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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/17875-8.txt b/17875-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..c5d9912 --- /dev/null +++ b/17875-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,3238 @@ +Project Gutenberg's The American Prejudice Against Color, by William G. Allen + +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: The American Prejudice Against Color + An Authentic Narrative, Showing How Easily The Nation Got + Into An Uproar. + +Author: William G. Allen + +Release Date: February 27, 2006 [EBook #17875] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE AMERICAN PREJUDICE *** + + + + +Produced by Suzanne Shell, Janet B. and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + + + + + + +THE AMERICAN + +Prejudice Against Color. + + * * * * * + +AN AUTHENTIC NARRATIVE, + +SHOWING HOW EASILY THE NATION GOT + +INTO AN UPROAR. + + * * * * * + +BY WILLIAM G. ALLEN, + +A REFUGEE FROM AMERICAN DESPOTISM. + + * * * * * + +LONDON: +W. AND F. G. CASH, 5, BISHOPSGATE-STREET-WITHOUT. +EDINBURGH: JOHN MENZIES. +DUBLIN: JAMES MC. GLASHAN AND J. B. GILPIN + + * * * * * + + +1853 + + + + +PREFACE. + + +Extract of a letter from Hon. Gerrit Smith, of New York, Member of +Congress, to Joseph Sturge, Esq., of Birmingham, England. (By permission +of Mr. Sturge.) + + _"Peterboro', New York, March 23rd_, 1853. + +"I take great pleasure in introducing to you my much esteemed friend, +Professor Wm. G. Allen. I know him well, and know him to be a man of +great mental and moral worth. I trust, in his visit to England, he will +be both useful and happy. + + "Very truly, your friend and brother, + "GERRIT SMITH." + + * * * * * + +"Commending Professor Allen to the friends of the colored American +citizens who are denied their rights in their own country, and wishing +him every success in the object before him, + + "I am, respectfully, + "_Birmingham, 6mo., 28d._, 1853. "JOSEPH STURGE." + + * * * * * + + "_Clapham, August 25th_, 1853. + + "My dear Sir:-- + +"Your determination to spend some time in Great Britain, and to employ +yourself, as opportunities occur, in giving lectures and delivering +addresses upon American topics, including the social position of the +free colored population--for which your education and personal +experience eminently fit you--has given me sincere pleasure. I trust you +will meet with ample encouragement from the friends of Abolition +throughout the United Kingdom, to whose sympathy and kindness I would +earnestly recommend you, and still more your heroic and most estimable +lady. + + "Believe me, most truly yours, + "Professor W. G. Allen "GEORGE THOMPSON." + + + + +CONTENTS. + + + CHAPTER I.--Introduction 41 + + II.--Personalities 42 + + III.--Nobility and Servility 48 + + IV.--The Mob 54 + + V.--Dark Days 63 + + VI.--Brightening up,--Grand Result 79 + + VII.--Conclusion 91 + + A Short Personal Narrative + by William G Allen 95 + + + + +CHAPTER I. + +INTRODUCTION + + +Many persons having suggested that it would greatly subserve the +Anti-slavery Cause in this country, to present to the public a concise +narrative of my recent narrow escape from death, at the hands of an +armed mob in America, a mob armed with tar, feathers, poles, and an +empty barrel spiked with shingle nails, together with the reasons which +induced that mob, I propose to give it. I cannot promise however, to +write such a book as ought to be written to illustrate fully the +bitterness, malignity, and cruelty, of American prejudice against color, +and to show its terrible power in grinding into the dust of social and +political bondage, the hundreds of thousands of so-called free men and +women of color of the North. This bondage is, in many of its aspects, +far more dreadful than that of the _bona fide_ Southern Slavery, since +its victims--many of them having emerged out of, and some of them never +having been into, the darkness of personal slavery--have acquired a +development of mind, heart, and character, not at all inferior to the +foremost of their oppressors. + +The book that ought to be written, _I_ ought not to attempt; but if no +one precedes me, I shall consider myself bound by necessity, and making +the attempt, lay on, with all the strength I can possibly summon, to +American Caste and skin-deep Democracy. + +The mob occurred on Sabbath (!) evening, January the 30th, 1853, in the +village of Phillipsville, near Fulton, Oswego County, New York. The +cause,--the intention, on my part, of marrying a white young lady of +Fulton,--at least so the public surmised. + + + + +CHAPTER II. + +PERSONALITIES. + + +I am a quadroon, that is, I am of one-fourth African blood, and +three-fourths Anglo-Saxon. I graduated at Oneida Institute, in +Whitesboro', New York, in 1844; subsequently studied Law with Ellis Gray +Loring, Esq., of Boston, Massachusetts; and was thence called to the +Professorship of the Greek and German languages, and of Rhetoric and +Belles-Lettres of New York Central College, situated in Mc. Grawville, +Cortland County,--the only College in America that has ever called a +colored man to a Professorship, and one of the very few that receive +colored and white students on terms of perfect equality, if, indeed, +they receive colored students at all. + +In April, 1851, I was invited to Fulton, to deliver a course of +Lectures. I gladly accepted the invitation, and none the less that +Fulton had always maintained a high reputation for its love of impartial +freedom, and that its citizens were highly respected for their professed +devotion to the teachings of Christianity. + +I am glad to say, that on this occasion I was well received, and at the +close of my first lecture was invited to spend the evening at the house +of the Rev. Lyndon King. This gentleman having long been known as a +devoted abolitionist,--a fervid preacher of the doctrine, that character +is above color,--and as one of the ablest advocates of the social, +political, and religious rights of the colored man, I, of course, had a +pleasant visit with the family; and, remaining with them several days, +conceived a deep interest in one of the Elder's daughters,--Miss Mary E. +King, who was then preparing to enter the College in Mc. Grawville. I +accompanied Miss King to Mc. Grawville, where she remained in college, a +year and a half. + +Boarding in tenements quite opposite each other, we frequently met in +other than college halls, and as freely conversed,--Miss K. being of +full age, and legally, as well as intellectually and morally, competent +to discuss the subjects in which, it is generally supposed, young men +and women feel an absorbing interest. + +It is of no consequence what we said; and if it were, the reader, +judging in the light of the results, will perhaps as correctly imagine +that, as I can possibly describe it. I pass on at once, therefore, +simply stating that at the close of the year and a half, my interest in +the young lady had become fully reciprocated, and we occupied a relation +to each other much more significant than that of teacher and pupil. + +Miss King returned to her father's house in October, 1852. I visited the +family in December following. Then and there we discussed the subject of +marriage more fully between ourselves; and deeming it a duty obligatory +upon us, by an intelligent regard for our future happiness, to survey, +before consummating an engagement even, the whole field of difficulties, +embarrassments, trials, insults and persecutions, which we should have +to enter on account of our diversity of complexion, and to satisfy +ourselves fully as to our ability to endure what we might expect to +encounter; we concluded to separate unengaged, and, in due season, each +to write to the other what might be the results of more mature +deliberation. This may seem unromantic to the reader; nevertheless, it +was prudent on our part. + +After remaining in Fulton a week, I left for Boston. Several letters +then passed between us, and in January last, our engagement was fixed. I +will not speak of myself, but on the part of Miss King, this was +certainly a bold step. It displayed a moral heroism which no one can +comprehend who has not been in America, and who does not understand the +diabolical workings of prejudice against color. Whatever a man may be in +his own person,--though he should have the eloquence, talents, and +character of Paul and Apollos, and the Angel Gabriel combined,--though +he should be as wealthy as Croesus,--and though, in personal +appearance, he should be as fair as the fairest Anglo-Saxon, yet, if he +have but one drop of the blood of the African flowing in his veins, no +white young lady can ally herself to him in matrimony, without bringing +upon her the anathemas of the community, with scarcely an exception, +and rendering herself an almost total outcast, not only from the society +in which she formerly moved, but from society in general. + +Such is American Caste,--the most cruel under the sun. And such it is, +notwithstanding the claims set up by the American people, that they are +Heaven's Vicegerents, to teach to men, and to nations as well, the +legitimate ideas of Christian Democracy. + +To digress a moment. This Caste-spirit of America sometimes illustrates +itself in rather ridiculous ways. + +A beautiful young lady--a friend of mine--attended, about two years +since, one of the most aristocratic Schools of one of the most +aristocratic Villages of New York. She was warmly welcomed in the +highest circles, and so amiable in temper was she, as well as agreeable +in mind and person, that she soon became not only a favorite, but _the_ +favorite of the circle in which she moved. The _young gentlemen_ of the +village were especially interested in her, and what matrimonial offer +might eventually have been made her, it is not for me to say. At the +close of the second term, however, she left the school and the village; +and then, for the first time, the fact became known (previously known +only to her own room-mate) that she was slightly of African blood. +Reader,--the consternation and horror which succeeded this "new +development," are, without exaggeration, perfectly indescribable. The +people drew long breaths, as though they had escaped from the fangs of a +boa constrictor; the old ladies charged their daughters, that should +Miss ---- be seen in that village again, by no means to permit +themselves to be seen in the street with her; and many other charges +were delivered by said mothers, equally absurd, and equally foolish. And +yet this same young lady, according to their own previous showing, was +not only one of the most beautiful in person and manners who had ever +graced their circle, but was also of fine education; and in complexion +as white as the whitest in the village. Truly, this, our human nature, +is extremely strange and vastly inconsistent! + +Confessedly, as a class, the quadroon women of New Orleans are the most +beautiful in America. Their personal attractions are not only +irresistible, but they have, in general, the best blood of America in +their veins. They are mostly white in complexion, and are, many of them, +highly educated and accomplished; and yet, by the law of Louisiana, no +man may marry a quadroon woman, unless he can prove that he, too, has +African blood in his veins. A law involving a greater outrage on +propriety, a more blasphemous trifling with the heart's affections, and +evincing a more contemptible tyranny, those who will look at the matter +from the beginning to the end, will agree with me, could not possibly +have been enacted. + +Colonel Fuller, of the "_New York Mirror_," writing from New Orleans, +gives some melancholy descriptions--and some amusing ones too--of the +operations of this most barbarous law. + +One I especially remember. A planter, it seems, had fallen deeply in +love with a charming quadroon girl. He desired to marry her; but the law +forbade. What was he to do? To tarnish her honour was out of the +question; he had too much himself to seek to tarnish hers. Here was a +dilemma. But he was not to be foiled. What true heart will be, if there +be any virtue in expedients? + + "----In love, + His thoughts came down like a rushing stream." + +At last he got it. A capital thought, which could have crept out of no +one's brain, save that of a most desperate lover. He hit upon the +expedient of extracting a little African blood from the veins of one of +his slaves, and injecting it into his own. The deed done, the letter of +the law was answered. He made proposals, was accepted, and they were +married,--he being willing to risk his caste in obedience to a love +higher and holier than any conventionalism which men have ever contrived +to establish. + +O, Cupid, thou art a singular God! and a most amazing philosopher! Thou +goest shooting about with thy electrically charged arrows, bringing to +one common level human hearts, however diverse in clime, caste, or +color. + +Let not the reader suppose, however, that the white people of America +are in the habit of exercising such honor towards the people of color, +as is here ascribed to this planter. Far from it. The laws of the +Southern States, on the one hand, (I allude not now to any particular +law of Louisiana, but to the laws of the Slave States in general), have +deliberately, and in cold blood, withheld their protection from every +woman within their borders, in whose veins may flow but half a drop of +African blood; while the prejudice against color of the Northern States, +on the other hand, is so cruel and contemptuous of the rights and +feelings of colored people, that no white man would lose his caste in +debauching the best educated, most accomplished, virtuous and wealthy +colored woman in the community, but would be mobbed from Maine to +Delaware, should he with that same woman attempt honorable marriage. +Henry Ward Beecher, (brother of Mrs. Stowe) in reference to prejudice +against color, has truly said of the Northern people--and the truth in +this case in startling and melancholy--that, "with them it is less +sinful to break the whole decalogue towards the colored people, than to +keep a single commandment in their favour." + +But to return to the narrative. Miss King, previously to the +consummation of our engagement, consulted her father, who at once gave +his consent. Her sister not only consented, but, thanks to her kind +heart, warmly approved the match. Her brothers, of whom there were many, +were bitterly opposed. Mrs. King--a step-mother only--was not only also +bitterly opposed, but inveterately so. Bright fancies and +love-bewildering conceptions were what, in her estimation, we ought not +to be allowed to indulge. + +In passing, it is proper to say, that this lady, though not lacking a +certain benevolence,--especially that sort which can pity the fugitive, +give him food and raiment, or permit him at her table even,--is, +nevertheless, extremely aristocratic of heart and patronizing of temper. +This statement is made upon quite a familiar acquaintance with Mrs. +King, and out of no asperity of feeling. I cherish none, but only pity +for those who nurture a prejudice, which, while it convicts them of the +most ridiculous vanity, at the same time shrivels their own hearts and +narrows their own souls. + +Mrs. King was at first mild in her opposition, but finally resorted to +such violence of speech and act, as to indicate a state of feeling +really deplorable, and a spirit diametrically opposed to all the +teachings of the Christian religion--a religion which she loudly +professed, and which assures us that "God is no respecter of persons." + +I judge not mortal man or woman, but leave Mrs. King, and all those who +thought it no harm because of my complexion, to abuse the most sacred +feelings of my heart, to their conscience and their God. + + + + +CHAPTER III. + +NOBILITY AND SERVILITY. + + +The reader will doubtless and also correctly imagine that situated as +Miss King has now been shown to be, she could not have experienced many +very pleasant hours either of night or day,--pleasant so far as the +sympathy of her numerous relatives and friends could serve to make them +such. Fortunately, however she was not of that class whose happiness +depends upon the smiles or the approbation of others earned at any +cost--but upon a steady obedience to what in her inmost soul, she +regarded as demanded by the laws of rectitude and justice. + +That a young lady could break away without a struggle from the +counsellors, friends and companions of her youth, is not to be expected. +Miss King had her struggles; and the letter written to me by her on the +consummation of our engagement evinced their character, and also her +grandeur and nobility of soul:-- + +"I have endeavoured to solve, honorably, conscientiously and +judiciously, the greatest problem of human life; and God and the holy +angels have assisted me in thus solving. Friends may forsake me, and the +world prove false, but the sweet assurance that I have your most devoted +love, and that that love will strengthen and increase in proportion as +the regard of others may diminish, is the only return I ask." + +What vows I uttered in the secret chambers of my heart as I read the +above and similar passages of that letter, let the reader imagine who +may be disposed to credit me with the least aptitude of appreciating +whatsoever in human nature is grand and noble, or in the human spirit, +which is lovely, and true, and beautiful, and of good report. + +Throughout the letter there was also a tone of gentle sadness--not that +of regret for the course in contemplation,--but that which holily +lingers around a loving heart, which, while it gives itself away, may +not even lightly inflict the slightest pang upon other hearts to which +it has long been bound by dearly-cherished ties. + +But family opposition was not the only opposition which Miss King +expected to, or did indeed encounter. Whoever sought to marry yet, and +did the deed unblessed or uncursed of public praise or wrath? And aside +from extraordinary circumstances, it is so pleasant to dip one's finger +into a pie matrimonial. + +The following paragraph of a letter written to me by Miss King a few +days after I left her in December, amused me much,--it may possibly +amuse the reader:-- + +"Professor,--You would smile if you only knew what an excitement your +visit here caused among the good people of Fulton. Some would have it +that we were married, and others said if we were not already married, +they were sure that we would be; for they knew that you would not have +spent a whole week with us if there had been no love existing between +you and myself. Some of the villagers came to see me the day after you +left, and begged of me, if _I were determined to marry you, to do so at +once, and not to keep the public in so much suspense_." + +Friend, have you ever heard or read of anything which came nearer to +clapping the climax of the ridiculous than this most singular appeal +couched in the last clause of this quotation, to the benevolence of Miss +King? Certainly, if anything could have come nearer, it would have been +the act of a certain lady who, having heard during this selfsame visit +that we were to be married on the morrow, actually had her sleigh drawn +up to the door, and would have driven off to the Elder's to "_stop the +wedding_" had not her husband remonstrated. It is true, this lady +opposed the marriage, not on the ground of an immorality, but of its +inexpediency considering the existent state of American sentiment; but +then it is curious to think of what amazing powers she must have +imagined herself possessed. + +Public opposition however, soon began to assume a more decided form. +Neighbours far and near, began to visit the house of Elder King, and to +adopt such remonstrance and expostulation as, in their view the state of +the case demanded. Some thought our marriage would be dreadful, a most +inconceivably horrid outrage. Some declared it would be vulgar, and had +rather see every child of theirs dead and buried, than take the course +which, they were shocked to find, Miss King seemed bent to do. Some +sillier than all the rest, avowed that should the marriage be permitted +to take place, it would be a sin against Almighty God; and it may be, +they thought it would call down thunder-bolts from the chamber of +heaven's wrath, to smite us from the earth. + +"There is no peace," saith my God, "to the wicked."--And surely, clearer +exemplifications of this saying of Holy Writ were never had, than in the +brain-teasings, mind-torturings and heart-rackings of these precious +people, out of deference to our welfare. May they be mercifully +remembered and gloriously rewarded. + +It is proper to introduce to the reader at this point, our cherished +friends,--Mr. and Mrs. Porter,--and to say at once, that words are not +expressive enough to describe the gratitude we owe them, nor in what +remembrance we hold them in the deepest depths of our hearts. They stood +by us throughout that season of intended bloody persecution, turning +neither to the right nor the left, nor counting their own interests or +lives as aught in comparison to the friendship they bore us, or to their +love of the principles of truth, justice and humanity. Amid the raging +billows, they stood as a rock to which to cling. + +We had known these friends for months, nay, for years. They had also +been students in Mc. Grawville, but had subsequently married, and at the +time of my December visit to Fulton were teachers of a School in +Phillipsville,--where, it may be proper here to say, was located the +depôt of the Fulton trains of cars. + +Not only belonging to that class of persons, (rare in America, even +among those who claim to be Abolitionists and Christians), persons who +do not _profess_ to believe merely, but really _do_ believe in the +doctrine of the "unity, equality, and brotherhood of the human race;" +and who are willing to accord to others the exercise of rights which +they claim for themselves; but, having also great purity of heart and +purpose, Mr. and Mrs. Porter did not, as they could not, sympathise +with those whose ideas of marriage, as evinced in their conversation +respecting Miss King and myself, never ascended beyond the region of the +material into that of the high, the holy and the spiritual. Of all the +families of Fulton and Phillipsville, this was the only one which +_publicly_ spoke approval of our course. So that, therefore it will be +expected, that while those true hearts were friendly to us, they were +equally with ourselves targets at which our enemies might shoot. + +I have introduced Mr. and Mrs. Porter at this point, because, at this +point, their services to us commenced. But for these faithful friends, +Miss King would not have known whither to have fled when she found as +she did, her own home becoming any other than a desirable habitation, +owing to the growing opposition and bitter revilings of her step-mother, +and the impertinent intermeddlings of others. + +Thus far the opposition which Miss King had experienced, though +disagreeable, had not become too much for the "utmost limit of human +patience." Soon, however, a crisis occurred, in the arrival in Fulton, +of the Rev. John B. King. This gentleman's visit was unexpected, and it +is due to him to say, that he did not come on any errand connected with +this subject; for until he arrived in Fulton, he did not know of the +correspondence which had existed between his sister and myself. Though +unexpected, his visit as already intimated, was fraught with results, +which in their immediate influence, were extremely sad and woeful. + +Mr. King was a Reform preacher, and had even come from Washington, +District of Columbia, where he had been residing for the last two years, +to collect money to build a church which should exclude from membership +those who held their fellow-men in bondage, and who would not admit the +doctrines of the human brotherhood. Just the man to assist us, one would +have thought. But it is easy to preach and to talk. Who cannot do that? +It is easier still to _feel_--this is humanity's instinct--for the +wrongs and outrages inflicted upon our kind. But to plant one's feet +rough-shod upon the neck and heels of a corrupt and controlling public +sentiment, to cherish living faith in God, and, above all to crush the +demon in one's own soul,--ah! this it is which only the _great_ can do, +who, only of men, can help the world onward up to heaven. + +Mr. King had scarcely entered the house, and been told the story of our +engagement, when he manifested the most unworthy and unchristian +opposition. Unworthy and unchristian, since he frankly averred, that had +I the remaining fourth Anglo-Saxon blood, he would be proud of me as a +brother. He was bitter, not as wormwood only, but as wormwood and gall +combined. He would not tolerate me as a visitor at his house, in company +with his sister, unless I came in the capacity of driver or servant. A +precious brother this, and a most glorious Christian teacher. + +I have said that the arrival of this gentleman marked a crisis in the +history of our troubles; and it did so in the fact that by the powerful +influence which he exerted over his father, adverse to our marriage, and +by the aid, strength and comfort which he gave to his step-mother; the +Elder was at last brought to a reconsideration of his views, and to +abandon the ground which he had hitherto maintained with so much heroism +and valour. + +I shall say no hard things of Elder King; now that the storm is over, I +prefer to leave him to his own reflections, and especially to this one, +which may be embodied in the following question,--_What is the true +relation which a Christian Reformer sustains to public opinion?_ + +Had the Elder, supposing it to have been possible, assumed towards us a +position more adverse than the one he did in this singular and +unexpected change, the results could not, for the time being at least, +have been sadder or more disastrous. How it affected the feelings of his +daughter, the reader can well imagine, who will remember, that upon her +father she had hitherto relied as upon a pillar of strength, and +especially as her rock of refuge from the storms which beat upon her +from without. Stricken thus, a weak spirit would have given up in +despair; but not so with this heroic and noble-minded lady, upon whom +misfortune seemed to have no other effect than to increase her faith in +God. + +Elder King now, not as hitherto out of his deference to the feelings of +his wife, but of his own accord, averred that I should on no +consideration whatever, be permitted to enter his house, to hold a +conference with his daughter, providing said conference was to be +promotive of our marriage. Miss King was compelled, therefore, to make +an arrangement with Mr. Porter, by which our interviews should be held +in his house when I should arrive, as I was expected to do so in a few +days, from Boston. Strange to say, however, and paradoxical as it may +seem, on the day on which I was expected to arrive in Fulton, the Elder +himself took his daughter from Fulton to Phillipsville to meet me. I +reached Phillipsville, on Saturday afternoon, January 29th, and, of +course, was not advised of this altered state of things, until my +arrival there--the Elder's change having taken place within a very few +days previous. + +The method which Elder King took to evince his hostility--his exclusion +of me from his house--was extremely injudicious; and I have no doubt +that he, himself, now sincerely regrets it. It excited to action the mob +spirit which had all along existed in the hearts of the people, and was +only awaiting the pretext which the Elder gave--the placing of me before +the community, as a marauder upon the peace of his family. The mob, +also, gave to the matter what the King family, evidently afterwards, +greatly deplored--extraordinary notoriety. Elder King would certainly +have displayed more worldly sagacity, to say nothing of Christian +propriety, to have admitted me into his house as usual, where we could, +all together, have reasoned the matter; and if prejudices could not have +been conciliated, the Elder, at all events, by his previous acquaintance +with my character, had every reason to suppose that I should have +conducted myself as became a gentleman and a Christian. But so it +is,--prejudice thus bewilders the faculties, and defeats the objects +which it aims most to accomplish. + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + +THE MOB. + + +Hardly unlooked for by myself was this mob, especially after I had +learned of the direction which "the subject" had taken in the family of +Mr. King. + +On Sabbath afternoon, January 30th, while Mr. and Mrs. Porter, Mrs. +Porter's sister, Miss King, and myself, were enjoying ourselves in +social conversation, a gentleman from the village of Fulton called at +the residence of Mr. Porter, to give an account of events as they were +transpiring in the village. This gentleman was decidedly opposed to +"amalgamation," expressed the utmost surprise that Mr. Porter should for +a moment suppose that God ever designed the inter-marriage of white and +colored persons,--but he was, nevertheless, a man of friendly +disposition,--and as a friend he came to Mr. Porter. _We were to be +mobbed_,--so this gentleman informed us. He advised escape on the part +of Mr. Porter and myself, otherwise the house would be demolished! All +Fulton, since Saturday night, he informed us, had been in arms. Crowds +of men could be seen in the streets, at every point, discussing the +subject of our marriage, and with feelings of the most extraordinary +excitement; and similar discussions, he added, had been held during the +live-long night preceding, in all the grog shops and taverns of the +village. + +All sorts of oaths had been uttered, and execrations vented. Tar, +feathers, poles, and an empty barrel spiked with shingle nails had been +prepared for my especial benefit; and, so far as I was concerned, it +must be escape or death. Mr. Porter was to be mobbed, he said, for +offering me entertainment, and for being supposed friendly to our union. +This friend did not understand the whole plan of the onslaught, but he +gave sufficient information to justify us in surmising that no harm was +intended to be inflicted upon Miss King, or any lady of the house. + +Knowing the brutal character of prejudice against color, and knowing +also that I was supposed to be about to commit the unpardonable sin, I +confess, that though surprised to learn that the mob intended murder, +yet I was not surprised to learn many of the details which this friend +so kindly gave us. + +Mr. Porter suggested that after supper, he and I should retire to a +neighbour's house, he supposing that if the mob should be foiled in +their attempt to get us into their hands, they would, after all, pass +away, and thus the matter blow quietly over. The suggestion, however, +was not carried into effect; for we had scarcely finished tea ere they +(the mob) were down upon us like wild beasts out of a den. + +We first observed some twenty men turning a corner in the direction of +the house; then about thirty or forty more, and soon the streets were +filled with men--some four or five hundred. In the rear of this +multitude there was driven a sleigh in which, we rightly conjectured, +Miss King was to be taken home. + +From the statements of the leader of the mob--statements afterwards +given to the public--it seems that a Committee, composed of members of +the mob, and constituted by the mob, suggested before reaching the house +that if we were still unmarried there should be no violence done, as +they intended to carry off the lady. A portion of this Committee also +made it their duty to gain access to the apartment where our company +were sitting, and to inform us of the intentions of the assembled +multitude below, while the remainder of the Committee endeavoured by +speeches and reasoning to quiet the mob spirit, which soon after the +assembling, began to reach its climax. + +This Committee was composed of some of the most "respectable" men of +Fulton--lawyers, merchants, and others of like position. The reader will +doubtless think it strange that such men should be members of a mob; and +so it would be, if prejudice against color were not the saddest of all +comments upon the meanness of human depravity. In this, more than in +anything else did the malignant character of this American feeling +evince itself--that to drive me off or kill me, if need be, the +"respectable" and the base were commingled, like-- + + "Kindred elements into one." + +Men who, under other circumstances, would have been regarded as beneath +contempt, the vulgar minded and vulgar hearted--with these, even +Christians (so called) did not hesitate to affiliate themselves in order +to crush a man who was guilty of no crime save that, having a colored +skin, he was supposed to be about to marry a lady a few shades lighter +than himself. O, the length and breadth, the height and depth, the +cruelty and the irony of a prejudice which can so belittle human nature. + +But to the Committee again. This Committee declared themselves to us to +be a self-constituted body. But whether self-constituted or otherwise, +it matters not, since they were to all intents and purposes members of +the mob--if not in _deed_, still in spirit and in heart. They meant no +more than to save the honor of their village by preventing, if possible, +bloodshed and death. They were not men of better principles than the +rabble--they were only men of better breeding. I do them no injustice. +The tenor of their discourse to us at the house of Mr. Porter, the +spirit of an article published by one of their number a few days after +in the "_Oswego Daily Times_," and the statements of the mob-leader, +clearly satisfy me that had we been married, they (the Committee) +deeming that our marriage would have been a greater disgrace to their +village than even bloodshed or death, would have left us to our +fate--Miss King to be carried off, or perchance grossly insulted, and +myself left, as the spiked barrel especially evinced, to torture and to +death. That this Committee saved my life, I have no doubt; and I have +publicly thanked them for the act. So I would be grateful even to the +man who took deadly aim at me with his revolver, and only missed his +mark. + +Previous to the death which I was to suffer in the spiked barrel, I was +to undergo various torturings and mutilations of person, aside from the +tarring and feathering--some of these mutilations too shocking to be +named in the pages of this book. + +Mr. Porter, as I have already said, was also to be mobbed; but, as we +afterwards ascertained, only to be coated with tar and feathers and +ridden on a rail. + +The leader of the mob subsequently averred that so decided was the +feeling in Fulton, that in addition to the hundreds who, in person, made +the onslaught, there were hundreds more in waiting in the village, who, +it was understood between the two companies, were ready to join the +onslaughting party at but a moment's warning. Indeed, Mrs. Allen now +assures me that on her way home that evening, conducted by a portion of +the Committee, she twice met crowds of men still coming on to join the +multitudes already congregated at Mr. Porter's. One of the Committee, +fearing that if all Fulton should get together, excited as the people +were, there would be bloodshed in spite of all that could be said or +done, entreated one of these crowds to go back. But, heeding him not; on +the villains went, some of them uttering oaths and imprecations, some of +them hurrahing, and many of them proceeding with great solemnity of +step--these last doubtless being church-members; for the mob was not +only on Sabbath evening, but it is a notorious fact which came out early +afterwards, that the churches on that evening were, every one of them, +quite deserted. + +Reader, the life of a colored man in America, save as a slave, is +regarded as far less sacred than that of a dog. There is no exaggeration +in this statement--I am not writing of exceptions. It is true there are +white people in America who, while the colored man will keep in what +they call "his place," will treat him with a show of respect even. But +even this kind of people have their offset in the multitudes and +majorities--the populace at large who would go out of their way to +inflict the most demon-like outrages upon those whose skins are not +colored like their own! + +I have before me at this moment recent American papers which contain +accounts of the throttling of respectably-dressed colored men and women +for venturing no further even than into the cabins of ferry boats plying +between opposite cities; of colored ladies made to get out of the cars +in which they had found seats--in cars in which the vilest loafer, +provided his skin be white might sit unmolested; of respectable +clergymen having their clothes torn from their backs, because they +presumed to ask in a quiet manner that they might have berths in the +cabins of steamers on which they were travelling, and not be compelled +to lodge on deck; and lastly, of a colored man who was not long since +picked up and thrown over-board from a steam boat, on one of the Western +rivers, because of some affray with a white man--while all the +bye-standers stood looking on, regarding the drowning of the man with +less consideration than they would have done the drowning of a brute. + +Knowing all these things, and knowing also the peculiarity of the +circumstances which surrounded me on that Sabbath evening, the reader +will not be surprised, that when I saw the dense multitude surrounding +the house of Mr. Porter, I at once came to the conclusion that I should +not be permitted to live an hour longer. I was not frightened--was never +calmer--prepared for the worst, disposed of my watch and such other +articles of value as I had about my person. + +Mr. Porter was below stairs at the time the mob approached. Soon he came +running up, introducing the Committee to whom reference has already been +made. They at once addressed us. I do not remember their words,--the +purport of the whole, however, was that death was intended for me, +provided we had been married; and as it was, I could only escape it, by +Miss King consenting to go with them, and by myself consenting to leave +the village; and further, that there must be no delay by either party. + +One of the Committee, in order to assure me of the terrible danger by +which I was surrounded, drew back the window curtains and bade me look +out. I did not do so, however, since it was not necessary that I should +look out in order to feel fully convinced that there were men below, who +had determined to degrade themselves below the level of the brutes that +perish. Such cursings, such imprecations, such cries of "nigger," "bring +him out," "d----n him," "kill him," "down with the house," were never +heard before, I hardly think, even in America. + +Of course, to have attempted to resist this armed mob of hundreds of men +would have been preposterous. It would have been, so far as I was +concerned, at least, to have committed myself to instant death. +Compelled, therefore, to make the best of our unfortunate situation, +Miss King consented to go with the Committee, and I to leave the +village--she, however, taking care to assure me in a whisper, that she +would meet me on the following day in Syracuse. The lady was now +conducted by the Committee through the mob to the sleigh. Not a word was +spoken by a single ruffian in the crowd. All were silent until the +driver put whip to his horse, when a general shout was sent up, as of +complete and perfect triumph. + + "Mistaken souls!" + +Having reached her father's house, one of the Committee addressed a +speech to her, hoped that for the sake of her family, and the community, +Miss King would relinquish all partiality for Professor Allen, advised +her also to go around among the ladies of the village, and consult with +them, and assured her that he would be glad to see her at his house; and +at any time when she felt disposed to come, he would send a sleigh to +bring her. + +Nothing remarkable about this speech. But the tone in which it was +delivered!--that cannot be put upon paper. The speaker evidently thought +the young lady would receive it all as a mark of gracious favor, and as +assuring her that though she had been "hand and glove" with a coloured +man, he would nevertheless condescend to overlook it. He was dealing +with the wrong woman, however; and he received such a reply to his +harangue as only a virtuous indignation could have prompted. + +The reader must also be informed that a double-sleigh load of +able-bodied men followed close behind the one in which Miss King was +taken home. What this movement meant, I am not able very satisfactorily +to conjecture. I venture the opinion, however, that the good folks +supposed their victim would jump out of the sleigh in which she was +riding, if a good opportunity should offer, and run back to the +Professor; and so this last load, no doubt, was put on as the rear-guard +of the posse. + +Now for myself. Miss King having left, and the mob having been informed +that I was about to leave, they were somewhat quieted, but were far from +being appeased. That portion of the Committee that remained with me, +thought there was danger yet; and so, indeed, there was, judging hideous +noises, bitter curses and ruffianly demonstrations, to be any proper +criterion. They still cried, "bring him out" and "kill him." The +Committee thought the safety of the house required that I should be +removed at once; so I having gotten together my hat, valise and other +effects, they took me under their protection and conducted me to the +village hotel. + +While I was being conducted out of the door, all manner of speech was +hurled at me--a bountiful supply of that sort of dialectics which +America can beat all the world at handling. However, the main desire of +the mob at this point seemed to have been to get a sight of me; so they +arraigned themselves in a double file, while I was conducted through the +centre thereof, somewhat after the fashion of a military hero--a +committee man at each side, one in front and another behind. Having +passed completely through the file, the scoundrels then closed in upon +me; some of them kicking me, some striking me in the side, once on the +head, some pulling at my clothes and bruising my hat, and all of them +hooting and hallooing after a manner similar to that which they +practised when they first surrounded the house of Mr. Porter. + +At length we reached the hotel--a quarter of a mile distant. The +Committee were about to conduct me into the front parlour, when one +fellow patriotically cried out, "God d----n it, don't carry that nigger +into the front door." A true Yankee that! I have a penny laid up for +that fellow, if I should ever chance to meet him. + +I was conducted into the back parlour of the hotel, as being the most +secure. Still the mob were not appeased, and besides, their numbers had +increased. They hung around the house. Some of them opened the windows +half-way and tried to clamber through them into the parlour where I was; +and at last they way-laid the outer doors. + +The sort of curses they indulged in meanwhile, I need not describe +again. They were essentially the same as they had hitherto vented, save +that one or two of them growing a little humorous, cried out +occasionally "a speech from Professor Allen"--putting a peculiar +emphasis on the professor. + +The Committee busied themselves in furnishing two sleighs in which I was +to be conveyed away, and also in appeasing the more ruffianly part of +the multitude with cigars and such other articles as they choose to call +for at the bar of the hotel. One of the sleighs was stationed at the +back door of the hotel, and the other about two miles from Fulton. The +plan was that I should get into the former and be driven to the latter, +in which I was to be taken post haste to Syracuse--a distance of about +twenty-five miles. The mob, however, suspected some of the details of +the plan, and consequently every time I appeared at the back door, they +made a rush at me seeking to wreak their vengeance. I escaped their +violence, however, by stepping adroitly out of the way. And, as the +tavern keeper had assured them that if they attempted violence upon me +while I was under his roof, they would do it at their peril, many of +them left, and I, at last, succeeded in reaching the sleigh at the back +door and was driven off in safety. The mob unable to overtake me, still +shouted a last imprecation. + +For this said Sleigh ride, I paid Six dollars, about £1. 4s.; so I was +robbed, if not murdered. + +I will now describe the leader of the mob--Henry C. Hibbard. I will do +it in short. This man is a clumsy-fisted, double jointed, burly-headed +personage, about six feet in height, with a countenance commingling in +expression the utmost ferocity and cunning. Hibbard is not a fool--but a +knave. He is essentially a low bred man, and vulgar to the heart's core. + +Some idea of the calibre of the man may be had in the fact that in his +published Article in defense of the mob, he makes use of such +expressions as "g'hals," "g'halhood" and the like. + +He has great perseverance of character as is evinced in the fact that +though I was several days behind the time at which I was expected to +arrive in Fulton, he or his deputies never failed to be daily at the +Cars so as to watch my arrival, and thus be in season with the +onslaught. + +This man set himself up, and was indeed so received by the Elder and +Mrs. King as their friend, counsellor, and adviser. A confirmation this, +of what I have already said about the commingling of the "respectable" +and the base. His mobocratic movements, however, it is but just to say, +were unknown to the Elder and his wife until after the onslaught had +been made. Mrs. King however did not deprecate the mob until its history +had become somewhat unpopular, by reason of many of the "respectable" +men becoming ashamed at last that they had been found in such company as +Hibbard's. And even the Elder himself, though he deprecated the mob, +still characterized it as the "just indignation of the public." + +Hibbard, I have already said, published a written defence of the mob. +The article was headed "_The Mary Rescue._"--and a most remarkable +document it was--remarkable, however, only for its intense vulgarity, +its absurd contradictions, and its ridiculous attempts at piety and +poetry. + +Me, he describes as the "Professor of Charms" and "Charming Professor," +once--the "tawney charmer." + +Hibbard's article is not by me; and, if it were, its defilement is such +that I could not be tempted to give it at length. Laughable and +lamentable as the article is in the main, I still thank Hibbard for some +portions of it, and especially for that one which substantiates the +charge which I have brought against the "respectable men of Fulton." +Thus ends the mob. + + + + +CHAPTER V. + +DARK DAYS. + + +Reader, I am now to describe the events of the two weeks which followed +the Fulton onslaught; and I can assure you that language has yet to be +invented in which to write in its fullness what, when the children of +certain parents shall look back fifty years hence, they will regard as +the darkest deeds recorded in the history of their ancestors. + +Diabolical as was the mob, yet the shameful and outrageous persecution +to which Miss King was subjected during those memorable weeks, at the +hands of her relatives and the Fulton Community, sinks it (the mob) into +utter significance. How the human beings who so outraged an inoffensive +young lady can dare call themselves christians, is to me a mystery which +I, at least, shall never be able wholly to explain. + +I have already said that Miss King assured me on parting on Sabbath +evening that she would meet me in Syracuse on the morrow. Accordingly I +awaited at the depôt, on Monday afternoon, the arrival of the Fulton +train of cars. But she did not appear, and, for the first time, the +thought occurred to me that the Fulton people were determined to leave +nothing undone by which to fill out their measure of meanness. + +On Tuesday morning next, February 1st, the following article appeared in +the "_Syracuse Star_"--one of the organs of the Fillmore Administration. +It needs no comment of mine to instruct the reader as to the character +of the paper which could publish such complete diabolism:-- + + + "ANOTHER RESCUE." + +"A gentleman from Fulton informs us that that village was the theatre of +quite an exciting time, to say the least, on Sunday evening last. The +story is as follows:--Rev. Mr. King, Pastor of a regular Wesleyan +Methodist, Abolition, Amalgamation Church at Fulton, has an interesting +and quite pretty daughter, whom, for some three or four years past, he +has kept at School at that pink of a 'nigger' Institution, called the +Mc. Grawville College, located South of us, in Cortland County. While +there, it seems that a certain genuine negro connected with the +Institution, called Professor Allen, (Professor Allen! bah!!) and +herself became enamoured of each other, and thereupon entered into the +requisite stipulation and agreements to constitute what is known to +those interested in such matters, as an 'engagement' to be married. A +little time since, the damsel went home to her Amalgamation-preaching +parents, and made known the arrangements whereby their lovely daughter +expected soon to be folded in the hymenean arms of anti-alabaster Sambo. +The parents remonstrated and begged, and got the brothers and sisters to +interpose, but all to no effect. The blooming damsel was determined to +partake of the 'bed and board,' and inhale the rich odours, refreshing +perfumes, and reviving fragrance which Mc. Grawville College teaching +had pictured to her in life-like eloquence; and more than this, she +would not remain in membership with the denomination that preaches but +declines to practice, and sent in her resignation in due form of law. +Whereupon, down from Mc. Grawville comes the blushing Allen, all decked +in wedding garb, and on Sunday morn he half woke from ponderous sleep, +and thought he heard playing on the air such sweet music,-- + + '"As are those dulcet sounds in break of day, + That creep into the dreaming bridegroom's ear, + And summons him to marriage!"' + +"But evening came, and as the anxious couple could not have the nuptial +rites celebrated under the Rev. father's roof, they withdrew to +Phillips' tavern, on the West side of the river, and made preparations +for the ceremonies. In the meantime the affair got whispered about the +town, and the incensed populace to some five hundred strong made ready +to 'disturb the meeting.' Several of the prominent citizens, fearing +lest a serious row should follow, repaired to the marriage-home, and +while some kept the riot down by speeches and persuasions, others gained +admittance to the colors. Allen, on being asked if he was married, +replied 'no,' but that he would be in a few minutes. He was remonstrated +with, and told the consequences that would ensue--that he would be +mobbed, and must leave town immediately. He responded that he knew what +he was about, was a free man, in a free country, and should do as he +pleased. By this time the outsiders could be held still no longer, and +the window curtains being drawn, our hero 'saw and trembled,' and cried +for mercy. The damsel didn't faint, but at once consented to go home, +and was hurried into a sleigh and driven off, while Sambo under disguise +and surrounded by Abolitionists, was hustled out of the crowd over to +the Fulton house. The multitude soon followed, eager and raving to grab +the 'nigger,' but after a little, he was got away from the house, by +some sly comer, and hurried off to Syracuse in a sleigh, at the top of +two-horse speed. Thus the black cloud avoided the whirlwind, and thus +ended 'Another Rescue.'" + +This article, abominable as it is, was copied either in whole or in part +by nearly every pro-slavery organ throughout America in a few days after +the mob--with glorifications at what they supposed to be my defeat; and +some of the papers copied the article with regrets that I had not been +killed outright. And, indeed, this same "_Syracuse Star_" in a few days +after the publication of the above article did what it could to inflame +the populace of Syracuse to inflict upon me violence and death. + +Nor were the pro-slaveryites the only persons who gloated with delight +over the Article published by the "_Star_." Hundreds, and I think I am +within the bounds of truth, when I say that thousands of men and women +calling themselves Abolitionists and Christians, were especially +rejoiced at my "defeat;" and expressed themselves to that effect, though +using more guarded language than those who made no pretensions to a love +of truth, justice, and humanity. + +The article abounds in falsehood, though to serve its purpose it is +certainly adroitly written. We had not intended to be married on the +evening of the mob, so that not only is the speech which the Editor puts +in my mouth false, but so also is his statement that we repaired to +Phillips' Tavern to have the nuptial rites celebrated. The story of my +seeing, and trembling and crying for mercy, is also equally false. + +It is also worthy of note that every paper which copied the article, +varied the details, in order to suit its specific locality. Some of the +versions of the affair were extremely amusing. + +One of the papers described the mob as having taken place at Syracuse, +and the onslaught as having been made upon us while the ceremony was +about being performed, whereat Miss King fled in one direction, and I in +another. + +One Editor in furnishing his readers with the details thought it +necessary to a completion of the picture to describe my personal +appearance. He had never seen me--but no matter for that. He had seen +the "_Star's_" report, and what that did not give him, his imagination +could supply. So he at it; and the next morning I appeared in print as +"a stout, lusty, fellow, six feet and three inches tall, and as black as +a pot of charcoal." Reader, you would laugh to see me after such a +description--of my height, at least. + +The telegraphic wires were also put in demand, and in less than +forty-eight hours after the occurrence of the mob, the terrific news had +spread throughout the country that a "Colored man had attempted to marry +a White woman!" And incredible as it may seem to Britons, this "horrid +marriage" was for weeks, not only discoursed of in the papers but was +the staple of conversation and debate in the grog shops, in the parlors, +at the corners of the streets, and wherever men and women are accustomed +to assemble; and during this time also my life was in danger whenever I +ventured in the streets. The reader will get some idea of the state of +things when I assure him that about a week after the mob, I had occasion +to call at the Globe Hotel, Syracuse; and had not been in the house more +than ten minutes before the landlord came to me and requested me to +retire, as he feared the destruction of his house--the multitude having +seen me enter, he said, and were now assembling about the building. I +walked quietly out in company with a gentleman in a counter direction to +the mob, and so escaped their wrath. + +But to return to the narrative. On Tuesday afternoon (two days after the +mob) I awaited again at the Syracuse depôt, the arrival of the Fulton +train of cars; supposing it possible that I might meet Miss King. She +did not make her appearance, and there was now not a doubt left on my +mind as to the character of what was going on in Fulton. Just as I was +on the point of turning away from the depôt, a gentleman came up behind +me, tapped me on the shoulder, and bade me get out of the way as quickly +as possible; for the Fulton mobocrats, he informed me, had sent up word +by telegraph to certain persons in Syracuse to mob me, if I should be +seen about the car house. This gentleman also added that some of these +persons were about the car house, wishing to have me pointed out. + +It seems, the Committee that visited us on the evening of the mob, had +overheard Miss King assure me that she would meet me on the following +day in Syracuse; and they, or others of our keepers, had not only +determined that no such meeting should be held, but that the mobbing +should be repeated if I attempted again to see her. + +Just as I was about to enter my lodging house on my return from the +depôt, whom should I espy but my friend Porter turning the corner and +approaching me. Of course I was glad to see him; and our conversation, +at once, turned upon Fulton and the events of the two preceeding days. +He informed me, much to my surprise, for I had hardly supposed that +tyranny would have gone so far, that on the night following the mob, the +people of the village had risen up _en masse_, and in solemn meeting +dismissed him from his school. Glorious America! Land of the Free! + +Mr. Porter had committed no crime--nothing was charged against him, save +that he had entertained us, and was known to be favorable to our union, +or rather unfavorable to any interference in a matter which was of +sacred right our own. + +Mr. P. gave me no information with regard to Miss King, except that she +was at home, and that in consequence of the extraordinary excitement she +would probably be unable to get out of Fulton for several days to come. + +He returned to Fulton the next morning, and three or four days after, I +received from him the following letter. It is significant:-- + + "Gilberts' Mills, February 4th, 1853. + + "Professor Allen,-- + "Dear Friend:-- + +"I write you under very extraordinary circumstances. I have been obliged +to leave the vicinity of Fulton, for a while at least. I am now stopping +at A. Gilbert's. How long I shall stay here, I cannot tell. + +"Mary (Miss King) I have not seen or heard from, for two days. All +communications between her and Julia, (her sister--who was favorable to +our union) and our family has been broken off--strictly prohibited; and +Hibbard's house, on the hill, is the watch tower to guard Elder King's +house against such dangerous invaders as ourselves. + +"When I came from Syracuse that morning, Hibbard was at the depôt on the +watch. In the afternoon I went up to the Elder's, and was met on the +door-step and told not to deliver any messages or letters to Mary. Of +course, I had none with me to deliver, and so I told Elder King. But I +saw Mary in the presence of the family and Hibbard, and Mrs. Case and +Mrs. Sherman, and such like--for Elder King's folks have a great many +such sympathisers now. + +"I wanted to say some things to her not in the presence of these +strangers--so to speak--in the family; _but she told me that she was +permitted to say no word to any one but in the presence of such +companions as were appointed for her. I went away sad, for Mrs. King is +trying to torment her soul out of her, by constant upbraidings and +railings_. + +"Yesterday morning Sarah (Mrs. Porter) started to go up to see her, not +having seen her since the affair of the mob; but a cutter from +Phillipsville whipped by her, and when she had got near the house, the +cutter came back bringing Elder King, who told her that they thought it +advisable to request her not to go to his house--that, in a word, _they +were determined to prevent all communication between our family and +Mary_. Sarah came back. In the meantime, a man came to see me--Mr. +Case--to tell me that I must not go to Elder King's--_that I could not +go there without getting hurt_. In fact, I had been that morning to +Fulton early, to see the Editor of '_The Patriot_;' while I was going +through the street, a lot of rowdies gathered together and yelled after +me. The explanation is easy. When I came from Syracuse, the story went +that I was plotting to get Mary off. And I can hardly forgive Elder King +for putting the sanction upon this falsity, by excluding us from his +house. That act of Elder King gave the multitude full swing. They have +now full liberty to mob me; _and last night I came very near getting +into their hands. About sunset they came over headed by Hibbard_, and +while stopping at the tavern on the way--this side of the bridge--a man +whipped up to Watson's on horseback, and gave me the wink. George +Gilbert was at our room, (a lucky chance) and so I got under the +buffalo, and Sarah sat on the seat, and so we rode down straight by +them, and thus foiled them again. To-day I went back--packed up, and put +my trunks in a neighbor's house, and then came down here with Sarah and +Libbie. Thus it is. _Mary--God help her--is in prison,--that is, she is +guarded._ Elder King has consented to just such arrangements as Mrs. +King and Hibbard and some of the heartless, officious aristocrats of the +village saw fit to propose. It cannot be helped. Mary will doubtless be +used well, corporally--but oh, the torment of being confined with such +despicable companions. I trust she will be brave; though I did hear +yesterday morning that she was somewhat indisposed and was abed. Her +eyes are inflamed. + +"I left the vicinity not altogether out of personal fear, but because I +knew that my presence kept up the excitement. Allen, _it is impossible +for you to conceive what a convulsion this village of Fulton has been +thrown into_. A regular siege and cannonading could hardly have raised a +greater muss. + +"Write to me soon. Enclose to G. Gilbert on the _outside_ wrapper. I +dared not send from Phillipsville yesterday. + +"Keep cool; and do not blame Elder King more than you can help, for I +expect he is forced into some things. How much he is to be forgiven on +account of the dilemma into which he has got himself, let time decide. I +do not wish to make his case worse. + + "Yours in friendship, + "JOHN C. PORTER." + +[The italics and parentheses of the above letter are mine. I shall add +no comment.] + + * * * * * + +On Saturday afternoon, Feb. 5th,--still in Syracuse,--I received a visit +from Wm. S. King, Esq. This gentleman is also a brother of Miss King. +His visit seemed to have about it at the outset somewhat of a stealthy +character, and I confess I did not receive him with any great degree of +cordiality. He came on an errand, he said. His sister desired to have an +interview with me, and to that end she would meet me at the house of a +friend about four miles from the village of Fulton. The journey to this +friend's--hers of four miles and mine of twenty or more--he assured me +must be conducted with the greatest possible secrecy; for should the +Fulton people hear of it, the most disastrous results would follow. His +sister was very ill, he said--was suffering intense anguish of mind--had +been confined to her chamber with bodily ailings--had an eye also in a +dreadful condition, the sight of which was in danger of being +lost--still, her anxiety to see me was so great that she had entreated +to be taken even in this condition to the place aforesaid mentioned. + +I understood this brother at once. I was not to be trapped. I had read +human nature (so I think the result will justify me in saying) to a much +better purpose than he. I declined holding the interview at the time, on +account, as I urged, of his sister's feeble health and excited state of +mind--but would have no objection, I added, to such an interview some +two or three weeks to come. He then urged me to write, assuring me that +he would take the letter willingly. This also, I refused to do. So at +last he left me with the understanding that upon the recovery of his +sister's health, we should have an "interview." + +Mr. King returned immediately to Fulton, and on the Monday following, I +received by post a letter from Miss King. It was not in her own +hand-writing--she was too ill to write, but it was dictated to her +sister. Just as I expected, Miss King had found it necessary considering +the influences against her, and that her relatives and the community +would have left no means untried, however illegal or disgraceful to +thwart her in her designs,--nay, would have sworn her into a lunatic +asylum rather than to have permitted her to marry me--to consent that +our engagement should be broken. This letter was to announce the fact, +while at the same time, it gave as the reason--deference to the feelings +of father and brothers. + +Of course, I did not reply to the letter. As the "_Star_" says--I knew +what I was about. + +On Tuesday morning, February 8th, I published in the "_Syracuse +Standard_" the following card:-- + + + "TO THE PUBLIC.