A Visit to the United States in 1841

By Joseph Sturge

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Title: A Visit To The United States In 1841

Author: Joseph Sturge

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Language: English


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A VISIT TO THE UNITED STATES IN 1841

BY JOSEPH STURGE

1842

BOSTON: DEXTER S. KING, NO. 1 CORNHILL.
  "'Tis liberty alone that gives the flower
  Of fleeting life its lustre and perfume;
  And we are weeds without it. All constraint,
  Except what wisdom lays on evil men,
  Is evil; hurts the faculties, impedes
  Their progress in the road of science; blinds
  The eyesight of discovery; and begets,
  In those that suffer it, a sordid mind."


COWPER.





    Preface to the American Edition

    Preface to the English Edition

    A Visit, &c.

    General Observations

    Appendix A: ANTI-SLAVERY EPISTLE OF "FRIENDS" IN GREAT BRITAIN.

    Appendix B: EARLY EFFORTS OF "FRIENDS" IN BEHALF OF NEGRO

    Appendix C: Report of the Committee of the Yearly Meeting of
    Friends, &c.

    Appendix D: ELISHA TYSON.

    Appendix E: THE "AMISTAD CAPTIVES"

    Appendix F: Extract from an Essay by WILLIAM JAY

    Appendix G: OPIUM WAR WITH CHINA.

    Appendix H: LETTER OF A.L. PENNOCK.

    Appendix I: GERRIT SMITH'S SLAVES.

    Appendix K: The Society of Friends in America and the
    Colonization Society

    Appendix L: Memorial of citizens of Boston, United States, to
    the Lords of the Admiralty, Great Britain.







PREFACE

TO THE AMERICAN EDITION.


Within a few years past, several of our visitors from the other side of
the Atlantic, have published their views of our country and her
institutions. Basil Hall, Hamilton and others, in their attempts to
describe the working of the democratic principle in the United States,
have been unfavorably influenced by their opposite political
predilections. On the other hand, Miss Martineau, who has strong
republican sympathies, has not, at all times, been sufficiently careful
and discriminating in the facts and details of her spirited and
agreeable narrative.

The volume of Mr. Sturge, herewith presented, is unlike any of its
predecessors. Its author makes no literary pretensions. His style, like
his garb, is of the plainest kind; shorn of every thing like ornament,
it has yet a truthful, earnest simplicity, as rare as it is beautiful.
The reader will look in vain for those glowing descriptions of American
scenery, and graphic delineations of the peculiarities of the American
character with which other travellers have endeavored to enliven and
diversify their journals. Coming among us on an errand of peace and good
will--with a heart oppressed and burdened by the woes of suffering
humanity--he had no leisure for curious observations of men and manners,
nor even for the gratification of a simple and unperverted taste for the
beautiful in outward nature. His errand led him to the slave-jail of the
negro-trafficker--the abodes of the despised and persecuted colored
man--the close walls of prisons. His narrative, like his own character,
is calm, clear, simple; its single and manifest aim, _to do good_.

Although this volume is mainly devoted to the subject of emancipation,
and to his intercourse with the religious Society of which he is a
member, yet the friends of peace, of legal reform, and of republican
institutions, will derive gratification from its perusal. The liberal
spirit of Christian philanthropy breathes through it. The author's deep
and settled detestation of our slavery, and of the hypocrisy which
sustains and justifies it, does not render him blind to the beauty of
the republican principle of popular control, nor repress in any degree
his pleasure in recording its beneficent practical fruits in the free
States.

The labors of Mr. Sturge in the cause of emancipation have given him the
appellation of the "Howard of our days." The author of the popular
"History of Slavery," page 600, thus notices his arduous personal
investigations of the state of things in the West India Islands, under
the apprenticeship system. "The idea originated with Joseph Sturge, of
Birmingham, a member of that religious body, the FRIENDS, who have ever
stood pre-eminent in noiseless but indefatigable exertions in the cause
of the negro; and who seem to possess a more thorough practical
understanding than is generally possessed by statesmen and politicians,
of the axiom that the shortest communication between two given points,
is a straight line. While others were speculating, and hoping that the
worst reports from the West Indies might not be true, and that the evils
would work their own cure, this generous and heroic philanthropist,
resolved to go himself and ascertain the facts and the remedy required."
On his return, Mr. Sturge, with his companion, Thomas Harvey, published
a full account of their investigations into the working of the
apprenticeship system; and his testimony before the Parliamentary
Committee, occupied seven days. His disclosures sealed the fate of the
apprenticeship system. Such a demonstration of popular sentiment was
called forth against it, that the Colonies, one after another, felt
themselves under the necessity of abandoning it for unconditional
emancipation. It was a remark of Brougham, in the House of Lords, that
the abolition of the apprenticeship was the work of one man, and that
man was Joseph Sturge.

Mr. Sturge's benevolent labors have not been confined to the abolition
of slavery. He is a prominent member of the Anti-corn Law League. He is
an active advocate of the cause of universal peace. He has given all his
influence to the cause of the oppressed and laboring classes of his own
countrymen: and his name is at this moment, the rallying-word of
millions, as the author and patron of the "Suffrage Declaration," which
is now in circulation in all parts of the United Kingdom, pledging its
signers to the great principle of universal suffrage--a full, fair and
free representation of the people. It was reserved for the untitled
Quaker of Birmingham to take the lead in the great and good work of
uniting, for the first time, the middle and the working classes of his
countrymen, and in so doing, to infuse hope and newness of life into the
dark dwellings of the English peasant and artisan. The Editor of the
London Non-Conformist, speaking of this movement of Mr. Sturge, says:
"The Declaration is put forth by a man, who, perhaps, in a higher degree
than any other individual, has the confidence of both the middle class
and the working men. The former can trust to his prudence; the latter
have faith in his sincerity."

Such is the man, who, prompted by his untiring benevolence, visited our
shores during the past year. This volume is the brief record of his
visit, and of the impressions produced upon his mind by our conflicting
interests and institutions. It is now republished, in the belief that
the opinions of its author will be received with candor and respect by
all classes of our citizens, and that they are calculated to make a
permanent and salutary impression, in favor of the great cause of
universal freedom.


Boston, May, 1842.





PREFACE

TO THE ENGLISH EDITION.


In visiting the United States, the objects which preferred the chief
claim to my attention were the _universal abolition of slavery_, and
_the promotion of permanent international peace_. Deeply impressed with
the conviction that the advancement of these is intimately connected
with the progress of right views among professing Christians in that
country, it was my desire not only to inform myself of the actual state
of feeling and opinion among this important class, but if possible, to
contribute my mite of encouragement and aid to those who are bearing the
burden and heat of the day, in an arduous contest, on whose issue the
alternative of a vast amount of human happiness or misery depends. This
general outline of my motives included several specific, practical
objects, which will be found detailed in the ensuing pages.

For obvious reasons, _the abolition of slavery in the United States_ is
the most prominent topic in my narrative; but I have freely interspersed
observations on other subjects of interest and importance, as they came
under consideration. Short notices are introduced of some of the
prominent abolitionists of America; and, though sensible how imperfectly
I have done justice to exertions, which, either in degree or kind, have
scarcely a parallel in the annals of self-denying benevolence, I fear I
shall occasionally have hurt the feelings of the individuals referred
to, by what they may deem undeserved or unseasonable praise; yet I trust
they will pardon the act for the sake of the motive, which is to
introduce the English anti-slavery reader to a better acquaintance with
his fellow laborers in the United States. My short stay, and the limited
extent of my visit, prevented my becoming acquainted with many who are
equally deserving of notice.

Less than twelve months have elapsed since I embarked on this "visit;"
and though, with the help of steam by sea and land, an extensive journey
may now be performed in a comparatively short time, yet, during this
brief interval, my own engagements would have prevented my placing the
following narrative so early before the public without assistance. It is
right to state that a large portion of the work has been prepared for
the press from a rough transcript of my journal, from my correspondence,
and other documents, by the friend who accompanied me on a former
journey to the West Indies, and who then compiled the account of our
joint labors.

Nearly the whole of the narrative portion of this publication has been
sent to America, to different individuals who were concerned in, or
present at the transactions related, and has been returned to me with
their verification of the facts; so that the reader has the strongest
guaranty for their accuracy. The inferences and comments I am solely
responsible for, and I leave them to rest on their own merits.

In undertaking this journey, I was careful not to shackle my individual
liberty by appearing as the representative of any society, whether
religious or benevolent; and, on the other hand, none of those friends,
who kindly furnished me with letters of introduction, are in any way
responsible for my proceedings in the United States, or for any thing
which this volume contains.

In conclusion,--should these pages come under the notice of any, who,
though well wishers to their species, are not yet identified with
anti-slavery effort, I would entreat such to "come over and help us." If
they are ambitious of a large and quick return for their outlay of
money, of time, of labor,--for their painful sympathies and self-denying
prayers,--where will they find a cause where help is more needed, or
where it would be rewarded more surely and abundantly? Let them reflect
on what has been effected, within a few short years, in the British West
Indies, so recently numbered among "the dark places of the earth, full
of the habitations of cruelty,"--but now scenes of light, gladness, and
prosperity, temporal and spiritual. To show what remains to be
accomplished for the universal abolition of slavery--a field in which
the laborers are few indeed, in proportion to its extent--I may be
allowed to quote the following comprehensive statement, from the preface
to one of the most important volumes that ever issued from the press on
the subject of slavery:[A]

[Footnote A: "Proceedings of the London Anti-Slavery Convention."]


    "The extent of these giant evils may be gathered from a brief
    statement of facts. In the United States of America, the slave
    population is estimated to be 2,750,000; in Brazil, 2,500,000;
    in the Spanish Colonies, 600,000; in the French Colonies,
    265,000; in the Dutch Colonies, 70,000; in the Danish and
    Swedish Colonies, 30,000; and in Texas, 25,000; besides those
    held in bondage by Great Britain, in the East Indies, and the
    British Settlements of Ceylon, Malacca, and Penang; and by
    France, Holland, and Portugal, in various parts of Asia and
    Africa; amounting in all to several millions more; and exclusive
    also of those held in bondage by the native powers of the East,
    and other parts of the world, of whose number it is impossible
    to form a correct estimate.

    "To supply the slave-markets of the Western world, 120,000
    native Africans are, on the most moderate calculation, annually
    required; whilst the slave-markets of the East require 50,000
    more. In procuring these victims of a guilty traffic, to be
    devoted to the rigors of perpetual slavery, it is computed that
    280,000 perish in addition, and under circumstances the most
    revolting and afflicting.

    "But this is not all. In the Southern section of the United
    States, and in British India, a vast internal slave-trade is
    carried on, second only in horror and extent to that which has
    so long desolated and degraded Africa.

    "These facts exhibit, also, the magnitude of the responsibility
    which devolves upon abolitionists; in view of it they may well
    be allowed to disclaim, as they do, all sectarian motive, all
    party feeling: 'Glory to God in the highest, on earth peace,
    good will to man,' is their aim: consistently with the blessed
    character of this gospel anthem, they recognize no means as
    allowable for them, in the prosecution of their holy enterprise,
    than those which are of a moral, religious, and pacific nature;
    in the diligent use of these means, and trusting in God, they
    cherish the hope that, under His blessing, they may be permitted
    to accomplish the great work to which they are devoted; and thus
    be made instrumental in advancing the sacred cause of freedom,
    and its attendant blessings, civilization and religion,
    throughout the earth."

    J.S.

    Edgbaston, near Birmingham, Second Month, 1st, 1842.






A VISIT, &c.

I embarked at Portsmouth, on board the British Queen steam packet,
commanded by Captain Franklin, on the 10th of the 3d Month, (March,)
1841. During the first two or three days, the weather was unusually fine
for the season of the year, and gave us the prospect of a quick and
prosperous voyage. The passengers, about seventy in number, were of
various nations, including English, French, German and American.

The very objectionable custom of supplying the passengers with
intoxicating liquors without limit and without any additional charge,
thus compelling the temperate or abstinent passenger to contribute to
the expenses of the intemperate, was done away. Each individual paid for
the wine and spirits he called for, a circumstance which greatly
promoted sobriety in the ship; but I am sorry to say three or four, and
these my own countrymen, were not unfrequently in a state of
intoxication. On one occasion, after dinner, one of these addressed an
intelligent black steward, who was waiting, by the contemptuous
designation of "blackey;" the man replied to him in this manner:--"My
name is Robert; when you want any thing from me please to address me by
my name; there is no gentleman on board who would have addressed me as
you have done; we are all the same flesh and blood; I did not make
myself; God made me." This severe and public rebuke commended itself to
every man's conscience, and my countryman obtained no sympathy even from
the most prejudiced slaveholder on board. Several of my fellow
passengers stood in this relation; and I found I could freely converse
with a native American slaveholder not only with less risk of giving
offence, but that he was more ready to admit the inherent evils of
slavery than the Europeans who had become inured to the system by
residence in the Southern States of America, or than the American
merchants residing in the Northern cities, whose participation in the
commerce of the Slave States had imbued them with pro-slavery views and
feelings. One of them, a French merchant of New Orleans, went so far as
to assure me, that in his opinion it would be as reasonable to class the
negroes with monkeys, as to place them on an equality with the whites.

On the nights of the 14th and 15th the Aurora Borealis was very
beautiful and vivid, which is said to be, in these latitudes, an
indication of stormy weather. Accordingly on the 16th the weather became
less favorable, with an increased swell in the sea, wind more ahead, and
occasional squalls. On the night of the 18th we encountered one of the
most awful hurricanes ever witnessed by the oldest sailor on board; and
from this date to the 24th inst. we experienced a succession of storms
of indescribable violence and severity, which at some intervals caused
great and I believe very just alarm for the safety of the ship. The
President steamer, coming in the opposite direction, is known to have
encountered the same weather, and was doubtless lost, not having since
been heard of. Our escape, under Divine Providence, must be attributed
to the great strength of the vessel, which had been thoroughly repaired
since her last voyage, and to the skill and indefatigable attention of
the Captain. On the 25th the wind abated, and the greater number of the
floats or propelling boards of the paddle wheels having been carried
away, and our stock of coals very much reduced, the Captain decided to
make for Halifax, Nova Scotia, where we arrived on the evening of the
30th. After a stay of twenty-four hours, for repairs and supplies, we
again left for New York, where we arrived safely on the night of 4th
Month, (April,) 3d.

The following day, being the first of the week, I landed about the time
of the gathering of the different congregations, and inquired my way to
the meeting of the orthodox section of the Society of Friends, and
afterwards took up my abode at the Carlton Hotel. Here I met, for the
first time, my friend J.G. Whittier, whom I had been anxious to
associate with myself in my future movements, and who kindly consented
to be my companion as far as his health would permit. The next morning,
on returning to the vessel to get my luggage passed, a custom-house
officer manifested his disapproval of my character and objects as an
abolitionist, by giving me much unnecessary trouble, and by being the
means of my paying duty on a small machine for copying letters for my
own private use, and other articles which I believe are usually passed
free. Ordinarily at this port, the luggage of respectable passengers is
passed with little examination, on an assurance that it comprises no
merchandise. This was almost the only instance of discourteous treatment
I met with in the United States. We remained in New York from the 4th to
the 10th of this month, which time was occupied in visiting different
friends of the anti-slavery cause, and in receiving calls at our hotel.

I had much pleasure and satisfaction in my intercourse here with several
individuals distinguished in the anti-slavery cause, some of whom I had
met in 1837, during a short visit to New York on my way from the West
Indies. Among these, ought particularly to be mentioned the brothers
Arthur and Lewis Tappan. The former was elected president of the
American Anti-Slavery Society on its formation, and remained at its head
until the division which took place last year, when he became president
of the American and Foreign Anti-Slavery Society. His name is not more a
byeword of reproach, than a watchword of alarm throughout the slave
states; and the slave holders have repeatedly set a high price upon his
head by advertisement in the public papers. In the just estimation of
the pro-slavery party, Arthur Tappan is abolition personified; and truly
the cause needs not to be ashamed of its representative, for a more
deservedly honored and estimable character it would be difficult to
find. In personal deportment he is unobtrusive and silent; his sterling
qualities are veiled by reserve, and are in themselves such as make the
least show--clearness and judgment, prudence and great decision. He is
the head of an extensive mercantile establishment, and the high
estimation in which he is held by his fellow citizens, notwithstanding
the unpopularity of his views on slavery, is the result of a long and
undeviating career of public spirit and private integrity, and of an
uninterrupted succession of acts of benevolence. During a series of
years of commercial prosperity, his revenues were distributed with an
unsparing hand through the various channels which promised benefit to
his fellow creatures; and in this respect, his gifts, large and frequent
though they were, were probably exceeded in usefulness by the influence
of his example as a man and a Christian.

His brother Lewis, with the same noble and disinterested spirit in the
application of his pecuniary resources, possesses the rare faculty of
incessant labor; which, when combined, as in his case, with great
intellectual and physical capacity, eminently qualifies for a leading
position in society. He unites in a remarkable degree, the apparently
incompatible qualities of versatility and concentration; and his
admirable endowments have been applied in the service of the helpless
and the oppressed with corresponding success. He has been from the
beginning one of the most active members of the central Anti-Slavery
Committee in New York, a body that has directed the aggressive
operations against slavery, on a national scale, with a display of
resources, and an untiring and resolute vigor, that have attracted the
admiration of all, who, sympathizing in their object, have had the
privilege of watching their proceedings. Of those who have impressed the
likeness of their own character on these proceedings, Lewis Tappan is
one of the chief; and he has shared with his brother the most virulent
attacks from the pro-slavery party. Some years ago he had the ear of a
negro sent to him by post, in an insulting anonymous letter. During the
past year, though marked by a severe domestic affliction, in addition to
his engagements as a merchant, in partnership with his brother Arthur,
and his various public and private duties as a man and as a citizen, in
the performance of which I believe he is punctual and exemplary, he has
edited, almost without assistance, the American and Foreign Anti-Slavery
Reporter, and has also been one of the most active members of a
committee of benevolent individuals formed to watch over the interest of
the Amistad captives. Besides superintending the maintenance, education,
and other interests of these Africans, it was necessary to defend their
cause against the whole power of the United States' Government, to raise
funds for these objects, to interest foreign Governments in their
welfare, and more than all, to keep them constantly before the public,
not only for their own sakes, but that a portion of the sympathy and
right feeling which was elicited in their favor might be reflected
towards the native slave population of the country, whose claim to
freedom rests upon the same ground of natural and indefeasible right.
With what success this interesting cause has been prosecuted is well
expressed in a single sentence by a valued transatlantic correspondent
of mine, who, writing at the most critical period of the controversy,
says:--"We, or rather Lewis Tappan, has made the whole nation look the
captives in the face."

Joshua Leavitt, proprietor and editor of the New York Emancipator, a
large weekly abolition newspaper, and secretary of the American and
Foreign Anti-slavery Society, is another remarkable man, clear and sound
in judgment, and efficient in action. He is justly regarded by American
abolitionists as one of their ablest supporters.

La Roy Sunderland, member of the Executive Committee, and editor of
"Zion's Watchman," a Methodist, religious, and anti-slavery newspaper,
with his slight figure, dark intellectual face, and earnest manner, is
pointed out to the anti-slavery visitor from the Old World as the most
prominent advocate of emancipation among the Wesleyans. His boldness and
faithfulness have combined against him the leading influences of his
denomination, but notwithstanding he has been several times tried by
ecclesiastical councils, they have always failed to substantiate the
charges against him, and his vindication has been complete.

Theodore S. Wright, member of the committee, is a colored presbyterian
preacher in this city--an amiable man, much and deservedly respected.

All the above mentioned individuals, who have from an early period been
among the most zealous and laborious members of the anti-slavery
committee, found themselves placed by the events of last year in the
position of seceders from the American Anti-Slavery Society, though
their opinions had undergone no change. They now belong to the American
and Foreign Anti-Slavery Society, or as it is technically called the
"new organization," a distinction which will be afterwards explained.

James M'Cune Smith, a young colored physician, I had known in England,
where he studied for his profession, having been shut out of the
colleges of his own country by the prejudice against his complexion.
Notwithstanding this prejudice he is now practising, I understand, with
success, and has fair prospects.

I had a pleasant interview with Isaac T. Hopper, whom also I had met in
1837. He belongs to the American Anti-Slavery Society, or "old
organization," and has been a zealous and fearless abolitionist for half
a century. He has been recently disowned by the "Hicksite Friends" for
his connection with the newspaper called the "National Anti-Slavery
Standard."

Early on the morning of the 10th, we left for Burlington by railroad,
where we were most kindly received by our venerable friends Stephen
Grellett and his wife. On the following day, we took tea with John Cox,
residing about three miles from Burlington, at a place called Oxmead,
where formerly that eminent minister of the Society of Friends, George
Dillwin, resided. J.C. is now in his eighty-seventh year, enjoying a
green and cheerful old age, and feeling all the interest of his youth in
the anti-slavery cause. It was cheering and animating to witness the
serene spirit of this venerable man, and deeply were we interested in
the reminiscences of his youth. He well remembered John Woolman, whose
former residence, Mount Holly, is within a few miles of Oxmead, and of
whom he related various particulars characteristic of the simplicity,
humanity, and great circumspection of his life and conversation. When
John Woolman first brought the subject of slavery before the yearly
meeting of the Society of Friends at Philadelphia, at a time when its
members were deeply implicated both in slave-holding and in
slave-dealing, he stood almost alone in his anti-slavery testimony,
which he expressed in few and appropriate words. Some severe remarks
were made by others in reply, on this and on successive similar
occasions, when he introduced the subject, but such treatment provoked
no rejoinder from John Woolman, who would quietly resume his seat and
weep in silent submission.

He was not deterred by this discouraging reception from again and again
bringing the subject before the next Yearly Meeting, and finally his
unwearied efforts, always prosecuted in the "meekness of wisdom,"
resulted in the Society of Friends entirely wiping away the reproach of
this abomination.

The great qualification of John Woolman for pleading the cause of the
oppressed was the same which has been ascribed with equal truth and
beauty to his contemporary and co-worker, Anthony Benezet: "a peculiar
capacity for being profoundly sensible of their wrongs." The biographer
of the latter has described another occurrence in the Philadelphia
Yearly Meeting at a subsequent stage of this momentous controversy,
which may prove an interesting counterpart to the foregoing relation.

"On one occasion during the annual convention of the Society at
Philadelphia, when that body was engaged on the subject of slavery, as
it related to its own members, some of whom had not wholly relinquished
the practice of keeping negroes in bondage, a difference of sentiment
arose as to the course which ought to be pursued. For a moment it
appeared doubtful which opinion would preponderate. At this critical
juncture Benezet left his seat, which was in an obscure part of the
house, and presented himself weeping at an elevated door in the presence
of the whole congregation, whom he thus addressed--'Ethiopia shall soon
stretch out her hands unto God.' He said no more: under the solemn
impression which succeeded this emphatic quotation, the proposed measure
received the united sanction of the assembly."[A]

[Footnote A: Life of Anthony Benezet, by Roberts Vaux.]

Even the passing observer is aware how closely the Society of Friends is
identified with the anti-slavery cause, and if such an one were to make
this fact the subject of historical investigation, he would probably
find it one of considerable interest.--He would learn that some years
before the call of Thomas Clarkson in his early manhood, by a series of
distinct and remarkable Providences, into this field of labor, this
Society in America had been pervaded by a noiseless agitation on the
subject of slavery, which resulted in the abandonment of the
slave-trade, in the liberation of their slaves, and in the adoption of a
rule of discipline excluding slaveholders from religious fellowship; so
that for many years past, the sins in question have been not so much as
to be named among them, or the possibility of their commission hinted
at, by any one bearing the name and professing the principles of a
"Friend." The change described, was effected, not by "pressure from
without," but by the constraining influence of the love of Christ. The
chief instruments in the hands of Divine Providence in bringing about so
remarkable a reformation, were John Woolman and Anthony Benezet, of whom
the former was the earlier in the field and broke up the fallow ground,
under circumstances of the greatest discouragement, of which the
instance above related is an example.

The life of this ever-memorable man was a pattern of apostolic
Christianity--pure, patient, self-denying, meek. Love was the element he
breathed. His heart not only yearned towards the oppressed of the human
family, but his compassion extended to the brute creation, under whose
sufferings in the service of man, to use his own expression, "creation
at this day doth loudly groan." Though dependent on his own labor for a
livelihood, he was careful in a most exemplary degree, "not to entangle
himself with affairs of this life, that he might please Him who had
called him to be a soldier;" and the reader of his life will find that
this unworldly man took similar pains to avoid wealth, which others do
to acquire it. Perhaps I may be excused for dwelling a moment on this
theme, when I state that one of the latest public acts of my beloved and
lamented father-in-law, James Cropper, was to cause John Woolman's
auto-biography and writings to be re-edited, and a large and cheap
edition to be struck off, which has appeared since his decease.[A] This
work is well known to the Society of Friends, but should any other
reader be induced by these desultory remarks to peruse it, he will find
himself richly repaid. In the picturesque simplicity of its style,
refined literary taste has found an inimitable charm,[B] but the
spiritually minded reader will discover beauties of a far higher order.

[Footnote A: A Journal of the Life, Gospel Labors, and Christian
Experience, &c. &c. of John Woolman. Warrington, Thomas Hurst.]


[Footnote B: See Charles Lamb's Works.]

Taking leave for the present of our venerable friends at Oxmead and
Burlington, we proceeded on the 12th to Philadelphia, where we remained
several days, at the Union Hotel. During this brief stay, we received
visits from a large number of the friends of the anti-slavery cause, and
made some calls in return. Among others, I had the pleasure of seeing
James Forten, an aged and opulent man of color, whose long career has
been marked by the display of capacity and energy of no common kind. The
history of his life is interesting and instructive, affording a
practical demonstration of the absurdity, as well as injustice, of that
prejudice which would stamp the mark of intellectual inferiority on his
complexion and race.

I returned to New York on the 15th, in company with several anti-slavery
friends. One of these, Dr. Bartholomew Fussell, resided on the borders
of the State of Maryland, and had afforded relief and aid to many
negroes escaping from slavery. He had kept no account of the number thus
assisted till last year, when there were thirty-four, being fewer he
thought than the average of several years preceding. The same individual
related some interesting particulars of the late Elisha Tyson, of
Baltimore, an abolitionist of the old school, who had rescued many
negroes from illegal bondage. Dr. Fussell was an eye witness of the
following occurrence: A poor woman had been seized by the agents of
Woolfolk, the notorious Maryland slave dealer, and was carried along the
street in which Elisha Tyson lived. When they arrived opposite his
house, she demanded to see "Father Tyson." A crowd collected about the
party, and she so far moved their pity, that they insisted that her wish
should be complied with. One of the men hereupon went to inform his
employer, who galloped off, pistol in hand, and found Elisha Tyson
standing at his own door. Woolfolk with an oath declared he would "send
him to hell for interfering with his _property_." Elisha Tyson coolly
exposed his breast, telling him that he dared not shoot, and that he
(Woolfolk) "was in hell already, though he did not know it." An
investigation followed; the poor woman was proved to be illegally
detained, and was set at liberty.[A] It is generally allowed that so
bold and uncompromising an advocate of the negroes' right as Elisha
Tyson does not now remain in the slave States.

[Footnote A: See Appendix D for a brief account of this ancient
philanthropist.]

As the old school of abolitionists has been mentioned, and will
occasionally be referred to hereafter, the following historical
statement of its rise and decline, and of the commencement of the
present abolition movement, will probably be interesting to the
anti-slavery reader on this side of the Atlantic. It is from the pen of
my valued coadjutor John G. Whittier.


    "The old Anti-Slavery Societies, established about the period of
    the American Revolution, and of which the late Judge Jay,
    Benjamin Franklin, Dr. Rush, and other distinguished statesmen
    were members, were composed mainly of the Religious Society of
    Friends. These societies were for many years active and
    energetic in their labors for the slave, and the free people of
    color; and little, if any, serious opposition was made to their
    exertions, which indeed seem to have been confined to the
    particular states in which they were located. They rendered
    essential service in promoting the gradual abolition of slavery
    in New York, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey.

    "In 1819 commenced the discussion of what is now known as the
    'Missouri Question.' The Anti-Slavery Societies took ground
    against the admission into the Union of the territory of
    Missouri as a slave state. They succeeded in arousing the public
    attention; and for two sessions the subject was warmly debated
    in Congress; the slave-holders finally carrying their point by
    working upon the fears of a few Northern members, by means of
    that old threat of dissolving the Union, which in the very
    outset of the Government had extorted from the Convention which
    framed the Constitution, a clause legalizing the Foreign Slave
    Trade for twenty years. The admission of Missouri as a slave
    State was a fatal concession to the South: the abolitionists
    became disheartened: their societies lingered on a few years
    longer, and nearly all were extinct previous to 1830. The
    colonization scheme had in the mean time, in despite of the
    earnest and almost unanimous rejection of it by the colored
    people, obtained a strong hold on the public mind, and had
    especially enlisted the favorable regard of some of the leading
    influences of the Society of Friends. Here and there over the
    country, might be found still a faithful laborer, like Elisha
    Tyson, of Baltimore, Thomas Shipley, of Philadelphia, and Moses
    Brown, of Rhode Island, holding up the good old testimony
    against prejudice and oppression in the midst of a wide spread
    apostacy. I should mention in this connection, Benjamin Lundy, a
    member of the Society of Friends, who devoted his whole life to
    the cause of freedom, travelling on foot thousands of miles,
    visiting every part of the slave States, Mexico and the Haytian
    Republic. About the year 1828, he visited Boston, and enlisted
    the sympathies of William Lloyd Garrison, then a very young man.
    Not long after, he was joined by the latter as an associate
    editor of _The Genius of Universal Emancipation_, an
    anti-slavery paper which he had established at Baltimore. After
    a residence in Baltimore of about six months, Garrison was
    thrown into prison for an alledged libel upon a northern
    slave-trader, whence he was liberated on the payment of his fine
    by the benevolent Arthur Tappan. Lundy continued his paper some
    time longer in Baltimore, where he was subjected to brutal
    personal violence from the notorious Woolfolk, the great
    slave-dealer of that city. He afterwards removed it to
    Philadelphia; and in 1834 made a tour through the South Western
    States and Texas, in which he encountered great dangers, and
    suffered extreme hardships from sickness and destitution. This
    journey was deemed by many an unprofitable and hazardous
    experiment, but it proved of great importance. He collected an
    immense amount of facts, developing beforehand the grand
    slave-holding conspiracy for revolutionizing Texas, and annexing
    it to the American Union, as a slave territory. These he
    published to the world on his return; and it has justly been
    said of him, by John Quincy Adams, that his exertions alone,
    under Providence, prevented the annexation of Texas to the
    United States. This bold and single-hearted pioneer died not
    long since in the State of Illinois, whither he repaired to take
    the place of the lamented Lovejoy, who was murdered by a mob in
    that State, in 1837.

    "In 1831, Wm. Lloyd Garrison commenced, under great difficulties
    and discouragements, the publication of the _Liberator_, in
    Boston; and by the energy and earnestness of his appeals, roused
    the attention of many minds to the subject of slavery. Shortly
    after, a society was formed in Boston in favor of immediate
    emancipation. It consisted at first, if I remember right, of
    only twelve members. Previous to this, however, a society,
    embracing very similar principles, had been formed in
    Pennsylvania. In 1833, upwards of sixty delegates from several
    of the free States, met at Philadelphia; among them were Elizur
    Wright and Beriah Green, (who had been compelled to give up
    their Professorships in Western Reserve [Ohio] College, for
    their attachment to freedom,) Lewis Tappan, William Lloyd
    Garrison, Charles W. Denison, Arnold Buffum, Amos A. Phelps, and
    John G. Whittier. This Convention organized the American
    Anti-Slavery Society, proposing to make use of the common
    instrumentalities afforded by the Government and laws, for the
    abolition of slavery; at the same time, disavowing a design to
    use any other than peaceful and lawful measures."


In some of the Southern States there are professing Christian churches
who permit slave-holding, but disallow the selling of slaves, except
with their own consent. Dr. Fussell informed me how this fair-seeming
rule of discipline was frequently evaded. First, a church member wishing
to turn his negroes into cash, begins by making their yoke heavier, and
their life a burden. Next they are thrown in the way of decoy slaves,
belonging to Woolfolk, or some other dealer, who introduce themselves to
the intended victims, for the purpose of expatiating on the privileges
enjoyed by the slaves of so indulgent a master as theirs; and thus the
poor unhappy dupes would be persuaded to go and petition to be sold, and
so the rule of discipline, above cited, would be _literally_ complied
with. So great, generally, is the dread of being sold to the South, that
my informant said the larger number of runaways escape when the price is
high, as the danger of being sold is then most imminent. The greater
proportion of those who thus emancipate themselves are domestics, owing
to their superior intelligence, and their opportunities of ascertaining
the best mode of escape.

On the 16th, I met the Executive Committee of the American and Foreign
Anti-Slavery Society, at their office, No. 128 Fulton street, New York.
The chair was taken by the President of the Society. The subject under
discussion was the best time and place of holding another Convention of
the friends of the anti-slavery cause from all parts of the world. After
deliberate consideration, the following resolutions were unanimously
adopted.

_Resolved_,--"That this Committee fully recognise and adopt the
principles upon which the General Anti-Slavery Convention, held in
London last year, was convened, and upon which it acted; that we feel
greatly encouraged by the results of its meetings, and that we would
strongly recommend our transatlantic friends to summon a second
Convention in London, at about the same period in 1842; and that in the
event of their doing so, we will use our best exertions to promote a
good representation of American abolitionists on the occasion."

_Resolved_,--"That we deeply sympathize with the British and Foreign
Anti-Slavery Society, in their noble efforts for the abolition of
slavery and the slave-trade; that we assure them of our hearty
co-operation in their well devised plans and energetic labors; and that
so long as the slave question--in connection with the promotion of the
rights of the free people of color--and nothing else, is admitted to a
place in anti-slavery meetings, they may expect the co-operation of all
true-hearted abolitionists throughout the world, in carrying forward the
great objects of our associations to a glorious consummation."

I returned to Philadelphia on the afternoon of the 17th, but before
leaving my hotel in New York, informed one of the proprietors that I
intended being in that city on the week of the anniversaries of the
Religious and Benevolent Institutions; that as I took a lively interest
in the anti-slavery question, it was probable some of my friends among
the people of color would call upon me, and that if he, or any of his
southern customers objected to this, I would go elsewhere; he answered
that he had no objection, and even intimated his belief that public
opinion was undergoing a favorable change in reference to this
prejudice. Although I did not arrive in Philadelphia till near midnight,
I found my kind friends, Samuel Webb and wife waiting to receive me,
whose hospitable dwelling I made my home, whenever I afterwards lodged
in this city. Samuel Webb is one of the few on whose shoulders the
burden of the anti-slavery cause mainly rests in Philadelphia. He is a
practical man, conversant with business, thoroughly acquainted with the
anti-slavery subject in all its phases, and a strenuous advocate for
bringing political influence to bear upon the question. He was one of
the most active in promoting the erection of Pennsylvania Hall, a
beautiful edifice designed to be open to the use of the anti-slavery
societies; which was no sooner so appropriated than it was destroyed by
a mob in the 5th Month, (May,) 1838. The fire-scathed ruin of this
building yet stands a conspicuous token that the principles of true
liberty, though loudly vaunted, are neither understood nor enjoyed in
this Capital of a _free_ republic. If freedom of thought, of speech, of
the press, and the right of petition had been _realities_ in
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Hall would have been yet standing. Samuel
Webb has since taken the chief labor of an appeal to the legal tribunals
for compensation for this infamous destruction of property, and a jury
have at length awarded damages, though to a very inadequate amount.

During the ensuing week I was chiefly occupied in attending the
Philadelphia Friends' Yearly Meeting. In the intervals of the sittings,
I had many opportunities of meeting "Friends" from whom I received much
kindness, and many more invitations than it was possible for me to
accept.

There are many "Friends" of this city who take a deep interest in the
anti-slavery cause; among whom I may mention Thomas Wistar, an aged and
influential individual, who, like his venerable contemporary, John Cox,
has been an abolitionist from his youth up, and a member of the original
society; and one who has been accustomed to bear his testimony on behalf
of the oppressed, on suitable occasions, in the presence of his brethren
in religious fellowship, and whose communications of this kind, are
always weighty, solemn, and impressive. Dr. Caspar Wistar, son of Thomas
Wistar, is a warm hearted, active abolitionist, a liberal contributor of
his pecuniary means, and deeply solicitous that "Friends" in the United
States should be induced to engage earnestly in the cause of
emancipation. Edward Needles, a kind and open hearted man, a native of
Maryland, and President of the "old Abolition Society," is a devoted
friend to the anti-slavery cause.

The subject of slavery was introduced in the Yearly Meeting by the
reading of certain minutes of the Meeting for Sufferings, from which it
appeared that meeting, (the executive Committee of the Society,) had
taken up the question of the foreign slave-trade, but had not yet
entertained the consideration of the slavery and internal slave-trade of
their own country. On the subject of the latter, a very faithful minute
from the Meeting for Sufferings in London was received and read.

As this term will sometimes occur in the ensuing pages, it may be
necessary to state for the information of the general reader, that the
Society of Friends is distributed into various "Yearly Meetings," of
which there are several on the Continent of North America. Within the
compass of each an annual assembly is held to regulate all the affairs
and discipline of that section of the body. There is also in each Yearly
Meeting a permanent committee called the "Meeting for Sufferings" for
administering the affairs of the Societies, in the intervals of its
annual assemblies. The technical name of this committee is an expressive
memorial of those times of trial, when its chief employment was to
record "sufferings" and persecutions, and to afford such succor and
alleviation as circumstances admitted.

An address from the Yearly Meeting of London on slavery was also
read,[A] which was followed by observations from several, which evinced
great exercise of mind on the subject. Three thousand copies of it were
ordered to be printed for distribution among Friends of Pennsylvania,
and the whole subject of slavery and the slave-trade was referred to
their Meeting for Sufferings, with a recommendation that an account
should be drawn up and printed of the former abolition of slavery within
the limits of the Society of Friends. I need hardly state how much these
measures were in unison with my own feelings, and that I heartily
rejoiced at signs of an awakening zeal in my American brethren. Let them
but ask for the ancient ways, and follow in the footsteps of their
predecessors, whose memorials are their precious inheritance, and once
more shall they be made a blessing to mankind, and messengers of mercy
and deliverance to the oppressed.[B]

[Footnote A: See Appendix A.]


[Footnote B: See Appendix B.]

It will be interesting to some of my English readers to be informed,
that both the sale and use of spirituous liquors come within the scope
of discipline among "Friends" in America. In this Yearly Meeting it is
required that the subordinate meetings should report the number of their
members, who continue to sell, use, or give ardent spirits. If I
remember rightly the number of cases reported was fifty-nine. At present
the moderate use of spirits subjects to admonition, but it was discussed
at this time whether the rule of discipline should not be rendered more
stringent, and this practice made a disownable offence. Finally it was
resolved to make no alteration at present, but to recommend the local
meetings of Friends to use further labor in the line of reproof and
persuasion. I am informed that some of the American Yearly Meetings of
Friends go still farther on this subject. It will scarcely be questioned
that public sentiment both in the United States, and in England,
condemns even the moderate use of ardent spirits as a beverage, though
some difference of opinion will exist as to the propriety of a religious
society making it a cause of disownment or exclusion. In this case of
the Philadelphia Meeting, however, it may be remarked, that in a
community of many thousand members, the practice may be regarded as
almost eradicated by the milder methods of persuasion. It is a fact
deserving of notice, that the same worthies of the last century,
Woolman, Benezet, and others, who raised the standard of anti-slavery
testimony, also by the same process of independent thinking, and
single-minded, unhesitating obedience to convictions of duty,
anticipated the verdict of public opinion on this subject. Woolman found
that even the most moderate use of ardent spirits, was unfavorable to
that calm religious meditation, which was the habit of his mind, and has
left his views on record in various characteristic passages. I shall
also, I trust, be excused for introducing the following anecdote of two
of his contemporaries.

"Jacob Lindley, to adopt his own designation of himself was a
'stripling' when he attended a Yearly Meeting of Friends held at
Philadelphia; his mind had been for some time much afflicted with an
observation of the pernicious effects of spirituous liquors, and he was
anxious that the religious society to which he belonged, should cease to
use, and prevent any of its members from being instrumental in
manufacturing or vending them. He therefore rose and developed his
feelings to the assembly, in the energetic and pathetic manner for which
he was peculiarly remarkable. When the meeting adjourned, he observed a
stranger pressing through the crowd towards him, who took him by the
hand in the most affectionate manner, and said, 'My dear young friend, I
was very glad to hear thy voice on the subject of spirituous liquors; I
have much unity with thy concern, and hope that no discouragement may
have been received from its not being farther noticed; and now I want
thee to go home, and take dinner with me, having something farther to
say to thee on the subject.' Lindley accepted the invitation, and after
they had dined, Benezet introduced his young guest into a little room
used as a study, where he produced a manuscript work on the subject of
spirituous liquors, in an unfinished state; he opened the book and laid
it on a table before them, saying, 'This is a treatise which I have been
for some time engaged in writing, on the subject of thy concern in
meeting to-day; and now if thou hast a mind to sit down, and write a
paragraph or two, I will embody it in the work, and have it
published.'"[A]

[Footnote A: Life of Anthony Benezet, p. 107-109.]

These eminent men, John Woolman and Anthony Benezet, had much in common;
yet their characters were as unlike as opposite temperaments, and as
alike as similarity of views, could make them. So marked was their
coincidence of sentiment in opposition to the prevailing opinions and
practices of that day, that it might be surmised one was a disciple of
the other, yet there is no reason to suppose such was the case. Each had
the single eye; both learned in the same school, and sat at the feet of
the same Divine Master. It is an interesting fact that on the subject
last noticed, their labors should have been comparatively fruitless, and
for a long interval almost forgotten, while their views on slavery
rapidly spread, and produced extensive and permanent results. Does not
this illustrate the lesson long ago taught by a great master of wisdom:
"In the morning sow thy seed, and in the evening withhold not thy hand;
for thou knowest not whether shall prosper, either this or that, or
whether they shall both be alike good." May we not infer from this, that
even those labors, rightly undertaken, which do not immediately prosper,
are yet owned and accepted in the Divine sight?

To return from this digression to our attendance of the Yearly Meeting
in Philadelphia: one interesting part of the business was the annual
report on education; from which it appeared, that the whole number of
children, of an age for education, within the compass of this Yearly
Meeting, was eighteen hundred and fourteen, and of these ninety-eight
were temporarily absent, though most of them had been receiving
instruction during part of the year.

I was also deeply interested in the statements made relative to the
wicked expatriation of the Indians living within this Yearly Meeting's
limits, by the United States Government, from lands which had been
secured to them by treaty in the most solemn manner, to the Western
wilderness, under plea of a fraudulently obtained cession of their
lands, by a few of their number. What greatly aggravates the case is the
fact, that these Indians were making rapid progress in civilization, and
from a nation of hunters had generally become an agricultural people.
Their whole history is a reproach and blot on the American Government,
and shews either that public and private virtue amongst the people is at
a low ebb, or that "the wicked bear rule." On behalf of this injured
people, "Friends" appear to have made strenuous efforts, but have failed
in producing any decidedly favorable impression on the Government. The
report on this subject, embodied a very affecting letter from the chiefs
of this tribe, describing their grief and distress at the prospect of a
cruel removal from the homes of their ancestors.[A]

[Footnote A: See Appendix C.]

During this week, my valued friends, John and Maria Candler, arrived
from Hayti, after a stay of many months in Jamaica. At the close of the
Yearly Meeting, a meeting was held, and attended by about three hundred
"Friends," to whom John Candler gave much interesting information,
detailing the results of emancipation in that Island, from his own
extensive observations and inquiries. At the request of some individuals
present I added a few observations at the close, on the principles and
objects of the British and Foreign Anti-Slavery Society.

I visited at this time the celebrated Schuylkill waterworks, which are
beautifully situated on the river of that name. The water is raised to
large reservoirs, at a higher level than the tops of the houses, by
pumps worked by the current of the river. The supply not only suffices
for the domestic use of the inhabitants, but is abundant for every
public purpose of ornament or utility. My kind host, Samuel Webb, who
accompanied me, pointed out a plot of land, presented by William Penn to
a friend, to enable him to keep a cow, which is now worth many hundred
thousand dollars for building purposes. He also showed me a mansion, the
late proprietor of which had received a large accession of wealth from
the quantities of plate which had been shipped to him in coffee barrels
from St. Domingo, on the eve of the revolution in that Island, and whose
owners are supposed to have subsequently perished, as they never
appeared, with one solitary exception, to claim their property.

It will be necessary, in order to make certain passages of the
succeeding narrative intelligible to my readers in this country, that
some account should be given of the schism which has recently taken
place in the once united and compact organizations of the abolitionists.

The American Anti-Slavery Society, whose origin has been already
described, acted with great unity and efficiency for several years;
auxiliaries were formed in all the free States; it scattered its
publications over the land like the leaves of autumn, and at times had
thirty or forty lecturers in the field. It kept a steady and vigilant
eye upon the movements of the pro-slavery party, and wherever a
vulnerable point was discovered, it directed its attacks. In its
executive committee were such men as Judge Jay, Arthur and Lewis Tappan,
La Roy Sunderland, Simeon S. Jocelyn, (the early laborer on behalf of
the free colored people,) Joshua Leavitt, Henry B. Stanton, and the late
Dr. Follen, a German political refugee, equally distinguished for his
literary attainments and his love of liberty.

Until the last three or four years, entire union of purpose and concert
of action existed among the American abolitionists. This harmony was
first disturbed by the course pursued in the Boston Liberator. The
editor of that paper, William Lloyd Garrison, whose early anti-slavery
career has already been alluded to, and who was deservedly honored by
the great body of the abolitionists, for his sufferings in their cause,
and for his triumphant exposure of the oppressive tendencies of the
colonization scheme, had always refused to share with any society or
committee, the editorial responsibility of his journal. About the time
referred to, several pieces were inserted in the _Liberator_,
questioning the generally received opinions on the first day of the
week. These were followed by others on other subjects, and he continued
to keep his readers apprised of the new views of ethics and theology,
which from time to time were presented to his own mind. His paper was
not the special organ of any anti-slavery society, yet it was regarded,
by general consent of the friends and enemies of the cause, as the organ
of the anti-slavery movement. The discussion in its columns of new and
startling doctrines, on subjects unconnected with slavery, occasioned
many of the former much uneasiness and embarrassment, while it furnished
the latter with new excuses for their enmity, and with the pretence that
under cover of _abolition_, lurked a design of assailing institutions
and opinions justly held in regard throughout the Christian world.

In the summer of 1837, Sarah and Angelina Grimke visited New England for
the purpose of advocating the cause of the slave, with whose condition
they were well acquainted, being natives of South Carolina, and having
been themselves at one time implicated in the system. Their original
intention was to confine their public labors to audiences of their own
sex, but they finally addressed promiscuous assemblies. Their intimate
knowledge of the true character of slavery; their zeal, devotion, and
gifts as speakers, produced a deep impression, wherever they went. They
met with considerable opposition from colonizationists, and also from a
portion of the New England clergy, on the ground of the impropriety of
their publicly addressing mixed audiences. This called forth in the
Liberator, which at that time, I understand, was under the patronage,
though I believe not under the control of the Massachusetts Anti-Slavery
Society, a discussion of the abstract question of the entire equality of
the rights and duties of the two sexes. Here was a new element of
discord. In 1838, at the annual New England convention of abolitionists,
a woman was for the first time placed on committees with men, an
innovation upon the general custom of the community, which excited much
dissatisfaction in the minds of many.

About this time the rightfulness of civil and church government began to
be called in question, through the columns of the Liberator, by its
editor and correspondents. These opinions were concurrently advocated
with the doctrine of non-resistance. Those who hold these opinions,
while they deny that civil and ecclesiastical government are of divine
authority, are yet passively submissive to the authority of the former,
though they abstain from exercising the political rights of citizenship.
There were not wanting those, among the opponents of abolition, to
charge the anti-slavery body at large with maintaining these views, and
in consequence serious embarrassments were thrown in the way of a
successful prosecution of the cause. The executive committee of the
Society at New York were placed in a difficult position, but as far as I
am able to judge, they endeavored to hold on the steady tenor of their
way, without, on the one hand, countenancing the introduction of
extraneous matters upon the anti-slavery platform; or, on the other
hand, yielding to the clamor of the pro-slavery party, whether in church
or state.

In subsequent anti-slavery meetings in Boston, New York, and elsewhere,
it became manifest that there was a radical difference of opinion on the
subject of political action; the non-resistant and no-government
influence, operating decidedly against the employment of the elective
franchise in the anti-slavery cause; and the agitation of this question,
as well as that of the rights of women, in their meetings, gave to them
a discordant and party character, painfully contrasting with the
previous peaceful and harmonious action of the societies. That some of
both parties began to overlook the great subject of the slaves'
emancipation, in zealous advocacy of, or opposition to, these new
measures, I cannot well doubt, judging from the testimony of those, who,
not fully sympathizing with either, endeavored to bring all back to the
single object of the anti-slavery association. In addition to these
intestine troubles, the pro-slavery party made strenuous exertions to
fasten upon the society the responsibility of the opinions and
proceedings of its non-resistant and no-government members. Under these
circumstances it is easy to understand the interruption, for a season,
of the unity of feeling and action which had previously characterized
the assemblies of the abolitionists. The actual separation in the
societies took place in the Spring of 1840. The members of the executive
committee at New York, with one exception, seceded and became members of
the committee of the "new organization," under the name of the "American
and Foreign Anti-Slavery Society." There are, therefore, now two central
or national anti-slavery societies; the "old organization," retaining
the designation of the "American Anti-Slavery Society." The State
Societies have, for the most part, taken up a position of neutrality, or
independence of both. It is important to add that the division took
place on the "women's rights" question, and that this is the only one of
the controverted points which the American Anti-Slavery Society has
officially affirmed; and it is argued, on behalf of their view of this
question, that since, in the original "constitution" of the society, the
term, describing its members, officers, et cet., is "persons," that
women are plainly invested with the same eligibility to appointments,
and the same right to vote and act as the other sex. I need not say how
this "constitutional" argument is met on the other side. The other new
views are held by comparatively few persons, and neither anti-slavery
society in America is responsible for them. In conclusion, I rejoice to
be able to add, that the separation, in its effects, appears to have
been a healing measure; a better and kinder feeling is beginning to
pervade all classes of American abolitionists; the day of mutual
crimination seems to be passing away, and there is strong reason to hope
that the action of the respective societies will henceforward
harmoniously tend to the same object. That such may be the result is my
sincere desire. It is proper in this connection to state that a
considerable number of active and prominent abolitionists do not
entirely sympathize with either division of the anti-slavery society;
and there are comparatively few who make their views, for or against the
question on which the division took place, a matter of conscience.

I have now given a brief, and I trust an impartial account of the origin
of these dissensions. Some may possibly regard the views and proceedings
above referred to, as the natural growth of abolitionism, but as well
might the divisions among the early reformers be charged upon the
doctrines of the Reformation, or the "thirty years' war" upon the
preaching of Luther.

On the evening of the 14th instant, we met at a social party the leading
abolitionists of Philadelphia of the "old organization." There were
present all but one of the delegates from Pennsylvania to the London
Convention. I availed myself of the opportunity of briefly and
distinctly stating the unanimous conclusion of the London Anti-Slavery
Committee, in which I entirely concurred, on the points at issue. I
observed, in substance, that in the struggle for the liberation of the
slaves in the British Colonies, one great source of our moral strength
was, the singleness of our object, and our not allowing any other
subject, however important or unexceptionable, to be mixed up with it;
that though the aid of our female coadjutors had been of vital
importance to the success of the anti-slavery enterprize, yet that their
exertions had been uniformly directed by separate committees of their
own sex, and that the abolitionists of Europe had no doubt that their
united influence was most powerful in this mode of action: that the
London Committee being convinced that no female delegate had crossed the
Atlantic, under the belief that the "call" or invitation was intended to
include women, felt themselves called upon, without in the slightest
degree wishing to interfere with private opinion on this, or any other
subject, to withhold their assent to the reception of such delegates, as
members of the Convention, and that their decision, when appealed
against, had been ratified in the Convention itself, by an overwhelming
majority, after a protracted discussion: finally, that those whose views
I represented, could not be parties to the introduction, in any future
convention, of this or any other question, which we deemed foreign to
our cause, and therefore that for those with whom it was a point of
conscience to carry out what they deemed "women's rights," I saw no
alternative but a separate organization, in which I wished that their
efforts on behalf of the oppressed colored race, might be crowned with
the largest measure of success. I observed, in conclusion, that my
object was simply to state the decision of those with whom I acted in
Great Britain, and that I must decline discussion, being fully convinced
that it was better that the now separate societies should aim at the
common object, in a spirit of kind and friendly co-operation, each in
its own sphere, rather than that they should waste their energies in
mutual contentions, and in the unprofitable discussion of topics not
legitimately belonging to the great question of the abolition of
slavery.

Although I had to address a company almost unanimously opposed on these
points to myself, my communication was received in a kind and friendly
spirit, and I was courteously informed that it would be taken into
consideration at the next meeting of the Committee.

My friend, Daniel Neall, at whose house this interview took place, is a
venerable looking man, a native of Delaware, and son-in-law of the
excellent Warner Mifflin. He has been an abolitionist from his boyhood.
Two years ago, he was dragged from the house of a friend in Delaware,
and tarred and feathered, and otherwise mal-treated by a mob of
slave-holders and their abettors; he mildly told those near him that if
they would call at his house at Philadelphia, he would treat them in a
very different manner. He was president of the Pennsylvania Hall
Association, and in the terrible mobs of 1838, manifested a calm, quiet
courage, as rare as it is commendable.

I remained in Philadelphia until the morning of the 28th, and during
this interval paid many visits, and obtained much information, on the
state of the anti-slavery feeling in this city, and more particularly
amongst the members of the religious community to which I belong. On one
occasion an esteemed individual kindly invited a number of "Friends" to
meet me at his house, including some who object to uniting in
anti-slavery effort with those of other denominations. I was introduced
by the reading of a certificate of membership from the monthly meeting
to which I belong, and also a document from a number of "Friends" in
England, well known to those in America, commending me, and the cause in
which I was engaged, to their kind and favorable consideration.

I then briefly related the leading objects of my visit to America, and
that it was my anxious wish the members of my own religious society in
this land, could see it their place to take the same active and
prominent part in the anti-slavery cause, as their brethren in England
had done, especially as the principles on which the British and Foreign
and the American and Foreign Societies were founded, were entirely in
accordance with the views of the Society of Friends. Those who spoke in
reply mostly vindicated the course pursued in the United States. From
this interview, as well as from others of a more private nature, with
leading "Friends," I came to the conclusion, that a number of these
would continue, by their influence and advice, to oppose their fellow
members joining anti-slavery societies, though it is not probable that
any disciplinary proceedings would be taken against such who might act
in opposition to this counsel, so long as the recognized principles of
the Society were not compromised. On this, to me, painfully interesting
subject, I could dwell at length, but I will simply remark that, while
it is evident that anti-slavery feeling is at too low an ebb among
"Friends" here, yet doubtless, many of those who thus excuse themselves
from active and effective service in the cause, still deeply sympathize
with their oppressed fellow-men, and are not quite at ease in view of
the apathy and inaction of the body to which they belong.

On the 28th we arrived at Baltimore; during a stay of two or three days,
we found several persons who were friendly to our cause. There are
computed to be five thousand slaves in this city, but of course slavery
does not obtrude itself on the casual observer. Here, as in other
countries, he who would see it as it is, must view it on the
plantations.

The free people of color in Baltimore, are alive to the importance of
education. One individual told us, that in distributing about two
hundred and fifty religious books, which had been sent to be
gratuitously supplied to the poor of this class, he found only five or
six families, in which the children were not learning to read and write.

While in Baltimore, the inquiries I made respecting Elisha Tyson, fully
confirmed the impression I have attempted to convey of his extraordinary
character; perhaps no one has so good a claim to be considered the
Granville Sharp of North America, and I have inserted in another place
some particulars drawn from his biography, which will be found full of
interest.[A] I am glad also to state, that if there is no one citizen of
Baltimore on whom his mantle rests, there are yet some who are active in
preventing the illegal detention of negroes, and of bringing such cases
before the proper tribunal. One of these related the following case of
recent occurrence. A woman, who was the wife of a free man, and the
mother of four children, and who had long believed herself legally free,
was claimed by the heir of her former master. The case was tried, and
his right of property in her and her children affirmed. He then sold the
family to a slave dealer for a thousand dollars; of whom the husband of
the woman re-purchased them, (his _own_ wife and children,) for eleven
hundred dollars, to repay which he bound himself to labor for the person
from whom it was borrowed, for twelve years. Yet this is but a mitigated
instance of oppression in this _Christian_ country.

[Footnote A: See Appendix D.]

The religious public of this city appear to be doing nothing
collectively, to abolish or ameliorate slavery, and with the exception
of "Friends," and the body who have lately seceded from them, I fear
that all are more or less implicated in its actual guilt. I was informed
not long since, even the Roman Catholics, who are more free from the
contamination than many other religious bodies, had, in some part of the
State, sold several of their own church members, and applied the
proceeds to the erection of a place of worship. We called upon the Roman
Catholic Bishop to inquire into the truth of this, but he was from home.
When at Philadelphia afterwards, in conversation with a priest, I gave
the particulars, and said I should be glad to be furnished with the
means of contradicting it. I have not heard from him since.

I am informed that the Yearly Meeting of "Friends" has advised its
members not to unite with the anti-slavery societies, and has latterly
discontinued petitioning the legislature for the abolition of the
internal slave trade, and the amelioration of the slave code; such is
the prevailing influence of a pro-slavery atmosphere. The code in
question has of late years been rendered more severe, and the legal
emancipation of slaves more difficult; yet I was pleased to learn that
public opinion has in this respect counteracted legislative tyranny;
that slavery has in fact become milder, and the number of manumissions
has not lessened.

The mischievous influence of the Colonization Society is very extensive
among professing Christians in Baltimore, and is paramount in the
legislature of the State.

The _American_ slave trade is carried on in the most open manner in this
city. We paid a visit to the establishment of an extensive slave dealer,
a large new building in one of the principal streets. The proprietor
received us with great courtesy, and permitted us to inspect the
premises. Cleanliness and order were every where visible, and, might we
judge from the specimens of food shewn us, the animal wants of the
slaves are not neglected. There were only five or six negroes _in
stock_, but the proprietor told us he had sometimes three or four
hundred there, and had shipped off a cargo to New Orleans a few days
before. That city is the market where the highest price is generally
obtained for them. The premises are strongly secured with bolts and
bars, and the rooms in which the negroes are confined, surround an open
court yard, where they are permitted to take the air. We were
accompanied and kindly introduced by an individual who has often been
engaged in preventing negroes from being illegally enslaved; and the
proprietor of the establishment expressed his approval of his efforts,
and that when such cases come before himself in the way of trade, he was
accustomed to send them to our friend for investigation; he added that
slaves would often come to him, and ask him to purchase them, and that
he was the means of transferring them from worse masters to better; that
he never parted families, though of course he could not control their
fate, either before they came into his hands, or after they left him. He
said he frequently left his concerns for weeks together, under the care
of his head slave, whose wife he had made free, and promised the same
boon to him, if he conducted himself well a few years longer. I thought
it right to intimate my view of the nature of slavery and the slave
trade, and that I deemed it wholly inconsistent with the plain precept
"do unto others as ye would they should do unto you." This he did not
attempt to controvert, yet he stated in extenuation, that the law
permitted the trade in slaves, though he should be as willing as any one
to have the system abolished, if the State would grant them compensation
for their property. He farther said, that he was born in a slave State,
that his mother had been for fifty years a member of the Wesleyan body,
and that though he had not joined a Christian church himself, he had
never sworn an oath, nor committed an immoral act in his life. He also
shewed, I think, convincingly, that dealing in slaves was not worse than
slave holding. On leaving the premises, we found the door of his office
had been locked upon us during this conference. I subsequently learned
that this person, though living in considerable style, was not generally
received in respectable society, and that a lady whom he had lately
married, was shunned by her former acquaintance. Such is the testimony
of the slave-holders of Baltimore against slave dealing, by which they
condemn themselves in the sight of God and man, and add the guilt of
hypocrisy to their own sin. Some time afterwards I addressed the
following letter to this individual, which was published in many of the
American papers:


    "To HOPE H. SLAUGHTER, _Slave Trader, Baltimore_:

    "Since thou courteously allowed me, in company with my friend,
    J.G. Whittier, to visit thy slave establishment in the city of
    Baltimore, some weeks since, I have often felt a desire to
    address a few lines to thee. I need not, perhaps, say that my
    feelings were painfully exercised in looking over thy buildings,
    fitted up with bolts and bars, for the reception of human beings
    for sale. A sense of the misery and suffering of the unfortunate
    slaves, who have been from time to time confined there--of their
    separation from home and kindred--and of the dreary prospect
    before them of a life of unrequited toil in the South and South
    West--rested heavily upon me. I could there realize the true
    nature of the system of slavery. I was in a market-house for
    human flesh, where humanity is degraded to a level with the
    brute; and where children of our common Father in Heaven, and
    for whom our blessed Redeemer offered up the atoning sacrifice
    of his blood, were bargained for and sold like beasts that
    perish. And when I regarded thee as the merchant in this
    dreadful traffic, and heard thee offer remarks, which might in
    some degree be considered as an apology for thy business,
    calling our attention to the cleanly state of the apartments,
    the wholesome provisions, et cet.; and especially when I heard
    thee declare that thou hadst been educated by a pious
    mother--that thou wast never addicted to swearing or other
    immoralities--and that thy business was a legalized one--that
    thou didst nothing contrary to law--and that, while in thy
    possession, the poor creatures were treated kindly--that
    families were not separated,[A] et cet.,--I was glad to perceive
    some evidence that the nature of thy employment had not
    extinguished the voice of conscience within thee. In thy
    sentiments, and in the manner of their utterance, I thought I
    could see that truth had not left itself without a witness in
    thy breast, and that a sense of the wrongfulness of thy
    occupation still disturbed thee.

