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Avery Architectural and Fine Arts Library 
 Gift of Seymour B. Durst Old York Library 
 
Digitized by the Internet Archive 
 in 2013 
 
 http://archive.org/details/guidetocentralpaOOdurs 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 Paok 
 
 PARKS ELSEWHERE, 1 
 
 THE MOVEMENT FOR A PARK IN NEW YORK, . 2 
 
 DESCRIPTION OF THE GROUND, ....... 3 
 
 EARLY OPERATIONS AND IMPROVEMENT, . 6 
 
 DESCRIPTION OF THE DESIGN, 8 
 
 ORDINANCES, REGULATIONS, Etc* — OFFICERS AND KEEPERS, . 15 
 
 HOW TO SEE THE PARK— 
 
 City Cars, .,.*...<.. 1 9 
 
 Carriages, . * . . • . . . - .20 
 
 Horseback, 21 
 
 Objects of Interest, ♦ . . . * . 22 
 
 General Directions, . # « * - * 24 
 
A GUIDE 
 
 TO THE 
 
 CENTRAL PAEE. 
 
 WiTii A 
 
 Hag of the fropseb 1 mjjro tj emen ts . 
 
 NEW YOKE: 
 
 A. O. MOORE, AND COMPANY, 
 140 FULTON STREET. 
 1859. 
 
NH 
 
 5 
 
 Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1359, by 
 A. O. MOOR E & CO., 
 In the Clerk's Office of the District Court for the Southern District of New York. 
 
§>mh to tk into! Wmh 
 
 •VTEAELY all 
 ±\ of the more 
 im portant 
 towns of Eu- 
 |p/ rope have 
 W£ a places set a- 
 '& part for the 
 amusement 
 and health- 
 ; ful exercise 
 ?m0^ of their peo- 
 
 slF p le - Their 
 
 number and 
 
 extent bear witness to the necessity of 
 sJ^i^j \ public pleasure-grounds to all dense pop- 
 ulations. 
 
 ^ \-\\ ^ The pleasure-grounds, in and about 
 London, comprise over 6,000 acres, in 
 eluding St. James' Park, Green Park, Hyde Park and 
 Kensington Gardens, lying contiguous, and containing 
 together 764 T Vo acres. In the last two of these is the 
 Serpentine, 50 acres of water, in which 12,000 persons 
 sometimes bathe on Sunday mornings. 
 
 Among the other great parks of Europe may be men- 
 
2 
 
 GUIDE TO THE CENTEAL PARK. 
 
 tioned the Phoenix Park, in Dublin, containing 2,000 
 acres ; Birkenhead Park, near Liverpool, of about 500 
 acres ; the Gardens at Versailles, about 3,000 acres in 
 extent, and the Bois de Boulogne, containing 2,158 
 acres, near Paris. The Thiergarten in Berlin contains 
 over 200 acres ; the Prater in Vienna about 1,500 acres ; 
 the English Garden in Munich about 500 acres. Mad- 
 rid, Havana, and Mexico, have each their large public 
 promenades. 
 
 MOVEMENT FOR A PARK HST NEW YORK. 
 
 New York, in its haste to "build up" Manhattan 
 Island, had well nigh forgotten this necessity, until, 
 in 1851, public attention was attracted to it by the influ- 
 ence of Mr. A. J. Downing, and the well-timed recom- 
 mendation of Mayor Kingsland. The reference of this 
 recommendation to a committee of Aldermen, their favor- 
 able report thereon, the concurrence of the other branch of 
 the Common Council, the application to the Legislature, 
 and its passage of the "Jones' Wood Park Bill,"* — all 
 within less than one hundred days — afford evidence of 
 the earnestness with which the subject was prosecuted. 
 
 The superior advantages of a more central situation for 
 a park being obvious, authority was given by the Legisla- 
 
 * This act authorized the purchase by the city for a public park, of the 
 tract bounded by the Third avenue, Seventy-fifth street, the East river 
 and Sixty-sixth street, embracing about 150 acres of beautiful woodland, 
 but lying remote from the centre of the island, not easily accessible to a 
 majority of the people, and possessing inherent disadvantages— such as the 
 tall and slender growth of its trees, which, though beautiful in a mass, would 
 neither look well nor be strong enough to withstand severe storms if 
 thinned out or "cleared," as they would need to be in a park. This law, 
 however, in consequence of technical errors, was never carried into effect. 
 