--FROM PROFESSOR ALLEN." + +"So much has been said and written on the subject of the late affair at +Fulton, that the Public by this time must have had nearly _quantum +sufficit_; yet I deem it not improper on my own behalf to add a remark +or two. I shall not undertake to describe in detail, the murderous +outrage intended to be inflicted on a quiet and unoffending man--that is +not of much consequence now. + +"I wish now simply to show the public, that those who made the onslaught +upon me on Sabbath evening, a week ago, acted no less like a pack of +fools than a pack of devils; and this can be shown almost in a single +word, by stating that the whole story of my intention of being married +on the evening in question, or that I went to Fulton intending to +consummate an affair of the kind at any period of my recent visit there, +is a fabrication from the beginning to the end. The wretch who 'fixed +up' just such a story as he thought would inflame the rabble to take my +life, will yet, I trust, meet with deserved scorn and contempt from a +community who, whatever may be their prejudice against my color, have, +nevertheless, a high sense of what belongs to their own honor and +dignity, and to the character and reputation of their village. + +"I make this statement with regard to this matter of marriage, not +because I regard myself as amenable to the public to state to them +_whom_ or _when_ I shall marry, but that since so much has been said +upon the subject, I am quite willing they should know the truth as it +is. They are tyrants, and very little-hearted, and exceedingly +muddy-headed ones at that, who will presume to take a matter of this +kind out of the hands of the parties to whom it specifically belongs, +and who are acting law-abidingly and honorably in the premises. + +"Here then is the story. Read it. A band of several hundred armed +men--armed, as I have been told, with an empty barrel spiked with +shingle nails, tar, feathers and a pole, came down upon a certain house +in Phillipsville, opposite Fulton, on Sabbath evening, a week ago, to +kill or drive out a single individual, conducting himself in a quiet, +peaceable manner, and that individual, too, in physical stature, one of +the smallest of men,--and in physical strength, proportionably inferior! +If this is not cowardice as well as villainy--and both of them +double-refined--then, I ask, what is cowardice, or what is villainy? The +malignity of the whole matter also is set in a clearer light, when it is +remembered that this same individual has never injured one of his +assailants, nor has it been charged upon him that in his life-time he +has ever inflicted the slightest wrong upon mortal man, but who has +striven to maintain an upright character through life, and to fight his +way for long years through scorn and contempt, to an honorable position +among men. Truly, this is a precious country! However, it is some +consolation to know that 'God is just, and that his justice cannot sleep +for ever.' + +"A gentleman of Fulton writes an article on this subject, to the +'_Oswego Daily Times_,' of February the 3rd. The spirit of this +gentleman's article dishonors his heart. So filled is he with a +prejudice which an eminent Christian of this country has rightly +characterized, as a 'blasphemy against God,' and a 'quarrel with +Jehovah,' that he will not even deign to call me by name, to say nothing +of the title which has been legitimately accorded me, but designates me +as a 'colored man, &c.' The object of this writer in thus refusing to +accord to me so cheap and common a courtesy is apparent, and as +contemptible as apparent. Let him have the glory of it,--I pity him. Had +I been a white man, he would not have so violated what he is such a +stickler for--'the laws and usages of society.' + +"In another place in his article, he describes me as the 'negro.' This +is preposterous and ridiculous. Were I a negro, I should regard it as no +dishonor, since men are not responsible for their physical +peculiarities, and since they are neither better nor worse on account of +them. It happens in this case, however, that so far from being a negro, +three-fourths of the blood which flows in my veins is as good +Anglo-Saxon as that which flows in the veins of this writer in the +'_Times_,'--better, I will not say, of course. + +"Something also is said in this article from Fulton about the 'course +we' (the young lady and myself) 'were pursuing.' Now, as the several +hundred armed men strong who came down upon me on Sunday night, and some +newspaper Editors, and this gentleman in particular, and the public very +nearly in general, have taken the matter of judging what this 'course we +were pursuing' was, out of our own hands, I propose to leave it still +further with them. They can guess at it, and fight it out to their +heart's content. + +"Something also is said by this gentleman about 'wholesome advice being +given me'--but I did not hear it, that's all. Besides, I never take +advice from those who can not tell the difference between a man and his +skin. + +"One gentleman--a true man--came to me, and expressed his deep sympathy +for me, and his sorrow that I had been so wrongfully treated and +shamefully outraged, and entreated me to regard with pity, and not with +anger, the murderous wretches outside. This is the speech that I +remember, and remember it to thank the friend for his manifestation of +kind and generous emotions. + +"This Fulton 'Committee man' also says that 'the colored man asked if he +was to be left to be torn to pieces.' Beyond a doubt, I asked that +question. It was certainly, under the circumstances, the most natural +question in the world; for I had really begun to think that the fellows +outside had the genuine teeth and tail. + +"I close this Article. To the Committee who so kindly lent me their +protection on that memorable night, I offer my thanks and lasting +gratitude. + +"To the poor wretches who sought to take my life, I extend my pity and +forgiveness. + +"As to myself--having in my veins, though but in a slight degree, the +blood of a despised, crushed, and persecuted people, I ask no favors of +the people of this country, and get none save from those whose +Christianity is not hypocrisy, and who are willing to 'do unto others as +they would that others should do unto them'--and who regard _all_ human +beings who are equal in character as equal to one another. + + "Respectfully + "WILLIAM G. ALLEN" + +Simultaneously with the above card, there appeared in the "_Syracuse +Journal_," the following Article. It is from the pen of Wm. S. King--the +brother aforesaid mentioned. It is in spirit a most dastardly +performance, more so, considering that the gentleman really _did_ know +the circumstances, than anything which had hitherto been sent to the +press. As a history of the "affair," it is almost a falsity +throughout--and especially is it so in that part of it which describes +Miss King as repulsing me with her abhorrence of the idea of +amalgamation. I do not propose, however, to be hard on Mr. King. His +untruthful and cowardly spirit has been sufficiently rebuked by the +marriage which took place in less than two months after the publication +of his article:-- + + "THE FULTON RESCUE CASE." + +"Since the occurrence of the circumstances which induced the mob and +consequent excitement at Fulton, on the 30th of last month, we have made +considerable effort to procure a full and precise statement of the facts +in the case. This we have finally succeeded in doing from a gentleman of +standing, who is well acquainted with all the circumstances. They are as +follows:-- + +"For some years past, Miss King has been attending the School at Mc. +Grawville, known as the 'New York Central College,' in which Allen, the +colored Professor alluded to, is one of the teachers. + +"During that time, Allen became deeply interested in the lady, and +proposed marriage to her. This she at once rejected, declaring that the +thought of such a connection was repulsive to her. + +"For some time after this, the Professor said no more upon the subject; +but in the course of a year or so, _again_ proposed marriage, and was +_again_ rejected. + +"Thus matters stood until some time since, when Miss King left the +School, and returned to her home in Fulton. Shortly after, Allen went to +that place and called on her, and, after a short interview, again, for +the third time, proposed marriage. She _again rejected him_, and told +him _that such was her firm and fixed decision_. Her manner towards him, +however, during all this period, had been kind and friendly, but she had +always expressed her abhorrence of the idea of 'amalgamation.' + +"By this time Madam Gossip had set the rumor afloat, that Allen and Miss +K. were engaged to be married. Such a report was, of course calculated +to produce a great excitement wherever it went. + +"Allen, however, was not to be baffled by his former ill success, and +was determined, if possible, to make the report good. He, therefore, a +few days after his last rejection, wrote to a gentleman residing in +Phillipsville, opposite Fulton--who had formerly been a student in Mc. +Grawville--that he intended making him a visit. As all the parties had +been friends and acquaintances at School, Miss K. was invited to be +present for the purpose of having a friendly visit. She accordingly +called upon them on Saturday afternoon, and at their earnest +solicitations consented to spend the Sabbath with them. + +"In the meantime, it was whispered about that the Professor and Miss K. +were there for the purpose of being married. This, the people of Fulton +determined at once, should not be done in that town. They, therefore, +assembled several hundred strong, and appointed a Committee to wait upon +the party, which they accordingly did, and informed the Professor that +he must leave town, and the young lady that she must go home, to which +request they both acceded without hesitation. + +"The above is, as we have been informed, a full and true statement of +the affair which has created such an excitement throughout the country." + + * * * * * + +The reader will see that the article appears as an editorial--another +evidence that it is "conscience that doth make cowards of us all." + +Should Mr. King ever see this little book, and wonder how I found him +out, I will simply inform him that I chanced to be in the neighborhood +of the Journal Office, when he went in with his piece; and further, I +have the guarantee of the Editor. + +I now subjoin an extract of a note which I received from Miss King, on +the afternoon of February the 12th:-- + + "Fulton, Friday Morning, Feb. 11th. + + "Professor Allen,-- + "Dearest and best-loved Friend:-- + +"I am much better this morning; and if I could only see you for a few +hours, I am sure I should be quite well again. I have been trying to +persuade father to let me go to Syracuse this morning and see you, but +he thinks my health is not in a state to admit of it now, but has +promised me faithfully that I may meet you at Loguens, on Tuesday of +next week. + + * * * * * + +"Professor--When I saw that article in the '_Syracuse Journal_,' holding +you up in such a ridiculous light, and laboring to make such false +impressions upon the mind of the public, my soul was on fire with +indignation. + + * * * * * + +"I need not tell you again that I love you, for you know that I do; yes, +and I always shall until life's troubled waters cease their flow. + +"All communications that I receive from, or send to, you, _are read by +father_; for I am a prisoner, yes, a prisoner; and when you write to +me--if you should before I see you--_you must say nothing but what you +are willing to have seen_. I shall manage to send this note without +having it seen by any one. + + * * * * * + +"When I see you, I will tell you how much I have suffered since I saw +you last, and how much I still suffer. + + * * * * * + + "Ever yours, + "Mary." + +[The italicising of the above is my own.] + + * * * * * + +This little note was the only communication which I had received from +Fulton, containing any account of the doings of the King family, since +the letter written to me by Miss King, announcing that our engagement +must be broken. Though short, it was satisfactory. It assured me that +Miss King,--though she could be persecuted--could not be crushed. + +About the same time that I received the above note from Miss King, I +also received the following from Rev. Timothy Stowe, of Peterboro', New +York. How much I valued this friendly epistle coming, as it did, from +one of the most devoted Christians in America, it is not possible for me +to say:-- + + "Peterboro', February 8th, 1853. + + "Dear Brother Allen:-- + +"I see by the papers, that you have been shamefully mobbed at Fulton. I +write to let you know that there are some in the world who will not join +the multitude who are trying to overwhelm you with prejudice. + + * * * * * + +"Now do not be cast down. You, I trust, are not the man to cower at such +a moment. Do not be afraid to stand up your whole length in defence of +your own rights. + +"Come and visit us without delay. Consider my house your home while +here. + +"Brother Smith sends you his love. Brother Remington wishes me to say +that you have his confidence, and that he is your friend. + + "Yours with kindest regards, + "TIMOTHY STOWE." + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + +BRIGHTENING UP.--GRAND RESULT. + + +According to the intimation in the note received from Miss King dated +Feb. 11th, she met me--not however as she expected on Tuesday--but, on +Wednesday of next week in Syracuse: and at the house of a friend whose +memory we hold in the highest reverence. + +The interview, as the parents and relatives of Miss King understood it, +was to be held to the intent that Miss King might then and there in +person, and by "word" more effectually than she could possibly do by +writing, absolve herself from all engagement, obligation or intention +whatsoever to marry me--now, hereafter, or evermore. This was their +construction of the matter, and it was in the light of this construction +that they essayed to grant the request--the granting of which Miss King +made the condition on which she proposed to yield up her sacred right. + +That the King family--determined as they were, law or no law, justice or +no justice, Christianity or no Christianity; in short, at all events and +all hazards, to prevent our union--should have granted this interview to +Miss King convicts them of as great imbecility and folly as was their +persecution of their victim. But so it is, the innocent shall not only +not be cut down, but they who practice unrighteousness shall themselves +be overtaken. + +But to the interview. I should be glad to describe my feelings on first +meeting Miss King after she had passed through that fiery furnace of +affliction. But I desist. The "engagement," I have already said, +displayed a moral heroism which no one can comprehend who has not been +in America, but the passage through was more than sublime. + +She related to me the events of the two preceding weeks as she had known +them to transpire in her own family, and as she had heard of them as +transpiring in the village. I cannot write the details. It chills my +blood to think of them. The various letters published in this narrative +will suffice to give the reader some idea of things as they were; while +the hundreds of things which cannot be written and which, because of +their littleness are the more faithful exponents of meanness, must be +left to the reader to imagine as best he can. I say as best he can, +since no Englishman can imagine the thing precisely as it was. + +She was reviled, upbraided, ridiculed, tormented; and by some, efforts +were made to bribe her into the selling of her conscience. What the +vilest and most vulgar prejudices could suggest were hurled at both our +devoted heads. Letters were not permitted to be received or sent without +their being first inspected by the parents. And finally she was +imprisoned after the manner set forth in the letter of Mr. Porter. So +rigid was the surveillance that her sister was also put under the same +"regimen," because her sympathies were with the persecuted and not the +persecutors. + +When we met, therefore, we were not long in determining what was our +duty. And now, Reader, what would you have done? Just what we did--no +doubt. Made up your mind to have sacrificed nothing upon the altar of a +vulgar prejudice. Such was the nature of the demand--would it not have +been base to have yielded? + +We concluded that now, more than ever, we would obey our heart's +convictions, though all the world should oppose us; that, come what +would, we would stand by each other, looking to Heaven to bless us, and +not to man, for either smiles or favor. + +We were resolved, but there was a difficulty yet. Determined to exercise +our God-given rights, we were still overpowered by the physical force of +the whole community. An open declaration by either party of our resolve +would have been not less than consummate madness. To exercise our +rights, therefore, not as we _would_ but as we _could_, was the only +hope left us. + +We resolved to marry and flee the Country. Miss King returned to Fulton; +after remaining there a week or ten days she went to Pennsylvania +_ostensibly_ to teach in a school. We corresponded by means of a third +person; and my arrangements being made, we met in New York City, on +March 30th, according to appointment; were married immediately and left +for Boston. In Boston, we remained ten days, keeping as quiet as +possible, in the family of a beloved friend, and on the 9th of April, +took passage for Liverpool. + +Since our arrival in this Country, we have received several American +papers. The following Article is from one of the Western New York +papers, which is but a specimen of the articles published by all the +pro-slavery papers throughout the land on the announcement of the +marriage, shows that the flight to England completed the victory. To +have remained to be killed would have been fun to be relished. But +public sentiment abroad--ah, that is another thing, and not so pleasant +to be thought of:-- + + + "PROF. ALLEN IS MARRIED" + +"MARRIED.--In New York city, March 30th, by Rev. Thomas Henson, +Professor WILLIAM G. ALLEN, of Mc. Grawville, N. Y., and Miss +MARY E. KING, of Fulton, N. Y., daughter of Rev. Lyndon King, of +Fulton. + +"We expected as much. We were liberally abused for our discountenance of +this marriage, and charged with wilfully falsifying facts, because we +insisted that this affair was in contemplation, and would yet go off. +_Prof._ Allen denied it, and others thought that they had the most +positive assurance from his statements that the amalgamation wedding was +a fiction. But now, after he and his white brethren have liberally +impugned our motives, charged falsehood upon us, and made solemn +asseverations designed to make the public believe that no such thing was +in contemplation, in two brief months, the thing is consummated, with +all the formality of a religious observance, and this unholy +amalgamation is perpetrated before high Heaven and asserted among men. + +"_Prof._ ALLEN and his fair bride are now in Europe. It is +well they should emigrate, to show admiring foreigners the beauties of +American abolitionism. Let them attend the receptions of the Duchess of +Sutherland, the soirees of English agitators, and the orgies of Exeter +Hall. Let GEO. THOMPSON introduce them as the first fruits of +his _philanthropic_ labors in America. Let them travel among the +starveling English operatives, who would gladly accept slavery if +assured of a peck of corn each week; let them wander among European +serfs, whose life, labor, and virtue are the sport of despots, compared +to whom the crudest slave driver is an angel--and there proclaim their +'holy alliance.' If the victims of English and Continental tyranny do +not turn their backs, disgusted with the foul connection, their +degradation must be infinitely greater than we had supposed." + + * * * * * + +But to return to the story: Soon after the "interview" between Miss King +and myself, I received the following note from Mrs. Harriet Beecher +Stowe--the renowned Authoress of "Uncle Tom's Cabin." A "divine-hearted +woman," this, as Horace Mann hath rightly called her, and more precious +than rubies to me is her kind and Christian epistle:-- + + Andover, Massachusetts, February 21st, 1853. + + "Professor Allen,-- + "Dear Sir:-- + +"I have just read with indignation and sorrow your letter in the +Liberator (copied from the Syracuse Standard). I had hoped that the day +for such outrages had gone by. I trust that you will be enabled to +preserve a patient and forgiving spirit under this exhibition of vulgar +and unchristian prejudice. _Its day is short._ + +"Please accept the accompanying volume as a mark of friendly remembrance +from,-- + + "H. B. STOWE." + + * * * * * + +Just before Miss K. left Fulton for Pennsylvania, she received the +following letter from the Rev. Timothy Stowe--the gentleman to whom +reference has already been made. He is not related to Mrs. Harriet +Beecher Stowe, but is nevertheless of royal race:-- + + "Peterboro', New York, March 1st, 1853. + + "Miss Mary E. King,-- + "Dear Friend:-- + +"You will not be offended that I should address you by this title, +though I never saw you, to my recollection, until last July at Mc. +Grawville; I then felt an interest in your welfare--an interest which +has been deepened by your recent insults and trials. I am not one of +those who can censure you for your attachment and engagement to +Professor Allen. He is a man--a noble man--a whole man; a man, in fine, +of whom no woman need be ashamed. I am aware, you are aware, that the +world will severely condemn you; so it did Luther, when he married a +nun; it was then thought to be as great an outrage on decency, for a +minister to marry a nun, as it now is for a white young lady to marry a +colored gentleman. You have this consolation, that God does not look +upon the countenance--the color of men; that in his eye, black and white +are the same; and consequently, to marry a colored person of +intelligence and worth is no immorality, and in his eye, no impropriety. +It is probably the design of Providence in this case, to call the +attention of the public to the fresh consideration of what is implied in +the great doctrine of human brotherhood. Is it true or not, that a +colored man has all the rights of a white man? Is this a question still +mooted among Abolitionists? If so, then we may as well settle it now as +at any other time, and though the controversy may be, and must be a very +painful one to your feelings, yet, the result will be a better +understanding of the great principles of our common nature and +brotherhood. Professor Allen is with me in my study, and has detailed to +me the whole of this outrage against yourself and him, and has also made +me acquainted with your relations to each other. I extend to you my +sympathy, I proffer to you my friendship. You have not fallen in my +estimation, nor in the estimation of Mr. Smith and others in this place. +Lay not this matter to heart, be not cast down; put your trust in God, +and he will bring you out of this crucible seven times purified. He in +mercy designs to promote your spiritual growth and consolation. Keep the +Saviour in your heart. My good wife sympathises with you. We would be +glad to see you at our humble home, either before or after your +marriage. We would try to comfort you; we would bear your burdens, and +so 'fulfil the law of Christ.' + + "Yours, with fraternal and Christian affection, + "TIMOTHY STOWE." + +On the day after Miss King left for Pennsylvania, I received the +following note from a friend in Fulton. It is significant, and certainly +corroborative of the opinion which I have expressed of the Fulton +people--that they had determined to leave nothing undone by which to +make their tyranny complete:-- + + "Fulton, March 5th, 1853. + + "Dear Friend:-- + "Yesterday I heard from you by a friend + + * * * * * + + "Mary has gone to Pennsylvania. + + * * * * * + +"What we feared was, she would be again imprisoned, and hindered from +going to Pa. If her relatives and other friends knew of your intentions, +she would have been put under lock and key as sure as there are _mean +men_ in Fulton. + + * * * * * + +"Professor, they were as mad as wild asses here about that 'resolution +of Smith's,' especially King's folks. + + * * * * * + +I want your miniature--_must have it_. I want to show it to my friends +that they may see this man whose idle moments in the bower of love sets +half the world crazy. + + * * * * * + + "In friendship, yours, + + "* * *" + +The Resolution to which reference has been made, is as follows. It was +presented by the Hon. Gerrit Smith, Member of Congress, from New York, +at a Convention of "Liberty Party Men," held in Syracuse, about four +weeks after the mob:-- + +"Resolved, That the recent outrage committed upon that accomplished and +worthy man--Professor William G. Allen--and the general rejoicing +throughout the country therein, evinces that the heart of the American +people, on the subject of slavery is utterly corrupt, and almost past +cure." + +Now for something spicy. The following letter was written to Elder King +by a Slaveholder of Mississippi, about five weeks after the mob. The +Elder re-mailed it to his daughter while she was in Pennsylvania. Having +become the property of the daughter, and the daughter and I now being +one, I shall take the liberty of giving this specimen of Southern +chivalry to the public. The reader shall have it without alteration:-- + + "Warrenton, Mississippi, + "March 5th, 1853. + + "Rev. Sir:-- + +"You cannot judge of my surprise and indignation, on reading an +Editorial in one of my papers concerning an intending marriage of your +lovely and accomplished daughter, with a negro man; which thanks to +providence has been prevented by the excited and enraged populace of the +enterprising citizens of the good town of Fulton. + +"During my sojourn in the state of New York last year, I visited for +mere curiosity the Mc. Grawville Institute in Cortland Co., which gave +me an opportunity of seeing your daughter, then a pupil of that equality +and amalgamated Institute; and I believe in all my travels north, I +never saw one more interesting and polite to those of her acquaintances. + +"I have thought much about your daughter since my return home, and do +yet, notwithstanding the ignominious connection she has lately escaped +from. Your daughter--innocent, as I must in charity presume--because +deluded and deranged by the false teachings of the abolition Institute +at Mc. Grawville. + +"My object in writing to you this letter is to obtain your permission to +correspond with your daughter if it should be agreeable with herself, +for I do assure you that I have no other than an honorable intention in +doing so. + +"I reside in Warren County near Warrenton--am the owner of Nine Young +Negroes in agriculture, who would not exchange their bondage for a free +residence in the north. I am happy to inform you Revd. Sir that my +character is such that will bear the strictest investigation, and my +relations respectable. I am yet young having not yet obtained my 25th +year. + +"Well sir, I am a stranger to both yourself and interesting family, and +as a matter of course you may desire to know something about the humble +individual who has thought proper to address you on a subject which +depends on the future happiness of your daughter. For your Reverence's +gratification you are at liberty to refer to either or all of the +following gentlemen, by letter or in person,--viz., Hon. J. E. Sharkey, +State Senator, Warren Co., P. O., Warrenton, Miss.;--Hon. A. G. Brown, +Ex-Gov., Miss., now Member of Congress, P. O., Gallatin, Miss.;--Samuel +Edwards, High Sheriff, Warren Co., P. O., Vicksburg, Miss.;--E. B. +Scarbrough Clerk, Probate Court, Warren Co., P. O., Vicksburg, Miss.;--M. +Shannon, Editor, Vicksburg, Miss., Whig;--Geo. D. Prentice, Editor, +Louisville, Ky., Journal;--and Reed, Brothers, and Co., 177, Market +Street, Philadelphia. + +"Again Rev. Sir, I assure you that in writing you this letter, I only do +that which is the result of mature deliberation. + + "I shall wait anxiously your reply, + "THOS. K. KNOWLAND." + +"P. S.--As Messrs. Reed, Brothers, and Co., are the nearest reference to +whom I refer, I enclose you a letter from them." + + * * * * * + +The two letters immediately following were received by Miss K. just +before she left Pennsylvania for New York. Many other letters were also +received by both of us, which are not given in this book, but we can +assure the writers thereof that they have our hearts' gratitude:-- + + "Fulton, March 27th, 1853. + + "My dear and brave Sister:-- + +"For two weeks past we have been stopping with Mr. B. Yesterday we +received four letters--two from my good brother B., and two from +Pennsylvania, yours and Jane's. Right glad were we to receive those +welcome favors--those little _epistolary_ angels, telling us of your +safety, (for safety has of late become quite a consideration) of your +affection, of your anxiety, and a hundred things more than what were +written. + +"Mary, I judge from your letters and notes--from the tone of them--that +there are feelings and emotions in your heart utterly beyond the power +of words to express. You are resolved, and you are happy in your +resolve, and strong in the providential certainty of its success. Yet +you tremble for probabilities, or rather for _possibilities_. + +"What feelings, dear Mary, you must have in the hour of your departure +from this country. Through the windows of imagination I can catch a +glimpse of it all. Your flight is a flight for freedom, and I can almost +call you _Eliza_. To you this land will become a land of memory. And, +oh! what memories! But we will talk of this hereafter. + +"The remembrance of _friendship unbroken here_,--oh, Mary, let it not +vanish as the blue hills of your father-land will dim away in the +distance, while you glide eastward upon the 'free waters.' But let that +bright remembrance be embodied in _spirit_-form, for ever attending you, +and pointing back to those still here who hold you high in affection and +in honor. + + * * * * * + +"Mary, I must close. Be firm--strong--brave--unflinching--_just like_ +Mary King. + + "Yours in the bonds of love, + "JOHN C. PORTER." + + "Fulton, March 27th, 1853. + + "My dear Sister Mary:-- + +"Almost hourly since you left has your image been before me. And as I +seat myself to write, thoughts and emotions innumerable come crowding +for utterance. Gladly would I express them to you, dear Sister, but the +pen is far too feeble an instrument. Oh, that I could be with you in +body as in spirit. You need encouragement and strength in this hour; and +I know that you will receive them,--for you are surrounded by a few of +the truest and dearest of friends. And you know and have felt, that a +higher and stronger power than earth can uphold us in every endeavour +for the right. + + * * * * * + +"Mary, do you remember the time when you told me that I must love you +better than I had ever done before; for friends would forsake you, and +there would be none left to love you but P., and myself, and your +father, and Julia, and J. B., and D. S., and S. T.? Our arms were twined +around each other in close embrace. Your heart was full to overflowing, +and words gave place to tears. I shall not forget the intense anxiety I +felt for you at that moment as I tried to penetrate the future, knowing, +as I did, somewhat of the cruelty of prejudice. It seems we both had a +foreboding of something that would follow. I do not know that I wept, +but heaven witnessed and recorded the silent, sacred promise of my heart +to draw nearer and cherish you with truer fidelity as others turned +away. And so shall I always feel. + + * * * * * + +"Oh, Mary, how little can we imagine the sufferings of the oppressed, +while we float along on the popular current. I thank God from the depths +of my soul, that we have launched our barks upon the ocean. Frail they +are, yet, having right for our beacon, and humanity for our compass, I +know we shall not be wrecked or go down among the raging elements. + + * * * * * + +"Now, dear Sister, farewell, and as you depart from this boasted 'land +of liberty and equal rights,' and go among strangers, that you may, +indeed, enjoy liberty, be not despondent, but cheerful, ever remembering +the message of your angel mother. + + * * * * * + +Again, dear sister, farewell,--you know how much we love you, and that +our deepest sympathies are with you wherever you may be. + + "Affectionately yours, + "SARAH D. PORTER." + +I subjoin an extract of a letter which I received from Miss K. a few +days before our marriage:-- + + "Dolington, Pennsylvania + "March 21st, 1853. + + "Professor Allen,-- + "Dearest and best-loved Friend:-- + +"I have just received your letter of March 13th, and hasten to reply. + +"You ask me if I can go with you in four weeks or thereabouts. In reply, +I say yes; gladly and joyfully will I hasten with you to a land where +unmolested, we can be happy in the consciousness of the love which we +cherish for each other. While so far from you, I am sad, lonely, and +unhappy; for I feel that I have no home but in the heart of him whom I +love, and no country until I reach one where the cruel and crushing hand +of Republican America can no longer tear me from you. + + * * * * * + +"Professor,--I sometimes tremble when I think of the strong effort that +would be put forth to keep me from you, should my brothers know our +arrangements. But my determination is taken and my decision fixed; and +should the public or my friends ever see fit to lay their commands upon +me again, they will find that although they have but a weak, defenceless +woman to contend with, still, that woman is one who will never passively +yield her rights. _They may mob me; yea, they may kill me; but they +shall never crush me._ + +"Heaven's blessings upon all who sympathised with us. I am not +discouraged. God will guide us and protect us. + + "Ever yours, + "MARY." + + '"Thou Friend, whose presence on my wintry heart + Fell like bright Spring upon some herbless plain; + How beautiful and calm and free thou wert + In thy young wisdom, when the mortal chain + Of Custom thou did'st burst and rend in twain, + And walked as free as night the clouds among."' + +Some idea of the spirit of persecution by which we were pursued may be +gathered from the fact, that when the mobocrats of Fulton ascertained +that Miss King and myself were having an interview in Syracuse, they +threatened to come down and mob us, and were only deterred from so doing +by the promise of Elder King, that he would go after his daughter if she +did not return in the next train. + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + +CONCLUSION. + + +Reader,--I have but a word or two more to say. + +Insignificant as this marriage may seem to you, I can assure you that +nothing else has ever occurred in the history of American prejudice +against color, which so startled the nation from North to South and East +to West. On the announcement of the probability of the case merely, men +and women were panic-stricken, deserted their principles and fled in +every direction. + +Indignation meetings were held in and about Fulton immediately after the +mob. The following Resolution was passed unanimously in one of them:-- + +"Resolved,--That Amalgamation is no part of the Free Democracy of +Granby." (Town near F.) + +The Editor of the Fulton newspaper, however, spoke of us with respect. +Let him be honored. He condemned the mob, opposed amalgamation, but +described the parties thus,--"Miss King, a young lady of talent, +education, and unblemished character," and myself, "a gentleman, a +scholar, and a Christian, and a citizen against whose character nothing +whatever had been urged." + +I have said that some of the Papers regretted that I had not been killed +outright. I give an extract from the "_Phoenix Democrat_," published in +the State of New York:-- + +"This Professor Allen may get down on his marrow bones, and thank God +that we are not related to Mary King by the ties of consanguinity." + +To show that I have not exaggerated the spirit of persecution which +beset us, I will state that in a few days after Mr. Porter was dismissed +from his School, he called upon the pastor of the church of which he is +a communicant; and though without means--the chivalrous people who +turned him out of his School not having yet paid him up--and knowing +not whither to go, the pastor assured him that he could not take him in, +or render him any assistance, so severely did he feel that he would be +censured by the public. + +That Mr. Porter is still pursued by this fiendish spirit, the reader +will see by the following paragraph of a letter received from him a few +days since:-- + +"I have advertised for a School in S----. They would not tolerate me in +O----, after they found out that I was the Phillipsville School-master. +I was employed in O---- three months." + +Such, reader, is the character of prejudice against color,--bitter, +cruel, relentless. + + +THE END. + + + * * * * * + + + + +A SHORT + +PERSONAL NARRATIVE, + +BY + +WILLIAM G. ALLEN, + +(Colored American,) + + FORMERLY + PROFESSOR OF THE GREEK LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE + IN NEW YORK CENTRAL COLLEGE + +RESIDENT FOR THE LAST FOUR YEARS IN DUBLIN. + + + * * * * * + + + DUBLIN: + SOLD BY THE AUTHOR, + AND BY + WILLIAM CURRY & CO., 9, UPPER SACKVILLE-STREET, AND + J. ROBERTSON, 8 GRAFTON-STREET. + + + * * * * * + + + 1860 + + PRICE ONE SHILLING. + + DUBLIN: PRINTED BY ROBERT CHAPMAN, + TEMPLE LANE DAME STREET. + + + + +PREFACE. + + +In preparing this little narrative, I have not sought to make a book, +but simply to tell my own experiences both in the slaveholding and +non-slaveholding States of America, in as few words as possible. The +facts here detailed throw light upon many phases of American life, and +add one more to the tens of thousands of illustrations of the terrible +power with which slavery has spread its influences into the Northern +States of the Union--penetrating even the inmost recesses of social +life. + + W. G. A. + + DONNYBROOK, DUBLIN, + _January, 1860._ + + + + +A SHORT PERSONAL NARRATIVE. + + +I was born in Virginia, but not in slavery. The early years of my life +were spent partly in the small village of Urbanna, on the banks of the +Rappahannock, partly in the city of Norfolk, near the mouth of the +James' River, and partly in the fortress of Monroe, on the shores of the +Chesapeake. I was eighteen years in Virginia. My father was a white man, +my mother a mulattress, so that I am what is generally termed a +quadroon. Both parents died when I was quite young, and I was then +adopted by another family, whose name I bear. My parents by adoption +were both coloured, and possessed a flourishing business in the fortress +of Monroe. + +I went to school a year and a half in Norfolk. The school was composed +entirely of coloured children, and was kept by a man of color, a Baptist +minister, who was highly esteemed, not only as a teacher, but as a +preacher of rare eloquence and power. His color did not debar him from +taking an equal part with his white brethren in matters pertaining to +their church. + +But the school was destined to be of short duration. In 1831, Nathaniel +Turner, a slave, having incited a number of his brethren to avenge their +wrongs in a summary manner, marched by night with his comrades upon the +town of Southampton, Virginia, and in a few hours put to death about one +hundred of the white inhabitants. This act of Turner and his associates +struck such terror into the hearts of the whites throughout the State, +that they immediately, as an act of retaliation or vengeance, abolished +every colored school within their borders; and having dispersed the +pupils, ordered the teachers to leave the State forthwith, and never +more to return. + +I now went to the fortress of Monroe, but soon found that I could not +get into any school there. For, though being a military station, and +therefore under the sole control of the Federal Government, it did not +seem that this place was free from the influence of slavery, in the form +of prejudice against color. But my parents had money, which always and +everywhere has a magic charm. I was also of a persevering habit; and +what therefore I could not get in the schools I sought among the +soldiers in the garrison, and succeeded in obtaining. Many of the rank +and file of the American army are highly educated foreigners; some of +them political refugees, who have fled to America and become +unfortunate, oftentimes from their own personal habits. I now learned +something of several languages, and considerable music. My German +teacher, a common soldier, was, by all who knew him, reputed to be both +a splendid scholar and musician. I also now and then bought the services +of other teachers, which greatly helped to advance me. + +Many of the slaveholders aided my efforts. This seems like a paradox; +but, to the credit of humanity, be it said, that the bad are not always +bad. One kind-hearted slaveholder, an army officer, gave me free access +to his valuable library; and another slaveholder, a naval officer, who +frequented the garrison, presented me, as a gift, with a small but well +selected library, which formerly belonged to a deceased son. + +My experience, therefore, in the State of Virginia, is, in many +respects, quite the opposite of that which others of my class have been +called to undergo. + +Could I forget how often I have stood at the foot of the market in the +city of Norfolk, and heard the cry of the auctioneer--"What will you +give for this man?"--"What for this woman?"