“When that great heart broke, ’twas a world that shook;From their slavish sleep a million awoke;”
“When that great heart broke, ’twas a world that shook;From their slavish sleep a million awoke;”
“When that great heart broke, ’twas a world that shook;
From their slavish sleep a million awoke;”
when Virginia, the cradle of slavery, became its burial-place, the Smithfield of freedom’s martyrs, and the battle-ground of a slave-founded Confederacy; while on the other side the “fanatic” stands a witness of the workings of the stupendous powers invoked.
The writings of Mr. Garrison, and the Southampton insurrection, awakened much interest in many minds, which before that time were either absorbed in selfish speculations, and indifferent to the interest of the nation, or despondent of ameliorating the condition of the black race in this country.
The young Delany, not forgetting his mother’s persecutions, his father’s humiliations in Virginia, and the wrongs of his race generally, caught the spirit of truth, and was fired with a high and holy purpose. With the scene of Nat Turner’s defeat and execution before him, he consecrated himself to freedom; and, like another Hannibal, registered his vow against the enemies of his race. To prepare for everything that promised success, to undergo every privation and suffering, if necessary to accomplish this object, was now the resolve of the young neophyte. Hebegan, in the right direction, to prepare himself for whatever position he should be called upon to fill, by a renewed earnestness in his studies.
To ethics and metaphysics he devoted his attention; and, while a student, so proficient was he in the essential principles of natural philosophy, as to compete successfully with a teacher in a college of respectability. His progress and attainments, under circumstances to which no people save his own race have ever been subjected, are evidences of the ambition and workings of a mind untamed by impediments which opposed it.
Then, no college or academy of note in the United States received within its walls a black student, no matter how deserving, save under obligations hereafter to be mentioned, not excepting Dartmouth, ostensibly established for Indians, nor the great, independent Harvard, of ancient pride. “At this time,” said Martin Delany, “or shortly after, thenowlearned J. W. C. Pennington, D. D., who received the degree of Doctor of Divinity at the University of Heidelberg, under Prince Leopold, president, was standing either behind the door of Yale College, or perhaps on its threshold, listening to instructions given in the various branches by the professors, and considering it a privilege, as it was the closest proximity allowed him towards entering itssacredprecincts as a student.”
Such was the limited opportunity for a thorough education among the colored people, and so great was the prejudice against them while Martin Delany was endeavoring to acquire his, that it is safe to infer that no colored person,recognized as colored, previous to the establishment of institutions of learning under theanti-slavery agitation, ever completed a collegiate course. True it is, that a few were educated under the auspices of colonization societies, with no design of benefiting the colored people in this country, but on the condition of their leaving it for Africa.
While pursuing his studies at Pittsburg, his name was solicited and obtained by the zealous Mr. Dawes, agent of the Oberlin Collegiate Institute, at the beginning of that now famous institute. He afterwards declined going, it being then but a preparatory school, and his studies being fully equal to those prosecuted there. He, like Byron, could not understand that knowledge was less valuable, or less true as knowledge, without having theparchmentto confirm it; while the opportunity of the great poet and that of the get-by-chance student differs; one having no formidable barriers to overcome, the other having first to struggle against oppositions, in order to create a healthy public sentiment, that others after him might gain it without the giant’s task.
In 1834 Major Delany was actively engaged in the organization of several associations for the relief of the poor of the city, and for the moral elevation of his people. Among them was the first total abstinence society ever formed among the colored people; and another known as the Philanthropic Society, which, while formed ostensibly for benevolent purposes, relative to the indigent of the city, was really the foundation of one of the great links connecting the slaves with their immediate friends in the North,—known as the “Underground Railroad,”—which, for long years, had baffled the slaveholders. Of its executive board he was for many years secretary.
The work contributed by this association constituted it the invaluable aid of the anti-slavery cause. Its efficiency may be judged from the fact that, while in its infancy, it is recorded that, within one year, not less than two hundred and sixty-nine persons were aided in escaping to Canada and elsewhere.
His sphere in life gave character to him, identifying him with a people and a time at once wonderful and perilous; wonderful that amid all the indignities and outrages heaped upon them, unrebuked by church or state, they did not degenerate into infidels andlaw-breakers, instead of being the Christian and truly law-abiding element of the republic—perilous, for the emissaries of the South instituted the fiendish spirit of mobbism, selecting either the dwellings or the business-places of the prominent colored men of the city. On one occasion, while this spirit was rife, they made an attack on the house of Mr. John B. Vashon. Major Delany, then quite a young man, but true to his principles of justice and humanity, and in view of future outrages, together with men of more mature age, called on Judge Pentland and other prominent citizens, to notify them that, though they were a law-abiding people, they did not intend to remain and be murdered in their houses without a most determined resistance to their assailants, as there was little or no assistance or protection rendered by the authorities.
This resulted in his being chosen one of the special police from among the blacks and whites appointed in conjunction with the military called out by the intrepid mayor of Pittsburg, Dr. Jonas R. McClintock. Many were the occasions on which he stood among the foremost defenders against those mobs which at that time were more frequent than desirable.
The general grievances of the colored people of the North, occasioned solely on account of caste, were a disgrace to the civilization of the age, and incompatible with the elements of our professed republicanism, which induced them to call an assemblage year after year, delegating their best talent to these, for the purpose of placing before the people the true condition of the colored people of the North, and also to devise methods of assisting the slaves of the South.
These conventions were held at an early date. As far back as 1829 we find a National Convention Meeting in Philadelphia, and where for many subsequent years they assembled; and enrolled on their list of members we find the honored names of Robert Douglass (the father of the artist), Hinton, Grice, Bowers, Burr, and Forten, together with Peck, Vashon, Shadd, and others whose names would give dignity and character to any convention.
Through a series of years these continued lifting up their voices against the existing political outrages to which they were subjected. To the last of these (about 1836) Major Delany, together with the Rev. Lewis Woodson, his former preceptor, who, being senior colleague, was chosen to represent the status of the community at large. On arriving at Philadelphia they found the Convention had been transferred to New York; and on their arrival at that point they were notified that it had been indefinitely postponed, chilling the hopes, doubtless, of our young delegate with his maiden speech trembling on his lips, the “tremendous applause” ringing in his ears, and other fancies legitimately belonging to the rôle of a young man for the first time taking his place as a representative among the elders.