GUIDE TO THE CENTRAL PARK. 
 
 3 
 
 ture* for the taking of the lands of the Central Park; and 
 in February, 1856, it came into the possession of the city.f 
 
 DESCRIPTION OF THE GROUND. 
 
 The tract taken comprises 773 T Vo acres, including 
 about 142 acres belonging to the Croton Aqueduct 
 Department, and it contains, besides streets and avenues, 
 about 8,000 lots (25 x 100). Its cost was §5,444,369 90, 
 of which sum $1,657,590 was assessed on adjoining 
 property, leaving $3,786,779 to be paid by the city, the 
 money being borrowed on five per cent, stock, payable 
 in 1898. This is believed to have been the largest sum 
 ever expended in the purchase of land for a public park. 
 The park, as its name implies, lies in the geographical 
 centre of New York Island, being about five miles from 
 the Battery and from King's Bridge, and about three- 
 quarters of a mile from the East river and from the 
 North river. It is about two and a half miles long, and 
 half a mile wide, being long and narrow in form, as com- 
 pared with other parks of equal size, and affording, con- 
 sequently, less opportunity for producing breadth of 
 effect in its treatment. This difficulty is increased by 
 the broken and complicated character of its surface, 
 which caused the site at first to appear exceedingly 
 unpromising, being little more than a succession of 
 
 * July 21st, 1853. — The friends of Jones' Wood Bill, on the same day, 
 secured its passage, and the city had authority for the purchase of two 
 parks, until the following spring, when the Jones' Wood Act was repealed. 
 
 f On the 17th of November, 1853, the Supreme Court appointed William 
 Kent, Michael Ulshoeffer. Luther Bradish, Warren Brady, and Jeremiah 
 Towle, Commissioners of Estimate and Assessment, with reference to the 
 lands to be taken. Their award was made July 2d, 1855, and confirmed 
 by the court on the 5th of February, 185G. 
 
4 
 
 GUIDE TO THE CENTRAL PARK. 
 
 rocky hills and marshy plains, much of it covered with 
 a tangled growth of vines and bushes, loose stones of all 
 sizes, broken-down stone walls, and rubbish of all sorts; 
 while much of the cleared space had been occupied by 
 squatters, until it reeked with accumulated filth and nasti- 
 ness. 
 
 The capabilities of the ground, as thus disguised, w r ere 
 not clearly apparent, but every month's work developes 
 them more and more fully. It is true that rock abounds 
 in nearly every part of the park, and that its trees are few 
 and far between, but in both of these apparent disadvan- 
 tages there is a decided benefit. More labor will be required 
 for its construction, and more time for the development of 
 its beauties, than would have been necessary on more even 
 woodland, but the superabundant rock is not too much 
 for the best construction of the roads and walks, and the 
 lines of roadway can be so laid as to give the best ulti- 
 mate effect without the deviations which the preservation 
 of numerous fine trees would have rendered necessary. 
 The New York of the next century will have occasion 
 to rejoice over that which now seems an objection to 
 the site of the Central Park. 
 
 The surface of the park is broken by upheavals of pri- 
 mary rock (Gneiss), and its soil is composed chiefly of 
 diluvial deposits, in which are many boulders (mainly 
 trap-rock), and of the debris of the Gneiss rock. Its 
 lowest point, about One Hundred and Sixth street and 
 Fifth avenue, is only nine feet above tide, and its highest, 
 at Seventy-ninth street, near Seventh avenue, is 135 feet 
 above tide. 
 
 The park site was watered by numerous springs within 
 its limits, and by a few small streams which take their rise 
 
GUIDE TO THE CENTRAL PARK. 
 
 5 
 
 west of the park, and traverse it in their course to the 
 East river. Much of this water formerly remained stag- 
 nant on the surface of the soil, and rendered the neighbor- 
 hood of the park insalubrious. 
 
