Personal Memoir of Daniel Drayton - for four years and four 
months a prisoner (for charity's sake) in Washington Jail, Pt. 1 
 
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         This file was contributed for use in the USGenWeb
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                       email: kellyj@snowcrest.net
                       May 16, 2000

Note: On page 55, there is a footnote article that had carried 
over onto page 56. Rather than splitting it up, I placed the
entire footnote on page 55 for continuity.

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PERSONAL MEMOIR
OF
DANIEL DRAYTON,

FOR FOUR YEARS AND FOUR MONTHS
A PRISONER (FOR CHARITY'S SAKE) IN WASHINGTON JAIL

INCLUDING A NARRATIVE OF
VOYAGE AND CAPTURE OF THE SCHOONER PEARL.




We hold these truths to be self evident: that all men are created 
equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain 
unalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the 
pursuit of happiness.
                                     DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE.




SECOND EDITION.

BOSTON:
PUBLISHED BY BELA MARSH, 25 CORNHILL.
NEW YORK: AMERICAN AND FOREIGN ANTI-SLAVERY SOCIETY

1854.

Entered according to Act of Congress, in the Year 1853, by
DANIEL DRAYTON,
In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the District of
Massachusetts

STEREOTYPED BY
HOBART & ROBBINS,
NEW ENGLAND TYPE AND STEREOTYPE FOUNDRY
BOSTON.

ADVERTISEMENT.

CONSIDERING the large share of the public attention which the 
case of the schooner Pearl attracted at the time of its 
occurrence, perhaps the following narrative of its origin, and of 
its consequences to himself, by the principal actor in it, may 
not be without interest. It is proper to state that a large share 
of the profits of the sale are secured to Captain Drayton, the 
state of whose health incapacitates him from any laborious 
employment.

MEMOIR.

   I WAS born in the year 1802, in Cumberland County, Downs 
Township, in the State of New Jersey, on the shores of Nantuxet 
Creek, not far from Delaware Bay, into which that creek flows. My 
father was a farmer,--not a very profitable occupation in that 
barren part of the country. My mother was a widow at the time of 
her marriage with my father, having three children by a former 
husband. By my father she had six more, of whom I was the 
youngest but one. She was a woman of strong mind and marked 
character, a zealous member of the Methodist church; and, 
although I had the misfortune to lose her at an early age, her 
instructions--though the effect was not apparent at the moment--
made a deep impression on my youthful mind, and no doubt had a 
very sensible influence over my future life.

   Just previous to, or during the war with Great Britain, my 
father removed still nearer to the shore of the bay, and the 
sight of the vessels passing up and down inspired me with a 
desire to follow the life of a Waterman; but it was some years 
before I was able to gratify this wish. I well remember the alarm 
created in our neighborhood by the incursions of the British 
vessels up the bay during the war, and that,

6

at these times, the women of the neighborhood used to collect at 
our house, as if looking up to my mother for counsel and 
guidance.

   I was only twelve years old when this good mother died; but, 
so strong was the impression which she left upon my memory, that, 
amid the struggles and dangers and cares of my subsequent life, I 
have seldom closed my eyes to sleep without some thought or image 
of her.

   As my father soon after married another widow, with four small 
children, it became necessary to make room in the house for their 
accommodation; and, with a younger brother of mine, I was bound 
out an apprentice in a cotton and woollen factory at a place 
called Cedarville. Manufactures were just then beginning to be 
introduced into the country, and great hopes were entertained of 
them as a profitable business. My employer,--or bos, as we called 
him,--had formerly been a schoolmaster, and he did not wholly 
neglect our instructions in other things besides cotton-spinning. 
Of this I stood greatly in need; for there were no public schools 
in the neighborhood in which I was born, and my parents had too 
many children to feed and clothe to be able to pay much for 
schooling. We were required on Sundays, by our employer, to learn 
two lessons, one in the forenoon, the other in the afternoon; 
after reciting which we were left at liberty to roam at our 
pleasure. Winter evenings we worked in the factory till nine 
o'clock, after which, and before going to bed, we were required 
to recite over one of our lessons 

7

These advantages of education were not great, but even these I 
soon lost. Within five months from the time I was bound to him, 
my employer died. The factories were then sold out to three 
partners. The one who carried on the cotton-spinning took me; but 
he soon gave up the business, and went back to farming, which had 
been his original occupation. I remained with him for a year and 
a half, or there abouts, when my father bound me out apprentice 
to a shoe-maker.

   My new bos was, in some respects, a remarkable man, but not a 
very good sort of one for a boy to be bound apprentice to. He 
paid very little attention to his business, which he seemed to 
think unworthy of his genius. He was a kind-hearted man, fond of 
company and frolics, in which he indulged himself freely, and 
much given to speeches and harangues, in which he had a good deal 
of fluency. In religion he professed to be a Universalist, 
holding to doctrines and opinions very different from those which 
my mother had instilled into me. He ridiculed those opinions, and 
argued against them, but without converting me to his way of 
thinking; though, as far as practice went, I was ready enough to 
imitate his example. My Sundays were spent principally in 
taverns, playing at dominos, which then was, and still is, a 
favorite game in that part of the country; and, as the 
unsuccessful party was expected to treat, I at times ran up a 
bill at the bar as high as four or six dollars,--no small 
indebtedness for a young apprentice with no more means than I 
had. 

8

   As I grew older this method of living grew less and less 
satisfactory to me; and as I saw that no good of any kind, not 
even a knowledge of the trade he had undertaken to teach me, was 
to be got of my present bos, I bought my time of him, and went to 
work with another man to pay for it. Before I had succeeded in 
doing that, and while I was not yet nineteen, I took upon myself 
the still further responsibility of marriage. This was a step 
into which I was led rather by the impulse of youthful passion 
than by any thoughtful foresight. Yet it had at least this 
advantage, that it obliged me to set diligently to work to 
provide for the increasing family which I soon found growing up 
around me.

   I had never liked the shoe-making business, to which my father 
had bound me an apprentice. I had always desired to follow  the 
water. The vessels which I had seen sailing up and down the 
Delaware Bay still haunted my fancy; and I engaged myself as cook 
on board a sloop, employed in carrying wood from Maurice river to 
Philadelphia. Pro motion in this line is sufficiently rapid; for 
in four months, after commencing as cook, I rose to be captain. 
This wood business, in which I remained for two years, is carried 
on by vessels of from thirty to sixty tons, known as bay-craft. 
They are built so as to draw but little water; which is their 
chief distinction from the coasters, which are fit for the open 
sea. They will carry from twenty-five to fifty cords of wood, on 
which a profit is expected of a dollar and upwards. They have 
usually about three 

9

hands, the captain, or skipper, included. The men used to be 
hired, when I entered the business. for eight or ten dollars the 
month, but they now get nearly or quite twice as much.  The 
captain usually sails the vessel on shares (unless he is himself 
owner in whole, or in part), victualling the vessel and hiring 
the men, and paying over to the owner forty dollars out of every 
hundred. During the winter, from December to March. the 
navigation is impeded by ice, and the bay-craft seldom run. The 
men commonly spend this long vacation in visiting, husking-
frolics, rabbiting, and too often in taverns, to the exhaustion 
of their purses, the impoverishment of their families, and the 
sacrifice of their sobriety. Yet the water men, if many of them 
are not able always to resist the temptations held out to them, 
are in general an honest and simple-hearted set, though with 
little education, and sometimes rather rough in their manners. 
The extent of my education when I took to the water--and in this 
respect I was not, perhaps, much inferior to the generality of my 
brother water men - was to read with no great fluency, and to 
sign my name; nor did I ever learn much more than this till my 
residence in Washington jail, to be related hereafter.

   Having followed the wood business for two years, I aspired to 
something a little higher, and obtained the command of a sloop 
engaged in the coasting business, from Philadelphia southward and 
eastward. At this time a sloop of sixty tons was considered a 
very respectable coaster. The business is 

10

now mostly carried on by vessels of a larger class; some of them, 
especially the regular lines of packets, being very handsome and 
expensive. The terms on which these coasters were sailed were 
very similar to those already stated in the case of the bay-
craft. The captain victualled the vessel, and paid the hands, and 
received for his share half the net profits, after deducting the 
extra expenses of loading and unloading. It was in this coasting 
business that the best years of my life were spent, during which 
time I visited most of the ports and rivers between Savannah 
southward, and St. John, in the British province of New 
Brunswick, eastward;- those two places forming the extreme limits 
of my voyagings. As Philadelphia was the port from and to which I 
sailed, I presently found it convenient to remove my family 
thither, and there they continued to live till after my release 
from the Washington prison.

   I was so successful in my new business, that, besides 
supporting my family, I was able to become half owner of the 
sloop Superior, at an expense of over a thousand dollars, most of 
which I paid down. But this proved a very unfortunate investment. 
On her second trip after I had bought into her, returning from 
Baltimore to Philadelphia by the way of the Delaware and 
Chesapeake canal, while off the mouth of the Susquehannah, she 
struck, as I suppose, a sunken tree, brought down by a heavy 
freshet in that river. The water flowed fast into the cabin.
It was in vain that I attempted to run her ashore. She sunk in 
five minutes. The men saved them- 

11

selves in the boat, which was on deck, and which floated as she 
went down. I stood by the rudder till the last, and stepped off 
it into the boat, loath enough to leave my vessel, on which there 
was no insurance.