    [Footnote A: "The latter remark, of course, applies only to the
    time they remained with thee. For, on the day we visited thy
    establishment, a friend with whom I was dining informed me, that
    a few days before a woman and child had been sold to thee, whose
    husband and father was a free man, who, in his distress, had
    been offering to bind himself for a term of years, in order to
    raise the sum (I think $800) demanded for them; but, as he had
    been unable to do so, my friend had no doubt they had been sent
    off with the very lot of slaves, which, we were told by thyself
    had just been forwarded to New Orleans from thy prison. _Who_ is
    most guilty in this atrocious transaction--the slave owner, who
    sold thee the woman and child at Baltimore--_thou_, the
    transporter of them for ever from their husband and parent--_the
    purchasers_ of the mother and child at New Orleans, where they
    may be for ever separated from each other--or the _citizen_ who,
    by his vote and influence, creates and upholds enactments which
    legalize this monstrous system, is known only to Him before whom
    the secrets of all hearts are unfolded."]

    "To thy remark that thy business was necessary to the system of
    slavery, and an essential part of it--and if slave-_holding_
    were to be justified at all, the slave-_trade_ must be also--I
    certainly can offer no valid objection; for I have never been
    able to discover any moral difference between the planter of
    Virginia and the slave dealer of Baltimore, Richmond, and
    Washington. Each has his part to act in the system, and each is
    necessary to the other. And if the matter were not, in all its
    bearings, painfully serious, it would be amusing to witness the
    absurd contempt with which the slave owner of Maryland or
    Virginia professes to look upon the trader, whose purchase of
    his surplus slaves alone enables him to retain the residue in
    his possession; for it seems very evident that the only
    profitable part of the system in those States, at the present
    time, is the sale of the annual increase of the slaves.

    "In passing from thy premises, we looked in upon the Triennial
    Convention of the Baptists of the United States, then in session
    in the city of Baltimore, where I found slave-holding ministers
    of high rank in the church, urging successfully the exclusion
    from the Missionary Board of that Society, of all those who, in
    principle and practice, were known to be decided abolitionists;
    and the results of their efforts satisfied me that the darkest
    picture of slavery is not to be found in the jail of the
    slave-trader, but rather in a convocation of professed ministers
    of the Gospel of Christ, expelling from the Board of a Society
    formed to enlighten the heathen of other nations, all who
    consistently labor for the overthrow of a system which denies a
    knowledge of the Holy Scriptures to near three millions of
    heathen at home!

    "But allow me, in a spirit, as I trust, of Christian kindness,
    to entreat thee not to seek excuses for thy own course in the
    evil conduct of others. Thou hast already reached the middle
    period of life--the future is uncertain. By thy hopes of peace
    here and hereafter, let me urge thee to abandon this occupation.
    It is not necessary to argue its intrinsic wickedness, for thou
    knowest it already. I would therefore beseech thee to listen to
    that voice which, I am persuaded, sometimes urges thee to 'put
    away the evil of thy doings,' to 'do justice and love mercy,'
    and thus cease to draw upon thyself the curse which fell upon
    those merchants of Tyre, who 'traded in the persons of men.'
    That these warnings of conscience may not longer be neglected on
    thy part, is the sincere wish of one who, while he abhors thy
    occupation, feels nothing but kindness and good will towards
    thyself.

    "Thy friend,

    "JOSEPH STURGE.

    "_New York, 6th Month 30th, 1841._"


The Baptist Convention alluded to in the foregoing letter was one whose
proceedings I regarded with considerable interest, for it had been
generally understood that the ministers delegated from the South, as
well as some of those from the Northern States, intended to exclude
abolitionists from every office on the missionary board, and especially
to remove my friend, Elon Galusha, a distinguished Baptist minister,
from the station of vice-president, for the offence of attending the
London Anti-Slavery Convention, and more particularly for supporting the
following resolutions of that assembly:


    "1. That it is the deliberate and deeply-rooted conviction of
    this Convention, which it thus publicly and solemnly expresses
    to the world, that slavery, in whatever form, or in whatever
    country it exists, is contrary to the eternal and immutable
    principles of justice, and the spirit and precepts of
    Christianity; and is, therefore a sin against God, which
    acquires additional enormity when committed by nations
    professedly Christian, and in an age when the subject has been
    so generally discussed, and its criminality so thoroughly
    exposed.

    "2. That this Convention cannot but deeply deplore the fact,
    that the continuance and prevalence of slavery are to be
    attributed in a great degree to the countenance afforded by many
    Christian churches, especially in the Western world, which have
    not only withheld that public and emphatic testimony against the
    crime which it deserves, but have retained in their communion,
    without censure, those by whom it is notoriously perpetrated.

    "3. That this Convention, while it disclaims the intention or
    desire of dictating to Christian communities the terms of their
    fellowship, respectfully submits that it is their incumbent duty
    to separate from their communion all those persons who, after
    they have been faithfully warned in the spirit of the gospel,
    continue in the sin of enslaving their fellow-creatures, or
    holding them in slavery--a sin, by the commission of which, with
    whatever mitigating circumstances it may be attended in their
    own particular instance, they give the support of their example
    to the whole system of compulsory servitude, and the unutterable
    horrors of the slave trade.

    "4. That it be recommended to the Committee of the British and
    Foreign Anti-Slavery Society, in the name of this Convention, to
    furnish copies of the above resolutions to the ecclesiastical
    authorities of the various Christian churches throughout the
    world."


On entering the meeting, we found the question was already before them,
previous to balloting for the officers for the ensuing three years. The
pro-slavery party were anxious to prevent all discussion, but some on
the other side proposed questions which compelled their notice. Among
the rest it was plainly asked, if the southern delegates did not come
pledged against the re-election of Elon Galusha. This was denied, but
certain resolutions which had appeared in the public papers were
appealed to in proof of the fact. The inquiry becoming more searching,
an expedient was resorted to, which, though quite novel to me, was, I am
told, not unfrequently adopted when discussions assume a shape not quite
satisfactory to the controlling powers of a synod. It was proposed that
they should pray, and then proceed at once to the ballot. The ministers
called upon were R. Fuller and Elon Galusha, who were considered to
represent the opposite sides of the discussion. The former individual is
a large slave-holder, an influential leader in his denomination, and had
canvassed and condemned Elon Galusha's views and conduct in the public
newspapers. I must avow, this whole proceeding was little calculated to
remove my objection to the practice of calling upon any individual to
offer supplication in a public assembly. After prayer had been offered,
they proceeded to the ballot, and we left the meeting, deeply impressed
with the profanation of employing the most solemn act of devotion to
serve the exigencies of controversy.

In the evening I met a number of the anti-slavery members of the
Convention, from whom I learned that the vote had excluded Elon Galusha
and all other known abolitionists from official connection with the
board, by an hundred and twenty-four to an hundred and seventeen, which
being a much smaller majority than was expected, they considered the
result a triumph rather than a defeat.

On the 1st of the 5th Month, (May) we returned to Wilmington, in
Delaware, where we remained at the hospitable residence of our friend
Samuel Hilles, till the 3d instant, and met a number of "Friends," and
others, who treated us with great kindness and hospitality, inspected
one of the flour mills on the Brandywine river, and the process of
drying Indian corn before it is ground; these are some of the oldest
flour mills in the State. A. large peach orchard of one of my friends in
the neighborhood, was beautifully in bloom. Great quantities of this
delicious fruit are raised in Delaware, New Jersey, and Maryland. Here,
as in other parts of the States, much money, has been lost by a silk, or
rather mulberry tree, mania. Young mulberry trees rose to a dollar and a
quarter each, though they can be multiplied almost without limit in a
single year. As might have been expected, a re-action took place, many
parties were ruined, and berry trees may now be had for the trouble of
digging them up.

The number of slaves in this small State is now reduced to four or five
thousand, and from all the information I could collect, I feel convinced
that if those who are friendly to emancipation were to exert themselves,
they would succeed, without much difficulty, in procuring the abolition
of slavery within its limits.

My friend, John G. Whittier, being, from increase of indisposition,
unable to go forward, I left Wilmington alone, and arrived in New York
in time to be present at a Baptist Anti-Slavery Convention, which I had
been invited to attend, and at which I was called upon to make a few
observations on the present state of the question. Several important
resolutions were unanimously adopted, containing a cordial approval of
the principles of proceeding of the London Convention, a recommendation
that another Convention should be held at the same place in 1842, and an
assurance that exertions should be used to promote a good delegation
from the Baptist anti-slavery body.

On that respecting Christian fellowship with slave-holding churches, Dr.
Brisbane spoke in a touching manner, and said he must support it, though
his friends and relations were in the South, and some of those dearest
to him still countenanced slavery, or were themselves slave-holders.

On the 6th I returned to Philadelphia, and that evening attended, by
invitation, a meeting of the Juvenile Anti-Slavery Society, but took no
part in the proceedings. This Society is one of the most efficient in
the State; it is entirely confined to young men. I also received a
formal invitation to attend other meetings about to be held, which I
felt under the necessity of declining, from a belief that I could not
participate in the discussions of the meetings with advantage to the
cause which we all had at heart, and from the fact that previous to
receiving the invitation I had made other arrangements which would
occupy most of my time.

The present organized anti-slavery societies in Pennsylvania insist upon
the mixed action of men and women in committees, et cet. Those who do
not hold with their views have either silently withdrawn, avoid
participating in measures which they disapprove, or do not attend
meetings when it is expected any such measures will be brought forward.
Among such measures may be reckoned the censures which in a few
instances have been passed on the London Convention, and the British and
Foreign Anti-Slavery Society; censures sometimes more decided in
sentiment than temperate in expression. My own inclination would have
led me to attend several of these meetings, when my other engagements
would have permitted, if I could have done so as an ordinary spectator
and hearer; but on considering that I might appear on the one hand to
give a tacit sanction to acts and sentiments which I disapproved, or on
the other hand, that I might be drawn into controversy by explaining my
objections, I concluded to forego the gratification which the
proceedings might have afforded me, and I subsequently saw no reason to
repent the decision I came to.

During this visit to Philadelphia, I made calls upon various individuals
who are deeply interested in the anti-slavery cause, but who have not
joined any anti-slavery society. Among these I must instance Professor
Charles D. Cleveland, an excellent individual, of the Presbyterian
persuasion, a man of fine talents and an accomplished scholar, who is
the editor of a paper called the American Intelligencer, in which he has
reprinted a very large edition of J.J. Gurney's "Letters from the West
Indies," and has extensively distributed it through the post office.
This effort of judicious zeal, will probably make hundreds of
emancipationists, and disarm hostility and rouse indifference to a great
extent. No impartial and benevolent mind can read these authentic
details of the results of emancipation in the British Colonies, and
remain unconvinced of its safety and blessed fruits to every class of
the community. The Professor has published and circulated Dr. Channing's
"Emancipation," in the same shape. I also called upon the late Governor
of Illinois, Edward Coles, who was born in a slave State, but in early
life, while at college, from a conviction of the sinfulness of
slave-holding, he resolved upon liberating the negroes which would come
into his possession on the death of his father. This he faithfully
performed, removed the people to Illinois, and presented them; with
lands for their subsistence. He himself soon removed there and became
Governor of the territory. It was owing to his determined and vigorous
efforts that slavery was made unconstitutional in that State. He was a
friend of President Jefferson, and corresponded with him on the subject
of slavery. All his liberated slaves prospered, all learned to read and
write, two are now ministers of the gospel, and one is the Governor's
agent, and a man of property. The number thus freed were between thirty
and forty, and their value amounted to half his property; but a,
blessing has followed the sacrifice, and he has now retired to
Philadelphia with a handsome competence. In the course of conversation,
the Governor spoke of the prejudice, against color prevailing here as
much stronger than in the slave States, I may add, from my own
observation, and much concurring testimony, that Philadelphia appears to
be the metropolis of this odious prejudice, and that there is probably
no city in the known world, where dislike, amounting to hatred of the
colored population, prevails more than in the city of brotherly love!

Among the proofs of this, and of the same feeling in the State at large,
it may be noticed that two or three years since, a convention was called
for amending the State constitution, which among other changes, formally
deprived men of color of the elective franchise. Practically this was of
little importance, for it was taking away a right, the exercise of
which, if attempted, would have roused popular indignation to the peril
of their lives. A yet more obvious sign to the stranger in Philadelphia,
are the ruins of "Pennsylvania Hall," which most of my readers are
probably aware was destroyed by a pro-slavery mob in the spring of 1838.
It stood near the centre of the city, and was sixty-two feet front by
one hundred deep, and fifty-two feet to the eaves: the large saloon in
the second story with its galleries being capable of holding three
thousand persons. On the occasion of its opening, a large number of the
friends of emancipation assembled in the city, to attend the anniversary
of the Pennsylvania Anti-Slavery Society, and some other meetings
connected with the cause. Letters of congratulation on the opening of
the hall were received by the managers from ex-president Adams, William
Slade and Francis James, members of Congress, Thomas Morris of the U.S.
Senate, Judge Jay, Gerritt Smith, and other distinguished friends of
equal rights. The letter of the venerable ex-president is written with
his characteristic energy, and I quote an extract from it in further
proof of the sentiments already expressed on the state of feeling in the
land of Penn and Benezet, Pemberton and Franklin, on the subject of
slavery.


    "The right of discussion upon slavery, and an indefinite extent
    of topics connected with it, is banished from one-half the
    States of this Union. It is _suspended_ in both houses of
    Congress; opened and closed at the pleasure of the slave
    representation; opened for the promulgation of nullification
    sophistry; closed against the question, What is slavery? at the
    sound of which the walls of the capitol staggered like a drunken
    man.

    "For this suppression of the freedom of speech and press, and
    the right of petition, the people of the _free_ States of this
    Union are responsible, and the _people of Pennsylvania most of
    all_. Of this responsibility, I say it with a pang, sharper than
    language can express, _the city of Philadelphia must take
    herself the largest share_."


The meetings of the first day passed without disturbance. On the evening
of the second day, a meeting of the Female Anti-Slavery Society was held
in the hall, the proceedings of which were greatly disturbed by a mob of
from 1500 to 2000 persons, assembled without. The windows on all sides
were beaten in by stones and other missiles, and one or two persons
severely injured. The next day the mob lingered about the building, no
effort being made by the pro-slavery authorities to disperse them. In
the evening the building was attacked, the doors burst open, and fire
communicated to the interior; and in the midst of at least 20,000
persons, the noble and costly hall was consumed, with the exception of
its bare walls. My friend John G. Whittier, who was present at the time,
states that the most dreadful threats were uttered by the rioters
against the prominent abolitionists. The house of Samuel Webb was
particularly marked for destruction; and as the mob assembled nightly
for several days, it is scarcely possible to conceive a more trying
situation than that in which the abolitionists were placed. The
"Friends" asylum for colored orphans, a small but useful institution,
was attacked by a portion of the mob, and the next day the association
to which it belongs publicly disclaimed any connection with the
abolition societies. One of the daily papers also contained the
following, headed "Communication."

"An opinion having become prevalent that a considerable number of the
society of Orthodox Friends were present at the late meetings in
Pennsylvania Hall, taking an active part in the proceedings, and that
they still uphold the principles in relation to slavery and the colored
race there promulgated, it is but justice to this respectable body of
people to correct public opinion in relation to the subject, by
observing that _very few_ if any attended the meetings; that among the
society it is doubtful whether twenty individuals are to be found in
this city who embrace their doctrines, and that they, as a body, are
opposed to the indiscreet course which has been taken by the ultra
abolitionists. Had their views been understood in relation to the
subject, their property in Thirteenth street would, no doubt, have been
spared the violence it has suffered, being in no way connected with
abolitionism, but merely designed as a shelter for an unfortunate class
of children who have large claims upon the community; and who, upon
application made in their behalf for the purposes for which this asylum
was designed, even to the _mob_, I have no hesitation in saying that, as
_human beings_, they would not oppose it."

While other portions of the community were in like manner propitiating
the mob, the few but faithful abolitionists of the city calmly but
firmly maintained their principles, even at the peril of life and
estate. On the morning after the burning of the Hall, the State
Anti-Slavery Society, pursuant to adjournment, met at the ruins of the
Hall, and, amidst the smoking walls, and with the mob lingering about
them, they proceeded to their business--Abraham L. Pennock, the Vice
President of the Society, presiding. The editor of the Pennsylvania
Freeman, John G. Whittier, whose publication office and papers had been
destroyed by the mob, in his next paper published the following
editorial article, which I have copied simply to show that while the
abolitionists on this occasion maintained their sentiments in a clear
and unequivocal manner, they did not indulge in the language of revenge
or anger.


    "We perhaps need offer no apology to our distant readers, for
    the want of variety in our present number. Ours must be this
    week a record of violence--a story of persecution and outrage.
    We hardly dare trust ourselves to speak upon this matter. It is
    our desire to do so, if at all, in a tone of calmness,--to hold
    ourselves aloof, as far as possible, from the present
    excitement,--to utter our abiding testimony, now dearer than
    ever to our hearts, not in the language of passion, but firmly
    and decidedly.

    "Our readers will gather from the statements made in the
    different extracts in our paper, and especially from the Address
    of the Executive Committee of the State Anti-Slavery Society,
    the leading facts of the outrage. Of the course pursued by the
    civil authorities, we leave the community to judge. Our own
    reliance for protection has been upon that Providence whose
    mercy is over all,--in the justice of our cause, and in our
    conscious innocence of heart and integrity of purpose. We
    rejoice, and in so doing, the abolitionists of Pennsylvania
    unite with us, that human life was not sacrificed in defence of
    our Hall, our persons, and our property. We know, indeed, that
    had the attack been made upon the United States Bank, or any
    similar institution in this city, the civil authorities would
    have met its fury, not as now, with a speech only, but with
    loaded firelocks and fixed bayonets. We know, it is true, that
    the mob were in a great measure left free to work their
    mischievous will upon us. But if those in authority have, _upon
    their own principles_, treated us with neglect in the hour of
    our peril, upon them let the responsibility rest. We have thus
    far survived the onset. Under God, for to him alone are we
    indebted for protection, we are still left to bear our testimony
    to the truth. Our consciences are in this matter void of
    offence. In cheerful serenity of spirit, and not in the tone of
    menace or boasting, we declare our faith in the principles of
    emancipation unfaltering--our zeal undiminished--our
    determination to persevere unaltered. Our confidence in the
    triumphant and glorious issue of the present struggle remains
    firm.

      'Truth smote to Earth revives again;
      The eternal years of God are hers--
      But error wounded, shrieks with pain,
      And dies among her worshippers.'


    "From this time henceforward, Pennsylvania must become the great
    battle-field of opinion on the subject of slavery. The light of
    that evening's sacrifice has reached already every portion of
    our State. Men are every where inquiring why the sacrifice was
    made? Why a mighty city was convulsed with violence? Why a noble
    hall was burned by incendiaries in the view of gazing thousands?
    Why the 'shelter for orphan children' was set on fire, and why
    the houses of our citizens were surrounded by a ruffian mob?
    They may be told now by the perpetrators of these outrages, that
    all has been occasioned by the conduct of the abolitionists. But
    the delusion cannot last. Truth will make its way to the abused
    ear of the community; and it will be known that the scenes which
    have disgraced our city, are directly attributable to the
    influence of southern slavery. The spirit of free inquiry, now
    fairly awakened, will never again slumber in this state. Like
    the Greek fire, it will blaze with fiercer intensity for every
    attempt to extinguish it."


The proceedings of the authorities and the public at large, consequent
upon this act of incendiarism and outrageous violence, were truly
characteristic. It is supposed that the destruction of the Hall was
planned beforehand, and there is some evidence to show that strangers
from the South were implicated in the conspiracy; but, as usual, the old
drama of the wolf accusing the lamb was enacted over again, and a
pretext was laid hold of, that, in the peculiar state of feeling
existing in the community, was almost deemed a justification of all that
had happened; though, in truth, it was in the last degree ridiculous. It
was asserted that colored men had been seen walking arm in arm with
white ladies, and that white men had handed colored females out of their
carriages at the door of the Hall, as politely as if they had not
belonged to the proscribed class. In several instances, if not in all,
these reports were untrue in point of fact, and originated in the
existing paradox, that colored men and women are sometimes white, and
that white gentlemen and ladies are not unfrequently of dark complexion.
As an illustration, I quote the following scene from a letter addressed
to me by Robert Purvis, an intelligent and educated man of color, and
the son-in-law of James Forten, a wealthy and venerable colored citizen
of Philadelphia, recently deceased.

"In regard to my examination before the jury in the Pennsylvania Hall
case, I have to say, that it was both a painful and ludicrous affair. At
one time the fulness of an almost bursting heart was ready to pour forth
in bitter denunciation--then the miserable absurdity of the thing,
rushing into my mind, would excite my risible propensities. You know the
county endeavored to defend itself against the award of damages, by
proving that the abolitionists were the cause of the destruction of the
building, in promoting promiscuous intermingling, in doors and out, of
blacks and whites, thereby exciting public feeling, &c. A witness, whose
name I now forget, in proof of this point, stated, that upon a certain
day, hour, &c., a '_negress_' approached the Hall, in a carriage, when a
white man assisted her in getting out, offered his arm, which was
instantly accepted, and he escorted her to the saloon of the building!
In this statement he was collected, careful, and solemn--minutely
describing the dress, appearance of the parties, as well as the
carriage, the exact time, &c.--the clerks appointed for the purpose
taking down every word, and the venerable jurors looking credulous and
horror-stricken. Upon being called to _rebut_ the testimony I, in truth
and simplicity, confirmed his testimony in every particular!! The
attorney, on our behalf, David Paul Brown, Esq., a gentleman, scholar,
and philanthropist, in a tone of irony peculiarly severe, demanded,
'whether I had the unblushing impudence, in broad day-light, to offer my
arm to my wife?' I replied, in deep affectation of the criminality
involved, that the only palliation I could offer, for conduct so
outrageous was, that it was unwittingly done, it seemed so natural.
This, as you might well suppose, produced some merriment at the expense
of the witness for the county, and of all others, whose gullibility and
prejudice had given credit to what would have been considered, had I
been what is called a white man, an awful story."

The proceedings in the case are, I believe, still pending. My friend,
Samuel Webb, in a letter dated "11th Month 16th, 1841," says:


    "Last 7th day, after several years incessant struggle, we
    brought the case of the Pennsylvania Hall before the Court of
    Criminal Sessions. George M. Dallas, Counsel for the County, in
    opposing the award of the appraisers, (thirty-three thousand
    dollars, not one-third of what it ought to have been,) spoke for
    about one hour--the purport of his speech was--that here was no
    mob at all, (!) that the jury appointed to ascertain the facts
    had reported to the Court, that the mob, if mob it might be
    called, was composed of orderly, respectable citizens; and of,
    course, orderly, respectable citizens could not be a mob. After
    this I should not be surprised to hear it doubted whether there
    ever was such a building, or if there was, whether it was ever
    destroyed; but unluckily the ruined walls are still standing,
    and if I had my way, _there they should stand_, until slavery
    shall be abolished, which it will be, soon after your East India
    possessions can grow cotton for six cents per lb. by free
    labor."


To resume the narrative: I paid a visit to the widow of Joseph
Lancaster, who, with her three children by a former husband, are living
in great obscurity in the suburbs of this city.

I returned to New York on the 10th, for the purpose of being in the city
at the time when the religious and benevolent anniversaries are held,
and of meeting parties who attend them. Here I had the pleasure of
meeting with several warm-hearted abolitionists from distant parts of
the country. The first meeting I attended was the anniversary of the
American and Foreign Anti-Slavery Society, which, though held at a
distance from the centre of the city, in consequence of the
pre-engagement of the New York Tabernacle, was well attended, and I
believe gave general satisfaction. I was present also at two other of
its meetings. I attended several adjourned sittings of a convention
called for the purpose of organizing a political "Liberty party," on the
grand principle of the abolition of slavery. The chief business in hand
was to nominate a President and Vice President of the United States, for
the next election, and the choice fell upon my friend James G. Birney,
for President, and Thomas Morris, late United States Senator from Ohio,
for Vice President. A plan was arranged for putting in nomination
abolition candidates for every office in the free States, down to that
of constable.

I listened to the discussions that took place with considerable
interest, as there are some valuable friends to the cause, men, whose
opinions justly carry great weight, who do not think this the best means
of bringing political influence to bear upon the question, but who would
prefer voting for such anti-slavery candidates, as might be nominated by
either of the two great parties already existing, or in the absence of
any such candidate would decline voting at all. My own bias was in favor
of this course, since it was the one pursued in Great Britain, and which
had been so eminently successful in the general election of 1833. I
became convinced, however, that the "third party" has strong reasons in
its favor, and that in various important respects the abolitionists of
the United States are differently circumstanced in regard to elections
from those of my own country; and it must not be forgotten that many of
the men who pledged themselves on the hustings in England were not
faithful at the time of trial. At the last sitting of the Convention, I
stated the advantage we had found in England, when we wished to carry
any specific measure, of a personal interview with the members of the
legislature, who might state facts to them and answer their objections.
It was immediately suggested to send a deputation to Albany, where the
senate and assembly of the State of New York were then in session, to
promote the repeal of two iniquitous laws affecting people of color, and
which were to be brought before the consideration of the Houses. One of
them is known as the "nine months law." By its provisions a slave-holder
could bring his negro "with his own consent" into this _free_ State, and
keep him there in slavery for nine months! At the expiration of the time
it was of course very easy by a short journey to a neighboring State, to
obtain a new license, and thus perpetuate slave-holding in the State of
New York. The other law was an act restricting the elective franchise of
men of color, to those possessing a fixed amount of property, no such
restriction existing in the case of white men. This suggestion was
adopted by the Convention, and a deputation appointed, with what success
will be seen hereafter.

In order to give a general idea of the course pursued by the "Liberty
party," I subjoin a statement of the plan of operation issued by a
Philadelphia committee.


    "PLAN OF OPERATION.

    "A national committee to meet at Utica, to have a general care
    and oversight of the cause throughout the nation, and to act as
    a central corresponding committee.--State committees, to perform
    similar duties, in their States.--County committees, the same in
    their respective counties.--City and district committees, the
    same in their respective cities and districts.--Township and
    ward committees, to have the particular charge of their
    respective townships or wards.

    "This duty may be performed by their appointing a sub-committee,
    to consist of one member for each block, square, section,
    sub-division, or neighborhood, whose duty it will be to endeavor
    to abolitionize his sub-division; or, at least, ascertain, as
    far as practicable, how many of the legal voters will vote the
    Liberty ticket, and transmit the number to his city or county
    committee, which is to forward the number of voters in their
    city or county to their Stale committee, and the State committee
    is to forward the number of voters in their State to the
    national committee; and also to distribute, or cause to be
    distributed, in his sub-division, such tracts, circulars,
    notices, tickets, &c., as shall be furnished by his superior
    committee for that purpose.

    "Each committee is to communicate with its next superior
    committee once a year, or oftener, if required, and to meet at
    such time and place not less than once a month, as shall be
    agreed upon between it and its superior committee."


I afterwards was present at one of a series of meetings, held for the
purpose of introducing to the public the Amistad captives, Africans of
the Mendi country, who had recently regained their freedom. The case of
these people is so singularly interesting, that, though some of my
readers may be already well acquainted with it, I venture to introduce a
brief statement of their history in the Appendix.[A]

[Footnote A: See Appendix E.]

On this occasion a very crowded and miscellaneous assembly attended, to
see and hear the Mendians, although the admission had been fixed as high
as half a dollar, with the view of raising a fund, to carry them to
their native country. Fifteen of them were present, including one little
boy and three girls. Cinque their chief, spoke with great fluency in his
native language; and his action and manner were very animated and
graceful. Not much of his speech was translated, yet he greatly
interested his audience. The little boy could speak our language with
facility; and each of them read without hesitation one or two verses in
the New Testament. It was impossible for any one to go away with the
impression, that in native intellect these people were inferior to the
whites. The information which I privately received, from their tutor and
others who had full opportunities of appreciating their capacities and
attainments, fully confirmed my own very favorable impressions.

One evening during my stay, I took tea with twelve or fifteen colored
gentlemen, at the house of a colored family. The refined manners and
great intelligence of many of them would have done credit to any
society. The whites have a monopoly of prejudice, but not a monopoly of
intellect; nor of education and accomplishments; nor even of those more
trivial, yet fascinating graces, which throw the charm of elegance and
refinement over social life.

I found from the conversation I had with my colored friends, on
different occasions, that the prejudice against them was steadily, and
not very slowly, giving way; yet several instances were mentioned, of
recent occurrence, which show that it is still strong: I will quote one
only. A colored gentleman informed me that last winter a near female
relative being about to take a journey by railway to Philadelphia, she
was compelled, though in delicate health, to travel in the comfortless,
exposed car, expressly provided for negroes, though he offered to pay
double fare for a place in the regular carriage. A lady, not of the
proscribed class, who has long resided in New York, mentioned to me as a
marked indication of a favorable change in regard to color, the holding
of such meetings as those at which the Amistad captives were introduced.
Such an exhibition, instead of causing a display of benevolent interest
among all classes, would, some years ago, have excited the malignant
passions of the multitude, and probably caused a popular out-break.
Another sign of the times was, that white and colored children might be
seen walking in procession without distinction, on the anniversaries of
the charity schools. The same lady, in whose veracity I place full
confidence, informed me that there is now residing in this city, a
native of Cuba, formerly a slave-holder at the Havana, who had narrowly
escaped assassination from a negro. He had threatened the slave with
punishment the following day, but the desperate man concealed himself in
his master's room, and in the night, stabbed and killed his mistress by
mistake, instead of his master. Three negroes were executed as principal
and accessories; but their intended victim was so terrified that he left
Havana for New York. His fears, not his conscience, were alarmed, for he
still carries on his diabolical traffic between Africa and Cuba, and is
reported to have gained by it, last year, one hundred thousand dollars.
He lives in great splendor, and has the character of a liberal and
generous man, but with the most implacable hatred to the blacks. "One
murder makes a villain, thousands a hero." How wide the distinction
between this man and the wretches who paid the forfeit of their lives
for a solitary murder![A]

[Footnote A: Sir F. Buxton has shown that two lives at least are
sacrificed for every slave carried off from Africa.]

On the evening of the 17th, in company with several of my abolition
friends, I started for Albany, where the State legislature was then in
session. The distance from New York is about a hundred and fifty-five
miles, and is frequently performed by the steamers, on the noble river
Hudson, in nine hours and a half up the stream, and in eight hours down.
On these steamers there is accommodation for several hundred passengers
to lodge, and the fare is only one dollar, with an extra charge for beds
and meals. For an additional dollar, two persons may secure a state room
to themselves.

As night drew on, and the deck began to be cleared, I observed a
well-dressed black man and woman sitting apart, and supposing they could
obtain no berths on account of their color, I went and spoke to them. I
told them I and several others on board were abolitionists. The man then
informed us they were escaping from slavery, and had left their homes
little more than two days before. They appeared very intelligent, though
they could neither read nor write, and described to us how they had
effected their escape. They had obtained leave to go to a wedding, from
which they were not expected to return till the evening of the day
following. Having procured forged certificates of freedom, for which
they paid twenty-five dollars, each, they came forward with expedition
by railway and steam boat. They had heard of emancipation in the British
West Indies, and the efforts of the abolitionists in the States, but
they were unacquainted with the existence of vigilance committees, to
facilitate the escape of runaway slaves. We assisted them to proceed to
the house of a relative of one of our party, out of the track of the
pursuer, should they be followed. There is little doubt that they have
safely reached Canada, for I was told at Albany, public opinion had
become so strong in favor of self-emancipation, that if a runaway were
seized in the city, it is probable he would be rescued by the people.

I would also point attention to the fact, which is brought to light by
this relation, that the slave-holders have not only to contend with the
honest and open-handed means which the abolitionists most righteously
employ,[A] to facilitate the escape of slaves, but with the mercenary
acts of members of their own community, who live by the manufacture and
sale of forged free papers.

[Footnote A: See Deut. xxiii, 15, 16.]

During my stay in Albany, I waited upon William H. Seward, the Governor,
and on Luther Bradish, the Lieutenant Governor of the State of New York.
It will, I trust, be considered no breach of confidence, if I state that
I found their sentiments on the true principles of liberty, worthy of
the enlightened legislators and first magistrates of a free republic.
They concur in the general sentiment that public opinion in this
metropolitan State is making rapid progress in favor of full and
impartial justice to the people of color, a movement to which their own
example in the high stations which they adorn has given a powerful
impulse.

I attended part of the sittings of the Senate and Assembly, and
conversed with a number of members of both houses. The public business
was transacted with at least as much order and decorum as in the Lords
and Commons of Great Britain. I left Albany the same evening, and had
the satisfaction of hearing, a few days afterwards, that the repeal of
"the nine months law" had passed both houses, and was ratified by the
Governor; and that in the Assembly upwards of fifty members had voted
for it, although it was thought not ten would have done so two years
since. By this change of the law any slave brought by his master within
the limits of the State, even with his own consent, is not obliged to
return to slavery.

I proceeded by way of New York to Hartford in Connecticut, in order to
be present at an anti-slavery meeting of the State Society, to which I
had been invited. On my arrival, on the afternoon of the 19th, I found
the meeting assembled, and in the chair my friend J.T. Norton, a member
of the Connecticut legislature, a munificent and uncompromising friend
to the anti-slavery cause, and one of the delegates to the London
Convention. A black minister of religion addressed the meeting in an
able and interesting manner. Soon after the close of his speech, a
circumstance, quite unexpected to me, introduced a discussion on the
right of women to vote and publicly act, conjointly with men. The
chairman decided that the motion in favor of it was negatived, but the
minority required the names on both sides to be taken down; this
consumed much time, and disturbed the harmony of the meeting. I attended
in the evening a committee of the legislature, which was sitting at the
court house, to hear the speeches of persons who were allowed to address
the committee in support of a petition that the word "white" should be
expunged from the constitution of Connecticut. This change would of
course give equal rights to the colored class. When I entered, the same
colored minister I had heard in the afternoon, was addressing the
committee. He was listened to with great attention, not only by the
members, but by near two hundred of the inhabitants, who were present.
He was followed on the same side, by a white gentleman in a very strong
and uncompromising speech. The next day I paid my respects to William W.
Ellsworth, the Governor of the State, and to one of the judges of the
court; and afterwards attended the adjourned meeting of the Anti-Slavery
Society. The vexed question of "women's rights" was again brought
forward in another shape; the names on both sides again called for, with
the same result as before. My belief was fully confirmed, that those who
differ so widely in sentiment, have no alternative but to meet and act
in distinct organizations.

The Amistad captives arrived at Hartford on the afternoon of the same
day, and were to address a meeting in the evening. An anti-slavery
bazaar or fair which I visited this day, furnished ample testimony of
the zeal of the female friends of the oppressed slave in this district.
I returned the same evening to New Haven, and subsequently received a
copy of two resolutions, approving the proceedings of the general
Anti-Slavery Convention, in which it is stated by the Connecticut
anti-slavery committee, "they have abundant evidence that the cause of
the slave has been essentially promoted thereby;" also recommending
"that a convention of men from all parts of the world, friendly to the
cause of immediate emancipation, be again called in London, in the
summer of 1842."

On the 21st, I proceeded to the residence of Judge Jay, where I was very
kindly received by his wife and family, the Judge himself being from
home. On his return the next day, I had much interesting conversation
with him on the prospects of our cause. He is convinced that it is
making steady progress, notwithstanding the schism in the anti-slavery
ranks. He said also, that of the runaway slaves who called at his house,
some have told him that their condition had improved of late years;
others saw no change in their treatment; not one has complained that
they suffered more than formerly, in consequence of the discussions at
the North about abolition. With regard to the free blacks, he fears that
the persecution of them by the slave-holders has increased; though at
the North the prejudice against them has unquestionably, in his opinion,
been much mitigated by the efforts of the abolitionists. It is an
interesting fact, and one that ought to encourage the humble and retired
laborer in the cause of truth and righteousness, that this able and
distinguished advocate of the claims of the oppressed slaves and people
of color, was converted to his present views by Elizabeth Heyrick's
pamphlet, "Immediate, not Gradual, Abolition of West India Slavery." Let
me for a moment pause to render a tribute of justice to the memory of
that devoted woman. Few will deny that the long and heart-sickening
interval that occurred between the abolition of the slave-trade of Great
Britain, and the emancipation of her slaves, was owing to the false, but
universal notion, that the slaves must be gradually prepared for
freedom: a notion that we now confess is as contrary to reason and
Christian principle as it is opposed to the past experience of our
colonies. Yet a generation passed away while the abolitionists of Great
Britain were trying to make ropes of sand--to give practical effect to
an impracticable theory; pursuing a delusion, which this honored woman
was the first to detect; and that less by force and subtlety of
argument, than by the statement of self-evident truths, and by the
enforcement of the simple and grand principle that Christianity admits
of no compromise with sin. This was an easy lesson, yet it was one which
our senators and statesmen, our distinguished philanthropists, and our
whole anti-slavery host were slow to learn. The pamphlet produced little
immediate effect, but to cause its writer to be regarded as an amiable
enthusiast and visionary. It now remains a monument of the
indestructible nature, and the irresistible power of truth, even when
wielded by feeble and despised hands.

Judge Jay read to me part of a very interesting and important
manuscript, which he had prepared on the preservation of international
peace. He suggests that any two nations, entering into an alliance,
should embody in their treaty a clause mutually binding them to refer
any dispute or difficulty that may arise, to the arbitration of one or
more friendly powers. As he has concluded to publish his pamphlet, I
trust it will shortly be in the hands of the friends of peace in this
country, as well as in America. This idea is beautifully simple, and of
easy application. Through the kindness of the author, I have been
furnished with a long and important extract from his manuscript, which I
am permitted to lay before the British public by anticipation, in the
Appendix to the present work.[A] On returning from his hospitable
mansion, he obligingly sent his carriage with me to Sing Sing, but the
steamboat had started earlier than we expected, and I hired a carriage
and a pair of horses, with the driver, who was also the proprietor, to
convey me the remainder of the way to New York. The distance for which I
engaged it, was thirty-six miles, for the moderate sum of five dollars.
On the road, the man pointed out the place where Major Andre was taken,
whose tragical end excites sympathy even to this day, in the breast of
the Americans. On entering the city, we passed a man in livery, and my
driver remarked, "There, that is English; I would not wear _that_ for a
hundred dollars a day." Long may the American, who lives by his daily
labor, preserve this feeling of honorable independence.

[Footnote A: See Appendix F.]

During my stay at New York this time, I was the guest of my friend
William Shotwell, Jr., at whose hospitable dwelling, I afterwards took
up my abode, whenever I lodged in the city. From the 24th to the 28th, I
was chiefly occupied in attending the sittings of the Friends' Yearly
Meeting of this State; and, during the intervals, in seeing many Friends
in private company. I was much encouraged to find among them, a
considerable number thoroughly imbued with anti-slavery sentiments;
especially, from the western parts of the State. The subject of slavery
was introduced, in the Yearly Meeting, by reading the Epistle from the
Society in England, which is elsewhere quoted.[A] This was followed on
the part of many, by expressions of deep feeling; and the question was
referred to a committee, for practical consideration. In consequence of
the report of this committee, at a subsequent sitting, five hundred
copies of the English address were directed to be printed, and
circulated among Friends, within the compass of the Yearly Meeting; and
the whole subject was referred to its "meeting for sufferings," with an
earnest recommendation, that they should embrace every right opening for
furthering the great object. The clerk of the Yearly Meeting expressed
his firm conviction, that the work was on the wheel, and that nothing
would be permitted to stop its progress, until, either in mercy or in
judgment, the bonds of every slave should be broken. He spoke in a very
powerful manner. In most of the epistles sent out from this Yearly
Meeting, as well as from that of Philadelphia, the subject of slavery
was introduced, and commended to the earnest consideration of the body,
here and elsewhere. Previous to the assembling of the Yearly Meeting, I
had placed in the hands of one of its members, the following letter:

[Footnote A: See Appendix A.]


    My Dear Friend,--Wilt thou have the kindness to ask the Friends
    with whom it rests to grant such a request, to permit the use of
    the meeting house at a convenient time, either during the Yearly
    Meeting, or before those who attend from the country leave the
    city, for the purpose of affording my friend John Candler an
    opportunity of giving Friends some outline of emancipation in
    Jamaica. I should like at the same time to give a little
    information on the state of the anti-slavery question in other
    parts of the world. John Candler, it is I believe generally
    known, visited Jamaica with the full sanction of the "meeting
    for sufferings," in London. My visit to this country had no
    particular reference to the members of our Society, but my
    friends in England kindly furnished me with the enclosed
    documents.

    Affectionately,

    JOSEPH STURGE.

    _New York, 5th Month 17th_, 1841.


This request was kindly complied with. The large meeting house was
granted for the evening of the 27th. The clerks of the men's and women's
meetings gave public notice of it in their respective assemblies. The
former, the venerable and worthy Richard Mott, encouraged Friends to be
present, and said, as a thinking and reasoning people, they need fear no
harm from a calm consideration of the subject. The attendance was large,
including, I believe, most of those Friends who were from the country.
The following brief notice of it in the American and Foreign
Anti-Slavery Reporter, will explain the character of the meeting.


    "On Thursday evening of last week, the members of the Society of
    Friends (Orthodox,) assembled in this city at their Annual
    Meeting, met at their meeting house in Orchard street, to listen
    to the statements of John Candler, of England, lately returned
    from a visit to the West India Islands, as to the results of
    emancipation in those Islands, and also of our esteemed friend,
    Joseph Sturge, in reference to the general subject of
    emancipation throughout the world.

    "The meeting was largely attended. The successful and happy
    results of the immediate emancipation of the slaves of the
    colonies, as detailed by John Candler, were calculated to
    strengthen the conviction that to do justice is always
    expedient. Joseph Sturge gave a history of the progress of the
    anti-slavery cause in Great Britain from the time of the old
    abolition society, of which Thomas Clarkson was a member, and of
    which he is sole survivor. He also glanced at the state of the
    cause in other quarters of the globe--at the efforts for East
    India emancipation, and at late movements in France, Brazil and
    Spain, in favor of emancipation; concluding with a most
    affecting appeal to the members of his religious society to omit
    no right opportunity for pleading for the slave, and for
    hastening the day of his deliverance.

    "We take pleasure in recording such evidences that the good old
    testimony of the Society of Friends, on this subject, is still
    maintained among them. The Friends of the past generation set a
    noble example to other Christian sects, by emancipating their
    slaves, from a sense of religious duty; and it seems to us, that
    those of the present day have great responsibilities resting
    upon them; and that it especially becomes them to see to it that
    their light is not hidden in this hour of darkness and
    prejudice, on the subject of human rights. The slaveholder and
    his victim both look to them;--the one with deprecating gesture,
    and words of flattery--the other in beseeching and half
    reproachful earnestness. We cannot doubt that the agonizing
    appeal of the latter is listened to by all who truly feel the
    weight of their religious testimonies resting upon them; and we
    trust there will be found among them, an increasing zeal to
    secure to these unhappy victims of avarice and the lust of
    power, that liberty which George Fox, two centuries in advance
    of his contemporaries, declared to be 'the right of all men.'"


When the assembly broke up, the clerk of the Yearly Meeting, who sat by
us, expressed to me his entire satisfaction with the proceedings, as did
others present. One influential member of the Society, however, who met
me the next day in the street, stated very decidedly his disapprobation
of the tenor of certain parts of my address; but I found that he
condemned me on hearsay evidence, not having attended the meeting
himself. On the 29th, I was favored with a call from Lieutenant Governor
Cunningham, of St. Kitts, on his way to England, who gave a very
favorable account of the continued good conduct of the emancipated
slaves in that Island. It is surely an eminent token of the divine
blessing on a national act of justice and mercy, that evidence of this
kind should have been so abundantly and uniformly supplied from every
colony where slavery has been abolished. A fine black man was brought to
me about this time, who showed me papers by which it appeared he had
lately given one thousand five hundred dollars for his freedom. He had
since been driven from the State in which he lived, by the operation of
a law, enacted to prevent the continued residence of free people of
color, and has thus been banished from a wife and family, who are still
slaves. He has agreed with their owner, that if he can pay two thousand
five hundred dollars, in six years, his wife and six children shall be
free, and he was then trying to get employment in New York, in the hope
of being able to raise this large sum within the specified time.

On the 29th, I proceeded to Burlington; while I was there five or six
Friends drew up and presented me with a resolution, expressive of their
readiness and desire to join with other members of their religious
society in active efforts for the abolition of slavery.

On the 30th, I paid a second visit to my venerable friend John Cox. The
next morning his grandson kindly accompanied me to Mount Holly, to see
the humble dwelling of the late John Woolman. I afterwards received from
John Cox a letter, from which I quote the following extract relating to
this remarkable man, whose character confers interest even on the most
trivial incidents of his life which can now be remembered:


    "Since our separation on the morning of the 31st ultimo, when my
    grandson accompanied thee to Mount Holly, I have been there, it
    having been previously reported that the ancient, humble dome,
    which passed under thy inspection as the residence of John
    Woolman, he never inhabited, though that he built the house (as
    Solomon built the temple,) is admitted. With a view to remove
    this erroneous impression, I sought and obtained an interview
    with the only man now living in the town, who was contemporary
    with John Woolman, (now eighty years of age,) and in habits of
    occasional intercourse with him. He informed me that John
    Woolman's daughter (an only child,) and her husband resided in
    the house when her father embarked for London, which was in the
    year 1772, as recorded in his journal. The fact of residence is
    corroborated by the circumstance of the search for and
    destruction of caterpillars in the apple orchard, which I think,
    was related to thee.

    "The sage historian of by-gone days, whom I met at Mount Holly,
    spake of his being at John Woolman's little farm, in the season
    of harvest, when it was customary, and so remains to the present
    time, for farmers to slay a young calf or a lamb; the common
    mode is by bleeding in the jugular vein; but with a view to
    mitigate the sufferings of the animal in that mode, he had
    prepared, and kept by him for that express purpose, a large
    block of wood with a smooth surface, and after confining the
    limbs of the animal, it was laid gently thereon, and the head
    severed from the body at one stroke."


While in this neighborhood, I made a call on Nathan Dunn, the proprietor
of the "Chinese collection." He resided many years at Canton, and since
his return has built himself a mansion in the Chinese style. His museum
of Chinese curiosities is by far the most extensive and valuable which
has ever been seen out of that country, and forms one of the most
attractive and instructive exhibitions in Philadelphia; one whose
character and arrangement are quite _unique_, and which has some
pretensions to the title of "China in miniature." It occupies the whole
of the lower saloon of that splendid building recently erected at the
corner of Ninth and George streets, by the Philadelphia Museum Company.
The visitor's notice is first attracted by a series of groups of
figures, representing Chinese of nearly every grade in society, engaged
in the actual business of life. The figures, in their appropriate
costume, are modeled in a peculiarly fine clay, by Chinese artists, with
exquisite skill and effect. All are accurate likenesses of originals,
most of whom are now living. The following enumeration of one of the
cases, expanded in the subsequent description, which I quote from the
catalogue, will give an idea of the manner in which Chinese life and
manners are illustrated:


    "CASE VIII.--_No_. 21. _Chinese Gentleman_.--22. _Beggar asking
    alms_.--23. _Servant preparing breakfast_.--24.
    _Purchaser_.--25. _Purchaser examining a piece of black silk.
    The proprietor behind the counter making calculations on his
    counting board_.--_Clerk entering goods_.--_Circular table, with
    breakfast furniture_.

    "This has been arranged so as to afford an exact idea of a
    Chinese retail establishment. Two purchasers have been placed by
    the counter: one of whom is scrutinizing a piece of black silk
    that lies before him. The owner, behind the counter, is
    carelessly bending forward, and intent on casting an account on
    the 'calculating dish,' while his clerk is busy making entries
    in the book, in doing which he shows us the Chinese mode of
    holding a pen, or rather brush, which is perpendicularly between
    the thumb and all the fingers. A servant is preparing breakfast.
    A circular eight-legged table, very similar to those used by our
    great grandfathers, is spread in the centre of the shop. Among
    its furniture, the ivory chopsticks are the most novel. On the
    visitor's right hand sits a gentleman, with a pipe, apparently a
    chance comer, 'just dropped in' about meal time; on the left, a
    blind beggar stands, beating two bamboo sticks against each
    other, an operation with which he continues to annoy all whom he
    visits, till he is relieved by some trifling gratuity, usually a
    single _cash_. A gilt image of Fo is inserted in the front part
    of the counter, and a small covered tub, filled with tea, with a
    few cups near by, standing on the counter, from which customers
    are always invited to help themselves.

    "The merchants and shop-keepers of Canton are prompt, active,
    obliging, and able. They can do an immense business in a short
    time, and without noise, bustle, or disorder. Their goods are
    arranged in the most perfect manner, and nothing is ever out of
    its place. These traits assimilate them to the more enterprising
    of the Western nations, and place them in prominent contrast
    with the rest of the Asiatics. It is confidently asserted by
    those who have had the best opportunities of judging, that as
    business men, they are in advance of Spanish, Italian, and
    Portuguese merchants.

    "There is a variety of amusing inscriptions on the scrolls hung
    up in the interior of some of the shops, which serve at the same
    time to mark the thrifty habits of the traders. A few specimens
    are subjoined:--'Gossipping and long sitting injure business.'
    'Former customers have inspired caution--no credit given.' 'A
    small stream always flowing.' 'Genuine goods; prices true.'
    'Trade circling like a wheel,' et cet."


In addition to the above models, the collection includes an almost
innumerable variety of specimens of the fine arts and manufactures,
comprising almost every article of use and luxury--furniture, modern and
antique porcelain, models houses, pagodas, boats, junks, and bridges;
pieces of silk, linen, cotton, grass-cloth, and other fabrics
manufactured in China for home consumption; books and drawings, costume,
idols, and appendages of worship; weapons, musical instruments, signs,
mottoes, and entablatures, and numerous paintings, which last, it is
justly observed, "will satisfy every candid mind that great injustice
has been done to the Chinese artists, in the notion hitherto entertained
respecting their want of skill. They paint insects, birds, fishes,
fruits, flowers, with great correctness and beauty; and the brilliancy
and variety of their colors cannot be surpassed. They group with
considerable taste and effect, and their perspective--a department of
the art in which they have been thought totally deficient--is often very
good."

Many of the paintings represent actual scenes and occurrences; and thus,
like the models before mentioned, bring living China before the mind's
eye. The following is a good example.


    "910. _View of the interior of the Consoo House, with the court
    in session, for the final decision of the charge of piracy
    committed by the crew of a Chinese junk on a French captain and
    sailors, at a short distance from Macao_.

    "The French ship, Navigatre, put in to Cochin China in distress.
    Having disposed of her to the government, the captain, with his
    crew, took passage for Macao in a Chinese junk belonging to the
    province of Fokien. Part of their valuables consisted of about
    100,000 dollars in specie. Four Chinese passengers bound for
    Macao, and one for Fokien, were also on board. This last
    apprised the Frenchmen in the best manner he could, that the
    crew of the junk had entered into a conspiracy to take their
    lives and seize their treasure. He urged that an armed watch
    should be kept. On reaching the Ladrone Islands, the poor Macao
    passengers left the junk. Here the Frenchmen believed themselves
    out of danger, and exhausted by sickness and long watching,
    yielded to a fatal repose. They were all massacred but one, a
    youth of about nineteen years of age, who escaped by leaping
    into the sea, after receiving several wounds. A fishing boat
    picked him up and landed him at Macao, where information was
    given to the officers of government, and the crew of the junk,
    with their ill-gotten gains, were seized, on their arrival at
    the port of destination in Fokien.

    "Having been found guilty by the court, in their own district,
    they were sent down to Canton, by order of the Emperor, to the
    Unchat-see, (criminal judge) to be confronted with the young
    French sailor. This trial is represented in the painting. The
    prisoners were taken out of their cages, as is seen in the
    foreground. The Frenchman recognized seventeen out of the
    twenty-four; but when the passenger, who had been his friend,
    was brought in, the two eagerly embraced each other, which scene
    is also portrayed in the painting. An explanation of this
    extraordinary act was made to the judge, and the man forthwith
    set at liberty. A purse was made up for him by the Chinese and
    foreigners, and he was soon on his way homeward. The seventeen
    _were_ decapitated, in a few days, in the presence of the
    foreigners; the captain, was to be put to a 'lingering death,'
    the punishment of traitors, and the stolen treasures were
    restored."


I do not quote the above for the sake of the anecdote, though the
relation is authentic, but as, affording a striking illustration of the
advanced civilization of the Chinese. It shows that the supremacy of the
law is universal, and its administration efficient. The criminals, in
this instance, are promptly seized, tried, and condemned on strong
evidence; but, before they are executed, reference is made to the
distant metropolis, Pekin. Here it is observed, that the most important
witness was not 'confronted with the prisoners,' and they are forthwith
directed to be conveyed to Canton, to be examined in his presence.
Seventeen are recognized by him and are executed. The rest escape. Now
this is just what might have taken place under the best ordered
governments of Europe. The humane maxims of British jurisprudence, if
not acknowledged in theory, may be here witnessed in practical
operation, and the single circumstance of referring capital convictions
to the Emperor, in his distant metropolis, for confirmation, before they
are carried into effect, shows a respect for human life, even in the
persons of criminals, which is one of the surest tokens of a high state
of civilization. Such is the criminal jurisprudence of China, in
practice; in theory, its just praise has been awarded, some years ago,
by an able writer in the Edinburgh Review. He says:--


    "The most remarkable thing in this code, is its great
    reasonableness, clearness, and consistency; the businesslike
    brevity and directness of the various provisions, and the
    plainness and moderation of the language in which they are
    expressed. It is a clear, concise, and distinct series of
    enactments, savoring throughout of practical judgment and
    European good sense. When we turn from the ravings of the
    Zendavesta, or the Puranas, to the tone of sense and of business
    of this Chinese collection, we seem to be passing from darkness
    to light--from the drivellings of dotage to the exercise of an
    improved understanding; and, redundant and minute as these laws
    are in many particulars, we scarcely know any European code that
    is at once so copious and so consistent, or that is nearly so
    free from intricacy, bigotry and fiction."


In addition to what have been noticed, the Chinese exhibition includes a
copious and very interesting collection of specimens of the natural
history of China.

I trust the extended notice I have given to the subject, will at least
prove that this is not an ordinary exhibition, but a representation of a
distant country and remarkable people, in which amusement is most
skilfully and philosophically made subservient to practical instruction.
A beneficent Creator has implanted within us a thirst for information
about other scenes and people. To be totally devoid of this feeling
would argue, perhaps, not merely intellectual but moral deficiency. Such
being the case, the founder of the "Chinese collection" deserves to be
regarded as a public benefactor, for, by spending a few hours in his
museum, with the aid of the descriptive catalogue, one may learn more of
the Chinese than by the laborious perusal of all the works upon them
that have ever been written.[A]

[Footnote A: While the above was passing through the press, I have
learned that this interesting Collection has arrived for exhibition in
this country.]

I cannot dismiss this subject without expressing my deep regret that the
British public should appear to view with indifference, or complacency,
the cruel and unjust war which our Government is now waging against this
highly cultivated and unoffending people, at the instigation of a
handful of men, who have acquired wealth and importance in the vigorous
pursuit of an immoral and unlawful traffic, by means the most criminal
and detestable. I have attempted, since my return from the United
States, to give some expression to my sentiments, in a letter which has
been widely circulated, and which will be found reprinted in the
Appendix.[A] I trust none under whose notice this subject may come will
endeavor to evade their share of responsibility. If the present war with
China were the sole consideration, perhaps no course would be left to
the Christian citizen, but to record his protest and mourn in silence;
but the conclusion of the war _per se_ would not terminate the
difficulty, for trade and mutual intercourse between the two countries,
_on the basis of a reciprocation of interests_, can never be restored
till the EAST INDIA COMPANY'S OPIUM TRADE, a traffic, like the slave
trade, hateful in the sight of God and man, is suppressed; or at least,
until British connection with it is severed; If asked who are the guilty
persons, I would say, in the first instance, the East India Company;
secondly, the opium smugglers; thirdly, the British government, and
lastly, the British people, who, by silent acquiescence, make the whole
guilt, and the whole responsibility their own.

[Footnote A: See Appendix G.]

The author of the most popular modern work on China, who long
superintended the interests of the British merchants at Canton, and
whose work, to a considerable extent, reflects their views, after
stating the increasing discouragements imposed by the authorities on
foreign commerce, the effect for the most part of opium smuggling, and
other lawless proceedings, observes:--"These (discouragements) are their
(the British merchants) real subjects of complaint in China; and
whenever the accumulation of wrong shall have proved, by exact
calculation, that it is more profitable, according to merely commercial
principles, to remonstrate than submit, these will form a righteous and
equitable ground of quarrel!!"[A]

[Footnote A: Davis's China and the Chinese, (Murray's Family Library,)
vol. i. p. 195.]

The remonstrance here alluded to is WAR, as is apparent from the context
of the passage, as well as from the fact, that by the author's own
showing no other kind of remonstrance remained to be tried. The true
"casus belli" is set forth by anticipation in this passage without
disguise, and by one who knew well, and has clearly described the causes
that were operating to produce a rupture. The opium merchants have
discovered that now, in the fulness of time, it is _profitable_ to go to
war with China, and forthwith the vast power of Great Britain, obedient
to their influence, is put in motion to sustain their unrighteous
quarrel, to the unspeakable degradation of the character of this
professedly Christian nation. The morality of the war on our side, is
the morality of the highwayman; that morality by which the strong in all
ages have preyed upon the weak. And though a handful of unprincipled men
find their account in it, before the people of Great Britain have paid
the expenses of the war, and the losses from derangement and
interruption of commerce, it will cost millions more than all the profit
that has ever accrued to them from the opium trade. From what motive
then, do we uphold a traffic, which is the curse of China, the curse of
India, and a calamity to Great Britain? Such a war may be fruitful in
trophies of military glory, if such can be gained by the slaughter of
the most pacific people in the world; but to expect that it will promote
the reputation, the prosperity, or the happiness of this country, would
be to look for national wickedness to draw down the Divine blessing. The
descriptive catalogue of the "Ten thousand Chinese things," concludes
with sentiments on this subject which do equal honor to the head and
heart of the writer.


    "Alas for missionary efforts, so long as the grasping avarice of
    the countries, whence the missionaries go, sets at nought every
    Christian obligation before the very eyes of the people whom it
    is sought to convert! Most devoutly do we long for the
    auspicious day, when the pure religion, that distilled from the
    heart, and was embodied in the life of Jesus, shall shed its
    sacred influence on every human being; but, in our inmost soul
    we believe it will not come, till the principles of religion
    shall take a firmer hold on the affections of those who profess
    to receive it, and rear a righteous embankment around their
    sordid and stormy passions. When the missionary shall find an
    auxiliary in the stainless life of every compatriot who visits
    the scene of his labors, for purposes of pleasure or of
    gain,--when he can point not only to the pure maxims and sublime
    doctrines proclaimed by the Founder of his faith, but to the
    clustering graces that adorn its professors,--then indeed will
    the day dawn, and the day star of the millennium arise upon the
    world."


During my short stay in Philadelphia on this occasion, I visited several
of its prisons, philanthropic institutions, et cet. These are
pre-eminently the glory of this beautiful city; yet as they have been
often described, I shall pass them by in silence, with the exception of
two, the Refuge, and the Penitentiary; which I briefly notice because I
may offer a few general remarks in another place, on the important
subject of prison discipline. The Refuge is an asylum for juvenile
delinquents, founded on the just and benevolent principle that offences
against society, committed by very young persons, should be disciplined
by training and education, rather than by punishment. In this
establishment there are from eighty to ninety boys, and from forty to
fifty girls, of ages varying from eight to twenty-one years. The former
are employed in various light handicraft trades, and the latter in
domestic services, and both spend a portion of their time in school.
They remain from six months to four years. From the statements of the
superintendent and matron, it appeared that about three-fourths of the
male, and four-fifths of the female inmates become respectable members
of society, and the remainder are chiefly such as are fifteen or sixteen
years of age when first admitted into the Refuge, an age at which
character may be considered as in a great measure formed. The labor of
the children pays about one-fifth of the expense of the establishment,
the rest being defrayed by the legislature.

The prejudice of color intrudes even here, no children of that class
being admitted into the Refuge. Colored delinquency is left to ripen
into crime, with little interference from public or private
philanthropy. As might have been expected, colored are more numerous
than white criminals, in proportion to relative population; and this is
appealed to as a proof of their naturally vicious and inferior
character; when in fact the government and society at large are
chargeable with their degradation.

The Penitentiary contained, at the time of my visit, about three hundred
and forty male, and thirty-five female prisoners. In this celebrated
prison, hard labor is combined with solitary confinement, an arrangement
which is technically known as the "separate system." Silence and
seclusion are so strictly enforced as to be almost absolute and
uninterrupted; even the minister who addresses the prisoners on the
Sabbath is known to them only by his voice. A marked feature of this
institution is security without the aid of any deadly weapon, none being
allowed in the possession of the attendants, or indeed upon the
premises. As compared with the "silent system," exhibited in the not
less famed prisons of the State of New York, this is much less
economical, as the mode of employing the prisoners, in their solitary
cells, greatly lessens the power of a profitable application of their
labor. If prisoners exceed their allotted task, one-half of their
surplus earnings is given to them on being set at liberty. My visit was
too cursory to enable me to give a decisive opinion on the "separate
system," but I confess my impression is, that the punishment is one of
tremendous and indiscriminating severity, and I find it difficult to
believe that either the safety of society, or the welfare of the
prisoner, can require the infliction of so much suffering. Criminals are
sometimes condemned for very long periods, or for life; and in these
cases, I was informed, occasionally manifested great recklessness and
carelessness of their existence. I am also not quite convinced that the
reformation of prisoners is effected to the extent sometimes inferred
from the small number of recommittals. A statistical conclusion cannot
be drawn from this datum, unsupported by other proofs.

