26 SWINTON STREET, LONDON,

June 11, 1853.

FREDERICK DOUGLASS, ESQ: DEAR SIR:—I have been intending for several weeks past
to address you a letter, but, by various causes,
have been prevented from doing so until
the present time. We have, at last, reached
the shores of Old England—the land where
"slaves cannot breathe," and where men
are not known by their color.

We had a quick passage—but seventeen
days; and had it not been for the loss of
four sailors at sea, we should have had not
only a quick passage, but an extremely
pleasant one. This melancholy accident
took place on the morning of Thursday, April
21st, at about 8 o'clock—a bright and beau
tiful morning, and with the wind carrying
us on at the rate of thirteen knots an hour.
The first fell from the yard arm into the
ocean, and the remainder were lost in the
attempt to rescue him—jumping into a small
boat which had scarcely reached the water
ere it was dashed by the waves against the
side of the ship, and broken into many
pieces. One poor fellow floated on a bit of
the fragments for many miles. It was sad
to see him. The life boat was instantly des
patched, but a mist came up, and we saw
him no more.

The ship in which we came was the "Dan
iel Webster," and I record it with sincere
satisfaction, that throughout the entire pas
sage, we encountered naught save the kind
est treatment.

Among the passengers was Professor Fel
ton of Harvard University. This gentleman,
more than others, was quite cordial with us
as we drew near to Europe; and I could
hardly help thinking that either old ocean
helped to demonstrate men, or that there is a
peculiarity in going to, which does not exist
in the case of coming from, Europe.

You have yourself crossed the ocean, and
know how pleasant it is, after being at sea
many days, to witness the first land. We
did not see much of the Irish coast—we were
too far off; but, by reason of the "tacking of
ship," came near under the Welsh moun
tains. You remember these mountains—how majestically they loom up, and how they
seem to shadow forth the grandeur of the
nation.

Though the passage had by no means been
a long one, yet all were glad when the pilot
came on board, and at once there was a
gathering together of goods and chattels, and
a hearty "thank God" sent up that old
ocean now lay behind us. Yet to me it was
pleasant to be upon the ocean. It brought
the remembrance of childhood's days when
I have stood for hours upon the shores of
old Point Comfort and looked upon the Ches
apeake and the Atlantic, and watched the
beating surf upon the sea side, and the sun
beams playing upon those coves and inlets.
Thank Heaven, that though in a land of sla
very, and a daily witness of its most disas
trous workings, one may yet have left to him
the heart to enjoy whatsoever in nature is
beautiful and sublime.

The night before we landed was given over
by many of the passengers to merry-making,
such as music and dancing, and not a few
indulged freely in passing the wine. Going
from one end of the ship to the other, one
meets with many a quaint specimen of hu
manity; and a great deal of the "human
nature" displayed on the last night on ship
board is, as Mr. Squeers would have it,
"more easily conceived than described."

We reached Liverpool on the 26th of April,
and remained there about two weeks, spend
ing a part of the time very pleasantly in the
family of Wm. P. Powell, Esq., formerly of
New York. To Mr. Powell and family, we
are much indebted for the many pleasant
hours which we spent in this vast commer
cial emporium. Mr. Powell fills a clerkship
in the Custom House, and is, as ever, deeply
interested in the great cause of human
freedom.

I cannot describe to you my feelings when
I first put foot upon these shores. Some
colored men, I have heard it said, get down
into the dust and roll over, and still over
and over again for joy. And I do not won
der at it; for, to the colored American, the
light of glorious day—or more than this,
like unto the passage from the death unto life.
I did not get into the dust, but, no doubt,
should have done so quite, had not a remem
brance of the peculiarity of the circum
stances which surrounded me just before I
left America, forbade it. The sailor is too
paralyzed with horror when he looks up—after, by a successful struggle with threaten
ed destruction, he escapes the fall from aloft
—to give vent to his feelings, though he be
filled with joy.

