liberty in Harrodsburg, that shall burn for years to come; and, by its light, I trust, that many will find their way into Canada.’

    “I told him, too, I had a question to ask, and I wanted a direct
    answer—­yes, or no.  ’Were the slaves any worse off, since the
    question of abolition has been agitated?’

“He said they were not, excepting in one respect.  Formerly, when a preacher came among them to hold meetings with the slaves, they had no objection; but now, they feared that slaves from different plantations might thus congregate together and plot mischief.  I asked him if slaves in Mississippi were aware of abolition efforts in the North; and he said he believed they were.

“We parted with Samuel at Louisville, we taking the steam boat for Cincinnati, and leaving him to proceed to Worthington plantation for his boys.  He stood and watched the departure of our boat with a soul full of emotion.  He felt himself a connecting link between his sons in distant Mississippi, and his wife and daughters on their way to Peterboro’; and I was glad to see nature and affection gush forth in tears.  They say colored people cannot take care of themselves, but I assure thee I had hard work to make these people move a step, till a safe plan was arranged for their absent children.

“When I went to pay the captain my fare, he asked whether the colored woman and girls were my property.  I answered yes; but explained to him my peculiar situation, and I told him I detested the very name of slavery.  He said they usually asked for a reference, but he felt sure that a person of my appearance would not tell him a falsehood.  I told him I would show him my bill of sale, as soon as the hurry had subsided; not because I acknowledged his right to demand it, but because he was civil and polite, and I was willing to satisfy him.  When I showed him the bill, he knew both the seller and the witness, as I had expected.  I asked him whether, if I had brought a barrel of lard on board, he would have troubled me to prove property?  He apologized by saying, that they had been imposed on by white men, who put slaves on board, under the pretence that they were free; and that the owners of the line had been obliged to pay six thousand dollars for fugitive slaves.  I noticed there were no colored hands on board.

“On arriving at Buffalo, we put up at the Mansion House; and the first object that caught my eye was an advertisement, dated LIBERTY, in Missouri, offering three hundred dollars reward for three fugitive slaves.  This is a free state with a vengeance!  No stage riding for colored people here; moreover, it was with great difficulty I could obtain breakfast for my companions, though I had paid for it.  I hope abolitionists will keep clear of such a pro-slavery atmosphere as surrounds the Mansion House.

“On board the cars, Colorophobia