About three years after, he attended the Anti-slavery Convention at Pittsburg. At this Convention were many learned divines and a president of one of the universities of Western Pennsylvania. Here he brought upon himself the censure of some of his friends for saying in the course of his argument (concerning Jewish slavery as compared with that whichexisted in America), that “Onesimus was a blood-kin brother to Philemon.” This extraordinary and then entirely new ground was so unexpected and original, that while many approached, congratulating him on his able arguments, they expressed their regrets that he ventured to use such weapons, as he rendered himself liable to severe criticism from the whites. He replied that, in the course of events soon to greet them, this would become an established fact. He was not incorrect, only “imprudent,” as the time had not arrived to proclaim such bold opinions. His fault, in most cases, is in expressing the thoughts that shape themselves in his healthy, active brain far in advance of the time allotted by a conservative element for receiving it. He plans long before the workmen are ready or willing to execute. Says that friend of humanity, Wendell Phillips, “What world-wide benefactors these ‘imprudent’ men are—the Lovejoys, the Browns, the Garrisons, the saints, the martyrs! How ‘prudently’ most men creep into nameless graves, while now and then one or two forget themselves into immortality.”
A few years before this Delany began the study of medicine, under the late Dr. Andrew N. McDowell, but for some cause did not continue to completion, as he entered practically upon dentistry. The knowledge acquired in surgery he made use of whenever immediate necessity required it. On one occasion, in 1839, he went down the Mississippi to New Orleans, thence to Texas. While at Alexandria he met with the chief of adventurers, General Felix Houston, whose attention was attracted by witnessing him dressing the wound of aman stabbed by an intoxicated comrade. General Houston offered him a good position and protection if he would join him. He declined the offer, and continued his tour, spending several months among the slaveholding Indians of Mississippi, Louisiana, Arkansas, and Texas, viewing the “peculiar institution” as it existed in all its varied phases,—its pride and gloom,—not loving freedom less, but hating slavery more, if possible.
He watched closely the scenes through which he had passed, and the experience gained among the slaves of the south-west was carefully garnered up for future usefulness. His present post of duty on the Sea Island of South Carolina, where he executes the duties of his office with zeal and ability, while his busy brain constantly devises some new measure for the advancement and elevation of the newly-recognized people, attests this fact.
He returned to Pittsburg in the midst of the presidential campaign resulting in the election of General Harrison. Finding political feeling high, as it is always on such occasions, he speedily received the infection, and threw himself forward in the political arena. Early in 1843 he became too well aware, by sad experience, of the inability of the colored people to bring their inflicted wrongs and injustices before the public, in consequence of not having a press willing at all times to espouse their cause. In many instances a paper which would publish an article derogatory to their interest on one day, if applied to on the next to publish for some colored person an answer or correction, the applicant would either be told certain expressions must be modified, the article is not respectful to the parties, or refuse entirely on the plea that “it would not be politic.”
With these impediments he knew their progress would be retarded, and to this end he began unassisted a weekly sheet under the title of the Mystery, devoted to the interest and elevation of his race. Success followed the movement; the first issue in all taken was one thousand in the city; its circulation rapidlyincreased. For more than one year he conducted it as editor. After sustaining it solely for nine months, he transferred the proprietorship to a committee of six gentlemen, he, meanwhile, continuing as editor for nearly four years.
It was well conducted, and held no mean position in the community, especially where it originated.
The learned and lamented Dr. James McCune Smith, of New York, said “it was one of the best papers ever published among the colored people of the United States.”
The editorials of his journal elicited praises even from its enemies, and were frequently transferred to their columns. His description of the great fire of 1844, in Pittsburg, which laid a great portion of that manufacturing city in ruins, was extensively quoted by papers throughout the country. The original matter, so frequently copied, was sufficient to determine the status of his paper.
During the Mexican war he bore his part in the field against the knights of the quill, for his stand against the Polk administration was so decided that on more than one occasion the subject was strongly combated.
Much good was done through the influence of that little sheet, and it is indisputable that to its influence originated the Avery Fund. Once, on the subject of female education, through the columns of his paper, he argued that “men were never raised in social position above the level of women; therefore men could not be elevated without woman’s elevation; further, that among the nations of the world where women werekept in ignorance, great philosophers or statesmen failed to be produced, as a general rule. And under the then existing state of female education among the Americans of African descent, the hope of seeing them equal with the more favored class of citizens would be without proper basis.”
After reading his editorial on the social requirements of the colored people, it is said that the Rev. Charles Avery determined to do something tangible for them. The reverend gentleman, after consulting some of the most prominent colored men, among whom was the Rev. John Peck, established a school for males and females. This was the first step towards that which is now known as Avery’s College, at the head of which was placed, as senior professor, Martin A. Freeman, M. A. (now professor of mathematics in the University of Liberia). He was succeeded by George B. Vashon, M. A., a most accomplished scholar. The Rev. Mr. Avery did not stop in the work so well begun. He died in 1858, bequeathing in his will “one hundred and fifty thousand dollars for the education and elevation of the free colored people of the United States and Canada, one hundred and fifty thousand for the enlightenment and civilization of the African race on the continent of Africa,” all in trust to the American Missionary Association of New York city; making in all a grand bequest of three hundred thousand dollars, exclusive of the college. We do not claim more than is evident—that the Mystery deserves the credit of having brought these wants before the public, and one humanitarian responded to the call most liberally.
While he was editor, on the Centennial Anniversaryof Benjamin Franklin’s birthday, he received from the committee an invitation, among the editorial corps, to attend an entertainment given by the Pittsburg Typographical Society at the Exchange Hotel. At the head of this, as president of the occasion, was an honorable ex-commissioner to Europe under President Tyler, and the position of vice-president was filled by a judge of the County Court. This mark of courtesy to him, in the days when Slavery held her carnival over the land, will serve to indicate the standing of his paper and the triumph of genius over brutal prejudice.
While editor of the Mystery, he was involved in a suit, the occasion of which will serve the double purpose of showing the estimate placed upon the merit of his paper, and the respect in which the ability and character of the man were held in Pittsburg.
It happened, in the warmth of his zeal for the freedom of the enslaved, that he, through the columns of his paper, charged a certain colored man with treachery to his race by assisting the slave-catchers, who, at that time, frequented Pennsylvania and other free states.
The accused entered a suit forlibel, through advice, probably, of some of his accomplices, who were whites, as it is evident his calling would preclude the possibility of the individual to think himself aggrieved.
The presiding judge, before whom the case was tried, having no sympathy with abolitionists, and less with that class of negroes represented by Martin Delany, took great pains to impress upon the minds of the jury, in his charge to them, the extent of the offence of libel. After their verdict of guilty was rendered, a fine of two hundred dollars, together with the cost of prosecution,which amounted to about two hundred and fifty dollars, was imposed. In view of a fine so unusually high for that which was considered a just exposure of an evil which then existed to the detriment of one class of the inhabitants, an appeal was immediately made, by the press of Pittsburg, for a public subscription, in order that it might be borne in common, instead of allowing it to rest solely upon this faithful sentinel.
