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diff --git a/15830.txt b/15830.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..da32464 --- /dev/null +++ b/15830.txt @@ -0,0 +1,6822 @@ +The Project Gutenberg eBook, Three Years in Europe, by William Wells +Brown, et al + + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + + + + +Title: Three Years in Europe + Places I Have Seen and People I Have Met + + +Author: William Wells Brown + +Release Date: May 15, 2005 [eBook #15830] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-646-US (US-ASCII) + + +***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THREE YEARS IN EUROPE*** + + +E-text prepared by Suzanne Shell, Michael Punch, and the Project Gutenberg +Online Distributed Proofreading Team from page images generously made +available by the Bibliotheque nationale de France (http://gallica.bnf.fr) + + + +Note: Images of the original pages are available through the + Bibliotheque nationale de France. See + http://visualiseur.bnf.fr/Visualiseur?Destination=Gallica&O=NUMM-103524 + + + + + +THREE YEARS IN EUROPE; + +Or, Places I Have Seen and People I Have Met + +by + +W. WELLS BROWN +A Fugitive Slave. + +With + +A MEMOIR OF THE AUTHOR + +by + +WILLIAM FARMER, Esq. + +London: +Charles Gilpin, 5, Bishopsgate Street, Without. +Edinburgh: Oliver and Boyd. + +1852 + + + + + + + + +[Illustration: W. Wells Brown.] + + + +CONTENTS. + + +MEMOIR OF WILLIAM WELLS BROWN, _Page_ ix-xxix + +AUTHOR'S PREFACE, xxxi-xxxii + +LETTER I. + +Departure from Boston--the Passengers--Halifax--the Passage-- +First Sight of Land--Liverpool, 1-9 + +LETTER II. + +Trip to Ireland--Dublin--Her Majesty's Visit--Illumination of the +City--the Birth-Place of Thomas Moore--a Reception, 9-21 + +LETTER III. + +Departure from Ireland--London--Trip to Paris--Paris--The Peace +Congress: first day--Church of the Madeleine--Column Vendome-- +the French, 21-38 + +LETTER IV. + +Versailles--The Palace--Second Session of the Congress--Mr. +Cobden--Henry Vincent--M. Girardin--Abbe Duguerry--Victor Hugo: +his Speech, 38-49 + +LETTER V. + +M. de Tocqueville's Grand Soiree--Madame de Tocqueville--Visit of +the Peace Delegates to Versailles--The Breakfast--Speechmaking-- +The Trianons--Waterworks--St. Cloud--The Fete, 50-59 + +LETTER VI. + +The Tuileries--Place de la Concorde--The Egyptian Obelisk--Palais +Royal--Residence of Robespierre--A Visit to the Room in which +Charlotte Corday killed Marat--Church de Notre Dame--Palais de +Justice--Hotel des Invalids--National Assembly--The Elysee, 59-73 + +LETTER VII. + +The Chateau at Versailles--Private Apartments of Marie +Antoinette--The Secret Door--Paintings of Raphael and David-- +Arc de Triomphe--Beranger the Poet, 73-82 + +LETTER VIII. + +Departure from Paris--Boulogne--Folkstone--London--Geo. Thompson, +Esq., M.P.--Hartwell House--Dr. Lee--Cottage of the +Peasant--Windsor Castle--Residence of Wm. Penn--England's First +Welcome--Heath Lodge--The Bank of England, 83-104 + +LETTER IX. + +The British Museum--A Portrait--Night Reading--A Dark Day--A +Fugitive Slave on the Streets of London--A Friend in the time +of need, 104-116 + +LETTER X. + +The Whittington Club--Louis Blanc--Street Amusements--Tower of +London--Westminster Abbey--National Gallery--Dante--Sir Joshua +Reynolds, 117-134 + +LETTER XI. + +York-Minster--The Great Organ--Newcastle-on-Tyne--The Labouring +Classes--The American Slave--Sheffield--James Montgomery, 134-145 + +LETTER XII. + +Kirkstall Abbey--Mary the Maid of the Inn--Newstead Abbey: +Residence of Lord Byron--Parish Church of Hucknall--Burial Place +of Lord Byron--Bristol: "Cook's Folly"--Chepstow Castle and +Abbey--Tintern Abbey--Redcliffe Church, 145-162 + +LETTER XIII. + +Edinburgh--The Royal Institute--Scott's Monument--John Knox's +Pulpit--Temperance Meeting--Glasgow--Great Meeting in the City +Hall, 163-176 + +LETTER XIV. + +Stirling--Dundee--Dr. Dick--Geo. Gilfillan--Dr. Dick at home, 177-184 + +LETTER XV. + +Melrose Abbey--Abbotsford--Dryburgh Abbey--The Grave of Sir +Walter Scott--Hawick--Gretna Green--Visit to the Lakes, 185-196 + +LETTER XVI. + +Miss Martineau--"The Knoll"--"Ridal Mount"--"The Dove's +Nest"--Grave of William Wordsworth, Esq.--The English Peasant, 196-207 + +LETTER XVII. + +A Day in the Crystal Palace, 207-219 + +LETTER XVIII. + +The London Peace Congress--Meeting of Fugitive Slaves-- +Temperance Demonstration--The Great Exhibition: Last Visit, 219-226 + +LETTER XIX. + +Oxford--Martyrs' Monument--Cost of the Burning of the Martyrs-- +The Colleges--Dr. Pusey--Energy, the Secret of Success, 227-235 + +LETTER XX. + +Fugitive Slaves in England, 236-250 + +LETTER XXI. + +A Chapter on American Slavery, 250-273 + +LETTER XXII. + +A Narrative of American Slavery, 273-305 + +LETTER XXIII. + +Aberdeen--Passage by Steamer--Edinburgh--Visit to the +College--William and Ellen Craft, 305-312 + + + + +MEMOIR OF WILLIAM WELLS BROWN. + + +A narrative of the life of the author of the present work has been most +extensively circulated in England and America. The present memoir will, +therefore, simply comprise a brief sketch of the most interesting +portion of Mr. Brown's history while in America, together with a short +account of his subsequent cisatlantic career. The publication of his +adventures as a slave, and as a fugitive from slavery in his native +land, has been most valuable in sustaining a sound anti-slavery spirit +in Great Britain. His honourable reception in Europe may be equally +serviceable in America, as another added to the many practical protests +previously entered from this side of the Atlantic, against the absolute +bondage of three millions and a quarter of the human race, and the +semi-slavery involved in the social and political proscription of +600,000 free coloured people in that country. + +William Wells Brown was born at Lexington, in the state of Kentucky, as +nearly as he can tell in the autumn of 1814. In the Southern States of +America, the pedigree and age of a horse or a dog are carefully +preserved, but no record is kept of the birth of a slave. All that Mr. +Brown knows upon the subject is traditionally, that he was born "about +corn-cutting time" of that year. His mother was a slave named Elizabeth, +the property of Dr. Young, a physician. His father was George Higgins, a +relative of his master. + +The name given to our author at his birth, was "William"--no second or +surname being permitted to a slave. While William was an infant, Dr. +Young removed to Missouri, where, in addition to his profession as a +physician, he carried on the--to European notions--incongruous +avocations of miller, merchant, and farmer. Here William was employed as +a house servant, while his mother was engaged as a field hand. One of +his first bitter experiences of the cruelties of slavery, was his +witnessing the infliction of ten lashes upon the bare back of his +mother, for being a few minutes behind her time at the field--a +punishment inflicted with one of those peculiar whips in the +construction of which, so as to produce the greatest amount of torture, +those whom Lord Carlisle has designated "the chivalry of the South" find +scope for their ingenuity. + +Dr. Young subsequently removed to a farm near St. Louis, in the same +State. Having been elected a Member of the Legislature, he devolved the +management of his farm upon an overseer, having, what to his unhappy +victims must have been the ironical name of "Friend Haskall." The mother +and child were now separated. The boy was levied to a Virginian named +Freeland, who bore the military title of Major, and carried on the +plebeian business of a publican. This man was of an extremely brutal +disposition, and treated his slaves with most refined cruelty. His +favourite punishment, which he facetiously called "Virginian play," was +to flog his slaves severely, and then expose their lacerated flesh to +the smoke of tobacco stems, causing the most exquisite agony. William +complained to his owner of the treatment of Freeland, but, as in almost +all similar instances, the appeal was in vain. At length he was induced +to attempt an escape, not from that love of liberty which subsequently +became with him an unconquerable passion, but simply to avoid the +cruelty to which he was habitually subjected. He took refuge in the +woods, but was hunted and "traced" by the blood-hounds of a Major +O'Fallon, another of "the chivalry of the South," whose gallant +occupation was that of keeping an establishment for the hire of +ferocious dogs with which to hunt fugitive slaves. The young slave +received a severe application of "Virginia play" for his attempt to +escape. Happily the military publican soon afterwards failed in +business, and William found a better master and a more congenial +employment with Captain Cilvers, on board a steam-boat plying between +St. Louis and Galena. At the close of the sailing season he was levied +to an hotel-keeper, a native of a free state, but withal of a class +which exist north as well as south--a most inveterate negro hater. At +this period of William's history, a circumstance occurred, which, +although a common incident in the lives of slaves, is one of the keenest +trials they have to endure--the breaking up of his family circle. Her +master wanted money, and he therefore sold Elizabeth and six of her +children to seven different purchasers. The family relationship is +almost the only solace of slavery. While the mother, brothers, and +sisters are permitted to meet together in the negro hut after the hour +of labour, the slaves are comparatively content with their oppressed +condition; but deprive them of this, the only privilege which they as +human beings are possessed of, and nothing is left but the animal part +of their nature--the living soul is extinguished within them. With them +there is nothing to love--everything to hate. They feel themselves +degraded to the condition not only of mere animals, but of the most +ill-used animals in the creation. + +Not needing the services of his young relative, Dr. Young hired him to +the proprietor of the _St. Louis Times_, the best master William ever +had in slavery. Here he gained the scanty amount of education he +acquired at the South. This kind treatment by his editorial master +appears to have engendered in the heart of William a consciousness of +his own manhood, and led him into the commission of an offence similar +to that perpetrated by Frederick Douglass, under similar +circumstances--the assertion of the right of self-defence. He gallantly +defended himself against the attacks of several boys older and bigger +than himself, but in so doing was guilty of the unpardonable sin of +lifting his hand against white lads; and the father of one of them, +therefore, deemed it consistent with his manhood to lay in wait for the +young slave, and beat him over the head with a heavy cane till the +blood gushed from his nose and ears. From the effects of that treatment +the poor lad was confined to his bed for five weeks, at the end of which +time he found that, to his personal sufferings, were superadded the +calamity of the loss of the best master he ever had in slavery. + +His next employment was that of waiter on board a steam-boat plying on +the Mississippi. Here his occupation again was pleasant, and his +treatment good; but the freedom of action enjoyed by the passengers in +travelling whithersoever they pleased, contrasted strongly in his mind +with his own deprivation of will as a slave. The natural result of this +comparison was an intense desire for freedom--a feeling which was never +afterwards eradicated from his breast. This love of liberty was, +however, so strongly counteracted by affection for his mother and +sisters, that although urgently entreated by one of the latter to take +advantage of his present favourable opportunity for escape, he would not +bring himself to do so at the expense of a separation for life from his +beloved relatives. + +His period of living on board the steamer having expired, he was again +remitted to field labour, under a burning sun. From that labour, from +which he suffered severely, he was soon removed to the lighter and more +agreeable occupation of house-waiter to his master. About this time Dr. +Young, in the conventional phraseology of the locality, "got religion." +The fruit of his alleged spiritual gain, was the loss of many material +comforts to the slaves. Destitute of the resources of education, they +were in the habit of employing their otherwise unoccupied minds on the +Sunday in fishing and other harmless pursuits; these were now all put an +end to. The Sabbath became a season of dread to William: he was required +to drive the family to and from the church, a distance of four miles +either way; and while they attended to the salvation of their souls +within the building, he was compelled to attend to the horses without +it, standing by them during divine service under a burning sun, or +drizzling rain. Although William did not get the religion of his master, +he acquired a family passion which appears to have been strongly +intermixed with the devotional exercises of the household of Dr. +Young--a love of sweet julep. In the evening, the slaves were required +to attend family worship. Before commencing the service, it was the +custom to hand a pitcher of the favourite beverage to every member of +the family, not excepting the nephew, a child of between four and five +years old. William was in the habit of watching his opportunity during +the prayer and helping himself from the pitcher, but one day letting it +fall, his propensity for this intoxicating drink was discovered, and he +was severely punished for its indulgence. + +In 1830, being then about sixteen years of age, William was hired to a +slave-dealer named Walker. This change of employment led the youth away +south and frustrated, for a time, his plans for escape. His experience +while in this capacity furnishes some interesting, though painful, +details of the legalized traffic in human beings carried on in the +United States. The desperation to which the slaves are driven at their +forced separation from husband, wife, children, and kindred, he found to +be a frequent cause of suicide. Slave-dealers he discovered were as +great adepts at deception in the sale of their commodity as the most +knowing down-easter, or tricky horse dealer. William's occupation on +board the steamer, as they steamed south, was to prepare the stock for +the market, by shaving off whiskers and blacking the grey hairs with a +colouring composition. + +At the expiration of the period of his hiring with Walker, William +returned to his master rejoiced to have escaped an employment so +repugnant to his feelings. But this joy was not of long duration. One of +his sisters who, although sold to another master had been living in the +same city with himself and mother, was again sold to be sent away south, +never in all probability to meet her sorrowing relatives. Dr. Young +also, wanting money, intimated to his young kinsman that he was about to +sell him. This intimation determined William, in conjunction with his +mother, to attempt their escape. For ten nights they travelled +northwards, hiding themselves in the woods by day. The mother and son at +length deemed themselves safe from re-capture, and, although weary and +foot-sore, were laying down sanguine plans for the acquisition of a farm +in Canada, the purchase of the freedom of the six other members of the +family still in slavery, and rejoicing in the anticipated happiness of +their free home in Canada. At that moment three men made up to and +seized them, bound the son and led him, with his desponding mother, +back to slavery. Elizabeth was sold and sent away south, while her son +became the property of a merchant tailor named Willi. Mr. Brown's +description of the final interview between himself and his mother, is +one of the most touching portions of his narrative. The mother, after +expressing her conviction of the speedy escape from slavery by the hand +of death, enjoined her child to persevere in his endeavours to gain his +freedom by flight. Her blessing was interrupted by the kick and curse +bestowed by her dehumanized master upon her beloved son. + +After having been hired for a short time to the captain of the +steam-boat _Otto_, William was finally sold to Captain Enoch Price for +650 dollars. That the quickness and intelligence of William rendered him +very valuable as a slave, is favoured by the evidence of Enoch Price +himself, who states that he was offered 2000 dollars for Sanford (as he +was called), in New Orleans. William was strongly urged by his new +mistress to marry. To facilitate this object, she even went so far as to +purchase a girl for whom she fancied he had an affection. He himself, +however, had secretly resolved never to enter into such a connexion +while in slavery, knowing that marriage, in the true and honourable +sense of the term, could not exist among slaves. Notwithstanding the +multitude of petty offences for which a slave is severely punished, it +is singular that one crime--bigamy--is visited upon a white with +severity, while no slave has ever yet been tried for it. In fact, the +man is allowed to form connections with as many women, and the women +with as many men, as they please. + +At St. Louis, William was employed as coachman to Mr. Price; but when +that gentleman subsequently took his family up the river to Cincinnati, +Sanford acted as appointed steward. While lying off this city, the +long-looked-for opportunity of escape presented itself; and on the 1st +of January, 1834--he being then almost twenty years of age--succeeded in +getting from the steamer to the wharf, and thence to the woods, where he +lay concealed until the shades of night had set in, when he again +commenced his journey northwards. While with Dr. Young, a nephew of that +gentleman, whose christian name was William, came into the family: the +slave was, therefore, denuded of the name of William, and thenceforth +called Sanford. This deprivation of his original name he had ever +regarded as an indignity, and having now gained his freedom he resumed +his original name; and as there was no one by whom he could be addressed +by it, he exultingly enjoyed the first-fruits of his freedom by calling +himself aloud by his old name "William!" After passing through a variety +of painful vicissitudes, on the eighth day he found himself destitute of +pecuniary means, and unable, from severe illness, to pursue his journey. +In that condition he was discovered by a venerable member of the Society +of Friends, who placed him in a covered waggon and took him to his own +house. There he remained about fifteen days, and by the kind treatment +of his host and hostess, who were what in America are called +"Thompsonians," he was restored to health, and supplied with the means +of pursuing his journey. The name of this, his first kind benefactor, +was "Wells Brown." As William had risen from the degradation of a slave +to the dignity of a man, it was expedient that he should follow the +customs of other men, and adopt a second name. His venerable friend, +therefore, bestowed upon him his own name, which, prefixed by his former +designation, made him "William Wells Brown," a name that will live in +history, while those of the men who claimed him as property would, were +it not for his deeds, have been unknown beyond the town in which they +lived. In nine days from the time he left Wells Brown's house, he +arrived at Cleveland, in the State of Ohio, where he found he could +remain comparatively safe from the pursuit of the man-stealer. Having +obtained employment as a waiter, he remained in that city until the +following spring, when he procured an engagement on board a steam-boat +plying on Lake Erie. In that situation he was enabled, during seven +months, to assist no less than sixty-nine slaves to escape to Canada. +While a slave he had regarded the whites as the natural enemies of his +race. It was, therefore, with no small pleasure that he discovered the +existence of the salt of America, in the despised Abolitionists of the +Northern States. He read with assiduity the writings of Benjamin Lundy, +William Lloyd Garrison, and others; and after his own twenty years' +experience of slavery, it is not surprising that he should have +enthusiastically embraced the principles of "total and immediate +emancipation," and "no union with slaveholders." + +In proportion as his mind expanded under the more favourable +circumstances in which he was placed, he became anxious, not merely for +the redemption of his race from personal slavery, but for the moral +elevation of those among them who were free. Finding that habits of +intoxication were too prevalent amongst his coloured brethren, he, in +conjunction with others, commenced a temperance reformation in their +body. Such was the success of their efforts that in three years, in the +city of Buffalo alone, a society of upwards of 500 members was raised +out of a coloured population of 700. Of that society Mr. Brown was +thrice elected President. + +The intellectual powers of our author, coupled with his intimate +acquaintance with the workings of the slave system, recommended him to +the Abolitionists as a man eminently qualified to arouse the attention +of the people of the Northern States to the great national sin of +America. In 1843 he was engaged as a lecturer by the Western New-York +Anti-Slavery Society. From 1844 to 1847 he laboured in the anti-slavery +cause in connection with the American Anti-Slavery Society, and from +that period up to the time of his departure for Europe, in 1849, he was +an agent of the Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society. The records of those +societies furnish abundant evidence of the success of his labours. From +the Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society he early received the following +testimony:-- + +"Since Mr. Brown became an agent of the Massachusetts Anti-Slavery +Society, he has lectured in very many of the towns of this +Commonwealth, and won for himself general respect and approbation. He +combines true self-respect with true humility, and rare judiciousness +with great moral courage. Himself a fugitive slave, he can +experimentally describe the situation of those in bonds as bound with +them; and he powerfully illustrates the diabolism of that system which +keeps in chains and darkness a host of minds, which, if free and +enlightened, would shine among men like stars in a firmament." + +Another member of that Society speaks thus of him:--"I need not attempt +any description of the ability and efficiency which characterized his +speaking throughout the meetings. To you who know him so well, it is +enough to say that his lectures were worthy of himself. He has left an +impression on the minds of the people, that few could have done. Cold, +indeed, must be the heart that could resist the appeals of so noble a +specimen of humanity, in behalf of a crushed and despised race." + +Notwithstanding the celebrity Mr. Brown had acquired in the north, as a +man of genius and talent, and the general respect his high character had +gained him, the slave spirit of America denied him the rights of a +citizen. By the constitution of the United States, he was every moment +liable to be seized and sent back to slavery. He was in daily peril of a +gradual legalized murder, under a system one of whose established +economical principles is, that it is more profitable to work up a slave +on a plantation in a short time, by excessive labour and cheap food, +than to obtain a lengthened remuneration by moderate work and humane +treatment. His only protection from such a fate was the anomaly of the +ascendancy of the public opinion over the law of the country. So +uncertain, however, was that tenure of liberty, that even before the +passage of the Fugitive Slave Law, it was deemed expedient to secure the +services of Frederick Douglass to the anti-slavery cause by the purchase +of his freedom. The same course might have been taken to secure the +labours of Mr. Brown, had he not entertained an unconquerable repugnance +to its adoption. On the 10th of January, 1848, Enoch Price wrote to Mr. +Edmund Quincy offering to sell Mr. Brown to himself or friends for 325 +dollars. To this communication the fugitive returned the following pithy +and noble reply:-- + +"I cannot accept of Mr. Price's offer to become a purchaser of my body +and soul. God made me as free as he did Enoch Price, and Mr. Price shall +never receive a dollar from me or my friends with my consent." + +There were, however, other reasons besides his personal safety which led +to Mr. Brown's visit to Europe. It was thought desirable always to have +in England some talented man of colour who should be a living lie to the +doctrine of the inferiority of the African race: and it was moreover +felt that none could so powerfully advocate the cause of "those in +bonds" as one who had actually been "bound with them." This had been +proved in the extraordinary effect produced in Great Britain by +Frederick Douglass in 1845 and 1846. The American Committee in +connection with the Peace Congress were also desirous of sending to +Europe coloured representatives of their Society, and Mr. Brown was +selected for that purpose, and duly accredited by them to the Paris +Congress. + +On the 18th of July, 1849, a large meeting of the coloured citizens of +Boston was held in Washington Hall to bid him farewell. At that meeting +the following resolutions were unanimously adopted:-- + +"_Resolved_,--That we bid our brother, William Wells Brown, God speed in + his mission to Europe, and commend him to the hospitality and + encouragement of all true friends of humanity. + +"_Resolved_,--That we forward by him our renewed protest against the + American Colonization Society; and invoke for him a candid hearing + before the British public, in reply to the efforts put forth there + by the Rev. Mr. Miller, or any other agent of said Society." + +Two days afterwards he sailed for Europe, encountering on his voyage his +last experience of American prejudice against colour. + +On the 28th of August he landed at Liverpool, a time and place memorable +in his life as the first upon which he could truly call himself a free +man upon God's earth. In the history of nations, as of individuals, +there is often singular retributive mercy as well as retributive +justice. In the seventeenth century the victims of monarchical tyranny +in Great Britain found social and political freedom when they set foot +upon Plymouth Rock in New England: in the nineteenth century the victims +of the oppressions of the American Republic find freedom and social +equality upon the shores of monarchical England. Liverpool, which +seventy years back was so steeped in the guilt of negro slavery that +Paine expressed his surprise that God did not sweep it from the face of +the earth, is now to the hunted negro the Plymouth Rock of Old England. +From Liverpool he proceeded to Dublin where he was warmly received by +Mr. Haughton, Mr. Webb, and other friends of the slave, and publicly +welcomed at a large meeting presided over by the first named gentleman. + +The reception of Mr. Brown at the Peace Congress in Paris was most +flattering. In a company, comprising a large portion of the _elite_ of +Europe, he admirably maintained his reputation as a public speaker. His +brief address, upon that "war spirit of America which holds in bondage +three million of his brethren," produced a profound sensation. At its +conclusion the speaker was warmly greeted by Victor Hugo, the Abbe +Duguerry, Emile de Girardin, the Pastor Coquerel, Richard Cobden, and +every man of note in the Assembly. At the soiree given by M. De +Tocqueville, the Minister for Foreign Affairs, and the other fetes given +to the Members of the Congress, Mr. Brown was received with marked +attention. + +Having finished his Peace mission in France, he commenced an +Anti-slavery tour in England and Scotland. With that independence of +feeling which those who are acquainted with him know to be his chief +characteristic, he rejected the idea of anything like eleemosynary +support. He determined to maintain himself and family by his own +exertions--by his literary labours, and the honourable profession of a +public lecturer. His first metropolitan reception in England was at a +large, influential, and enthusiastic meeting in the Music Hall, Stone +Street. The members of the Whittington Club--an institution numbering +nearly 2000 members, among whom are Lords Brougham, Dudley Coutts +Stuart, and Beaumont; Charles Dickens, Douglass Jerrold, Martin +Thackeray, Charles Lushington, M.P., Monckton Milnes, M.P., and several +other of the most distinguished legislators and literary men and women +in this country--elected Mr. Brown an honorary member of the Club, as a +mark of respect to his character; and, as the following extract from the +Secretary, Mr. Stundwicke, will show, as a protest against the +distinctions made between man and man on account of colour in +America:--"I have much pleasure in conveying to you the best thanks of +the managing committee of this institution for the excellent lecture you +gave here last evening on the subject of 'Slavery in America,' and also +in presenting you in their names with an honorary membership of the +Club. It is hoped that you will often avail yourself of its privileges +by coming amongst us. You will then see, by the cordial welcome of the +members, that they protest against the odious distinctions made between +man and man, and the abominable traffic of which you have been the +victim." + +For the last three years Mr. Brown has been engaged in visiting and +holding meetings in nearly all the large towns in the kingdom upon the +question of American Slavery, Temperance, and other subjects. Perhaps no +coloured individual, not excepting that extraordinary man, Frederick +Douglass, has done more good in disseminating anti-slavery principles in +England, Scotland, and Ireland. + +In the spring of 1851, two most interesting fugitives, William and Ellen +Craft, arrived in England. They had made their escape from the South, +the wife disguised in male attire, and the husband in the capacity of +her slave. William Craft was doing a thriving business in Boston, but in +1851 was driven with his wife from that city by the operation of the +Fugitive Slave Law. For several months they travelled in company with +Mr. Brown in this country, deepening the disgust created by Mr. Brown's +eloquent denunciation of slavery by their simple but touching narrative. +At length they were enabled to gratify their thirst for education by +gaining admission to Lady Byron's school at Oakham, Surrey. In the month +of May, Mr. Brown and Mr. and Mrs. Craft were taken by a party of +anti-slavery friends to the Great Exhibition. The honourable manner in +which they were received by distinguished persons to whom their history +was known, and the freedom with which they perambulated the American +department, was a salutary rebuke to the numerous Americans present, in +regard to the great sin of their country--slavery; and its great +folly--prejudice of colour. A curious circumstance occurred during the +Exhibition. Among the hosts of American visitors to this country was Mr. +Brown's late master, Enoch Price, who made diligent inquiry after his +lost piece of property--not, of course, with any view to its +reclamation--but, to the mutual regret of both parties, without success. +It is gratifying to state that the master spoke highly of, and expressed +a wish for the future prosperity of, his fugitive slave; a fact which +tends to prove that prejudice of colour is to a very great extent a +thing of locality and association. Had Mr. Price, however, left behind +him letters of manumission for Mr. Brown, enabling him, if he chose, to +return to his native land, he would have given a more practical proof of +respect, and of the sincerity of his desire for the welfare of Mr. +Brown. + +It would extend these pages far beyond their proposed length were +anything like a detailed account of Mr. Brown's anti-slavery labours in +this country to be attempted. Suffice it to say that they have +everywhere been attended with benefit and approbation. At Bolton an +admirable address from the ladies was presented to him, and at other +places he has received most honourable testimonials. + +Since Mr. Brown left America, the condition of the fugitive slaves in +his own country has, through the operation of the Fugitive Slave Law, +been rendered so perilous as to preclude the possibility of return +without the almost certain loss of liberty. His expatriation has, +however, been a gain to the cause of humanity in this country, where an +intelligent representative of the oppressed coloured Americans is +constantly needed, not only to describe, in language of fervid +eloquence, the wrongs inflicted upon his race in the United States, but +to prevent their bonds being strengthened in this country by holding +fellowship with slave-holding and slave-abetting ministers from America. +In his lectures he has clearly demonstrated the fact, that the sole +support of the slavery of the United States is its churches. This +knowledge of the standing of American ministers in reference to slavery +has, in the case of Dr. Dyer, and in many other instances, been most +serviceable, preventing their reception into communion with British +churches. Last year Mr. Brown succeeded in getting over to this country +his daughters, two interesting girls twelve and sixteen years of age +respectively, who are now receiving an education which will qualify them +hereafter to become teachers in their turn--a description of education +which would have been denied them in their native land. In 1834 Mr. +Brown married a free coloured woman, who died in January of the present +year. + +The condition of escaped slaves has engaged much of his attention while +in this country. He found that in England no anti-slavery organization +existed whose object was to aid fugitive slaves in obtaining an +honourable subsistence in the land of their exile. In most cases they +are thrown upon the support of a few warm-hearted anti-slavery advocates +in this country, pre-eminent among whom stands Mr. Brown's earliest +friend, Mr. George Thompson, M.P., whose house is rarely free from one +or more of those who have acquired the designation of his "American +constituents." This want has recently been attempted to be supplied, +partly through Mr. Brown's exertions, and partly by the establishment of +the Anglo-American Anti-Slavery Association. + +On the 1st of August, 1851, a meeting of the most novel character was +held at the Hall of Commerce, London, being a soiree given by fugitive +slaves in this country to Mr. George Thompson, on his return from his +American mission on behalf of their race. That meeting was most ably +presided over by Mr. Brown, and the speeches made upon the occasion by +fugitive slaves were of the most interesting and creditable description. +Although a residence in Canada is infinitely preferable to slavery in +America, yet the climate of that country is uncongenial to the +constitutions of the fugitive slaves, and their lack of education is an +almost insuperable barrier to their social progress. The latter evil Mr. +Brown attempted to remedy by the establishment of a Manual Labour School +in Canada. + +A public meeting, attended by between 3000 and 4000 persons, was +convened by Mr. Brown, on the 6th of January, 1851, in the City Hall, +Glasgow, presided over by Mr. Hastie, one of the representatives of that +city, at which meeting a resolution was unanimously passed approving of +Mr. Brown's scheme, which scheme, however, never received that amount of +support which would have enabled him to bring it into practice; and the +plan at present only remains as an evidence of its author's ingenuity +and desire for the elevation of his depressed race. Mr. Brown +subsequently made, through the columns of the _Times_ newspaper, a +proposition for the emigration of American fugitive slaves, under fair +and honourable terms, to the West Indies, where there is a great lack of +that tillage labour which they are so capable of undertaking. This +proposition has hitherto met with no better fate than its predecessor. + +Mr. Brown's literary abilities may be partly judged of from the +following pages. The amount of knowledge and education he has acquired +under circumstances of no ordinary difficulty, is a striking proof of +what can be done by combined genius and industry. His proficiency as a +linguist, without the aid of a master, is considerable. His present work +is a valuable addition to the stock of English literature. The honour +which has hitherto been paid, and which, so long as he resides upon +British soil, will no doubt continue to be paid to his character and +talents, must have its influence in abating the senseless prejudice of +colour in America, and hastening the time when the object of his +mission, the abolition of the slavery of his native country, shall be +accomplished, and that young Republic renouncing with penitence its +national sin, shall take its proper place amongst the most free, +civilized, and Christian nations of the earth. + + W.F. + + + + +PREFACE. + + +While I feel conscious that most of the contents of these Letters will +be interesting chiefly to American readers, yet I may indulge the hope, +that the fact of their being the first production of a Fugitive Slave, +as a history of travels, may carry with them novelty enough to secure +for them, to some extent, the attention of the reading public of Great +Britain. Most of the letters were written for the private perusal of a +few personal friends in America; some were contributed to "Frederick +Douglass's paper," a journal published in the United States. In a +printed circular sent some weeks since to some of my friends, asking +subscriptions to this volume, I stated the reasons for its publication: +these need not be repeated here. To those who so promptly and kindly +responded to that appeal, I tender my most sincere thanks. It is with no +little diffidence that I lay these letters before the public; for I am +not blind to the fact, that they must contain many errors; and to those +who shall find fault with them on that account, it may not be too much +for me to ask them kindly to remember, that the author was a slave in +one of the Southern States of America, until he had attained the age of +twenty years; and that the education he has acquired, was by his own +exertions, he never having had a day's schooling in his life. + + W. WELLS BROWN. + + 22, CECIL STREET, STRAND, + LONDON. + + + + + +LETTER I. + +_Departure from Boston--the Passengers--Halifax--the Passage--First +Sight of Land--Liverpool._ + + + LIVERPOOL, _July 28_. + +On the 18th July, 1849, I took passage in the steam-ship _Canada_, +Captain Judkins, bound for Liverpool. The day was a warm one; so much +so, that many persons on board, as well as several on shore, stood with +their umbrellas up, so intense was the heat of the sun. The ringing of +the ship's bell was a signal for us to shake hands with our friends, +which we did, and then stepped on the deck of the noble craft. The +_Canada_ quitted her moorings at half-past twelve, and we were soon in +motion. As we were passing out of Boston Bay, I took my stand on the +quarter-deck, to take a last farewell (at least for a time), of my +native land. A visit to the old world, up to that time had seemed but a +dream. As I looked back upon the receding land, recollections of the +past rushed through my mind in quick succession. From the treatment that +I had received from the Americans as a victim of slavery, and the +knowledge that I was at that time liable to be seized and again reduced +to whips and chains, I had supposed that I would leave the country +without any regret; but in this I was mistaken, for when I saw the last +thread of communication cut off between me and the land, and the dim +shores dying away in the distance, I almost regretted that I was not on +shore. + +An anticipated trip to a foreign country appears pleasant when talking +about it, especially when surrounded by friends whom we love; but when +we have left them all behind, it does not seem so pleasant. Whatever may +be the fault of the government under which we live, and no matter how +oppressive her laws may appear, yet we leave our native land (if such +it be) with feelings akin to sorrow. With the steamer's powerful engine +at work, and with a fair wind, we were speedily on the bosom of the +Atlantic, which was as calm and as smooth as our own Hudson in its +calmest aspect. We had on board above one hundred passengers, forty of +whom were the "Viennese children"--a troop of dancers. The passengers +represented several different nations, English, French, Spaniards, +Africans, and Americans. One man who had the longest pair of mustaches +that mortal man was ever doomed to wear, especially attracted my +attention. He appeared to belong to no country in particular, but was +yet the busiest man on board. After viewing for some time the many +strange faces around me, I descended to the cabin to look after my +luggage, which had been put hurriedly on board. I hope that all who take +a trip of so great a distance may be as fortunate as I was, in being +supplied with books to read on the voyage. My friends had furnished me +with literature, from "Macaulay's History of England" to "Jane Eyre," so +that I did not want for books to occupy my time. + +A pleasant passage of about thirty hours, brought us to Halifax, at six +o'clock in the evening. In company with my friend the President of the +Oberlin Institute, I took a stroll through the town; and from what +little I saw of the people in the streets, I am sure that the taking of +the Temperance pledge would do them no injury. Our stay at Halifax was +short. Having taken in a few sacks of coals, the mails, and a limited +number of passengers, we were again out, and soon at sea. After a +pleasant run of seven days more, and as I was lying in my bed, I heard +the cry of "Land a-head." Although our passage had been unprecedentedly +short, yet I need not inform you that this news was hailed with joy by +all on board. For my own part, I was soon on deck. Away in the distance, +and on our larboard quarter, were the grey hills of Ireland. Yes! we +were in sight of the land of Emmett and O'Connell. While I rejoiced with +the other passengers at the sight of land, and the near approach to the +end of the voyage, I felt low spirited, because it reminded me of the +great distance I was from home. But the experience of above twenty +years' travelling, had prepared me to undergo what most persons must lay +their account with, in visiting a strange country. This was the last day +but one that we were to be on board; and as if moved by the sight of +land, all seemed to be gathering their different things +together--brushing up their old clothes and putting on their new ones, +as if this would bring them any sooner to the end of their journey. + +The last night on board was the most pleasant, apparently, that we had +experienced; probably, because it was the last. The moon was in her +meridian splendour, pouring her broad light over the calm sea; while +near to us, on our starboard side, was a ship with her snow-white sails +spread aloft, and stealing through the water like a thing of life. What +can present a more picturesque view, than two vessels at sea on a +moonlight night, and within a few rods of each other? With a gentle +breeze, and the powerful engine at work, we seemed to be flying to the +embrace of our British neighbours. + +The next morning I was up before the sun, and found that we were within +a few miles of Liverpool. The taking of a pilot on board at eleven +o'clock, warned us to prepare to quit our ocean palace and seek other +quarters. At a little past three o'clock, the ship cast anchor, and we +were all tumbled, bag and baggage, into a small steamer, and in a few +moments were at the door of the Custom-House. The passage had only been +nine days and twenty-two hours, the quickest on record at that time, yet +it was long enough. I waited nearly three hours before my name was +called, and when it was, I unlocked my trunks and handed them over to +one of the officers, whose dirty hands made no improvement on the work +of the laundress. First one article was taken out, and then another, +till an _Iron Collar_ that had been worn by a female slave on the banks +of the Mississippi, was hauled out, and this democratic instrument of +torture became the centre of attraction; so much so, that instead of +going on with the examination, all hands stopped to look at the "Negro +Collar." + +Several of my countrymen who were standing by, were not a little +displeased at answers which I gave to questions on the subject of +Slavery; but they held their peace. The interest created by the +appearance of the Iron Collar, closed the examination of my luggage. As +if afraid that they would find something more hideous, they put the +Custom-House mark on each piece, and passed them out, and I was soon +comfortably installed at Brown's Temperance Hotel, Clayton Square. + + +No person of my complexion can visit this country without being struck +with the marked difference between the English and the Americans. The +prejudice which I have experienced on all and every occasion in the +United States, and to some extent on board the _Canada_, vanished as +soon as I set foot on the soil of Britain. In America I had been bought +and sold as a slave, in the Southern States. In the so-called free +States, I had been treated as one born to occupy an inferior +position,--in steamers, compelled to take my fare on the deck; in +hotels, to take my meals in the kitchen; in coaches, to ride on the +outside; in railways, to ride in the "negro car;" and in churches, to +sit in the "negro pew." But no sooner was I on British soil, than I was +recognised as a man, and an equal. The very dogs in the streets +appeared conscious of my manhood. Such is the difference, and such is +the change that is brought about by a trip of nine days in an Atlantic +steamer. + +I was not more struck with the treatment of the people, than with the +appearance of the great seaport of the world. The grey appearance of the +stone piers and docks, the dark look of the magnificent warehouses, the +substantial appearance of every thing around, causes one to think +himself in a new world instead of the old. Every thing in Liverpool +looks old, yet nothing is worn out. The beautiful villas on the opposite +side of the river, in the vicinity of Birkenhead, together with the +countless number of vessels in the river, and the great ships to be seen +in the stream, give life and animation to the whole scene. + +Every thing in and about Liverpool seems to be built for the future as +well as the present. We had time to examine but few of the public +buildings, the first of which was the Custom-House, an edifice that +would be an ornament to any city in the world. + +For the first time in my life, I can say "I am truly free." My old +master may make his appearance here, with the Constitution of the United +States in his pocket, the Fugitive Slave Law in one hand and the chains +in the other, and claim me as his property, but all will avail him +nothing. I can here stand and look the tyrant in the face, and tell him +that I am his equal! England is, indeed, the "land of the free, and the +home of the brave." + + + + +LETTER II. + +_Trip to Ireland--Dublin--Her Majesty's Visit--Illumination of the +City--the Birth-Place of Thomas