testimony, duly taken and certified by some court,
magistrate, justice of the peace, or other legal officer
authorized to administer an oath and take depositions
under the laws of the State or Territory from
which such person owing service or labor may have
escaped, with a certificate of such magistrate,
or other authority, as aforesaid, with the seal of
the proper court or officer thereto attached, which
seal shall be sufficient to establish the competency
of the proof, and with proof also, by affidavit,
of the identity of the person whose service or
labor is claimed to be due, as aforesaid, that the
person so arrested does in fact owe service or
labor to the person or persons claiming him or
her, in the State or Territory from which such
fugitive may have escaped, as aforesaid, and that
said person escaped, to make out and deliver to such
claimant, his or her agent or attorney, a certificate
setting forth the substantial facts as to the
service or labor due from such fugitive to the
claimant, and of his or her escape from the State
or Territory in which such service or labor was due,
to the State or Territory, in which he or she
was arrested, with authority to such claimant,
or his or her agent or attorney, to use such reasonable
force and restraint as may be necessary, under
the circumstances of the case, to take and remove such
fugitive person back to the State or Territory
from whence he or she may have escaped, as aforesaid.
In no trial or hearing, under this act, shall
the testimony of such alleged fugitives be admitted
in evidence, and the certificates in this and the first
section mentioned, shall be conclusive of the right
of the person or persons in whose favor granted
to remove such fugitives to the State or Territory
from which they escaped, and shall prevent all
molestation of said person or persons by any process
issued by any court, judge, magistrate, or other person
whomsoever.
SEC. 7. And be it further enacted, That any person who shall knowingly and willfully obstruct, hinder, or prevent such claimant, his agent, or attorney, or any person or persons lawfully assisting him, her or them from arresting such a fugitive from service or labor, either with or without process, as aforesaid, or shall rescue, or attempt to rescue, such fugitive from service or labor, or 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 shall 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 harbor 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 said offences,