From ‘Voice of the Fugitive‘, February 12, 1851, Sandwich, Canada West, credited as edited by Henry Bibb, co-founded by Mary E. Bibb
TO THE FUGITIVES FROM SLAVERY WHO ARE YET TARRYING IN THE UNITED STATES.
To all such we say, think not that you are safe and out of danger while you are under the wings of the flesh-devouring eagle of America, which protects the liberties of fugitives from Southern bondage as the wolf protects the lamb.
Be not flattered into the belief that you are not liable to be pounced upon by the man-thief, at any moment, because you may be surrounded by those who express sympathy for you, and say that you shall not be carried back to slavery, many of whom, we fear, have more sympathy for the slave-catching law than they have for you. Think not that you are beyond the reach of the man-hunter and kidnapper anywhere short of her Majesty’s dominions, which is “the land of the brave” and a home for the slave.
My dear brethren, you are standing on a sandy foundation, and all that is dear and sacred to you in this life is at stake. True, you may perhaps make a little more money in some places in the States than you can in Canada; but what would it profit a freeman if he possessed all the gold of California if it should be the means of his losing his liberty?
Some may suppose that, with a large amount of money, their liberties might be purchased at the hands of slaveholders; but this is vain imagination, nothing would gratify the tyrannical avenger but the last “pound of flesh” nearest to the victim’s heart.
Others may doubt this, and say it is timid and uncalled for; but we have only to call the attention of such to the recent recapture and sale of Henry Long, the fugitive, which may be read in another column. No, brethren, there is no spot in the United States upon which the trembling fugitive from stripes and imprisonment can stand and not be liable to be seized by the strong arm of the American Government and hurried back to his bonds.
Yes, you may go and stand on the top of Plymouth Rock, or scout around the plains of Lexington and Concord, beneath which lie sleeping the bones of our revolutionary fathers; or hide beneath the shadow of Bunker Hill monument (which was consecrated to Liberty!), as did William and Ellen Craft, who were compelled to flee from Boston to England for liberty; yet you will be no more safe than they were, no less liable to fall a prey to your pursuers.
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