Moore--a Reception._ + + + DUBLIN, _August 6_. + +After remaining in Liverpool two days, I took passage in the little +steamer _Adelaide_ for this city. The wind being high on the night of +our voyage, the vessel had scarcely got to sea ere we were driven to +our berths; and though the distance from Liverpool to Dublin is short, +yet, strange to say, I witnessed more effects of the sea and rolling of +the steamer upon the passengers, than was to be seen during the whole of +our voyage from America. We reached Kingstown, five miles below Dublin, +after a passage of nearly fifteen hours, and were soon seated on a car, +and on our way to the city. While coming into the bay, one gets a fine +view of Dublin and the surrounding country. Few sheets of water make a +more beautiful appearance than Dublin Bay. We found it as still and +smooth as a mirror, with a soft mist on its surface--a strange contrast +to the boisterous sea that we had left a moment before. + +The curious phrases of the Irish sounded harshly upon my ear, probably, +because they were strange to me. I lost no time on reaching the city in +seeking out some to whom I had letters of introduction, one of whom gave +me an invitation to make his house my home during my stay, an invitation +which I did not think fit to decline. + +Dublin, the Metropolis of Ireland, is a city of above two hundred +thousand inhabitants, and is considered by the people of Ireland to be +the second city in the British Empire. The Liffey, which falls into +Dublin Bay a little below the Custom-House, divides the town into two +nearly equal parts. The streets are--some of them--very fine, especially +upper Sackville Street, in the centre of which stands a pillar erected +to Nelson, England's most distinguished Naval Commander. The Bank of +Ireland, to which I paid a visit, is a splendid building, and was +formerly the Parliament House. This magnificent edifice fronts College +Green, and near at hand stands a bronze statue of William III. The Bank +and the Custom-House are two of the finest monuments of architecture in +the city; the latter of which stands near the river Liffey, and its +front makes an imposing appearance, extending to three hundred and +seventy-five feet. It is built of Portland stone, and is adorned with a +beautiful portico in the centre, consisting of four Doric columns +supporting an enriched entablature, decorated with a group of figures in +alto-relievo, representing Hibernia and Britannia presenting emblems of +peace and liberty. A magnificent dome, supporting a cupola, on whose +apex stands a colossal figure of Hope, rises nobly from the centre of +the building to a height of one hundred and twenty-five feet. It is, +withal, a fine specimen of what man can do. + +From this noble edifice, we bent our steps to another part of the city, +and soon found ourselves in the vicinity of St. Patrick's, where we had +a heart-sickening view of the poorest of the poor. All the recollections +of poverty which I had ever beheld, seemed to disappear in comparison +with what was then before me. We passed a filthy and noisy market, where +fruit and vegetable women were screaming and begging those passing by to +purchase their commodities; while in and about the market-place were +throngs of beggars fighting for rotten fruit, cabbage stocks, and even +the very trimmings of vegetables. On the side walks, were great numbers +hovering about the doors of the more wealthy, and following strangers, +importuning them for "pence to buy bread." Sickly and emaciated-looking +creatures, half naked, were at our heels at every turn. After passing +through a half dozen, or more, of narrow and dirty streets, we returned +to our lodgings, impressed with the idea that we had seen enough of the +poor for one day. + +In our return home, we passed through a respectable looking street, in +which stands a small three storey brick building, which was pointed out +to us as the birth-place of Thomas Moore, the poet. The following verse +from one of Moore's poems was continually in my mind while viewing this +house:-- + + "Where is the slave, so lowly, + Condemn'd to chains unholy, + Who, could he burst + His bonds at first, + Would pine beneath them slowly?" + + * * * * * + +Yesterday was the Sabbath, but it had more the appearance of a holiday +than a day of rest. It had been announced the day before, that the Royal +fleet was expected, and at an early hour on Sunday, the entire town +seemed to be on the move towards Kingstown, and as the family with whom +I was staying followed the multitude, I was not inclined to remain +behind, and so went with them. On reaching the station we found it +utterly impossible to get standing room in any of the trains, much less +a seat, and therefore determined to reach Kingstown under the plea of a +morning's walk; and in this we were not alone, for during the walk of +five miles the road was filled with thousands of pedestrians and a +countless number of carriages, phaetons, and vehicles of a more humble +order. + +We reached the lower town in time to get a good dinner, and rest +ourselves before going to make further searches for Her Majesty's fleet. +At a little past four o'clock, we observed the multitude going towards +the pier, a number of whom were yelling at the top of their voices, +"It's coming, it's coming;" but on going to the quay, we found that a +false alarm had been given. However, we had been on the look-out but a +short time, when a column of smoke rising as it were out of the sea, +announced that the Royal fleet was near at hand. The concourse in the +vicinity of the pier was variously estimated at from eighty to one +hundred thousand. + +It was not long before the five steamers were entering the harbour, the +one bearing Her Majesty leading the way. As each vessel had a number of +distinguished persons on board, the people appeared to be at a loss to +know which was the Queen; and as each party made its appearance on the +promenade deck, they were received with great enthusiasm, the party +having the best looking lady being received with the greatest applause. +The Prince of Wales, and Prince Alfred, while crossing the deck were +recognised and greeted with three cheers; the former taking off his hat +and bowing to the people, showed that he had had some training as a +public man although not ten years of age. But not so with Prince Alfred; +for, when his brother turned to him and asked him to take off his hat +and make a bow to the people, he shook his head and said, "No." This was +received with hearty laughter by those on board, and was responded to by +the thousands on shore. But greater applause was yet in store for the +young prince; for the captain of the steamer being near by, and seeing +that the Prince of Wales could not prevail on his brother to take off +his hat, stepped up to him and undertook to take it off for him, when, +seemingly to the delight of all, the prince put both hands to his head +and held his hat fast. This was regarded as a sign of courage and future +renown, and was received with the greatest enthusiasm--many crying out, +"Good, good: he will make a brave king when his day comes." + +After the greetings and applause had been wasted on many who had +appeared on deck, all at once, as if by some magic power, we beheld a +lady rather small in stature, with auburn or reddish hair, attired in a +plain dress, and wearing a sky-blue bonnet, standing on the larboard +paddle-box, by the side of a tall good-looking man, with mustaches. The +thunders of applause that now rent the air, and cries of "The Queen, the +Queen," seemed to set at rest the question of which was Her Majesty. But +a few moments were allowed to the people to look at the Queen, before +she again disappeared; and it was understood that she would not be seen +again that evening. A rush was then made for the railway, to return to +Dublin. + + * * * * * + + + _August 8_. + +Yesterday was a great day in Dublin. At an early hour the bells began +their merry peals, and the people were soon seen in groups in the +streets and public squares. The hour of ten was fixed for the procession +to leave Kingstown, and it was expected to enter the city at eleven. The +windows of the houses in the streets through which the Royal train was +to pass, were at a premium, and seemed to find ready occupants. + +Being invited the day previous to occupy part of a window in Upper +Sackville Street, I was stationed at my allotted place, at an early +hour, with an out-stretched neck and open eyes. My own colour differing +from those about me, I attracted not a little attention from many; and +often, when gazing down the street to see if the Royal procession was in +sight, would find myself eyed by all around. But neither while at the +window, or in the streets, was I once insulted. This was so unlike the +American prejudice, that it seemed strange to me. It was near twelve +o'clock before the procession entered Sackville Street, and when it did +all eyes seemed to beam with delight. The first carriage contained only +Her Majesty and the Prince Consort; the second, the Royal children; and +the third, the Lords in Waiting. Fifteen carriages were used by those +that made up the Royal party. I had a full view of the Queen and all who +followed in the train. Her Majesty--whether from actual love for her +person, or the novelty of the occasion, I know not which--was received +everywhere with the greatest enthusiasm. One thing, however, is certain, +and that is--Queen Victoria is beloved by her subjects. + +But the grand _fete_ was reserved for the evening. Great preparations +had been made to have a grand illumination on the occasion, and hints +were thrown out that it would surpass anything ever witnessed in London. +In this they were not far out of the way; for all who witnessed the +scene admitted that it could scarcely have been surpassed. My own idea +of an illumination, as I had seen it in the backwoods of my own native +land, dwindled into nothing when compared with this magnificent affair. + +In company with a few friends, and a lady under my charge, I undertook +to pass through Sackville and one or two other streets, about eight +o'clock in the evening, but we found it utterly impossible to proceed. +Masses thronged the streets, and the wildest enthusiasm seemed to +prevail. In our attempt to cross the bridge, we were wedged in and lost +our companions; and on one occasion I was separated from the lady, and +took shelter under a cart standing in the street. After being jammed and +pulled about for nearly two hours, I returned to my lodgings, where I +found part of my company, who had come in one after another. At eleven +o'clock we had all assembled, and each told his adventures and +"hairbreadth escapes;" and nearly every one had lost a pocket +handkerchief or something of the kind: my own was among the missing. +However, I lost nothing; for a benevolent lady, who happened to be one +of the company, presented me with one which was of far more value than +the one I had lost. + +Every one appeared to enjoy the holiday which the Royal visit had +caused. But the Irish are indeed a strange people. How varied their +aspect--how contradictory their character. Ireland, the land of genius +and degradation--of great resources and unparalleled poverty--noble +deeds and the most revolting crimes--the land of distinguished poets, +splendid orators, and the bravest of soldiers--the land of ignorance and +beggary! Dublin is a splendid city, but its splendour is that of +chiselled marble rather than real life. One cannot behold these +architectural monuments without thinking of the great men that Ireland +has produced. The names of Burke, Sheridan, Flood, Grattan, O'Connell, +and Shiel, have become as familiar to the Americans as household words. +Burke is known as the statesman; Sheridan for his great speech on the +trial of Warren Hastings; Grattan for his eloquence; O'Connell as the +agitator; and Shiel as the accomplished orator. + +But of Ireland's sons, none stands higher in America than Thomas Moore, +the Poet. The vigour of his sarcasm, the glow of his enthusiasm, the +coruscations of his fancy, and the flashing of his wit, seem to be as +well understood in the new world as the old; and the support which his +pen has given to civil and religious liberty throughout the world, +entitled the Minstrel of Erin to this elevated position. + +Before leaving America I had heard much of the friends of my enslaved +countrymen residing in Ireland; and the reception I met with on all +hands while in public, satisfied me that what I had heard had not been +exaggerated. To the Webbs, Allens, and Haughtons, of Dublin, the cause +of the American slave is much indebted. + +I quitted Dublin with a feeling akin to leaving my native land. + + + + +LETTER III. + +_Departure from Ireland--London--Trip to Paris--Paris--The Peace +Congress: first day--Church of the Madeleine--Column Vendome--the +French._ + + + PARIS, _August 23_. + +After a pleasant sojourn of three weeks in Ireland, I took passage in +one of the mail steamers for Liverpool, and arriving there was soon on +the road to the metropolis. The passage from Dublin to Liverpool was an +agreeable one. The rough sea that we passed through on going to Ireland +had given way to a dead calm, and our noble little steamer, on quitting +the Dublin wharf, seemed to understand that she was to have it all her +own way. During the first part of the evening, the boat appeared to feel +her importance, and, darting through the water with majestic strides, +she left behind her a dark cloud of smoke suspended in the air like a +banner; while, far astern in the wake of the vessel, could be seen the +rippled waves sparkling in the rays of the moon, giving strength and +beauty to the splendour of the evening. + +On reaching Liverpool, and partaking of a good breakfast, for which we +paid double price, we proceeded to the railway station, and were soon +going at a rate unknown to those accustomed to travel on one of our +American railways. At a little past two o'clock in the afternoon, we saw +in the distance the out-skirts of London. We could get but an indistinct +view, which had the appearance of one architectural mass, extending all +round to the horizon, and enveloped in a combination of fog and smoke; +and towering above every other object to be seen, was the dome of St. +Paul's Cathedral. + +A few moments more, and we were safely seated in a "Hansom's Patent," +and on our way to Hughes's--one of the politest men of the George Fox +stamp we have ever met. Here we found forty or fifty persons, who, like +ourselves, were bound for the Peace Congress. The Sturges, the Wighams, +the Richardsons, the Allens, the Thomases, and a host of others not less +distinguished as friends of peace, were of the company--many of whom I +had heard of, but none of whom I had ever seen; yet I was not an entire +stranger to many, especially to the abolitionists. In company with a +friend, I sallied forth after tea to take a view of the city. The +evening was fine--the dense fog and smoke having to some extent passed +away, left the stars shining brightly, while the gas light from the +street lamps and the brilliant shop windows gave it the appearance of +day-light in a new form. "What street is this?" we asked. "Cheapside," +was the reply. The street was thronged, and every body seemed to be +going at a rapid rate, as if there was something of importance at the +end of the journey. Flying vehicles of every description passing each +other with a dangerous rapidity, men with lovely women at their sides, +children running about as if they had lost their parents--all gave a +brilliancy to the scene scarcely to be excelled. If one wished to get +jammed and pushed about, he need go no farther than Cheapside. But every +thing of the kind is done with a degree of propriety in London, that +would put the New Yorkers to blush. If you are run over in London, they +"beg your pardon;" if they run over you in New York, you are "laughed +at:" in London, if your hat is knocked off it is picked up and handed to +you; if, in New York, you must pick it up yourself. There is a lack of +good manners among Americans that is scarcely known or understood in +Europe. Our stay in the great metropolis gave us but little opportunity +of seeing much of the place; for in twenty-four hours after our arrival +we joined the rest of the delegates, and started on our visit to our +Gallic neighbours. + +We assembled at the London Bridge Railway Station on Tuesday morning the +21st, a few minutes past nine, to the number of 600. The day was fine, +and every eye seemed to glow with enthusiasm. Besides the delegates, +there were probably not less than 600 more, who had come to see the +company start. We took our seats and appeared to be waiting for nothing +but the iron-horse to be fastened to the train, when all at once, we +were informed that we must go to the booking-office and change our +tickets. At this news every one appeared to be vexed. This caused great +trouble; for on returning to the train many persons got into the wrong +carriages; and several parties were separated from their friends, while +not a few were calling out at the top of their voices, "Where is my +wife? Where is my husband? Where is my luggage? Who's got my boy? Is +this the right train?" "What is that lady going to do with all these +children?" asked the guard. "Is she a delegate: are all the children +delegates?" In the carriage where I had taken my seat was a +good-looking lady who gave signs of being very much annoyed. "It is just +so when I am going anywhere: I never saw the like in my life," said she. +"I really wish I was at home again." + +An hour had now elapsed, and we were still at the station. However, we +were soon on our way, and going at express speed. In passing through +Kent we enjoyed the scenery exceedingly, as the weather was altogether +in our favour; and the drapery which nature hung on the trees, in the +part through which we passed, was in all its gaiety. On our arrival at +Folkstone, we found three steamers in readiness to convey the party to +Boulogne. As soon as the train stopped, a general rush was made for the +steamers; and in a very short time the one in which I had embarked was +passing out of the harbour. The boat appeared to be conscious that we +were going on a holy mission, and seemed to be proud of her load. There +is nothing in this wide world so like a thing of life as a steamer, from +the breathing of her steam and smoke, the energy of her motion, and the +beauty of her shape; while the ease with which she is managed by the +command of a single voice, makes her appear as obedient as the horse is +to the rein. + +When we were about half way between the two great European Powers, the +officers began to gather the tickets. The first to whom he applied, and +who handed out his "Excursion Ticket," was informed that we were all in +the wrong boat. "Is this not one of the boats to take over the +delegates?" asked a pretty little lady, with a whining voice. "No, +Madam," said the captain. "You must look to the committee for your pay," +said one of the company to the captain. "I have nothing to do with +committees," the captain replied. "Your fare, Gentlemen, if you please." + +Here the whole party were again thrown into confusion. "Do you hear +that? We are in the wrong boat." "I knew it would be so," said the Rev. +Dr. Ritchie, of Edinburgh. "It is indeed a pretty piece of work," said a +plain-looking lady in a handsome bonnet. "When I go travelling again," +said an elderly looking gent with an eye-glass to his face, "I will take +the phaeton and old Dobbin." Every one seemed to lay the blame on the +committee, and not, too, without some just grounds. However, Mr. Sturge, +one of the committee, being in the boat with us, an arrangement was +entered into, by which we were not compelled to pay our fare the second +time. + +As we neared the French coast, the first object that attracted our +attention was the Napoleon Pillar, on the top of which is a statue of +the Emperor in the Imperial robes. We landed, partook of refreshment +that had been prepared for us, and again repaired to the railway +station. The arrangements for leaving Boulogne were no better than those +at London. But after the delay of another hour, we were again in motion. + +It was a beautiful country through which we passed from Boulogne to +Amiens. Straggling cottages which bespeak neatness and comfort abound on +every side. The eye wanders over the diversified views with unabated +pleasure, and rests in calm repose upon its superlative beauty. Indeed, +the eye cannot but be gratified at viewing the entire country from the +coast to the metropolis. Sparkling hamlets spring up as the steam horse +speeds his way, at almost every point--showing the progress of +civilization, and the refinement of the nineteenth century. + +We arrived at Paris a few minutes past twelve o'clock at night, when, +according to our tickets, we should have been there at nine. Elihu +Burritt, who had been in Paris some days, and who had the arrangements +there pretty much his own way, was at the station waiting the arrival of +the train, and we had demonstrated to us, the best evidence that he +understood his business. In no other place on the whole route had the +affairs been so well managed; for we were seated in our respective +carriages and our luggage placed on the top, and away we went to our +hotels without the least difficulty or inconvenience. The champion of an +"Ocean Penny Postage" received, as he deserved, thanks from the whole +company for his admirable management. + +The silence of the night was only disturbed by the rolling of the wheels +of the omnibus, as we passed through the dimly lighted streets. Where, a +few months before was to be seen the flash from the cannon and the +musket, and the hearing of the cries and groans behind the barricades, +was now the stillness of death--nothing save here and there a _gens +d'arme_ was to be seen going his rounds in silence. + +The omnibus set us down at the hotel Bedford, Rue de L'Arend, where, +although near one o'clock, we found a good supper waiting for us; and, +as I was not devoid of an appetite, I did my share towards putting it +out of the way. + +The next morning I was up at an early hour, and out on the Boulevards to +see what might be seen. As I was passing from the Bedford to the Place +de La Concord, all at once, and as if by some magic power, I found +myself in front of the most splendid edifice imaginable, situated at the +end of the Rue Nationale. Seeing a number of persons entering the church +at that early hour, and recognising among them my friend the President +of the Oberlin (Ohio) Institute, and wishing not to stray too far from +my hotel before breakfast, I followed the crowd and entered the +building. The church itself consisted of a vast nave, interrupted by +four pews on each side, fronted with lofty fluted Corinthian columns +standing on pedestals, supporting colossal arches, bearing up cupolas, +pierced with skylights and adorned with compartments gorgeously gilt; +their corners supported with saints and apostles in _alto relievo_. The +walls of the church were lined with rich marble. The different paintings +and figures, gave the interior an imposing appearance. On inquiry, I +found that I was in the Church of the Madeleine. It was near this spot +that some of the most interesting scenes occurred during the Revolution +of 1848, which dethroned Louis Philippe. Behind the Madeleine is a small +but well supplied market; and on an esplanade east of the edifice, a +flower market is held on Tuesdays and Fridays. + + * * * * * + +The first session of the Peace Congress is over. + + +The Congress met this morning at 11 o'clock, in the Salle St. Cecile, +Rue de la St. Lazare. The Parisians have no "Exeter Hall:" in fact, +there is no private hall in the city of any size, save this, where such +a meeting could be held. This hall has been fitted up for the occasion. +The room is long, and at one end has a raised platform; and at the +opposite end is a gallery, with seats raised one above another. On one +side of the hall was a balcony with sofas, which were evidently the +"reserved seats." + +The hall was filled at an early hour with the delegates, their friends, +and a good sprinkling of the French. Occasionally, small groups of +gentlemen would make their appearance on the platform, until it soon +appeared that there was little room left for others; and yet the +officers of the Convention had not come in. The different countries +were, many of them, represented here. England, France, Belgium, Germany, +Switzerland, Greece, Spain, and the United States, had each their +delegates. The Assembly began to give signs of impatience, when very +soon the train of officials made their appearance amid great applause. +Victor Hugo led the way, followed by M. Duguerry, cure of the Madeleine, +Elihu Burritt, and a host of others of less note. Victor Hugo took the +chair as President of the Congress, supported by Vice-presidents from +the several nations represented. Mr. Richard, the Secretary, read a dry +report of the names of societies, committees, &c., which was deemed the +opening of the Convention. + +The President then arose, and delivered one of the most impressive and +eloquent appeals in favour of peace that could possibly be imagined. The +effect produced upon the minds of all present was such as to make the +author of "_Notre Dame de Paris_" a great favourite with the Congress. +An English gentleman near me said to his friend, "I can't understand a +word of what he says, but is it not good?" Victor Hugo concluded his +speech amid the greatest enthusiasm on the part of the French, which was +followed by hurrahs in the old English style. The Convention was +successively addressed by the President of the Brussels Peace Society; +President Mahan of the Oberlin (Ohio) Institute, U.S.; Henry Vincent; +and Richard Cobden. The latter was not only the _lion_ of the English +delegation, but the great man of the Convention. When Mr. Cobden speaks, +there is no want of hearers. The great power of this gentleman lies in +his facts and his earnestness, for he cannot be called an eloquent +speaker. Mr. Cobden addressed the Congress first in French, then in +English; and, with the single exception of Mr. Ewart, M.P., was the only +one of the English delegation that could speak to the French in their +own language. + +The Congress was brought to a close at five o'clock, when the numerous +audience dispersed--the citizens to their homes, and the delegates to +see the sights. + +I was not a little amused at an incident that occurred at the close of +the first session. On the passage from America, there were in the same +steamer with me, several Americans, and among these, three or four +appeared to be much annoyed at the fact that I was a passenger, and +enjoying the company of white persons; and although I was not openly +insulted, I very often heard the remark, that "That nigger had better be +on his master's farm," and "What could the American Peace Society be +thinking about to send a black man as a delegate to Paris." Well, at the +close of the first sitting of the Convention, and just as I was leaving +Victor Hugo, to whom I had been introduced by an M.P., I observed near +me a gentleman with his hat in hand, whom I recognized as one of the +passengers who had crossed the Atlantic with me in the _Canada_, and who +appeared to be the most horrified at having a negro for a fellow +passenger. This gentleman, as I left M. Hugo, stepped up to me and said, +"How do you do, Mr. Brown?" "You have the advantage of me," said I. "Oh, +don't you know me; I was a fellow passenger with you from America; I +wish you would give me an introduction to Victor Hugo and Mr. Cobden." I +need not inform you that I declined introducing this pro-slavery +American to these distinguished men. I only allude to this, to show what +a change comes over the dreams of my white American brother, by crossing +the ocean. The man who would not have been seen walking with me in the +streets of New York, and who would not have shaken hands with me with a +pair of tongs while on the passage from the United States, could come +with hat in hand in Paris, and say, "I was your fellow-passenger." From +the Salle de St. Cecile, I visited the Column Vendome, from the top of +which I obtained a fine view of Paris and its environs. This is the +Bunker Hill Monument of Paris. On the top of this pillar is a statue of +the Emperor Napoleon, eleven feet high. The monument is built with +stone, and the outside covered with a metallic composition, made of +cannons, guns, spikes, and other warlike implements taken from the +Russians and Austrians by Napoleon. Above 1200 cannons were melted down +to help to create this monument of folly, to commemorate the success of +the French arms in the German Campaign. The column is in imitation of +the Trajan pillar at Rome, and is twelve feet in diameter at the base. +The door at the bottom of the pillar, and where we entered, was +decorated above with crowns of oak, surmounted by eagles, each weighing +500 lbs. The bas-relief of the shaft pursues a spiral direction to the +capitol, and displays, in a chronological order, the principal actions +of the French army, from the departure of the troops from Boulogne to +the battle of Austerlitz. The figures are near three feet high, and +their number said to be two thousand. This sumptuous monument stands on +a plinth of polished granite, surmounted by an iron railing; and, from +its size and position, has an imposing appearance when seen from any +part of the city. + +Everything here appears strange and peculiar--the people not less so +than their speech. The horses, carriages, furniture, dress, and manners, +are in keeping with their language. The appearance of the labourers in +caps, resembling nightcaps, seemed particularly strange to me. The women +without bonnets, and their caps turned the right side behind, had +nothing of the look of our American women. The prettiest woman I ever +saw was without a bonnet, walking on the Boulevards. While in Ireland, +and during the few days I was in England, I was struck with the marked +difference between the appearance of the women from those of my own +country. The American women are too tall, too sallow, and too +long-featured to be called pretty. This is most probably owing to the +fact that in America the people come to maturity earlier than in most +other countries. + +My first night in Paris was spent with interest. No place can present +greater street attractions than the Boulevards of Paris. The countless +number of cafes, with tables before the doors, and these surrounded by +men with long moustaches, with ladies at their sides, whose very smiles +give indication of happiness, together with the sound of music from the +gardens in the rear, tell the stranger that he is in a different country +from his own. + + + + +LETTER IV. + +_Versailles--The Palace--Second Session of the Congress--Mr. +Cobden--Henry Vincent--M. Girardin--Abbe Duguerry--Victor Hugo: his +Speech._ + + + VERSAILLES, _August 24_. + +After the Convention had finished its sittings yesterday, I accompanied +Mrs. M. C---- and sisters to Versailles, where they are residing during +the summer. It was really pleasing to see among the hundreds of strange +faces in the Convention, those distinguished friends of the slave from +Boston. + +Mrs. C----'s residence is directly in front of the great palace where +so many kings have made their homes, the prince of whom was Louis XIV. +The palace is now unoccupied. No ruler has dared to take up his +residence here since Louis XVI. and Marie Antoinette were driven from it +by the mob from Paris on the 8th of October, 1789. The town looks like +the wreck of what it once was. At the commencement of the first +revolution, it contained one hundred thousand inhabitants; now it has +only about thirty thousand. It seems to be going back to what it was in +the time of Louis XIII., when in 1624 he built a small brick chateau, +and from it arose the magnificent palace which now stands here, and +which attracts strangers to it from all parts of the world. + +I arose this morning before the sun, and took a walk through the grounds +of the Palace, and remained three hours among the fountains and statuary +of this more than splendid place. But as I intend spending some days +here, and shall have better opportunities of seeing and judging, I will +defer my remarks upon Versailles for the present. + +Yesterday was a great day in the Congress. The session was opened by a +speech from M. Coquerel, the Protestant clergyman in Paris. His speech +was received with much applause, and seemed to create great sensation in +the Congress, especially at the close of his remarks, when he was seized +by the hand by the Abbe Duguerry, amid the most deafening and +enthusiastic applause of the entire multitude. The meeting was then +addressed in English by a short gentleman, of florid complexion. His +words seemed to come without the least difficulty, and his jestures, +though somewhat violent, were evidently studied; and the applause with +which he was greeted by the English delegation, showed that he was a man +of no little distinction among them. His speech was one continuous flow +of rapid, fervid eloquence, that seemed to fire every heart; and +although I disliked his style, I was prepossessed in his favour. This +was Henry Vincent, and his speech was in favour of disarmament. + +Mr. Vincent was followed by M. Emile de Girardin, the editor of _La +Presse_, in one of the most eloquent speeches that I ever heard; and his +exclamation of "Soldiers of Peace," drew thunders of applause from his +own countrymen. M. Girardin is not only the leader of the French press, +but is a writer on politics of great distinction, and a leader of no +inconsiderable party in the National Assembly; although still a young +man, apparently not more than thirty-eight or forty years of age. + +After a speech from Mr. Ewart, M.P., in French, and another from Mr. +Cobden in the same language, the Convention was brought to a close for +the day. I spent the morning yesterday, in visiting some of the lions of +the French capital, among which was the Louvre. The French Government +having kindly ordered, that the members of the Peace Congress should be +admitted free, and without ticket, to all the public works, I had +nothing to do but present my card of membership, and was immediately +admitted. + +The first room I entered, was nearly a quarter of a mile in length; is +known as the "Long Gallery," and contains some of the finest paintings +in the world. On entering this superb palace, my first impression was, +that all Christendom had been robbed, that the Louvre might make a +splendid appearance. This is the Italian department, and one would +suppose by its appearance that but few paintings had been left in Italy. +The entrance end of the Louvre was for a long time in an unfinished +state, but was afterwards completed by that master workman, the Emperor +Napoleon. It was long thought that the building would crumble into +decay, but the genius of the great Corsican rescued it from ruin. + +During our walk through the Louvre, we saw some twenty or thirty artists +copying paintings; some had their copies finished and were going out, +others half done, while many had just commenced. I remained some minutes +near a pretty French girl, who was copying a painting of a dog rescuing +a child from a stream of water into which it had fallen. + +I walked down one side of the hall and up the other, and was about +leaving, when I was informed that this was only one room, and that a +half-dozen more were at my service; but a clock on a neighbouring church +reminded me that I must quit the Louvre for the Salle de St. Cecile. + + * * * * * + +This morning the Hall was filled at an early hour with rather a more +fashionable looking audience than on any former occasion, and all +appeared anxious for the Congress to commence its session, as it was +understood to be the last day. After the reading of several letters from +gentlemen, apologising for their not being able to attend, the speech of +Elihu Burritt was read by a son of M. Coquerel. I felt somewhat +astonished that my countryman, who was said to be master of fifty +languages, had to get some one to read his speech in French. + +The Abbe Duguerry now came forward amid great cheering, and said that +"the eminent journalist, Girardin, and the great English logician, Mr. +Cobden, had made it unnecessary for any further advocacy in that +assembly of the Peace cause--that if the principles laid down in the +resolutions were carried out, the work would be done. He said that the +question of general pacification was built on truth--truth which +emanated from God--and it were as vain to undertake to prevent air from +expanding as to check the progress of truth. It must and would +prevail." + +A pale, thin-faced gentleman next ascended the platform (or tribune, as +it was called) amid shouts of applause from the English, and began his +speech in rather a low tone, when compared with the sharp voice of +Vincent, or the thunder of the Abbe Duguerry. An audience is not apt to +be pleased or even contented with an inferior speaker, when surrounded +by eloquent men, and I looked every moment for manifestations of +disapprobation, as I felt certain that the English delegation had made a +mistake in applauding this gentleman who seemed to make such an +unpromising beginning. But the speaker soon began to get warm on the +subject, and even at times appeared as if he had spoken before. In a +very short time, with the exception of his own voice, the stillness of +death prevailed throughout the building. The speaker, in the delivery of +one of the most logical speeches made in the Congress, and despite of +his thin, sallow look, interested me much more than any whom I had +before heard. Towards the close of his remarks, he was several times +interrupted by manifestations of approbation; and finally concluded amid +great cheering. I inquired the gentleman's name, and was informed that +it was Edward Miall, editor of the _Nonconformist_. + +After speeches from several others, the great Peace Congress of 1849, +which had brought men together from nearly all the governments of +Europe, and many from America, was brought to a final close by a speech +from the President, returning thanks for the honour that had been +conferred upon him. He said, "My address shall be short, and yet I have +to bid you adieu! How resolve to do so? Here, during three days, have +questions of the deepest import been discussed, examined, probed to the +bottom; and during these discussions, counsels have been given to +governments which they will do well to profit by. If these days' +sittings are attended with no other result, they will be the means of +sowing in the minds of those present, gems of cordiality which must +ripen into good fruit. England, France, Belgium, Europe, and America, +would all be drawn closer by these sittings. Yet the moment to part has +arrived, but I can feel that we are strongly united in heart. But before +parting I may congratulate you and myself on the result of our +proceedings. We have been all joined together without distinction of +country; we have all been united in one common feeling during our three +days' communion. The good work cannot go back, it must advance, it must +be accomplished. The course of the future may be judged of by the sound +of the footsteps of the past. In the course of that day's discussion, a +reminiscence had been handed up to one of the speakers, that this was +the anniversary of the dreadful massacre of St. Bartholomew: the rev. +gentleman who was speaking turned away from the thought of that +sanguinary scene with pious horror, natural to his sacred calling. But +I, who may boast of firmer nerve, I take up the remembrance. Yes, it was +on this day, two hundred and seventy-seven years ago, that Paris was +roused from slumber by the sound of that bell which bore the name of +_cloche d'argent_. Massacre was on foot, seeking with keen eye for its +victim--man was busy in slaying man. That slaughter was called forth by +mingled passions of the worst description. Hatred of all kinds was there +urging on the slayer--hatred of a religious, a political, a personal +character. And yet on the anniversary of that same day of horror, and in +that very city whose blood was flowing like water, has God this day +given a rendezvous to men of peace, whose wild tumult is transformed +into order, and animosity into love. The stain of blood is blotted out, +and in its place beams forth a ray of holy light. All distinctions are +removed, and Papist and Huguenot meet together in friendly communion. +(Loud cheers.) Who that thinks of these amazing changes can doubt of the +progress that has been made? But whoever denies the force of progress +must deny God, since progress is the boon of Providence, and emanated +from the great Being above. I feel gratified for the change that has +been effected, and, pointing solemnly to the past, I say let this day be +ever held memorable--let the 24th of August, 1572, be remembered only +for the purpose of being compared with the 24th of August, 1849; and +when we think of the latter, and ponder over the high purpose to which +it has been devoted--the advocacy of the principles of peace--let us not +be so wanting in reliance on Providence as to doubt for one moment of +the eventful success of our holy cause." + +The most enthusiastic cheers followed this interesting speech. A vote of +thanks to the government, and three times three cheers, with Mr. Cobden +as "fugleman," ended the great Peace Congress of 1849. + +Time for separating had arrived, yet all seemed unwilling to leave the +place, where for three days men of all creeds and of no creed had met +upon one common platform. In one sense the meeting was a glorious +one--in another, it was mere child's play; for the Congress had been +restricted to the discussion of certain topics. They were permitted to +dwell on the blessings of peace, but were not allowed to say anything +about the very subjects above all others that should have been brought +before the Congress. A French army had invaded Rome and put down the +friends of political and religious freedom, yet not a word was said in +reference to it. The fact is, the Committee permitted the Congress to +be _gagged_, before it had met. They put padlocks upon their own mouths, +and handed the keys to the government. And this was sorely felt by many +of the speakers. Richard Cobden, who had thundered his anathemas against +the Corn Laws of his own country, and against wars in every clime, had +to sit quiet in his fetters. Henry Vincent, who can make a louder speech +in favour of peace, than almost any other man, and whose denunciations +of "all war," have gained him no little celebrity with peace men, had to +confine himself to the blessings of peace. Oh! how I wished for a +Massachusetts atmosphere, a New England Convention platform, with +Wendell Phillips as the speaker, before that assembled multitude from +all parts of the world. + +But the Congress is over, and cannot now be made different; yet it is to +be hoped that neither the London Peace Committee, nor any other men +having the charge of getting up such another great meeting, will commit +such an error again. + + + + +LETTER V. + +_M. de Tocqueville's Grand Soiree--Madame de Tocqueville--Visit of the +Peace Delegates to Versailles--The Breakfast--Speechmaking--The +Trianons--Waterworks--St. Cloud--The Fete._ + + + VERSAILLES, _August 24_. + +The day after the close of the Congress, the delegates and their friends +were invited to a soiree by M. de Tocqueville, Minister for Foreign +Affairs, to take place on the next evening (Saturday); and, as my +coloured face and curly hair did not prevent my getting an invitation, I +was present with the rest of my peace brethren. + +Had I been in America, where colour is considered a crime, I would not +have been seen at such a gathering, unless as a servant. In company with +several delegates, we left the Bedford Hotel for the mansion of the +Minister of Foreign Affairs; and, on arriving, we found a file of +soldiers drawn up before the gate. This did not seem much like peace: +however, it was merely done in honour of the company. We entered the +building through massive doors and resigned ourselves into the hands of +good-looking waiters in white wigs; and, after our names were duly +announced, were passed from room to room till I was presented to Madame +de Tocqueville, who was standing near the centre of the large +drawing-room, with a bouquet in her hand. I was about passing on, when +the gentleman who introduced me intimated that I was an "American +slave." At the announcement of this fact the distinguished lady extended +her hand and gave me a cordial welcome--at the same time saying, "I hope +you feel yourself free in Paris." Having accepted an invitation to a +seat by the lady's side, who seated herself on a sofa, I was soon what I +most dislike, "the observed of all observers." I recognised among many +of my own countrymen, who were gazing at me, the American Consul, Mr. +Walsh. My position did not improve his looks. The company present on +this occasion were variously estimated at from one thousand to fifteen +hundred. Among these were the Ambassadors from the different countries +represented at the French metropolis, and many of the _elite_ of Paris. +One could not but be interested with the difference in dress, looks, and +manners of this assemblage of strangers whose language was as different +as their general appearance. Delight seemed to beam in every countenance +as the living stream floated from one room to another. The house and +gardens were illuminated in the most gorgeous manner. Red, yellow, blue, +green, and many other coloured lamps, suspended from the branches of the +trees in the gardens, gave life and animation to the whole scene out of +doors. The soiree passed off satisfactorily to all parties; and by +twelve o'clock I was again at my Hotel. + + * * * * * + +Through the politeness of the government the members of the Congress +have not only had the pleasure of seeing all the public works free, and +without special ticket, but the palaces of Versailles and St. Cloud, +together with their splendid grounds, have been thrown open, and the +water-works set to playing in both places. This mark of respect for the +Peace movement is commendable in the French; and were I not such a +strenuous friend of free speech, this act would cause me to overlook the +padlocks that the government put upon our lips in the Congress. + +Two long trains left Paris at nine o'clock for Versailles; and at each +of the stations the company were loudly cheered by the people who had +assembled to see them pass. At Versailles, we found thousands at the +station, who gave us a most enthusiastic welcome. We were blessed with a +goodly number of the fair sex, who always give life and vigour to such +scenes. The train had scarcely stopped, ere the great throng were +wending their ways in different directions, some to the cafes to get +what an early start prevented their getting before leaving Paris, and +others to see the soldiers who were on review. But most bent their steps +towards the great palace. + +At eleven o'clock we were summoned to the _dejeuner_, which had been +prepared by the English delegates in honour of their American friends. +About six hundred sat down at the tables. Breakfast being ended, Mr. +Cobden was called to the chair, and several speeches were