforesaid, shall, for either of the said offences, be subject to a fine not exceeding one thousand dollars, and imprisonment not exceeding six months, by indictment and conviction before the District Court of the United States, for the district in which such offence may have been committed; or before the proper Court of Criminal Jurisdiction, if committed within any one of the Organised Territories of the United States. And shall moreover forfeit and pay by way of civil damages, to the parties injured by such illegal conduct, the sum of one thousand dollars for each Fugitive so lost as aforesaid, to be recovered by action of debt, in any of the District or Territorial Courts as aforesaid, within whose jurisdiction the said offence may have been committed."