Anti-slavery bugle. [volume] (New-Lisbon, Ohio) 1845-1861, 1856-01-19
CONDITION OF THE FUGITIVE SLAVES
IN CANADA.
To tie Editors Of The N. y. r. sune.

To Tie Editors Of The N. y. IT. ijune.
Sin: The assertion has been so frequently reiter
htcd that the f~ugitives in Canada are incompetep
10 provide for themselves, that many yo-sons con
tider 1t no act of kindness to aid them on thei
flight from bondage. Determined to ascertain
their actual condition, | recently visited parts o
the Upper Province, in which numbers Of then
reside. My efforts were both successful and sat
isfaotory.
Everything appertaining to this prosecuted peo
pie | found | had been misrepresci.tcd. Evidences
IN abundance were discovered to show that the,
are as competent to take care Of themselves as tn,
Anglo Saxous. Their farms, dwellings, workshop
day and Sabbath-schOols, are as well managed al
similar matters and things among our Yankee
population. If you should travel from house t
house, in any direction from Cleveland, among thu
New England farmers, YOU would not find stronger
evidences of Advancement and comfortable living
rnan were di'coverablc among an equal number o
these cOlored families. On the score of kindness
a%ffability and good manner, it is feared the former
would suffer by the comparison.
All apprehension, real or simulated, in regard
20 the com petency OF the fUgitives to take care o
themselves may be dismissed. 1t is evident that
the present generation are rapidly accumulatinc
wealth and power, and il requires no spirit OF
Z prophecy to predict that the ensuing generation will
make its mark upon the page of history. The
young, OF both sexes, seem to harbor a deadly la.
tired toward the South, and even against oul whole
Union. From infancy they have heard one con-
slant narrative Of wrongs suffered 10y their parents,
and many of them expressed both an anxiety and
determination to seek revenge whenever circum.
stances would permit. This malignant feeling is
IN very many instances m~itigated and subdued
IN the escaped slaves by the recollectiUns of their
na%tiyities, attachments to their masters and fam
lilies.
Their numbers surprised me. How is it possi-
be they ever found their way to this land of re-
fuge2 Their ingenuity and intelligence were even
more striking. Without knowing how to read and
write, many Of them are sensible and judicious in
their conversation and actions, and not q few are
familiar with our political history and all matters
relating to Slavery. The want of education evi.
IDENTIFY stimulates them to furnish means for in
structing their children. As q consequence the
rising generation Will come upon the stage Of life
endowed with powers which may he exerted with
no triding effect upon some Of our institutions.
However, Sufficient for the day is the evil there
Of"
In The vicinity Of one Of my sojournings, two
or three individuals among them could read. They
held weekly meetings, and read publicly, to numer.
Gus audiences, useful and entertaining books
Uncle Toms Cabin had passed its third reading
a recently escaped slave, as black as the ace of
spades, could recite every incident in the work,
though be knew nothing about reading. He assur-
ed me that those scenes were almost everyday &C.
currences in the cotton regions, where he had la
bored for several years.
T, Mr.. Drew's Refugee is a correct description as
% ~ ~ EOETy VI Nlldl L saw anu IeuTu curing
my tour. lie has, however, withheld many i'm.
portant and striking details-no doubt from po.
little motives, heard recitals which might impli-
cate individuals and make many q slave master
wiser on inquiry. OF course, they will not be dis
closed.
From every f%usitivo's mouth I learned that the
recent plan of governing slaves is to degrade and
break down every noble aspiration and sentiment.
The lash, instruments of torture and blood hounds
seem to be the means employed for that purpose.
III .arzk L. lAl.--l r.
plant. In this enlightened age, man cannot be
held as q slave; as Il brute he may be kept in SER
vitude.
This horrid plan is now universally adopted,
with here and there an exception. 1t is charged
upon the North rs the result of its Anti-Slavery
antipathles; yet it is the necessary consequence of
Slavery itself, surrounded by the lights and expe-
riences of the Nineteenth Century. The poor
slave, suffering under the lash, is not allowed to
utter a complaint, rcmonstrance, or even an affr-
nation of his innocence of fault or crime. ?rovi-
dence has given him thirty thousand tongues, in
these f%ugitives, to recount his wrongs. They are
now telling the horrid tale to the universe.
These recitals induced me to inquire how this
modern plan of covering operated on the slaves
generally. was assured that within the last few
years a feeling of alarm, dread ana hatred has
spread universally among the slaves, and some
thIng like desperation c~sntrolls many of them.
However stupid, careless, or even cheerful they
may assume to be, they are secretly plotting mis-
chiet at every convenient opportunity. The strict
est policy cannot prevent extensive communication
among the slaves with remote parts of the Slave
Sta.os, and even with the Canadas. Much has
been said about 1.-THE Underground Railroad" II
heard something of an underground Telegraph. "
i also heard essays on pyrotechny and toxicology.
which evinced adangerous knowle1ge of the means
OF destruction, and ut the same time convinced
me there can be no safety for life or property on n
plantation where the process Of brutalizing man is
Iracticed.
/ was infOrmelby reliable authority that through
ought the Stare LeeediHg States, such as Virginia
for instance. this knowledge has been extensively
diffused, from one neighborbood to another, and
there is now a general determination on the part
the slaves, if sold to Southern Graders, to secretly
destroy life and property as well as to disseminate
their knowledge wherever they may be taken. The
same source of Information stated that no gang
OF slaves now reaches the remote South without
containing among its numbers some daring spirits
who 90 as missionaries of mischief and destruc.
ton.
AS their tracks will from time to time become
visible, the Shareholders will, of course, charge it to
Abolitionism. which, you know, they make q scar c.
goat of TO bear their iniquities.
Before the Legislatures of the Slave States pass
laws retaliatory on the North, it would be we'll for
them to c xamine the influences and effects of their
cruel and debasing mode of treating their slaves.
Very likely they would discover in them the true
IocomotiEe which sets their chattels in motion on
underground railroad to the North.
CUYAHooA.
Cleveland, Ohio, Dec. 20, 1855. +;