   By this unfortunate accident I lost everything except the 
clothes I had on, and was obliged to commence anew. I accordingly 
obtained the command of the new sloop Sarah Henry, of seventy 
tons burden, and continued to sail her for several years, on 
shares. While in her I made a voyage to Savannah; and while under 
sail from that city for Charleston, I was taken with the yellow 
fever. I lay for a week quite unconscious of anything that was 
going on about me and came as near dying as a man could do and 
escape. The religious instructions of my mother had from time to 
time recurred to my mind, and had occasioned me some anxiety. I 
was now greatly alarmed at the idea of dying in my sins, from 
which I seemed to have escaped so narrowly. My mind was possessed 
with this fear; and, to relieve myself from it, I determined, if 
it were a possible thing, to get religion at any rate. The idea 
of religion in which I had been educated was that of a sudden, 
miraculous change, in which a man felt himself relieved from the 
burden of his sins, united to God, and made a new creature. For 
this experience I diligently sought, and tried every way to get 
it. I set up family prayers in my house, went to meetings, and 
conversed with experienced members of the church; but, for nine 
months or more, all to no purpose. At 

12

length I got into an awful state, beginning to think that I had 
been so desperate a sinner that there was no forgiveness for me. 
While I was in this miserable condition, I heard of a camp-
meeting about to be held on Cape May, and I immediately resolved 
to attend it, and to leave no stone unturned to accomplish the 
object which I had so much at heart. I went accordingly, and 
yielded myself entirely up to the dictation of those who had the 
control of the meeting. I did in everything as I was told; went 
into the altar, prayed, and let them pray over me. This went on 
for several days without any result. One evening, as I approached 
the altar, and was looking into it, I met a captain of my 
acquaintance, and asked him what he thought of these proceedings; 
and, as he seemed to approve them, I invited him to go into the 
altar with me. We both went in accordingly, and knelt down. 
Pretty soon my friend got up and walked away, saying he had got 
religion. I did not find it so easily. I remained at the altar, 
praying, till after the meeting broke up, and even till one 
o'clock,--a few acquaintances and others remaining with me, and 
praying round me, and over me, and for me; -till, at last, 
thinking that I had done everything I could, I told them pray no 
more, as evidently there was no forgiveness for me. So I withdrew 
to a distance, and sat down upon an old tree, lamenting my hard 
case very seriously. I was sure I had committed the unpardonable 
sin. A friend, who sat down beside me, and of whom I inquired 
what he supposed the unpardonable sin was, endeavored to com- 

13

fort me by suggesting that, whatever it might be, it would take 
more sense and learning than ever I had to commit it. But I would 
not enter into his merriment. All the next day, which was Sunday, 
I passed in a most miserable state. I went into the woods alone. 
I did not think myself worthy or fit to associate with those who 
had religion, while I was anxious to avoid the company of those 
who made light of it. Sometimes I would sit down, sometimes I 
would stand up, sometimes I would walk about. Frequently I 
prayed, but found no comfort in it.

   About sun-set I met a friend, who said to me, "Well, our camp-
meeting is about ended." What a misery those few words struck to 
my heart! "About ended!" I said to myself; "about ended, and I 
not converted! " A little later, as I was passing along the camp-
ground, I saw a woman before me kneeling and praying. An 
acquaintance of mine, who was approaching her in an opposite 
direction, called out to me, "Daniel, help me pray for this 
woman!" I had made up my mind to make one more effort, and I 
knelt down and commenced praying; but quite as much for myself as 
for her. Others gathered about us and joined in, and the interest 
and excitement became so great, that, after a vain effort to call 
us off, the regular services of the evening were dispensed with, 
and the ground was left to us. Things went on in this way till 
about nine o'clock, when, as suddenly as if I had been struck a 
heavy blow, I felt a remarkable change come over me. All my fears 
and terrors seemed to be instantaneously removed, 

14

and my whole soul to be filled with joy and peace. This was the 
sort of change which I had been taught to look for as the 
consequence of getting that religion for which I had been 
struggling so hard. I instantly rose up, and told those about me 
that I was a converted man; and from that moment I was able to 
sing and shout and pray with the best of them. In the midst of my 
exultation who should come up but my old master in the shoe-
making trade, of whom I have already given some account. He had 
heard that I was on the camp-ground in pursuit of religion, and 
had come to find me out. "Daniel," he said, addressing me by my 
Christian name, "what are you doing here? Don't make a fool of 
yourself." To which I answered, that I had got to be just such a 
fool as I had long wanted to be; and I took him by the arm, and 
endeavored to prevail upon him to kneel down and allow us to pray 
over him, assuring him that I knew his convictions to be much 
better than his conduct; that he must get religion, and now was 
the time. But he drew back, and escaped from me, with promises to 
do better, which, however, he did not keep.

   As for myself, considering, and, as I thought, feeling that I 
was a converted man, I now enjoyed. for some time an 
extraordinary satisfaction, a sort of offset to the months of 
agony and misery which I had previously endured. But, though 
regarding myself as now truly converted, I delayed some time 
before uniting myself with any particular church. I did not know 
which to join. This division into so many 

15

hostile sects seemed to me unaccountable. I thought that all good 
Christians should love each other, and be as one family. Yet it 
seemed necessary to unite myself with some body of Christians; 
and, as I had been educated a Methodist, I concluded to join 
them.

   I have given the account of my religious experience exactly as 
it seemed to me at the time, and as I now remember it. It 
corresponded with the common course of religious experiences in 
the Methodist church, except that with me the struggle was harder 
than commonly happens. I did not doubt at the time that it was 
truly a supernatural change, as much the work of the Spirit as 
the sudden conversions recorded in the Acts of the Apostles. 
Others can form their own opinion about it. I will only add that 
subsequent experience has led me to the belief that the reality 
of a man's religion is more to be judged of by what he does than 
by how he feels or what he says.

   The change which had taken place in me, however it is to be 
regarded, was not without a decided influence on my whole future 
life. I no longer considered myself as living for myself alone. I 
regarded myself as bound to do unto others as I would that they 
should do unto me; and it was in attempting to act up to this 
principle that I became involved in the difficulties to be 
hereafter related.

   Meanwhile I resumed my voyages in the Sarah Henry, in which I 
continued to sail, on shares, for several years, with tolerable 
success. Afterwards I followed the same business in the schooner 
Protection, 

16

in which I suffered another shipwreck. We sailed from 
Philadelphia to Washington, in the District of Columbia, laden 
with coal, proceeding down the Delaware, and by the open sea; 
but, when off the entrance of the Chesapeake, we encountered a 
heavy gale, which split the sails, swept the decks, and drove us 
off our course as far south as Ocracoke Inlet, on the coast of 
North Carolina. I took a pilot, intending to go in to repair 
damages; but, owing to the strength of the current, which 
defeated his calculations, the pilot ran us on the bar. As soon 
as the schooner's bow touched the ground, she swung round 
broadside to the sea, which immediately began to break over her 
in a fearful manner. She filled immediately,--everything on deck 
was swept away; and, as our only chance of safety, we took to the 
main-rigging. This was about seven o'clock in the evening. 
Towards morning, by reason of the continual thumping, the 
mainmast began to work through the vessel, and to settle in the 
sand, so that it became necessary for us to make our way to the 
fore-rigging; which we did, not without danger, as one of the men 
was twice washed off.

   About a quarter of a mile inside was a small, low island, on 
which lay five boats, each manned by five men, who had come down 
to our assistance; but the surf was so high that they did not 
venture to approach us; so we remained clinging with difficulty 
to the rigging till about half-past one, when the schooner went 
to pieces. The mast to which we were clinging fell, and we were 
precipitated into the 

17

raging surf, which swept us onward towards the island already 
mentioned. The men there, anticipating what had happened, had 
prepared for its occurrence; and the best swimmers, with ropes 
tied round their waists, the other end of which was held by those 
on shore, plunged in to our assistance. One of our unfortunate 
company was drowned,--the rest of us came safely to the shore; 
but we lost everything except the clothes we stood in. The 
fragments saved from the wreck were sold at auction for two 
hundred dollars. The people of that neighborhood treated us with 
great kindness, and we presently took the packet for Elizabeth 
city, whence I proceeded to Norfolk, Baltimore, and so home.

   I had made up my mind to go to sea no more; but, after 
remaining on shore for three weeks, and not finding anything else 
to do, as it was necessary for me to have the means of supporting 
my increasing family, I took the command of another vessel, 
belonging to the same owners, the sloop Joseph B. While in this 
vessel, my voyages were to the eastward. I was engaged in the 
flour-trade, in conjunction with the owners of the vessel. We 
bought flour and grain on a sixty days' credit, which I carried 
to the Kennebec, Portsmouth, Boston, New Bedford, and other 
eastern ports, calculating upon the returns of the voyage to take 
up our notes. I was so successful in this business as finally to 
become the owner of the Joseph B., which vessel I exchanged away 
at Portsmouth for the Sophronia, a top-sail schooner of one 
hundred and sixty tons, worth about 

18

fourteen hundred dollars. In this vessel I made two trips to 
Boston,--one with coal, and the other with timber. Having 
unloaded my timber, I took in a hundred tons of plaster, 
purchased on my own account,. intending to dispose of it in the 
Susquehanna. But on the passage I encountered a heavy storm, 
which blew the masts out of the vessel, and drove her ashore on 
the south side of Long Island. We saved our lives; but I lost 
everything except one hundred and sixty dollars, for which I sold 
what was left of the vessel and cargo.

   Having returned to my family, with but little disposition to 
try my fortune again in the coasting-trade, one day, being in the 
horse-market, I purchased a horse and wagon; and, taking in my 
wife and some of the younger children, I went to pay a visit to 
the neighborhood in which I was born. Here I traded for half of a 
bay-craft, of about sixty tons burden, in which I engaged in the 
oyster-trade, and other small bay-traffic. Having met at 
Baltimore the owner of the other half, I bought him out also. The 
whole craft stood me in about seven hundred dollars. I then 
purchased three hundred bushels of potatoes, with which I sailed 
for Fredericksburg, in Virginia; but this proved a losing trip, 
the potatoes not selling for what they cost me. At Fredericksburg 
I took in flour on freight for Norfolk; but my ill-luck still 
pursued me. In unloading the vessel, the cargo forward being 
first taken out, she settled by the stern and sprang aleak, 
damaging fifteen barrels of flour, which were thrown upon my 
hands. I then sailed for the eastern shore 

19

of Virginia, and at a place called Cherrystone traded off my 
damaged flour for a cargo of pears, with which I sailed for New 
York. I proceeded safely as far as Barnegat, when I encountered a 
north-east storm, which drove me back into the Delaware, obliging 
me to seek refuge in the same Maurice river from which I had 
commenced my sea-faring life in the wood business. But by this 
time the pears were spoiled, and I was obliged to throw them 
overboard. At Cherrystone I had met the owner of a pilot-boat, 
who had seemed disposed to trade with me for my vessel; and I now 
returned to that place, and completed the trade; after which I 
loaded the pilot-boat with oysters and terrapins, and sailed for 
Philadelphia. This boat was an excellent sailer, but too sharp, 
and not of burden enough for my business; and I soon exchanged 
her for half a little sloop, in which I carried a load of water-
melons to Baltimore.

