e no great moral principle is
concerned, they appear as decorous and worthy men. Hon. Benj. R.
Curtis,--he will allow me to mention his good qualities before his
face,--though apparently destitute of any high moral instincts, is yet
a man of superior powers of understanding, and uncommon industry; as a
lawyer he was above many of the petty tricks so common in his
profession. Strange as it may seem, I have twice seen Mr. George T.
Curtis's name among others who contributed to purchase a slave; Mr.
Loring's good qualities I have often mentioned, and always with
delight.

But this family has had its hand in all the kidnapping which has
recently brought such misery to the colored people and their friends;
such ineffaceable disgrace upon Boston, and such peril to the natural
Rights of man. These men have laid down and advocated the principles
of despotism; they have recommended, enforced, and practised
kidnapping in Boston, and under circumstances most terribly atrocious.
Without their efforts we should have had no man-stealing here. They
cunningly, but perhaps unconsciously, represented the low Selfishness
of the Money Power at the North, and the Slave Power at the South, and
persuaded the controlling men of Boston to steal Mr. Sims and Mr.
Burns. In 1836 they sought to enslave a poor little orphan girl, and
restore bondage to Massachusetts; in 1851 they succeeded in
enthralling a man. Now, Gentlemen, they are seeking to sew up the
mouth of New England; there is a sad consistency in their public
behavior.

Gentlemen, they are not ashamed of this conduct; when "A Citizen of
Boston," last January, related in the New York Tribune some of the
facts I have just set forth, "One of the name" published his card in
that paper and thanked the "Citizen" for collecting abundant evidence
that the "Curtis Family" "have worked hard to keep the _law_ superior
to fanaticism, disloyalty, and the _mob_," and declared that "they
feel encouraged to continue in the same course and _their children
after them_."[191] Mr. Thomas B. Curtis considers some of the acts I
have just mentioned "among the most meritorious acts" of his
life.[192] Mr. Loring, in his "Remonstrance," justifies Kidnapping!

[Footnote 191: New York Tribune, January 15, 1855.]

[Footnote 192: Daily Advertiser, February 7, 1855.]

They may, indeed, speak well of the bridge which carries them safe
over. Three of the family are fugitive slave bill commissioners; one
of them i