A subscription list was opened at the office of the Pittsburg Daily Despatch, which led off first in the appeal.
The chivalric governor, Joseph Ritner, was in office then—him for whom freedom’s sweetest bard invoked his muse to link his name with immortality. About one week after the suit, and before the sum could be raised, the governor remitted the fine. This was occasioned through a petition originating with his able counsel, the late William E. Austin, which was signed not only by all of the lawyers of the court, but it is said by the bench of judges; thus leaving the costs only to be paid by him.
The success of this suit, however, served to embolden the slave-hunters; and again did this faithful sentinel give the alarm; but this time his language, while it unmistakably pointed to the guilty party, was carefully chosen, in order to avoid litigation. These, determined to drive him from his post, so formidable to them, still so valiantly held by him, again entered suit against him. Their former success established no precedent for the second.
In the prosecution of this case, another jurist sat in judgment, the term of the pro-slavery judge havingexpired. In his charge to the jury, the eminent judge, William B. McClure, made special reference to the position of the defendant, to his efforts in behalf of his race, and his usefulness in the community. Then, addressing himself more pointedly to the jury, he added, “I am well acquainted with Dr. Delany, and have a very high respect for him. I regard him as a gentleman and a very useful citizen. No Pittsburger, at least, will believe him capable of willingly doing injustice to any one, especially his own race. I cannot, myself, after a careful examination, see in this case anything to justify a verdict against the defendant.” This resulted in a verdict of acquittal without the jury leaving the box.
On another occasion, he was the recipient of forensic compliment, facetiously given, because also of the source whence it emanated, and because he was not present at the court to suggest the remarks of the attorney in the midst of the pleading.
A highly respected colored man was under trial, charged with a serious offence. His counsel, an influential lawyer, Cornelius Danagh, Esq., afterwards attorney general of the state, under Governor William T. Johnson, of Pennsylvania, declared the prosecution as arising from prejudice of color against his client. The prosecution was conducted by the late Colonel Samuel W. Black, who served under General McClellan, and fell in the seven days’ fight before Richmond. “They tell you,” said he, in his peculiarly forcible style, “that we have brought on this prosecution through prejudice to color. I deny it: neither does the learned counsel believe it. Look at Martin Delany,of this city, whom everybody knows, and the gentleman knows only to respect him. Would any person in this community make such a charge against him? Could such a prosecution be gotten up against him? No, it could not, and the learned counsel knows it could not, and Delany is blacker than a whole generation of the color of the defendant,boiled down to a quart.”
It is probable that no portion of this reference to him pleased him better than that which alluded to his blackness.
While conducting the paper, another production of his elicited much discussion, and to which he still holds—that of the population of the world. He claims that two thirds are colored, and the remainder white; that there are but three original races—Mongolian, Ethiopian or African, and Caucasian or European, as yellow, black, and white, naming them in the order as given in the genealogy of Shem, Ham, and Japheth, all others being but the offspring, either pure or mixed, of the other three, as the Indian or American race of geography, being pure Mongolian, and the Malay being a mixture of the three, Mongolian, African, and Caucasian, the people of the last varying in complexion and other characteristics from pure African, through Mongolian, to pure Caucasian.
On the appearance of this article, containing the above novel declaration of the preponderance of numbers of the colored races in the world, a learned officer of the university was waited upon in the city, on one occasion, and earnestly inquired of concerning the correctness of the statement, desiring, if it were incorrect, to contradict it at once. It was never contradicted.
After the return of Mr. Frederick Douglass from England, in the summer of 1846, he visited Pittsburg, where he concluded to form a copartnership in a printing establishment with him. Disposing of his interest in the Mystery, we next find him aiding, by means of his talents and energy, the sustaining of a paper issuing from Rochester, New York, known as the North Star, the early name of the subsequent Frederick Douglass paper. To advance the interest of this, he travelled, holding meetings, and lecturing, so as to obtain subscribers, and endeavored to effect a permanent establishment of a newspaper, as a general organ of the colored people, on a secure basis, by raising an endowment for it, being convinced that this alone would insure its successful continuance.
The winter of 1848-9 found him in the eastern part of Pennsylvania, taking part in anti-slavery meetings and conventions, ably seconded by the eloquent Charles L. Remond, to whom, he says, the anti-slavery cause of New England is much indebted for the breaking down of the stupid prejudice, which once existed on the land and water transportations, against colored persons.
One of the means resorted to—so zealous were the colored people to sustain the rising North Star—was the holding of fairs in Philadelphia, supported by a number of the most influential colored ladies of that city. At the first of these, December, 1848, it was, that William and Ellen Craft, now in England, the first victims selected under the atrocious Fugitive Slave Law (enacted later), made their appearance, and under circumstances so peculiar as to become historic on bothsides of the Atlantic. They were introduced by him to the visitors at the fair in an appropriate address, and in such a way that their mode of escape was carefully concealed, but which was afterwards communicated to the Liberator by an anti-slavery man. Through this their whereabouts became known to Dr. Collins, of Macon, Georgia, and as soon as the enactment was completed, a few years after, he immediately, through his agents sent north, placed all Boston under obligation to arrest them.
Hundreds of special or assistant marshals were appointed in the midst of a government which thundered her volleys of welcome to the Hungarian governor, a fugitive from Austrian tyranny! And now, in all our broad free America, there was no place of security from southern slavery for these.
For four long days these obsequious marshals, whom the slave power doubtless rewarded in after years with starvation and death in their loathsome prisons, prowled around the dwelling in which the brave Craft resided, till at length that lion-hearted reformer and ever-devoted friend of the negro, Wendell Phillips, persuaded the daring fugitive, all things being prepared, to take passage on a vessel, his wife being already on board; and thus they escaped to England, where they were received under the auspices of the Baroness Wentworth, and are now enjoying a fair share of prosperity and all the advantages of British citizenship.
During his tour in behalf of the North Star, in July, 1848, when America’s sympathy yearned towards the people of Europe, in the name of whose freedom the thrones were trembling, a mob demanded his life in a village of Northern Ohio.
They first demanded of him a speech, in a derisive manner, which he refused. In revenge they circulated a report that he was an abolitionist and amalgamationist. This had the desired effect, and soon a mob, consisting of nearly every male in the village, and neighboring farmers, attracted by a blazing fire which they had kindled of store boxes and tar, in the middle of the street, gathered, shouting, swearing, and demanding him of the proprietor of the hotel, who had closed his doors on the appearance of the rabble.
