Anti-slavery bugle. [volume] (New-Lisbon, Ohio) 1845-1861, 1847-06-25
PARIS, May 4. ls41, I
Rue Vivienne, No, 30.

My DEAR F.-You see by tho date of nv
letter that | am in Paris, and ! suppose, thar
you will wonder az my leaving my noble
friends in London, who made so much of me.
But, the truth is, England is no longer a pro-
per place for an American to live in who wish<
es 10 preserve his self-respectr ] have left 10
forever, and while | remain in Europe shall
reside in France, where they have not vet
been guilty of insulting my country by abol<
ishing the Peculiar institution which, YOU
know, is regarded as the foundation of our
Liberty. There has been a negro imposter,'
in London-I don't mean any Of the sham
darkies who sing Virginia melodies, but a
real black man, named Douglass, who pre-
tends to be a philanthropist and an orator.,
But, of course he is neither. for things would
come to a pretty pass if black fellows were
allowed to pass themselves of as philanthro-
pists. This fellow has been in the habit Of
calling large meetings of respectable white
people together, and telling them the most abb
surd stories about my countrymen, and pre-
tending that he had been nothing but a chat
tel, and these people, who don't seem TO know
the difference between a darkey and a free
citizen of our country, go on in the most abb
surd way about hun, and pretend to believe
all he says. As | have a real regard for tho
colored race, and have done all | could to-
have the freed negroes shipped off to the coast
Of Africa, where l am sure they all ought to-
90, because they might be instrume ntal in
converting their brethren to Christianity, for
it is well known that they make excellent
missionaries, from the fact, that their desire
to study the scriptures is so strong, that il
has been found necessary to pass laws forbid-
ding anybody teaching them 10 read, lest they
should spend all their time in porting over POI
lemic ~wrilings-as ! have a real regard for
them, which is more than any of these faHa-
tics can say. | called upon this fellow when
| heard that he was delivering lectures about
the land of his birth, and said 10 him:
81 tell you how it is old fellow, | have
heard of your SANDERS about the glorious in
situations of my country, and I Will advise
you for the future to keep dark"
81 shall - said he.
avery well,'' said !, "if you do / will
speak a good word for you 10 some Of my
friends, and may get you a good place as a
raiei.
YES" said he, 81 shall keep dark. for
so God has chosen to make me. And bless
his holy name, that though he has given me
"a dark skin, he has not withheld light from
nv mind and | bless Him and praise Him
that He has not given me a darkened mind
and a white skin. i
Such insolence as this, of course / could
not put up with, so l was going to chastiss
him with my cane, when he had the audaef.
ty to take hold Of my arm and threaten 10 put
me ont OF the room if | raised my hand to
him. As this happened at the London Ia
vern, in the presence of several people@I
will not say gentlemen and ladies', for they
cannot lay any claim TO the character Of sAeh,
after refusing to assist me TO punish the fell
low,) whom | knew, | Immediately left with
feelings of the strongest disgust, and after
wards finding that the fellow was countenan-
ced, ! entered a protest at the Home Office
against the insult put upon my country, de-
manded my passports and left directly tor
Paris. The truth is, the English have no
idea about true liberty. The manner in which
they tolerate blacks, is really distressing to
an enlightened mind and the pretended phi
lanihropy in freeing their slaves, is we'll I'M
derstood by men of the world. When ! EN-
barked at Dover, | shook the dust from my
! { feet, or, to speak more correctly, ! scraPed
= the chalk from my boots.
; Paris is quite delightful. There is ono
: drawback here, however. The most fashion
9 able place Of public. amusement is The Thea
' ire de Montpensier, which was built by Alex
. ander Dumas, and as that noted person has
! African blood in his veins, of course l cannot
9 patronize it, and ! am declared from visiting
V a place which all the world is rushing to-
= But | shall remain true TO my principles, for
E | think that every man Is bound to Sacrifices
F., his personal convenience TO the honor Of his
] coudhy, as Captain Sliden Mackenzie said,
when he hung a midshipman and two ssicrS
! on board tho Semers withcut the oersnoHJ
: Of a TRIAL,