s doubtless this
desire which led me to make the statements sworn to by Orme and Craig,
that I had no connection with the persons called abolitionists,--which
was true enough; that I had formerly refused large offers made me by
slaves to carry them away; and that, in the present instance, I was
employed by others, and was to be paid for my services.

On arriving off Fort Washington, the steamer anchored for the night, as
the captors preferred to make their triumphant entry into the city by
daylight. Sayres and myself were watched during the night by a regular
guard of two men, armed with muskets, who were relieved from time to
time. Before getting under weigh again,--which they did about seven
o'clock in the morning of Tuesday, Feb. 18,--Sayres and myself were tied
together arm-and-arm, and the black people also, two-and-two, with the
other arm bound behind their backs. As we passed Alexandria, we were all
ordered on deck, and exhibited to the mob collected on the wharves to
get a sight of us, who signified their satisfaction by three cheers.
When we landed at the steamboat-wharf in Washington, which is a mile and
more from Pennsylvania Avenue, and in a remote part of the city, but few
people had yet assembled. We were marched up in a long procession,
Sayres and myself being placed at the head of it, guarded by a man on
each side; English following next, and then the negroes. As we went
along, the mob began to increase; and, as we passed Gannon's slave-pen,
that slave-trader, armed with a knife, rushed out, and, with horrid
imprecations, made a pass at me, which was very near finding its way
through my body. Instead of being arrested, as he ought to have been,
this slave-dealer was politely informed that I was in the hands of the
law, to which he replied, "D--n the law!--I have three negroes, and I
will give them all for one thrust at this d--d scoundrel!" and he
followed along, waiting his opportunity to repeat the blow. The crowd,
by this time, was greatly increased. We met an immense mob of several
thousand persons coming down Four-and-a-half street, with the avowed
intention of carrying us up before the capitol, and making an exhibition
of us there. The noise and confusion was very great. It seemed as if the
time for the lynching had come. When almost up to Pennsylvania Avenue, a
rush was made upon us,--"Lynch them! lynch them! the d--n villains!" and
other such cries, resounded on all sides. Those who had us in char