Anti-slavery bugle. [volume] (New-Lisbon, Ohio) 1845-1861, 1847-05-28

Case Of Frederick Douglass.

Case Of Frederick Douglass.
The tyranny complained Of in letter SIGN.
ca "FREpERIcK DouGLAss,' which appea1ed
IN our paper Of Tuesday, ought no, to he al.
lowsd 10 pass in this country without some
Puoic expression Of disapprobation and dis.
gust az a proceeding wholly repurnant TO
our EngHsh notions Of Justice and humanity.
hh'gnIy respectable gentleman of color, af.
'eI V,sllng England, being about to return to
nnn a." nao 'aken and paid for a berth in
The steam ship Cambria, when. on ro;nr On
board with his luggage, he is inrormed ,La,
the accommodation, he had nurcbased Cor
himself, has been allotted 10 another nassen.
ger On seeking for an explanation of this
piece OF manifest dishonesty, for it is certain
~ dishonest TO take a sum of money and re-
fuse 10 perform the condition on which it has
neen received, the aggrieved person was told
that II he wished to go by the ship, he must
take his meals alone, forego mixing with the
company In the saloon, and relinuuish to
announcer the berth he had paid to secure. The
k,,ain TACT OF the matter appears TO be, that
MI douglass, being a man Of color, was not
a'lo"eu TO 60 out on all equal footing with
,ne resi- oil the passengers on board the Cam
brla. 1t signifies very little to us how con-
temptible the Americans may make them
selves by the prejudices they act upon in
Their own country, and it concerns, perhaps,
none but themselves, that they should pre-
sent the anomaly of a nation talking largely
Of equality and liberality, while practically
urd"ing one oil the meanest and most sense
Tess distinctions that 1t is possible to con-
Sel'e' me shame is theirs alone of giving
.fe ne 10 tleir own boosted theory Of free
dom, both IN action and opinion, by the ha-
DltudI exercise Ol tho 80 Jaz.z, -.s
over The former, in the case of the colored
population, and the subiugation of the latter. !
IN Their own case, TO n most paltry prejudice.
We arc unfortunately compelled to witness
In some points a deviation, on the part of A.
merlca, from those general principles of en-
Iightenment which arc acknowledged by the
people OF every other civilized nation in the
world. We, however, are not in any wav
bound to tolerate the Introduction into this
country OF any of the degrading peculiarities
OF society in the United States, nor can we
with calm indifference, any tenden-
cy to import among us prejndices utterly at
variance with our feelings and character y
we, therefore,, do not RETAIN from expressing
our most intense disgust at the conduct OF t
the agents of the Cambria, in having sue t
cumbed to q miserable and unmearino as t
of skin-deep superiority by the A.
SNNhS VI AhNAl ANAN-N4I.tISs ' ' e. .
10 not know who the over-scnsitiye individ- t
nails may have been that feared contamina- Z
ion In taking out a person of color, as a fell Ii
ow-passenger in the Cambria, but we cam a
believe them to have been superior, eli
her In education, position, or refinement, ei-
lher natural or acquired, TO the average run b
'f our English colonial governors. The lat r
ier-although acting as the representatives t
of Her Malesty-do not refuse to receive at I
heir tables the class of gentlemen whom A. G
nicely will not admit even into equal $
participation of the advantages of a public I
conveyance. which is free 10 all, except in
the land making special claim to freedom.
II is one OF the mos. inexcusable aggrava-
tons of the gross injustice of the case we
been abiding to, that the ship in which
Douglass had paid for the berth he was t
not allowed to occupy, on account of his COL !
or, belongs TO a partly English company.
draws an immense sum of English |
money annually for its conveyance of the
nail, and is otherwise greatly indebted to
connexion. Common decency should
have taught the agents of the Cambria moi to {
blend our notions of justice and common
sense for the sake of trucking to an unwor-
Thy prejudice of our transatlantic neighbors.
Mr.. Douglass had, by his s%ojourn and recep- {
hon into this country, earned at least some
lille to be regarded as not unfit to mix in the
society OF a vessel accessible to the public
in general. The breach of the contract, en-
Tered into with him, seems to us as dishonor.
able, as the prejudice against him is ignorant
and contemplate.