P.S. I shall leave for home eirley a Thursday moring.
J.K.
At a meeting of colored people, held in Belknap Street Church,
on Friday evening, the following resolutions were unanimously
adopted:
_Resolved_, That God willed us free; man willed us
slaves. We will as God wills; God's will be done.
_Resolved_, That our oft repeated determination to
resist oppression is the same now as ever, and we pledge
ourselves, at all hazards, to resist unto death any
attempt upon our liberties.
_Resolved_, That as South Carolina seizes and imprisons
colored seamen from the North, under the plea that it is
to prevent insurrection and rebellion among her colored
population, the authorities of this State, and city in
particular, be requested to lay hold of, and put in
prison, immediately, any and all fugitive slave-hunters
who may be found among us, upon the same ground, and for
similar reasons.
Spirited addresses, of a most emphatic type, were made by
Messrs. Remond, of Salem, Roberts, Nell, and Allen, of Boston,
and Davis, of Plymouth. Individuals and highly respectable
committees of gentlemen have repeatedly waited upon these
Georgia miscreants, to persuade them to make a speedy departure
from the city. After promising to do so, and repeatedly
falsifying their word, it is said that they left on Wednesday
afternoon, in the express train for New York, and thus (says the
Chronotype), they have "gone off with their ears full of fleas,
to fire the solemn word for the dissolution of the Union!"
Telegraphic intelligence is received, that President Fillmore
has announced his determination to sustain the Fugitive Slave
Bill, at all hazards. Let him try! The fugitives, as well as the
colored people generally, seem determined to carry out the
spirit of the resolutions to their fullest extent.
Ellen first received information that the slave-hunters from Georgia
were after her through Mrs. Geo. S. Hilliard, of Boston, who had been a
good friend to her from the day of her arrival from slavery. How Mrs.
Hilliard obtained the information, the impression it made on Ellen, and
where she was secreted, the following extract of a letter written by
Mrs. Hilliard, touching the memorable event, will be found deeply
interesting:
"In regard to William and Ellen Craft, it is true that we
received her at our house when the first warrant under the act
of eighteen hundred and fifty was issued.
Dr. Bowditch called upon us to say, that the warrant must be for
William and Ellen, as they were the only fugitives here known to
have come from Georgia, and the Dr. asked what we could do. I
went to the house of the Rev. F.T. Gray, on Mt. Vernon street,
where Ellen was working with Miss Dean, an upholsteress, a
friend of ours, who had told us she would teach Ellen her trade.
I proposed to Ellen to come and do some work for me, intending
not to alarm her. My manner, which I supposed to be indifferent
and calm, _betrayed_ me, and she threw herself into my arms,
sobbing and weeping. She, however, recovered her composure as
soon as we reached the street, and was _very firm_ ever after.
My husband wished her, by all means, to be brought to our house,
and to remain under his protection, saying 'I am perfectly
willing to meet the penalty, should she be found here, but will
never give her up.' The penalty, you remember, was six months'
imprisonment and a thousand dollars fine. William Craft went,
after a time, to Lewis Hayden. He was at first, as Dr. Bowditch
told us, 'barricaded in his shop on Cambridge street.' I saw him
there, and he said, 'Ellen must not be left at your house.'
'Why? William,' said I, 'do you think we would give her up?'
'Never,' said he, 'but Mr. Hilliard is not only our friend, but
he is a U.S. Commissioner, and should Ellen be found in his
house, he must resign his office, as well as incur the penalty
of the law, and I will not subject a friend to such a punishment
for the sake of our safety.' Was not this noble, when you think
how small was the penalty that any one could receive for aiding
slaves to escape, compared to the fate which threatened them in
case they were captured? William C. made the same objection to
having his wife taken to Mr. Ellis Gray Loring's, he also being
a friend and a Commissioner."
This deed of humanity and Christian charity is worthy to be commemorated
and classed with the act of the good Samaritan, as the same spirit is
shown in both cases. Often was Mrs. Hilliard's house an asylum for
fugitive slaves.
After the hunters had left the city in dismay, and the storm of
excitement had partially subsided, the friends of William and Ellen
concluded that they had better seek a country where they would not be in
daily fear of slave-catchers, backed by the Government of the United
States. They were, therefore, advised to go to Great Britain. Outfits
were liberally provided for them, passages procured, and they took their
departure for a habitation in a foreign land.