A barrel of tar was contributed by some person, and it was decided to saturate his clothes, set him on fire, and let him run! Interference in his behalf was forbidden, and threats were made against the hotel keeper, who refused to eject him. The movement to break the doors in being threatened and attempted, the landlord addressed them from the window to the effect that it was his own property, and that he would not turn any well-behaved person from his house into the street, and if his property was injured, as was threatened, he would have redress by law. As the yells and threats became more deafening, he saw no retreat, and determined to yield his life as dearly as possible. Against the entreaties and advice of the proprietor and family, he found his way into the kitchen: seizing there a butcher’s knife and a hatchet, he returned, and placed himself at the head of the stairs: having within his reach some chairs, he stood awaiting the issue with all the fire of his nature aroused.
A gentleman friend travelling with him, by blood and complexion a quadroon, was advised by Dr. Delany to leave him by making his exit through the back door,as he would be mistaken for a white. His friend refused to abandon him. The night was far spent; but, the clamor still continuing, the mob might have executed their fiendish purpose, had it not been for the timely arrival of one of their number, a veteran soldier, whom they called Bill. “Stop!” he exclaimed, as he came up to the spot in time to hear the final vote, “to break into the hotel, bring the nigger out, and burn him!” “Do you see this arm?” said he, pointing to the remaining stump of a lost arm. “I have fought in Mexico, and I am no coward; but I had rather face an army in the field than enter the room of that negro after the threats you have made in his hearing, knowing the fate that awaits him. Didn’t you hear how that black fellow talked? These are educated negroes, and have travelled, and know as much as white men; and any man who knows as much as they do won’t let any one force himself into their room in the night and leave it alive! You may take my word for that! Now, gentlemen, I have told you; you may do as you please, but I shan’t stay to see it.” During this time they stood patiently listening to Bill; and as he concluded, they shouted, “We’ll take Bill’s advice, and adjourn till morning.” They gradually dispersed, after leaving a committee to watch and report when theniggerswould attempt to leave. At the dawn, however, the landlord had a buggy at the door for his guests, and the few young men on the spot confined their vengeance to abusive epithets and threats if they should ever attempt to enter the town again. The mob in New York, during the war, showed the evil against which colored people were long accustomed to contend.
One thing worthy of more than a passing notice occurred during this editorial existence, which we will relate here.
It happened that, while travelling in behalf of the paper, he stopped at Detroit, Michigan, and attended a trial in the Supreme Court, Justice John McLean presiding, before whom Dr. Comstock, a gentleman of respectability and wealth, and others of that state, were arraigned on charge of aiding and abetting the escape of a family of blacks from Kentucky, known as the Crosswaits. In the case it had been proven satisfactorily that Dr. Comstock had nothing to do with their escape. Having heard of the affair (being two or three miles distant), he came to the scene of confusion just in time to hear the threats and regrets of the defeated slave-hunter, Crossman. The doctor stood there enjoying the discomfiture, and expressed himself to a friend that he hoped “they would not be overtaken.” For this Judge McLean ruled him guilty as an accomplice in the escape, stating that it was “the duty of all good citizens to do all they could to prevent it; that whether housing or feeding, supplying means or conveyances, throwing himself or other obstructions in the way, or standing quietly by with his hands in his breeches pockets, smiling consent, it was equally aiding and abetting, hindering and obstructing, in the escape of the slaves, and therefore such person was reprehensible before the law as aparticeps criminis, and must be held to answer.” This novel decision of the judge of the Supreme Court was sostartlingto himat that time—for, alas! decisions more wounding to the honor of the nation have since emanatedfrom the Supreme Court—that he hastened to report to the North Star the proceedings of the trial, which he had taken down while sitting in the court-room. This publication, like a wronged and angry Nemesis, seemed to reach various points in time to be made available, especially by those attending the great Free Soil Convention at Buffalo. Everywhere was the infamous decision discussed with more or less warmth, according to the political creed of the debaters: then the reliability of the writer received some attention. The North Star may have been sufficient authority, had that correspondent who reported the McLean decision been Mr. Frederick Douglass, who had both “credit and renown.” While the initials of the undersigned could be known from the title page of the paper (as the full names of each appeared as editors and proprietors), “Who is he?” became the subject of inquiry among the throng of delegates, who could not be censured for not knowing but one black man of ability and character in the United States, and supposing it to be impossible that there should be more than one.
The Mass Convention assembled outside, supposed to be forty thousand, filling the public square, hotels, and many of the streets, about six thousand of whom, occupying the great Oberlin tent, which had been obtained for the purpose, and constituting the acting body of the Mass Convention, while four hundred and fifty of the credited delegates were detailed as the executive of the great body, and assembled in a church near by, before whom all business was brought and prepared before presenting it to the body for action.
The Hon. Charles Francis Adams, late minister tothe court of St. James, was president of Mass Convention. The Hon. Salmon P. Chase, now chief justice of the United States, chairman or president of the executive body. Strange to say, in an assemblage like this, so vast and renowned, the report from the columns of the North Star found its way, and, as subsequently appeared, was the subject of weighty discussion. We give the marked circumstance. He says that “while quietly seated in the midst of the great assembly, a tall gentleman in the habiliments of a clergyman, and of a most attractive, Christian-like countenance, was for a long time observed edging his way, as well as he could, between the packed seats, now and again stooping and whispering, as if inquiring. Presently he was lost sight of for a moment: soon a gentleman behind him touched him on the shoulder, called his attention, when the gentleman in question walked towards him, stooping with the paper in his hand, pointed to the article concerning Justice McLean’s decision, and inquired, “Are you Dr. M. R. Delany?”
“I am, sir,” replied he.
“Are you one of the editors of the North Star, sir?”
“Yes, sir, I am,” he answered, feeling, very likely, most uncomfortable by this attention.
“Are these your initials, and did you write this article concerning Justice McLean of the Supreme Court, in the case of Dr. Comstock and others, and the Crosswait family?” continued his interlocutor.
“That is my article, and these are my initials, sir.”
“I’ve but one question more to ask you. Did you hear Judge McLean deliver this decision, or did you receive the information from a third party?” demanded the questioner.
“I sat in the court-room each day during the entire trial, and reported only what I heard, having written down everything as it occurred,” returned Dr. Delany.
“That is all, sir; I am satisfied,” concluded the stranger, departing from the great pavilion, and going directly across the street to the church, wherein sat the executive or business part of the convention, leaving the corresponding editor of the North Star in a most aggravated state of conjectures.”