On the 2d of the 6th Month, (June,) I proceeded to Wilmington, Delaware,
with my friend John G. Whittier. Here we met a company of warm-hearted
and intelligent abolitionists, with whom we discussed the prospects of
the cause. It was calculated that if compensation were conceded, to
which many would on principle object, a tax of less than one dollar per
acre would buy up all the slaves in the State for emancipation. It was
admitted by all, that the abolition of slavery would advance the price
of land in a far greater ratio; probably ten or twenty dollars per acre.

We went forward the same evening to Baltimore, accompanied by one of our
Wilmington acquaintance, and in the railway carriage was a member of the
Society of Friends from North Carolina, who, though a colonizationist,
appeared to be a man of candor. He gave it as his opinion that the
majority of the free people of that State are in favor of the abolition
of slavery. We also had the company, a part of the way, of Samuel E.
Sewall, Counsellor at Law, in Boston, an early and tried abolitionist,
and a faithful friend and legal adviser of the free people of color.

The next morning, we left Baltimore for Washington, two hours' ride by
railway. The railroads of this country being often extremely narrow, the
trains frequently pass almost close to the piers of the bridges and
viaducts, a circumstance which explains the following printed notice in
the carriages: "Passengers are cautioned not to put their arms, head, or
legs out of the window."

In passing from a free to a slave State, the most casual observer is
struck with the contrast. The signs of industry and prosperity on the
broad face of the country are universally in favor of the former, and
that to a degree which none but an eye witness can conceive. This fact
has been often noticed, and has been affirmed by slaveholders
themselves, in the most emphatic terms. In cities the difference is not
less remarkable, and was forcibly brought to our notice in the hotel at
which we took up our residence on arriving at Washington, and which,
though the first in the city, and the temporary residence of many
members of Congress, was greatly deficient in the cleanliness, comfort,
and order, which prevail in the well-furnished and well-conducted
establishments of New York, Philadelphia, Boston, &c. At this house, I
understood, some of the servants were free, and others slaves.

We were now in the District of Columbia, the seat of this powerful
Federal Government, and in the city of Washington, the metropolis of the
United States. Here are concentrated as it were into one focus, the
associations of the past, connected with the great struggle for
independence, and the memory of those names and events which already
belong to history. Whatever may be our political principles, or the
opinions of those who like myself consider all resort to arms as
forbidden under the Christian dispensation, it is impossible to recall
without emotion, transactions which have exerted and will continue to
exert, so marked an influence on the destinies of mankind. This city was
not the scene of those events, but it was erected to be a perpetual
monument of them, and in the limited district of ten miles square, in
which it stands, the Government which was then called into existence
reigns sole and supreme. If a stranger were to inquire here for the
monuments of the fathers of the Revolution, the American would proudly
point to the Capitol, with the national Congress in full session, and to
the levee of the President, crowded by free citizens, and
representatives of foreign nations. The United States were thirteen
dependent colonies, they are now twenty-six sovereign States, rich and
populous, covering the face of this vast continent, and compacted into
one powerful confederacy. But notwithstanding the glowing emotions which
seem naturally called forth by the locality, there is many an American
who bitterly feels that the District of Columbia is the shame, rather
than the glory of his country. Here is proclaimed to the whole world by
the united voice of the American people, "We hold these truths to be
self-evident--that all men are created equal; that they are endowed by
their Creator with certain inalienable rights--that among these are
life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness;" and here also by a
majority of the same people expressing their deliberate will, through
their representatives, this declaration is trampled under foot, and
turned into derision.[A]

[Footnote A: "Large establishments have grown up upon the national
domain, provided with prisons for the safe keeping of negroes till a
full cargo is procured; and should, at any time, the factory prisons be
insufficient, the public ones, erected by Congress, are at the service
of the dealers, and the United States Marshal becomes the agent of the
slave trade."--_Judge Jay's View of the action of the Federal Government
in behalf of Slavery_, _page_ 93. "But the climax of infamy is still
untold. This trade in blood,--this buying, imprisoning, and exporting of
boys and girls eight years old,--this tearing asunder of husbands and
wives, parents and children,--is all legalized, in virtue of authority
delegated by Congress!! The 249th page of the laws of the city of
Washington is polluted by the following enactment, bearing date 28th
July, 1838:--'For a _license_ to trade or traffic in slaves for profit,
four hundred dollars.'"--_Ibid_, _page_ 98.]

The District of Columbia is the chief seat of the American slave trade;
commercial enterprize has no other object! Washington is one of the best
supplied and most frequented slave marts in the world. The adjoining and
once fertile and beautiful States of Virginia and Maryland, are now
blasted with sterility, and ever-encroaching desolation. The curse of
the first murderer rests upon the planters, and the ground will no
longer yield to them her strength. The impoverished proprietors find now
their chief source of revenue in what one of themselves expressly
termed, their "crop of human flesh." Hence the slave-holding region is
now divided into the "slave-breeding," and "slave-consuming" States.
From its locality, and, from its importance as the centre of public
affairs, the District of Columbia has become the focus of this dreadful
traffic, which almost vies with the African slave trade itself in extent
and cruelty, besides possessing aggravations peculiarly its own.[A] Its
victims are marched to the south in chained coffles, overland, in the
face of day, and by vessels coastwise. Those who protest against these
abominations are the abolitionists; a body whose opinions are so
unpopular that no term of reproach is deemed vile enough for their
desert; yet if these should hold their peace, the very stones would
surely cry out. The state of things in this District has one peculiar
feature; being under the supreme local government of Congress, it
presents almost the only tangible point for the political efforts of
those hostile to slavery. Against slavery in any but their own States,
the abolitionists have neither the power nor the wish to exert that
constitutional interference which they rightfully employ in the States
of which they are citizens; but with respect to the District of
Columbia, they are, in common with the whole republic, responsible for
the exercise of political influence for the abolition of slavery within
its limits. Hence this is the grand point of attack. They have
experienced a succession of repulses, but their eventual success is
certain; the political influence of the slave-holding interest, which is
now paramount, and which controls and dictates the entire policy of the
general Government will be destroyed. Then will the abolition of
American slavery be speedily consummated.

[Footnote A: "Human flesh is now the great staple of Virginia, In the
legislature of this State, in 1833, Thomas Jefferson Randolph declared
that Virginia had been converted into 'one grand menagerie, where men
are reared for the market, like oxen for the shambles.' This same
gentleman thus compared the foreign with the domestic traffic: 'The
trader (African) receives the slave, a stranger in aspect, language and
manner, from the merchant who brought him from the interior. But _here_,
sir, individuals whom the master has known from infancy,--whom he has
seen sporting in the innocent gambols of childhood,--who have been
accustomed to look to him for protection,--he tears from the mother's
arms, exiles into a foreign country, among a strange people, subject to
cruel task-masters. In my opinion, it is much worse.'--Mr. Gholson, of
Virginia, in his speech in the legislature of that State, January 18,
1831, says: 'The master forgoes the service of the female slave, has her
nursed and attended during the period of her gestation, and raises the
helpless and infant offspring. The value of the property justifies the
expense; and I do not hesitate to say, that in its increase consists
much of our wealth.'--Professor Dew, now President of the College of
William and Mary, Virginia, in his review of the debate in the Virginia
legislature, 1831-3, speaking of the revenue arising from the trade,
says: 'A full equivalent being thus left in the place of the slave, this
emigration becomes an advantage to the State, and does not check the
black population as much as at first view we might imagine; because it
furnishes every inducement to the master to attend to the negroes, to
_encourage breeding_, and to cause the greatest number possible to be
raised. Virginia is, in fact, a negro-raising State, for other
States.'--Mr. C.F. Mercer asserted, in the Virginia Convention of 1829,
'The tables of the natural growth of the slave population demonstrate;
when compared with the increase of its numbers in the commonwealth for
twenty years past, that an annual revenue of not less than a million and
a half of dollars is derived from the exportation of a part of this
population.'"--_Judge Jay's View_, _pages_ 88, 89.]

Very soon after our arrival, we proceeded to the House of
Representatives, then sitting, and were favored, by introductions from a
member, with seats behind the Speaker's chair. The subject before the
House was, of course, peculiarly interesting to me, being the proposed
re-enactment of the "gag;" a rule of the House, by which petitions for
the abolition of slavery in the District of Columbia, are laid upon the
table, without being read or referred, and thus are virtually rejected.
One of the speakers, William Slade, of Vermont, who was opposed to the
"gag," told the pro-slavery members that they were greatly mistaken in
supposing that such a measure would suppress the anti-slavery feeling of
the country. They might, for a time, block up the Potomac, but it would
only be to direct its waters into a new channel; in the same way as the
rejection of anti-slavery petitions had resulted in the formation of a
third abolition political party, which was now regularly organized and
in the field. Having previously heard much of the virulence of the
pro-slavery members, I was particularly impressed with the silence and
attention with which they listened to this speech, and with the feeling
which seemed evidently to prevail, that the subject could no longer be
met with contempt and ridicule. One of the liberal members told me
afterwards, that they felt themselves in a different atmosphere to what
they did two years ago, both in the House and in the city, when touching
upon this subject. Before the debate closed, the House divided on the
question, whether ex-president Adams, the veteran defender of the
constitutional right of petition, and who had brought forward this
motion for the repeal of the "gag," was entitled to the right of reply.
This was decided in his favor, and the House adjourned till the
beginning of the following week.

In the afternoon, I proceeded, by a steam packet, with one of my
friends, to Alexandria, about six miles distant, on the other side of
the Potomac. A merchant, to whom I had an introduction, kindly
accompanied us to a slave-trading establishment there, which is
considered the principal one in the District. The proprietor was absent;
but the person in charge, a stout, middle-aged man, with a good-natured
countenance, that little indicated his employment, readily consented to
show us over the establishment. On passing behind the house, we looked
through a grated iron door, into a square court or yard, with very high
walls, in which were about fifty slaves. Some of the younger ones were
dancing to a fiddle, an affecting proof, in their situation, of the
degradation caused by slavery. There were others, who seemed a prey to
silent dejection. Among these was a woman, who had run away from her
master twelve years ago, and had married and lived ever since as a free
person. She was at last discovered, taken and sold, along with her
child, and would shortly be shipped to New Orleans, unless her husband
could raise the means of her redemption, which we understood he was
endeavoring to do. If he failed, they are lost to him for ever. Another
melancholy looking woman was here with her nine children, the whole
family having been sold away from their husband and father, to this
slave-dealer, for two thousand two hundred and fifty dollars. This
unfeeling separation is but the beginning of their sorrows. They will,
in all probability, be re-sold at New Orleans, scattered and divided,
until not perhaps two of them are left together. The most able-bodied
negro I saw, cost the slave-dealer six hundred and eighty-five dollars.

Our guide told us that they sometimes sent from this house from fifteen
hundred to two thousand slaves to the South in a year, and that they
occasionally had three hundred to four hundred at once in their
possession. That the trade was not now so brisk, but that prices were
rising. The return and profits of this traffic appear to be entirely
regulated by the fluctuations in the value of the cotton. Women are
worth one-third less than men. But one instance of complete escape ever
occurred from these premises, though some of the slaves were
occasionally trusted out in the fields. He showed us the substantial
clothing, shoes, &c., with which the slaves were supplied when sent to
the South; a practice, I fear, enforced more by the cupidity of the
buyers, than the humanity of the seller. Our informant stated, in answer
to inquiries, that by the general testimony of the slaves purchased,
they were treated better by the planters than was the case ten years
ago. He also admitted the evils of the system, and said, with apparent
sincerity, he wished it was put an end to.

We went afterwards to the city jail, to see a youth whose case I had
heard of in Delaware, who had come to Alexandria on board a vessel, and
had here been seized and imprisoned on suspicion of being a slave, not
having any document to prove his freedom. He had now been incarcerated
for near twelve months, and though admitted by the jailer and every one
else to be free, he was about to be sold in a few days into slavery for
a term, in order to pay the jail-fees, amounting to eighty dollars. In
the evening on returning to Washington, we paid a visit by appointment
to John Quincy Adams, ex-president of the United States; who though
considerably more than seventy years of age, is yet one of the most
assiduous and energetic members of the House of Representatives, and one
of the most influential public men of the day. To this must be added the
far higher praise that his distinguished powers are employed in the
service of humanity, truth, and justice. How rare is it to witness such
a union of intellectual and moral greatness! Posterity will do justice
to his fame, when slavery shall exist only in the records of the past,
and when it shall be related with wonder, that this venerable man,
standing almost alone in his defence of the right of petition, received
daily anonymous letters threatening him with assassination. He received
us very kindly, and in the course of conversation expressed how much
importance he attached to the late repeal of the "nine months law," in
the State of New York, as a favorable indication of the current of
public feeling. He did not appear sanguinely to anticipate that he
should be in a majority on his pending motion for the repeal of the
"gag."

One of the principal objects of my visit to Washington was to present an
Address to the President, from the Committee of the British and Foreign
Anti-Slavery Society. In the course of my inquiries of various official
persons, members of Congress, et cet., I found that to obtain an
audience for the express purpose would be very difficult, as no member
of Congress appeared willing to undertake the unpopular service of
introducing the bearer of such a document. I was not disposed to apply
to the British Ambassador, who on some occasions had shown a want of
sympathy with the anti-slavery cause. I found, however, that it was not
contrary to etiquette, in this country, for a private individual to
address a note to the President, to which, in ordinary courtesy,
according to the custom of the place, he has a right to expect a reply.
I would remark, however, that nothing is more easy than to gain access
to the President; but I felt that to avail myself of those facilities,
to place in his hands a document which he might object to receive, would
be uncandid. I therefore addressed a note to him, stating that I was the
bearer of a memorial from the Committee of the British and Foreign
Anti-slavery Society, signed by Thomas Clarkson, addressed to the
President of the United States, in which I said, "It may, perhaps, be
right to state, that the memorial refers to slavery and the slave-trade
in the United States, and that it was written before the death of
General Harrison was known in Europe." I then asked permission to
present it.

To this I received no reply. We were afterwards introduced to the
President, by a member of Congress, who evinced an anxiety that I should
make no reference to the memorial; and the President, on his part, made
no allusion to it, or to my letter to himself. After this interview, we
proceeded to the Senate, but it had risen just as we entered. I had a
short conversation with Henry Clay, who alluded to Joseph John Gurney's
work on the West Indies, which I need scarcely add, is written in a
series of letters to this statesman. He said that the recent short crop
of sugar in Jamaica was a proof that the author had been misled in the
favorable information he had collected, and also that this deficiency in
the crop was a proof not only of the idleness, but of the immorality of
the negroes. He accused my companion, John G. Whittier, of deserting
him, after having been his warm friend; and on J.W.'s giving his reasons
for so doing, he complained that the abolitionists improperly interfered
with the affairs of the South, though he made an exception in favor of
the Society of Friends. He inquired if J.G. Whittier was a "Friend" in
regular standing, evidently intimating a doubt on that point, on account
of his being so decided an abolitionist. The praise of such men is the
strongest testimony that could be adduced to the declension of the
Society of Friends in anti-slavery zeal. To a great extent I fear their
sentiments on this subject have been held traditionally; and that in
many cases, they have not only done nothing themselves, but by example
and precept have condemned the activity of others; I trust, however, a
brighter day in regard to their labors is approaching. I feel
disinclined to take leave of Henry Clay, without some animadversions
which, on the public character of a public man, I may offer without any
breach of propriety. In early life, that is in some part of the last
century, he supported measures tending to the "eradication of slavery"
in Kentucky, and at various periods since, he has indulged in cheap
declamation against slavery, though he is not known to have committed
himself by a solitary act of manumission. On the contrary, having
commenced life with a single slave, he has industriously increased the
number to upwards of seventy. As a statesman, his conduct on this
question has been consistently pro-slavery. He indefatigably negotiated
for the recovery of fugitive slaves from Canada, when Secretary of
State, though without success. In the Senate he successfully carried
through the admission of Missouri into the Union, as a slave State. He
has resisted a late promising movement in Kentucky in favor of
emancipation; and lastly, in one of his most elaborate speeches, made
just before the late presidential election, the proceedings of the
abolitionists were reviewed and condemned, and he utterly renounced all
sympathy with their object. By way of apology for his early
indiscretion, he observes, "but if I had been then, or were _now_, a
citizen of any of the planting States--the southern or southwestern
States--I should have opposed, and would continue to oppose, any scheme
whatever of emancipation, gradual or immediate."

In this extract, and throughout the whole speech, slavery is treated as
a pecuniary question, and the grand argument against abolition, is the
loss of property that would ensue. Joseph John Gurney, who appears to
have been favorably impressed by Henry Clay's professions of liberality,
his courteous bearing, and consummate address, manifested a laudable
anxiety that so influential a statesman should be better informed on the
point on which he seemed so much in the dark; he therefore addressed to
him his excellent "Letters on the West Indies," of which the great
argument is, that emancipation has been followed by great prosperity to
the planters, and attended with abundant blessings, temporal and
spiritual, to the other classes, and that the same course would
necessarily be followed by the same results in the United States. He has
accumulated proof upon proof of his conclusions supplied by personal and
extensive investigation in the British Colonies. But Henry Clay shews no
sign of conviction. Yet though he made to us the absurd remark, already
quoted, on Joseph John Gurney's work, I have too high an opinion of his
understanding to think him the victim of his own sophistry. He is a
lawyer and a statesman. He is accustomed to weigh evidence, and to
discriminate facts. I have little doubt that all my valued friend would
have taught him, he knew already. He could not be ignorant of the
contrast presented by his own State of Kentucky, and the adjoining State
of Ohio, and that the difference is solely owing to slavery. If J.J.
Gurney could have shewn that abolition would soon be the high road to
the President's chair, it is not improbable that he would have made an
illustrious convert to anti-slavery principles. Henry Clay's celebrated
speech before alluded to, was delivered in the character of a candidate
for the Presidency just before the last election--it was prepared with
great care, and rehearsed beforehand to a select number of his political
friends. The whig party being the strongest, and he being the foremost
man of that party, he might be looked upon as President-elect, if he
could but conciliate the south, by wiping off the cloud of abolitionism
that faintly obscured his reputation. He succeeded to his heart's desire
in his immediate object, but eventually, by this very speech, completely
destroyed his sole chance of success, and was ultimately withdrawn from
the contest. Thus does ambition overleap itself.[A]

[Footnote A: As a practical commentary on Henry Clay's professions of a
regard for the cause of human liberty, I append the following
advertisement, which, about two years ago, was circulated in Ohio:

    "THREE HUNDRED DOLLAR'S REWARD.

    "_Run away_ from James Kendall, in Bourbon County, Ky., to whom
    he was hired the present year, on Saturday night last, the 14th
    instant, a negro man, named Somerset, about twenty-six years of
    age, five feet, seven or eight inches high, of a dark copper
    color, having a deep scar on his right cheek, occasioned by a
    burn, stout made, countenance bold and determined, and voice
    coarse. His clothing it is thought unnecessary to describe, as
    he may have already changed it.

    "ALSO,

    "From E. Muir, of the same county, on the same night, (and
    supposed to have gone in company,) a negro man, named Bob, about
    twenty-nine years old, near six feet high, weighing about 180 or
    90 pounds, of a dark copper color, of a pleasant countenance,
    uncommonly smooth face, and a remarkable small hand for a negro
    of his size. He spells and reads a little. His clothing was a
    greenish jean coat and black cloth pantaloons.

    "We will give the above reward for the delivery of said negroes
    to the undersigned, or their confinement in jail, so that we get
    them; or 150 dollars for either of them, if taken out of the
    State, or 100 dollars for them, or 50 dollars for either, if
    taken out of the county, and in the State.

    "HENRY CLAY, Senior,

    "E. MUIR.

    "_Bourbon Co. Ky., Sept_. 17, 1839."

]

On leaving the Senate House, we drove to a slave-dealer's establishment,
near at hand, and within sight of the _Capitol_. I have given some
particulars of this visit elsewhere, which I need not repeat. I cast my
eye on some portraits and caricatures of abolitionists, British and
American, among whom Daniel O'Connell figured in association with Arthur
Tappan, and the ex-president Adams. The young man in charge of the
establishment began to explain them, for our amusement; on which, one of
my companions pointed to me, and informed him I was an English
abolitionist. He looked uneasy at our presence, and evidently desirous
we should not prolong our stay. He told us there were five or six other
dealers in the city who had no buildings of their own, and who kept
their slaves here, or at the public city jail, at thirty-four cents per
diem, the difference in comfort being wholly on the side of the private
establishments.

We subsequently visited the city jail, to which reference is made in the
letter below, and were able to confirm this statement from our own
observation.

We left for Baltimore this afternoon. Although I had not succeeded in
presenting the address before-mentioned to the President, I little
regretted the failure, being convinced that it would not be less
generally read by the public on that account, and in this I have not
been disappointed. I proceeded at once, the next morning, to
Philadelphia; and here I concluded to print and publish the following
letter, which, was sent, through the post, to the President, and to each
member of the Senate and House of Representatives.


    "_To the Abolitionists of the United States_.

    "I was commissioned by the committee of the British and Foreign
    Anti-Slavery Society, to present a memorial from them to your
    President, and proceeded to Washington, a few days ago,
    accompanied by John G. Whittier, of Massachusetts, and a friend
    from the State of Delaware.

    "It was my first visit to the seat of legislation of your great
    republic. On our arrival we went to the House of
    Representatives, then in session. A member from Maryland was
    speaking on our entrance, who was the author of a resolution,
    which had been carried in a former Congress, excluding nearly
    three millions of your countrymen, on whom every species of
    wrong and outrage is committed with impunity, from all right of
    petition, either by them selves or their friends. He was
    advocating the re-enactment of this very resolution for the
    present Congress, and stated that he had a letter from your
    President approving the measure. Although I believe I do not
    speak too strongly when I say an attempt to enforce such a
    resolution by any crowned head in the civilized world, would be
    inevitably followed by a revolution, yet it seemed evident that
    no small portion of your _present_ members were in favor of it.
    It was with no ordinary emotion that I saw the venerable
    ex-president Adams at his post, nobly contending against this
    violation of the rights of his countrymen, and I could not but
    regret that, with one or two exceptions, be appeared to find
    little support from his younger colleagues of the free States.

    "The same day we visited one of the well-known slave-trading
    establishments at Alexandria. On passing to it we were shewn the
    costly mansion of its late proprietor, who has lately retired on
    a large property acquired by the sale of native born Americans.
    In an open enclosure, with high walls which it is impossible to
    scale, with a strong iron-barred door, and in which we were told
    that there were sometimes from three to four hundred persons
    crowded, we saw about fifty slaves. Amongst the number thus
    incarcerated was a woman with nine children, who had been
    cruelly separated from their husband and father, and would
    probably be shortly sent to New Orleans, where they would never
    be likely to see him again, and where the mother may be for ever
    severed from every one of her children, and each of them sold to
    a separate master. From thence we went to the Alexandria city
    jail, where we saw a young man who was admitted to be free even
    by the jailer himself. He had been seized and committed in the
    hope that he might prove a slave, and that the party detaining
    him would receive a reward. He had been kept there nearly twelve
    months because he could not pay the jail fees, and instead of
    obtaining any redress for false imprisonment, was about to be
    sold into slavery for a term to reimburse these fees.

    "The next morning I was desirous of handing to the President the
    memorial, of which the following is a copy:


        "'_Address to the President of the United States, from
        the Committee of the British and Foreign Anti-Slavery
        Society_.

        "'SIR,--As the head of a great Confederacy of States,
        justly valuing their free constitution and political
        organization, and tenacious of their rights and their
        character, the Committee of the British and Foreign
        Anti-slavery Society, through their esteemed coadjutor
        and representative, Joseph Sturge, would respectfully
        approach you in behalf of millions of their fellow-men,
        held in bondage in the United States. Those millions are
        denied, not only the immunities enjoyed by the citizens
        of your great republic generally, and of the equal
        privileges and the impartial protection of the civil
        law, but are deprived of their personal rights, so that
        they cease to be regarded and treated, under your
        otherwise noble institutions, as MEN, except in the
        commission of crime, when the utmost rigor of your penal
        statutes is invoked and enforced against them; but are
        reduced to the degraded condition of "chattels personal
        in the hands of their owners and possessors, to _all
        intents, constructions, and purposes, whatsoever_."

        "'This is the language and the law of slavery; and under
        this law, guarded with jealousy by their political
        institutions, the slaveholders of the South rest their
        claims to property in man But, sir, there are claims
        anterior to all human laws, and superior to all
        political institutions, which are immutable in their
        nature,--claims which are the birthright of every human
        being, of every clime, and of every color,--claims which
        God has conferred, and which man cannot destroy without
        sacrilege, or infringe without sin. Personal liberty is
        among these, the greatest and best, for it is the root
        of all other rights, the conservative principle of human
        associations, the spring of public virtues, and
        essential to national strength and greatness.

        "'The monstrous and wicked assumption of power by man,
        over his fellow man, which slavery implies, is alike
        abhorrent to the moral sense of mankind; to the
        immutable principles of justice; to the righteous laws
        of God; and to the benevolent principles of the gospel.
        It is, therefore, indignantly repudiated by all the
        fundamental laws of all truly enlightened and civilized
        communities, and by none more emphatically than by that
        over which, Sir, it is your honor to preside.

        "'The great doctrine, that God hath "created all men
        equal, and endowed them with certain inalienable rights,
        and that amongst these are life, liberty, and the
        pursuit of happiness," is affirmed in your Declaration
        of Independence, and justified in the theory of your
        constitutional laws. But there is a stain upon your
        glory; slavery, in its most abject and revolting form,
        pollutes your soil; the wailings of slaves mingle with
        your songs of liberty; and the clank of their chains is
        heard, in horrid discord with the chorus of your
        triumphs.

        "'The records of your States are not less distinguished
        by their wise provisions for securing the order and
        maintaining the institutions of your country, than by
        their ingenious devices for riveting the chains, and
        perpetuating the degradation of your colored brethren;
        their education is branded as a crime against the
        State--their freedom is dreaded as a blasting
        pestilence--the bare suggestion of their emancipation is
        proscribed as treason to the cause of American
        independence.

        "'These things are uttered in sorrow; for the committee
        deeply deplore the flagrant inconsistency, so glaringly
        displayed between the lofty principles embodied in the
        great charter of your liberties, and the evil practices
        which have been permitted to grow up under it, to mar
        its beauty and impair its strength. But it is not on
        these grounds alone, or chiefly, that they deplore the
        existence of slavery in the United States. Manifold as
        are the evils which flow from it--dehumanizing as are
        its tendencies--fearful as its reaction confessedly is
        on its supporters,--the reproach of its existence does
        not terminate on the institutions which gave it birth:
        the sublime principles and benign spirit of Christianity
        are dishonored by it. In the light of Divine Truth it
        stands revealed, in all its hideous deformity, a crime
        against God,--a daring usurpation of the prerogative and
        authority of the Most High! It is as a violation of His
        righteous laws, an outrage on His glorious attributes, a
        renunciation of the claims of His blessed gospel, that
        they especially deplore the countenance and support it
        receives among you; and, in the spirit of Christian love
        and fraternal solicitude, would counsel its immediate
        and complete overthrow, as a solemn and imperative duty,
        the performance of which no sordid reasons should be
        permitted to retard--no political considerations
        prevent. Slavery is a sin against God, and ought,
        therefore, to be abolished.

        "'The utter extinction of slavery, and its sister
        abomination, the internal slave-trade of the United
        States, second only in horror and extent to the African,
        and in some of its features even more revolting, can
        only be argued, by the philanthropy of this country, on
        the abstract principles of moral and religious duty; and
        to those principles the people of your great republic
        are pledged on the side of freedom beyond every nation
        in the world!

        "'The negro, by nature our equal, made like ourselves in
        the image of his Creator, gifted by the same
        intelligence, impelled by the same passions and
        affections, and redeemed by the same Savior, is reduced
        by cupidity and oppression below the level of the brute,
        spoiled of his humanity, plundered of his rights, and
        often hurried to a premature grave, the miserable victim
        of avarice and heedless tyranny! Men have presumptuously
        dared to wrest from their fellows the most precious of
        their rights--to intercept as far as they may the bounty
        and grace of the Almighty--to close the door to their
        intellectual progress--to shut every avenue to their
        moral and religious improvement, to stand between them
        and their Maker! It is against this crime the committee
        protest as men and as Christians, and earnestly but
        respectfully call upon you, Sir, to use the influence
        with which you are invested, to bring it to a peaceful
        and speedy close; and, may you in closing your public
        career, in the latest hours of your existence on earth,
        be consoled with the reflection that you have not
        despised the afflictions of the afflicted, but that
        faithful to the trust of your high stewardship, you have
        been "just, ruling in the fear of the Lord," that you
        have executed judgment for the oppressed, and have aided
        in the deliverance of your country from its greatest
        crime, and its chiefest reproach.

        "'On behalf of the Committee,

        "'THOMAS CLARKSON.

        "'British and Foreign Anti-Slavery Society, for the
        Abolition of Slavery and the Slave-trade throughout the
        world.

        "'27, _New Broad Street, London, March 5th_, 1841.'


    "I thought it most candid to address a letter to the President
    informing him of the character of the foregoing memorial, rather
    than take advantage of a merely formal introduction to present
    it, without a previous explanation. To this letter no reply was
    received, and no allusion was made to it by the President at a
    subsequent introduction, which we had to him. It may be proper
    to mention in this connection, that memorials of a similar
    character, bearing upon slavery and the slave-trade, signed by
    the venerable Clarkson, have been presented to different Heads
    of Governments, in other parts of the world, and have been
    uniformly received with marked respect.

    "Previous to our departure, we visited a private slave-trading
    establishment in the city, and looked in upon a group of human
    beings herded together like cattle for the market, within an
    enclosure of high brick walls surrounding the jail. The young
    man in attendance, informed us that there were five or six other
    regular slave-dealers in the city, who, having no jails of their
    own, either placed their slaves at this establishment, or in the
    public CITY PRISON. The former was generally preferred, on
    account of its superior accommodations in respect to food and
    lodging. On my making some remarks to the young man on the
    nature of his occupation, he significantly, and as I think, very
    justly replied, that he knew of no reasons for condemning
    slave-traders, which did not equally apply to slave-holders. You
    will bear in mind that this was said within view of the Capitol,
    where slave-holders control your national legislation, and
    within a few minutes' walk of that mansion where a slave-holder
    sits in the presidential chair, placed there by your votes; and
    it is certainly no marvel, that, with such high examples in his
    favor, the humble slave-dealer of the District should feel
    himself in honorable company, and really regard his occupation
    as one of respectability and public utility.

    "From thence we proceeded to the city prison, an old and
    loathsome building, where we examined two ranges of small stone
    cells, in which were a large number of colored prisoners. We
    noticed five or six in a single cell, barely large enough for a
    solitary tenant, under a heat as intense as that of the tropics.
    The keeper stated that in rainy seasons the prison was
    uncomfortably wet. The place had to us a painful interest, from
    the fact that here Dr. Crandall, a citizen of the free States,
    was confined until his health was completely broken down, and
    was finally released only to find a grave, for the crime of
    having circulated a pamphlet on emancipation, written by one of
    the friends who accompanied me.[A] On inquiry of the keeper, he
    informed us that slaves were admitted into his cells, and kept
    for their owners at the rate of thirty-four cents per day, and
    that transfers of them from one master to another sometimes took
    place during their confinement; thus corroborating the testimony
    of the keeper of the private jail before mentioned, that this
    city prison, the property of the people of the United States,
    and for the rebuilding of which, a large sum of your money has
    been appropriated, is made use of by the dealers in human beings
    as a place of deposit and market; and thus you, in common with
    your fellow citizens, are made indirect participators in a
    traffic equal in atrocity to that foreign trade, the suppression
    of which, to use the words of your President in his late
    message, 'is required by the public honor, and the promptings of
    humanity.'

    [Footnote A: On being released from prison, Dr. Crandall went to
    Kingston, Jamaica, to recruit his health. A gentleman of that
    city, W. Wemyss Anderson, found him in his lodgings, solitary
    and friendless, and rapidly sinking under his disease. He took
    him, though a perfect stranger, into his own house; and the last
    days of Dr. Crandall were soothed by the kind sympathy and
    attentions of a Christian family. It was also manifest, that he
    enjoyed the sunshine of inward peace, and the rich consolations
    of the gospel. His kind host, whom I count it a privilege to
    call my friend, obeyed, in this instance, the apostolic
    injunction, and experienced the consequent reward, "Be not
    forgetful to entertain strangers, for thereby some have
    entertained angels unawares."]

    "As one who has devoted much of his humble labors to the cause
    you wish to promote, I perhaps shall be excused for thus stating
    these facts to you, as they all passed before my personal
    observation in the course of a few hours. I shall deem it right
    to publish them in Europe, where I am about shortly to return.
    Recollect, they all occurred and exist within the District of
    Columbia, and that those who elect the legislators who uphold
    the slave system, are justly responsible for it in the sight of
    God and man. Is it not all the natural consequence of your
    electing slave-holders and their abettors to the highest offices
    of your State and nation? Some of your most intelligent citizens
    have given it as their opinion that fully two-thirds of the
    whole population of the United States are in favor of the
    abolition of slavery; and my own observation, since I landed on
    these shores, not only confirms this opinion, but has convinced
    me that there is a very rapid accession to their numbers daily
    taking place; and yet we have the extraordinary fact exhibited
    to the world, that about two hundred and fifty thousand
    slave-holders--a large proportion of whom, bankrupt in fortune
    and reputation, have involved many of the North in their
    disgrace and ruin--hold in mental bondage the whole population
    of this great republic, who permit themselves to be involved in
    the common disgrace of presenting a spectacle of national
    inconsistency altogether without a parallel. I confess that,
    although an admirer of many of the institutions of your country,
    and deeply lamenting the evils of my own government, I find it
    difficult to reply to those who are opposed to any extension of
    the political rights of Englishmen, when they point to America
    and say, that where all have a control over the legislation but
    those who are guilty of a dark skin, slavery and the slave-trade
    remain not only unmitigated, but continue to extend; and that
    while there is an onward movement in favor of its extinction,
    not only in England and France, but even in Cuba and Brazil,
    American legislators cling to this enormous evil, without
    attempting to relax or mitigate its horrors. Allow me,
    therefore, to appeal to you by every motive which attaches you
    to your country, seriously to consider how far you are
    accountable for this state of things, by want of a faithful
    discharge of those duties for which every member of a republican
    government is so deeply responsible; and may I not express the
    hope that, on all future occasions, you will take care to
    promote the election of none as your representatives who will
    not _practically_ act upon the principle that in every clime,
    and of every color, 'all men are equal?'

    "Your sincere friend,

    "JOSEPH STURGE.

    "_Philadelphia, 6th Month 7th_, 1842."


This letter was extensively reprinted, not only in the anti-slavery but
in pro-slavery newspapers, both in the North and South. In the numerous
angry comments upon it, no attempt that has come to my knowledge was
made to deny any one of my statements. One of the papers intimates that
the vote by which the house soon after refused to adopt a specific and
exclusive rule against abolition petitions, was brought about by "the
sinister influence of Mr. Sturge." I need not add how happy I should
have been to have possessed the influence with which this writer has so
liberally invested me, and that I should have regarded it as a talent to
be employed and improved to the very utmost.

I spent from the 5th to the 11th of the Sixth Month, (June) in
Philadelphia and the vicinity, during which time, I made numerous calls,
and met several large parties in private.

During this stay, in company with John G. Whittier, I paid a visit to my
excellent friend, Abraham L. Pennock, at his residence in Haverford,
Delaware county, about ten miles from the city. He is an influential
member of the Society of Friends, and until recently he has been a
resident in the city. He has, for many years, been an uncompromising
abolitionist, and an active member and officer of anti-slavery
societies; yet he appears to enjoy the respect and confidence not only
of his anti-slavery associates, but of the Society of Friends, and the
community generally. I found him a warm advocate, in practice as well as
theory, of entire abstinence from the products of slave labor, as well
as of independent political action on the part of abolitionists. He
expressed much regret that he was unable to attend the General
Anti-Slavery Convention, in London, and gave his cordial approbation to
its proceedings.[A]

[Footnote A: See Appendix H.]

We reluctantly bade farewell to our kind friend and his interesting
family, all the members of which appear to share his zeal and untiring
devotion to the cause of the oppressed, and returned to our lodgings in
the city. Even now I look back to this visit as among the most grateful
recollections of my sojourn in the United States.

I may mention, in this connection, that A.L. Pennock, as well as others
with whom I conversed on the subject, spoke with much regret of the want
of faithfulness on the part of members of the Society of Friends, in
maintaining their testimony against slavery, while exercising their
civil rights as citizens and electors. From all I could learn, I have
been led to fear that "Friends" in the United States, with few
exceptions, are in the practice of voting for public officers, without
reference to their sentiments on the important subject of slavery. At
the late Presidential election it is very evident that the great body of
"Friends" who took any part in it, voted for John Tyler, the
slaveholder.

Among the active friends of emancipation, who occupy a high station in
our society, I can scarcely omit mentioning Enoch Lewis, of Chester
county, Pennsylvania, whose talents and literary acquirements, devoted
as they are, to the maintenance and promulgation of the principles and
Christian testimonies of our religious society, deservedly command a
high degree of respect.

Among the members of the society which have separated from "Friends" in
Philadelphia and elsewhere, I met with many warm and steady friends of
emancipation, some of whom have proved their sincerity by great
sacrifices. Amongst these I cannot omit mentioning James and Lucretia
Mott, James Wood, Dr. Isaac Parish, and Thomas Earle, of this city.

I republished in Philadelphia, with the permission of the author, in two
separate pamphlets, for distribution amongst those to whom it was
addressed, "A Letter to the Clergy of various Denominations, and to the
Slave-holding Planters in the Southern parts of the United States of
America, by Thomas Clarkson." This remarkable production was written
after its venerable author had attained his eightieth year, and has been
pronounced by a very competent judge the most vigorous production of his
pen. As its circulation had but just commenced when I left the United
States, I could not judge of the effect produced by this energetic
appeal from one whose name must command respect, even from the
slave-holders; but I have since been informed it has been read with
interest and attention.

I had several conferences with "Friends" who were interested in the
cause, to discuss the best mode of engaging the members of the Society
to unite their efforts on behalf of the oppressed and suffering slaves;
and though no immediate steps were resolved on, yet I found so much good
feeling in many of them, that I cannot but entertain a hope, that fruit
will hereafter appear. I had spent much of my time and labor in
Philadelphia, particularly among that numerous and influential body with
whom I am united in a common bond of religious belief, and I trust of
Christian affection. Of the kindness and hospitality I experienced I
shall ever retain a grateful recollection; yet I finally took my leave
of this city, under feelings of sorrow and depression that so many of
the very class of Christian professors who once took the lead in efforts
for the abolition of slavery, efforts evidently attended with the favor
and sanction of the Most High, should now be discouraging, and holding
back their members from taking part in so righteous a cause. Among the
warmest friends of the slave, sound both in feeling and sentiment, are a
few venerable individuals who are now standing on the brink of the
grave, and whose places, among the present generation, I could not
conceal from myself, there were but few fully prepared to occupy. I had
found in many Friends much passive anti-slavery feeling, and was to some
extent cheered by the discovery. May a due sense of their responsibility
rest upon every follower of Christ, to remember them that are in bonds,
and under affliction, not only with a passive, but with an active and
self-denying sympathy, a sympathy that makes common cause with its
object.

Apart from the fact, that Philadelphia is one of the most beautiful
cities in the world, to a member of the Society of Friends it must ever
be an object of peculiar interest. Here William Penn made his great
experiment of a Christian government. Here, to the annual assemblies of
Friends, came Warner Mifflin, and John Woolman, and James Pemberton, and
George Dillwyn, and other worthies of the past, who have now gone from
works to rewards. A few miles distant, in Frankford, is still to be seen
the residence of the excellent Thomas Chalkley. Here Benezet
exemplified, in the simplicity, humility, and untiring benevolence of
his daily life, the lessons inculcated in his writings. And here, at
this day, are a larger number of members of our religious society than
can be found congregated elsewhere, within an equal space of territory.
They are, in general, in easy circumstances, many of them wealthy, and
occupying a high rank in the community.

Who can recur, without a lively feeling of interest, to the hopes and
prayers of the benevolent founder of the city, as expressed in affecting
terms in his farewell letter, written as he was about taking his final
departure for England.


    "And thou, Philadelphia, the virgin settlement of this province,
    named before thou wert born, what love, what care, what service,
    and what travail has there been to bring thee forth, and
    preserve thee from such as would defile thee! Oh, that thou
    mayest be kept from the evil that would overwhelm thee! that
    faithful to the God of Mercies, in a life of righteousness, thou
    mayest be preserved to the end!"


On the 11th, with John G. Whittier, I left for New York, and the next
day we proceeded by steam packet to Newport, on Rhode Island, to attend
the New England yearly meeting of the Society of Friends, which was to
be held the next week. We arrived about seven o'clock in the morning. I
found the change of climate particularly refreshing and agreeable.
During the last fortnight, the range of the thermometer had frequently
reached 94 degrees or 96 degrees in the shade: a tropical heat, without
those alleviations which render the heat of the tropics not only
tolerable, but sometimes delightful. In Rhode Island, the climate, while
we were there, was almost as temperate as an English summer.

Some parts of the New England States are much resorted to by southern
families of wealth; and their annual migrations have the effect of
materially adding to the vast amount of complicated pro-slavery
interests which exist in the free States, as well as of diffusing
pro-slavery opinions and feelings throughout the entire community. We
may hope this current will soon set in the opposite direction. The
season was too early for the arrival of these visitors, and the hotels
were generally filled with "Friends," collected from near and distant
places, to attend the yearly meeting. There were upwards of a hundred
boarding at the same house with ourselves. Soon after our arrival I
addressed a letter, making the same application for the use of the
meeting house for my friend, John Candler, who was also here, and
myself, which had been complied with at New York, forwarding at the same
time my credentials. My request, however, in this instance was not
granted. Yet there was plainly a willingness on the part of many to
receive information, and we caused it to be known that we should be at
home at our hotel, on the evening of the sixteenth. About two hundred
friends assembled, and appeared interested in a brief outline of the
state and prospects of the cause in Europe which I endeavored to give
them.

The subject of slavery was brought before the yearly meeting by a
proposition from one of its subordinate, or "quarterly meetings," to
encourage more action, on the part of the society, for its abolition. A
proposal was immediately made, and assented to without discussion, that
the consideration of it should be referred to a committee. On the
reading of the address on slavery from the London yearly meeting, it
was, in like manner, immediately proposed and agreed to, that it should
be referred to the same committee. At a subsequent sitting, this
committee reported, that they should recommend the whole subject to be
left under the care of their "Meeting for Sufferings," which was
adopted. With the exception of reading the documents, and going through
the necessary forms of business, these proceedings passed almost in
silence; yet, in the several epistles drawn up to be forwarded to the
other yearly meetings, allusion was made to the deep exercise of Friends
at this meeting, on the subject of slavery, and their strong desire and
wish to encourage others to embrace every right opening for promoting
its abolition; with a plain intimation, however, in their epistle to
Great Britain, of their disapproval of Friends uniting with any of the
anti-slavery associations of the day. These passages in the epistles
passed without remark or objection. The Meeting for Sufferings, of Rhode
Island, has thus virtually undertaken to do, or at least to originate,
all that is to be done, during the present year, by Friends of New
England, to help the helpless, and to relieve the oppressed slaves.
Sincerely do I desire, that it may not incur the responsibility of
neglecting so solemn a charge. I subsequently met, on board the steamer
in which we left Newport, many members of this body; with one of whom I
had some conversation, in the presence of other Friends, to whom I felt
it right to state, that the declarations of sympathy for the slaves, in
the epistles which had been sent out, were stronger, in my judgment,
than was justified by any thing which had been expressed, or had been
manifested, in the Yearly Meeting. This conviction I yet retain. I
afterwards obtained some authentic extracts from the laws of Rhode
Island, affecting the people of color, and under which slavery is very
distinctly recognized and sanctioned, even in this _free_ State. I felt
it my duty to forward a copy of these to the "Meeting for Sufferings,"
accompanied by the following letter:--


    "_To the Meeting for Sufferings of New England_

    _Yearly Meeting of Friends._

    "On passing through Providence, from the Yearly Meeting at Rhode
    Island, a solicitor of that place kindly furnished me with the
    annexed extracts from the laws of the State of Rhode Island. I
    thought it best to send a copy to you, as it is probable some
    members of your meeting may not be aware of their precise
    nature; and it is a source of regret to me, and I know it will
    be so to my friends in England, to know that in the State in
    which your Yearly Meeting is held, slavery is fully legalized,
    if the slaves are the property of persons not actually citizens
    of that place;--the most odious distinctions of color also
    remain on the statute book, including one (Section 10, No. 2,)
    which is a disgrace to any civilized community. I may add, that
    two very respectable solicitors in Providence expressed their
    decided opinion, that if Friends heartily promoted the repeal of
    these obnoxious laws, which throw all the moral influence of the
    State on the side of slavery, it might easily be accomplished. I
    cannot but hope the subject will receive your prompt attention.

    "Truly your friend,

    "JOSEPH STURGE."


To soften the impression which I fear the preceding detail will give, I
may remark, that I am convinced, from extensive private communication
with Friends in New England, that there is yet among them much genuine
anti-slavery feeling, especially where the deadening commercial
intercourse with the South does not operate; and though, at present,
with some bright individual exceptions, this is a talent for the most
part hidden or unemployed, I trust that many faithful laborers in this
great cause will yet be found among them.

During our stay in Rhode Island, we twice visited Dr. Channing, at his
summer residence, a few miles from Newport. The delicacy which ought
ever to protect unreserved social intercourse, forbids me to enrich my
narrative with any detail of his enlightened and comprehensive
sentiments; yet I cannot but add, that, widely differing from him as I
do, on many important points, I was both deeply interested and
instructed by his modest candor and sincerity, and by the spirit of
charity with which he appeared habitually to regard those of opposite
opinions. Our conversation embraced various topics. I may be allowed to
mention, that he highly approved of Judge Jay's suggestion for the
promotion of permanent international peace. He also made a practical
suggestion on the anti-slavery movement, which I trust will be acted
on--That petitions should be sent to Congress, praying that the free
States should be relieved from all direct or indirect support of
slavery. As the South has loudly complained of Northern interference,
this will be taking the planters on their own ground.

Sixth Month, (June) 19th.--We went on to New Bedford, where, the next
day, we called on a number of persons friendly to abolition, and met a
large party of them the same evening, at the house of a Friend. A public
meeting for worship was appointed during our stay, at the request of a
minister of the Society of Friends from Indiana, which we attended. I
had the pleasure of witnessing the colored part of the audience, placed
on a level, and sitting promiscuously with the white, the only
opportunity I had of making such an observation in the United States;
as, on ordinary occasions, the colored people rarely attend Friends'
meetings. One of the waiters at our hotel told me he had escaped from
slavery some years before. The idea of running away had been first
suggested to his mind, by reflecting on his hard lot, being over-worked,
and kept without a sufficiency of food, and cruelly beaten, while his
owner was living in luxury and idleness, on the fruits of his labor. He
had been flogged for merely speaking to one of his master's visitors, in
reply to a question, because it was suspected he had divulged matter
that his master did not wish the stranger to know.

On the 21st, we arrived at Boston, and stopped at the Marlborough hotel.
One of the first things noticed by a visitor to the States is the number
and extent of the hotels, almost all of which are on the principle of
the English boarding houses. Besides the number of casual visitors in a
population which travels from place to place, perhaps more than any
other in the world, the hotels are the permanent homes of a numerous and
important class of unmarried men, engaged in business, and often indeed
of young married persons, who choose to avoid expense and the cares of
housekeeping. At many, if not most of the hotels, cleanliness,
regularity, and order, pervade all the arrangements, and as much comfort
is to be found as is compatible with throng and publicity. Still the
domestic charm of private life is wanting, and its absence renders the
system of constant residence most uncongenial to English habits and
feelings. An unsocial reserve lies on the surface of English character,
and the love of privacy, or at least of a retirement which can be closed
and expanded at will, is an extensive and deep-seated feeling. Yet the
Anglo-American, even of the purest descent, has early lost the latter
characteristic, while he often retains the first unimpaired. What law
governs the hereditary transmission of such traits? Several first rate
hotels in New England are strictly on the temperance plan, and among
them is the Marlborough, in Boston, the second in extent of business in
this important city, and which makes up from one hundred to two hundred
beds. No intoxicating liquor of any kind can be had in the house.
Printed notices are also hung up in the bed rooms, that it is the
established rule to take in no fresh company and to receive no accounts
on the first day of the week, and the cooking and other preparations are
as much as possible performed before hand, that the servants may enjoy
the day of rest, and partake of the moral and Spiritual benefit of a
weekly pause from the whirl and turmoil of secular engagements.

I had scarcely ventured to hope that I should ever witness a large hotel
like this, conducted on such principles; but having now seen it, it adds
additional strength to my conviction, that in proportion as Christianity
is carried out in common life, in the same proportion is the lost
happiness of man recovered. Too many in the present day, who are not
behind-hand in profession, keep their principles more for show than use.
They acknowledge the purity of them, and have some faint perception of
their moral beauty, but secretly believe, and sometimes, openly avow
them to be impracticable in the present state of the world. They who
exhibit proof of the contrary, are benefactors to their fellow men; and
among these, justly deserves to be classed Nathaniel Rogers, the
proprietor of the Marlborough Hotel, in Boston.

We called upon several of our anti-slavery friends on the day of our
arrival, and in the evening, took tea with a number of those who approve
of the proceedings of the London Convention, and who concur in the
principles of the British and Foreign Anti-Slavery Society. The subjects
discussed were the time and place of a future convention of the friends
of the slave of different nations. London was unanimously approved as
the place, and the preponderance of sentiment was in favor of 1842 as
the time.

On the 22d we went on to Lynn. Here are a very considerable number of
the Society of Friends, who are desirous of taking part in active
anti-slavery exertion, when they can do so without compromise of
principle. It is greatly to be regretted that in this vicinity, a few
individuals, formerly members of our religious society, have embraced,
in connection with their abolition views, the doctrines of
non-resistance, or non-government, in church and state, and thus greatly
added to the difficulties in the way of efficient action on the part of
consistent members; but whatever may be the errors and indiscretions of
these individuals, they furnish no valid excuse for the apathy and
inaction on the part of "Friends," nor lessen, in the slightest degree,
their responsibility for the firm and faithful maintenance of our
Christian testimony against oppression. We proceeded, the same evening,
to Amesbury, where the family of my friend and companion John G.
Whittier reside, in whose hospitable and tranquil retreat we remained
till the 25th. Here I found myself in a manufacturing district, and paid
a visit to a large woollen mill, and was much pleased with the
cleanliness and order displayed, and with the evident comfort and
prosperity of the working people, who are chiefly young women, none of
whom are admitted under sixteen years of age. Any person given to
intoxication would be instantly discharged. All the manufactories in
this place are joint-stock companies, and the mills are worked by water
power, of which there is an abundant supply.

I had agreed, on my return to Boston, to meet my abolition friends at a
tea party, and found an entertainment provided from the Marlborough
Hotel, in a large room adjoining one of the chapels, on a scale of great
profusion, a little to my disappointment, as I had anticipated one of a
social rather than of a public character, though I could not but feel
the kindness which it was intended to manifest. Charles Stewart Renshaw,
from Jamaica, was opportunely present, and his information on the state
of that Island added much interest to the evening, the proceedings of
which, I hope, gave pretty general satisfaction. In condescension to my
wish, my valued friend, Nathaniel Colver, suggested to the company to
dispense with the usual form of public prayer, and substitute an
interval of silence, after the reading of a portion of scripture, which
was kindly complied with.

Before leaving Boston, I had a long interview with William Lloyd
Garrison. His view of "women's rights" is so far a matter of conscience
with him, as to be made an indispensable term of union; yet though
widely differing on this, and other important points, we parted, I
trust, as we met, on personally friendly terms; and certainly on my part
with a desire to promote a spirit of forbearance, and with a deeper and
stronger conviction that the friends of the bleeding and oppressed
slave, should not spend their strength in unprofitable contention upon
points in regard to which both parties claim to act conscientiously,
while the common cause requires their undivided energies.

On the 28th I left Boston for the beautiful town of Worcester, about
forty miles distant, on the principal line of railway to New York, where
I had the pleasure of visiting, at his own residence, my friend, Cyrus
P. Grosvenor, one of the delegates to the Anti-Slavery Convention last
year. There are here a considerable number of sincere abolitionists, of
whom we met a small company in the evening, in a room used as the
Friends' meeting house. I gave them a brief account of the state of the
anti-slavery cause in other parts of the world. In company with John M.
Earle, editor of one of the Worcester papers, with whom I had formed a
previous acquaintance at the Yearly Meeting, I also called on the
Governor of the State of Massachusetts, who resides in this place. We
had some friendly conversation, but he seemed cautious on the subject of
abolition. The temperance cause in Worcester has made so much progress
that at the three largest and best hotels, which make up nearly one
hundred beds each, no intoxicating liquor of any kind is sold. A people
thus willing to carry out their convictions, to the sacrifice of
prejudice, appetite, and apparent self-interest, cannot long remain a
nation of slave-holders. In common with the rest of New England, this
town is remarkable for the number, size, and beauty of its places of
worship. I calculated, with the aid of a well-informed inhabitant, that
if the entire population were to go to a place of worship, at the same
hour, in the same day, there would be ample accommodation, and room to
spare. Yet here there is no compulsory tax to build churches, and
maintain ministers. By the efficacy of the voluntary principle alone is
this state of things produced.

My dear friend, John G. Whittier returned home from Worcester on account
of increased indisposition, while I proceeded alone to New York. The
journey from Boston to the latter city is a remarkably pleasant one.
Leaving Boston at four in the afternoon, we proceed on one of the best
railways in the States, at the rate of upwards of twenty miles an hour,
through a very beautiful and generally well cultivated country, to the
city of Norwich, in the State of Connecticut, where the train arrives
about eight in the evening, and the passengers immediately embark on a
handsome steamer, for New York, enjoying, as long as daylight lasts, the
fine scenery on the banks of the Thames. The night I went was moonlight;
and, after long enjoying the coolness of the evening on deck, the
company retired to their berths, and arrived at New York at the
seasonable hour of six the following morning.

I remained in New York until the 7th of the Seventh Month (July). My
friends, William Shotwell and wife, had left the city during the hot
months, but very kindly placed their town house at my service, and I
found the retirement thus at my command both refreshing and very
serviceable, in enabling me to bring up arrears of writing. During this
interval, I spent one very pleasant day with Theodore and Angelina
Grimke Weld, and their sister, Sarah Grimke, who reside on a small farm,
a few miles from Newark. To the great majority of my readers these names
need no introduction; yet, for the benefit of the few, I will briefly
allude to their past history. When the American Anti-Slavery Society was
formed, in 1833, Theodore D. Weld was at the Lane Seminary, near
Cincinnati, Ohio. He was unable to attend on that occasion, but wrote a
letter, declaring his entire sympathy with its object. Soon after,
through the influence and exertions of himself and Henry B. Stanton, a
large majority of the students at Lane Seminary, comprising several
slave-holders and sons of slave-holders, became members of an
Anti-Slavery Society. The Faculty opposed the formation of this society,
and finally expelled its members from the seminary. For two or three
years after, Theodore Weld was engaged in anti-slavery effort,
principally in the States of Ohio and New York. His voice failed at
last, and for several years he was unable to address a public assembly.
Angelina Grimke Weld, and her sister, Sarah Grimke, were natives of
South Carolina, the daughters of a distinguished Judge of that State;
for several years they resided in Philadelphia. Having long felt a deep
interest in the condition of the slaves, in the year 1837 they, in
accordance with what they believed to be a sense of religious duty,
visited New York and New England, to plead the cause of those, with
whose sorrows, degradation, and cruel sufferings, they had been familiar
in their native State. They are evidently women of superior endowments,
kind-hearted and energetic, and still retain something of the warmth and
fervor of character peculiar to the South.

Few, even of the well informed abolitionists of England, have an
adequate idea of the extent, variety, and excellence of the anti-slavery
literature of the United States, or of the amount of intellectual power
which has been willingly consecrated to this service. Of the cause
itself, with all its exigencies, we may adopt, in a yet more limited
sense, the sentiment of the Christian poet, on the transient nature of
all sublunary things,

  "These, therefore, are occasional, and pass."


The time approaches when the shackles of the slave will fall off--when
his suffering and despairing cry will be no more heard. Slavery itself
is a temporary exigency; but its removal has called, and will yet call
forth, works bearing the impress of intellectual supremacy, which will
be embodied in the permanent literature of the age, and will contribute
to raise the character, and to extend the reputation, of that
literature. The names of Channing, Jay, Child, Green, and Pierpont, are
already their own passport to fame. Other names might be mentioned; but,
one instance excepted, selection might be invidious. That exception is
Theodore D. Weld, whose palm of superiority few would be disposed to
contest. His principal works are, "The Bible against Slavery;" "Power of
Congress over Slavery in the District of Columbia;" and "Slavery as it
is."

All his writings are marked by varied excellence; yet their chief
characteristic is an irresistible and overwhelming power of argument.
Although brief and compressed in style, he exhausts his subject; and his
two principal works, though on warmly controverted topics, have never
been replied to. He would be a bold antagonist who should enter the
lists against him: he would be a yet bolder ally who should attempt to
go over the same ground, or to do better what has been done so well.

One of the most voluminous and popular writers that ever lived, observed
to a friend, "that he was more proud of his compositions for manure,
than of any other compositions with which he had any concern." My
friend, has the same love of rural occupations, and has found severe
manual labor essential for the recovery of health, broken by labor of
another kind. I found him at work on his farm, driving his own wagon and
oxen, with a load of rails. When he had disposed of his freight, we
mounted the wagon, and drove to his home. Two or three of his
fellow-students at the Lane Seminary arrived about the same time, and we
spent the day in agreeable, and, I trust, profitable intercourse. In the
household arrangements of this distinguished family, Dr. Graham's
dietetic system is rigidly adopted, which excludes meat, butter, coffee,
tea, and all intoxicating beverages. I can assure all who may be
interested to know, that this Roman simplicity of living does not forbid
enjoyment, when the guest can share with it the affluence of such minds
as daily meet at their table. The "Graham system," as it is called,
numbers many adherents in America, who are decided in its praise.

My friends, Theodore D. and Angelina Weld, and Sarah Grimke, sympathize,
to a considerable extent, with the views on "women's rights," held by
one section of abolitionists; yet they deeply regret that this, or any
other extraneous doctrine, should have been made an apple of discord;
and, since the rise of these unhappy divisions, they have held aloof
from both the anti-slavery organizations, though, as among the most able
and successful laborers in the field, they may justly be accounted
allies by each party. Difference of opinion on these points did not, for
a moment, interrupt the pleasure of our intercourse; and I could not but
wish, that those, of whatever party, who are accustomed to judge harshly
of all who cannot pronounce their "shibboleth," might be instructed by
the candid, charitable, and peace-loving deportment of Theodore D. Weld.

During my visit to New York, I became acquainted with many who were
deeply interested in the abolition cause, not a few of whom were members
of my own religious society. Among these, I may particularly mention my
venerable friends, Richard Mott and Samuel Parsons. I paid a second
visit to the residence of the latter at Flushing, but regret to say, I
found him too unwell to enjoy company.[A] His sons are anxiously
desirous of furthering the abolition cause on every suitable occasion.
One evening I spent with a respectable minister, who is a man of color,
and who assured me that most of the intelligent persons of his class in
New York approve of the course pursued by the late Convention in London,
and the Committee of the British and Foreign Anti-Slavery Society. I saw
at his house a man who had purchased his freedom for twelve hundred
dollars, intending to remain in the same State, but, as in a precisely
similar case already noticed, he afterwards found he had no alternative
but to emigrate, leaving his still enslaved family behind him, or to be
again sold into slavery himself, under the laws enacted to drive out
free people of color. He was trying to raise the large sum of fourteen
hundred dollars, to purchase his wife and four children.

[Footnote A: This illness terminated fatally. One of his intimate
friends in this country, has favored me with the following communication
respecting him. "Samuel Parsons had been from early life, a warm friend
to the African race; his love of peace rendered him at the first
accessible to prejudice against the American Anti-Slavery Society,
through the misrepresentations respecting its violent and rash measures;
which misrepresentations it was much more easy to believe than to
investigate. Yet his interest for the negro and colored population of
the United States continued, and he extended acts of protection and
kindness towards them, whenever opportunity for it was afforded. In the
Eleventh Month, last year, I find the following paragraph in one of his
letters to us, viz. 'Though sensible that I am drawing towards the close
of time, I cannot avoid taking a deep interest in the moral reformation,
relative to slavery and intemperance, which is progressing in the earth;
my son Robert and I look at these publications as they appear, with deep
solicitude. The proceedings of the Anti-Slavery Convention of the world,
and its movements, are of great moment to the whole civilized world. The
anti-slavery cause, has not, I fear, advanced much the last year; the
separation in the National Society, and the truckling to the South of
the politicians of both sides, during the late Presidential election,
has for a time marred the work; but the anti-slavery banner of a third
party is still displayed, and it will probably continue to nominate till
it seriously influences the elections. In the mean time, the individual
States, one after another, are freeing the colored people from part of
their civil disabilities. A hard battle is to be fought, but mighty is
truth, and must prevail.'"]