Liverpool is the smokiest looking city I
ever saw; nevertheless, it presents some at
tractions in the way of curiosities to the
stranger—its docks, railway stations, and
St. George's Hall. It does not lack also a
certain air of magnificance—its buildings
being entirely of brick or stone, and very
many of them huge and massive. The ar
chitecture also is grand and solid, rather
than showy— illustrative of English charac
ter. The venerable look of things, not only
in Liverpool, but wherever I have been in
England, presents a welcome contrast to
what one witnesses in America.

I should be glad if I could write you of
Birkenhead, St. James' Park, and the envi
rons of Liverpool; but I must not do so now,
or I shall make you too long a letter.

Leaving Liverpool on our way to London,
we spent an evening in Birmingham. That
part of this city called Egbaston is extreme
ly beautiful, and is the residence of Joseph
Sturge. Scarce a word need be said of this
gentleman. He is well-known in Europe
and America for his active and influential
efforts in the various reforms which have of
late years taken place in Great Britain. We
had an interview with him, and shall long
remember it; for no one could have received
us with more kindness, or treated us thro'-
out with greater cordiality.

We arrived in London on Saturday after
noon, May 14th, and were present upon the
platform at the great Exeter Hall meeting
on the following Monday. You have had
accounts of this meeting, and it will not
be worth my while, therefore, to go into any
lengthened description. It was a monster
gathering. Tho' the hall could not have held
less than six thousand, yet I am confident it
is not beyond the truth to say, that thou
sands went away unable to get admittance.
Mrs. Stowe was, of course, the lioness. The
Earl of Shaftesbury presided, and opened
the meeting with a most effective speech.—The Earl's sincerity in the cause of univer-

sal humanity is evinced by his active efforts
in behalf of the poor of his native country.
He is not only a nobleman, but a noble
man.

Professor Stowe's speech seemed to have
given great offense to a majority of those
that heard it. Perhaps he was hurried for
time; but what moments he had he employ
ed in fixing the guilt of slavery more es
pecially upon the English, who consumed, as
he said, three-fourths of the slave grown
cotton, &c., and made no illusion whatever
to the guilt of the American church and
clergy. Some thought this looked a little
like the desire to dodge the main question,
and to keep in caste with his brethren across
the water. Be that as it may, it was cer
tainly a pity the Professor did not somewhere
in the course of his speech fix a little of the
guilt of slavery somewhere upon the Ameri
can nation, as, under the circumstances, the
omission was unfortunate, and served to give
his speech a bad odor, to say the least.—However, at a subsequent meeting—the soi
ree given to Mrs. Stowe at Willis Hall—the
Professor rectified the matter, and placed the
guilt of slavery more fully where it belongs.

Our friend S. R. Ward, of Canada, also
spoke with much effect. It was a noble
sight to see Ward upon the platform. His
jet black complexion and gigantic stature
added vigor to his words, and were no dis
paragement to the race which he so nobly
represents, and will, I apprehend, get money
by the pounds literally for the fugitives in
Canada. Success to his mission—who can
be more needy than the fleeing bondman of
America?

Alexander Crummell was also advertised
for a speech, but had not time to deliver it.
How I regret this—Crummell was fully pre
pared, and would, no doubt, have favored the
audience with such a scholarly production
as would have done honor to the race.

Many English and Scotch clergymen
spoke. Their names I do not now remember.
The meeting broke up at about 11 o'clock.

What may be the results of the Exeter
Hall meeting, I know not; but this I know,
the most powerful influences for the destruc
tion of slavery must be exerted from with
out. The heart of the American people be
ing utterly corrupt on this subject, and the
nation, as Mrs. Stowe has rightly said, in a
state of paralysis, naught save the scorn of
an outraged christendom can be potent to
induce America to smother this villany unto
death.