   By this time I was pretty well sick of the water; and, having 
hired out the sloop, I set up a shop, at Philadelphia, for the 
purchase and sale of junk, old iron, &c. &c. But, after 
continuing in this business for about two years,--my health being 
bad, and the doctor having advised me to try the water again,--I 
bought half of another sloop, and engaged in trading up and down 
Chesapeake Bay. Returning home, towards the close of the season, 
with the proceeds of the summer's business, I encountered, in the 
upper part of Chesapeake Bay, a terrible snow-storm, which proved 
fatal to many vessels then in the bay. In attempting to make a 
harbor, the vessel struck the 

20

ground, and knocked off her rudder; and, in order to get her off, 
we were obliged to throw over the deck load. We drifted about all 
day, it still blowing and snowing, and at night let go both 
anchors. So we lay for a night and a day; but, having neither 
boat, rudder nor provisions, I was finally obliged to slip the 
anchors and run ashore. I sold my half of her, as she lay, for 
ninety dollars, which was all that remained to me of my 
investment and my summer's work.

   Not having the means to purchase a boat, my health also 
continuing quite infirm, the next summer I hired one, and 
continued the same trade up and down the bay which I had followed 
the previous summer.

   My trading up and down the bay, in the way which I have 
described, of course brought me a good deal into contact with the 
slave population. No sooner, indeed, does a vessel, known to be 
from the north. anchor in any of these waters --and the slaves 
are pretty adroit in ascertaining from what state a vessel comes 
--than she is boarded, if she remains any length of time, and 
especially over night, by more or less of them, in hopes of 
obtaining a passage in her to a land of freedom. During my 
earlier voyagings, several years before, in Chesapeake Bay, I had 
turned a deaf ear to all these re quests. At that time, according 
to an idea still common enough, I had regarded the negroes as 
only fit to be slaves, and had not been inclined to pay much 
attention to the pitiful tales which they told me of ill-
treatment by their masters and mistresses. But 

21

my views upon this subject had undergone a gradual change. I knew 
it was asserted in the Declaration of Independence that all men 
are born free and equal, and I had read in the Bible that God had 
made of one flesh all the nations of the earth. I had found out, 
by intercourse with the negroes, that they had the same desires, 
wishes and hopes, as myself. I knew very well that I should not 
like to be a slave even to the best of masters, and still less to 
such sort of masters as the greater part of the slaves seemed to 
have. The idea of having first one child and then another taken 
from me, as fast as they grew large enough, and handed over to 
the slave-traders, to be carried I knew not where, and sold, if 
they were girls, I knew not for what purposes, would have been 
horrible enough; and, from instances which came to my notice, I 
perceived that it was not less horrible and distressing to the 
parties concerned in the case of black people than of white ones. 
I had never read any abolition books, nor heard any abolition 
lectures. I had frequented only Methodist meetings, and nothing 
was heard there about slavery. But, for the life of me, I could 
not perceive why the golden rule of doing to others as you would 
wish them to do to you did not apply to this case. Had I been a 
slave myself,--and it is not a great while since the Algerines 
used to make slaves of our sailors, white as well as black, --I 
should have thought it very right and proper in anybody who would 
have ventured to assist me in escaping out of bondage; and the 
more dangerous it 

22

might have been to render such assistance, the more meritorious I 
should have thought the act to be. Why had not these black 
people, so anxious to escape from their masters, as good a right 
to their liberty as I had to mine?

   I know it is sometimes said, by those who defend slavery or 
apologize for it, that the slaves at the south are very happy and 
contented, if left to themselves, and that this idea of running 
away is only put into their heads by mischievous white people 
from the north. This will do very well for those who know nothing 
of the matter personally, and who are anxious to listen to any 
excuse. But there is not a waterman who ever sailed in Chesapeake 
Bay who will not tell you that, so far from the slaves needing 
any prompting to run away, the difficulty is, when they ask you 
to assist them, to make them take no for an answer. I have known 
instances where men have lain in the woods for a year or two, 
waiting for an opportunity to escape on board some vessel. On one 
of my voyages up the Potomac, an application was made to me on 
behalf of such a run away; and I was so much moved by his story, 
that, had it been practicable for me at that time, I should
 certainly have helped him off. One or two attempts I did make to 
assist the flight of some of those who sought my assistance; but 
none with success, till the summer of 1847, which is the period 
to which I have brought down my narrative.

   I was employed during that summer, as I have mentioned already 
in trading up and down the 

23

Chesapeake, in a hired boat, a small. black boy being my only 
assistant. Among other trips, I went to Washington with a cargo 
of oysters. While I was lying there, at the same wharf, as it 
happened, from which the Pearl afterwards took her departure, a 
colored man came on board, and, observing that I seemed to be 
from the north, he said he supposed we were pretty much all 
abolitionists there. I don't know where he got this piece of 
information, but I think it likely from some southern member of 
Congress. As I did not check him, but rather encouraged him to go 
on, he finally told me that he wanted to get passage to the north 
for a woman and five children. The husband of the woman, and 
father of the children, was a free colored man; and the woman, 
under an agreement with her master, had already more than paid 
for her liberty; but, when she had asked him for a settlement, he 
had only answered by threatening to sell her. He begged me to see 
the woman, which I did; and finally I made an arrangement to take 
them away. Their bedding, and other things, were sent down on 
board the vessel in open day, and at night the woman came on 
board with her five children and a niece. We were ten days in 
reaching Frenchtown, where the husband was in, waiting for them. 
He took them under his charge, and I saw them no more; but, since 
my release from imprisonment in Washington, I have heard that the 
whole family are comfortably established in a free country, and 
doing well.

   Having accomplished this exploit,--and was it 

24

not something of an exploit to bestow the invaluable gift of 
liberty upon seven of one's fellow-creatures --the season being 
now far advanced, I gave up the boat to the owner, and returned 
to my family at Philadelphia. In the course of the following 
month of February, I received a note from a person whom I had 
never known or heard of before, desiring me to call at a certain 
place named in it. I did so, when it appeared that I had been 
heard of through the colored family which I had brought off from 
Washington. A letter from that city was read to me. relating the 
case of a family or two who expected daily and hourly to be sold, 
and desiring assistance to get them away. It was proposed to me 
to undertake this enterprise; but I declined it at this time, as 
I had no vessel, and because the season was too early for 
navigation through the canal. I saw the same person again about a 
fortnight later, and finally arranged to go on to Washington, to 
see what could be done. There I agreed to return again so soon as 
I could find a vessel fit for the enterprise. I spoke with 
several persons of my acquaintance, who had vessels under their 
control; but they declined, on account of the danger. They did 
not appear to have any other objection, and seemed to wish me 
success. Passing along the street, I met Captain Sayres, and 
knowing that he was sailing a small bay-craft, called the Pearl, 
and learning from him that business was dull with him, I proposed 
the enterprise to him, offering him one hundred dollars for the 
charter of his vessel to Washington and back to Frenchtown, 

25

where, according to the arrangement with the friends of the 
passengers, they were to be met and carried to Philadelphia. This 
was considerably more than the vessel could earn in any ordinary 
trip of the like duration, and Sayres closed with the offer. He 
fully understood the nature of the enterprise. By our bargain, I 
was to have, as supercargo, the control of the vessel so far as 
related to her freight, and was to bring away from Washington 
such passengers as I chose to receive on board; but the control 
of the vessel in other respects remained with him. Captain Sayres 
engaged in this enterprise merely as a matter of business. I, 
too, was to be paid for my time and trouble,--an offer which the 
low state of my pecuniary affairs, and the necessity of 
supporting my family, did not allow me to decline. But this was 
not, by any means, my sole or principal motive. I undertook it 
out of sympathy for the enslaved, and from my desire to do 
something to further the cause of universal liberty. Such being 
the different ground upon which Sayres and myself stood, I did 
not think it necessary or expedient to communicate to him the 
names of the persons with whom the expedition had originated; 
and, at my suggestion, those persons abstained from any direct 
communication with him, either at Philadelphia or Washington. 
Sayres had, as cook and sailor. on board the Pearl, a young man 
named Chester English. He was married, and had a child or two, 
but was himself as inexperienced as a child, having never been 
more than thirty miles from the place where he was born. I 
remonstrated with 

26

Sayres against taking this young man with us. But English, 
pleased with the idea of seeing Washington, desired to go; and 
Sayres, who had engaged him for the season, did not like to part 
with him. He went with us, but was kept in total ignorance of the 
real object of the voyage. He had the idea that we were going to 
Washington for a load of ship-timber.

   We proceeded down the Delaware, and by the canal into the 
Chesapeake, making for the mouth of the Potomac. As we ascended 
that river we stopped at a place called Machudock, where I 
purchased, by way of cargo and cover to the voyage, twenty cords 
of wood; and with that freight on board we proceeded to 
Washington, where we arrived on the evening of Thursday, the 13th 
of April, 1848.

   As it happened, we found that city in a great state of 
excitement on the subject of emancipation, liberty and the rights 
of man. A grand torch-light procession was on foot, in honor of 
the new French revolution, the expulsion of Louis-Philippe, and 
the establishment of a republic in France. Bonfires were blazing 
in the public squares, and a great out-door meeting was being 
held in front of the Union newspaper office, at which very 
enthusiastic and exciting speeches were delivered, principally by 
southern democratic members of Congress, which body was at that 
time in session. A full account of these proceedings, with 
reports of the speeches, was given in the Union of the next day. 
According to this report, Mr. Foote, the senator from 
Mississippi, extolled the French revolution as holding out "to 
the whole fam- 

27

ily of man a bright promise of the universal establishment of 
civil and religious liberty." He declared, in the same speech, 
"that the age of tyrants and of slavery was rapidly drawing to a 
close, and that the happy period to be signalized by the 
universal emancipation of man from the fetters of civic 
oppression, and the recognition in all countries of the great 
principles of popular sovereignty, equality and brotherhood, was 
at this moment visibly commencing." Mr. Stanton, of Tennessee, 
and others, spoke in a strain equally fervid and philanthropic. I 
am obliged to refer to the Union newspaper for an account of 
these speeches, as I did not hear them myself. I came to 
Washington, not to preach, nor to hear preached, emancipation, 
equality and brotherhood, but to put them into practice. Sayres 
and English went up to see the procession and hear the speeches. 
I had other things to attend to.