"The fourth of July," the anniversary of the independence of the United
States, fell this year on the first day of the week, and was therefore
celebrated the day following. It is still marked by extravagant
demonstrations of joy, and often disgraced by scenes of intemperance and
demoralization. The better part of the community wisely counteract the
evil, to a great extent, by holding, on the same day, temperance
meetings, school examinations, opening their places of worship, et cet.
I accompanied my friend Lewis Tappan to attend an anti-slavery meeting
at Newark, in which Theodore Weld was expected to take a part for the
first time after an interval of five years' discontinuance of public
speaking. Several years before, he had been carried away by the stream
in crossing a river, and had very narrowly escaped drowning. This
accident caused an affection of the throat, and eventually disqualified
him for public labor except with the pen, to which, though deemed a
great loss at the time by his fellow-laborers in the anti-slavery cause,
we probably owe the invaluable works before referred to. It was on the
same anniversary, five years ago, that he had spoken last, a
circumstance to which he made a touching allusion: he spoke very
impressively for more than half an hour without serious inconvenience,
and I hope it may please Providence to restore his ability to plead, as
he was wont to do with great power, for the cause of the oppressed.

In the afternoon there was a public examination of the scholars
belonging to the place of worship in which the preceding meeting was
held, and in connection with this a little incident occurred, which may
serve to illustrate the state of public feeling. Newark, from its
extensive trade with the south, is much under pro-slavery influence. But
the congregation of this chapel are generally anti-slavery, and have
several colored children in their school. One of these, a little black
girl, was qualified to take part in the public examination; but this, in
the estimation of some of the parents of white scholars, and several
even of the trustees, could not be borne. Others, on the contrary,
resolved to battle with the prejudice of caste, and to call for her, if
she were not brought forward; and, finally, I suppose, by way of
compromise, she was brought on the platform to recite alone, after the
little scholars who could rejoice in the aristocratic complexion had
performed their parts, without suffering the indignity of a public
association with a colored child. Even this was, however, considered a
victory by the anti-prejudice party.

I left on the seventh for Niagara, being desirous to see the celebrated
Falls, and to visit some friends living in the western part of this
State, as well as to find relief from the oppressive and tropical heat.
I hoped also to fall in with my friends and fellow laborers, J. and M.
Candler, who had gone with a party in the same direction. I need not
describe a route so often traversed by Europeans. One of its agreeable
incidents was an accidental meeting with John Curtis, of Ohio, on his
way, on a free trade mission, to Great Britain, from motives which I
believe to be disinterested and philanthropic. His labors, which are
principally intended to show the evils of our taxes upon food, will not
be in vain; though he will find many in England, as I found in America,
who have no ear for truth when it opposes their prejudices or imaginary
self-interest. He gave me a most cheering account of the march of
abolition in Ohio, and said he had lately attended a meeting held at the
invitation of the abolitionists, on the 5th of July, at which there were
three thousand persons, who had come to the place of meeting in nine
hundred vehicles of different kinds. He said he had never witnessed a
more enthusiastic meeting. Another gentleman and his wife made
themselves known to me, in the railway carriage, as warm abolitionists,
and spoke favorably of the prospects of the cause in this part of the
State of New York. The gentleman said he had lately had a discussion
with a deacon of a church he attended, who defended the admission of
slave-holders to the communion. On being asked, however, whether he
would admit sheep-stealers, he acknowledged this was not so great a
crime as man-stealing, and pleaded no further in favor of
church-fellowship with slave-holders.

The journey from New York to the Falls of Niagara, a distance of 480
miles, is performed in about forty-eight hours, and when the railway
communication is further completed, and the speed raised to the standard
of the best English lines, it will probably be accomplished in less than
thirty hours. The railway passed for many miles through the original
forest, in which I observed very lofty trees, but none of an
extraordinary girth. In many places the ground was crowded with fallen
trees, in every stage of decay. I found my friends at the Eagle Hotel,
at Niagara, where I remained till the twelfth, enjoying with them the
views and scenery of "the Falls," a spectacle of nature in her grandest
aspect, which mocks the limited capacity of man to conceive or to
describe.

On the eleventh, being the first day of the week, we held a meeting for
worship, at our hotel, and were joined by an Irish lady and her three
daughters, who had been living here some months. This lady told me she
was present when M'Leod was arrested in this hotel. From all I have been
able to learn, there are a number of reckless men on both sides the
border line, who are anxious to foment war for the sake of plunder; but
the great bulk of the American people, I am persuaded, are for peace,
and especially for peace with England, a feeling which time is
strengthening.

On the twelfth, our whole party left for Buffalo, by railway, getting a
transient view of Lake Ontario before entering the city. Here we parted
company, they proceeding to Toronto, by steam packet, and I to Syracuse
by coach. The American vehicle of this name, carries nine inside
passengers on three cross seats. It is hung on leather springs, so as to
be fitted to maintain the shocks of a _corduroy_ road. Wishing to see
the country, I mounted the box, by the side of the coachman, but at
times had some difficulty in retaining my seat. The value of land in
this part of the country, when cleared and in cultivation, I understood
to be from thirty to fifty dollars per acre. A large breadth of wheat is
grown, of which the yield is generally good; but this year there will
be, in many cases, a short crop, from the extreme drought in the two
preceding months. I went forward from Syracuse to Rochester by railway,
and thence, with the exception of twelve miles by coach, by the same
conveyance to Auburn, where we arrived at two o'clock in the morning.
One of my fellow-passengers had been a soldier in the so-called
"patriot" army, which enlisted against Santa Anna, in the revolt of
Texas. He stated, that some planters were emigrating from Mississippi,
with as many as two hundred "hands," (slaves,) and plainly said, it was
intended to plant the Anglo-Saxon flag on the walls of Mexico. If half
what he asserted was true, the worst apprehensions of the abolitionists
are too likely to be realized by the Texian revolution, and the
establishment of a new slave-holding power on the vast territory claimed
by that piratical band of robbers, and forming the South-western
frontier of the United States.

At Auburn I paid a visit to the celebrated State Prison, and though,
from want of time to call upon a gentleman in the city for whom I had a
letter, I was unprovided with an introduction, I was politely admitted
by the superintendent, who refused to receive the fee customarily paid
by visitors, when he found, from the entry of my name and address, I was
an Englishman. I passed through the different workshops, in which nearly
all handicraft trades are carried on, and very superior work is
frequently executed by the prisoners. Besides other less complicated
machines, one complete locomotive engine has been constructed within
these walls. As the system of discipline adopted here is the same as at
Sing Sing, also in this State, I defer for the present, any remarks upon
its character and success.

I left Auburn, in a hired carriage, for Skaneateles, to pay a visit to
my friend, James Cannings Fuller. He has a rich farm of 156 acres, with
a good house upon it, about a quarter of a mile west of the large and
flourishing village of Skaneateles, which overlooks a beautiful lake of
the same name, sixteen miles in length, and in some places two miles
wide. James C. Fuller left England about seven years ago, and has
carried his abolition principles with him to his adopted country. He
told me that there had been a great change for the better in the public
mind since his residence in this neighborhood. Abolitionism was once so
unpopular, that he has been mobbed four times in his own otherwise quiet
village. On one occasion he was engaged in a public discussion on
slavery, and a mob so much disturbed the meeting, by the throwing of
shot, and yells the most discordant the human voice could make, that his
opponent moved an adjournment, and afterwards accompanied him on his way
to his own house, with many other persons, as a body-guard. They were
followed by a large number of other persons, who attempted to throw him
down, and were very free in the use of missiles and mud; the mob were so
vociferous, that their shoutings were heard two and a half miles
distant, many persons leaving their houses to endeavor to ascertain the
cause of such an uproar. On James C. Fuller's entering his house, the
mob surrounded his parlor windows, and these would, most probably, have
been smashed in pieces, and the building defaced, had not one of the
assailants been seized with a fit, and in that state conveyed into James
C. Fuller's parlor, where he lay insensible for three quarters of an
hour. This sudden seizure diverted the attention of the mob from my
friend and his property to their own companion.

James C. Fuller informed me that mobs in America are generally, if not
always, instigated by "persons of property and standing;" and the most
blameable, in his case, were not those who yelled, et cet., et cet., but
others who prompted the outrage. Happily this state of things is now
altered: as much order and decorum, with fixed attention, is now
witnessed at an abolition lecture as at any other lecture; and a colored
man can now collect a larger meeting in Skaneateles than a white man,
and the behavior of the audience is attentive, kind, and respectful. My
friend, John Candler, who was here a fortnight before me, collected a
large assembly to hear his account of the effects of emancipation in our
West India Islands, and many expressed themselves much gratified with
his narrative.

Being anxious to proceed to Peterboro', to visit Gerrit Smith, I
accepted James C. Fuller's kind offer to take me in his carriage. The
distance is nearly fifty miles, and the roads were, in some parts, very
rough; but they intersect a fine country. Much wheat is grown in many
places, and here the crop appeared generally good.

Having started rather late in the afternoon, we were benighted before we
reached Manlius Square, where we lodged. Though my kind friend would not
permit me to pay my share of the bill, yet, to gratify my curiosity, he
communicated the particulars of the charge, as follows: Half a bushel of
oats for the horses, 25 cents; supper for two persons, 25 cents; two
beds, 25 cents; hay and stable-room for the two horses, 25 cents; total,
one dollar, or about 4s. 2d. sterling.

We arrived at Peterboro' early the following morning, where I remained
till the sixteenth, at the house of Gerrit Smith. He was once a zealous
supporter of the Colonization Society, but when convinced of the evil
character and tendency of that scheme, he withdrew from it, and became a
warm and able advocate of the immediate abolition of slavery. He is one
of the few Americans who have inherited large property from their
parents, and he has contributed to this cause with princely munificence.
Gerrit Smith and Arthur Tappan have, each on one or more occasions given
single donations of ten thousand dollars (upwards of two thousand pounds
sterling) to promote anti-slavery objects. His wife, Ann Carroll Smith,
who is a native of Maryland, and his daughter, an only child, share in
my valued friend's ardent sympathy for the sufferings of the slave.
During my stay, he received a letter from Samuel Worthington, of
Mississippi, who held in slavery Harriet Russell. Harriet was formerly
the slave of Ann Carroll Smith, having been given to her when they were
both children. Ann C. Smith was but twelve years old when, with her
father's family, she removed from Maryland to New York. Harriet was left
in Maryland. Shortly after Ann C. Smith's marriage, and when she was
about eighteen years of age, her brother, James Fitzhugh, of Maryland,
wrote to ask her to give Harriet to him, stating that she was, or was
about to be, married to his slave, Samuel Russell. She consented: and
her brother soon after emigrated to Kentucky, taking Samuel and Harriet
with him. After this Samuel and Harriet were repeatedly sold.

Some years ago, Gerrit and Ann C. Smith having become deeply impressed
with the great sin of slavery, were anxious to learn what had become of
Harriet. But they did not succeed in ascertaining her residence, until
the letter received during my visit informed them of it, and which also
stated that Harriet and her husband were living, and that they had
several children. The price put upon the family was four thousand
dollars.

James C. Fuller having kindly offered to go into Kentucky, where Samuel
Worthington then resided, to negotiate with him for the purchase of the
family, G. Smith gladly accepted the offer of one so well qualified for
this undertaking. James C. Fuller succeeded in purchasing the family for
three thousand five hundred dollars, exclusive of his travelling
expenses, and those of the slave family, which amounted to about two
hundred and eighty dollars. He has published a very interesting account
of his journey, in a letter addressed to myself, from which some
extracts are given in the Appendix.[A] Eighteen months ago, G. and A.C.
Smith united with other children of her father, the late Col. Fitzhugh,
in purchasing, at the cost of four thousand dollars, the liberty of ten
slaves, who, or their parents, were among the slaves of Colonel Fitzhugh
when he left Maryland. I have recently learned that they are negotiating
the purchase of the liberty of other slaves, who formerly belonged to
Colonel Fitzhugh. It is nearly seven years since Gerrit Smith and his
family adopted the practice of total abstinence from all slave produce,
thus additionally manifesting the sincerity of those convictions which
have induced him to contribute so largely of his wealth both to the
anti-slavery funds, and for the liberation of all slaves with which his
family property had the most remote connection.

[Footnote A: See Appendix I.]

Here, I had some expectation of again meeting my friend, James G.
Birney, who was gone on a journey to Ohio, and is well known to English
abolitionists, by his able assistance at the great Anti-Slavery
Convention, as one of its vice-presidents, and by his subsequent labors,
which are thus acknowledged, on his return to America, by the Committee
of the British and Foreign Anti-Slavery Society:--


    "That this committee are deeply sensible of the services
    rendered to the anti-slavery cause by their esteemed friend and
    coadjutor, James Gillespie Birney, Esq., whilst in this country,
    in a course of laborious efforts, in which his accurate and
    extensive information, his wise and judicious counsels, and his
    power of calm and convincing statement, have become eminently
    conspicuous.

    "The committee also take the present occasion to record their
    sense of his zealous and disinterested labors in defence of the
    rights of outraged humanity in his own country, during a period
    of great excitement and opposition: and of the proof he has
    given of his sincerity, in having twice manumitted the slaves
    that had come into his possession; a noble example, which they
    trust others will not be slow to follow."


Whilst J.G. Birney was in this country, in addition to his arduous
labors, in addressing large assemblies in many of the cities of the
United Kingdom, he prepared and published his excellent work, "The
American Churches the Bulwark of American Slavery," which is eminently
deserving of the attentive perusal of all Christian readers. The
estimation in which James G. Birney is held by American abolitionists,
is marked by his having been twice unanimously selected by the "Liberty
Party," as a candidate for the Presidential chair.

I found G. Smith as much interested in the subject of temperance, as in
that of slavery. No person in the whole of the township in which he
lives is licensed to sell drams. For an innkeeper to sell a glass of
spirits, or even of strong beer, is illegal, and exposes him to a heavy
fine.

The next morning I left early for Utica, where I had the pleasure of
again meeting the friends I had parted from at Buffalo, with whom I paid
a visit to the Oneida Institute, about two miles from Utica. This
college was the first in the United States to throw open its doors to
students, irrespective of color. It was also one of the earliest
institutions to combine manual labor with instruction. The principle is
adopted partly from a motive of economy, but principally because
intellectual vigor is believed to depend on bodily health, and that
these can be best secured and preserved by exercise and labor,
especially out of door and agricultural employments. The labor of the
students defrays a considerable part of the expense of their support,
but as the severe pressure of the times has limited the means of many
liberal benefactors of Oneida, the establishment, which usually
comprises one hundred young men, is now limited to about one-third of
the number. Several of these are colored. The Oberlin Institute in Ohio
is on a much larger scale than this, and is on an equally liberal
footing with regard to color. I much regretted being unable, from want
of time, to comply with the urgent request of my friend, Wm. Dawes and
others, to visit this important and interesting establishment. The
number of students at Oberlin last year was five hundred and sixty,
including those in the department for females.

I was much pleased to have the opportunity of becoming further
acquainted with the President of Oneida, Beriah Green, and with his
friend, Wm. Goodell, who resides in the neighborhood. Their names will
be reverenced by the abolitionists of America as long as the memory of
anti-slavery efforts shall survive. Before we left, we had an
opportunity of meeting the students together, who appeared much
interested with my friend John Candler's details of the results of
emancipation in Jamaica. I was disappointed in not finding at home Alvan
Stewart, one of the ablest and most zealous friends of the Anti-Slavery
cause; but Beriah Green kindly accompanied me to call upon several of
their abolition friends in the city.

My limited time prevented my paying a visit to Henry B. Stanton, who was
residing not far from Utica, and whose acquaintance I had the pleasure
of making in England. He also will be remembered for his able assistance
at the Convention, and by his eloquent addresses at public meetings in
this country. The following record of his services is made by the
Committee of the British and Foreign Anti-Slavery Society:--


    "That this Committee, in taking leave of their friend and
    fellow-laborer in the cause of universal emancipation, Henry
    Brewster Stanton, Esq., record their high estimate of the
    valuable services rendered by him to that cause, whilst in Great
    Britain, by his eloquent and powerful advocacy; and, in
    tendering him their thanks, they express their sincere desire
    for his success in the great work to which he has devoted
    himself."


The name of Henry B. Stanton previously occurs in conjunction with that
of Theodore D. Weld, as having left Lane Seminary with many other
students, rather than be silent on the abolition question: becoming from
that time a strenuous and powerful anti-slavery advocate.

I proceeded in the evening to Albany, and thence to New York the next
morning; where I remained from the 17th to the 26th instant, and, during
this time, I put in circulation the following address:--


    "_To the Members of the Religious Society of Friends in the
    United States of America_.

    "Dear Friends,--Having for many years believed it my duty to
    devote a considerable portion of my time and attention to the
    promotion of the abolition of slavery and the slave-trade, I
    have acted in cordial co-operation with the British and Foreign
    Anti-Slavery Society since its formation. The principles of that
    Society may be briefly explained by the following extract from
    its constitution: 'That so long as slavery exists, there is no
    reasonable prospect of the annihilation of the slave-trade, and
    of extinguishing the sale and barter of human beings: that the
    extinction of slavery and the slave-trade will be attained most
    effectually by the employment of those means which are of a
    moral, religious, and pacific character: and that no measures be
    resorted to by this society in the prosecution of their objects,
    but such as are in entire accordance with these principles.'

    "My visit to this country had reference, in a great measure, to
    the objects for which this society was established; but,
    although I left my native land with the general approbation and
    full unity of my friends, they concurred with me in opinion,
    that any _official_ document, beyond a certificate from 'my
    monthly meeting,' expressive of sympathy with my engagement,
    might rather obstruct than promote the end I had in view. I was
    desirous of a personal interchange of sentiment with many of the
    abolitionists in this land, upon matters having an important
    bearing upon our future exertions. The warm attachment which I
    have ever felt to the religious society with which I am
    connected, and the ready co-operation of its members with their
    Christian neighbors in promoting this cause in Great Britain,
    inclined me to embrace every suitable opportunity to communicate
    with Friends in this country. And I have been encouraged, not
    only by the great personal kindness I have received from them
    generally, but also by the lively interest expressed by most, on
    the subject of emancipation, wherever I have introduced it.

    "A further acquaintance with Friends in the compass of the three
    or four 'Yearly Meetings,' in which my lot has been cast, and my
    inquiries respecting the state of the other Yearly Meetings, has
    convinced me that a large number of their most consistent
    members, including many aged and universally respected Friends,
    are desirous of embracing every right opening, both individually
    and collectively, for the promotion of the abolition cause. And
    while they are fully aware that there are reasons growing out of
    the existing state of things, which render great circumspection
    necessary, they can see no good ground for believing that the
    manner in which Friends of this country, of a former generation,
    labored for the liberation of the slave, was not under the
    guidance of the Spirit of truth.

    "This is now the course pursued by Friends generally in England.
    That there may be no misapprehension as to the conduct of
    Friends, with regard to this subject, in Great Britain, I may
    mention, that I am the bearer of a document expressive of unity
    with my visit, signed by William Allen, Josiah Forster, William
    Forster, George Stacey, Samuel Fox, George W. Alexander, and
    Robert Forster, who declare themselves fellow members with
    myself of the British and Foreign Anti-Slavery Committee. This
    committee is composed of persons of various religious
    denominations, amongst whom it will be seen are many of the
    prominent members of our meeting for sufferings. Upon the list
    of delegates to the late Anti-Slavery Convention, in London, are
    the names of nearly one hundred well known Friends, including
    those of four who are, or have been clerks of the yearly
    meeting; and the present clerk of that meeting, my esteemed
    friend, George Stacey, took an active part, and rendered
    essential service in the Convention. The meeting house in
    Gracechurch Street was freely granted by Friends in London, who
    have charge of it, for the use of the Convention, and the
    concluding sittings of that body were held in it.

    "In fact, Friends generally in England think it their duty to
    render every aid in their power to the anti-slavery cause,
    whether in their collective capacity, or individually uniting
    with their fellow-citizens, when they can do so without any
    compromise of our religious principles and testimonies. I speak
    more explicitly on this point, because I have ascertained with
    much concern, that there is an influential portion of the
    Society, including, I have no doubt, some sincere abolitionists,
    who have been so fearful that the testimonies of the Society
    might suffer by any union with others, that they have not only
    avoided such a co-operation themselves, but have dissuaded those
    of their brethren, who have believed it incumbent upon them to
    act otherwise; and in one 'Yearly Meeting,' at least, I have too
    much reason to fear they have tacitly, if not actively
    sanctioned the omission of the names of Friends on meeting
    appointments,--however consistent in their conduct, and
    concerned for the welfare of the society--simply because they
    have felt it their duty to act with persons of other
    denominations in promoting the abolition of slavery; thus, in
    appearance at least, throwing the whole weight and influence of
    the society, in its collective capacity, against a movement,
    which, although doubtless partaking of the imperfections
    attendant upon all human instrumentality, has already aroused
    the whole country to a sense of the wrongs of the slave, and
    secured to the nominally free colored citizens, in many of the
    States, rights of which they have been so long and so unjustly
    deprived.

    "Though I can hardly expect that any thing from one entertaining
    my view of the subject, can have much weight with those Friends,
    who, with a full understanding of the heavy responsibility they
    were assuming, have discountenanced anti-slavery exertions, and
    the use of our meeting houses, even by consistent members, for
    the purpose of giving information on the subject:[A] yet, as it
    has occasioned me no small degree of anxiety, both in reference
    to the anti-slavery cause, and the Society of Friends itself, I
    believe I cannot return to my native land with peace of mind,
    without earnestly and affectionately pressing upon such Friends,
    the great importance of a careful examination of the ground
    which they have taken. Our unwearied adversary is sometimes
    permitted to lead us into the most fearful errors, when he
    assumes the appearance of an angel of light. And is there not
    great danger, in encouraging the young and inexperienced to
    suppose that the maintenance of any of our testimonies may be
    neglected, except when we feel a Divine intimation to uphold
    them, and may it not open the door to great laxity in our
    practice? While I fully believe that the true disciple of Christ
    will be favored with the immediate guidance of the Holy Spirit
    whenever it is needful to direct his steps; it appears to me
    especially important, that, in matters of self-sacrifice and
    conflicting with our worldly interest or reputation, we should
    guard against being deluded into a neglect of duty, by waiting
    for this direct Divine intimation, where the path of duty is
    obvious and clearly understood, and when testimonies are
    concerned, which we have long considered it our duty, on all
    occasions, to support. If, under such a view of the subject, we
    do believe it our duty to cease to act ourselves, and discourage
    our brethren from laboring in the cause of the slave; a close
    self-examination surely is needful, in order to ascertain if we
    are consistently carrying out the same principle in our daily
    walk in life--in our mercantile transactions--our investments of
    property--in our connection with public institutions,--and with
    political parties.

    [Footnote A: "It is right to state, that I was much encouraged
    by the lively expression of sympathy in the anti-slavery cause
    in the Yearly Meetings of Philadelphia and New York: that at the
    former place Friends opened a room at the meeting house for my
    friend John Candler to give some information on the subject, and
    at New York the large meeting house was not only readily granted
    to him and me for the same purpose, but the clerks of the Yearly
    Meeting kindly gave notice and invited Friends to attend."]

    "It should be borne in perpetual recollection, that we are in no
    small danger of shrinking from a faithful maintenance of those
    testimonies which are unpopular with the world, as well as of
    not seeing our own neglect of duty, while censuring the zeal or
    supposed indiscretion of others. Besides, if this good cause be
    really endangered by popular excitement, and the indiscretion of
    its imprudent advocates, the obligation of consistent Friends to
    be found at their posts, faithfully maintaining the testimony of
    truth on its behalf, is greatly increased; and it is under such
    circumstances that I think I have seen the peculiar advantage
    and protection to our young friends in England, of having their
    elder brethren with them, aiding them by their sympathy, as well
    as by their advice and counsel. I am persuaded that those who
    are called to occupy the foremost ranks in society cannot be too
    careful not to impose a burden upon tender consciences, by
    discouraging, either directly or indirectly, a course of conduct
    which is sanctioned by the precepts and examples of our Divine
    Master, lest they alienate from us some of His disciples, and
    thereby greatly injure the society they are so laudably anxious
    to 'keep unspotted from the world.'

    "We are told, on the highest authority, that 'by their fruits'
    we are to judge of the laborers in the Christian vineyard; and,
    while I am fully aware of the greater difficulties in the way of
    emancipation _here_, as compared with Great Britain, I have been
    almost irresistibly led to contrast the difference in the
    results of the course pursued by Friends in the two countries.
    In America, during the last twenty-five years, it is evident
    that slavery and the slave-trade have greatly increased; and
    even where the members of our society are the most numerous and
    influential, the prejudice against color is as strong as in any
    part of the world,[A] and Friends themselves, in many places,
    are by no means free from this prejudice. In Great Britain,
    Friends, by society action, and by uniting with their
    fellow-countrymen, not only contributed, under Providence, in no
    small degree, to the passage of the act of 1834, for the
    abolition of slavery in the British West Indies; but, when it
    was found that the system of apprenticeship which this act
    introduced, was made an instrument of cruel oppression to the
    slaves, a renewal of similar labors for about twelve months,
    resulted in the _complete_ emancipation of our colored brethren
    in those colonies.

    [Footnote A: "I should, I believe, do wrong to conceal the
    sorrow which I have felt that the scheme of African
    colonization, the great support of which, at the present time,
    appears to be hostility to anti-slavery efforts and an
    unchristian prejudice against color, still has the sympathy and
    the active aid of some members of our society."]

    "In closing this letter, I wish to address a few words to that
    numerous and valuable class of Friends, previously alluded to,
    with whom I deeply sympathize, who are only deterred from more
    active exertion by their reluctance to give dissatisfaction to
    those whom they respect. The sorrow which I feel, under the
    consideration that, in parting with many of you, we never
    probably shall meet again in mutability, is softened by the
    persuasion, that the difficulties by which you are surrounded
    are lessening, and that some who are now opposing you, will, ere
    long, join you in efforts, which shall remove from the minds,
    both of abolitionists and slave-holders, the belief so generally
    entertained, that the Society of Friends in this country are not
    earnestly engaged for the _total and immediate_ abolition of
    slavery. No one regrets more than myself that any friends to the
    cause of abolition should connect other topics with it, which,
    however suitable to be discussed on their own merits, must
    necessarily interfere with this simple and momentous object. You
    are aware of some of the circumstances which may have led to the
    state of feeling, with many in our society, which we so much
    deplore. And it is my fervent desire that none of you, in any
    steps you may consider it your duty to take, may afford just
    cause of uneasiness, by any compromise of Christian principle,
    any improper harshness of language, or by the introduction of
    any subject not strictly belonging to the anti-slavery cause.
    Your situation is one of peculiar difficulty and delicacy. Both
    from a regard to your own religious society and the suffering
    slave, you have need to exercise great watchfulness, and to
    cultivate feelings of brotherly love and that 'charity which
    suffereth long, and is kind.' The beautiful example of John
    Woolman, in this respect, is worthy of your imitation. His
    labors were, for years, far less encouraged by the leading
    influences of society than your own at the present time; yet we
    find, in reading his invaluable journal, no traces of bitterness
    or uncharitable feeling.

    "Finally, dear friends of all classes,--In thus freely
    addressing you, I have written, not only with a strong
    attachment to our religious society, but, I trust, under a
    feeling of a degree of that love, which is not confined to
    geographical boundaries, or affected by color or by clime. The
    prayer of my heart is, that each of you may be willing to be
    made instrumental, in the Divine Hand, in faithfully maintaining
    our Christian testimony against slavery; bearing in mind, that
    the labors of your ancestors have greatly increased your
    responsibility, by separating you from those influences which so
    deaden the feelings and harden the heart against the claims of
    our brethren in bonds. May these considerations, viewed in
    connection with the difficulties which obstruct the progress of
    emancipation in this land, stimulate you to increased exertion;
    and when you are summoned to the bar of that final tribunal,
    towards which we are all hastening, may you have the
    inexpressible consolation of reflecting, that you have performed
    all you could towards 'undoing the heavy burden and letting the
    oppressed go free.'

    "I am, very sincerely,

    "Your friend,

    "JOSEPH STURGE."

    "New York, Seventh Month 17th, 1841."


The above letter so fully embodies my view of the state of the Society
in reference to the anti-slavery cause, that I shall think it needless,
after a few general observations, again recur to this subject. I feel
bound to acknowledge that this public mode of making my sentiments known
was disapproved by some Friends; yet of all the objections that were
made to the proceeding, none tended to impugn the accuracy of my
representation of the existing state of things. This is approved by
some, and deplored by others, but my statement has not been denied by
any. In consequence of a remonstrance made to me on special grounds in
the kindest and most Christian manner by two beloved friends, I felt
called upon to subject my motives and conduct, in issuing such an
address, to deliberate reconsideration; and the result was, that I not
only felt myself clear of just censure, but that in no other way could I
have discharged my duty according to my own interpretation of its
dictates. Of other objectors, I may add, that simply to enumerate their
reasons, stated to me in private conference, would be the severest
public animadversion that could be made, either on the individuals
themselves, or on the Society whose views they professed to represent.

In the present state of this great controversy, the abolitionists may
justly say, "he that is not with us, is against us," while the
pro-slavery party can witness, "he that is not against us, is on our
side." Hence the praise bestowed on the neutrality of the Society of
Friends by the great slave-holding senator, Henry Clay. Hence also the
suspicious compliments of the late President Van Buren, the first act of
whose administration was a pledge to refuse his signature to any bill
for the abolition of slavery in the District of Columbia. I fear it is
undeniable that in the last eight years the collective influence of the
Society has been thrown into the pro-slavery scale, and this
notwithstanding the existence of much diffused and passive sympathy and
right feeling on behalf of the slave, in the breasts of probably a large
majority of individual members. The abolitionists of the United States
have been treated by too many influential Friends, as well as by the
leading professors of other denominations, as a party whose contact is
contamination; yet to a bystander it is plainly obvious that the true
grounds of offence are not always those ostensibly alleged, but the
activity, zeal, and success with which they have cleared themselves of
participation in other men's sins, and by which they have condemned the
passive acquiescence of a society making a high profession of
anti-slavery principles. I do not intend to defend all the proceedings
of the anti-slavery societies. That they have sometimes erred in
judgment and action,--that they have had unworthy men among their
members, I have little doubt. But, the same objections might have been
raised to the old anti-slavery societies, in which the leading Friends
of the United States took an active part with their neighbors of other
denominations, and, with far greater force against the Colonization
Society, which is patronized, even to this day, both by individual
members and by at least one Meeting of Sufferings.[A] The causes that
have produced the state of things I have attempted to describe, derive
their origin, I believe, from one source--inaction. After the Society of
Friends had purified itself from slave-holding, it gradually subsided
into a state of rest, and finally lapsed into lethargy and indifference
on this question. In the world we live in, evil is the quick and
spontaneous growth, while good is the forced and difficult culture. Good
principles can only be preserved bright, pure, and efficient, by
watchful care and constant use; if laid aside, they rust and perish.
These are the necessary effects of the fall of man by disobedience from
that state of happiness and holiness in which he was formed by a
beneficent Creator. In a state of inaction, Friends have been exposed to
the influences of a corrupt public sentiment; they have, to a
considerable extent, imbibed the prejudice against color, while some of
them have been caught by the gilded bait of southern commerce.

[Footnote A: See Appendix K.]

In a former part of this work I have briefly alluded to that memorable
reformation, which, in the latter part of the preceding century, purged
the Society of Friends from the heinous sins of slave trading and
holding slaves. This reformation in Great Britain, with perhaps a few
individual exceptions, consisted merely in the adoption of new
convictions, and the abandonment of lax opinions; but, on the American
continent, it was sealed by the willing sacrifice of an immense amount
of property. One can scarcely avoid looking back with regret to times
when convictions of duty had such power, when Christian principle was
carried out, whatever the cost. Then, indeed, was exhibited, by the
American Friends, the fruit of a world-overcoming faith. It must be
confessed that the present position of their descendants presents an
unpleasing contrast; yet I trust, that from all I have written, the
conclusion will be drawn, that I look forward to the future with hope;
though it is a hope chastened with fear. Next to a fervent desire that
slavery may be speedily abolished, it is one of the warmest wishes of my
heart, that the "Society of Friends" in America, may be among the
chiefly honored agents in accomplishing, in the wisdom and power of
Jesus Christ, so great a work, thereby contributing to the fulfilment of
the angelic prophecy of "Glory to God, and good will to man."

I subsequently visited, in company with a colored gentleman, one of the
principal colored schools in New York, in which there were upwards of
three hundred children present. All the departments appeared to be
conducted, under colored teachers, with great order and efficiency, and
the attainments of the higher classes were very considerable. On the
whole, this school would bear comparison with any similar school for
white children which I ever visited.

Having received from Great Britain the minutes of a special meeting of
the Anti-Slavery Society, called to consider the time of holding a
second General Convention, I met some of the friends of the cause in New
York, together with John G. Whittier and Elizur Wright, of Boston, to
obtain an interchange of their sentiments on the same subject. After
considerable discussion, they unanimously concluded to leave the
decision as to the time of holding a future Convention to the London
Committee--the question of time being the summer of 1842 or 1843.

The numerous persons on whom I called, before leaving New York,
concurred uniformly in the belief that public opinion was steadily, and
somewhat rapidly advancing, in favor of emancipation, and that the
prejudice against color was lessening.

The unanimity I found in the opinion that public feeling in favor of
peace was continually strengthening, was very encouraging. All whom I
consulted, approved of the suggestion of Judge Jay, already mentioned,
though I had no suitable opportunity of obtaining the collective
sentiments of the friends of peace in New York upon it.

The Secretary of the Vigilance Committee, an association existing in
several of the Northern cities, formed to aid runaway slaves in escaping
to a place of safety, as well as to protect the free colored people from
kidnappers, informed me that the number of slaves who applied for
assistance was constantly on the increase. He said that, only a few days
before, a man, who was a preacher of the gospel, who was escaping to
Canada, called upon him; and on being asked why he was fleeing from
slavery, he exposed his naked back, lacerated with a recent flogging,
and said that he had received that punishment for going to his place of
worship.

On the evening of the 24th I went up the river Hudson to Sing Sing, in
company with Lewis Tappan. Our object was to spend the next day, which
was the first day of the week, in this celebrated state prison. We
lodged at a quiet hotel, on an eminence above the village; and next
morning, about eight o'clock, we went to the prison, where we were very
kindly received by the superintendent, J.G. Seymour, and by the
chaplain. Soon afterwards, we had the opportunity of seeing all the male
prisoners, about seven hundred and fifty, in the chapel, when they were
addressed by a minister of the Presbyterian persuasion, whom we had met
on board the steamer, and whom Lewis Tappan had invited to be there. We
were informed that about one-third of the prisoners were colored: these
did not sit separate, but were intermixed with the rest. In general,
however, the striking language of De Beaumont, a late French traveller
in the United States, will be found true. "The prejudice against color
haunts its victim wherever he goes,--in the hospitals where humanity
suffers,--in the churches where it kneels to God,--_in the prisons where
it expiates its offences_,--in the grave-yards where it sleeps the last
sleep."

From hence we proceeded to the female department, where about eighty
were assembled, some of whom seemed much affected by an address from my
friend, Lewis Tappan. He told them he saw at least one present who had
been a scholar in his colored Sabbath School at New York. The white
women were placed in the front seats, and the colored behind them. We
next went to the Sabbath School for the male prisoners, held in the
chapel, where the attendance is general, though perfectly voluntary.
Twenty-five of the best educated and most orderly prisoners are allowed
to teach classes: the other teachers were officers of the prison, and
other persons attracted hither by benevolent motives; and I was told the
teachers selected among the convicts had not once been detected in the
abuse of this privilege, by entering into conversation on other topics.
On the breaking up of the school, Lewis Tappan addressed them, and I
added a few words. We were kindly invited to dine with the matron. She
mentioned one instance of complete reformation in a female, which was to
be attributed she believed, under the Divine blessing, to the ministry
of Joseph J. Gurney, who visited Sing Sing, in the course of his
religious labors in the United States.

After dinner we were permitted to visit the male prisoners at their
cells, list shoes being provided for us that we might walk along the
galleries without noise. Those who wished to do so, were suffered to
speak to us through their grated doors, in a low voice. A number
embraced this opportunity; of the sincere repentance and reformation of
some of whom, I could scarcely doubt. One prisoner, a man of color,
appeared to enjoy a state of perfect happiness, under a sense of being
at peace with his Maker. Another manifested such a feeling of his
spiritual blessings, and especially of that change of heart he had been
favored to experience, as scarcely to have a desire for his liberation,
though his health was visibly sinking under the confinement, and there
appeared little other prospect but that of his dying in the prison, as
he had been condemned for ten years, of which three yet remained.
Several were Englishmen, who were mostly under feigned names, keeping
their real names secret, from a natural unwillingness to disgrace their
families. Some of these were men of education, and communicated to me in
confidence their family names. One referred to gentlemen standing
deservedly high in the estimation of the British public, as well knowing
him. Two or three of this class wept much, when speaking of their
situation, and of the offences that had brought them there.

I gathered from the prisoners themselves that a great change had been
introduced, both in the affairs and in the management of the prison,
within the last eighteen months, by the present excellent superintendent
and chaplain and their coadjutors, and with the happiest effects. The
former system was one of brutal severity; now, without any relaxation of
discipline, needless severity is discarded, and the floggings have been
reduced nine-tenths, the great object being the reformation of the
prisoners. One of these, speaking of the superintendent and chaplain,
said: "there was not a prisoner in the jail, but rejoiced to hear the
sound of their feet."

J.G. Seymour mentioned one of the English prisoners to me, whose heart
had been softened, and his reformation commenced, through the kindness
of his prosecutor, who had spent both time and money in endeavoring to
procure his release. This statement was fully confirmed in an
interesting conversation I had with the individual himself, who was
subsequently permitted, as well as another Englishman, to send letters
by me to their relations in this country.

An extract from the correspondence of one of my unfortunate
fellow-countrymen, which I am permitted to make, will afford an
interesting view of the internal administration of the Sing Sing prison,
by one of its inmates. After alluding to the absolute monotony of prison
life, he gives one day as a specimen of every day. "Monday morning, the
large prison bell rings at five o'clock, when we all rise; half an hour
after, we all go out to work, to our respective shops, till breakfast,
the keepers all the time seated upon a high seat, overlooking--seeing
that everything is ordered and going on in a proper manner: no talking
allowed upon any occasion, or under any pretence whatever. When the
breakfast-bell rings, we all go in to breakfast, each one to a separate
room, (which are all numbered, one thousand in all;) every man's
breakfast is ready for him in his room,--one pint of coffee, with plenty
of meat, potatoes, and rye bread. After one hour, the prison opens
again, and we work in a similar manner till twelve--dinner hour--when we
go in again. Dinner is set ready as before,--an ample quantity of meat,
potatoes, and bread, with a cup of water, (the best beverage in the
world--would to God I had never drank any thing else, and I should not
have been here;) one hour allowed for dinner, when we go out and work
again till six o'clock, when we come in and are locked up for the night,
with a large bowl of mush, (hasty pudding with molasses,) the finest
food in the world, made from Indian meal. Thus passes each day of the
week. Sundays we rise at the same hour; each man has a clean shirt given
him in his room, then goes to the kitchen, brings his breakfast in with
him, the same as before, and is locked up till eight, when Divine
service is performed by a most worthy and able chaplain. After service,
through the pious and benevolent efforts of Mr. Seymour, we have an
excellent Sabbath School. Bible classes, where from three to four
hundred attend, about half to learn to read, and the others to receive
instruction in the way to attain everlasting life, under the immediate
inspection of Mr. Seymour; and I am happy to say, that the greatest
attention is paid by scholars of both classes: many, very many, know how
to appreciate the value of these privileges, and benefit by them
accordingly. Mr. Seymour has obtained a large library for us, and one of
the prisoners is librarian. At eleven o'clock we are locked up for the
day, with an extra allowance of food and water sufficient. The librarian
and an assistant are left open, to distribute the books; that is to go
to each man's cell, get the book he had the previous Sunday, and give
him another in exchange, generally supplying them with a small tract, of
which we mostly have a great plenty."

A large proportion of the prisoners work in a stone quarry without the
walls; and the most painful sight I saw at Sing Sing were the sentinels
placed on prominent points commanding the prison, with loaded muskets
and fixed bayonets, who have orders at once to shoot a convict who may
attempt to escape, if he does not obey the order to return. I was told,
however, an occurrence of the kind had not happened for years.

A number of the female domestics in different families in the village of
Sing Sing, have been prisoners, and are now reformed and generally
conducting themselves to the entire satisfaction of their employers.

There are few subjects more interesting to a civilized and Christian
community, than that of prison discipline. It will scarcely, at the
present day, be denied that the only motives on which, in such a
government, criminal law can be administered, are the public safety, and
the reformation of the criminal himself. Vengeance has not been
delegated to man under the Christian dispensation. It is too evident,
nevertheless, that the principle of retaliatory punishment, irrespective
of any considerations of public safety, or the benefit of the offender,
pervades our criminal jurisprudence, both in theory and practice, and
just so far as this is the case, is the last great object defeated, for
his feelings are deadened, and his heart hardened by it. The most
depraved wretch has that within him which testifies that his fellow worm
has no right to inflict pain upon him solely as a _punishment_, and his
heart rebels against what he feels to be oppression. On the more
enlightened, the effect is equally unfavorable, for he contrasts the
practice of his persecutors with their profession, and is perhaps
conducted thereby to infidelity and despair. One of the prisoners at
Sing Sing, while contrasting the former with the present management,
said, "We used to hear the gospel preached to us on the Sabbath, but see
its doctrines trampled upon in all the conduct pursued towards us the
whole week besides." How different the result where the law of love
reigns! At Sing Sing there are numerous recent instances where
conviction on the minds of the prisoners that the authorities of the
prison have no other object than their temporal and spiritual benefit,
has softened their hearts, and thereby disposed them to the reception of
that consoling faith in a crucified Saviour, which is the only
foundation of true amendment of life. How important is it that all the
offices in a prison should be filled by persons of true piety; and where
can such be more usefully employed?

In a former part of this work, I have expressed a somewhat unfavorable
opinion on "the separate system," adopted in the Philadelphia
Penitentiary. One of my objections to this system is this, that to
deprive man so entirely of human society, is to do violence to the
strongest instinct of his nature, and thereby to inflict suffering far
more severe than corporeal pain or privation. If the severity of this
system does not obviously tend to carry out the legitimate objects of
prison discipline, it cannot be defended. The small number of
recommittals is no proof of the efficacy of this system; since, in a
country like the United States, a liberated felon may very easily choose
another locality for his sphere of action. In favor of the "separate
system," it is occasionally pleaded that the prisoner is under a veil of
secresy; and that when he goes forth, neither the censorious public, nor
his fellow-prisoners, can point him out; and thus, his character being
comparatively unblemished, he can, with less difficulty, procure
employment. It is obvious that this would induce, in many cases, a
degree of dishonest concealment from an employer, and encourage
dissimulation. It would be much better that the prisoner should depend
for a situation on the good character which the superintendent would
give him if reformed; and I was glad to find at Sing Sing guarded
situations had been procured, in numerous instances, for the liberated
prisoners, and that their employers, with very little exception,
represented them to be most valuable servants. I could hear of no case,
in either of the prisons I visited, of any permanent injury to the
health of a prisoner from the entire disuse of intoxicating drinks,
however intemperate their previous habits might have been. The same
remark is true with regard to tobacco. I will only add, that it is
notorious that the prison discipline of Great Britain, notwithstanding
all its recent improvements, is yet lamentably deficient; and that
though the United States justly claim precedence of us in this respect,
they have, by no means reached perfection. The greatest deficiency of
all, however, in each nation, is that of institutions like the
Philadelphia Refuge, co-extensive with the wants of the community, for
the reformation of juvenile delinquency; thus suppressing crime in its
small beginnings. So long as this want is unsupplied, and the juvenile
offender is contaminated by contact with the hardened criminal, the
statesmen and those who control the legislatures of both countries,
dishonor their profession of Christianity.

On the 26th, I accompanied my friends, J. and M. Candler, to the steamer
which was to convey them on board the "Roscius" packet, to sail for
Liverpool this afternoon. I afterwards called upon Charles Collins, who,
for many years past, has dealt exclusively in articles of free labor
produce, and for which he said he had found the demand to increase of
late. I am more and more convinced that this branch of the abolition
question has not received the attention it deserves from the friends of
the cause. Before leaving New York, I ought not to omit to record a
visit that was on a previous occasion paid us at our hotel, by William
Cullen Bryant, whose name on this side of the water is associated with
some of the most beautiful productions of American literature. He is the
editor of the _New York Evening Post_, a leading democratic paper, and,
to his credit be it said, he has always advocated the rights of the
abolitionists. He has a thin, pale, thought-worn countenance, and his
manner is quiet and unassuming. I also formed an agreeable acquaintance
with Lydia Maria Child, known in both hemispheres as one of the most
pleasing of American writers. She is editor of the _National
Anti-Slavery Standard_.  Her services in the cause of the slave have
been of great value, and have been given at the risk of destroying her
interests and popularity as an author.

I finally quitted this city, in the steamer, for Boston, on the 24th,
accompanied by John G. Whittier.

I remained in Boston till the first of the Eighth Month, (August) when I
embarked on board the "Caledonia" steamer for England.--During the
interval, I made a number of calls upon the abolitionists in Boston;
and, among others, saw Henry and Maria Chapman and Wendell Phillips; the
former of whom had just returned from a visit to Hayti, and the latter
from Europe. I had several interviews with Martha V. and Lucy M. Ball,
secretaries of the Boston Female Emancipation Society, who have long
been faithful and laborious abolitionists. I also met, as at New York, a
number of the friends of the cause, again to consider the best time for
calling a second general Convention, to whom I read the London minutes
on that subject. A resolution was unanimously passed, of the same tenor
as those of New York, lately noticed. While in this city, I had not only
the pleasure of renewing my intimacy with my friend, Nathaniel Colver,
who is known to many of the English abolitionists as their valuable and
cordial coadjutor at the great Convention in London, but of becoming
acquainted with many zealous and able friends of the slave. One of these
was Amos A. Phelps, one of those who signed the original declaration
issued by the American Anti-Slavery Society, on its foundation at
Philadelphia, in 1833.

We also went to Salem, and met a number of "Friends" who were
abolitionists, and who appeared desirous to embrace every suitable
opportunity of promoting the cause.

Salem is a city of about fourteen thousand inhabitants, and I was told
that the number of its population who went and returned to and from
Boston, a distance of fourteen miles, weekly, was about five hundred--a
striking proof of the locomotive energy of the Americans. Their
gratification, in this respect, has been much facilitated of late by the
rapid extension of railways. These, with few exceptions, are by no means
so completely constructed as in England; but, owing to the cheapness of
land, timber, et cet., and by making the lines generally single, and, on
the average, the speed of travelling being about one-fourth less than is
common in England, they answer the purpose of rapid transit, while the
outlay is about as many dollars per mile as it is sovereigns with us. On
this railway, and some others in New England, the lines are double, and
the construction and speed are nearly equal to ours.

I was informed, the proportion of severe accidents is not larger than in
Great Britain. The carriages are generally built to hold sixty or
seventy persons, who are seated two by two, one behind another, on
double rows of seats, ranged across the carriage, with room to walk
between, along the centre. The carriage in which we returned from Salem
had twenty-two seats on each side, to contain two each, or, in the
whole, eighty-eight passengers. Yet the weight of this machine would be
little more than that of an English first-class carriage, to hold
eighteen persons, and it cost probably less. Their carriages are well
ventilated in summer, and warmed by a stove in winter. Locomotive
engines approach Boston near enough to prevent the use of horses; but,
on arriving at the distance of a mile or two from New York,
Philadelphia, and Baltimore, the carriages and passengers are drawn in
by horses. One carriage is often specially reserved for the ladies on
the principal lines, into which gentlemen do not usually intrude, unless
they have ladies under their care. It is common, however, for the latter
to take their seats in any of the carriages. There is no distinction of
price, and none of accommodation, except that an inferior and more
exposed carriage, at the same fare, is purposely provided for persons of
color; but this disgraceful relic of past times cannot survive long. The
principal disadvantage that I observed on the American, as compared with
the English railways, was the delay on meeting other trains, and on
stopping for them at places where they could pass, and also the sparks
from the wood, used for fuel instead of coke. On one occasion, my coat
was set on fire in this way, though I was seated in a covered carriage.
Very efficient locomotive engines are made in the United States. I
visited a celebrated manufactory at Philadelphia, which has sent ten to
England, for the use of the Birmingham and Gloucester Railway. At the
time of my visit, they had many orders unexecuted from several European
governments. As far as my inquiries went, the cost of making them is,
upon the whole, about the same as in England.

Having been, for several years, a director on the Birmingham and London
Railway, I felt some interest in these inquiries, and came to the
conclusion, that there are several arrangements of economy, and some of
convenience, in the construction and working of railways, which the
English might borrow with advantage from the United States.

On the 29th instant, the secretary of the Peace Society convened a
meeting of the members of that society, and of other influential
gentlemen, including Alden Bradford, late secretary of the State of
Massachusetts; Robert Rantoul, an eloquent and prominent member of the
legislature, and S.E. Coues, of New Hampshire,[A] to take into
consideration the best means of securing permanent international peace.
A very harmonious and satisfactory discussion took place, and the
following statement of the proceedings was subsequently handed to me by
the gentleman who officiated as secretary to the meeting:

[Footnote A: Since elected President of the American Peace Society.]


    "A meeting of the friends of peace was held in the city of
    Boston, on the evening of the 29th day of July, 1841.

    "The meeting was called for the purpose of meeting Mr. Joseph
    Sturge, from England, and there were present most of the active
    members of the American Peace Society.

    "Amasa Walker, Esq., was chosen chairman; and J.P. Blanchard,
    secretary.

    "Mr. Sturge addressed the meeting, and suggested the expediency
    of calling, at some future time, a Convention of the friends of
    peace, of different nations, to deliberate upon the best method
    of adjusting international disputes; and, offered, for the
    consideration of the meeting, a plan proposed by Judge Jay, in
    which all the friends of peace could unite.

    "The meeting was then addressed by several gentlemen, who
    cordially approved the plan proposed, and, subsequently, the
    following resolutions were unanimously adopted.

    "Resolved,--That this meeting receives with great pleasure the
    suggestion of our friend Joseph Sturge, of England, of a general
    conference of the friends of peace, at the earliest practical
    opportunity, at London, to consult on the measures which are
    best adapted to promote universal peace among the nations of the
    earth; and they respectfully refer the subject to the executive
    committee of the American Peace Society, for their decision, on
    correspondence and consultation with the friends of the cause in
    this and other countries.

    "Resolved,--That the suggestion by Judge Jay, of the insertion
    of a clause in all conventional treaties between nations,
    mutually binding the parties to submit all international
    disputes, during the continuance of such treaties, to the
    arbitration of some one or more friendly powers, presents a
    definite and practicable object of effort, worthy of the serious
    attention of the friends of peace. And this meeting recommends
    to the friends of the cause, in different countries, to petition
    their respective Governments in favor of the measure."


On the 30th, in company with John G. Whittier and C. Stewart Renshaw, I
went over to Lowell, the chief seat of the woollen and cotton
manufacture in America. Less than twenty years ago, there were not more
than forty or fifty houses on the site of this flourishing city, which
now contains upwards of twenty thousand inhabitants. Its numerous mills
are all worked by water power, and belong to incorporated joint-stock
companies. We were obligingly shown over two of the largest woollen and
cotton factories, where every stage of the manufacture was in process,
from the cotton, or sheep's wool, to the finished fabric. We also
visited works, where the printing of cottons is executed in a superior
style, besides a new process for dyeing cotton in the thread, invented
by an Englishman, now in the establishment. The following abstract of
the manufacturing statistics of Lowell, on the first of January, 1841,
will show the great importance to which this new branch of industry has
attained with such unprecedented rapidity.

Ten joint-stock companies, with a capital of ten millions of dollars,
having thirty-two woollen and cotton factories, besides print works, et
cet., with one hundred and seventy-eight thousand eight hundred and
sixty-eight spindles, and five thousand five hundred and eighty-eight
looms, employing two thousand one hundred and seventy-two males, and six
thousand nine hundred and twenty females, who made, in 1840, sixty-five
millions eight hundred and two thousand four hundred yards of cotton and
woollen cloths, in which were consumed twenty-one millions four hundred
and twenty-four thousand pounds of cotton alone.

The average amount earned by the male hands employed, exclusive of their
board, is four dollars and eighty cents, or about twenty shillings
sterling per week, and of the females two dollars, or about eight
shillings and sixpence per week.

But the most striking and gratifying feature of Lowell, is the high
moral and intellectual condition of its working population. In looking
over the books of the mills we visited, where the operatives entered
their names, I observed very few that were not written by themselves;
certainly not five per cent. of the whole number were signed with a
mark, and many of these were evidently Irish. It was impossible to go
through the mills, and notice the respectable appearance and becoming
and modest deportment of the "factory girls," without forming a very
favorable estimate of their character and position in society. But it
would be difficult indeed for a passing observer to rate them so high as
they are proved to be by the statistics of the place. The female
operatives are generally boarded in houses built and owned by the
"corporation" for whom they work, and which are placed under the
superintendence of matrons of exemplary character, and skilled in
housewifery, who pay a low rent for the houses, and provide all
necessaries for their inmates, over whom they exercise a general
oversight, receiving about one dollar and one-third from each per week.
Each of these houses accommodates from thirty to fifty young women, and
there is a wholesome rivalry among the mistresses which shall make their
inmates most comfortable. We visited one of the hoarding houses, and
were highly pleased with its arrangement. A considerable number of the
factory girls are farmers' daughters, and come hither from Vermont, New
Hampshire, and other distant States, to work for two, three, or four
years, when they return to their native hills, dowered with a little
capital of their own earnings. The factory operatives at Lowell form a
community that commands the respect of the neighborhood, and of all
under whose observation they come. No female of an immoral character
could remain a week in any of the mills. The superintendent of the Boott
Corporation informed me, that, during the five and a half years of his
superintendence of that factory, employing about nine hundred and fifty
young women, he had known of but one case of an illegitimate birth--and
the mother was an Irish "immigrant." Any male or female employed, who
was known to be in a state of inebriety, would be at once dismissed.

At the suggestion of the benevolent and intelligent superintendent of
the Boott Company, we waited to see the people turn out to dinner, at
half-past twelve o'clock. We stood in a position where many hundreds
passed under our review, whose dress, and quiet and orderly demeanor
would have done credit to any congregation breaking up from their place
of worship. One of the gentlemen with me, who is from a slave State,
where all labor is considered degrading, remarked, with emotion, "What
would I give if, (naming a near relative in the slave States,) could
witness this only for a quarter of an hour!" We dined with one of our
abolition friends at Lowell, who informed us that many hundreds of the
factory girls were members of the Anti-Slavery Society; and that,
although activity in this cause has been pretty much suspended by the
division in the ranks of its friends, yet there is no diminution of good
feeling on the subject. The following extracts, from a pamphlet
published by a respectable citizen of Lowell, will further illustrate
the moral statistics of the place, which, I believe, can be paralleled
by no other manufacturing town in the world. The work is dated July,
1839:--


    "There are now in the city fourteen regularly organized
    religious societies, besides one or two others quite recently
    established. Ten of these societies constitute a Sabbath School
    Union. Their third annual report was made on the fourth of the
    present month, and it has been published within a few days. I
    derive from it the following facts. The number of scholars
    connected with the ten schools at the time of making the report,
    was four thousand nine hundred and thirty-six, and the number of
    teachers was four hundred and thirty-three, making an aggregate
    of five thousand three hundred and sixty-nine. The number who
    joined the schools during the year, was three thousand seven
    hundred and seventy, the number who left was three thousand one
    hundred and twenty-nine. About three-fourths of the scholars are
    females. A large proportion of the latter are over fifteen years
    of age, and consist of girls employed in the mills. More than
    five hundred of these scholars have, during the last year,
    become personally interested in practical piety, and more than
    six hundred have joined themselves to the several churches. Now
    let it be borne in mind, that there are four or five Sunday
    Schools in the city, some of which are large and flourishing,
    not included in this statement. Let it be borne in mind, too,
    that a great proportion of these scholars are the factory girls,
    and furthermore, that these most gratifying results just given,
    have nothing in them extraordinary--they are only the common,
    ordinary results of several of the past years. There has been no
    unusual excitement; no noise, no commotion. Silently, quietly,
    unobtrusively, from Sabbath to Sabbath, in these little
    nurseries of truth, duty and religion, has the good seed been
    sowing and springing up--watered by the dews, and warmed by the
    smiles of heaven--to everlasting life....

    "I shall now proceed to enumerate some of the influences which
    have been most powerful in bringing about these results. Among
    these are the example and watchful care and oversight of the
    boarding house keepers, the superintendents, and the
    overseers.... But a power vastly more active, all pervading and
    efficient, than any and all of these, is to be found in the
    jealous and sleepless watchfulness, over each other, of the
    girls themselves.... The strongest guardianship of their own
    character, as a class, is in their own hands, and they will not
    suffer either overseer or superintendent to be indifferent to
    this character with impunity.

    "The relationship which is here established between the Sunday
    school scholar and her teacher--between the member of the church
    and her pastor--the attachments which spring up between them,
    are rendered close and strong by the very circumstances in which
    these girls are placed. These relationships and these
    attachments take the place of the domestic ties and the home
    affections, and they have something of the strength and fervency
    of these."


The next extract shows their prosperity in a pecuniary point.


    "The average wages, clear of board, amount to about two dollars
    a week. Many an aged father or mother, in the country, is made
    happy and comfortable, by the self-sacrificing contributions
    from the affectionate and dutiful daughter here. Many an old
    homestead has been cleared of its incumbrances, and thus saved
    to the family by these liberal and honest earnings. To the many
    and most gratifying and cheering facts, which, in the course of
    this examination I have had occasion to state, I here add a few
    others relating to the matter now under discussion, furnished me
    by Mr. Carney, the treasurer of the Lowell Institution for
    Savings. The whole number of depositors in this institution, on
    the 23d July, was nineteen hundred and seventy-six; the whole
    number of deposits was three hundred and five thousand seven
    hundred and ninety-six dollars and seventy cents, (about
    £60,000.) Of these depositors, nine hundred and seventy-eight
    are factory girls, and the amount of their funds now in the
    bank, is estimated by Mr. Carney, in round numbers, at one
    hundred thousand dollars, (about £20,000.) It is a common thing
    for one of these girls to have five hundred dollars (about £100
    sterling) in deposit, and the only reason why she does not
    exceed this sum is the fact, that the institution pays no
    interest on any larger sum than this. After reaching this
    amount, she invests her remaining funds elsewhere."


In confirmation of this description of the state of the Lowell
population, I have obtained, through the kindness of a friend in
Massachusetts, the following parallel statistics to a recent date:--


    "PUBLIC SCHOOLS.--By the report of the school committee for the
    year ending on the 5th of Fourth Month (April) 1841, it appears
    that the whole number of pupils in the schools, who attended
    during the whole or part of the year, was 5,830. The whole
    amount expended by the city for these schools, during the year,
    was 18,106 dollars, 51 cents.

    "SABBATH SCHOOLS.--The number of scholars and teachers in the
    Sabbath Schools, connected with the various religious societies
    in Lowell, during the year ending on the 5th of Seventh Month
    (July) 1841, was 5,493.

    "SAVINGS BANK.--The Lowell Institution for Savings, in its
    report of Fifth Month (May), 1840, acknowledges 328,395 dollars,
    55 cents, deposits, from 2,137 persons; together with 16,093
    dollars, 29 cents, nett amount received for interest on loans
    and dividends in stocks, less expense and dividends paid--making
    in all, 344,488 dollars, 84 cents; nett amount of interest,
    24,714 dollars, 61 cents. Within the year, 120,175 dollars, 69
    cents, had been deposited, and 70,384 dollars, 24 cents, drawn
    out.

    "PAUPERS.--The whole expense of the city for the support of the
    poor, during the year ending on the 31st of Twelfth Month
    (December) 1840, was 2,698 dollars, 61 cents."


As a proof, slight yet significant, of the spread of intellectual
cultivation, I ought not to omit a notice of the "Lowell Offering," a
little monthly magazine, of original articles, written exclusively by
the factory girls. The editor of the _Boston Christian Examiner_
commends this little periodical to those who consider the factory system
to be degrading and demoralizing; and expresses a doubt "whether a
committee of young ladies, selected from the most refined and best
educated families in any of our towns and cities, could make a fairer
appearance in type than these hard-working factory girls."

The city of Lowell has been distinguished by British tourists as the
Manchester of the United States; but, in view of the facts above
related, an American has declared it to be "_not_ the Manchester of the
United States."

Besides the general prosperity of the operatives, the shareholders in
the different corporations divide from eight to fifteen per cent, per
annum on their capital.

The inquiry naturally suggests itself, why the state of things in the
manufacturing districts of Great Britain should be so widely different
from this? Some may satisfy themselves by recollecting that England is
an old and America a young country; though, to my mind, this affords no
reasonable explanation of the contrast--since, from the possession of
surplus capital, complete machinery, and facility of communication, et
cet., the advantages for _commerce and manufactures_, under a system of
perfectly unrestricted exchange, must preponderate greatly in favor of
the former. But whatever the solution of the difficulty, it is quite
evident that the statesman who would elevate the moral standard of our
working population, must begin by removing the physical depression and
destitution in which a large proportion of them, without any fault of
their own, are compelled to drag out a weary and almost hopeless
existence. To some peculiarly constituted minds, "over-production" is
the explanation of the present appalling distresses of this country; and
what they are pleased to consider a healthy state of things, is to be
restored by a diminution of production;--yet nothing is more certain,
than that the largest amount of production which has ever been reached,
is not more than adequate to supply our increasing population with the
necessaries of life, on even a very limited scale of comfort. A
diminished production implies the starving down of the population to
such a diminished number as may obtain leave to toil, and leave to
subsist, from legislators, who, either in ignorance or selfishness, set
aside nature's laws, and disregard the plainly legible ordinances of
Divine Providence. If we reflect on the part which commerce is made to
perform in the moral government of the world, on the one hand as the
bond of peace between powerful nations, by creating a perpetual
interchange of temporal benefits; and, on the other, as the channel for
the diffusion of blessings of an intellectual and spiritual kind; we are
conducted irresistibly to the conclusion, that any arbitrary
interruption of its free course must draw down its own punishment.