 The extreme northern portion of the park is at once 
 the most bold and romantic, and is, from its historical 
 associations, the most interesting. The deep valley by 
 which it is divided is " McGowan's Pass," of Eevolution- 
 ary memory ; the road which now passes in front of the 
 Catholic school is " the old Boston road," the oldest road 
 leading from the city, on the east side of the island; 
 and, mainly outside of the park, are still to be seen the 
 remains of the north line of fortifications of the war of 
 1812. 
 
 The powder-house, at One Hundred and Ninth street, 
 near Seventh avenue, is rebuilt from the ruin of an old 
 redoubt. The land, just beyond the park line (between 
 One Hundred and Sixth, and One Hundred and Tenth 
 streets), is rich in historical reminiscences, and should for 
 this reason, if for no other, be added to the park. A 
 moment's observation will show that One Hundred and 
 Tenth street is the natural termination of the park, as 
 the large hill west of McGrowan's pass here descends to 
 the level of the Harlem plain, while at One Hundred 
 and Sixth street it is 122 feet above it. If the present 
 boundary be maintained, this hill will terminate in a 
 precipice of 30 feet between Seventh and Eighth ave- 
 nues, while McGrowan's pass will be shut in by a street- 
 embankment, 40 feet high. The proposed extension to 
 One Hundred and Tenth street, which is on the level of 
 Harlem Plain, will add to the area of the park 69 
 acres, most of which would not be worth the cost of grad- 
 
6 
 
 GUIDE TO THE CENTEAL PARK. 
 
 ing for building purposes, and which is absolutely neces- 
 sary to the park. There is every probability that the 
 addition of this tract will be authorized by the Legislature 
 at its present session.* The total area of the park will 
 then be 843 T W acres. 
 
 EARLY OPERATIONS. 
 
 Under the direction of commissioners appointed by 
 the city government^ preliminary surveys of the park 
 were made, under the superintendence of Mr. Viele, for- 
 merly an officer in the army ; and the commissioners 
 adopted, for the laying out of the park, a plan presented 
 by this gentleman ; but, there being no appropriations for 
 the purpose, its execution was not undertaken. 
 
 On the 17th of April, 1857, the Legislature passed " an 
 Act for the Eegulation and Government of the Central 
 Park in the City of New York," which placed the entire 
 control of the park and its improvement in the hands of a 
 Board of Commissioners, eleven in number, J who were 
 to hold office for five years, and to whom was given 
 power to expend a sum of money, the annual interest of 
 which should not exceed $100 ; 000; — this, at six per 
 cent., would be $1,666,666,66 ; — the amount to be raised 
 
 ° Since the above was put in type, the Legislature has authorized the 
 proposed extension. 
 
 f This commission consisted of Hon. Fernando Wood, Mayor, and Mr. 
 Joseph Taylor, Street Commissioner ; and they were to have been assisted 
 in their labors by the following gentlemen, whom they invited to act as 
 an advisory committee : Washington Irving, George Bancroft, James E. 
 Cooley, C. F. Briggs, James Phelan, Charles A. Dana, and Stewart Brown. 
 
 ^ The Commissioners named in the law were B. J. DLHon, James E. 
 Cooley, Charles H. Bussell, John F. Butterworth, John A. C. Gray, Waldo 
 Hutchins, Thomas C. Fields, Andrew H. Green, Charles W. Elliott, Wil- 
 liam K. Strong, and James Hogg. 
 
GUIDE TO THE CENTRAL PARK. 
 
 7 
 
 by the issue, by the Common Council, of stock having 
 thirty years to run.* 
 
 THE PRESENT IMPROVEMENT. 
 
 By order of the Board of Commissioners, the work 
 of removing obstructions and surface water from the 
 park was commenced in August, 1857, and on the 25th 
 of the same month they passed a resolution, offering, for 
 general competition, premiums for the best four designs 
 for its improvement. On the first day of April, 1858, 
 there were presented about thirty designs, which were in 
 conformity with the specifications ; and on the 28th day 
 of April the commissioners made their awards, f 
 
 The design of Messrs. Olmsted and Vaux was adopted 
 as the basis of operations, and authority was given to 
 make such modifications as the progress of the work 
 might suggest. The introduction of a bridle-road is the 
 only important change which has been made, and the 
 plan appended to this report is essentially the same as 
 that to which the award was given. 
 