made. Many +who had not an opportunity to speak at the Congress, thought this a +good chance; and the written addresses which had been studied during the +passage from America, with the hope that they would immortalize their +authors before the great Congress, were produced at the breakfast table. +But speech-making was not the order of the day. Too many thundering +addresses had been delivered in the Salle de St. Cecile, to allow the +company to sit and hear dryly written and worse delivered speeches in +the Teniscourt. + +There was no limited time given to the speakers, yet no one had been on +his feet five minutes, before the cry was heard from all parts of the +house, "Time, time." One American was hissed down, another took his seat +with a red face, and a third opened his bundle of paper, looked around +at the audience, made a bow, and took his seat amid great applause. Yet +some speeches were made, and to good effect, the best of which was by +Elihu Burritt, who was followed by the Rev. James Freeman Clark. I +regretted very much that the latter did not deliver his address before +the Congress, for he is a man of no inconsiderable talent, and an +acknowledged friend of the slave. + +The cry of "The water-works are playing," "The water is on," broke up +the meeting, without even a vote of thanks to the Chairman; and the +whole party were soon revelling among the fountains and statues of Louis +XIV. Description would fail to give a just idea of the grandeur and +beauty of this splendid place. I do not think that any thing can surpass +the fountain of Neptune, which stands near the Grand Trianon. One may +easily get lost in wandering through the grounds of Versailles, but he +will always be in sight of some life-like statue. These monuments, +erected to gratify the fancy of a licentious king, make their appearance +at every turn. Two lions, the one overturning a wild boar, the other a +wolf, both the production of Fillen, pointed out to us the fountain of +Diana. But I will not attempt to describe to you any of the very +beautiful sculptured gods and goddesses here. + +With a single friend I paid a visit to the two Trianons. The larger was, +we were told, just as king Louis Philippe left it. One room was +splendidly fitted up for the reception of Her Majesty Queen Victoria; +who, it appeared, had promised a visit to the French Court; but the +French Monarch ran away from his throne before the time arrived. The +Grand Trianon is not larger than many noblemen's seats that may be seen +in a day's ride through any part of the British empire. The building has +only a ground floor, but its proportions are very elegant. + +We next paid our respects to the Little Trianon. This appears to be the +most Republican of any of the French palaces. I inspected this little +palace with much interest, not more for its beauty than because of its +having been the favourite residence of that purest of Princesses, best +of Queens, and most affectionate of mothers, Marie Antoinette. The +grounds and building may be said to be only a palace in miniature, and +this makes it still a more lovely spot. The building consists of a +square pavilion two stories high, and separated entirely from the +accessory buildings, which are on the left, and among them a pretty +chapel. But a wish to be with the multitude, who were roving among the +fountains, cut short my visit to the trianons. + +The day was very fine, and the whole party seemed to enjoy it. It was +said that there were more than one hundred thousand persons at +Versailles during the day. The company appeared to lose themselves with +the pleasure of walking among the trees, flower beds, fountains, and +statues. I met more than one wife seeking a lost husband, and _vice +versa_. Many persons were separated from their friends and did not meet +them again till at the hotels in Paris. In the train returning to Paris, +an old gentleman who was seated near me said, "I would rest contented if +I thought I should ever see my wife again!" + +At four o'clock we were _en route_ to St. Cloud, the much loved and +favourite residence of the Emperor Napoleon. It seemed that all Paris +had come out to St. Cloud to see how the English and Americans would +enjoy the playing of the water-works. Many kings and rulers of the +French have made St. Cloud their residence, but none have impressed +their images so indelibly upon it as Napoleon. It was here he was first +elevated to power, and here Josephine spent her most happy hours. + +The apartments where Napoleon was married to Marie Louise; the private +rooms of Josephine and Marie Antoinette, were all in turn shown to us. +While standing on the balcony looking at Paris one cannot wonder that +the Emperor should have selected this place as his residence, for a more +lovely spot cannot be found than St. Cloud. + +The palace is on the side of a hill, two leagues from Paris, and so +situated that it looks down upon the French capital. Standing, as we +did, viewing Paris from St. Cloud, and the setting sun reflecting upon +the domes, spires, and towers of the city of fashion, made us feel that +this was the place from which the monarch should watch his subjects. +From the hour of arrival at St. Cloud till near eight o'clock, we were +either inspecting the splendid palace or roaming the grounds and +gardens, whose beautiful walks and sweet flowers made it appear a very +Paradise on earth. + +At eight o'clock the water-works were put in motion, and the variagated +lamps with their many devices, displaying flowers, stars, and wheels, +all with a brilliancy that can scarcely be described, seemed to throw +everything in the shade we had seen at Versailles. At nine o'clock the +train was announced, and after a good deal of jamming and pushing about, +we were again on the way to Paris. + + + + +LETTER VI. + +_The Tuileries--Place de la Concorde--The Egyptian Obelisk--Palais +Royal--Residence of Robespierre--A Visit to the Room in which Charlotte +Corday killed Marat--Church de Notre Dame--Palais de Justice--Hotel des +Invalids--National Assembly--The Elysee._ + + + PARIS, _August 28_. + +Yesterday morning I started at an early hour for the Palace of the +Tuileries. A show of my card of membership of the Congress (which had +carried me through so many of the public buildings) was enough to gain +me immediate admission. The attack of the mob on the palace, on the 20th +of June, 1792, the massacre of the Swiss guard on the 10th of August of +the same year, the attack by the people in July 1830, together with the +recent flight of king Louis Philippe and family, made me anxious to +visit the old pile. + +We were taken from room to room, until the entire building had been +inspected. In front of the Tuileries, are a most magnificent garden and +grounds. These were all laid out by Louis XIV., and are left nearly as +they were during that monarch's reign. Above fifty acres surrounded by +an iron rail fence, fronts the Place de la Concorde, and affords a place +of promenade for the Parisians. I walked the pleasing grounds, and saw +hundreds of well dressed persons walking under the shade of the great +chestnuts, or sitting on chairs which were kept to let at two sous a +piece. Near by is the Place de Carrousel, noted for its historical +remembrances. Many incidents connected with the several revolutions +occurred here, and it is pointed out as the place where Napoleon +reviewed that formidable army of his before its departure for Russia. + +From the Tuileries, I took a stroll through the Place de la Concorde, +which has connected with it so many acts of cruelty, that it made me +shudder as I passed over its grounds. As if to take from one's mind the +old associations of this place, the French have erected on it, or rather +given a place to, the celebrated obelisk of Luxor, which now is the +chief attraction on the grounds. The obelisk was brought from Egypt at +an enormous expense; for which purpose a ship was built, and several +hundred men employed above three years in its removal. It is formed of +the finest red syenite, and covered on each side with three lines of +hieroglyphic inscriptions, commemorative of Sesostris--the middle lines +being the most deeply cut and most carefully finished; and the +characters altogether number more than 1600. The obelisk is of a single +stone, is 72 feet in height, weighs 500,000 lbs., and stands on a block +of granite that weighs 250,000 lbs. He who can read Latin will see that +the monument tells its own story, but to me its characters were all +blank. + +It would be tedious to follow the history of this old and venerated +stone, which was taken from the quarry 1550 years before the birth of +Christ; placed in Thebes; its removal; the journey to the Nile, and +down the Nile; thence to Cherbourg, and lastly its arrival in Paris on +the 23d of December, 1833--just one year before I escaped from slavery. +The obelisk was raised on the spot where it now stands, on the 25th of +October, 1836, in the presence of Louis Philippe and amid the greetings +of 160,000 persons. + +Having missed my dinner, I crossed over to the Palais Royal, to a dining +saloon, and can assure you that a better dinner may be had there for +five francs, than can be got in New York for twice that sum, and +especially if the person who wants the dinner is a coloured man. I found +no prejudice against my complexion in the Palais Royal. + +Many of the rooms in this once abode of Royalty, are most splendidly +furnished, and decorated with valuable pictures. The likenesses of +Madame de Stael, J.J. Rousseau, Cromwell, and Francis I., are among +them. + + * * * * * + +After several unsuccessful attempts to-day, in company with R.D. Webb, +Esq., to seek out the house where once resided the notorious +Robespierre, I was fortunate enough to find it, but not until I had +lost the company of my friend. The house is No. 396, Rue St. Honore, +opposite the Church of the Assumption. It stands back, and is reached by +entering a court. During the first revolution it was occupied by M. +Duplay, with whom Robespierre lodged. The room used by the great man of +the revolution, was pointed out to me. It is small, and the ceiling low, +with two windows looking out upon the court. The pin upon which the blue +coat once hung, is still in the wall. While standing there, I could +almost imagine that I saw the great "Incorruptible," sitting at the +small table composing those speeches which gave him so much power and +influence in the Convention and the Clubs. + +Here, the disciple of Rousseau sat and planned how he should outdo his +enemies and hold on to his friends. From this room he went forth, +followed by his dog Brunt, to take his solitary walk in a favourite and +neighbouring field, or to the fiery discussions of the National +Convention. In the same street, is the house in which Madame Roland--one +of Robespierre's victims--resided. + +A view of the residence of one of the master spirits of the French +revolution inclined me to search out more, and therefore I proceeded to +the old town, and after winding through several small streets--some of +them so narrow as not to admit more than one cab at a time--I found +myself in the Rue de L'Ecole de Medecine, and standing in front of house +No. 20. This was the residence, during the early days of the revolution, +of that bloodthirsty demon in human form, Marat. + +I said to a butcher, whose shop was underneath, that I wanted to see La +Chambre de Marat. He called out to the woman of the house to know if I +could be admitted, and the reply was, that the room was used as a +sleeping apartment, and could not be seen. + +As this was private property, my blue card of membership to the Congress +was not available. But after slipping a franc into the old lady's hand, +I was informed that the room was now ready. We entered a court and +ascended a flight of stairs, the entrance to which is on the right; then +crossing to the left, we were shown into a moderate-sized room on the +first floor, with two windows looking out upon a yard. Here it was where +the "Friend of the People" (as he styled himself,) sat and wrote those +articles that appeared daily in his journal, urging the people to "hang +the rich upon lamp posts." The place where the bath stood, in which he +was bathing at the time he was killed by Charlotte Corday, was pointed +out to us; and even something representing an old stain of blood was +shown as the place where he was laid when taken out of the bath. The +window, behind whose curtains the heroine hid, after she had plunged the +dagger into the heart of the man whom she thought was the cause of the +shedding of so much blood by the guillotine, was pointed out with a +seeming degree of pride by the old woman. + +With my Guide Book in hand, I again went forth to "hunt after new +fancies." + + * * * * * + +After walking over the ground where the guillotine once stood, cutting +off its hundred and fifty heads per day, and then visiting the place +where some of the chief movers in that sanguinary revolution once +lived, I felt little disposed to sleep, when the time for it had +arrived. However, I was out this morning at an early hour, and on the +Champs Elysees; and again took a walk over the place where the +guillotine stood, when its fatal blade was sending so many unprepared +spirits into eternity. When standing here, you have the Palace of the +Tuileries on one side, the arch on the other; on a third, the classic +Madeleine; and on the fourth, the National Assembly. It caused my blood +to chill, the idea of being on the identical spot where the heads of +Louis XVI. and his Queen, after being cut off, were held up to satisfy +the blood-thirsty curiosity of the two hundred thousand persons that +were assembled on the Place de la Revolution. Here Royal blood flowed as +it never did before or since. The heads of patricians and plebians, were +thrown into the same basket, without any regard to birth or station. +Here Robespierre and Danton had stood again and again, and looked their +victims in the face as they ascended the scaffold; and here, these same +men had to mount the very scaffold that they had erected for others. I +wandered up the Seine, till I found myself looking at the statue of +Henry the IV. over the principal entrance of the Hotel de Ville. When we +take into account the connection of the Hotel de Ville with the +different revolutions, we must come to the conclusion, that it is one of +the most remarkable buildings in Paris. The room was pointed out where +Robespierre held his counsels, and from the windows of which he could +look out upon the Place de Greve, where the guillotine stood before its +removal to the Place de la Concorde. The room is large, with gilded +hangings, splendid old-fashioned chandeliers, and a chimney-piece with +fine antiquated carvings, that give it a venerable appearance. Here +Robespierre not only presided at the counsels that sent hundreds to the +guillotine; but from this same spot, he, with his brother St. Just and +others, were dragged before the Committee of Public Safety, and thence +to the guillotine, and justice and revenge satisfied. + +The window from which Lafayette addressed the people in 1830, and +presented to them Louis Philippe, as the king, was shown to us. Here the +poet, statesman, philosopher and orator, Lamartine, stood in February +1848, and, by the power of his eloquence, succeeded in keeping the +people quiet. Here he forced the mob, braved the bayonets presented to +his breast, and, by his good reasoning, induced them to retain the +tri-coloured flag, instead of adopting the red flag, which he considered +the emblem of blood. + +Lamartine is a great heroic genius, dear to liberty and to France; and +successive generations, as they look back upon the revolution of 1848, +will recall to memory the many dangers which nothing but his dauntless +courage warded off. The difficulties which his wisdom surmounted, and +the good service that he rendered to France, can never be adequately +estimated or too highly appreciated. It was at the Hotel de Ville that +the Republic of 1848 was proclaimed to the people. + +I next paid my respects to the Column of July that stands on the spot +formerly occupied by the Bastile. It is 163 feet in height, and on the +top is the Genius of Liberty, with a torch in his right hand, and in the +left a broken chain. After a fatiguing walk up a winding stair, I +obtained a splendid view of Paris from the top of the column. + +I thought I should not lose the opportunity of seeing the Church de +Notre Dame while so near to it, and, therefore, made it my next rallying +point. No edifice connected with religion has had more interesting +incidents occurring in it than this old church. Here Pope Pius VII. +placed the Imperial Crown on the head of the Corsican--or rather +Napoleon took the Crown from his hands and placed it on his own head. +Satan dragging the wicked to ----; the rider on the red horse at the +opening of the second seal; the blessedness of the saints; and several +other striking sculptured figures were among the many curiosities in +this splendid place. A hasty view from the gallery concluded my visit to +the Notre Dame. + +Leaving the old church I strayed off in a direction towards the Seine, +and passed by an old looking building of stately appearance, and +recognised, among a throng passing in and out, a number of the members +of the Peace Congress. I joined a party entering, and was soon in the +presence of men with gowns on, and men with long staffs in their +hands--and on inquiry found that I was in the Palais de Justice; +beneath which is the Conciergerie, a noted prison. Louis XVI. and Marie +Antoinette were tried and condemned to death here. + +A bas-relief, by Cortat, representing Louis in conference with his +Counsel, is here seen. But I had visited too many places of interest +during the day to remain long in a building surrounded by officers of +justice, and took a stroll upon the Boulevards. + +The Boulevards may be termed the Regent Street of Paris, or a New Yorker +would call them Broadway. While passing a cafe, my German friend Faigo, +whose company I had enjoyed during the passage from America, recognised +me, and I sat down and took a cup of delicious coffee for the first time +on the side walk, in sight of hundreds who were passing up and down the +street every hour. From three till eleven o'clock, P.M., the Boulevards +are lined with men and women sitting before the doors of the saloons +drinking their coffee or wines, or both at the same time, as fancy may +dictate. All Paris appeared to be on the Boulevards, and looking as if +the great end of this life was enjoyment. + + * * * * * + +Anxious to see as much as possible of Paris in the limited time I had to +stay in it, I hired a cab yesterday morning and commenced with the Hotel +des Invalids, a magnificent building, within a few minutes' walk of the +National Assembly. On each side of the entrance gate are figures +representing nations conquered by Louis XIV., with colossal statues of +Mars and Minerva. The dome on the edifice is the loftiest in Paris--the +height from the ground being 323 feet. + +Immediately below the dome is the tomb of the man at whose word the +world turned pale. A statue of the Emperor Napoleon stands in the second +piazza, and is of the finest bronze. + +This building is the home of the pensioned soldiers of France. It was +enough to make one sick at the idea of war, to look upon the mangled +bodies of these old soldiers. Men with arms and no legs; others had legs +but no arms; some with canes and crutches, and some wheeling themselves +about in little hand carts. About three thousand of the decayed soldiers +were lodged in the Hotel des Invalids, at the time of my visit. Passing +the National Assembly on my return, I spent a moment or two in it. The +interior of this building resembles an amphitheatre. It is constructed +to accommodate 900 members, each having a separate desk. The seat upon +which the Duchesse of Orleans, and her son, the Comte de Paris, sat, +when they visited the National Assembly after the flight of Louis +Philippe, was shown with considerable alacrity. As I left the building, +I heard that the President of the Republic was on the point of leaving +the Elysee for St. Cloud, and with the hope of seeing the "Prisoner of +Ham," I directed my cabman to drive me to the Elysee. + +In a few moments we were between two files of soldiers, and entering the +gates of the palace. I called out to the driver and told him to stop; +but I was too late, for we were now in front of the massive doors of the +palace, and a liveried servant opened the cab door, bowed, and asked if +I had an engagement with the President. You may easily "guess" his +surprise when I told him no. In my best French, I asked the cabman why +he had come to the palace, and was answered, "You told me to." By this +time a number had gathered round, all making inquiries as to what I +wanted. I told the driver to retrace his steps, and, amid the shrugs of +their shoulders, the nods of their heads, and the laughter of the +soldiers, I left the Elysee without even a sight of the President's +mustaches for my trouble. This was only one of the many mistakes I made +while in Paris. + + + + +LETTER VII. + +_The Chateau at Versailles--Private apartments of Marie Antoinette--The +Secret Door--Paintings of Raphael and David--Arc de Triomphe--Beranger +the Poet._ + + + VERSAILLES, _August 31_. + +Here I am, within ten leagues of Paris, spending the time pleasantly in +viewing the palace and grounds of the great Chateau of Louis XIV. +Fifty-seven years ago, a mob, composed of men, women, and boys, from +Paris, stood in front of this palace and demanded that the king should +go with them to the capital. I have walked over the same ground where +the one hundred thousand stood on that interesting occasion. I have been +upon the same balcony, and stood by the window from which Maria +Antoinette looked out upon the mob that were seeking her life. + +Anxious to see as much of the palace as I could, and having an offer of +the company of my young friend, Henry G. Chapman, to go through the +palace with me, I set out early yesterday morning, and was soon in the +halls that had often been trod by Royal feet. We passed through the +private, as well as the public, apartments, through the secret door by +which Marie Antoinette had escaped from the mob of 1792, and viewed the +room in which her faithful guards were killed, while attempting to save +their Royal mistress. I took my seat in one of the little parlour +carriages that had been used in days of yore for the Royal children; +while my friend, H.G. Chapman, drew me across the room. The superb +apartments are not now in use. Silence is written upon these walls, +although upon them are suspended the portraits of men of whom the world +has heard. + +Paintings, representing Napoleon in nearly all his battles, are here +seen; and wherever you see the Emperor, there you will also find Murat, +with his white plume waving above. Callot's painting of the battle of +Marengo, Hue's of the retaking of Genoa, and Bouchat's of the 18th +Brumaire, are of the highest order; while David has transmitted his fame +to posterity, by his splendid painting of the Coronation of Napoleon and +Josephine in Notre Dame. When I looked upon the many beautiful paintings +of the last named artist, that adorn the halls of Versailles, I did not +wonder that his fame should have saved his life, when once condemned and +sentenced to death during the reign of terror. The guillotine was robbed +of its intended victim, but the world gained a great painter. As Boswell +transmitted his own name to posterity with his life of Johnson, so has +David left his, with the magnificent paintings that are now suspended +upon the walls of the palaces of the Louvre, the Tuileries, St. Cloud, +Versailles, and even the little Elysee. + +After strolling from room to room, we found ourselves in the Salle du +Sacre, Diane, Salon de Mars, de Mercure, and d'Apollon. I gazed with my +eyes turned to the ceiling till I was dizzy. The Salon de la Guerre is +covered with the most beautiful representations that the mind of man +could conceive, or the hand accomplish. Louis XIV. is here in all his +glory. No Marie Antoinette will ever do the honours in these halls +again. + +After spending a whole day in the Palace and several mornings in the +Gardens, I finally bid adieu to the bronze statue of Louis XIV. that +stands in front of the Palace, and left Versailles, probably for ever. + + * * * * * + + + PARIS, _September 2_. + +I am now on the point of quitting the French Metropolis. I have occupied +the last two days in visiting places of note in the city. I could not +resist the inclination to pay a second visit to the Louvre. Another hour +was spent in strolling through the Italian Hall and viewing the +master-workmanship of Raphael, the prince of painters. Time flies, even +in such a place as the Louvre with all its attractions; and before I had +seen half that I wished, a ponderous clock near by reminded me of an +engagement, and I reluctantly tore myself from the splendours of the +place. + +During the rest of the day I visited the Jardin des Plantes, and spent +an hour and a half pleasantly in walking among plants, flowers, and in +fact everything that could be found in any garden in France. From this +place we passed by the column of the Bastile, and paid our respects to +the Bourse, or Exchange, one of the most superb buildings in the city. +The ground floor and sides of the Bourse, are of fine marble, and the +names of the chief cities in the world are inscribed on the medallions, +which are under the upper cornice. The interior of the edifice has a +most splendid appearance as you enter it. + +The Cemetery of Pere la Chaise was too much talked of by many of our +party at the Hotel for me to pass it by, so I took it after the Bourse. +Here lie many of the great marshals of France--the resting place of each +marked by the monument that stands over it, except one, which is marked +only by a weeping willow and a plain stone at its head. This is the +grave of Marshal Ney. I should not have known that it was his, but some +unknown hand had written with black paint, "Bravest of the Brave," on +the unlettered stone that stands at the head of the man who followed +Napoleon through nearly all his battles, and who was shot after the +occupation of Paris by the allied army. Peace to his ashes. During my +ramble through this noted place, I saw several who were hanging fresh +wreaths of everlasting flowers on the tombs of the departed. + +A ride in an omnibus down the Boulevards, and away up the Champs +Elysees, brought me to the Arc de Triomphe; and after ascending a flight +of one hundred and sixty-one steps, I was overlooking the city of +statuary. This stupendous monument was commenced by Napoleon in 1806; +and in 1811 it had only reached the cornice of the base, where it +stopped, and it was left for Louis Philippe to finish. The first stone +of this monument was laid on the 15th of August, 1806, the birth-day of +the man whose battles it was intended to commemorate. A model of the +arch was erected for Napoleon to pass through as he was entering the +city with Maria Louisa, after their marriage. The inscriptions on the +monument are many, and the different scenes here represented are all of +the most exquisite workmanship. The genius of War is summoning the +obedient nations to battle. Victory is here crowning Napoleon after his +great success in 1810. Fame stands here recording the exploits of the +warrior, while conquered cities lie beneath the whole. But it would take +more time than I have at command to give anything like a description of +this magnificent piece of architecture. + +That which seems to take most with Peace Friends, is the portion +representing an old man taming a bull for agricultural labour; while a +young warrior is sheathing his sword, a mother and children sitting at +his feet, and Minerva crowned with laurels, stands shedding her +protecting influence over them. The erection of this regal monument is +wonderful, to hand down to posterity the triumphs of the man whom we +first hear of as a student in the military school at Brienne, whom in +1784 we see in the Ecole Militaire, founded by Louis XV. in 1751; whom +again we find at No. 5, Quai de Court, near Rue de Mail; and in 1794 as +a lodger at No. 19, Rue de la Michandere. From this he goes to the Hotel +Mirabeau, Rue du Dauphin, where he resided when he defeated his enemies +on the 13th Vendimaire. The Hotel de la Colonade, Rue Neuve des +Capuchins is his next residence, and where he was married to Josephine. +From this hotel he removed to his wife's dwelling in the Rue +Chanteriene, No. 52. In 1796 the young general started for Italy, where +his conquests paved the way for the ever memorable 18th Brumaire, that +made him dictator of France. Napoleon was too great now to be satisfied +with private dwellings, and we next trace him to the Elysee, St. Cloud, +Versailles, the Tuileries, Fontainbleau, and finally, came his decline, +which I need not relate to you. + +After visiting the Gobelins, passing through its many rooms, seeing here +and there a half-finished piece of tapestry; and meeting a number of the +members of the late Peace Congress, who, like myself had remained behind +to see more of the beauties of the French capital than could be +overtaken during the Convention week. I accepted an invitation to dine +with a German gentleman at the Palais Royal, and was soon revelling amid +the luxuries of the table. I was glad that I had gone to the Palais +Royal, for here I had the honour of an introduction to M. Beranger, the +poet; and although I had to converse with him through an interpreter, I +enjoyed his company very much. "The people's poet," as he is called, is +apparently about seventy years of age, bald on the top of the head, and +rather corpulent, but of active look, and in the enjoyment of good +health. Few writers in France have done better service to the cause of +political and religious freedom, than Pierre Jean de Beranger. He is the +dauntless friend and advocate of the down-trodden poor and oppressed, +and has often incurred the displeasure of the Government by the arrows +that he has thrown into their camp. He felt what he wrote; it came +straight from his heart, and went directly to the hearts of the people. +He expressed himself strongly opposed to slavery, and said, "I don't +see how the Americans can reconcile slavery with their professed love of +freedom." Dinner out of the way, a walk through the different +apartments, and a stroll over the court, and I bade adieu to the Palais +Royal, satisfied that I should partake of many worse dinners than I had +helped to devour that day. + +Few nations are more courteous than the French. Here the stranger, let +him come from what country he may, and be ever so unacquainted with the +people and language, he is sure of a civil reply to any question that he +may ask. With the exception of the egregious blunder I have mentioned of +the cabman driving me to the Elysee, I was not laughed at once while in +France. + + + + +LETTER VIII. + +_Departure from Paris--Boulogne--Folkstone--London--Geo. Thompson, Esq., +M.P.--Hartwell House--Dr. Lee--Cottage of the Peasant--Windsor +Castle--Residence of Wm. Penn--England's First Welcome--Heath Lodge--The +Bank of England._ + + + LONDON, _Sept. 8th_. + +The sun had just appeared from behind a cloud and was setting, and its +reflection upon the domes and spires of the great buildings in Paris +made everything appear lovely and sublime, as the train, with almost +lightning speed, was bringing me from the French metropolis. I gazed +with eager eyes to catch a farewell glance of the tops of the regal +palaces through which I had passed, during a stay of fifteen days in the +French capital. + +A pleasant ride of four hours brought us to Boulogne, where we rested +for the night. The next morning I was up at an early hour, and out +viewing the town. Boulogne could present but little attraction, after a +fortnight spent in seeing the lions of Paris. A return to the hotel, and +breakfast over, we stepped on board the steamer, and were soon crossing +the channel. Two hours more, and I was safely seated in a railway +carriage, _en route_ to the English metropolis. We reached London at +mid-day, where I was soon comfortably lodged at 22, Cecil Street, +Strand. As the London lodging-houses seldom furnish dinners, I lost no +time in seeking out a dining-saloon, which I had no difficulty in +finding in the Strand. It being the first house of the kind I had +entered in London, I was not a little annoyed at the politeness of the +waiter. The first salutation I had, after seating myself in one of the +stalls, was, "Ox tail, Sir; gravy soup; carrot soup, Sir; roast beef; +roast pork; boiled beef; roast lamb; boiled leg of mutton, Sir, with +caper sauce; jugged hare, Sir; boiled knuckle of veal and bacon; roast +turkey and oyster sauce; sucking pig, Sir; curried chicken; harrico +mutton, Sir." These, and many other dishes which I have forgotten, were +called over with a rapidity that would have done credit to one of our +Yankee pedlars, in crying his wares in a New England village. I was so +completely taken by surprise, that I asked for a "bill of fare," and +told him to leave me. No city in the world furnishes a cheaper, better, +and quicker meal for the weary traveller, than a London eating-house. + + * * * * * + +After spending a day in looking about through this great thoroughfare, +the Strand, I sallied forth with letters of introduction, with which I +had been provided by my friends before leaving America; and following +the direction of one, I was soon at No. 6, A, Waterloo Place. A moment +more, and I was in the presence of one of whom I had heard much, and +whose name is as familiar to the friends of the slave in the United +States, as household words. Although I had never seen him before, yet I +felt a feeling akin to love for the man who had proclaimed to the +oppressors of my race in America, the doctrine of _immediate +emancipation_ for the slaves of the great Republic. On reaching the +door, I sent in my letter; and it being fresh from the hands of William +Lloyd Garrison, the champion of freedom in the New World, was calculated +to insure me a warm reception at the hands of the distinguished M.P. for +the Tower Hamlets. Mr. Thompson did not wait for the servant to show me +in; but met me at the door himself, and gave me a hearty shake of the +hand, at the same time saying, "Welcome to England. How did you leave +Garrison." I need not add, that Mr. T. gave me the best advice, as to my +course in Great Britain; and how I could best serve the cause of my +enslaved countrymen. I never enjoyed three hours more agreeably than +those I spent with Mr. T. on the occasion of my first visit. George +Thompson's love of freedom, his labours in behalf of the American slave, +the negroes of the West Indies, and the wronged millions of India, are +too well known to the people of both hemispheres, to need a word of +comment from me. With the single exception of the illustrious Garrison, +no individual is more loved and honoured by the coloured people of +America, and their friends than Mr. Thompson. + +A few days after my arrival in London, I received an invitation from +John Lee, Esq., LL.D., whom I had met at the Peace Congress in Paris, to +pay him a visit at his seat, near Aylesbury; and as the time was "fixed" +by the Dr., I took the train on the appointed day, on my way to Hartwell +House. + +I had heard much of the aristocracy of England, and must confess that I +was not a little prejudiced against them. On a bright sunshine day, +between the hours of twelve and two, I found myself seated in a +carriage, my back turned upon Aylesbury, the vehicle whirling rapidly +over the smooth macadamised road, and I on my first visit to an English +gentleman. Twenty minutes' ride, and a turn to the right, and we were +amid the fine old trees of Hartwell Park; one having suspended from its +branches, the national banners of several different countries; among +them, the "Stars and Stripes. I felt glad that my own country's flag had +a place there, although Campbell's lines"-- + + "United States, your banner wears, + Two emblems,--one of fame; + Alas, the other that it bears, + Reminds us of your shame. + The white man's liberty in types, + Stands blazoned by your stars; + But what's the meaning of your stripes, + They mean your Negro-scars"-- + + +were at the time continually running through my mind. Arrived at the +door, and we received what every one does who visits Dr. Lee--a hearty +welcome. I was immediately shown into a room with a lofty ceiling, hung +round with fine specimens of the Italian masters, and told that this was +my apartment. Hartwell House stands in an extensive park, shaded with +trees, that made me think of the oaks and elms in an American forest, +and many of whose limbs had been trimmed and nursed with the best of +care. This was for seven years the residence of John Hampden the +patriot, and more recently that of Louis XVIII., during his exile in +this country. The house is built on a very extensive scale, and is +ornamented in the interior with carvings in wood of many of the kings +and princes of bygone centuries. A room some 60 feet by 25 contains a +variety of articles that the Dr. has collected together--the whole +forming a museum that would be considered a sight in the Western States +of America. + +The morning after my arrival at Hartwell I was up at an early hour--in +fact, before any of the servants--wandering about through the vast +halls, and trying to find my way out, in which I eventually succeeded, +but not, however, without aid. It had rained the previous night, and the +sun was peeping through a misty cloud as I strolled through the park, +listening to the sweet voices of the birds that were fluttering in the +tops of the trees, and trimming their wings for a morning flight. The +silence of the night had not yet been broken by the voice of man; and I +wandered about the vast park unannoyed, except by the dew from the grass +that wet my slippers. Not far from the house I came abruptly upon a +beautiful little pond of water, where the gold fish were flouncing +about, and the gentle ripples glittering in the sunshine looked like so +many silver minnows playing on the surface. + +While strolling about with pleasure, and only regretting that my dear +daughters were not with me to enjoy the morning's walk, I saw the +gardener on his way to the garden. I followed him, and was soon feasting +my eyes upon the richest specimens of garden scenery. There were the +peaches hanging upon the trees that were fastened to the wall; +vegetables, fruit, and flowers were there in all their bloom and beauty; +and even the variegated geranium of a warmer clime, was there in its +hothouse home, and seemed to have forgotten that it was in a different +country from its own. Dr. Lee shows great taste in the management of his +garden. I have seldom seen a more splendid variety of fruits and flowers +in the southern States of America, than I saw at Hartwell House. + +I should, however, state that I was not the only guest at Hartwell +during my stay. Dr. Lee had invited several others of the American +delegation to the Peace Congress, and two or three of the French +delegates who were on a visit to England, were enjoying the Doctor's +hospitality. Dr. Lee is a staunch friend of Temperance, as well as of +the cause of universal freedom. Every year he treats his tenantry to a +dinner, and I need not add that these are always conducted on the +principle of total abstinence. + +During the second day we visited several of the cottages of the work +people, and in these I took no little interest. The people of the United +States know nothing of the real condition of the labouring classes of +England. The peasants of Great Britain are always spoken of as belonging +to the soil. I was taught in America that the English labourer was no +better off than the slave upon a Carolina rice-field. I had seen the +slaves in Missouri huddled together, three, four, and even five families +in a single room not more than 15 by 25 feet square, and I expected to +see the same in England. But in this I was disappointed. After visiting +a new house that the Doctor was building, he took us into one of the +cottages that stood near the road, and gave us an opportunity, of +seeing, for the first time, an English peasant's cot. We entered a low +whitewashed room, with a stone floor that showed an admirable degree of +cleanness. Before us was a row of shelves filled with earthen dishes and +pewter spoons, glittering as if they had just come from under the hand +of a woman of taste. A Cobden loaf of bread, that had just been left by +the baker's boy, lay upon an oaken table which had been much worn away +with the scrubbing brush; while just above lay the old family bible that +had been handed down from father to son, until its possession was +considered of almost as great value as its contents. A half-open door, +leading into another room, showed us a clean bed; the whole presenting +as fine a picture of neatness, order, and comfort, as the most +fastidious taste could wish to see. No occupant was present, and +therefore I inspected everything with a greater degree of freedom. In +front of the cottage was a small grass plot, with here and there a bed +of flowers, cheated out of its share of sunshine by the tall holly that +had been planted near it. As I looked upon the home of the labourer, my +thoughts were with my enslaved countrymen. What a difference, thought I, +there is between the tillers of the soil in England and America. There +could not be a more complete refutation of the assertion that the +English labourer is no better off than the American slave, than the +scenes that were then before me. I called the attention of one of my +American friends to a beautiful rose near the door of the cot, and said +to him, "The law that will protect that flower will also guard and +protect the hand that planted it." He knew that I had drank deep of the +cup of slavery, was aware of what I meant, and merely nodded his head in +reply. I never experienced hospitality more genuine, and yet more +unpretending, than was meted out to me while at Hartwell. And the +favourable impression made on my own mind, of the distinguished +proprietor of Hartwell Park, was nearly as indelible as my humble name +that the Doctor had engraven in a brick, in the vault beneath the +Observatory in Hartwell House. + +On my return to London I accepted an invitation to join a party on a +visit to Windsor Castle; and taking the train at the Waterloo Bridge +Station, we were soon passing through a pleasant part of the country. +Arrived at the castle, we committed ourselves into the hands of the +servants, and were introduced into Her Majesty's State apartments, +Audience Chamber, Vandyck Room, Waterloo Chambers, St. George's Hall, +Gold Pantry, and many others whose names I have forgotten. In wandering +about the different apartments I lost my company, and in trying to find +them, passed through a room in which hung a magnificent portrait of +Charles I., by Vandyck. The hum and noise of my companions had ceased, +and I had the scene and silence to myself. I looked in vain for the +king's evil genius (Cromwell), but he was not in the same room. The +pencil of Sir Peter Lely has left a splendid full-length likeness of +James II. George IV. is suspended from a peg in the wall, looking as if +it was fresh from the hands of Sir Thomas Lawrence, its admirable +painter. I was now in St. George's Hall, and I gazed upward to view the +beautiful figures on the ceiling, until my neck was nearly out of joint. +Leaving this room, I inspected with interest the ancient _keep_ of the +castle. In past centuries this part of the palace was used as a prison. +Here James the First of Scotland was detained a prisoner for eighteen +years. I viewed the window through which the young prince had often +looked to catch a glimpse of the young and beautiful Lady Jane, +daughter of the Earl of Somerset, with whom he was enamoured. + +From the top of the Round Tower I had a fine view of the surrounding +country. Stoke Park, once the residence of that great friend of humanity +and civilization, William Penn, was among the scenes that I viewed with +pleasure from Windsor Castle. Four years ago, when in the city of +Philadelphia, and hunting up the places associated with the name of this +distinguished man, and more recently when walking over the farm once +occupied by him on the banks of the Delaware, examining the old malt +house which is now left standing, because of the veneration with which +the name of the man who built it is held, I had no idea that I should +ever see the dwelling which he had occupied in the Old World. Stoke Park +is about four miles from Windsor, and is now owned by the Right Hon. +Henry Labouchere. + +The castle, standing as it does on an eminence, and surrounded by a +beautiful valley covered with splendid villas, has the appearance of +Gulliver looking down upon the Lilliputians. It rears its massive +towers and irregular walls over and above every other object; it stands +like a mountain in the desert. How full this old palace is of material +for thought! How one could ramble here alone, or with one or two +congenial companions, and enjoy a recapitulation of its history! But an +engagement to be at Croydon in the evening cut short my stay at Windsor, +and compelled me to return to town in advance of my party. + + * * * * * + +Having met with John Morland, Esq., of Heath Lodge, at Paris, he gave me +an invitation to visit Croydon, and deliver a lecture on American +Slavery; and last evening, at eight o'clock, I found myself in a fine +old building in the town, and facing the first English audience that I +had seen in the sea-girt isle. It was my first welcome in England. The +assembly was an enthusiastic one, and made still more so by the +appearance of George Thompson, Esq., M.P., upon the platform. It is not +my intention to give accounts of my lectures or meetings in these pages. +I therefore merely say, that I left Croydon with a good impression of +the English, and Heath Lodge with a feeling that its occupant was one +of the most benevolent of men. + +The same party with whom I visited Windsor being supplied with a card of +admission to the Bank of England, I accepted an invitation to be one of +the company. We entered the vast building at a little past twelve +o'clock to-day. The sun threw into the large halls a brilliancy that +seemed to light up the countenances of the almost countless number of +clerks, who were at their desks, or serving persons at the counters. As +nearly all my countrymen who visit London pay their respects to this +noted institution, I shall sum up my visit to it, by saying that it +surpassed my highest idea of a bank. But a stroll through this monster +building of gold and silver brought to my mind an incident that occurred +to me a year after my escape from slavery. + +In the autumn of 1835, having been cheated out of the previous summer's +earnings, by the captain of the steamer in which I had been employed +running away with the money, I was, like the rest of the men, left +without any means of support during the winter, and therefore had to +seek employment in the neighbouring towns. I went to the town of +Monroe, in the state of Michigan, and while going through the principal +streets looking for work, I passed the door of the only barber in the +town, whose shop appeared to be filled with persons