   The news of my arrival soon spread among those who had been 
expecting it, though I neither saw nor had any direct 
communication with any of those who were to be my passengers. I 
had some difficulty in disposing of my wood, which was not a very 
firstrate article, but finally sold it, taking in payment the 
purchaser's note on sixty days, which I changed off for half cash 
and half provisions. As the trader to whom I passed the note had 
no hard bread, Sayres and myself went in the steamer to 
Alexandria to purchase a barrel,--a circumstance of which it was 
afterwards attempted to take advantage against us.

   It was arranged that the passengers should come 

28

on board after dark on Saturday evening, and that we should sail 
about midnight. I had understood that the expedition had 
principally originated in the desire to help off a certain 
family, consisting of a woman, nine children and two grand-
children, who were believed to be legally entitled to their 
liberty. Their case had been in litigation for some time; but, 
although they had a very good case,--the lawyer whom they 
employed (Mr. Bradley, one of the most distinguished members of 
the bar of the district) testified, in the course of one of my 
trials, that he believed them to be legally free,--yet, as their 
money was nearly exhausted, and as there seemed to be no end to 
the law's delay and the pertinacity of the woman who claimed 
them, it was deemed best by their friends that they should get 
away if they could, lest she might seize them unawares, and sell 
them to some trader. In speaking of this case, the person with 
whom I communicated at Washington informed me that there were 
also quite a number of others who wished to avail themselves of 
this opportunity of escaping, and that the number of passengers 
was likely to be larger than had at first been calculated upon. 
To which I replied, that I did not stand about the number; that 
all who were on board before eleven o'clock I should
take, - the others would have to remain behind.

   Saturday evening, at supper, I let English a little into the 
secret of what I intended. I told him that the sort of ship-
timber we were going to take would prove very easy to load and 
unload; that a number 

29

of colored people wished to take passage with us down the bay, 
and that, as Sayres and myself would be away the greater part of 
the evening, all he had to do was, as fast as they came on board, 
to lift up the hatch and let them pass into the hold, shutting 
the hatch down upon them. The vessel, which we had moved down the 
river since unloading the wood, lay at a rather lonely place, 
called White-house Wharf, from a whitish-colored building which 
stood upon it. The high bank of the river, under which a road 
passed, afforded a cover to the wharf, and there were only a few 
scattered buildings in the vicinity. Towards the town there 
stretched a wide extent of open fields. Anxious, as might 
naturally be expected, as to the result, I kept in the vicinity 
to watch the progress of events. --There was another small vessel 
that lay across the head of the same wharf, but her crew were all 
black; and, going on board her just at dusk, I informed the 
skipper of my business, intimating to him, at the same time, that 
it would be a dangerous thing for him to betray me. He assured me 
that I need have no fears of him --that the other men would soon 
leave the vessel, not to return again till Monday, and that, for 
himself, he should go below and to sleep, so as neither to hear 
nor to see anything.

   Shortly after dark the expected passengers began to arrive, 
coming stealthily across the fields, and gliding silently on 
board the vessel. I observed a man near a neighboring brick-kiln, 
who seemed to be watching them. I went towards him, and found 

30

him to be black. He told me that he understood what was going on, 
but that I need have no apprehension of him. Two white men, who 
walked along the road past the vessel, and who presently returned 
back the same way, occasioned me some alarm; but they seemed to 
have no suspicions of what was on foot as I saw no more of them. 
I went on board the vessel several times in the course of the 
evening, and learned from English that the hold was fast filling 
up. I had promised him, in consideration of the unusual nature of 
the business we were engaged in, ten dollars as a gratuity, in 
addition to his wages.

    Something past ten o'clock, I went on board, and directed 
English to cast off the fastenings and to get ready to make sail. 
Pretty soon Sayres came on board. It was a dead calm, and we were 
obliged to get the boat out to get the vessel's head round. After 
dropping down a half a mile or so, we encountered the tide making 
up the river; and, as there was still no wind, we were obliged to 
anchor. Here we lay in a dead calm till about daylight. The wind 
then began to breeze up lightly from the northward, when we got 
up the anchor and made sail. As the sun rose, we passed 
Alexandria. I then went into the hold for the first time, and 
there found my passengers pretty thickly stowed. I distributed 
bread among them, and knocked down the bulkhead between the hold 
and the cabin, in order that they might get into the cabin to 
cook. They consisted of men and women, in pretty equal 
proportions, with a number of boys and girls, and two small 
children. 

31

The wind kept increasing and hauling to the westward. Off Fort 
Washington we had to make two stretches, but the rest of the way 
we run before the wind.

   Shortly after dinner, we passed the steamer from Baltimore for 
Washington, bound up. I thought the passengers on board took 
particular notice of us; but the number of vessels met with in a 
passage up the Potomac at that season is so few, as to make one, 
at least for the idle passengers of a steamboat, an object of 
some curiosity. Just before sunset, we passed a schooner loaded 
with plaster, bound up. As we approached the mouth of the 
Potomac, the wind hauled to the north, and blew with such 
stiffness as would make it impossible for us to go up the bay, 
according to our original plan. Under these circumstances, 
apprehending a pursuit from Washington, I urged Sayres to go to 
sea, with the intention of reaching the Delaware by the outside 
passage. But he objected that the vessel was not fit to go 
outside (which was true enough), and that the bargain was to go 
to Frenchtown. Having reached Point Lookout, at the mouth of the 
river, and not being able to persuade Sayres to go to sea, and 
the wind being dead in our teeth, and too strong to allow any 
attempt to ascend the bay, we came to anchor in Cornfield harbor, 
just under Point Lookout, a shelter usually sought by bay craft 
encountering contrary winds when in that neighborhood.

   We were all sleepy with being up all the night be fore, and, 
soon after dropping anchor, we all turned 

32

in. I knew nothing more till, waking suddenly, I heard the noise 
of a steamer blowing off steam along side of us. I knew at once 
that we were taken. The black men came to the cabin, and asked if 
they should fight. I told them no; we had no arms, nor was there 
the least possibility of a successful resistance. The loud shouts 
and trampling of many feet overhead proved that our assailants 
were numerous. One of them lifted the hatch a little, and cried 
out, "Niggers, by G--d!" an exclamation to which the others 
responded with three cheers, and by banging the buts of their 
muskets against the deck. A lantern was called for, to read the 
name of the vessel; and it being ascertained to be the Pearl, a 
number of men came to the cabin-door, and called for Captain 
Drayton. I was in no great hurry to stir; but at length rose from 
my berth, saying that I considered myself-their prisoner, and 
that I expected to be treated as such. While I was dressing, 
rather too slowly for the impatience of those outside, a 
sentinel, who had been stationed at the cabin-door, followed 
every motion of mine with his gun, which he kept pointed at me, 
in great apprehension, apparently, lest I should suddenly seize 
some dangerous weapon and make at him. As I came out of the 
cabin-door, two of them seized me, took me on board the steamer 
and tied me; and they did the same with Sayres and English, who 
were brought on board, one after the other. The black people were 
left on board the Pearl, which the steamer took in tow, and then 
proceeded up the river. 

33

   To explain this sudden change in our situation, it is 
necessary to go back  to Washington. Great was the consternation 
in several families of that city, on Sunday morning, to find no 
breakfast, and, what was worse, their servants missing. Nor was 
this disaster confined to Washington only. Georgetown came in for 
a considerable share of it, and even Alexandria, on the opposite 
side of the river, had not entirely escaped. The persons who had 
taken passage on board the Pearl had been held in bondage by no 
less than forty-one different persons. Great was the wonder at 
the sudden and simultaneous disappearance of so many "prime 
hands," roughly estimated, though probably with considerable 
exaggeration, as worth in the market not less than a hundred 
thousand dollars,--and all at "one fell swoop" too, as the 
District Attorney afterwards, in arguing the case against me, 
pathetically expressed it! There were a great many guesses and 
conjectures as to where these people had gone, and how they had 
gone; but it is very doubtful whether the losers would have got 
upon the right track, had it not been for the treachery of a 
colored hack-man, who had been employed to carry down to the 
vessel two passengers who had been in hiding for some weeks 
previous, and who could not safely walk down, lest they might be 
met and recognized. Emulating the example of that large, and, in 
their own opinion at least, highly moral, religious and 
respectable class of white people, known as "dough-faces," this 
hack-man thought it a fine opportunity to feather his nest 

34

by playing cat's-paw to the slave-holders. Seeing how much the 
information was in demand, and anticipating, no doubt, a large 
reward, he turned informer, and described the Pearl as the 
conveyance which the fugitives had taken; and, it being 
ascertained that the Pearl had actually sailed between Saturday 
night and Sunday morning, preparations were soon made to pursue 
her. A Mr. Dodge, of Georgetown, a wealthy old gentleman, 
originally from New England, missed three or four slaves from his 
family, and a small steamboat, of which he was the proprietor, 
was readily obtained. Thirty-five men, including a son or two of 
old Dodge, and several of those whose slaves were missing, 
volunteered to man her; and they set out about Sunday noon, armed 
to the teeth with guns, pistols, bowie-knives, &c., and well 
provided with brandy and other liquors. They heard of us on the 
passage down, from the Baltimore steamer and the vessel loaded 
with plaster. They reached the mouth of the river, and, not 
having found the Pearl, were about to return, as the steamer 
could not proceed into the bay without forfeiting her insurance. 
As a last chance, they looked into Cornfield harbor, where they 
found us, as I have related. This was about two o'clock in the 
morning. The Pearl had come to anchor about nine o'clock the 
previous evening. It is a hundred and forty miles from Washington 
to Cornfield harbor.

   The steamer, with the Pearl in tow, crossed over from Point 
Lookout to Piney Point, on the south shore of the Potomac, and 
here the Pearl was left at 

35

anchor, a part of the steamer's company remaining to guard her, 
while the steamer, having myself and the other white prisoners on 
board, proceeded up Coan river for a supply of wood, having 
obtained which, she again, about noon of Monday, took the Pearl 
in tow and started for Washington.