Though the laws of nature may not permit the limited soil of this
country to grow food enough for its teeming population, yet while Great
Britain possesses mineral wealth, abundant capital, and the largest
amount of skilled industry of any nation in the world, the tributary
supplies of other countries would not only satisfy our present wants,
but would, I firmly believe, with an unfettered commerce, raise our
working population, the most numerous, and by far the most important
part of the community, to the same level of prosperity as the same class
in the United States. Then would there be more hope for the success of
efforts to elevate the standard of moral and intellectual cultivation
among them, for as an improvable material they are no way inferior to
any population upon earth. John Curtis of Ohio, a free trade missionary
to this country, has published a pamphlet full of important statistical
facts, illustrating the suicidal policy of Great Britain, from which I
venture to take the following extracts:


    "England already obtains luxuries in superabundance; but these
    can never supply the wants of her artizans--they demand
    substantial bread and meat, and a market where their labor can
    procure these necessaries. Tropical climates are not adapted to
    supply their wants. For this reason trade either with the East
    or West Indies cannot give effectual relief: it may furnish
    luxuries, but England is overstocked with them already. The food
    of tropical climates, with the exception of rice, is not
    calculated for export. The people of England, if they are to
    import food, need the production of a climate similar to their
    own. In this respect America is well adapted to supply them.

    "All parts of the United States between thirty-seven and
    forty-four degrees of north latitude will produce wheat. But
    that part of the country best adapted to furnish an abundant
    supply is, beyond all question, the northern part of the
    Mississippi valley, and the contiguous country south of the
    great lakes. It has been styled _par excellence_ the
    wheat-growing region of America. Within its limits lie the six
    north-western States of the American Union, Ohio, Indiana,
    Illinois, Michigan, Iowa, and Wiskonsan (including as States the
    two territories of Iowa and Wiskonsan, about to be admitted into
    the Union.) These States, exclusive of two hundred thousand
    square miles, the title to which is yet mostly in the Indian
    tribes, cover an area of two hundred and thirty-six thousand and
    eleven square miles. The country is, generally, an undulating
    prairie, interspersed with groves of trees, and unbroken by hill
    or mountain. The soil commonly rests upon a strata of limestone,
    is fertile beyond description, and abundantly watered by the
    finest springs and streams. Its climate is clear and salubrious,
    and the country as well calculated as any other on the globe to
    minister to the support and happiness of civilized man. As
    already explained, for an inland country, it possesses
    unequalled facilities for foreign intercourse and commerce, by
    means of its great lakes and rivers. The most distant parts of
    it are now reached in twenty days from Liverpool. The energies
    of the American people have been chiefly expended, during the
    last few years, in opening and taking possession of this region,
    which they consider destined to become the future seat of
    American wealth and greatness.

    "Wheat once formed a leading article in the exports of the
    United States. The trade of that country with Great Britain was
    then double the present amount in proportion to the number of
    the population. Had the trade of the two countries continued
    free, it would have increased with the increase of population
    and capital. The legitimate exchange trade has decreased between
    England and America for thirty years. What part has the
    restrictive system had in producing this result? A few facts may
    enable us not only to answer this question, but to anticipate
    the consequences of a continuance of the same policy. From the
    time of the revolutionary war in America until 1812, the trade
    between the two countries regularly increased with the increase
    of the population. The average annual consumption of foreign
    merchandise in the United States for each inhabitant was,

    From 1790 to 1800,  39s. 4d.
      "  1800 to 1810,  41s. 8d.


    "In 1812 came the second American war, and in 1815 the British
    corn law, which was promptly followed by the high American
    tariff of 1816. For ten years prior to 1830, the annual average
    consumption of merchandize had fallen to 22s. 6d., while the
    population of the States was nearly double, and their capital
    treble that of the ten years preceding 1810. Soon after 1830
    followed the modification of the American tariff, and the
    importations based on the great transatlantic loans of that
    period. But, notwithstanding the stimulation and extravagance of
    the time, the average annual consumption amounted to only 31s.
    per head of foreign produce during the ten years prior to 1840.
    Abating the importation based on the loans of the last few
    years, and the trade of England with the United States has not
    increased in amount for the last thirty years, while the
    population of England has increased from eighteen to
    twenty-seven millions, and that of the States from seven to
    seventeen millions.

    "Let the reader observe this, that in the Eastern States, in
    that of Massachusetts, for instance, in which State Boston is
    situated, the people bring a large part of their food from the
    Western States, where they obtain it in exchange for their
    manufactures. If free trade were allowed, is it possible for any
    man to give a reason why the manufacturer and laborer of
    Manchester would not be able to do as well as the manufacturer
    and laborer of Boston now does, abating the difference of
    transporting goods and grain across the Atlantic? At least, the
    consequence would be an extension of trade, and employment equal
    to the amount of food which would, in such case, be brought from
    America; and the limit to this quantity will be found only when
    the wants of Englishmen are supplied, and their ability to pay
    exhausted. The ability of America to supply any required
    quantity of food has already been shown. There lie the broad
    lands, ready for cultivation as soon as there shall be a demand
    for the produce. And if seventeen millions of people, sent
    chiefly from England, or descended from those who have been
    sent, are not sufficient to raise the requisite quantity of
    provisions demanded of them by those who remain in the parent
    country, then let more be sent, for the land lies equally open
    to the people of all nations.

    "Then, as to the ability of Englishmen to pay for all they want,
    let us ask, what those who produce the food, or those who bring
    it, can want in exchange that England cannot furnish? Gold, it
    is said.[A] But for what do they want gold but to purchase other
    supplies than food? and as they would then have the means to
    pay, England would be the very country which, of all others,
    could supply them to advantage. Whatever was wanted which her
    own artizans do not produce themselves, they could still supply.
    Englishmen would not at all be confined to a direct sale or
    exchange of their goods with the wheat grower, but can give him
    the merchandize of India and China, and the fruits of the
    tropics, for which English manufactures would pay. If the idle
    mills and idle laborers of England could at once be set at work
    to produce food for the people, new activity would be imparted
    to trade in every part of the world--from India to the frozen
    regions of Greenland and Labrador. But, on the other hand, how
    is it possible for England to extend her foreign trade while the
    present restrictions continue? Even with such a country as
    India, reduced under British sway, it cannot be done except by
    diminishing the commerce with other countries to the same
    extent. England cannot, in her present condition, greatly
    increase her consumption of such merchandize as India can
    furnish, or dispose of such merchandize abroad, to any great
    extent, for the reasons already given.

    [Footnote A: "Englishmen, reasoning from a restricted course of
    trade, are constantly prone to the belief that the purchase of
    foreign corn, from some unexplained necessity, must take away
    their gold. Americans, from the same cause, reason in the same
    manner respecting the purchase of foreign goods. Under the
    action of the restrictive system, there may be some truth in the
    reasonings of each party, but they certainly form a beautiful
    running commentary upon each other."]

    "As to any proposed gain by the Colonial trade, it is the very
    thing rejected by the restrictions on the trade with the United
    States. What are these States but the greatest colonies ever
    planted by Great Britain? and their independence does not at all
    prevent England from deriving all the advantage from them ever
    to be derived from colonies. The only good which England can
    derive from her extensive colonization is not to be gained by
    swaying a barren sceptre over distant colonies, but by spreading
    abroad her race, her language, her civilization, and thus
    enlarging the sphere of her commerce. Under a free system of
    intercourse England would not derive less benefit, at present,
    from the United States than if they had remained a part of the
    British dominions, for if trade were free, they would not trade
    the less because of their independence, or furnish less food, or
    at higher prices. England, however, seems determined to
    sacrifice all the advantages which naturally accrue to her from
    having colonized the finest part of the New World, and to refuse
    the abundance and relief thus providentially prepared by her own
    offspring."

    The great importance of these extracts is the best apology for
    their length--but there is yet another branch of the subject. A
    country whose population is beyond its means of supply from its
    own soil, has no resources but that of her manufactures and
    foreign trade; if these be dried up, her people must emigrate or
    starve. But the United States has an alternative;--her first and
    best resource,--and the most profitable application of her
    industry is in her broad and fertile lands, the superabundant
    produce of which would not only feed, but, by exchange, clothe
    her population, and supply them with all the comforts of
    civilized life. She cannot avail herself of this to its full
    extent without our aid. But, if we refuse to trade on equal
    terms, her wants will not, therefore, go unsupplied. She can
    manufacture for herself--her resources for manufactures and
    commerce are, at least, equal to our own, with the exception of
    capital and population, which the lapse of a few more years will
    supply.

    "The present may justly be considered a crisis in the commercial
    policy of America. If it be decided that foreign markets are to
    continue closed against American corn--if England, which is the
    principal corn market of the world, refuse to exchange the
    produce of her mills and workshops for that of the fields of the
    Americans, they have no other alternative than to erect mills
    and workshops from which to supply themselves. The effect of
    such a course would prove decisive on the trade with England,
    and go far to complete the ruin so effectually begun by the
    British corn law and corresponding restrictions. If forced from
    employment on the land, which an abundant and fertile soil has
    naturally made their most profitable one, it will be found that
    the Americans lack neither the talent, the energy, nor the
    means, at once to extend their present manufactures to the full
    supply of their own wants. They have water-power, coal, and
    iron, in greater natural abundance and perfection than any other
    part of the world."[A]

    [Footnote A: "The United States are computed to contain not less
    than eighty thousand square miles of coal, or sixteen times as
    much as Europe. One of these coal fields extends nine hundred
    miles in length. The State of Pennsylvania has ten thousand
    square miles of coal and iron. Great Britain and Ireland have
    two thousand. All the north-western States of America contain
    large quantities of coal. The coal strata of the States
    generally lie above the level of the streams, and the coal is
    taken from the hill sides. The beds of coal and iron are to a
    great extent contiguous."]


This is not mere theory. The developement is actually begun:


    "A few years since, the country smiths, and the matrons with
    their daughters at the household wheel and loom, were the
    principal manufacturers of America. Now the cotton mills alone
    are computed at one thousand, and the capital invested in
    manufacturing machinery at £23,500,000. The estimated value of
    some of the principal articles of manufacture is as follows:

    Woollens,        £15,750,000
    Cotton,           11,250,000
    Leather,           9,000,000
    Hats and Caps,     3,575,000
    Linen,             1,350,000
    Paper,             1,350,000
    Glass,             1,125,000
    Iron and Steel,   11,250,000


    "Some idea of the rapidity with which the American manufactures
    are now capable of being extended, may be formed from the past
    progress of the cotton manufacture. The consumption of raw
    cotton was,

    In 1833,  196,000 bales.
       1835,  236,700   "
       1837,  246,000   "
       1839,  276,000   "


    "The United States already supply two-thirds of their own
    consumption of cottons. At the above rate of increase--of nearly
    fifty per cent, in five years--America will much more than
    supply its own market in five years to come. Never has the
    manufacturing interest of the United States been in as
    prosperous and sound a condition as at present. They need no
    high tariff to protect them against British competition. _The
    English corn law is their best protection_."


It is the restrictive policy of Great Britain that has called into
existence Lowell and the manufacturing cities of the United States,
producing an immense amount of articles which were once the sole
products of British industry and skill. If the same policy is continued,
the prosperity of the United States will be impeded, but that of England
will be destroyed.

The following is an extract from the memorial of Joshua Leavitt to
Congress, on the wheat interests of the North Western States:


    "Should it, indeed, come to be settled that there is to be no
    foreign market for these products, the fine country under
    contemplation is not, therefore, to be despaired of. Let the
    necessity once become apparent, and there will be but one mind
    among the people of the North-west. The same patriotism which
    carried our fathers through the self-denying non-importation
    agreements of the revolution, will produce a fixed determination
    to build up a home market, at every sacrifice. And it can be
    done. What has been done already in the way of manufactures,
    shows that it can be done. The recent application of the
    hot-blast with anthracite coal to the making of iron, and the
    discovery of a mine of natural steel, would be auxiliaries of
    immense value. We could draw to our factories the best workmen
    of Europe, attracted less by the temptation of wages, than by
    the desire to leave liberty and land as the inheritance of their
    children. But it would take a long time to build up a
    manufacturing interest adequate to supply the wants of the
    Northwest, or to consume the produce of these wide fields; and
    the burden of taxation for internal improvements, uncompleted
    and unproductive, would be very heavy and hard to bear: and all
    the population that is concentrated upon manufactures, is so
    much kept back from the occupation of that noble domain; and the
    national treasury would feel the effects of the curtailment of
    imports and the cessation of land sales; and the amount of
    misery which the loss of the American market would occasion to
    the starving operatives and factory children on the other side
    of the Atlantic, is worthy to be taken into the account, by
    every statesman who has not forgotten that he is a man."


If we refuse the Americans as customers, we compel them to become our
rivals; and, after supplying their own wants, they will compete with us
for the trade of the world, on more than equal terms. Our statesmen may
yet employ America to build up the prosperity of our country whilst
increasing her own, or they may suffer its rapidly developing and
gigantic resources to work out our ruin: the alternative is before them
and before the country--but decision must be prompt, for there is no
pause in the march of events. However unwise the policy, we cannot be
surprised that the American and Continental manufacturer are each
applying to his government to follow our example, and protect home trade
by fiscal regulations.

This question of trade with America has also most important anti-slavery
bearings--and here, again, I find my own views anticipated by the able
writer already quoted:


    "The present policy of restricting the traffic with America so
    closely to cotton, gives a deceitful appearance to the stated
    imports and exports. From these statements there should, in
    fairness, be deducted the value of all the raw cotton which is
    returned to America; and, in fact, if the true exchange trade
    would be seen, all should be deducted that is exported from
    England. That portion of cotton goods which is of English
    origin, that is, their value above the raw material out of which
    they were made, is, in fact, the only real part of English
    export. Before exclusive importance was bestowed on cotton, the
    exchange with America was in a large proportion of articles not
    to be returned. It would be so again if trade were free."


Again:


    "To one effect which would be produced in America by the repeal
    of the corn and provision laws, no party or class in England can
    profess indifference, and that is, _its effect on slavery in the
    United States_. At the present time, England gives a premium to
    American slavery by admitting, at low duties, the cotton of the
    slave-holder, which is his staple production, and refusing corn,
    which is mostly the produce of free labor. The slave-holding
    States, to the productions of which Great Britain confines her
    American trade, are less populous and less wealthy than the
    free; yet of their produce England received in 1839, according
    to the American estimates, £11,600,000, while of that of the
    free States she received less than £500,000."

    "It should be remembered that the labor of the slave States, is
    almost wholly expended in agriculture, under the stimulus of a
    good market, while a large part of that of the free States is
    otherwise employed, for the want of such market. The effective
    laborers of the free States are double the number of those in
    the slave States; and were an opportunity given them, they would
    export in as great a proportion. Thus England, by her laws,
    fosters an odious institution abroad, which, in words, she
    loudly condemns, and spends millions to rid the world of; whilst
    she rejects more honorable, profitable, and wealthy customers,
    the fruits of whose free and active industry are in effect made
    contraband in England by law.

    "Not only would England escape this inconsistency and reproach,
    by repealing the corn law, but she would strike a most effectual
    blow at the existence of slavery in the United States. Cotton,
    at present, from being made by the corn law the principal
    exchangeable article in the American trade, assumes an undue and
    unnatural importance in American commerce, legislation, and home
    industry. The slave-owner drives his slaves in its production,
    and purchases supplies of the northern freeman, whose interests
    are thus identified with those of the cotton grower, and the
    slave-holding interest becomes predominant in the country. From
    their habits, the people of the slave-holding States are
    constantly contracting more debts in the free States than they
    have the means of paying; so that, under the present system of
    intercourse, the slaveholders exercise over the free population
    of the north, the same control which an insolvent debtor
    frequently has over his creditor, by threatening to break and
    ruin him, if not allowed his own way. A repeal of the corn laws
    would release the free States from their present commercial and
    consequent political vassalage to the southern slave-holders,
    and thereby take from American slavery, the great citadel of its
    strength, and insure its overthrow by the influences which would
    arise to assail it from all quarters.

    "But as free trade, in destroying the odious monopoly of the
    haughty slave-holder, would benefit and not injure him, so would
    its effects be found universally. It would give peace and plenty
    to England and the world,--it would enlarge and secure trade,
    bind the spreading branches of the Anglo-saxon race by natural
    affinity to England as their acknowledged head, and promote the
    liberty and civilization of the human family at large."


In view of the whole spirit of this discussion of one of the most
important questions bearing upon human interests, I would simply add,
that a wise Providence has bound the duty and the interest, both of
individual and social man, firmly together, but for the trial of his
virtue the bands are concealed.

On the 31st, I took my luggage on board the steam packet "Caledonia,"
for Liverpool, via Halifax, which was to sail the day following,
although it was the first day of the week. The proprietors of the
packets are bound in a heavy fine to sail on the appointed days, whether
those fall on the first day of the week or not. By this arrangement the
religious feelings of the people of Boston are offended, which is the
more inexcusable, on the part of the British Government, as it does not
suffer its own mails to depart, either from London or Halifax, on that
day. Some gentlemen, who were interested in the subject, placed in my
hands a memorial addressed to the Lords of the Admiralty in Great
Britain, praying for such an alteration of the arrangements as would
prevent this periodical violation of the first day of the week. A
gentleman, who was active in getting it signed, assured me it was
received with universal favor. The signatures, obtained on very short
notice, are those of the most influential men in their respective
stations in the city of Boston, and include the names of the mayor of
the city, an ex-lieutenant governor of the State of Massachusetts, one
bishop, upwards of forty ministers of religion, of different
denominations, nine gentleman, upwards of one hundred and twenty
merchants, seventeen presidents of insurance companies, the post-master
of Boston, five physicians, seven members of the legal profession, and
two editors of newspapers. After my arrival in this country, I presented
this document, through the Secretary of the Admiralty, to the
authorities to whom it is addressed, but regret to state that the
request was not complied with. The memorial, and the reply of the Lords
of the Admiralty are given in the Appendix[A]

[Footnote A: .See Appendix L.]

On leaving the shores of the United States, I left the following letter
for publication:--


    "_To the Friends of Immediate Emancipation in the United
    States_.

    "Having visited your country as an humble fellow-laborer in the
    great cause in which you are engaged, and which, through trials
    and difficulties a stranger can scarcely appreciate, you have so
    zealously maintained, I have had a pleasing and satisfactory
    interview with many of you, with reference to future exertions,
    in cooperation with those of other lands, who unite with you in
    regarding slave-holding and slave-trading as a heinous sin in
    the sight of God, which should be immediately abolished. It is
    the especial privilege of those who are laboring in such a
    cause, to feel that 'every country is their country, and every
    man their brother,' and to live above the atmosphere of
    sectional jealousy and national hostility; and hence I feel an
    assurance, that you will receive with kindness a few lines from
    me on the eve of my departure to my native land.

    "You concur generally in opinion, that in endeavoring to obtain
    the great object we have in view, it is very important that the
    friends of the cause should be united, not only in principle,
    but, as far as may be, in the character of the measures which
    they pursue; and I have been much encouraged in finding that you
    have generally adopted the sentiment so rapidly spreading on the
    other side of the Atlantic,--'That there is no reasonable hope
    of abolishing the slave-trade, but, by the abolition of slavery,
    and that no measures should be pursued for its attainment, but
    those which are of a moral, religious, and pacific character.'
    The progress of emancipation in Europe has been, beyond a doubt,
    greatly retarded by leaving slavery and the slave-holder
    unmarked by public reprobation, and concentrating all the
    energies of philanthropy upon a fruitless effort to abolish the
    slave-trade. And in this country the Colonization scheme, with
    its delusive promise of good to Africa, and its vague
    anticipations of putting an end to the slave-trade by armed
    colonies on the coast of that ill-fated continent, has been the
    means of obstructing emancipation at home, of unprofitably
    absorbing the energies and blinding the judgment of many sincere
    friends of the slave, and of strengthening the unchristian
    prejudice against color. The abolitionists of Europe, with few
    exceptions, have seen the error of their former course of
    action, and are now striking directly at the root, instead of
    lopping the branches of slavery; and if further evidence of the
    evil tendency and character of colonization is needed in the
    United States, the recent proceeding of a meeting of the
    Maryland Society at Baltimore, must convince all who are
    friendly to the true interests of the people of color, that it
    is a scheme deserving only the support of the enemies of
    freedom.[A]

    [Footnote A: "The following resolution was passed at the meeting
    of the Maryland Society above alluded to:--'That while it is
    most earnestly hoped that the free colored people of Maryland
    may see that their best and most permanent interests will be
    consulted by their emigration from this State; and while this
    Convention would deprecate any departure from the principle
    which makes colonization dependent upon the voluntary action of
    the free colored people themselves--yet, if, regardless of what
    has been done to provide them with an asylum, they continue to
    persist in remaining in Maryland, in the hope of enjoying here
    an equality of social and political rights, they ought to be
    solemnly warned, that, in the opinion of this Convention, a day
    must arrive when circumstances that cannot be controlled, and
    which are now maturing, will deprive them of choice, and leave
    them no alternative but removal,'"]

    "The rapid progress of public opinion, as to the iniquity of
    slavery, and the entire safety, as well as advantage, of its
    immediate abolition--the attention which has been awakened to it
    in all parts of the civilized world--the movements in France,
    Spain, Brazil, and Denmark, and other countries with
    slave-holding dependencies, all indicating that the days of
    slavery are numbered, should serve to encourage and stimulate us
    to increased exertions; and while it is a cause of profound
    regret, that any thing should have disturbed the harmony and
    unity of the real friends of emancipation in this country--the
    hardest battle field of our moral warfare--I am not without
    hope, that, in future, those who,--from a conscientious
    difference of opinion, not as to the object, but the precise
    mode of obtaining it,--cannot act in one united band, will
    laudably emulate each other in the promotion of our common
    cause, and in Christian forbearance upon points of disagreement;
    and that, where they cannot praise, they will be careful not to
    censure those, who, by a different road, are earnestly pursuing
    the same end. Without entering into the controversies which have
    divided our friends on this side the water, I believe it would
    be nothing more than a simple act of justice for me to state, on
    my return to Europe, my conviction that a large portion of the
    abolitionists of the United States, who approve of the
    proceedings of the late General Anti-Slavery Convention, and are
    desirous of acting in unity with the British and Foreign
    Anti-Slavery Society, from the general identity of their
    practice, as well as principles, with those of the British and
    Foreign Society, are entitled to the sympathies, and deserving
    of the confidence and co-operation of the abolitionists of Great
    Britain. It has been my pleasure to meet, in a kindly
    interchange of opinion, many valuable and devoted friends of
    emancipation; who, while dissenting from the class
    above-mentioned in some respects, are nevertheless disposed to
    cultivate feelings of charity and good will towards all who are
    sincerely laboring for the slaves. And in this connection I may
    state, that neither on behalf of myself, or of my esteemed
    coadjutors in Great Britain, am I disposed to recriminate upon
    another class of abolitionists, who, on some points, have so far
    differed from the British and Foreign Anti-Slavery Committee,
    and the great majority of the Convention above mentioned, as to
    sustain their representatives in refusing to act with that
    Convention, and in protesting against its proceedings; and who
    have seen fit to censure the committee in their public meetings
    and newspapers in this country, as 'arbitrary and despotic,' and
    their conduct as 'unworthy of men claiming the character of
    abolitionists.'

    "As a corresponding member of the British and Foreign
    Anti-Slavery Committee, and intimately acquainted with its
    proceedings, I am persuaded that its members have acted wisely,
    and consulted the best interest of the cause in which they were
    engaged, in generally leaving unnoticed any censures that have
    been cast upon them while in the prosecution of their labors.
    Yet, before leaving this country, I deem it right to bear my
    testimony to the great anxiety of that committee faithfully to
    discharge the duties committed to their trust; and to state that
    it has never been my privilege to be united to any body more
    desirous of keeping simply to the one great object of their
    association--the total and immediate abolition of slavery and
    the slave-trade. I am persuaded that all candid minds, making
    due allowance for the imperfection pertaining to human
    associations, will feel their confidence in the future integrity
    of that committee increased in proportion as they closely
    investigate their past acts; and that, even when the wisdom of
    their course may have been questioned, they will accord to them
    a scrupulous honesty of purpose.

    "The first public suggestion of a General Anti-Slavery
    Convention, like the one held last year in London, originated, I
    believe, on this side of the Atlantic, although the Committee of
    the British and Foreign Anti-Slavery Society took upon
    themselves the heavy responsibility of convening it. At its
    close, they invited an expression of the opinion of the
    delegates, as to the desirableness of again summoning such an
    assembly. The expression was generally in the affirmative; and,
    after discussion, a resolution was passed, leaving it to the
    Committee of the British and Foreign Anti-Slavery Society, after
    consulting with the friends of the cause in other parts of the
    world, to decide this important question, as well as the time
    and place of its meeting, should another Convention be resolved
    upon.

    "Since I have been in the United States, I have found those
    abolitionists who approved the principles and proceedings of the
    late Convention so generally in favor of another, and of London
    as its place of meeting, that the only question seemed to be
    whether it should be held in 1842 or 1843. This expression of
    opinion is, I know, so generally in accordance with the views of
    the British and Foreign Anti-Slavery Committee, and of many
    other prominent abolitionists in Europe, that I have little
    doubt they will feel encouraged to act upon it, probably at the
    latter period. There is abundant and increasing evidence of the
    powerfully beneficial influence of the late Convention upon
    almost every part of the world where slavery is still tolerated;
    and we are encouraged to hope that the one in anticipation will
    be still more efficient for the promotion of universal liberty.

    "Painful as has been to me the spectacle of many of the leading
    influences of the ecclesiastical bodies in this country, either
    placed in direct hostility to, or acting as a drag upon, the
    wheel of the anti-slavery enterprise--and of the manifest
    preponderance of a slave-holding influence in the councils of
    the State--I am not one of those who despair of a healthful
    renovation of public sentiment which shall purify Church as well
    as State from this abomination. There are decided indications
    that all efforts of councils and synods to unite 'pure religion
    and undefiled,' with a slave-trading and slave-holding
    counterfeit of Christianity, must ere long utterly fail. And it
    is to me a matter of joy, as it must be to every friend of
    impartial liberty and free institutions, that the citizens of
    this republic are more and more feeling that the plague-spot of
    slavery, as with the increased facilities of communication its
    horrors and deformity become more apparent in the eyes of the
    world, is fixing a deep disgrace upon the character of their
    country, and paralyzing the beneficial influence which might
    otherwise flow from it as an example of a well-regulated free
    government. May each American citizen who is desirous of washing
    away this disgrace, to whatever division of the anti-slavery
    host he may attach himself, ever bear in mind that the cause is
    of too tremendous and pressing a nature to admit of his wasting
    his time in censuring and impeding the progress of those who may
    array themselves under a somewhat different standard from his
    own; and that any energies thus wasted, which belong to the one
    great object, so far as human instrumentality is concerned, is
    not only deferring the day of freedom to two and a half millions
    of his countrymen, but inasmuch as the fall of American slavery
    must be the death-blow to the horrid system, wherever it exists,
    the result of the struggle here involves the slavery or freedom
    of millions in other parts of the world, as well as the
    continuance or suppression of that slave-trade, to the foreign
    branch of which alone more than _one thousand victims are daily
    sacrificed_; and in reference to which it has justly been said,
    'that all that has been borne to Africa of the boasted
    improvements of civilized life, is a masterly skill in the
    contrivance, and an unhesitating daring in the commission of
    crimes, which the mind of the savage was too simple to devise,
    and his heart too gentle to execute.' There are no doubtful
    indications that it is the will of Him, who has the hearts of
    all at His disposal, that, either in judgment or in mercy, this
    dreadful system shall ere long cease. It is not for us to say
    why, in His inscrutable wisdom, He has thus far permitted one
    portion of His creatures so cruelly to oppress another; or by
    what instrumentality He will at length redress the wrongs of the
    poor, and the oppression of the needy; but should the worst
    fears of one of your most distinguished citizens, who in view of
    this subject, acknowledged that he 'trembled for his country,
    when he remembered that God was just,' be finally realized, may
    each one of you feel that no exertions on his part have been
    wanting to avert the Divine displeasure, and preserve your land
    from those calamities which, in all ages, have rebuked the
    crimes of nations.

    "Your sincere friend,

    "JOSEPH STURGE.

    "Boston, Seventh Month 31st, 1841."


My dear friend John G. Whittier, whose pleasant company and invaluable
aid I had enjoyed, as much as his health would permit, during my stay in
the United States, kindly accompanied me on board. Had he been less
closely identified with the transactions of which the present volume is
a record, I should have felt it due to his station among the earliest
and most distinguished advocates of the anti-slavery cause in America,
to attempt some delineation, however imperfect, of that rare and
consecrated union of consistent Christian character, fine talents, and
sound and impartial judgment, which give him so much weight in the
councils of his fellow-laborers. We set sail about noon on the 1st of
the Eighth month, (August,) and arrived off Liverpool about eleven
o'clock, P.M. on the 13th, which interval included ten hours delay at
Halifax. We had about ninety passengers from Halifax to Liverpool, and
with the exception of a severe gale on the 10th, almost amounting to a
hurricane, we had a very favorable voyage. The time from Halifax to
within sight of the light house off the south coast of Ireland was
announced to be only nine days and thirteen minutes.

One of my fellow passengers had recently been traveling in the southern
States, and showed me a letter given to him as a curiosity at the post
office at Charleston, South Carolina, which was addressed by a slave to
her husband, but from insufficient direction had never reached its
destination. It was to convey the tidings that she was about to be sold
to the South, and begging him, in simple and affecting terms, to come
and see her, as they would never meet again. Another of the passengers,
who had also been a fellow voyager with my friend Joseph John Gurney,
had recently travelled in Texas. He was strongly impressed with the
evils likely to result from the proposed recognition of that government
by Great Britain. In consequence of the promising aspect of these
negotiations between General Hamilton and Lord Palmerston in favor of
Texas, the paper money issued by that piratical government, and which
had not been previously negotiable for more than one tenth of its
nominal value, rapidly rose. The Texas republic, in his opinion, could
not secure a permanence without British recognition.

Many planters, with their slaves, have emigrated thither to escape their
creditors from the border States, and the republic has been lavish of
grants of land to men of capital and influence, to induce them to settle
within its limits. My informant considered the state of society to be as
bad as it well could be, and continue to exist. The white inhabitants
are living not only in fear of hostile Indians, but in fear of each
other.

From a late letter of a friend in America, I make the following extract
relative to the present condition of Texas.


    "To give thee some adequate idea of the importance of that
    beautiful republic of Texas, which Lord Palmerston and the late
    Whig government of England took under their especial protection,
    I will just refer to the statistics of the late election of its
    President. The successful candidate, General Houston, a man
    notorious for his open contempt for all the decencies of
    civilized society,--brutal, brawling, profane, and
    licentious,--received somewhat rising five thousand votes: his
    competitor, Judge Burnet, between two and three thousand,--a
    vote smaller by thousands than that of our little county of
    Essex, in Massachusetts. Late accounts from Texas inform us that
    gangs of organized desperadoes, under the names of moderators
    and regulators, are traversing its territory, perpetrating the
    most brutal outrages. In one instance they seized a respectable
    citizen who dared to express his dissatisfaction with their
    proceedings, hurried him into the forest, and deliberately dug
    his grave before his eyes, _intending to bury him alive_! The
    miserable victim, horrified by the prospect of such a fate,
    broke away from his tormentors, and attempted to escape, but was
    shot down and instantly killed! Such a congregation as Texas
    presents was never, I suspect, known, save in that city into
    which the Macedonian monarch gathered and garnered, in one
    scoundrel community, the vagabond rascality of his kingdom.

    "Thou would'st be amused to read an article, which has made its
    appearance in the _Houston Telegraph_--a Texian paper--in which
    the editor says, 'that while we deeply commiserate the situation
    of our sister republic, in regard to the political scourge of
    abolitionism, it is pleasing to reflect that our country enjoys
    a _complete immunity from its effects_. Indeed we may with
    safety declare, that throughout the whole extent of our country,
    not a single abolitionist can be found.' He goes on to say that
    this induces many of the southern planters to emigrate to Texas,
    who, he remarks, '_will necessarily look to Texas, as the
    Hebrews did to the promised land, for a refuge and home_.' It
    will thus be seen that Texas is the promised land of the
    patriarchal slave-holders of the southern States. When hunted
    from every other quarter of the globe by the inexorable spirit
    of abolition, when even Cuba and Brazil cease to afford them an
    asylum--when slave-holding shall be every where else as odious
    and detestable as midnight larceny, or highway robbery,--Texas
    alone, uninfected and secure, is to open its gates of refuge to
    the persecuted Calhouns and McDuffies, and their northern allies
    in church and state--the San Marino of slavery, dissevered from
    the world's fanaticism--isolated and apart, like the floating
    air-island of Dean Swift."


The following extract from a recent New York paper gives an equally
deplorable representation of the society in Texas.


    "The pestilent influence of the recent horrible murders on the
    Arkansas, and other United States' rivers, has caused the
    practice of lynching to break forth with renewed fury in Texas,
    where it had apparently slept for the previous year. And we find
    recorded in the Texas papers nearly a dozen of these murders
    that have occurred, and undoubtedly there have been more than as
    many more. In Shelby county two citizens have been shot down,
    and several houses burned by a party of outlaws. In Red River
    two men have been hanged as horse-thieves, without judge or
    jury. In Washington county one man has been shot down, under the
    pretence that he was a murderer. In Austin county two men were
    killed, and two hostile parties were in arms for several days,
    taking the law into their own hands. In Jefferson county two men
    have been killed, and the house of one of them burnt to the
    ground by a party of self-styled 'regulators.' And all this in
    the space of a year."


Several of my fellow-passengers were from Cuba, and some of them
slave-holders by their own admission. With one or two of those who could
speak English, I had much conversation on the abolition of slavery. They
concurred with apparent sincerity in the desire that the slave trade
might be effectually suppressed. They seemed to consider that this trade
was promoted by the mother country as one means of preventing the colony
from aspiring to independence. They admitted the abstract injustice of
slavery, and one remarked, that a difference of the color of the skin
was a misfortune, not a crime. They were not, however, disposed to
entertain a thought of emancipation, without being fully compensated for
their slaves.

I had again the pleasure of observing on this voyage, the benefits of
the change of system with regard to the supply of wines and spirits,
each passenger paying for what he consumes, instead of his fare
including the privilege of drinking _ad libitum_. One of the stewards
told me the quantity consumed was little more than one-tenth as much as
under the former system.

I cannot conclude my narrative more gratefully to my own feelings than
by a tribute to the upright and conscientious officer who commanded the
vessel. On the first day of the week, the only one we spent at sea, the
passengers, and as many of the servants as could conveniently attend,
assembled morning and evening in the saloon, for the purpose of
religious worship. Lord Frederick Fitzclarence, one of the passengers,
officiating as a minister of the English Establishment; and every
evening a similar opportunity was offered in the fore cabin to all who
were inclined to be present. The captain firmly resisted the
introduction of cards on the first day of the week, and in his whole
conduct manifested an anxiety not only for the temporal comfort and
safety, but for the spiritual interests of those under his care. Would
that all captains of vessels, invested as they are with such authority
and influence over the passengers and crews, were like-minded with my
friend Captain McKellar.

I disembarked at Liverpool early in the morning on the 14th of Eighth
month, (August,) 1841.





GENERAL OBSERVATIONS

The reader who has accompanied me thus far, will not need to be informed
that I have designedly omitted many of those remarks on scenery,
manners, and institutions, which were naturally suggested to my own mind
by a retrospect of my sojourn in the United States. On various subjects
of great interest and importance, it would be difficult for me to add
anything new or valuable to the information contained in other and well
known works; while on those points to which my attention was chiefly
directed, I have endeavored, as far as practicable, to incorporate the
results of my inquiries in the preceding narrative. There remain,
however, a few observations, for which, having found no appropriate
place, I would bespeak attention in a concluding chapter.

In the Northern States, education, in the common acceptation of the
term, may be considered as universal; in illustration of which it may be
mentioned, that on the occasion of the late census, not a single
American adult in the State of Connecticut, was returned as unable to
read or write. Funds for education are raised by municipal taxation in
each town or district, to such an amount as the male adults may decide.
Their public schools are universally admitted to be well conducted and
efficient, and combine every requisite for affording a sound, practical,
elementary education to the children of the less affluent portion of the
community. I need scarcely add that in a republican government, this
important advantage being conceded, the road to wealth and distinction,
or to eminence of whatever kind, is thrown open to all of every class
without partiality--the colored alone excepted.

The following extract from a letter received since my return from a
respected member of the Society of Friends, residing in Worcester,
Massachusetts, will give a lively idea of the general diffusion and
practical character of education in the New England States.

"The public schools of the place, like those throughout the State, are
supported by a tax, levied on the people by themselves, in their primary
assemblies or town meetings, and they are of so excellent a character as
to have driven other schools almost entirely out from among us. They are
so numerous as to accommodate amply all the children, of suitable age to
attend. They are graduated from the infant school, where the A B C is
taught, up to the high school for the languages and mathematics, where
boys are fitted for the University, and advanced so far, if they choose,
as to enter the University one or two years ahead. These schools are
attended by the children of the whole population promiscuously; and, in
the same class we find the children of the governor and ex-governor of
the State, and those of their day-laborers, and of parents who are so
poor that their children are provided with books and stationery from the
school fund. Under this system, we have no children who do not acquire
sufficient school learning to qualify them for transacting all the
business which is necessary in the ordinary pursuits of life. A child
growing up without school learning would be an anomaly with us. All
standing thus on a level, as to advantages, talent is developed,
wherever it happens to be; and neither wealth nor ancestral honors give
any advantage in the even-handed contest which may here be waged for
distinction. It is thus that we find, almost uniformly, that our first
men, either in government or the professions, are the sons of
comparatively poor and obscure persons. In places where the wealthier
portion of the community have placed their children in select schools,
they are found much less likely to excel, than when placed in contact
and collision with the mass, where they are compelled to come in
competition with those whose physical condition prepares them for mental
labor, and whose situation in society holds forth every inducement to
their exertions. To this system, which is co-eval with the foundation of
the State, I attribute, in a great degree, that wonderful energy of
character which distinguishes the people of New England, and which has
filled the world with the evidences of their enterprise."

The preceding statements refer to New England, the oldest portion of the
free States. The more recently settled Northern and Western States are
necessarily less advanced, yet their educational statistics would
probably bear comparison with any country in the world, except the most
favored portion of their own. In the slave States the aspect of things
affords a striking contrast. Not only is the slave population, with but
few exceptions, in a condition of heathen barbarism, a condition which
it is the express object of those laws of the slave States, forbidding,
under the heaviest penalties, the instruction of the slaves, to
perpetuate; but the want of common elementary education among large
numbers of the privileged class is notorious. Compare Virginia with
Massachusetts,--"The American Almanac for the year 1841, states, (page
210) there are supposed to be hardly fewer than 30,000 adult white
persons in Virginia who cannot read and write!" An able writer gives the
following facts.

"No one of the slave States has probably so much general education as
Virginia. It is the oldest of them--has furnished one half of the
Presidents of the United States--has expended more upon her University
than any State in the Union has done during the same time upon its
colleges--sent to Europe nearly twenty years since for her most learned
professors; and in fine, has far surpassed every other slave State in
her efforts to disseminate education among her citizens; and yet, the
Governor of Virginia in his message to the legislature, (Jan. 7, 1839)
says, that of four thousand six hundred and fourteen adult males in that
State, who applied to the county clerks for marriage licences in the
year 1837, one thousand and forty seven were unable to write their
names." The governor adds, "these statements, it will be remembered are
confined to one sex: the education of females, it is to be feared, is in
a condition of _much greater neglect_."--The editor of the Virginia
Times published at Wheeling, in his paper of January 23d, 1839,
says,--"We have every reason to suppose that one fourth of the people of
the State cannot write their names, and they have not of course any
other species of education."[A]

[Footnote A: "American Slavery as it is," page 187.]

The destitution of the means of moral and religious improvement is in
like manner very great. A recent number of the "Monthly Extracts from
the correspondence of the American Bible Society," contains the
following extract from the 28th annual report of the Virginia Bible
Society: "The sub-sheriff of one of our Western Counties stated the
following fact to your agent. A jury was to be empannelled in a remote
settlement of this country--he happened to have left his home without a
Bible--there was no Bible in the house where the jury was to sit, and
the sheriff travelled fourteen miles calling at every house, before he
found a Bible. Pious surveyors stated to your agent that they had
traversed every settlement in a remote section of one or two of our
south western counties, that they had frequently inquired among the
settlers for a Bible, but had never seen or heard of one in a region,
say sixty miles by fifty."

There are few things more striking in the free States than the number
and commodiousness of the places of worship. In the New England States,
however general the attendance might be, none would be excluded for want
of room. The other means or accompaniments of religious instruction are
in the same abundance. How is it possible to evade the conclusion that
Christianity flourishes most, when it is unencumbered and uncorrupted by
state patronage? What favored portion of the United Kingdom could
compare its religious statistics with New England?

Religion and morality, viewed on the broad scale, are cause and
effect--a remark which is fully borne out in the Northern States, and in
no instance more remarkably exemplified than in the spread of
temperance. A few years ago the consumption of ardent spirits, and other
intoxicating drinks, was as general as in England, and the effects even
more conspicuous and debasing. It is now very rare, in the free States,
to see a drunken person, even in the most populous cities. At the large
hotels, as far as my observation extended, it is the exception, not the
rule, to take any spirituous or fermented beverage at or after dinner;
and no case of inebriety came under my notice in any of these
establishments. I have already remarked, that some of the first hotels
in the principal cities are established on the strictest temperance
principles. I believe, in private hospitality, intoxicating drinks are,
in like manner, very much discarded. At the tables of members of the
Society of Friends, it is very rare to see either wine or malt liquor
introduced; while, as already noticed, the selling, using, or giving
ardent spirits is so great an offence as to be made the subject of
church discipline. This is, by no means, one of the "peculiarities" of
"Friends," as I believe it may be generally stated that the same
practices, in most other Christian communities, would be considered as
quite incompatible with a profession of religion.

The effects of this great reformation are not confined to the United
States, although the change hitherto has been much more gradual in my
native country; not so, however, in Ireland, now, by a happy reverse, a
scene of light and promise, amidst surrounding gloom and depression. Of
the American facts I have to record, connected with the temperance
movement, the most grateful is the striking contrast that is exhibited
in the Irish emigrants. By the divine blessing on Theobald Mathew's
benevolent labors, they have generally forsaken their besetting sin of
drunkenness in their native land, and if compelled to seek the means of
subsistence in another country, they now at least do not carry with them
habits that tend irresistibly to destitution and degradation. The Irish
movement is likewise re-acting most beneficially on the native Irish,
who have long been settled in America, and who are joining the total
abstinence societies in great number, though hitherto the most
intemperate part of the community.

In short, whether I consider the religious, the benevolent, or the
literary institutions of the Northern States--whether I contemplate the
beauty of their cities, or the general aspect of their fine country, in
which nature every where is seen rendering her rich and free tribute to
industry and skill--or whether I regard the general comfort and
prosperity of the laboring population,--my admiration is strongly
excited, and, to do justice to my feelings, must be strongly expressed.
Probably there is no country where the means of temporal happiness are
so generally diffused, notwithstanding the constant flow of emigrants
from the old world; and, I believe there is no country where the means
of religious and moral improvement are so abundantly provided--where
facilities of education are more within the reach of all--or where there
is less of extreme poverty and destitution.

As morals have an intimate connection with politics, I do not think it
out of place here to record my conviction, that the great principle of
popular control, which is carried out almost to its full extent in the
free states, is not only beautiful in theory, but that it is found to
work well in practice. It is true that disgraceful scenes of mob
violence and lynch-law have occurred; but perhaps not more frequently
than popular outbreaks in Great Britain; while, generally, the supremacy
of law and order have been restored, without troops, or special
commissions, or capital punishments. It is also true, that these
occurrences are, for the most part, directly traceable, not to the
celebrated declaration of the equal and inalienable right of all men to
life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, which is the fundamental
principle of the constitution; but to the flagrant violation of that
principle in the persons of the colored population, of whom those in
most of the free states are actually or virtually deprived of political
rights; and the rest, constituting a majority of the population in some
of the Southern States, are held in abject slavery. The corruptions and
disorders that obscure the bright example of the American people, and
detract from the estimation in which their institutions and policy would
otherwise be held, generally spring from this source. So long as slavery
and distinction of color exist, America will always be pointed at with
the finger of scorn, for her flagrant violation of all truth and
consistency. But let us not forget that this odious institution is the
disgraceful legacy of a monarchy--that it is no necessary effect of
republican institutions, but the reverse. Our quarrel, therefore, is not
with the declaration of rights, but that this celebrated declaration
should be regarded, in the instance of one class in the community, as a
mere rhetorical flourish, and should thus be deprived of its legitimate
practical effect.

The great feature of the political arrangements of the free States is,
the absence of the aristocratic element. A pure despotism in the hands
of one man has seldom been seen, except in the instances of those
renowned military chiefs, whom a retributive Providence has at intervals
employed as the scourge of guilty nations. An aristocracy under various
forms and names, has usually been the governing power, and as the too
frequent result, laws have been made and administered for the benefit of
the few, and not for the many. Yet the United States of North America
exhibit, however, notwithstanding their political theory to the
contrary, an aristocracy of the worst kind, _an aristocracy of color_;
in the free States of the many against the few, in affirming these to be
a degraded race, as long as African blood runs in their veins; and in
the slave States, for a no better reason, reducing them even when they
are the majority; to the condition of brute beasts, to be held and sold
as goods and chattels. And this leads me to observe that the writer who
mistakes the general government of the confederacy, with its limited
scope and powers, for the chief source of laws and administration in the
separate States will unavoidably present a confused and distorted
representation of existing facts. Each State constitutes within itself a
distinct republic, virtually independent of the general government, so
long as its legislation does not conflict with the specific articles of
the constitutional compact; all the rights and powers of sovereignty,
not specifically delegated to the Government in that instrument, being
retained by the States. Hence nothing can present a wider contrast than
the slavery-blackened code of South Carolina, and the statutes of
Massachusetts, characterized by republican simplicity and equality.

The preceding observations in favor of the democratic institutions of
the northern States, are therefore to be understood as of local
application; and I would explicitly admit that a well-ordered and a
well-working government on such principles must in a great measure
depend upon the amount of virtue and intelligence in the community: but
while a government which is based upon the principles of impartial
justice requires a virtuous people properly to administer it, it has, I
believe, within itself one of the most powerful elements for the
formation of such a community.

On the subject of peace my inquiries elicited an almost uniformly
favorable response. If we except those who would encourage the war
spirit, from hopes of sharing in the plunder, or those to whom it would
open up the path to distinction and emolument, there are comparatively
few who do not desire the maintenance of peace. In the religious part of
the community, there is a rapidly spreading conviction of the
unchristian character of war, in every shape; and the President, in his
late message to Congress, in stating that "the time ought to be regarded
as having gone by when a resort to arms is to be esteemed as the only
proper arbiter of national differences", has expressed the sentiments of
the great bulk of the intelligent citizens of the United States. I
believe also that the majority would be found willing to assent to any
reasonable and practical measure that should preclude the probability of
an appeal to arms, or of keeping up what are absurdly called "peace
establishments" of standing armies and appointed fleets for the
protection of national safety or honor. The late excitements on the
Boundary and McLeod questions were confined to comparatively few of the
population, and the report of them was magnified by distance.

But a far stronger guaranty for the permanence of international peace
than any treaties, will be found in the interchange of mutual benefits
by commerce. For this reason he who is successful in promoting a free
and unchecked commerce, is the benefactor, not of his own country alone,
but of the world at large. There are few countries where in practice
free trade is more fully carried out than in the United States, but in
theory the true doctrine of this subject is only in part adopted by her
statesmen and leading minds. They are willing to trade on equal terms,
but will meet prohibition with prohibition. Here undoubtedly they
mistake their real interests, but though such a policy will not advance
the prosperity of America, it will inflict tremendous and lasting injury
on Great Britain. Whatever the event, _we_ cannot complain. The terms
offered by the United States, though not wise, on an enlarged view of
her own interests, are yet _reciprocal_, and therefore fair between
nation and nation. If, however, I possessed any influence with the
enlightened citizens of North America, I should be in no common degree
anxious to exert it against those false views of trade and commerce
which distort alike the maxims and the policy of her rulers. Their
manufactures flourish, not in consequence of protection, but in defiance
of it. With such an extended coast, and such facilities of internal
communication, prohibition is impossible. The manufactures of England
are excluded, not by the revenue laws of the States, but by the corn
laws of Great Britain, which forbid the British manufacturer to take in
exchange the only article of value his American customer has to spare; a
prohibition which, unhappily for the people of this country, our
government has power to enforce. The prohibitory system is, to a great
extent, impracticable in the United States; and just so far as it should
be found practicable, it would prove injurious, by creating fictitious
and dependent interests, which, in the course of time, would become
insupportably burdensome to the commonwealth, and eventually would have
to be relinquished at the cost of a fearful amount of individual
distress and national suffering. Legitimate commerce is that department
of the national welfare, in which it is the business of statesmanship to
do nothing but remove the impediments of its own creating in past times.
In all other respects, commercial legislation is a nuisance; and if
under some circumstances trade is found to flourish concurrently with
such interference, the fact is due either to the restrictions and
regulations being practically inoperative, or more frequently, to the
high profits arising from unexhausted resources, in the absence of
competition, enabling commerce to advance in spite of impediments; in
the same way as cultivation by slave labor, notwithstanding its
expensiveness and inordinate waste, enables the first planter on a
virgin soil, and with an open market for his produce, to roll in his
carriage, though beggary is to be the fate of the second or third
generation of his descendants.

In giving the preceding representation of the religious, the moral, and
the intellectual elevation of the population of the Northern States of
the Union, I have indicated the source we must look to for the abolition
of slavery, to which it is now time to turn our attention, for no
American question can be discussed, into which this important subject
does not largely enter.

Light and darkness, truth and falsehood, are not more in opposition than
Christianity and slavery. If the religion that is professed in the free
States be not wholly a dead letter,--if the moral and intellectual light
which they appear to enjoy be indeed light, and not darkness,--then the
abolition of slavery is certain, and cannot be long delayed. In order to
make this apparent, as well as to vindicate my own proceedings in the
United States, it is incumbent on me to show, that the great contest,
for the abolition of American slavery, is to be decided in the _free_
States, by the power of public opinion. I have distinctly admitted, that
the confederated republics have each their independent sovereignty.
Neither the free States, nor the general Government, can perhaps
constitutionally abolish slavery in any one of the existing slave
States. Yet there are certain objects clearly within the limits of the
constitutional power of the general Government, such as the suppression
of the internal slave-trade, and the abolition of slavery in the
district of Columbia, for which it is undeniably lawful and
constitutional for every American citizen to strive; and the attainment
of which would suffice to cripple, and ultimately destroy slavery in
every part of the Union. The slave-holding power is so sensible of this,
that all its united strength is employed to retain that control over the
general Government, which it has exercised from the date of the
independence, and never more despotically than at the present time.
Amidst the difficulties which beset, and the dangers which threatened
the country, at the period of the formation of the constitution, the
southern States dictated such a compromise as they thought fit; and,
with the great principles of liberty paraded on the face of the
declaration of independence, came into the Union on the express
understanding that those principles should be perpetually violated in
their favor. Of the details of this compromise, by far the most
important, and one which has mainly contributed to consolidate the
political supremacy of the south, is the investiture of the slave
masters with political rights, in proportion to the amount of their
slave property. Every five slaves confer three votes on their owner;
though, in other points of view, a slave is a mere chattel--an article
of property and merchandize,--yet, in this instance, and in _criminal
proceedings against him_, his _personality_ is recognized, for the
express object of adding to the weight of his chains, and increasing the
power of his oppressor.

The North, in voting away the rights and freedom of the laboring
population of the South, surrendered its own liberty. The haughty
slave-holding masters of the great confederacy have from the beginning
chosen the Presidents, and the high officers of state, and have
controlled the policy of the Government, from a question of peace or
war, to the establishment of a tariff or a bank. In the executive
department they have dictated all appointments, from a letter-carrier to
an ambassador; an amusing illustration of which I find in my recent
correspondence. A late member of the Massachusetts legislature, writes
on the Eighth Month (August) 26, 1841:


    "One instance of the all-pervading _espionage_ of the slave
    power I may mention. The newly appointed postmaster of
    Philadelphia employed, among his numerous clerks and
    letter-carriers, Joshua Coffin, who, some three years ago, aided
    in restoring to liberty a free colored citizen of New York, who
    had been kidnapped and sold into slavery. The appointment of the
    postmaster not being confirmed, he wrote to his friends in
    Congress to inquire the reason, and was told that the delay was
    occasioned by the fact that he had employed Coffin as one of his
    letter-carriers! Coffin was immediately dismissed, and the
    senate in a few days confirmed the appointment! Is not this a
    pitiful business?"


If the reader, who wishes further information, will consult William
Jay's work, entitled "A View of the Action of the Federal Government in
behalf of Slavery," he will find ample historical proof that the
internal and external administration of the Union--legislative,
executive, and diplomatic--has been employed, without any deviation from
consistency, to subserve the interests of the slave-holding States. Yet
these States are, in population, numerically weaker than those of the
North, and inferior, to a far greater degree, in wealth, intelligence,
and the other elements of political power. They are strong only in the
compactness of their union, while the citizens of the free States are
divided in interest and opinion. Here, then, is presented a distinct and
legitimate object for those of the abolitionists who regard their
political rights as a trust for the benefit of the oppressed and
helpless, to combine the scattered and divided power of the North into a
united phalanx, which shall wrest the administration of the Federal
Union from the slave-holding interest, and shall purify the general
Government from the contamination of slavery, by reversing its general
policy on that subject, and by the adoption of the specific measures
before mentioned; while, in the States in which they respectively
reside, the abolitionists feel it to be their duty to exert themselves,
to wipe away from the statute book every vestige of that barbarism which
makes political, civil, or religious rights depend upon the color of the
skin.

Yet more important is it, however, to bring the moral force of the North
to bear against slavery, by reforming the prevailing public sentiment of
the religious, moral, and intelligent portion of the community. Here
again, one of the most sagacious leaders of the pro-slavery party, J.C.
Calhoun, has descried the danger from afar, and has publicly proclaimed
it in the senate of the United States, by vehemently deprecating the
anti-slavery proceedings, not as intended to provoke the slaves to a
servile war, but as a crusade against the _character_ of the
slave-holders.

Although the different States are distinct governments, their
geographical boundaries are mere lines upon the map; their inhabitants
speak the same language, and enjoy a communion of citizenship all over
the Union. The North Eastern States have by far the greater part of the
whole commerce of the Union, and are the medium through which the
planter exchanges his cotton for provisions and clothing for his slaves,
implements for his agriculture, and his own family supplies. These
commercial ties create a direct and extensive pro-slavery interest in
the North. Again, the planter is yet more dependent on the North for
education for his children, and for the gratification of his own
intellectual wants, as the slave-holding region has few colleges, and
those of secondary reputation; while I believe it has no periodical of
higher pretension than the political newspapers. The pro-slavery
re-action in this way, on the seminaries of the North, and on the
literature of the United States, is most sensibly felt.

Another powerful cause that contributes to leaven the entire population
into one mind on the subject of slavery, is the double migration that
annually takes place of people of the Southern States to the North, in
summer, and of the inhabitants of the free States to the South in
winter. Hence follow family alliances, the interchange of hospitalities,
and a fusion of sentiments, so that the slavery interest spreads its
countless ramifications through every corner of the free north.

Another cause, and perhaps the most powerful of all, is the community of
religious fellowship in leading denominations. The Episcopalians, the
Methodists, the Baptists, and the Presbyterians of two schools, are
severally but one body, all over the Union, and as a matter of course,
all are tainted with slavery, and for consistency's sake, make common
cause against abolition. The pamphlet of James G. Birney, entitled "The
American Churches the Bulwarks of American Slavery,"[A] offers the
amplest proof that the Methodist Episcopal, the Baptist, the
Presbyterian, and the Anglican Episcopal Churches are committed, both in
the persons of their eminent ministers, and by resolutions passed in a
church capacity, to the monstrous assertion that slavery, so far from
being a moral evil, which it is the duty of the church to seek to
remove, is a Christian institution resting on a scriptural basis; this
assertion is repeated in the numerous quotations of the pamphlet, in a
variety and force of expression that show the utterers were resolved not
to leave their meaning in the smallest doubt. Indeed, it might be
supposed, from the perusal of this pamphlet, that the suppression of
abolitionism, if not the maintenance of slavery, was one of the first
duties of the Christian churches in America.

[Footnote A: Published by Ward & Co., Paternoster-row, London.]

The following extracts are offered in illustration:--


    THE METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH.--"Resolved, That it is the sense
    of the Georgia Annual Conference, that slavery, as it exists in
    the United States, _is not a moral evil_."

    "The Rev. Wilbur Fisk, D.D., late President of the (Methodist)
    Wesleyan University in Connecticut--'The New Testament enjoins
    obedience upon the slave as an obligation _due_ to a present
    _rightful_ authority.'"

    "Rev. E.D. Simms, Professor in Randolph Macon College, a
    Methodist Institution--'Thus we see, that the slavery which
    exists in America, _was founded in right_.'"

    "The Rev. William Winans, of Mississippi, in the General
    Conference, in 1836--'Yes, sir, Presbyterians, Baptists,
    Methodists, should be slaveholders,--yes, he repeated it
    boldly--there should be members, and _deacons_, and ELDERS and
    BISHOPS, too, who were slave-holders.'"

    "The Rev. J.H. Thornwell, at a public meeting, held in South
    Carolina, supported the following resolution--'That slavery, as
    it exists in the South, is no evil, and is consistent with the
    principles of revealed religion; and that all opposition to it
    arises from a misguided and fiendish fanaticism, which we are
    bound to resist in the very threshold.'"

    "Rev. Mr. Crowder, of Virginia, at the Annual Conference in
    Baltimore, 1840--'In its _moral_ aspect, slavery was not only
    countenanced, permitted, and regulated by the Bible, but it was
    positively _instituted_ by GOD HIMSELF--he had, in so many
    words, ENJOINED IT.'"


THE BAPTIST CHURCH--"Memorial of the Charleston Baptist Association, to
the Legislature of South Carolina:


    "'_The right of masters to dispose of the time of their slaves
    has been distinctly recognized by the Creator of all things_,
    who is surely at liberty to vest the right of property over any
    object in whomsoever he pleases.'"

    "Rev. R. Furman, D.D., of South Carolina--'The right of holding
    slaves is clearly established in the Holy Scriptures, both by
    precept and example.'"

    "The late Rev. Lucius Bolles, D.D., of Massachusetts, Cor. Sec.
    Am. Bap. Board for Foreign Missions, (1834.)--'There is a
    pleasing degree of union among the multiplying thousands of
    Baptists throughout the land.... Our Southern brethren are
    generally, both ministers and people, slave-holders.'"


PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH.--"Resolution of Charleston Union Presbytery--'That,
in the opinion of this Presbytery, the holding of slaves, so far from
being a SIN in the sight of God, is no where condemned in his holy
word.'"

"Rev. Thomas S. Witherspoon, of Alabama, writing to the Editor of the
_Emancipator_, says--'I draw my warrant from the Scriptures of the Old
and New Testament, to hold the slave in bondage. The principle of
holding the heathen in bondage is recognized by God.... When the tardy
process of the law is too long in redressing our grievances, we of the
South have adopted the summary remedy of Judge Lynch--and really, I
think it one of the most wholesome and salutary remedies for the malady
of Northern fanaticism, that can be applied.'"

"Rev. Robert N. Anderson, of Virginia--'Now _dear Christian brethren_, I
humbly express it as my earnest wish, that you _quit yourselves like
men_. If there be any stray goat of a minister among you, tainted with
the bloodhound principles of abolitionism, let him be ferreted out,
silenced, excommunicated, and left to the _public to dispose of him in
other respects_.'"

THE PROTESTANT EPISCOPAL CHURCH.--"John Jay, himself an
Episcopalian--'She has not merely remained a mute and careless spectator
of this great conflict of truth and justice with hypocrisy and cruelty,
but her very _priests and deacons may be seen ministering at the altar
of slavery_, offering their talents and influence at its unholy shrine,
and openly repeating the awful blasphemy, _that the precepts of our
Savior sanction the system of American slavery_.'"

In page 25 is the following:--


    "The Rev. James Smylie, A.M., of the Amite Presbytery,
    Mississippi, in a pamphlet, published by him a short time ago,
    _in favor_ of American slavery, says:--'If slavery be a sin, and
    advertising and apprehending slaves, with a view to restore them
    to their masters, is a direct violation of the Divine law; and
    if _the buying, selling, or holding a slave, for the sake of
    gain_, is a heinous sin and scandal; then, verily,
    _three-fourths of all the Episcopalians, Methodists, Baptists_,
    and _Presbyterians_, in _eleven States of the Union_, are of the
    devil. They 'hold,' if they do not buy and sell slaves, and,
    _with few exceptions_, they hesitate not to 'apprehend and
    restore' runaway slaves, when in their power.'"


Yet, in the face of evidence so overwhelming as this, showing how the
whole moral atmosphere of the Northern States is tainted with
pro-slavery corruption, the abolitionists are frequently taunted with
the question, what has the North to do with slavery? It is, however, a
part of their vocation to bear contempt and reproach. They know they are
at the right end of the lever, though at some apparent distance from the
object to be moved. _Their mission is to correct public opinion in the
free States_. Let us suppose, for a moment, this object attained--the
whole slave-holding portion of the churches cut off, as a diseased and
corrupt excrescence; the national literature purified, and the entire
community pervaded by sound Christian feeling--a feeling which should
abhor all participation, in word or deed, with the guilt of slavery; and
how could the South maintain, for a single day, the perpetual warfare,
which would be thus waged against her from without, and seconded by
alarmed consciences in her own citadel?