 The execution of the plan may be said to have fairly 
 begun about June 1st, 1858 ; since which time there 
 have been almost constantly employed, during favorable 
 weather, about 2,500 men and 400 horses, besides a large 
 force of engineers, foremen, &c. The total number of 
 persons employed in all capacities has been about 3,000 
 
 * Tims far there have been made four issues of stock, amounting to 
 $900,000. 
 
 f 1st Premium, ($2,000,) to the design presented by Fred. Law Olm- 
 sted and Calvert Vaux. 
 
 2d Premium, ($1,000,) to the design presented by Samuel I. Gustin. 
 
 3d Premium, ($750,) to the design presented by Michael Miller and L. 
 H. Mcintosh. 
 
 4th Premium, ($500,) to the design presented by Howard Daniels. 
 
8 
 
 GUIDE TO THE CENTRAL PARK. 
 
 The total amount of money expended by the present 
 commission up to January 1st, 1859, is $585,369,27. 
 At the rate at which the work has progressed during the 
 past year, the park would probably be completed — ex- 
 cept in the items of final ornamentation — as soon as the 
 autumn of 1860. The roads and walks of that portion of 
 the park lying between Fifty-ninth and Eighty-sixth 
 streets will probably be completed and thrown open to 
 the public during the current year. 
 
 DESCRIPTION OF THE DESIGN. 
 
 In making the design for the improvement of the park, 
 its authors seem to have had in view the following objects : 
 
 To so provide for the recreative wants of the whole 
 people, that each class might, as far as possible, suit its 
 own particular taste in the matter, without interference 
 from those of different tastes ; — 
 
 To afford, in the arrangement of the park, the most 
 pleasing possible contrast with the confinement and an- 
 gularity of the city ; — and 
 
 To provide for the transaction of business between the 
 inhabitants of the opposite sides of the city (separated by 
 the park), in such a manner as not to inconvenience 
 those using the park for pleasure and recreation. 
 
 In the attainment of these objects, their design is 
 peculiarly fortunate. The park will be used by persons 
 in carriages, on horseback, and on foot. Comfort and 
 personal safety demand that those adopting each means of 
 locomotion, shall be enabled to proceed without coming 
 in immediate contact with the others ; while the gratifi- 
 cation of a natural pride, as well as of ordinary curiosity, 
 suggests that they should frequently be brought suf- 
 
GUIDE TO THE CENTRAL PARK. 
 
 9 
 
 ficiently near to each other for mutual observation and 
 criticism, and occasionally for conversation. 
 
 By reference to the plan it will be seen that the Drive 
 (D), the Bridle-road (B), and the Walks (W), are separate 
 and distinct from each other (crossing, where it is neces- 
 sary to cross, by means of bridges on different levels), 
 while they frequently run so near together as to bring 
 their occupants within close observation of each other. 
 All of these routes, laid out on easy grades, are beauti- 
 fully located with reference to the surrounding landscape, 
 and are carefully adapted to their respective purposes. 
 
 By an examination of the plan in connection with the 
 site of the park, it will be seen that not only are its 
 graceful lines in contrast with the formal arrangement 
 of the city streets, but that they are so located as to 
 afford, as much as possible, rich and varied views within 
 the park, while they are secluded by variations of the 
 surface, or by plantations, from everything beyond it. 
 The park is intended to contain, within its: If, every at- 
 tainable element of rural or ruro-artistical beauty, — broad 
 lawns, and ornamental water; plain, and hillside; trees, 
 and shrubbery; terraces, and fountains; and, in short, 
 every thing that a liberal expenditure can compass, to 
 place the attractions of the most luxurious country-seat 
 within the reach of all classes of our population. 
 
