The Union and eastern journal. [volume] (Biddeford [Me.]) 1854-1858, 1856-10-17

DO NOe &ts" VIZ We
know its character in the sense that
know its author, and know he is probably
capable Of writing but Que kind Of a book
am not aware that i ever read line in it
or opened it,
3. Would you have sold that bOok'
Under the same circumstances certainly
should. Had any gentleman now in this
room, or any other man in the community
well known to me, inquired for that book,
and it had been in my possession, should
most Gssuredly have sold il to him, presum-
Ing the use to which be would apply it wa
good one.
4. How did that book, or books, come IN
to your possessionT
/ do not now know; the fact can easily be
determined tomorrow by reference to our
orders or invoices those two books have
been in our possession over two, ifnot three
years, as l can prove by these Inventories
which have brought with me-"
Next followed an attempt by "Judsc Les
esns" to make it appear that he had lied Do
cause he Mapped to say by mistake that the
two copies Of Douglass book, instead OF
the "Autognph Of Freedom" had been In
his store two years. lie goes on:
"Mr. BOyles next produced the book,
which had been purchased by Mr.. Wood
cock. Ny recollection of the questions re-
gardins this book are;
5. Did you sell this book?
detailed in reply to this question, all l
knew about the books, precisely as l have
above, about our friend calling and stating
Mr.. woodcock had shown him the book,
&c, &c.
G. Who was that friend?
Icannot tell you.
!. Do you know the character OF that
book?
know its character only by my friends
description to the best Of my knowledge,
never saw the book before
s. Who sold the book?
KS my partner says he did not sell it, and
as we are working light handed, 1.-TWO OF our
usual force being absenD it must have been
sold by our man Philip.
o. Is he authorized by YOU to sell such
books?
He is authorized to sell anything in our
store Of which he knows the value.
10. Would you have sold that book, Mr.,
Strickland?
would have scorned any such thing.
| was informed by the chairman that he
had no further questions to ask ; / might
retire"
Before retiring he requested the privilege
Of saying few words in his own behalf,
and was permitted to do SO. Being no more
an abolitionist or anything of that sort than
his accusers were, and no. having dreamed
Of doing anything to cause such violent pro-
cCeiings against him, he vainly hoped to
persuade the committee to justice and fair
dealing. lie says:
al alluded to my having been resident
in Mobile some seventeen years-my early
savings for years were invested in slaves. l
then turned my attention to small invest
ments in Real Estate, which was then at u
very low cbb IN Mobile. All l was worth
was in this shape, when my employer
(James VI. SumwalD died. l then went
into business on my own account, and neces-
sarily needed all my little capital in my
business, and hence sold my slave property
and real estate as soon as possible, and
placed the proceeds in my business. My
whole capital has ever since been in that
business, for it had increased and extended
beyond my most sanguine expectations.
alluded to the peculiar difficulties Of con-
Quoting the book business--that as a rule,
we had simply the title of a book to guide
us US to its character. unquestionably we
had, no doubt, sold many novels and other
ephcmeral books, which may have contained
Abolition sentiments. Whenever it came to
our knowledge that any book on hand was
not fitted to circulate at the South, such
books were at once wrapped up for return.
We often had books consigned to us which
we never should have ordered that in the
hurry of business, such books could easily
got sold innocently. l alluded to Uncle
TOMS Cain, we had utterly refused to sell
it. We had two copies 4 belieye) sent to
US, which were literally read to pieces, by
being passed from friend to friend, whose
curiosity had been excited, and | believe
there were men then in the room who had
read one of them. Had it occurred to me,
| should have told them we ordered 80 cop
les Of the cheap edition, several months
after it was FIRST published, which were pre-
sented by myself, gratuitously, to our
friends from the interior, who were exceed.
ingly anxious to get a copy, and who | pre-
,umed were such us would appreciate the
compliment.
Tho committee have deeply ccnsurcd me
for not stating this fact to them, as they
found the order for the fifty copies when
they examined our papers. | should GER
tainly have stated it had it occurred TO my
mind whilst | was speaking. | would here
beg leave to state that my friend Mr.. RAN
dali, says here, in New York, that he sold
the Uncle Toms Cabin freely. Rev. Mr..
Milburn told me in presence Of the lIarpers,
that he requested Mr.. T. j. Carver to order
a large number Of copies, and that when
they arrived he sent members Of his congre-
CATION and others to purchase them. They
were sold rs openly as any other book i'm