In view of the remarkable progress made by the refugees and of their general serviceableness as settlers in the provinces, it is easy to understand why the Canadian government maintained its favorable attitude towards them to the end of the long period of immigration. In 1859 the Governor-General testified to the favorable opinion the central government entertained of the fugitives as settlers and citizens by assuring the Rev. W. M. Mitchell that "We can still afford them homes in our dominions"; and the Parliament of Ontario manifested its interest in their continued welfare by voting to incorporate the Association for the Education and Elevation of the Colored People of Canada upon the showing that the association would thereby be enabled to extend its philanthropic labors among the blacks.[689] The Canadian authorities seem to have become established in the view reached after a candid and prolonged investigation by Dr. Howe, that the refugees "promote the industrial and material interests of the country and are valuable citizens."[690] [689] Mitchell, _The Underground Railroad_, pp. 155, 156. [690] _The Refugees from Slavery in Canada West_, p. 102. William Still, who made a trip through Canada West in 1855, expressed a view similar to that above quoted, and added the words: "To say that there are not those amongst the colored people in Canada, as every place, who are very poor, ... who will commit crime, who indulge in habits of indolence and intemperance, ... would be far from the truth. Nevertheless, may not the same be said of white people, even where they have had the best chances in every particular?" _Underground Railroad Records_, p. xxviii. [Illustration: CHURCH OF THE FUGITIVE SLAVES IN BOSTON. This church once stood near the house of Lewis Hayden, 66 Phillips Street, Boston, Massachusetts. (From an old engraving.)] CHAPTER VIII FUGITIVE SETTLERS IN THE NORTHERN STATES There were many fugitives from bondage that did not avail themselves of the protection afforded by the proximity of Canadian soil. For various reasons these persons remained within the borders of the free states; some were drawn by the affinities of race to seek permanent homes in communities of colored people; some, keeping the stories of their past lives hidden, found employment as well as oblivion among the crowds in cities and towns; some, choosing localities more or less remote from large centres of population, settled where the presence of Quakers, Wesleyan Methodists, Covenanters or Free Presbyterians gave them the assurance of safety and assistance; and some, after a severe experience of pioneer life in the woods of Canada, preferred to run their chances on the southern shores of the lakes, where it was easier to gain a livelihood, and whence escape could be made across the line at the first intimation of danger.