The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1851-01-04

quired, " Ii this the room in which the Declare
ton OF Independence was signed z" When h
real good feeling, to be AFRAID that he had gra'e
on my feelings, and told me that in the year loli
our flag had waved over the two greatest capitals
in the world, Washington and Paris looked with
much interest at the gree model prison of the Sc
parate system. i was favOrably impressed with al
that met the eye, but refrain from entering upol
the vexed question OF comparison between tins and
The silent and other systems, as l feel how much
he solution must depend upon ever recurring cx
Itrience. The poorhonse, like that CT New York
Is built ana administered on very costly scale
aEd also bad great proportion OF foreigners rs III
mates, and OF The foreigners great pert Irish
This stems 10 enhance the mgn!tceace OF the pro
vision for destitHion; at the time irs not to be
forgotten thar foreign labor is arr cle OF nearly
essential necessity to the progress OF The country
On The only Sunday which spent IN Philadelphia,
/ went 10 church, which was not wanting in as
soclations; the communion plate had been given
by Qgeen Anne, and sat In the pew OF General
Washington. was told by some one that his dis
tDguis he'd contemporary, Chief Justice Marshall,
saIt, thai, in contradiction TO what WAS often
thought. ne WIS a mau Of decided genius bl he
was such personihcation of wisdom, that he never
put any thing forw ard which the occasion did not
absolutely require. IT seemed to me that there
was at PbilaCephia greater separation and ex-
clusvtness in society, more resemblance to what
would be called a fashionable class in Eurol N
cites, than had found in America elsewhere.
My next brief pause was at Baltimore. AT halt
on The railroad on my way thi,her, heard the con-
ductor, or guard, say to negro, cannot let you
90, ftr you are slavep' This was my first inti-
freedom from slavery / quote from the ertry
which made upon noting these words that eve
ming -" Declaration of Independence, which |
read yesterday pillar of Washington, hich have
locked on to-day what are yel =
must now give myself some little vent. II was
a subject which | felt during my whole sojourn in
America, as feel il still TO be paramount in inte
rest To every other. Ii was one on which intended
~ "a a
have not ourselves long enough washed off the
stain to give us the right 10 rail at those whom We
had originally inocuIated with the pest; and a
stranger, abundanty experiencing hospitality, could
not with any propfiety interfere wantoGly upon the
most delicate and difficult point of another nation =
policy could not however, fail often and deeply
to feel, III the progress OF my intercourse with
many in that country, Come rot, my soul, into
their secrets; 10 their council, my heart, be not
thou united" At the same time | wished never 10
make any improper COMPROMISE of my opinion;
made II point 10 pay special respect To the lead
ing abolitiODsts-those who had abored or suffered
in The cause-when came within reach of them.
AT Boston committed the more overt act of attend
ing the anti slavery fair, which then was al most
considered something OF measure. l was much
struck, in the distinguished and agreeable COM
Tanies which / had the good fortune to frequent
with a few honorable xceItions at the tone of
disI araeemeHt, contempt, and anger with which
the aboiitionists were mentioned; just as any very
patricisn company III this country would talk of a
socialist or red republican. am, OF course, now
SPEAKING Of the free northern States; in the South
an abolluoDist could not be known TO exist MY
impression is, that in the subsequen. interval, the
dislike, the anger may remain, and may probably
have been heightened; but that the feeling of
slight, OF ignoring, To use current phrase, their
very existence, must have been seRsbly checked
There were some who told me that they made it
the bssiIess of their lives to superiatend the pas
rage of runaway slaves through the tree States;
they reckoned, at that time, that about one thou
sand yearly escaped into Canada. doubt whether
the enactment and operation of the Fugitive Slave
law will damp The ardor of their exerlicas. 1t may
be essy To speak discreety ard plausby about the
pal amount duly Of lot contravening the law; but
how would you feel, my country men, if the
fugitive was al your feet, and the man hunter at
The doorl / admit that The majesty OF the law is
on one side; but the long, deep misery, of whole
human life ia on the other. What you ought to
feel is fervent gratitude TO the power which has
averted IRON your shores and neartbs this ie irful
trial; ard, let me add, heartfelt sympathy with
these who are sustaining il.
