Letters of Lydia Maria Child, with a biographical introduction by John G. Whittier and an appendix by Wendell Phillips.

72 LETTERS.
servile to the slave interest as the present one. They
have passed the Nebraska Bill in open defiance of the
people.... These measures have been followed up
by the most outrageous insults and aggressions upon
the North. Only three days ago another poor slave
was hunted in Boston, and though a pretty general
indignation was excited, he was given up by the
Boston magistrates and triumphantly carried back to
bondage, guarded by a strong escort of United States
troops.1 The court-house was nearly filled with
troops and hired ruffians, armed with cutlasses and
bowie-knives. No citizen was allowed to enter without a pass, as is the custom with slaves; and these
passes were obtained with great difficulty, none being
given to any one suspected of being friendly to the
slave. The Rev. Samuel May had his pass taken from
him, and he was thrtust out rudely by the soldiers.
Men were even arrested and imprisoned for merely
making observations to each other which the ruling
powers considered dangerous. My dear friend, my
very soul is sick in view of these things. They tell
me "' The Lord will surely arise for the sighing of the
poor and the needy," as he has promised. I think to
myself, " Oh yes, that promise was made some three
thousand years ago, and the fulfilment seems as far
off as ever." But I suppress the impatient blasphemy,
and only say, as poor Aunt Chloe does in " Uncle
Tom," " Yes, missis, but the Lord lets dreadful
things happen."
Whether there is any limit to the servile submission of the North, I know not. The South seems
resolved to try to the utmost how much kicking and
cuffing she will bear. The " Richmond Enquirer"
compares the connection between North and South
1 The rendition of Anthony Burns.