   The bearing, manner and aspect of the thirty-five armed 
persons by whom we had been thus seized and bound, without the 
slightest shadow of lawful authority, was sufficient to inspire a 
good deal of alarm. We had been lying quietly at anchor in a 
harbor of Maryland; and, although the owners of the slaves might 
have had a legal right to pursue and take them back, what warrant 
or authority had they for seizing us and our vessel? They could 
have brought none from the District of Columbia, whose officers 
had no jurisdiction or authority in Cornfield harbor; nor did 
they pretend to have any from the State of Maryland. Some of them 
showed a good deal of excitement, and evinced a disposition to 
proceed to lynch us at once. A man named Houver, who claimed as 
his property two of the boys passengers on board the Pearl, put 
me some questions in a very insolent tone; to which I replied, 
that I considered myself a prisoner, and did not wish to answer 
any questions; whereupon one of the bystanders, flourishing a 
dirk in my face, exclaimed, "If I was in his place, I'd put this 
through you!" At Piney Point, one of the company proposed to hang 
me up to the yard-arm, and make me confess; but the more 
influential of those on board 

36

were not ready for any such violence, though all were exceedingly 
anxious to get out of me the history of the expedition, and who 
my employers were. That I had employers, and persons of note too, 
was taken for granted on all hands; nor did I think it worth my 
while to contradict it, though I declined steadily to give any 
information on that point. Sayres and English very readily told 
all that they knew. English, especially, was in a great state of 
alarm, and cried most bitterly. I pitied him much, besides 
feeling some compunctions at getting him thus into difficulty; 
and, upon the representations--which I made, that he came to 
Washington in perfect ignorance of the object of the expedition, 
he was finally untied. As Sayres was obliged to admit that he 
came to Washington to take away colored passengers, he was not 
regarded with so much favor. But it was evidently me whom they 
looked upon as the chief culprit, alone possessing a knowledge of 
the history and origin of the expedition, which they were so 
anxious to unravel. They accordingly went to work very artfully 
to worm this secret out of me. I was placed in charge of one 
Orme, a police-officer of Georgetown, whose manner towards me was 
such as to inspire me with a certain confidence in him; who, as 
it afterwards appeared from his testimony on the trial, carefully 
took minutes --but, as it proved, very confused and incorrect 
ones --of all that I said, hoping thus to secure something that 
might turn out to my disadvantage. Another person, with whom I 
had a good deal of conversation, and 

37

who was afterwards produced as a witness against me, was William 
H. Craig, in my opinion a much more conscientious person than 
Orme, who seemed to think that it was part of his duty, as a 
police-officer, to testify to something, at all hazards. to help 
on a conviction. But this is a subject to which I shall have 
occasion to return presently.

   In one particular, at least, the testimony of both these 
witnesses was correct enough. They both testified to my 
expressing pretty serious apprehensions of what the result to 
myself was likely to be. What the particular provisions were, in 
the District of Columbia, as to helping slaves to escape, I did 
not know; but I had heard that, in some of the slave-states, they 
were very severe; in fact, I was assured by Craig that I had 
committed the highest crime, next to murder, known in their laws. 
Under these circumstances, I made up my mind that the least 
penalty I should be apt to escape with was confinement in the 
penitentiary for life; and it is quite probable that I endeavored 
to console myself, as these witnesses testified, with the idea 
that, after all, it might, in a religious point of view, be all 
for the best, as I should thus be removed from temptation, and 
have ample time for reflection and repentance. But my 
apprehensions were by no means limited to what I might suffer 
under the forms of law. From the temper exhibited by some of my 
captors, and from the vindictive fury with which the idea of 
enabling the enslaved to regain their liberty was, I knew, 
generally regarded at the south, I appre- 

38

hended more sudden and summary proceedings; and what happened 
afterwards at Washington proved that these apprehensions were not 
wholly unfounded. The idea of being torn in pieces by a furious 
mob was exceedingly disagreeable. Many men, who might not fear 
death, might yet not choose to meet it in that shape. I called to 
mind the apology of the Methodist minister, who, just after a 
declaration of his that he was not afraid to die, ran away from a 
furious bull that attacked him,--" that, though not fearing 
death, he did not like to be torn in pieces by a mad bull. "I 
related this anecdote to Craig, and, as he testified on the 
trial, expressed my preference to be taken on the deck of the 
steamer and shot at once, rather than to be given up to a 
Washington mob to be baited and murdered. I talked pretty freely 
with Orme and Craig about myself, the circumstances under which I 
had undertaken this enterprise, my motives to it, my family, my 
past misfortunes, and the fate that probably awaited me; but they 
failed to extract from me, what they seemed chiefly to desire, 
any information which would implicate others. Orme told me, as he 
afterwards testified, that what the people in the District wanted 
was the principals; and that, if I would give information that 
would lead to them, the owners of the slaves would let me go, or 
sign a petition for my pardon. Craig also made various inquiries 
tending to the same point. Though I was firmly resolved not to 
yield in this particular, yet I was desirous to do all I could to 
soften the feeling against me; and it was 

39

doubtless this desire which led me to make the statements sworn 
to by Orme and Craig, that I had no connection with the persons 
called abolitionists, which was true enough; that I had formerly 
refused large offers made me by slaves to carry them away; and 
that, in the present instance, I was employed by others, and was 
to be paid for my services.

   On arriving off Fort Washington, the steamer anchored for the 
night, as the captors preferred to make their triumphant entry 
into the city by daylight. Sayres and myself were watched during 
the night by a regular guard of two men, armed with muskets, who 
were relieved from time to time. Before getting under weigh 
again,--which they did about seven o'clock in the morning of 
Tuesday, Feb. 18,--Sayres and myself were tied together arm-and-
arm, and the black people also, two-and-two, with the other arm 
bound behind their backs. As we passed Alexandria, we were all 
ordered on deck, and exhibited to the mob collected on the 
wharves to get a sight of us, who signified their satisfaction by 
three cheers. When we landed at the steamboat-wharf in 
Washington, which is a mile and more from Pennsylvania Avenue, 
and in a remote part of the city, but few people had yet 
assembled. We were marched up in a long procession, Sayres and 
myself being placed at the head of it, guarded by a man on each 
side; English following next, and then the negroes. As we went 
along, the mob began to increase; and, as we passed Gannon's 
slave-pen, that slave-trader, armed with a knife, rushed out, 
and, 

40

with horrid imprecations, made a pass at me, which was very near 
finding its way through my body. Instead of being arrested, as he 
ought to have been, this slave-dealer was politely informed that 
I was in the hands of the law, to which he replied, " D--n the 
law!- I have three negroes, and I will give them all for one 
thrust at this d--d scoundrel!" and he followed along, waiting 
his opportunity to repeat the blow. The crowd, by this time, was 
greatly increased. We met an immense mob of several thousand 
persons coming down Four-and-a-half street, with the avowed 
intention of carrying us up before the capitol, and making an 
exhibition of us there. The noise and confusion was very great. 
It seemed as if the time for the lynching had come. When almost 
up to Pennsylvania Avenue, a rush was made upon us,--"Lynch them! 
lynch them! the d--n villains!" and other such cries, resounded 
on all sides. Those who had us in charge were greatly alarmed; 
and, seeing no other way to keep us from the hands of the mob, 
they procured a hack, and put Sayres and myself into it. The hack 
drove to the jail, the mob continuing to follow, repeating their 
shouts and threats. Several thousand people surrounded the jail, 
filling up the enclosure about it.

   Our captors had become satisfied, from the statements made by 
Sayres and myself, and from his own statements and conduct, that 
the participation of English in the affair was not of a sort that 
required any punishment; and when the mob made the rush upon us, 
the persons having him in charge had 

41

let him go, with the intention that he should escape. After a 
while he had found his way back to the steamboat wharf; but the 
steamer was gone. Alone in a strange place, and not knowing what 
to do, he told his story to somebody whom he met, who put him in 
a hack and sent him up to the jail. It was a pity he lacked the 
enterprise to take care of himself when set at liberty, as it 
cost him four months' imprisonment and his friends some money. I 
ought to have mentioned before that, on arriving within the 
waters of the District, Sayres and myself had been examined 
before a justice of the peace, who was one of the captors; and 
who had acted as their leader. He had made out a commitment 
against us, but none against English; so that the persons who had 
him in charge were right enough in letting him go.

   Sayres and myself were at first put into the same cell, but, 
towards night, we were separated. A person named Goddard, 
connected with the police, came to examine us. He went to Sayres 
first. He then came to me, when I told him that, as I supposed he 
had got the whole story out of Sayres, and as it was not best 
that two stories should be told, I would say nothing. Goddard 
then took from me my money. One of the keepers threw me in two 
thin blankets, and I was left to sleep as I could. The 
accommodations were not of the most luxurious kind. The cell had 
a stone floor, which, with the help of a blanket, was to serve 
also for a bed. There was neither chair, table, stool, nor any 
individual piece of furniture of any kind, except a night-bucket 
and a 

42

water-can. I was refused my overcoat and valise, and had nothing 
but my water-can to make a pillow of. With such a pillow, and the 
bare stone floor for my bed, looked upon by all whom I saw with 
apparent abhorrence and terror,--as much so, to all appearance, 
as if I had been a murderer, or taken in some other desperate 
crime,--remembering the execrations which the mob had belched 
forth against me, and uncertain whether a person would be found 
to express the least sympathy for me (which might not, in the 
existing state of the public feeling, be safe), it may be 
imagined that my slumbers were not very sound.

   Meanwhile the rage of the mob had taken, for the moment, 
another direction. I had heard it said, while we were coming up 
in the steamboat, that the abolition press must be stopped; and 
the mob accordingly, as the night came on, gathered about the 
office of the National Era, with threats to destroy it. Some 
little mischief was done; but the property-holders in the city, 
well aware how dependent Washington is upon the liberality of 
Congress, were unwilling that anything should occur to place the 
District in bad odor at the north. Some of them, also, it is but 
justice to believe, could not entirely give in to the slave-
holding doctrine and practice of suppressing free discussion by 
force; and, by their efforts, seconded by a drenching storm of 
rain, that came on between nine and ten o'clock, the mob were 
persuaded to disperse for the present. The jail was guarded that 
night by a strong body of police, serious apprehensions being 
entertained, lest the mob, insti- 

43

gated by the violence of many southern members of Congress, 
should break in and lynch us. Great apprehension, also, seemed to 
be felt at the jail, lest we might be rescued; and we were 
subject, during the night, to frequent examinations, to see that 
all was safe. Great was the terror, as well as the rage, which 
the abolitionists appeared to inspire. They seemed to be thought 
capable, if not very narrowly watched, of taking us off through 
the roof, or the stone floor, or out of the iron-barred doors; 
and, from the half-frightened looks which the keepers gave me 
from time to time, I could plainly enough read their thoughts,--
that a fellow who had ventured on such an enterprise as that of 
the Pearl was desperate and daring enough to attempt anything. 
For a poor prisoner like me, so much in the power of his captors, 
and without the slightest means, hopes, or even thoughts of 
escape, it was some little satisfaction to observe the awe and 
terror which he inspired.