 The provision for business travel through the park 
 (from one side of the city to the other) is by means of 
 thoroughfares passing under the pleasure roads, and, in 
 one instance, tunnelled for a short distance through a 
 rocky hill. The visitor to the park will observe that 
 these roads (marked T. R. on the plan), while they are 
 nearly straight, affording direct communication between 
 
10 
 
 GUIDE TO THE CENTRAL PARK. 
 
 the Fifth and Eighth avenues, are neither 4 ditches,' nor 
 * canals/ as they have occasionally been termed by those 
 with whom they have not found favor. In no case are 
 they below the grade of the park throughout their entire 
 length. Much of the park lies below their level, and 
 there will be no obstacle to their perfect drainage. They 
 are so arranged as not to obstruct the views across the 
 park, and not to cause its visitors the annoyance of en- 
 countering business traffic in their pleasure walks or rides. 
 The park, at night, will necessarily be closed ; but these 
 thoroughfares, having no direct communication with it, 
 can remain constantly open. 
 
 DETAILS OF THE PLAN. — THE MALL. 
 
 The chief feature of the park, — its Hall of reunion, 
 so to speak, — is a Mall, or broad walk (marked M. in the 
 plan), two hundred and eight feet wide, and one-fourth 
 of a mile in length; to be planted with four rows of 
 American elms, and to be covered with closely kept 
 grass, except for a width of thirty feet between the two 
 inner rows of trees, where there is to be formed a gravel 
 walk, intended for more direct promenading, though 
 visitors will be allowed to stroll on the grass at their 
 pleasure. With the requisite facilities for lounging, this 
 will be one of the most popular features of the park. It 
 will be approached, at its southern extremity, through 
 an ornamented space, or vestibule; and it is to ter- 
 minate, at its northern end, in a ivaler terrace (T), which, 
 with its fountain, will be ornamented with sculpture and 
 mosaic pavement. This terrace adjoins the principal lake, 
 and is but little above it. The view through the central 
 aisle of the mall will terminate at the point (K) now oc- 
 
GUIDE TO THE CENTRAL PARK. 
 
 11 
 
 eupied by the bell- tower, where there will be erected a 
 small tower of rude masonry. 
 
 THE DRIVES. 
 
 The main entrance to the park, at Fifth avenue and 
 Fifty-ninth street, is set back a sufficient distance from the 
 corner to allow it to be seen to advantage, and to form an 
 ante-park large enough for the accommodation of standing 
 vehicles. 
 
 There will also be entrances to the carriage road at 
 Seventh avenue and Fifty-ninth street, and at Eighth 
 avenue near Sixty-second street ; the main entrance 
 being that at Fifth avenue and Fifty-ninth street, from 
 which point the road leads, by a nearly direct course, 
 to the mall. Here it divides, and, branching off ti the 
 right and to the left, continues on toward the northern 
 end of the park — as will be seen by reference to the 
 plan (D). It is intersected, in both of its branches, by a 
 carriage road, which connects the Fifth and the Eighth 
 avenues at Seventy-second street, passing across the 
 terrace end of the mall. This intersecting; road com- 
 pletes a circuit about the mall, more than three-fourths 
 of a mile in length. The carriage road from Seventh 
 avenue and Eighth avenue, near Sixty-second street, 
 skirts or passes in rear of the playground (P. G.) and 
 the parade. The drive will, at certain points, afford 
 views of the water in the Croton reservoirs ; and through 
 the upper park (north of the reservoirs) it follows easy 
 and graceful curves, developing, exceedingly well, the 
 fine views of this portion of the park. It is to commu- 
 nicate with the Sixth and Seventh avenues. It also con- 
 nects with the Fifth avenue, and with the Eighth avenue, 
 near One Hundred and Second street. The drive is tP 
 
12 
 
 GUIDE TO THE CENTRAL PARK. 
 
 be mainly forty -five feet wide, and covered with gravel 
 or broken stone, 
 
 THE BRIDLE-ROAD. 
 