waiting to be +shaved. As there was but one man at work, and as I had, while employed +in the steamer, occasionally shaved a gentleman who could not perform +that office himself, it occurred to me that I might get employment here +as a journeyman barber. I therefore made immediate application for work, +but the barber told me he did not need a hand. But I was not to be put +off so easily, and after making several offers to work cheap, I frankly +told him, that if he would not employ me I would get a room near to him, +and set up an opposition establishment. This threat, however, made no +impression on the barber; and as I was leaving, one of the men who were +waiting to be shaved said, "If you want a room in which to commence +business, I have one on the opposite side of the street." This man +followed me out; we went over, and I looked at the room. He strongly +urged me to set up, at the same time promising to give me his +influence. I took the room, purchased an old table, two chairs, got a +pole with a red stripe painted around it, and the next day opened, with +a sign over the door, "Fashionable Hair-dresser from New York, Emperor +of the West." I need not add that my enterprise was very annoying to the +"shop over the way"--especially my sign, which happened to be the most +expensive part of the concern. Of course, I had to tell all who came in +that my neighbour on the opposite side did not keep clean towels, that +his razors were dull, and, above all, he had never been to New York to +see the fashions. Neither had I. In a few weeks I had the entire +business of the town, to the great discomfiture of the other barber. + +At this time, money matters in the Western States were in a sad +condition. Any person who could raise a small amount of money was +permitted to establish a bank, and allowed to issue notes for four times +the sum raised. This being the case, many persons borrowed money merely +long enough to exhibit to the bank inspectors, and the borrowed money +was returned, and the bank left without a dollar in its vaults, if, +indeed, it had a vault about its premises. The result was, that banks +were started all over the Western States, and the country flooded with +worthless paper. These were known as the "Wild Cat Banks." Silver coin +being very scarce, and the banks not being allowed to issue notes for a +smaller amount than one dollar, several persons put out notes from 6 to +75 cents in value; these were called "Shinplasters." The Shinplaster was +in the shape of a promissory note, made payable on demand. I have often +seen persons with large rolls of these bills, the whole not amounting to +more than five dollars. Some weeks after I had commenced business on my +"own hook," I was one evening very much crowded with customers; and +while they were talking over the events of the day, one of them said to +me, "Emperor, you seem to be doing a thriving business. You should do as +other business men, issue your Shinplasters." This, of course, as it was +intended, created a laugh; but with me it was no laughing matter, for +from that moment I began to think seriously of becoming a banker. I +accordingly went a few days after to a printer, and he, wishing to get +the job of printing, urged me to put out my notes, and showed me some +specimens of engravings that he had just received from Detroit. My head +being already filled with the idea of a bank, I needed but little +persuasion to set the thing finally afloat. Before I left the printer +the notes were partly in type, and I studying how I should keep the +public from counterfeiting them. The next day my Shinplasters were +handed to me, the whole amount being twenty dollars, and after being +duly signed were ready for circulation. At first my notes did not take +well; they were too new, and viewed with a suspicious eye. But through +the assistance of my customers, and a good deal of exertion on my own +part, my bills were soon in circulation; and nearly all the money +received in return for my notes was spent in fitting up and decorating +my shop. + +Few bankers get through this world without their difficulties, and I was +not to be an exception. A short time after my money had been out, a +party of young men, either wishing to pull down my vanity, or to try +the soundness of my bank, determined to give it "a run." After +collecting together a number of my bills, they came one at a time to +demand other money for them, and I, not being aware of what was going +on, was taken by surprise. One day as I was sitting at my table, +strapping some new razors I had just got with the avails of my +"Shinplasters," one of the men entered and said, "Emperor, you will +oblige me if you will give me some other money for these notes of +yours." I immediately cashed the notes with the most worthless of the +Wild Cat money that I had on hand, but which was a lawful tender. The +young man had scarcely left when a second appeared with a similar +amount, and demanded payment. These were cashed, and soon a third came +with his roll of notes. I paid these with an air of triumph, although I +had but half a dollar left. I began now to think seriously what I should +do, or how to act, provided another demand should be made. While I was +thus engaged in thought, I saw the fourth man crossing the street, with +a handful of notes, evidently my "Shinplasters." I instantaneously shut +the door, and looking out of the window, said, "I have closed business +for the day: come to-morrow and I will see you." In looking across the +street, I saw my rival standing in his shop-door, grinning and clapping +his hands at my apparent downfall. I was completely "done _Brown_" for +the day. However, I was not to be "used up" in this way; so I escaped by +the back door, and went in search of my friend who had first suggested +to me the idea of issuing notes. I found him, told him of the difficulty +I was in, and wished him to point out a way by which I might extricate +myself. He laughed heartily, and then said, "You must act as all bankers +do in this part of the country." I inquired how they did, and he said, +"When your notes are brought to you, you must redeem them, and then send +them out and get other money for them; and, with the latter, you can +keep cashing your own Shinplasters." This was indeed a new job to me. I +immediately commenced putting in circulation the notes which I had just +redeemed, and my efforts were crowned with so much success, that before +I slept that night my "Shinplasters" were again in circulation, and my +bank once more on a sound basis. + +As I saw the clerks shovelling out the yellow coin upon the counters of +the Bank of England, and men coming in and going out with weighty bags +of the precious metal in their hands, or on their shoulders, I could not +but think of the great contrast between the monster Institution, within +whose walls I was then standing, and the Wild Cat Banks of America! + + + + +LETTER IX. + +_The British Museum--A Portrait--Night Reading--A Dark Day--A Fugitive +Slave on the Streets of London,--A Friend in the time of need._ + + + LONDON, _Sept. 24_. + +I have devoted the past ten days to sight-seeing in the Metropolis--the +first two of which were spent in the British Museum. After procuring a +guide-book at the door as I entered, I seated myself on the first seat +that caught my eye, arranged as well as I could in my mind the different +rooms, and then commenced in good earnest. The first part I visited was +the Gallery of Antiquities, through to the north gallery, and thence +to the Lycian Room. This place is filled with tombs, bas-reliefs, +statues, and other productions of the same art. Venus, seated, and +smelling a lotus flower which she held in her hand, and attended by +three graces, put a stop to the rapid strides that I was making through +this part of the hall. This is really one of the most precious +productions of the art that I have ever seen. Many of the figures in +this room are very much mutilated, yet one can linger here for hours +with interest. A good number of the statues are of uncertain date; they +are of great value as works of art, and more so as a means of +enlightening much that has been obscure with respect to Lycia, an +ancient and celebrated country of Asia Minor. + +In passing through the eastern Zoological Gallery, I was surrounded on +every side by an army of portraits suspended upon the walls; and among +these was the Protector. The people of one century kicks his bones +through the streets of London, another puts his portrait in the British +Museum, and a future generation may possibly give him a place in +Westminster Abbey. Such is the uncertainty of the human character. +Yesterday, a common soldier--to-day, the ruler of an empire--to-morrow, +suspended upon the gallows. In an adjoining room I saw a portrait of +Baxter, which gives one a pretty good idea of the great Nonconformist. +In the same room hung a splendid modern portrait, without any intimation +in the guide-book of who it represented, or when it was painted. It was +so much like one whom I had seen, and on whom my affections were placed +in my younger days, that I obtained a seat from an adjoining room and +rested myself before it. After sitting half an hour or more, I wandered +to another part of the building, but only to return again to my "first +love," where I remained till the throng had disappeared one after +another, and the officer reminding me that it was time to close. + +It was eight o'clock before I reached my lodgings. Although fatigued by +the day's exertions, I again resumed the reading of Roscoe's "Leo X.," +and had nearly finished seventy-three pages, when the clock on St. +Martin's Church apprised me that it was two. He who escapes from slavery +at the age of twenty years, without any education, as did the writer of +this letter, must read when others are asleep, if he would catch up with +the rest of the world. "To be wise," says Pope, "is but to know how +little can be known." The true searcher after truth and knowledge is +always like a child; although gaining strength from year to year, he +still "learns to labour and to wait." The field of labour is ever +expanding before him, reminding him that he has yet more to learn; +teaching him that he is nothing more than a child in knowledge, and +inviting him onward with a thousand varied charms. The son may take +possession of the father's goods at his death, but he cannot inherit +with the property the father's cultivated mind. He may put on the +father's old coat, but that is all: the immortal mind of the first +wearer has gone to the tomb. + +Property may be bequeathed, but knowledge cannot. Then let him who +would be useful in his day and generation be up and doing. Like the +Chinese student who learned perseverance from the woman whom he saw +trying to rub a crow-bar into a needle, so should we take the experience +of the past to lighten our feet through the paths of the future. + +The next morning at ten, I was again at the door of the great building; +was soon within its walls seeing what time would not allow of the +previous day. I spent some hours in looking through glass cases, viewing +specimens of minerals, such as can scarcely be found in any place out of +the British Museum. During this day I did not fail to visit the great +Library. It is a spacious room, surrounded with large glass cases filled +with volumes, whose very look tells you that they are of age. Around, +under the cornice, were arranged a number of old black-looking +portraits, in all probability the authors of some of the works in the +glass cases beneath. About the room were placed long tables, with stands +for reading and writing, and around these were a number of men busily +engaged in looking over some chosen author. Old men with grey hairs, +young men with mustaches--some in cloth, others in fustian, indicating +that men of different rank can meet here. Not a single word was spoken +during my stay, all appearing to enjoy the silence that reigned +throughout the great room. This is indeed a retreat from the world. No +one inquires who the man is who is at his side, and each pursues in +silence his own researches. The racing of pens over the sheets of paper +was all that disturbed the stillness of the occasion. + +From the Library I strolled to other rooms, and feasted my eyes on what +I had never before seen. He who goes over this immense building, cannot +do so without a feeling of admiration for the men whose energy has +brought together this vast and wonderful collection of things, the like +of which cannot be found in any other museum in the world. The +reflection of the setting sun against a mirror in one of the rooms, told +me that night was approaching, and I had but a moment in which to take +another look at the portrait that I had seen the previous day, and then +bade adieu to the Museum. + +Having published the narrative of my life and escape from slavery, and +put it into the booksellers' hands--and seeing a prospect of a fair +sale, I ventured to take from my purse the last sovereign to make up a +small sum to remit to the United States, for the support of my daughter, +who is at school there. Before doing this, however, I had made +arrangements to attend a public meeting in the city of Worcester, at +which the mayor was to preside. Being informed by the friends of the +slave there, that I would, in all probability, sell a number of copies +of my book, and being told that Worcester was only ten miles from +London, I felt safe in parting with all but a few shillings, feeling +sure that my purse would soon be again replenished. But you may guess my +surprise when I learned that Worcester was above a hundred miles from +London, and that I had not retained money enough to defray my expenses +to the place. In my haste and wish to make up the ten pounds to send to +my children, I had forgotten that the payment for my lodgings would be +demanded before I should leave town. Saturday morning came; I paid my +lodging bill, and had three shillings and fourpence left; and out of +this sum I was to get three dinners, as I was only served with breakfast +and tea at my lodgings. Nowhere in the British empire do the people +witness as dark days as in London. It was on Monday morning, in the fore +part of October, as the clock on St. Martin's Church was striking ten, +that I left my lodgings, and turned into the Strand. The street lamps +were yet burning, and the shops were all lighted as if day had not made +its appearance. This great thoroughfare, as usual at this time of the +day, was thronged with business men going their way, and women +sauntering about for pleasure or for the want of something better to do. +I passed down the Strand to Charing Cross, and looked in vain to see the +majestic statue of Nelson upon the top of the great shaft. The clock on +St. Martin's Church struck eleven, but my sight could not penetrate +through the dark veil that hung between its face and me. In fact, day +had been completely turned into night; and the brilliant lights from the +shop windows almost persuaded me that another day had not appeared. +Turning, I retraced my steps, and was soon passing through the massive +gates of Temple Bar, wending my way to the city, when a beggar boy at my +heels accosted me for a half-penny to buy bread. I had scarcely served +the boy, when I observed near by, and standing close to a lamp post, a +coloured man, and from his general appearance I was satisfied that he +was an American. He eyed me attentively as I passed him, and seemed +anxious to speak. When I had got some distance from him I looked back, +and his eyes were still upon me. No longer able to resist the temptation +to speak with him, I returned, and commencing conversation with him, +learned a little of his history, which was as follows. He had, he said, +escaped from slavery in Maryland, and reached New York; but not feeling +himself secure there, he had, through the kindness of the captain of an +English ship, made his way to Liverpool; and not being able to get +employment there, he had come up to London. Here he had met with no +better success; and having been employed in the growing of tobacco, and +being unaccustomed to any other work, he could not get to labour in +England. I told him he had better try to get to the West Indies; but he +informed me that he had not a single penny, and that he had nothing to +eat that day. By this man's story, I was moved to tears; and going to a +neighbouring shop, I took from my purse my last shilling, changed it, +and gave this poor brother fugitive one-half. The poor man burst into +tears as I placed the sixpence in his hand, and said--"You are the first +friend I have met in London." I bade him farewell, and left him with a +feeling of regret that I could not place him beyond the reach of want. I +went on my way to the city, and while going through Cheapside, a streak +of light appeared in the east that reminded me that it was not night. In +vain I wandered from street to street, with the hope that I might meet +some one who would lend me money enough to get to Worcester. Hungry and +fatigued I was returning to my lodgings, when the great clock of St +Paul's Church, under whose shadow I was then passing, struck four. A +stroll through Fleet Street and the Strand, and I was again pacing my +room. On my return, I found a letter from Worcester had arrived in my +absence, informing me that a party of gentlemen would meet me the next +day on my reaching that place; and saying, "Bring plenty of books, as +you will doubtless sell a large number." The last sixpence had been +spent for postage stamps, in order to send off some letters to other +places, and I could not even stamp a letter in answer to the one last +from Worcester. The only vestige of money about me was a smooth farthing +that a little girl had given to me at the meeting at Croydon, saying, +"This is for the slaves." I was three thousand miles from home, with but +a single farthing in my pocket! Where on earth is a man without money +more destitute? The cold hills of the Arctic regions have not a more +inhospitable appearance than London to the stranger with an empty +pocket. But whilst I felt depressed at being in such a sad condition, I +was conscious that I had done right in remitting the last ten pounds to +America. It was for the support of those whom God had committed to my +care, and whom I love as I can no others. I had no friend in London to +whom I could apply for temporary aid. My friend, Mr. Thompson, was out +of town, and I did not know his address. The dark day was rapidly +passing away--the clock in the hall had struck six. I had given up all +hopes of reaching Worcester the next day, and had just rung the bell for +the servant to bring me some tea, when a gentle tap at the door was +heard--the servant entered, and informed me that a gentleman below was +wishing to see me. I bade her fetch a light and ask him up. The stranger +was my young friend Frederick Stevenson, son of the excellent minister +of the Borough Road Chapel. I had lectured in this chapel a few days +previous; and this young gentleman, with more than ordinary zeal and +enthusiasm for the cause of bleeding humanity, and respect for me, had +gone amongst his father's congregation and sold a number of copies of my +book, and had come to bring me the money. I wiped the silent tear from +my eyes as the young man placed the thirteen half-crowns in my hand. I +did not let him know under what obligation I was to him for this +disinterested act of kindness. He does not know to this day what aid he +has rendered to a stranger in a strange land, and I feel that I am but +discharging in a trifling degree, my debt of gratitude to this young +gentleman, in acknowledging my obligation to him. As the man who called +for bread and cheese, when feeling in his pocket for the last threepence +to pay for it, found a sovereign that he was not aware he possessed, +countermanded the order for the lunch, and bade them bring him the best +dinner they could get; so I told the servant when she brought the tea, +that I had changed my mind, and should go out to dine. With the means in +my pocket of reaching Worcester the next day, I sat down to dinner at +the Adelphi with a good cut of roast beef before me, and felt myself +once more at home. Thus ended a dark day in London. + + + + +LETTER X. + +_The Whittington Club--Louis Blanc--Street Amusements--Tower of +London--Westminster Abbey--National Gallery--Dante--Sir Joshua +Reynolds._ + + + LONDON, _October 10_. + +For some days past, Sol has not shown his face, clouds have obscured the +sky, and the rain has fallen in torrents, which has contributed much to +the general gloom. However, I have spent the time in as agreeable a +manner as I well could. Yesterday I fulfilled an engagement to dine with +a gentleman at the Whittington Club. One who is unacquainted with the +Club system as carried on in London, can scarcely imagine the +conveniences they present. Every member appears to be at home, and all +seem to own a share in the Club. There is a free-and-easy way with those +who frequent Clubs, and a licence given there that is unknown in the +drawing-room of the private mansion. I met the gentleman at the Club, at +the appointed hour, and after his writing my name in the visitors' +book, we proceeded to the dining-room, where we partook of a good +dinner. + +We had been in the room but a short time, when a small man, dressed in +black, with his coat buttoned up to the chin, entered the saloon, and +took a seat at the table hard by. My friend in a low whisper informed me +that this person was one of the French refugees. He was apparently not +more than thirty years of age, and exceedingly good looking--his person +being slight, his feet and hands very small and well shaped, especially +his hands, which were covered with kid gloves, so tightly drawn on, that +the points of the finger nails were visible through them. His face was +mild and almost womanly in its beauty, his eyes soft and full, his brow +open and ample, his features well defined, and approaching to the ideal +Greek in contour; the lines about his mouth were exquisitely sweet, and +yet resolute in expression; his hair was short--his having no mustaches +gave him nothing of the look of a Frenchman; and I was not a little +surprised when informed that the person before me was Louis Blanc. I +could scarcely be persuaded to believe that one so small, so child-like +in stature, had taken a prominent part in the Revolution of 1848. He +held in his hand a copy of _La Presse_, and as soon as he was seated, +opened it and began to devour its contents. The gentleman with whom I +was dining was not acquainted with him, but at the close of our dinner +he procured me an introduction through another gentleman. + +As we were returning to our lodgings, we saw in Exeter Street, Strand, +one of those exhibitions that can be seen in almost any of the streets +in the suburbs of the Metropolis, but which is something of a novelty to +those from the other side of the Atlantic. This was an exhibition of +"Punch and Judy." Everything was in full operation when we reached the +spot. A puppet appeared eight or ten inches from the waist upwards, with +an enormous face, huge nose, mouth widely grinning, projecting chin, +cheeks covered with grog blossoms, a large protuberance on his back, +another on his chest; yet with these deformities he appeared uncommonly +happy. This was Mr. Punch. He held in his right hand a tremendous +bludgeon, with which he amused himself by rapping on the head every one +who came within his reach. This exhibition seems very absurd, yet not +less than one hundred were present--children, boys, old men, and even +gentlemen and ladies, were standing by, and occasionally greeting the +performer with the smile of approbation. Mr. Punch, however, was not to +have it all his own way, for another and better sort of Punch-like +exhibition appeared a few yards off, that took away Mr. Punch's +audience, to the great dissatisfaction of that gentleman. This was an +exhibition called the Fantoccini, and far superior to any of the street +performances which I have yet seen. The curtain rose and displayed a +beautiful theatre in miniature, and most gorgeously painted. The organ +which accompanied it struck up a hornpipe, and a sailor, dressed in his +blue jacket, made his appearance and commenced keeping time with the +utmost correctness. This figure was not so long as Mr. Punch, but much +better looking. At the close of the hornpipe the little sailor made a +bow, and tripped off, apparently conscious of having deserved the +undivided applause of the bystanders. The curtain dropped; but in two +or three minutes it was again up, and a rope was discovered, extended on +two cross pieces, for dancing upon. The tune was changed to an air, in +which the time was marked, a graceful figure appeared, jumped upon the +rope with its balance pole, and displayed all the manoeuvres of an +expert performer on the tight rope. Many who would turn away in disgust +from Mr. Punch, will stand for hours and look at the performances of the +Fantoccini. If people, like the Vicar of Wakefield, will sometimes +"allow themselves to be happy," they can hardly fail to have a hearty +laugh at the drolleries of the Fantoccini. There may be degrees of +absurdity in the manner of wasting our time, but there is an evident +affectation in decrying these humble and innocent exhibitions, by those +who will sit till two or three in the morning to witness a pantomime at +a theatre-royal. + + * * * * * + +An autumn sun shone brightly through a remarkably transparent atmosphere +this morning, which was a most striking contrast to the weather we have +had during the past three days; and I again set out to see some of the +lions of the city, commencing with the Tower of London. Every American, +on returning home from a visit to the old world, speaks with pride of +the places he saw while in Europe; and of the many resorts of interest +he has read of, few have made a more lasting impression upon his memory +than the Tower of London. The stories of the imprisoning of kings, and +queens, the murdering of princes, the torturing of men and women, +without regard to birth, education, or station, and of the burning and +rebuilding of the old pile, have all sunk deep into his heart. A walk of +twenty minutes, after being set down at the Bank by an omnibus, brought +me to the gate of the Tower. A party of friends who were to meet me +there had not arrived, so I had an opportunity of inspecting the grounds +and taking a good view of the external appearance of the old and +celebrated building. The Tower is surrounded by a high wall, and around +this a deep ditch partly filled with stagnated water. The wall incloses +twelve acres of ground on which stand the several towers, occupying, +with their walks and avenues, the whole space. The most ancient part of +the building is called the "White Tower," so as to distinguish it from +the parts more recently built. Its walls are seventeen feet in +thickness, and ninety-two in height, exclusive of the turrets, of which +there are four. My company arrived, and we entered the tower through +four massive gates, the innermost one being pointed out as the "Water, +or Traitors' Gate"--so called from the fact that it opened to the river, +and through it the criminals were usually brought to the prison within. +But this passage is now closed up. We visited the various apartments in +the old building. The room in the Bloody Tower, where the infant princes +were put to death by the command of their uncle, Richard III.; also, the +recess behind the gate where the bones of the young princes were +concealed, were shown to us. The warden of the prison who showed us +through, seemed to have little or no veneration for Henry VIII.; for he +often cracked a joke, or told a story at the expense of the murderer of +Anne Boleyn. The old man wiped the tear from his eye, as he pointed out +the grave of Lady Jane Grey. This was doubtless one of the best as well +as most innocent of those who lost their lives in the Tower; young, +virtuous, and handsome, she became a victim to the ambition of her own +and her husband's relations. I tried to count the names on the wall in +"Beauchamp's Tower," but they were too numerous. Anne Boleyn was +imprisoned here. The room in the "Brick Tower," where Lady Jane Grey was +imprisoned, was pointed out as a place of interest. We were next shown +into the "White Tower." We passed through a long room filled with many +things having a warlike appearance; and among them a number of +equestrian figures, as large as life, and clothed in armour and +trappings of the various reigns from Edward I. to James II., or from +1272 to 1685. Elizabeth, or the "Maiden Queen," as the warden called +her, was the most imposing of the group; she was on a cream coloured +charger. We left the Maiden Queen to examine the cloak upon which +General Wolf died, at the storming of Quebec. In this room Sir Walter +Raleigh was imprisoned, and here was written his "History of the +World." In his own hand, upon the wall, is written, "Be thou faithful +unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life." His Bible is still +shown, with these memorable lines written in it by himself a short time +before his death:-- + + "Even such is Time that takes on trust, + Our youth, our joy, our all we have, + And pays us but with age and dust; + Who in the dark and silent grave, + When we have wandered all our ways, + Shuts up the story of our days." + + +Spears, battle-axes, pikes, helmets, targets, bows and arrows, and many +instruments of torture, whose names I did not learn, grace the walls of +this room. The block on which the Earl of Essex and Anne Boleyn were +beheaded, was shown among other objects of interest. A view of the +"Queen's Jewels" closed our visit to the Tower. The Gold Staff of St. +Edward, and the Baptismal Font used at the Royal christenings, made of +solid silver, and more than four feet high, were among the jewels here +exhibited. The Sword of Justice was there, as if to watch the rest of +the valuables. However, this was not the sword that Peter used. Our +acquaintance with De Foe, Sir Walter Raleigh, Chaucer, and James +Montgomery, through their writings, and the knowledge that they had been +incarcerated within the walls of the bastile that we were just leaving, +caused us to look back again and again upon its dark grey turrets. + +I closed the day with a look at the interior of St. Paul's Cathedral. A +service was just over, and we met a crowd coming out as we entered the +great building. "Service is over, and two pence for all that wants to +stay," was the first sound that caught our ears. In the Burlesque of +"Esmeralda," a man is met in the belfry of the Notre Dame at Paris, and +being asked for money by one of the vergers says:-- + + "I paid three pence at the door, + And since I came in a great deal more: + Upon my honour you have emptied my purse, + St. Paul's Cathedral could not do worse." + + +I felt inclined to join in this sentiment before I left the church. A +fine statue of "Surly Sam" Johnson was one of the first things that +caught our eyes on looking around. A statue of Sir Edward Packenham, +who fell at the Battle of New Orleans, was on the opposite side of the +great hall. As we had walked over the ground where this General fell, we +viewed his statue with more than ordinary interest. We were taken from +one scene of interest to another, until we found ourselves in the +"Whispering Gallery." From the dome we had a splendid view of the +Metropolis of the world. A scaffold was erected up here to enable an +artist to take sketches from which a panorama of London was painted. The +artist was three years at work. The painting is now exhibited at the +Colosseum; but the brain of the artist was turned, and he died insane! +Indeed, one can scarcely conceive how it could be otherwise. You in +America have no idea of the immensity of this building. Pile together +half-a-dozen of the largest churches in New York or Boston, and you will +have but a faint representation of St. Paul's Cathedral. + + * * * * * + +I have just returned from a stroll of two hours through Westminster +Abbey. We entered the building at a door near Poets' Corner, and, +naturally enough, looked around for the monuments of the men whose +imaginative powers have contributed so much to instruct and amuse +mankind. I was not a little disappointed in the few I saw. In almost any +church-yard you may see monuments and tombs far superior to anything in +the Poets' Corner. A few only have monuments. Shakspere, who wrote of +man to man, and for man to the end of time, is honoured with one. +Addison's monument is also there; but the greater number have nothing +more erected to their memories than busts or medallions. Poets' Corner +is not splendid in appearance, yet I observed visiters lingering about +it, as if they were tied to the spot by love and veneration for some +departed friend. All seemed to regard it as classic ground. No sound +louder than a whisper was heard during the whole time, except the verger +treading over the marble floor with a light step. There is great +pleasure in sauntering about the tombs of those with whom we are +familiar through their writings; and we tear ourselves from their ashes, +as we would from those of a bosom friend. The genius of these men +spreads itself over the whole panorama of Nature, giving us one vast and +varied picture, the colour of which will endure to the end of time. None +can portray like the poet the passions of the human soul. The statue of +Addison, clad in his dressing-gown, is not far from that of Shakspere. +He looks as if he had just left the study, after finishing some chosen +paper for the _Spectator_. This memento of a great man, was the work of +the British public. Such a mark of national respect was but justice to +one who has contributed more to purify and raise the standard of English +literature, than any man of his day. We next visited the other end of +the same transept, near the northern door. Here lie Mansfield, Chatham, +Fox, the second William Pitt, Grattan, Wilberforce, and a few other +statesmen. But, above all, is the stately monument to the Earl of +Chatham. In no other place so small, do so many great men lie together. +To these men, whose graves strangers from all parts of the world wish to +view, the British public are in a great measure indebted for England's +fame. The high pre-eminence which England has so long enjoyed and +maintained in the scale of empire, has constantly been the boast and +pride of the English people. The warm panegyrics that have been lavished +on her constitution and laws--the songs chaunted to celebrate her +glory--the lustre of her arms, as the glowing theme of her warriors--the +thunder of her artillery in proclaiming her moral prowess, her flag +being unfurled to every breeze and ocean, rolling to her shores the +tribute of a thousand realms--show England to be the greatest nation in +the world, and speak volumes for the great departed, as well as for +those of the living present. One requires no company, no amusements, no +books in such a place as this. Time and death have placed within those +walls sufficient to occupy the mind, if one should stay here a week. + +On my return, I spent an hour very pleasantly in the National Academy, +in the same building as the National Gallery. Many of the paintings here +are of a fine order. Oliver Cromwell looking upon the headless corpse of +King Charles I., appeared to draw the greatest number of spectators. A +scene from "As You Like it," was one of the best executed pieces we saw. +This was "Rosalind, Celia, and Orlando." The artist did himself and the +subject great credit. Kemble, in Hamlet, with that ever memorable skull +in his hand, was one of the pieces which we viewed with no little +interest. It is strange that Hamlet is always represented as a thin, +lean man, when the Hamlet of Shakspere was a fat, John Bull-kind of a +man. But the best piece in the Gallery was "Dante meditating the episode +of Francesca da Rimini and Paolo Malatesta, S'Inferno, Canto V." Our +first interest for the great Italian poet was created by reading Lord +Byron's poem, "The Lament of Dante." From that hour we felt like +examining everything connected with the great Italian poet. The history +of poets, as well as painters, is written in their works. The best +written life of Goldsmith is to be found in his poem of "The Traveller," +and his novel of "The Vicar of Wakefield." Boswell could not have +written a better life of himself than he has done in giving the +Biography of Dr. Johnson. It seems clear that no one can be a great poet +without having been sometime during life a lover, and having lost the +object of his affection in some mysterious way. Burns had his Highland +Mary, Byron his Mary, and Dante was not without his Beatrice. Whether +there ever lived such a person as Beatrice seems to be a question upon +which neither of his biographers have thrown much light. However, a +Beatrice existed in the poet's mind, if not on earth. His attachment to +Beatrice Portinari, and the linking of her name with the immortality of +his great poem, left an indelible impression upon his future character. +The marriage of the object of his affections to another, and her +subsequent death, and the poet's exile from his beloved Florence, +together with his death amongst strangers--all give an interest to the +poet's writings, which could not be heightened by romance itself. When +exiled and in poverty, Dante found a friend in the father of Francesca. +And here, under the roof of his protector, he wrote his great poem. The +time the painter has chosen is evening. Day and night meet in mid-air: +one star is alone visible. Sailing in vacancy are the shadows of the +lovers. The countenance of Francesca is expressive of hopeless agony. +The delineations are sublime, the conception is of the highest order, +and the execution admirable. Dante is seated in a marble vestibule, in a +meditating attitude, the face partly concealed by the right hand upon +which it is resting. On the whole, it is an excellently painted piece, +and causes one to go back with a fresh relish to the Italian's +celebrated poem. In coming out, we stopped a short while in the upper +room of the Gallery, and spent a few minutes over a painting +representing Mrs. Siddons in one of Shakspere's characters. This is by +Sir Joshua Reynolds, and is only one of the many pieces that we have +seen of this great artist. His genius was vast, and powerful in its +grasp. His fancy fertile, and his inventive faculty inexhaustible in its +resources. He displayed the very highest powers of genius by the +thorough originality of his conceptions, and by the entirely new path +that he struck out in art. Well may Englishmen be proud of his name. And +as time shall step between his day and those that follow after him, the +more will his works be appreciated. We have since visited his grave, +and stood over his monument in St. Paul's. + + + + +LETTER XI. + +_York Minster--The Great Organ--Newcastle-on-Tyne--The Labouring +Classes--The American Slave--Sheffield--James Montgomery._ + + + _January, 1850_. + +Some days since, I left the Metropolis to fulfil a few engagements to +visit provincial towns; and after a ride of nearly eight hours, we were +in sight of the ancient city of York. It was night, the moon was in her +zenith, and there seemed nothing between her and the earth but +glittering gold. The moon, the stars, and the innumerable gas-lights, +gave the city a panoramic appearance. Like a mountain starting out of a +plain, there stood the Cathedral in all its glory, looking down upon the +surrounding buildings, with all the appearance of a Gulliver standing +over the Lilliputians. Night gave us no opportunity to view the +Minster. However, we were up the next morning before the sun, and +walking round the Cathedral with a degree of curiosity seldom excited +within us. It is thought that a building of the same dimensions would +take fifty years to complete it at the present time, even with all the +improvements of the nineteenth century, and would cost no less than the +enormous sum of two millions of pounds sterling. From what I had heard +of this famous Cathedral, my expectations were raised to the highest +point; but it surpassed all the idea that I had formed of it. On +entering the building, we lost all thought of the external appearance by +the matchless beauty of the interior. The echo produced by the tread of +our feet upon the floor as we entered, resounding through the aisles, +seemed to say "Put off your shoes, for the place whereon you tread is +holy ground." We stood with hat in hand, and gazed with wonder and +astonishment down the incomparable vista of more than five hundred feet. +The organ, which stands near the centre of the building, is said to be +one of the finest in the world. A wall, in front of which is a screen +of the most gorgeous and florid architecture and executed in solid +stone, separates the nave from the service choir. The beautiful +workmanship of this makes it appear so perfect, as almost to produce the +belief that it is tracery work of wood. We ascended the rough stone +steps through a winding stair to the turrets, where we had such a view +of the surrounding country, as can be obtained from no other place. On +the top of the centre and highest turret, is a grotesque figure of a +fiddler; rather a strange looking object, we thought, to occupy the most +elevated pinnacle on the house of God. All dwellings in the +neighbourhood appear like so many dwarfs couching at the feet of the +Minster; while its own vastness and beauty impress the observer with +feelings of awe and sublimity. As we stood upon the top of this +stupendous mountain of ecclesiastical architecture, and surveyed the +picturesque hills and valleys around, imagination recalled the tumult of +the sanguinary battles fought in sight of the edifice. The rebellion of +Octavius near three thousand years ago, his defeat and flight to the +Scots, his return and triumph over the Romans, and being crowned king +of all Britain; the assassination of Oswald king of the Northumbrians; +the flaying alive of Osbert; the crowning of Richard III; the siege by +William the Conqueror; the siege by Cromwell, and the pomp and splendour +with which the different monarchs had been received in York, all +appeared to be vividly before me. While we were thus calling to our aid +our knowledge of history, a sweet peal from the lungs of the ponderous +organ below cut short our stay among the turrets, and we descended to +have our organ of tune gratified, as well as to finish the inspection of +the interior. + +I have heard the sublime melodies of Handel, Hayden, and Mozart, +performed by the most skilful musicians; I have listened with delight +and awe to the soul-moving compositions of those masters, as they have +been chaunted in the most magnificent churches; but never did I hear +such music, and played upon such an instrument, as that sent forth by +the great organ in the Cathedral of York. The verger took much delight +in showing us the Horn that was once mounted with gold, but is now +garnished with brass. We viewed the monuments and tombs of the departed, +and then spent an hour before the great north window. The designs on the +painted glass, which tradition states was given to the church by five +virgin sisters, is the finest thing of the kind in Great Britain. I felt +a relief on once more coming into the open air and again beholding +Nature's own sun-light. The splendid ruins of St. Mary's Abbey, with its +eight beautiful light gothic windows, next attracted our attention. A +visit to the Castle finished our stay in York; and as we were leaving +the old city we almost imagined that we heard the chiming of the bells +for the celebration of the first Christian Sabbath, with Prince Arthur +as the presiding genius. + + * * * * * + +England stands pre-eminently the first government in the world for +freedom of speech and of the press. Not even in our own beloved America, +can the man who feels himself oppressed speak as he can in Great +Britain. In some parts of England, however, the freedom of thought is +tolerated to a greater extent than in others; and of the places +favourable to reforms of all kinds, calculated to elevate and benefit +mankind, Newcastle-on-Tyne doubtless takes the lead. Surrounded by +innumerable coal mines, it furnishes employment for a large labouring +population, many of whom take a deep interest in the passing events of +the day, and, consequently, are a reading class. The public debater or +speaker, no matter what may be his subject, who fails to get an audience +in other towns, is sure of a gathering in the Music Hall, or Lecture +Room in Newcastle. Here I first had an opportunity of coming in contact +with a portion of the labouring people of Britain. I have addressed +large and influential meetings in Newcastle and the neighbouring towns, +and the more I see and learn of the condition of the working-classes of +England the more I am satisfied of the utter fallacy of the statements +often made that their condition approximates to that of the slaves of +America. Whatever may be the disadvantages that the British peasant +labours under, he is free; and if he is not satisfied with his employer +he can make choice of another. He also has the right to educate his +children; and he is the equal of the most wealthy person before an +English Court of Justice. But how is it with the American Slave? He has +no right to himself, no right to protect his wife, his child, or his own +person. He is nothing more than a living tool. Beyond his field or +workshop he knows nothing. There is no amount of ignorance he is not +capable of. He has not the least idea of the face of this earth, nor of +the history or constitution of the country in which he dwells. To him +the literature, science, and art--the progressive history, and the +accumulated discoveries of bygone ages, are as if they had never been. +The past is to him as yesterday, and the future scarcely more than +to-morrow. Ancestral monuments, he has none; written documents fraught +with cogitations of other times, he has none; and any instrumentality +calculated to awaken and expound the intellectual activity and +comprehension of a present or approaching generation, he has none. His +condition is that of the leopard of his own native Africa. It lives, it +propagates its kind; but never does it indicate a movement towards that +all but angelic intelligence of man. The slave eats, drinks, and +sleeps--all for the benefit of the man who claims his body as his +property. Before the tribunals of his country he has no voice. He has no +higher appeal than the mere will of his owner. He knows nothing of the +inspired Apostles through their writings. He has no Sabbath, no Church, +no Bible, no means of grace,--and yet we are told that he is as well off +as the labouring classes of England. It is not enough that the people of +my country should point to their Declaration of Independence which +declares that "all men are created equal." It is not enough that they +should laud to the skies a constitution containing boasting declarations +in favour of freedom. It is not enough that they should extol the genius +of Washington, the patriotism of Henry, or the enthusiasm of Otis. The +time has come when nations are judged by the acts of the present instead +of the past. And so it must be with America. In no place in the United +Kingdom has the American Slave warmer friends than in Newcastle. + + * * * * * + +I am now in Sheffield, and