It will not answer that Americans point
to England, and cry out "physician, heal
thyself." Nothing could be more unfortu
nate for our western brethren than to pro
voke a comparison between England and
America, since such comparison but makes
the hypocrisy of American character stand
out in bolden relief. Without the "Dec
laration of Independence," the English na
tion have been for years going upward and
still upward in the path of humanity and re
form; while with the "Declaration," the
American nation have been for years
achieving, and is still achieving, for slavery
greater and greater triumphs. To say noth
ing of the actual holding in bondage of
nearly four millions of American citizens—a
bondage the most bloody of all which have
ever disgraced the sun; to say nothing of the
utter prohibition of free speech in reference
thereto, throughout almost the entire South;
to say nothing of the tyranny of prejudice
against color which pervades the whole
North—a tyranny which, in some form or
other, hundreds, calling themsleves abolition
ists and Christians, practice as freely as

others; to say nothing of all these things—the national slave bill, the actual passage of
laws by some of the free states to enslave
free colored people, and the attempt to pass
such laws by other States, the diabolical ad
mission on the part of some of the northern
journals, that the spirit to enslave the entire
free colored population is rife with a majori
ty of the people, and that their exemption
from bondage is owing only to their insig
nificance in point of numbers, evince clearly
that I use no extravagant language when I
describe the heart of the American people
as utterly corrupt so far as it relates to hu
man freedom, and their nation as outrage
ously despotic.

There is not a single social wrong in Great
Britain so riddled with iniquity as are the
wrongs which I have enumerated above. If
Britain has an aristocracy, be it understood
it is at least not the aristocracy of slavehold
ers, or slaveholding abettors, or of the chat
tel principle—the vilest and meanest under
the sun, and which no man with a manly
heart would consent to do homage to for a
moment. Be it understood also that the
spirit of caste in this country is fast giving
away before the light of an increasing hu
manity. It is powerless, certainly, in pre
venting the lowest plebian from attaining
to the highest noble. Not so in America.—When will you get to Congress, my brother?
and yet that New York speech of yours vin
dicates your right to sit among princes.

But I must hurry on. London is a marvel
lous place. What sights! Westminster Ab
bey, the Parliament House, the Tower, the
Museum, the National Gallery, St. Pauls, the
Bridges, the Walks, the drives, the sails in
the innumerable little steamboats, the people,
so sedate, so grave, so polite, the strangers
and the lions, and the lionesses! But I shall
describe none of these at this time. and,
therefore, I hurry on still faster.

Mrs. Stowe has gone to Paris. It is not
necessary that I should write you anything
of her movements. You already know what
fitting tributes British hearts have paid to
her genius and humanity. She hath written
a wonderful book, every page of which is
genius on fire with truth, and hath struck a
mine in humanity's depths out of which
shall issue the holiest prayers and sympa
thies for the enslaved. Let her be honored
to the measure of her work.

I cannot close this letter without referring
more fully to the subject of prejudice against
color. Never has the American character in
the matter of prejudice against color appear
ed so mean and so utterly despicable as since
we have been in this country. The English
people, whatever may be their sins, know
nothing of this vulgar and emphatically un
christian feeling. Those in America who,
"out of the abundance of their hearts"—supposing it possible for such little hearts to
hold an abundance—warned us that we
should encounter in England the same in
sults which we would have to meet in Amer
ica, are now informed that they are com
pletely and perfectly, and most magnificently
mistaken. To the Americans alone belong
the unenviable glory of despising men be
cause of their complexion. Since we have
been in Great Britain, we have put up (my
wife and self) at some of the first hotels in
the kingdom, and have never, in a single in
stance, encountered even the slightest look
of disrespect. We have promenaded some
of the most fashionable streets both of Liv-

erpool and London, and, in our walks, have,
at times, passed even the lowest drinking
houses, and have yet to witness the first in
dication of that filthy prejudice which would
have met us on almost every hand in Amer
ica. We have attended again and again, by
invitation, parties given by the most honor
ed people of London, and in every instance
have not only been treated with the utmost
kindess and cordiality, but have never dis
covered anything which, even in the remotest
degree, indicated that we were regarded with
disdain. In fact, you cannot astonish an
Englishman more than to describe to him
the unkind treatment which colored men
and women everwhere experience in Amer
ica. The American (I speak not of the few
noble and true) does not think enough of the
colored man to consider whether or not he
insults him when he dictates to him in the
following language:—"Keep to your own
color, and we will treat you well;"—the peo
ple of this country see through the tyranny
at once, and laugh the thing to scorn.