 The bridle-road (marked B. in the plan) commences at 
 Fifth avenue and Fifty-ninth street, and continues near the 
 Fifth avenue line to Sixty-third street, where it passes 
 under an archway of the drive ; thence westward, pass- 
 ing under the branch drive from Seventh avenue, skirting 
 the playground, passing again under the carriage road 
 near the line of Sixty-fourth street, and thence proceed- 
 ing northward between the drive and the Eighth avenue, 
 until, at about One Hundredth street, it again passes 
 under it, and follows McGowan's pass to the north end 
 of the park, debouching at the Seventh avenue. Acces- 
 sory to the bridle-road, it is proposed to lay out an 
 equestrian road forty feet wide, about two miles long, 
 and nearly level, around the outside of the embankment 
 of the new reservoir, and a little below the walk which 
 will be formed on its top. This would have been ere now 
 commenced, had not the Croton Board refused the neces- 
 sary authority. The grounds for this refusal are not made 
 public. On account of the uncertainty in this matter, the 
 plan for this portion of the park is not fully determined on. 
 The bridle-road, in no instance, crosses the drive, nor is it 
 crossed by a foot-path, on the same level ; and it is to be 
 preserved for the exclusive use of persons on horseback. 
 Equestrians may, however, enter the carriage road at 
 pleasure. 
 
 THE WALKS. 
 
 The walks (marked W. in. the plan) are so varied in 
 extent and direction, that it would b.3 impossible to mi- 
 nutely describe them in this work. By reference to the 
 
GUIDE TO THE CENTRAL PARK. 
 
 13 
 
 plan it will be seen that they are to conduct the pedes- 
 trian to every point of interest in the whole park, and 
 that they will afford the largest opportunity for examin- 
 ing its features, and of observing its visitors. The walks 
 vary in width, from eight feet to thirty feet. They will 
 all be thoroughly drained, and well gravelled. In nearly 
 every case they cross the roads under arches or over 
 bridges, and their occupants will thus be protected 
 against accident from collision with carriages and horses 
 
 TRANSVERSE ROADS. 
 
 There are to be four transverse roads (T. E.), for the ac- 
 commodation of business travel across the park. These 
 are to run nearly straight, from side to side, commencing 
 on the Fifth avenue side at Sixty-fifth, Seventy-ninth, 
 Eighty-sixth and (about) Ninety-seventh streets. The 
 first two of these are now under construction, and will 
 probably be completed by the spring of 1860. 
 
 The total length of the roads and walks will be about 
 as follows : 
 
 Carriage roads, - - - - - 8 J miles. 
 
 Bridle roads, - - - - 5 " 
 
 Walks, somewhat over - - - - 20 " 
 
 Transverse Roads - - - - 4 11 
 
 THE LAKES. 
 
 It is in contemplation to make three lakes or ponds on 
 the park. These are represented in the plan as com- 
 plete, though they may be somewhat altered in exe- 
 cution. One of these is near the entrance at Fifth avenue 
 and Fifty-ninth street, and will be, from its bold shores, 
 particularly pleasing. The second, at about Seventy- 
 fourth street — extending nearly across the park, and 
 comprising, with its adjuncts, about 20 acres of water — 
 
14 
 
 GUIDE TO THE CENTRAL PARK. 
 
 will be finished, nearly as represented. It is this pond 
 which has been vised for skating during the past winter. 
 Its shore-line is worthy of especial attention, as affording 
 a great variety of pleasant views. The third pond, in 
 McGowan's pass, near the north end of the park, is sub- 
 ject to modification. 
 
 OPEN SPACES AND PLANTING-. 
 
 Of open spaces, there a. e four, of considerable extent. 
 Three of these (marked P. G.), of which one is opposite 
 the Seventh avenue entrance, and the others north of 
 the reservoirs, are to be used as play-grounds ; that op- 
 posite Seventh avenue is 14 acres in extent, and is pro- 
 posed to be used, chiefly, for match -games, between ball 
 and cricket clubs. It is now graded. The fourth space, 
 lying west of the mall, is to be used for large military 
 parades, and will, when not so occupied, answer the 
 purposes of a fine lawn. 
 
