There were doubtless numerous attempts to kidnap Negroes who had escaped to Canada, especially in the border towns, but such attempts must have been rarely successful. An open attempt to induce a Canadian official to act as slave catcher was exposed in the _Montreal Gazette_ of January 13, 1855, when there was published a letter written by one, John H. Pape, of Frederick, Maryland, to Sheriff Hays, of Montreal, proposing that the latter should use his power to arrest Negroes who would then be turned over to Pape. The proceeds from the sale of the captured chattels would be divided evenly, according to the plan suggested. Canadians took a measure of pride in the sense of security with which their Negro immigrants could look back at their pursuers. That the slavery issue in the United States was rapidly coming to a head was also recognized in Canada during the fifties and this, too, may have been an influence with the Canadians in doing what they could to assist the great number of more or less helpless people who came among them. Viewed in the light of more than half a century it can be seen that the influence of Canada in determining the course of the slavery issue was by no means slight. FRED LANDON FOOTNOTES: [1] "One of the most assailable laws ever passed by the Congress of the United States ... Under this act ... the Negro had no chance; the meshes of the law were artfully contrived to aid the master and entrap the slave." Rhodes, _History of the United States_, I, 185. [2] "A large proportion of the colored persons who have fled from the free states have sought refuge in Canada where they have been received with remarkable kindness and have testified the grateful sense of their reception by their exemplary conduct." American Anti-slavery Society, annual report for 1851, p. 31. [3] _Liberator_, October 18, 1850. [4] Annual report for 1851, p. 30. [5] A file of this paper for 1851 and 1852 is in the library of the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. [6] American Missionary Association, _Sixth Annual Report_, 1852, p. 34. [7] Mitchell, _Underground Railroad_, p. 113. [8] _Liberator_, October 4, 1850. [9] _Ibid._, October 18, 1850. [10] _Ibid._, October 4, 1850. [11] _Ibid._, April 25, 1851. [12] _Ibid._, May 2, 1851. [13] Siebert, _Underground Railroad_, p. 249. [14] _Ibid._, p. 249. [15] Stevens, Anthony Burns, a _History_, p. 208. [16] American Anti-slavery Society, _Eleventh Annual Report_, 1851, p. 31. [17] _The Voice of the Fugitive_, April 9, 1851.