In England, persons of the most diverse
complexions seek each other in marriage, and
nobody thinks it a terrible thing under the
sun, or attempts to attract odium to the par
ties, or meddles with it in any way not nar
rated by the character of the individuals, and,
least of all, fills the air with the vulgar cry
of amalgamation; but in America, if a col
ored man attempts the thing, however re
spectable he may be acknowledged to be, the
whole community, dough-faced abolitionists
and so-called Christians included rise up
en masse to drive off said individual; and
some of the beseigers bring on tar and
feathers and poles; and some even go so
far as to bring empty barrels spiked with
shingle nails to kill him. If this be Amer
ican Democracy, then give me British mon
archy. And if they are Christians who thus
assult the rights of their equal brethren
then give me the blankest infidelity.

Slavery, I admit, is the mother of this
prejudice; and much allowance must be
made for the force of early education. But
is it, therefore, to be justified? or shall it be
said that Christians may be guiltless in ref
erence to it—sinning in ignorance and unbe
lief? The Truth is—the man who is so ig
norant as not to know that he would not
like to have the most sacred feelings of his
heart trampled upon, is too ignorant to be a
Christian. And the man who is so ignorant
as not to know that he acts the part of a ty
rant when he denies to others, intellectually
and morally responsible, the exercise of
rights which he claims for himself, is a fool,
and should be locked up in a mad house.—And farther, such men as these, and those
also who regard a corrupt public sentiment
as more than truth and justice, (as many did
last winter,) setting themselves up for Chris
tian reformers, have mistaken their mission,
since they have neither the greatness of
heart, nor the capacity of mind, nor the
moral courage to fit them for the work.—History, science, the human heart and com
mon sense teach many things with regard to
human beings—however diverse in complex
ion—who live upon the same continent, and
in the same community; but of these I will
not now speak.

I cannot entirely close without one re
mark further. Many of the papers, I see,
are whining at us in true pro-slavery style.
Let them whine on, who can blame them,
since they made such a stupendous failure in
their work of dictation and death? These
papers and others like them, and all of sim
ilar mind, are informed that we have not
come to England to "mingle in the orgies of
Exeter Hall," "to be presented to the
Duchess of Sutherland," or to be handed
around by George Thompson;" but simply
because we preferred the society which we
should meet abroad, to that whose tar and
feathers, and poles, and spiked barrels
evinced that they were murderers. The
Syracuse Star will, of course, regard him
self as one of the papers referred to; and I
assure him I make the reference with every
possible caution, well knowing that one can
hardly approach a dog kennel without get
ting covered with fleas.

We shall remain in London several weeks. While here, we have had many pleasant days
and evenings with our devoted friend,
Thompson; and also attended pleasant par
ties at Crummell's, and Mrs. Follen's. The
last party we attended was at Regent's Park,
at the Chevalier Bunsen—the Prussian Am
bassador. Here we also met Ward, and one
or two gentlemen from the West Indies.

In August or September next, I hope to
enter the lecturing field.

J. McKim, Esq., and Sarah Pugh, of Phil
adelphia; G. Bailey, Esq., of National Era,
and Rev. J. Freeman Clarke, of Boston, are
in the city.

The Black Swan sings to-morrow evening.

Very respectfully yours,

WILLIAM G. ALLENAllen, William G.

Son of a free black mother and a white immigrant father, William G. Allen (1820–?) grew up in southeastern Virginia. After graduating from the Oneida Institute in New York, Allen taught school in Canada and New York. Allen was a popular lecturer and was regarded as an expert on black history and literature. In 1844, while teaching in Troy, New York, he assisted Henry Highland Garnet in editing the National Watchman, a temperance and abolitionist newspaper aimed at black readers. Shortly after having its title changed to the Clarion, the short-lived paper failed in 1847. No issues are known to have survived. In 1850 Allen became a professor of rhetoric and belles-lettres at New York Central College in McGrawville, New York, where he caused a public furor by marrying one of his white female students in 1852. The following year the Allens sailed to Great Britain, where William lectured for the abolitionist cause, and both he and his wife operated a series of small schools. Hutton, Early Black Press in America, 9; R. J. M. Blackett, “William G. Allen: The Forgotten Professor,” CWH, 26:39–52 (March 1980); Ripley, Black Abolitionist Papers, 4:135–36n; ANB, 1:346–47. .