--"What for this child?" +Could I forget that I have again and again stood upon the shores of the +Chesapeake, and, while looking out upon that splendid bay, beheld ships +and brigs carrying into unutterable misery and woe men, women and +children, victims of the most cruel slavery that ever saw the sun; could +I forget the innumerable scenes of cruelty I have witnessed, and blot +out the remembrance of the degradation, intellectual, moral and +spiritual, which everywhere surrounded me--making the country like unto +a den of dragons and pool of waters--my reminiscence of Virginia were +indeed a joy and not a sorrow. + +Some things I do think of with pleasure. A grand old State is Virginia. +No where else, in America at least, has nature revealed herself on a +more munificent scale. Lofty mountains, majestic hills, beautiful +valleys, magnificent rivers cover her bosom. A genial clime warms her +heart. Her resources are exhaustless. Why should she not move on? +Execrated for ever be this wretched slavery--this disturbing force. It +kills the white man--kills the black man--kills the master--kills the +slave--kills everybody and everything. Liberty is, indeed, the first +condition of human progress, and the especial hand-maiden of all that in +human life is beautiful and true. + +I attained my eighteenth year. About this time the Rev. W. H---- of New +York city visited the fortress of Monroe, and opened a select school. He +was a white man, and of a kind and benevolent nature. He could not admit +me into his school, nevertheless he took a deep interest in my welfare. +He aided my studies in such ways as he could, and, on his return to the +State of New York (he remained but a short time in Virginia), acquainted +the Honorable Gerrit Smith, of Peterboro, with my desires. Mr. Smith's +sympathies were immediately touched on my behalf. He requested the Rev. +W. H---- to write to me at once, and extend to me an invitation to visit +the State of New York, enter college, and graduate at his expense--if +need be. + +I have to remark just here that at the time of the visit of the Rev. W. +H---- to the fortress of Monroe, my parents were in greatly reduced +circumstances, owing to a destructive fire which had recently taken +place, and burned to the ground a most valuable property. The fire was +supposed to be the work of incendiaries--low whites of the +neighbourhood, who had become envious of my parents' success. There was +no insurance on the property. Under these circumstances I gladly +accepted the kind offer of Mr. Smith. His generous nature then and there +turned towards me in friendship; and, I am happy to be able to add, he +has ever continued my friend from that day to this. + +Mr. Smith is one of the noblest men that America has ever produced; and +is especially remarkable for his profound appreciation of that sublime +command of our Saviour, "All things whatsoever ye would that men should +do to you, do ye even so to them." Where he treads no angel of sorrow +follows. + +He is a man of vast estates--a millionaire. He is also what in America +is termed a land reformer. He believes that every man should possess an +inviolable homestead. He himself possesses by inheritance millions of +acres in the Northern and Eastern States of America; and shows his +sincerity and consistency by parcelling off from time to time such +portions of these lands as are available, in lots of forty or fifty +acres each, and presenting the deeds thereof, free of charge, to the +deserving landless men, white or black, in the region where the lands in +question are located. He also long since vacated the splendid Peterboro' +mansion, into possession of which he came on the death of his father; +and now resides, himself and family, in a simple cottage near +Peterboro', with only forty acres attached. His sympathies are not +bounded by country or clime. He sent into Ireland, during the famine of +1847, the largest single donation that reached the country from abroad. + +He was elected to the United States Congress a few years ago, as one of +the members for New York, but resigned his seat after holding it only a +year--probably feeling outraged by the manners and morals, not to say +superlative wickedness, of so many of his associates. Whatever may have +been the cause which induced him to resign, he did well to give up his +post. Nature had evidently not set him to the work. Of great ability, +winning eloquence, and undoubted moral courage, his heart and temper +were too soft and apologetic to deal with the blustering tyrants who +fill too many of the seats of both houses of Congress. + +Mr. Smith is truly a great orator. He has in an eminent degree the first +qualification thereof--a great heart. His voice is a magnificent bass, +deep, full, sonorous; and, being as melodious as deep, it gives him +enviable power over the hearts and sympathies of men. + +In personal appearance he is extremely handsome. Large and noble in +stature, with a face not only beautiful, but luminous with the +reflection of every Christian grace. + +He is now engaged in the care of his vast estates, and in his private +enterprises, scarcely private, since they are all for the public good. +He is sixty-two years of age. A true Christian in every exalted sense +of the term, long may he live an honor and a blessing to his race. + +Having accepted the invitation of this gentleman, I prepared to leave +the South. On making arrangements for a passage from Norfolk to +Baltimore, I found that the "Free Papers" which every man of color in a +slave state must possess, in order to be able to prove, in case of his +being apprehended at any time, that he is not an absconding slave, were +of very little avail. I must needs have a "Pass" as well, or I could not +leave. However I obtained this document without much trouble, and as it +is a curious specimen of American literature, I will give it. It does +not equal, to be sure, the "charming pages" of Washington Irving, but it +is certainly quite as illustrative in its way:-- + + + "Norfolk, Oct. 1839. + +"The bearer of this, William G. Allen, is permitted to leave Norfolk by +the Steam Boat Jewess, Capt. Sutton, for Baltimore. + + "Signed, J. F. Hunter + "Agent, Baltimore Steam Packet Company." + + +This document was also countersigned by one of the justices of the +peace. Really, there is something preposterous about these slaveholders. +They make all sorts of attempts to drive the free colored people out of +their borders; but when a man of this class wishes to go of his own +accord, he must that be _permitted_! + +I reached Baltimore in safety, but now found that neither "Free Papers" +nor "Pass" were of any further use. I desired to take the train to +Philadelphia _en route_ to New York. I must this time get a white man to +testify to my freedom, or further I could not go. Or, worse still, if no +such man could be found, I must be detained in Baltimore and lodged in +jail! By no means a pleasant prospect. There was no time to be lost. My +previous experience had taught me this truth--the more we trust, the +more we are likely to find to trust. Acting upon this principle, and +putting in practice my studies in physiognomy, I presently found a +friend among the crowd; who, being satisfied with my statements and the +documents I presented, kindly gave the desired testimony. The ticket +seller then recorded my name, age, and personal appearance in his book, +and delivered me my ticket. I now had no further trouble, and reached +the college (in the State of New York) in safety. + +Remaining at this college (Oneida Institute, Whitesboro') five years, I +graduated with some honor and little cost to my patron, Mr. Smith. I +quite paid my way by private tuitions: during one vacation I taught a +school in Canada. + +I cannot leave Oneida Institute without paying the tribute of my heart's +warmest admiration and love to the President thereof--Reverend Beriah +Green. America has few such men--men of that true greatness which comes +from a combination of wisdom and virtue. Wherever found in that country, +they are the "chosen few," consecrating their energies to the cause of +Humanity and Religion--nobly and earnestly seeking to rid their country +of its dire disgrace and shame. President Green still lives. He is a +profound scholar, an original thinker, and, better and greater than all +these, a sincere and devoted Christian. To the strength and vigor of a +man, he adds the gentleness and tenderness of a woman. He has never +taken an active part in the world of stir and politics; but in the line +of his proper profession has immeasurably advanced the cause of human +progress. May such men be multiplied in America, and elsewhere, for +surely there is need. + +Out now in the great world of America, my ambition was to secure a +professorial chair. That any man having the slightest tinge of color, +nay, without tinge of color, with only a drop of African blood in his +veins, let his accomplishments be what they may, should aspire to such a +position, I soon found was the very madness of madness. But something +must be done. I repaired at once to the city of Boston, and entered the +law office of E. G. L----, Esq. a distinguished barrister, who had +already shown his regard for the colored race by having brought to the +bar a colored young man--now practising with much success in Boston. +Black men may practice law--at least in Massachusetts. I remained in the +office of this gentleman two years, and was just entering my third and +last year, when, unsolicited on my part and to my great surprise, I +received the appointment of Professor of the Greek Language and +Literature in New York Central College--a college of recent date, and +situated in the town of M'Grawville, near the centre of the State of New +York. This was the first college in America that ever had the moral +courage to invite a man of color to occupy a professor's chair; and, so +far as I know, it is also the only one. + +The college was founded by a few noble-minded men, whose object was to +combat the vulgar American prejudice, which can see no difference +between a man and his skin. They sought to illustrate the doctrine of +Human Equality, or brotherhood of the races; to elevate the nation's +morals, and give it more exalted views of the aims and objects of +Christianity. Such a college, in the midst of corrupt public sentiment, +could not fail to meet with the greatest opposition. It was persecuted +on all sides, and by all parties, showing how deep-seated and virulent +is prejudice against color. The legislature countenanced the college so +far as to grant it a charter, and empowered it to confer degrees, but +would not, seemingly on no earthly consideration, give it the slightest +pecuniary patronage. The debates which took place in the State House at +Albany when the bill relating to the college came up for consideration, +would, in vulgar flings at "negroes," cries of "amalgamation," and such +like, have disgraced a very assemblage of pagans. However the college +held on its way, and is still doing its work, though its efficiency is +of course greatly marred. All the other professors were white; so also +were the majority of the students. + + * * * * * + +I was four years in connexion with this college as professor, and in all +probability would have been in M'Grawville still, but for the following +circumstances. + +I bethought me now of marriage, having what might be termed good +prospects in the world. Visiting the town of Fulton, County of Oswego, +State of New York, about forty miles from New York Central College, on +an occasion of public interest, I was made the guest of the Rev. L. +K----, a highly esteemed minister of the gospel, and greatly +distinguished for his earnest and zealous advocacy of the principles of +abolition. He was a white man. This gentleman had a large family of sons +and daughters. A feeling of friendship sprung up between one of his +daughters and myself on the occasion of this visit, which feeling +eventually ripened into emotions of a higher and more interesting +character. The father welcomed me: the mother was long since deceased. +The parties immediately concerned were satisfied--why should others +demur? I knew something of prejudice against color, but I supposed that +a sense of dignity, not to say decency, would deter the most bitterly +opposed from interference with a matter wholly domestic and private, and +which, in its relation to the public, was also wholly insignificant. I +reckoned without my host however. The inhabitants of Fulton had received +the impression that there was an union in contemplation between the lady +and myself; and they determined that it should not take place, certainly +not in their town, nor elsewhere if they could prevent it. They stirred +the town in every direction, evoking all the elements of hostility, and +organizing the same into a deadly mob, to act at convenient opportunity. +I was ignorant of the great length to which this feeling had attained; +so also were the parties immediately interested in my personal safety. I +was therefore greatly surprised when, on the occasion of my last visit +to Fulton, and while in company with the lady, both of us visiting at +the house of a mutual friend, residing about two miles out of town, a +party rushed into our presence in hot haste, bidding me, if I wished to +escape with my life, to "fly with all possible speed!" The party who +performed this kindly office had scarcely gone, when, on looking out of +the window, I beheld a maddened multitude approaching--about six hundred +white men, armed with tar, feathers, poles and an empty barrel spiked +with shingle nails! In this barrel I was to be put, and rolled from the +top to the bottom of a hill near by. They also brought a sleigh, in +which the lady was to be taken back to her father's house. They intended +no harm to her. + +Knowing the character of an American mob, and also knowing how little +they value the life of a man of color, I expected, as I saw the +multitude surrounding the house, to die--in fact, prepared for death. + +Having assembled about the premises, they began to cry out in the most +uproarious manner, "Bring him out!" "Kill the Nigger!" "Hang him!" "Tear +down the house!" Shouts, groans, maledictions of all sorts and degrees +followed. No one who has not witnessed an American mob can have the +slightest idea of the scene which presented itself at this point. Had +six hundred beasts of the forest been loosed together, in one +promiscuous assemblage, they could scarcely have sent up howls and yells +and mad noises equal to those made by these infuriated men. There is no +exaggeration in this statement. For the sake of humanity, I only wish +there was. Nor were the members of the mob confined entirely to the +rabble; far from it. Many of its members were also members of a +Christian church. The mob occurred on a Sabbath evening, about six +o'clock, so that these men absolutely deserted their pews on purpose to +enjoy the fun of "hunting the nigger." + +There came with this mob a self-constituted committee of gentlemen, +lawyers, merchants, and leading men of the town, who, although partaking +of the general feeling of prejudice against color, did not wish, for the +sake of the reputation of their town, to see bloodshed; besides also +many of them, I doubt not, entertained feelings of personal friendship +for myself. + +This committee divided itself. One half came up to the drawing-room, and +advised that the young lady should consent to go home in the sleigh +provided, and that I should consent to leave the town. Conceding so much +to the mob, they thought my life might be spared. The other half of the +committee remained below, to appease the maddened multitude, and deter +them from carrying their threats into execution. + +We agreed to the propositions of the committee. The young lady was taken +home in the sleigh aforesaid, about one third of the mob following on +foot, for what purpose I know not. I was then conducted by the committee +through the mob, many members of which giving me, as I passed, sundry +kicks and cuffs, but doing me no serious bodily harm. I was next taken +by the committee to an hotel, where arrangements had been made for my +reception. The mob followed, hooting and hallooing, the sight of their +victim seeming to revive their hostile feelings. They would have broken +into the hotel, had not the proprietor held them back by his threats. He +was not a friend of mine, but he had agreed to shelter me, and he was, +of course, determined to protect his property. + +The committee then secured the use of two sleighs, one of which they +placed at the back entrance of the hotel, and the other they caused to +be driven about four miles out of the town. Into the first sleigh I was +to get when I could find my opportunity, and be driven to the other +sleigh, in which I was to be finally conveyed to the town of Syracuse, +about twenty-five miles distant. I made several attempts to get into the +sleigh at the back entrance of the hotel, but was driven back by the mob +every time I made my appearance at the door. Meanwhile the committee +furnished the mobocrats with spirits to drink, and cigars to smoke, for +all of which I had to pay. Comment upon this extraordinary act of +meanness would be entirely out of place. One would have thought that +these mobocrats would have been content to have mobbed me free of +expense, at least. Not so it seemed however. + +But midnight drew on, and of course the multitude grew weary. Presently, +seeing my opportunity, I jumped into the sleigh at the back entrance of +the hotel, drove rapidly off to the second sleigh, and reached the town +of Syracuse early next morning. Some of the mobocrats attempted chase, +but soon gave it up. + +Had this tumult ended here, I should probably have been in my chair at +the college today; and the whole affair, so far as it related only to +myself, would have been regarded by me as merely a bit of an episode in +my life--of course a most exciting one. But the worst was to come, at +least so far as it concerned the lady personally; and the very worst it +would be better to say nothing about. + +After we had been disposed of in the manner already described, the next +step taken by the inhabitants of the town of Fulton was to place the +lady under a most degraded surveillance. True, she was to continue in +her father's house, but so overpowering had the mob-spirit become, that +the mobocrats commanded (and were obeyed!) that no communications should +be sent to her or from her, unless they had been previously perused and +sanctioned by duly deputed parties. Nor would they permit any persons to +call upon her, unless they too had been previously approved. + +There was a line of railway between the towns of Fulton and Syracuse. +Guards were placed by certain individuals at the various stations on the +line, in order to prevent the possible escape of either party, or rather +to prevent the possible meeting of the parties, _i.e._, of the lady and +myself. Meanwhile the telegraphic wires and newspapers spread the news +throughout the length and breadth of the land; the consequence of all +which was, I became so notorious that my life was placed in jeopardy +wherever I went. On one occasion particularly I barely escaped with it. + +On the day after the occurrence of the mob, and for several days after, +the town of Fulton presented a scene of unparallelled excitement. Had +the good people witnessed the approach of an invading army, but, by some +lucky chance, succeeded in driving it back, they could not have been +more extravagant in their demonstrations. Their countenances indicated +the oddest possible mixture of consternation and joy. Seriously, if one +can be serious over such details, never before did the contemplated +marriage of two mortals create such a hubbub. + +The inhabitants of Fulton immediately assembled _en masse_, and voted +unanimously, in congress especially convened for the purpose, that Mr. +and Mrs. P----, school teachers, our friends, at whose house we were +being entertained at the time of the mob, "DO GIVE UP THEIR SCHOOL, +AND LEAVE THE TOWN FORTHWITH." For what crime? None, save that of +showing us hospitality. Our friends had therefore not only to give up +their business at an immense pecuniary sacrifice, but had absolutely to +make off with their lives as best they could. + +During all this time the lady who had been thus rudely treated was true +to her noble and heroic nature; but so much outward pressure, and of +such an extraordinary character, produced its consequences upon her +health. It failed, and it became necessary that she should be released +from her thraldom. Once more at liberty she visited, incognito, the town +of Syracuse, where I was still tarrying. The mobocrats would not have +permitted her to have left Fulton in peace, if they had known whither +she was going. + +We met again: reviewed the past and discussed the future. As I am not +detailing sentiment, but merely stating facts, suffice it to say, that +we made up our minds that we would not be defeated by a mob. + +But to the future. What was to be done? We came to the conclusion that I +could no longer expect to hold my position in M'Grawville. The college +had already received a terrible shock by reason of the cry of +"amalgamation" which had been raised by the mob. And though the trustees +were willing, at heart, to face the storm of prejudice, worldly wisdom, +they considered, dictated that they should not incur the odium which +they could not avoid bringing upon the college, if they persisted in +retaining me longer as one of their professors. The trustees thought it +would be better to be cautious, and save the college for the good it +might do in the future. Such a union as ours was, in fact, but one of +the logical results of the very principles on which the college was +founded. I do not profess to sit in judgment, and therefore attempt no +comment. They were now evidently anxious that I should resign, though, +of course, they did not express so much to me in words. + +I also came to the further conclusion that I could no longer, under the +circumstances, whatever I might be able to do in future, hold my +position in the country. For, however willing I might be to endure all +things in my own person, I felt that I ought not to expose to any +further danger one who already suffered so much and so heroically for my +sake. I knew several of the lady's friends who were bitterly opposed to +our union, solely on account of my color, and who were prepared, if the +occasion should require it, to go to desperate lengths. They would not +have hesitated to have sworn her into the lunatic asylum. I therefore +decided not only to resign my professorship in the college, but also to +leave the country. + +Our plans being now quietly arranged, the lady returned to Fulton, and +it was then supposed that all communication between us was for ever +broken off. The mob had ordered that it should be so, and doubtless +thought it was so. The most mistaken idea they ever entertained. The +lady remained for a short time in Fulton, and then retired into the +interior of the state of Pennsylvania. I continued to remain in the town +of Syracuse. + +Soon a favorable opportunity presented itself, and we met in the city of +New York, on the 30th March, 1853, and then and there asserted our +rights in due and legal form: after which we immediately took the train +for Boston. + +Owing to the great publicity which the newspapers had given to our +affairs and the consequent excitement thereon, we found it necessary to +use the utmost caution, such as walking apart in the streets, and +travelling in the trains as strangers to each other. It would have been +fool-hardy to have provoked another mob. + +We remained in Boston ten days, quietly visiting among our friends, and +then set sail for England. Wishing to get out of the country without +farther ado, we were compelled to submit to many sacrifices, pecuniary +and otherwise, of which it is not necessary to speak. In England and +Ireland, including a short trip to Scotland, we have been ever since, +and have constantly received that generous and friendly consideration +which, from the reputation of Great Britain and Ireland, we had been led +to expect; and for which we are grateful. + +To go back for a single moment to New York Central College. On receiving +the appointment to the professorial chair, the pro-slavery newspaper +press of the country opened a regular assault. The "_Washington Union_" +thus wrote: + +"What a pity that college could not have found white men in all America +to fill its professors' chairs. What a burning shame that the trustees +should have been mean enough to rob Mr. L---- of his law student, and +the Boston bar of its ebony ornament." I was never at the Boston bar, +and therefore could not have been its ebony ornament. The imagination +of the editors supplied them with the fact, and that answered their +purpose as well. + +A reverend doctor of divinity writing in a Cincinnati newspaper, +wondered "how a man of sense could enter that amalgamation college. If +this professor would go to Liberia and display his eloquence at the bar +there; or, if he has any of the grace of God in his heart, enter the +pulpit, he would then be doing a becoming work." + +From Augusta, Georgia (Slave State), I received the following document, +signed by several parties, and containing the picture of a man hanging +by the neck, under which was written, "Here hangs the Professor of +Greek!" + + "Augusta, Geo. Nov. 1850. + +"Sir,--We perceive you have been appointed Professor of Greek in New +York Central College. Very well. We also perceive that you have +occasionally lectured in the North on the 'Probable Destiny of the +African Race.' Now, Sir, if you will only have the kindness to come to +Augusta, and visit our hemp yard, you may be sure that your destiny will +not be _probable_, but certain. + + "Signed, + + ------ + + ------ + + ------" + +Of course I did not go to Augusta, Georgia. + +These assaults and attempts at ridicule served to bring me into general +notice. I soon found that, by reason of them, and without merit or +effort of my own, I had become known throughout the whole country as +"the Colored Professor." I had a status. The lady being the daughter of +a highly respectable minister, she also had a status. To permit +therefore the union of these parties would be to bring the principle of +amalgamation into respectability. So reasoned those who attempted to +reason on behalf, or rather in excuse, of the mob. "We are sorry," they +went on condescendingly to say, "for Professor Allen, for though a man +of color, he is nevertheless a gentleman, a Christian and a scholar. But +this union must not be; the 'proprieties of society,' must not be +violated!" Here then was the secret of this extraordinary outbreak. Had +we moved in what these good people would have been pleased to term a +lower strata of society, they would have let us alone with infinite +contempt. + +The most lamentable feature of this Fulton mob was the fact, that we +could not, if we had sought it, have secured any redress. No court of +law in the State would have undertaken to bring to justice the +perpetrators of this outrage. But on the contrary, such court would have +been inclined to take sides with the mobocrats, and to justify them in +the means which they employed wherewith to chastise a colored man who +had presumed so grossly to violate the "proprieties of society." + +Before closing I cannot forebear a further word with regard to New York +Central College. During the four years I was in connexion with that +college as professor, I never experienced the slightest disrespect from +trustees, professors or students. All treated me kindly, so kindly +indeed that I can truly say that the period of my professorship forms +one of the pleasantest remembrances of my life. Terrible as prejudice +against color is, my experience has taught me that it is not invincible; +though, as it is the offspring of slavery, it will never be fully +vanquished until slavery has been abolished. + +In illustration of the direct influences of slavery as they affect the +free man of color, I again go back for a single moment. Having spent +three years at Oneida Institute, I proposed to myself a visit to +Virginia, to look once more into the faces of beloved parents, relatives +and friends, to walk again upon the strand at Fortress Monroe, where I +had so often in childhood beheld the sunbeams play upon the coves and +inlets, and seen the surf beat upon the rocks. I, at first, had some +difficulty in getting a passage to Virginia, most of the masters of the +New York vessels to whom I applied seeming to be of a friendly nature, +and not willing to expose me to the slave laws of Virginia. I, however, +succeeded at last--the captain of a Philadelphia vessel consenting to +land me at the fortress of Monroe. I remained in the home of my +childhood and youth seven days in peace; but on the morning of the +eighth day, while walking on the strand, I was rudely assaulted by a +person who had known me from my infancy. I had always supposed him to be +a gentleman, and was therefore greatly surprised and shocked. But +slavery is relentless; it ruins both the morals and the manners. This +individual, after belaboring me in a savage manner, gave me distinctly +to understand that unless I left Virginia speedily, I might find myself +in trouble. He afterwards remarked, as I understood, to his friends that +"this Allen has been off to an abolition college and returned among us. +Let us look out for him." + +I took the hint; and on the next morning secured the services of a party +who rowed me off in a small canoe to a vessel lying in the harbor, where +I bargained with the captain, who, for a handsome sum, consented to take +me quietly out of the state. I left Virginia at once, and have never +returned to it since, though I would gladly have done so, as relatives +and friends near and dear to me have since died, by the side of whose +death beds I desired to stand. In conclusion I have only to say that +were I in the United States of America to-morrow, it would be more than +my life or liberty would be worth to put foot upon the soil of my native +state. Is this freedom? If it be, then give me slavery indeed. + +A word or two with regard to my course in this country. Hitherto my +income has been derived solely from lectures, tuitions, and such other +odds and ends of work in my line as my hands could find to do. I desire +a more permanent settlement for myself and family, and hope that the +sale of this little narrative may help to create means to that end. + +I send it forth therefore, desiring that it may stand upon its own +merits, at the same time earnestly hoping that it may interest all into +whose hands it may fall. + + From LORD SHAFTESBURY. + +"Lord Shaftesbury sympathizes most heartily with Professor Allen and +sincerely wishes him success in his undertaking. It will give Lord +Shaftesbury great pleasure to assist, in any way that he can, a +gentleman of the colored race, who is a hundred times wiser and better +than his white oppressors. + + "LONDON, _July, 1854._" + + + From Rev. I. G. Abeltshauser, LL.D. Trinity College, + Dublin, and others;-- + + "DUBLIN, 14th April, 1856. + +"The undersigned having made due enquiry from the most trustworthy +sources relative to the character and attainments of Professor William +G. Allen, have much pleasure in recommending him as a gentleman of high +attainments and honorable character. + + I. G. ABELTSHAUSER, Clk. LL.D. Trin. Col. Dub. + WM. URWICK, D. D. 40, Rathmines Road, Dublin. + JAMES HAUGHTON, 35 Eccles-street, Dublin. + RICHARD ALLEN, Sackville-street, Dublin. + JONATHAN PIM, 22, William-street, Dublin. + JOHN EVANS, M. D. 38, Richmond-street, Dublin. + R. D. WEBB, 176, Great Brunswick-street, Dublin. + JOHN R. WIGHAM, 36, Capel-street, Dublin." + + + From RICHARD D. WEBB, Esq. of Dublin. + + "DUBLIN, 3rd November, 1858. + + "DEAR MR. ALLEN, + +"Your name was familiar to me long before I knew you personally. I had +often heard of 'Professor W. G. Allen,' who, while connected with the +Central College, in the State of New York, and respected there as a man +and a teacher, was obliged to leave his native country for the offence +of marrying a white lady of respectable family and great excellence of +character, who is now much liked and esteemed by her numerous friends in +this city. I became acquainted with you soon after your arrival in +London; and particularly during your residence in Ireland I have had +nearly as much opportunity of knowing you as any of your acquaintances +here. I can truly say, that you have earned the hearty respect of all +who know you (of whom I have any knowledge), by the industry, energy, +and self-respect you have evinced in the course of a long and difficult +battle with those adverse circumstances, with which a comparatively +unknown and friendless stranger has to contend, in his efforts to effect +a settlement in a strange country. Your conduct has been industrious, +honorable and in every way deserving of esteem and sympathy. Some time +since, in the columns of the 'Anti-Slavery Advocate,' without hint or +solicitation on your part, I took the liberty to speak of your course as +I do now; for amongst all the colored Americans with whom my interest in +the Anti-Slavery cause has made me acquainted--and many of whom are my +own personal friends--I have known none more deserving of respect and +confidence than yourself. + + "Yours truly, + "RICHARD D. WEBB." + + * * * * * + +Having, in my avocation as lecturer on "The African Race" and +"America and the Americans," visited nearly the whole of Ireland, I +respectfully submit the following letters and notices, the letters being +from gentlemen who kindly presided at the meetings:-- + + + From the Rev. DOCTOR FITZGERALD, Archdeacon of Kildare, + (now Lord Bishop of Cork). + +"Professor Allen delivered some lectures on the African Race, in +Kingstown, which seemed to have given general satisfaction. I regret +that I was unable to attend more than one, but I can truly say that it +bore evidence of a highly cultivated mind, and imparted valuable +information in a pleasing form. From what I have seen and heard of +Professor Allen, I should be glad to think that any testimony of mine +could be of service to him. + + "W. FITZGERALD, Archdeacon of Kildare, + (Now Lord Bishop of Cork.) + + "Dublin, Nov. 1856" + + + From Rev. DOCTOR URWICK, Dublin. + +"I have known Professor Allen since his first coming to Ireland, and +believe him to be a gentleman of high character and attainments. His +lecturings, more than one of which I have heard, display much power, and +by the amount of information they contain, united with a clear and often +eloquent style, and earnest manner, cannot fail, at once, to interest +and instruct the audience. I cordially commend him to the confidence and +kind attention of my friends. + + "W. URWICK. + + "Dublin, Nov. 30, 1857." + + + From CORK--see "Constitution," "Examiner" and + "Reporter," March 1858. + + "Cork, Feb. 28, 1858. + + "To WILLIAM G. ALLEN, Esq. late Professor of Greek in + New York Central College. + +"DEAR SIR--We, the undersigned, having heard your lectures on +'America' and 'Africa,' and derived therefrom much instruction as well +as gratification, do, on our own part and that of many of our fellow +citizens who are anxious to hear you, respectfully request that you will +give, at least, two lectures more upon these interesting subjects. + + "(Signed) + HENRY MARTIN, Congregational Minister. + R. W. FORREST (Free Church). + RICHD. CORBETT, M. D. + J. D. CARNEGIE. + HENRY UNKLES. + GEORGE BAKER. + RICHARD DOWDEN, (Rd.) + WILLIAM MAGILL, (Scots' Church). + JOSEPH R. GREENE, Professor, Queen's Coll. + THOMAS JENNINGS. + N. JACKSON, C. E. + JOSEPH COLBECK." + + + From "Belfast News-letter," Dec. 10, 1858. + +"REV. DOCTOR COOKE occupied the chair. Professor Allen then +delivered a lecture of great ability and interest. Dr. Cooke said he had +listened to a remarkable oration. He was glad he had heard it. He +thanked Professor Allen, in the name of the meeting, for his truly +valuable and instructive lecture." + + + From the DEAN OF WATERFORD. + +"Professor W. G. Allen, an American gentleman of color, having visited +Waterford, delivered two lectures here, one on 'America,' and the other +on 'Africa and the African Races.' On each occasion I had the pleasure +to occupy the chair at the meetings held to hear Mr. Allen's lectures, +which proved most interesting and instructive. The Professor is himself +a witness that there is nothing in color or race to hinder a man from +being distinguished for eloquence, good taste, and religious feeling. + +"I have seldom heard public addresses which have interested me more, and +I have no doubt that Mr. Allen's lectures will prove useful, wherever +they are delivered, in creating an interest on behalf of our fellow men, +who have suffered so great wrongs from professing Christians, though +happily no longer at the hands of British subjects. + + "EDW. N. HOARE, + Dean of Waterford. + + "Deanery, Waterford, Jan. 16, 1858." + + + From Rev. DOCTOR BROWNE, Principal of Kilkenny College. + + "Kilkenny College, Feb. 3, 1858. + +"I have attended Professor Allen's lectures on 'America and the +Americans,' and on the 'African Races,' and have received much pleasure +as well as information from the talent and power with which he has +handled the subjects of which he treated. + +"His knowledge, his ardent and impressive manner, and clear melodious +voice, render him a most pleasing as well as instructive lecturer. + + "JOHN BROWNE, Clk. LL.D." + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The American Prejudice Against Color, by +William G. 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Allen. + </title> + <style type="text/css"> +/*<![CDATA[ XML blockout */ +<!-- + p { margin-top: .75em; + text-align: justify; + margin-bottom: .75em; + } + h1,h2,h3,h4,h5,h6 { + text-align: center; /* all headings centered */ + clear: both; + } + hr { width: 33%; + margin-top: 2em; + margin-bottom: 2em; + margin-left: auto; + margin-right: auto; + clear: both; + } + + table {margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;} + + body{margin-left: 10%; + margin-right: 10%; + } + + .pagenum { /* uncomment the next line for invisible page numbers */ + visibility: hidden; + position: absolute; + left: 92%; + font-size: smaller; + text-align: right; + } /* page numbers */ + + .blockquot{margin-left: 5%; margin-right: 10%;} + + .left {float: left; text-align: left;} + .right {float: right; text-align: right;} + + .author {text-align: right; margin-right: 5%;} + .center {text-align: center;} + .smcap {font-variant: small-caps;} + .smaller { font-size: smaller; } + .u {text-decoration: underline;} + + // --> + /* XML end ]]>*/ + </style> + </head> +<body> + + +<pre> + +Project Gutenberg's The American Prejudice Against Color, by William G. Allen + +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: The American Prejudice Against Color + An Authentic Narrative, Showing How Easily The Nation Got + Into An Uproar. + +Author: William G. Allen + +Release Date: February 27, 2006 [EBook #17875] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE AMERICAN PREJUDICE *** + + + + +Produced by Suzanne Shell, Janet B. and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + +</pre> + + + +<h1>THE AMERICAN</h1> + +<h1>Prejudice Against Color.</h1> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<h2>AN AUTHENTIC NARRATIVE,</h2> + +<h4>SHOWING HOW EASILY THE NATION GOT</h4> + +<h4>INTO AN UPROAR.</h4> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<h3>BY WILLIAM G. ALLEN,</h3> + +<h4>A REFUGEE FROM AMERICAN DESPOTISM.</h4> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p class='center'>LONDON:<br /> +W. AND F. G. CASH, 5, BISHOPSGATE-STREET-WITHOUT.<br /> +EDINBURGH: JOHN MENZIES.<br /> +DUBLIN: JAMES MC. GLASHAN AND J. B. GILPIN<br /> +1853</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38">[Pg 38]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>PREFACE.</h2> + + +<p>Extract of a letter from Hon. Gerrit Smith, of New York, Member of +Congress, to Joseph Sturge, Esq., of Birmingham, England. (By permission +of Mr. Sturge.)</p> + +<p class='author'> +<i>"Peterboro', New York, March 23rd</i>, 1853. +</p> + +<p>"I take great pleasure in introducing to you my much esteemed friend, +Professor Wm. G. Allen. I know him well, and know him to be a man of +great mental and moral worth. I trust, in his visit to England, he will +be both useful and happy.</p> + +<p class='author'> +"Very truly, your friend and brother,<br /> +"GERRIT SMITH." +</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>"Commending Professor Allen to the friends of the colored American +citizens who are denied their rights in their own country, and wishing +him every success in the object before him,</p> + +<p class='author'> +"I am, respectfully,</p> +<p><span class="left">"<i>Birmingham, 6mo., 28d.</i>, 1853.</span><span class="right">"JOSEPH STURGE."</span><br /></p> + + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p class='author'> +"<i>Clapham, August 25th</i>, 1853.</p> + +<p><span style="margin-left: 1em;">"My dear Sir:—</span><br /> +</p> + +<p>"Your determination to spend some time in Great Britain, and to employ +yourself, as opportunities occur, in giving lectures and delivering +addresses upon American topics, including the social position of the +free colored population—for which your education and personal +experience eminently fit you—has given me sincere pleasure. I trust you +will meet with ample encouragement from the friends of Abolition +throughout the United Kingdom, to whose sympathy and kindness I would +earnestly recommend you, and still more your heroic and most estimable +lady.</p> + +<p class='author'> +"Believe me, most truly yours,</p> +<p><span class="left">"Professor W. G. Allen</span><span class="right">"GEORGE THOMPSON."</span><br /></p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39">[Pg 39]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>CONTENTS.</h2> + + + + +<div class='center'> +<table border="0" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" summary="Table of Contents"> +<tr><td align='right' class='smcap'>Chapter</td><td align='right'>I.</td><td align='left'>—Introduction</td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_41'><b>41</b></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='center'>— —</td><td align='right'>II.</td><td align='left'>—Personalities</td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_42'><b>42</b></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='center'>— —</td><td align='right'>III.</td><td align='left'>—Nobility and Servility</td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_48'><b>48</b></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='center'>— —</td><td align='right'>IV.</td><td align='left'>—The Mob</td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_54'><b>54</b></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='center'>— —</td><td align='right'>V.</td><td align='left'>—Dark Days</td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_63'><b>63</b></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='center'>— —</td><td align='right'>VI.</td><td align='left'>—Brightening up,—Grand Result</td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_79'><b>79</b></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='center'>— —</td><td align='right'>VII.</td><td align='left'>—Conclusion</td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_91'><b>91</b></a></td></tr> +<tr><td> </td><td> </td><td align='left'>—A Short Personal Narrative</td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_95'><b>95</b></a></td></tr> +</table></div> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41">[Pg 41]</a></span><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40">[Pg 40]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>CHAPTER I.</h2> + +<h3>INTRODUCTION</h3> + + +<p>Many persons having suggested that it would greatly subserve the +Anti-slavery Cause in this country, to present to the public a concise +narrative of my recent narrow escape from death, at the hands of an +armed mob in America, a mob armed with tar, feathers, poles, and an +empty barrel spiked with shingle nails, together with the reasons which +induced that mob, I propose to give it. I cannot promise however, to +write such a book as ought to be written to illustrate fully the +bitterness, malignity, and cruelty, of American prejudice against color, +and to show its terrible power in grinding into the dust of social and +political bondage, the hundreds of thousands of so-called free men and +women of color of the North. This bondage is, in many of its aspects, +far more dreadful than that of the <i>bona fide</i> Southern Slavery, since +its victims—many of them having emerged out of, and some of them never +having been into, the darkness of personal slavery—have acquired a +development of mind, heart, and character, not at all inferior to the +foremost of their oppressors.</p> + +<p>The book that ought to be written, <i>I</i> ought not to attempt; but if no +one precedes me, I shall consider myself bound by necessity, and making +the attempt, lay on, with all the strength I can possibly summon, to +American Caste and skin-deep Democracy.</p> + +<p>The mob occurred on Sabbath (!) evening, January the 30th, 1853, in the +village of Phillipsville, near Fulton, Oswego County, New York. The +cause,—the intention, on my part, of marrying a white young lady of +Fulton,—at least so the public surmised.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42">[Pg 42]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>CHAPTER II.</h2> + +<h3>PERSONALITIES.</h3> + + +<p>I am a quadroon, that is, I am of one-fourth African blood, and +three-fourths Anglo-Saxon. I graduated at Oneida Institute, in +Whitesboro', New York, in 1844; subsequently studied Law with Ellis Gray +Loring, Esq., of Boston, Massachusetts; and was thence called to the +Professorship of the Greek and German languages, and of Rhetoric and +Belles-Lettres of New York Central College, situated in Mc. Grawville, +Cortland County,—the only College in America that has ever called a +colored man to a Professorship, and one of the very few that receive +colored and white students on terms of perfect equality, if, indeed, +they receive colored students at all.</p> + +<p>In April, 1851, I was invited to Fulton, to deliver a course of +Lectures. I gladly accepted the invitation, and none the less that +Fulton had always maintained a high reputation for its love of impartial +freedom, and that its citizens were highly respected for their professed +devotion to the teachings of Christianity.</p> + +<p>I am glad to say, that on this occasion I was well received, and at the +close of my first lecture was invited to spend the evening at the house +of the Rev. Lyndon King. This gentleman having long been known as a +devoted abolitionist,—a fervid preacher of the doctrine, that character +is above color,—and as one of the ablest advocates of the social, +political, and religious rights of the colored man, I, of course, had a +pleasant visit with the family; and, remaining with them several days, +conceived a deep interest in one of the Elder's daughters,—Miss Mary E. +King, who was then preparing to enter the College in Mc. Grawville. I +accompanied Miss King to Mc. Grawville, where she remained in college, a +year and a half.</p> + +<p>Boarding in tenements quite opposite each other, we frequently met in +other than college halls, and as freely conversed,—Miss K. being of +full age, and legally, as well as<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43">[Pg 43]</a></span> intellectually and morally, competent +to discuss the subjects in which, it is generally supposed, young men +and women feel an absorbing interest.</p> + +<p>It is of no consequence what we said; and if it were, the reader, +judging in the light of the results, will perhaps as correctly imagine +that, as I can possibly describe it. I pass on at once, therefore, +simply stating that at the close of the year and a half, my interest in +the young lady had become fully reciprocated, and we occupied a relation +to each other much more significant than that of teacher and pupil.</p> + +<p>Miss King returned to her father's house in October, 1852. I visited the +family in December following. Then and there we discussed the subject of +marriage more fully between ourselves; and deeming it a duty obligatory +upon us, by an intelligent regard for our future happiness, to survey, +before consummating an engagement even, the whole field of difficulties, +embarrassments, trials, insults and persecutions, which we should have +to enter on account of our diversity of complexion, and to satisfy +ourselves fully as to our ability to endure what we might expect to +encounter; we concluded to separate unengaged, and, in due season, each +to write to the other what might be the results of more mature +deliberation. This may seem unromantic to the reader; nevertheless, it +was prudent on our part.</p> + +<p>After remaining in Fulton a week, I left for Boston. Several letters +then passed between us, and in January last, our engagement was fixed. I +will not speak of myself, but on the part of Miss King, this was +certainly a bold step. It displayed a moral heroism which no one can +comprehend who has not been in America, and who does not understand the +diabolical workings of prejudice against color. Whatever a man may be in +his own person,—though he should have the eloquence, talents, and +character of Paul and Apollos, and the Angel Gabriel combined,—though +he should be as wealthy as Cr[oe]sus,—and though, in personal +appearance, he should be as fair as the fairest Anglo-Saxon, yet, if he +have but one drop of the blood of the African flowing in his veins, no +white young lady can ally herself to him in matrimony, without bringing +upon her the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44">[Pg 44]</a></span> anathemas of the community, with scarcely an exception, +and rendering herself an almost total outcast, not only from the society +in which she formerly moved, but from society in general.</p> + +<p>Such is American Caste,—the most cruel under the sun. And such it is, +notwithstanding the claims set up by the American people, that they are +Heaven's Vicegerents, to teach to men, and to nations as well, the +legitimate ideas of Christian Democracy.</p> + +<p>To digress a moment. This Caste-spirit of America sometimes illustrates +itself in rather ridiculous ways.</p> + +<p>A beautiful young lady—a friend of mine—attended, about two years +since, one of the most aristocratic Schools of one of the most +aristocratic Villages of New York. She was warmly welcomed in the +highest circles, and so amiable in temper was she, as well as agreeable +in mind and person, that she soon became not only a favorite, but <i>the</i> +favorite of the circle in which she moved. The <i>young gentlemen</i> of the +village were especially interested in her, and what matrimonial offer +might eventually have been made her, it is not for me to say. At the +close of the second term, however, she left the school and the village; +and then, for the first time, the fact became known (previously known +only to her own room-mate) that she was slightly of African blood. +Reader,—the consternation and horror which succeeded this "new +development," are, without exaggeration, perfectly indescribable. The +people drew long breaths, as though they had escaped from the fangs of a +boa constrictor; the old ladies charged their daughters, that should +Miss —— be seen in that village again, by no means to permit +themselves to be seen in the street with her; and many other charges +were delivered by said mothers, equally absurd, and equally foolish. And +yet this same young lady, according to their own previous showing, was +not only one of the most beautiful in person and manners who had ever +graced their circle, but was also of fine education; and in complexion +as white as the whitest in the village. Truly, this, our human nature, +is extremely strange and vastly inconsistent!</p> + +<p>Confessedly, as a class, the quadroon women of New Orleans are the most +beautiful in America. Their personal attractions are not only +irresistible, but they have, in general, the best blood<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45">[Pg 45]</a></span> of America in +their veins. They are mostly white in complexion, and are, many of them, +highly educated and accomplished; and yet, by the law of Louisiana, no +man may marry a quadroon woman, unless he can prove that he, too, has +African blood in his veins. A law involving a greater outrage on +propriety, a more blasphemous trifling with the heart's affections, and +evincing a more contemptible tyranny, those who will look at the matter +from the beginning to the end, will agree with me, could not possibly +have been enacted.</p> + +<p>Colonel Fuller, of the "<i>New York Mirror</i>," writing from New Orleans, +gives some melancholy descriptions—and some amusing ones too—of the +operations of this most barbarous law.</p> + +<p>One I especially remember. A planter, it seems, had fallen deeply in +love with a charming quadroon girl. He desired to marry her; but the law +forbade. What was he to do? To tarnish her honour was out of the +question; he had too much himself to seek to tarnish hers. Here was a +dilemma. But he was not to be foiled. What true heart will be, if there +be any virtue in expedients?</p> + +<p> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">"——In love,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">His thoughts came down like a rushing stream."</span><br /> +</p> + +<p>At last he got it. A capital thought, which could have crept out of no +one's brain, save that of a most desperate lover. He hit upon the +expedient of extracting a little African blood from the veins of one of +his slaves, and injecting it into his own. The deed done, the letter of +the law was answered. He made proposals, was accepted, and they were +married,—he being willing to risk his caste in obedience to a love +higher and holier than any conventionalism which men have ever contrived +to establish.</p> + +<p>O, Cupid, thou art a singular God! and a most amazing philosopher! Thou +goest shooting about with thy electrically charged arrows, bringing to +one common level human hearts, however diverse in clime, caste, or +color.</p> + +<p>Let not the reader suppose, however, that the white people of America +are in the habit of exercising such honor towards the people of color, +as is here ascribed to this planter. Far from it.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46">[Pg 46]</a></span> The laws of the +Southern States, on the one hand, (I allude not now to any particular +law of Louisiana, but to the laws of the Slave States in general), have +deliberately, and in cold blood, withheld their protection from every +woman within their borders, in whose veins may flow but half a drop of +African blood; while the prejudice against color of the Northern States, +on the other hand, is so cruel and contemptuous of the rights and +feelings of colored people, that no white man would lose his caste in +debauching the best educated, most accomplished, virtuous and wealthy +colored woman in the community, but would be mobbed from Maine to +Delaware, should he with that same woman attempt honorable marriage. +Henry Ward Beecher, (brother of Mrs. Stowe) in reference to prejudice +against color, has truly said of the Northern people—and the truth in +this case in startling and melancholy—that, "with them it is less +sinful to break the whole decalogue towards the colored people, than to +keep a single commandment in their favour."</p> + +<p>But to return to the narrative. Miss King, previously to the +consummation of our engagement, consulted her father, who at once gave +his consent. Her sister not only consented, but, thanks to her kind +heart, warmly approved the match. Her brothers, of whom there were many, +were bitterly opposed. Mrs. King—a step-mother only—was not only also +bitterly opposed, but inveterately so. Bright fancies and +love-bewildering conceptions were what, in her estimation, we ought not +to be allowed to indulge.</p> + +<p>In passing, it is proper to say, that this lady, though not lacking a +certain benevolence,—especially that sort which can pity the fugitive, +give him food and raiment, or permit him at her table even,—is, +nevertheless, extremely aristocratic of heart and patronizing of temper. +This statement is made upon quite a familiar acquaintance with Mrs. +King, and out of no asperity of feeling. I cherish none, but only pity +for those who nurture a prejudice, which, while it convicts them of the +most ridiculous vanity, at the same time shrivels their own hearts and +narrows their own souls.</p> + +<p>Mrs. King was at first mild in her opposition, but finally resorted to +such violence of speech and act, as to indicate a state<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47">[Pg 47]</a></span> of feeling +really deplorable, and a spirit diametrically opposed to all the +teachings of the Christian religion—a religion which she loudly +professed, and which assures us that "God is no respecter of persons."</p> + +<p>I judge not mortal man or woman, but leave Mrs. King, and all those who +thought it no harm because of my complexion, to abuse the most sacred +feelings of my heart, to their conscience and their God.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48">[Pg 48]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>CHAPTER III.</h2> + +<h3>NOBILITY AND SERVILITY.</h3> + + +<p>The reader will doubtless and also correctly imagine that situated as +Miss King has now been shown to be, she could not have experienced many +very pleasant hours either of night or day,—pleasant so far as the +sympathy of her numerous relatives and friends could serve to make them +such. Fortunately, however she was not of that class whose happiness +depends upon the smiles or the approbation of others earned at any +cost—but upon a steady obedience to what in her inmost soul, she +regarded as demanded by the laws of rectitude and justice.</p> + +<p>That a young lady could break away without a struggle from the +counsellors, friends and companions of her youth, is not to be expected. +Miss King had her struggles; and the letter written to me by her on the +consummation of our engagement evinced their character, and also her +grandeur and nobility of soul:—</p> + +<p>"I have endeavoured to solve, honorably, conscientiously and +judiciously, the greatest problem of human life; and God and the holy +angels have assisted me in thus solving. Friends may forsake me, and the +world prove false, but the sweet assurance that I have your most devoted +love, and that that love will strengthen and increase in proportion as +the regard of others may diminish, is the only return I ask."</p> + +<p>What vows I uttered in the secret chambers of my heart as I read the +above and similar passages of that letter, let the reader imagine who +may be disposed to credit me with the least aptitude of appreciating +whatsoever in human nature is grand and noble, or in the human spirit, +which is lovely, and true, and beautiful, and of good report.</p> + +<p>Throughout the letter there was also a tone of gentle sadness—not that +of regret for the course in contemplation,—but that which holily +lingers around a loving heart, which, while it gives itself away, may +not even lightly inflict the slightest pang<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49">[Pg 49]</a></span> upon other hearts to which +it has long been bound by dearly-cherished ties.</p> + +<p>But family opposition was not the only opposition which Miss King +expected to, or did indeed encounter. Whoever sought to marry yet, and +did the deed unblessed or uncursed of public praise or wrath? And aside +from extraordinary circumstances, it is so pleasant to dip one's finger +into a pie matrimonial.</p> + +<p>The following paragraph of a letter written to me by Miss King a few +days after I left her in December, amused me much,—it may possibly +amuse the reader:—</p> + +<p>"Professor,—You would smile if you only knew what an excitement your +visit here caused among the good people of Fulton. Some would have it +that we were married, and others said if we were not already married, +they were sure that we would be; for they knew that you would not have +spent a whole week with us if there had been no love existing between +you and myself. Some of the villagers came to see me the day after you +left, and begged of me, if <i>I were determined to marry you, to do so at +once, and not to keep the public in so much suspense</i>."</p> + +<p>Friend, have you ever heard or read of anything which came nearer to +clapping the climax of the ridiculous than this most singular appeal +couched in the last clause of this quotation, to the benevolence of Miss +King? Certainly, if anything could have come nearer, it would have been +the act of a certain lady who, having heard during this selfsame visit +that we were to be married on the morrow, actually had her sleigh drawn +up to the door, and would have driven off to the Elder's to "<i>stop the +wedding</i>" had not her husband remonstrated. It is true, this lady +opposed the marriage, not on the ground of an immorality, but of its +inexpediency considering the existent state of American sentiment; but +then it is curious to think of what amazing powers she must have +imagined herself possessed.</p> + +<p>Public opposition however, soon began to assume a more decided form. +Neighbours far and near, began to visit the house of Elder King, and to +adopt such remonstrance and expostulation as, in their view the state of +the case demanded. Some<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50">[Pg 50]</a></span> thought our marriage would be dreadful, a most +inconceivably horrid outrage. Some declared it would be vulgar, and had +rather see every child of theirs dead and buried, than take the course +which, they were shocked to find, Miss King seemed bent to do. Some +sillier than all the rest, avowed that should the marriage be permitted +to take place, it would be a sin against Almighty God; and it may be, +they thought it would call down thunder-bolts from the chamber of +heaven's wrath, to smite us from the earth.</p> + +<p>"There is no peace," saith my God, "to the wicked."—And surely, clearer +exemplifications of this saying of Holy Writ were never had, than in the +brain-teasings, mind-torturings and heart-rackings of these precious +people, out of deference to our welfare. May they be mercifully +remembered and gloriously rewarded.</p> + +<p>It is proper to introduce to the reader at this point, our cherished +friends,—Mr. and Mrs. Porter,—and to say at once, that words are not +expressive enough to describe the gratitude we owe them, nor in what +remembrance we hold them in the deepest depths of our hearts. They stood +by us throughout that season of intended bloody persecution, turning +neither to the right nor the left, nor counting their own interests or +lives as aught in comparison to the friendship they bore us, or to their +love of the principles of truth, justice and humanity. Amid the raging +billows, they stood as a rock to which to cling.