d to go below, however
it might rain, or snow, or freeze; in various other ways, we were
treated as though we were of a race of men below the whites. But the
abolitionists boldly stood up for us, and, through them, things are
much changed for the better. Now, we may sit in any part of many
places of worship, and are even asked into the pews of respectable
white families; many public conveyances now make no distinction
between white and black. We begin to feel that we are really on the
same footing as our fellow-citizens. They see we can and do conduct
ourselves with propriety, and they are now admitting us, in many
cases, to the same standing with themselves.

During the struggles which have procured for us this justice from our
fellow-citizens, we have been in the habit of looking in public places
for some well-known abolitionists, and, if none that we knew were
there, we addressed any person dressed as a Quaker; these classes
always took our part against ill usage, and we have to thank them for
many a contest in our behalf.

We were greatly delighted by the zealous efforts and powerful
eloquence in our cause of Mr. George Thompson, who came from our
English friends to aid our suffering brethren. He was hated and mobbed
by bad men amongst the whites; they put his life in great danger, and
threatened destruction to all who sheltered him. We prayed for him,
and did all we could to defend him. The Lord preserved him, and
thankful were we when he escaped from our country with his life. At
that time, and ever since, we have had a host of American friends, who
have labored for the cause night and day; they have nobly stood up for
the rights and honor of the colored man; but they did so at first in
the midst of scorn and danger. Now, thank God, the case is very
different. William Lloyd Garrison, who was hunted for his life by a
mob in the streets of New York, has lately been chairman of a large
meeting in favor of abolition, held in Faneuil Hall, the celebrated
public hall of Boston, called the 'Cradle of Liberty.'

I am glad to say also that numbers of my colored brethren now escape
from slavery; some by purchasing their freedom, others by quitting,
through many dangers and hardships, the land of bondage. The latter
suffer many privations in their attempts to reach the free states.
They hide themselves, during the day, in the woods and swamps; at
night, they travel, crossing rivers by swimming or by boats they may
chance