The rise of the present abolition movement dates from the year 1832,
when a few persons met at Philadelphia, and adopted and signed a
declaration of their sentiments. He, however, who would trace
anti-slavery sentiments to their source, must go back to the first era
of Christianity, and to the authoritative promulgation of the Divine law
of love by the lips of the Savior of mankind himself. In the darkest
times, since that period, the true doctrine of the unlawfulness of
slavery has never been wholly lost, being in fact a part of the
imperishable substance of vital Christianity.

From 1832 until the division referred to in an early portion of this
work, the anti-slavery societies multiplied with extraordinary rapidity.
The following account of the present state of the cause is furnished by
my friend, John G. Whittier.


    "He who, at the present time, judges of the progress of the
    anti-slavery cause in the United States, by statistics of the
    formation of new societies, or the activity and efficiency of
    the old, will obtain no adequate idea of the truth. The
    unfortunate divisions among the American abolitionists, and, the
    difficulty of uniting, for any continuous effort, those who
    differ widely as to the proper means to be used, and measures to
    be pursued, have, in a great measure, changed the direction and
    manifestation of anti-slavery feeling and action. Thus, while
    public opinion, in all the free States, is manifestly
    approximating to abolition, and new converts to its principles
    are daily avowing themselves, it is exceedingly rare to hear of
    the formation of a new anti-slavery society, and there are few
    accessions to those which are already in existence. Yet the
    fresh recipients of the truths of anti-slavery doctrine find
    abundant work for their hands to do, even without the pale of
    organized societies, in purifying the churches with which they
    are connected, and in counteracting the pro-slavery politics of
    the country.

    "The two great political parties in the United States, radically
    disagreeing in almost all other points, are of one heart and
    mind, in opposing emancipation; not, I suppose, from any real
    affinity to, or love for the 'peculiar institution,' but for the
    purpose of securing the votes of the slave-holders, who, more
    consistent than the Northern abolitionists, refuse to support
    any man for office, who is not willing to do homage to slavery.
    The competition between these two parties for Southern favor is
    one of the most painful and disgusting spectacles which presents
    itself to the view of a stranger in the United States. To every
    well wisher of America it must be a matter of interest and
    satisfaction to know, that there is a growing determination in
    the free States to meet the combination of slave-holders in
    behalf of slavery, by one of freemen in behalf of liberty; and
    thus compel the party politicians, on the ground of expediency,
    if not of principle, to break from the thraldom of the slave
    power, and array themselves on the side of freedom.

    "It is an undoubted fact, that, at the present time, the various
    denominations of professing Christians in the United States are
    more deeply agitated by this question than at any former period.
    The publication of such books as Weld's 'Slavery as it is,' has
    unveiled the monstrous features of slavery to the Christian
    public in the Northern States. The blasphemous attempts of
    Southern professors and ministers, to defend their abominable
    practices upon Christian grounds, have powerfully re-acted
    against them at the North; and church after church, especially
    in New England, is taking the high stand of the late General
    Convention in London, in withholding its fellowship from
    slave-holders, and closing its pulpit against their preachers.

    "Recent movements in the slave States themselves encourage the
    friends of freedom. In Kentucky, at the late election for state
    officers, one of the candidates, Cassius M. Clay, nephew of
    Henry Clay, avowed his opposition to pro-slavery principles in
    the strongest terms, and staked his election upon this avowal.
    He was warmly supported, and his opponent only succeeded by a
    small majority. Tennessee, in her mountain region, has many
    decided, uncompromising abolitionists, whose encouraging letters
    and statements have been published within the last year, in the
    Northern anti-slavery papers. The excellent work of Joseph John
    Gurney, on the West Indies, and Dr. Channing's late pamphlet,
    entitled "Emancipation," have been very widely circulated in
    many of the slave States; and, so far as can be ascertained,
    have been read with interest by the planters. The movements of
    English and French abolitionists have attracted general
    attention, and, in the Southern States, have awakened no small
    degree of solicitude.

    "That baleful American peculiarity, prejudice against color, is
    evidently diminishing, under the influence of anti-slavery
    principles and practice; and the laws which have oppressed the
    free colored citizen are rapidly yielding to the persevering
    action of the abolitionists. Dr. Channing has not over-stated
    the fact, that the provision in the Federal Constitution,
    relative to the reclaiming of fugitive slaves, has been silently
    but effectually repealed by the force of public opinion, and the
    interposition of jury trial, in many of the free States. In
    Massachusetts, Vermont, Maine, and New York, with the exception
    of its slavery-ridden commercial emporium, the recovery of a
    slave by legalized kidnappers is entirely out of the question.
    In any one of these States, it would, to use the language of a
    New York mechanic, be exceedingly difficult to prove, to the
    satisfaction of a jury of honest freemen, that a man had been
    born 'contrary to the Declaration of Independence.' The
    frontiers of slavery are every where very much exposed, and all
    along the line of Maryland, Delaware, Kentucky, Virginia, and
    Missouri, the tide of self-emancipated men and women is pouring
    in upon the free States. I cannot give a better idea of the
    extent of this peculiar emigration, than by copying extracts
    from the _Centreville Times_, a paper published in Maryland:--


        "'_Free Negroes and Slaves_.--When it is too late, the
        people of Maryland will begin to look for the means of
        protection in their slave property. We still say slave
        property; although, notwithstanding slaves are
        recognized as property by the constitution, without
        which recognition this confederation never would have
        been formed: yet such has been the effect of fanaticism
        and emancipation, of the intermeddling machinations of
        abolitionists, and the mischievous agency of free
        negroes--that _the very owners of this species of
        property seem to begin to doubt whether slaves are
        property or not_; and so much has its value become
        impaired, in the possession of those who reside
        contiguous to the non-slaveholding States, that the
        question has been raised, whether they are, in fact,
        worth keeping. Either discipline must be so much
        relaxed, as that the labor of the slave will scarcely
        pay for his support; or, if forced to labor no more than
        is even necessary to health and contentment, they
        abscond, and passing over the lines into a
        non-slaveholding State, are there concealed and
        protected. The number and the success of elopements
        leave no doubt of the establishment of a regular chain
        of posts, accessary to, and of systematic plans,
        deliberately organized, for their seduction and
        concealment. In these escapes, the free negroes are, for
        the most part, undoubtedly instrumental, as they are to
        most of the robberies committed by slaves. While at
        Easton, two weeks since, the slaves of two gentlemen
        made their escape, being each, if not recovered, a loss
        of one thousand dollars; and the firm persuasion was,
        that, in both cases, the runaways were furnished with
        passes by a free negro barber. Even if apprehended,
        these gentlemen will have been put to an expense of not
        less than three hundred dollars, and this without the
        slightest pretext of ill usage or unkindness.

        "'The usual process is, when the owner is supposed to
        have despaired of his recovery, for some abolition or
        free negro lawyer to open a correspondence with the
        owner, representing the runaway to be in Canada, or
        otherwise beyond apprehension--coolly adding, with a
        highwayman's impudence, "take that or nothing;" and the
        owner has to put up with a total loss, or compromise for
        a third of the value of his property--the result in
        either case, proving an incentive to others to be off in
        like manner"'


               *       *       *       *       *


        "'There is not an interest that is not impaired, by the
        proximity of the free States, and the protection there
        afforded to slaves, and by the presence and
        intercommunion of the free with the slave negro. Even
        the value of land is diminished by it. Maryland suffers
        the disadvantages, without the advantages of a slave
        State. The disadvantage consists in the reputation, (the
        odium, north of the Delaware,) of being a slave State.
        _The capitalists of the North refuse, on that account,
        to invest in Maryland lands, though they could buy land
        in Maryland for twenty dollars an acre, which is
        intrinsically worth more than theirs, which they could
        sell for an hundred._ Our condition is, in fact, that of
        neither the one or the other; and, unless something can
        be done to counteract the progress of fanaticism on this
        subject, and that abuse of strength and heedless
        injustice which always follows irresponsible power,
        _slavery in Maryland must cease, either by sale, while
        that right remains to the slave-holder, or ere long, by
        forced emancipation_.

        "'Virginia--once proud and independent Virginia, already
        half captive to the North--will soon take her place as
        the frontier slave State;--Maryland, with her Southern
        principles, eaten out by Northern men, will then assume
        to her the relation that Pennsylvania now bears to
        Maryland;--nay, it is but too obvious that, as things
        are now working, in process of time, and that not
        slowly, _slavery must cease to exist in all the
        provision-growing States_,--its northernmost line will
        be the line of the sugar, the rice, and the cotton
        culture,--the climate alone affording to the
        slave-holder that shelter which justice could not offer
        from the rapacity of his pursuers. Will the Southern
        still accept the shadow without the substance of equal
        and confederate powers? Be his relation, then, what it
        may--independent, confederate, or colonial--for one, we
        say, let it be defined. To the misery of the slave, let
        him not add the meanness of the dupe. Let him remember,
        that time and corruption have often achieved what would
        have defied the power of the sword;--in a word, let the
        slave-holder think, while yet, if yet, he has power to
        act.'"



I have now concluded an imperfect attempt to delineate the present state
of the anti-slavery cause, on the North American continent, with
incidental notices of the past history of the efforts of its friends. In
regard to the future, my hopes are built on the continuance of these
efforts, and on the concurrent aid afforded by the march of events, both
in the United States and in the world at large, under the manifestly
over-ruling power of that gracious Being, who sometimes employs human
instrumentality to accomplish His purposes of mercy; but who works also
Himself, by His immutable laws, and by the dispensations of His
providence.

THE END.


APPENDIX.


APPENDIX A. P. 30.


ANTI-SLAVERY EPISTLE OF "FRIENDS" IN GREAT BRITAIN.



    "From our Yearly Meeting held in London, by adjournment from the
    20th of the 5th Month to the 29th of the same inclusive, 1840.

    "_To the Yearly Meetings of Friends on the Continent of North
    America_.

    "DEAR FRIENDS,--We think it a favor to us, and we accept it as
    an evidence that our Lord is mindful of us, that from one time
    to another, when thus assembled for mutual edification, and the
    renewing of our spiritual strength, we are in any small measure
    brought afresh to the enjoyment of that love which flows from
    God to man, through Jesus Christ our Savior; and under its
    blessed influence quickened to exercise of mind, not only for
    the health and prosperity of all those professing the same faith
    with ourselves, but for the coming of the kingdom of God upon
    earth, and the universal prevalence of righteousness and truth
    among men. This love has often brought us in Christian
    compassion and tenderness of spirit, deeply to feel for that
    portion of the great family of man subjected to the degradation
    and cruelty of slavery.

    "We do not cease to rejoice with reverent thanksgiving to
    Almighty God, for the termination of this system of iniquity in
    the British Colonies. It was an act of justice on the part of
    our Legislature, and it has removed an enormous load of guilt
    from our beloved country; but in our rejoicing, we cannot, nor
    would we wish, to forget the hundreds of thousands of our
    brethren and sisters on the continent of America, and elsewhere,
    still detained in this abject condition, and liable to all the
    misery and oppression which it entails upon its victims.

    "We have a strong conviction of the guilt and sinfulness of
    slavery, and its pernicious effects upon both the oppressed and
    the oppressor. That man should claim a right of property in the
    person of his fellow--that man should buy and sell his
    brother--that civil governments in their legislative enactments,
    should so far forget that 'God who giveth to all, life, and
    breath, and all things, and hath made of one blood all nations
    of men, for to dwell on all the face of the earth,' as to treat
    those who differ from them in the color of their skin, or any
    other external peculiarity, as beasts that perish, as chattels
    and articles of merchandise,--is in such direct violation of the
    whole moral law, and of the righteousness of the New Testament,
    and that in a day in which the principles of civil and religious
    liberty are so fully acknowledged in many of the nations of
    Christendom, may well excite both indignation and sorrow. And we
    cannot but regard it as such proof of hardness of heart, and
    perverted understanding, that we think it can be attributed to
    nothing short of the deceivableness of Satan working upon the
    fallen nature of man.

    "It was, dear friends, in the gradual unfolding of that light in
    which the things that are reproved are made manifest, that your
    forefathers and ours, were brought to see the criminality of
    slavery. Thus enlightened, they could find no peace with God,
    until they had put away this evil of their doings from before
    his eyes--until by a conscientious discharge of their individual
    religious duty, they had restored those whom they held in
    bondage, to the full enjoyment of unqualified freedom. Under the
    influence of Divine wisdom, and by this faithfulness on the part
    of upright Friends, our religious society were brought to a
    united and settled judgment as a body, that personal slavery,
    both in its origin and its results, was so great an evil, that
    it could be tolerated by no mitigation of its hardship; and they
    felt the demands of equity to be so urgent upon them, that they
    were concerned to enjoin it upon Friends every where, by a ready
    compliance with such reasonable duty, to cease to do evil, by
    immediately releasing those they held as slaves. Their own hands
    being cleansed from this pollution, they felt it to be laid upon
    them, plainly and faithfully, to labor with their countrymen to
    bring them to a full understanding of the requiring of the
    Divine law, and to press it upon them to act up to its
    commandments. In the love of God, they were bold, both in your
    country and in ours, to plead the cause of the oppressed with
    those in power. We believe, and we would wish to speak of it
    with modesty and humility, that their faithfulness, in
    connection with the exertions of humane and devoted men of other
    Christian communities, were instrumental to bring about the
    abolition of the slave trade, as well as the extinction of
    slavery.

    "We are reverently impressed with a sense of the prerogatives of
    the Great Head of the Church, to dispose of his servants, and to
    employ their time, and every talent which he has intrusted them,
    in such a way and manner as may consist with the purposes of his
    wisdom and love. It is the concern of this Meeting, that all our
    dear friends may carefully seek each to know his Lord's will,
    and to ascertain his individual path of duty; at the same time
    we desire to encourage one another to simple obedience to that
    which in the true light may be made manifest to them; and each
    to an unflinching and uncompromising avowal of his allegiance to
    his Lord in all things.

    "We observe with satisfaction and comfort, in the epistles from
    your Yearly Meetings, which have been read in this Meeting, that
    there is a very general acknowledgment of concern on this
    important subject. It has often been a prominent feature in the
    brotherly correspondence which subsists between us. The
    expression of your encouragement in times past, has been helpful
    to us, and in the trials and difficulties you have had to
    endure, our hearts have been brought into fellow feeling with
    you. In this work of justice and love, we have long labored
    together. It has helped to strengthen the bond of our union; and
    in the fresh sense of this Christian fellowship, as it is now
    renewed amongst us, we offer you, beloved friends, the warm
    expression of our sympathy, and our strong desire for your help
    and encouragement. So far removed as we are from the scene of
    slavery, we are aware that we can but imperfectly appreciate
    either the sufferings of the slave, or the trials of those who
    live in the midst of such oppression; nor do we believe that we
    can fully appreciate either the labors of faithful Friends in
    your land, or the obstacles and discouragements which have been
    thrown in their way.

    "The brief review we have taken of the history of our Society,
    in reference to this deeply interesting subject, and the feeling
    which prevails with us, under a sense of the enormity of the
    evil, urges us, and we desire that it may have the same effect
    upon you, still to persevere; and in every way that may be
    pointed out to us of the Lord, that we may continue to expose
    the evil of this unjust interference with the natural and social
    rights of man. Time is short, the day is spending fast with
    every one of us, and we had need to use diligence in the work of
    our day. We know the high authority under which we are commanded
    to 'love our neighbor as ourselves.' It is our desire on our own
    account, and in this exercise of mind we believe, dear friends,
    that you are one with us, that in our efforts to discharge the
    duties laid upon us, we may watch against a hopeless and
    distrustful spirit in times of discouragement. And O that in his
    great mercy and love towards his poor afflicted and helpless
    children, it might please Him to hasten the coming of that day,
    even to this generation of the enslaved in your land, in which
    every yoke shall be broken and the oppressed go free.

    "If, in this righteous cause, we move in the leading of our
    Lord, we may humbly trust that he, with whom there is no respect
    of persons, who careth for the sparrows and feedeth the ravens,
    will grant to his dependent ones the help and support of his
    Holy Spirit, and enable them, in the face of every opposition,
    to do that which is made known to them as his will.

    "With the enlarged views entertained by Friends of the mercy and
    love of our heavenly Father towards his children of every nation
    and tongue all the world over, we desire to press it upon you
    still to labor for the removal of all those unjust laws and
    limitations of right and privilege consequent upon the
    unwarrantable distinction of color--a distinction which has
    brought so much suffering upon those settled in different parts
    of the Union, and which we think must conduce to the
    strengthening of the prejudices of former years, and to retard
    the work of emancipation.

    "It is affecting to us to think with what astonishing rapidity
    slavery is extending itself upon the Continent of North America,
    and how from year to year the slave population is increasing
    among you. Our spirits are oppressed with a sense of the
    magnitude of the evil; we tremble at the awful consequence
    which, in the justice and wisdom of Almighty God, may ensue to
    those who persist in the upholding of it. We commend the whole
    subject to your most serious attention, and desiring that divine
    wisdom may be near to help in your deliberations upon it,

    "We bid you, affectionately, farewell.

    "Signed in and on behalf of the Meeting, by


    "GEORGE STACEY,


    "_Clerk to the Meeting this year_."



APPENDIX B. P. 30.


EARLY EFFORTS OF "FRIENDS" IN BEHALF OF NEGRO SLAVES.


The following extract from Clarkson's "Memoirs of the Public and Private
Life of William Penn," will show how the society of Friends, at a very
early period, became unwarily entangled with the practice of slave
holding; and also that the unchristian nature of it was immediately
perceived by the more spiritual minded among them. It will serve also to
prove that the testimony of Friends against slavery is no novelty, but
is coeval with its rise as a distinct religious body. The measures
proposed by William Penn on this subject, are an honorable testimony to
the comprehensive benevolence of that truly great and magnanimous
legislator, yet they fell short of the exigencies of the case, and of
what Christian people required; consequently what good they directly
effected was local and temporary. Viewed as the germ of subsequent
anti-slavery enterprises of the last century, in Europe and America,
their interest and importance cannot be too highly estimated.


    "I must observe, that soon after the colony (Pennsylvania) had
    been planted, that is, in the year 1682, when William Penn was
    first resident in it, some few Africans had been imported, but
    that more had followed. At this time the traffic in slaves was
    not branded with infamy, as at the present day. It was
    considered, on the other hand, as favorable to both parties: to
    the American planters, because they had but few laborers, in
    comparison with the extent of their lands; and to the poor
    Africans themselves, because they were looked upon as persons
    redeemed out of superstition, idolatry, and heathenism. But
    though the purchase and sale of them had been admitted with less
    caution upon this principle, there were not wanting among the
    Quakers of Pennsylvania those who, soon after the introduction
    of them there, began to question the moral licitness of the
    traffic. Accordingly, at the Yearly Meeting for Pennsylvania,
    held in 1688, it had been resolved, on the suggestion of
    emigrants from Crisheim, who had adopted the principles of
    William Penn, that the buying, selling, and holding men in
    slavery, was inconsistent with the tenets of the Christian
    religion. In 1696, a similar resolution had been passed at the
    Yearly Meeting of the same religious society for the same
    province. In consequence, then, of these noble resolutions, the
    Quakers had begun to treat their slaves in a different manner
    from that of other people. They had begun to consider them as
    children of the same great Parent, to whom fraternal offices
    were due; and hence, in 1698, there were instances where they
    had admitted them into their meeting houses to worship in common
    with themselves.[A]

    [Footnote A: "I cannot help copying into a note an anecdote from
    Thomas Story's Journal for this year (1698). 'On the 13th,' says
    he, 'we had a pretty large meeting, where several were tendered,
    among whom were some negroes. And here I shall observe, that
    Thomas Simons having several negroes, one of them, as also
    several belonging to Henry White, had of late come to meetings,
    and having a sense of truth, several others thereway were
    likewise convinced, and like to do well. And the morning that we
    came from Thomas Simons's, my companion speaking some words of
    truth to his negro woman, she was tendered; and as I passed on
    horseback by the place where she stood weeping, I gave her my
    hand, and then she was much more broken: and finding the day of
    the Lord's tender visitation and mercy upon her, I spake
    encouragingly to her, and was glad to find the poor blacks so
    near the truth and reachable.' She stood there, looking after us
    and weeping, as long as we could see her. I had inquired of one
    of the black men how long they had come to meetings, and he said
    'they had always been kept in ignorance, and disregarded as
    persons who were not to expect any thing from the Lord, till
    Jonathan Taylor, who had been there the year before, discoursing
    with them, had informed them that the grace of God, through
    Christ, was given also to them; and that they ought to believe
    in and be led and taught by it, and so might come to be good
    Friends, and saved as well as others. And on the next occasion,
    which was when William Ellis and Aaron Atkinson were there, they
    went to meetings, and several of them were convinced.' Thus one
    planteth and another watereth, but God giveth the increase."]

    "William Penn was highly gratified by the consideration of what
    has been done on this important subject. From the very first
    introduction of enslaved Africans into this province, he had
    been solicitous about their temporal and eternal welfare. He had
    always considered them as persons of the like nature with
    himself; as having the same desire of pleasure and the same
    aversion from pain; as children of the same Father, and heirs of
    the same promises. Knowing how naturally the human heart became
    corrupted and hardened by the use of power, he was fearful lest,
    in time, these friendless strangers should become an oppressed
    people. Accordingly, as his predecessor, George Fox, when he
    first visited the British West Indies, exhorted all those who
    attended his meetings for worship there, to consider their
    slaves as branches of their own families, for whose spiritual
    instruction they would one day or other be required to give an
    account, so William Penn had, on his first arrival in America,
    inculcated the same notion. It lay, therefore, now upon his mind
    to endeavor to bring into practice what had appeared to him to
    be right in principle. One of them was to try to incorporate the
    treatment of slaves, as a matter of Christian duty, into _the
    discipline of his own religious society_; and the other, to
    secure it among others in the colony of a different religious
    description, _by a legislative act_. Both of these were
    necessary. The former, however, he resolved to attempt first.
    The Society itself had already afforded him a precedent, by its
    resolutions in 1688 and in 1696, as before mentioned, and had
    thereby done something material in the progress of the work. It
    was only to get a minute passed upon their books to the intended
    effect. Accordingly, at the very first Monthly Meeting of the
    Society, which took place in Philadelphia in the present year,
    he proposed the subject. He laid before them the concern which
    had been so long upon his mind, relative to these unfortunate
    people; he pressed upon them the duty of allowing them as
    frequently as possible to attend their Meetings for worship, and
    the benefit that would accrue to both, by the instruction of
    them in the principles of the Christian religion. The result
    was, that a Meeting was appointed more particularly for the
    negroes, once every month; so that besides the common
    opportunities they had of collecting religious knowledge, by
    frequenting the places of worship, there was one day in the
    month, in which, as far as the influence of the Monthly Meeting
    extended, they could neither be temporally nor spiritually
    overlooked. At this Meeting also, he proposed means, which were
    acceded to, for a more frequent intercourse between Friends and
    the Indians; he (William Penn,) taking upon himself the charge
    of procuring interpreters, as well as of forwarding the means
    proposed."--Vol. II. pp. 218-222.



APPENDIX C. P. 34.


REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE OF THE YEARLY MEETING OF FRIENDS, HELD IN
PHILADELPHIA, APPOINTED FOR THE GRADUAL CIVILIZATION, &C., OF THE INDIAN
NATIVES, PRESENTED TO THE MEETING, FOURTH MONTH 21ST, 1841, AND DIRECTED
TO BE PRINTED FOR THE USE OF THE MEMBERS.



    "TO THE YEARLY MEETING.

    "The Committee charged with promoting the Gradual Improvement
    and Civilization of the Indian Natives, report:--

    "That although they have given attention to this interesting
    concern, there are but few subjects in their operations, since
    the last report, which require notice. The Indians have been in
    a very unsettled condition during the past year, in consequence
    of the embarrassment and distress produced by the ratification
    of the treaty, and their uncertainty as to the best course to be
    pursued by them in their trying and perplexing circumstances.
    They still cling to the hope that they shall be able to ward off
    the calamity which threatens them, either through the favorable
    disposition of the new Administration and Senate, to give their
    case a re-hearing, or by an Appeal to the Supreme Court of the
    United States. Small as the hope afforded by these sources may
    appear to a disinterested observer, they are buoyed up by it,
    and seem as unwilling as ever, to look toward relinquishing
    their present homes.

    "In a communication addressed to the committee, dated
    Tunesassah, Fifth Month 24th, 1840, signed by ten chiefs, they
    say, 'Although, the information of the ratification of the
    treaty is distressing to us, yet it is a satisfaction to hear
    from you, and to learn that you still remember us in our
    troubles, and are disposed to advise and assist us. The
    intelligence of the confirmation of the treaty caused many of
    our women to shed tears of sorrow. We are sensible that we stand
    in need of the advice of our friends. Our minds are unaltered on
    the subject of emigration.' Another dated Cold Spring, Twelfth
    Month 8th, 1840, holds this language: 'Brothers, we continue to
    feel relative to the treaty as we have ever felt. We cannot
    regard it as an act of our nation, or hold it to be binding on
    us. We still consider, that in justice, the land is at this time
    as much our own as ever it was. We have done nothing to forfeit
    our right to it; and have come to a conclusion to remain upon it
    as long as we can enjoy it in peace.' 'We trust in the Great
    Spirit: to Him we submit our cause.'

    "A letter from the Senecas, residing at Tonawanda, was addressed
    to the Committee, from which the following extracts are taken:


        "'By the help of the Great Spirit we have met in open
        council this 23d day of the Fifth Month, 1840, for the
        purpose of deliberating on the right course for us to
        pursue under the late act of the government of the
        United States relating to our lands. Brothers, we are in
        trouble; we have been told that the President has
        ratified a treaty, by which these lands are sold from
        our possession. We look to you and solicit your advice
        and your sympathy under the accumulating difficulties
        that now surround us. We feel more than ever, our need
        of the help of the great and good Spirit, to guide us
        aright. May his council ever preserve and direct us all
        in true wisdom.

        "'It is known to you, brothers, that at different times
        our people have been induced to cede, by stipulated
        treaties, to the government of the United States,
        various tracts of our territory, until it is so reduced
        that it barely affords us a home. We had hoped by these
        liberal concessions to secure the quiet and unmolested
        possession of this small residue, but we have abundant
        reason to fear that we have been mistaken. The agent and
        surveyor of a company of land speculators, known as the
        Ogden Company, have been on here to lay out our land
        into lots, to be sold from us to the whites. We have
        protested against it, and have forbidden their
        proceeding.

        "'Brothers, what we want, is that you should intercede
        with the United States government on our behalf. We do
        not want to leave our lands. We are willing that the
        emigrating party should sell out their rights, but we
        are not willing that they should sell ours.

        "'Brothers, we want the President of the United States
        to know that we are for peace; that we only ask the
        possession of our just rights. We have kept in good
        faith all our agreements with the government. In our
        innocence of any violation we ask its protection. In our
        weakness we look to it for justice and mercy. We desire
        to live upon our lands in peace and harmony. We love
        Tonawanda. It is the residue left us of the land of our
        forefathers. We have no wish to leave it. Here are our
        cultivated fields, our houses, our wives and children,
        and our firesides--and here we wish to lay our bones in
        peace.

        "'Brothers, in conclusion, we desire to express our
        sincere thanks to you for your friendly assistance in
        times past, and at the same time earnestly solicit your
        further attention and advice. Brothers, may the Great
        Spirit befriend you all--farewell.'


    "Desirous of rendering such aid as might be in our power, a
    correspondence has been held with some members of Congress, on
    the subject of the treaty, and other matters connected with it;
    and recently, two of our number visited Washington, and were
    assured by the present Secretary of War, under whose immediate
    charge the Indian affairs are placed, that it was his
    determination, and that of the other officers of the government,
    to give to the treaty, and the circumstances attending its
    procurement, a thorough examination; and to adopt such a course
    respecting it, as justice and humanity to the Indians would
    dictate.

    "The friends who have for several years resided at Tunesassah
    still continue to occupy the farm, and have charge of the saw
    and grist mills and other improvements. The farm, during the
    past year, has yielded about thirty-five tons of hay, two
    hundred bushels of potatoes, one hundred bushels of oats, and
    one hundred bushels of apples. Notwithstanding the unsettlement
    produced by the treaty during the past season, the Indians have
    raised an adequate supply of provisions to keep them comfortably
    during the year; and they manifest an increased desire to avoid
    the use of ardent spirits, and to have their children educated.
    In their letter of the Twelfth Month last, the chiefs say, 'We
    are more engaged to have our children educated than we have
    heretofore been. There are at this time three schools in
    operation on this reservation, for the instruction of our
    youth.'

    "Our friend, Joseph Batty, in a letter dated 28th of Second
    Month last, says, 'The Indians have held several temperance
    councils this winter. The chiefs--with the exception of two, who
    were not present--have all signed a pledge to abstain from the
    use of all intoxicating liquors, and appear engaged to bring
    about a reform among their people; but the influence of the
    whites among them is prejudicial to their improvement in this
    and other respects.'

    "By direction of the Committee,

    "THOMAS WISTAR, _Clerk_.

    "_Philadelphia, 4th Month 15th, 1841_."



APPENDIX D. P. 44.


ELISHA TYSON.


The following particulars of this memorable person are chiefly taken
from a work, now very scarce, entitled "The Life of Elisha Tyson, the
Philanthropist, by a Citizen of Baltimore."


    "The eldest known ancestor of Mr. Tyson was a German Quaker,
    converted to the faith of Fox by the preaching of William Penn.
    Persecuted by the government of his native country for his
    religion, he gathered up his all and followed Penn to England;
    with whom, and at whose request, he afterwards embarked for
    America, and was among the first settlers of Pennsylvania. He
    established himself within what are now called the environs of
    Philadelphia, married the daughter of an English settler, and
    became the happy father of sons and daughters. From these, many
    descendants have been derived.

    "Elisha Tyson was one of the great grandsons in direct descent
    of the German Quaker, and was born on the spot which he had
    chosen for his residence. The religion and virtues of this
    ancestor were instilled into the minds of his children and
    children's children, to the third and fourth generation--not by
    transmission of blood, but by the force of a guarded and a
    Christian education. In the subject of this memoir, they blazed
    forth with superior lustre. From his infancy he was conspicuous
    in his neighborhood for that benevolence of heart and
    intrepidity of soul, which so highly distinguished him in after
    life."


In his early manhood he removed to Baltimore, in the slave State of
Maryland. Here, from his first residence, he took an active part in
various benevolent and public spirited enterprises, although he had to
struggle with early difficulties, having no resources for his support
but honesty, industry, and perseverance. The cause of the oppressed
slaves very soon engaged his attention, and his unwearied exertions in
their behalf ceased not till the close of a long and energetic life. In
the following quotation, describing the American slave trade, although
the past tense is employed by his biographer, yet if Louisiana be
substituted for Georgia, the whole representation is true of the present
time. That dreadful traffic has increased many fold since the date here
alluded to, at which E. Tyson's career of benevolence commenced.

"Even the most creditable merchants felt no compunction in speculating
in the flesh and blood of their own species. These articles of
merchandize were as common as wheat and tobacco, and ranked with these
as a staple of Maryland. This state of things was naturally productive
of scenes of cruelty. Georgia was then the great receptacle of that
portion of these unfortunate beings, who were exported beyond the limits
of their native soil; and the worst name given to Tartarus itself could
not be more appalling to their imaginations than the name of that sister
State. And when we consider the dreadful consequences suffered by the
victims of this traffic; a separation like that of death between the
nearest and dearest relatives; a banishment for ever from the land of
their nativity and the scenes of their youth; the painful inflictions by
the hands of slave drivers, to whom cruelty was rendered delightful by
its frequent exercise; with many other sufferings too numerous to
mention, we cannot wonder at this horror on the part of these
unfortunate beings, and that it should cause them to use all the means
in their power to avoid so terrible a destiny. The slave-trader, aware
of all this, and fearful lest his victims might seek safety by flight,
became increasingly careful of his property. With these men, and upon
such subjects, care is cruelty; and thus the apparent necessity of the
case came in aid of the favorite disposition of their minds. They
charged their victims with being the authors of that cruelty, which had
its true origin in their own remorseless hearts. Their plea for
additional rigor, being plausibly urged, was favorably received by a
community darkened by prejudice. Few regarded with pity, and most with
stoical indifference, this barbarous correction for crimes anticipated,
and rigorous penance for offences existing only in the diabolical
fancies of their tormentors. The truth is, it was the love these poor
wretches bore their wives, children, and native soil, for which they
were punished. They were commonly bound two and two by chains, riveted
to iron collars fastened around their necks, more and more closely, as
their drivers had more and more reason to suspect a desire to escape. If
they were conveyed in wagons, as they sometimes were, additional chains
were so fixed, as to connect the right ancle of one with the left ancle
of another, so that they were fastened foot to foot, and neck to neck.
If a disposition to complain, or to grieve, was manifested by any of
them, the mouths of such were instantly stopped with a gag. If,
notwithstanding this, the overflowings of sorrow found a passage through
other channels, they were checked by the 'scourge inexorable;'--the
cruel monsters thus endeavoring to lessen the appearance of pain, by
increasing its reality. These were scenes of ordinary occurrence; troops
of these poor slaves were continually seen fettered as before described,
marching two and two, with commanders before and behind, swords by their
sides, and pistols in their belts--the triumphant victors over unarmed
women and children. The sufferings of their victims, were, if possible,
increased, when they were compelled to stop for the night. They were
crowded in cellars, and loaded with an additional number of fetters. On
those routes usually taken by them to the South, stated taverns were
selected as their resting places for the night. In these, dungeons under
ground were specially contrived for their reception. Iron staples, with
rings in them, were fixed at proper places in the walls; to these,
chains were welded; and to these chains the fetters of the prisoners
were locked, as the means of certain safety. It was usual every day for
these slave-drivers to keep a strict record of the imagined offences of
their slaves; which, if not to their satisfaction expiated by suffering
during the day, remained upon the register until its close; when, in the
midst of midnight dungeon horrors, goaded with a weight of fetters, in
addition to those which had galled them during their weary march, these
reputed sins were atoned by their blood, which was made to trickle down
'the scourge with triple thongs.'"

Such was the evil with which Elisha Tyson, when "young, solitary, and
friendless," undertook to grapple; the means he chiefly employed, were
such as tended to purify and enlighten public opinion.


    "He had two principal modes of operating upon the public mind;
    by conversation in public and private places, and by the press.
    Through the means of the first, he worked upon the feelings and
    sentiments of the higher and more influential classes; by means
    of the latter, he influenced in a great degree, the mass of the
    community. In private conversation, his arguments were so
    cogent, his appeals so energetic, and his manner so sincere and
    disinterested, that few could avoid conviction. It is true,
    indeed, as it regards the press, that he did not publish very
    much of his own composing; but he procured the publication of a
    vast deal of his own dictating. By his arguments and entreaties,
    he aroused the zeal of many individuals, each of whom enlisted
    himself as a kind of voluntary amanuensis, who wrote and
    published his dictations. Many important essays have in this way
    been communicated to the public."


But he undertook also, services requiring a yet sterner resolution, and
more heroic perseverance, services which demanded that he himself should
be in bondage neither to riches, honor, nor reputation, since his
exertions endangered all his personal interests in such a community as
that by which he was surrounded.


    "Of those held in servitude, two classes of beings felt in a
    peculiar manner the kindness and sympathy of Mr. Tyson--those
    entitled to their freedom, and illegally held in slavery--and
    those, who, though not illegally kept in bondage, yet were
    treated with inhumanity by their masters.

    "Where he had reason to believe that a person claimed as a slave
    was entitled to his freedom, he would, in the first place, in
    order to avoid litigation, lay before the reputed owner, the
    grounds of his belief. If these were disregarded, he then
    proceeded to employ counsel, by whom a petition for freedom was
    filed in the proper court, and the case prosecuted to a final
    determination. What excited most astonishment in these trials,
    was the extraordinary success which attended him. Very few were
    the cases in which he was defeated; and his failure even in
    these, was more generally owing to the want of testimony, than
    to the want of justice on his side. To enumerate his successes,
    would be as impossible, on account of their vast number, as it
    would be tedious on account of their similarity to each other.
    Whole families were often liberated by a single verdict, the
    fate of one relative deciding the fate of many. And often
    ancestors, after passing a long life in illegal slavery, sprung
    at last, like the chrysalis in autumn, into new existence,
    beneath the genial rays of the sun of liberty, which shed at the
    same time its benign influence upon their children, and
    children's children.

    "The titles of the individuals, thus liberated, to their
    freedom, were variously derived. Sometimes from deeds of
    manumission, long suppressed, and at last brought to light, by
    the searching scrutiny of Tyson--sometimes from the genealogy of
    the petitioner, traced by him to some Indian or white maternal
    ancestor--sometimes from the right to freedom, claimed by birth,
    but attempted to be destroyed by the rapacity of some vile
    kidnapper, and sometimes from the violation of those of our laws
    which manumitted slaves imported from foreign parts.

    "The labors of Mr. Tyson, were not confined to a single
    district--they extended over the whole of Maryland. There is not
    a county in it, which has not felt his influence, or a court of
    justice, whose records do not bear proud testimonials of his
    triumphs over tyranny. Throwing out of calculation the many
    liberations indirectly resulting from his efforts, we speak more
    than barely within bounds, when we say, that he has been the
    means, under Providence, of rescuing at least two thousand human
    beings from the galling yoke of a slavery, which, but for him,
    would have been perpetual.

    "And here let me join my readers in expressions of wonder and
    astonishment at this extraordinary display of human benevolence,
    in the person of a single individual--unsupported by power,
    wealth, or title, beneath the frowns of society, and against a
    torrent of prejudice."


In the year 1789 an "Abolition Society," (see antecedent pages 23 and
24,) was formed in Baltimore, of which Elisha Tyson was a member until
its dissolution, seven years afterwards.


    "From that time, Mr. Tyson supported alone the cause of
    emancipation in Maryland. Alone, I mean, as the sole director
    and prime mover of the machinery by which that cause was
    maintained. Assisted, he was, no doubt, from time to time; but
    that assistance was procured through his influence, or rendered
    effectual under his inspection and advice.[A]

    [Footnote A: "One of the most active assistants was his brother
    Jesse, much younger than Elisha. He followed him to this State a
    few years after the arrival of the latter, was an active member
    of the Abolition Society, and continued, to the day of his
    death, to co-operate with Elisha."]

    "The slave traffic gave rise to an evil still greater--I mean
    the crime of _kidnapping_. If the horrors arising from the first
    were so great as I have described them, how shall I depict those
    of the other! Slaves only were the victims of the slave trade.
    In passing from hand to hand, they merely exchanged one
    condition of slavery for another. And though on such occasions
    they fell from a less degree of misery into a greater, they
    could not number among their privations any thing so bitter as
    the loss of liberty. It was this that made the difference
    between them and the victims of the kidnapper; not that they
    laid their hands exclusively upon the freeman, for sometimes
    their rapacity seized upon a slave. But this was very seldom,
    for the vigilance of slave owners was always alive to detect,
    and their vengeance to punish such daring felony. In almost all
    cases of man stealing, the stolen beings were of those who had
    tasted the sweets of liberty. To the kidnapper, who made these
    his prey, there were great facilities for escaping with
    impunity; not only because, in the depth and darkness of a
    dungeon, his limbs loaded with fetters, and utterance choked
    with a gag, his suffering could not be made visible or audible,
    but also because the deadness of sensibility on this subject,
    which still pervaded the public, though in a less degree than
    formerly, seemed to have unnerved every eye and palsied every
    ear. Sights of misery passed darkly before the one and sounds of
    wo fell lifeless on the other.

    "On one occasion Mr. Tyson received intelligence that three
    colored persons, supposed to have been kidnapped, had been seen
    under suspicious circumstances, late in the evening, with a
    notorious slave-trader, in a carriage, which was then moving
    rapidly towards a quarter of the precincts of Baltimore in which
    there was a den of man-hunters. It was late in the day when he
    received the information, which was immediately communicated to
    the proper authorities. As the testimony offered to these was
    not, in their opinion, sufficiently strong to induce them to act
    instantaneously, Mr. Tyson was obliged to seek for aid in other
    quarters. He accordingly requested certain individuals, who had
    sometimes lent him their assistance, to accompany him to the
    scene of suspicion, in order to obtain, if possible, additional
    proof. One after another made excuse, (some telling him that the
    evidence was too weak to justify any effort, and others saying
    that it would be better to postpone the business for the next
    morning,) until Mr. Tyson saw himself without the hope of
    foreign assistance. But he did not yield or despair--one hope
    yet remained, and that rested on himself. Alone he determined to
    search out the den of thieves, to see and judge for himself. If
    there was no foundation for his suspicions, to dismiss them; if
    they were true, to call in the aid of the civil power, for the
    punishment of guilt and the rescue of innocence.

    "So much time had been spent in receiving the excuses of his
    friends, that it was late at night when he set out, on foot and
    without a single weapon of defence. In the midst of silence and
    darkness, he marched along until he arrived at the place of
    destination. It was situated in the very skirts of the city--a
    public tavern in appearance, but almost exclusively appropriated
    to a band of slave-traders. Here they conveyed their prey,
    whether stolen or purchased; here they held their midnight
    orgies, and revelled in the midst of misery. The keeper of this
    place was himself one of the party, and therefore not very
    scrupulous about the sort of victims his companions chose to
    place beneath his care. Mr. Tyson ascended the door-sill, and,
    for a moment, listened, if perchance he might hear the sounds of
    wo. Suddenly a loud laugh broke upon his ears, which was soon
    lost in a chorus of laughter. Indignant at the sound, he reached
    forth his hand and rapped with his whole might. No answer was
    received. He rapped again--all was silence. He then applied
    himself to the fastening of the door, and finding it unlocked,
    opened it and entered. Suddenly four men made their appearance.
    They had been carousing around a table which stood in the centre
    of a room, and when a little alarmed by the rapping at the door,
    they had gone in different directions to seize their weapons.
    Mr. Tyson immediately recognised in the countenance of one of
    these, who appeared to be their leader, the slave-trader whose
    conduct had given rise to the suspicions that had brought him
    thither. Nor was it many moments before the person and character
    of Mr. Tyson became known.

    "'I understand,' said he, 'that there are persons confined in
    this place entitled to their freedom?'

    "'You have been wrongly informed,' said the leader of the
    quartette; 'and, besides, what business is it of yours?'

    "'Whether I am wrongly informed,' said Mr. Tyson, calmly, 'can
    be soon made to appear; and I hold it my business, as it is the
    business of every good man in the community, to see that all
    doubts of this kind are settled!'

    "'You shall advance no further,' rejoined the leader, swearing a
    tremendous oath, and putting himself in a menacing attitude.

    "With the rapidity of lightning, and with a strength that seemed
    to have been lent him for the occasion, Mr. Tyson broke through
    the arms of his opponent. As he had been repeatedly at this
    house on similar errands, he knew the course he should steer,
    and made directly for the door of the dungeon. There he met
    another of the band, with a candle in one hand, and in the
    other, a pistol, which, having cocked, he presented full against
    the breast of Mr. Tyson, swearing that he would shoot him if he
    advanced a step further.

    "'Shoot if thee dare,' said Mr. Tyson, in a voice of thunder,
    'but thee dare not, coward as thou art, for well does thee know,
    that the gallows would be thy portion.'

    "Whether it was the voice and countenance of Mr. Tyson, or the
    terror of the word gallows, that affected the miscreant, his arm
    suddenly fell, and he stood as if struck dumb with amazement.
    Mr. Tyson taking advantage of the moment, in the twinkling of an
    eye, snatched the candle from the hand of the kidnapper, entered
    the dungeon door, which was providentially unlocked, and
    descended into the vault below.

    "There he beheld a dismal sight; six poor creatures chained to
    each other by links connected with the prison wall! The
    prisoners shrunk within themselves at the sight of a man, and
    one of them uttered a shriek of terror, mistaking the character
    of their visitor. He told them that he was their friend; and his
    name was Elisha Tyson. That name was enough for them, for their
    whole race had been long taught to utter it. He inquired, 'if
    any of them were entitled to their freedom?' 'Yes,' said one,
    'these two boys say that they and their, mother here are free,
    but she can't speak to you, for she is gagged.' Mr. Tyson
    approached this woman, and found that she was really deprived of
    her utterance. He instantly cut away the band that held in the
    gag, and thus gave speech to the dumb. She told her tale; 'she
    was manumitted by a gentleman on the eastern shore of Maryland;
    her sons were born after her emancipation, and of course free.
    She referred to persons and papers. She had come over the
    Chesapeake in a packet, for the purpose of getting employment;
    and was, with her children, decoyed away immediately on her
    arrival, by a person who brought her to that house. Mr. Tyson
    told her to be of good comfort, for he would immediately provide
    the means of her rescue. He then left the dungeon and ascended
    the stair way, when he reached the scene of his preceding
    contest; he, looked around, but saw no one save the keeper of
    the tavern. Fearing that the others had escaped, or were about
    to escape, he hastened out of the house, and proceeded with
    rapid strides in pursuit of a constable. He soon found one and
    entreated his assistance. But the officer refused, unless Mr.
    Tyson would give him a bond of indemnity against all loss which
    he might suffer by his interference. Mr. Tyson complied without
    hesitation. The officer, after summoning assistance, proceeded
    with Mr. Tyson to the scene of cruelty. There meeting with the
    tavern keeper, they compelled him to unlock the fetters of the
    three individuals claiming their freedom. They then searched the
    house for the supposed kidnappers, and found two of them; in,
    bed, whom, together with the women, and children, they conveyed
    that night to the jail of Baltimore county, to await the
    decision of a court of justice. The final consequence was, the
    mother and children were adjudged free. One of the two
    slave-traders, taken as afore-mentioned in custody, was found
    guilty of having kidnapped them, and was sentenced to the
    Maryland penitentiary, for a term of years.

    "On another occasion, Mr. Tyson having received satisfactory
    evidence that a colored person, on board a vessel about to sail
    for New Orleans, in Louisiana, was entitled to his freedom,
    hastened to his assistance. On reaching the wharf, where the
    vessel had lain, he learned that she had cleared out the day
    before, and was then lying at anchor, a mile down the river. He
    immediately procured two officers of the peace, with whom he
    proceeded in a batteau, with a full determination to board the
    suspected ship.

    "When he arrived alongside, he hailed the captain and asked him
    'whether such a person, (naming him,) having on board negroes
    destined for the New Orleans market, was not among the number of
    passengers.' Before the captain had time to reply, the passenger
    alluded to, who had overheard the question, stepped to the side
    of the vessel, and recognising Mr. Tyson, asked what business
    _he_ had with him. 'I understand,' said Mr. Tyson, 'that a
    colored person,' describing him, 'now in thy possession, is
    entitled to his freedom.' 'He is my slave,' said the trader; 'I
    have purchased him by a fair title, and no man shall interfere
    between him and me.'

    "'If these documents speak the truth,' said Mr. Tyson, holding
    certain papers in his hand, 'however fairly you have purchased
    him he is not your slave.' He then proceeded to read the
    documents. At the same time a light breeze springing up, the
    captain ordered all hands to hoist sail and be off. Mr. Tyson
    seeing that there was not a minute to be lost, requested the
    constables to go on board with him for the purpose of rescuing
    the free man who had been deprived of his rights. The trader
    immediately drew a dagger from his belt, (for this sort of men
    went always armed,) and swore that 'the first man that dared set
    his foot upon the deck of that ship was a dead man.' 'Then I
    will be that man,' said Mr. Tyson, with a firm voice and
    intrepid countenance, and sprang upon the deck. The trader
    stepped back aghast. The officers followed, and descended the
    hold of the ship. There they soon saw the object of their
    search. Without any resistance being made on the part of a
    single person on board, they led their rescued prisoner along
    and safely lodged him in the boat below. Then Mr. Tyson,
    addressing the trader, said, 'If you have any lawful claim to
    this man, come along and try your title; if you cannot come,
    name your agent, and I will see that justice is done to all
    parties.' The trader, who seemed dumb with confusion, made no
    answer; and Mr. Tyson requested his boatmen to row off. Ere they
    had proceeded half their distance from the ship, her sails were
    spread and she began to ride down the stream. Had Mr. Tyson's
    visit been delayed half an hour longer, his benevolent exertions
    would have been in vain.

    "No one appearing to dispute the right of the colored man to
    freedom, his freedom papers were given him and he was set at
    liberty.

    "The whole life of Mr. Tyson was diversified by acts such as we
    have just described. Those I have given to the reader may be
    considered as specimens merely, a few examples out of a vast
    many, which, if they were all repeated, would satiate by their
    number and tire by their uniformity.

    "The joy manifested by the poor creatures whom he thus rescued
    from misery, on their deliverance, may be imagined, but cannot
    well be described. Sometimes it broke forth in loud and wild
    demonstrations; sometimes it was deep and inexpressible, or
    expressed only by mingled tears of gratitude and ecstacy,
    rolling silently but profusely down their wo-worn cheeks.

    "Mr. Tyson, it is remarkable, would always turn his eyes from
    these manifestations. He would listen to no declarations of
    thanks. When these were strongly pressed upon him, he would
    usually exclaim, 'Well, that will do now; that is enough for
    this time.' And once when one of these creatures, fearful that
    Mr. Tyson would not consider him sufficiently grateful, cried
    out, 'Indeed, master, I am very thankful, I would die to serve
    you,' Mr. Tyson exclaimed, 'Why, man, I have only done my duty;
    I don't want thy thanks;' and turned abruptly away.

    "Equalled only by the delight of the rescued victims, was the
    chagrin and vexation of the slave-traders, when they saw their
    prey torn from their grasp. They cursed the law; they cursed its
    ministers; but above all, they invoked imprecations upon the
    head of Tyson.

    "They swore that they would murder him, that they would fire his
    dwelling over his head, that they would do a thousand things,
    all full of vengeance. None of these threats were ever put into
    execution; for though a plot was once laid to take away his
    life, fear dispersed the actors long before the day of
    performance. Thus does it always happen that the wickedest of
    men are also the meanest, and therefore the most dastardly. And
    thus did the cowardice of Mr. Tyson's enemies shield him from
    the effects of their enmity. Nor did he profit less by that
    individual fear of him which these slave-traders were made to
    feel. They feared him because they deprecated his hostility. In
    order, if possible, to lessen this hostility, they frequently
    became informers on others engaged in the same traffic. This
    they were further inclined to do, in consequence of the jealousy
    that subsisted between them--a jealousy very natural to
    competitors in the same line of business. It was always a time
    of exultation with them when one of their number found his way
    into the penitentiary.

    "It sometimes happened that Mr. Tyson extracted from the mouths
    of these monsters, evidence which afterwards went to criminate
    those who had uttered it. It was usual with him when he could
    not obtain testimony against a suspected person, to send for
    such person and interrogate him. No one refused his
    summons--fear forbade the refusal; and after they had come, the
    very fear which brought them there sacrificed them to injured
    humanity. Sometimes those who came voluntarily for the purpose
    of criminating others, involved themselves in toils of their own
    weaving; where they were no sooner seen, by the penetrating eye
    of Tyson, than he reached forth his hands and secured his
    astonished prisoner, before he had a suspicion of his danger.

    "Mr. Tyson's knowledge of the sort of people with whom he had
    principally to deal was perfect. His quickness of perception and
    self-command were also remarkable. These qualifications gave him
    an extraordinary power in the examinations just alluded to.

    "One evening the servant announced a stranger at the door, who
    wished to see Mr. Tyson privately. Mr. Tyson requested that he
    might be asked into the room where we were then sitting, and if
    further privacy were necessary he should have it.

    "When the door opened and the stranger appeared, he was no other
    than the slave-trader we have just alluded to.

    "'Your humble servant,' said the man, casting off his hat and
    bowing profoundly; 'I hope you are well, sir; I have a few words
    for your private ear.'

    "'Every one present may be safely trusted,' said Mr. Tyson; 'but
    sit down.'

    "The man seated himself. 'Well,' said Mr. Tyson, 'what is there
    new in thy way of business; I suppose it continues as usual to
    be a good business?'

    "'Ah! sir,' said the man, 'I believe it to be a bad business in
    more ways than one. I am resolved to quit it.'

    "'Not while thee can get two hundred dollars profit per man,'
    said Mr. Tyson.

    "'Notwithstanding that,' said the trader, 'it's a bad business;
    it's a hard business; I must quit it, and that very soon.'

    "'Hast thou heard of the old saying,' said Mr. Tyson, 'Hell is
    paved with good intentions? I fear,' said he, 'when thee goes
    there thee will find thine among the number.'

    "'I know,' said the trader, 'you think me very bad; but when you
    hear what I have to communicate, perhaps your opinion will alter
    a little.'

    "'I wish it may; but,' said Mr. Tyson, 'thy progress down hill
    has been so rapid, and thou hast got so far, that thee will find
    it rather hard to turn about and ascend.'

    "These doubtings, attended with a shrewd, suspicious, yet
    satirical look, had the effect intended; for the man became
    doubly anxious to do what he had come to do, and what he thought
    would be esteemed a great favor by Mr. Tyson. Accordingly, after
    a word or two of preface, he stated that he 'had reason to
    believe that ----', naming a certain trader, 'had kidnapped two
    free blacks.'

    "'Thee is certainly mistaken,' said Mr. Tyson, affecting great
    surprise; 'it is hardly possible that so worthy a man could have
    been guilty of so great a crime.'

    "This apparent doubt on the part of Mr. Tyson, made the man more
    anxious to bring out all his testimony.

    "'But who told thee this piece of news?' said Mr. Tyson. There
    was a breach at once into the man's order and arrangement and he
    hesitated for a reply. 'Mr. ----, Mr. ----, Mr. ----, what do ye
    call him, spoke to me about it.' 'Who?' said Mr. Tyson. 'Mr.
    ----,' said the man; mentioning the name of a veteran dealer in
    human flesh.

    "'Is he engaged in the traffic now?' asked Mr. Tyson.

    "'Yes, sir; very deep in it.'

    "'By himself, or in partnership?' asked Mr. Tyson carelessly.

    "'Why, I believe he is in partnership with some body.'

    "'Is he not in partnership,' said Mr. Tyson, 'with ----?' naming
    the person whom the man was anxious to inculpate.

    "'I believe he was, but I don't know that he is now.'

    "'Thee don't know of their having dissolved?' asked Mr. Tyson at
    the same time, as if thoughtlessly lighting his pipe.

    "'No, I do not. But as I was going to say,' said the trader--

    "'Ah, true,' said Mr. Tyson, 'we must not forget. Thee was
    talking about a case of kidnapping; well?'

    "'Last night,' said the trader, 'a hack drove up to the tavern
    where I lodge. The hackman inquired the way to ----'s tavern,
    which is the place of rendezvous for ---- and his gang;' naming
    the person whose guilt _seemed_ to be the principal object of
    inquiry. 'I looked into the carriage, and saw two boys.'

    "'Did thee speak to them?'

    "'No, they were gagged, and that made me think they were
    kidnapped.'

    "'Was any body with them?'

    "'Nobody but the driver, and he was black.'

    "'Did thee direct him as he requested?' asked Mr. Tyson.

    "'Yes.'

    "'And they arrived accordingly?'

    "'Yes.'

    "'Did thee follow them?'

    "'No sir, not immediately--but I went this morning, and inquired
    whether a hack with two boys and a black driver, had not arrived
    late last night, and they said there had.'

    "'What o'clock last night was it when thee saw the carriage?'

    "'About ten, sir.'

    "'Was the hack close, or were the curtains down?'

    "'The curtains were down, and that increased my suspicion.'

    "Mr. Tyson had now heard enough to convince him that if there
    was any kidnapping in this case, the trader who stood before him
    had a much nearer connection with it than that of a mere
    spectator.

    "He had said in the first place that he obtained his knowledge
    from a trader who had been partner with the party implicated. He
    then stated that he derived it from seeing the kidnapped persons
    in a hack. And though it was ten o'clock at night, (at a time,
    too, as Mr. Tyson knew, when there was no moon,) yet he could
    not only see that these two persons were in the hack, but that
    they were gagged. He could not have done this by the light of a
    candle or the moon, because 'the hack was tight, and the
    curtains were down.'

    "Fearing lest the suspicions of the trader might be excited as
    to the sentiments of Mr. Tyson towards him, an end was put to
    the part of the dialogue which related to the kidnapping, by
    saying, 'Well, I am much obliged to thee for thy information;
    we'll see this ----, and settle the matter with him;' and then
    turned the tide of conversation into a different direction.

    "The same day Mr. Tyson sent for the person who was first
    mentioned as the person communicating the knowledge of the
    transaction, and asked him as to the fact of such communication.
    It was positively denied. He had 'not seen the informer for six
    weeks, except the last evening, when he brought a hack load of
    negroes to the tavern where he and his partner were lodgers.'

    "'Were two boys among the number?'

    "'Yes.'

    "'Were they gagged?'

    "'Yes.'

    "The moment this man left his house, Mr. Tyson went in search of
    bailiffs and civil process. With these he proceeded to the place
    where the two boys were confined, and had them and all three of
    the traders taken into custody.

    "It turned out afterwards, in the further prosecution of this
    investigation, (by what testimony we do not distinctly
    recollect,) that the informer who first came to Mr. Tyson had
    himself kidnapped the two boys. He sold them to the person upon
    whom he had endeavored, in the manner we have detailed, to affix
    the whole crime; who, refusing afterward to pay their price, and
    yet determined to retain them, exasperated the seller to such a
    degree that he resolved to sacrifice him; in attempting which he
    sacrificed himself, for he was afterward convicted and sentenced
    to the penitentiary.

    "During the progress of any investigation originated by Mr.
    Tyson in behalf of individual freedom, his anxiety about the
    final issue, though concealed from the world, burned with
    intensity. His days were restless, his nights were sleepless,
    and himself, except when in company, which he avoided at those
    times, lost in the abstractions of hope or of despondency.

    "When he succeeded, his joy was strong, but invisible or
    inaudible, save to the Father of all mercies. To him he never
    failed 'to pour out his soul' in pious thanksgivings for that he
    made him a humble instrument in the restoration of a fellow
    being to light and liberty.

    "When he failed, which was seldom, after he had seriously
    undertaken a case, his sorrow was equally great, and as
    inscrutable to human observation, excepting that of the
    unfortunate objects of his care, who saw him mingling tears of
    sympathy with theirs of suffering.

    "Though Mr. Tyson seldom failed in those cases which he had
    commenced in legal form, yet very many persons were turned
    hopelessly away whose cases were too groundless for
    adjudication; and often those who knew they had no cause for
    hope,--condemned to be torn from their connections and sold, as
    if to death, never to be heard of more,--would call merely to
    obtain his sympathies, as if the universe had no other friend
    for them.

    "A man who lived with his master, in Anne Arundel county, came
    late one evening to Mr. Tyson, and begged that he would listen
    to his case. His master had promised him his freedom, provided
    he would raise and pay him the sum of five hundred dollars in
    six years; and he had earned half of the money, which he had
    given his master. The six years were not expired, yet he was
    about to be sold to Georgia. Mr. Tyson asked if 'there was any
    receipt for the money.' 'No.' 'Was there any witness who could
    prove its payment?' 'Nobody but his master's wife.' 'Then,' said
    Mr. Tyson, 'the law is against thee, and thou must submit. I can
    do nothing for thee.' Never, said Mr. Tyson, when relating this
    story, shall I forget the desperate resolution which showed
    itself in the countenance and manner of this man when he said,
    with clenched fist, his eyes raised to Heaven, his whole frame
    bursting with the purpose of his soul, while a smile of triumph
    played around his lips, 'I will die before the Georgia man shall
    have me.' And then suddenly melting into a flood of tears, he
    said, 'I cannot live away from my wife and children.' After this
    poor fellow had left me, said Mr. Tyson, I said to a person
    present, 'That is no common man; he will do what he has
    resolved.'

    "A short time afterwards, the remains of a colored person who
    had been drowned in the basin at Baltimore were discovered. The
    fact coming to the knowledge of Mr. Tyson, he went to see the
    body, and recognized in its features and from its dress, the
    remains of the unfortunate man who, a short time before, had
    breathed the dreadful resolution in his presence."


Such are a few of the memorials which this friend of the human race has
left behind him. He was not less persevering, and scarcely less
successful in his endeavors to obtain the mitigation of the slave laws
in Maryland. Some of the most repulsive of these were repealed or
altered, particularly those restricting manumissions. Thus the condition
and the prospects of the whole body of slaves was improved, in addition
to _more than two thousand_ delivered by his immediate instrumentality
from illegal bondage. Hundreds of free and happy families have cause at
this day to bless the memory of "Father Tyson."

He also deeply interested himself on behalf of the Indian tribes; and
once in company with another individual, as a deputation from the
Society of Friends in Baltimore, undertook a dangerous journey to visit
several tribes 1000 miles distant, to the north-west of the Ohio. The
main object of the mission was to induce the Indians to refrain from the
use of ardent spirits--of whose destructive effects the chiefs were
themselves fully sensible. The following affecting address was made to
an assembly of "Friends" in Baltimore, by Little Turtle, a chief famous
for courage, sagacity and eloquence:


    "Brothers and Friends:--When our forefathers first met on this
    great Island, your red brethren were very numerous! But since
    the introduction among us of what you call spirituous liquors,
    and what we think may justly be called poison, our numbers are
    greatly diminished. It has destroyed a great part of your red
    brethren.

    "My Brothers and Friends:--We plainly perceive, that you see the
    very evil which destroyed your red brethren; it is not an evil
    of our own making; we have not placed it among ourselves; it is
    an evil placed among us by the white people; we look to them to
    remove it out of our country. We tell them, 'Brethren, bring us
    useful things; bring goods that will clothe us, our women and
    our children; and not this evil liquor, that destroys our
    reason, that destroys our health, and destroys our lives.' But
    all we can say on this subject is of no service, nor gives
    relief to your red brethren.