The all-important business at the church, then under consideration before them, was the nomination of a candidate for the presidency. The session was long and important. No report of the proceedings or their progress had been received during the day. Near sunset a representative of the council entered the pavilion, and announced from the stage that they would soon be ready to give the convention the result of their deliberations. Soon after there was a great move forward, and, amidst deafening applause, the Hon. Salmon P. Chase ascended the platform, and announced that, for reasons sufficiently satisfactory to the executive council, the name of Judge John McLean, of Ohio, had been dropped as a candidate for the presidency of the United States, and that of Martin Van Buren substituted; and he had been selected by the council to make this statement, from considerations of the relationship which he bore to the rejected nominee; so that his friends in the convention might understand that it was no act of political injustice by which the change was made.
Probably, apart from the executive body, none knew at the time the cause of the withdrawal of the nameof the judge. Whether or not his statement, made doubly eloquent by this infamous decision, added its weight to stay the march to the presidential goal of an ambitious, soulless man, we know that he was rejected, and Martin Van Buren received the preferment. And, as Martin Delany never claimed of him a reward for the service unconsciously rendered, in the event of his election, as is customary, it is likely he was forgotten, to be remembered, however, in the better days of the nation, and by its noblest president.
From the Free Soil Convention he and a number of the colored delegates went directly to Cleveland, to attend a national convention of colored men. They assembled in the court-room, granted to them by the proper authority, the court and bar having generously adjourned for the purpose—a mark of courtesy not often, if ever, recorded at the conventions of this color. And, what was equally as remarkable, the citizens, represented by gentlemen of position, on the last day of the convention, took a vote in the house expressive of their satisfaction with the entire proceedings of the delegates.
While travelling to advance the interests of his journal, a remarkable political foresight on his part was manifested by the publication of a letter in its columns. It established for him, ever after, a character for observation of national and international polity, in which he delights to search out and compare, not at that time accorded to one of his race. This attracted the attention of many of the leading men, and their inquiries led him to a conclusion which was soon verified by action, as the following editorialletter to the North Star of February 10, 1848, will show:—
Letter to the North Star.“The recent republication of the letter of the Duke of Wellington to Sir John J. Burgoyne, a major general in the British army, respecting the dangerous exposure of the English coast to French invasion, has created quite an alarm, as well as thrown into speculation the political world. Neither is it hard for any who at all understand political economy, especially the present history of the political world, to determine the cause, at such a time as this, when ‘England is at peace with all nations,’ and especially in friendly relations with France, of the issue of such a document by the duke.“Louis Philippe, King of France, is certainly, in my estimation, a great politician, having a great portion of the shrewdness, with all the intrigue, of Talleyrand, and inheriting a greater share of duplicity than most men living. And, what no monarch of France, from Louis I. to the Emperor Napoleon, was ever able to effect by political intrigue, power, and the sword, Louis Philippe is about to accomplish by duplicity, yet carried out in a manner the least to be suspected.“It is known that France has ever desired a universal mastery, as shown by the Wellington letter, having at different periods occupied every capital in Europe, save that of England. The extension of a royal family over different kingdoms has, in Europe, ever been regarded as a most dangerous precedent, and more dreaded by rival powers than fleets and armies. Forthe consummation of a project of such mighty magnitude, the court at Versailles has resorted to means unparalleled, at least in modern ages. This subtle monarch, who has neither the propensity nor talents for military achievements, commenced his rapid strides to power, first by the crusade of his eldest son, the Duke of Orleans, in 1833, upon the northern nations of Africa, whom, with little or no resistance, he expected to subdue; and, this once being effected, would give a pretext for a powerful fleet to cruise in the Indian Ocean and Mediterranean Sea, and continually act as a check upon the formidable naval force of Great Britain. But, contrary to his expectations, the resistance met with from Abd-el Kader foiled and baffled that great project. In the mean time, the duke was killed, being thrown from his carriage.“The next effort was in 1835, a demonstration upon the republic of Hayti, for which purpose an expedition was fitted out, of which his second son, Prince de Joinville, was the chief, aided by Baron Las Casses, with whom it was left optional whether that demonstration should be made by treaty or bombardment. But the prince and baron, having before their minds’ eye the fate of General Le Clerc, the greatest captain and military tactician under Napoleon, considered it no disgrace to enter into friendly negotiations with the warlike republic. Leaving Hayti, without an opportunity of testing the military skill of the prince, the next attack was in 1836, upon Vera Cruz, by storming the Castle of San Juan de Ulloa. In this the squadron was quite successful, the Mexicans, under Santa Anna, being repulsed, with the loss of a leg or a foot by that chieftain.“The prince having proved his military ability, the old king, as the first link in the great chain by which the fidelity of foreign powers was to be secured to France, manages to consummate a marriage between his son, the Prince de Joinville, and Clementina, daughter of the Emperor of Brazil. This great link being welded in order to dupe England into an indifferent observation of his rapid strides, the masterly step was to effect the union of Prince Augustus Coburg, brother to Prince Albert, husband to the Queen of England, with his second daughter. Another link being completed, he leagues in the ties of matrimony the Duke de Montpensier, his third son, to Isabella, Queen of Spain. No sooner is this effected—the last link of the great cable being complete—than the health of the Infanta Isabella becomes impaired, or she, at all events, grows weary of public life; and a proposition, is at once made to abdicate the throne in favor of her spouse, Duke de Montpensier. Of course, this at once gives Spain to the crown of France, which will thereby not only hold the key of Europe, but places Cuba, the key of the western hemisphere, also in her hands.“The last stroke of the hammer being struck, all France being upon her feet, each officer at his station, and each man at his post, Louis Philippe, looking upon his success as sure, as the crowning scene in the drama, effects the appointment of Prince de Joinville to the Lord Admiralty of the navy of France—an office of the same import and rank, but called by another name. All this is but a prelude to the design of France upon Europe. Of course England would be the first point of attack; and there is no man living more capable,and none who would so quickly discover and effectually foil the designs of the crafty old monarch as the invincible conqueror of Napoleon.“But are we not interested deeply in these movements? Most certainly we are. England, at present, is the masterpiece of the world. Her every example is to promote the cause of freedom; and, had she possessed the same principles during the revolutionary period, in every place that she occupied, slavery would have been abolished. Hence slavery in this country could not have stood; for, the slave once tasting freedom, all the powers of earth and hell could not have reduced him again to servitude.“But how with France? She is a slaveholding power, deeply engaged in human traffic, favoring and fostering the institution of slavery wherever she holds the power or influence; and, with the able politician and learned statesman Guizot at the helm of affairs, the cause and progress of liberty would be retarded for years.“Yours, in behalf of our oppressed and down-trodden countrymen,“M. R. D.”