have just returned from a visit to James +Montgomery, the poet. In company with James Wall, Esq., I proceeded to +The Mount, the residence of Mr. Montgomery; and our names being sent in, +we were soon in the presence of the "Christian Poet." He held in his +left hand the _Eclectic Review_ for the month, and with the right gave +me a hearty shake, and bade me "Welcome to old England." He was anything +but like the portraits I had seen of him, and the man I had in my mind's +eye. I had just been reading his "Pelican Island," and I eyed the poet +with no little interest. He is under the middle size, his forehead high +and well formed, the top of which was a little bald; his hair of a +yellowish colour, his eyes rather small and deep set, the nose long and +slightly aquiline, his mouth rather small, and not at all pretty. He was +dressed in black, and a large white cravat entirely hid his neck and +chin: his having been afflicted from childhood with salt-rhum, was +doubtless the cause of his chin being so completely buried in the +neckcloth. Upon the whole, he looked more like one of our American +Methodist parsons, than any one I have seen in this country. He entered +freely into conversation with us. He said he should be glad to attend my +lecture that evening, but that he had long since quit going out at +night. He mentioned having heard William Lloyd Garrison some years +before, and with whom he was well pleased. He said it had long been a +puzzle to him, how Americans could hold slaves and still retain their +membership in the churches. When we rose to leave, the old man took my +hand between his two, and with tears in his eyes said, "Go on your +Christian mission, and may the Lord protect and prosper you. Your +enslaved countrymen have my sympathy, and shall have my prayers." Thus +ended our visit to the Bard of Sheffield. Long after I had quitted the +presence of the poet, the following lines of his were ringing in my +ears:-- + + "Wanderer, whither dost thou roam? + Weary wanderer, old and grey, + Wherefore has thou left thine home, + In the sunset of thy day. + Welcome wanderer as thou art, + All my blessings to partake; + Yet thrice welcome to my heart, + For thine injured people's sake. + Wanderer, whither would'st thou roam? + To what region far away? + Bend thy steps to find a home, + In the twilight of thy day. + Where a tyrant never trod, + Where a slave was never known-- + But where Nature worships God + In the wilderness alone." + + +Mr. Montgomery seems to have thrown his entire soul into his meditations +on the wrongs of Switzerland. The poem from which we have just quoted, +is unquestionably one of his best productions, and contains more of the +fire of enthusiasm than all his other works. We feel a reverence almost +amounting to superstition, for the poet who deals with nature. And who +is more capable of understanding the human heart than the poet? Who has +better known the human feelings than Shakspere; better painted than +Milton, the grandeur of Virtue; better sighed than Byron over the subtle +weaknesses of Hope? Who ever had a sounder taste, a more exact +intellect than Dante? or who has ever tuned his harp more in favour of +Freedom, than our own Whittier? + + + + +LETTER XII. + +_Kirkstall Abbey--Mary the Maid of the Inn--Newstead Abbey: Residence of +Lord Byron--Parish Church of Hucknall--Burial Place of Lord +Byron--Bristol: "Cook's Folly"--Chepstow Castle and Abbey--Tintern +Abbey--Redcliffe Church._ + + + _January 29_. + +In passing through Yorkshire, we could not resist the temptation it +offered, to pay a visit to the extensive and interesting ruin of +Kirkstall Abbey, which lies embosomed in a beautiful recess of Airedale, +about three miles from Leeds. A pleasant drive over a smooth road, +brought us abruptly in sight of the Abbey. The tranquil and pensive +beauty of the desolate Monastery, as it reposes in the lap of pastoral +luxuriance, and amidst the touching associations of seven centuries, is +almost beyond description when viewed from where we first beheld it. +After arriving at its base, we stood for some moments under the mighty +arches that lead into the great hall, gazing at its old grey walls +frowning with age. At the distance of a small field, the Aire is seen +gliding past the foot of the lawn on which the ruin stands, after it has +left those precincts, sparkling over a weir with a pleasing murmur. We +could fully enter into the feelings of the Poet when he says:-- + + "Beautiful fabric! even in decay + And desolation, beauty still is thine; + As the rich sunset of an autumn day, + When gorgeous clouds in glorious hues combine + To render homage to its slow decline, + Is more majestic in its parting hour: + Even so thy mouldering, venerable shrine + Possesses now a more subduing power, + Than in thine earlier sway, with pomp and pride thy dower." + + +The tale of "Mary, the Maid of the Inn," is supposed, and not without +foundation, to be connected with this Abbey. "Hark to Rover," the name +of the house where the key is kept, was, a century ago, a retired inn or +pot-house, and the haunt of many a desperate highwayman and poacher. The +anecdote is so well known, that it is scarcely necessary to relate it. +It, however, is briefly this:-- + +"One stormy night, as two travellers sat at the inn, each having +exhausted his news, the conversation was directed to the Abbey, the +boisterous night, and Mary's heroism; when a bet was at last made by one +of them, that she would not go and bring back from the nave a slip of +the alder-tree growing there. Mary, however, did go; but having nearly +reached the tree, she heard a low, indistinct dialogue; at the same +time, something black fell and rolled towards her, which afterwards +proved to be a hat. Directing her attention to the place whence the +conversation proceeded, she saw, from behind a pillar, two men carrying +a murdered body: they passed near the place where she stood, a heavy +cloud was swept from off the face of the moon, and Mary fell +senseless--one of the murderers was her intended husband! She was +awakened from her swoon, but--her reason had fled for ever." Mr. Southey +wrote a beautiful poem founded on this story, which will be found in his +published works. We spent nearly three hours in wandering through these +splendid ruins. It is both curious and interesting to trace the early +history of these old piles, which become the resort of thousands, +nine-tenths of whom are unaware either of the classic ground on which +they tread, or of the peculiar interest thrown around the spot by the +deeds of remote ages. + +During our stay in Leeds, we had the good fortune to become acquainted +with Wilson Armistead, Esq. This gentleman is well known as an able +writer against Slavery. His most elaborate work is "A Tribute for the +Negro." This is a volume of 560 pages, and is replete with facts +refuting the charges of inferiority brought against the Negro race. Few +English gentlemen have done more to hasten the day of the American +slave's liberation, than Wilson Armistead. + + * * * * * + +We have just paid a visit to Newstead Abbey, the far-famed residence of +Lord Byron. I posted from Hucknall over to Newstead one pleasant +morning, and, being provided with a letter of introduction to Colonel +Wildman, I lost no time in presenting myself at the door of the Abbey. +But, unfortunately for me, the Colonel was at Mansfield, in attendance +at the Assizes--he being one of the County Magistrates. I did not +however lose the object of my visit, as every attention was paid in +showing me about the premises. I felt as every one must, who gazes for +the first time upon these walls, and remembers that it was here, even +amid the comparative ruins of a building once dedicated to the sacred +cause of Religion and her twin sister, Charity, that the genius of Byron +was first developed. Here that he paced with youthful melancholy the +halls of his illustrious ancestors, and trode the walks of the +long-banished monks. The housekeeper--a remarkably good looking and +polite woman--showed us through the different apartments, and explained +in the most minute manner every object of interest connected with the +interior of the building. We first visited the Monks' Parlour, which +seemed to contain nothing of note, except a very fine stained +window--one of the figures representing St. Paul, surmounted by a cross. +We passed through Lord Byron's Bedroom, the Haunted Chamber, the +Library, and the Eastern Corridor, and halted in the Tapestry Bedroom, +which is truly a magnificent apartment, formed by the Byrons for the use +of King Charles II. The ceiling is richly decorated with the Byron arms. +We next visited the grand Drawing-room, probably the finest in the +building. This saloon contains a large number of splendid portraits, +among which is the celebrated portrait of Lord Byron, by Phillips. In +this room we took into our hand the Skull-cup, of which so much has been +written, and that has on it a short inscription, commencing with--"Start +not--nor deem my spirit fled." Leaving this noble room, we descended by +a few polished oak steps into the West Corridor, from which we entered +the grand Dining Hall, and through several other rooms, until we reached +the Chapel. Here we were shown a stone coffin which had been found near +the high altar, when the workmen were excavating the vault, intended by +Lord Byron for himself and his dog. The coffin contained the skeleton of +an Abbot, and also the identical skull from which the cup, of which I +have made mention, was made. We then left the building, and took a +stroll through the grounds. After passing a pond of cold crystal water, +we came to a dark wood in which are two leaden statues of Pan, and a +female satyr--very fine specimens as works of art. We here inspected the +tree whereon Byron carved his own name and that of his sister, with the +date, all of which are still legible. However, the tree is now dead, and +we were informed that Colonel Wildman intended to have it cut down so as +to preserve the part containing the inscription. After crossing an +interesting and picturesque part of the gardens, we arrived within the +precincts of the ancient Chapel, near which we observed a neat marble +monument, and which we supposed to have been erected to the memory of +some of the Byrons; but, on drawing near to it, we read the following +inscription:-- + + "Near this spot + are deposited the remains of one + who possessed beauty without vanity, + strength without insolence, + courage without ferocity, + and all the virtues of man without his vices. + This praise, which would be unmeaning flattery, + if inscribed over human ashes, + is but a just tribute to the memory of + BOATSWAIN, a dog, + Who was born at Newfoundland, May, 1803, + and died at Newstead Abbey, November 18, 1808." + + +By a will which his Lordship executed in 1811, he directed that his own +body should be buried in a vault in the garden, near his faithful dog. +This feeling of affection to his dumb and faithful follower, commendable +in itself, seems here to have been carried beyond the bounds of reason +and propriety. + +In another part of the grounds we saw the oak tree planted by the poet +himself. It has now attained a goodly size, considering the growth of +the oak, and bids fair to become a lasting memento to the Noble Bard, +and to be a shrine to which thousands of pilgrims will resort in future +ages, to do homage to his mighty genius. This tree promises to share in +after times the celebrity of Shakspere's mulberry, and Pope's willow. +Near by, and in the tall trees, the rooks were keeping up a tremendous +noise. After seeing everything of interest connected with the great +poet, we entered our chaise, and left the premises. As we were leaving, +I turned to take a farewell look at the Abbey, standing in solemn +grandeur, the long ivy clinging fondly to the rich tracery of a former +age. Proceeding to the little town of Hucknall, we entered the old grey +Parish Church, which has for ages been the last resting-place of the +Byrons, and where repose the ashes of the Poet, marked only by a neat +marble slab, bearing the date of the poet's birth, death, and the fact +that the tablet was placed there by his sister. This closed my visit to +the interesting scenes associated with Byron's strange eventful +history--scenes that ever acquire a growing charm as the lapse of years +softens the errors of the man, and confirms the genius of the poet. + + * * * * * + + + _May 10_. + +It was on a lovely morning that I found myself on board the little +steamer _Wye_, passing out of Bristol harbour. In going down the river, +we saw on our right, the stupendous rocks of St. Vincent towering some +four or five hundred feet above our heads. By the swiftness of our fairy +steamer, we were soon abreast of Cook's Folly, a singular tower, built +by a man from whom it takes its name, and of which the following +romantic story is told:--"Some years since a gentleman, of the name of +Cook, erected this tower, which has since gone by the name of 'Cook's +Folly.' A son having been born, he was desirous of ascertaining, by +means of astrology, if he would live to enjoy his property. Being +himself a firm believer, like the poet Dryden, that certain information +might be obtained from the above science, he caused the child's +horoscope to be drawn, and found, to his dismay, that in his third, +sixteenth, or twenty-first year, he would be in danger of meeting with +some fearful calamity or sudden death, to avert which he caused the +turret to be constructed, and the child placed therein. Secure, as he +vainly thought, there he lived, attended by a faithful servant, their +food and fuel being conveyed to them by means of a pully-basket, until +he was old enough to wait upon himself. On the eve of his twenty-first +year, his parent's hopes rose high, and great were the rejoicings +prepared to welcome the young heir to his home. But, alas! no human +skill could avert the dark fate which clung to him. The last night he +had to pass alone in the turret, a bundle of faggots was conveyed to him +as usual, in which lay concealed a viper, which clung to his hand. The +bite was fatal; and, instead of being borne in triumph, the dead body of +his only son was the sad spectacle which met the sight of his father." + +We crossed the channel and soon entered the mouth of that most +picturesque of rivers, the Wye. As we neared the town of Chepstow the +old Castle made its appearance, and a fine old ruin it is. Being +previously provided with a letter of introduction to a gentleman in +Chepstow, I lost no time in finding him out. This gentleman gave me a +cordial reception, and did what Englishmen seldom ever do, lent me his +saddle horse to ride to the Abbey. While lunch was in preparation I took +a stroll through the Castle which stood near by. We entered the Castle +through the great door-way and were soon treading the walls that had +once sustained the cannon and the sentinel, but were now covered with +weeds and wild flowers. The drum and fife had once been heard within +these walls--the only music now is the cawing of the rook and daw. We +paid a hasty visit to the various apartments, remaining longest in those +of most interest. The room in which Martin the Regicide was imprisoned +nearly twenty years, was pointed out to us. The Castle of Chepstow is +still a magnificent pile, towering upon the brink of a stupendous cliff, +on reaching the top of which, we had a splendid view of the surrounding +country. Time, however, compelled us to retrace our steps, and after +partaking of a lunch, we mounted a horse for the first time in ten +years, and started for Tintern Abbey. The distance from Chepstow to the +Abbey is about five miles, and the road lies along the banks of the +river. The river is walled in on either side by hills of much beauty, +clothed from base to summit with the richest verdure. I can conceive of +nothing more striking than the first appearance of the Abbey. As we +rounded a hill, all at once we saw the old ruin standing before us in +all its splendour. This celebrated ecclesiastical relic of the olden +time is doubtless the finest ruin of its kind in Europe. Embosomed +amongst hills, and situated on the banks of the most fairy-like river in +the world, its beauty can scarcely be surpassed. We halted at the +"Beaufort Arms," left our horse, and sallied forth to view the Abbey. +The sun was pouring a flood of light upon the old grey walls, lighting +up its dark recesses, as if to give us a better opportunity of viewing +it. I gazed with astonishment and admiration at its many beauties, and +especially at the superb gothic windows over the entrance door. The +beautiful gothic pillars, with here and there a representation of a +praying priest, and mailed knights, with saints and Christian martyrs, +and the hundreds of Scriptural representations, all indicate that this +was a place of considerable importance in its palmy days. The once +stone floor had disappeared, and we found ourselves standing on a floor +of unbroken green grass, swelling back to the old walls, and looking so +verdant and silken that it seemed the very floor of fancy. There are +more romantic and wilder places than this in the world, but none more +beautiful. The preservation of these old abbeys should claim the +attention of those under whose charge they are, and we felt like joining +with the poet and saying:-- + + "O ye who dwell + Around yon ruins, guard the precious charge + From hands profane! O save the sacred pile-- + O'er which the wing of centuries has flown + Darkly and silently, deep-shadowing all + Its pristine honours--from the ruthless grasp + Of future violation." + + +In contemplating these ruins more closely, the mind insensibly reverts +to the period of feudal and regal oppression, when structures like that +of Tintern Abbey necessarily became the scenes of stirring and +highly-important events. How altered is the scene! Where were formerly +magnificence and splendour; the glittering array of priestly prowess; +the crowded halls of haughty bigots, and the prison of religious +offenders; there is now but a heap of mouldering ruins. The oppressed +and the oppressor have long since lain down together in the peaceful +grave. The ruin, generally speaking, is unusually perfect, and the +sculpture still beautifully sharp. The outward walls are nearly entire, +and are thickly clad with ivy. Many of the windows are also in a good +state of preservation; but the roof has long since fallen in. The +feathered songsters were fluttering about, and pouring forth their +artless lays as a tribute of joy; while the lowing of the herds, the +bleating of flocks, and the hum of bees upon the farm near by, all burst +upon the ear, and gave the scene a picturesque sublimity that can be +easier imagined than described. Most assuredly Shakspere had such ruins +in view when he exclaimed-- + + "The cloud-capp'd towers, the gorgeous palaces, + The solemn temples, the great globe itself, + Yea, all which it inherit, shall dissolve-- + And, like the baseless fabric of a vision, + Leave not a wreck behind." + + +In the afternoon we returned to Bristol, and I spent the greater part +of the next day in examining the interior of Redcliffe Church. Few +places in the West of England have greater claims upon the topographer +and historian than the church of St. Mary's, Redcliffe. Its antiquity, +the beauty of its architecture, and above all the interesting +circumstances connected with its history, entitle it to peculiar notice. +It is also associated with the enterprise of genius; for its name has +been blended with the reputation of Rowley, of Canynge, and of +Chatterton; and no lover of poetry and admirer of art can visit it +without a degree of enthusiasm. And when the old building shall have +mouldered into ruins, even these will be trodden with veneration as +sacred to the recollection of genius of the highest order. Ascending a +winding stair, we were shown into the Treasury Room. The room forms an +irregular octagon, admitting light through narrow unglazed apertures +upon the broken and scattered fragments of the famous Rowleian chests, +that with the rubble and dust of centuries cover the floor. It is here +creative fancy pictures forth the sad image of the spirit of the +spot--the ardent boy, flushed and fed by hope, musing on the brilliant +deception he had conceived--whose daring attempt has left his name unto +the intellectual world as a marvel and a mystery. + +That a boy under twelve years of age should write a series of poems, +imitating the style of the fifteenth century, and palm these poems off +upon the world as the work of a monk, is indeed strange; and that these +should become the object of interesting contemplation to the literary +world, and should awaken inquiries, and exercise the talents of a +Southey, a Bryant, a Miller, a Mathias, and others, savours more of +romance than reality. I had visited the room in a garret in High +Holborn, where this poor boy died. I had stood over a grave in the +burial-ground of the Lane Workhouse, which was pointed out to me as the +last resting-place of Chatterton; and now I was in the room where it was +alleged he obtained the manuscripts that gave him such notoriety. We +descended and viewed other portions of the church. The effect of the +chancel, as seen behind the pictures, is very singular, and suggestive +of many swelling thoughts. We look at the great east window, it is +unadorned with its wonted painted glass; we look at the altar-screen +beneath, on which the light of day again falls, and behold the injuries +it has received at the hands of time. There is a dreary mournfulness in +the scene which fastens on the mind, and is in unison with the time-worn +mouldering fragments that are seen all around us. And this dreariness is +not removed by our tracing the destiny of man on the storied pavements +or on the graven brass, that still bears upon its surface the names of +those who obtained the world's regard years back. This old pile is not +only an ornament to the city, but it stands a living monument to the +genius of its founder. Bristol has long sustained a high position as a +place from which the American Abolitionists have received substantial +encouragement in their arduous labours for the emancipation of the +slaves of that land; and the writer of this received the best evidence +that in this respect the character of the people had not been +exaggerated, especially as regards the "Clifton Ladies' Anti-Slavery +Society." + + + + +LETTER XXIII.[A] + +[A] This letter is rather out of its proper place here. I had mislaid +the MS., and my distance from the printer prevented the matter being +rectified. In another edition, the transposition can be effected. + +_Aberdeen--Passage by Steamer--Edinburgh--Visit to the College--William +and Ellen Craft._ + + +I have visited few places where I found more warm friends than in +Aberdeen. This is the Granite City of Scotland. + +Aberdeen reminds one of Boston, especially in a walk down Union Street, +which is said to be one of the finest promenades in Europe. + +The town is situated on a neck of land between the rivers Dee and Don, +and is the most important place in the north of Scotland. During our +third day in the city, we visited among other places the Old Bridge of +Don, which is not only resorted to on account of its antique celebrity +and peculiar appearance, but also because of the notoriety that it has +gained by Lord Byron's poem of the "Bridge of Don." + +An engagement to be in Edinburgh and vicinity, cut short our stay in the +north. The very mild state of the weather, and a wish to see something +of the coast between Aberdeen and Edinburgh, induced us to make the +journey by water. + +On Friday evening, the 14th, after delivering a lecture before the Total +Abstinence Society, in company with William and Ellen Craft, I went on +board the steamer bound for Edinburgh. On reaching the vessel, we found +the drawing-room almost entirely at our service, and prejudice against +colour being unknown, we had no difficulty in getting the best +accommodation which the steamer could furnish. This is so unlike the +pro-slavery, negro-hating spirit of America, that the Crafts seemed +almost bewildered by the transition. I had been in the saloon but a +short time, when, looking at the newspapers on the table, I discovered +the _North Star_. It was like meeting with a friend in a strange land. I +looked in vain on the margin for the name of its owner, but as I did not +feel at liberty to take it, and as it appeared to be alone, I laid the +_Liberator_ by its side to keep it company. + +The night was a glorious one. The sky was without a speck; and the +clear, piercing air had a brilliancy I have seldom seen. The moon was in +its zenith--the steamer and surrounding objects were beautiful in the +extreme. The boat got under weigh at a little past twelve, and we were +soon out at sea. The "Queen" is a splendid craft, and without the aid of +sails, was able to make fifteen miles within the hour. I was up the next +morning before the sun, and found the sea as on the previous night--as +calm and smooth as a mirror. It was a delightful morning, more like +April than February; and the sun, as it rose, seemed to fire every peak +of the surrounding hills. On our left, lay the Island of May, while to +the right was to be seen the small fishing town of Anstruther, twenty +miles distant from Edinburgh. Beyond these, on either side, was a range +of undulating blue mountains, swelling as they retired, into a bolder +outline and a loftier altitude, until they terminated some twenty-five +or thirty miles in the dim distance. A friend at my side pointed out a +place on the right, where the remains of an old castle or look-out +house, used in the time of the border wars, once stood, and which +reminded us of the barbarism of the past. + +But these signs are fast disappearing. The plough and roller have passed +over many of these foundations, and the time will soon come, when the +antiquarian will look in vain for those places that history has pointed +out to him, as connected with the political and religious struggles of +the past. The steward of the vessel came round to see who of the +passengers wished for breakfast, and as the keen air of the morning had +given me an appetite, and there being no prejudice on the score of +colour, I took my seat at the table and gave ample evidence that I was +not an invalid. On returning to the deck again, I found we had entered +the Forth, and that "Modern Athens" was in sight; and, far above every +other object, with its turrets almost lost in the clouds, could be seen +Edinburgh Castle. After landing, a pleasant ride over one of the finest +roads in Scotland, with a sprinkling of beautiful villas on either side, +brought us once more to Cannon's Hotel. + +In a city like Edinburgh, there is always something to keep the public +alive, but during our three days' stay in the town, on this occasion, +there were topics under discussion which seemed to excite the people, +although I had been told that the Scotch were not excitable. Indeed all +Edinburgh seemed to have gone mad about the Pope. If his Holiness should +think fit to pay a visit to his new dominions, I would advise him to +keep out of reach of the Scotch. + +In company with the Crafts, I visited the Calton Hill, from which we had +a delightful view of the city and surrounding country. I had an +opportunity during my stay in the city, of visiting the Infirmary, and +was pleased to see among the two or three hundred students, three +coloured young men, seated upon the same benches with those of a fairer +complexion, and yet there appeared no feeling on the part of the whites +towards their coloured associates, except of companionship and respect. +One of the cardinal truths, both of religion and freedom, is the +equality and brotherhood of man. In the sight of God and all just +institutions, the whites can claim no precedence or privilege, on +account of their being white; and if coloured men are not treated as +they should be in the educational institutions in America, it is a +pleasure to know that all distinction ceases by crossing the broad +Atlantic. I had scarcely left the lecture room of the Institute and +reached the street, when I met a large number of the students on their +way to the college, and here again were seen coloured men arm in arm +with whites. The proud American who finds himself in the splendid +streets of Edinburgh, and witnesses such scenes as these, can but behold +in them the degradation of his own country, whose laws would make slaves +of these same young men, should they appear in the streets of +Charleston or New Orleans. + +After all, our country is the most despotic in the wide world, and to +expose and hold it up to the scorn and contempt of other nations, is the +duty of every coloured man who would be true to himself and his race. + + +During my stay in Edinburgh, I accepted an invitation to breakfast with +the great champion of Philosophical Phrenology. Few foreigners are more +admired in America, than the author of "The Constitution of Man."[B] +Although not far from 70 years of age, I found him apparently as active +and as energetic as many men of half that age. He was much pleased with +Mr. and Mrs. Craft, who formed a part of the breakfast party. It may be +a pleasure to the friends of these two fugitive slaves, to know that +they are now the inmates of a good school where they are now being +educated. For this, they are mainly indebted to that untiring friend of +the Slave, John B. Estlin, Esq., of Bristol, whose zeal and co-operation +with the American Abolitionists, have gained for him an undying name +with the friends of freedom in the New World. + +[B] George Combe, Esq. + + + + +LETTER XIII. + +_Edinburgh--The Royal Institute--Scott's Monument--John Knox's +Pulpit--Temperance Meeting--Glasgow--Great Meeting in the City Hall._ + + + EDINBURGH, _January 1, 1851_. + +You will see by the date of this that I am spending my +New-Year's-Day in the Scottish Capital, in company with our friend, +William Craft. I came by invitation to attend a meeting of the Edinburgh +Ladies' Emancipation Society. + +The meeting was held on Monday evening last, at which William Craft +gave, for the first time, since his arrival in this country, a history +of his escape from Georgia, two years ago, together with his recent +flight from Boston. + +Craft's reception was one of deep enthusiasm, and his story was well +told, and made a powerful impression on the audience. I would that the +slaveholders, Hughes and Knight, could have been present and heard the +thundering applause with which our friend was received on the following +evening. Craft attended a meeting of the Edinburgh Total Abstinence +Society, before which I lectured, and his appearance here was also +hailed with much enthusiasm. Our friend bids fair to become a favourite +with the Scotch. + +Much regret was expressed that Ellen was not present. She was detained +in Liverpool by indisposition. But Mrs. Craft has so far recovered, that +we expect her here to-morrow. + +The appearance of these two fugitives in Great Britain, at this time, +and under the circumstances, will aid our cause, and create a renewed +hatred to the abominable institution of American slavery. I have +received letters from a number of the friends of the slave, in which +they express a wish to aid the Crafts; and among the first of these, +were our good friends, John B. Estlin, Esq., of Bristol, and Harriet +Martineau. + +But I must give you my impression of this fine city. Edinburgh is the +most picturesque of all the towns which I have visited since my arrival +in the father-land. Its situation has been compared to that of Athens, +but it is said that the modern Athens is superior to the ancient. I was +deeply impressed with the idea that I had seen the most beautiful of +cities, after beholding those fashionable resorts, Paris and Versailles. +I have seen nothing in the way of public grounds to compare with the +gardens of Versailles, or the _Champs Elysees_ at Paris; and as for +statuary, the latter place is said to take the lead of the rest of the +world. + +The general appearance of Edinburgh prepossesses one in its favour. The +town being built upon the brows of a large terrace, presents the most +wonderful perspective. Its first appearance to a stranger, and the first +impression, can scarcely be but favourable. In my first walk through the +town, I was struck with the difference in the appearance of the people +from the English. But the difference between the Scotch and the +Americans, is very great. The cheerfulness depicted in the countenances +of the people here, and their free and easy appearance, is very striking +to a stranger. He who taught the sun to shine, the flowers to bloom, the +birds to sing, and blesses us with rain, never intended that his +creatures should look sad. There is a wide difference between the +Americans and any other people which I have seen. The Scotch are healthy +and robust, unlike the long-faced, sickly-looking Americans. + +While on our journey from London to Paris, to attend the Peace Congress, +I could not but observe the marked difference between the English and +American delegates. The former looked as if their pockets had been +filled with sandwiches, made of good bread and roast beef, while the +latter appeared as if their pockets had been filled with Holloway's +Pills, and Mrs. Kidder's Cordial. + +I breakfasted this morning in a room in which the Poet Burns, as I was +informed, had often sat. The conversation here turned upon Burns. The +lady of the house pointed to a scrap of poetry which was in a frame +hanging on the wall, written, as she said, by the Poet, on hearing the +people rejoicing in a church over the intelligence of a victory. I +copied it and will give it to you:-- + + "Ye hypocrites! are these your pranks, + To murder men and give God thanks? + For shame! give o'er, proceed no further, + God won't accept your thanks for murder." + + +The fact that I was in the room where Scotland's great national poet had +been a visitor, caused me to feel that I was on classic, if not hallowed +ground. On returning from our morning visit, we met a gentleman with a +coloured lady on each arm. Craft remarked in a very dry manner, "If they +were in Georgia, the slaveholders would make them walk in a more hurried +gait than they do." I said to my friend, that if he meant the +pro-slavery prejudice would not suffer them to walk peaceably through +the streets, they need go no further than the pro-slavery cities of New +York and Philadelphia. When walking through the streets, I amused +myself, by watching Craft's countenance; and in doing so, imagined I saw +the changes experienced by every fugitive slave in his first month's +residence in this country. A sixteen months' residence has not yet +familiarized me with the change. + + * * * * * + + + LAUREL BANK, _Jan. 18, 1851_. + +Dear Douglass,--I remained in Edinburgh a day or two after the +date of my last letter, which gave me an opportunity of seeing some of +the lions in the way of public buildings, &c., in company with our +friend Wm. Craft. I paid a visit to the Royal Institute, and inspected +the very fine collection of paintings, statues, and other productions of +art. The collection in the Institute is not to be compared to the +British Museum at London, or the Louvre at Paris, but is probably the +best in Scotland. Paintings from the hands of many of the masters, such +as Sir A. Vandyke, Tiziano, Vercellio and Van Dellen, were hanging on +the wall, and even the names of Reubens, and Titian, were attached to +some of the finer specimens. Many of these represent some of the nobles, +and distinguished families of Rome, Athens, Greece, &c. A beautiful one +representing a group of the Lomellini family of Genoa, seemed to attract +the attention of most of the visitors. + +In visiting this place, we passed close by the monument of Sir Walter +Scott. This is the most exquisite thing of the kind that I have seen +since coming to this country. It is said to be the finest monument in +Europe. There sits the author of "Waverley," with a book and pencil in +hand, taking notes. A beautiful dog is seated by his side. Whether this +is meant to represent his favourite dog, Camp, at whose death the Poet +shed so many tears, we were not informed; but I was of opinion that it +might be the faithful Percy, whose monument stands in the grounds at +Abbotsford. Scott was an admirer of the canine tribe. One may form a +good idea of the appearance of this distinguished writer, when living, +by viewing this remarkable statue. The statue is very beautiful, but not +equal to the one of Lord Byron, which was executed to be placed by the +side of Johnson, Milton, and Addison, in Poets' Corner, Westminster +Abbey; but the Parliament not allowing it a place there, it now stands +in one of the Colleges at Cambridge. While viewing the statue of Byron, +I thought he, too, should have been represented with a dog by his side, +for he, like Scott, was remarkably fond of dogs, so much so that he +intended to have his favourite, Boatswain, interred by his side. + +We paid a short visit to the monuments of Burns and Allan Ramsay, and +the renowned old Edinburgh Castle. The Castle is now used as a barrack +for Infantry. It is accessible only from the High Street, and must have +been impregnable before the discovery of gunpowder. In the wars with the +English, it was twice taken by stratagem; once in a very daring manner, +by climbing up the most inaccessible part of the rock upon which it +stands, and where a foe was least expected, and putting the guard to +death; and another time, by a party of soldiers disguising themselves as +merchants, and obtaining admission inside the Castle gates. They +succeeded in preventing the gates from being closed, until reinforced by +a party of men under Sir Wm. Douglas, who soon overpowered the occupants +of the Castle. + +We could not resist the temptation held out to see the Palace of +Holyrood. It was in this place that the beautiful, but unfortunate Mary, +Queen of Scots, resided for a number of years. On reaching the palace, +we were met at the door by an elderly looking woman, with a red face, +garnished with a pair of second-hand curls, the whole covered with a cap +having the widest border that I had seen for years. She was very kind in +showing us about the premises, especially as we were foreigners, no +doubt expecting an extra fee for politeness. The most interesting of the +many rooms in this ancient castle, is the one which was occupied by the +Queen, and where her Italian favourite, Rizzio, was murdered. + +But by far the most interesting object which we visited while in +Edinburgh, was the house where the celebrated Reformer, John Knox, +re-resided. It is a queer-looking old building, with a pulpit on the +outside, and above the door are the nearly obliterated remains of the +following inscription:--"Lufe. God. Above. Al. And. your. Nichbour. As +you. Self." This was probably traced under the immediate direction of +the great Reformer. Such an inscription put upon a house of worship at +the present day, would be laughed at. I have given it to you, +punctuation and all, just as it stands. + +The general architecture of Edinburgh is very imposing, whether we +regard the picturesque disorder of the buildings, in the Old Town, or +the symmetrical proportions of the streets and squares in the New. But +on viewing this city which has the reputation of being the finest in +Europe, I was surprised to find that it had none of those sumptuous +structures, which like St. Paul's, or Westminster Abbey, York Minster, +and some other of the English provincial Cathedrals, astonish the +beholder alike by their magnitude and their architectural splendour. But +in no city which I have visited in the kingdom, is the general standard +of excellence better maintained than in Edinburgh. + +I am not sure, my dear friend, whether or not I mentioned in my last +letter the attendance of Wm. Craft and myself at a splendid Soiree of +the Edinburgh Temperance Society, and our being voted in life members, +in the most enthusiastic manner, by the whole audience. I will here give +you a part of the speech of the President, as reported in the _Christian +News_. This should cause the pro-slavery whites, and especially +negro-hating Sons of Temperance, who refuse the coloured man a place in +their midst, to feel ashamed of their unchristian conduct. Here it is, +let them judge for themselves:-- + +"A great feature in our meeting to-night, is that we have beside us two +individuals, who, according to the immaculate laws of immaculate +Yankeedom, have been guilty of the tremendous crime of stealing +themselves. (Applause.) Mr. Craft, who sits beside me, has stolen his +good wife, and Mrs. Craft has stolen her worthy husband; and our +respected friend, Mr. Brown, has cast a covetous eye on his own person. +In the name of the Temperance reformers of Edinburgh--in the name of +universal Scotland, I would welcome these two victims of the white man's +pride, ambition, selfishness, and cupidity. I welcome them as our equals +in every respect. (Great applause.) What a humiliating thought it will +be, surely, for our American friends on the other side of the water, +when they hear (and we shall endeavour to let them hear) that the very +man whom they consider not worthy to sit in a third class carriage along +with a white man, and that too in a district of country where the very +aristocracy deal in cheap cheese--(great applause) traffic in tallow +candles, and spend their nights and days among raw hides and train +oil--(applause)--what a humbling thought it will be for them to know +that these very men in the centre of educated Scotland, in the midst of +educated Edinburgh, are thought fit to hold even the first rank upon our +aristocratic platform. Let us, then, my friends, lift our voices this +evening in one swelling chorus for the down-trodden slave. Let us +publish abroad the fact to the world, that the sympathies of Scotland +are with the bondsman everywhere. Let us unite our voices to cry, Down +with the iniquitous Slave Bill!--Down with the aristocracy of the +skin!--Perish forever the deepest-dyed, the hardest-hearted system of +abomination under heaven!