   Of the prison fare I shall have more to say, by and by. It is 
sufficient to state here that it was about on a par with the 
sleeping accommodations, and hardly of a sort to give a man in my 
situation the necessary physical vigor. However, I thought little 
of this at that moment, as I was too sick and excited to feel 
much disposition to eat.

   The Washington prison is a large three-story stone building, 
the front part of the lower story of which is occupied by the 
guard-room, or jail-office, and by the kitchen and sleeping 
apartments for the keepers. The back part, shut off from the 
front by 

44

strong grated doors, has a winding stone staircase, ascending in 
the middle, on each side of which, on each of the three stories, 
are passage-ways, also shut off from the staircase, by grated 
iron doors. The back wall of the jail forms one side of these 
passages, which are lighted by grated windows. On the other side 
are the cells, also with grated iron doors, and receiving their 
light and air entirely from the pas sages. The passages 
themselves have no ventilation except through the doors and 
windows, which answer that purpose very imperfectly. The front 
second story, over the guard-room, contains the cells for the 
female prisoners. The front third story is the debtors' 
apartment.

   The usage of the jail always has been --except in cases of 
insubordination or attempted escape, when locking up in the cells 
by day, as well as by night, has been resorted to as a punishment 
--to allow the prisoners, during the daytime, the use of the 
passages, for the benefit of light, air and exercise. Indeed, it 
is hard to conceive a more cruel punishment than to keep a man 
locked up all the time in one of these half-lighted, unventilated 
cells. On the morning of the second day of our confinement, we 
too were let out into the passage. But we were soon put back 
again, and not only into separate cells, but into separate 
passages, so as to be entirely cut off from any communication 
with each other. It was a long time before we were able to regain 
the privilege of the passage. But, for the present, I shall pass 
over the internal economy and administration of the 

45

prison, and my treatment in it, intending, further on, to give a 
general sketch of that subject.

   About nine or ten o'clock, Mr. Giddings, the member of 
Congress from Ohio, came to see us. There was some disposition, I 
understood, not to allow him to enter the jail; but Mr. Giddings 
is a man not easily repulsed, and there is nobody of whom the 
good people at Washington, especially the officeholders, who make 
up so large a part of the population, stand so much in awe as a 
member of Congress; especially a member of Mr. Giddings' well 
known fearless determination. He was allowed to come in, bringing 
another person with him, but was followed into the jail by a 
crowd of ruffians, who compelled the turnkey to admit them into 
the passage, and who vented their rage in execration and threats. 
Mr. Giddings said that he had understood we were here in jail 
without counsel or friends, and that he had come to let us know 
that we should not want for either; and he introduced the person 
he had brought with him as one who was willing to act temporarily 
as our counsel. Not long after, Mr. David A. Hall, a lawyer of 
the District, came to offer his services to us in the same way. 
Key, the United States Attorney for the District, and who, as 
such, had charge of the proceedings against us, was there at the 
same time. He advised Mr. Hall to leave the jail and go home 
immediately, as the people outside were furious, and he ran the 
risk of his life. To which Mr. Hall replied that things had come 
to a pretty pass, if a man's counsel was not to have the 

46

privilege of talking with him. "Poor devils!" said the District 
Attorney, as he went out, "I pity them, they are to be made 
scapegoats for others!" Yet the rancor, and virulence, and fierce 
pertinacity with which this Key afterwards pursued me, did not 
look much like pity. No doubt he was a good deal irritated at his 
ill success in getting any information out of me.

   The seventy-six passengers found on board the Pearl had been 
committed to the jail as runaways; and Mr. Giddings, on going up 
to the House, by way of warning, I suppose, to the slave-holders, 
that they were not to be allowed to have everything their own 
way, moved an inquiry into the circumstances under which seventy-
six persons were held prisoners in the District jail, merely for 
attempting to vindicate their inalienable rights. Mr. Hale also, 
in the Senate, in consequence of the threats held out to destroy 
the Era office, and to put a stop to the publication of that 
paper, moved a resolution of inquiry into the necessity of 
additional laws for the protection of property in the District. 
The fury which these movements excited in the minds of the slave-
holders found expression in the editorial columns of the 
Washington Union, in an article which I have inserted below, as 
forming a curious contrast to the exultations of that print, only 
a week before, and to which I have had occasion already to refer, 
over the spread of the principles of liberty and universal 
emancipation. The violent attack upon Mr. Giddings, because he 
had visited us three poor prisoners 

47

in jail, and offered us the assistance of counsel,--as if the 
vilest criminals were not entitled to have counsel to defend 
them,--is well worthy of notice. The following is the article 
referred to.

                      THE ABOLITION INCENDIARIES.

      Those two abolition incendiaries (Giddings and Hale) threw
      firebrands yesterday into the two houses of Congress. The
      western abolitionist moved a resolution of inquiry into the
      transactions now passing in Washington, which brought on a
      fierce and fiery debate on the part of the southern
      members, in the course of which Mr. Giddings was compelled
      to confess, on the cross-questioning of Messrs. Venable and
      Haskell, that he had visited the three piratical kidnappers
      now confined in jail, and offered them counsel. The reply
      of Mr. Toombs, of Georgia, was scorching to an intense
      degree.

         The abolitionist John P. Hale threw a firebrand
      resolution into the Senate, calling for additional laws to
      compel this city to prevent riots. This also gave rise to a
      long and excited debate.

         No question was taken, in either house, before they
      adjourned. But, in the progress of the discussion in both
      houses, some doctrines were uttered which are calculated to
      startle the friends of the Union. Giddings justified the
      kidnappers, and contended that, though the act was legally
      forbidden, it was not morally wrong! Mr. Toombs brought
      home the practical consequences of this doctrine to the
      member from Ohio in a most impressive manner.

         Hale, of the Senate, whilst he was willing to protect
      the abolitionist, expressed himself willing to relax the
      laws and weaken the protection which is given to the slave
      property 

48

      in this district! Mr. Davis, of Massachusetts, held the
      strange doctrine, that while he would not disturb the
      rights of the slave-holders, he would not cease to discuss
      those rights! As if Congress ought to discuss, or to
      protect a right to discuss, a domestic institution of the
      Southern States, with which they had no right to interfere!
      Why discuss, when they cannot act? Why first lay down an
      abstract principle, which they intend to violate in
      practice?

         Such fanatics as Giddings and Hale are doing more
      mischief than they will be able to atone for. Their
      incessant and impertinent intermeddling with the most
      delicate question in our social relations is creating the
      most indignant feelings in the community. The fiery
      discussions they are exciting are calculated to provoke the
      very riots which they deprecate. Let these madmen forbear,
      if they value the tranquillity of our country, and the
      stability of our Union. We conjure them to forbear their
      maddened, parricidal hand.

   An article like this in the Union was well calculated, and 
probably was intended, to encourage and stimulate the rioters, 
and accordingly they assembled that same evening in greater force 
than before, threatening the destruction of the Era office. The 
publication office of the Era was not far from the Patent Office; 
and the dwelling-house of Dr. Bailey, the editor, was at no great 
distance. The mob, taking upon themselves the character of a 
meeting of citizens, appointed a committee to wait upon Dr. 
Bailey, to require him to remove his press out of the District of 
Columbia. Of course, as I was locked up in the jail, trying to 
rest my aching head and 

49

weary limbs, with a stone floor for a bed and a water-can for my 
pillow, I can have no personal knowledge of what transpired on 
this occasion. But a correspondent of the New York Tribune, who 
probably was an eye-witness, gives the following account of the 
interview between the committee and Dr. Bailey:

   Clearing his throat, the leader of the committee stretched 
forth his hand, and thus addressed Dr. Bailey:

   Mr. Radcliff. --Sir, we have been appointed as a committee to 
wait upon you, by the meeting of the citizens of Washington which 
has assembled this evening to take into consideration the 
circumstances connected with the late outrage upon our property, 
and to convey to you the result of the deliberations of that 
meeting. You are aware of the excitement which now prevails. It 
has assumed a most threatening aspect. This community is 
satisfied that the existence of your press among us is 
endangering the public peace, and they are convinced that the 
public interests demand its removal. We have therefore waited 
upon you for the purpose of inquiring whether you are prepared to 
remove your press by ten o'clock to-morrow morning; and we 
beseech you, as you value the peace of this District, to accede 
to our request. [Loud shouting heard at the Patent Office.]

   Dr. Bailey. --Gentlemen: I do not believe you are actuated by 
any unkind feelings towards me personally; but you must be aware 
that you are demanding of me the surrender of a great 
constitutional right, --a right which I have used, but not 
abused,--in the preservation of which you are as deeply 
interested as I am. How can you ask 

50

me to abandon it, and thus become a party to my own degradation?

   Mr. Radcliff. --We subscribe to all that you say. But you see 
the popular excitement. The consequences of your refusal are 
inevitable. Now, if you can avert these consequences by 
submitting to what the people request, although unreasonable, is 
it not your duty, as a good citizen, to submit? It is on account 
of the community we come here, obeying the popular feeling which 
you hear expressed in the distance, and which cannot be calmed, 
and, but for the course we have adopted, would at this moment be 
manifested in the destruction of your office. But they have 
consented to wait till they hear our report. We trust, then, that 
as a good citizen, you will respond favorably to the wish of the 
people.

   Another of the Committee.--As one of the oldest citizens, I do 
assure you that it is in all kindness we make this request. We 
come here to tell you that we cannot arrest violence in any other 
way than by your allowing us to say that you yield to the request 
of the people. In kindness we tell you that if this thing 
commences here we know not where it may end. I am for mild 
measures myself. The prisoners were in my hands, but I would not 
allow my men to inflict any punishment on them.