</p> + +<p>We had known these friends for months, nay, for years. They had also +been students in Mc. Grawville, but had subsequently married, and at the +time of my December visit to Fulton were teachers of a School in +Phillipsville,—where, it may be proper here to say, was located the +depôt of the Fulton trains of cars.</p> + +<p>Not only belonging to that class of persons, (rare in America, even +among those who claim to be Abolitionists and Christians), persons who +do not <i>profess</i> to believe merely, but really <i>do</i> believe in the +doctrine of the "unity, equality, and brotherhood of the human race;" +and who are willing to accord to others the exercise of rights which +they claim for themselves; but, having also great purity of heart and +purpose, Mr. and Mrs.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51">[Pg 51]</a></span> Porter did not, as they could not, sympathise +with those whose ideas of marriage, as evinced in their conversation +respecting Miss King and myself, never ascended beyond the region of the +material into that of the high, the holy and the spiritual. Of all the +families of Fulton and Phillipsville, this was the only one which +<i>publicly</i> spoke approval of our course. So that, therefore it will be +expected, that while those true hearts were friendly to us, they were +equally with ourselves targets at which our enemies might shoot.</p> + +<p>I have introduced Mr. and Mrs. Porter at this point, because, at this +point, their services to us commenced. But for these faithful friends, +Miss King would not have known whither to have fled when she found as +she did, her own home becoming any other than a desirable habitation, +owing to the growing opposition and bitter revilings of her step-mother, +and the impertinent intermeddlings of others.</p> + +<p>Thus far the opposition which Miss King had experienced, though +disagreeable, had not become too much for the "utmost limit of human +patience." Soon, however, a crisis occurred, in the arrival in Fulton, +of the Rev. John B. King. This gentleman's visit was unexpected, and it +is due to him to say, that he did not come on any errand connected with +this subject; for until he arrived in Fulton, he did not know of the +correspondence which had existed between his sister and myself. Though +unexpected, his visit as already intimated, was fraught with results, +which in their immediate influence, were extremely sad and woeful.</p> + +<p>Mr. King was a Reform preacher, and had even come from Washington, +District of Columbia, where he had been residing for the last two years, +to collect money to build a church which should exclude from membership +those who held their fellow-men in bondage, and who would not admit the +doctrines of the human brotherhood. Just the man to assist us, one would +have thought. But it is easy to preach and to talk. Who cannot do that? +It is easier still to <i>feel</i>—this is humanity's instinct—for the +wrongs and outrages inflicted upon our kind. But to plant one's feet +rough-shod upon the neck and heels of a corrupt and controlling public +sentiment, to cherish living faith in God, and,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52">[Pg 52]</a></span> above all to crush the +demon in one's own soul,—ah! this it is which only the <i>great</i> can do, +who, only of men, can help the world onward up to heaven.</p> + +<p>Mr. King had scarcely entered the house, and been told the story of our +engagement, when he manifested the most unworthy and unchristian +opposition. Unworthy and unchristian, since he frankly averred, that had +I the remaining fourth Anglo-Saxon blood, he would be proud of me as a +brother. He was bitter, not as wormwood only, but as wormwood and gall +combined. He would not tolerate me as a visitor at his house, in company +with his sister, unless I came in the capacity of driver or servant. A +precious brother this, and a most glorious Christian teacher.</p> + +<p>I have said that the arrival of this gentleman marked a crisis in the +history of our troubles; and it did so in the fact that by the powerful +influence which he exerted over his father, adverse to our marriage, and +by the aid, strength and comfort which he gave to his step-mother; the +Elder was at last brought to a reconsideration of his views, and to +abandon the ground which he had hitherto maintained with so much heroism +and valour.</p> + +<p>I shall say no hard things of Elder King; now that the storm is over, I +prefer to leave him to his own reflections, and especially to this one, +which may be embodied in the following question,—<i>What is the true +relation which a Christian Reformer sustains to public opinion?</i></p> + +<p>Had the Elder, supposing it to have been possible, assumed towards us a +position more adverse than the one he did in this singular and +unexpected change, the results could not, for the time being at least, +have been sadder or more disastrous. How it affected the feelings of his +daughter, the reader can well imagine, who will remember, that upon her +father she had hitherto relied as upon a pillar of strength, and +especially as her rock of refuge from the storms which beat upon her +from without. Stricken thus, a weak spirit would have given up in +despair; but not so with this heroic and noble-minded lady, upon whom +misfortune seemed to have no other effect than to increase her faith in +God.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53">[Pg 53]</a></span></p> + +<p>Elder King now, not as hitherto out of his deference to the feelings of +his wife, but of his own accord, averred that I should on no +consideration whatever, be permitted to enter his house, to hold a +conference with his daughter, providing said conference was to be +promotive of our marriage. Miss King was compelled, therefore, to make +an arrangement with Mr. Porter, by which our interviews should be held +in his house when I should arrive, as I was expected to do so in a few +days, from Boston. Strange to say, however, and paradoxical as it may +seem, on the day on which I was expected to arrive in Fulton, the Elder +himself took his daughter from Fulton to Phillipsville to meet me. I +reached Phillipsville, on Saturday afternoon, January 29th, and, of +course, was not advised of this altered state of things, until my +arrival there—the Elder's change having taken place within a very few +days previous.</p> + +<p>The method which Elder King took to evince his hostility—his exclusion +of me from his house—was extremely injudicious; and I have no doubt +that he, himself, now sincerely regrets it. It excited to action the mob +spirit which had all along existed in the hearts of the people, and was +only awaiting the pretext which the Elder gave—the placing of me before +the community, as a marauder upon the peace of his family. The mob, +also, gave to the matter what the King family, evidently afterwards, +greatly deplored—extraordinary notoriety. Elder King would certainly +have displayed more worldly sagacity, to say nothing of Christian +propriety, to have admitted me into his house as usual, where we could, +all together, have reasoned the matter; and if prejudices could not have +been conciliated, the Elder, at all events, by his previous acquaintance +with my character, had every reason to suppose that I should have +conducted myself as became a gentleman and a Christian. But so it +is,—prejudice thus bewilders the faculties, and defeats the objects +which it aims most to accomplish.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54">[Pg 54]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>CHAPTER IV.</h2> + +<h3>THE MOB.</h3> + + +<p>Hardly unlooked for by myself was this mob, especially after I had +learned of the direction which "the subject" had taken in the family of +Mr. King.</p> + +<p>On Sabbath afternoon, January 30th, while Mr. and Mrs. Porter, Mrs. +Porter's sister, Miss King, and myself, were enjoying ourselves in +social conversation, a gentleman from the village of Fulton called at +the residence of Mr. Porter, to give an account of events as they were +transpiring in the village. This gentleman was decidedly opposed to +"amalgamation," expressed the utmost surprise that Mr. Porter should for +a moment suppose that God ever designed the inter-marriage of white and +colored persons,—but he was, nevertheless, a man of friendly +disposition,—and as a friend he came to Mr. Porter. <i>We were to be +mobbed</i>,—so this gentleman informed us. He advised escape on the part +of Mr. Porter and myself, otherwise the house would be demolished! All +Fulton, since Saturday night, he informed us, had been in arms. Crowds +of men could be seen in the streets, at every point, discussing the +subject of our marriage, and with feelings of the most extraordinary +excitement; and similar discussions, he added, had been held during the +live-long night preceding, in all the grog shops and taverns of the +village.</p> + +<p>All sorts of oaths had been uttered, and execrations vented. Tar, +feathers, poles, and an empty barrel spiked with shingle nails had been +prepared for my especial benefit; and, so far as I was concerned, it +must be escape or death. Mr. Porter was to be mobbed, he said, for +offering me entertainment, and for being supposed friendly to our union. +This friend did not understand the whole plan of the onslaught, but he +gave sufficient information to justify us in surmising that no harm was +intended to be inflicted upon Miss King, or any lady of the house.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55">[Pg 55]</a></span></p> + +<p>Knowing the brutal character of prejudice against color, and knowing +also that I was supposed to be about to commit the unpardonable sin, I +confess, that though surprised to learn that the mob intended murder, +yet I was not surprised to learn many of the details which this friend +so kindly gave us.</p> + +<p>Mr. Porter suggested that after supper, he and I should retire to a +neighbour's house, he supposing that if the mob should be foiled in +their attempt to get us into their hands, they would, after all, pass +away, and thus the matter blow quietly over. The suggestion, however, +was not carried into effect; for we had scarcely finished tea ere they +(the mob) were down upon us like wild beasts out of a den.</p> + +<p>We first observed some twenty men turning a corner in the direction of +the house; then about thirty or forty more, and soon the streets were +filled with men—some four or five hundred. In the rear of this +multitude there was driven a sleigh in which, we rightly conjectured, +Miss King was to be taken home.</p> + +<p>From the statements of the leader of the mob—statements afterwards +given to the public—it seems that a Committee, composed of members of +the mob, and constituted by the mob, suggested before reaching the house +that if we were still unmarried there should be no violence done, as +they intended to carry off the lady. A portion of this Committee also +made it their duty to gain access to the apartment where our company +were sitting, and to inform us of the intentions of the assembled +multitude below, while the remainder of the Committee endeavoured by +speeches and reasoning to quiet the mob spirit, which soon after the +assembling, began to reach its climax.</p> + +<p>This Committee was composed of some of the most "respectable" men of +Fulton—lawyers, merchants, and others of like position. The reader will +doubtless think it strange that such men should be members of a mob; and +so it would be, if prejudice against color were not the saddest of all +comments upon the meanness of human depravity. In this, more than in +anything else did the malignant character of this American feeling +evince itself—that to drive me off or kill me, if need be, the +"respectable" and the base were commingled, like<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56">[Pg 56]</a></span>—</p> + +<p><span style="margin-left: 2em;">"Kindred elements into one."</span></p> + +<p>Men who, under other circumstances, would have been regarded as beneath +contempt, the vulgar minded and vulgar hearted—with these, even +Christians (so called) did not hesitate to affiliate themselves in order +to crush a man who was guilty of no crime save that, having a colored +skin, he was supposed to be about to marry a lady a few shades lighter +than himself. O, the length and breadth, the height and depth, the +cruelty and the irony of a prejudice which can so belittle human nature.</p> + +<p>But to the Committee again. This Committee declared themselves to us to +be a self-constituted body. But whether self-constituted or otherwise, +it matters not, since they were to all intents and purposes members of +the mob—if not in <i>deed</i>, still in spirit and in heart. They meant no +more than to save the honor of their village by preventing, if possible, +bloodshed and death. They were not men of better principles than the +rabble—they were only men of better breeding. I do them no injustice. +The tenor of their discourse to us at the house of Mr. Porter, the +spirit of an article published by one of their number a few days after +in the "<i>Oswego Daily Times</i>," and the statements of the mob-leader, +clearly satisfy me that had we been married, they (the Committee) +deeming that our marriage would have been a greater disgrace to their +village than even bloodshed or death, would have left us to our +fate—Miss King to be carried off, or perchance grossly insulted, and +myself left, as the spiked barrel especially evinced, to torture and to +death. That this Committee saved my life, I have no doubt; and I have +publicly thanked them for the act. So I would be grateful even to the +man who took deadly aim at me with his revolver, and only missed his +mark.</p> + +<p>Previous to the death which I was to suffer in the spiked barrel, I was +to undergo various torturings and mutilations of person, aside from the +tarring and feathering—some of these mutilations too shocking to be +named in the pages of this book.</p> + +<p>Mr. Porter, as I have already said, was also to be mobbed; but, as we +afterwards ascertained, only to be coated with tar and feathers and +ridden on a rail.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57">[Pg 57]</a></span></p> + +<p>The leader of the mob subsequently averred that so decided was the +feeling in Fulton, that in addition to the hundreds who, in person, made +the onslaught, there were hundreds more in waiting in the village, who, +it was understood between the two companies, were ready to join the +onslaughting party at but a moment's warning. Indeed, Mrs. Allen now +assures me that on her way home that evening, conducted by a portion of +the Committee, she twice met crowds of men still coming on to join the +multitudes already congregated at Mr. Porter's. One of the Committee, +fearing that if all Fulton should get together, excited as the people +were, there would be bloodshed in spite of all that could be said or +done, entreated one of these crowds to go back. But, heeding him not; on +the villains went, some of them uttering oaths and imprecations, some of +them hurrahing, and many of them proceeding with great solemnity of +step—these last doubtless being church-members; for the mob was not +only on Sabbath evening, but it is a notorious fact which came out early +afterwards, that the churches on that evening were, every one of them, +quite deserted.</p> + +<p>Reader, the life of a colored man in America, save as a slave, is +regarded as far less sacred than that of a dog. There is no exaggeration +in this statement—I am not writing of exceptions. It is true there are +white people in America who, while the colored man will keep in what +they call "his place," will treat him with a show of respect even. But +even this kind of people have their offset in the multitudes and +majorities—the populace at large who would go out of their way to +inflict the most demon-like outrages upon those whose skins are not +colored like their own!</p> + +<p>I have before me at this moment recent American papers which contain +accounts of the throttling of respectably-dressed colored men and women +for venturing no further even than into the cabins of ferry boats plying +between opposite cities; of colored ladies made to get out of the cars +in which they had found seats—in cars in which the vilest loafer, +provided his skin be white might sit unmolested; of respectable +clergymen having their clothes torn from their backs, because they +presumed to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58">[Pg 58]</a></span> ask in a quiet manner that they might have berths in the +cabins of steamers on which they were travelling, and not be compelled +to lodge on deck; and lastly, of a colored man who was not long since +picked up and thrown over-board from a steam boat, on one of the Western +rivers, because of some affray with a white man—while all the +bye-standers stood looking on, regarding the drowning of the man with +less consideration than they would have done the drowning of a brute.</p> + +<p>Knowing all these things, and knowing also the peculiarity of the +circumstances which surrounded me on that Sabbath evening, the reader +will not be surprised, that when I saw the dense multitude surrounding +the house of Mr. Porter, I at once came to the conclusion that I should +not be permitted to live an hour longer. I was not frightened—was never +calmer—prepared for the worst, disposed of my watch and such other +articles of value as I had about my person.</p> + +<p>Mr. Porter was below stairs at the time the mob approached. Soon he came +running up, introducing the Committee to whom reference has already been +made. They at once addressed us. I do not remember their words,—the +purport of the whole, however, was that death was intended for me, +provided we had been married; and as it was, I could only escape it, by +Miss King consenting to go with them, and by myself consenting to leave +the village; and further, that there must be no delay by either party.</p> + +<p>One of the Committee, in order to assure me of the terrible danger by +which I was surrounded, drew back the window curtains and bade me look +out. I did not do so, however, since it was not necessary that I should +look out in order to feel fully convinced that there were men below, who +had determined to degrade themselves below the level of the brutes that +perish. Such cursings, such imprecations, such cries of "nigger," "bring +him out," "d——n him," "kill him," "down with the house," were never +heard before, I hardly think, even in America.</p> + +<p>Of course, to have attempted to resist this armed mob of hundreds of men +would have been preposterous. It would have been, so far as I was +concerned, at least, to have committed myself to instant death. +Compelled, therefore, to make the best<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59">[Pg 59]</a></span> of our unfortunate situation, +Miss King consented to go with the Committee, and I to leave the +village—she, however, taking care to assure me in a whisper, that she +would meet me on the following day in Syracuse. The lady was now +conducted by the Committee through the mob to the sleigh. Not a word was +spoken by a single ruffian in the crowd. All were silent until the +driver put whip to his horse, when a general shout was sent up, as of +complete and perfect triumph.</p> + +<p><span style="margin-left: 2em;">"Mistaken souls!"</span></p> + +<p>Having reached her father's house, one of the Committee addressed a +speech to her, hoped that for the sake of her family, and the community, +Miss King would relinquish all partiality for Professor Allen, advised +her also to go around among the ladies of the village, and consult with +them, and assured her that he would be glad to see her at his house; and +at any time when she felt disposed to come, he would send a sleigh to +bring her.</p> + +<p>Nothing remarkable about this speech. But the tone in which it was +delivered!—that cannot be put upon paper. The speaker evidently thought +the young lady would receive it all as a mark of gracious favor, and as +assuring her that though she had been "hand and glove" with a coloured +man, he would nevertheless condescend to overlook it. He was dealing +with the wrong woman, however; and he received such a reply to his +harangue as only a virtuous indignation could have prompted.</p> + +<p>The reader must also be informed that a double-sleigh load of +able-bodied men followed close behind the one in which Miss King was +taken home. What this movement meant, I am not able very satisfactorily +to conjecture. I venture the opinion, however, that the good folks +supposed their victim would jump out of the sleigh in which she was +riding, if a good opportunity should offer, and run back to the +Professor; and so this last load, no doubt, was put on as the rear-guard +of the posse.</p> + +<p>Now for myself. Miss King having left, and the mob having been informed +that I was about to leave, they were somewhat quieted, but were far from +being appeased. That portion of the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60">[Pg 60]</a></span> Committee that remained with me, +thought there was danger yet; and so, indeed, there was, judging hideous +noises, bitter curses and ruffianly demonstrations, to be any proper +criterion. They still cried, "bring him out" and "kill him." The +Committee thought the safety of the house required that I should be +removed at once; so I having gotten together my hat, valise and other +effects, they took me under their protection and conducted me to the +village hotel.</p> + +<p>While I was being conducted out of the door, all manner of speech was +hurled at me—a bountiful supply of that sort of dialectics which +America can beat all the world at handling. However, the main desire of +the mob at this point seemed to have been to get a sight of me; so they +arraigned themselves in a double file, while I was conducted through the +centre thereof, somewhat after the fashion of a military hero—a +committee man at each side, one in front and another behind. Having +passed completely through the file, the scoundrels then closed in upon +me; some of them kicking me, some striking me in the side, once on the +head, some pulling at my clothes and bruising my hat, and all of them +hooting and hallooing after a manner similar to that which they +practised when they first surrounded the house of Mr. Porter.</p> + +<p>At length we reached the hotel—a quarter of a mile distant. The +Committee were about to conduct me into the front parlour, when one +fellow patriotically cried out, "God d——n it, don't carry that nigger +into the front door." A true Yankee that! I have a penny laid up for +that fellow, if I should ever chance to meet him.</p> + +<p>I was conducted into the back parlour of the hotel, as being the most +secure. Still the mob were not appeased, and besides, their numbers had +increased. They hung around the house. Some of them opened the windows +half-way and tried to clamber through them into the parlour where I was; +and at last they way-laid the outer doors.</p> + +<p>The sort of curses they indulged in meanwhile, I need not describe +again. They were essentially the same as they had hitherto vented, save +that one or two of them growing a little humor<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61">[Pg 61]</a></span>ous, cried out +occasionally "a speech from Professor Allen"—putting a peculiar +emphasis on the professor.</p> + +<p>The Committee busied themselves in furnishing two sleighs in which I was +to be conveyed away, and also in appeasing the more ruffianly part of +the multitude with cigars and such other articles as they choose to call +for at the bar of the hotel. One of the sleighs was stationed at the +back door of the hotel, and the other about two miles from Fulton. The +plan was that I should get into the former and be driven to the latter, +in which I was to be taken post haste to Syracuse—a distance of about +twenty-five miles. The mob, however, suspected some of the details of +the plan, and consequently every time I appeared at the back door, they +made a rush at me seeking to wreak their vengeance. I escaped their +violence, however, by stepping adroitly out of the way. And, as the +tavern keeper had assured them that if they attempted violence upon me +while I was under his roof, they would do it at their peril, many of +them left, and I, at last, succeeded in reaching the sleigh at the back +door and was driven off in safety. The mob unable to overtake me, still +shouted a last imprecation.</p> + +<p>For this said Sleigh ride, I paid Six dollars, about <i>£</i>1. 4<i>s.</i>; so I was +robbed, if not murdered.</p> + +<p>I will now describe the leader of the mob—Henry C. Hibbard. I will do +it in short. This man is a clumsy-fisted, double jointed, burly-headed +personage, about six feet in height, with a countenance commingling in +expression the utmost ferocity and cunning. Hibbard is not a fool—but a +knave. He is essentially a low bred man, and vulgar to the heart's core.</p> + +<p>Some idea of the calibre of the man may be had in the fact that in his +published Article in defense of the mob, he makes use of such +expressions as "g'hals," "g'halhood" and the like.</p> + +<p>He has great perseverance of character as is evinced in the fact that +though I was several days behind the time at which I was expected to +arrive in Fulton, he or his deputies never failed to be daily at the +Cars so as to watch my arrival, and thus be in season with the +onslaught.</p> + +<p>This man set himself up, and was indeed so received by the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62">[Pg 62]</a></span> Elder and +Mrs. King as their friend, counsellor, and adviser. A confirmation this, +of what I have already said about the commingling of the "respectable" +and the base. His mobocratic movements, however, it is but just to say, +were unknown to the Elder and his wife until after the onslaught had +been made. Mrs. King however did not deprecate the mob until its history +had become somewhat unpopular, by reason of many of the "respectable" +men becoming ashamed at last that they had been found in such company as +Hibbard's. And even the Elder himself, though he deprecated the mob, +still characterized it as the "just indignation of the public."</p> + +<p>Hibbard, I have already said, published a written defence of the mob. +The article was headed "<i>The Mary Rescue.</i>"—and a most remarkable +document it was—remarkable, however, only for its intense vulgarity, +its absurd contradictions, and its ridiculous attempts at piety and +poetry.</p> + +<p>Me, he describes as the "Professor of Charms" and "Charming Professor," +once—the "tawney charmer."</p> + +<p>Hibbard's article is not by me; and, if it were, its defilement is such +that I could not be tempted to give it at length. Laughable and +lamentable as the article is in the main, I still thank Hibbard for some +portions of it, and especially for that one which substantiates the +charge which I have brought against the "respectable men of Fulton." +Thus ends the mob.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63">[Pg 63]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>CHAPTER V.</h2> + +<h3>DARK DAYS.</h3> + + +<p>Reader, I am now to describe the events of the two weeks which followed +the Fulton onslaught; and I can assure you that language has yet to be +invented in which to write in its fullness what, when the children of +certain parents shall look back fifty years hence, they will regard as +the darkest deeds recorded in the history of their ancestors.</p> + +<p>Diabolical as was the mob, yet the shameful and outrageous persecution +to which Miss King was subjected during those memorable weeks, at the +hands of her relatives and the Fulton Community, sinks it (the mob) into +utter significance. How the human beings who so outraged an inoffensive +young lady can dare call themselves christians, is to me a mystery which +I, at least, shall never be able wholly to explain.</p> + +<p>I have already said that Miss King assured me on parting on Sabbath +evening that she would meet me in Syracuse on the morrow. Accordingly I +awaited at the depôt, on Monday afternoon, the arrival of the Fulton +train of cars. But she did not appear, and, for the first time, the +thought occurred to me that the Fulton people were determined to leave +nothing undone by which to fill out their measure of meanness.</p> + +<p>On Tuesday morning next, February 1st, the following article appeared in +the "<i>Syracuse Star</i>"—one of the organs of the Fillmore Administration. +It needs no comment of mine to instruct the reader as to the character +of the paper which could publish such complete diabolism:—</p> + + +<h4>"ANOTHER RESCUE."</h4> + +<p>"A gentleman from Fulton informs us that that village was the theatre of +quite an exciting time, to say the least, on Sunday<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64">[Pg 64]</a></span> evening last. The +story is as follows:—Rev. Mr. King, Pastor of a regular Wesleyan +Methodist, Abolition, Amalgamation Church at Fulton, has an interesting +and quite pretty daughter, whom, for some three or four years past, he +has kept at School at that pink of a 'nigger' Institution, called the +Mc. Grawville College, located South of us, in Cortland County. While +there, it seems that a certain genuine negro connected with the +Institution, called Professor Allen, (Professor Allen! bah!!) and +herself became enamoured of each other, and thereupon entered into the +requisite stipulation and agreements to constitute what is known to +those interested in such matters, as an 'engagement' to be married. A +little time since, the damsel went home to her Amalgamation-preaching +parents, and made known the arrangements whereby their lovely daughter +expected soon to be folded in the hymenean arms of anti-alabaster Sambo. +The parents remonstrated and begged, and got the brothers and sisters to +interpose, but all to no effect. The blooming damsel was determined to +partake of the 'bed and board,' and inhale the rich odours, refreshing +perfumes, and reviving fragrance which Mc. Grawville College teaching +had pictured to her in life-like eloquence; and more than this, she +would not remain in membership with the denomination that preaches but +declines to practice, and sent in her resignation in due form of law. +Whereupon, down from Mc. Grawville comes the blushing Allen, all decked +in wedding garb, and on Sunday morn he half woke from ponderous sleep, +and thought he heard playing on the air such sweet music,—</p> + +<p> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">'"As are those dulcet sounds in break of day,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">That creep into the dreaming bridegroom's ear,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">And summons him to marriage!"'</span><br /> +</p> + +<p>"But evening came, and as the anxious couple could not have the nuptial +rites celebrated under the Rev. father's roof, they withdrew to +Phillips' tavern, on the West side of the river, and made preparations +for the ceremonies. In the meantime the affair got whispered about the +town, and the incensed populace<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65">[Pg 65]</a></span> to some five hundred strong made ready +to 'disturb the meeting.' Several of the prominent citizens, fearing +lest a serious row should follow, repaired to the marriage-home, and +while some kept the riot down by speeches and persuasions, others gained +admittance to the colors. Allen, on being asked if he was married, +replied 'no,' but that he would be in a few minutes. He was remonstrated +with, and told the consequences that would ensue—that he would be +mobbed, and must leave town immediately. He responded that he knew what +he was about, was a free man, in a free country, and should do as he +pleased. By this time the outsiders could be held still no longer, and +the window curtains being drawn, our hero 'saw and trembled,' and cried +for mercy. The damsel didn't faint, but at once consented to go home, +and was hurried into a sleigh and driven off, while Sambo under disguise +and surrounded by Abolitionists, was hustled out of the crowd over to +the Fulton house. The multitude soon followed, eager and raving to grab +the 'nigger,' but after a little, he was got away from the house, by +some sly comer, and hurried off to Syracuse in a sleigh, at the top of +two-horse speed. Thus the black cloud avoided the whirlwind, and thus +ended 'Another Rescue.'"</p> + +<p>This article, abominable as it is, was copied either in whole or in part +by nearly every pro-slavery organ throughout America in a few days after +the mob—with glorifications at what they supposed to be my defeat; and +some of the papers copied the article with regrets that I had not been +killed outright. And, indeed, this same "<i>Syracuse Star</i>" in a few days +after the publication of the above article did what it could to inflame +the populace of Syracuse to inflict upon me violence and death.</p> + +<p>Nor were the pro-slaveryites the only persons who gloated with delight +over the Article published by the "<i>Star</i>." Hundreds, and I think I am +within the bounds of truth, when I say that thousands of men and women +calling themselves Abolitionists and Christians, were especially +rejoiced at my "defeat;" and expressed themselves to that effect, though +using more guarded language than those who made no pretensions to a love +of truth, justice, and humanity.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66">[Pg 66]</a></span></p> + +<p>The article abounds in falsehood, though to serve its purpose it is +certainly adroitly written. We had not intended to be married on the +evening of the mob, so that not only is the speech which the Editor puts +in my mouth false, but so also is his statement that we repaired to +Phillips' Tavern to have the nuptial rites celebrated. The story of my +seeing, and trembling and crying for mercy, is also equally false.</p> + +<p>It is also worthy of note that every paper which copied the article, +varied the details, in order to suit its specific locality. Some of the +versions of the affair were extremely amusing.</p> + +<p>One of the papers described the mob as having taken place at Syracuse, +and the onslaught as having been made upon us while the ceremony was +about being performed, whereat Miss King fled in one direction, and I in +another.</p> + +<p>One Editor in furnishing his readers with the details thought it +necessary to a completion of the picture to describe my personal +appearance. He had never seen me—but no matter for that. He had seen +the "<i>Star's</i>" report, and what that did not give him, his imagination +could supply. So he at it; and the next morning I appeared in print as +"a stout, lusty, fellow, six feet and three inches tall, and as black as +a pot of charcoal." Reader, you would laugh to see me after such a +description—of my height, at least.</p> + +<p>The telegraphic wires were also put in demand, and in less than +forty-eight hours after the occurrence of the mob, the terrific news had +spread throughout the country that a "Colored man had attempted to marry +a White woman!" And incredible as it may seem to Britons, this "horrid +marriage" was for weeks, not only discoursed of in the papers but was +the staple of conversation and debate in the grog shops, in the parlors, +at the corners of the streets, and wherever men and women are accustomed +to assemble; and during this time also my life was in danger whenever I +ventured in the streets. The reader will get some idea of the state of +things when I assure him that about a week after the mob, I had occasion +to call at the Globe Hotel, Syracuse; and had not been in the house more +than ten minutes before the landlord came to me and requested me to +retire, as<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67">[Pg 67]</a></span> he feared the destruction of his house—the multitude having +seen me enter, he said, and were now assembling about the building. I +walked quietly out in company with a gentleman in a counter direction to +the mob, and so escaped their wrath.</p> + +<p>But to return to the narrative. On Tuesday afternoon (two days after the +mob) I awaited again at the Syracuse depôt, the arrival of the Fulton +train of cars; supposing it possible that I might meet Miss King. She +did not make her appearance, and there was now not a doubt left on my +mind as to the character of what was going on in Fulton. Just as I was +on the point of turning away from the depôt, a gentleman came up behind +me, tapped me on the shoulder, and bade me get out of the way as quickly +as possible; for the Fulton mobocrats, he informed me, had sent up word +by telegraph to certain persons in Syracuse to mob me, if I should be +seen about the car house. This gentleman also added that some of these +persons were about the car house, wishing to have me pointed out.</p> + +<p>It seems, the Committee that visited us on the evening of the mob, had +overheard Miss King assure me that she would meet me on the following +day in Syracuse; and they, or others of our keepers, had not only +determined that no such meeting should be held, but that the mobbing +should be repeated if I attempted again to see her.</p> + +<p>Just as I was about to enter my lodging house on my return from the +depôt, whom should I espy but my friend Porter turning the corner and +approaching me. Of course I was glad to see him; and our conversation, +at once, turned upon Fulton and the events of the two preceeding days. +He informed me, much to my surprise, for I had hardly supposed that +tyranny would have gone so far, that on the night following the mob, the +people of the village had risen up <i>en masse</i>, and in solemn meeting +dismissed him from his school. Glorious America! Land of the Free!</p> + +<p>Mr. Porter had committed no crime—nothing was charged against him, save +that he had entertained us, and was known to be favorable to our union, +or rather unfavorable to any interference in a matter which was of +sacred right our own.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68">[Pg 68]</a></span></p> + +<p>Mr. P. gave me no information with regard to Miss King, except that she +was at home, and that in consequence of the extraordinary excitement she +would probably be unable to get out of Fulton for several days to come.</p> + +<p>He returned to Fulton the next morning, and three or four days after, I +received from him the following letter. It is significant:—</p> + +<p class='author'> +"Gilberts' Mills, February 4th, 1853.</p> + +<p><span style="margin-left: 1em;">"Professor Allen,—</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2.3em;">"Dear Friend:—</span><br /> +</p> + +<p>"I write you under very extraordinary circumstances. I have been obliged +to leave the vicinity of Fulton, for a while at least. I am now stopping +at A. Gilbert's. How long I shall stay here, I cannot tell.</p> + +<p>"Mary (Miss King) I have not seen or heard from, for two days. All +communications between her and Julia, (her sister—who was favorable to +our union) and our family has been broken off—strictly prohibited; and +Hibbard's house, on the hill, is the watch tower to guard Elder King's +house against such dangerous invaders as ourselves.</p> + +<p>"When I came from Syracuse that morning, Hibbard was at the depôt on the +watch. In the afternoon I went up to the Elder's, and was met on the +door-step and told not to deliver any messages or letters to Mary. Of +course, I had none with me to deliver, and so I told Elder King. But I +saw Mary in the presence of the family and Hibbard, and Mrs. Case and +Mrs. Sherman, and such like—for Elder King's folks have a great many +such sympathisers now.</p> + +<p>"I wanted to say some things to her not in the presence of these +strangers—so to speak—in the family; <i>but she told me that she was +permitted to say no word to any one but in the presence of such +companions as were appointed for her. I went away sad, for Mrs. King is +trying to torment her soul out of her, by constant upbraidings and +railings</i>.</p> + +<p>"Yesterday morning Sarah (Mrs. Porter) started to go up to see her, not +having seen her since the affair of the mob; but a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69">[Pg 69]</a></span> cutter from +Phillipsville whipped by her, and when she had got near the house, the +cutter came back bringing Elder King, who told her that they thought it +advisable to request her not to go to his house—that, in a word, <i>they +were determined to prevent all communication between our family and +Mary</i>. Sarah came back. In the meantime, a man came to see me—Mr. +Case—to tell me that I must not go to Elder King's—<i>that I could not +go there without getting hurt</i>. In fact, I had been that morning to +Fulton early, to see the Editor of '<i>The Patriot</i>;' while I was going +through the street, a lot of rowdies gathered together and yelled after +me. The explanation is easy. When I came from Syracuse, the story went +that I was plotting to get Mary off. And I can hardly forgive Elder King +for putting the sanction upon this falsity, by excluding us from his +house. That act of Elder King gave the multitude full swing. They have +now full liberty to mob me; <i>and last night I came very near getting +into their hands. About sunset they came over headed by Hibbard</i>, and +while stopping at the tavern on the way—this side of the bridge—a man +whipped up to Watson's on horseback, and gave me the wink. George +Gilbert was at our room, (a lucky chance) and so I got under the +buffalo, and Sarah sat on the seat, and so we rode down straight by +them, and thus foiled them again. To-day I went back—packed up, and put +my trunks in a neighbor's house, and then came down here with Sarah and +Libbie. Thus it is. <i>Mary—God help her—is in prison,—that is, she is +guarded.</i> Elder King has consented to just such arrangements as Mrs. +King and Hibbard and some of the heartless, officious aristocrats of the +village saw fit to propose. It cannot be helped. Mary will doubtless be +used well, corporally—but oh, the torment of being confined with such +despicable companions. I trust she will be brave; though I did hear +yesterday morning that she was somewhat indisposed and was abed. Her +eyes are inflamed.</p> + +<p>"I left the vicinity not altogether out of personal fear, but because I +knew that my presence kept up the excitement. Allen, <i>it is impossible +for you to conceive what a convulsion this village of Fulton has been +thrown into</i>. A regular siege and cannonading could hardly have raised a +greater muss.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_70" id="Page_70">[Pg 70]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Write to me soon. Enclose to G. Gilbert on the <i>outside</i> wrapper. I +dared not send from Phillipsville yesterday.</p> + +<p>"Keep cool; and do not blame Elder King more than you can help, for I +expect he is forced into some things. How much he is to be forgiven on +account of the dilemma into which he has got himself, let time decide. I +do not wish to make his case worse.</p> + +<p> +<span style="margin-left: 18em;">"Yours in friendship,</span></p> + +<p class='author'>"<span class="smcap">John C. Porter.</span>" +</p> + +<p class='center'>[The italics and parentheses of the above letter are mine. I shall add +no comment.]</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>On Saturday afternoon, Feb. 5th,—still in Syracuse,—I received a visit +from Wm. S. King, Esq. This gentleman is also a brother of Miss King. +His visit seemed to have about it at the outset somewhat of a stealthy +character, and I confess I did not receive him with any great degree of +cordiality. He came on an errand, he said. His sister desired to have an +interview with me, and to that end she would meet me at the house of a +friend about four miles from the village of Fulton. The journey to this +friend's—hers of four miles and mine of twenty or more—he assured me +must be conducted with the greatest possible secrecy; for should the +Fulton people hear of it, the most disastrous results would follow. His +sister was very ill, he said—was suffering intense anguish of mind—had +been confined to her chamber with bodily ailings—had an eye also in a +dreadful condition, the sight of which was in danger of being +lost—still, her anxiety to see me was so great that she had entreated +to be taken even in this condition to the place aforesaid mentioned.</p> + +<p>I understood this brother at once. I was not to be trapped. I had read +human nature (so I think the result will justify me in saying) to a much +better purpose than he. I declined holding the interview at the time, on +account, as I urged, of his sister's feeble health and excited state of +mind—but would have no objection, I added, to such an interview some +two or three weeks to come. He then urged me to write, assuring me that +he would<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71">[Pg 71]</a></span> take the letter willingly. This also, I refused to do. So at +last he left me with the understanding that upon the recovery of his +sister's health, we should have an "interview."</p> + +<p>Mr. King returned immediately to Fulton, and on the Monday following, I +received by post a letter from Miss King. It was not in her own +hand-writing—she was too ill to write, but it was dictated to her +sister. Just as I expected, Miss King had found it necessary considering +the influences against her, and that her relatives and the community +would have left no means untried, however illegal or disgraceful to +thwart her in her designs,—nay, would have sworn her into a lunatic +asylum rather than to have permitted her to marry me—to consent that +our engagement should be broken. This letter was to announce the fact, +while at the same time, it gave as the reason—deference to the feelings +of father and brothers.</p> + +<p>Of course, I did not reply to the letter. As the "<i>Star</i>" says—I knew +what I was about.</p> + +<p>On Tuesday morning, February 8th, I published in the "<i>Syracuse +Standard</i>" the following card:—</p> + + +<h4>"TO THE PUBLIC.—FROM PROFESSOR ALLEN."</h4> + +<p>"So much has been said and written on the subject of the late affair at +Fulton, that the Public by this time must have had nearly <i>quantum +sufficit</i>; yet I deem it not improper on my own behalf to add a remark +or two. I shall not undertake to describe in detail, the murderous +outrage intended to be inflicted on a quiet and unoffending man—that is +not of much consequence now.</p> + +<p>"I wish now simply to show the public, that those who made the onslaught +upon me on Sabbath evening, a week ago, acted no less like a pack of +fools than a pack of devils; and this can be shown almost in a single +word, by stating that the whole story of my intention of being married +on the evening in question, or that I went to Fulton intending to +consummate an affair of the kind at any period of my recent visit there, +is a fabrication from the beginning to the end. The wretch who 'fixed +up' just such a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72">[Pg 72]</a></span> story as he thought would inflame the rabble to take my +life, will yet, I trust, meet with deserved scorn and contempt from a +community who, whatever may be their prejudice against my color, have, +nevertheless, a high sense of what belongs to their own honor and +dignity, and to the character and reputation of their village.</p> + +<p>"I make this statement with regard to this matter of marriage, not +because I regard myself as amenable to the public to state to them +<i>whom</i> or <i>when</i> I shall marry, but that since so much has been said +upon the subject, I am quite willing they should know the truth as it +is. They are tyrants, and very little-hearted, and exceedingly +muddy-headed ones at that, who will presume to take a matter of this +kind out of the hands of the parties to whom it specifically belongs, +and who are acting law-abidingly and honorably in the premises.</p> + +<p>"Here then is the story. Read it. A band of several hundred armed +men—armed, as I have been told, with an empty barrel spiked with +shingle nails, tar, feathers and a pole, came down upon a certain house +in Phillipsville, opposite Fulton, on Sabbath evening, a week ago, to +kill or drive out a single individual, conducting himself in a quiet, +peaceable manner, and that individual, too, in physical stature, one of +the smallest of men,—and in physical strength, proportionably inferior! +If this is not cowardice as well as villainy—and both of them +double-refined—then, I ask, what is cowardice, or what is villainy? The +malignity of the whole matter also is set in a clearer light, when it is +remembered that this same individual has never injured one of his +assailants, nor has it been charged upon him that in his life-time he +has ever inflicted the slightest wrong upon mortal man, but who has +striven to maintain an upright character through life, and to fight his +way for long years through scorn and contempt, to an honorable position +among men. Truly, this is a precious country! However, it is some +consolation to know that 'God is just, and that his justice cannot sleep +for ever.'</p> + +<p>"A gentleman of Fulton writes an article on this subject, to the +'<i>Oswego Daily Times</i>,' of February the 3rd. The spirit of this +gentleman's article dishonors his heart. So filled is he with a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_73" id="Page_73">[Pg 73]</a></span> +prejudice which an eminent Christian of this country has rightly +characterized, as a 'blasphemy against God,' and a 'quarrel with +Jehovah,' that he will not even deign to call me by name, to say nothing +of the title which has been legitimately accorded me, but designates me +as a 'colored man, &c.' The object of this writer in thus refusing to +accord to me so cheap and common a courtesy is apparent, and as +contemptible as apparent. Let him have the glory of it,—I pity him. Had +I been a white man, he would not have so violated what he is such a +stickler for—'the laws and usages of society.'</p> + +<p>"In another place in his article, he describes me as the 'negro.' This +is preposterous and ridiculous. Were I a negro, I should regard it as no +dishonor, since men are not responsible for their physical +peculiarities, and since they are neither better nor worse on account of +them. It happens in this case, however, that so far from being a negro, +three-fourths of the blood which flows in my veins is as good +Anglo-Saxon as that which flows in the veins of this writer in the +'<i>Times</i>,'—better, I will not say, of course.</p> + +<p>"Something also is said in this article from Fulton about the 'course +we' (the young lady and myself) 'were pursuing.' Now, as the several +hundred armed men strong who came down upon me on Sunday night, and some +newspaper Editors, and this gentleman in particular, and the public very +nearly in general, have taken the matter of judging what this 'course we +were pursuing' was, out of our own hands, I propose to leave it still +further with them. They can guess at it, and fight it out to their +heart's content.</p> + +<p>"Something also is said by this gentleman about 'wholesome advice being +given me'—but I did not hear it, that's all. Besides, I never take +advice from those who can not tell the difference between a man and his +skin.</p> + +<p>"One gentleman—a true man—came to me, and expressed his deep sympathy +for me, and his sorrow that I had been so wrongfully treated and +shamefully outraged, and entreated me to regard with pity, and not with +anger, the murderous wretches outside. This is the speech that I +remember, and remember<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74">[Pg 74]</a></span> it to thank the friend for his manifestation of +kind and generous emotions.</p> + +<p>"This Fulton 'Committee man' also says that 'the colored man asked if he +was to be left to be torn to pieces.' Beyond a doubt, I asked that +question. It was certainly, under the circumstances, the most natural +question in the world; for I had really begun to think that the fellows +outside had the genuine teeth and tail.</p> + +<p>"I close this Article. To the Committee who so kindly lent me their +protection on that memorable night, I offer my thanks and lasting +gratitude.</p> + +<p>"To the poor wretches who sought to take my life, I extend my pity and +forgiveness.</p> + +<p>"As to myself—having in my veins, though but in a slight degree, the +blood of a despised, crushed, and persecuted people, I ask no favors of +the people of this country, and get none save from those whose +Christianity is not hypocrisy, and who are willing to 'do unto others as +they would that others should do unto them'—and who regard <i>all</i> human +beings who are equal in character as equal to one another.</p> + +<p> +<span style="margin-left: 24em;">"Respectfully</span></p> + +<p class='author'>"<span class="smcap">William G. Allen</span>" +</p> + +<p>Simultaneously with the above card, there appeared in the "<i>Syracuse +Journal</i>," the following Article. It is from the pen of Wm. S. King—the +brother aforesaid mentioned. It is in spirit a most dastardly +performance, more so, considering that the gentleman really <i>did</i> know +the circumstances, than anything which had hitherto been sent to the +press. As a history of the "affair," it is almost a falsity +throughout—and especially is it so in that part of it which describes +Miss King as repulsing me with her abhorrence of the idea of +amalgamation. I do not propose, however, to be hard on Mr. King. His +untruthful and cowardly spirit has been sufficiently rebuked by the +marriage which took place in less than two months after the publication +of his article:<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75">[Pg 75]</a></span>—</p> + +<h4>"THE FULTON RESCUE CASE."</h4> + +<p>"Since the occurrence of the circumstances which induced the mob and +consequent excitement at Fulton, on the 30th of last month, we have made +considerable effort to procure a full and precise statement of the facts +in the case. This we have finally succeeded in doing from a gentleman of +standing, who is well acquainted with all the circumstances. They are as +follows:—</p> + +<p>"For some years past, Miss King has been attending the School at Mc. +Grawville, known as the 'New York Central College,' in which Allen, the +colored Professor alluded to, is one of the teachers.</p> + +<p>"During that time, Allen became deeply interested in the lady, and +proposed marriage to her. This she at once rejected, declaring that the +thought of such a connection was repulsive to her.</p> + +<p>"For some time after this, the Professor said no more upon the subject; +but in the course of a year or so, <i>again</i> proposed marriage, and was +<i>again</i> rejected.</p> + +<p>"Thus matters stood until some time since, when Miss King left the +School, and returned to her home in Fulton. Shortly after, Allen went to +that place and called on her, and, after a short interview, again, for +the third time, proposed marriage. She <i>again rejected him</i>, and told +him <i>that such was her firm and fixed decision</i>. Her manner towards him, +however, during all this period, had been kind and friendly, but she had +always expressed her abhorrence of the idea of 'amalgamation.'</p> + +<p>"By this time Madam Gossip had set the rumor afloat, that Allen and Miss +K. were engaged to be married. Such a report was, of course calculated +to produce a great excitement wherever it went.</p> + +<p>"Allen, however, was not to be baffled by his former ill success, and +was determined, if possible, to make the report good. He, therefore, a +few days after his last rejection, wrote to a gentleman residing in +Phillipsville, opposite Fulton—who had formerly been a student in Mc. +Grawville—that he intended<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_76" id="Page_76">[Pg 76]</a></span> making him a visit. As all the parties had +been friends and acquaintances at School, Miss K. was invited to be +present for the purpose of having a friendly visit. She accordingly +called upon them on Saturday afternoon, and at their earnest +solicitations consented to spend the Sabbath with them.