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,