   Dr. Bailey. --Gentlemen, I appreciate your kindness; but I 
ask, is there a man among you who, standing as I now stand, the 
representative of a free press, would accede to this demand, and 
abandon his rights as an American citizen?

   One of the Committee.--We know it is a great sacrifice that we 
ask of you; but we ask it to appease popular excitement.

   Dr. Bailey. --Let me say to you that I am a peace-man. I have 
taken no measures to defend my office, my house or 

51

myself. I appeal to the good sense and intelligence of the 
community, and stand upon my rights as an American citizen, 
looking to the law alone for protection.

   Mr. Radcliff. --We have now discharged our duty. It has come 
to this,--the people say it must be done, unless you agree to go 
to-morrow. We now ask a categorical answer, --Will you remove 
your press?

   Dr. Bailey. --I answer: I make no resistance, and I cannot 
assent to your demand. The press is there --it is undefended --
you can do as you think proper.

   One of the Committee. --All rests with you. We tell you what 
will follow your refusal, and, if you persist, all the 
responsibility must fall upon your shoulders. It is in your power 
to arrest the arm that is raised to give the blow. If you refuse 
to do so by a single expression, though it might cost you much, 
on you be all the consequences.

   Dr. Bailey. --You demand the sacrifice of a great right. You--

   One of the Committee (interrupting him). --I know it is a 
hardship; but look at the consequences of your refusal. We do not 
come here to express our individual opinions. I would myself 
leave the District to-morrow, if in your place. We now ask of 
you, Shall this be done? We beg you will consider this matter in 
the light in which we view it.

   Dr. Bailey. --I am one man against many. But I cannot 
sacrifice any right that I possess. Those who have sent you here 
may do as they think proper.

   One of the Committee. --The whole community is against you. 
They say here is an evil that threatens them, and they ask you to 
remove that evil. You say "No!" and of course on your head be all 
the consequences.

  Dr. Bailey. --Let me remind you that we have been recently 
engaged in public rejoicings. For what have we 

52

rejoiced? Because the people in another land have arisen, and 
triumphed over the despot, who had done--what? He did not 
demolish presses, but he imprisoned editors. In other words, he 
enslaved the press. Will you then present to America and the 
world--

   One of the Committee (interrupting him). --If we could stop 
this movement of the people, we would do it. But you make us 
unable to do so. We cannot tell how far it will go. After your 
press is pulled down, we do not know where they will go next. It 
is your duty, in such a case, to sacrifice your constitutional 
rights.

    Dr. Bailey. --I presume, when they shall have accomplished 
their object--

   Mr. Radcliff (interrupting). --We advise you to be out of the 
way! The people think that your press endangers their property 
and their lives; and they have appointed us to tell you so, and 
ask you to remove it to-morrow. If you say that you will do so, 
they will retire satisfied. If you refuse, they say they will 
tear it down. Here is Mr. Boyle, a gentleman of property, and one 
of our oldest residents. You see that we are united. If you hold 
out and occupy your position, the men, women and children of the 
District will universally rise up against you.

   Dr. Bailey (addressing himself to his father, a venerable man 
of more than eighty years of age, who approached the doorway and 
commenced remonstrating with the committee). --You do not 
understand the matter, father; these gentlemen are a committee 
appointed by a meeting assembled in front of the Patent Office. 
You need not address remonstrances to them. Gentlemen, you 
appreciate my position. I cannot surrender my rights. Were I to 
die for it, I cannot surrender my rights! Tell those who sent you 
hither that my press and my house are undefended --they must do 
as 

53

they see proper. I maintain my rights, and make no resistance!

   The committee then retired, and Dr. Bailey reentered his 
dwelling. Meanwhile, the shouts of the mob, as they received the 
reports of the committee, were reechoed along the streets. A 
fierce yell greeted the reappearance of Radcliff in front of the 
Patent Office. He announced the result of the interview with the 
editor of the Era. Shouts, imprecations, blasphemy, burst from 
the crowd. "Down with the Era!"  "Now for it!"  "Gut the office!" 
were the exclamations heard on all sides, and the mob rushed 
tumultuously to Seventh-street.

   But a body of the city police had been stationed to guard the 
building, and the mob finally contented themselves with passing a 
resolution to pull it down the next day at ten o'clock, if the 
press was not meanwhile removed.

   That same afternoon, we three prisoners had been taken before 
three justices, who held a court within the jail for our 
examination. Mr. Hall appeared as our counsel. The examination 
was continued till the next day, when we were, all three of us, 
recommitted to jail, on a charge of stealing slaves, our bail 
being fixed at a thousand dollars for each slave, or seventy-six 
thousand dollars for each of us.

   Meanwhile, both houses of Congress became the scenes of very 
warm debates, growing out of circumstances connected with our 
case. In the Senate, Mr. Hale, agreeably to the notice he had 
given, asked leave to introduce a bill for the protection of 
property in the District of Columbia against the 

54

violence of mobs. This bill, as was stated in the debate, was 
copied, almost word for word, from a law in force in the State of 
Maryland (and many other states have--and all ought to have--a 
similar law), making the cities and towns liable for any property 
which might be destroyed in them by mob violence. In the House 
the subject came up on a question of privilege, raised by Mr. 
Palfrey, of Massachusetts, who offered a resolution for the 
appointment of a select committee to inquire into the currently--
reported facts that a lawless mob had assembled during the two 
previous nights, setting at defiance the constituted authorities 
of the United States, and menacing members of Congress and other 
persons. In both those bodies the debate was very warm, as any 
one interested in it will find, by reading it in the columns of 
the Congressional Globe.

    It was upon this occasion, during the debate in the Senate, 
that Mr. Foote, then a senator from Mississippi, and now governor 
of that state, whose speech on the French revolution has been 
already quoted, threatened to join in lynching Mr. Hale, if he 
ever set foot in Mississippi, whither he invited him to come for 
that purpose. This part of the debate was so peculiar and so 
characteristic, showing so well the spirit with which the 
District of Columbia was then blazing against me, that I cannot 
help giving the following extract from Mr. Foote's speech, as 
contained in the official report:

         'All must see that the course of the senator from New 

55

      Hampshire is calculated to embroil the confederacy --to put
      in peril our free institutions --to jeopardize that Union
      which our forefathers established, and which every pure
      patriot throughout the country desires shall be
      perpetuated. Can any man be a patriot who pursues such a
      course? Is he an enlightened friend of freedom, or even a
      judicious friend of those with whom he affects to
      sympathize, who adopts such a course? Who does not know
      that such men are, practically, the worst enemies of the
      slaves? I do not beseech the gentleman to stop; but, if he
      perseveres, he will awaken indignation everywhere, and it
      cannot be that enlightened men, who conscientiously belong
      to the faction at the north of which he is understood to be
      the head, can sanction or approve everything that he may
      do, under the influence of excitement, in this body. I
      will close by saying that, if hie really wishes glory, and
      to be regarded as the great liberator of the blacks, --if
      he wishes to be particularly distinguished in this cause of
      emancipation, as it is called, --let him, instead of
      remaining here in the Senate of the United States, or
      instead of secreting himself in some dark comer of New
      Hampshire, where he may possibly escape the just
      indignation of good men throughout this republic, --let him
      visit the good State of Mississippi, in which I have the
      honor to reside, and no doubt he will be received with such
      shouts of joy as have rarely marked the reception of any
      individual in this day and generation. I invite him there, 
      and will tell him, beforehand, in all honesty, that he
      could not go ten miles into the interior before he would
      grace one of the tallest trees in the forest, with a rope
      around his neck, with the approbation of every virtuous and
      patriotic citizen; and that, if necessary, I should myself
      assist in the operation!"

   Mr. Hale's reply was equally characteristic:

         "The honorable Senator invites me to visit the State of
      Mississippi, and kindly informs me that he would be one of
      those who would act the assassin, and put an end to my
      career. He would aid in bringing me to public execution, 
      no, death by a mob! Well, in return for his hospitable
      invitation. I can only express the desire that he would
      penetrate into some of the dark corners of New Hampshire; 
      and, if he do, I am much mistaken if he would not find that
      the people in that benighted region would be very happy to
      listen to his arguments, and engage in an intellectual
      conflict with him, in which the truth might be elicited. I
      think, however, that the announcement which the honorable
      Senator has made on this floor of the fate which awaits so
      humble an individual as myself in the State of Mississippi
      must convince every one of the propriety of the high
      eulogium which he pronounced upon her, the other day, when
      he spoke of the high position which she occupied among the
      states of this confederacy. -But enough of this personal
      matter."*

   * The following paragraph, which has recently been going the 
rounds of the newspapers, will serve to show the sort of manners 
which prevail in the state so fitly represented by Mr. Foote, and 
how these southern ruffians experience in their own families the 
natural effect of the blood-thirsty sentiments which they so 
freely avow:

         "THE DEATH OF MR. CARNEAL.--The Vicksburg Sentinel, of
      the 13th ult., gives the following account of the shooting
      of Mr. Thomas Carneal, son-in-law of Governor Foote:

         "We have abstained thus long from giving any notice of
      the sad affair which resulted in the death of Mr. Thomas
      Carneal, the son-in-law of the governor of our state, that
      we might get the particulars. It seems that the steamer E. 
      C. Watkins, with Mr. Carneal as a passenger, landed at or
      near the plantation of Judge James, in Washington county. 
      Mr. Carneal had heard that the judge was an extremely
      brutal man to his slaves, and was likewise excited with
      liquor; and, upon the judge inviting him and others to take
      a drink with him, Carneal replied that he would not drink
      with a man who abused his negroes; this the judge resented
      as an insult, and high words ensued.

         "The company took their drink, however, all but Mr. 
      Carneal, who went out upon the bow of the boat, and took a
      seat, where he was sought by Judge James, who desired
      satisfaction for the insult. Carneal refused to make any, 
      and asked the old gentleman if any of his sons would resent
      the insult if he was to slap him in the mouth; to which the
      judge replied that he would do it himself, if his sons
      would not; whereupon Mr. Carneal struck him in the mouth
      with the back of his hand. The judge resented it by
      striking him across the head with a cane, which stunned Mr. 
      Carneal very much, causing the blood to run freely from the
      wound. As soon as Carneal recovered from the wound, he drew
      a bowie-knife, and attacked the judge with it, inflicting
      several wounds upon his person, some of which were thought
      to be mortal.