</p> + +<p>"In the meantime, it was whispered about that the Professor and Miss K. +were there for the purpose of being married. This, the people of Fulton +determined at once, should not be done in that town. They, therefore, +assembled several hundred strong, and appointed a Committee to wait upon +the party, which they accordingly did, and informed the Professor that +he must leave town, and the young lady that she must go home, to which +request they both acceded without hesitation.</p> + +<p>"The above is, as we have been informed, a full and true statement of +the affair which has created such an excitement throughout the country."</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>The reader will see that the article appears as an editorial—another +evidence that it is "conscience that doth make cowards of us all."</p> + +<p>Should Mr. King ever see this little book, and wonder how I found him +out, I will simply inform him that I chanced to be in the neighborhood +of the Journal Office, when he went in with his piece; and further, I +have the guarantee of the Editor.</p> + +<p>I now subjoin an extract of a note which I received from Miss King, on +the afternoon of February the 12th:—</p> + +<p class='author'> +"Fulton, Friday Morning, Feb. 11th.</p> +<p><span style="margin-left: 1em;">"Professor Allen,—</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">"Dearest and best-loved Friend:—</span><br /> +</p> + +<p>"I am much better this morning; and if I could only see you for a few +hours, I am sure I should be quite well again. I have been trying to +persuade father to let me go to Syracuse this morning and see you, but +he thinks my health is not in a state to admit of it now, but has +promised me faithfully that I may meet you at Loguens, on Tuesday of +next week.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77">[Pg 77]</a></span></p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>"Professor—When I saw that article in the '<i>Syracuse Journal</i>,' holding +you up in such a ridiculous light, and laboring to make such false +impressions upon the mind of the public, my soul was on fire with +indignation.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>"I need not tell you again that I love you, for you know that I do; yes, +and I always shall until life's troubled waters cease their flow.</p> + +<p>"All communications that I receive from, or send to, you, <i>are read by +father</i>; for I am a prisoner, yes, a prisoner; and when you write to +me—if you should before I see you—<i>you must say nothing but what you +are willing to have seen</i>. I shall manage to send this note without +having it seen by any one.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>"When I see you, I will tell you how much I have suffered since I saw +you last, and how much I still suffer.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p> +<span style="margin-left: 24em;">"Ever yours,</span></p> + +<p class='author'>"Mary." +</p> + +<p class='center'>[The italicising of the above is my own.]</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>This little note was the only communication which I had received from +Fulton, containing any account of the doings of the King family, since +the letter written to me by Miss King, announcing that our engagement +must be broken. Though short, it was satisfactory. It assured me that +Miss King,—though she could be persecuted—could not be crushed.</p> + +<p>About the same time that I received the above note from Miss King, I +also received the following from Rev. Timothy Stowe, of Peterboro', New +York. How much I valued this friendly epistle coming, as it did, from +one of the most devoted Christians in America, it is not possible for me +to say:<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_78" id="Page_78">[Pg 78]</a></span>—</p> + + +<p class='author'>"Peterboro', February 8th, 1853.</p> +<p><span style="margin-left: 1em;">"Dear Brother Allen:—</span><br /> +</p> + +<p>"I see by the papers, that you have been shamefully mobbed at Fulton. I +write to let you know that there are some in the world who will not join +the multitude who are trying to overwhelm you with prejudice.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>"Now do not be cast down. You, I trust, are not the man to cower at such +a moment. Do not be afraid to stand up your whole length in defence of +your own rights.</p> + +<p>"Come and visit us without delay. Consider my house your home while +here.</p> + +<p>"Brother Smith sends you his love. Brother Remington wishes me to say +that you have his confidence, and that he is your friend.</p> + +<p> +<span style="margin-left: 18em;">"Yours with kindest regards,</span></p> +<p class='author'>"<span class="smcap">Timothy Stowe.</span>"</p> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_79" id="Page_79">[Pg 79]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>CHAPTER VI.</h2> + +<h3>BRIGHTENING UP.—GRAND RESULT.</h3> + + +<p>According to the intimation in the note received from Miss King dated +Feb. 11th, she met me—not however as she expected on Tuesday—but, on +Wednesday of next week in Syracuse: and at the house of a friend whose +memory we hold in the highest reverence.</p> + +<p>The interview, as the parents and relatives of Miss King understood it, +was to be held to the intent that Miss King might then and there in +person, and by "word" more effectually than she could possibly do by +writing, absolve herself from all engagement, obligation or intention +whatsoever to marry me—now, hereafter, or evermore. This was their +construction of the matter, and it was in the light of this construction +that they essayed to grant the request—the granting of which Miss King +made the condition on which she proposed to yield up her sacred right.</p> + +<p>That the King family—determined as they were, law or no law, justice or +no justice, Christianity or no Christianity; in short, at all events and +all hazards, to prevent our union—should have granted this interview to +Miss King convicts them of as great imbecility and folly as was their +persecution of their victim. But so it is, the innocent shall not only +not be cut down, but they who practice unrighteousness shall themselves +be overtaken.</p> + +<p>But to the interview. I should be glad to describe my feelings on first +meeting Miss King after she had passed through that fiery furnace of +affliction. But I desist. The "engagement," I have already said, +displayed a moral heroism which no one can comprehend who has not been +in America, but the passage through was more than sublime.</p> + +<p>She related to me the events of the two preceding weeks as she had known +them to transpire in her own family, and as she<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_80" id="Page_80">[Pg 80]</a></span> had heard of them as +transpiring in the village. I cannot write the details. It chills my +blood to think of them. The various letters published in this narrative +will suffice to give the reader some idea of things as they were; while +the hundreds of things which cannot be written and which, because of +their littleness are the more faithful exponents of meanness, must be +left to the reader to imagine as best he can. I say as best he can, +since no Englishman can imagine the thing precisely as it was.</p> + +<p>She was reviled, upbraided, ridiculed, tormented; and by some, efforts +were made to bribe her into the selling of her conscience. What the +vilest and most vulgar prejudices could suggest were hurled at both our +devoted heads. Letters were not permitted to be received or sent without +their being first inspected by the parents. And finally she was +imprisoned after the manner set forth in the letter of Mr. Porter. So +rigid was the surveillance that her sister was also put under the same +"regimen," because her sympathies were with the persecuted and not the +persecutors.</p> + +<p>When we met, therefore, we were not long in determining what was our +duty. And now, Reader, what would you have done? Just what we did—no +doubt. Made up your mind to have sacrificed nothing upon the altar of a +vulgar prejudice. Such was the nature of the demand—would it not have +been base to have yielded?</p> + +<p>We concluded that now, more than ever, we would obey our heart's +convictions, though all the world should oppose us; that, come what +would, we would stand by each other, looking to Heaven to bless us, and +not to man, for either smiles or favor.</p> + +<p>We were resolved, but there was a difficulty yet. Determined to exercise +our God-given rights, we were still overpowered by the physical force of +the whole community. An open declaration by either party of our resolve +would have been not less than consummate madness. To exercise our +rights, therefore, not as we <i>would</i> but as we <i>could</i>, was the only +hope left us.</p> + +<p>We resolved to marry and flee the Country. Miss King returned to Fulton; +after remaining there a week or ten days she went to Pennsylvania +<i>ostensibly</i> to teach in a school. We corre<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_81" id="Page_81">[Pg 81]</a></span>sponded by means of a third +person; and my arrangements being made, we met in New York City, on +March 30th, according to appointment; were married immediately and left +for Boston. In Boston, we remained ten days, keeping as quiet as +possible, in the family of a beloved friend, and on the 9th of April, +took passage for Liverpool.</p> + +<p>Since our arrival in this Country, we have received several American +papers. The following Article is from one of the Western New York +papers, which is but a specimen of the articles published by all the +pro-slavery papers throughout the land on the announcement of the +marriage, shows that the flight to England completed the victory. To +have remained to be killed would have been fun to be relished. But +public sentiment abroad—ah, that is another thing, and not so pleasant +to be thought of:—</p> + + +<h4>"PROF. ALLEN IS MARRIED"</h4> + +<p>"<span class="smcap">Married.</span>—In New York city, March 30th, by Rev. Thomas Henson, +Professor <span class="smcap">William G. Allen</span>, of Mc. Grawville, N.Y., and Miss +<span class="smcap">Mary E. King</span>, of Fulton, N.Y., daughter of Rev. Lyndon King, of +Fulton.</p> + +<p>"We expected as much. We were liberally abused for our discountenance of +this marriage, and charged with wilfully falsifying facts, because we +insisted that this affair was in contemplation, and would yet go off. +<i>Prof.</i> Allen denied it, and others thought that they had the most +positive assurance from his statements that the amalgamation wedding was +a fiction. But now, after he and his white brethren have liberally +impugned our motives, charged falsehood upon us, and made solemn +asseverations designed to make the public believe that no such thing was +in contemplation, in two brief months, the thing is consummated, with +all the formality of a religious observance, and this unholy +amalgamation is perpetrated before high Heaven and asserted among men.</p> + +<p>"<i>Prof.</i> <span class="smcap">Allen</span> and his fair bride are now in Europe. It is +well<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_82" id="Page_82">[Pg 82]</a></span> they should emigrate, to show admiring foreigners the beauties of +American abolitionism. Let them attend the receptions of the Duchess of +Sutherland, the soirees of English agitators, and the orgies of Exeter +Hall. Let <span class="smcap">Geo. Thompson</span> introduce them as the first fruits of +his <i>philanthropic</i> labors in America. Let them travel among the +starveling English operatives, who would gladly accept slavery if +assured of a peck of corn each week; let them wander among European +serfs, whose life, labor, and virtue are the sport of despots, compared +to whom the crudest slave driver is an angel—and there proclaim their +'holy alliance.' If the victims of English and Continental tyranny do +not turn their backs, disgusted with the foul connection, their +degradation must be infinitely greater than we had supposed."</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>But to return to the story: Soon after the "interview" between Miss King +and myself, I received the following note from Mrs. Harriet Beecher +Stowe—the renowned Authoress of "Uncle Tom's Cabin." A "divine-hearted +woman," this, as Horace Mann hath rightly called her, and more precious +than rubies to me is her kind and Christian epistle:—</p> + +<p class='author'> +">Andover, Massachusetts, February 21st, 1853.</p> + +<p><span style="margin-left: 1em;">"Professor Allen,—</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">"Dear Sir:—</span> +</p> + +<p>"I have just read with indignation and sorrow your letter in the +Liberator (copied from the Syracuse Standard). I had hoped that the day +for such outrages had gone by. I trust that you will be enabled to +preserve a patient and forgiving spirit under this exhibition of vulgar +and unchristian prejudice. <i>Its day is short.</i></p> + +<p>"Please accept the accompanying volume as a mark of friendly remembrance +from,—</p> + +<p class='author'>"<span class="smcap">H. B. Stowe.</span>"</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>Just before Miss K. left Fulton for Pennsylvania, she received the +following letter from the Rev. Timothy Stowe—the gentleman to whom +reference has already been made. He is not relat<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_83" id="Page_83">[Pg 83]</a></span>ed to Mrs. Harriet +Beecher Stowe, but is nevertheless of royal race:—</p> + +<p class='author'> +"Peterboro', New York, March 1st, 1853.</p> +<p><span style="margin-left: 1em;">"Miss Mary E. King,—</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">"Dear Friend:—</span> +</p> + +<p>"You will not be offended that I should address you by this title, +though I never saw you, to my recollection, until last July at Mc. +Grawville; I then felt an interest in your welfare—an interest which +has been deepened by your recent insults and trials. I am not one of +those who can censure you for your attachment and engagement to +Professor Allen. He is a man—a noble man—a whole man; a man, in fine, +of whom no woman need be ashamed. I am aware, you are aware, that the +world will severely condemn you; so it did Luther, when he married a +nun; it was then thought to be as great an outrage on decency, for a +minister to marry a nun, as it now is for a white young lady to marry a +colored gentleman. You have this consolation, that God does not look +upon the countenance—the color of men; that in his eye, black and white +are the same; and consequently, to marry a colored person of +intelligence and worth is no immorality, and in his eye, no impropriety. +It is probably the design of Providence in this case, to call the +attention of the public to the fresh consideration of what is implied in +the great doctrine of human brotherhood. Is it true or not, that a +colored man has all the rights of a white man? Is this a question still +mooted among Abolitionists? If so, then we may as well settle it now as +at any other time, and though the controversy may be, and must be a very +painful one to your feelings, yet, the result will be a better +understanding of the great principles of our common nature and +brotherhood. Professor Allen is with me in my study, and has detailed to +me the whole of this outrage against yourself and him, and has also made +me acquainted with your relations to each other. I extend to you my +sympathy, I proffer to you my friendship. You have not fallen in my +estimation, nor in the estimation of Mr. Smith and others in this place. +Lay not this matter to heart, be not cast down; put your trust in God, +and he will<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_84" id="Page_84">[Pg 84]</a></span> bring you out of this crucible seven times purified. He in +mercy designs to promote your spiritual growth and consolation. Keep the +Saviour in your heart. My good wife sympathises with you. We would be +glad to see you at our humble home, either before or after your +marriage. We would try to comfort you; we would bear your burdens, and +so 'fulfil the law of Christ.'</p> + +<p> +<span style="margin-left: 4em;">"Yours, with fraternal and Christian affection,</span></p> + +<p class='author'><span style="margin-left: 1em;" class="smcap">"Timothy Stowe.</span>"<br /> +</p> + +<p>On the day after Miss King left for Pennsylvania, I received the +following note from a friend in Fulton. It is significant, and certainly +corroborative of the opinion which I have expressed of the Fulton +people—that they had determined to leave nothing undone by which to +make their tyranny complete:—</p> + +<p class='author'> +"Fulton, March 5th, 1853.</p> +<p><span style="margin-left: 2em;">"Dear Friend:—</span> +</p> + +<p>"Yesterday I heard from you by a friend</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>"Mary has gone to Pennsylvania.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>"What we feared was, she would be again imprisoned, and hindered from +going to Pa. If her relatives and other friends knew of your intentions, +she would have been put under lock and key as sure as there are <i>mean +men</i> in Fulton.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>"Professor, they were as mad as wild asses here about that 'resolution +of Smith's,' especially King's folks.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_85" id="Page_85">[Pg 85]</a></span></p> + +<p>I want your miniature—<i>must have it</i>. I want to show it to my friends +that they may see this man whose idle moments in the bower of love sets +half the world crazy.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p> +<span style="margin-left: 24em;">"In friendship, yours,</span></p> + +<p class='author'><span style="margin-left: 1em;">"* * *"</span> +</p> + +<p>The Resolution to which reference has been made, is as follows. It was +presented by the Hon. Gerrit Smith, Member of Congress, from New York, +at a Convention of "Liberty Party Men," held in Syracuse, about four +weeks after the mob:—</p> + +<p>"Resolved, That the recent outrage committed upon that accomplished and +worthy man—Professor William G. Allen—and the general rejoicing +throughout the country therein, evinces that the heart of the American +people, on the subject of slavery is utterly corrupt, and almost past +cure."</p> + +<p>Now for something spicy. The following letter was written to Elder King +by a Slaveholder of Mississippi, about five weeks after the mob. The +Elder re-mailed it to his daughter while she was in Pennsylvania. Having +become the property of the daughter, and the daughter and I now being +one, I shall take the liberty of giving this specimen of Southern +chivalry to the public. The reader shall have it without alteration:—</p> + +<p> +<span style="margin-left: 24em;">"Warrenton, Mississippi,</span></p> +<p class='author'>"March 5th, 1853.</p> +<p><span style="margin-left: 1em;">"Rev. Sir:—</span> +</p> + +<p>"You cannot judge of my surprise and indignation, on reading an +Editorial in one of my papers concerning an intending marriage of your +lovely and accomplished daughter, with a negro man; which thanks to +providence has been prevented by the excited and enraged populace of the +enterprising citizens of the good town of Fulton.</p> + +<p>"During my sojourn in the state of New York last year, I visited for +mere curiosity the Mc. Grawville Institute in Cortland<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_86" id="Page_86">[Pg 86]</a></span> Co., which gave +me an opportunity of seeing your daughter, then a pupil of that equality +and amalgamated Institute; and I believe in all my travels north, I +never saw one more interesting and polite to those of her acquaintances.</p> + +<p>"I have thought much about your daughter since my return home, and do +yet, notwithstanding the ignominious connection she has lately escaped +from. Your daughter—innocent, as I must in charity presume—because +deluded and deranged by the false teachings of the abolition Institute +at Mc. Grawville.</p> + +<p>"My object in writing to you this letter is to obtain your permission to +correspond with your daughter if it should be agreeable with herself, +for I do assure you that I have no other than an honorable intention in +doing so.</p> + +<p>"I reside in Warren County near Warrenton—am the owner of Nine Young +Negroes in agriculture, who would not exchange their bondage for a free +residence in the north. I am happy to inform you Revd. Sir that my +character is such that will bear the strictest investigation, and my +relations respectable. I am yet young having not yet obtained my 25th +year.</p> + +<p>"Well sir, I am a stranger to both yourself and interesting family, and +as a matter of course you may desire to know something about the humble +individual who has thought proper to address you on a subject which +depends on the future happiness of your daughter. For your Reverence's +gratification you are at liberty to refer to either or all of the +following gentlemen, by letter or in person,—viz., Hon. J. E. Sharkey, +State Senator, Warren Co., P. O., Warrenton, Miss.;—Hon. A. G. Brown, +Ex-Gov., Miss., now Member of Congress, P. O., Gallatin, Miss.;—Samuel +Edwards, High Sheriff, Warren Co., P. O., Vicksburg, Miss.;—E. B. +Scarbrough Clerk, Probate Court, Warren Co., P. O., Vicksburg, Miss.;—M. +Shannon, Editor, Vicksburg, Miss., Whig;—Geo. D. Prentice, Editor, +Louisville, Ky., Journal;—and Reed, Brothers, and Co., 177, Market +Street, Philadelphia.</p> + +<p>"Again Rev. Sir, I assure you that in writing you this letter, I only do +that which is the result of mature deliberation.</p> + +<p> +<span style="margin-left: 24em;">"I shall wait anxiously your reply,</span></p> +<p class='author'>"<span class="smcap">Thos. K. Knowland."</span></p> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_87" id="Page_87">[Pg 87]</a></span></p> + +<p>"P. S.—As Messrs. Reed, Brothers, and Co., are the nearest reference to +whom I refer, I enclose you a letter from them."</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>The two letters immediately following were received by Miss K. just +before she left Pennsylvania for New York. Many other letters were also +received by both of us, which are not given in this book, but we can +assure the writers thereof that they have our hearts' gratitude:—</p> + +<p class='author'> +"Fulton, March 27th, 1853.</p> +<p><span style="margin-left: 1em;">"My dear and brave Sister:—</span> +</p> + +<p>"For two weeks past we have been stopping with Mr. B. Yesterday we +received four letters—two from my good brother B., and two from +Pennsylvania, yours and Jane's. Right glad were we to receive those +welcome favors—those little <i>epistolary</i> angels, telling us of your +safety, (for safety has of late become quite a consideration) of your +affection, of your anxiety, and a hundred things more than what were +written.</p> + +<p>"Mary, I judge from your letters and notes—from the tone of them—that +there are feelings and emotions in your heart utterly beyond the power +of words to express. You are resolved, and you are happy in your +resolve, and strong in the providential certainty of its success. Yet +you tremble for probabilities, or rather for <i>possibilities</i>.</p> + +<p>"What feelings, dear Mary, you must have in the hour of your departure +from this country. Through the windows of imagination I can catch a +glimpse of it all. Your flight is a flight for freedom, and I can almost +call you <i>Eliza</i>. To you this land will become a land of memory. And, +oh! what memories! But we will talk of this hereafter.</p> + +<p>"The remembrance of <i>friendship unbroken here</i>,—oh, Mary, let it not +vanish as the blue hills of your father-land will dim away in the +distance, while you glide eastward upon the 'free waters.' But let that +bright remembrance be embodied in <i>spirit</i>-form, for ever attending you, +and pointing back to those still here who hold you high in affection and +in honor.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_88" id="Page_88">[Pg 88]</a></span></p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>"Mary, I must close. Be firm—strong—brave—unflinching—<i>just like</i> +Mary King.</p> + +<p> +<span style="margin-left: 24em;">"Yours in the bonds of love,</span></p> +<p class='author'>"<span class="smcap">John C. Porter.</span>" +</p> + +<p class='author'> +"Fulton, March 27th, 1853.</p> +<p><span style="margin-left: 1em;">"My dear Sister Mary:—</span><br /> +</p> + +<p>"Almost hourly since you left has your image been before me. And as I +seat myself to write, thoughts and emotions innumerable come crowding +for utterance. Gladly would I express them to you, dear Sister, but the +pen is far too feeble an instrument. Oh, that I could be with you in +body as in spirit. You need encouragement and strength in this hour; and +I know that you will receive them,—for you are surrounded by a few of +the truest and dearest of friends. And you know and have felt, that a +higher and stronger power than earth can uphold us in every endeavour +for the right.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>"Mary, do you remember the time when you told me that I must love you +better than I had ever done before; for friends would forsake you, and +there would be none left to love you but P., and myself, and your +father, and Julia, and J. B., and D. S., and S. T.? Our arms were twined +around each other in close embrace. Your heart was full to overflowing, +and words gave place to tears. I shall not forget the intense anxiety I +felt for you at that moment as I tried to penetrate the future, knowing, +as I did, somewhat of the cruelty of prejudice. It seems we both had a +foreboding of something that would follow. I do not know that I wept, +but heaven witnessed and recorded the silent, sacred promise of my heart +to draw nearer and cherish you with truer fidelity as others turned +away. And so shall I always feel.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_89" id="Page_89">[Pg 89]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Oh, Mary, how little can we imagine the sufferings of the oppressed, +while we float along on the popular current. I thank God from the depths +of my soul, that we have launched our barks upon the ocean. Frail they +are, yet, having right for our beacon, and humanity for our compass, I +know we shall not be wrecked or go down among the raging elements.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>"Now, dear Sister, farewell, and as you depart from this boasted 'land +of liberty and equal rights,' and go among strangers, that you may, +indeed, enjoy liberty, be not despondent, but cheerful, ever remembering +the message of your angel mother.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>Again, dear sister, farewell,—you know how much we love you, and that +our deepest sympathies are with you wherever you may be.</p> + +<p> +<span style="margin-left: 24em;">"Affectionately yours,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 26em;" class="smcap">"Sarah D. Porter."</span> +</p> + +<p>I subjoin an extract of a letter which I received from Miss K. a few +days before our marriage:—</p> + +<p> +<span style="margin-left: 24em;">"Dolington, Pennsylvania</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 26em;">"March 21st, 1853.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">"Professor Allen,—</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 5em;">"Dearest and best-loved Friend:—</span> +</p> + +<p>"I have just received your letter of March 13th, and hasten to reply.</p> + +<p>"You ask me if I can go with you in four weeks or thereabouts. In reply, +I say yes; gladly and joyfully will I hasten with you to a land where +unmolested, we can be happy in the consciousness of the love which we +cherish for each other. While so far from you, I am sad, lonely, and +unhappy; for I feel that I have<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_90" id="Page_90">[Pg 90]</a></span> no home but in the heart of him whom I +love, and no country until I reach one where the cruel and crushing hand +of Republican America can no longer tear me from you.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>"Professor,—I sometimes tremble when I think of the strong effort that +would be put forth to keep me from you, should my brothers know our +arrangements. But my determination is taken and my decision fixed; and +should the public or my friends ever see fit to lay their commands upon +me again, they will find that although they have but a weak, defenceless +woman to contend with, still, that woman is one who will never passively +yield her rights. <i>They may mob me; yea, they may kill me; but they +shall never crush me.</i></p> + +<p>"Heaven's blessings upon all who sympathised with us. I am not +discouraged. God will guide us and protect us.</p> + +<p> +<span style="margin-left: 24em;">"Ever yours,</span></p> +<p class='author'>"<span class="smcap">Mary.</span>" +</p> + +<p> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">'"Thou Friend, whose presence on my wintry heart</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Fell like bright Spring upon some herbless plain;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">How beautiful and calm and free thou wert</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">In thy young wisdom, when the mortal chain</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Of Custom thou did'st burst and rend in twain,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">And walked as free as night the clouds among."'</span><br /> +</p> + +<p>Some idea of the spirit of persecution by which we were pursued may be +gathered from the fact, that when the mobocrats of Fulton ascertained +that Miss King and myself were having an interview in Syracuse, they +threatened to come down and mob us, and were only deterred from so doing +by the promise of Elder King, that he would go after his daughter if she +did not return in the next train.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_91" id="Page_91">[Pg 91]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>CHAPTER VII.</h2> + +<h3>CONCLUSION.</h3> + + +<p>Reader,—I have but a word or two more to say.</p> + +<p>Insignificant as this marriage may seem to you, I can assure you that +nothing else has ever occurred in the history of American prejudice +against color, which so startled the nation from North to South and East +to West. On the announcement of the probability of the case merely, men +and women were panic-stricken, deserted their principles and fled in +every direction.</p> + +<p>Indignation meetings were held in and about Fulton immediately after the +mob. The following Resolution was passed unanimously in one of them:—</p> + +<p>"Resolved,—That Amalgamation is no part of the Free Democracy of +Granby." (Town near F.)</p> + +<p>The Editor of the Fulton newspaper, however, spoke of us with respect. +Let him be honored. He condemned the mob, opposed amalgamation, but +described the parties thus,—"Miss King, a young lady of talent, +education, and unblemished character," and myself, "a gentleman, a +scholar, and a Christian, and a citizen against whose character nothing +whatever had been urged."</p> + +<p>I have said that some of the Papers regretted that I had not been killed +outright. I give an extract from the "<i>Phoenix Democrat</i>," published in +the State of New York:—</p> + +<p>"This Professor Allen may get down on his marrow bones, and thank God +that we are not related to Mary King by the ties of consanguinity."</p> + +<p>To show that I have not exaggerated the spirit of persecution which +beset us, I will state that in a few days after Mr. Porter was dismissed +from his School, he called upon the pastor of the church of which he is +a communicant; and though without means—the chivalrous people who +turned him out of his School<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_92" id="Page_92">[Pg 92]</a></span> not having yet paid him up—and knowing +not whither to go, the pastor assured him that he could not take him in, +or render him any assistance, so severely did he feel that he would be +censured by the public.</p> + +<p>That Mr. Porter is still pursued by this fiendish spirit, the reader +will see by the following paragraph of a letter received from him a few +days since:—</p> + +<p>"I have advertised for a School in S——. They would not tolerate me in +O——, after they found out that I was the Phillipsville School-master. +I was employed in O—— three months."</p> + +<p>Such, reader, is the character of prejudice against color,—bitter, +cruel, relentless.</p> + + +<h4>THE END.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_95" id="Page_95">[Pg 95]</a></span><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_94" id="Page_94">[Pg 94]</a></span><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_93" id="Page_93">[Pg 93]</a></span></h4> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><br /><br /></p> + +<h3>A SHORT</h3> + +<h3>PERSONAL NARRATIVE,</h3> + +<h4>BY</h4> + +<h2>WILLIAM G. ALLEN,</h2> + +<h4>(Colored American,)</h4> + +<p class='center'> +FORMERLY<br /> +PROFESSOR OF THE GREEK LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE<br /> +IN NEW YORK CENTRAL COLLEGE +</p> + +<p class='center'>RESIDENT FOR THE LAST FOUR YEARS IN DUBLIN.</p> + + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> +<p class='center'> +<small>DUBLIN:<br /> +SOLD BY THE AUTHOR,<br /> +AND BY<br /> +WILLIAM CURRY & CO., 9, UPPER SACKVILLE-STREET, AND<br /> +J. ROBERTSON, 8 GRAFTON-STREET.</small> +</p> +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p class='center'><small>1860</small></p> + + +<p class='center'><small>PRICE ONE SHILLING.</small><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_96" id="Page_96">[Pg 96]</a></span></p> + +<p class='center'> +<small>DUBLIN: PRINTED BY ROBERT CHAPMAN,<br /> +TEMPLE LANE DAME STREET.</small><br /> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_97" id="Page_97">[Pg 97]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>PREFACE.</h2> + + +<p>In preparing this little narrative, I have not sought to make a book, +but simply to tell my own experiences both in the slaveholding and +non-slaveholding States of America, in as few words as possible. The +facts here detailed throw light upon many phases of American life, and +add one more to the tens of thousands of illustrations of the terrible +power with which slavery has spread its influences into the Northern +States of the Union—penetrating even the inmost recesses of social +life.</p> + +<p class='author'>W. G. A.</p> + +<p> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;" class="smcap">Donnybrook, Dublin</span>,<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;"><i>January, 1860.</i></span><br /> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_99" id="Page_99">[Pg 99]</a></span><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_98" id="Page_98">[Pg 98]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>A SHORT PERSONAL NARRATIVE.</h2> + + +<p>I was born in Virginia, but not in slavery. The early years of my life +were spent partly in the small village of Urbanna, on the banks of the +Rappahannock, partly in the city of Norfolk, near the mouth of the +James' River, and partly in the fortress of Monroe, on the shores of the +Chesapeake. I was eighteen years in Virginia. My father was a white man, +my mother a mulattress, so that I am what is generally termed a +quadroon. Both parents died when I was quite young, and I was then +adopted by another family, whose name I bear. My parents by adoption +were both coloured, and possessed a flourishing business in the fortress +of Monroe.</p> + +<p>I went to school a year and a half in Norfolk. The school was composed +entirely of coloured children, and was kept by a man of color, a Baptist +minister, who was highly esteemed, not only as a teacher, but as a +preacher of rare eloquence and power. His color did not debar him from +taking an equal part with his white brethren in matters pertaining to +their church.</p> + +<p>But the school was destined to be of short duration. In 1831, Nathaniel +Turner, a slave, having incited a number of his brethren to avenge their +wrongs in a summary manner, marched by night with his comrades upon the +town of Southampton, Virginia, and in a few hours put to death about one +hundred of the white inhabitants. This act of Turner and his associates +struck such terror into the hearts of the whites throughout the State, +that they immediately, as an act of retaliation or vengeance, abolished +every colored school within their borders; and having dispersed the +pupils, ordered the teachers to leave the State forthwith, and never +more to return.</p> + +<p>I now went to the fortress of Monroe, but soon found that I could not +get into any school there. For, though being a military station, and +therefore under the sole control of the Federal Government, it did not +seem that this place was free from the influence of slavery, in the form +of prejudice against color. But<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_100" id="Page_100">[Pg 100]</a></span> my parents had money, which always and +everywhere has a magic charm. I was also of a persevering habit; and +what therefore I could not get in the schools I sought among the +soldiers in the garrison, and succeeded in obtaining. Many of the rank +and file of the American army are highly educated foreigners; some of +them political refugees, who have fled to America and become +unfortunate, oftentimes from their own personal habits. I now learned +something of several languages, and considerable music. My German +teacher, a common soldier, was, by all who knew him, reputed to be both +a splendid scholar and musician. I also now and then bought the services +of other teachers, which greatly helped to advance me.</p> + +<p>Many of the slaveholders aided my efforts. This seems like a paradox; +but, to the credit of humanity, be it said, that the bad are not always +bad. One kind-hearted slaveholder, an army officer, gave me free access +to his valuable library; and another slaveholder, a naval officer, who +frequented the garrison, presented me, as a gift, with a small but well +selected library, which formerly belonged to a deceased son.</p> + +<p>My experience, therefore, in the State of Virginia, is, in many +respects, quite the opposite of that which others of my class have been +called to undergo.</p> + +<p>Could I forget how often I have stood at the foot of the market in the +city of Norfolk, and heard the cry of the auctioneer—"What will you +give for this man?"—"What for this woman?"—"What for this child?" +Could I forget that I have again and again stood upon the shores of the +Chesapeake, and, while looking out upon that splendid bay, beheld ships +and brigs carrying into unutterable misery and woe men, women and +children, victims of the most cruel slavery that ever saw the sun; could +I forget the innumerable scenes of cruelty I have witnessed, and blot +out the remembrance of the degradation, intellectual, moral and +spiritual, which everywhere surrounded me—making the country like unto +a den of dragons and pool of waters—my reminiscence of Virginia were +indeed a joy and not a sorrow.</p> + +<p>Some things I do think of with pleasure. A grand old State is Virginia. +No where else, in America at least, has nature revealed<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_101" id="Page_101">[Pg 101]</a></span> herself on a +more munificent scale. Lofty mountains, majestic hills, beautiful +valleys, magnificent rivers cover her bosom. A genial clime warms her +heart. Her resources are exhaustless. Why should she not move on? +Execrated for ever be this wretched slavery—this disturbing force. It +kills the white man—kills the black man—kills the master—kills the +slave—kills everybody and everything. Liberty is, indeed, the first +condition of human progress, and the especial hand-maiden of all that in +human life is beautiful and true.</p> + +<p>I attained my eighteenth year. About this time the Rev. W. H—— of New +York city visited the fortress of Monroe, and opened a select school. He +was a white man, and of a kind and benevolent nature. He could not admit +me into his school, nevertheless he took a deep interest in my welfare. +He aided my studies in such ways as he could, and, on his return to the +State of New York (he remained but a short time in Virginia), acquainted +the Honorable Gerrit Smith, of Peterboro, with my desires. Mr. Smith's +sympathies were immediately touched on my behalf. He requested the Rev. +W. H—— to write to me at once, and extend to me an invitation to visit +the State of New York, enter college, and graduate at his expense—if +need be.</p> + +<p>I have to remark just here that at the time of the visit of the Rev. W. +H—— to the fortress of Monroe, my parents were in greatly reduced +circumstances, owing to a destructive fire which had recently taken +place, and burned to the ground a most valuable property. The fire was +supposed to be the work of incendiaries—low whites of the +neighbourhood, who had become envious of my parents' success. There was +no insurance on the property. Under these circumstances I gladly +accepted the kind offer of Mr. Smith. His generous nature then and there +turned towards me in friendship; and, I am happy to be able to add, he +has ever continued my friend from that day to this.</p> + +<p>Mr. Smith is one of the noblest men that America has ever produced; and +is especially remarkable for his profound appreciation of that sublime +command of our Saviour, "All things whatsoever ye would that men should +do to you, do ye even so to them." Where he treads no angel of sorrow +follows.</p> + +<p>He is a man of vast estates—a millionaire. He is also what in<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_102" id="Page_102">[Pg 102]</a></span> America +is termed a land reformer. He believes that every man should possess an +inviolable homestead. He himself possesses by inheritance millions of +acres in the Northern and Eastern States of America; and shows his +sincerity and consistency by parcelling off from time to time such +portions of these lands as are available, in lots of forty or fifty +acres each, and presenting the deeds thereof, free of charge, to the +deserving landless men, white or black, in the region where the lands in +question are located. He also long since vacated the splendid Peterboro' +mansion, into possession of which he came on the death of his father; +and now resides, himself and family, in a simple cottage near +Peterboro', with only forty acres attached. His sympathies are not +bounded by country or clime. He sent into Ireland, during the famine of +1847, the largest single donation that reached the country from abroad.</p> + +<p>He was elected to the United States Congress a few years ago, as one of +the members for New York, but resigned his seat after holding it only a +year—probably feeling outraged by the manners and morals, not to say +superlative wickedness, of so many of his associates. Whatever may have +been the cause which induced him to resign, he did well to give up his +post. Nature had evidently not set him to the work. Of great ability, +winning eloquence, and undoubted moral courage, his heart and temper +were too soft and apologetic to deal with the blustering tyrants who +fill too many of the seats of both houses of Congress.</p> + +<p>Mr. Smith is truly a great orator. He has in an eminent degree the first +qualification thereof—a great heart. His voice is a magnificent bass, +deep, full, sonorous; and, being as melodious as deep, it gives him +enviable power over the hearts and sympathies of men.</p> + +<p>In personal appearance he is extremely handsome. Large and noble in +stature, with a face not only beautiful, but luminous with the +reflection of every Christian grace.</p> + +<p>He is now engaged in the care of his vast estates, and in his private +enterprises, scarcely private, since they are all for the public good. +He is sixty-two years of age. A true Christian in<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_103" id="Page_103">[Pg 103]</a></span> every exalted sense +of the term, long may he live an honor and a blessing to his race.</p> + +<p>Having accepted the invitation of this gentleman, I prepared to leave +the South. On making arrangements for a passage from Norfolk to +Baltimore, I found that the "Free Papers" which every man of color in a +slave state must possess, in order to be able to prove, in case of his +being apprehended at any time, that he is not an absconding slave, were +of very little avail. I must needs have a "Pass" as well, or I could not +leave. However I obtained this document without much trouble, and as it +is a curious specimen of American literature, I will give it. It does +not equal, to be sure, the "charming pages" of Washington Irving, but it +is certainly quite as illustrative in its way:—</p> + +<p class='author'>"Norfolk, Oct. 1839.</p> + +<p>"The bearer of this, William G. Allen, is permitted to leave Norfolk by +the Steam Boat Jewess, Capt. Sutton, for Baltimore.</p> + +<p class='author'> +"Signed, J. F. Hunter<br /> +"Agent, Baltimore Steam Packet Company." +</p> + +<p>This document was also countersigned by one of the justices of the +peace. Really, there is something preposterous about these slaveholders. +They make all sorts of attempts to drive the free colored people out of +their borders; but when a man of this class wishes to go of his own +accord, he must that be <i>permitted</i>!</p> + +<p>I reached Baltimore in safety, but now found that neither "Free Papers" +nor "Pass" were of any further use. I desired to take the train to +Philadelphia <i>en route</i> to New York. I must this time get a white man to +testify to my freedom, or further I could not go. Or, worse still, if no +such man could be found, I must be detained in Baltimore and lodged in +jail! By no means a pleasant prospect. There was no time to be lost. My +previous experience had taught me this truth—the more we trust, the +more we are likely to find to trust. Acting upon this principle, and +putting in practice my studies in physiognomy, I presently found a +friend among the crowd; who, being satisfied with my statements and the +documents I presented, kindly gave the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_104" id="Page_104">[Pg 104]</a></span> desired testimony. The ticket +seller then recorded my name, age, and personal appearance in his book, +and delivered me my ticket. I now had no further trouble, and reached +the college (in the State of New York) in safety.</p> + +<p>Remaining at this college (Oneida Institute, Whitesboro') five years, I +graduated with some honor and little cost to my patron, Mr. Smith. I +quite paid my way by private tuitions: during one vacation I taught a +school in Canada.</p> + +<p>I cannot leave Oneida Institute without paying the tribute of my heart's +warmest admiration and love to the President thereof—Reverend Beriah +Green. America has few such men—men of that true greatness which comes +from a combination of wisdom and virtue. Wherever found in that country, +they are the "chosen few," consecrating their energies to the cause of +Humanity and Religion—nobly and earnestly seeking to rid their country +of its dire disgrace and shame. President Green still lives. He is a +profound scholar, an original thinker, and, better and greater than all +these, a sincere and devoted Christian. To the strength and vigor of a +man, he adds the gentleness and tenderness of a woman. He has never +taken an active part in the world of stir and politics; but in the line +of his proper profession has immeasurably advanced the cause of human +progress. May such men be multiplied in America, and elsewhere, for +surely there is need.</p> + +<p>Out now in the great world of America, my ambition was to secure a +professorial chair. That any man having the slightest tinge of color, +nay, without tinge of color, with only a drop of African blood in his +veins, let his accomplishments be what they may, should aspire to such a +position, I soon found was the very madness of madness. But something +must be done. I repaired at once to the city of Boston, and entered the +law office of E. G. L——, Esq. a distinguished barrister, who had +already shown his regard for the colored race by having brought to the +bar a colored young man—now practising with much success in Boston. +Black men may practice law—at least in Massachusetts. I remained in the +office of this gentleman two years, and was just entering my third and +last year, when, unsolicited on my part<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_105" id="Page_105">[Pg 105]</a></span> and to my great surprise, I +received the appointment of Professor of the Greek Language and +Literature in New York Central College—a college of recent date, and +situated in the town of M'Grawville, near the centre of the State of New +York. This was the first college in America that ever had the moral +courage to invite a man of color to occupy a professor's chair; and, so +far as I know, it is also the only one.</p> + +<p>The college was founded by a few noble-minded men, whose object was to +combat the vulgar American prejudice, which can see no difference +between a man and his skin. They sought to illustrate the doctrine of +Human Equality, or brotherhood of the races; to elevate the nation's +morals, and give it more exalted views of the aims and objects of +Christianity. Such a college, in the midst of corrupt public sentiment, +could not fail to meet with the greatest opposition. It was persecuted +on all sides, and by all parties, showing how deep-seated and virulent +is prejudice against color. The legislature countenanced the college so +far as to grant it a charter, and empowered it to confer degrees, but +would not, seemingly on no earthly consideration, give it the slightest +pecuniary patronage. The debates which took place in the State House at +Albany when the bill relating to the college came up for consideration, +would, in vulgar flings at "negroes," cries of "amalgamation," and such +like, have disgraced a very assemblage of pagans. However the college +held on its way, and is still doing its work, though its efficiency is +of course greatly marred. All the other professors were white; so also +were the majority of the students.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>I was four years in connexion with this college as professor, and in all +probability would have been in M'Grawville still, but for the following +circumstances.</p> + +<p>I bethought me now of marriage, having what might be termed good +prospects in the world. Visiting the town of Fulton, County of Oswego, +State of New York, about forty miles from New York Central College, on +an occasion of public interest, I was made the guest of the Rev. L. +K——, a highly esteemed<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_106" id="Page_106">[Pg 106]</a></span> minister of the gospel, and greatly +distinguished for his earnest and zealous advocacy of the principles of +abolition. He was a white man. This gentleman had a large family of sons +and daughters. A feeling of friendship sprung up between one of his +daughters and myself on the occasion of this visit, which feeling +eventually ripened into emotions of a higher and more interesting +character. The father welcomed me: the mother was long since deceased. +The parties immediately concerned were satisfied—why should others +demur? I knew something of prejudice against color, but I supposed that +a sense of dignity, not to say decency, would deter the most bitterly +opposed from interference with a matter wholly domestic and private, and +which, in its relation to the public, was also wholly insignificant. I +reckoned without my host however. The inhabitants of Fulton had received +the impression that there was an union in contemplation between the lady +and myself; and they determined that it should not take place, certainly +not in their town, nor elsewhere if they could prevent it. They stirred +the town in every direction, evoking all the elements of hostility, and +organizing the same into a deadly mob, to act at convenient opportunity. +I was ignorant of the great length to which this feeling had attained; +so also were the parties immediately interested in my personal safety. I +was therefore greatly surprised when, on the occasion of my last visit +to Fulton, and while in company with the lady, both of us visiting at +the house of a mutual friend, residing about two miles out of town, a +party rushed into our presence in hot haste, bidding me, if I wished to +escape with my life, to "fly with all possible speed!" The party who +performed this kindly office had scarcely gone, when, on looking out of +the window, I beheld a maddened multitude approaching—about six hundred +white men, armed with tar, feathers, poles and an empty barrel spiked +with shingle nails! In this barrel I was to be put, and rolled from the +top to the bottom of a hill near by. They also brought a sleigh, in +which the lady was to be taken back to her father's house. They intended +no harm to her.</p> + +<p>Knowing the character of an American mob, and also knowing how little +they value the life of a man of color, I expected,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_107" id="Page_107">[Pg 107]</a></span> as I saw the +multitude surrounding the house, to die—in fact, prepared for death.</p> + +<p>Having assembled about the premises, they began to cry out in the most +uproarious manner, "Bring him out!" "Kill the Nigger!" "Hang him!" "Tear +down the house!" Shouts, groans, maledictions of all sorts and degrees +followed. No one who has not witnessed an American mob can have the +slightest idea of the scene which presented itself at this point. Had +six hundred beasts of the forest been loosed together, in one +promiscuous assemblage, they could scarcely have sent up howls and yells +and mad noises equal to those made by these infuriated men. There is no +exaggeration in this statement. For the sake of humanity, I only wish +there was. Nor were the members of the mob confined entirely to the +rabble; far from it. Many of its members were also members of a +Christian church. The mob occurred on a Sabbath evening, about six +o'clock, so that these men absolutely deserted their pews on purpose to +enjoy the fun of "hunting the nigger."</p> + +<p>There came with this mob a self-constituted committee of gentlemen, +lawyers, merchants, and leading men of the town, who, although partaking +of the general feeling of prejudice against color, did not wish, for the +sake of the reputation of their town, to see bloodshed; besides also +many of them, I doubt not, entertained feelings of personal friendship +for myself.</p> + +<p>This committee divided itself. One half came up to the drawing-room, and +advised that the young lady should consent to go home in the sleigh +provided, and that I should consent to leave the town. Conceding so much +to the mob, they thought my life might be spared. The other half of the +committee remained below, to appease the maddened multitude, and deter +them from carrying their threats into execution.</p> + +<p>We agreed to the propositions of the committee. The young lady was taken +home in the sleigh aforesaid, about one third of the mob following on +foot, for what purpose I know not. I was then conducted by the committee +through the mob, many members of which giving me, as I passed, sundry +kicks and cuffs, but doing me no serious bodily harm. I was next taken +by<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_108" id="Page_108">[Pg 108]</a></span> the committee to an hotel, where arrangements had been made for my +reception. The mob followed, hooting and hallooing, the sight of their +victim seeming to revive their hostile feelings. They would have broken +into the hotel, had not the proprietor held them back by his threats. He +was not a friend of mine, but he had agreed to shelter me, and he was, +of course, determined to protect his property.