--Perish the sum of all villanies! Perish +American slavery. (Great applause.)" + +But I must leave the good and hospitable people of the Scottish Capital +for the present. I have taken an elaborate stock of notes, and may speak +of Edinburgh again. + +I left William and Ellen Craft (the latter of whom has just come to +Edinburgh), and took the Glasgow train, and after a ride of two hours +through a beautiful country, with its winding hills on either side--its +fertile fields, luxuriant woods, and stately mansions lying around us, +arrived in the muddy, dirty, smoky, foggy city of Glasgow. As I had had +a standing invitation from a distinguished gentleman with whom I became +acquainted in London, to partake of his hospitality, should I ever visit +Glasgow, and again received a note while in Edinburgh renewing the +invitation, I proceeded to his residence at Partick, three miles from +Glasgow. This is one of the loveliest spots which I have yet seen. Our +mansion is on the side of Laurel Bank, a range of the Kilpatrick hills. +We have a view of the surrounding country. + +On Monday evening, Jan. 6, a public meeting was held in the City Hall, +to extend a welcome to the American fugitive slaves. The hall, one of +the largest in the kingdom, was filled at an early hour. At the +appointed time, Alex. Hastie, Esq., M.P., entered the great room, +followed by the fugitives and most of the leading abolitionists, amid +rapturous applause. With a Member of Parliament in the chair, and +almost any number of clergymen on the platform, the meeting had an +influential appearance. From report, I had imbibed the opinion that the +Scotch were not easily moved, but if I may judge from the enthusiasm +which characterised the City Hall demonstration, I should place them but +little behind the English. After an excellent speech from the Chairman, +and spirited addresses from several clergymen, William Craft was +introduced to the meeting, and gave an account of the escape of himself +and wife from slavery, and their subsequent flight from Boston. Any +description of mine would give but a poor idea of the intense feeling +that pervaded the meeting. I think all who were there, left the hall +after hearing that noble fugitive, with a greater abhorrence of American +slavery than they previously entertained. + + + + +LETTER XIV. + +_Stirling--Dundee--Dr. Dick--Geo. Gilfillan--Dr. Dick at home._ + + + PERTH, SCOTLAND, _Jan. 31, 1851_. + +I am glad once more to breathe an atmosphere uncontaminated by the fumes +and smoke of a city with its population of three hundred thousand +inhabitants. In company with our friends Wm. and Ellen Craft, I left +Glasgow on the afternoon of the 23d inst., for Dundee, a beautiful town +situated on the banks of the river Tay. One like myself, who has spent +the best part of an eventful life in cities, and who prefers, as I do, a +country to a town life, feels a greater degree of freedom when +surrounded by forest trees, or country dwellings, and looking upon a +clear sky, than when walking through the thronged thoroughfares of a +city, with its dense population, meeting every moment a new or strange +face which one has never seen before, and never expects to see again. +Although I had met with one of the warmest public receptions with which +I have been greeted since my arrival in the country, and had had an +opportunity of shaking hands with many noble friends of the slave, whose +names I had often seen in print, yet I felt glad to see the tall +chimneys and smoke of Glasgow receding in the distance, as our 'iron +horse' was taking us with almost lightning speed from the commercial +capital of Scotland. + +The distance from Glasgow to Dundee is some seventy or eighty miles, and +we passed through the finest country which I have seen in this portion +of the Queen's dominions. We passed through the old town of Stirling, +which lies about thirty miles distant from Glasgow, and is a place much +frequented by those who travel for pleasure. It is built on the brow of +a hill, and the Castle from which it most probably derived its name, may +be seen from a distance. Had it not been for a "professional" engagement +the same evening at Dundee, I would most assuredly have halted to take a +look at the old building. + +The Castle is situated or built on an isolated rock, which seems as if +Nature had thrown it there for that purpose. It was once the retreat of +the Scottish Kings, and famous for its historical associations. Here the +"Lady of the Lake," with the magic ring, sought the monarch to intercede +for her father; here James II. murdered the Earl of Douglas; here the +beautiful but unfortunate Mary was made Queen; and here John Knox, the +Reformer, preached the coronation sermon of James VI. The Castle Hill +rises from the valley of the Forth, and makes an imposing and +picturesque appearance. The windings of the noble river till lost in the +distance, present pleasing contrasts, scarcely to be surpassed. + +The speed of our train, after passing Stirling, brought before us, in +quick succession, a number of fine valleys and farm houses. Every spot +seemed to have been arrayed by Nature for the reception of the cottage +of some happy family. During this ride, we passed many sites where the +lawns were made, the terraces defined and levelled, the groves +tastefully clumped, the ancient trees, though small when compared to our +great forest oaks, were beautifully sprinkled here and there, and in +everything the labour of art seemed to have been anticipated by Nature. +Cincinnatus could not have selected a prettier situation for a farm, +than some which presented themselves, during this delightful journey. At +last we arrived at the place of our destination, where our friends were +in waiting for us. + +As I have already forwarded to you a paper containing an account of the +Dundee meeting, I shall leave you to judge from these reports the +character of the demonstration. Yet I must mention a fact or two +connected with our first evening's visit to this town. A few hours after +our arrival in the place, we were called upon by a gentleman whose name +is known wherever the English language is spoken--one whose name is on +the tongue of every student and school-boy in this country and America, +and what lives upon their lips will live and be loved for ever. + +We were seated over a cup of strong tea, to revive our spirits for the +evening, when our friend entered the room, accompanied by a gentleman, +small in stature, and apparently seventy-five years of age, yet he +appeared as active as one half that age. Feeling half drowsy from riding +in the cold, and then the sudden change to a warm fire, I was rather +inclined not to move on the entrance of the stranger. But the name of +Thomas Dick, LL.D., roused me in a moment, from my lethargy; I could +scarcely believe that I was in the presence of the "Christian +Philosopher." Dr. Dick is one of the men to whom the age is indebted. I +never find myself in the presence of one to whom the world owes so much +as Dr. Dick, without feeling a thrilling emotion, as if I were in the +land of spirits. Dr. Dick had come to our lodgings to see and +congratulate Wm. and Ellen Craft upon their escape from the republican +Christians of the United States; and as he pressed the hand of the +"white slave," and bid her "welcome to British soil," I saw the silent +tear stealing down the cheek of this man of genius. How I wished that +the many slaveholders and pro-slavery professed Christians of America, +who have read and pondered the philosophy of this man, could have been +present. Thomas Dick is an abolitionist--one who is willing that the +world should know that he hates the "peculiar institution." At the +meeting that evening, Dr. Dick was among the most prominent. But this +was not the only distinguished man who took part on that occasion. + +Another great mind was on the platform, and entered his solemn protest +in a manner long to be remembered by those present. This was the Rev. +George Gilfillan, well known as the author of the "Portraits of Literary +Men." Mr. Gilfillan is an energetic speaker, and would have been the +lion of the evening, even if many others who are more distinguished as +platform orators had been present. I think it was Napoleon who said that +the enthusiasm of others abated his own. At any rate, the spirit with +which each speaker entered upon his duty for the evening, abated my own +enthusiasm for the time being. The last day of our stay in Dundee, I +paid a visit, by invitation, to Dr. Dick, at his residence in the little +village of Broughty Ferry. We found the great astronomer in his parlour +waiting for us. From the parlour we went to the new study, and here I +felt more at ease, for I went to see the Philosopher in his study, and +not in his drawing-room. But even this room had too much the look of +nicety to be an author's _sanctum_; and I inquired and was soon informed +by Mrs. Dick, that I should have a look at the "_old study_." + +During a sojourn of eighteen months in Great Britain, I have had the +good fortune to meet with several distinguished literary characters, and +have always managed, while at their places of abode, to see the table +and favourite chair. Wm. and Ellen Craft were seeing what they could see +through a microscope, when Mrs. Dick returned to the room, and intimated +that we could now see the old literary workshop. I followed, and was +soon in a room about fifteen feet square, with but one window, which +occupied one side of the room. The walls of the other three sides were +lined with books. And many of these looked the very personification of +age. I took my seat in the "_old arm chair_;" and here, thought I, is +the place and the seat in which this distinguished man sat, while +weaving the radiant wreath of renown which now in his old age surrounds +him, and whose labours will be more appreciated by future ages than the +present. + +I took a farewell of the author of the "Solar System," but not until I +had taken a look through the great telescope in the observatory. This +instrument, through which I tried to see the heavens, was not the one +invented by Galileo, but an improvement upon the original. On leaving +this learned man, he shook hands with us, and bade us "God speed" in our +mission; and I left the philosopher, feeling I had not passed an hour +more agreeably, with a literary character, since the hour which I spent +with Poet Montgomery a few months since. And, by-the-bye, there is a +resemblance between the poet and the philosopher. In becoming acquainted +with great men, I have become a convert to the opinion, that a big nose +is an almost necessary appendage to the form of a man with a giant +intellect. If those whom I have seen be a criterion, such is certainly +the case. But I have spun out this too long, and must close. + + + + +LETTER XV. + +_Melrose Abbey--Abbotsford--Dryburgh Abbey--The Grave of Sir Walter +Scott--Hawick--Gretna Green--Visit to the Lakes._ + + + YORK, _March 26, 1851_. + +I closed my last letter in the ancient town of Melrose, on the banks of +the Tweed, and within a stone's throw of the celebrated ruins from which +the town derives its name. The valley in which Melrose is situated, and +the surrounding hills, together with the Monastery, have so often been +made a theme for the Scottish bards, that this has become the most +interesting part of Scotland. Of the many gifted writers who have taken +up the pen, none have done more to bring the Eildon Hills and Melrose +Abbey into note, than the author of "Waverley." But who can read his +writings without a regret, that he should have so woven fact and fiction +together, that it is almost impossible to discriminate between the one +and the other. + +We arrived at Melrose in the evening, and proceeded to the chapel where +our meeting was to be held, and where our friends, the Crafts, were +warmly greeted. On returning from the meeting, we passed close by the +ruins of Melrose, and, very fortunately, it was a moonlight night. There +is considerable difference of opinion among the inhabitants of the place +as regards the best time to view the Abbey. The author of the "Lay of +the Last Minstrel," says:-- + + "If thou wouldst view fair Melrose aright, + Go visit it by the pale moonlight: + For the gay beams of lightsome day + Gild but to flout the ruins gray." + + +In consequence of this admonition, I was informed that many persons +remain in town to see the ruins by moonlight. Aware that the moon did +not send its rays upon the old building every night in the year, I asked +the keeper what he did on dark nights. He replied that he had a large +lantern, which he put upon the end of a long pole, and with this he +succeeded in lighting up the ruins. This good man laboured hard to +convince me that his invention was nearly, if not quite as good, as +Nature's own moon. But having no need of an application of his invention +to the Abbey, I had no opportunity of judging of its effect. I thought, +however, that he had made a moon to some purpose, when he informed me +that some nights, with his pole and lantern, he earned his four or five +shillings. Not being content with a view by "moonlight alone," I was up +the next morning before the sun, and paid my respects to the Abbey. I +was too early for the keeper, and he handed me the key through the +window, and I entered the rooms alone. It is one labyrinth of gigantic +arches and dilapidated halls, the ivy growing and clinging wherever it +can fasten its roots, and the whole as fine a picture of decay as +imagination could create. This was the favourite resort of Sir Walter +Scott, and furnished him much matter for the "Lay of the Last Minstrel." +He could not have selected a more fitting place for solitary thought +than this ancient abode of monks and priests. In passing through the +cloisters, I could not but remark the carvings of leaves and flowers, +wrought in stone in the most exquisite manner, looking as fresh as if +they were just from the hands of the artist. The lapse of centuries +seems not to have made any impression upon them, or changed their +appearance in the least. I sat down among the ruins of the Abbey. The +ground about was piled up with magnificent fragments of stone, +representing various texts of Scripture, and the quaint ideas of the +priests and monks of that age. Scene after scene swept through my fancy +as I looked upon the surrounding objects. I could almost imagine I saw +the bearded monks going from hall to hall, and from cell to cell. In +visiting these dark cells, the mind becomes oppressed by a sense of the +utter helplessness of the victims who once passed over the thresholds +and entered these religious prisons. There was no help or hope but in +the will that ordered their fate. How painful it is to gaze upon these +walls, and to think how many tears have been shed by their inmates, when +this old Monastery was in its glory. I ascended to the top of the ruin +by a circuitous stairway, whose stone steps were worn deep from use by +many who, like myself, had visited them to gratify a curiosity. From the +top of the Abbey, I had a splendid view of the surrounding hills and +the beautiful valley through which flows the Gala Water and Tweed. This +is unquestionably the most splendid specimen of Gothic architectural +ruin in Scotland. But any description of mine conveys but a poor idea to +the fancy. To be realized, it must be seen. + +During the day, we paid a visit to Abbotsford, the splendid mansion of +the late Sir Walter Scott, Bart. This beautiful seat is situated on the +banks of the Tweed, just below its junction with the Gala Water. It is a +dreary looking spot, and the house from the opposite side of the river +has the appearance of a small, low castle. In a single day's ride +through England, one may see half a dozen cottages larger than +Abbotsford House. I was much disappointed in finding the premises +undergoing repairs and alterations, and that all the trees between the +house and the river had been cut down. This is to be regretted the more, +because they were planted, nearly every one of them, by the same hand +that waved its wand of enchantment over the world. The fountain had been +removed from where it had been placed by the hands of the Poet to the +centre of the yard; and even a small stone that had been placed over the +favourite dog "Percy," had been taken up and thrown among some loose +stones. One visits Abbotsford because of the genius of the man that once +presided over it. Everything connected with the great Poet is of +interest to his admirers, and anything altered or removed, tends to +diminish that interest. We entered the house, and were conducted through +the great Hall, which is hung all round with massive armour of all +descriptions, and other memorials of ancient times. The floor is of +white and black marble. In passing through the hall, we entered a narrow +arched room, stretching quite across the building, having a window at +each end. This little or rather narrow room is filled with all kinds of +armour, which is arranged with great taste. We were next shown into the +Dining-room, whose roof is of black oak, richly carved. In this room is +a painting of the head of Queen Mary, in a charger, taken the day after +the execution. Many other interesting portraits grace the walls of this +room. But by far the finest apartment in the building is the +Drawing-room, with a lofty ceiling, and furnished with antique ebony +furniture. After passing through the Library, with its twenty thousand +volumes, we found ourselves in the Study, and I sat down in the same +chair where once sat the Poet; while before me was the table upon which +was written the "Lady of the Lake," "Waverley," and other productions of +this gifted writer. The clothes last worn by the Poet were shown to us. +There was the broad skirted blue coat, with its large buttons, the plaid +trousers, the heavy shoes, the black vest and white hat. These were all +in a glass case, and all looked the poet and novelist. But the inside of +the buildings had undergone alterations as well as the outside. In +passing through the Library, we saw a granddaughter of the Poet. She was +from London, and was only on a visit of a few days. She looked pale and +dejected, and seemed as if she longed to leave this secluded spot and +return to the metropolis. She looked for all the world like a hothouse +plant. I don't think the Scotch could do better than to purchase +Abbotsford, while it has some imprint of the great magician, and secure +its preservation; for I am sure that, a hundred years hence, no place +will be more frequently visited in Scotland than the home of the late +Sir Walter Scott. After sauntering three hours about the premises, I +left, but not without feeling that I had been well paid for my trouble +in visiting Abbotsford. + +In the afternoon of the same day, in company with the Crafts, I took a +drive to Dryburgh Abbey. It is a ruin of little interest, except as +being the burial place of Scott. The poet lies buried in St. Mary's +Aisle. His grave is in the left transept of the cross, and close to +where the high altar formerly stood. Sir Walter Scott chose his own +grave, and he could not have selected a sunnier spot if he had roamed +the wide world over. A shaded window breaks the sun as it falls upon his +grave. The ivy is creeping and clinging wherever it can, as if it would +shelter the poet's grave from the weather. The author lies between his +wife and eldest son, and there is only room enough for one grave more, +and the son's wife has the choice of being buried here. + +The four o'clock train took us to Hawick; and after a pleasant visit in +this place, and the people registering their names against American +Slavery, and the Fugitive Bill in particular, we set out for Carlisle, +passing through the antique town of Langholm. After leaving the latter +place, we had to travel by coach. But no matter how one travels here, he +travels at a more rapid rate than in America. The distance from Langholm +to Carlisle, twenty miles, occupied only two and a-half hours in the +journey. It was a cold day and I had to ride on the outside, as the +inside had been taken up. We changed horses, and took in and put out +passengers with a rapidity which seems almost incredible. The road was +as smooth as a mirror. + +We bid farewell to Scotland, as we reached the little town of Gretna +Green. This town being on the line between England and Scotland, is +noted as the place where a little cross-eyed, red-faced blacksmith, by +the name of Priestly, first set up his own altar to Hymen, and married +all who came to him, without regard to rank or station, and at prices to +suit all. It was worth a ride through this part of the country, if for +no other purpose than to see the town where more clandestine marriages +have taken place than in any other part in the world. A ride of eight or +nine miles brought us in sight of the Eden, winding its way slowly +through a beautiful valley, with farms on either side, covered with +sheep and cattle. Four very tall chimneys, sending forth dense columns +of black smoke, announced to us that we were near Carlisle. I was really +glad of this, for Ulysses was never more tired of the shores of Ilion +than I of the top of that coach. + +We remained over night at Carlisle, partaking of the hospitality of the +prince of bakers, and left the next day for the Lakes, where we had a +standing invitation to pay a visit to a distinguished literary lady. A +cold ride of about fifty miles brought us to the foot of Lake +Windermere, a beautiful sheet of water, surrounded by mountains that +seemed to vie with each other which should approach nearest the sky. The +margin of the lake is carved out and built up into terrace above +terrace, until the slopes and windings are lost in the snow-capped peaks +of the mountains. It is not surprising that such men as Southey, +Coleridge, Wordsworth, and others, resorted to this region for +inspiration. After a coach ride of five miles (passing on our journey +the "Dove's Nest," home of the late Mrs. Hemans), we were put down at +the door of the Salutation Hotel, Ambleside, and a few minutes after +found ourselves under the roof of the authoress of "Society in America." +I know not how it is with others, but for my own part, I always form an +opinion of the appearance of an author whose writings I am at all +familiar with, or a statesman whose speeches I have read. I had pictured +in my own mind a tall, stately-looking lady of about sixty years, as the +authoress of "Travels in the East," and for once I was right, with the +single exception that I had added on too many years by twelve. The +evening was spent in talking about the United States; and William Craft +had to go through the narrative of his escape from slavery. When I +retired for the night, I found it almost impossible to sleep. The idea +that I was under the roof of the authoress of "The Hour and the Man," +and that I was on the banks of the sweetest lake in Great Britain, +within half a mile of the residence of the late poet Wordsworth, drove +sleep from my pillow. But I must leave an account of my visit to the +Lakes for a future letter. + +When I look around and see the happiness here, even among the poorer +classes, and that too in a country where the soil is not at all to be +compared with our own, I mourn for our down-trodden countrymen, who are +plundered, oppressed, and made chattels of, to enable an ostentatious +aristocracy to vie with each other in splendid extravagance. + + + + +LETTER XVI. + +_Miss Martineau--"The Knoll"--"Ridal Mount"--"The Dove's Nest"--Grave of +William Wordsworth, Esq.--The English Peasant._ + + + _May 30, 1851_. + +A series of public meetings, one pressing close upon the heel of +another, must be an apology for my six or eight weeks' silence. But I +hope that no temporary suspense on my part will be construed into a want +of interest in our cause, or a wish to desist from giving occasionally a +scrap (such as it is) to the _North Star_. + +My last letter left me under the hospitable roof of Harriet Martineau. I +had long had an invitation to visit this distinguished friend of our +race, and as the invitation was renewed during my tour through the +North, I did not feel disposed to decline it, and thereby lose so +favourable an opportunity of meeting with one who had written so much in +behalf of the oppressed of our land. About a mile from the head of Lake +Windermere, and immediately under Wonsfell, and encircled by mountains +on all sides, except the south-west, lies the picturesque little town of +Ambleside, and the brightest spot in the place is "The Knoll," the +residence of Miss Martineau. + +We reached "The Knoll" a little after nightfall, and a cordial shake of +the hand by Miss M., who was waiting for us, soon assured us that we had +met with a warm friend. + +It is not my intention to lay open the scenes of domestic life at "The +Knoll," nor to describe the social parties of which my friends and I +were partakers during our sojourn within the hospitable walls of this +distinguished writer; but the name of Miss M. is so intimately connected +with the Anti-slavery movement, by her early writings, and those have +been so much admired by the friends of the slave in the United States, +that I deem it not at all out of place for me to give the readers of the +_North Star_ some idea of the authoress of "Political Economy," "Travels +in the East," "The Hour and the Man," &c. + +The dwelling is a cottage of moderate size, built after Miss M.'s own +plan, upon a rise of land from which it derives the name of "The Knoll." +The Library is the largest room in the building, and upon the walls of +it were hung some beautiful engravings and a continental map. On a long +table which occupied the centre of the room, were the busts of +Shakspere, Newton, Milton, and a few other literary characters of the +past. One side of the room was taken up with a large case, filled with a +choice collection of books, and everything indicated that it was the +home of genius and of taste. + +The room usually occupied by Miss M., and where we found her on the +evening of our arrival, is rather small and lighted by two large +windows. The walls of this room were also decorated with prints and +pictures, and on the mantle-shelf were some models in _terra cottia_ of +Italian groups. On a circular table lay casts, medallions, and some very +choice water-colour drawings. Under the south window stood a small table +covered with newly opened letters, a portfolio and several new books, +with here and there a page turned down, and one with a paper knife +between its leaves as if it had only been half read. I took up the last +mentioned, and it proved to be the "Life and Poetry of Hartly +Coleridge," son of S.T. Coleridge. It was just from the press, and had, +a day or two before, been forwarded to her by the publisher. Miss M. is +very deaf and always carries in her left hand a trumpet; and I was not a +little surprised on learning from her that she had never enjoyed the +sense of smell, and only on one occasion the sense of taste, and that +for a single moment. Miss M. is loved with a sort of idolatry by the +people of Ambleside, and especially the poor, to whom she gives a +course of lectures every winter gratuitously. She finished her last +course the day before our arrival. She was much pleased with Ellen +Craft, and appeared delighted with the story of herself and husband's +escape from slavery, as related by the latter--during the recital of +which I several times saw the silent tear stealing down her cheek, and +which she tried in vain to hide from us. + +When Craft had finished, she exclaimed, "I would that every woman in the +British Empire, could hear that tale as I have, so that they might know +how their own sex was treated in that boasted land of liberty." It seems +strange to the people of this county, that one so white and so lady-like +as Mrs. Craft, should have been a slave and forced to leave the land of +her nativity and seek an asylum in a foreign country. The morning after +our arrival, I took a stroll by a circuitous pathway to the top of +Loughrigg Fell. At the foot of the mount I met a peasant, who very +kindly offered to lend me his donkey, upon which to ascend the mountain. +Never having been upon the back of one of these long eared animals, I +felt some hesitation about trusting myself upon so diminutive looking a +creature. But being assured that if I would only resign myself to his +care and let him have his own way, I would be perfectly safe, I mounted, +and off we set. We had, however, scarcely gone fifty rods, when, in +passing over a narrow part of the path and overlooking a deep chasm, one +of the hind feet of the donkey slipped, and with an involuntary shudder, +I shut my eyes to meet my expected doom; but fortunately the little +fellow gained his foothold, and in all probability saved us both from a +premature death. After we had passed over this dangerous place, I +dismounted, and as soon as my feet had once more gained _terra firma_, I +resolved that I would never again yield my own judgment to that of any +one, not even to a donkey. + +It seems as if Nature has amused herself in throwing these mountains +together. From the top of the Loughrigg Fell, the eye loses its power in +gazing upon the objects below. On our left, lay Rydal Mount, the +beautiful seat of the late poet Wordsworth. While to the right, and away +in the dim distance, almost hidden by the native trees, was the cottage +where once resided Mrs. Hemans. And below us lay Windermere, looking +more like a river than a lake, and which, if placed by the side of our +own Ontario, Erie or Huron, would be lost in the fog. But here it looks +beautiful in the extreme, surrounded as it is by a range of mountains +that have no parallel in the United States for beauty. Amid a sun of +uncommon splendour, dazzling the eye with the reflection upon the water +below, we descended into the valley, and I was soon again seated by the +fireside of our hospitable hostess. In the afternoon of the same day, we +took a drive to the "Dove's Nest," the home of the late Mrs. Hemans. + +We did not see the inside of the house, on account of its being occupied +by a very eccentric man, who will not permit a woman to enter the house, +and it is said that he has been known to run when a female had +unconsciously intruded herself upon his premises. And as our company was +in part composed of ladies, we had to share their fate, and therefore +were prevented from seeing the interior of the Dove's Nest. The +exhibitor of such a man would be almost sure of a prize at the great +Exhibition. + +At the head of Grassmere Lake, and surrounded by a few cottages, stands +an old gray, antique-looking Parish Church, venerable with the lapse of +centuries, and the walls partly covered with ivy, and in the rear of +which is the parish burial-ground. After leaving the Dove's Nest, and +having a pleasant ride over the hills and between the mountains, and +just as the sun was disappearing behind them, we arrived at the gate of +Grassmere Church; and alighting and following Miss M., we soon found +ourselves standing over a grave, marked by a single stone, and that, +too, very plain, with a name deeply cut. This announced to us that we +were standing over the grave of William Wordsworth. He chose his own +grave, and often visited the spot before his death. He lies in the most +sequestered spot in the whole grounds, and the simplicity and beauty of +the place was enough to make one in love with it, to be laid so far from +the bustle of the world, and in so sweet a place. The more one becomes +acquainted with the literature of the old world, the more he must love +her poets. Among the teachers of men, none are more worthy of study than +the poets; and, as teachers, they should receive far more credit than is +yielded to them. No one can look back upon the lives of Dante, +Shakspere, Milton, Goethe, Cowper, and many others that we might name, +without being reminded of the sacrifices which they made for mankind, +and which were not appreciated until long after their deaths. We need +look no farther than our own country to find men and women wielding the +pen practically and powerfully for the right. It is acknowledged on all +hands in this country, that England has the greatest dead poets, and +America the greatest living ones. The poet and the true Christian have +alike a hidden life. Worship is the vital element of each. Poetry has in +it that kind of utility which good men find in their Bible, rather than +such convenience as bad men often profess to draw from it. It ennobles +the sentiments, enlarges the affections, kindles the imagination, and +gives to us the enjoyment of a life in the past, and in the future, as +well as in the present. Under its light and warmth, we wake from our +torpidity and coldness, to a sense of our capabilities. This impulse +once given, a great object is gained. Schiller has truly said, "Poetry +can be to a man, what love is to a hero. It can neither counsel him nor +smite him, nor perform any labour for him, but it can bring him up to be +a hero, can summon him to deeds, and arm him with strength for all he +ought to be." I have often read with pleasure the sweet poetry of our +own Whitfield of Buffalo, which has appeared from time to time in the +columns of the _North Star_. I have always felt ashamed of the fact that +he should be compelled to wield the razor instead of the pen for a +living. Meaner poets than James M. Whitfield, are now living by their +compositions; and were he a white man he would occupy a different +position. + +After remaining a short time, and reading the epitaphs of the departed, +we again returned to "The Knoll." Nothing can be more imposing than the +beauty of English park scenery, and especially in the vicinity of the +lakes. Magnificent lawns that extend like sheets of vivid green, with +here and there a sprinkling of fine trees, heaping up rich piles of +foliage, and then the forests with the hare, the deer, and the rabbit, +bounding away to the covert, or the pheasant suddenly bursting upon the +wing--the artificial stream, the brook taught to wind in natural +meanderings, or expand into the glassy lake, with the yellow leaf +sleeping upon its bright waters, and occasionally a rustic temple or +sylvan statue grown green and dark with age, give an air of sanctity and +picturesque beauty to English scenery that is unknown in the United +States. The very labourer with his thatched cottage and narrow slip of +ground-plot before the door, the little flower-bed, the woodbine trimmed +against the wall, and hanging its blossoms about the windows, and the +peasant seen trudging home at nightfall with the avails of the toil of +the day upon his back--all this tells us of the happiness both of rich +and poor in this country. And yet there are those who would have the +world believe that the labourer of England is in a far worse condition +than the slaves of America. Such persons know nothing of the real +condition of the working classes of this country. At any rate, the poor +here, as well as the rich, are upon a level, as far as the laws of the +country are concerned. The more one becomes acquainted with the English +people, the more one has to admire them. They are so different from the +people of our own country. Hospitality, frankness, and good humour, are +always to be found in an Englishman. After a ramble of three days about +the lakes, we mounted the coach, bidding Miss Martineau farewell, and +quitted the lake district. + + + + +LETTER XVII. + +_A Day in the Crystal Palace._ + + + LONDON, _June 27th, 1851_. + +Presuming that you will expect from me some account of the great World's +Fair, I take my pen to give you my own impressions, although I am afraid +that anything which I may say about this "Lion of the day," will fall +far short of a description. On Monday last, I quitted my lodgings at an +early hour, and started for the Crystal Palace. This day was fine, such +as we seldom experience in London, with a clear sky, and invigorating +air, whose vitality was as rousing to the spirits as a blast from the +"horn of Astolpho." Although it was not yet 10 o'clock when I entered +Piccadilly, every omnibus was full, inside and out, and the street was +lined with one living stream, as far as the eye could reach, all wending +their way to the "Glass-House." No metropolis in the world presents such +facilities as London for the reception of the Great Exhibition, now +collected within its walls. Throughout its myriads of veins, the stream +of industry and toil pulses with sleepless energy. Every one seems to +feel that this great Capital of the world, is the fittest place wherein +they might offer homage to the dignity of toil. I had already begun to +feel fatigued by my pedestrian excursion as I passed "Apsley House," the +residence of the Duke of Wellington, and emerged into Hyde Park. + +I had hoped that on getting into the Park, I would be out of the crowd +that seemed to press so heavily in the street. But in this I was +mistaken. I here found myself surrounded by and moving with an +overwhelming mass, such as I had never before witnessed. And, away in +the distance, I beheld a dense crowd, and above every other object, was +seen the lofty summit of the Crystal Palace. The drive in the Park was +lined with princely-looking vehicles of every description. The drivers +in their bright red and gold uniforms, the pages and footmen in their +blue trousers and white silk stockings, and the horses dressed up in +their neat, silver-mounted harness, made the scene altogether one of +great splendour. I was soon at the door, paid my shilling, and entered +the building at the south end of the Transept. For the first ten or +twenty minutes I was so lost in astonishment, and absorbed in pleasing +wonder, that I could do nothing but gaze up and down the vista of the +noble building. The Crystal Palace resembles in some respects, the +interior of the cathedrals of this country. One long avenue from east to +west is intersected by a Transept, which divides the building into two +nearly equal parts. This is the greatest building the world ever saw, +before which the Pyramids of Egypt, and the Colossus of Rhodes must +hide their diminished heads. The palace was not full at any time during +the day, there being only 64,000 persons present. Those who love to +study the human countenance in all its infinite varieties, can find +ample scope for the indulgence of their taste, by a visit to the World's +Fair. All countries are there represented--Europeans, Asiatics, +Americans and Africans, with their numerous subdivisions. Even the +exclusive Chinese, with his hair braided, and hanging down his back, has +left the land of his nativity, and is seen making long strides through +the Crystal Palace, in his wooden-bottomed shoes. Of all places of +curious costumes and different fashions, none has ever yet presented +such a variety as this Exhibition. No dress is too absurd to be worn in +this place. + +There is a great deal of freedom in the Exhibition. The servant who +walks behind his mistress through the Park feels that he can crowd +against her in the Exhibition. The Queen and the day labourer, the +Prince and the merchant, the peer and the pauper, the Celt and the +Saxon, the Greek and the Frank, the Hebrew and the Russ, all meet here +upon terms of perfect equality. This amalgamation of rank, this kindly +blending of interests, and forgetfulness of the cold formalities of +ranks and grades, cannot but be attended with the very best results. I +was pleased to see such a goodly sprinkling of my own countrymen in the +Exhibition--I mean coloured men and women--well-dressed, and moving +about with their fairer brethren. This, some of our pro-slavery +Americans did not seem to relish very well. There was no help for it. As +I walked through the American part of the Crystal Palace, some of our +Virginian neighbours eyed me closely and with jealous looks, especially +as an English lady was leaning on my arm. But their sneering looks did +not disturb me in the least. I remained the longer in their department, +and criticised the bad appearance of their goods the more. Indeed, the +Americans, as far as appearance goes, are behind every other country in +the Exhibition. The "Greek Slave" is the only production of Art which +the United States has sent. And it would have been more to their credit +had they kept that at home. In so vast a place as the Great Exhibition +one scarcely knows what to visit first, or what to look upon last. After +wandering about through the building for five hours, I sat down in one +of the galleries and looked at the fine marble statue of Virginius, with +the knife in his hand and about to take the life of his beloved and +beautiful daughter, to save her from the hands of Appius Claudius. The +admirer of genius will linger for hours among the great variety of +statues in the long avenue. Large statues of Lords Eldon and Stowell, +carved out of solid marble, each weighing above twenty tons, are among +the most gigantic in the building. + +I was sitting with my 400 paged guide-book before me, and looking down +upon the moving mass, when my attention was called to a small group of +gentlemen standing near the statue of Shakspere, one of whom wore a +white coat and hat, and had flaxen hair, and trousers rather short in +the legs. The lady by my side, and who had called my attention to the +group, asked if I could tell what country this odd-looking gentleman was +from? Not wishing to run the risk of a mistake, I was about declining +to venture an opinion, when the reflection of the sun against a mirror, +on the opposite side, threw a brilliant light upon the group, and +especially on the face of the gentleman in the white coat, and I +immediately recognized under the brim of the white hat, the features of +Horace Greeley, Esq., of the New York "Tribune." His general appearance +was as much out of the English style as that of the Turk whom I had seen +but a moment before--in his bag-like trousers, shuffling along in his +slippers. But oddness in dress, is one of the characteristics of the +Great Exhibition. + +Among the many things in the Crystal Palace, there are some which +receive greater attention than others, around which may always be seen +large groups of the visitors. The first of these is the Koh-i-noor, the +"Mountain of Light." This is the largest and most valuable diamond in +the world, said to be worth L2,000,000 sterling. It is indeed a great +source of attraction to those who go to the Exhibition for the first +time, but it is doubtful whether it obtains such admiration afterwards. +We saw more than one spectator turn away with the idea that after all +it was only a piece of glass. After some jamming, I got a look at the +precious jewel, and although in a brass-grated cage, strong enough to +hold a lion, I found it to be no larger than the third of a hen's egg. +Two policemen remain by its side day and night. + +The finest thing in the Exhibition, is the "Veiled Vestal," a statue of +a woman carved in marble, with a veil over her face, and so neatly done, +that it looks as if it had been thrown over after it was finished. The +Exhibition presents many things which appeal to the eye and touch the +heart, and altogether, it is so decorated and furnished, as to excite +the dullest mind, and satisfy the most fastidious. + +England has contributed the most useful and substantial articles; +France, the most beautiful; while Russia, Turkey, and the West Indies, +seem to vie with each other in richness. China and Persia are not +behind. Austria has also contributed a rich and beautiful stock. Sweden, +Norway, Denmark, and the smaller states of Europe, have all tried to +outdo themselves in sending goods to the World's Fair. In Machinery, +England has no competitor. In Art, France is almost alone in the +Exhibition, setting aside England. + +In natural productions and provisions, America stands alone in her +glory. There lies her pile of canvassed hams; whether they were wood or +real, we could not tell. There are her barrels of salt, beef, and pork, +her beautiful white lard, her Indian-corn and corn-meal, her rice and +tobacco, her beef tongues, dried peas, and a few bags of cotton. The +contributors from the United States seemed to have forgotten that this +was an exhibition of Art, or they most certainly would not have sent +provisions. But the United States takes the lead in the contributions, +as no other country has sent in provisions. The finest thing contributed +by our countrymen, is a large piece of silk with an eagle painted upon +it, surrounded by stars and stripes. + +After remaining more than five hours in the great temple, I turned my +back upon the richly laden stalls and left the Crystal Palace. On my +return home I was more fortunate than in the morning, inasmuch as I +found a seat for my friend and myself in an omnibus. And even my ride +in the close omnibus was not without interest. For I had scarcely taken +my seat, when my friend, who was seated opposite me, with looks and +gesture informed me that we were in the presence of some distinguished +person. I eyed the countenances of the different persons, but in vain, +to see if I could find any one who by his appearance showed signs of +superiority over his fellow-passengers. I had given up the hope of +selecting the person of note when another look from my friend directed +my attention to a gentlemen seated in the corner of the omnibus. He was +a tall man with strongly marked features, hair dark and coarse. There +was a slight stoop of the shoulder--that bend which is almost always a +characteristic of studious men. But he wore upon his countenance a +forbidding and disdainful frown, that seemed to tell one that he thought +himself better than those about him. His dress did not indicate a man of +high rank; and had we been in America, I would have taken him for an +Ohio farmer. + +While I was scanning the features and general appearance of the +gentleman, the Omnibus stopped and put down three or four of the +passengers, which gave me an opportunity of getting a seat by the side +of my friend, who, in a low whisper, informed me that the gentleman whom +I had been eyeing so closely, was no less a person than Thomas Carlyle. +I had read his "Hero-worship," and "Past and Present," and had formed a +high opinion of his literary abilities. But his recent attack upon the +emancipated people of the West Indies, and his laborious article in +favour of the re-establishment of the lash and slavery, had created in +my mind a dislike for the man, and I almost regretted that we were in +the same Omnibus. In some things, Mr. Carlyle is right: but in many, he +is entirely wrong. As a writer, Mr. Carlyle is often monotonous and +extravagant. He does not exhibit a new view of nature, or raise +insignificant objects into importance, but generally takes commonplace +thoughts and events, and tries to express them in stronger and statelier +language than others. He holds no communion with his kind, but stands +alone without mate or fellow. He is like a solitary peak, all access to +which is cut off. He exists not by sympathy but by antipathy. Mr. +Carlyle seems chiefly to try how he shall display his own powers, and +astonish mankind, by starting new trains of speculation or by expressing +old ones so as not to be understood. He cares little what he says, so as +he can say it differently from others. To read his works, is one thing; +to understand them, is another. If any one thinks that I exaggerate, let +him sit for an hour over "Sartor Resartus," and if he does not rise from +its pages, place his three or four dictionaries on the shelf, and say I +am right, I promise never again to say a word against Thomas Carlyle. He +writes one page in favour of Reform, and ten against it. He would hang +all prisoners to get rid of them, yet the inmates of the prisons and +"work-houses are better off than the poor." His heart is with the poor; +yet the blacks of the West Indies should be taught, that if they will +not raise sugar and cotton by their own free will, "Quashy should have +the whip applied to him." He frowns upon the Reformatory speakers upon +the boards of Exeter Hall, yet he is the prince of reformers. He hates +heroes and assassins, yet Cromwell was an angel, and Charlotte Corday a +saint. He scorns everything, and seems to be tired of what he is by +nature, and tries to be what he is not. But you will ask, what has +Thomas Carlyle to do with a visit to the Crystal Palace? My only reply +is, "Nothing," and if my remarks upon him have taken up the space that +should have been devoted to the Exhibition, and what I have written not +prove too burdensome to read, my next will be "a week in the Crystal +Palace." + + + + +LETTER XVIII. + +_The London Peace Congress--Meeting of Fugitive Slaves--Temperance +Demonstration--The Great Exhibition: last visit._ + + + LONDON, _August 20_. + +The past six weeks have been of a stirring nature in this great +metropolis. It commenced with the Peace Congress, the proceedings of +which have long since reached you. And although that event has passed +off, it may not be out of place here to venture a remark or two upon its +deliberations. + +A meeting upon the subject of Peace, with the support of the monied and +influential men who rally around the Peace standard, could scarcely have +been held in Exeter Hall without creating some sensation. From all parts +of the world flocked delegates to this practical protest against war. +And among those who took part in the proceedings, were many men whose +names alone would, even on ordinary occasions, have filled the great +hall. The speakers were chosen from among the representatives of the +various countries, without regard to dialect or complexion; and the only +fault which seemed to be found with the Committee's arrangement was, +that in their desire to get foreigners and Londoners, they forgot the +country delegates, so that none of the large provincial towns were at +all represented in the Congress, so far as speaking was concerned. +Manchester, Leeds, Newcastle, and all the important towns in Scotland +and Ireland, were silenced in the great meeting. I need not say that +this was an oversight of the Committee, and one, too, that has done some +injury. Such men as the able Chairman of the late Anti-Corn Law League, +cannot be forgotten in such a meeting, without giving offence to those +who sent him, especially when the Committee brought forward, day after +day, the same speakers, chosen from amongst the metropolitan delegation. +However, the meeting was a glorious one, and will long be remembered +with delight as a step onward in the cause of Peace. Burritt's +Brotherhood Bazaar followed close upon the heels of the Peace Congress; +and this had scarcely closed, when that ever-memorable meeting of the +American Fugitive Slaves took place in the Hall of Commerce. + +The Temperance people made the next reformatory move. This meeting took +place in Exeter Hall, and was made up of delegates from the various +towns in the kingdom. They had come from the North, East, West, and +South. There was the quick-spoken son of the Emerald Isle, with his +pledge suspended from his neck; there, too, the Scot, speaking his broad +dialect; also the representatives from the provincial towns of England +and Wales, who seemed to speak anything but good English. + +The day after the meeting had closed in Exeter Hall, the country +societies, together with those of the metropolis, assembled in Hyde +Park, and then walked to the Crystal Palace. Their number while going to +the Exhibition, was variously estimated at from 15,000 to 20,000, and +was said to have been the largest gathering of Teetotalers ever +assembled in London. They consisted chiefly of the working classes, +their wives and children--clean, well-dressed and apparently happy: +their looks indicating in every way those orderly habits which, beyond +question, distinguish the devotees of that cause above the common +labourers of this country. On arriving at the Exhibition, they soon +distributed themselves among the departments, to revel in its various +wonders, eating their own lunch, and drinking from the Crystal Fountain. + +And now I am at the world's wonder, I will remain here until I finish +this sheet. I have spent fifteen days in the Exhibition, and have +conversed with those who have spent double that number amongst its +beauties, and the general opinion appears to be, that six months would +not be too long to remain within its walls to enable one to examine its +laden stalls. Many persons make the Crystal Palace their home, with the +exception of night. I have seen them come in the morning, visit the +dressing-room, then go to the refreshment room, and sit down to +breakfast as if they had been at their hotel. Dinner and tea would be +taken in turn. + +The Crystal Fountain is