    "My Brother and Friends:--I rejoice to find that you agree in
    opinion with us, and express an anxiety to be, if possible, of
    service to us, in removing this great evil out of our country;
    an evil which has had so much room in it; and has destroyed so
    many of our lives, that it causes our young men to say, 'we had
    better be at war with the white people.' This liquor, which they
    introduce into our country, is more to be feared than the gun
    and the tomahawk. There are more of us dead, since the treaty of
    Greenville, than we lost by the six years war before. It is all
    owing to the introduction of this liquor amongst us.

    "Brothers:--When our young men have been out hunting, and are
    returning home, loaded with skins and furs, on their way if it
    happens that they come along where some of this whiskey is
    deposited, the white man who sells it, tells them to take a
    little drink; some of them will say 'no, I do not want it;' they
    go on till they come to another house, where they find more of
    the same kind of drink; it is there offered again; they refuse;
    and again the third time. But finally, the fourth or fifth time,
    one accepts of it and takes a drink; and getting one, he wants
    another; and then a third, and a fourth, till his senses have
    left him. After his reason comes back to him again, when he gets
    up and finds where he is, he asks for his peltry. The answer is,
    'You have drank them,' 'Where is my gun?' 'It is gone?' 'Where
    is my blanket?' 'It is gone.' 'Where is my shirt?' 'You have
    sold it for whiskey!!' Now, Brothers, figure to yourselves, the
    condition of this man. He has a family at home; a wife and
    children, who stand in need of the profits of his hunting. What
    must be their wants, when he himself is even without a shirt?"


The journey of Elisha Tyson and his companion, James Gillingham,
occurred a few years subsequent to the interview at which the preceding
speech was made. They met a council of the Indians at Fort Wayne, whom
Elisha Tyson addressed to the following effect:


    "He painted in glowing colors the dreadful effects of
    intemperance--both upon civilized and savage life--told them
    that they must resolve to abstain entirely from it. If they
    admitted it at all among them, it would soon conquer them, and
    reduce them to a condition worse than that of the brute
    creation. That not until they abandoned altogether the use of
    ardent spirits would they be fit subjects for civilization. If
    they were ready to do this he would then unfold to them the
    blessings of civilization--the superiority of such a condition
    over the one in which they then subsisted. He traced their
    history from the earliest period to the present time--shewed
    them how, as the white population had expanded itself, they had
    retreated into the western wilderness--that if they did not
    remain, but continued to retreat, in a few years they would have
    no territory upon this continent. In order, therefore, to their
    permanent establishment, he recommended to them the practice of
    agriculture, as a substitute for hunting. He advised them to
    mark out their lands, and ask advice of the agents established
    by the Society of Friends among them, with respect to their
    cultivation. They stood ready, not only with their advice, but
    with their assistance; they were furnished for their use with
    all the necessary implements of husbandry, with beasts of the
    plough also, and beasts of burden.

    "They had come a great distance, endured much privation and
    fatigue in order to see them, and must endure a great deal more
    before they could again behold their wives and their children.
    But they could bear it all with patience, nay with joy, if they
    could only have the satisfaction of seeing them adopt the
    disinterested advice which he had thus given them."


The following is one of the speeches made in reply, by White Loon, an
influential chief:


    "Brothers:--Ever since your great father Onas, (William Penn,)
    came upon this great island, the Quakers have been the friends
    of red men. They have proved themselves worthy of being the
    descendants of their great father. And now, when all the whites
    have forgotten that they owe any thing to us, the Quakers of
    Baltimore, though so far distant from us, have remembered the
    distressed condition of their red brethren, and interceded with
    the Great Spirit in our behalf.

    "Brothers:--You have travelled very far to see us--you have
    climbed over mountains--you have swam over deep and rapid
    torrents--you have endured cold, and hunger, and fatigue, in
    order that you might have an opportunity of seeing your red
    brethren. For this, so long as life exists within us, we shall
    be very grateful.

    "Brothers:--That wide region of country over which you have
    passed, was once filled with red men. Then was there a plenty of
    deer and buffalo, and all kinds of game. But the white people
    came from beyond the great water; they landed in multitudes on
    our shores; they cut down our forests; they drove our warriors
    before them, and frightened the wild herds, so that they sought
    security in the deep shades of the west.

    "Brothers:--These white men were not your grandfathers; for, as
    I said before, the sons of Onas were always the friends of red
    men.

    "Brothers:--The whites are still advancing upon us. They have
    reached our territory, and have built their wigwams within our
    very hunting grounds. Our game is vanishing away.

    "Brothers:--Formerly our hunters pursued the wild deer, and the
    buffalo, and the bear; and when they killed them they ate their
    flesh for food, and used their skins as covering for themselves,
    their old men, their women, and their children. But now, they
    kill them that they may have plenty of skins and furs to sell to
    the white men. The consequence of this is, the game is destroyed
    wantonly, and faster than our necessities require.

    "Brothers:--We would not mind all this, provided these skins and
    furs were exchanged for useful articles--for implements of
    husbandry, or clothes for our old men, our women, and our
    children. But they are too often bartered away for whiskey, that
    vile poison, which has sunk even Wapakee into the dust.

    "Brothers:--We shall soon be under the necessity either of
    leaving our hunting grounds or of converting them into pastures
    and fields of corn. Under the kind assistance of our brothers,
    the Quakers, we have already proceeded a great way. You have
    witnessed, as you have passed among us, the good effects of the
    kindness of our brothers. We are disposed to go on as we have
    begun, until our habits and manners, as well as the face of our
    country, shall be changed and look like those of the white
    people.

    "Brothers:--Accept from us this belt of wampum and pipe of
    peace. And may the Great Sasteretsy, who conducted you here in
    safety, still go with you and restore you in peace and happiness
    to the arms of your women and children."


After this, with ceremonies such as those already described, but, if
possible, accompanied with more solemnity, the chiefs dissolved the
council.

It is a melancholy reflection, that soon such memorials as these will be
the only remains of that noble but unfortunate race who once peopled the
continent of North America. _War_ has slain its thousands, but _alcohol_
its tens of thousands; and the fortitude which could bear without
shrinking the most cruel inflictions of torture, has proved powerless to
resist the seductions of strong drink. It is to be feared a heavy
retribution awaits the white man, the pitiless author of their
extermination.

The biographer of E. Tyson has taken great pains to represent him as a
friend to the Colonization Society, but in this respect I am informed,
by one who well knew him, he has done him great injustice. It is
confessed, indeed, that for a long period E. Tyson viewed this scheme
with great jealousy. "When we saw," remarks this writer, "domestic
tyrants, and men who had actually, in the southern slave-trade,
speculated in the flesh and blood of their fellow creatures, united with
their betters in a society, the professed object of which was the
peopling of a continent with freemen by the depopulation of a continent
of slaves, he argued, as he had a right to argue, mischief to the
cause." No evidence is adduced to show that this same distrust of the
Colonization Society was ever removed, beyond the fact that, having been
the means of liberating eleven native Africans from a slave-ship, he
cooperated with Gen. Harper, an influential colonizationist, in
restoring them to their native country, which bordered upon the colony
of Liberia. This was the last public act of his life.


    "The great concern in which he had spent his life was the
    constant topic of his conversation; and he continued with his
    latest breath to enforce the claims of the unhappy sons of
    slavery upon the humanity of their brethren. It was natural that
    he should feel a strong anxiety about the fate of those who,
    through his exertions, had been restored to their friends in
    Africa. He was on the alert to hear intelligence of their
    fate--his spirit seemed to follow them across the mighty waters.
    On one occasion he was heard to say, 'If I could only hear of
    their safe arrival I should die content;' and on another, that
    he 'had prayed to the Father of Mercies that he would be pleased
    to spare his life until he could receive the pleasing
    intelligence.' His prayer was heard. The news reached his ears
    amid the last lingerings of life. He shed tears of joy on the
    occasion; and when he had sufficiently yielded to the first
    burst of feeling, exclaimed, like one satiated with earthly
    happiness, 'Now I am ready to die; my work is done.' His
    expressions were prophetic; for in the short space of
    forty-eight hours, on the 16th of February, 1824, at the age of
    75 years, he breathed his soul into the hands of God Almighty."


The following are some notices of his personal appearance and mental
characteristics:


    "The person of Mr. Tyson was about six feet in height, though
    the habit of leaning forward as he walked, gave a less
    appearance to his stature. The rest of his frame was suited to
    his height.

    "The features of his countenance were strong. His forehead was
    high; his nose large, and of the Roman order; his eyes were dark
    and piercing; his lips so singularly expressive, that even in
    their stillest mood they would almost seem to be uttering the
    purposes of his mind. Indeed his whole face was indicative, to a
    striking degree, of the passions and feelings of his soul.

    "The mind of Mr. Tyson was strong, rather than brilliant. With
    scarcely any imagination, he possessed a judgment almost
    infallible in its decisions; great powers of reason, which were
    more conspicuous for the certainty of its conclusions than
    remarkable for displaying the train of inferences by which it
    arrived at them. He possessed wonderful acuteness of
    understanding, quickness of perception, and readiness of reply.

    "For these qualities he was indebted more to nature than to art.
    He was not educated for the exalted station of a philanthropist,
    but for the business of the world; and yet he seemed fitted
    exactly for the part he acted. He possessed not the refinements
    of education; he had not learned to soar into the regions of
    fancy, his destiny was upon the earth; and he knew no flight but
    that which bears the soul to heaven."



APPENDIX E. P. 68.



THE "AMISTAD CAPTIVES."


The following statements are drawn from a "History of the Amistad
Captives, &c., by John W. Barber, member of the Connecticut Historical
Society;" from the authentic reports of the proceedings in the courts of
law, and from a letter of my friend, Lewis Tappan, to the public papers.

"During the month of August, 1839, the public attention was somewhat
excited by several reports stating that a vessel of suspicious and
piratical character had been seen near the coast of the United States,
in the vicinity of New York. This vessel was represented as a 'long,
low, black schooner,' and manned by blacks. The United States steamer
Fulton and several revenue cutters were despatched after her, and notice
was given to the collectors at various sea ports."

This suspicious looking schooner proved to be the "Amistad," which was
eventually captured off Culloden Point, by Lieut. Gedney, of the U.S.
brig "Washington." At this time, however, the Africans, who were in
possession of the vessel, were in communication with the shore, and
peaceably trafficking with the inhabitants for a supply of water for
their intended voyage to their own country. They had spontaneously
submitted to the command of one of their number, Cinque, a man of
extraordinary natural capacity. When they were taken, he was separated
from his companions and conveyed on board the brig.

"Cinque having been put on board of the 'Washington,' displayed much
uneasiness, and seemed so very anxious to get on board the schooner that
his keepers allowed him to return. Once more on the deck of the
'Amistad,' the blacks clustered around him, laughing, screaming, and
making other extravagant demonstrations of joy. When the noise had
subsided, he made an address, which raised their excitement to such a
pitch, that the officer in command had Cinque led away by force. He was
returned to the 'Washington,' and was manacled to prevent his leaping
overboard. On Wednesday, he signified by motions that if they would take
him on board the schooner again, he would show them a handkerchief full
of doubloons. He was accordingly sent on board. His fetters were taken
off, and he once more went below, where he was received by the Africans
in a still more wild and enthusiastic manner than he was the day
previous. Instead of finding the doubloons, he again made an address to
the blacks, by which they were very much excited. Dangerous consequences
were apprehended. Cinque was seized, taken from the hold, and again
fettered. While making his speech, his eye was often turned to the
sailors in charge: the blacks yelled, leapt about, and seemed to be
animated with the same spirit and determination of their leader. Cinque,
when taken back to the 'Washington,' evinced little or no emotion, but
kept his eye steadily fixed on the schooner."

An event so extraordinary and unprecedented as the capture of the
"Amistad," excited the most lively interest among all classes. The
Africans, forty-four in number, were brought to New Haven and secured in
the county jail. A number of gentlemen formed themselves into a
committee to watch over their interests, and immediately there was begun
a long and complicated series of judicial proceedings, to determine how
they should be disposed of. Ruiz and Montez, the two white men, late the
prisoners, but claiming to be the owners of the Africans, caused them to
be indicted for piracy and murder. This was almost immediately disposed
of, on the ground that the charges, if true, were not cognizable in the
American courts, the alleged offences having been perpetrated on board a
Spanish vessel. The Africans therefore were in no immediate danger of
capital punishment. Ruiz and Montez on their part seem to have met with
sympathy and kindness, and to testify their gratitude caused the
following to be inserted in the New York papers:


    "A CARD.

    "NEW LONDON, AUGUST 29, 1839.

    "The subscribers, Don Jose Ruiz, and Don Pedro Montez, in
    gratitude for their most unhoped for and providential rescue
    from the hands of a ruthless gang of African bucaneers and an
    awful death, would take this means of expressing, in some slight
    degree, their thankfulness and obligation to Lieut. Com. T.R.
    Gedney, and the officers and crew of the U.S. surveying brig
    Washington, for their decision in seizing the Amistad, and their
    unremitting kindness and hospitality in providing for their
    comfort on board their vessel, as well as the means they have
    taken for the protection of their property.

    "We also must express our indebtedness to that nation whose flag
    they so worthily bear, with an assurance that this act will be
    duly appreciated by our most gracious sovereign, her Majesty the
    Queen of Spain.

    DON JOSE, RUIZ,

    DON PEDRO MONTEZ."


Ruiz and Montez are thus described by a correspondent of the New London
Gazette, who visited the Amistad immediately after its capture:


    "Jose Ruiz, is a very gentlemanly and intelligent young man, and
    speaks English fluently. He was the owner of most of the slaves
    and cargo, which he was conveying to his estate on the Island of
    Cuba. The other, Pedro Montez, is about fifty years of age, and
    is the owner of three of the slaves. He was formerly a ship
    master, and has navigated the vessel since her seizure by the
    blacks. Both of them, as may be naturally supposed, are most
    unfeignedly thankful for their deliverance. Pedro is the most
    striking instance of complacency and unalloyed delight we have
    ever witnessed, and it is not strange, since only yesterday his
    sentence was pronounced by the chief of the bucaneers, and his
    death song chanted by the grim crew, who gathered with uplifted
    sabres around his devoted head, which, as well as his arms, bear
    the scars of several wounds inflicted at the time of the murder
    of the ill-fated captain and crew. He sat smoking his Havana on
    the deck, and to judge from the martyr-like serenity of his
    countenance, his emotions are such as rarely stir the heart of
    man. When Mr. Porter, the prize master, assured him of his
    safety, he threw his arms around his neck, while gushing tears
    coursing down his furrowed cheek, bespoke the overflowing
    transport of his soul. Every now and then he clasped his hands,
    and with uplifted eyes, gave thanks to 'the Holy Virgin' who had
    led him out of his troubles."


It will be necessary to contrast the deeds of these "gentlemanly and
intelligent" _Christians_ with that of the "ruthless gang of African
bucaneers," from whose grasp they were so providentially rescued. In
giving the subsequent detail, I would not be understood as compromising
for a single instant my belief in the inviolability of human life,
though it must I think be confessed that in the instance related below,
the heathen and barbarous negroes contrast very favorably with the
civilized and Christian Spaniards.


    "The following communication from Mr. Day, of New Haven, gives a
    summary account of the African captives, as stated by
    themselves, from the time they left Africa, till the time they
    obtained possession of the Amistad:

    "NEW HAVEN, OCT. 8, 1839.

    [To the Editor of the Journal of Commerce.]

    "Gentlemen--The following short and plain narrative of one or
    two of the African captives, in whose history and prospects such
    anxious interest is felt, has been taken at the earliest
    opportunity possible, consistently with more important
    examinations. It may be stated in general terms, as the result
    of the investigations thus far made, that the Africans all
    testify that they left Africa about six months since; were
    landed under cover of the night at a small village or hamlet
    near Havana, and after ten or twelve days were taken through
    Havana by night by the man who had bought them, named Pipi, who
    has since been satisfactorily proved to be Ruiz; were cruelly
    treated on the passage, being beaten and flogged, and in some
    instances having vinegar and gunpowder rubbed into their wounds;
    and that they suffered intensely from hunger and thirst. The
    perfect coincidence in the testimony of the prisoners, examined
    as they have been separately, is felt by all who are acquainted
    with the minutes of the examination, to carry with it
    overwhelming evidence of the truth of their story.

    Yours respectfully,

    "GEORGE E. DAY."

    "MONDAY, OCT. 7.

    "This afternoon, almost the first time in which the two
    interpreters, Covey and Pratt, have not been engaged with
    special reference to the trial to take place in November, one of
    the captives named Grabeau, was requested to give a narrative of
    himself since leaving Africa, for publication in the papers. The
    interpreters, who are considerably exhausted by the examinations
    which have already taken place, only gave the substance of what
    he said, without going into details, and it was not thought
    advisable to press the matter. Grabeau first gave an account of
    the passage from Africa to Havana. On board the vessel there was
    a large number of men, but the women and children were far the
    most numerous. They were fastened together in couples by the
    wrists and legs, and kept in that situation day and night. Here
    Grabeau and another of the Africans named Kimbo, lay down upon
    the floor, to show the painful position in which they were
    obliged to sleep. By day it was no better. The space between
    decks was so small,--according to their account not exceeding
    four feet,--that they were obliged, if they attempted to stand,
    to keep a crouching posture. The decks fore and aft were crowded
    to overflowing. They suffered (Grabeau said) terribly. They had
    rice enough to eat, but had very little to drink. If they left
    any of the rice that was given to them uneaten, either from
    sickness or any other cause, they were whipped. It was a common
    thing for them to be forced to eat so much as to vomit. Many of
    the men, women, and children died on the passage.

    "They were landed by night at a small village near Havana. Soon
    several white men came to buy them, and among them was the one
    claiming to be their master, whom they call Pipi, said to be a
    Spanish nick-name for Jose. Pipi, or Ruiz, selected such as he
    liked, and made them stand in a row. He then felt each of them
    in every part of the body; made them open their mouths to see if
    their teeth were sound, and carried the examinations to a degree
    of minuteness of which only a slave dealer would be guilty.

    "When they were separated from their companions who had come
    with them from Africa, there was weeping among the women and
    children, but Grabeau did not weep, 'because he is a man.'
    Kimbo, who sat by, said that he also shed no tears--but he
    thought of his home in Africa, and of friends left there whom he
    should never see again.

    "The men bought by Ruiz were taken on foot through Havana in the
    night, and put on board a vessel. During the night they were
    kept in irons, placed about the hands, feet and neck. They were
    treated during the day in a somewhat milder manner, though all
    the irons were never taken off at once. Their allowance of food
    was very scant, and of water still more so. They were very
    hungry, and suffered much in the hot days and nights from
    thirst. In addition to this there was much whipping, and the
    cook told them that when they reached land they would all be
    eaten. This 'made their hearts burn.' To avoid being eaten, and
    to escape the bad treatment they experienced, they rose upon the
    crew with the design of returning to Africa.

    "Such is the substance of Grabeau's story, confirmed by Kimbo,
    who was present most of the time. He says he likes the people of
    this country, because, to use his own expression, 'they are good
    people--they believe in God, and there is no slavery here.'

    "The story of Grabeau was then read and interpreted to Cinque,
    while a number of the other Africans were standing about, and
    confirmed by all of them in every particular. When the part
    relating to the crowded state of the vessel from Africa to
    Havana was read, Cinque added that there was scarcely room
    enough to sit or lie down. Another showed the marks of the irons
    on his wrists, which must at the time have been terribly
    lacerated. On their separation at Havana, Cinque remarked that
    almost all of them were in tears, and himself among the rest,
    'because they had come from the same country, and were now to be
    parted for ever.' To the question, how it was possible for the
    Africans when chained in the manner he described, to rise upon
    the crew, he replied that the chain which connected the iron
    collars about their necks was fastened at the end by a padlock,
    and that this was first broken, and afterwards the other irons.
    Their object, he said, in the affray, was to make themselves
    free. He then requested it to be added to the above, that 'if he
    tells a lie, God sees him by day and by night.'"


The interpreters alluded to in the preceding extract were two Africans
belonging to the crew of the British brig of war Buzzard, which
providentially arrived at New York, from a cruise on the coast of
Africa. They were found to speak the same language as the prisoners, and
with the consent of Captain Fitzgerald, their services were immediately
secured by the indefatigable committee for the African captives. By
their aid much information was elicited respecting the native country
and previous history of these negroes, with many incidental particulars
of great interest, some of which will appear in the following account.
The criminal proceedings against the Mendians being quashed, there
remained the claim of Ruiz and Montez to have the negroes returned to
them as their property. To sustain this claim they produced the license,
signed by the proper authorities at Havana, permitting the removal of
these negroes from that port to Principe, in the same island. This
document is signed by General Espelata, Captain-General of Cuba, and
countersigned by Martinez, one of the most extensive slave-traders in
the known world. This pass or license described the negroes as
_ladinos_, a term used to designate Africans who have been long settled
in Cuba. It was proved, however, that they were _Bozal_ negroes, that
is, such as had been very lately introduced, and the testimony on both
sides, on this point, established a fact that is but too notorious, that
the slave trade to Cuba is openly carried on with the connivance, and
even with the corrupt participation of the authorities. One of the
witnesses, D. Francis Bacon, gives the following account of the slave
trade:--


    "Mr. Bacon stated that he left the coast of Africa on the 13th
    of July, 1839. He knew a place called Dumbokoro [Lomboko] by the
    Spaniards: it was an island in the river or lagoon of Gallinas.
    There is a large slave factory or depot at this place, which is
    said to belong to the house of Martinez in Havana; there are
    also different establishments on different islands. Mr. Bacon
    stated that he had seen American, Russian, Spanish, and
    Portuguese vessels at Gallinas. The American flag was a complete
    shelter; no man-of-war daring to capture an American vessel. The
    slave trade on that part of the coast is the universal business
    of the country, and by far the most profitable, and all engaged
    in it who could raise the means. Extensive wars take place in
    Africa, for obtaining slaves from the vanquished. Different
    towns and villages make war upon each other for this purpose.
    Some are sold on account of their crimes, others for debts. The
    slaves are all brought on to the coast by other blacks, and sold
    at the slave factories, as no white man dare penetrate into the
    interior. Some of the blacks who have been educated at Sierra
    Leone, have been principal dealers in the slave trade."


The decision of the District Court of Connecticut on this question of
property, was to the effect that since their original introduction into
Cuba was plainly illegal, they were free by the law of Spain, and of
course could not be the property of Spanish subjects.

The subsequent proceedings were undertaken on behalf of the United
States' Government. "The District Attorney, Mr. Holabird, filed his
claim under Lieut. Gedney's libel, on two distinct grounds; one that
these Africans had been claimed by the Government of Spain, and ought to
be retained till the pleasure of the Executive might be known, as to
that demand; and the other, that they should be held subject to the
disposition of the President, to be re-transported to Africa, under the
act of 1819." The Court finally decreed that the Africans should be
delivered to the President of the United States, to be transported to
Africa, there to be delivered to an agent appointed to receive and
conduct them home. Against this decision, though it is what he had asked
for, Holabird appealed on behalf of the United States' Government, and
through a protracted series of law proceedings, it was finally carried
before the Supreme Court of the United States, the highest tribunal in
the nation. The counsel employed on both sides, in the different stages,
were of the highest reputation; and finally the venerable John Quincy
Adams, after an absence from the Courts of nearly forty years, during
which interval he had filled the highest offices of state, at home and
abroad, in the service of his country, did not think it beneath him to
defend the Mendians before the Supreme Court, against the _conspiracies_
of Forsyth, the Secretary of State, and the Spanish Ambassador. In his
first communication to the latter, Forsyth says:


    "All the proceedings in the matter, on the part of both the
    executive and judicial branches of the government, have had
    their foundation in the assumption that Montez and Ruiz alone
    were the parties aggrieved; and that their claim to the
    surrender of the property was founded in fact and in justice."


The Spanish minister and his successor, complained bitterly, in the
course of a long correspondence, of the delay in giving up the Africans,
on the ground, as emphatically stated in one of their letters to the
Department of State, that "the public vengeance had not been satisfied;
for be it recollected that the legation of Spain does not demand the
delivery of slaves, but of assassins." In a previous communication it
was intimated that "the infliction of capital punishment in this case
(in the United States,) would not be attended with the salutary effects
had in view by the law, when it resorts to this painful and terrible
alternative, namely, to prevent the commission of similar offences."
Notwithstanding these dreadful intimations of the fate awaiting the
Africans in Cuba, the American Government deliberately adopted the
design of delivering them up, either as _property_ or as assassins. That
Government found willing agents in the United States' Marshal, and the
District Attorney of Connecticut. The following extracts from the
argument of John Quincy Adams, will explain these disgraceful
transactions:


    "On the 7th of January, the Secretary of State writes to the
    Secretary of the Navy, acknowledging the receipt of his letter
    of the 3d, informing him that the schooner Grampus would receive
    the negroes of the Amistad, 'for the purpose of conveying them
    to Cuba, in the event of their delivery being adjudged by the
    Circuit Court, before whom the case is pending.' This singular
    blunder, in naming the Court, shows in what manner and with how
    little care the Department of State allowed itself to conduct an
    affair, involving no less than the liberties and lives of every
    one of my clients. This letter enclosed the order of the
    President to the Marshal of Connecticut for the delivery of the
    negroes to Lieut. Paine. Although disposing of the lives of
    forty human beings, it has not the form or solemnity of a
    warrant, and is not even signed by the President in his official
    capacity. It is a mere order.


        "'The Marshal of the United States for the District of
        Connecticut will deliver over to Lieut. John S. Paine,
        of the United States Navy, and aid in conveying on board
        the schooner Grampus, under his command, all the
        negroes, late of the Spanish schooner Amistad, in his
        custody, under process now pending before the Circuit
        Court of the United States for the District of
        Connecticut. For so doing, this order will be his
        warrant.

        "'Given under my hand, at the city of Washington, this
        7th day of January, A.D. 1840.

        "'M. VAN BUREN.

        "'By the President:

        "'JOHN FORSYTH, Sec. of State.'


    "That order is good for nothing at all. It did not even describe
    the Court correctly, under whose protection those unfortunate
    people were. And on the 11th of January, the District Attorney
    had to send a special messenger, who came, it appears, all the
    way to Washington in one day, to inform the Secretary that the
    negroes were not holden under the order of the Circuit Court,
    but of the District Court. And he says, 'Should the pretended
    friends of the negroes'--the pretended friends!--'obtain a writ
    of Habeas Corpus, the Marshal could not justify under that
    warrant.' And he says, 'the Marshal wishes me to inquire'--a
    most amiable and benevolent inquiry--'whether in the event of a
    decree requiring him to release the negroes, or in case of an
    appeal by the adverse party, it is expected the Executive
    warrant will be executed'--that is, whether he is to carry the
    negroes on board of the Grampus in the face of a decree of the
    Court. And he requests instructions on the point."


On the 12th of January, the very next day after the letter of the
District Attorney was written at New Haven, the Secretary of State
replies in a despatch which is marked 'confidential.'


    "'[CONFIDENTIAL.]

    "'DEPARTMENT OF STATE, Jan. 12,1840.

    "'SIR,--Your letter of the 11th inst. has just been received.
    The order for the delivery of the negroes of the Amistad is
    herewith returned, corrected agreeably to your suggestion. With
    reference to the inquiry from the Marshal, to which you allude,
    I have to state, by direction of the President, that if the
    decision of the Court is such as is anticipated, the order of
    the President is to be carried into execution, unless an appeal
    shall actually have been interposed. YOU ARE NOT TO TAKE IT FOR
    GRANTED THAT IT WILL BE INTERPOSED. And if, on the contrary, the
    decision of the Court is different, you are to take out an
    appeal, and allow things to remain as they are until the appeal
    shall have been decided.

    I am, sir, your obedient servant

    "'JOHN FORSYTH.

    "'W.S. HOLABIRD, Esq.,


        "'_Attorney U.S. for District of Conn._'


    "But after all the order did not avail. The District Judge,
    contrary to all these anticipations of the Executive, decided
    that the thirty-six negroes taken by Lieut. Gedney and brought
    before the Court on the certificate of the Governor-General of
    Cuba, were FREEMEN; that they had been kidnapped in Africa; that
    they did not own these Spanish names; that they were not
    _ladinos_; and were not correctly described in the passport, but
    were new negroes bought by Ruiz in the depot of Havana, and
    fully entitled to their liberty."


At a public meeting held subsequent to their liberation, the teacher of
the Africans made a statement as follows:--Their ruling passion was a
love for home; and their desire to return thither was constantly
manifesting itself. One day, a short time ago, Fohlee came to his
teacher, with his cap in his hand, and said, "If Merican men offer me as
much gold as fill this cap full up, and give me houses, land and every
ting, so dat I stay in dis country, I say no! Is dat like my father? Is
dat like my mother? Is dat like my sister? Is dat like my brother? No! I
want to see my father, my mother, my brother and sister." This feeling
manifested itself in many ways; and they expressed themselves willing to
undergo any thing short of losing their lives, if by so doing they could
be at liberty to return to the Mendi country.

I now introduce the lively narrative of my friend Lewis Tappan:


    "EXCURSION WITH THE AMISTAD AFRICANS.

    "_On board Steam Boat, L.I. Sound, Nov_. 15, 1841.

    "BROTHER LEAVITT:--As the committee had chartered a ship to take
    the Mendians to Sierra Leone about the middle of this month, and
    as the funds contributed by a benevolent public were about all
    expended, it appeared necessary, in addition to an appeal
    published in the newspapers, to take some prompt and efficient
    measures to procure funds sufficient to pay for their outfit and
    passages, and, if possible, something to sustain the
    contemplated mission in Mendi. One of the committee being sick
    and another absent, it devolved upon me to perform the
    excursion. I was assisted essentially by Mr. Samuel Deming, one
    of the committee at Farmington, and by Mr. William Raymond and
    Mr. Needham. On arriving at Hartford, the third instant, I
    learned that Mr. Deming had proceeded to Boston, accompanied by
    ten of the Mendians, viz., Cinque, Banna, Si-si, Su-ma, Fu-li,
    Ya-bo-i, So-ko-ma, Kin-na, Ka-li and Mar-gru. These were
    selected not on account of being the best scholars, but with
    reference to their being the best singers, although some of them
    are among the best scholars. None of them, however, have had
    instruction in music. Arriving in Boston, the city was, as I
    anticipated, full of excitement, on account of the approaching
    election,--a circumstance unknown to the committee at
    Farmington, who had sent off the Mendians sooner than we had
    calculated,--and it seemed almost impossible to procure a
    suitable place in which to hold meetings, or to arrest the
    attention of the people, as the whole--democrats, whigs and
    abolitionists--had every nerve strained for the political
    contest. However, preparation had been made for a meeting at the
    Melodeon, late Lion Theatre, on Thursday evening. A few hundreds
    assembled, and appeared to be highly gratified with the
    performances. It seemed to them marvellous that these men and
    children, who, less than three years since, were almost naked
    savages in the interior of Africa, should, under the untoward
    circumstances in which they have been placed for the largest
    part of the time since they have been in a civilized and
    Christian country, appear so far advanced in civilization and
    knowledge. Only forty-six dollars were received, the proceeds of
    tickets and a collection, but a strong desire was expressed that
    there should be another meeting.

    "Saturday evening was the only evening we could have Marlboro'
    Chapel, the largest church in the city. Preliminary to this
    meeting, a private meeting of invited gentlemen was held during
    the afternoon, at the Marlboro' Hotel, the Mendians being
    present. The meeting was well attended and a good impression was
    made. In the evening there was a large meeting in the Chapel;
    Rev. Dr. Anderson opened it with prayer, concluding with the
    Lord's prayer, each sentence being repeated in our language by
    the Mendians. A statement was then made of their past and
    present condition, of their good conduct, their proficiency, of
    their ardent desire to return to Mendi, and the favorable
    prospects of establishing a mission in their country. Three or
    four of the best readers were then called upon to read a passage
    in the New Testament. They then read and spelled a passage named
    by the audience. One of the Africans next related, in 'Merica
    language,' their condition in their own country, their being
    kidnapped, the sufferings of the middle passage, their stay at
    Havana, the transactions on board the Amistad, &c. The story was
    intelligible to the audience, with occasional explanations. They
    were next requested to sing two or three of their native songs.
    The performance afforded great delight to the audience. As a
    pleasing contrast, however, they sang immediately after, one of
    the songs of Zion:

      "'When I can read my title clear
      To mansions in. the skies,
      I'll bid farewell to every fear,
      And wipe my weeping eyes.'


    "This produced a deep impression upon the audience; and while
    these late pagans were singing so correctly and impressively a
    hymn in a Christian church, many 'weeping eyes,' bore testimony
    that the act and its associations touched a chord that vibrated
    in many hearts. Cinque was then introduced to the audience, and
    addressed them in his native tongue. It is impossible to
    describe the novel and deeply interesting manner in which he
    acquitted himself. The subject of his speech was similar to that
    of his countryman who had addressed the audience in English, but
    he related more minutely and graphically the occurrences on
    board the Amistad. The easy manner of Cinque, his natural,
    graceful and energetic action, the rapidity of his utterance,
    and the remarkable and various expressions of his countenance,
    excited the admiration and applause of the audience. He was
    pronounced a powerful natural orator, and one born to sway the
    minds of his fellow men. Should he be converted and become a
    preacher of the cross in Africa, what delightful results may be
    anticipated!

    "The amount of the statements made by Kin-na, Fu-li and Cinque,
    and the facts in the case, are as follows:--These Mendians
    belong to six different tribes, although their dialects are not
    so dissimilar as to prevent them from conversing together very
    readily. Most of them belong to a country which they call Mendi,
    but which is known to geographers and travellers as Kos-sa, and
    lies south-east of Sierra Leone; as we suppose, from sixty to
    one hundred and twenty miles. With one or two exceptions, these
    Mendians are not related to each other; nor did they know each
    other until they met at the slave factory of Pedro Blanco, the
    wholesale trafficker in men, at Lomboko, on the coast of Africa.
    They were stolen separately, many of them by black men, some of
    whom were accompanied by Spaniards, as they were going from one
    village to another, or were at a distance from their abodes. The
    whole came to Havana in the same ship, a Portuguese vessel named
    Tecora, except the four children, whom they saw, for the first
    time, on board the Amistad. It seems that they remained at
    Lomboko several weeks, until six or seven hundred were
    collected, when they were put in irons and placed in the hold of
    a ship, which soon put to sea. Being chased by a British
    cruiser, she returned, landed the cargo of human beings, and the
    vessel was seized and taken to Sierra Leone for adjudication.
    After some time, the Africans were put on board the Tecora.
    After suffering the horrors of the middle passage, they arrived
    at Havana. Here they were put into a barracoon, one of the
    oblong enclosures, without a roof, where human beings are kept,
    as they keep sheep and oxen near the cattle markets, in the
    vicinity of our large cities, until purchasers are found, for
    ten days, when they were sold to Jose Ruiz, and shipped on board
    the Amistad, together with the three girls and a little boy who
    came on board with Pedro Montez. The Amistad was a coaster,
    bound to Principe, in Cuba, distant some two or three hundred
    miles. The Africans were kept in chains and fetters, and were
    supplied with but a small quantity of food or water. A single
    banana, they say, was served out as food for a day or two, and
    only a small cup of water for each daily. When any of them took
    a little water from the cask, they were severely flogged. The
    Spaniards took Antonio, the cabin-boy and slave to Captain
    Ferrer, and stamped him on the shoulder with a hot iron; then
    put powder, palm oil, &c. upon the wound, so that they 'could
    know him for their slave.' The cook, a colored Spaniard, told
    them that on their arrival at Principe, in three days, they
    would have their throats cut, be chopped in pieces, and salted
    down for meat for the Spaniards. He pointed to some barrels of
    beef on the deck, then to an empty barrel, and by significant
    gestures,--as the Mendians say, by 'talking with his
    fingers,'--he made them understand that they were to be slain,
    &c. At four o'clock that day, when they were called on deck to
    eat, Cinque found a nail, which he secreted under his arm. In
    the night they held a counsel as to what was best to be done.
    'We feel bad,' said Kin-na, 'and we ask Cinque what we had best
    do. Cinque say, "Me think, and by and by I tell you."' He then
    said, 'If we do nothing, we be killed. We may as well die in
    trying to be free as to be killed and eaten.' Cinque afterwards
    told them what he would do. With the aid of the nail and the
    assistance of Grabeau, he freed himself from the irons on his
    wrists and ancles, and from the chain on his neck. He then, with
    his own hands, wrested the irons from the limbs and necks of his
    countrymen. It is not in my power to give an adequate
    description of Cinque when he showed how he did this and led his
    comrades to the conflict and achieved their freedom. In my
    younger years I saw Kemble and Siddons, and the representation
    of Othello, at Covent Garden, but no acting that I ever
    witnessed came near that to which I allude. When delivered from
    their irons, the Mendians, with the exception of the children,
    who were asleep, about four or five o'clock in the morning,
    armed with cane-knives, some boxes of which they found in the
    hold, leaped upon the deck. Cinque killed the cook. The captain
    fought desperately. He inflicted wounds on two of the Africans,
    who soon after died, and cut severely one or two of those who
    now survive. Two sailors leaped over the side of the vessel. The
    Mendians say 'they could not catch land--they must have swum to
    the bottom of the sea,' but Ruiz and Montez supposed they
    reached the island in a boat. Cinque now took command of the
    vessel; placed Si-si at the helm; gave his people plenty to eat
    and drink. Ruiz and Montez had fled to the hold. They were
    dragged out, and Cinque ordered them to be put in irons. They
    cried and begged not to be put in chains, but Cinque replied,
    'You say fetters good for negro--if good for negro good for
    Spanish man too: you try them two days, and see how you feel.'
    The Spaniards asked for water, and it was dealt out to them in
    the same little cup with which they had dealt it out to the
    Africans. They complained bitterly of being thirsty. Cinque
    said, 'You say little water enough for nigger. If little water
    do for him, a little do for you too.' Cinque said the Spaniards
    cried a great deal; he felt very sorry; only meant to let them
    see how good it was to be treated like the poor slaves. In two
    days the irons were removed; and then, said Cinque, we give them
    plenty water and food, and treat them very well. Kin-na stated
    that as the water fell short, Cinque would not drink any, nor
    allow any of the rest to drink any thing but salt water, but
    dealt out daily a little to each of the four children, and the
    same quantity to each of the two Spaniards! In a day or two Ruiz
    and Montez wrote a letter, and told Cinque that when they spoke
    a vessel, if he would give it to them, the people would take
    them to Sierra Leone. Cinque took the letter and said, 'Very
    well;' but afterwards told his brethren, 'We have no letter in
    Mendi. I don't know what is in that letter--there may be death
    in it. So we will take some iron and a string, bind them about
    the letter, and send it to the bottom of the sea.'

    "When any vessel came in sight, the Spaniards were shut down in
    the hold, and forbidden to come on deck on pain of death. One of
    the Africans, who could talk a little English, answered
    questions when they were hailed from other vessels.

    "It is unnecessary to narrate here subsequent facts, as they
    have been published throughout the country. After Cinque's
    address a collection was taken, and the services were concluded
    by the Mendians singing Bishop Heber's missionary hymn:

    "'From Greenland's icy mountains.'

    "At the conclusion of the meeting some linen and cotton table
    cloths and napkins, manufactured by the Africans, were
    exhibited, and eagerly purchased of them by persons present, at
    liberal prices. They are in the habit of purchasing linen and
    cotton at the shops, unravelling the edges about six to ten
    inches, and making, with their fingers, neat fringes, in
    imitation, they say, of 'Mendi fashion.' Large numbers of the
    audience advanced, and took Cinque and the rest by the hand. The
    transactions of this meeting have thus been stated at length,
    and the account will serve to show how the subsequent meetings
    were conducted, as the services in other places were similar.

    "These Africans, while in prison, (which was the largest part of
    the time they have been in this country) learned but little
    comparatively, but since they have been liberated, they have
    been anxious to learn, as they said 'it would be good for us in
    our own country.' Many of them write well, read, spell and sing
    well, and have attended to arithmetic. The younger ones have
    made great progress in study. Most of them have much fondness
    for arithmetic. They have also cultivated as a garden fifteen
    acres of land, and have raised a large quantity of corn,
    potatoes, onions, beets, et cet., which will be useful to them
    at sea. In some places we visited, the audience were astonished
    at the performance of Kali, who is only eleven years of age. He
    would not only spell any word in either of the Gospels, but
    spell sentences, without any mistake, such sentences as 'Blessed
    are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth,' naming each
    letter and syllable, and recapitulating as he went along, until
    he pronounced the whole sentence. Two hundred and seven dollars
    were received at this meeting.

    "'On Sabbath evening a meeting was attended in Rev. Mr. Beman's
    Church, (colored.) It was impossible for all to gain
    admittance--collected sixteen dollars and fifty-one cents. The
    same evening a meeting was held at Elder N. Colver's. A very
    warm interest was manifested by this congregation, and the sum
    of ninety dollars was contributed. The next morning a
    respectable mechanic, a member of this church, offered to go to
    Mendi with his wife and child, to take up their permanent abode
    there. On Monday we proceeded to Haverhill. It was a rainy day,
    and town meeting was held at the same hour. The audience was
    small, but a deep interest was felt, and fifty-six dollars
    contributed. Rev. Charles Fitch opened the meeting with prayer.
    The Mendians and their friends will long remember the
    hospitality and generosity of their friends in this place. After
    a stay of two hours, we proceeded to Lowell. The heavy rain
    prevented a general attendance. Only thirty-one dollars was
    collected, beside some private donations. Mr. John Levi, a
    colored citizen, rendered important services to us, and several
    of the clergymen and other inhabitants rendered efficient aid.
    On Tuesday we went to Nashua, N.H., and remained two hours.
    Owing to some untoward circumstances, the inhabitants generally
    had not been notified of the meeting. A small number only
    attended. The collection was twenty-seven dollars. In the
    evening at Lowell, the large Methodist Church, St. Paul's, was
    crowded, one thousand five hundred people being present, it was
    said, and many hundreds unable to get admission. The meeting was
    opened with an appropriate prayer by Rev. Luther Lee. In order
    to give an opportunity to the audience to see and hear Cinque,
    he was invited into the pulpit, where he made an energetic
    address. One hundred and six dollars were collected. At the
    close of the services, nearly the whole congregation came
    forward and took the Mendians by the hand, with kind words and
    many presents. The ministers of all denominations attended the
    meeting, with many of the most respectable citizens. During the
    day the Africans were invited to visit the 'Boott Corporation,'
    and were conducted over the whole establishment (cotton mills,)
    by the agent, Mr. French. As might be supposed, they were
    astonished beyond measure. After inspecting the machinery, the
    fabrics, and the great wheel, one of them turned to me and said,
    'Did man make this?' On receiving a reply, he said, 'He no live
    now--he live a great while ago.' Afterwards they visited the
    carpet factory, and expressed great delight at the beauty and
    excellence of the carpets and rugs. Cinque wished to purchase a
    miniature hearth rug, but the agent allowed him to select one of
    the large and beautiful rugs to take to Mendi, which he
    generously presented to him. The workmen here--chiefly
    Englishmen--made a collection of fifty-eight dollars and fifty
    cents on the spot, and presented it to the Mendi Fund.

    "In pursuance of previous arrangements, we turned aside,
    Wednesday, November 12, to attend a meeting in the large South
    Church in Andover, at 9 o'clock, A.M. The house was crowded in
    every part. Dr. Edwards led in prayer, and Dr. Woods
    interrogated some of the Mendians. After a stay of two hours we
    returned to the cars, followed by a large multitude. Collected
    eighty-four dollars. It was remarked at the meeting here, as in
    other places, that the contemplated mission to Mendi was to be
    an anti-slavery mission; that no money would be solicited or
    received of slave holders; that the committee were not connected
    with any other missionary associations, and would not assume a
    hostile attitude towards any. A young gentleman here offered to
    go to Mendi as a teacher.

    "In the afternoon a meeting was held in Boston, at the Marlboro'
    Chapel. The scholars in the Sabbath and week-day schools had
    been notified of it and attended in large numbers, together with
    several respectable inhabitants of Boston and the neighboring
    towns. The meeting was opened with prayer by Rev. W.B. Tappan.
    The collection was one hundred and ten dollars. In the evening a
    meeting was held at the Melodeon, and was attended by a large
    number of persons. Collection one hundred and thirty-three
    dollars. The next day, Thursday the 11th, we left for
    Springfield. The meeting was held in the evening, at the Town
    Hall, as some of the Parish committee objected to its being held
    in the church, fearing it would desecrate the place. The Hall
    was crowded, and many could not gain admittance. Dr. Osgood
    opened the meeting with prayer, took several of the Mendians to
    his own house, and manifested a deep interest on their behalf,
    as did many of the other inhabitants. The Mendians were all
    hospitably entertained in this place without expense. Some
    'fellows of the baser sort' insulted Kin-na and others as they
    went to the Hall; and in the introduction of his speech, Kin-na
    spoke of the treatment he had received. But there are many
    warm-hearted and generous friends of the colored race in this
    town. 'We said nothing to them,' said Kin-na; 'why did they
    treat us so? What can we do? We are few and feeble. What can the
    dog do when the lion attacks him; or what can be done when the
    cat and the mouse come together!' Collection seventy-three
    dollars. The Mendians were invited by Mr. Burleigh to see a
    large picture exhibiting here--'The Descent of Christ from the
    Cross,' copied from Rubens--and were highly gratified.

    "Here we received a cordial invitation from two of the ministers
    of Northampton and several of their people to visit that place,
    with the assurance that the First Church, the largest in the
    county, should be opened for the Mendians. On the 12th we rode
    to N. in the rain. Mount Tom and the Connecticut River were
    pointed out to Cinque, who said, 'In my country we have very
    great mountain--much bigger than that--and river about so wide,
    but very deep.' The weather cleared away towards night, and the
    church was nearly filled. Rev. Mr. Pennington, colored minister
    of Hartford, opened the meeting with prayer. Collection
    seventy-five dollars, in addition to seventeen dollars from the
    Female Abolition Society; fifty-three dollars collected before
    we arrived, and eighty-five contributed by 'a friend,' a short
    time since. The reception here was warm-hearted. Mr. Warner,
    keeper of the principal hotel in that place, furnished the
    Mendians with one of his best rooms, seated them at the table
    with his family and boarders, and, on being asked for his bill
    the next day, he replied, 'There is nothing to pay!' The agents
    of the Nashua and Andover rail roads also declined taking pay
    for the passages of the Mendians. On Saturday, we rose at 3
    o'clock, P.M., and returned to Springfield. Here we took the
    steam boat for Hartford. On arriving, application was made to
    Mr. Colton, keeper of the Temperance Hotel, to accommodate the
    Mendians. He demurred. Mr. Warner's noble treatment of them was
    mentioned. Mr. C. said he could not place them at his table. He
    was told that this was not insisted upon; that if he would
    furnish me a room they could eat there, and sleep wherever it
    was convenient to Mr. C. But he absolutely refused to entertain
    them any how. As this house has been patronized by
    abolitionists, they ought to know this fact. After remaining in
    the cold on the wharf about an hour, the Mendians were received
    and hospitably entertained by several families without charge.

    "On the Sabbath, November 14, they attended public worship in
    Rev. Mr. Pennington's church. In the afternoon the church was
    filled. An address was made by the writer, and the Mendians read
    in the Testament and sang a hymn. Collection eight dollars. In
    the evening a meeting was held in the Centre Church, Rev. Dr.
    Hawes's. Notices were read in the other churches, and handbills
    had been posted the previous day. The church, in every part, was
    crowded, and large numbers were unable to obtain admittance. Dr.
    Hawes opened the meeting with prayer. The services were of an
    interesting character. Collection eighty dollars. Dr. Hawes
    interrogated Kin-na. He said, 'The Mendi people believe in a
    Great Spirit, although they do not worship him. They know they
    have souls. We think,' said Kin-na, 'we make clothes. Dog can't
    do this. He no soul, but we have.' He said on another occasion,
    when asked if his people believed in a future state, 'The Mendi
    people all Sadducees.' Kin-na said that they 'owe every thing to
    God. He keep them alive, and give them free. When he go home to
    Mendi, they tell their brethren about God, Jesus Christ, and
    heaven.' Fu-li, on a former evening, being asked, 'What is
    faith?' replied, 'Believing in Jesus Christ, and trusting in
    him.' Their answers to questions show that they have read and
    that they understand the Scriptures, and hopes are entertained
    that one or two at least know experimentally the value of
    religion. The fact that there is no system of idolatry in Mendi
    for missionaries to oppose and the natives technically to adhere
    to, is an encouraging fact with regard to the contemplated
    mission. Another pleasing and remarkable fact exists: labor is
    suspended every seventh day, and has been from time immemorial.
    They do not engage in any religious services, but dress in their
    best apparel, feast on that day,--as some do here,--visit, &c.
    This day, 15th, Rev. Mr. Gallaudet and Mr. Brigham have invited
    the Mendians to visit the Deaf and Dumb Asylum and the Insane
    Institution. On a person's giving, by signs, the deaf and dumb
    alphabet to Mar-gru, one of the girls, she, in a few minutes,
    repeated nearly the whole. They told Mr. Brigham that there were
    insane people and idiots in Mendi, and described their actions
    and the treatment of them. Two of the Mendians will be detained
    as witnesses in Hartford this day, in a cause appealed from a
    lower court. Some of the Mendians were grossly assaulted at
    Farmington some time since, on a training day; and those who
    committed the assault and battery were convicted and fined. An
    appeal was taken. When thus assailed, the Mendians, as usual,
    exhibited their peaceful disposition, and said, 'We no fight.'
    On Wednesday there is to be a large fare meeting at
    Farmington--on which occasion Dr. Hawes is to preach. In a few
    days the Mendians will embark from New York. May the Lord
    preserve them, and carry them safely to their native land, to
    their kindred and homes. Su-ma, the eldest, has a wife and five
    children. Cinque has a wife and three children. They all have
    parents or wives, or brothers and sisters. What a meeting it
    will be with these relations and friends, when they are descried
    on the hills of Mendi! We were invited to visit other places,
    but time did not allow of longer absence. I must not forget to
    mention that the whole band of these Mendi are teetotallers. At
    a tavern where we stopped, Ban-na took me aside, and with a
    sorrowful countenance, said, 'This bad house--bar house--no
    good.' But the steam boat is at the wharf, and I must close. The
    collections in money, on this excursion of twelve days, is about
    one thousand dollars, after deducting travelling expenses. More
    money is needed to defray the expenses of the Mendians to their
    native land, and to sustain their religious teachers. Very truly
    yours,

    "LEWIS TAPPAN."


But to conclude the narrative of these interesting Africans. After all
the trickery on the part of the U.S. government, it was finally decreed
by the Supreme Court, that the Mendians were free persons, and might go
whither they pleased. They were unanimous for returning to their native
country. The Mendian negroes, thirty-five in number, embarked from New
York for Sierra Leone, on the 27th of the 11th month, (November,) 1841,
on board the barque Gentleman, Captain Morris, accompanied by five
missionaries and teachers. The British government has manifested a
praiseworthy interest in their welfare, and will assist them to reach
their own country from Sierra Leone. Their stay in the United States has
been of immense service to the anti-slavery cause, and there is reason
to hope that under their auspices, Christianity and civilization may be
introduced into their native country.


APPENDIX F. P. 76.


EXTRACT FROM AN ESSAY BY WILLIAM JAY, "_On the Folly and Evils of War,
and the Means of Preserving Peace._"



    "But, after all that can be said against war, and after the
    fullest admission of its folly, cruelty, and wickedness, still
    the question recurs, how can it be prevented? It would be an
    impeachment of the Divine economy to suppose that an evil so
    dreadful was inseparably and inevitably connected with human
    society. We are informed, by Divine authority, that wars proceed
    from our lusts; but our lusts, although natural to us, are not
    invincible. He who admits the free agency of man, will not
    readily allow that either individuals or nations are compelled
    to do evil. The universal prevalence of Christian principles
    must, of necessity, exterminate wars; and hence we are informed,
    by revelation, that when righteousness shall cover the earth,
    'the nations shall learn war no more.'

    "And are we to wait, it will be inquired, till this distant and
    uncertain period for the extinction of war? We answer, that
    revelation affords us no ground to expect that all mankind will
    previously be governed by the precepts of justice and humanity;
    but that experience, reason, and revelation, all unite in
    leading us to believe that the regeneration of the world will be
    a gradual and progressive work. Civilization and Christianity
    are diffusing their influence throughout the globe, mitigating
    the sufferings and multiplying the enjoyments of the human
    family. Free institutions are taking the place of feudal
    oppressions--education is pouring its light on minds hitherto
    enveloped in all the darkness of ignorance--the whole system of
    slavery, both personal and political, is undermined by public
    opinion, and must soon be prostrated; and the signs of the times
    assure us that the enormous mass of crime and wretchedness,
    which is the fruit of drunkenness, will, at no very remote
    period, disappear from the earth.

    "And can it be possible, that, of all the evils under which
    humanity groans, war is the only one which religion and
    civilization, and the active philanthropy of the present day,
    can neither remove nor mitigate? Such an opinion, if general,
    would be most disastrous to the world, and it will now be our
    endeavor to prove that it is utterly groundless.     *     *
    *     *

    "We have often seen extensive national alliances for the
    prosecution of war, and no sufficient reason can be assigned why
    such alliances might not be formed for the preservation of
    peace. It is obvious that war might instantly be banished from
    Europe, would its nations regard themselves as members of one
    great Society, and erect a court for the trial and decision of
    their respective differences.

    "But we are told that such an agreement among the nations is
    impossible. It is unquestionably so at present, for the obvious
    reason, that time is necessary to enlighten and direct public
    opinion, and produce a general acquiescence in the plan, as well
    as to arrange the various stipulations and guaranties that would
    be requisite. It is certainly not surprising, that those who
    suppose a congress of nations for the maintenance of peace, can
    only be brought about by a simultaneous movement of the various
    states and kingdoms of the earth, who are to continue to battle
    with each other till the signal is given for universal peace and
    harmony, should be startled at the boldness and absurdity of the
    project. But this boldness and absurdity belong not to the
    project we advocate. We have no expectation whatever of any
    general, much less simultaneous effort of mankind in behalf of
    peace. A congress for the decision of national differences,
    instead of arising in the midst of the present military policy
    of Europe, must be preceded by an extensive, although partial
    abandonment of war, and will be the _effect_ and not the cause
    of the general diffusion of pacific sentiments.

    "Hence it is in vain to look for a sudden and universal
    cessation of war, even among civilized and Christian nations.
    But reason and experience warrant the hope that some one State
    may be led to adopt a pacific policy, and thus set an example
    which through the blessing of Providence, and the prevalence of
    Christian principles, may usher in the reign of universal peace.

    "But by whom, and in what way it will be asked, is this example
    to be set? It may be a feeling of national vanity, and it may be
    a reference to the peculiarities of our local, social, and
    political condition, that inspires the hope, that to the United
    States is to be reserved the glory of teaching to mankind the
    blessings of peace, and the means of preserving them.     *
    *

    "But in _what way_ are we to make the experiment? Certainly in
    the way least likely to excite alarm and opposition. In every
    effort to promote the temporal or spiritual welfare of others,
    we should consider things as they really are, and not merely as
    they ought to be, and we should consult expediency as far as we
    can do so, without compromising principle.     *     *     *

    "Of all the nations with whom we have relations, none probably
    enjoy in an equal degree our good will, as France. No spirit of
    rivalry in commerce or manufactures exists between us, no
    adjacent territory furnishes occasion for border aggressions and
    mutual criminations, while our past relations afford subjects of
    pleasing and grateful recollection, and at present we see no
    prospect of the interruption of that harmony which has so long
    subsisted between the two nations.

    "Let us suppose that under these propitious circumstances, a
    convention should now be concluded between the two governments,
    by which it should be agreed, that if unhappily any difference
    should hereafter arise between us, that could not be adjusted by
    negociation, neither party should resort to arms, but that they
    should agree on some friendly power, to whom the matter in
    difference should be referred, and whose decision should be
    final; or that if it should so happen that the parties could not
    concur in selecting an umpire, that then each party should
    select a friendly power, and that the sovereigns or states thus
    selected, should, if necessary, call to their aid the assistance
    of a third.

    "To what well founded objections would such a treaty be subject?
    It is true that treaties of this kind have been of rare
    occurrence, but all experience is in their favor. Vattel remarks
    (Law of Nations, book II., chap. 18,) 'Arbitration is a method
    very reasonable, very conformable to the law of nature, in
    determining differences that do not directly interest the safety
    of the nation. Though the strict right may be mistaken by the
    arbitrator, _it is still more to be feared that it will be
    overwhelmed by the fate of arms_. The Swiss have had the
    precaution in all their alliances among themselves, and even in
    those they have contracted with the neighboring powers, to agree
    beforehand on the manner in which their disputes were to be
    submitted to arbitrators, in case they could not adjust them in
    an amicable manner. _This wise precaution has not a little
    contributed to maintain the Helvetic Republic in that
    flourishing state which secures its liberty, and renders it
    respectable throughout Europe_.'

    "But it may be said, a nation ought not to permit others to
    decide on her rights and claims. Why not? Will the decision be
    less consistent with justice, from being impartial and
    disinterested? It is a maxim confirmed by universal experience,
    that no man should be judge in his own cause; and are nations
    less under the influence of interest and of passion than
    individuals? Are they not, in fact, still less under the control
    of moral obligation? Treaties have often been violated by
    statesmen and senators, who would have shrunk from being equally
    faithless in their private contracts. Is it to be supposed that
    the government of a friendly power, in a controversy between us
    and France, in which it had no interest, and with the
    observation of the civilized world directed to its decision,
    would be less likely to pronounce a fair and impartial judgment
    than either France or ourselves?

    "But we can decide our own controversies for ourselves, it is
    said; that is, we can go to war and take our chance for the
    result. Alas, 'it is an error,' says Vattel, 'no less absurd
    than pernicious, to say that war is to _decide_ controversies
    between those who, as in the case of nations, acknowledge no
    judge. It is _power_ or _prudence_ rather than right that
    victory usually declares for.'--Book III. Chap. 3.

    "The United States chose to decide for themselves the
    controversy about impressment, by appealing to the sword. In
    this appeal they of course placed no reliance on the propriety
    and justice of their claims, since such considerations could
    have no influence on the fate of battle; but they depended
    solely on their capacity to inflict more injury than they would
    receive themselves, and this difference in the amount of injury
    was to turn the scale in our favor. Our expectations, however,
    were disappointed. Our commerce was annihilated, our frontier
    towns were laid in ashes, our capital taken, our attempts upon
    Canada were repulsed, with loss and disgrace; our people became
    burthened with taxes, and we were at last glad to accept a
    treaty of peace which, instead of containing, as we had fondly
    hoped, a formal surrender on the part of Great Britain of the
    right of impressment, made not the slightest allusion to the
    subject.

    "Let us now suppose that a treaty similar to the one we have
    proposed with France had, in 1812, existed between Great Britain
    and the United States; the question of impressment would then
    have been submitted to one or more friendly powers.

    "It is scarcely possible that the umpires could have given any
    decision of this question that would have been as injurious to
    either party as was the prosecution of the war. Had the claims
    of Great Britain been sanctioned, some American seamen would, no
    doubt, have been occasionally compelled to serve in the British
    navy; but how very small would have been their number compared
    with the thousands who perished in the war; and how utterly
    insignificant would have been their sufferings resulting from
    serving on board a British instead of an American vessel, when
    weighed against the burdens, the slaughters, the conflagrations,
    inflicted on their country in the contest? If, on the other
    hand, the decision had been in our favor, Great Britain would
    have lost a few seamen from her navy, but she would have saved
    the lives of a far greater number, and she would have been
    spared an amount of treasure which would have commanded the
    services of ten times as many sailors as she could ever hope to
    recover by impressment.

    "It is not, however, probable, that the umpires, anxious to do
    right, and having no motive to do wrong, would have sanctioned,
    without qualification, the claims of either party.

    "We can scarcely anticipate any future national difference which
    it would not be more prudent and expedient to submit to
    arbitration than to the chance of war. However just may be our
    cause, however united our people, we cannot foresee the issue of
    the contest, nor tell what new enemies we may be called to
    encounter, what sacrifices to bear, what concessions to make.

    "We have already partially commenced the experiment of
    arbitrament, by referring no less than three of our disputes to
    the determination of as many friendly powers. A difference as to
    the meaning of an article, in our last treaty of peace with
    Great Britain, was referred to the Emperor of Russia, who
    decided it in our favor. The question of our northern boundary
    was referred to the King of the Netherlands; and although the
    line he assigned was not the one claimed by either party, it was
    vastly less injurious to each, than would have been one month's
    hostility on account of it. Our disputes with Mexico were
    verging rapidly to open war, when they were happily submitted to
    the King of Prussia, and are now in the course of satisfactory
    adjustment.

    "A treaty with France of the character proposed, would greatly
    increase our importance in the estimation of all Europe--as it
    would permanently secure us from her hostility. It would be seen
    and felt, that whatever other nation might enter into collision
    with us, it could not expect the aid of France, but that under
    all circumstances we should enjoy the friendship and commerce of
    our ancient ally. These considerations would not be without
    their influence on England. She has colonies near us which we
    may capture, or essentially injure, and which cannot be defended
    by her, but at very inconvenient expense. A war with us must
    ever be undesired by her, for the obvious reason that in such a
    contest she has little to gain and much to lose. Our treaty also
    with France would deprive England of the aid of the only nation
    that could afford her effectual assistance in a war against us.
    She would therefore, find it her interest to avail herself of a
    similar treaty, and thus to secure herself from hostilities
    which on many accounts she must wish to avoid. Once assured by
    such treaties of permanent peace with France and England, we
    should find our alliance courted by the other powers of Europe,
    who would not readily consent that those two nations should have
    exclusively the uninterrupted enjoyment of our great and growing
    commerce. They would think it a matter of prudence also, to
    avoid the risk of collision with a powerful republic, that had
    already secured the permanent friendship of France and England;
    and they would hasten to contract similar treaties. Under such
    circumstances, every consideration of policy would prompt our
    South American neighbors to desire that their amicable relations
    with us might remain uninterrupted; and to them we might offer
    the same stipulations with full confidence of their cordial
    acceptance.