At Baltimore, | thought there was q more pic
turesqae disposition Of around than in any othei
city Of the Union II il built on swelling emlnences,
commencing views of The widening Chesapeake, a
noble arm At the There are an unusual mum.
Der Of public monuments for an American town,
ard he nee il hus been chrislened the monumental
city found IN =, the tyre OF trees began to chan e
the Virginia dar and the tulip tree abound
found The sane hospitality which had greeted me
everywhere, ard The coed living seemed TO me
earned 10 ITS greatest height they have in psrfec
zion kind Of land tortoise and the canvass hack
duck, most unriga-d bird IN any country. With
reference to The topic have lately touched upon, a
Shareholders convention was hriug held at the
tine of my visit, for the State of Maryland They
had been led 10 adopt this step by the apprehe nsion
felt of the increase Of the free coored population,
and what they termed their demoralizing action on
the slaves. The laDRus &c as reported did not seem
To have been very violent, but they very nearly
subjected to lynch law a man whom they suspected
TO be a reporter for on abotonist newspaper. l
trust that We are not going 20 copy that sy:tem IN
this country. dned with the daughter at Charles
Cerroll, who, W hen signing the Declaration ut In
end, nee, WIS told hy bystander that he would
incur no danger, ss there were so many Of the
same nsme-"ot Carrollton," b" added To his
name, aud think IL is the only one upon the docu-
ment which has shy appenda9e. Being thus nobly
fathtIed, il is rather curious that this venerable
lady should have teen the mother of three Eng
hsh pteiesses The Roman Catholic Archbishop
of baltimore was one of the company he wore
his long violet rob,s, which Ihaye never seen done
on similar occasions, either in Ireland or this
country.
From Baltimore transferred myself TO Wash.
pgion, the seat Of governms ut and capital OF The
American Union ] never saw 40 strange place;
II silUrds strong contrast 10 the regularity com.
pactness neafness. and animation OF ihr trans
atlantic clues ! had hitherto visited; il he spread
over very large space 10 this way, Justiyiag The
expression Of some one who wished to pay ita COM
plnent, bur dad not know very well what attribute
To select, so he termed IL ely OF magnificent dis
tancos. IL extends, or rather spra Wis; II
LOOKS rs " " hed rsinr0 housfs at rdnrofU, OF Uhe
half dozen indifferent villages scattered over a
pooee common Here and there, Us IL to beigh,en
the contrast with the meanness Of the rest, there
are o. me very hsndsome public buildings, and the
American Capitol, the meeting place of the legsla.
ture, aud The seet OF empire, though not exempt
from architectural defects, towers proudly on a
st,,p ascent which commsnds the subject town,
end he course of the brood Potomac, which max es
the only r,deeming feature OF the natural land
scapc. In short, while amos, everv other place
which saw in America gives the impression of
life and progress, Washington appears not only
stspnent but fetrograde. No busy commerce cir
cula,es in IL. streets, no brilliant shops diversity its
mean rsugts Of ili.built houses, but very few
eQuipsp,s move Glopg its wide, splashy, dreary
avenues saw II, TOO, IN the prime OF its &c sson,
during the sitting 81 Compress; when II " not
sitting the M mhes of the legislature and officers
Of The government dispense themselves over the
breadth ~ the Union, and leave the Capitol TO the
CLERKS Of the pubic officers; and does It not seem
PROCLAMATION TO say IT, the slaves, who are still per-
nii,d TO inhsbit what should rightfnlly be the
metropolis u freedom. II is At least gratifying TO
know IN w the last sson OF Congress- the slave