the great place of meeting in the Exhibition. +There you may see husbands looking for lost wives, wives for stolen +husbands, mothers for their lost children, and towns-people for their +country friends; and unless you have an appointment at a certain place +at an hour, you might as well prowl through the streets of London to +find a friend, as in the Great Exhibition. There is great beauty in the +"Glass House." Here, in the transept, with the glorious sunlight coming +through that wonderful glass roof, may the taste be cultivated and +improved, the mind edified, and the feelings chastened. Here, +surrounded by noble creations in marble and bronze, and in the midst of +an admiring throng, one may gaze at statuary which might fitly decorate +the house of the proudest prince in Christendom. + +He who takes his station in the gallery, at either end, and looks upon +that wondrous nave, or who surveys the matchless panorama around him +from the intersection of the nave and transept, may be said, without +presumption or exaggeration, to see all the kingdoms of this world and +the glory of them. He sees not only a greater collection of fine +articles, but also a greater as well as more various assemblage of the +human race, than ever before was gathered under one roof. + +One of the beauties of this great international gathering is, that it is +not confined to rank or grade. The million toilers from mine, and +factory, and workshop, and loom, and office, and field, share with their +more wealthy neighbours the feast of reason and imagination spread out +in the Crystal Palace. + +It is strange indeed to see so many nations assembled and represented +on one spot of British ground. In short, it is one great theatre, with +thousands of performers, each playing his own part. England is there, +with her mighty engines toiling and whirring, indefatigable in her +enterprises to shorten labour. India spreads her glitter and paint. +France, refined and fastidious, is there every day, giving the last +touch to her picturesque group; and the other countries, each in their +turn, doing what they can to show off. The distant hum of thousands of +good humoured people, with occasionally a national anthem from some +gigantic organ, together with the noise of the machinery, seems to send +life into every part of the Crystal Palace. + +When you get tired of walking, you can sit down and write your +impressions, and there is the "post" to receive your letter, or if it be +Friday or Saturday, you may, if you choose, rest yourself by hearing a +lecture from Professor Anstead; and then before leaving take your last +look, and see something that you have not before seen. Every thing which +is old in cities, new in colonial life, splendid in courts, useful in +industry, beautiful in nature, or ingenious in invention, is there +represented. In one place we have the Bible translated into one hundred +and fifty languages; in another, we have saints and archbishops painted +on glass; in another, old palaces and the altars of a John Knox, a +Baxter, or some other divines of olden time. In the old Temple of +Delphi, we read that every state of the civilized world had its separate +treasury, where Herodotus, born two thousand years before his time, saw +and observed all kinds of prodigies in gold and silver, brass and iron, +and even in linen. The nations all met there on one common ground, and +the peace of the earth was not a little promoted by their common +interest in the sanctity and splendour of that shrine. As long as the +Exhibition lasts, and its memory endures, we hope and trust that it may +shed the same influence. With this hasty scrap, I take leave of the +Great Exhibition. + + + + +LETTER XIX. + +_Oxford--Martyrs' Monument--Cost of the Burning of the Martyrs--The +Colleges--Dr. Pusey--Energy, the Secret of Success._ + + + OXFORD, _September 10th, 1851_. + +I have just finished a short visit to the far famed city of Oxford, +which has not unaptly been styled the City of Palaces. Aside from this +being one of the principal seats of learning in the world, it is +distinguished alike for its religious and political changes in times +past. At one time it was the seat of Popery; at another, the +uncompromising enemy of Rome. Here the tyrant, Richard the Third, held +his court, and when James the First, and his son Charles the First, +found their capital too hot to hold them, they removed to their loyal +city of Oxford. The writings of the great Republicans were here +committed to the flames. At one time Popery sent Protestants to the +stake and faggot; at another, a Papist King found no favour with the +people. A noble monument now stands where Cranmer, Ridley, and Latimer, +proclaimed their sentiments and faith, and sealed them with their blood. +And now we read upon the Town Treasurer's book--for three loads of wood, +one load of faggots, one post, two chains and staples, to burn Ridley +and Latimer, L1 5s. 1d. Such is the information one gets by looking over +the records of books written three centuries ago. + +It was a beautiful day on which I arrived at Oxford, and instead of +remaining in my hotel, I sallied forth to take a survey of the beauties +of the city. I strolled into Christ Church Meadows, and there spent the +evening in viewing the numerous halls of learning which surround that +splendid promenade. And fine old buildings they are: centuries have +rolled over many of them, hallowing the old walls, and making them grey +with age. They have been for ages the chosen homes of piety and +philosophy. Heroes and scholars have gone forth from their studies here, +into the great field of the world, to seek their fortunes, and to +conquer and be conquered. As I surveyed the exterior of the different +Colleges, I could here and there see the reflection of the light from +the window of some student, who was busy at his studies, or throwing +away his time over some trashy novel, too many of which find their way +into the trunks or carpet bags of the young men on setting out for +College. As I looked upon the walls of these buildings, I thought as the +rough stone is taken from the quarry to the finisher, there to be made +into an ornament, so was the young mind brought here to be cultivated +and developed. Many a poor unobtrusive young man, with the appearance of +little or no ability, is here moulded into a hero, a scholar, a tyrant, +or a friend of humanity. I never look upon these monuments of education, +without a feeling of regret, that so few of our own race can find a +place within their walls. And this being the fact, I see more and more +the need of our people being encouraged to turn their attention more +seriously to self-education, and thus to take a respectable position +before the world, by virtue of their own cultivated minds and moral +standing. + +Education, though obtained by a little at a time, and that, too, over +the midnight lamp, will place its owner in a position to be respected +by all, even though he be black. I know that the obstacles which the +laws of the land, and of society, place between the coloured man and +education in the United States, are very great, yet if _one_ can break +through these barriers, more can; and if our people would only place the +right appreciation upon education, they would find these obstacles are +easier to be overcome than at first sight appears. A young man once +asked Carlyle, what was the secret of success. His reply was, "Energy; +whatever you undertake, do it with all your might." Had it not been for +the possession of energy, I might now have been working as a servant for +some brainless fellow who might be able to command my labour with his +money, or I might have been yet toiling in chains and slavery. But +thanks to energy, not only for my being to-day in a land of freedom, but +also for my dear girls being in one of the best seminaries in France, +instead of being in an American school, where the finger of scorn would +be pointed at them by those whose superiority rests entirely upon their +having a whiter skin. But I am straying too far from the purpose of +this letter. + +Oxford is indeed one of the finest located places in the kingdom, and +every inch of ground about it seems hallowed by interesting +associations. The University, founded by the good King Alfred, still +throws its shadow upon the side-walk; and the lapse of ten centuries +seems to have made but little impression upon it. Other seats of +learning may be entitled to our admiration, but Oxford claims our +veneration. Although the lateness of the night compelled me, yet I felt +an unwillingness to tear myself from the scene of such surpassing +interest. Few places in any country as noted as Oxford is, but what has +some distinguished person residing within its precincts. And knowing +that the City of Palaces was not an exception to this rule, I resolved +to see some of its lions. Here, of course, is the head quarters of the +Bishop of Oxford, a son of the late William Wilberforce, Africa's noble +champion. I should have been glad to have seen this distinguished pillar +of the Church, but I soon learned that the Bishop's residence was out of +town, and that he seldom visited the city except on business. I then +determined to see one who, although a lesser dignitary in the church, is +nevertheless, scarcely less known than the Bishop of Oxford. This was +the Rev. Dr. Pusey, a divine, whose name is known wherever the religion +of Jesus is known and taught, and the acknowledged head of the +Puseyites. On the second morning of my visit, I proceeded to Christ +Church Chapel, where the rev. gentleman officiates. Fortunately I had an +opportunity of seeing the Dr., and following close in his footsteps to +the church. His personal appearance is anything but that of one who is +the leader of a growing and powerful party in the church. He is rather +under the middle size, and is round shouldered, or rather stoops. His +profile is more striking than his front face, the nose being very large +and prominent. As a matter of course, I expected to see a large nose, +for all great men have them. He has a thoughtful, and somewhat sullen +brow, a firm and somewhat pensive mouth, a cheek pale, thin, and deeply +furrowed. A monk fresh from the cloisters of Tintern Abbey, in its +proudest days, could scarcely have made a more ascetic and solemn +appearance than did Dr. Pusey on this occasion. He is not apparently +above forty-five, or at most fifty years of age, and his whole aspect +renders him an admirable study for an artist. Dr. Pusey's style of +preaching is cold and tame, and one looking at him would scarcely +believe that such an apparently uninteresting man could cause such an +eruption in the Church as he has. I was glad to find that a coloured +young man was among the students at Oxford. + +A few months since, I paid a visit to our countryman, Alexander Crummel, +who is still pursuing his studies at Cambridge--a place, though much +inferior to Oxford as far as appearance is concerned, is yet said to be +greatly its superior as a place of learning. In an hour's walk through +the Strand, Regent, or Piccadilly Streets in London, one may meet half a +dozen coloured young men, who are inmates of the various Colleges in the +metropolis. These are all signs of progress in the cause of the sons of +Africa. Then let our people take courage, and with that courage let them +apply themselves to learning. A determination to excel is the sure road +to greatness, and that is as open to the black man as the white. It was +that which has accomplished the mightiest and noblest triumphs in the +intellectual and physical world. It was that which has made such rapid +strides towards civilization, and broken the chains of ignorance and +superstition, which have so long fettered the human intellect. It was +determination which raised so many worthy individuals from the humble +walks of society, and from poverty, and placed them in positions of +trust and renown. It is no slight barrier that can effectually oppose +the determination of the will--success must ultimately crown its +efforts. "The world shall hear of me," was the exclamation of one whose +name has become as familiar as household words. A Toussaint, once +laboured in the sugar field with his spelling-book in his pocket, amid +the combined efforts of a nation to keep him in ignorance. His name is +now recorded among the list of statesmen of the past. A Soulouque was +once a slave, and knew not how to read. He now sits upon the throne of +an Empire. + +In our own country, there are men who once held the plough, and that +too without any compensation, who are now presiding at the editor's +table. It was determination that brought out the genius of a Franklin, +and a Fulton, and that has distinguished many of the American Statesmen, +who but for their energy and determination would never have had a name +beyond the precincts of their own homes. + +It is not always those who have the best advantages, or the greatest +talents, that eventually succeed in their undertakings; but it is those +who strive with untiring diligence to remove all obstacles to success, +and who, with unconquerable resolution, labour on until the rich reward +of perseverance is within their grasp. Then again let me say to our +young men--Take courage; "There is a good time coming." The darkness of +the night appears greatest just before the dawn of day. + + + + +LETTER XX. + +_Fugitive Slaves in England._ + + +The love of freedom is one of those natural impulses of the human breast +which cannot be extinguished. Even the brute animals of the creation +feel and show sorrow and affection when deprived of their liberty. +Therefore is a distinguished writer justified in saying, "Man is free, +even were he born in chains." The Americans boast, and justly, too, that +Washington was the hero and model patriot of the American +Revolution--the man whose fame, unequalled in his own day and country, +will descend to the end of time, the pride and honour of humanity. The +American speaks with pride of the battles of Lexington and Bunker Hill; +and when standing in Faneuil Hall, he points to the portraits of Otis, +Adams, Hancock, Quincy, Warren, and Franklin, and tells you that their +names will go down to posterity among the world's most devoted and +patriotic friends of human liberty. + +It was on the first of August, 1851, that a number of men, fugitives +from that boasted land of freedom, assembled at the Hall of Commerce in +the City of London, for the purpose of laying their wrongs before the +British nation, and at the same time, to give thanks to the God of +Freedom for the liberation of their West India brethren, on the first of +August, 1834. Little notice had been given of the intended meeting, yet +it seemed to be known in all parts of the city. At the hour of half-past +seven, for which the meeting had been called, the spacious hall was well +filled, and the fugitives, followed by some of the most noted English +Abolitionists, entered the hall, amid the most deafening applause, and +took their seats on the platform. The appearance of the great hall at +this juncture was most splendid. Besides the committee of fugitives, on +the platform there were a number of the oldest and most devoted of the +Slave's friends. On the left of the chair sat Geo. Thompson, Esq., M.P.; +near him was the Rev. Jabez Burns, D.D.; and by his side the Rev. John +Stevenson, M.A., Wm. Farmer, Esq., R. Smith, Esq.; while on the other +side were the Rev. Edward Mathews, John Cunliff, Esq., Andrew Paton, +Esq., J.P. Edwards, Esq., and a number of coloured gentlemen from the +West Indies. The body of the hall was not without its distinguished +guests. The Chapmans and Westons of Boston, U.S., were there. The +Estlins and Tribes had come all the way from Bristol to attend the great +meeting. The Patons of Glasgow had delayed their departure, so as to be +present. The Massies had come in from Upper Clapton. Not far from the +platform sat Sir Francis Knowles, Bart., still farther back was Samuel +Bowly, Esq., while near the door were to be seen the greatest critic of +the age, and England's best living poet. Macaulay had laid aside the +pen, entered the hall, and was standing near the central door, while not +far from the historian stood the newly-appointed Poet Laureat. The +author of "In Memoriam" had been swept in by the crowd, and was standing +with his arms folded, and beholding for the first time (and probably the +last) so large a number of coloured men in one room. In different parts +of the hall were men and women from nearly all parts of the kingdom, +besides a large number who, drawn to London by the Exhibition, had come +in to see and hear these oppressed people plead their own cause. + +The writer of this sketch was chosen Chairman of the meeting, and +commenced its proceedings by delivering the following address, which we +cut from the columns of the _Morning Advertiser_:-- + + +"The Chairman, in opening the proceedings, remarked that, although the +metropolis had of late been inundated with meetings of various +character, having reference to almost every variety of subject, yet that +the subject they were called upon that evening to discuss differed from +them all. Many of those by whom he was surrounded, like himself, had +been victims to the inhuman institution of Slavery, and were in +consequence exiled from the land of their birth. They were fugitives +from their native land, but not fugitives from justice, and they had not +fled from a monarchical, but from a so-called republican government. +They came from amongst a people who declared, as part of their creed, +that all men were born free, but who, while they did so, made slaves of +every sixth man, woman, and child in the country (hear, hear). He must +not, however, forget that one of the purposes for which they were met +that night was to commemorate the emancipation of their brothers and +sisters in the isles of the sea. That act of the British Parliament, and +he might add in this case with peculiar emphasis, of the British nation, +passed on the 12th day of August, 1833, to take effect on the first day +of August, 1834, and which enfranchised 800,000 West Indian slaves, was +an event sublime in its nature, comprehensive and mighty in its +immediate influences and remote consequences, precious beyond expression +to the cause of freedom, and encouraging beyond the measure of any +government on earth to the hearts of all enlightened and just men. This +act was the commencement of a long course of philanthropic and Christian +efforts on the part of some of the best men that the world ever +produced. It was not his intention to go into a discussion or a +calculation of the rise and fall of property, or whether sugar was worth +more or less by the act of emancipation. But the abolition of Slavery +in the West Indies, was a blow struck in the right direction, at that +most inhuman of all traffics, the slave trade--a trade which would never +cease so long as slavery existed, for where there was a market there +would be merchandise; where there was demand there would be a supply; +where there were carcases there would be vultures; and they might as +well attempt to turn the water, and make it run up the Niagara river, as +to change this law. It was often said by the Americans that England was +responsible for the existence of slavery there, because it was +introduced into that country while the colonies were under the British +Crown. If that were the case, they must come to the conclusion that, as +England abolished Slavery in the West Indies, she would have done the +same for the American States if she had had the power to do it; and if +that was so, they might safely say that the separation of the United +States from the mother country was (to say the least) a great misfortune +to one-sixth of the population of that land. England had set a noble +example to America, and he would to heaven his countrymen would follow +the example. The Americans boasted of their superior knowledge, but they +needed not to boast of their superior guilt, for that was set upon a +hill top, and that too, so high, that it required not the lantern of +Diogenes to find it out. Every breeze from the western world brought +upon its wings the groans and cries of the victims of this guilt. Nearly +all countries had fixed the seal of disapprobation on slavery, and when, +at some future age, this stain on the page of history shall be pointed +at, posterity will blush at the discrepancy between American profession +and American practice. What was to be thought of a people boasting of +their liberty, their humanity, their Christianity, their love of +justice, and at the same time keeping in slavery nearly four millions of +God's children, and shutting out from them the light of the Gospel, by +denying the Bible to the slave! (Hear, hear.) No education, no marriage, +everything done to keep the mind of the slave in darkness. There was a +wish on the part of the people of the northern States to shield +themselves from the charge of slave-holding, but as they shared in the +guilt, he was not satisfied with letting them off without their share in +the odium. And now a word about the Fugitive Slave Bill. That measure +was in every respect an unconstitutional measure. It set aside the right +formerly enjoyed by the fugitive of trial by jury--it afforded to him no +protection, no opportunity of proving his right to be free, and it +placed every free coloured person at the mercy of any unprincipled +individual who might wish to lay claim to him. (Hear.) That law is +opposed to the principles of Christianity--foreign alike to the laws of +God and man, it had converted the whole population of the free States +into a band of slave-catchers, and every rood of territory is but so +much hunting ground, over which they might chase the fugitive. But while +they were speaking of slavery in the United States, they must not omit +to mention that there was a strong feeling in that land, not only +against the Fugitive Slave Law, but also against the existence of +slavery in any form. There was a band of fearless men and women in the +city of Boston, whose labours for the slave had resulted in good beyond +calculation. This noble and heroic class had created an agitation in the +whole country, until their principles have taken root in almost every +association in the land, and which, with God's blessing, will, in due +time, cause the Americans to put into practice what they have so long +professed. (Hear, hear.) He wished it to be continually held up before +the country, that the northern States are as deeply implicated in the +guilt of slavery as the South. The north had a population of 13,553,328 +freemen; the south had a population of only 6,393,756 freemen; the north +has 152 representatives in the house, the south only 81; and it would be +seen by this, that the balance of power was with the free States. +Looking, therefore, at the question in all its aspects, he was sure that +there was no one in this country but who would find out, that the +slavery of the United States of America was a system the most abandoned +and the most tyrannical. (Hear, hear.)" + +At the close of this address, the Rev. Edward Matthews, last from +Bristol, but who had recently returned from the United States, where he +had been maltreated on account of his fidelity to the cause of freedom, +was introduced, and made a most interesting speech. The next speaker was +George Thompson, Esq., M.P.; and we need only say that his eloquence, +which has seldom or ever been equalled, and never surpassed, exceeded, +on this occasion, the most sanguine expectations of his friends. All who +sat under the thundering anathemas which he hurled against slavery, +seemed instructed, delighted, and animated. No one could scarcely have +remained unmoved by the pensive sympathies that pervaded the entire +assembly. There were many in the meeting who had never seen a fugitive +slave before, and when any of the speakers would refer to those on the +platform, the whole audience seemed moved to tears. No meeting of the +kind held in London for years created a greater sensation than this +gathering of refugees from the "Land of the free, and the home of the +brave." The following appeal, which I had written for the occasion, was +unanimously adopted at the close of the meeting, and thus ended the +great Anti-Slavery demonstration of 1851. + + +AN APPEAL TO THE PEOPLE OF GREAT BRITAIN AND THE WORLD. + +We consider it just, both to the people of the United States and to +ourselves, in making an appeal to the inhabitants of other countries, +against the laws which have exiled us from our native land, to state the +ground upon which we make our appeal, and the causes which impel us to +do so. There are in the United States of America, at the present time, +between three and four millions of persons, who are held in a state of +slavery which has no parallel in any other part of the world; and whose +numbers have, within the last fifty years, increased to a fearful +extent. These people are not only deprived of the rights to which the +laws of Nature and Nature's God entitle them, but every avenue to +knowledge is closed against them. The laws do not recognise the family +relation of a slave, and extend to him protection in the enjoyment of +domestic endearments. Brothers and sisters, parents and children, +husbands and wives, are torn asunder, and permitted to see each other +no more. The shrieks and agonies of the slave are heard in the markets +at the seat of government, and within hearing of the American Congress, +as well as on the cotton, sugar and rice plantations of the far South. + +The history of the negroes in America is but a history of repeated +injuries and acts of oppression committed upon them by the whites. It is +not for ourselves that we make this appeal, but for those whom we have +left behind. + +In their Declaration of Independence, the Americans declare that "all +men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with +certain inalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the +pursuit of happiness." Yet one-sixth of the inhabitants of the great +Republic are slaves. Thus they give the lie to their own professions. No +one forfeits his or her character or standing in society by being +engaged in holding, buying or selling a slave; the details of which, in +all their horror, can scarcely be told. + +Although the holding of slaves is confined to fifteen of the thirty-one +States, yet we hold that the non-slave-holding States are equally guilty +with the slave-holding. If any proof is needed on this point, it will be +found in the passage of the inhuman Fugitive Slave Law, by Congress; a +law which could never have been enacted without the votes of a portion +of the representatives from the free States, and which is now being +enforced, in many of the States, with the utmost alacrity. It was the +passing of this law that exiled us from our native land, and it has +driven thousands of our brothers and sisters from the free States, and +compelled them to seek a refuge in the British possessions in North +America. The Fugitive Slave Law has converted the entire country, North +and South, into one vast hunting-ground. We would respectfully ask you +to expostulate with the Americans, and let them know that you regard +their treatment of the coloured people of that country as a violation of +every principle of human brotherhood, of natural right, of justice, of +humanity, of Christianity, of love to God and love to man. + +It is needless that we should remind you that the religious sects of +America, with but few exceptions, are connected with the sin of +slavery--the churches North as well as South. We would have you tell the +professed Christians of that land, that if they would be respected by +you, they must separate themselves from the unholy alliance with men who +are daily committing deeds which, if done in England, would cause the +perpetrator to be sent to a felon's doom; that they must refuse the +right hand of Christian fellowship, whether individually or +collectively, to those implicated, in any way, in the guilt of slavery. + +We do not ask for a forcible interference on your part, but only that +you will use all lawful and peaceful means to restore to this much +injured race their God-given rights. The moral and religious sentiment +of mankind must be arrayed against slave-holding, to make it infamous, +ere we can hope to see it abolished. We would ask you to set them the +example, by excluding from your pulpits, and from religious communion, +the slave-holding and pro-slavery ministers who may happen to visit this +country. We would even go further, and ask you to shut your doors +against either ministers or laymen, who are at all guilty of upholding +and sustaining this monster sin. By the cries of the slave, which come +from the fields and swamps of the far South, we ask you to do this! By +that spirit of liberty and equality of which you all admire, we would +ask you to do this. And by that still nobler, higher, and holier spirit +of our beloved Saviour, we would ask you to stamp upon the head of the +slaveholder, with a brand deeper than that which marks the victim of his +wrongs, the infamy of theft, adultery, man-stealing, piracy, and murder, +and, by the force of public opinion, compel him to "unloose the heavy +burden, and let the oppressed go free." + + + + +LETTER XXI. + +_A Chapter on American Slavery._ + + +The word Englishman is but another name for an American, and the word +American is but another name for an Englishman--England is the father, +America the son. They have a common origin and identity of language; +they hold the same religious and political opinions; they study the same +histories, and have the same literature. Steam and mechanical ingenuity +have brought the two countries within nine days sailing of each other. +The Englishman on landing at New-York finds his new neighbours speaking +the same language which he last heard on leaving Liverpool, and he sees +the American in the same dress that he had been accustomed to look upon +at home, and soon forgets that he is three thousand miles from his +native land, and in another country. The American on landing at +Liverpool, and taking a walk through the great commercial city, finding +no difficulty in understanding the people, supposes himself still in +New-York; and if there seems any doubt in his own mind, growing out of +the fact that the people have a more healthy look, seem more polite, and +that the buildings have a more substantial appearance than those he had +formerly looked upon, he has only to imagine, as did Rip Van Winkle, +that he has been asleep these hundred years. + +If the Englishman who has seen a Thompson silenced in Boston, or a +Macready mobbed in New-York, upon the ground that they were foreigners, +should sit in Exeter Hall and hear an American orator until he was +hoarse, and wonder why the American is better treated in England than +the Englishman in America, he has only to attribute it to John Bull's +superior knowledge of good manners, and his being a more law-abiding man +than brother Jonathan. England and America has each its reforms and its +reformers, and they have more or less sympathy with each other. It has +been said that one generation commences a reform in England, and that +another generation finishes it. I would that so much could be said with +regard to the great object of reform in America--the system of slavery! + +No evil was ever more deeply rooted in a country than is slavery in the +United States. Spread over the largest and most fertile States in the +Union, with decidedly the best climate, and interwoven, as it is, with +the religious, political, commercial, and social institutions of the +country, it is scarcely possible to estimate its influence. This is the +evil which claims the attention of American Reformers, over and above +every other evil in the land, and thanks to a kind providence, the +American slave is not without his advocates. The greatest enemy to the +Anti-Slavery Society, and the most inveterate opposer of the men whose +names stand at the head of the list as officers and agents of that +association, will, we think, assign to William Lloyd Garrison, the first +place in the ranks of the American Abolitionists. The first to proclaim +the doctrine of immediate emancipation to the slaves of America, and on +that account an object of hatred to the slave-holding interest of the +country, and living for years with his life in danger, he is justly +regarded by all, as the leader of the Anti-Slavery movement in the New +World. Mr. Garrison is at the present time but little more than +forty-five years of age, and of the middle size. He has a high and +prominent forehead, well developed, with no hair on the top of the head, +having lost it in early life; with a piercing eye, a pleasant, yet +anxious countenance, and of a most loveable disposition; tender, and +blameless in his family affections, devoted to his friends; simple and +studious, upright, guileless, distinguished, and worthy, like the +distinguished men of antiquity, to be immortalized by another Plutarch. +How many services never to be forgotten, has he not rendered to the +cause of the slave, and the welfare of mankind! As a speaker, he is +forcible, clear, and logical, yet he will not rank with the many who are +less known. As a writer, he is regarded as one of the finest in the +United States, and certainly the most prominent in the Anti-Slavery +cause. Had Mr. Garrison wished to serve himself, he might, with his +great talents, long since, have been at the head of either of the great +political parties. Few men can withstand the allurements of office, and +the prize-money that accompanies them. Many of those who were with him +fifteen years ago, have been swept down with the current of popular +favour, either in Church or State. He has seen a Cox on the one hand, +and a Stanton on the other, swept away like so much floating wood +before the tide. When the sturdiest characters gave way, when the finest +geniuses passed one after another under the yoke of slavery, Garrison +stood firm to his convictions, like a rock that stands stirless amid the +conflicting agitation of the waves. He is not only the friend and +advocate of freedom with his pen and his tongue, but to the oppressed of +every clime he opens his purse, his house, and his heart: yet he is not +a man of money. The fugitive slave, fresh from the whips and chains, who +is turned off by the politician, and experiences the cold shoulder of +the divine, finds a bed and a breakfast under the hospitable roof of Mr. +Lloyd Garrison. + +The party of which he is the acknowledged head, is one of no +inconsiderable influence in the United States. No man has more bitter +enemies or stauncher friends than he. There are those among his friends +who would stake their all upon his veracity and integrity; and we are +sure that the coloured people throughout America, bond and free, in +whose cause he has so long laboured, will, with one accord, assign the +highest niche in their affection to the champion of universal +emancipation. Every cause has its writers and its orators. We have drawn +a hasty and imperfect sketch of the greatest writer in the Anti-Slavery +field: we shall now call attention to the most distinguished public +speaker. The name of Wendell Phillips is but another name for eloquence. +Born in the highest possible position in America, Mr. Phillips has all +the advantages that birth can give to one in that country. Educated at +the first University, graduating with all the honours which the College +could bestow on him, and studying the law and becoming a member of the +bar, he has all the accomplishments that these advantages can give to a +man of a great mind. Nature has treated him as a favourite. His stature +is not tall, but handsome; his expressive countenance paints and +reflects every emotion of his soul. His gestures are wonderfully +graceful, like his delivery. There is a fascination in the soft gaze of +his eyes, which none can but admire. Being a great reader, and endowed +by nature with a good memory, he supplies himself with the most +complicated dates and historical events. Nothing can equal the variety +of his matter. I have heard him more than twenty different times on the +same subject, but never heard the same speech. He is personal, but there +is nothing offensive in his personalities. He extracts from a subject +all that it contains, and does it as none but Wendell Phillips can. His +voice is beautifully musical, and it is calculated to attract wherever +it is heard. He is a man of calm intrepidity, of a patriotic and warm +heart, with manners the most affable, temper the most gentle, a +rectitude of principle entirely natural, a freedom from ambition, and a +modesty quite singular. As Napoleon kept the Old Guard in reserve, to +turn the tide in battle, so do the Abolitionists keep Mr. Phillips in +reserve when opposition is expected in their great gatherings. We have +seen the meetings turned into a bedlam, by the mobocratic slave-holding +spirit, and when the speakers had one after another left the platform +without a hearing, and the chairman had lost all control of the +assembly, the appearance of this gentleman upon the platform would turn +the tide of events. He would not beg for a hearing, but on the +contrary, he would lash them as no preceding speaker had done. If, by +their groans and yells, they stifled his voice, he would stand unmoved +with his arms folded, and by the very eloquence of his looks put them to +silence. His speeches against the Fugitive Slave Law, and his withering +rebukes of Daniel Webster and other northern men who supported that +measure, are of the most splendid character, and will compare in point +of composition with anything ever uttered by Chatham or Sheridan in +their palmiest days. As a public speaker, Mr. Phillips is, without +doubt, the first in the United States. Considering his great talent, his +high birth, and the prospects which lay before him, and the fact that he +threw everything aside to plead the slave's cause, we must be convinced +that no man has sacrificed more upon the altar of humanity than Wendell +Phillips. + +Within the past ten years, a great impetus has been given to the +anti-slavery movement in America by coloured men who have escaped from +slavery. Coming as they did from the very house of bondage, and being +able to speak from sad experience, they could speak as none others +could. + +The gentleman to whom we shall now call attention is one of this class, +and doubtless the first of his race in America. The name of Frederick +Douglass is well known throughout this country as well as America. Born +and brought up as a slave, he was deprived of a mother's care and of +early education. Escaping when he was little more than twenty years of +age, he was thrown upon his own resources in the free states, where +prejudice against colour is but another name for slavery. But during all +this time he was educating himself as well as circumstances would admit. +Mr. Douglass commenced his career as a public speaker some ten years +since, as an agent of the American or Massachusetts Anti-Slavery +Societies. He is tall and well made. His vast and well-developed +forehead announces the power of his intellect. His voice is full and +sonorous. His attitude is dignified, and his gesticulation is full of +noble simplicity. He is a man of lofty reason, natural, and without +pretension, always master of himself, brilliant in the art of exposing +and of abstracting. Few persons can handle a subject with which they are +familiar better than Mr. Douglass. There is a kind of eloquence issuing +from the depth of the soul, as from a spring, rolling along its copious +floods, sweeping all before it, overwhelming by its very force, +carrying, upsetting, engulphing its adversaries, and more dazzling and +more thundering than the bolt which leaps from crag to crag. This is the +eloquence of Frederick Douglass. He is one of the greatest mimics of the +age. No man can put on a sweeter smile or a more sarcastic frown than +he: you cannot put him off his guard. He is always in good humour. Mr. +Douglass possesses great dramatic powers; and had he taken up the sock +and buskin, instead of becoming a lecturer, he would have made as fine a +Coriolanus as ever trod the stage. + +However, Mr. Douglass was not the first coloured man that became a +lecturer, and thereby did service to the cause of his countrymen. The +earliest and most effective speaker from among the coloured race in +America, was Charles Lennox Remond. In point of eloquence, this +gentleman is not inferior to either Wendell Phillips or Frederick +Douglass. Mr. Remond is of small stature, and neat figure, with a head +well developed, but a remarkably thin face. As an elocutionist, he is, +without doubt, the first on the anti-slavery platform. He has a good +voice, a pleasing countenance, a prompt intelligence, and when speaking, +is calculated to captivate and carry away an audience by the very force +of his eloquence. Born in the freest state of the Union, and of most +respectable parents, he prides himself not a little on his birth and +descent. One can scarcely find fault with this, for, in the United +States, the coloured man is deprived of the advantages which parentage +gives to the white man. Mr. Remond is a descendant of one of those +coloured men who stood side by side with white men on the plains of +Concord and Lexington, in the battles that achieved the independence of +the colonies from the mother country, in the war of the Revolution. Mr. +Remond has felt deeply, (probably more so than any other coloured man), +the odious prejudice against colour. On this point he is sensitive to a +fault. If any one will sit for an hour and hear a lecture from him on +this subject, if he is not converted, he will at least become convinced, +that the boiling cauldron of anti-slavery discussion has never thrown +upon its surface a more fiery spirit than Charles Lennox Remond. + +There are some men who neither speak nor write, but whose lives place +them in the foremost ranks in the cause which they espouse. One of these +is Francis Jackson. He was one of the earliest to give countenance and +support to the anti-slavery movement. In the year 1835, when a mob of +more than 5000 merchants and others, in Boston, broke up an anti-slavery +meeting of females, at which William Lloyd Garrison and George Thompson +were to deliver addresses, and when the Society had no room in which to +hold its meetings (having been driven from their own room by the mob), +Francis Jackson, with a moral courage scarcely ever equalled, came +forward and offered his private dwelling to the ladies, to hold their +meeting in. The following interesting passage occurs in a letter from +him to the Secretary of the Society a short time after, on receiving a +vote of thanks from its members:-- + +"If a large majority of this community choose to turn a deaf ear to the +wrongs which are inflicted upon their countrymen in other portions of +the land--if they are content to turn away from the sight of oppression, +and 'pass by on the other side'--so it must be. + +"But when they undertake in any way to impair or annul my right to +speak, write, and publish upon any subject, and more especially upon +enormities, which are the common concern of every lover of his country +and his kind--so it must not be--so it shall not be, if I for one can +prevent it. Upon this great right let us hold on at all hazards. And +should we, in its exercise, be driven from public halls to private +dwellings, one house at least shall be consecrated to its preservation. +And if, in defence of this sacred privilege, which man did not give me, +and shall not (if I can help it) take from me, this roof and these walls +shall be levelled to the earth, let them fall if they must; they cannot +crumble in a better cause. They will appear of very little value to me +after their owner shall have been whipt into silence." + +There are among the contributors to the Anti-Slavery cause, a few who +give with a liberality which has never been surpassed by the donors to +any benevolent association in the world, according to their means--the +chief of these is Francis Jackson. + +In the month of May, 1844, while one evening strolling up Broadway, New +York, I saw a crowd making its way into the Minerva Rooms, and, having +no pressing engagement, I followed, and was soon in a splendid hall, +where some twelve or fifteen hundred persons were seated, and listening +to rather a strange-looking man. The speaker was tall and slim, with +long arms, long legs, and a profusion of auburn or reddish hair hanging +in ringlets down his shoulders; while a huge beard of the same colour +fell upon his breast. His person was not at all improved by his dress. +The legs of his trousers were shorter than those worn by smaller men: +the sleeves of his coat were small and short, the shirt collar turned +down in Byronic style, beard and hair hid his countenance, so that no +redeeming feature could be found there; yet there was one redeeming +quality about the man--that was the stream of fervid eloquence which +escaped from his lips. I inquired his name, and was informed that it was +Charles C. Burleigh. Nature has been profuse in showering her gifts upon +Mr. Burleigh, but all has been bestowed upon his head and heart. There +is a kind of eloquence which weaves its thread around the hearer, and +gradually draws him into its web, fascinating him with its gaze, +entangling him as the spider does the fly, until he is fast: such is the +eloquence of C.C. Burleigh. As a debater he is unquestionably the first +on the Anti-slavery platform. If he did not speak so fast, he would +equal Wendell Phillips; if he did not reason his subject out of +existence, he would surpass him. However, one would have to travel over +many miles, and look in the faces of many men, before he would find one +who has made more personal sacrifices, or done more to bring about the +Emancipation of the American Slaves, than Mr. Charles C. Burleigh. + +Whoever the future historian of the Anti-Slavery movement may be, he +will not be able to compile a correct history of this great struggle, +without consulting the writings of Edmund Quincy, a member of one of +the wealthiest, patriotic, and aristocratic families in New England: the +prestige of his name is a passport to all that the heart could wish. +Descended from a family, whose name is connected with all that was +glorious in the great American Revolution, the son of one who has again +and again represented his native State, in the National Congress, he +too, like Wendell Phillips, threw away the pearl of political +preferment, and devoted his distinguished talents to the cause of the +Slave. Mr. Quincy is better known in this country as having filled the +editorial chair of _The Liberator_, during the several visits of its +Editor to Great Britain. As a speaker, he does not rank as high as some +who are less known; as a writer, he has few equals. The "Annual Reports" +of the American and Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Societies for the past +fifteen or twenty years, have emanated from his pen. When posterity, in +digging among the tombs of the friends of mankind, and of universal +freedom, shall fail to find there the name of Edmund Quincy, it will be +because the engraver failed to do his duty. + +Were we sent out to find a man who should excel all others in +collecting together new facts and anecdotes, and varnishing up old ones +so that they would appear new, and