The Black Man: His Antecedents, His Genius, and His AchievementsBrown, William Wells
History
The Black Man: His Antecedents, His Genius, and His Achievements
Brown, William Wells
African Americans -- Biography
I remained on Lake Erie during the sailing season, and resided in
Buffalo in the winter. In the autumn of 1843 I was invited by the
officers of the Western New York Anti-Slavery Society to take an
agency as a lecturer in behalf of my enslaved countrymen, which offer
I accepted, and soon commenced my labors. Mobs were very frequent in
those days. Being advertised to address the citizens of Aurora, Erie
County, New York, on one occasion, I went to fulfil the appointment,
and found the church surrounded by a howling set of men and boys,
waiting to give me a warm reception. I went in, opened the meeting,
and began my address. But they were resolved on having a good time,
and the disturbance was so great that I had to stop. In the mean time,
a bag of flour had been brought to the church, taken up into the
belfry, directly over the entrance door, and a plan laid to throw the
whole of it over me as I should pass out of the house, of all which my
friends and I were unaware. After I had been driven from the pulpit
by the unsalable eggs, which were thrown about very freely, I stopped
in the body of the church to discuss a single point with one of the
respectable rowdies, when the audience became silent, and I went on and
spoke above an hour, all the while receiving the strictest attention
from every one present. At the conclusion the lights were put out, and
preparation made to flour me over, although I had evidently changed the
opinions of many of their company. As we were jamming along towards the
door, one of the mob whispered to me, "They are going to throw a bag of
flour on you; so when you hear any one say, 'Let it slide,' you look
out." Thus on my guard, and in possession of their signal, I determined
to have a little fun at their expense. Therefore, when some of the best
dressed and most respectable looking of their own company, or those who
had no sympathy with my mission, filled up the doorway, I cried out in
a disguised voice, "Let it slide;" and down came the contents of the
bag, to the delight of my friends and the consternation of the _enemy_.
A quarrel arose among the men at the door, and while they were settling
their difficulty, my few friends and I quietly walked away unharmed.
Invited by influential English abolitionists, and elected a delegate to
the Peace Congress at Paris, I sailed for Liverpool in the Royal Mail
Steamship Canada, in the month of July, 1849. The passage was pleasant,
and we arrived out in less than ten days.
I visited Dublin, where I partook of the hospitality of Richard
D. Webb, Esq., and went from there to London; thence to Paris, to
discharge the duties of my mission on peace.
In the French capital I met some of the most noted of the English
philanthropists, who were also there in attendance on the
Congress--Joseph Sturge, Richard Cobden, and men of that class.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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