</p> + +<p>The committee then secured the use of two sleighs, one of which they +placed at the back entrance of the hotel, and the other they caused to +be driven about four miles out of the town. Into the first sleigh I was +to get when I could find my opportunity, and be driven to the other +sleigh, in which I was to be finally conveyed to the town of Syracuse, +about twenty-five miles distant. I made several attempts to get into the +sleigh at the back entrance of the hotel, but was driven back by the mob +every time I made my appearance at the door. Meanwhile the committee +furnished the mobocrats with spirits to drink, and cigars to smoke, for +all of which I had to pay. Comment upon this extraordinary act of +meanness would be entirely out of place. One would have thought that +these mobocrats would have been content to have mobbed me free of +expense, at least. Not so it seemed however.</p> + +<p>But midnight drew on, and of course the multitude grew weary. Presently, +seeing my opportunity, I jumped into the sleigh at the back entrance of +the hotel, drove rapidly off to the second sleigh, and reached the town +of Syracuse early next morning. Some of the mobocrats attempted chase, +but soon gave it up.</p> + +<p>Had this tumult ended here, I should probably have been in my chair at +the college today; and the whole affair, so far as it related only to +myself, would have been regarded by me as merely a bit of an episode in +my life—of course a most exciting one. But the worst was to come, at +least so far as it concerned the lady personally; and the very worst it +would be better to say nothing about.</p> + +<p>After we had been disposed of in the manner already described, the next +step taken by the inhabitants of the town of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_109" id="Page_109">[Pg 109]</a></span> Fulton was to place the +lady under a most degraded surveillance. True, she was to continue in +her father's house, but so overpowering had the mob-spirit become, that +the mobocrats commanded (and were obeyed!) that no communications should +be sent to her or from her, unless they had been previously perused and +sanctioned by duly deputed parties. Nor would they permit any persons to +call upon her, unless they too had been previously approved.</p> + +<p>There was a line of railway between the towns of Fulton and Syracuse. +Guards were placed by certain individuals at the various stations on the +line, in order to prevent the possible escape of either party, or rather +to prevent the possible meeting of the parties, <i>i.e.</i>, of the lady and +myself. Meanwhile the telegraphic wires and newspapers spread the news +throughout the length and breadth of the land; the consequence of all +which was, I became so notorious that my life was placed in jeopardy +wherever I went. On one occasion particularly I barely escaped with it.</p> + +<p>On the day after the occurrence of the mob, and for several days after, +the town of Fulton presented a scene of unparallelled excitement. Had +the good people witnessed the approach of an invading army, but, by some +lucky chance, succeeded in driving it back, they could not have been +more extravagant in their demonstrations. Their countenances indicated +the oddest possible mixture of consternation and joy. Seriously, if one +can be serious over such details, never before did the contemplated +marriage of two mortals create such a hubbub.</p> + +<p>The inhabitants of Fulton immediately assembled <i>en masse</i>, and voted +unanimously, in congress especially convened for the purpose, that Mr. +and Mrs. P——, school teachers, our friends, at whose house we were +being entertained at the time of the mob, <span class="smaller">"DO GIVE UP THEIR SCHOOL, +AND LEAVE THE TOWN FORTHWITH."</span> For what crime? None, save that of +showing us hospitality. Our friends had therefore not only to give up +their business at an immense pecuniary sacrifice, but had absolutely to +make off with their lives as best they could.</p> + +<p>During all this time the lady who had been thus rudely treat<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_110" id="Page_110">[Pg 110]</a></span>ed was true +to her noble and heroic nature; but so much outward pressure, and of +such an extraordinary character, produced its consequences upon her +health. It failed, and it became necessary that she should be released +from her thraldom. Once more at liberty she visited, incognito, the town +of Syracuse, where I was still tarrying. The mobocrats would not have +permitted her to have left Fulton in peace, if they had known whither +she was going.</p> + +<p>We met again: reviewed the past and discussed the future. As I am not +detailing sentiment, but merely stating facts, suffice it to say, that +we made up our minds that we would not be defeated by a mob.</p> + +<p>But to the future. What was to be done? We came to the conclusion that I +could no longer expect to hold my position in M'Grawville. The college +had already received a terrible shock by reason of the cry of +"amalgamation" which had been raised by the mob. And though the trustees +were willing, at heart, to face the storm of prejudice, worldly wisdom, +they considered, dictated that they should not incur the odium which +they could not avoid bringing upon the college, if they persisted in +retaining me longer as one of their professors. The trustees thought it +would be better to be cautious, and save the college for the good it +might do in the future. Such a union as ours was, in fact, but one of +the logical results of the very principles on which the college was +founded. I do not profess to sit in judgment, and therefore attempt no +comment. They were now evidently anxious that I should resign, though, +of course, they did not express so much to me in words.</p> + +<p>I also came to the further conclusion that I could no longer, under the +circumstances, whatever I might be able to do in future, hold my +position in the country. For, however willing I might be to endure all +things in my own person, I felt that I ought not to expose to any +further danger one who already suffered so much and so heroically for my +sake. I knew several of the lady's friends who were bitterly opposed to +our union, solely on account of my color, and who were prepared, if the +occasion should require it, to go to desperate lengths. They would<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_111" id="Page_111">[Pg 111]</a></span> not +have hesitated to have sworn her into the lunatic asylum. I therefore +decided not only to resign my professorship in the college, but also to +leave the country.</p> + +<p>Our plans being now quietly arranged, the lady returned to Fulton, and +it was then supposed that all communication between us was for ever +broken off. The mob had ordered that it should be so, and doubtless +thought it was so. The most mistaken idea they ever entertained. The +lady remained for a short time in Fulton, and then retired into the +interior of the state of Pennsylvania. I continued to remain in the town +of Syracuse.</p> + +<p>Soon a favorable opportunity presented itself, and we met in the city of +New York, on the 30th March, 1853, and then and there asserted our +rights in due and legal form: after which we immediately took the train +for Boston.</p> + +<p>Owing to the great publicity which the newspapers had given to our +affairs and the consequent excitement thereon, we found it necessary to +use the utmost caution, such as walking apart in the streets, and +travelling in the trains as strangers to each other. It would have been +fool-hardy to have provoked another mob.</p> + +<p>We remained in Boston ten days, quietly visiting among our friends, and +then set sail for England. Wishing to get out of the country without +farther ado, we were compelled to submit to many sacrifices, pecuniary +and otherwise, of which it is not necessary to speak. In England and +Ireland, including a short trip to Scotland, we have been ever since, +and have constantly received that generous and friendly consideration +which, from the reputation of Great Britain and Ireland, we had been led +to expect; and for which we are grateful.</p> + +<p>To go back for a single moment to New York Central College. On receiving +the appointment to the professorial chair, the pro-slavery newspaper +press of the country opened a regular assault. The "<i>Washington Union</i>" +thus wrote:</p> + +<p>"What a pity that college could not have found white men in all America +to fill its professors' chairs. What a burning shame that the trustees +should have been mean enough to rob Mr. L—— of his law student, and +the Boston bar of its ebony ornament." I was never at the Boston bar, +and therefore could not<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_112" id="Page_112">[Pg 112]</a></span> have been its ebony ornament. The imagination +of the editors supplied them with the fact, and that answered their +purpose as well.</p> + +<p>A reverend doctor of divinity writing in a Cincinnati newspaper, +wondered "how a man of sense could enter that amalgamation college. If +this professor would go to Liberia and display his eloquence at the bar +there; or, if he has any of the grace of God in his heart, enter the +pulpit, he would then be doing a becoming work."</p> + +<p>From Augusta, Georgia (Slave State), I received the following document, +signed by several parties, and containing the picture of a man hanging +by the neck, under which was written, "Here hangs the Professor of +Greek!"</p> + +<p class='author'> +"Augusta, Geo. Nov. 1850. +</p> + +<p>"Sir,—We perceive you have been appointed Professor of Greek in New +York Central College. Very well. We also perceive that you have +occasionally lectured in the North on the 'Probable Destiny of the +African Race.' Now, Sir, if you will only have the kindness to come to +Augusta, and visit our hemp yard, you may be sure that your destiny will +not be <i>probable</i>, but certain.</p> + + +<p><span style="margin-left: 30em;">"Signed,</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 30em;">———</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 30em;">———</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 30em;">———"</span></p> + + +<p>Of course I did not go to Augusta, Georgia.</p> + +<p>These assaults and attempts at ridicule served to bring me into general +notice. I soon found that, by reason of them, and without merit or +effort of my own, I had become known throughout the whole country as +"the Colored Professor." I had a status. The lady being the daughter of +a highly respectable minister, she also had a status. To permit +therefore the union of these parties would be to bring the principle of +amalgamation into respectability. So reasoned those who attempted to +reason on behalf, or rather in excuse, of the mob. "We are sorry," they<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_113" id="Page_113">[Pg 113]</a></span> +went on condescendingly to say, "for Professor Allen, for though a man +of color, he is nevertheless a gentleman, a Christian and a scholar. But +this union must not be; the 'proprieties of society,' must not be +violated!" Here then was the secret of this extraordinary outbreak. Had +we moved in what these good people would have been pleased to term a +lower strata of society, they would have let us alone with infinite +contempt.</p> + +<p>The most lamentable feature of this Fulton mob was the fact, that we +could not, if we had sought it, have secured any redress. No court of +law in the State would have undertaken to bring to justice the +perpetrators of this outrage. But on the contrary, such court would have +been inclined to take sides with the mobocrats, and to justify them in +the means which they employed wherewith to chastise a colored man who +had presumed so grossly to violate the "proprieties of society."</p> + +<p>Before closing I cannot forebear a further word with regard to New York +Central College. During the four years I was in connexion with that +college as professor, I never experienced the slightest disrespect from +trustees, professors or students. All treated me kindly, so kindly +indeed that I can truly say that the period of my professorship forms +one of the pleasantest remembrances of my life. Terrible as prejudice +against color is, my experience has taught me that it is not invincible; +though, as it is the offspring of slavery, it will never be fully +vanquished until slavery has been abolished.</p> + +<p>In illustration of the direct influences of slavery as they affect the +free man of color, I again go back for a single moment. Having spent +three years at Oneida Institute, I proposed to myself a visit to +Virginia, to look once more into the faces of beloved parents, relatives +and friends, to walk again upon the strand at Fortress Monroe, where I +had so often in childhood beheld the sunbeams play upon the coves and +inlets, and seen the surf beat upon the rocks. I, at first, had some +difficulty in getting a passage to Virginia, most of the masters of the +New York vessels to whom I applied seeming to be of a friendly nature, +and not willing to expose me to the slave laws of Virginia. I, however, +succeeded at last—the captain of a Phila<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_114" id="Page_114">[Pg 114]</a></span>delphia vessel consenting to +land me at the fortress of Monroe. I remained in the home of my +childhood and youth seven days in peace; but on the morning of the +eighth day, while walking on the strand, I was rudely assaulted by a +person who had known me from my infancy. I had always supposed him to be +a gentleman, and was therefore greatly surprised and shocked. But +slavery is relentless; it ruins both the morals and the manners. This +individual, after belaboring me in a savage manner, gave me distinctly +to understand that unless I left Virginia speedily, I might find myself +in trouble. He afterwards remarked, as I understood, to his friends that +"this Allen has been off to an abolition college and returned among us. +Let us look out for him."</p> + +<p>I took the hint; and on the next morning secured the services of a party +who rowed me off in a small canoe to a vessel lying in the harbor, where +I bargained with the captain, who, for a handsome sum, consented to take +me quietly out of the state. I left Virginia at once, and have never +returned to it since, though I would gladly have done so, as relatives +and friends near and dear to me have since died, by the side of whose +death beds I desired to stand. In conclusion I have only to say that +were I in the United States of America to-morrow, it would be more than +my life or liberty would be worth to put foot upon the soil of my native +state. Is this freedom? If it be, then give me slavery indeed.</p> + +<p>A word or two with regard to my course in this country. Hitherto my +income has been derived solely from lectures, tuitions, and such other +odds and ends of work in my line as my hands could find to do. I desire +a more permanent settlement for myself and family, and hope that the +sale of this little narrative may help to create means to that end.</p> + +<p>I send it forth therefore, desiring that it may stand upon its own +merits, at the same time earnestly hoping that it may interest all into +whose hands it may fall.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_115" id="Page_115">[Pg 115]</a></span></p> + +<p class='center'> +From <span class="smcap">Lord Shaftesbury</span>. +</p> + +<p>"Lord Shaftesbury sympathizes most heartily with Professor Allen and +sincerely wishes him success in his undertaking. It will give Lord +Shaftesbury great pleasure to assist, in any way that he can, a +gentleman of the colored race, who is a hundred times wiser and better +than his white oppressors.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap" style="margin-left: 2em;">"London</span>, <i>July, 1854.</i>"</p> + +<p class='center'> +From Rev. I. G. Abeltshauser, LL.D. Trinity College,<br /> +Dublin, and others;—</p> + +<p class='author'>"<span class="smcap">Dublin</span>, 14th April, 1856. +</p> + +<p>"The undersigned having made due enquiry from the most trustworthy +sources relative to the character and attainments of Professor William +G. Allen, have much pleasure in recommending him as a gentleman of high +attainments and honorable character.</p> + +<p> +<span style="margin-left: 6em;" class="smcap">I. G. Abeltshauser</span>, Clk. LL.D. Trin. Col. Dub.<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 6em;" class="smcap">Wm. Urwick</span>, D. D. 40, Rathmines Road, Dublin.<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 6em;" class="smcap">James Haughton</span>, 35 Eccles-street, Dublin.<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 6em;" class="smcap">Richard Allen</span>, Sackville-street, Dublin.<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 6em;" class="smcap">Jonathan Pim</span>, 22, William-street, Dublin.<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 6em;" class="smcap">John Evans</span>, M. D. 38, Richmond-street, Dublin.<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 6em;" class="smcap">R. D. Webb</span>, 176, Great Brunswick-street, Dublin.<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 6em;" class="smcap">John R. Wigham</span>, 36, Capel-street, Dublin. +</p> + +<p> +<span style="margin-left: 6em;">From <span class="smcap">Richard D. Webb</span>, Esq. of Dublin.</span> +</p> +<p class='author'>"<span class="smcap">Dublin, 3rd November, 1858.</span> +</p> + +<p>"<span class="smcap">Dear Mr. Allen</span>,</p> + +<p>"Your name was familiar to me long before I knew you personally. I had +often heard of 'Professor W. G. Allen,' who, while connected with the +Central College, in the State of New York, and respected there as a man +and a teacher, was obliged to leave his native country for the offence +of marrying a white lady of respectable family and great excellence of +character, who is now much liked and esteemed by her numerous friends in +this city.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_116" id="Page_116">[Pg 116]</a></span> I became acquainted with you soon after your arrival in +London; and particularly during your residence in Ireland I have had +nearly as much opportunity of knowing you as any of your acquaintances +here. I can truly say, that you have earned the hearty respect of all +who know you (of whom I have any knowledge), by the industry, energy, +and self-respect you have evinced in the course of a long and difficult +battle with those adverse circumstances, with which a comparatively +unknown and friendless stranger has to contend, in his efforts to effect +a settlement in a strange country. Your conduct has been industrious, +honorable and in every way deserving of esteem and sympathy. Some time +since, in the columns of the 'Anti-Slavery Advocate,' without hint or +solicitation on your part, I took the liberty to speak of your course as +I do now; for amongst all the colored Americans with whom my interest in +the Anti-Slavery cause has made me acquainted—and many of whom are my +own personal friends—I have known none more deserving of respect and +confidence than yourself.</p> + +<p> +<span style="margin-left: 26em;">"Yours truly,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 26em;" class="smcap">"Richard D. Webb.</span>" +</p> + +<p>Having, in my avocation as lecturer on "The African Race" and +"America and the Americans," visited nearly the whole of Ireland, I +respectfully submit the following letters and notices, the letters being +from gentlemen who kindly presided at the meetings:—</p> + +<p class='center'> +From the Rev. <span class="smcap">Doctor Fitzgerald</span>, Archdeacon of Kildare,<br /> +(now Lord Bishop of Cork). +</p> + +<p>"Professor Allen delivered some lectures on the African Race, in +Kingstown, which seemed to have given general satisfaction. I regret +that I was unable to attend more than one, but I can truly say that it +bore evidence of a highly cultivated mind, and imparted valuable +information in a pleasing form. From what I<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_117" id="Page_117">[Pg 117]</a></span> have seen and heard of +Professor Allen, I should be glad to think that any testimony of mine +could be of service to him.</p> + +<p class='author'> +"<span class="smcap">W. Fitzgerald</span>, Archdeacon of Kildare,<br /> +(Now Lord Bishop of Cork.)</p> + +<p>"Dublin, Nov. 1856" +</p> + +<p class='center'> +From Rev. <span class="smcap">Doctor Urwick</span>, Dublin. +</p> + +<p>"I have known Professor Allen since his first coming to Ireland, and +believe him to be a gentleman of high character and attainments. His +lecturings, more than one of which I have heard, display much power, and +by the amount of information they contain, united with a clear and often +eloquent style, and earnest manner, cannot fail, at once, to interest +and instruct the audience. I cordially commend him to the confidence and +kind attention of my friends.</p> + +<p class='author'> +"<span class="smcap">W. Urwick.</span> +</p> +<p>"Dublin, Nov. 30, 1857." +</p> + +<p class='center'> +From <span class="smcap">Cork</span>—see "Constitution," "Examiner" and<br /> +"Reporter," March 1858.</p> + +<p class='author'>"Cork, Feb. 28, 1858.</p> + +<p class='center'>"To <span class="smcap">William G. Allen</span>, Esq. late Professor of Greek in<br /> +New York Central College. +</p> + +<p>"<span class="smcap">Dear Sir</span>—We, the undersigned, having heard your lectures on +'America' and 'Africa,' and derived therefrom much instruction as well +as gratification, do, on our own part and that of many of our fellow +citizens who are anxious to hear you, respectfully request that you will +give, at least, two lectures more upon these interesting subjects.</p> + +<p> +<span style="margin-left: 10em;">"(Signed)</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 6em;" class="smcap">Henry Martin</span>, Congregational Minister.<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 6em;" class="smcap">R. W. Forrest</span> (Free Church).<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 6em;" class="smcap">Richd. Corbett, M. D.</span><br /> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_118" id="Page_118">[Pg 118]</a></span><span style="margin-left: 6em;" class="smcap">J. D. Carnegie.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 6em;" class="smcap">Henry Unkles.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 6em;" class="smcap">George Baker.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 6em;" class="smcap">Richard Dowden</span>, (Rd.)<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 6em;" class="smcap">William Magill</span>, (Scots' Church).<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 6em;" class="smcap">Joseph R. Greene</span>, Professor, Queen's Coll.<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 6em;" class="smcap">Thomas Jennings.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 6em;" class="smcap">N. Jackson, C. E.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 6em;" class="smcap">Joseph Colbeck.</span>" +</p> + +<p class='center'> +From "Belfast News-letter," Dec. 10, 1858. +</p> + +<p>"<span class="smcap">Rev. Doctor Cooke</span> occupied the chair. Professor Allen then +delivered a lecture of great ability and interest. Dr. Cooke said he had +listened to a remarkable oration. He was glad he had heard it. He +thanked Professor Allen, in the name of the meeting, for his truly +valuable and instructive lecture."</p> + +<p class='center'> +From the <span class="smcap">Dean of Waterford</span>. +</p> + +<p>"Professor W. G. Allen, an American gentleman of color, having visited +Waterford, delivered two lectures here, one on 'America,' and the other +on 'Africa and the African Races.' On each occasion I had the pleasure +to occupy the chair at the meetings held to hear Mr. Allen's lectures, +which proved most interesting and instructive. The Professor is himself +a witness that there is nothing in color or race to hinder a man from +being distinguished for eloquence, good taste, and religious feeling.</p> + +<p>"I have seldom heard public addresses which have interested me more, and +I have no doubt that Mr. Allen's lectures will prove useful, wherever +they are delivered, in creating an interest on behalf of our fellow men, +who have suffered so great wrongs from professing Christians, though +happily no longer at the hands of British subjects.</p> + +<p class='author'> +"<span class="smcap">Edw. N. Hoare</span>,<br /> +Dean of Waterford.</p> + +<p><span style="margin-left: 2em;">"Deanery, Waterford, Jan. 16, 1858."</span></p> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_119" id="Page_119">[Pg 119]</a></span></p> + +<p class='center'> +From Rev. <span class="smcap">Doctor Browne</span>, Principal of Kilkenny College.</p> + +<p class='author'>"Kilkenny College, Feb. 3, 1858. +</p> + +<p>"I have attended Professor Allen's lectures on 'America and the +Americans,' and on the 'African Races,' and have received much pleasure +as well as information from the talent and power with which he has +handled the subjects of which he treated.</p> + +<p>"His knowledge, his ardent and impressive manner, and clear melodious +voice, render him a most pleasing as well as instructive lecturer.</p> + +<p class='author'> +"<span class="smcap">John Browne</span>, Clk. LL.D."<br /> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_120" id="Page_120">[Pg 120]</a></span></p> + + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The American Prejudice Against Color, by +William G. Allen + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE AMERICAN PREJUDICE *** + +***** This file should be named 17875-h.htm or 17875-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/1/7/8/7/17875/ + +Produced by Suzanne Shell, Janet B. and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net + + +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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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: The American Prejudice Against Color + An Authentic Narrative, Showing How Easily The Nation Got + Into An Uproar. + +Author: William G. Allen + +Release Date: February 27, 2006 [EBook #17875] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE AMERICAN PREJUDICE *** + + + + +Produced by Suzanne Shell, Janet B. and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + + + + + + +THE AMERICAN + +Prejudice Against Color. + + * * * * * + +AN AUTHENTIC NARRATIVE, + +SHOWING HOW EASILY THE NATION GOT + +INTO AN UPROAR. + + * * * * * + +BY WILLIAM G. ALLEN, + +A REFUGEE FROM AMERICAN DESPOTISM. + + * * * * * + +LONDON: +W. AND F. G. CASH, 5, BISHOPSGATE-STREET-WITHOUT. +EDINBURGH: JOHN MENZIES. +DUBLIN: JAMES MC. GLASHAN AND J. B. GILPIN + + * * * * * + + +1853 + + + + +PREFACE. + + +Extract of a letter from Hon. Gerrit Smith, of New York, Member of +Congress, to Joseph Sturge, Esq., of Birmingham, England. (By permission +of Mr. Sturge.) + + _"Peterboro', New York, March 23rd_, 1853. + +"I take great pleasure in introducing to you my much esteemed friend, +Professor Wm. G. Allen. I know him well, and know him to be a man of +great mental and moral worth. I trust, in his visit to England, he will +be both useful and happy. + + "Very truly, your friend and brother, + "GERRIT SMITH." + + * * * * * + +"Commending Professor Allen to the friends of the colored American +citizens who are denied their rights in their own country, and wishing +him every success in the object before him, + + "I am, respectfully, + "_Birmingham, 6mo., 28d._, 1853. "JOSEPH STURGE." + + * * * * * + + "_Clapham, August 25th_, 1853. + + "My dear Sir:-- + +"Your determination to spend some time in Great Britain, and to employ +yourself, as opportunities occur, in giving lectures and delivering +addresses upon American topics, including the social position of the +free colored population--for which your education and personal +experience eminently fit you--has given me sincere pleasure. I trust you +will meet with ample encouragement from the friends of Abolition +throughout the United Kingdom, to whose sympathy and kindness I would +earnestly recommend you, and still more your heroic and most estimable +lady. + + "Believe me, most truly yours, + "Professor W. G. Allen "GEORGE THOMPSON." + + + + +CONTENTS. + + + CHAPTER I.--Introduction 41 + + II.--Personalities 42 + + III.--Nobility and Servility 48 + + IV.--The Mob 54 + + V.--Dark Days 63 + + VI.--Brightening up,--Grand Result 79 + + VII.--Conclusion 91 + + A Short Personal Narrative + by William G Allen 95 + + + + +CHAPTER I. + +INTRODUCTION + + +Many persons having suggested that it would greatly subserve the +Anti-slavery Cause in this country, to present to the public a concise +narrative of my recent narrow escape from death, at the hands of an +armed mob in America, a mob armed with tar, feathers, poles, and an +empty barrel spiked with shingle nails, together with the reasons which +induced that mob, I propose to give it. I cannot promise however, to +write such a book as ought to be written to illustrate fully the +bitterness, malignity, and cruelty, of American prejudice against color, +and to show its terrible power in grinding into the dust of social and +political bondage, the hundreds of thousands of so-called free men and +women of color of the North. This bondage is, in many of its aspects, +far more dreadful than that of the _bona fide_ Southern Slavery, since +its victims--many of them having emerged out of, and some of them never +having been into, the darkness of personal slavery--have acquired a +development of mind, heart, and character, not at all inferior to the +foremost of their oppressors. + +The book that ought to be written, _I_ ought not to attempt; but if no +one precedes me, I shall consider myself bound by necessity, and making +the attempt, lay on, with all the strength I can possibly summon, to +American Caste and skin-deep Democracy. + +The mob occurred on Sabbath (!) evening, January the 30th, 1853, in the +village of Phillipsville, near Fulton, Oswego County, New York. The +cause,--the intention, on my part, of marrying a white young lady of +Fulton,--at least so the public surmised. + + + + +CHAPTER II. + +PERSONALITIES. + + +I am a quadroon, that is, I am of one-fourth African blood, and +three-fourths Anglo-Saxon. I graduated at Oneida Institute, in +Whitesboro', New York, in 1844; subsequently studied Law with Ellis Gray +Loring, Esq., of Boston, Massachusetts; and was thence called to the +Professorship of the Greek and German languages, and of Rhetoric and +Belles-Lettres of New York Central College, situated in Mc. Grawville, +Cortland County,--the only College in America that has ever called a +colored man to a Professorship, and one of the very few that receive +colored and white students on terms of perfect equality, if, indeed, +they receive colored students at all. + +In April, 1851, I was invited to Fulton, to deliver a course of +Lectures. I gladly accepted the invitation, and none the less that +Fulton had always maintained a high reputation for its love of impartial +freedom, and that its citizens were highly respected for their professed +devotion to the teachings of Christianity. + +I am glad to say, that on this occasion I was well received, and at the +close of my first lecture was invited to spend the evening at the house +of the Rev. Lyndon King. This gentleman having long been known as a +devoted abolitionist,--a fervid preacher of the doctrine, that character +is above color,--and as one of the ablest advocates of the social, +political, and religious rights of the colored man, I, of course, had a +pleasant visit with the family; and, remaining with them several days, +conceived a deep interest in one of the Elder's daughters,--Miss Mary E. +King, who was then preparing to enter the College in Mc. Grawville. I +accompanied Miss King to Mc. Grawville, where she remained in college, a +year and a half. + +Boarding in tenements quite opposite each other, we frequently met in +other than college halls, and as freely conversed,--Miss K. being of +full age, and legally, as well as intellectually and morally, competent +to discuss the subjects in which, it is generally supposed, young men +and women feel an absorbing interest. + +It is of no consequence what we said; and if it were, the reader, +judging in the light of the results, will perhaps as correctly imagine +that, as I can possibly describe it. I pass on at once, therefore, +simply stating that at the close of the year and a half, my interest in +the young lady had become fully reciprocated, and we occupied a relation +to each other much more significant than that of teacher and pupil. + +Miss King returned to her father's house in October, 1852. I visited the +family in December following. Then and there we discussed the subject of +marriage more fully between ourselves; and deeming it a duty obligatory +upon us, by an intelligent regard for our future happiness, to survey, +before consummating an engagement even, the whole field of difficulties, +embarrassments, trials, insults and persecutions, which we should have +to enter on account of our diversity of complexion, and to satisfy +ourselves fully as to our ability to endure what we might expect to +encounter; we concluded to separate unengaged, and, in due season, each +to write to the other what might be the results of more mature +deliberation. This may seem unromantic to the reader; nevertheless, it +was prudent on our part. + +After remaining in Fulton a week, I left for Boston. Several letters +then passed between us, and in January last, our engagement was fixed. I +will not speak of myself, but on the part of Miss King, this was +certainly a bold step. It displayed a moral heroism which no one can +comprehend who has not been in America, and who does not understand the +diabolical workings of prejudice against color. Whatever a man may be in +his own person,--though he should have the eloquence, talents, and +character of Paul and Apollos, and the Angel Gabriel combined,--though +he should be as wealthy as Croesus,--and though, in personal +appearance, he should be as fair as the fairest Anglo-Saxon, yet, if he +have but one drop of the blood of the African flowing in his veins, no +white young lady can ally herself to him in matrimony, without bringing +upon her the anathemas of the community, with scarcely an exception, +and rendering herself an almost total outcast, not only from the society +in which she formerly moved, but from society in general. + +Such is American Caste,--the most cruel under the sun. And such it is, +notwithstanding the claims set up by the American people, that they are +Heaven's Vicegerents, to teach to men, and to nations as well, the +legitimate ideas of Christian Democracy. + +To digress a moment. This Caste-spirit of America sometimes illustrates +itself in rather ridiculous ways. + +A beautiful young lady--a friend of mine--attended, about two years +since, one of the most aristocratic Schools of one of the most +aristocratic Villages of New York. She was warmly welcomed in the +highest circles, and so amiable in temper was she, as well as agreeable +in mind and person, that she soon became not only a favorite, but _the_ +favorite of the circle in which she moved. The _young gentlemen_ of the +village were especially interested in her, and what matrimonial offer +might eventually have been made her, it is not for me to say. At the +close of the second term, however, she left the school and the village; +and then, for the first time, the fact became known (previously known +only to her own room-mate) that she was slightly of African blood. +Reader,--the consternation and horror which succeeded this "new +development," are, without exaggeration, perfectly indescribable. The +people drew long breaths, as though they had escaped from the fangs of a +boa constrictor; the old ladies charged their daughters, that should +Miss ---- be seen in that village again, by no means to permit +themselves to be seen in the street with her; and many other charges +were delivered by said mothers, equally absurd, and equally foolish. And +yet this same young lady, according to their own previous showing, was +not only one of the most beautiful in person and manners who had ever +graced their circle, but was also of fine education; and in complexion +as white as the whitest in the village. Truly, this, our human nature, +is extremely strange and vastly inconsistent! + +Confessedly, as a class, the quadroon women of New Orleans are the most +beautiful in America. Their personal attractions are not only +irresistible, but they have, in general, the best blood of America in +their veins. They are mostly white in complexion, and are, many of them, +highly educated and accomplished; and yet, by the law of Louisiana, no +man may marry a quadroon woman, unless he can prove that he, too, has +African blood in his veins. A law involving a greater outrage on +propriety, a more blasphemous trifling with the heart's affections, and +evincing a more contemptible tyranny, those who will look at the matter +from the beginning to the end, will agree with me, could not possibly +have been enacted. + +Colonel Fuller, of the "_New York Mirror_," writing from New Orleans, +gives some melancholy descriptions--and some amusing ones too--of the +operations of this most barbarous law. + +One I especially remember. A planter, it seems, had fallen deeply in +love with a charming quadroon girl. He desired to marry her; but the law +forbade. What was he to do? To tarnish her honour was out of the +question; he had too much himself to seek to tarnish hers. Here was a +dilemma. But he was not to be foiled. What true heart will be, if there +be any virtue in expedients? + + "----In love, + His thoughts came down like a rushing stream." + +At last he got it. A capital thought, which could have crept out of no +one's brain, save that of a most desperate lover. He hit upon the +expedient of extracting a little African blood from the veins of one of +his slaves, and injecting it into his own. The deed done, the letter of +the law was answered. He made proposals, was accepted, and they were +married,--he being willing to risk his caste in obedience to a love +higher and holier than any conventionalism which men have ever contrived +to establish. + +O, Cupid, thou art a singular God! and a most amazing philosopher! Thou +goest shooting about with thy electrically charged arrows, bringing to +one common level human hearts, however diverse in clime, caste, or +color. + +Let not the reader suppose, however, that the white people of America +are in the habit of exercising such honor towards the people of color, +as is here ascribed to this planter. Far from it. The laws of the +Southern States, on the one hand, (I allude not now to any particular +law of Louisiana, but to the laws of the Slave States in general), have +deliberately, and in cold blood, withheld their protection from every +woman within their borders, in whose veins may flow but half a drop of +African blood; while the prejudice against color of the Northern States, +on the other hand, is so cruel and contemptuous of the rights and +feelings of colored people, that no white man would lose his caste in +debauching the best educated, most accomplished, virtuous and wealthy +colored woman in the community, but would be mobbed from Maine to +Delaware, should he with that same woman attempt honorable marriage. +Henry Ward Beecher, (brother of Mrs. Stowe) in reference to prejudice +against color, has truly said of the Northern people--and the truth in +this case in startling and melancholy--that, "with them it is less +sinful to break the whole decalogue towards the colored people, than to +keep a single commandment in their favour." + +But to return to the narrative. Miss King, previously to the +consummation of our engagement, consulted her father, who at once gave +his consent. Her sister not only consented, but, thanks to her kind +heart, warmly approved the match. Her brothers, of whom there were many, +were bitterly opposed. Mrs. King--a step-mother only--was not only also +bitterly opposed, but inveterately so. Bright fancies and +love-bewildering conceptions were what, in her estimation, we ought not +to be allowed to indulge. + +In passing, it is proper to say, that this lady, though not lacking a +certain benevolence,--especially that sort which can pity the fugitive, +give him food and raiment, or permit him at her table even,--is, +nevertheless, extremely aristocratic of heart and patronizing of temper. +This statement is made upon quite a familiar acquaintance with Mrs. +King, and out of no asperity of feeling. I cherish none, but only pity +for those who nurture a prejudice, which, while it convicts them of the +most ridiculous vanity, at the same time shrivels their own hearts and +narrows their own souls. + +Mrs. King was at first mild in her opposition, but finally resorted to +such violence of speech and act, as to indicate a state of feeling +really deplorable, and a spirit diametrically opposed to all the +teachings of the Christian religion--a religion which she loudly +professed, and which assures us that "God is no respecter of persons." + +I judge not mortal man or woman, but leave Mrs. King, and all those who +thought it no harm because of my complexion, to abuse the most sacred +feelings of my heart, to their conscience and their God. + + + + +CHAPTER III. + +NOBILITY AND SERVILITY. + + +The reader will doubtless and also correctly imagine that situated as +Miss King has now been shown to be, she could not have experienced many +very pleasant hours either of night or day,--pleasant so far as the +sympathy of her numerous relatives and friends could serve to make them +such. Fortunately, however she was not of that class whose happiness +depends upon the smiles or the approbation of others earned at any +cost--but upon a steady obedience to what in her inmost soul, she +regarded as demanded by the laws of rectitude and justice. + +That a young lady could break away without a struggle from the +counsellors, friends and companions of her youth, is not to be expected. +Miss King had her struggles; and the letter written to me by her on the +consummation of our engagement evinced their character, and also her +grandeur and nobility of soul:-- + +"I have endeavoured to solve, honorably, conscientiously and +judiciously, the greatest problem of human life; and God and the holy +angels have assisted me in thus solving. Friends may forsake me, and the +world prove false, but the sweet assurance that I have your most devoted +love, and that that love will strengthen and increase in proportion as +the regard of others may diminish, is the only return I ask." + +What vows I uttered in the secret chambers of my heart as I read the +above and similar passages of that letter, let the reader imagine who +may be disposed to credit me with the least aptitude of appreciating +whatsoever in human nature is grand and noble, or in the human spirit, +which is lovely, and true, and beautiful, and of good report. + +Throughout the letter there was also a tone of gentle sadness--not that +of regret for the course in contemplation,--but that which holily +lingers around a loving heart, which, while it gives itself away, may +not even lightly inflict the slightest pang upon other hearts to which +it has long been bound by dearly-cherished ties. + +But family opposition was not the only opposition which Miss King +expected to, or did indeed encounter. Whoever sought to marry yet, and +did the deed unblessed or uncursed of public praise or wrath? And aside +from extraordinary circumstances, it is so pleasant to dip one's finger +into a pie matrimonial. + +The following paragraph of a letter written to me by Miss King a few +days after I left her in December, amused me much,--it may possibly +amuse the reader:-- + +"Professor,--You would smile if you only knew what an excitement your +visit here caused among the good people of Fulton. Some would have it +that we were married, and others said if we were not already married, +they were sure that we would be; for they knew that you would not have +spent a whole week with us if there had been no love existing between +you and myself. Some of the villagers came to see me the day after you +left, and begged of me, if _I were determined to marry you, to do so at +once, and not to keep the public in so much suspense_." + +Friend, have you ever heard or read of anything which came nearer to +clapping the climax of the ridiculous than this most singular appeal +couched in the last clause of this quotation, to the benevolence of Miss +King? Certainly, if anything could have come nearer, it would have been +the act of a certain lady who, having heard during this selfsame visit +that we were to be married on the morrow, actually had her sleigh drawn +up to the door, and would have driven off to the Elder's to "_stop the +wedding_" had not her husband remonstrated. It is true, this lady +opposed the marriage, not on the ground of an immorality, but of its +inexpediency considering the existent state of American sentiment; but +then it is curious to think of what amazing powers she must have +imagined herself possessed. + +Public opposition however, soon began to assume a more decided form. +Neighbours far and near, began to visit the house of Elder King, and to +adopt such remonstrance and expostulation as, in their view the state of +the case demanded. Some thought our marriage would be dreadful, a most +inconceivably horrid outrage. Some declared it would be vulgar, and had +rather see every child of theirs dead and buried, than take the course +which, they were shocked to find, Miss King seemed bent to do. Some +sillier than all the rest, avowed that should the marriage be permitted +to take place, it would be a sin against Almighty God; and it may be, +they thought it would call down thunder-bolts from the chamber of +heaven's wrath, to smite us from the earth. + +"There is no peace," saith my God, "to the wicked."--And surely, clearer +exemplifications of this saying of Holy Writ were never had, than in the +brain-teasings, mind-torturings and heart-rackings of these precious +people, out of deference to our welfare. May they be mercifully +remembered and gloriously rewarded. + +It is proper to introduce to the reader at this point, our cherished +friends,--Mr. and Mrs. Porter,--and to say at once, that words are not +expressive enough to describe the gratitude we owe them, nor in what +remembrance we hold them in the deepest depths of our hearts. They stood +by us throughout that season of intended bloody persecution, turning +neither to the right nor the left, nor counting their own interests or +lives as aught in comparison to the friendship they bore us, or to their +love of the principles of truth, justice and humanity. Amid the raging +billows, they stood as a rock to which to cling. + +We had known these friends for months, nay, for years. They had also +been students in Mc. Grawville, but had subsequently married, and at the +time of my December visit to Fulton were teachers of a School in +Phillipsville,--where, it may be proper here to say, was located the +depot of the Fulton trains of cars. + +Not only belonging to that class of persons, (rare in America, even +among those who claim to be Abolitionists and Christians), persons who +do not _profess_ to believe merely, but really _do_ believe in the +doctrine of the "unity, equality, and brotherhood of the human race;" +and who are willing to accord to others the exercise of rights which +they claim for themselves; but, having also great purity of heart and +purpose, Mr. and Mrs. Porter did not, as they could not, sympathise +with those whose ideas of marriage, as evinced in their conversation +respecting Miss King and myself, never ascended beyond the region of the +material into that of the high, the holy and the spiritual. Of all the +families of Fulton and Phillipsville, this was the only one which +_publicly_ spoke approval of our course. So that, therefore it will be +expected, that while those true hearts were friendly to us, they were +equally with ourselves targets at which our enemies might shoot. + +I have introduced Mr. and Mrs. Porter at this point, because, at this +point, their services to us commenced. But for these faithful friends, +Miss King would not have known whither to have fled when she found as +she did, her own home becoming any other than a desirable habitation, +owing to the growing opposition and bitter revilings of her step-mother, +and the impertinent intermeddlings of others. + +Thus far the opposition which Miss King had experienced, though +disagreeable, had not become too much for the "utmost limit of human +patience." Soon, however, a crisis occurred, in the arrival in Fulton, +of the Rev. John B. King. This gentleman's visit was unexpected, and it +is due to him to say, that he did not come on any errand connected with +this subject; for until he arrived in Fulton, he did not know of the +correspondence which had existed between his sister and myself. Though +unexpected, his visit as already intimated, was fraught with results, +which in their immediate influence, were extremely sad and woeful. + +Mr. King was a Reform preacher, and had even come from Washington, +District of Columbia, where he had been residing for the last two years, +to collect money to build a church which should exclude from membership +those who held their fellow-men in bondage, and who would not admit the +doctrines of the human brotherhood. Just the man to assist us, one would +have thought. But it is easy to preach and to talk. Who cannot do that? +It is easier still to _feel_--this is humanity's instinct--for the +wrongs and outrages inflicted upon our kind. But to plant one's feet +rough-shod upon the neck and heels of a corrupt and controlling public +sentiment, to cherish living faith in God, and, above all to crush the +demon in one's own soul,--ah! this it is which only the _great_ can do, +who, only of men, can help the world onward up to heaven. + +Mr. King had scarcely entered the house, and been told the story of our +engagement, when he manifested the most unworthy and unchristian +opposition. Unworthy and unchristian, since he frankly averred, that had +I the remaining fourth Anglo-Saxon blood, he would be proud of me as a +brother. He was bitter, not as wormwood only, but as wormwood and gall +combined. He would not tolerate me as a visitor at his house, in company +with his sister, unless I came in the capacity of driver or servant. A +precious brother this, and a most glorious Christian teacher. + +I have said that the arrival of this gentleman marked a crisis in the +history of our troubles; and it did so in the fact that by the powerful +influence which he exerted over his father, adverse to our marriage, and +by the aid, strength and comfort which he gave to his step-mother; the +Elder was at last brought to a reconsideration of his views, and to +abandon the ground which he had hitherto maintained with so much heroism +and valour. + +I shall say no hard things of Elder King; now that the storm is over, I +prefer to leave him to his own reflections, and especially to this one, +which may be embodied in the following question,--_What is the true +relation which a Christian Reformer sustains to public opinion?