    "And will it be said that all this is visionary and impossible?
    The plan we propose rests on no supposed reformation in the
    passions and propensities of mankind; but upon obvious
    principles of national interest, deduced from reason and
    experience, and susceptible of the plainest demonstration. It is
    a plan adapted to the existing state of civilized society, and
    accommodated to the passions and prejudices by which that
    society is influenced. It is indeed perfectly consistent with
    the precepts of Christianity, but it is also in accordance with
    the selfish dictates of worldly policy.

    "To this plan we can imagine only one plausible objection, which
    is, that the treaties would not be observed. It is readily
    admitted that if the only guaranty for the faithful observance
    of these treaties consisted in the virtue and integrity of those
    who signed them, the confidence to be reposed in them would be
    faint indeed. Happily, however, we have a far stronger guaranty
    in national interest and in public opinion.     *     *     *

    "Dismissing then all idle fears that these treaties, honestly
    contracted and obviously conducive to the highest interests of
    the parties, would not be observed, let us contemplate the rich
    and splendid blessings they would confer on our country.
    Protected from hostile violence and invasion by a moral defence,
    more powerful than armies and navies, we might indeed beat our
    swords into ploughshares and our spears into pruning hooks. The
    millions now expended in our military establishments could be
    applied to objects directly ministering to human convenience and
    happiness. Our whole militia system, with its long train of
    vices and its vexatious interruptions of labor, would be swept
    away. The arts of peace would alone be cultivated, and would
    yield comforts and enjoyments in a profusion and perfection of
    which mankind have witnessed no example. In the expressive
    language of Scripture, our citizens would each 'sit under his
    own vine and under his own fig tree, with none to make him
    afraid,' and our peaceful and happy republic would be the praise
    and glory of all lands.     *     *     *     *     *

    "It is impossible that a scene so bright and lovely should not
    attract the admiration and attention of the world. The extension
    of education in Europe, and the growing freedom of her
    institutions, are leading her population to think, and to
    express their thoughts. The governments of the eastern
    continent, whatever may be their form, are daily becoming more
    and more sensitive to public opinion. The people already restive
    under their burdens, would soon discover that those burdens
    would be greatly diminished by the adoption of the American
    policy. Before long, some state would commence the experiment on
    a small scale, and its example would be followed by others. In
    time these conventions would give way to more extended pacific
    alliances, and a greater number of umpires would be selected;
    nor is it the vain hope of idle credulity, that at last a union
    might be formed, embracing every Christian nation, for
    guarantying the peace of Christendom, by establishing a tribunal
    for the adjustment of national differences, and by preventing
    all forcible resistance to its decrees.

    "It is unnecessary to discuss, at this time, the character and
    powers with which such a tribunal should be invested. Whenever
    it shall be desired, little difficulty will be experienced in
    devising for it a satisfactory organization; that it is possible
    to form such a court, and that next to Christianity it would be
    the richest gift ever bestowed by Heaven upon our suffering
    world, will be doubted by few who have patiently and candidly
    investigated the subject.

    "But many who admit the advantages and practicability of the
    plan we have proposed, will be tempted to despair of success, by
    the apparent difficulty of inducing an effort for its
    accomplishment. Similar difficulties, however, have been
    experienced and overcome. The abolition of the slave trade, and
    the suppression of intemperance were once as apparently hopeless
    as the cessation of war. Let us again recur for instruction and
    encouragement to the course pursued by the friends of freedom
    and temperance. Had the British abolitionists employed
    themselves in addressing memorials to the various courts of
    Europe, soliciting them to unite in a general agreement to
    abandon the traffic, they would unquestionably have labored in
    vain, and spent their strength for nought. They adopted another
    and a wiser course. They labored to awaken the consciences of
    their own countrymen, and to persuade them to do justice and to
    love mercy; and thus to set an example to the rest of Europe,
    infinitely more efficacious than all the arguments and
    remonstrances which reason and eloquence could dictate.

    "In vain might moralists and philanthropists have declaimed for
    ages on the evils of drunkenness, had no temperance society been
    formed till all mankind were ready to adopt a pledge of total
    abstinence. The authors of the temperance reformation did not
    lavish their strength and resources in attempting to convince
    the world of the blessings of temperance, but forming themselves
    into a temperance society, gave a visible and tangible proof
    that the principle they recommended was not merely expedient but
    practicable. And surely if we desire to persuade mankind that
    war is an unnecessary evil, it is indispensable that we should
    be able to point them to some instance in which it has been
    safely dispensed with; nor can we hope to effect a change in the
    opinion of Europe, while our own people remain unaffected by our
    assertions and arguments.

    "Here then must be the field of our labors; and let those labors
    be quickened by the reflection, that while they are aimed at the
    happiness of the human race, they are calculated to confer on
    our beloved country a moral sublimity which no worldly glory can
    approach.

    "But what are the means we shall use? The same by which the
    commerce in human beings was destroyed, and which are now
    driving intemperance from the earth--_voluntary associations and
    the press_.

    "Let the friends of peace concentrate their exertions in Peace
    Societies; and let the press proclaim throughout our land, in
    all its length and breadth, the folly, the wickedness, and the
    horrors of war; and call on our rulers to provide for the
    amicable adjustment of national differences. In the first treaty
    that shall be formed for this purpose we shall behold the dawn
    of that glorious day, the theme of prophets and the aspirations
    of saints, when nation shall not lift up sword against nation,
    neither shall they learn war any more.

    "The present age is propitious to the enterprise. It is an age
    of energy and of freedom. All the powers of mind are in full
    activity, and every eye and every ear is open to the reception
    of new truths. Science and philanthropy are daily achieving
    triumphs which the past century dared not imagine. The world is
    no longer governed by princes and senates, but by public
    opinion, and at the fiat of this mighty potentate, ancient
    institutions are levelled in the dust. Let this despot wield
    only a delegated authority, and each individual, however humble,
    can enhance or diminish his power. Who, then, will refuse to
    lend his assistance to enable public opinion to say to the
    troubled nations, 'peace--be still;' and to compel the rulers of
    the earth to refer their disputes to another tribunal than the
    sword.

    "In this cause every man can labor, and it is a cause in which
    every man is called to labor, by interest and by duty. But it is
    a cause that peculiarly claims the zeal and devotion of
    Christians. They are the servants of Him who is not only the
    mighty God and the everlasting Father, but the Prince of Peace.
    They know that war is opposed to all his attributes, and
    contradicts the precepts of his word. Conscience gives her
    sanction to the means we have proposed, and prophecy assures us
    of the accomplishment of the object to which they are directed.
    Why, then, will not Christians use the talents and influence
    given them from above to effect this consummation? Let them not
    plead, in excuse for listlessness and indifference, that it is
    God alone who 'maketh wars to cease to the end of the earth.' In
    the moral government of the world, the purposes of its Almighty
    Ruler are accomplished by his blessing upon human means. He has
    promised that righteousness shall cover the whole earth; and in
    reliance on this promise, his servants are now bearing the
    everlasting Gospel to every nation and kindred, and tongue and
    people. He has also promised that nations shall learn war no
    more, and in his faithfulness we have all the incentive which
    certainty of ultimate success can give to human exertion. And in
    what cause can the energies of Christian benevolence be more
    appropriately exercised? To prevent war is to avoid the effusion
    of human blood, and the commission of innumerable crimes and
    atrocities;--it is to diffuse peace, and comfort, and happiness,
    through the great family of man,--it is to foster the arts and
    sciences which minister to the wants of society,--it is to check
    the progress of vice,--to speed the advance of the gospel,--to
    rescue immortal souls from endless misery,--and to secure to
    them a felicity as durable as it is inconceivable.

    "To him who in faith and zeal labors in this great and holy
    cause a rich reward is secured. While doing good to others, he
    is himself a sharer in the blessing he bestows. The very
    exercise of his benevolent affections affords a pure and
    exquisite delight, and when he enters the world of peace and
    love, he shall experience the full import of those cheering, but
    mysterious words--Blessed are the peace makers, for they shall
    be called the children of God."'



APPENDIX G. P. 89.


OPIUM WAR WITH CHINA.


"TO THE CHRISTIAN PUBLIC OF GREAT BRITAIN.

"In again appealing to you in reference to the opium war in China, I
will begin by quoting the following extracts from a letter which I
addressed to you on the 19th of the Third Month, 1840.


    "'It is now too notorious to render needful entering at large
    into the subject, that the guilty traffic in opium, grown by the
    East India Company, to be smuggled into China, at length
    compelled the Chinese Government to vindicate the laws of the
    Empire, which prohibit its introduction, and to take decisive
    measures for the suppression of the traffic, by the arrest of
    the parties concerned in it at Canton, and the seizure and
    destruction of the opium found in the Chinese waters.[A] It is
    also well known that the superintendent of the British trade,
    (Capt. Elliott) so far compromised his official character and
    duty, as to take under his protection one of the most extensive
    opium smugglers, and thus rendered himself justly liable to the
    penalties to which they were obnoxious; and at the same time
    gave, as far as was in his power, the sanction of the British
    nation to this unrighteous violation of the Chinese laws.

    [Footnote A: "See 'Thelwall's Iniquities of the Opium Trade,'
    and 'King's Opium Crisis,'"]

    "'The following fact is, however, not so generally known. An
    individual,[B] now in this country, who has acquired immense
    wealth by this unlawful trade, has been in communication with
    the Government, and his advice, it is presumed, has in no small
    degree influenced the measures they have adopted; though a
    leading partner in a firm to which a large proportion of the
    opium that was destroyed belonged; and at the very time he was
    claiming compensation, or urging a war with China, his house in
    India was sending armed vessels loaded with opium, along the
    coast of China, and selling it in open defiance of the laws of
    that Empire. This information, with the names of the vessels and
    the parties concerned, the number of chests of opium on board,
    the enormous profits they were realizing, et cet., was some time
    ago communicated to the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs,
    on authority which he did not and could not dispute.'

    [Footnote B: "This individual is in the new House of Commons,
    professedly as a reformer, and represents a borough which
    formerly sent to that House one of its most upright members, who
    has now retired from public life.]

    "On the 7th of April, Sir James Graham brought forward a motion
    in the House of Commons, in reference to this subject, but in a
    manner which gave it so much of a party character, that our
    cruel injustice to the Chinese, and the disgraceful conduct of
    our Government in attacking them, was lost sight of by many,
    whose professed principles ought to have made them foremost in
    condemning these proceedings. The Whig Ministry having intimated
    they would resign if Sir J. Graham carried his motion, every
    other consideration was forgotten in anxiety lest a political
    party should be injured or lose office.

    "This feeling not only pervaded the supporters of the Government
    in the House of Commons, but also extended to many leading
    religious professors of various denominations; and thus no
    public feeling sufficiently strong could be raised to counteract
    in Downing-street, the combined and powerful influence of the
    East India Company and the wealthy opium smugglers; though
    public meetings were held in London and many places in the
    country, and petitions forwarded justly deprecating this war, as
    one of almost unparalleled iniquity. At the meeting in the
    metropolis, which was held at Freemason's Hall, and at which the
    Earl of Stanhope presided, the following resolutions were
    passed:--


        "'1. That this meeting, whilst it most distinctly
        disavows any party or political objects, and deprecates
        most strongly any such construction being put upon its
        efforts, deeply laments that the moral and religious
        feeling of the country should be outraged--the character
        of Christianity disgraced in the eyes of the world--and
        this kingdom involved in war with upwards of three
        hundred and fifty millions of people, in consequence of
        British subjects introducing Opium into China, in direct
        and known violation of the laws of that Empire.

        "'2. That, although the Chinese have not been heard in
        their defence, the statements adduced by the advocates
        of the war, clearly establish the fact, that the East
        India Company, the growers of and traffickers in opium,
        and British subjects who received the protection of the
        laws of China, have been, throughout, the wrong doers;
        therefore this meeting (without reference to the
        conviction of many, that all war is opposed to the
        spirit and precepts of the gospel,) holds it to be the
        bounden duty of the government immediately to effect an
        equitable and pacific settlement of the existing
        differences with China.

        "'3. That all traffic in opium with the Chinese being
        contraband, the opium which was surrendered to their
        government was justly confiscated; and that to demand
        payment from the Chinese, to make reprisals upon them,
        or, for this country to give compensation to the British
        merchants thus engaged in smuggling, would be to
        sanction and even grant a premium on crime.

        "'4. That the petition now read be adopted by this
        meeting, and presented to both Houses of Parliament; and
        that the Right Honorable Earl Stanhope be requested to
        present the same to the House of Lords, and Lord Sandon
        to the House of Commons.

        "'5. That the resolutions of this meeting be published
        at the discretion of the Committee; and that a copy of
        them in the Chinese language be transmitted, through the
        High Commissioner Lin, to the Emperor of China.'


    "Since this period, I have been in company with several
    Englishmen who were at Canton at the time of the seizure of the
    opium; and though some of them were concerned in the trade
    themselves, and were naturally biassed in favor of their own
    country, they all agreed in condemning the proceedings of the
    English. I have recently spent some time in the United States,
    whose intercourse with China is extensive and frequent, and
    where the merits of this case are clearly understood by many of
    the most intelligent and candid-minded citizens; and these,
    without any exception, considered the acts of the British
    government in this matter as some of the most flagrant that ever
    disgraced a civilized, much less a Christian people.

    "On my return to this country I found a new administration
    entering upon office; the members of which have, for the most
    part, condemned the conduct of their predecessors in relation to
    this war; and I again, therefore, venture to appeal to the
    _Christian_ public of my country that they may, without delay,
    forward petitions, or memorials, strongly urging a reference of
    the existing differences with China to commissioners mutually
    appointed, who shall be authorized to adjust them, and also to
    determine upon the best means of entirely suppressing the guilty
    traffic in opium. The present government are not yet committed
    to this cruel war; and may no difference of political views
    deter you from the faithful discharge of this Christian duty!
    Even should you not succeed in inducing our rulers to adopt this
    course, or the overtures of this country be rejected by the
    Chinese, you will have satisfaction in having made the attempt.

    "One-third of the human race are now receiving their impressions
    of the Christian religion, by its professors waging a murderous
    war to compel them to make restitution to the contraband opium
    dealers, for the destruction of this deadly poison, which
    continues to be grown by the East India Company, and poured into
    China in defiance of all laws, human and divine. Besides the
    loss of life sustained by the Chinese, and the fearful mortality
    amongst the British troops, from the unhealthiness of the
    climate, it is probable that little short of ten millions
    sterling has already been expended in naval and military
    armaments, and the enhanced price of tea and sugar,[A] in the
    monstrous attempt to force the Chinese to pay about two millions
    to those opium smugglers. All this, be it remembered, is added
    to the burdens upon the industry of our own oppressed
    population.

    [Footnote A: It is well known that the high rate of freights
    from Calcutta, in consequence of the shipping required for the
    Chinese expedition, greatly contributed to the late extravagant
    price of sugar.]

    "Earnestly desiring that you may be induced to discharge your
    duty as Christians, and whatever may be the result, acquit
    yourselves of your share of the national guilt, I conclude with
    the words of a friend: 'For my own part, I think the present
    distress of the nation may be the retributive chastisement of
    our recent atrocious war in China and the East.     *     *
    *     All history, and the daily march of events, demonstrate
    the perpetual retributive interference of an overruling
    providence. Yet this doctrine, proclaimed as loudly by
    experience as by revelation, and as legibly written on the page
    of history as in the Bible, appears to have not the smallest
    practical influence on the most enlightened statesmen, and the
    most Christian and enlightened nation in the world.'

    "Very respectfully,

    "JOSEPH STURGE.

    "_Birmingham, 9th Month 30th_, 1841."

    "_10th Month 9th_, 1841.

    "Since writing the foregoing, the intelligence has arrived that
    Canton has been seized; that 'Gen. Sir Hugh Gough calculates the
    loss of the Chinese, in the different attacks, at one thousand
    killed and three thousand wounded;' that the British have
    extracted six millions of dollars as a ransom for evacuating the
    city, which the Chinese call 'opium compensation;' and it is but
    too evident that the work of the wholesale murder of this
    unoffending people has but begun, for Capt. Elliot, who appears
    to have been too tender of shedding human blood to please his
    employers, is recalled, and is succeeded by Sir H. Pottenger,
    who, it is reported, has instructions from Lord Palmerston to
    demand _fifteen millions_ of dollars for the opium smugglers,
    and the whole of the expenses of the war, and to secure the
    right to the British of planting armed factories in the
    different Chinese ports.

    "Shall history record that no voice was raised by the Christians
    of Britain against the employment of their money, and that of
    their starving countrymen, in deeds like these!!"



APPENDIX H. P. 119.



LETTER OF A.L. PENNOCK.


The following letter was addressed by Abraham L. Pennock, conveying his
resignation of the office of Vice President of the American Anti-Slavery
Society, (old organization,) after the occurrence of the painful
divisions in the anti-slavery body, which have been already noticed.
This letter is written in an excellent spirit, and clearly developes the
cause of the separation.


    "TO THE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE OF THE AMERICAN ANTI-SLAVERY
    SOCIETY.

    "Other reasons than those which will be presented in this
    letter, made it desirable to me to be released from any official
    connection with the Anti-Slavery Society. I thought those
    reasons so well known to some of the delegates from the
    Pennsylvania Society, and withal they were deemed by me of so
    much value, that I felt both surprise and regret at
    understanding that my name was continued as one of the vice
    presidents of the Parent Society. Thus saying, I am,
    nevertheless, bound to express my indebtedness for the kind
    feeling toward me, and confidence in my love for the slave,
    which, doubtless, induced the appointment.

    "By an accident to my anti-slavery newspapers, I have just
    received the proceedings of the society at the above meeting. I
    am sorry to find in them superadded reasons for regret at my
    appointment, as that appointment seems to place me in the false
    position of appearing to be in favor of its leading measures;
    some of which, denunciatory of co-laborers in the abolition
    cause, have not my unity.

    "In the heavy responsibilities of the former Executive
    Committee, I find a sufficient reason for their transfer of the
    'Emancipator' and other property for which they stood personally
    engaged; and I therefore cannot join in affirming such transfer
    to be 'a flagrant breach of trust;' and their answer in
    justification of their course, 'an attempt to defend which
    betrays an utter disregard of the rights of abolitionists.'

    "Believing in the intellectual equality of the sexes, I go fully
    for women's rights and duties. They possess a moral force of
    immense power, which they are bound to exert for the good of
    mankind; including emphatically so, those who are in the
    hopeless and most wretched condition of slaves. The belief of
    the value of female co-operation is common to the anti-slavery
    community; and the only question regarding it which has arisen,
    is, whether it shall be exerted in societies and conventions of
    women, or in societies and conventions of men and women,
    irrespective of sex. The question is of recent date, not even
    coeval with the modern anti-slavery enterprise; and the
    practice, at the origination of this enterprise, that of
    separate action. We can all bear testimony to the powerful
    impression upon the public mind, made by women, acting singly or
    in societies and conventions, before it was thought of merging
    their influence in a joint stock community with their brethren.
    Where can we find an anti-slavery organization more potential,
    and so dignified, as was the convention of American women? Is it
    therefore surprising that the question has not been conclusively
    settled by American abolitionists, that women ought to act
    identically on the same platform and in the same society with
    men; and that the practice, founded on this plan, still remains
    measurably local, and, by many conforming to it, is deemed
    experimental?

    "In convening a World's Convention, no innovation upon the
    general social usages was contemplated by our brethren in
    England who called it. The convention was meant to be a
    convention of men; and what was deficient of explicitness in the
    first notice was amply made up in the reiteration of the call.
    It was fully known before the appointment of delegates by the
    American Anti-Slavery Society that the intention of the
    committee of the British and Foreign Anti-Slavery Society was
    such as is above explained. The views of the inviting party
    being known, it was competent to the invited to accept or reject
    the invitation, but not to modify its terms. The American
    Society, however, in face of the invitation, with a knowledge of
    the extreme sensitiveness of that portion of the British people
    whom the Convention would deem it important to conciliate, to
    any innovation upon established forms, and itself not united in
    discarding the distinctions of sex, resolved to send female
    delegates to the Convention, and thus, in effect, to appeal from
    the Committee to the paramount authority of the Convention, and
    with it to settle the American question.

    "In exercising this authority we are to suppose, from the high
    moral, intellectual, and philanthropic standing of its members,
    the Convention, in adhering to the general usages of society,
    meant to perpetuate no injustice; and we know, from their very
    respectful attention to the rejected delegates, that they were
    influenced by no want of courtesy--I am satisfied that they
    acted according to their best impressions of duty, the carrying
    out of which was their high aim; and that the Convention was not
    the less a World's Convention because it did not embrace both
    sexes as its members, or any reforms without the scope of its
    call. I cannot unite, therefore, in the resolutions declaring
    the proceedings of the British and Foreign Anti-Slavery Society
    'arbitrary and despotic;' or the act of the London Conference,
    excluding the female delegates of the American Society appointed
    in contradiction to the terms of the invitation, as 'highly
    disrespectful to the delegates, and to us, their constituents,
    tyrannical in its nature, mischievous in its tendencies, and
    unworthy of men claiming the character of abolitionists.'

    "Thus my views not being in harmony with the action of the
    society, in the particulars above referred to, my duty to it and
    myself is, to tender you this as my resignation of the office of
    Vice President for Pennsylvania, and not to await another
    election for withdrawing from it.

    "With no heart for the controversies which have got in among my
    brethren, the common friends of the enslaved, and which are
    sadly wasting their anti-slavery strength, but with a warm heart
    for the legitimate objects of the American Anti-Slavery Society,
    I shall not cease anxiously to desire its prosperity and speedy
    triumph with these just limitations.

    "Your friend,

    "(Signed) ABRAHAM L. PENNOCK.

    "_Haverford, 6th Month 28th_, 1841."



APPENDIX I. P. 146.


GERRIT SMITH'S SLAVES.


_Extract of a Letter from James Cannings Fuller to Joseph Sturge_.


    "DEAR FRIEND,--Doubtless thou hast often thought of the visit to
    our mutual friend, Gerrit Smith, and dwelt on the recollection
    with pleasure. As thou requested me to furnish thee with the
    result of the case which was brought under our notice from the
    correspondence in the case of Sam and Harriet, I cheerfully
    comply, by giving thee a somewhat detailed account, believing it
    may be interesting to thee, and not unproductive of benefit to
    others.

    "There are in America no small number of individuals whose
    circumstances, by parental gift or marriage endowments, are
    similar to those of our dear friend, Ann Carroll Smith. I would
    there were a host prepared, like her and her noble husband, to
    do sacrifice of their substance on the altar of human rights.

    "Ann Carroll Fitzhugh is the daughter of the late Col. Wm.
    Fitzhugh, a slaveholder, who formerly resided in Hagerstown,
    Maryland. About twenty-three years ago, he removed to Geneseo,
    New York. Twenty human chattels, whom he brought with him,
    became free by the law of 1817; the remainder were left on his
    plantation, in Maryland. Mammy Rachael, who nursed the Colonel's
    wife, on the births of James Fitzhugh and his sister Ann, gave
    to the former a boy, who was named Sam; and to the latter a
    girl, called Harriet. They grew up together, and ultimately
    formed a strong attachment. When Ann Fitzhugh was about eighteen
    years old, her brother wrote to inquire if she would give him
    Harriet, that she might become Sam's wife. When it is considered
    that Ann was young and inexperienced; that she had been educated
    to consider slavery right; that the doctrine of inalienable
    personal ownership had not then been urged; and that the idea of
    bestowing a wife on her brother's slave was naturally pleasing,
    it is no marvel that she cheerfully granted the request.

    "James Fitzhugh removed from Maryland to Kentucky. In the course
    of events, his pecuniary affairs became embarrassed, and
    creditors grew clamorous for the adjustment of their claims. His
    effects were likely to be sold by the sheriff, and it was
    reported he had no legal title to Harriet. Under these
    circumstances, Gabriel Jackson prevailed on him to transfer Sam,
    his wife, and first-born child, to him, in payment of his debt.
    This man afterwards sold them to Samuel Worthington, a cotton
    planter of Mississippi; whose letter, in reply to Gerrit Smith,
    arrived the day we were at his house; and he being in doubt how
    to effect the redemption of the family, and their safe
    transportation, thou wilt remember that I agreed to effect both,
    to what I shall call the Elysian Fields, or, more properly,
    Eden. I started on the 26th of Seventh Month, via Lake Erie and
    the Erie Canal, which extends from north to south three hundred
    and nine miles through the State of Ohio. From the canal I took
    steam-boat down the Ohio, to Maysville, Kentucky. The mistress
    of the Eagle Hotel sat at her table as a queen, surrounded by
    many slaves. There seemed to be twice as many hands to do the
    work as were needful.

    "From Maysville to Lexington (sixty-five miles) is the best road
    I ever travelled, not excepting the English roads. It is made
    and repaired with whitish limestone, from beginning to end. They
    told me the repairs were principally made by Irishmen, as slaves
    were not to be trusted to do the work. At starting, I observed
    that the mail bags were nearly empty; and the driver being
    questioned, informed me, that I could carry the whole mail in my
    coat pockets. When he told me he was a Pennsylvanian, I asked
    whether he could not earn as much in a free, as in a slave
    State. He said that eighteen dollars a month was the most he
    ever received for driving a team in a free State, and that now
    he received thirty dollars a month. This opened the way for a
    little anti-slavery talk. 'Last Sunday night,' said he, 'I saw a
    big black man making the best of his way for Canada; I might
    have stopped him, and had the reward of two hundred dollars,
    which was offered.'

    "I asked him whether it was best to have God's blessing, with
    the fruits of his honest industry, or his curse, with two
    hundred dollars blood money. He answered, with moistened eyes,
    'I wish all the slaves were free,' to which I responded, 'Amen.'

    "Some incidents connected with the escape of this negro, go to
    prove that slaves can 'take care of themselves,' by a little
    ingenuity, when occasion requires. Thinking it would be more
    expeditious, as well as more agreeable, to ride from slavery
    than to run from it, he took a horse; whether his master's or
    not, I did not ascertain. The turnpike gates were a great
    hindrance, and greatly increased the risk of apprehension. To
    avoid this, just before reaching a turnpike gate, he let down a
    fence, carefully put it up again, to avoid pursuit, passed round
    the back of the keeper's house, and came out through the fence
    beyond. As he was remounting his horse on one of these
    occasions, the driver came up with him. Supposing him to be one
    of the keeper's family, he wished him good night, but instantly
    discovered by his voice that he was a colored man, putting his
    horse to full speed. When he returned to Paynestown, he heard
    people talking about a runaway, and told Dr. Whitehead he
    believed he had seen the man the night before: 'I hope that
    he'll get safe into Canada,' was the reply.

    "'How can you say that, and be a slave-holder?' asked the
    coachman.

    "'I wish there were no slaves,' replied he; 'and as soon as
    others will liberate theirs, mine shall go free.'

    "Stage coaches afford no facilities to the poor fugitives. By
    the law of the United States' Government, no colored man can
    drive a mail stage; neither can any colored man ride on one,
    unless he is known to be free, or is a slave travelling with his
    master. Stage owners incur heavy penalties if they infringe
    these rules. A verdict of one thousand six hundred dollars was
    lately recovered by a slave-master against the company.

    "At Washington the stage was stopped to know if a colored boy
    could be put on. 'Yes; where is he?' 'Up at the jail yonder.'
    The querist took a seat inside; and soon after I spied a colored
    man on the outside, with keepers. He was a re-captured runaway,
    who had taken a horse with him, and imitated the Israelites, in
    borrowing various other articles, when he escaped from bondage.
    He assumed false whiskers and a pair of spectacles; and on
    reaching the Ohio river, produced free papers duly stamped with
    the county seal. But, unfortunately, when questioned where he
    had staid the preceding night, he foolishly attempted to
    describe the place, and was thus detected; two hundred dollars
    had been offered for him if taken out of the State, and one
    hundred dollars if taken in the State. To ride in a stage, with
    a man behind, whose legs and arms were fastened together with
    rivetted chains and padlocks, was enough to make one feel the
    force of Patrick Henry's exclamation, 'Give me liberty, or give
    me death!' It was a poor consolation to administer to the
    gnawings of his hunger, while beholding his manly frame thus
    manacled: but I thought he seemed to eat my gingerbread with a
    better relish, when I told him it was made where colored men
    were free. At Payne's tavern, in Fairview, the poor fellow had
    to undergo an examination from the landlord, and listen to a
    homily about truth-telling; so little do slave-holders seem
    aware that stealing and lying are constituent parts of their own
    system. In the stage office at Lexington, we encountered the man
    who claimed this poor fugitive. The driver, who had come with us
    the two last stages, was a native of Duchess Co., N.Y.; and he
    began to plead with the slave-holder in behalf of the slave. I
    heard of another case where the angry master threatened to flog
    and sell a recovered runaway, whom he had with him; but the
    stage driver remonstrated with him so effectually, that he wept
    like a child, and promised forgiveness to his slave.

    "Having a great desire to see the imported cattle on Henry
    Clay's plantation, I went thither. On approaching the house I
    saw a colored man, to whom I said, 'Where wert thou raised?' 'In
    Washington.' 'Did Henry Clay buy thee there?' 'Wilt thou shew me
    his improved cattle?' He pointed to the orchard, and said the
    man who had charge of them was there. As I followed his
    direction, I encountered a very intelligent-looking boy,
    apparently eight or nine years old. I said to him, 'Canst thou
    read?' 'No.' 'Is there a school for colored people on Henry
    Clay's plantation?' 'No.' 'How old art thou?' 'Don't know.' In
    the orchard I found a woman at work with her needle. I asked
    'How old art thou?' 'A big fifty.' 'How old is that?' 'Near
    sixty.' 'How many children hast thou?' 'Fifteen or sixteen.'
    'Where are they?' 'Colored folks don't know where their children
    is; they are sent all over the country.' 'Where wert thou
    raised?' 'Washington.' 'Did Henry Clay buy thee there?' 'Yes.'
    'How many children hadst thou then?' 'Four.' 'Where are they?'
    'I don't know. They tell me they are dead.' The hut, in which
    this '_source of wealth_' lives, was neither as good, nor as
    well floored as my stable. Several slaves were picking fruit in
    the orchard. I asked one of the young men whether they were
    taught to read on this plantation, and he answered, 'No.' I
    found the overseer of the cattle with a short handled stout
    whip, which had been broken. He said it answered both for a
    riding whip, and occasionally 'to whip off the slaves.'

    "What, my friend, is to be learned from these gleanings at
    Ashland?--from the doings of our mutual friend, Joseph John
    Gurney's 'dear friend,' Henry Clay: the man who boasts that
    'every pulsation of his heart beats high for liberty,' yet is
    not ashamed to buy men and women at the Capitol!--that place
    which, above all others, ought not to be cursed by the footsteps
    of a slave. Yet I fear there are not wanting in the abolition
    ranks men so wedded to political party, that they may be tempted
    to vote for Henry Clay; serving their party and themselves
    thereby, and perchance thinking they serve their country.

    "Do not think Clay a sinner above all other men. His slaves
    appeared to be well fed and well clothed. Indeed, the general
    superiority of condition in Kentucky slaves, over those of
    Maryland and Virginia, cannot fail to strike the most
    superficial observer.

    "Pursuing my journey, I came to Blue Lick, whose waters are
    celebrated throughout the United States. At the spring I found
    several men, white and colored. I asked if I could have a drink.
    A white man said the waters were free to all. I asked, 'Will
    they make all free?' They again replied that the spring was free
    to all. 'I perceive thou dost not understand my question,' said
    I. But the countenances of the colored men brightened, and, with
    a cheerful tone, they answered significantly, 'We know what you
    mean.'

    "I found Samuel Worthington quite a different person than his
    letters had led me to imagine. When I introduced myself he
    appeared nervous and embarrassed. He was a Kentuckian by birth,
    but having met with reverses in fortune he went to Mississippi,
    and became an overseer; first on a salary of six hundred
    dollars, and afterwards two thousand dollars. He now owns a
    cotton plantation, with about one hundred and twenty slaves, and
    is reputed wealthy. He is considered an accomplished gentleman,
    of sound, discriminating, and feeling mind. I believe he is a
    kind master, in the common acceptation of the term; that is, he
    feeds and clothes his slaves well, and does not overwork them,
    though the overseer's whip is the stimulus to labor. He gave me
    some account of provision; but the only item I remember is, that
    he cured twenty-five thousand pounds of pork annually, for his
    slaves. Far be it from me to say any thing disrespectful of him,
    except that he is a slave-holder; a word which, in my view,
    comprises 'the sum of all villany,' In my transactions with him,
    I found him fair and honorable, as far as it can be honorable to
    sell human flesh.

    "He said he had long since received a letter from J. Fitzhugh,
    concerning Sam's family; but as he knew their situation would
    not be bettered by being transferred to him, he had taken no
    notice of the application. When Gerrit Smith's letter came, he
    supposed that the writer was not in earnest, 'that it was all
    done for effect, and would end in smoke.' He was surprised to
    learn, by G. Smith's reply to him, that it was my intention to
    come to Harrodsburg; he regretted that it was so, as it
    disturbed him, and might break up his family arrangements. His
    wife had three small children, one of them a babe, and the
    proposed arrangements would leave her without assistance. He
    told me he was not a man to be driven; and I answered that we
    were well matched on that point, it would, however, be better
    for us both to ascertain coolly how far we could agree. He began
    by saying that he did not feel bound to sell the family, in
    consequence of what he had written to G. Smith; for he had only
    said that he might be induced to take four thousand dollars for
    them. After some preliminaries, he proposed that I should have a
    conversation with Sam; for he did not think he could be
    prevailed upon to leave him. I assured him I should do no such
    thing, until he and I had settled the question of dollars and
    cents. I had no idea of presenting the cup of freedom to Sam's
    lips, and then having it dashed to the ground. 'I do not
    believe,' said I, 'that there is a man on these grounds whom I
    could not induce to go with me from slavery; but if Sam has
    objections, let me talk with his wife.'

    "'No, that will not do,' replied he; 'she would go with you.'
    'Yes,' said I, 'let me talk to your women of a mother's right to
    herself and her offspring, and then see how many of them you
    would find willing to remain in bondage!'

    "After various pros and cons, we concluded a bargain, subject of
    course to the parties being _willing_ to leave the 'patriarchal
    institution.' Three thousand five hundred dollars were to be
    paid, and both of us together were to have an opportunity of
    conversing with Sam and his wife. The master probably felt so
    confident that his slave would not leave him, that he had not
    patience to wait the promised interview; for he popped the
    delicate question to him alone. Sam had been informed of the
    whole progress of the affair, from the time of G. Smith's first
    letter; and he answered promptly that he would go so that before
    I met him, that _difficult_ part of the business had 'ended in
    smoke.'

    "S. Worthington's disappointment was the greater because I had
    told him that I had felt like one of old: 'If the woman will not
    be _willing_ to follow thee, then thou shalt be clear from
    this;' that I could go back with a quiet mind; and that the
    consciences of my friends in Peterboro' would doubtless be
    satisfied, having given Harriet and her family the liberty of
    choice, and thus made all the reparation in their power for
    having ever held her in slavery.

    "The large price paid for the redemption of this family may
    surprise thee, especially if thou hast not forgotten that
    passage in Worthington's letter where he says, 'I am, to some
    extent, opposed to slavery; nor do I object to the efforts of
    abolitionists when done in a good spirit.' It is, however, but
    justice to say that the description he gave of the family is
    strictly correct 'They are all sprightly, remarkable for good
    character, and of course most valuable for house servants.' He
    said he had repeatedly been offered two thousand dollars for
    Sam, and he believed he would command that sum any day from
    those who knew his worth; that his old master prised him very
    highly, particularly for his moral excellence; and, speaking of
    his conduct, described him as a 'gentleman.' Yet he talked as if
    he were certain that Sam and his family would be reduced to
    beggary if left to themselves at the North! The children, it is
    true, have had little preparation in slavery for self reliance;
    for the most favored of them cannot spell their own names.

    "S. Worthington said many had inquired of him what business
    brought me there; and being informed of the object of my
    mission, they advised him to have nothing to do with me. 'But,'
    said he, 'though I am certain the condition of Sam and his wife
    cannot be bettered, I do not think the same with regard to their
    children; and as Mr. Smith seems disposed to do a kind action, I
    cannot, in conscience, attempt to frustrate it. If I were to
    send you home without this family, I should have a troubled
    mind.'

    "One of Worthington's greatest difficulties in parting with
    these slaves was, that it would leave his wife destitute of
    servants. I pitied her, and felt it right to express my
    sympathy. I told her my compassion was increased, because I
    apprehended there was a struggle in her own breast between duty
    and interest; and I appealed to her whether she did not know it
    was a duty to let them go, though personal interest would induce
    her to keep them in her service. I was glad to perceive that
    these remarks enabled her to relieve herself of a weight--her
    countenance brightened up, and she appeared quite willing I
    should take them away. She showed great kindness to Harriet and
    her children, and evidently felt deeply moved at parting with
    the nurse, who had thrice been with her through nature's sorest
    trials. She appeared to me to be a nice lady-like person; and,
    if I judge aright, she knows what estimate ought to be placed
    upon slavery in a woman's mind.

    "Those who know me will not suspect that I sought to conceal my
    abolition, even in the hot-bed of slavery. Yet I assure thee I
    had no intention of making it a common topic of conversation,
    unless the way appeared to open; but thy experience, I doubt
    not, as well as mine, proves that it is ever opening. The most
    we need to do is to embrace opportunities, without seeking to
    make them. I had not expected to say as much as I did, but it
    was such a curiosity for a Quaker to be seen in such company,
    that it was soon universally known why I had come and what I had
    done. This gave rise to many conversations with slave holders,
    which I trust did some good. I was astonished at their extreme
    ignorance concerning the laboring population of the North. Thou
    wilt perhaps be surprised to hear me assert that slave holders
    do not know what slavery is. Still more strange will it seem
    when I tell thee that thy old friend was highly complimented by
    them for his prudence and discretion! The story had become
    current that I would not talk to Sam till I had settled the
    business with his master; and as they generally professed to
    believe that abolitionists wished to incite the slave against
    their master, by every mischievous incentive they could devise,
    my conduct naturally enough seemed to them remarkable. I told
    them I must honestly abjure such complimentary language; for, so
    far from being what they would consider discreet, I was in fact
    an abolitionist of the most ultra school. I assured them that
    most of my associates at the North would have proceeded as I had
    done, and some of them probably with more discretion. I like
    much better to talk to a southerner on slavery than with a
    northern apologist. I regard him as far less mean. There is a
    mind to be appealed to for _facts_, and there is a feeling that
    can be reached by a simple testimony of republican truth. In
    this, the slave holder sometimes 'sees his face as in a glass;
    but he goeth away and forgetteth what manner of man he is.'

    "As my prudence and discretion had excited observation, I
    ventured to remark that it would be a great gratification to me,
    if the slave holders would meet together and let me occupy an
    hour or so in defining the true position and principles of the
    abolitionists; but this, as I had expected, was declined.

    "When I paid the money, I felt constrained to testify that I
    could in no degree sanction the principle that man could hold
    property in man; that the slaves were our equals by creation,
    and for their salvation, equally with ours, did Christ leave the
    right hand of the Father to suffer on the cross. I told them
    that contradictory as it might seem to them, the man who was now
    paying money for slaves, had such a detestation of the system,
    that he deemed it a duty to abstain from eating or wearing any
    of the products of slavery. This seemed to them wondrous
    strange, and they inquired if there were many at the North who
    agreed with me in this scruple. I told them yes; that the number
    was increasing, and that my friend, Gerrit Smith, had abstained
    from slave produce for many years.

    "A few hours previous to my final departure one after another
    gathered around me, and as we stood in the open piazza, I said
    what I could to explain the principles and practice of
    abolitionists. I think S. Worthington felt a little hurt at my
    being thus engaged, for when the stage drove up, he came in
    great haste to inform me that it was ready. I found it
    surrounded by many persons, principally colored, who had
    assembled to bid farewell to the objects of my charge. Their
    master shook each slave by the hand and bade them farewell. I
    observed him as we moved away, and thought he seemed to be a
    good deal moved from some cause or other.

    "I took care that coachman and passengers should be informed of
    the history of Sam and his wife; and some one or other of them
    was sure to make it a subject of conversation wherever we
    stopped. At Lawrenceburg, where we put up for the night, the
    landlord was also stage proprietor and a slave holder. He tried
    to make me believe that his slaves were much better off than
    himself. He enumerated his troubles and perplexities in contrast
    with the blessed freedom from care enjoyed by his slaves. I told
    him he had made out his case very well; but to test his
    sincerity, I merely wished him to declare candidly, whether he
    should be altogether willing that himself and family should
    exchange places with a slave family. The test was too severe,
    and he walked off. Two young men at table then took up the
    conversation. The tyranny which slavery exercises over the
    entire community, was illustrated by the assertion that the head
    of a certain college did not dare to acknowledge himself an
    abolitionist; for if he did he would lose his office, which
    brought him in a good salary; and, moreover, the people of D----
    would dismiss him from his pastoral charge. I of course took the
    ground that he could not be a truly Christian minister, who
    would purchase his bread and cheese at the expense of denying
    his own belief, or suppressing his own convictions.

    "My host inquired whether I would sit at table with colored
    people; and he seemed much surprised when I answered, 'I do not
    judge persons by their complexion, but by moral worth. At my own
    table I sit with colored people, and I shall with these.'

    "The South, however, is much more free from prejudice against
    color than the north; provided the distinction between the
    classes is understood.--A gentleman may seat his slave beside
    him in a stage coach, and a lady makes no objection to ride next
    a fat negro woman, even when the thermometer is at ninety
    degrees; provided always that her fellow travellers understand
    she is her _property_.

    "At Shelbyville the stage was likely to be crowded with new
    passengers, when I said to some young men who were about to get
    in, that I had a family with me who must not be turned out of
    the seats they had occupied. Samuel and his family took their
    accustomed seats, and those who could not find room rode on the
    roof of the coach; among them was a member elect of the
    Legislature. As we started, a well dressed man, among the crowd
    at the tavern-door, called out, 'Go it abolition!'

    "A crowd at this place attracted my attention, and I found it
    was an executor's sale; comprising 'lands, houses, furniture,
    horses, cows, hogs, and twenty likely negroes.' Slaves must,
    however, be more of a cash article than other commodities; for
    they were to be sold on four months' credit; real estate, on
    twelve and twenty four months, and all other property, six
    months'.

    "At Louisville, we fell in with Elisha, brother of Samuel
    Worthington, on his return to Arkansas, where he had a cotton
    plantation. He manifested much openness and good will, and
    pressingly invited me to visit him, should I ever go down the
    Mississippi. After considerable conversation on slavery, he
    asked me what I thought would be the effect of my late visit. I
    replied, it was a subject I had often contemplated myself, but I
    did not know whether it had entered the heads of others. For my
    own part, I thought I had taught the slaveholders a lesson. They
    maintained that the slaves did not want their freedom; yet here
    was one, well fed and well clothed, and in fact living in
    clover, as far as a slave could do so, ready, without my asking
    him, to go with me among strangers. If he would leave such a
    kind master, what might not be expected of the oppressed field
    hand?

    "'Perhaps a quotation from Latimer would furnish you with a more
    direct reply to your question,' said I, 'You know he said at the
    stake--"We shall this day light such a fire in England, as I
    trust, by God's grace, will never be put out." And I believe my
    visit has kindled a flame of liberty in Harrodsburg, that shall
    burn for years to come; and, by its light, I trust, that many
    will find their way into Canada.'

    "I told him, too, I had a question to ask, and I wanted a direct
    answer--yes, or no. 'Were the slaves any worse off, since the
    question of abolition has been agitated?'

    "He said they were not, excepting in one respect. Formerly, when
    a preacher came among them to hold meetings with the slaves,
    they had no objection; but now, they feared that slaves from
    different plantations might thus congregate together and plot
    mischief. I asked him if slaves in Mississippi were aware of
    abolition efforts in the North; and he said he believed they
    were.

    "We parted with Samuel at Louisville, we taking the steam boat
    for Cincinnati, and leaving him to proceed to Worthington
    plantation for his boys. He stood and watched the departure of
    our boat with a soul full of emotion. He felt himself a
    connecting link between his sons in distant Mississippi, and his
    wife and daughters on their way to Peterboro'; and I was glad to
    see nature and affection gush forth in tears. They say colored
    people cannot take care of themselves, but I assure thee I had
    hard work to make these people move a step, till a safe plan was
    arranged for their absent children.

    "When I went to pay the captain my fare, he asked whether the
    colored woman and girls were my property. I answered yes; but
    explained to him my peculiar situation, and I told him I
    detested the very name of slavery. He said they usually asked
    for a reference, but he felt sure that a person of my appearance
    would not tell him a falsehood. I told him I would show him my
    bill of sale, as soon as the hurry had subsided; not because I
    acknowledged his right to demand it, but because he was civil
    and polite, and I was willing to satisfy him. When I showed him
    the bill, he knew both the seller and the witness, as I had
    expected. I asked him whether, if I had brought a barrel of lard
    on board, he would have troubled me to prove property? He
    apologized by saying, that they had been imposed on by white
    men, who put slaves on board, under the pretence that they were
    free; and that the owners of the line had been obliged to pay
    six thousand dollars for fugitive slaves. I noticed there were
    no colored hands on board.

    "On arriving at Buffalo, we put up at the Mansion House; and the
    first object that caught my eye was an advertisement, dated
    LIBERTY, in Missouri, offering three hundred dollars reward for
    three fugitive slaves. This is a free state with a vengeance! No
    stage riding for colored people here; moreover, it was with
    great difficulty I could obtain breakfast for my companions,
    though I had paid for it. I hope abolitionists will keep clear
    of such a pro-slavery atmosphere as surrounds the Mansion House.

    "On board the cars, Colorophobia again began to rage; but the
    agent soon quelled it, by finding other seats for two persons,
    who thought better of themselves than others did of them. In the
    stage to Auburn, difficulty again occurred, and the driver
    wanted to return my money, when some of the passengers objected
    to the complexion of some of my companions. I told him the stage
    was too crowded to hold us at any event; but unless he sent us
    on to Auburn in good season, I should teach the company a lesson
    they would not soon forget. He did so; and I arrived safely at
    my own house, after an absence of twenty-six days, and a travel
    of one thousand eight hundred and sixty-five miles. The whole
    cost of redemption, including our travelling expenses, was three
    thousand five hundred and eighty-three dollars and eighty-one
    cents. (£807.)

    "We had not been long there before Harriet said to my wife,
    'Madam, I return you a thousand thanks for letting your
    gentleman fetch us;' and I believe she said no more than she
    felt, and I felt the force of her grateful acknowledgments.

    "After two days' rest, we proceeded to Gerrit Smith's; where, as
    thou mayest well believe, we received the friendly welcome which
    those are wont to receive who visit his house.

    "_Skaneateles, 9th Month 14th, 1841._"



APPENDIX K. PAGE 159.


_The Society of Friends in America and the Colonization Society_.


The "Friends" alluded to in the text as supporting the Colonization
Society in a collective capacity, are those of North Carolina. In 1832
two influential "Friends" appeared at the Annual Meeting of the
Colonization Society, as delegates from the Society of Friends in North
Carolina. One of the resolutions passed at the time, is as
follows:--"That the thanks of this Meeting be presented to the Society
of Friends in North Carolina, for the aid they have liberally bestowed
and repeatedly rendered to the cause of African Colonization." The
Yearly meeting of Friends in North Carolina stands among the donors of
that year, as having contributed five hundred dollars to the
Colonization Society. I fear no change has since taken place in the
favorable disposition of "Friends" of that region towards this
institution, for during one of my visits to Philadelphia, I was informed
by a "Friend," just returned from North Carolina, that an agent of the
Colonization Society had been recently permitted to make an appeal
before the members of the "Meeting of Sufferings" of that Yearly
Meeting, which had afterwards granted him two hundred dollars out of the
common stock of the Society. Nothing is more certain than that
approbation of the principles and measures of the Colonization Society,
cannot co-exist with any lively desires for the extinction of slavery,
by the only practical means--_emancipation_; and accordingly I was not
surprised to find it urged by some prominent individuals as a reason for
their own inactivity, and that of the Society at large, on this subject,
that "Friends" living within the slave States, urged their brethren at
the North not to unite with the Anti-slavery Societies. It appears,
however, that "Friends" of North Carolina do not, at all events, object
to uniting or co-operating with those of other denominations, in
promoting an object which they approve. Their objection to abolition
societies evidently rests on quite different grounds.

I must here be permitted to say a few words, respecting the character
and objects of the society, thus officially patronized by the Friends of
North Carolina.

The greatest objection to this society, is its representing slavery, and
the prejudice against color, as necessary and incurable evils, for which
its own mockery of a remedy is the only palliative; and thus
administering an opiate to the consciences, not only of slave-holders,
but of others who are unwilling to part with their sinful prejudices,
and to enter into that fellowship of suffering with the enslaved,
without which no efforts for the removal of slavery will be effectual.

The following extracts, elucidating this subject, are from a printed
letter written by a friend of high station and extensive influence, then
residing in North Carolina, but now of the State of Indiana, in defence
of the Colonization Society. It is dated "Third Month 4th, 1834," and I
suppress his name, because time and reflection have, I believe, in some
degree modified his views.

Speaking of the opposition of Friends in England to the Colonization
Society, he says, "I have supposed that they would think it more
consistent with Christian principles to emancipate them in the Southern
States, and let them remain there, as they have done in the Northern
States. I apprehend that Friends in England are not fully apprised of
some important circumstances, which place the Southern States in a very
different situation from the Northern. In the first place, there never
were so many people of color in the Northern States, as there are in the
Southern; and another circumstance that diminished them there, and
increased them greatly here, was while the Northern States were
legislating on the subject of gradual emancipation, avaricious masters
sent them by thousands to the Southern markets, before the emancipating
laws were actually passed, which left a small proportion in those
States, in comparison to the whites; not many more, perhaps, than they
were willing to have for laborers, waiting men, waiting women, et cet.
And notwithstanding they have freed their slaves, for which they are
entitled to applause, yet they never dreamed of raising them to equal
citizenship and privileges with the white people. No, my friend, they
can no more reconcile to themselves the idea of sitting down by the side
of a colored African, (American?) in any legislative or judiciary
department, than the high spirited Southern slaveholder; _and not only
so, they never intend to admit them to these privileges, while the State
Government, and the United States' Government continue in existence_."
Again, after stating various objections to emancipation, he goes on to
say, "I need not dwell much upon the subject of universal emancipation,
in stating the best, or the worst, or most probable results of such a
measure, because the Southern people have no more idea of the general
emancipation of slaves, without colonizing them, than the Northern
people have of admitting the few among _them_ to equal rights and
privileges. Not even the friends of humanity here, think that a general
emancipation, to remain here, would better their condition," et cet.

The inferences plainly to be drawn from all this, and from much besides
to the same purport, are, that the wicked determination of the white
people to retain their sinful prejudices, is, like the laws of the Medes
and Persians, immutable; and must, therefore, be accommodated by the
transportation of the unoffending objects of their intense dislike. On
this point I will observe that, if it be so, the remedy is worse than
the disease; but that Christian principle is powerful enough, as daily
experience testifies, to combat and destroy this unholy prejudice. The
next inference is, that because the slave population in the Southern
States is much more numerous than it was in the Northern, _therefore_
the same reasons for emancipation do not exist. Is not the true
conclusion from such premises, the very reverse of this? The motives to
abolition increase, both in weight and number, in proportion to the
absolute and relative increase of the slave population. The British West
Indies present an example of the safety and advantages of the measure in
a community, where the whites are a mere handful compared to the colored
population.

That state of feeling from which the Colonization Society sprung, is
well illustrated by this writer, in giving, in natural language, a
picture of his own mind. After again repeating his statement of the vast
proportion which the colored population bears to the white, in the Slave
States, he says, "Now, my friend, the general emancipation of such a
number of these poor, degraded creatures, say more than two millions,
always to remain here with the white people, even if the Government
should take the necessary care for their education and preparation for
freedom and civilized life, which to be sure it ought, they must or will
be a degraded people, while the reins of government remain in the hands
of the whites. Supposing the very best consequences that could follow
such a measure, even that both classes should generally exercise
Christian feelings towards each other, which is very improbable, if not
morally impossible, the peculiarly marked difference of features and
color, will be always an insurmountable barrier to general
amalgamation." Again, "Were they of the same color and features that we
are, in an elective republican government like this, where talents and
merit are the common footsteps to esteem and preferment, there would be
no difficulty in universal emancipation, without a separation. I have no
idea that they are at all inferior to the white people in intellect;
give them the same opportunity for enterprise and improvement." Their
only sin, it appears, after all, is being "guilty of a skin not colored
like our own." I may observe, in passing, that amalgamation, the bugbear
of anti-abolitionists, is the necessary result of slavery, not of
emancipation.

The preceding extracts present a faithful picture of colonization
principles, though it is not every colonizationist who would avow them
with so much simplicity. The writer notwithstanding, manifests some
benevolent feeling towards the slaves. His conscience cannot be
satisfied with the present state of things, and he, like too many
others, takes refuge in the pleasing delusion that it would be
practicable to convey these colored Americans across the Atlantic and
make them comfortable in Africa, because their ancestors were born
there. As reasonably and as justly might he talk of transporting the
white Americans to England because their ancestors removed from this
country.

It is very easily demonstrable, that this could not possibly be
accomplished--that neither the means of transport could be found, nor
the means of settlement provided; and were these impossibilities
removed, it might also be shown, very easily, that it would be suicidal
policy to remove the entire laboring population of the Southern States
from a soil and climate for which they only are adapted. Yet
emancipation by removal is the theory of the Colonization Society, and
in this point of view that Society must be characterized as a grand
imposture. What must be the power of that delusion which can render
intelligent and philanthropic men the victims of such a fallacy? If the
whites, who hold the reins of government, could but be brought to
exercise Christian feelings towards the people of color, which this
worthy friend thinks is perhaps "morally impossible," how rapidly would
all difficulties vanish? To accomplish this desirable end is the object
of the abolitionists; they feel it to be difficult, but they know it to
be not impossible.

The writer of this pamphlet uniformly couples "ultra slaveholders" and
"northern manumissionists" in the same censure. They are the two
objectionable extremes; colonizationists and moderate slave-holders
being, I suppose, the golden mean. One illustration more of the animus
with which he regards a black population.

"And so it is with the New England immediate manumissionists; they have
so few people of color that they do not consider them an evil; and hence
they conclude that the Southern States may do as they have done--free
them at once; but I have no doubt at all, if there was as large a
proportion of colored people in the New England States as in the
Southern, there would be but one voice, and that would be for colonizing
them somewhere."

The following passage is historically interesting:

"The Yearly Meeting of Friends of North Carolina have sent several
hundreds of those they have had under their care to Liberia, for whose
emancipation in this State they could never obtain a law, though they
petitioned for it oftentimes for the space of fifty years, always
finding the chief objection of the legislature to be that of the great
number and degraded and low character of the free persons of color
already in the State. We prefer sending them to Africa rather than to
any of the free States or to Canada--because we believe _that_ is their
proper home. We sent some to the State of Ohio; and since then hundreds
of blacks have been in a manner compelled, by the laws of that State, or
the prejudices of some of its citizens, to leave it and go to Canada. We
have sent some to Indiana, but that State has passed laws, we hear, to
prevent any more coming. We have sent some to Pennsylvania, but, about
two years ago, we shipped near one hundred from Newbern and Beaufort to
Chester; they were not suffered to land, neither there nor at
Philadelphia, nor yet on the Jersey shore opposite, but had to float on
the Delaware river until the Colonization Society took them into
possession; then they were landed in Jersey, ten miles below
Philadelphia, and re-shipped for Africa. North Carolina Yearly Meeting
has contributed thousands of dollars to the Colonization Society; it has
probably done more for it than any other religious community has in
America, not merely because it has provided us an asylum for the people
of color under our care, but upon the ground of our belief that it is a
great, humane, and benevolent institution. I am not informed of a single
member of the Society of Friends in this country, not even in any of the
slave States, who is not in favor of colonizing them in Africa. We
believe generally that colonizing them there gradually is the most
likely way to put a peaceful end to slavery, and place them in the great
scale of equality with the rest of the civilized world."

I have devoted a space to this letter for several reasons; first,
because the writer is a man of note and influence in his own country,
and has plainly uttered what many of the Society of Friends even now
feel, secondly, he has shown what was the prevalent sentiment among
Friends not longer than seven years since, though I hope and believe a
considerable change has taken place in the interval; and lastly,
because, within a few months past, a well-known American, a zealous
agent of the Colonization Society, has privately employed this very
letter to induce abolitionists in England to look favorably on that
Society.

I would add, also, that I learn, on the authority of an English
"Friend," who has lately visited the various Yearly Meetings in America,
that in those parts of the slave States in which "Friends" chiefly
reside, their influence is very perceptible in mitigating the treatment
of the slaves in their neighborhood. This, I willingly believe; indeed
the example of a body who refuse to hold slaves, cannot but be highly
beneficial.



APPENDIX L.--Page 96.



"_Memorial of citizens of Boston, United States, to the Lords of the
Admiralty, Great Britain_.



    "To the Right Honorable the Lords of the Admiralty of Great
    Britain.

    "The undersigned, the citizens of Boston, in the United States
    of America, of different religious denominations, respectfully
    represent--

    "That by existing arrangements for the sailing of the Cunard
    line of steamers between Boston and Liverpool, it becomes
    necessary for them to leave this port on the Sabbath, whenever
    that happens to be the regular day appointed for sailing; and
    that this occurs a number of times in the course of a year. That
    the sailing of a steamer on that day is a source of deep regret
    to many good citizens, who are compelled, whenever the event
    happens, either to defer their departure to a future day, or to
    yield to an arrangement which violates their Christian feelings.
    And what is still more to be lamented, as a consequence growing
    out of the present regulation, is that aside from the tumult
    necessarily attendant on the sailing of these vessels on the
    Lord's day, it furnishes an occasion for the needless
    profanation of the day by thousands who assemble as spectators
    on our wharves to witness their departure.

    "The undersigned regard a proper observance of the Sabbath as
    vital to the general peace, good order, and welfare of society;
    and they are deeply impressed with the belief that nothing of a
    secular or worldly nature should be done on that day by
    individuals, by governments, or by any of their departments,
    Which is not in the strictest sense a work of necessity or
    mercy; and they most respectfully represent, that they are
    unable to perceive any reasons which render the sailing of
    steamers from this port on the Lord's day such a work. And
    believing as they do, that it will be the pleasure of your
    lordships at all times to cherish and promote, so far as you may
    be able, a due observance of the Sabbath, they respectfully and
    earnestly request your lordships so to vary the present
    arrangements as to the times for the sailing of these steamers,
    that their departure from this port shall be changed to another
    day, whenever the appointed day for sailing shall fall upon the
    Christian Sabbath. And they venture to express their confident
    belief that not only the public welfare, but also the private
    advantage of individuals concerned in the enterprize, would be
    ultimately promoted by the arrangements here prayed for.

    "The undersigned cannot conclude their memorial without
    adverting to the high and responsible station that has been
    assigned by Providence to the English and American people, in
    the great work which they and we rejoice to know is now so
    rapidly progressing, of improving the moral and religious
    character and condition of the world; nor can they be unmindful
    of the fact, that to the same extent as their standing before
    the world in this respect is permanent, so will be the influence
    of their example on the nations around them, whether it be good
    or bad.

    "That the subject here presented may receive your Lordship's
    favorable and Christian consideration is the sincere and earnest
    desire of your Lordships' most respectful memorialists."


The signatures to this document included the late mayor and one of the
former ones, who was also Lieutenant-Governor of the State of
Massachusetts, one bishop, upwards of forty clergymen of different
denominations, nine gentlemen, upwards of one hundred and twenty
merchants, seventeen presidents of insurance companies, the postmaster
of Boston, five physicians, seven members of the legal profession, two
editors of newspapers; and it was accompanied by the following
memorandum from one of the gentlemen who had taken it round for
signature.


    "The undersigned having been personally engaged in obtaining the
    signatures to the memorial, asking a change in the sailing of
    the Cunard steamers, when the regular sailing day occurs on the
    Sabbath, hereby certifies that the memorialists are among the
    most respectable and influential of their respective
    professions, that the memorial was received with almost
    universal favor, and that, had time been allowed, and had it
    been deemed necessary to do it, thousands of names might have
    been obtained.

    "AMOS A. PHELPS."

    "Boston, July 31, 1841."


On my arrival in this country, I found that Lord Melbourne's
administration was about to resign; I therefore deferred forwarding the
memorial until the present ministers had entered upon the duties of
their respective offices; when I called at the Admiralty, and placed it
in the hands of the Secretary, having little doubt the application would
have been at once granted; but a few days after it was presented I
received the following reply:--


    "Admiralty, September 21, 1841.

    "Sir,--Having laid before my Lords Commissioners of the
    Admiralty the communications of the citizens of Boston, United
    States, representing their wish that the departure of Mr.
    Cunard's steamers on a Sunday, from their port, should, for the
    future be discontinued; I am commanded by their lordships to
    acquaint you, that after having given that attention to the
    subject, which their respect for the citizens of Boston, and for
    the religious opinions expressed by them, could not fail to
    dictate, my lords have, upon mature consideration, come to the
    conclusion, that, with a due regard to the exigencies of the
    public service, the proposed alteration cannot be carried into
    effect. My lords, therefore, beg you will have the goodness to
    convey their decision to the citizens of Boston, together with
    the assurance of their respect for the opinions they have
    expressed, and their consequent regret at being unable to comply
    with their request.

    "I am, Sir,


    "Your most obedient humble servant,

    "JOHN BARROW.

    "Joseph Sturge, Esq., Birmingham."





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