bringing them into a meeting and +emptying out, good or bad, the whole contents of his sack, to the +delight and admiration of the audience, we would unhesitatingly select +James N. Buffum as the man. If Mr. Buffum is not a great speaker, he has +what many accomplished orators have not--_i.e._, a noble and generous +heart. If the fugitive slave, fresh from the cotton-field, should make +his appearance in the town of Lynn, in Massachusetts, and should need a +night's lodging or refreshments, he need go no farther than the +hospitable door of James N. Buffum. + +Most men who inherit large fortunes, do little or nothing to benefit +mankind. A few, however, spend their means in the best possible manner: +one of the latter class is Gerrit Smith. The name of this gentleman +should have been brought forward among those who are first mentioned in +this chapter. Some eight or ten years ago, Mr. Smith was the owner of +large tracts of land, lying in twenty-nine counties in the State of New +York, and came to the strange conclusion to give the most of it away. +Consequently, three thousand lots of land, containing from thirty to one +hundred acres each, were given to coloured men residing in the +State--the writer of this being one of the number. + +Although universal suffrage is enjoyed by the whites in the State of New +York, a property-qualification is imposed on coloured men; and this act +of Mr. Smith's not only made three thousand men the owners of land, but +created also three thousand voters. The ability to give, and the +willingness to do so, is not by any means the greatest quality of this +gentleman. As a public speaker, Mr. Smith has few equals; and certainly +no man in his State has done more to forward the cause of Negro +Emancipation than he. + +We have already swelled the pages of this chapter beyond what we +intended when we commenced, but yet we have called attention to only one +branch of American Reformers. The Temperance Reformers are next to be +considered. This cause has many champions, and yet none who occupy a +very prominent position before the world. The first temperance newspaper +published in the United States, was edited by William Lloyd Garrison. +Gerrit Smith has also done much in promulgating temperance views. But +the most noted man in the movement at the present time, and the one best +known to the British public, is John B. Gough. This gentleman was at one +time an actor on the stage, and subsequently became an inebriate of the +most degraded kind. He was, however, reclaimed through the great +Washingtonian movement that swept over the United States a few years +since. In stature, Mr. Gough is tall and slim, with black hair, which he +usually wears too long. As an orator, he is considered among the first +in the United States. Having once been an actor, he throws all his +dramatic powers into his addresses. He has a facility of telling strange +and marvellous stories which can scarcely be surpassed; and what makes +them still more interesting, he always happens to be an eyewitness. +While speaking, he acts the drunkard, and does it in a style which could +not be equalled on the boards of the Lyceum or Adelphi. No man has +obtained more signatures to the temperance pledge than he. After all, it +is a question whether he has ever been of any permanent service to this +reform or not. Mr. Gough has more than once fallen from his position as +a teetotaler; more than once he has broken his pledge, and when found by +his friends, was in houses of a questionable character. However, some +are of opinion that these defects have been of use to him; for when he +has made his appearance after one of these debaucheries, the people +appear to sympathize more with him, and some thought he spoke better. If +we believe that a person could enjoy good health with water upon the +brain, we would be of opinion that Mr. Gough's cranium contained a +greater quantity than that of any other living man. When speaking before +an audience, he can weep when he pleases; and the tears shed on these +occasions are none of your make-believe kind--none of your small drops +trickling down the cheeks one at a time;--but they come in great +showers, so as even to sprinkle upon the paper which he holds in his +hand. Of course, he is not alone in shedding tears in his meetings, +many of his hearers usually join him; especially the ladies, as these +showers are intended for them. However, no one can sit for an hour and +hear John. B. Gough, without coming to the conclusion that he is nothing +more than a theatrical mountebank. + +The ablest speaker on the subject of Peace, is Charles Sumner. Standing +more than six feet in height, and well proportioned, Mr. Sumner makes a +most splendid and commanding appearance before an assembly. It is not +his looks alone that attract attention--his very countenance indicates a +superior mind. Born in the upper circle, educated in the first College +in the country, and finally becoming a member of the Bar, he is well +qualified to take the highest possible position as a public speaker. As +an orator, Charles Sumner has but one superior in the United States, and +that is Wendell Phillips. Mr. Sumner is an able advocate for the +liberation of the American Slaves as well as of the cause of Peace, and +has rendered great aid to the abolition movement. + +The name of Elihu Burritt, for many reasons, should be placed at the +head of the Peace Movement. No man was ever more devoted to one idea +than he is to that of peace. If he is an advocate of Temperance, it is +because it will promote peace. If he opposes Slavery, it is upon the +grounds of peace. Ask him why he wants an "Ocean Penny Postage," he will +tell you to engender the principles of peace. Everything with him hinges +upon the doctrine of peace. As a speaker, Mr. Burritt does not rank +amongst the first. However, his speeches are of a high order, some think +them too high, and complain that he is too much of a cloud-traveller, +and when he descends from these aerial flights and cloudy thrones, they +are unwilling to admit that he can be practical. If Mr. Burritt should +prove as good a statesman as a theorist, he would be an exception to +most who belong to the aerial school. As a writer he stands deservedly +high. In his "Sparks from the Anvil," and "Voice from the Forge," are to +be found as fine pieces as have been produced by any writer of the day. +His "Drunkard's Wife" is the most splendid thing of the kind in the +language. His stature is of the middle size, head well developed, with +eyes deeply set, and a prepossessing countenance, though not handsome; +he wears an exterior of remarkable austerity, and everything about him +is grave, even to his smile. Being well versed in the languages, ancient +and modern, he does not lack variety or imagination, either in his +public addresses or private conversation; yet it would be difficult to +find a man with a better heart, or sweeter spirit, than Elihu Burritt. + + + + +LETTER XXII. + +_A Narrative of American Slavery._ + + +Although the first slaves, introduced into the American Colonies from +the coast of Africa, were negroes of a very dark complexion with woolly +hair, and it was thought that slavery would be confined to the blacks, +yet the present slave population of America is far from being black. +This change in colour, is attributable, solely to the unlimited power +which the slave owner exercises over his victim. There being no lawful +marriage amongst slaves, and no encouragement to slave women to be +virtuous and chaste, there seems to be no limits to the system of +amalgamation carried on between master and slave. This accounts for the +fact, that most persons who go from Europe, or from the Free States, +into Carolina or Virginia, are struck with the different shades of +colour amongst the slaves. On a plantation employing fifty slaves, it is +not uncommon to see one third of them mulattoes, and some of these +nearly white. + +In the year 1831, there resided in the state of Virginia, a slave who +was so white, that no one would suppose for a moment that a drop of +African blood coursed through his veins. His skin was fair, hair soft, +straight, fine and white; his eyes blue, nose prominent, lips thin; his +head well formed, forehead high and prominent; and he was often taken +for a white free person, by those who did not know him. This made his +condition as a slave still more intolerable; for one so white, seldom +ever receives fair treatment at the hands of his fellow slaves; and the +whites usually regard such slaves as persons, who, if not often flogged +and otherwise ill treated, to remind them of their condition, would soon +"forget" that they were slaves, and "think themselves as good as white +folks." During that year, an insurrection broke out amongst the slave +population, known as the Southampton Rebellion, or the "Nat Turner +Insurrection." Five or six hundred slaves, believing in the doctrine +that "all men are created equal," armed with such weapons as they could +get, commenced a war for freedom. Amongst these was George, the white +slave of whom we have spoken. He had been employed as a house servant, +and had heard his master and visiters speak of the down-trodden and +oppressed Poles; he heard them talk of going to Greece to fight for +Grecian liberty, and against the oppressors of that ill-fated people. +George, fired with the love of freedom, and zeal for the cause of his +enslaved countrymen, joined the insurrection. The result of that +struggle for liberty is well known. The slaves were defeated, and those +who were not taken prisoners, took refuge in the dismal swamps. These +were ordered to surrender; but instead of doing so, they challenged +their proud oppressors to take them, and immediately renewed the war. A +ferocious struggle now commenced between the parties; but not until the +United States troops were called in, did they succeed in crushing a +handful of men and women who were fighting for freedom. The negroes were +hunted with dogs, and many who were caught were burnt alive; while some +were hung, and others flogged and banished from the State. + +Among those who were sentenced to be hanged, was George. He was placed +in prison to await the day of execution, which would give him ten days +to prepare for his doom. George was the son of a member of the American +Congress, his mother being a servant in the principal hotel in +Washington, where members of Congress usually put up. After the birth of +George, his mother was sold to a negro trader, and he to a Virginian, +who sent agents through the country to buy up young slaves to raise for +the market. George was only about nineteen years of age, when he +unfortunately became connected with the insurrection. Mr. Green, who +owned George, was a comparatively good master, and prided himself on +treating his slaves better than most men. This gentleman was also the +owner of a girl who was perfectly white, with straight hair and +prominent features. This girl was said to be the daughter of her own +master. A feeling of attachment sprang up between Mary and George, which +proved to be more than mere friendship, and upon which we base the +burden of this narrative. + +After poor George had been sentenced to death and cast into prison, Mary +begged and obtained leave to visit George, and administer to him the +comforts of religion, as she was a member of a religious body, while +George was not. As George had been a considerable favourite with Mrs. +Green, Mary had no difficulty in obtaining permission to pay a daily +visit to him, to whom she had pledged her heart and hand. At one of +these meetings, and only four days from the time fixed for the +execution, while Mary was seated in George's cell, it occurred to her +that she might yet save him from a felon's doom. She revealed to him +the secret that was then occupying her thoughts, viz., that George +should exchange clothes with her, and thus attempt his escape in +disguise. But he would not for a single moment listen to the +proposition. Not that he feared detection; but he would not consent to +place an innocent and affectionate girl in a position where she might +have to suffer for him. Mary pleaded, but in vain--George was +inflexible. The poor girl left her lover with a heavy heart, regretting +that her scheme had proved unsuccessful. + +Towards the close of the next day, Mary again appeared at the prison +door for admission, and was soon by the side of him whom she so ardently +loved. While there, the clouds which had overhung the city for some +hours, broke, and the rain fell in torrents amid the most terrific +thunder and lightning. In the most persuasive manner possible, Mary +again importuned George to avail himself of her assistance to escape +from an ignominious death. After assuring him that she not being the +person condemned, would not receive any injury, he at last consented, +and they began to exchange apparel. As George was of small stature, and +both were white, there was no difficulty in his passing out without +detection: and as she usually left the cell weeping, with handkerchief +in hand, and sometimes at her face, he had only to adopt this mode and +his escape was safe. They had kissed each other, and Mary had told +George where he would find a small parcel of provisions which she had +placed in a secluded spot, when the prison-keeper opened the door, and +said, "Come, girl, it is time for you to go." George again embraced +Mary, and passed out of the gaol. It was already dark and the street +lamps were lighted, so that our hero in his new dress had no dread of +detection. The provisions were sought out and found, and poor George was +soon on the road towards Canada. But neither of them had once thought of +a change of dress for George when he should have escaped, and he had +walked but a short distance before he felt that a change of his apparel +would facilitate his progress. But he dared not go amongst even his +coloured associates for fear of being betrayed. However, he made the +best of his way on towards Canada, hiding in the woods during the day, +and travelling by the guidance of the North Star at night. + +One morning, George arrived on the banks of the Ohio river, and found +his journey had terminated, unless he could get some one to take him +across the river in a secret manner, for he would not be permitted to +cross in any of the ferry boats; it being a penalty for crossing a +slave, besides the value of the slave. He concealed himself in the tall +grass and weeds near the river, to see if he could embrace an +opportunity to cross. He had been in his hiding-place but a short time, +when he observed a man in a small boat, floating near the shore, +evidently fishing. His first impulse was to call out to the man and ask +him to take him over to the Ohio side, but the fear that the man was a +slaveholder, or one who might possibly arrest him, deterred him from it. +The man after rowing and floating about for some time fastened the boat +to the root of a tree, and started to a neighbouring farm-house. This +was George's moment, and he seized it. Running down the bank, he +unfastened the boat, jumped in, and with all the expertness of one +accustomed to a boat, rowed across the river and landed on the Ohio +side. + +Being now in a free state, he thought he might with perfect safety +travel on towards Canada. He had, however, gone but a few miles, when he +discovered two men on horseback coming behind him. He felt sure that +they could not be in pursuit of him, yet he did not wish to be seen by +them, so he turned into another road, leading to a house near by. The +men followed, and were but a short distance from George, when he ran up +to a farm house, before which was standing a farmer-looking man, in a +broad-brimmed hat and straight collared coat, whom he implored to save +him from the "slave-catchers." The farmer told him to go into the barn +near by; he entered by the front door, the farmer following, and closing +the door behind George, but remaining outside, and gave directions to +his hired man as to what should be done with George. The slaveholders by +this time had dismounted, and were in the front of the barn demanding +admittance, and charging the farmer with secreting their slave woman, +for George was still in the dress of a woman. The Friend, for the farmer +proved to be a member of the Society of Friends, told the slave-owners +that if they wished to search his barn, they must first get an officer +and a search warrant. While the parties were disputing, the farmer began +nailing up the front door, and the hired man served the back door in the +same way. The slaveholders, finding that they could not prevail on the +Friend to allow them to get the slave, determined to go in search of an +officer. One was left to see that the slave did not escape from the +barn, while the other went off at full speed to Mount Pleasant, the +nearest town. George was not the slave of either of these men, nor were +they in pursuit of him, but they had lost a woman who had been seen in +that vicinity, and when they saw poor George in the disguise of a +female, and attempting to elude pursuit, they felt sure they were close +upon their victim. However, if they had caught him, although he was not +their slave, they would have taken him back and placed him in goal, and +there he would have remained until his owner arrived. + +After an absence of nearly two hours, the slave owner returned with an +officer and found the Friend still driving large nails into the door. In +a triumphant tone, and with a corresponding gesture, he handed the +search-warrant to the Friend, and said, "There, Sir, now I will see if I +can't get my Nigger." "Well," said the Friend, "thou hast gone to work +according to law, and thou can now go into my barn." "Lend me your +hammer that I may get the door open," said the slaveholder. "Let me see +the warrant again." And after reading it over once more, he said, "I see +nothing in this paper which says I must supply thee with tools to open +my door; if thou wishes to go in, thou must get a hammer elsewhere." The +sheriff said, "I will go to a neighbouring farm and borrow something +which will introduce us to Miss Dinah;" and he immediately went in +search of tools. In a short time the officer returned, and they +commenced an assault and battery upon the barn door, which soon yielded; +and in went the slaveholder and officer, and began turning up the hay +and using all other means to find the lost property; but, to their +astonishment, the slave was not there. After all hope of getting Dinah +was gone, the slave-owner in a rage, said to the Friend, "My Nigger is +not here." "I did not tell thee there was any one here." "Yes, but I saw +her go in, and you shut the door behind her, and if she was not in the +barn, what did you nail the door for?" "Can't I do what I please with my +own barn door? Now I will tell thee; thou need trouble thyself no more, +for the person thou art after entered the front door and went out at the +back door, and is a long way from here by this time. Thou and thy friend +must be somewhat fatigued by this time, wont thou go in and take a +little dinner with me?" We need not say that this cool invitation of the +good Quaker was not accepted by the slaveholders. George, in the +meantime, had been taken to a Friend's dwelling some miles away, where, +after laying aside his female attire, and being snugly dressed up in a +straight collared coat, and pantaloons to match, was again put on the +right road towards Canada. Two weeks after this found him in the town +of St. Catharines, working on the farm of Colonel Strut, and attending a +night school. + +George, however, did not forget his promise to use all means in his +power to get Mary out of slavery. He, therefore, laboured with all his +might, to obtain money with which to employ some one to go back to +Virginia for Mary. After nearly six months' labour at St. Catharines, he +employed an English missionary to go and see if the girl could be +purchased, and at what price. The missionary went accordingly, but +returned with the sad intelligence that on account of Mary's aiding +George to escape, the court had compelled Mr. Green to sell her out of +the State, and she had been sold to a Negro trader and taken to the New +Orleans market. As all hope of getting the girl was now gone, George +resolved to quit the American continent for ever. He immediately took +passage in a vessel laden with timber, bound for Liverpool, and in five +weeks from that time he was standing on the quay of the great English +seaport. With little or no education, he found many difficulties in the +way of getting a respectable living. However, he obtained a situation +as porter in a large house in Manchester, where he worked during the +day, and took private lessons at night. In this way he laboured for +three years, and was then raised to the situation of a clerk. George was +so white as easily to pass for a white man, and being somewhat ashamed +of his African descent, he never once mentioned the fact of his having +been a slave. He soon became a partner in the firm that employed him, +and was now on the road to wealth. + +In the year 1842, just ten years after George Green (for he adopted his +master's name) arrived in England, he visited France, and spent some +days at Dunkirk. It was towards sunset, on a warm day in the month of +October, that Mr. Green, after strolling some distance from the Hotel de +Leon, entered a burial ground and wandered long alone among the silent +dead, gazing upon the many green graves and marble tombstones of those +who once moved on the theatre of busy life, and whose sounds of gaiety +once fell upon the ear of man. All nature around was hushed in silence, +and seemed to partake of the general melancholy which hung over the +quiet resting place of departed mortals. After tracing the varied +inscriptions which told the characters or conditions of the departed, +and viewing the mounds 'neath which the dust of mortality slumbered, he +had now reached a secluded spot, near to where an aged weeping willow +bowed its thick foliage to the ground, as though anxious to hide from +the scrutinizing gaze of curiosity the grave beneath it. Mr. Green +seated himself upon a marble tomb, and began to read Roscoe's Leo X., a +copy of which he had under his arm. It was then about twilight, and he +had scarcely gone through half a page, when he observed a lady in black, +leading a boy some five years old up one of the paths; and as the lady's +black veil was over her face, he felt somewhat at liberty to eye her +more closely. While looking at her, the lady gave a scream and appeared +to be in a fainting position, when Mr. Green sprang from his seat in +time to save her from falling to the ground. At this moment, an elderly +gentleman was seen approaching with a rapid step, who from his +appearance was evidently the lady's father, or one intimately connected +with her. He came up, and in a confused manner, asked what was the +matter. Mr. Green explained as well as he could. After taking up the +smelling bottle which had fallen from her hand, and holding it a short +time to her face, she soon began to revive. During all this time, the +lady's veil had so covered her face, that Mr. Green had not seen it. +When she had so far recovered as to be able to raise her head, she again +screamed, and fell back into the arms of the old man. It now appeared +quite certain, that either the countenance of George Green, or some +other object, was the cause of these fits of fainting; and the old +gentleman, thinking it was the former, in rather a petulant tone said, +"I will thank you, Sir, if you will leave us alone." The child whom the +lady was leading had now set up a squall; and amid the death-like +appearance of the lady, the harsh look of the old man, and the cries of +the boy, Mr. Green left the grounds and returned to his hotel. + +Whilst seated by the window, and looking out upon the crowded street, +with every now and then the strange scene in the grave-yard vividly +before him, Mr. Green thought of the book he had been reading, and, +remembering that he had left it on the tomb, where he had suddenly +dropped it when called to the assistance of the lady, he immediately +determined to return in search of it. After a walk of some twenty +minutes, he was again over the spot where he had been an hour before, +and from which he had been so unceremoniously expelled by the old man. +He looked in vain for the book; it was no where to be found: nothing +save a bouquet which the lady had dropped, and which lay half-buried in +the grass from having been trodden upon, indicated that any one had been +there that evening. Mr. Green took up the bunch of flowers, and again +returned to the hotel. + +After passing a sleepless night, and hearing the clock strike six, he +dropped into a sweet sleep, from which he did not awake until roused by +the rap of a servant, who, entering his room, handed him a note which +ran as follows:--"Sir,--I owe you an apology for the inconveniences to +which you were subjected last evening, and if you will honour us with +your presence to dinner to-day at four o'clock, I shall be most happy to +give you due satisfaction. My servant will be in waiting for you at +half-past three. I am, sir, your obedt. servant, J. Devenant. October +23, to George Green, Esq." + +The servant who handed this note to Mr. Green, informed him that the +bearer was waiting for a reply. He immediately resolved to accept the +invitation, and replied accordingly. Who this person was, and how his +name and the hotel where he was stopping had been found out, was indeed +a mystery. However, he waited impatiently for the hour when he was to +see this new acquaintance, and get the mysterious meeting in the +grave-yard solved. + +The clock on a neighbouring church had scarcely ceased striking three, +when the servant announced that a carriage had called for Mr. Green. In +less than half an hour, he was seated in a most sumptuous barouch, drawn +by two beautiful iron greys, and rolling along over a splendid gravel +road, completely shaded by large trees which appeared to have been the +accumulating growth of many centuries. The carriage soon stopped in +front of a low villa, and this too was imbedded in magnificent trees +covered with moss. Mr. Green alighted and was shown into a superb +drawing room, the walls of which were hung with fine specimens from the +hands of the great Italian painters, and one by a German artist +representing a beautiful monkish legend connected with "The Holy +Catherine," and illustrious lady of Alexandria. The furniture had an +antique and dignified appearance. High backed chairs stood around the +room; a venerable mirror stood on the mantle-shelf; rich curtains of +crimson damask hung in folds at either side of the large windows; and a +rich Turkey carpet covered the floor. In the centre stood a table +covered with books, in the midst of which was an old fashioned vase +filled with fresh flowers, whose fragrance was exceedingly pleasant. A +faint light, together with the quietness of the hour gave beauty beyond +description to the whole scene. + +Mr. Green had scarcely seated himself upon the sofa, when the elderly +gentleman whom he had met the previous evening made his appearance, +followed by the little boy, and introduced himself as Mr. Devenant. A +moment more, and a lady--a beautiful brunette--dressed in black, with +long curls of a chesnut colour hanging down her cheeks, entered the +room. Her eyes were of a dark hazel, and her whole appearance indicated +that she was a native of a southern clime. The door at which she entered +was opposite to where the two gentlemen were seated. They immediately +rose; and Mr. Devenant was in the act of introducing her to Mr. Green, +when he observed that the latter had sunk back upon the sofa, and the +last word that he remembered to have heard was, "It is her." After this, +all was dark and dreamy: how long he remained in this condition it was +for another to tell. When he awoke, he found himself stretched upon the +sofa, with his boots off, his neckerchief removed, shirt collar +unbuttoned, and his head resting upon a pillow. By his side sat the old +man, with the smelling bottle in the one hand, and a glass of water in +the other, and the little boy standing at the foot of the sofa. As soon +as Mr. Green had so far recovered as to be able to speak, he said, +"Where am I, and what does this mean?" "Wait a while," replied the old +man, "and I will tell you all." After the lapse of some ten minutes he +rose from the sofa, adjusted his apparel, and said, "I am now ready to +hear anything you have to say." "You were born in America," said the old +man. "Yes," he replied. "And you were acquainted with a girl named +Mary," continued the old man. "Yes, and I loved her as I can love none +other." "The lady whom you met so mysteriously last evening is Mary," +replied Mr. Devenant. George Green was silent, but the fountains of +mingled grief and joy stole out from beneath his eye lashes, and +glistened like pearls upon his pale and marble-like cheeks. At this +juncture the lady again entered the room. Mr. Green sprang from the +sofa, and they fell into each other's arms, to the surprise of the old +man and little George, and to the amusement of the servants who had +crept up one by one, and were hid behind the doors or loitering in the +hall. When they had given vent to their feelings, they resumed their +seats and each in turn related the adventures through which they had +passed. "How did you find out my name and address," asked Mr. Green? +"After you had left us in the grave-yard, our little George said, 'O, +mamma, if there aint a book!' and picked it up and brought it to us. +Papa opened it, and said 'the gentleman's name is written in it, and +here is a card of the Hotel de Leon, where I suppose he is stopping.' +Papa wished to leave the book, and said it was all a fancy of mine that +I had ever seen you before, but I was perfectly convinced that you were +my own George Green. Are you married?" "No, I am not." "Then, thank +God!" exclaimed Mrs. Devenant. The old man who had been silent all this +time, said, "Now, Sir, I must apologize for the trouble you were put to +last evening." "And you are single now." "Yes," she replied. "This is +indeed the Lord's doings," said Mr. Green, at the same time bursting +into a flood of tears. Although Mr. Devenant was past the age when men +should think upon matrimonial subjects, yet this scene brought vividly +before his eyes the days when he was a young man, and had a wife living, +and he thought it time to call their attention to dinner, which was +then waiting. We need scarcely add, that Mr. Green and Mrs. Devenant did +very little towards diminishing the dinner that day. + +After dinner the lovers (for such we have to call them) gave their +experience from the time that George Green left the gaol, dressed in +Mary's clothes. Up to that time, Mr. Green's was substantially as we +have related it. Mrs. Devenant's was as follows:--"The night after you +left the prison," said she, "I did not shut my eyes in sleep. The next +morning, about 8 o'clock, Peter, the gardener, came to the gaol to see +if I had been there the night before, and was informed that I had, and +that I left a little after dark. About an hour after, Mr. Green came +himself, and I need not say that he was much surprised on finding me +there, dressed in your clothes. This was the first tidings they had of +your escape." "What did Mr. Green say when he found that I had fled?" +"O!" continued Mrs. Devenant, "he said to me when no one was near, I +hope George will get off, but I fear you will have to suffer in his +stead. I told him that if it must be so I was willing to die if you +could live." At this moment George Green burst into tears, threw his +arms around her neck, and exclaimed, "I am glad I have waited so long, +with the hope of meeting you again." + +Mrs. Devenant again resumed her story:--"I was kept in gaol three days, +during which time I was visited by the Magistrates and two of the +Judges. On the third day I was taken out, and master told me that I was +liberated, upon condition that I be immediately sent out of the State. +There happened to be just at that time in the neighbourhood a +negro-trader, and he purchased me, and I was taken to New Orleans. On +the steam-boat we were kept in a close room where slaves are usually +confined, so that I saw nothing of the passengers on board or the towns +we passed. We arrived at New Orleans and were all put into the +slave-market for sale. I was examined by many persons, but none seemed +willing to purchase me; as all thought me too white, and said I would +run away and pass as a free white woman. On the second day while in the +slave-market, and while planters and others were examining slaves and +making their purchases, I observed a tall young man with long black hair +eyeing me very closely, and then talking to the trader. I felt sure that +my time had now come, but the day closed without my being sold. I did +not regret this, for I had heard that foreigners made the worst of +masters, and I felt confident that the man who eyed me so closely was +not an American. + +"The next day was the Sabbath. The bells called the people to the +different places of worship. Methodists sang, and Baptists immersed, and +Presbyterians sprinkled, and Episcopalians read their prayers, while the +ministers of the various sects preached that Christ died for all; yet +there were some twenty-five or thirty of us poor creatures confined in +the '_Negro Pen_' awaiting the close of the Holy Sabbath, and the dawn +of another day, to be again taken into the market, there to be examined +like so many beasts of burden. I need not tell you with what anxiety we +waited for the advent of another day. On Monday we were again brought +out, and placed in rows to be inspected; and fortunately for me, I was +sold before we had been on the stand an hour. I was purchased by a +gentleman residing in the city, for a waiting-maid for his wife, who was +just on the eve of starting for Mobile, to pay a visit to a near +relation. I was then dressed to suit the situation of a maid-servant; +and, upon the whole, I thought that in my new dress I looked as much the +lady as my mistress. + +"On the passage to Mobile, who should I see among the passengers, but +the tall, long-haired man that had eyed me so closely in the +slave-market a few days before. His eyes were again on me, and he +appeared anxious to speak to me, and I as reluctant to be spoken to. The +first evening after leaving New Orleans, soon after twilight had let her +curtain down, and pinned it with a star, and while I was seated on the +deck of the boat, near the ladies' cabin, looking upon the rippled +waves, and the reflection of the moon upon the sea, all at once I saw +the tall young man standing by my side. I immediately rose from my seat, +and was in the act of returning to the cabin, when he in a broken +accent said, 'Stop a moment; I wish to have a word with you. I am your +friend.' I stopped and looked him full in the face, and he said, 'I saw +you some days since in the slave-market, and I intended to have +purchased you to save you from the condition of a slave. I called on +Monday, but you had been sold and had left the market. I inquired and +learned who the purchaser was, and that you had to go to Mobile, so I +resolved to follow you. If you are willing, I will try and buy you from +your present owner, and you shall be free.' Although this was said in an +honest and off-hand manner, I could not believe the man to be sincere in +what he said. 'Why should you wish to set _me_ free?' I asked. 'I had an +only sister,' he replied, 'who died three years ago in France, and you +are so much like her, that had I not known of her death, I would most +certainly have taken you for her.' 'However much I may resemble your +sister, you are aware that I am not her, and why take so much interest +in one whom you never saw before?' 'The love,' said he, 'which I had for +my sister is transferred to you.' I had all along suspected that the +man was a knave, and this profession of love confirmed me in my former +belief, and I turned away and left him. + +"The next day, while standing in the cabin and looking through the +window, the French gentleman (for such he was) came to the window while +walking on the guards, and again commenced as on the previous evening. +He took from his pocket a bit of paper and put into my hand, and at the +same time saying, 'Take this, it may some day be of service to you, +remember it is from a friend,' and left me instantly. I unfolded the +paper, and found it to be a 100 dols. bank note, on the United States +Branch Bank, at Philadelphia. My first impulse was to give it to my +mistress, but upon a second thought, I resolved to seek an opportunity, +and to return the hundred dollars to the stranger. Therefore, I looked +for him, but in vain; and had almost given up the idea of seeing him +again, when he passed me on the guards of the boat and walked towards +the stem of the vessel. It being now dark, I approached him and offered +the money to him. He declined, saying at the same time, 'I gave it to +you--keep it.' 'I do not want it,' I said. 'Now,' said he, 'you had +better give your consent for me to purchase you, and you shall go with +me to France.' 'But you cannot buy me now,' I replied, 'for my master is +in New Orleans, and he purchased me not to sell, but to retain in his +own family.' 'Would you rather remain with your present mistress, than +be free?' 'No,' said I. 'Then fly with me to-night; we shall be in +Mobile in two hours from this, and, when the passengers are going on +shore, you can take my arm, and you can escape unobserved. The trader +who brought you to New Orleans exhibited to me a certificate of your +good character, and one from the Minister of the Church to which you +were attached in Virginia; and upon the faith of these assurances, and +the love I bear you, I promise before high heaven that I will marry you +as soon as it can be done.' This solemn promise, coupled with what had +already transpired, gave me confidence in the man; and rash as the act +may seem, I determined in an instant to go with him. My mistress had +been put under the charge of the captain; and as it would be past ten +o'clock when the steamer would land, she accepted an invitation of the +captain to remain on board with several other ladies till morning. I +dressed myself in my best clothes, and put a veil over my face, and was +ready on the landing of the boat. Surrounded by a number of passengers, +we descended the stage leading to the wharf and were soon lost in the +crowd that thronged the quay. As we went on shore we encountered several +persons announcing the names of hotels, the starting of boats for the +interior, and vessels bound for Europe. Among these was the ship +_Utica_, Captain Pell, bound for Havre. 'Now,' said Mr. Devenant, 'this +is our chance.' The ship was to sail at 12 o'clock that night, at high +tide; and following the men who were seeking passengers, we went +immediately on board. Devenant told the Captain of the ship that I was +his sister, and for such we passed during the voyage. At the hour of +twelve the _Utica_ set sail, and we were soon out at sea. + +"The morning after we left Mobile, Devenant met me as I came from my +state-room and embraced me for the first time. I loved him, but it was +only that affection which we have for one who has done us a lasting +favour: it was the love of gratitude rather than that of the heart. We +were five weeks on the sea, and yet the passage did not seem long, for +Devenant was so kind. On our arrival at Havre, we were married and came +to Dunkirk, and I have resided here ever since." + +At the close of this narrative, the clock struck ten, when the old man, +who was accustomed to retire at an early hour, rose to take leave, +saying at the same time, "I hope you will remain with us to-night." Mr. +Green would fain have excused himself, on the ground that they would +expect him and wait at the hotel, but a look from the lady told him to +accept the invitation. The old man was the father of Mrs. Devenant's +deceased husband, as you will no doubt long since have supposed. A +fortnight from the day on which they met in the grave-yard, Mr. Green +and Mrs. Devenant were joined in holy wedlock; so that George and Mary, +who had loved each other so ardently in their younger days, were now +husband and wife. Without becoming responsible for the truthfulness of +the above narrative, I give it to you, reader, as it was told to me in +January last, in France, by George Green himself. + +A celebrated writer has justly said of woman: "A woman's whole life is a +history of the affections. The heart is her world; it is there her +ambition strives for empire; it is there her avarice seeks for hidden +treasures. She sends forth her sympathies on adventure; she embarks her +whole soul in the traffic of affection; and if shipwrecked, her case is +hopeless--for it is a bankruptcy of the heart." + +Mary had every reason to believe that she would never see George again; +and although she confesses that the love she bore him was never +transferred to her first husband, we can scarcely find fault with her +for marrying Mr. Devenant. But the adherence of George Green to the +resolution never to marry, unless to his Mary, is, indeed, a rare +instance of the fidelity of man in the matter of love. We can but blush +for our country's shame, when we recall to mind the fact, that while +George and Mary Green, and numbers of other fugitives from American +slavery, can receive protection from any of the Governments of Europe, +they cannot return to their native land without becoming slaves. + + + + FINIS. + + + AYR: PRINTED AT THE ADVERTISER OFFICE. + + + + +Transcriber's notes: +==================== + +ERRATA from the original volume, applied to the text. +====== + +Page 8, eleventh line from bottom, _for_ villages _read_ villas +The beautiful villages [**Erratum: villas] on the opposite side of the + +145, fourth line from top, _for_ Dante _read_ Whittier +our own Dante? [**Erratum: Whittier?] + +205, second line from bottom, _for_ towns _read_ lawns +in the vicinity of the lakes. Magnificent towns [**Erratum: lawns] + +264, seventh line from top, _for_ 1834 _read_ 1844 +In the month of May, 1834, [**Erratum: 1844,] while one evening + +273, eighth line from top, _for_ vanity _read_ variety +lack vanity [**Erratum: variety] or imagination, either in his public + +Letter XXIII displaced to be between XII and XIII, as per editor's +footnote. + +TYPOS +===== + +All "Mr" replaced with "Mr." (~10%). Similarly for "Mrs". + +play," was to flag [**typo: flog] his slaves severely, and + +tyranny in Great Britian [**typo: Britain] found social and + +passengers, forty of whom were the "Vienneise [**typo: Viennese] + +we were in sight of the land of Emmitt [**typo: Emmett] and + +Rev. Dr. Ritchie, of Edinburgh. [** quote deleted] "It is indeed a + +by M. Duguery, [**typo: Duguerry,] cure of the Madeleine, + +The column is in imitation of the Trojan [**typo: Trajan] + +XVI. and Marie Antionette [**typo: Antoinette] were driven from it by + +building. [** full-stop added] The speaker, in the delivery of one of + +Fete. [**typo: Fete.] + +soiree [**typo: soiree] by M. de Tocqueville, Minister for + +to the whole scene out of doors. The soiree [**typo: soiree] + +announced, and after a good deal of jambing [**typo: jamming] and + +same basket, without any regard to birth or station. [** full-stop added] + +had more interesting incidents occuring [**typo: occurring] in it than + +of Raphael and David--Arc de Triomphe--Beranger [** final em-dash added] + +Jardin des Plantes, and spent an hour and a-half [**typo: a half] + +Were [**typo: were] at the time continually running through my + +meeted [**typo: meted] out to me while at Hartwell. And the + +I will see you." [** missing quote inserted] In looking across the street, I + +great contrast beetween [**typo: between] the monster Institution, + +The Tower is surounded [**typo: surrounded] by a high wall, and + +skilful muscians; [**typo: musicians;] I have listened with delight + +history, and the accumulated discoveries of byegone [**typo: bygone] + +acquiline, [**typo: aquiline] his mouth rather small, and not at all + +and died at Newstead Abbey, November 18, 1808." [**missing quote inserted] + +with the poet and saying:-- [**colon added] + +had such ruins in view when he exclaimed:-- [**colon added] + +Elyses [**typo: Elysees] at Paris; and as for statuary, the latter + +where the celebrated Reformer, John Knox, re-resided.[**typo: resided.] + +lake is carved out and and [**typo: deleted second "and"] built up into terrace + +through to the north gallery, and and [**typo: deleted second "and"] thence to + +myself upon so diminutive a looking [**typo: looking a] creature. + +upon the wing--the artifical [**typo: artificial] stream, the brook + +seemed to have forgotton [**typo: forgotten] that this was an exhibition + +"Sartar [**typo: Sartor] Resartus," and if he does not rise from its + +the cloisters of Tinterran [**typo: Tintern] Abbey, in its proudest + +that which has accomplished the mightest [**typo: mightiest] and + +That measure was in every respect an unconsitutional [**typo: unconstitutional] + +practice what they have so long professsd [**typo: professed]. (Hear, + +I had writen [**typo: written] for the occasion, was unanimously + +taken him back and placed him in goal [**typo: gaol], and + +was kept in goal [**typo: gaol] three days, during + +into my hand, and at the sametime [**typo: same time] saying, + +be a 100 dols. Bank [**typo?: bank] note, on the United States + +But the adherence of George Green to the re-resolution [**typo: resolution] + + +Apparent errata, but possibly acceptable period words: (left as-is in text). +=============== + +without the least difficulty, and his jestures, [**typo: gestures,] + Per OED, jesture obs. form of gesture. May be typo? + +motion, and the variagated [**typo: variegated] lamps with their many + Per OED, verb variagate was known variant of variegate up to the 19th century + +enemies on the 13th Vendimaire [**typo: Vendemiaire]. The Hotel de + May be British variant used at the period + +observed visiters [**typo: visitors] lingering about it, as if they + May be valid past spelling + +being conveyed to them by means of a pully-basket, [**typo: pulley-basket,] + Per OED, pully known variant of pulley, 15th-19th centuries + +under heaven!--Perish the sum of all villanies! [**typo: villainies!] + Per OED, known alternate spelling, 16th-19th centuries + +force, carrying, upsetting, engulphing [**typo: engulfing] its adversaries, + Per OED, known alternate spelling (along with ingulf and ingulph); + an example of engulph quoted from an 1871 source. + +master and visiters [**typo: visitors] speak of the down-trodden + May be valid past spelling + +with long curls of a chesnut [**typo: chestnut] colour hanging down + Per OED, chesnut was the most common spelling as late as 1820. + Johnson set "chestnut" as the standard... + +Others found to be acceptable variants: + Bastile, + plebians, + laureat, + trode, + Shakspere. + + + +***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THREE YEARS IN EUROPE*** + + +******* This file should be named 15830.txt or 15830.zip ******* + + +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: +https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/1/5/8/3/15830 + + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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