_ + +Had the Elder, supposing it to have been possible, assumed towards us a +position more adverse than the one he did in this singular and +unexpected change, the results could not, for the time being at least, +have been sadder or more disastrous. How it affected the feelings of his +daughter, the reader can well imagine, who will remember, that upon her +father she had hitherto relied as upon a pillar of strength, and +especially as her rock of refuge from the storms which beat upon her +from without. Stricken thus, a weak spirit would have given up in +despair; but not so with this heroic and noble-minded lady, upon whom +misfortune seemed to have no other effect than to increase her faith in +God. + +Elder King now, not as hitherto out of his deference to the feelings of +his wife, but of his own accord, averred that I should on no +consideration whatever, be permitted to enter his house, to hold a +conference with his daughter, providing said conference was to be +promotive of our marriage. Miss King was compelled, therefore, to make +an arrangement with Mr. Porter, by which our interviews should be held +in his house when I should arrive, as I was expected to do so in a few +days, from Boston. Strange to say, however, and paradoxical as it may +seem, on the day on which I was expected to arrive in Fulton, the Elder +himself took his daughter from Fulton to Phillipsville to meet me. I +reached Phillipsville, on Saturday afternoon, January 29th, and, of +course, was not advised of this altered state of things, until my +arrival there--the Elder's change having taken place within a very few +days previous. + +The method which Elder King took to evince his hostility--his exclusion +of me from his house--was extremely injudicious; and I have no doubt +that he, himself, now sincerely regrets it. It excited to action the mob +spirit which had all along existed in the hearts of the people, and was +only awaiting the pretext which the Elder gave--the placing of me before +the community, as a marauder upon the peace of his family. The mob, +also, gave to the matter what the King family, evidently afterwards, +greatly deplored--extraordinary notoriety. Elder King would certainly +have displayed more worldly sagacity, to say nothing of Christian +propriety, to have admitted me into his house as usual, where we could, +all together, have reasoned the matter; and if prejudices could not have +been conciliated, the Elder, at all events, by his previous acquaintance +with my character, had every reason to suppose that I should have +conducted myself as became a gentleman and a Christian. But so it +is,--prejudice thus bewilders the faculties, and defeats the objects +which it aims most to accomplish. + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + +THE MOB. + + +Hardly unlooked for by myself was this mob, especially after I had +learned of the direction which "the subject" had taken in the family of +Mr. King. + +On Sabbath afternoon, January 30th, while Mr. and Mrs. Porter, Mrs. +Porter's sister, Miss King, and myself, were enjoying ourselves in +social conversation, a gentleman from the village of Fulton called at +the residence of Mr. Porter, to give an account of events as they were +transpiring in the village. This gentleman was decidedly opposed to +"amalgamation," expressed the utmost surprise that Mr. Porter should for +a moment suppose that God ever designed the inter-marriage of white and +colored persons,--but he was, nevertheless, a man of friendly +disposition,--and as a friend he came to Mr. Porter. _We were to be +mobbed_,--so this gentleman informed us. He advised escape on the part +of Mr. Porter and myself, otherwise the house would be demolished! All +Fulton, since Saturday night, he informed us, had been in arms. Crowds +of men could be seen in the streets, at every point, discussing the +subject of our marriage, and with feelings of the most extraordinary +excitement; and similar discussions, he added, had been held during the +live-long night preceding, in all the grog shops and taverns of the +village. + +All sorts of oaths had been uttered, and execrations vented. Tar, +feathers, poles, and an empty barrel spiked with shingle nails had been +prepared for my especial benefit; and, so far as I was concerned, it +must be escape or death. Mr. Porter was to be mobbed, he said, for +offering me entertainment, and for being supposed friendly to our union. +This friend did not understand the whole plan of the onslaught, but he +gave sufficient information to justify us in surmising that no harm was +intended to be inflicted upon Miss King, or any lady of the house. + +Knowing the brutal character of prejudice against color, and knowing +also that I was supposed to be about to commit the unpardonable sin, I +confess, that though surprised to learn that the mob intended murder, +yet I was not surprised to learn many of the details which this friend +so kindly gave us. + +Mr. Porter suggested that after supper, he and I should retire to a +neighbour's house, he supposing that if the mob should be foiled in +their attempt to get us into their hands, they would, after all, pass +away, and thus the matter blow quietly over. The suggestion, however, +was not carried into effect; for we had scarcely finished tea ere they +(the mob) were down upon us like wild beasts out of a den. + +We first observed some twenty men turning a corner in the direction of +the house; then about thirty or forty more, and soon the streets were +filled with men--some four or five hundred. In the rear of this +multitude there was driven a sleigh in which, we rightly conjectured, +Miss King was to be taken home. + +From the statements of the leader of the mob--statements afterwards +given to the public--it seems that a Committee, composed of members of +the mob, and constituted by the mob, suggested before reaching the house +that if we were still unmarried there should be no violence done, as +they intended to carry off the lady. A portion of this Committee also +made it their duty to gain access to the apartment where our company +were sitting, and to inform us of the intentions of the assembled +multitude below, while the remainder of the Committee endeavoured by +speeches and reasoning to quiet the mob spirit, which soon after the +assembling, began to reach its climax. + +This Committee was composed of some of the most "respectable" men of +Fulton--lawyers, merchants, and others of like position. The reader will +doubtless think it strange that such men should be members of a mob; and +so it would be, if prejudice against color were not the saddest of all +comments upon the meanness of human depravity. In this, more than in +anything else did the malignant character of this American feeling +evince itself--that to drive me off or kill me, if need be, the +"respectable" and the base were commingled, like-- + + "Kindred elements into one." + +Men who, under other circumstances, would have been regarded as beneath +contempt, the vulgar minded and vulgar hearted--with these, even +Christians (so called) did not hesitate to affiliate themselves in order +to crush a man who was guilty of no crime save that, having a colored +skin, he was supposed to be about to marry a lady a few shades lighter +than himself. O, the length and breadth, the height and depth, the +cruelty and the irony of a prejudice which can so belittle human nature. + +But to the Committee again. This Committee declared themselves to us to +be a self-constituted body. But whether self-constituted or otherwise, +it matters not, since they were to all intents and purposes members of +the mob--if not in _deed_, still in spirit and in heart. They meant no +more than to save the honor of their village by preventing, if possible, +bloodshed and death. They were not men of better principles than the +rabble--they were only men of better breeding. I do them no injustice. +The tenor of their discourse to us at the house of Mr. Porter, the +spirit of an article published by one of their number a few days after +in the "_Oswego Daily Times_," and the statements of the mob-leader, +clearly satisfy me that had we been married, they (the Committee) +deeming that our marriage would have been a greater disgrace to their +village than even bloodshed or death, would have left us to our +fate--Miss King to be carried off, or perchance grossly insulted, and +myself left, as the spiked barrel especially evinced, to torture and to +death. That this Committee saved my life, I have no doubt; and I have +publicly thanked them for the act. So I would be grateful even to the +man who took deadly aim at me with his revolver, and only missed his +mark. + +Previous to the death which I was to suffer in the spiked barrel, I was +to undergo various torturings and mutilations of person, aside from the +tarring and feathering--some of these mutilations too shocking to be +named in the pages of this book. + +Mr. Porter, as I have already said, was also to be mobbed; but, as we +afterwards ascertained, only to be coated with tar and feathers and +ridden on a rail. + +The leader of the mob subsequently averred that so decided was the +feeling in Fulton, that in addition to the hundreds who, in person, made +the onslaught, there were hundreds more in waiting in the village, who, +it was understood between the two companies, were ready to join the +onslaughting party at but a moment's warning. Indeed, Mrs. Allen now +assures me that on her way home that evening, conducted by a portion of +the Committee, she twice met crowds of men still coming on to join the +multitudes already congregated at Mr. Porter's. One of the Committee, +fearing that if all Fulton should get together, excited as the people +were, there would be bloodshed in spite of all that could be said or +done, entreated one of these crowds to go back. But, heeding him not; on +the villains went, some of them uttering oaths and imprecations, some of +them hurrahing, and many of them proceeding with great solemnity of +step--these last doubtless being church-members; for the mob was not +only on Sabbath evening, but it is a notorious fact which came out early +afterwards, that the churches on that evening were, every one of them, +quite deserted. + +Reader, the life of a colored man in America, save as a slave, is +regarded as far less sacred than that of a dog. There is no exaggeration +in this statement--I am not writing of exceptions. It is true there are +white people in America who, while the colored man will keep in what +they call "his place," will treat him with a show of respect even. But +even this kind of people have their offset in the multitudes and +majorities--the populace at large who would go out of their way to +inflict the most demon-like outrages upon those whose skins are not +colored like their own! + +I have before me at this moment recent American papers which contain +accounts of the throttling of respectably-dressed colored men and women +for venturing no further even than into the cabins of ferry boats plying +between opposite cities; of colored ladies made to get out of the cars +in which they had found seats--in cars in which the vilest loafer, +provided his skin be white might sit unmolested; of respectable +clergymen having their clothes torn from their backs, because they +presumed to ask in a quiet manner that they might have berths in the +cabins of steamers on which they were travelling, and not be compelled +to lodge on deck; and lastly, of a colored man who was not long since +picked up and thrown over-board from a steam boat, on one of the Western +rivers, because of some affray with a white man--while all the +bye-standers stood looking on, regarding the drowning of the man with +less consideration than they would have done the drowning of a brute. + +Knowing all these things, and knowing also the peculiarity of the +circumstances which surrounded me on that Sabbath evening, the reader +will not be surprised, that when I saw the dense multitude surrounding +the house of Mr. Porter, I at once came to the conclusion that I should +not be permitted to live an hour longer. I was not frightened--was never +calmer--prepared for the worst, disposed of my watch and such other +articles of value as I had about my person. + +Mr. Porter was below stairs at the time the mob approached. Soon he came +running up, introducing the Committee to whom reference has already been +made. They at once addressed us. I do not remember their words,--the +purport of the whole, however, was that death was intended for me, +provided we had been married; and as it was, I could only escape it, by +Miss King consenting to go with them, and by myself consenting to leave +the village; and further, that there must be no delay by either party. + +One of the Committee, in order to assure me of the terrible danger by +which I was surrounded, drew back the window curtains and bade me look +out. I did not do so, however, since it was not necessary that I should +look out in order to feel fully convinced that there were men below, who +had determined to degrade themselves below the level of the brutes that +perish. Such cursings, such imprecations, such cries of "nigger," "bring +him out," "d----n him," "kill him," "down with the house," were never +heard before, I hardly think, even in America. + +Of course, to have attempted to resist this armed mob of hundreds of men +would have been preposterous. It would have been, so far as I was +concerned, at least, to have committed myself to instant death. +Compelled, therefore, to make the best of our unfortunate situation, +Miss King consented to go with the Committee, and I to leave the +village--she, however, taking care to assure me in a whisper, that she +would meet me on the following day in Syracuse. The lady was now +conducted by the Committee through the mob to the sleigh. Not a word was +spoken by a single ruffian in the crowd. All were silent until the +driver put whip to his horse, when a general shout was sent up, as of +complete and perfect triumph. + + "Mistaken souls!" + +Having reached her father's house, one of the Committee addressed a +speech to her, hoped that for the sake of her family, and the community, +Miss King would relinquish all partiality for Professor Allen, advised +her also to go around among the ladies of the village, and consult with +them, and assured her that he would be glad to see her at his house; and +at any time when she felt disposed to come, he would send a sleigh to +bring her. + +Nothing remarkable about this speech. But the tone in which it was +delivered!--that cannot be put upon paper. The speaker evidently thought +the young lady would receive it all as a mark of gracious favor, and as +assuring her that though she had been "hand and glove" with a coloured +man, he would nevertheless condescend to overlook it. He was dealing +with the wrong woman, however; and he received such a reply to his +harangue as only a virtuous indignation could have prompted. + +The reader must also be informed that a double-sleigh load of +able-bodied men followed close behind the one in which Miss King was +taken home. What this movement meant, I am not able very satisfactorily +to conjecture. I venture the opinion, however, that the good folks +supposed their victim would jump out of the sleigh in which she was +riding, if a good opportunity should offer, and run back to the +Professor; and so this last load, no doubt, was put on as the rear-guard +of the posse. + +Now for myself. Miss King having left, and the mob having been informed +that I was about to leave, they were somewhat quieted, but were far from +being appeased. That portion of the Committee that remained with me, +thought there was danger yet; and so, indeed, there was, judging hideous +noises, bitter curses and ruffianly demonstrations, to be any proper +criterion. They still cried, "bring him out" and "kill him." The +Committee thought the safety of the house required that I should be +removed at once; so I having gotten together my hat, valise and other +effects, they took me under their protection and conducted me to the +village hotel. + +While I was being conducted out of the door, all manner of speech was +hurled at me--a bountiful supply of that sort of dialectics which +America can beat all the world at handling. However, the main desire of +the mob at this point seemed to have been to get a sight of me; so they +arraigned themselves in a double file, while I was conducted through the +centre thereof, somewhat after the fashion of a military hero--a +committee man at each side, one in front and another behind. Having +passed completely through the file, the scoundrels then closed in upon +me; some of them kicking me, some striking me in the side, once on the +head, some pulling at my clothes and bruising my hat, and all of them +hooting and hallooing after a manner similar to that which they +practised when they first surrounded the house of Mr. Porter. + +At length we reached the hotel--a quarter of a mile distant. The +Committee were about to conduct me into the front parlour, when one +fellow patriotically cried out, "God d----n it, don't carry that nigger +into the front door." A true Yankee that! I have a penny laid up for +that fellow, if I should ever chance to meet him. + +I was conducted into the back parlour of the hotel, as being the most +secure. Still the mob were not appeased, and besides, their numbers had +increased. They hung around the house. Some of them opened the windows +half-way and tried to clamber through them into the parlour where I was; +and at last they way-laid the outer doors. + +The sort of curses they indulged in meanwhile, I need not describe +again. They were essentially the same as they had hitherto vented, save +that one or two of them growing a little humorous, cried out +occasionally "a speech from Professor Allen"--putting a peculiar +emphasis on the professor. + +The Committee busied themselves in furnishing two sleighs in which I was +to be conveyed away, and also in appeasing the more ruffianly part of +the multitude with cigars and such other articles as they choose to call +for at the bar of the hotel. One of the sleighs was stationed at the +back door of the hotel, and the other about two miles from Fulton. The +plan was that I should get into the former and be driven to the latter, +in which I was to be taken post haste to Syracuse--a distance of about +twenty-five miles. The mob, however, suspected some of the details of +the plan, and consequently every time I appeared at the back door, they +made a rush at me seeking to wreak their vengeance. I escaped their +violence, however, by stepping adroitly out of the way. And, as the +tavern keeper had assured them that if they attempted violence upon me +while I was under his roof, they would do it at their peril, many of +them left, and I, at last, succeeded in reaching the sleigh at the back +door and was driven off in safety. The mob unable to overtake me, still +shouted a last imprecation. + +For this said Sleigh ride, I paid Six dollars, about L1. 4s.; so I was +robbed, if not murdered. + +I will now describe the leader of the mob--Henry C. Hibbard. I will do +it in short. This man is a clumsy-fisted, double jointed, burly-headed +personage, about six feet in height, with a countenance commingling in +expression the utmost ferocity and cunning. Hibbard is not a fool--but a +knave. He is essentially a low bred man, and vulgar to the heart's core. + +Some idea of the calibre of the man may be had in the fact that in his +published Article in defense of the mob, he makes use of such +expressions as "g'hals," "g'halhood" and the like. + +He has great perseverance of character as is evinced in the fact that +though I was several days behind the time at which I was expected to +arrive in Fulton, he or his deputies never failed to be daily at the +Cars so as to watch my arrival, and thus be in season with the +onslaught. + +This man set himself up, and was indeed so received by the Elder and +Mrs. King as their friend, counsellor, and adviser. A confirmation this, +of what I have already said about the commingling of the "respectable" +and the base. His mobocratic movements, however, it is but just to say, +were unknown to the Elder and his wife until after the onslaught had +been made. Mrs. King however did not deprecate the mob until its history +had become somewhat unpopular, by reason of many of the "respectable" +men becoming ashamed at last that they had been found in such company as +Hibbard's. And even the Elder himself, though he deprecated the mob, +still characterized it as the "just indignation of the public." + +Hibbard, I have already said, published a written defence of the mob. +The article was headed "_The Mary Rescue._"--and a most remarkable +document it was--remarkable, however, only for its intense vulgarity, +its absurd contradictions, and its ridiculous attempts at piety and +poetry. + +Me, he describes as the "Professor of Charms" and "Charming Professor," +once--the "tawney charmer." + +Hibbard's article is not by me; and, if it were, its defilement is such +that I could not be tempted to give it at length. Laughable and +lamentable as the article is in the main, I still thank Hibbard for some +portions of it, and especially for that one which substantiates the +charge which I have brought against the "respectable men of Fulton." +Thus ends the mob. + + + + +CHAPTER V. + +DARK DAYS. + + +Reader, I am now to describe the events of the two weeks which followed +the Fulton onslaught; and I can assure you that language has yet to be +invented in which to write in its fullness what, when the children of +certain parents shall look back fifty years hence, they will regard as +the darkest deeds recorded in the history of their ancestors. + +Diabolical as was the mob, yet the shameful and outrageous persecution +to which Miss King was subjected during those memorable weeks, at the +hands of her relatives and the Fulton Community, sinks it (the mob) into +utter significance. How the human beings who so outraged an inoffensive +young lady can dare call themselves christians, is to me a mystery which +I, at least, shall never be able wholly to explain. + +I have already said that Miss King assured me on parting on Sabbath +evening that she would meet me in Syracuse on the morrow. Accordingly I +awaited at the depot, on Monday afternoon, the arrival of the Fulton +train of cars. But she did not appear, and, for the first time, the +thought occurred to me that the Fulton people were determined to leave +nothing undone by which to fill out their measure of meanness. + +On Tuesday morning next, February 1st, the following article appeared in +the "_Syracuse Star_"--one of the organs of the Fillmore Administration. +It needs no comment of mine to instruct the reader as to the character +of the paper which could publish such complete diabolism:-- + + + "ANOTHER RESCUE." + +"A gentleman from Fulton informs us that that village was the theatre of +quite an exciting time, to say the least, on Sunday evening last. The +story is as follows:--Rev. Mr. King, Pastor of a regular Wesleyan +Methodist, Abolition, Amalgamation Church at Fulton, has an interesting +and quite pretty daughter, whom, for some three or four years past, he +has kept at School at that pink of a 'nigger' Institution, called the +Mc. Grawville College, located South of us, in Cortland County. While +there, it seems that a certain genuine negro connected with the +Institution, called Professor Allen, (Professor Allen! bah!!) and +herself became enamoured of each other, and thereupon entered into the +requisite stipulation and agreements to constitute what is known to +those interested in such matters, as an 'engagement' to be married. A +little time since, the damsel went home to her Amalgamation-preaching +parents, and made known the arrangements whereby their lovely daughter +expected soon to be folded in the hymenean arms of anti-alabaster Sambo. +The parents remonstrated and begged, and got the brothers and sisters to +interpose, but all to no effect. The blooming damsel was determined to +partake of the 'bed and board,' and inhale the rich odours, refreshing +perfumes, and reviving fragrance which Mc. Grawville College teaching +had pictured to her in life-like eloquence; and more than this, she +would not remain in membership with the denomination that preaches but +declines to practice, and sent in her resignation in due form of law. +Whereupon, down from Mc. Grawville comes the blushing Allen, all decked +in wedding garb, and on Sunday morn he half woke from ponderous sleep, +and thought he heard playing on the air such sweet music,-- + + '"As are those dulcet sounds in break of day, + That creep into the dreaming bridegroom's ear, + And summons him to marriage!"' + +"But evening came, and as the anxious couple could not have the nuptial +rites celebrated under the Rev. father's roof, they withdrew to +Phillips' tavern, on the West side of the river, and made preparations +for the ceremonies. In the meantime the affair got whispered about the +town, and the incensed populace to some five hundred strong made ready +to 'disturb the meeting.' Several of the prominent citizens, fearing +lest a serious row should follow, repaired to the marriage-home, and +while some kept the riot down by speeches and persuasions, others gained +admittance to the colors. Allen, on being asked if he was married, +replied 'no,' but that he would be in a few minutes. He was remonstrated +with, and told the consequences that would ensue--that he would be +mobbed, and must leave town immediately. He responded that he knew what +he was about, was a free man, in a free country, and should do as he +pleased. By this time the outsiders could be held still no longer, and +the window curtains being drawn, our hero 'saw and trembled,' and cried +for mercy. The damsel didn't faint, but at once consented to go home, +and was hurried into a sleigh and driven off, while Sambo under disguise +and surrounded by Abolitionists, was hustled out of the crowd over to +the Fulton house. The multitude soon followed, eager and raving to grab +the 'nigger,' but after a little, he was got away from the house, by +some sly comer, and hurried off to Syracuse in a sleigh, at the top of +two-horse speed. Thus the black cloud avoided the whirlwind, and thus +ended 'Another Rescue.'" + +This article, abominable as it is, was copied either in whole or in part +by nearly every pro-slavery organ throughout America in a few days after +the mob--with glorifications at what they supposed to be my defeat; and +some of the papers copied the article with regrets that I had not been +killed outright. And, indeed, this same "_Syracuse Star_" in a few days +after the publication of the above article did what it could to inflame +the populace of Syracuse to inflict upon me violence and death. + +Nor were the pro-slaveryites the only persons who gloated with delight +over the Article published by the "_Star_." Hundreds, and I think I am +within the bounds of truth, when I say that thousands of men and women +calling themselves Abolitionists and Christians, were especially +rejoiced at my "defeat;" and expressed themselves to that effect, though +using more guarded language than those who made no pretensions to a love +of truth, justice, and humanity. + +The article abounds in falsehood, though to serve its purpose it is +certainly adroitly written. We had not intended to be married on the +evening of the mob, so that not only is the speech which the Editor puts +in my mouth false, but so also is his statement that we repaired to +Phillips' Tavern to have the nuptial rites celebrated. The story of my +seeing, and trembling and crying for mercy, is also equally false. + +It is also worthy of note that every paper which copied the article, +varied the details, in order to suit its specific locality. Some of the +versions of the affair were extremely amusing. + +One of the papers described the mob as having taken place at Syracuse, +and the onslaught as having been made upon us while the ceremony was +about being performed, whereat Miss King fled in one direction, and I in +another. + +One Editor in furnishing his readers with the details thought it +necessary to a completion of the picture to describe my personal +appearance. He had never seen me--but no matter for that. He had seen +the "_Star's_" report, and what that did not give him, his imagination +could supply. So he at it; and the next morning I appeared in print as +"a stout, lusty, fellow, six feet and three inches tall, and as black as +a pot of charcoal." Reader, you would laugh to see me after such a +description--of my height, at least. + +The telegraphic wires were also put in demand, and in less than +forty-eight hours after the occurrence of the mob, the terrific news had +spread throughout the country that a "Colored man had attempted to marry +a White woman!" And incredible as it may seem to Britons, this "horrid +marriage" was for weeks, not only discoursed of in the papers but was +the staple of conversation and debate in the grog shops, in the parlors, +at the corners of the streets, and wherever men and women are accustomed +to assemble; and during this time also my life was in danger whenever I +ventured in the streets. The reader will get some idea of the state of +things when I assure him that about a week after the mob, I had occasion +to call at the Globe Hotel, Syracuse; and had not been in the house more +than ten minutes before the landlord came to me and requested me to +retire, as he feared the destruction of his house--the multitude having +seen me enter, he said, and were now assembling about the building. I +walked quietly out in company with a gentleman in a counter direction to +the mob, and so escaped their wrath. + +But to return to the narrative. On Tuesday afternoon (two days after the +mob) I awaited again at the Syracuse depot, the arrival of the Fulton +train of cars; supposing it possible that I might meet Miss King. She +did not make her appearance, and there was now not a doubt left on my +mind as to the character of what was going on in Fulton. Just as I was +on the point of turning away from the depot, a gentleman came up behind +me, tapped me on the shoulder, and bade me get out of the way as quickly +as possible; for the Fulton mobocrats, he informed me, had sent up word +by telegraph to certain persons in Syracuse to mob me, if I should be +seen about the car house. This gentleman also added that some of these +persons were about the car house, wishing to have me pointed out. + +It seems, the Committee that visited us on the evening of the mob, had +overheard Miss King assure me that she would meet me on the following +day in Syracuse; and they, or others of our keepers, had not only +determined that no such meeting should be held, but that the mobbing +should be repeated if I attempted again to see her. + +Just as I was about to enter my lodging house on my return from the +depot, whom should I espy but my friend Porter turning the corner and +approaching me. Of course I was glad to see him; and our conversation, +at once, turned upon Fulton and the events of the two preceeding days. +He informed me, much to my surprise, for I had hardly supposed that +tyranny would have gone so far, that on the night following the mob, the +people of the village had risen up _en masse_, and in solemn meeting +dismissed him from his school. Glorious America! Land of the Free! + +Mr. Porter had committed no crime--nothing was charged against him, save +that he had entertained us, and was known to be favorable to our union, +or rather unfavorable to any interference in a matter which was of +sacred right our own. + +Mr. P. gave me no information with regard to Miss King, except that she +was at home, and that in consequence of the extraordinary excitement she +would probably be unable to get out of Fulton for several days to come. + +He returned to Fulton the next morning, and three or four days after, I +received from him the following letter. It is significant:-- + + "Gilberts' Mills, February 4th, 1853. + + "Professor Allen,-- + "Dear Friend:-- + +"I write you under very extraordinary circumstances. I have been obliged +to leave the vicinity of Fulton, for a while at least. I am now stopping +at A. Gilbert's. How long I shall stay here, I cannot tell. + +"Mary (Miss King) I have not seen or heard from, for two days. All +communications between her and Julia, (her sister--who was favorable to +our union) and our family has been broken off--strictly prohibited; and +Hibbard's house, on the hill, is the watch tower to guard Elder King's +house against such dangerous invaders as ourselves. + +"When I came from Syracuse that morning, Hibbard was at the depot on the +watch. In the afternoon I went up to the Elder's, and was met on the +door-step and told not to deliver any messages or letters to Mary. Of +course, I had none with me to deliver, and so I told Elder King. But I +saw Mary in the presence of the family and Hibbard, and Mrs. Case and +Mrs. Sherman, and such like--for Elder King's folks have a great many +such sympathisers now. + +"I wanted to say some things to her not in the presence of these +strangers--so to speak--in the family; _but she told me that she was +permitted to say no word to any one but in the presence of such +companions as were appointed for her. I went away sad, for Mrs. King is +trying to torment her soul out of her, by constant upbraidings and +railings_. + +"Yesterday morning Sarah (Mrs. Porter) started to go up to see her, not +having seen her since the affair of the mob; but a cutter from +Phillipsville whipped by her, and when she had got near the house, the +cutter came back bringing Elder King, who told her that they thought it +advisable to request her not to go to his house--that, in a word, _they +were determined to prevent all communication between our family and +Mary_. Sarah came back. In the meantime, a man came to see me--Mr. +Case--to tell me that I must not go to Elder King's--_that I could not +go there without getting hurt_. In fact, I had been that morning to +Fulton early, to see the Editor of '_The Patriot_;' while I was going +through the street, a lot of rowdies gathered together and yelled after +me. The explanation is easy. When I came from Syracuse, the story went +that I was plotting to get Mary off. And I can hardly forgive Elder King +for putting the sanction upon this falsity, by excluding us from his +house. That act of Elder King gave the multitude full swing. They have +now full liberty to mob me; _and last night I came very near getting +into their hands. About sunset they came over headed by Hibbard_, and +while stopping at the tavern on the way--this side of the bridge--a man +whipped up to Watson's on horseback, and gave me the wink. George +Gilbert was at our room, (a lucky chance) and so I got under the +buffalo, and Sarah sat on the seat, and so we rode down straight by +them, and thus foiled them again. To-day I went back--packed up, and put +my trunks in a neighbor's house, and then came down here with Sarah and +Libbie. Thus it is. _Mary--God help her--is in prison,--that is, she is +guarded._ Elder King has consented to just such arrangements as Mrs. +King and Hibbard and some of the heartless, officious aristocrats of the +village saw fit to propose. It cannot be helped. Mary will doubtless be +used well, corporally--but oh, the torment of being confined with such +despicable companions. I trust she will be brave; though I did hear +yesterday morning that she was somewhat indisposed and was abed. Her +eyes are inflamed. + +"I left the vicinity not altogether out of personal fear, but because I +knew that my presence kept up the excitement. Allen, _it is impossible +for you to conceive what a convulsion this village of Fulton has been +thrown into_. A regular siege and cannonading could hardly have raised a +greater muss. + +"Write to me soon. Enclose to G. Gilbert on the _outside_ wrapper. I +dared not send from Phillipsville yesterday. + +"Keep cool; and do not blame Elder King more than you can help, for I +expect he is forced into some things. How much he is to be forgiven on +account of the dilemma into which he has got himself, let time decide. I +do not wish to make his case worse. + + "Yours in friendship, + "JOHN C. PORTER." + +[The italics and parentheses of the above letter are mine. I shall add +no comment.] + + * * * * * + +On Saturday afternoon, Feb. 5th,--still in Syracuse,--I received a visit +from Wm. S. King, Esq. This gentleman is also a brother of Miss King. +His visit seemed to have about it at the outset somewhat of a stealthy +character, and I confess I did not receive him with any great degree of +cordiality. He came on an errand, he said. His sister desired to have an +interview with me, and to that end she would meet me at the house of a +friend about four miles from the village of Fulton. The journey to this +friend's--hers of four miles and mine of twenty or more--he assured me +must be conducted with the greatest possible secrecy; for should the +Fulton people hear of it, the most disastrous results would follow. His +sister was very ill, he said--was suffering intense anguish of mind--had +been confined to her chamber with bodily ailings--had an eye also in a +dreadful condition, the sight of which was in danger of being +lost--still, her anxiety to see me was so great that she had entreated +to be taken even in this condition to the place aforesaid mentioned. + +I understood this brother at once. I was not to be trapped. I had read +human nature (so I think the result will justify me in saying) to a much +better purpose than he. I declined holding the interview at the time, on +account, as I urged, of his sister's feeble health and excited state of +mind--but would have no objection, I added, to such an interview some +two or three weeks to come. He then urged me to write, assuring me that +he would take the letter willingly. This also, I refused to do. So at +last he left me with the understanding that upon the recovery of his +sister's health, we should have an "interview." + +Mr. King returned immediately to Fulton, and on the Monday following, I +received by post a letter from Miss King. It was not in her own +hand-writing--she was too ill to write, but it was dictated to her +sister. Just as I expected, Miss King had found it necessary considering +the influences against her, and that her relatives and the community +would have left no means untried, however illegal or disgraceful to +thwart her in her designs,--nay, would have sworn her into a lunatic +asylum rather than to have permitted her to marry me--to consent that +our engagement should be broken. This letter was to announce the fact, +while at the same time, it gave as the reason--deference to the feelings +of father and brothers. + +Of course, I did not reply to the letter. As the "_Star_" says--I knew +what I was about. + +On Tuesday morning, February 8th, I published in the "_Syracuse +Standard_" the following card:-- + + + "TO THE PUBLIC.--FROM PROFESSOR ALLEN." + +"So much has been said and written on the subject of the late affair at +Fulton, that the Public by this time must have had nearly _quantum +sufficit_; yet I deem it not improper on my own behalf to add a remark +or two. I shall not undertake to describe in detail, the murderous +outrage intended to be inflicted on a quiet and unoffending man--that is +not of much consequence now. + +"I wish now simply to show the public, that those who made the onslaught +upon me on Sabbath evening, a week ago, acted no less like a pack of +fools than a pack of devils; and this can be shown almost in a single +word, by stating that the whole story of my intention of being married +on the evening in question, or that I went to Fulton intending to +consummate an affair of the kind at any period of my recent visit there, +is a fabrication from the beginning to the end. The wretch who 'fixed +up' just such a story as he thought would inflame the rabble to take my +life, will yet, I trust, meet with deserved scorn and contempt from a +community who, whatever may be their prejudice against my color, have, +nevertheless, a high sense of what belongs to their own honor and +dignity, and to the character and reputation of their village. + +"I make this statement with regard to this matter of marriage, not +because I regard myself as amenable to the public to state to them +_whom_ or _when_ I shall marry, but that since so much has been said +upon the subject, I am quite willing they should know the truth as it +is. They are tyrants, and very little-hearted, and exceedingly +muddy-headed ones at that, who will presume to take a matter of this +kind out of the hands of the parties to whom it specifically belongs, +and who are acting law-abidingly and honorably in the premises. + +"Here then is the story. Read it. A band of several hundred armed +men--armed, as I have been told, with an empty barrel spiked with +shingle nails, tar, feathers and a pole, came down upon a certain house +in Phillipsville, opposite Fulton, on Sabbath evening, a week ago, to +kill or drive out a single individual, conducting himself in a quiet, +peaceable manner, and that individual, too, in physical stature, one of +the smallest of men,--and in physical strength, proportionably inferior! +If this is not cowardice as well as villainy--and both of them +double-refined--then, I ask, what is cowardice, or what is villainy? The +malignity of the whole matter also is set in a clearer light, when it is +remembered that this same individual has never injured one of his +assailants, nor has it been charged upon him that in his life-time he +has ever inflicted the slightest wrong upon mortal man, but who has +striven to maintain an upright character through life, and to fight his +way for long years through scorn and contempt, to an honorable position +among men. Truly, this is a precious country! However, it is some +consolation to know that 'God is just, and that his justice cannot sleep +for ever.' + +"A gentleman of Fulton writes an article on this subject, to the +'_Oswego Daily Times_,' of February the 3rd. The spirit of this +gentleman's article dishonors his heart. So filled is he with a +prejudice which an eminent Christian of this country has rightly +characterized, as a 'blasphemy against God,' and a 'quarrel with +Jehovah,' that he will not even deign to call me by name, to say nothing +of the title which has been legitimately accorded me, but designates me +as a 'colored man, &c.' The object of this writer in thus refusing to +accord to me so cheap and common a courtesy is apparent, and as +contemptible as apparent. Let him have the glory of it,--I pity him. Had +I been a white man, he would not have so violated what he is such a +stickler for--'the laws and usages of society.' + +"In another place in his article, he describes me as the 'negro.' This +is preposterous and ridiculous. Were I a negro, I should regard it as no +dishonor, since men are not responsible for their physical +peculiarities, and since they are neither better nor worse on account of +them. It happens in this case, however, that so far from being a negro, +three-fourths of the blood which flows in my veins is as good +Anglo-Saxon as that which flows in the veins of this writer in the +'_Times_,'--better, I will not say, of course. + +"Something also is said in this article from Fulton about the 'course +we' (the young lady and myself) 'were pursuing.' Now, as the several +hundred armed men strong who came down upon me on Sunday night, and some +newspaper Editors, and this gentleman in particular, and the public very +nearly in general, have taken the matter of judging what this 'course we +were pursuing' was, out of our own hands, I propose to leave it still +further with them. They can guess at it, and fight it out to their +heart's content. + +"Something also is said by this gentleman about 'wholesome advice being +given me'--but I did not hear it, that's all. Besides, I never take +advice from those who can not tell the difference between a man and his +skin. + +"One gentleman--a true man--came to me, and expressed his deep sympathy +for me, and his sorrow that I had been so wrongfully treated and +shamefully outraged, and entreated me to regard with pity, and not with +anger, the murderous wretches outside. This is the speech that I +remember, and remember it to thank the friend for his manifestation of +kind and generous emotions. + +"This Fulton 'Committee man' also says that 'the colored man asked if he +was to be left to be torn to pieces.' Beyond a doubt, I asked that +question. It was certainly, under the circumstances, the most natural +question in the world; for I had really begun to think that the fellows +outside had the genuine teeth and tail. + +"I close this Article. To the Committee who so kindly lent me their +protection on that memorable night, I offer my thanks and lasting +gratitude. + +"To the poor wretches who sought to take my life, I extend my pity and +forgiveness. + +"As to myself--having in my veins, though but in a slight degree, the +blood of a despised, crushed, and persecuted people, I ask no favors of +the people of this country, and get none save from those whose +Christianity is not hypocrisy, and who are willing to 'do unto others as +they would that others should do unto them'--and who regard _all_ human +beings who are equal in character as equal to one another. + + "Respectfully + "WILLIAM G. ALLEN" + +Simultaneously with the above card, there appeared in the "_Syracuse +Journal_," the following Article. It is from the pen of Wm. S. King--the +brother aforesaid mentioned. It is in spirit a most dastardly +performance, more so, considering that the gentleman really _did_ know +the circumstances, than anything which had hitherto been sent to the +press. As a history of the "affair," it is almost a falsity +throughout--and especially is it so in that part of it which describes +Miss King as repulsing me with her abhorrence of the idea of +amalgamation. I do not propose, however, to be hard on Mr. King. His +untruthful and cowardly spirit has been sufficiently rebuked by the +marriage which took place in less than two months after the publication +of his article:-- + + "THE FULTON RESCUE CASE." + +"Since the occurrence of the circumstances which induced the mob and +consequent excitement at Fulton, on the 30th of last month, we have made +considerable effort to procure a full and precise statement of the facts +in the case. This we have finally succeeded in doing from a gentleman of +standing, who is well acquainted with all the circumstances. They are as +follows:-- + +"For some years past, Miss King has been attending the School at Mc. +Grawville, known as the 'New York Central College,' in which Allen, the +colored Professor alluded to, is one of the teachers. + +"During that time, Allen became deeply interested in the lady, and +proposed marriage to her. This she at once rejected, declaring that the +thought of such a connection was repulsive to her. + +"For some time after this, the Professor said no more upon the subject; +but in the course of a year or so, _again_ proposed marriage, and was +_again_ rejected. + +"Thus matters stood until some time since, when Miss King left the +School, and returned to her home in Fulton. Shortly after, Allen went to +that place and called on her, and, after a short interview, again, for +the third time, proposed marriage. She _again rejected him_, and told +him _that such was her firm and fixed decision_. Her manner towards him, +however, during all this period, had been kind and friendly, but she had +always expressed her abhorrence of the idea of 'amalgamation.' + +"By this time Madam Gossip had set the rumor afloat, that Allen and Miss +K. were engaged to be married. Such a report was, of course calculated +to produce a great excitement wherever it went. + +"Allen, however, was not to be baffled by his former ill success, and +was determined, if possible, to make the report good. He, therefore, a +few days after his last rejection, wrote to a gentleman residing in +Phillipsville, opposite Fulton--who had formerly been a student in Mc. +Grawville--that he intended making him a visit. As all the parties had +been friends and acquaintances at School, Miss K. was invited to be +present for the purpose of having a friendly visit. She accordingly +called upon them on Saturday afternoon, and at their earnest +solicitations consented to spend the Sabbath with them. + +"In the meantime, it was whispered about that the Professor and Miss K. +were there for the purpose of being married. This, the people of Fulton +determined at once, should not be done in that town. They, therefore, +assembled several hundred strong, and appointed a Committee to wait upon +the party, which they accordingly did, and informed the Professor that +he must leave town, and the young lady that she must go home, to which +request they both acceded without hesitation. + +"The above is, as we have been informed, a full and true statement of +the affair which has created such an excitement throughout the country." + + * * * * * + +The reader will see that the article appears as an editorial--another +evidence that it is "conscience that doth make cowards of us all." + +Should Mr. King ever see this little book, and wonder how I found him +out, I will simply inform him that I chanced to be in the neighborhood +of the Journal Office, when he went in with his piece; and further, I +have the guarantee of the Editor. + +I now subjoin an extract of a note which I received from Miss King, on +the afternoon of February the 12th:-- + + "Fulton, Friday Morning, Feb. 11th. + + "Professor Allen,-- + "Dearest and best-loved Friend:-- + +"I am much better this morning; and if I could only see you for a few +hours, I am sure I should be quite well again. I have been trying to +persuade father to let me go to Syracuse this morning and see you, but +he thinks my health is not in a state to admit of it now, but has +promised me faithfully that I may meet you at Loguens, on Tuesday of +next week. + + * * * * * + +"Professor--When I saw that article in the '_Syracuse Journal_,' holding +you up in such a ridiculous light, and laboring to make such false +impressions upon the mind of the public, my soul was on fire with +indignation. + + * * * * * + +"I need not tell you again that I love you, for you know that I do; yes, +and I always shall until life's troubled waters cease their flow. + +"All communications that I receive from, or send to, you, _are read by +father_; for I am a prisoner, yes, a prisoner; and when you write to +me--if you should before I see you--_you must say nothing but what you +are willing to have seen_. I shall manage to send this note without +having it seen by any one. + + * * * * * + +"When I see you, I will tell you how much I have suffered since I saw +you last, and how much I still suffer. + + * * * * * + + "Ever yours, + "Mary." + +[The italicising of the above is my own.] + + * * * * * + +This little note was the only communication which I had received from +Fulton, containing any account of the doings of the King family, since +the letter written to me by Miss King, announcing that our engagement +must be broken. Though short, it was satisfactory. It assured me that +Miss King,--though she could be persecuted--could not be crushed. + +About the same time that I received the above note from Miss King, I +also received the following from Rev. Timothy Stowe, of Peterboro', New +York. How much I valued this friendly epistle coming, as it did, from +one of the most devoted Christians in America, it is not possible for me +to say:-- + + "Peterboro', February 8th, 1853. + + "Dear Brother Allen:-- + +"I see by the papers, that you have been shamefully mobbed at Fulton. I +write to let you know that there are some in the world who will not join +the multitude who are trying to overwhelm you with prejudice. + + * * * * * + +"Now do not be cast down. You, I trust, are not the man to cower at such +a moment. Do not be afraid to stand up your whole length in defence of +your own rights. + +"Come and visit us without delay. Consider my house your home while +here. + +"Brother Smith sends you his love. Brother Remington wishes me to say +that you have his confidence, and that he is your friend. + + "Yours with kindest regards, + "TIMOTHY STOWE." + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + +BRIGHTENING UP.--GRAND RESULT. + + +According to the intimation in the note received from Miss King dated +Feb. 11th, she met me--not however as she expected on Tuesday--but, on +Wednesday of next week in Syracuse: and at the house of a friend whose +memory we hold in the highest reverence. + +The interview, as the parents and relatives of Miss King understood it, +was to be held to the intent that Miss King might then and there in +person, and by "word" more effectually than she could possibly do by +writing, absolve herself from all engagement, obligation or intention +whatsoever to marry me--now, hereafter, or evermore. This was their +construction of the matter, and it was in the light of this construction +that they essayed to grant the request--the granting of which Miss King +made the condition on which she proposed to yield up her sacred right. + +That the King family--determined as they were, law or no law, justice or +no justice, Christianity or no Christianity; in short, at all events and +all hazards, to prevent our union--should have granted this interview to +Miss King convicts them of as great imbecility and folly as was their +persecution of their victim. But so it is, the innocent shall not only +not be cut down, but they who practice unrighteousness shall themselves +be overtaken. + +But to the interview. I should be glad to describe my feelings on first +meeting Miss King after she had passed through that fiery furnace of +affliction. But I desist. The "engagement," I have already said, +displayed a moral heroism which no one can comprehend who has not been +in America, but the passage through was more than sublime. + +She related to me the events of the two preceding weeks as she had known +them to transpire in her own family, and as she had heard of them as +transpiring in the village. I cannot write the details. It chills my +blood to think of them. The various letters published in this narrative +will suffice to give the reader some idea of things as they were; while +the hundreds of things which cannot be written and which, because of +their littleness are the more faithful exponents of meanness, must be +left to the reader to imagine as best he can. I say as best he can, +since no Englishman can imagine the thing precisely as it was. + +She was reviled, upbraided, ridiculed, tormented; and by some, efforts +were made to bribe her into the selling of her conscience. What the +vilest and most vulgar prejudices could suggest were hurled at both our +devoted heads. Letters were not permitted to be received or sent without +their being first inspected by the parents. And finally she was +imprisoned after the manner set forth in the letter of Mr. Porter. So +rigid was the surveillance that her sister was also put under the same +"regimen," because her sympathies were with the persecuted and not the +persecutors. + +When we met, therefore, we were not long in determining what was our +duty. And now, Reader, what would you have done? Just what we did--no +doubt. Made up your mind to have sacrificed nothing upon the altar of a +vulgar prejudice. Such was the nature of the demand--would it not have +been base to have yielded? + +We concluded that now, more than ever, we would obey our heart's +convictions, though all the world should oppose us; that, come what +would, we would stand by each other, looking to Heaven to bless us, and +not to man, for either smiles or favor. + +We were resolved, but there was a difficulty yet. Determined to exercise +our God-given rights, we were still overpowered by the physical force of +the whole community. An open declaration by either party of our resolve +would have been not less than consummate madness. To exercise our +rights, therefore, not as we _would_ but as we _could_, was the only +hope left us. + +We resolved to marry and flee the Country. Miss King returned to Fulton; +after remaining there a week or ten days she went to Pennsylvania +_ostensibly_ to teach in a school. We corresponded by means of a third +person; and my arrangements being made, we met in New York City, on +March 30th, according to appointment; were married immediately and left +for Boston. In Boston, we remained ten days, keeping as quiet as +possible, in the family of a beloved friend, and on the 9th of April, +took passage for Liverpool. + +Since our arrival in this Country, we have received several American +papers. The following Article is from one of the Western New York +papers, which is but a specimen of the articles published by all the +pro-slavery papers throughout the land on the announcement of the +marriage, shows that the flight to England completed the victory. To +have remained to be killed would have been fun to be relished. But +public sentiment abroad--ah, that is another thing, and not so pleasant +to be thought of:-- + + + "PROF. ALLEN IS MARRIED" + +"MARRIED.