Letter to the North Star.
“The recent republication of the letter of the Duke of Wellington to Sir John J. Burgoyne, a major general in the British army, respecting the dangerous exposure of the English coast to French invasion, has created quite an alarm, as well as thrown into speculation the political world. Neither is it hard for any who at all understand political economy, especially the present history of the political world, to determine the cause, at such a time as this, when ‘England is at peace with all nations,’ and especially in friendly relations with France, of the issue of such a document by the duke.
“Louis Philippe, King of France, is certainly, in my estimation, a great politician, having a great portion of the shrewdness, with all the intrigue, of Talleyrand, and inheriting a greater share of duplicity than most men living. And, what no monarch of France, from Louis I. to the Emperor Napoleon, was ever able to effect by political intrigue, power, and the sword, Louis Philippe is about to accomplish by duplicity, yet carried out in a manner the least to be suspected.
“It is known that France has ever desired a universal mastery, as shown by the Wellington letter, having at different periods occupied every capital in Europe, save that of England. The extension of a royal family over different kingdoms has, in Europe, ever been regarded as a most dangerous precedent, and more dreaded by rival powers than fleets and armies. Forthe consummation of a project of such mighty magnitude, the court at Versailles has resorted to means unparalleled, at least in modern ages. This subtle monarch, who has neither the propensity nor talents for military achievements, commenced his rapid strides to power, first by the crusade of his eldest son, the Duke of Orleans, in 1833, upon the northern nations of Africa, whom, with little or no resistance, he expected to subdue; and, this once being effected, would give a pretext for a powerful fleet to cruise in the Indian Ocean and Mediterranean Sea, and continually act as a check upon the formidable naval force of Great Britain. But, contrary to his expectations, the resistance met with from Abd-el Kader foiled and baffled that great project. In the mean time, the duke was killed, being thrown from his carriage.
“The next effort was in 1835, a demonstration upon the republic of Hayti, for which purpose an expedition was fitted out, of which his second son, Prince de Joinville, was the chief, aided by Baron Las Casses, with whom it was left optional whether that demonstration should be made by treaty or bombardment. But the prince and baron, having before their minds’ eye the fate of General Le Clerc, the greatest captain and military tactician under Napoleon, considered it no disgrace to enter into friendly negotiations with the warlike republic. Leaving Hayti, without an opportunity of testing the military skill of the prince, the next attack was in 1836, upon Vera Cruz, by storming the Castle of San Juan de Ulloa. In this the squadron was quite successful, the Mexicans, under Santa Anna, being repulsed, with the loss of a leg or a foot by that chieftain.
“The prince having proved his military ability, the old king, as the first link in the great chain by which the fidelity of foreign powers was to be secured to France, manages to consummate a marriage between his son, the Prince de Joinville, and Clementina, daughter of the Emperor of Brazil. This great link being welded in order to dupe England into an indifferent observation of his rapid strides, the masterly step was to effect the union of Prince Augustus Coburg, brother to Prince Albert, husband to the Queen of England, with his second daughter. Another link being completed, he leagues in the ties of matrimony the Duke de Montpensier, his third son, to Isabella, Queen of Spain. No sooner is this effected—the last link of the great cable being complete—than the health of the Infanta Isabella becomes impaired, or she, at all events, grows weary of public life; and a proposition, is at once made to abdicate the throne in favor of her spouse, Duke de Montpensier. Of course, this at once gives Spain to the crown of France, which will thereby not only hold the key of Europe, but places Cuba, the key of the western hemisphere, also in her hands.
“The last stroke of the hammer being struck, all France being upon her feet, each officer at his station, and each man at his post, Louis Philippe, looking upon his success as sure, as the crowning scene in the drama, effects the appointment of Prince de Joinville to the Lord Admiralty of the navy of France—an office of the same import and rank, but called by another name. All this is but a prelude to the design of France upon Europe. Of course England would be the first point of attack; and there is no man living more capable,and none who would so quickly discover and effectually foil the designs of the crafty old monarch as the invincible conqueror of Napoleon.
“But are we not interested deeply in these movements? Most certainly we are. England, at present, is the masterpiece of the world. Her every example is to promote the cause of freedom; and, had she possessed the same principles during the revolutionary period, in every place that she occupied, slavery would have been abolished. Hence slavery in this country could not have stood; for, the slave once tasting freedom, all the powers of earth and hell could not have reduced him again to servitude.
“But how with France? She is a slaveholding power, deeply engaged in human traffic, favoring and fostering the institution of slavery wherever she holds the power or influence; and, with the able politician and learned statesman Guizot at the helm of affairs, the cause and progress of liberty would be retarded for years.
“Yours, in behalf of our oppressed and down-trodden countrymen,
“M. R. D.”
After a brilliant and useful editorial career, Delany dissolved his connection with the North Star on the 1st of June, 1849. An incident in connection with this is related, which seems appropriate here, as illustrating his earnestness in behalf of the paper, though personally disinterested.
On his leaving the North Star, he was solicited, through correspondence from Ohio, to take charge of a paper in the interest of the colored people of that state. This he declined; and, after setting forth his reasons why but one newspaper as an organ of the colored people could be sustained at that time, he said, “Let that one be the North Star, with Frederick Douglass at the head.”
We next find him returning to his home at Pittsburg, not for the purpose of resting upon the laurels so fairly won, but rather for recuperating his forces for the field of toil again. Here he resumed his favorite study of medicine, and, upon the strength of the preceptorship of his former instructors, Drs. Joseph P. Gazzan and Francis J. Lemoyne, he was received into the medical department of Harvard College, having been previously refused admission, on application, tothe Pennsylvania University, Jefferson College, and the medical colleges of Albany and Geneva, N. Y.
After leaving Harvard, he travelled westward, and lectured on physiological subjects—the comparative anatomical and physical conformation of the cranium of the Caucasian and negro races,—besides giving class lectures. These he rendered successful. While his arguments on these subjects were in strict conformity to acknowledged scientific principles, they are also marked by his peculiar and original theories. For instance, he argues on this subject that the pigment which makes the complexion of the African black is essentially the same in properties as that which makes the ruddy complexion of the European, the African’s being concentrated rouge, which is black. This he urges by illustrations considered scientifically true. He maintains that these truths will yet be acknowledged by writers on physiology.
On his return to Pittsburg, after the completion of his lecturing tour, he entered upon the duties of a physician, for which his native benevolence and scientific ardor eminently qualified him. Here he was known as a successful practitioner. His skilful treatment of the cholera, which prevailed to some extent in Pittsburg in 1854, is still remembered.