         "Some gentlemen, in endeavoring to separate the
      combatants, were wounded by Carneal. When Judge James
      arrived at his house, bleeding, and in a dying state, as
      was thought, his son seized a double-barreled gun, loaded
      it heavily with large shot, galloped to where the boat was, 
      hitched his horse, and deliberately raised his gun to shoot
      Carneal, who was sitting upon a cotton-bale. Mr. James was
      warned not to fire, as Carneal was unarmed, and he might
      kill some innocent person. He took his gun from his
      shoulder, raised it again, and fired both barrels in
      succession, killing Carneal instantly.

         "It is a sad affair, and Carneal leaves, besides
      numerous friends, a most interesting and accomplished
      widow, to bewail his tragical end." 

57

Such was the savage character of the debate, that even Mr. 
Calhoun, who was not generally discourteous, finding himself 
rather hard pressed by some of Mr. Hale's arguments, excused 
himself from an answer, on the ground that Mr. Hale was a maniac! 
The slave-holders set upon Mr. Hale with all their force; but, 
though they succeeded in voting down his bill, it was generally 
agreed, and anybody may see by the report, that he had altogether 
the best of the argument. Mr. Palfrey's resolution was also lost; 
but the boldness with which Giddings and others avowed their 
opinions, and the freedom of speech 

58

which they used on the subject of slavery, afforded abundant 
proof that the gagging system which had prevailed so long in 
Congress had come at last to an end.

   These movements, though the propositions of Messrs. Hale and 
Palfrey were voted down, were not without their effect. The 
Common Council of Washington appointed an acting mayor, in place 
of the regular mayor, who was sick. President Polk sent an 
intimation to the clerks of the departments, some of whom had 
been active in the mobs, that they had better mind their own 
business and stay at home. Something was said about marines from 
the Navy-Yard; and from that time the riotous spirit began to 
subside.

   Meanwhile, the unfortunate people who had attempted to escape 
in the Pearl had to pay the penalty of their love of freedom. A 
large number of them, as they were taken out of jail by the 
persons who claimed to be their owners, were handed over to the 
slave-traders. The following account of the departure of a 
portion of these victims for the southern market was given in a 
letter which appeared at the time in several northern newspapers:

                                     "Washington, April 22, 1848.

         "Last evening, as I was passing the railroad depot, I
      saw a large number of colored people gathered round one of
      the cars, and, from manifestations of grief among some of
      them, I was induced to draw near and ascertain the cause of
      it. I found in the car towards which they were so eagerly
      gazing about fifty colored people, some of whom were nearly 

59

      as white as myself. A majority of them were of the number
      who attempted to gain their liberty last week. About half
      of them were females, a few of whom had but a slight tinge
      of African blood in their veins, and were finely formed and
      beautiful. The men were ironed together, and the whole
      group looked sad and dejected. At each end of the car stood
      two ruffianly-looking personages, with large canes in their
      hands, and, if their countenances were an index of their
      hearts, they were the very impersonation of hardened
      villainy itself.

         "In the middle of the car stood the notorious slave-
      dealer of Baltimore, Slatter, who, I learn, is a member of
      the Methodist church, 'in good and regular standing.' He
      had purchased the men and women around him, and was taking
      his departure for Georgia. While observing this old, gray-
      headed villain, --this dealer in the bodies and souls of
      men, --the chaplain of the Senate entered the car, --a
      Methodist brother, --and took his brother Slatter by the
      hand, chatted with him for some time, and seemed to view
      the heartrending scene before him with as little concern as
      we should look upon cattle. I know not whether he came with
      a view to sanctify the act, and pronounce a parting
      blessing; but this I do know, that he justifies slavery, 
      and denounces antislavery efforts as bitterly as do the
      most hardened slave dealers.

         "A Presbyterian minister, who owned one of the
      fugitives, was the first to strike a bargain with Slatter,
      and make merchandise of God's image; and many of these poor
      victims, thus manacled and destined for the southern
      market, are regular members of the African Methodist church
      of this city. I did not hear whether they were permitted to
      get letters of dismission from the church, and of
      'recommendation to any church where God, in his providence, 

60

      might cast their lot.' Probably a certificate from Slatter
      to the effect that they are Christians will answer every
      purpose. No doubt he will demand a good price for slaves of
      this character. Perhaps brother Slicer furnished him with
      testimonials of their religious character, to help their
      sale in Georgia. I understand that he was accustomed to
      preach to them here; and especially to urge upon them
      obedience to their masters.

         "Some of the colored people outside, as well as in the
      car, were weeping most bitterly. I learned that many
      families were separated. Wives were there to take leave of
      their husbands, and husbands of their wives, children of
      their parents, brothers and sisters shaking hands perhaps
      for the last time, friends parting with friends, and the
      tenderest ties of humanity sundered at the single bid of
      the inhuman slave-broker before them. A husband, in the
      meridian of life, begged to see the partner of his bosom. 
      He protested that she was free --that she had free papers, 
      and was torn from him, and shut up in the jail. He
      clambered up to one of the windows of the car to see his
      wife, and, as she was reaching forward her hand to him, the
      black hearted villain, Slatter, ordered him down. He did
      not obey. The husband and wife, with tears streaming down
      their cheeks, besought him to let them converse for a
      moment. But no! a monster more hideous, hardened and
      savage, than the blackest spirit of the pit, knocked him
      down from the car, and ordered him away. The bystanders
      could hardly restrain themselves from laying violent hands
      upon the brutes. This is but a faint description of that
      scene, which took place within a few rods of the capitol, 
      under enactments recognized by Congress. O! what a
      revolting scene to a feeling heart, and what a retribution
      awaits the actors! Will not these wailings of anguish 

61

      reach the ears of the Most High? 'Vengeance is mine; I will
      repay, saith the Lord.'"

   Of those sent off at this time, several, through the 
generosity of charitable persons at the north, were subsequently 
redeemed, among whom were the Edmundson girls, of whom an account 
is given in the "Key to Uncle Tom's Cabin."

   From one of the women, who was not sold, but retained at 
Washington, I received a mark of kindness and remembrance for 
which I felt very grateful. She obtained admission to the jail, 
the Sunday after our committal, to see some of her late fellow-
passengers still confined there; and, as she passed the passage 
in which I was confined, she called to me and handed a Bible 
through the gratings. I am happy to be able to add that she has 
since, upon a second trial, succeeded in effecting her escape, 
and that she is now a  free woman.

   The great excitement which our attempt at emancipation had 
produced at Washington, and the rage and fury exhibited against 
us, had the effect to draw attention to our case, and to secure 
us sympathy and assistance on the part of persons wholly unknown 
to us. A public meeting was held in Faneuil Hall, in Boston, on 
the 25th of April, at which a committee was appointed, consisting 
of Samuel May, Samuel G. Howe, Samuel E. Sewell, Richard 
Hildreth, Robert Morris, Jr., Francis Jackson, Elizur Wright, 
Joseph Southwick, Walter Channing, J. W. Browne, Henry I. 
Bowditch, William F. Channing, 

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Joshua P. Blanchard and Charles List, authorized to employ 
counsel and to collect money for the purpose of securing to us a 
fair trial, of which, without some interference from abroad, the 
existing state of public feeling in the District of Columbia 
seemed to afford little prospect. A correspondence was opened by 
this committee with the Hon. Horace Mann, then a representative 
in Congress from the State of Massachusetts, with ex-Governor 
Seward, of New York, with Salmon P. Chase, Esq., of Ohio, and 
with Gen. Fessenden, of Maine, all of whom volunteered their 
gratuitous services, should they be needed. A moderate 
subscription was promptly obtained, the larger part of it, as I 
am informed, through the liberality of Gerrit Smith, now a 
representative in Congress from New York, whose large pecuniary 
contributions to all philanthropic objects, as well as his 
zealous efforts in the same direction both with the tongue and 
the pen, have made him so conspicuous. He has, indeed, a unique 
way of spending his large fortune, without precedent, at least in 
this country, and not likely to find many imitators.

   The committee, being thus put in funds, deputed Mr. Hildreth, 
one of the members of it, to proceed to Washington to make the 
necessary arrangements. He arrived there toward the end of the 
month of May, by which time the public excitement against us, or 
at least the exterior signs of it, had a good deal subsided. But 
we were still treated with much rigor, being kept locked up in 
our cells, denied the use of the passage, and not allowed to see 
anybody, 

63

except when once in a while Mr. Giddings or Mr. Hall found an 
access to us; but even then we were not allowed to hold any 
conversation, except in the presence of the jailer.

   It may well be imagined that the news of my capture and 
imprisonment, and of the danger in which I seemed to be, had 
thrown my family into great distress. I also had suffered 
exceedingly on their account. several of the children being yet 
too young to shift for themselves. But I was presently relieved, 
by the information which I received before long, that during my 
imprisonment my family would be provided for.

   Warm remonstrances had been made to the judge of the criminal 
court by Mr. Hall against the attempt to exclude us from 
communication with our friends, --a liberty freely granted to all 
other prisoners. The judge declined to interfere; but Mr. Mann, 
having agreed to act as our counsel, was thenceforth freely 
admitted to interviews with us, without the presence of any 
keeper. Books and newspapers were furnished me by friends out of 
doors. I presently obtained a mattress, and the liberty of 
providing myself with better food than the jail allows. I 
continued to suffer a good deal of annoyance from the capricious 
insolence and tyranny of the marshal,. Robert Wallace; but I 
intend to go more at length into the details of my prison 
experience after having first disposed of the legal proceedings 
against us.

   The feeling against me was no doubt greatly increased by the 
failure of the efforts repeatedly made to induce me to give up 
the names of those 

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   who had cooperated with me, and to turn states evidence 
against them. There was a certain Mr. Taylor, from Boston, I 
believe, then in Washington, the inventor of a submarine armor 
for diving purposes. I had formerly been well acquainted with 
him, and, at a time when no friend of mine was allowed access to 
me, he made me repeated visits at the jail, at the request, as he 
said, of the District Attorney, to induce me to make a full 
disclosure, in which case it was intimated I should be let off 
very easy.

- END OF PART 1 -