--In New York city, March 30th, by Rev. Thomas Henson, +Professor WILLIAM G. ALLEN, of Mc. Grawville, N. Y., and Miss +MARY E. KING, of Fulton, N. Y., daughter of Rev. Lyndon King, of +Fulton. + +"We expected as much. We were liberally abused for our discountenance of +this marriage, and charged with wilfully falsifying facts, because we +insisted that this affair was in contemplation, and would yet go off. +_Prof._ Allen denied it, and others thought that they had the most +positive assurance from his statements that the amalgamation wedding was +a fiction. But now, after he and his white brethren have liberally +impugned our motives, charged falsehood upon us, and made solemn +asseverations designed to make the public believe that no such thing was +in contemplation, in two brief months, the thing is consummated, with +all the formality of a religious observance, and this unholy +amalgamation is perpetrated before high Heaven and asserted among men. + +"_Prof._ ALLEN and his fair bride are now in Europe. It is +well they should emigrate, to show admiring foreigners the beauties of +American abolitionism. Let them attend the receptions of the Duchess of +Sutherland, the soirees of English agitators, and the orgies of Exeter +Hall. Let GEO. THOMPSON introduce them as the first fruits of +his _philanthropic_ labors in America. Let them travel among the +starveling English operatives, who would gladly accept slavery if +assured of a peck of corn each week; let them wander among European +serfs, whose life, labor, and virtue are the sport of despots, compared +to whom the crudest slave driver is an angel--and there proclaim their +'holy alliance.' If the victims of English and Continental tyranny do +not turn their backs, disgusted with the foul connection, their +degradation must be infinitely greater than we had supposed." + + * * * * * + +But to return to the story: Soon after the "interview" between Miss King +and myself, I received the following note from Mrs. Harriet Beecher +Stowe--the renowned Authoress of "Uncle Tom's Cabin." A "divine-hearted +woman," this, as Horace Mann hath rightly called her, and more precious +than rubies to me is her kind and Christian epistle:-- + + Andover, Massachusetts, February 21st, 1853. + + "Professor Allen,-- + "Dear Sir:-- + +"I have just read with indignation and sorrow your letter in the +Liberator (copied from the Syracuse Standard). I had hoped that the day +for such outrages had gone by. I trust that you will be enabled to +preserve a patient and forgiving spirit under this exhibition of vulgar +and unchristian prejudice. _Its day is short._ + +"Please accept the accompanying volume as a mark of friendly remembrance +from,-- + + "H. B. STOWE." + + * * * * * + +Just before Miss K. left Fulton for Pennsylvania, she received the +following letter from the Rev. Timothy Stowe--the gentleman to whom +reference has already been made. He is not related to Mrs. Harriet +Beecher Stowe, but is nevertheless of royal race:-- + + "Peterboro', New York, March 1st, 1853. + + "Miss Mary E. King,-- + "Dear Friend:-- + +"You will not be offended that I should address you by this title, +though I never saw you, to my recollection, until last July at Mc. +Grawville; I then felt an interest in your welfare--an interest which +has been deepened by your recent insults and trials. I am not one of +those who can censure you for your attachment and engagement to +Professor Allen. He is a man--a noble man--a whole man; a man, in fine, +of whom no woman need be ashamed. I am aware, you are aware, that the +world will severely condemn you; so it did Luther, when he married a +nun; it was then thought to be as great an outrage on decency, for a +minister to marry a nun, as it now is for a white young lady to marry a +colored gentleman. You have this consolation, that God does not look +upon the countenance--the color of men; that in his eye, black and white +are the same; and consequently, to marry a colored person of +intelligence and worth is no immorality, and in his eye, no impropriety. +It is probably the design of Providence in this case, to call the +attention of the public to the fresh consideration of what is implied in +the great doctrine of human brotherhood. Is it true or not, that a +colored man has all the rights of a white man? Is this a question still +mooted among Abolitionists? If so, then we may as well settle it now as +at any other time, and though the controversy may be, and must be a very +painful one to your feelings, yet, the result will be a better +understanding of the great principles of our common nature and +brotherhood. Professor Allen is with me in my study, and has detailed to +me the whole of this outrage against yourself and him, and has also made +me acquainted with your relations to each other. I extend to you my +sympathy, I proffer to you my friendship. You have not fallen in my +estimation, nor in the estimation of Mr. Smith and others in this place. +Lay not this matter to heart, be not cast down; put your trust in God, +and he will bring you out of this crucible seven times purified. He in +mercy designs to promote your spiritual growth and consolation. Keep the +Saviour in your heart. My good wife sympathises with you. We would be +glad to see you at our humble home, either before or after your +marriage. We would try to comfort you; we would bear your burdens, and +so 'fulfil the law of Christ.' + + "Yours, with fraternal and Christian affection, + "TIMOTHY STOWE." + +On the day after Miss King left for Pennsylvania, I received the +following note from a friend in Fulton. It is significant, and certainly +corroborative of the opinion which I have expressed of the Fulton +people--that they had determined to leave nothing undone by which to +make their tyranny complete:-- + + "Fulton, March 5th, 1853. + + "Dear Friend:-- + "Yesterday I heard from you by a friend + + * * * * * + + "Mary has gone to Pennsylvania. + + * * * * * + +"What we feared was, she would be again imprisoned, and hindered from +going to Pa. If her relatives and other friends knew of your intentions, +she would have been put under lock and key as sure as there are _mean +men_ in Fulton. + + * * * * * + +"Professor, they were as mad as wild asses here about that 'resolution +of Smith's,' especially King's folks. + + * * * * * + +I want your miniature--_must have it_. I want to show it to my friends +that they may see this man whose idle moments in the bower of love sets +half the world crazy. + + * * * * * + + "In friendship, yours, + + "* * *" + +The Resolution to which reference has been made, is as follows. It was +presented by the Hon. Gerrit Smith, Member of Congress, from New York, +at a Convention of "Liberty Party Men," held in Syracuse, about four +weeks after the mob:-- + +"Resolved, That the recent outrage committed upon that accomplished and +worthy man--Professor William G. Allen--and the general rejoicing +throughout the country therein, evinces that the heart of the American +people, on the subject of slavery is utterly corrupt, and almost past +cure." + +Now for something spicy. The following letter was written to Elder King +by a Slaveholder of Mississippi, about five weeks after the mob. The +Elder re-mailed it to his daughter while she was in Pennsylvania. Having +become the property of the daughter, and the daughter and I now being +one, I shall take the liberty of giving this specimen of Southern +chivalry to the public. The reader shall have it without alteration:-- + + "Warrenton, Mississippi, + "March 5th, 1853. + + "Rev. Sir:-- + +"You cannot judge of my surprise and indignation, on reading an +Editorial in one of my papers concerning an intending marriage of your +lovely and accomplished daughter, with a negro man; which thanks to +providence has been prevented by the excited and enraged populace of the +enterprising citizens of the good town of Fulton. + +"During my sojourn in the state of New York last year, I visited for +mere curiosity the Mc. Grawville Institute in Cortland Co., which gave +me an opportunity of seeing your daughter, then a pupil of that equality +and amalgamated Institute; and I believe in all my travels north, I +never saw one more interesting and polite to those of her acquaintances. + +"I have thought much about your daughter since my return home, and do +yet, notwithstanding the ignominious connection she has lately escaped +from. Your daughter--innocent, as I must in charity presume--because +deluded and deranged by the false teachings of the abolition Institute +at Mc. Grawville. + +"My object in writing to you this letter is to obtain your permission to +correspond with your daughter if it should be agreeable with herself, +for I do assure you that I have no other than an honorable intention in +doing so. + +"I reside in Warren County near Warrenton--am the owner of Nine Young +Negroes in agriculture, who would not exchange their bondage for a free +residence in the north. I am happy to inform you Revd. Sir that my +character is such that will bear the strictest investigation, and my +relations respectable. I am yet young having not yet obtained my 25th +year. + +"Well sir, I am a stranger to both yourself and interesting family, and +as a matter of course you may desire to know something about the humble +individual who has thought proper to address you on a subject which +depends on the future happiness of your daughter. For your Reverence's +gratification you are at liberty to refer to either or all of the +following gentlemen, by letter or in person,--viz., Hon. J. E. Sharkey, +State Senator, Warren Co., P. O., Warrenton, Miss.;--Hon. A. G. Brown, +Ex-Gov., Miss., now Member of Congress, P. O., Gallatin, Miss.;--Samuel +Edwards, High Sheriff, Warren Co., P. O., Vicksburg, Miss.;--E. B. +Scarbrough Clerk, Probate Court, Warren Co., P. O., Vicksburg, Miss.;--M. +Shannon, Editor, Vicksburg, Miss., Whig;--Geo. D. Prentice, Editor, +Louisville, Ky., Journal;--and Reed, Brothers, and Co., 177, Market +Street, Philadelphia. + +"Again Rev. Sir, I assure you that in writing you this letter, I only do +that which is the result of mature deliberation. + + "I shall wait anxiously your reply, + "THOS. K. KNOWLAND." + +"P. S.--As Messrs. Reed, Brothers, and Co., are the nearest reference to +whom I refer, I enclose you a letter from them." + + * * * * * + +The two letters immediately following were received by Miss K. just +before she left Pennsylvania for New York. Many other letters were also +received by both of us, which are not given in this book, but we can +assure the writers thereof that they have our hearts' gratitude:-- + + "Fulton, March 27th, 1853. + + "My dear and brave Sister:-- + +"For two weeks past we have been stopping with Mr. B. Yesterday we +received four letters--two from my good brother B., and two from +Pennsylvania, yours and Jane's. Right glad were we to receive those +welcome favors--those little _epistolary_ angels, telling us of your +safety, (for safety has of late become quite a consideration) of your +affection, of your anxiety, and a hundred things more than what were +written. + +"Mary, I judge from your letters and notes--from the tone of them--that +there are feelings and emotions in your heart utterly beyond the power +of words to express. You are resolved, and you are happy in your +resolve, and strong in the providential certainty of its success. Yet +you tremble for probabilities, or rather for _possibilities_. + +"What feelings, dear Mary, you must have in the hour of your departure +from this country. Through the windows of imagination I can catch a +glimpse of it all. Your flight is a flight for freedom, and I can almost +call you _Eliza_. To you this land will become a land of memory. And, +oh! what memories! But we will talk of this hereafter. + +"The remembrance of _friendship unbroken here_,--oh, Mary, let it not +vanish as the blue hills of your father-land will dim away in the +distance, while you glide eastward upon the 'free waters.' But let that +bright remembrance be embodied in _spirit_-form, for ever attending you, +and pointing back to those still here who hold you high in affection and +in honor. + + * * * * * + +"Mary, I must close. Be firm--strong--brave--unflinching--_just like_ +Mary King. + + "Yours in the bonds of love, + "JOHN C. PORTER." + + "Fulton, March 27th, 1853. + + "My dear Sister Mary:-- + +"Almost hourly since you left has your image been before me. And as I +seat myself to write, thoughts and emotions innumerable come crowding +for utterance. Gladly would I express them to you, dear Sister, but the +pen is far too feeble an instrument. Oh, that I could be with you in +body as in spirit. You need encouragement and strength in this hour; and +I know that you will receive them,--for you are surrounded by a few of +the truest and dearest of friends. And you know and have felt, that a +higher and stronger power than earth can uphold us in every endeavour +for the right. + + * * * * * + +"Mary, do you remember the time when you told me that I must love you +better than I had ever done before; for friends would forsake you, and +there would be none left to love you but P., and myself, and your +father, and Julia, and J. B., and D. S., and S. T.? Our arms were twined +around each other in close embrace. Your heart was full to overflowing, +and words gave place to tears. I shall not forget the intense anxiety I +felt for you at that moment as I tried to penetrate the future, knowing, +as I did, somewhat of the cruelty of prejudice. It seems we both had a +foreboding of something that would follow. I do not know that I wept, +but heaven witnessed and recorded the silent, sacred promise of my heart +to draw nearer and cherish you with truer fidelity as others turned +away. And so shall I always feel. + + * * * * * + +"Oh, Mary, how little can we imagine the sufferings of the oppressed, +while we float along on the popular current. I thank God from the depths +of my soul, that we have launched our barks upon the ocean. Frail they +are, yet, having right for our beacon, and humanity for our compass, I +know we shall not be wrecked or go down among the raging elements. + + * * * * * + +"Now, dear Sister, farewell, and as you depart from this boasted 'land +of liberty and equal rights,' and go among strangers, that you may, +indeed, enjoy liberty, be not despondent, but cheerful, ever remembering +the message of your angel mother. + + * * * * * + +Again, dear sister, farewell,--you know how much we love you, and that +our deepest sympathies are with you wherever you may be. + + "Affectionately yours, + "SARAH D. PORTER." + +I subjoin an extract of a letter which I received from Miss K. a few +days before our marriage:-- + + "Dolington, Pennsylvania + "March 21st, 1853. + + "Professor Allen,-- + "Dearest and best-loved Friend:-- + +"I have just received your letter of March 13th, and hasten to reply. + +"You ask me if I can go with you in four weeks or thereabouts. In reply, +I say yes; gladly and joyfully will I hasten with you to a land where +unmolested, we can be happy in the consciousness of the love which we +cherish for each other. While so far from you, I am sad, lonely, and +unhappy; for I feel that I have no home but in the heart of him whom I +love, and no country until I reach one where the cruel and crushing hand +of Republican America can no longer tear me from you. + + * * * * * + +"Professor,--I sometimes tremble when I think of the strong effort that +would be put forth to keep me from you, should my brothers know our +arrangements. But my determination is taken and my decision fixed; and +should the public or my friends ever see fit to lay their commands upon +me again, they will find that although they have but a weak, defenceless +woman to contend with, still, that woman is one who will never passively +yield her rights. _They may mob me; yea, they may kill me; but they +shall never crush me._ + +"Heaven's blessings upon all who sympathised with us. I am not +discouraged. God will guide us and protect us. + + "Ever yours, + "MARY." + + '"Thou Friend, whose presence on my wintry heart + Fell like bright Spring upon some herbless plain; + How beautiful and calm and free thou wert + In thy young wisdom, when the mortal chain + Of Custom thou did'st burst and rend in twain, + And walked as free as night the clouds among."' + +Some idea of the spirit of persecution by which we were pursued may be +gathered from the fact, that when the mobocrats of Fulton ascertained +that Miss King and myself were having an interview in Syracuse, they +threatened to come down and mob us, and were only deterred from so doing +by the promise of Elder King, that he would go after his daughter if she +did not return in the next train. + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + +CONCLUSION. + + +Reader,--I have but a word or two more to say. + +Insignificant as this marriage may seem to you, I can assure you that +nothing else has ever occurred in the history of American prejudice +against color, which so startled the nation from North to South and East +to West. On the announcement of the probability of the case merely, men +and women were panic-stricken, deserted their principles and fled in +every direction. + +Indignation meetings were held in and about Fulton immediately after the +mob. The following Resolution was passed unanimously in one of them:-- + +"Resolved,--That Amalgamation is no part of the Free Democracy of +Granby." (Town near F.) + +The Editor of the Fulton newspaper, however, spoke of us with respect. +Let him be honored. He condemned the mob, opposed amalgamation, but +described the parties thus,--"Miss King, a young lady of talent, +education, and unblemished character," and myself, "a gentleman, a +scholar, and a Christian, and a citizen against whose character nothing +whatever had been urged." + +I have said that some of the Papers regretted that I had not been killed +outright. I give an extract from the "_Phoenix Democrat_," published in +the State of New York:-- + +"This Professor Allen may get down on his marrow bones, and thank God +that we are not related to Mary King by the ties of consanguinity." + +To show that I have not exaggerated the spirit of persecution which +beset us, I will state that in a few days after Mr. Porter was dismissed +from his School, he called upon the pastor of the church of which he is +a communicant; and though without means--the chivalrous people who +turned him out of his School not having yet paid him up--and knowing +not whither to go, the pastor assured him that he could not take him in, +or render him any assistance, so severely did he feel that he would be +censured by the public. + +That Mr. Porter is still pursued by this fiendish spirit, the reader +will see by the following paragraph of a letter received from him a few +days since:-- + +"I have advertised for a School in S----. They would not tolerate me in +O----, after they found out that I was the Phillipsville School-master. +I was employed in O---- three months." + +Such, reader, is the character of prejudice against color,--bitter, +cruel, relentless. + + +THE END. + + + * * * * * + + + + +A SHORT + +PERSONAL NARRATIVE, + +BY + +WILLIAM G. ALLEN, + +(Colored American,) + + FORMERLY + PROFESSOR OF THE GREEK LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE + IN NEW YORK CENTRAL COLLEGE + +RESIDENT FOR THE LAST FOUR YEARS IN DUBLIN. + + + * * * * * + + + DUBLIN: + SOLD BY THE AUTHOR, + AND BY + WILLIAM CURRY & CO., 9, UPPER SACKVILLE-STREET, AND + J. ROBERTSON, 8 GRAFTON-STREET. + + + * * * * * + + + 1860 + + PRICE ONE SHILLING. + + DUBLIN: PRINTED BY ROBERT CHAPMAN, + TEMPLE LANE DAME STREET. + + + + +PREFACE. + + +In preparing this little narrative, I have not sought to make a book, +but simply to tell my own experiences both in the slaveholding and +non-slaveholding States of America, in as few words as possible. The +facts here detailed throw light upon many phases of American life, and +add one more to the tens of thousands of illustrations of the terrible +power with which slavery has spread its influences into the Northern +States of the Union--penetrating even the inmost recesses of social +life. + + W. G. A. + + DONNYBROOK, DUBLIN, + _January, 1860._ + + + + +A SHORT PERSONAL NARRATIVE. + + +I was born in Virginia, but not in slavery. The early years of my life +were spent partly in the small village of Urbanna, on the banks of the +Rappahannock, partly in the city of Norfolk, near the mouth of the +James' River, and partly in the fortress of Monroe, on the shores of the +Chesapeake. I was eighteen years in Virginia. My father was a white man, +my mother a mulattress, so that I am what is generally termed a +quadroon. Both parents died when I was quite young, and I was then +adopted by another family, whose name I bear. My parents by adoption +were both coloured, and possessed a flourishing business in the fortress +of Monroe. + +I went to school a year and a half in Norfolk. The school was composed +entirely of coloured children, and was kept by a man of color, a Baptist +minister, who was highly esteemed, not only as a teacher, but as a +preacher of rare eloquence and power. His color did not debar him from +taking an equal part with his white brethren in matters pertaining to +their church. + +But the school was destined to be of short duration. In 1831, Nathaniel +Turner, a slave, having incited a number of his brethren to avenge their +wrongs in a summary manner, marched by night with his comrades upon the +town of Southampton, Virginia, and in a few hours put to death about one +hundred of the white inhabitants. This act of Turner and his associates +struck such terror into the hearts of the whites throughout the State, +that they immediately, as an act of retaliation or vengeance, abolished +every colored school within their borders; and having dispersed the +pupils, ordered the teachers to leave the State forthwith, and never +more to return. + +I now went to the fortress of Monroe, but soon found that I could not +get into any school there. For, though being a military station, and +therefore under the sole control of the Federal Government, it did not +seem that this place was free from the influence of slavery, in the form +of prejudice against color. But my parents had money, which always and +everywhere has a magic charm. I was also of a persevering habit; and +what therefore I could not get in the schools I sought among the +soldiers in the garrison, and succeeded in obtaining. Many of the rank +and file of the American army are highly educated foreigners; some of +them political refugees, who have fled to America and become +unfortunate, oftentimes from their own personal habits. I now learned +something of several languages, and considerable music. My German +teacher, a common soldier, was, by all who knew him, reputed to be both +a splendid scholar and musician. I also now and then bought the services +of other teachers, which greatly helped to advance me. + +Many of the slaveholders aided my efforts. This seems like a paradox; +but, to the credit of humanity, be it said, that the bad are not always +bad. One kind-hearted slaveholder, an army officer, gave me free access +to his valuable library; and another slaveholder, a naval officer, who +frequented the garrison, presented me, as a gift, with a small but well +selected library, which formerly belonged to a deceased son. + +My experience, therefore, in the State of Virginia, is, in many +respects, quite the opposite of that which others of my class have been +called to undergo. + +Could I forget how often I have stood at the foot of the market in the +city of Norfolk, and heard the cry of the auctioneer--"What will you +give for this man?"--"What for this woman?"--"What for this child?" +Could I forget that I have again and again stood upon the shores of the +Chesapeake, and, while looking out upon that splendid bay, beheld ships +and brigs carrying into unutterable misery and woe men, women and +children, victims of the most cruel slavery that ever saw the sun; could +I forget the innumerable scenes of cruelty I have witnessed, and blot +out the remembrance of the degradation, intellectual, moral and +spiritual, which everywhere surrounded me--making the country like unto +a den of dragons and pool of waters--my reminiscence of Virginia were +indeed a joy and not a sorrow. + +Some things I do think of with pleasure. A grand old State is Virginia. +No where else, in America at least, has nature revealed herself on a +more munificent scale. Lofty mountains, majestic hills, beautiful +valleys, magnificent rivers cover her bosom. A genial clime warms her +heart. Her resources are exhaustless. Why should she not move on? +Execrated for ever be this wretched slavery--this disturbing force. It +kills the white man--kills the black man--kills the master--kills the +slave--kills everybody and everything. Liberty is, indeed, the first +condition of human progress, and the especial hand-maiden of all that in +human life is beautiful and true. + +I attained my eighteenth year. About this time the Rev. W. H---- of New +York city visited the fortress of Monroe, and opened a select school. He +was a white man, and of a kind and benevolent nature. He could not admit +me into his school, nevertheless he took a deep interest in my welfare. +He aided my studies in such ways as he could, and, on his return to the +State of New York (he remained but a short time in Virginia), acquainted +the Honorable Gerrit Smith, of Peterboro, with my desires. Mr. Smith's +sympathies were immediately touched on my behalf. He requested the Rev. +W. H---- to write to me at once, and extend to me an invitation to visit +the State of New York, enter college, and graduate at his expense--if +need be. + +I have to remark just here that at the time of the visit of the Rev. W. +H---- to the fortress of Monroe, my parents were in greatly reduced +circumstances, owing to a destructive fire which had recently taken +place, and burned to the ground a most valuable property. The fire was +supposed to be the work of incendiaries--low whites of the +neighbourhood, who had become envious of my parents' success. There was +no insurance on the property. Under these circumstances I gladly +accepted the kind offer of Mr. Smith. His generous nature then and there +turned towards me in friendship; and, I am happy to be able to add, he +has ever continued my friend from that day to this. + +Mr. Smith is one of the noblest men that America has ever produced; and +is especially remarkable for his profound appreciation of that sublime +command of our Saviour, "All things whatsoever ye would that men should +do to you, do ye even so to them." Where he treads no angel of sorrow +follows. + +He is a man of vast estates--a millionaire. He is also what in America +is termed a land reformer. He believes that every man should possess an +inviolable homestead. He himself possesses by inheritance millions of +acres in the Northern and Eastern States of America; and shows his +sincerity and consistency by parcelling off from time to time such +portions of these lands as are available, in lots of forty or fifty +acres each, and presenting the deeds thereof, free of charge, to the +deserving landless men, white or black, in the region where the lands in +question are located. He also long since vacated the splendid Peterboro' +mansion, into possession of which he came on the death of his father; +and now resides, himself and family, in a simple cottage near +Peterboro', with only forty acres attached. His sympathies are not +bounded by country or clime. He sent into Ireland, during the famine of +1847, the largest single donation that reached the country from abroad. + +He was elected to the United States Congress a few years ago, as one of +the members for New York, but resigned his seat after holding it only a +year--probably feeling outraged by the manners and morals, not to say +superlative wickedness, of so many of his associates. Whatever may have +been the cause which induced him to resign, he did well to give up his +post. Nature had evidently not set him to the work. Of great ability, +winning eloquence, and undoubted moral courage, his heart and temper +were too soft and apologetic to deal with the blustering tyrants who +fill too many of the seats of both houses of Congress. + +Mr. Smith is truly a great orator. He has in an eminent degree the first +qualification thereof--a great heart. His voice is a magnificent bass, +deep, full, sonorous; and, being as melodious as deep, it gives him +enviable power over the hearts and sympathies of men. + +In personal appearance he is extremely handsome. Large and noble in +stature, with a face not only beautiful, but luminous with the +reflection of every Christian grace. + +He is now engaged in the care of his vast estates, and in his private +enterprises, scarcely private, since they are all for the public good. +He is sixty-two years of age. A true Christian in every exalted sense +of the term, long may he live an honor and a blessing to his race. + +Having accepted the invitation of this gentleman, I prepared to leave +the South. On making arrangements for a passage from Norfolk to +Baltimore, I found that the "Free Papers" which every man of color in a +slave state must possess, in order to be able to prove, in case of his +being apprehended at any time, that he is not an absconding slave, were +of very little avail. I must needs have a "Pass" as well, or I could not +leave. However I obtained this document without much trouble, and as it +is a curious specimen of American literature, I will give it. It does +not equal, to be sure, the "charming pages" of Washington Irving, but it +is certainly quite as illustrative in its way:-- + + + "Norfolk, Oct. 1839. + +"The bearer of this, William G. Allen, is permitted to leave Norfolk by +the Steam Boat Jewess, Capt. Sutton, for Baltimore. + + "Signed, J. F. Hunter + "Agent, Baltimore Steam Packet Company." + + +This document was also countersigned by one of the justices of the +peace. Really, there is something preposterous about these slaveholders. +They make all sorts of attempts to drive the free colored people out of +their borders; but when a man of this class wishes to go of his own +accord, he must that be _permitted_! + +I reached Baltimore in safety, but now found that neither "Free Papers" +nor "Pass" were of any further use. I desired to take the train to +Philadelphia _en route_ to New York. I must this time get a white man to +testify to my freedom, or further I could not go. Or, worse still, if no +such man could be found, I must be detained in Baltimore and lodged in +jail! By no means a pleasant prospect. There was no time to be lost. My +previous experience had taught me this truth--the more we trust, the +more we are likely to find to trust. Acting upon this principle, and +putting in practice my studies in physiognomy, I presently found a +friend among the crowd; who, being satisfied with my statements and the +documents I presented, kindly gave the desired testimony. The ticket +seller then recorded my name, age, and personal appearance in his book, +and delivered me my ticket. I now had no further trouble, and reached +the college (in the State of New York) in safety. + +Remaining at this college (Oneida Institute, Whitesboro') five years, I +graduated with some honor and little cost to my patron, Mr. Smith. I +quite paid my way by private tuitions: during one vacation I taught a +school in Canada. + +I cannot leave Oneida Institute without paying the tribute of my heart's +warmest admiration and love to the President thereof--Reverend Beriah +Green. America has few such men--men of that true greatness which comes +from a combination of wisdom and virtue. Wherever found in that country, +they are the "chosen few," consecrating their energies to the cause of +Humanity and Religion--nobly and earnestly seeking to rid their country +of its dire disgrace and shame. President Green still lives. He is a +profound scholar, an original thinker, and, better and greater than all +these, a sincere and devoted Christian. To the strength and vigor of a +man, he adds the gentleness and tenderness of a woman. He has never +taken an active part in the world of stir and politics; but in the line +of his proper profession has immeasurably advanced the cause of human +progress. May such men be multiplied in America, and elsewhere, for +surely there is need. + +Out now in the great world of America, my ambition was to secure a +professorial chair. That any man having the slightest tinge of color, +nay, without tinge of color, with only a drop of African blood in his +veins, let his accomplishments be what they may, should aspire to such a +position, I soon found was the very madness of madness. But something +must be done. I repaired at once to the city of Boston, and entered the +law office of E. G. L----, Esq. a distinguished barrister, who had +already shown his regard for the colored race by having brought to the +bar a colored young man--now practising with much success in Boston. +Black men may practice law--at least in Massachusetts. I remained in the +office of this gentleman two years, and was just entering my third and +last year, when, unsolicited on my part and to my great surprise, I +received the appointment of Professor of the Greek Language and +Literature in New York Central College--a college of recent date, and +situated in the town of M'Grawville, near the centre of the State of New +York. This was the first college in America that ever had the moral +courage to invite a man of color to occupy a professor's chair; and, so +far as I know, it is also the only one. + +The college was founded by a few noble-minded men, whose object was to +combat the vulgar American prejudice, which can see no difference +between a man and his skin. They sought to illustrate the doctrine of +Human Equality, or brotherhood of the races; to elevate the nation's +morals, and give it more exalted views of the aims and objects of +Christianity. Such a college, in the midst of corrupt public sentiment, +could not fail to meet with the greatest opposition. It was persecuted +on all sides, and by all parties, showing how deep-seated and virulent +is prejudice against color. The legislature countenanced the college so +far as to grant it a charter, and empowered it to confer degrees, but +would not, seemingly on no earthly consideration, give it the slightest +pecuniary patronage. The debates which took place in the State House at +Albany when the bill relating to the college came up for consideration, +would, in vulgar flings at "negroes," cries of "amalgamation," and such +like, have disgraced a very assemblage of pagans. However the college +held on its way, and is still doing its work, though its efficiency is +of course greatly marred. All the other professors were white; so also +were the majority of the students. + + * * * * * + +I was four years in connexion with this college as professor, and in all +probability would have been in M'Grawville still, but for the following +circumstances. + +I bethought me now of marriage, having what might be termed good +prospects in the world. Visiting the town of Fulton, County of Oswego, +State of New York, about forty miles from New York Central College, on +an occasion of public interest, I was made the guest of the Rev. L. +K----, a highly esteemed minister of the gospel, and greatly +distinguished for his earnest and zealous advocacy of the principles of +abolition. He was a white man. This gentleman had a large family of sons +and daughters. A feeling of friendship sprung up between one of his +daughters and myself on the occasion of this visit, which feeling +eventually ripened into emotions of a higher and more interesting +character. The father welcomed me: the mother was long since deceased. +The parties immediately concerned were satisfied--why should others +demur? I knew something of prejudice against color, but I supposed that +a sense of dignity, not to say decency, would deter the most bitterly +opposed from interference with a matter wholly domestic and private, and +which, in its relation to the public, was also wholly insignificant. I +reckoned without my host however. The inhabitants of Fulton had received +the impression that there was an union in contemplation between the lady +and myself; and they determined that it should not take place, certainly +not in their town, nor elsewhere if they could prevent it. They stirred +the town in every direction, evoking all the elements of hostility, and +organizing the same into a deadly mob, to act at convenient opportunity. +I was ignorant of the great length to which this feeling had attained; +so also were the parties immediately interested in my personal safety. I +was therefore greatly surprised when, on the occasion of my last visit +to Fulton, and while in company with the lady, both of us visiting at +the house of a mutual friend, residing about two miles out of town, a +party rushed into our presence in hot haste, bidding me, if I wished to +escape with my life, to "fly with all possible speed!" The party who +performed this kindly office had scarcely gone, when, on looking out of +the window, I beheld a maddened multitude approaching--about six hundred +white men, armed with tar, feathers, poles and an empty barrel spiked +with shingle nails! In this barrel I was to be put, and rolled from the +top to the bottom of a hill near by. They also brought a sleigh, in +which the lady was to be taken back to her father's house. They intended +no harm to her. + +Knowing the character of an American mob, and also knowing how little +they value the life of a man of color, I expected, as I saw the +multitude surrounding the house, to die--in fact, prepared for death. + +Having assembled about the premises, they began to cry out in the most +uproarious manner, "Bring him out!" "Kill the Nigger!" "Hang him!" "Tear +down the house!" Shouts, groans, maledictions of all sorts and degrees +followed. No one who has not witnessed an American mob can have the +slightest idea of the scene which presented itself at this point. Had +six hundred beasts of the forest been loosed together, in one +promiscuous assemblage, they could scarcely have sent up howls and yells +and mad noises equal to those made by these infuriated men. There is no +exaggeration in this statement. For the sake of humanity, I only wish +there was. Nor were the members of the mob confined entirely to the +rabble; far from it. Many of its members were also members of a +Christian church. The mob occurred on a Sabbath evening, about six +o'clock, so that these men absolutely deserted their pews on purpose to +enjoy the fun of "hunting the nigger." + +There came with this mob a self-constituted committee of gentlemen, +lawyers, merchants, and leading men of the town, who, although partaking +of the general feeling of prejudice against color, did not wish, for the +sake of the reputation of their town, to see bloodshed; besides also +many of them, I doubt not, entertained feelings of personal friendship +for myself. + +This committee divided itself. One half came up to the drawing-room, and +advised that the young lady should consent to go home in the sleigh +provided, and that I should consent to leave the town. Conceding so much +to the mob, they thought my life might be spared. The other half of the +committee remained below, to appease the maddened multitude, and deter +them from carrying their threats into execution. + +We agreed to the propositions of the committee. The young lady was taken +home in the sleigh aforesaid, about one third of the mob following on +foot, for what purpose I know not. I was then conducted by the committee +through the mob, many members of which giving me, as I passed, sundry +kicks and cuffs, but doing me no serious bodily harm. I was next taken +by the committee to an hotel, where arrangements had been made for my +reception. The mob followed, hooting and hallooing, the sight of their +victim seeming to revive their hostile feelings. They would have broken +into the hotel, had not the proprietor held them back by his threats. He +was not a friend of mine, but he had agreed to shelter me, and he was, +of course, determined to protect his property. + +The committee then secured the use of two sleighs, one of which they +placed at the back entrance of the hotel, and the other they caused to +be driven about four miles out of the town. Into the first sleigh I was +to get when I could find my opportunity, and be driven to the other +sleigh, in which I was to be finally conveyed to the town of Syracuse, +about twenty-five miles distant. I made several attempts to get into the +sleigh at the back entrance of the hotel, but was driven back by the mob +every time I made my appearance at the door. Meanwhile the committee +furnished the mobocrats with spirits to drink, and cigars to smoke, for +all of which I had to pay. Comment upon this extraordinary act of +meanness would be entirely out of place. One would have thought that +these mobocrats would have been content to have mobbed me free of +expense, at least. Not so it seemed however. + +But midnight drew on, and of course the multitude grew weary. Presently, +seeing my opportunity, I jumped into the sleigh at the back entrance of +the hotel, drove rapidly off to the second sleigh, and reached the town +of Syracuse early next morning. Some of the mobocrats attempted chase, +but soon gave it up. + +Had this tumult ended here, I should probably have been in my chair at +the college today; and the whole affair, so far as it related only to +myself, would have been regarded by me as merely a bit of an episode in +my life--of course a most exciting one. But the worst was to come, at +least so far as it concerned the lady personally; and the very worst it +would be better to say nothing about. + +After we had been disposed of in the manner already described, the next +step taken by the inhabitants of the town of Fulton was to place the +lady under a most degraded surveillance. True, she was to continue in +her father's house, but so overpowering had the mob-spirit become, that +the mobocrats commanded (and were obeyed!) that no communications should +be sent to her or from her, unless they had been previously perused and +sanctioned by duly deputed parties. Nor would they permit any persons to +call upon her, unless they too had been previously approved. + +There was a line of railway between the towns of Fulton and Syracuse. +Guards were placed by certain individuals at the various stations on the +line, in order to prevent the possible escape of either party, or rather +to prevent the possible meeting of the parties, _i.e._, of the lady and +myself. Meanwhile the telegraphic wires and newspapers spread the news +throughout the length and breadth of the land; the consequence of all +which was, I became so notorious that my life was placed in jeopardy +wherever I went. On one occasion particularly I barely escaped with it. + +On the day after the occurrence of the mob, and for several days after, +the town of Fulton presented a scene of unparallelled excitement. Had +the good people witnessed the approach of an invading army, but, by some +lucky chance, succeeded in driving it back, they could not have been +more extravagant in their demonstrations. Their countenances indicated +the oddest possible mixture of consternation and joy. Seriously, if one +can be serious over such details, never before did the contemplated +marriage of two mortals create such a hubbub. + +The inhabitants of Fulton immediately assembled _en masse_, and voted +unanimously, in congress especially convened for the purpose, that Mr. +and Mrs. P----, school teachers, our friends, at whose house we were +being entertained at the time of the mob, "DO GIVE UP THEIR SCHOOL, +AND LEAVE THE TOWN FORTHWITH." For what crime? None, save that of +showing us hospitality. Our friends had therefore not only to give up +their business at an immense pecuniary sacrifice, but had absolutely to +make off with their lives as best they could. + +During all this time the lady who had been thus rudely treated was true +to her noble and heroic nature; but so much outward pressure, and of +such an extraordinary character, produced its consequences upon her +health. It failed, and it became necessary that she should be released +from her thraldom. Once more at liberty she visited, incognito, the town +of Syracuse, where I was still tarrying. The mobocrats would not have +permitted her to have left Fulton in peace, if they had known whither +she was going. + +We met again: reviewed the past and discussed the future. As I am not +detailing sentiment, but merely stating facts, suffice it to say, that +we made up our minds that we would not be defeated by a mob. + +But to the future. What was to be done? We came to the conclusion that I +could no longer expect to hold my position in M'Grawville. The college +had already received a terrible shock by reason of the cry of +"amalgamation" which had been raised by the mob. And though the trustees +were willing, at heart, to face the storm of prejudice, worldly wisdom, +they considered, dictated that they should not incur the odium which +they could not avoid bringing upon the college, if they persisted in +retaining me longer as one of their professors. The trustees thought it +would be better to be cautious, and save the college for the good it +might do in the future. Such a union as ours was, in fact, but one of +the logical results of the very principles on which the college was +founded. I do not profess to sit in judgment, and therefore attempt no +comment. They were now evidently anxious that I should resign, though, +of course, they did not express so much to me in words. + +I also came to the further conclusion that I could no longer, under the +circumstances, whatever I might be able to do in future, hold my +position in the country. For, however willing I might be to endure all +things in my own person, I felt that I ought not to expose to any +further danger one who already suffered so much and so heroically for my +sake. I knew several of the lady's friends who were bitterly opposed to +our union, solely on account of my color, and who were prepared, if the +occasion should require it, to go to desperate lengths. They would not +have hesitated to have sworn her into the lunatic asylum. I therefore +decided not only to resign my professorship in the college, but also to +leave the country. + +Our plans being now quietly arranged, the lady returned to Fulton, and +it was then supposed that all communication between us was for ever +broken off. The mob had ordered that it should be so, and doubtless +thought it was so. The most mistaken idea they ever entertained. The +lady remained for a short time in Fulton, and then retired into the +interior of the state of Pennsylvania. I continued to remain in the town +of Syracuse. + +Soon a favorable opportunity presented itself, and we met in the city of +New York, on the 30th March, 1853, and then and there asserted our +rights in due and legal form: after which we immediately took the train +for Boston. + +Owing to the great publicity which the newspapers had given to our +affairs and the consequent excitement thereon, we found it necessary to +use the utmost caution, such as walking apart in the streets, and +travelling in the trains as strangers to each other. It would have been +fool-hardy to have provoked another mob. + +We remained in Boston ten days, quietly visiting among our friends, and +then set sail for England. Wishing to get out of the country without +farther ado, we were compelled to submit to many sacrifices, pecuniary +and otherwise, of which it is not necessary to speak. In England and +Ireland, including a short trip to Scotland, we have been ever since, +and have constantly received that generous and friendly consideration +which, from the reputation of Great Britain and Ireland, we had been led +to expect; and for which we are grateful. + +To go back for a single moment to New York Central College. On receiving +the appointment to the professorial chair, the pro-slavery newspaper +press of the country opened a regular assault. The "_Washington Union_" +thus wrote: + +"What a pity that college could not have found white men in all America +to fill its professors' chairs. What a burning shame that the trustees +should have been mean enough to rob Mr. L---- of his law student, and +the Boston bar of its ebony ornament." I was never at the Boston bar, +and therefore could not have been its ebony ornament. The imagination +of the editors supplied them with the fact, and that answered their +purpose as well. + +A reverend doctor of divinity writing in a Cincinnati newspaper, +wondered "how a man of sense could enter that amalgamation college. If +this professor would go to Liberia and display his eloquence at the bar +there; or, if he has any of the grace of God in his heart, enter the +pulpit, he would then be doing a becoming work." + +From Augusta, Georgia (Slave State), I received the following document, +signed by several parties, and containing the picture of a man hanging +by the neck, under which was written, "Here hangs the Professor of +Greek!" + + "Augusta, Geo. Nov. 1850. + +"Sir,--We perceive you have been appointed Professor of Greek in New +York Central College. Very well. We also perceive that you have +occasionally lectured in the North on the 'Probable Destiny of the +African Race.' Now, Sir, if you will only have the kindness to come to +Augusta, and visit our hemp yard, you may be sure that your destiny will +not be _probable_, but certain. + + "Signed, + + ------ + + ------ + + ------" + +Of course I did not go to Augusta, Georgia. + +These assaults and attempts at ridicule served to bring me into general +notice. I soon found that, by reason of them, and without merit or +effort of my own, I had become known throughout the whole country as +"the Colored Professor." I had a status. The lady being the daughter of +a highly respectable minister, she also had a status. To permit +therefore the union of these parties would be to bring the principle of +amalgamation into respectability. So reasoned those who attempted to +reason on behalf, or rather in excuse, of the mob. "We are sorry," they +went on condescendingly to say, "for Professor Allen, for though a man +of color, he is nevertheless a gentleman, a Christian and a scholar. But +this union must not be; the 'proprieties of society,' must not be +violated!" Here then was the secret of this extraordinary outbreak. Had +we moved in what these good people would have been pleased to term a +lower strata of society, they would have let us alone with infinite +contempt. + +The most lamentable feature of this Fulton mob was the fact, that we +could not, if we had sought it, have secured any redress. No court of +law in the State would have undertaken to bring to justice the +perpetrators of this outrage. But on the contrary, such court would have +been inclined to take sides with the mobocrats, and to justify them in +the means which they employed wherewith to chastise a colored man who +had presumed so grossly to violate the "proprieties of society." + +Before closing I cannot forebear a further word with regard to New York +Central College. During the four years I was in connexion with that +college as professor, I never experienced the slightest disrespect from +trustees, professors or students. All treated me kindly, so kindly +indeed that I can truly say that the period of my professorship forms +one of the pleasantest remembrances of my life. Terrible as prejudice +against color is, my experience has taught me that it is not invincible; +though, as it is the offspring of slavery, it will never be fully +vanquished until slavery has been abolished. + +In illustration of the direct influences of slavery as they affect the +free man of color, I again go back for a single moment. Having spent +three years at Oneida Institute, I proposed to myself a visit to +Virginia, to look once more into the faces of beloved parents, relatives +and friends, to walk again upon the strand at Fortress Monroe, where I +had so often in childhood beheld the sunbeams play upon the coves and +inlets, and seen the surf beat upon the rocks. I, at first, had some +difficulty in getting a passage to Virginia, most of the masters of the +New York vessels to whom I applied seeming to be of a friendly nature, +and not willing to expose me to the slave laws of Virginia. I, however, +succeeded at last--the captain of a Philadelphia vessel consenting to +land me at the fortress of Monroe. I remained in the home of my +childhood and youth seven days in peace; but on the morning of the +eighth day, while walking on the strand, I was rudely assaulted by a +person who had known me from my infancy. I had always supposed him to be +a gentleman, and was therefore greatly surprised and shocked. But +slavery is relentless; it ruins both the morals and the manners. This +individual, after belaboring me in a savage manner, gave me distinctly +to understand that unless I left Virginia speedily, I might find myself +in trouble. He afterwards remarked, as I understood, to his friends that +"this Allen has been off to an abolition college and returned among us. +Let us look out for him." + +I took the hint; and on the next morning secured the services of a party +who rowed me off in a small canoe to a vessel lying in the harbor, where +I bargained with the captain, who, for a handsome sum, consented to take +me quietly out of the state. I left Virginia at once, and have never +returned to it since, though I would gladly have done so, as relatives +and friends near and dear to me have since died, by the side of whose +death beds I desired to stand. In conclusion I have only to say that +were I in the United States of America to-morrow, it would be more than +my life or liberty would be worth to put foot upon the soil of my native +state. Is this freedom? If it be, then give me slavery indeed. + +A word or two with regard to my course in this country. Hitherto my +income has been derived solely from lectures, tuitions, and such other +odds and ends of work in my line as my hands could find to do. I desire +a more permanent settlement for myself and family, and hope that the +sale of this little narrative may help to create means to that end. + +I send it forth therefore, desiring that it may stand upon its own +merits, at the same time earnestly hoping that it may interest all into +whose hands it may fall. + + From LORD SHAFTESBURY. + +"Lord Shaftesbury sympathizes most heartily with Professor Allen and +sincerely wishes him success in his undertaking. It will give Lord +Shaftesbury great pleasure to assist, in any way that he can, a +gentleman of the colored race, who is a hundred times wiser and better +than his white oppressors. + + "LONDON, _July, 1854._" + + + From Rev. I. G. Abeltshauser, LL.D. Trinity College, + Dublin, and others;-- + + "DUBLIN, 14th April, 1856. + +"The undersigned having made due enquiry from the most trustworthy +sources relative to the character and attainments of Professor William +G. Allen, have much pleasure in recommending him as a gentleman of high +attainments and honorable character. + + I. G. ABELTSHAUSER, Clk. LL.D. Trin. Col. Dub. + WM. URWICK, D. D. 40, Rathmines Road, Dublin. + JAMES HAUGHTON, 35 Eccles-street, Dublin. + RICHARD ALLEN, Sackville-street, Dublin. + JONATHAN PIM, 22, William-street, Dublin. + JOHN EVANS, M. D. 38, Richmond-street, Dublin. + R. D. WEBB, 176, Great Brunswick-street, Dublin. + JOHN R. WIGHAM, 36, Capel-street, Dublin." + + + From RICHARD D. WEBB, Esq. of Dublin. + + "DUBLIN, 3rd November, 1858. + + "DEAR MR. ALLEN, + +"Your name was familiar to me long before I knew you personally. I had +often heard of 'Professor W. G. Allen,' who, while connected with the +Central College, in the State of New York, and respected there as a man +and a teacher, was obliged to leave his native country for the offence +of marrying a white lady of respectable family and great excellence of +character, who is now much liked and esteemed by her numerous friends in +this city. I became acquainted with you soon after your arrival in +London; and particularly during your residence in Ireland I have had +nearly as much opportunity of knowing you as any of your acquaintances +here. I can truly say, that you have earned the hearty respect of all +who know you (of whom I have any knowledge), by the industry, energy, +and self-respect you have evinced in the course of a long and difficult +battle with those adverse circumstances, with which a comparatively +unknown and friendless stranger has to contend, in his efforts to effect +a settlement in a strange country. Your conduct has been industrious, +honorable and in every way deserving of esteem and sympathy. Some time +since, in the columns of the 'Anti-Slavery Advocate,' without hint or +solicitation on your part, I took the liberty to speak of your course as +I do now; for amongst all the colored Americans with whom my interest in +the Anti-Slavery cause has made me acquainted--and many of whom are my +own personal friends--I have known none more deserving of respect and +confidence than yourself. + + "Yours truly, + "RICHARD D. WEBB." + + * * * * * + +Having, in my avocation as lecturer on "The African Race" and +"America and the Americans," visited nearly the whole of Ireland, I +respectfully submit the following letters and notices, the letters being +from gentlemen who kindly presided at the meetings:-- + + + From the Rev. DOCTOR FITZGERALD, Archdeacon of Kildare, + (now Lord Bishop of Cork). + +"Professor Allen delivered some lectures on the African Race, in +Kingstown, which seemed to have given general satisfaction. I regret +that I was unable to attend more than one, but I can truly say that it +bore evidence of a highly cultivated mind, and imparted valuable +information in a pleasing form. From what I have seen and heard of +Professor Allen, I should be glad to think that any testimony of mine +could be of service to him. + + "W. FITZGERALD, Archdeacon of Kildare, + (Now Lord Bishop of Cork.) + + "Dublin, Nov. 1856" + + + From Rev. DOCTOR URWICK, Dublin. + +"I have known Professor Allen since his first coming to Ireland, and +believe him to be a gentleman of high character and attainments. His +lecturings, more than one of which I have heard, display much power, and +by the amount of information they contain, united with a clear and often +eloquent style, and earnest manner, cannot fail, at once, to interest +and instruct the audience. I cordially commend him to the confidence and +kind attention of my friends. + + "W. URWICK. + + "Dublin, Nov. 30, 1857." + + + From CORK--see "Constitution," "Examiner" and + "Reporter," March 1858. + + "Cork, Feb. 28, 1858. + + "To WILLIAM G. ALLEN, Esq. late Professor of Greek in + New York Central College. + +"DEAR SIR--We, the undersigned, having heard your lectures on +'America' and 'Africa,' and derived therefrom much instruction as well +as gratification, do, on our own part and that of many of our fellow +citizens who are anxious to hear you, respectfully request that you will +give, at least, two lectures more upon these interesting subjects. + + "(Signed) + HENRY MARTIN, Congregational Minister. + R. W. FORREST (Free Church). + RICHD. CORBETT, M. D. + J. D. CARNEGIE. + HENRY UNKLES. + GEORGE BAKER. + RICHARD DOWDEN, (Rd.) + WILLIAM MAGILL, (Scots' Church). + JOSEPH R. GREENE, Professor, Queen's Coll. + THOMAS JENNINGS. + N. JACKSON, C. E. + JOSEPH COLBECK." + + + From "Belfast News-letter," Dec. 10, 1858. + +"REV. DOCTOR COOKE occupied the chair. Professor Allen then +delivered a lecture of great ability and interest. Dr. Cooke said he had +listened to a remarkable oration. He was glad he had heard it. He +thanked Professor Allen, in the name of the meeting, for his truly +valuable and instructive lecture." + + + From the DEAN OF WATERFORD. + +"Professor W. G. Allen, an American gentleman of color, having visited +Waterford, delivered two lectures here, one on 'America,' and the other +on 'Africa and the African Races.' On each occasion I had the pleasure +to occupy the chair at the meetings held to hear Mr. Allen's lectures, +which proved most interesting and instructive. The Professor is himself +a witness that there is nothing in color or race to hinder a man from +being distinguished for eloquence, good taste, and religious feeling. + +"I have seldom heard public addresses which have interested me more, and +I have no doubt that Mr. Allen's lectures will prove useful, wherever +they are delivered, in creating an interest on behalf of our fellow men, +who have suffered so great wrongs from professing Christians, though +happily no longer at the hands of British subjects. + + "EDW. N. HOARE, + Dean of Waterford. + + "Deanery, Waterford, Jan. 16, 1858." + + + From Rev. DOCTOR BROWNE, Principal of Kilkenny College. + + "Kilkenny College, Feb. 3, 1858. + +"I have attended Professor Allen's lectures on 'America and the +Americans,' and on the 'African Races,' and have received much pleasure +as well as information from the talent and power with which he has +handled the subjects of which he treated. + +"His knowledge, his ardent and impressive manner, and clear melodious +voice, render him a most pleasing as well as instructive lecturer. + + "JOHN BROWNE, Clk. LL.D." + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The American Prejudice Against Color, by +William G. 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