It is worthy of interest, in view of the pro-slavery spirit which brooded over every locality, to record that while there, on the occasion of the establishment of a municipal and private charity, he was selected, with other physicians, as one of the sub-committee of advisers and referees to whom applications were made by white and colored persons to enjoy its provisions.This demonstration of courtesy on the part of the municipal authorities of Pittsburg towards one of its citizens belonging to an unpopular race was certainly an evidence of liberality hardly to be expected at that time.
He still took part in all movements relative to the advancement of his people. He held in most of these a prominent position; his long experience and life devotion to the cause of progress insured him this always.
He published a call for a national emigration convention, and, it finding favor, there assembled at Cleveland, Ohio, August, 1854, many of the eminent colored men of the northern and western states, to discuss the question of emigration. At best, emigration found but little encouragement among the people of the free states, and could hardly be called popular at the South.
Knowing the aversion held by the colored people of the country to colonization in any form, it was a matter of surprise to note the course taken by this convention. An importance was attached to this movement, so unprecedented as to constitute it a remarkable feature in their political history.
At this convention he was made presidentpro tem., to organize, and afterwards chairman of the business committee. Before this body he read an address, entitled “The Destiny of the Colored Race in America.” This production won for its author praise for its literary merit as well as for its concise and able views on the principles of government.[1]
Of the national board of commissioners he was made president, and the Rev. James Theodore Holley, anEpiscopal clergyman of New Haven, was sent to Hayti on a mission, which was satisfactorily effected.
While he presided, a correspondence was opened with many foreign countries, including the West India Islands, proposing an intercontinental and provincial convention. Among those whose advice was solicited in this new movement was Sir Edward Jordon, of Jamaica, who, while commending the propositions and measures very highly, as a stride of statesmanship, discouraged it as a policy, lest it should give alarm to her majesty’s government, and, consequently, offence. Major Delany, in speaking of Sir Edward Jordon’s objection, says, “The force and cause of this objection could not then be understood; but since the terrible ordeal through which the poor people of Jamaica have recently passed, under the infamous Governor Eyre, resulting in the disfranchisement of the blacks, the course of Sir Edward Jordon can now be easily comprehended. Sir Edward Jordon, premier of Jamaica for so many years, it would now appear, could not have been premier under Governor Eyre, with the power of creating measures, or enforcing policies of government, but only as a passive minister of state, with title and position, but neither authority nor power, apparently but the recipient and echo of those under whom he was called to act. Mr. Edward Jordon, the representative and champion of the rights of his race, as a prisoner in Jamaica, thirty-three years ago, thundering his defiance at his opponents through his prison bars, it is much to be feared has forgotten his race as Sir Edward Jordon, Commander of the Bath, and prime minister of the colony.”
Such is the interpretation he placed upon the disapprovalof Sir Edward Jordon. Happily, a change has been brought about, tending to the political advancement of the colored people, which has counteracted the necessity of such movements as were proper in the past struggle, while a portion remained enslaved.
The Rev. Mr. Holley later established a colony in Hayti, carrying thither the wealth of his splendid talents and high moral worth to add to the building up of the fortunes of his race on that island, made holy by the blood of her dusky martyred heroes.
A remarkable effort of this still more remarkable man is remembered, from which unmistakable evidences of the character of the individual, and that of his future line of conduct, are drawn.
It was on the occasion of the passage of that crowning triumph of the slave power, conceded by the obsequious North to them, remembered as the atrocious Fugitive Slave Act.
While this bill was under consideration, as in other dishonorable political enactments affecting the interests of the colored people, there were many persons, who, either from a desire to have peace between the two sections at any sacrifice of national honor, or from a superabundance of faith in the decisions of our law-makers, were advising the blacks to remain passive; endeavoring to impress the belief upon them that the act could never pass, as it was too atrocious and unjust in its provisions, and that the American people would not tolerate the men who would dare vote to sanction so great an outrage on any portion of the people as that contemplated. The colored people, who never failed to enter their protest against these unjust enactments, called for public meetings.
Martin Delany, painfully alive to the magnitude of the occasion, rose in proportion to it, and, while he was not able to turn the course of the event in his favor, entered a protest which gave sublimity to his defeat. At the first appearance of the bill, with his usual foresight he saw further humiliation in store for his race,—the trampling out of the sacred rights of manhood and womanhood, the total annihilation of domestic tranquillity, and the inevitable desecration of all that was sacred to them, accompanying it in its stride. This was verified by the Dred Scot decision, which followed in its wake but a few short years after. He said that the South demanded it, and would get it, as she had never as yet, in the history of the country, failed to secure by legislation that which she demanded at the hands of the North. He held that the scheme was nothing less than a virtual rendition to slavery of every free black person in the country; or, in fact, a rendition of the free states into slavery, with the difference that while the blacks could be enslaved in the free states, they must be taken away to be held. He was instrumental in calling public meetings, and endeavored to urge, with all the strength of his fiery eloquence, the devising of some means to avert the impending danger. Forcible and truthful as his arguments were, many derided him, accusing him of being frightened; this, too, from men of experience and wisdom, whose confidence in the honor of the administration exceeded his own.
At these meetings white speakers often addressed them, some of whom advised them against being misled by rash, inconsiderate persons, who were alarmedbefore being hurt, being frightened by their own shadows. But as this was a shadow of such magnitude, the steady advance of which threatened to darken their political pathway, more than the shadow of an excuse must be allowed for their fright.
The bill was passed, followed by an excitement throughout the North only equalled since by that evinced at the firing on Fort Sumter. Never in the history of civilization was humanity more outraged than in that act; the Dred Scot decision was but a fitting sequel to it; one would have been incomplete without the other. “For every drop of blood drawn by the lash, the sword has avenged,” said Abraham Lincoln; and for every attempt to ignore the rights of humanity there is a retributive demand awaiting individuals and nations.
There were mass meetings held throughout the North. At the first great meeting, held on the public square of Pittsburg, among the speakers loudly called for was Martin Delany. His predictions being too bitterly realized, he designedly evaded their cries, desiring some of the leading white men present first to commit themselves. This being Saturday evening, they adjourned to meet the following Monday at Alleghany City, Pa. At this meeting the mayor presided, supported by many distinguished citizens, among them the Hon. William Robinson, Jr., an ex-foreign commissioner, and the Rev. Charles Avery, the eminent philanthropist. Among the speakers who addressed them on that memorable occasion were the Hon. T. H. Howe, the recent member of Congress from Alleghany, and Hon. Charles A. Naylor, member of Congress fromPennsylvania. Here again he was called for, and this time he responded.