Much might be told concerning the warm reception they met with from the
friends of humanity on every hand, during a stay in England of nearly a
score of years, but we feel obliged to make the following extract
suffice:
EXTRACT OF A LETTER FROM WM. FARMER, ESQ., OF LONDON, TO WM. LLOYD
GARRISON, JUNE 26, 1851--"FUGITIVE SLAVES AT THE GREAT EXHIBITION."
Fortunately, we have, at the present moment, in the British
Metropolis, some specimens of what were once American "chattels
personal," in the persons of William and Ellen Craft, and
William W. Brown, and their friends resolved that they should be
exhibited under the world's huge glass case, in order that the
world might form its opinion of the alleged mental inferiority
of the African race, and their fitness or unfitness for freedom.
A small party of anti-slavery friends was accordingly formed to
accompany the fugitives through the Exhibition. Mr. and Mrs.
Estlin, of Bristol, and a lady friend, Mr. and Mrs. Richard
Webb, of Dublin, and a son and daughter, Mr. McDonnell, (a most
influential member of the Executive Committee of the National
Reform Association--one of our unostentatious, but highly
efficient workers for reform in this country, and whose public
and private acts, if you were acquainted with, you would feel
the same esteem and affection for him as is felt towards him by
Mr. Thompson, myself and many others)--these ladies and
gentlemen, together with myself, met at Mr. Thompson's house,
and, in company with Mrs. Thompson, and Miss Amelia Thompson,
the Crafts and Brown, proceeded from thence to the Exhibition.
Saturday was selected, as a day upon which the largest number of
the aristocracy and wealthy classes attend the Crystal Palace,
and the company was, on this occasion, the most distinguished
that had been gathered together within its walls since its
opening day. Some fifteen thousand, mostly of the upper classes,
were there congregated, including the Queen, Prince Albert, and
the royal children, the anti-slavery Duchess of Sutherland, (by
whom the fugitives were evidently favorably regarded), the Duke
of Wellington, the Bishops of Winchester and St. Asaph, a large
number of peers, peeresses, members of Parliament, merchants and
bankers, and distinguished men from almost all parts of the
world, surpassing, in variety of tongue, character and costume,
the description of the population of Jerusalem on the day of
Pentecost--a season of which it is hoped the Great Exhibition
will prove a type, in the copious outpouring of the holy spirit
of brotherly union, and the consequent diffusion, throughout the
world, of the anti-slavery gospel of good will to all men.
In addition to the American exhibitors, it so happened that the
American visitors were particularly numerous, among whom the
experienced eyes of Brown and the Crafts enabled them to detect
slave-holders by dozens. Mr. McDonnell escorted Mrs. Craft, and
Mrs. Thompson; Miss Thompson, at her own request, took the arm
of Wm. Wells Brown, whose companion she elected to be for the
day; Wm. Craft walked with Miss Amelia Thompson and myself. This
arrangement was purposely made in order that there might be no
appearance of patronizing the fugitives, but that it might be
shown that we regarded them as our equals, and honored them for
their heroic escape from Slavery. Quite contrary to the feeling
of ordinary visitors, the American department was our chief
attraction. Upon arriving at Powers' Greek Slave, our glorious
anti-slavery friend, Punch's 'Virginia Slave' was produced. I
hope you have seen this production of our great humorous
moralist. It is an admirably-drawn figure of a female slave in
chains, with the inscription beneath, 'The Virginia Slave, a
companion for Powers' Greek Slave.' The comparison of the two
soon drew a small crowd, including several Americans, around and
near us. Although they refrained from any audible expression of
feeling, the object of the comparison was evidently understood
and keenly felt. It would not have been prudent in us to have
challenged, in words, an anti-slavery discussion in the World's
Convention; but everything that we could with propriety do was
done to induce them to break silence upon the subject. We had no
intention, verbally, of taking the initiative in such a
discussion; we confined ourselves to speaking at them, in order
that they might be led to speak to us; but our efforts were of
no avail. The gauntlet, which was unmistakably thrown down by
our party, the Americans were too wary to take up. We spoke
among each other of the wrongs of Slavery; it was in vain. We
discoursed freely upon the iniquity of a professedly Christian
Republic holding three millions of its population in cruel and
degrading bondage; you might as well have preached to the winds.