It was generally conceded that his was one of the most powerful and impressive speeches of that memorable occasion. We extract the following from it. Said he, “Honorable mayor, whatever ideas of liberty I may have, have been received from reading the lives of your revolutionary fathers. I have therein learned that a man has a right to defend his castle with his life, even unto the taking of life. Sir, my house is my castle; in that castle are none but my wife and my children, as free as the angels of heaven, and whose liberty is as sacred as the pillars of God. If any man approaches that house in search of a slave,—I care not who he may be, whether constable or sheriff, magistrate or even judge of the Supreme Court—nay, let it be he who sanctioned this act to become a law, surrounded by his cabinet as his body-guard, with the Declaration of Independence waving above his head as his banner, and the constitution of his country upon his breast as his shield,—if he crosses the threshold of my door, and I do not lay him a lifeless corpse at my feet, I hope the grave may refuse my body a resting-place, and righteous Heaven my spirit a home. O, no! he cannot enter that house and we both live.”
Such is a portion of the speech, remembered for its singular pathos and boldness, wrung from the lips of one whose soul was kindled with the sense of the outrages heaped upon his helpless race by a people maddened by success.
His career thus far in life, while generally successful, had also its portion of failures as well as triumphs. Two, of a marked character, occurred about the winter of 1851-2. Their ill success seemed rather to belong to the method pursued in presenting them, than to the capability of the man to make them meritorious.
He had left Pittsburg for New York to make certain arrangements necessary for obtaining acaveat, preparatory to an application to the department at Washington for a patent for an invention, originally his own, for the ascending and descending of a locomotive on an inclined plane, without the aid of a stationary engine. Had he succeeded in his first plan, the second would have been satisfactory. In this piece of mechanism, he was wholly absorbed, and brought it to completion. At length he made it known to his friend, Dr. James McLune Smith, of New York. The doctor, being possessed of talents of high order, and devoted to scientific pursuits, looked favorably upon the plan, and at once proposed to take him to an extensive machine establishment in the city for consultation on the subject.
At this establishment much curiosity, if not real interest, was manifested concerning it. But the reticence which characterizes him in matters in which concealment is necessary in no wise deserting him, and as he revealed but little to the proprietor, himself an inventor, the visit and interview were of no avail.
Not disheartened by this, he applied to a distinguished patent attorney, who, on application for acaveatafter all the arrangements necessary, abandoned the effort as being unsatisfactory, leaving the inference to be deduced by Major Delany and his friend Dr. Smith that the only cause of neglect or refusal to entertain the proposition at Washington was, that the applicant must be a citizen of the United States. His own opinion was contrary to the statement of the attorney,—he believing the right to obtain copyrights or patents as not being restricted to the citizens alone, but in the reach of any person, whether American or foreign. He made a subsequent attempt to have it patented, but finally abandoned it.
His attention and interest were drawn in another direction; for at this time adventure was at its height, and every vessel leaving the port of New York bore evidence of it. Many colored men, dissatisfied with their unrecognized condition, caught this spirit, and some embarked either for Greytown or San Juan del Norte,—this being the chief point of attraction, which was like a free city, or independent principality of Germany, but neither held obligations to the one, nor owed allegiance to the other. George Frederick, king of the Mosquitos, becoming dissatisfied with the intrusions and impositions practised by the formeremigrants, Colonel Kearny, of Philadelphia, already on his way, if not at the point, said to Major Delany, “Every one seemed to breathe Central America.”
While witnessing these preparations for departure to their El Dorado, he met a young friend of his, a physician of great promise, Dr. David J. Peck,en routefor California, whom he advised to abandon the intention of going to that place, where his success would be less certain among the hundreds of white physicians from all parts, who could scarcely realize a support from their practice; but to go to Central America, where his color would be in his favor, and his advantages superior to those of the physicians there, who are mostly natives, would be preferable.
Dr. Peck heeded his counsels, and became a prominent practitioner there. From the first he was nominated for port physician, in preference to an English physician of eleven years’ standing.
The black adventurers soon affiliated with the natives, and were made eligible to every civil right among them.
A committee of natives was appointed to draught resolutions for a municipal council, at the head of which was Dr. Peck as chairman. Through their influence crowds of adherents were attracted to the new policy, and a future government was decided upon as certain to organize speedily.
It was understood that the mayor should be the highest civil municipal authority, the governor the highest civil state authority, the civil and military to be united in one person, and the governor must be commander-in-chief of the military forces.
A convention was held, and a candidate nominated. An election took place (in what way it was never publicly known), and a steamer brought the intelligence, officially transmitted, that “Dr. Martin R. Delany was duly chosen and elected mayor of Greytown, civil governor of the Mosquito reservation, and commander-in-chief of the military forces of the province!” This was delivered to him by a bearer of despatches sent specially for that purpose.
An important instruction to the governor elect was, that he should bring with him his owncouncil of stateas the native material, although of a country abounding in mahogany and rosewood, was not suitable for “cabinet-work.” This, said he, was the worst feature of their choice, because such material as would be desirable was not easily obtained: they would not consent to go, being averse to emigration.
He held the belief that nothing was well tested without first giving fair trial to it; and for himself, determined to do so. To this end he travelled, for nearly eight months, in many states, until worn out, without finding the desirable material, and was compelled to abandon his designs.
By the order of Dr. Holland, the Americanchargé, the town was bombarded by Commodore Ingraham, of the United States squadron, and the embryo government disappeared from the stage forever.
While travelling on this quest he wrote and published a small work (originally designed for pamphlet form) on the condition of the colored race in America. This being published without proper revision, he having left it to another’s superintendence,—for at this timehe was prosecuting his invention of the inclined plane, and also the Central American project,—on its appearance it was nearly dashed to pieces in the storm it encountered. None criticised it so severely as himself; while some of his friends were disposed to look favorably upon it, as the errors it contained could not be disguised, and the author was known to be aware of them. One severe criticism, more of himself, it appeared, than the book, he seemed to have regarded as “the unkindest cut of all”—that of Mr. Oliver Johnson, then editor of the Pennsylvania Freeman. To add to the list of disasters, some person sent a copy to England to Mr. Armisted, author of the “Negro’s Friend.”
He says, in speaking of Mr. Johnson’s criticism of himself, “I was poor when I wrote, weary and hungry. This my friend Johnson did not know, else he would not so severely have criticised me. He thought I wrote as an author, to be seen and known of men. I wrote not as an author, but as I travelled about from place to place.