Wm. Wells Brown took 'Punch's Virginia Slave' and deposited it
within the enclosure by the 'Greek Slave,' saying audibly, 'As
an American fugitive slave, I place this 'Virginia Slave' by the
side of the 'Greek Slave,' as its most fitting companion.' Not a
word, or reply, or remonstrance from Yankee or Southerner. We
had not, however, proceeded many steps from the place before the
'Virginia Slave' was removed. We returned to the statue, and
stood near the American by whom it had been taken up, to give
him an opportunity of making any remarks he chose upon the
matter. Whatever were his feelings, his policy was to keep his
lips closed. If he had felt that the act was wrongful, would he
not have appealed to the sense of justice of the British
bystanders, who are always ready to resist an insult offered to
a foreigner in this country? If it was an insult, why not resent
it, as became high-spirited Americans? But no; the chivalry of
the South tamely allowed itself to be plucked by the beard; the
garrulity of the North permitted itself to be silenced by three
fugitive slaves.... We promenaded the Exhibition between six and
seven hours, and visited nearly every portion of the vast
edifice. Among the thousands whom we met in our perambulations,
who dreamed of any impropriety in a gentleman of character and
standing, like Mr. McDonnell, walking arm-in-arm with a colored
woman; or an elegant and accomplished young lady, like Miss
Thompson, (daughter of the Hon. George Thompson, M.C.), becoming
the promenading companion of a colored man? Did the English
peers or peeresses? Not the most aristocratic among them. Did
the representatives of any other country have their notions of
propriety shocked by the matter? None but Americans. To see the
arm of a beautiful English young lady passed through that of 'a
nigger,' taking ices and other refreshments with him, upon terms
of the most perfect equality, certainly was enough to 'rile,'
and evidently did 'rile' the slave-holders who beheld it; but
there was no help for it. Even the New York Broadway bullies
would not have dared to utter a word of insult, much less lift a
finger against Wm. Wells Brown, when walking with his fair
companion in the World's Exhibition. It was a circumstance not
to be forgotten by these Southern Bloodhounds. Probably, for the
first time in their lives, they felt themselves thoroughly
muzzled; they dared not even to bark, much less bite. Like the
meanest curs, they had to sneak through the Crystal Palace,
unnoticed and uncared for; while the victims who had been
rescued from their jaws, were warmly greeted by visitors from
all parts of the country.
* * * * *
Brown and the Crafts have paid several other visits to the Great
Exhibition, in one of which, Wm. Craft succeeded in getting some
Southerners "out" upon the Fugitive Slave Bill, respecting which a
discussion was held between them in the American department. Finding
themselves worsted at every point, they were compelled to have recourse
to lying, and unblushingly denied that the bill contained the provisions
which Craft alleged it did. Craft took care to inform them who and what
he was. He told them that there had been too much information upon that
measure diffused in England for lying to conceal them. He has
subsequently met the same parties, who, with contemptible hypocrisy,
treated "the nigger" with great respect.
In England the Crafts were highly respected. While under her British
Majesty's protection, Ellen became the mother of several children,
(having had none under the stars and stripes). These they spared no
pains in educating for usefulness in the world. Some two years since
William and Ellen returned with two of their children to the United
States, and after visiting Boston and other places, William concluded to
visit Georgia, his old home, with a view of seeing what inducement war
had opened up to enterprise, as he had felt a desire to remove his
family thither, if encouraged. Indeed he was prepared to purchase a
plantation, if he found matters satisfactory. This visit evidently
furnished the needed encouragement, judging from the fact that he did
purchase a plantation somewhere in the neighborhood of Savannah, and is
at present living there with his family.
The portraits of William and Ellen represent them at the present stage
of life, (as citizens of the U.S.)--of course they have greatly changed
in appearance from what they were when they first fled from Georgia.
Obviously the Fugitive Slave Law in its crusade against William and
Ellen Craft, reaped no advantages, but on the contrary, liberty was
greatly the gainer.
* * * * *