 The north-eastern corner of the park, between the 
 drive and the Fifth avenue, is proposed to be laid out as 
 an arboretum (A.) of American trees. Near the Fifth 
 avenue, at Seventy-fourth street, there is to be a flower- 
 garden in the symmetrical style, with a wall fountain. 
 It is contemplated, though not decided, to erect a Music 
 Hall on the hill, east of the mall, at about Seventieth 
 street. 
 
 The old State Arsenal, at Fifth avenue and Sixty- 
 fourth street, is to be remodelled and devoted to some 
 appropriate use — as for a gymnasium, or museum. 
 
 The planting of the park is not fully decided upon in 
 its details, nor would it be possible, within the limits of 
 this sketch, to discuss even its general features. The 
 
GUIDE TO THE CENTRAL PAKK. 15 
 
 location of the groups will be nearly the same as is laid 
 down in the plan. 
 
 With reference to the time at which the various parts 
 of the park will be completed, nothing definite can be 
 said, in view of the vicissitudes of governmental action. 
 Every portion of the work is being diligently advanced, 
 and it is hoped, that within two years, the engineers and 
 workmen can take their departure, and leave the final 
 completion to nature. 
 
 (Ortmanres, ^pMwms, tit. ©fto u& |itt|)crs. 
 
 The following ordinances, regulations; etc., contain directions to visitors 
 and to those employed on the work : 
 
 By Ordinance of the Commissioner*, all persons are forbidden to enter or 
 leave the park, except by the gate-ways:'* to climb or walk upon I lie 
 wall ; to turn cattle, horses, goats or swine into the park ; to carry lire- 
 arms, or to throw stones or other missiles within it ; to cut, break, or in any 
 
 * The stiles or steps over the walls are included in the term "gateways" in the 
 above ordinances. 
 
16 
 
 GUIDE TO THE CENTRAL PARK. 
 
 way injure or deface the trees, shrubs, plants, turf, or any of the build- 
 ings, fences, bridges, or other constructions upon the park; or to con- 
 verse with, or in any way hinder those engaged in its construction. 
 
 " All persons offending against these ordinances, shall be deemed guilty 
 of misdemeanor, and be punished, on conviction before the Mayor, Re- 
 corder, or any Magistrate of the City of New York, by a fine not exceeding 
 Fifty Dollars ; and in default of payment, by imprisonment not exceeding 
 thirty days." — Act of Legislature. 
 
 The Board of Commissioners of the Central Park will not be responsible 
 for any damage suffered by any one, in person or property, within the 
 park, by reason of blasting, or other operations or means of construction, 
 of the park. 
 
 SPECIAL RULES FOR BLASTING. 
 
 " At least four flags must be displayed before any blast is fired ; the 
 flag-men to be so stationed, that each can see the one next him, on each 
 side, and all the ground between them and between himself and the pit. 
 The Foreman must see that the flag-men are placed in this manner, using 
 his judgment as to the distance at which they need to be stationed from 
 the pit, which, however, should in no case be less than five hundred feet. 
 After seeing that each is at his proper station, the Foreman will stand 
 near the pit and observe for himself if the ground is clear in every direc- 
 tion, and then inquire of the flag-men — 11 all clear t n The flag-men must 
 answer, eacli — " all clear, sir /" and the Foreman, having heard this answer 
 distinctly from each, will give the order to fire. 
 
 " After the blast the Foreman will return to the pit and see that all is 
 safe ; and if so, will give the word — all over ! v which will be repeated 
 by each of the flag-men, who will then, and not till then, douse their flags 
 and leave their stations. 
 
 li Foremen are required, as their most imperative duty, to report every 
 case which may come to their knowledge, in which these rules, or their 
 own orders in regard to blasting, are disregarded, or of any neglect of 
 proper care by their assistants, flag-men, blasters, or others; and especially 
 to secure the names of any men employed on the park who may refuse to 
 regard the warnings of the flag-men. The police will spare no pains to 
 take such into custody, and no man thus convicted of fool-hardiness will 
 be allowed to remain on the park. All persons at any time on the park, 
 including strangers, are requested to report verbally or by writing, to the 
 office, or to any police officer, any disregard of the above rules, or any 
 want of proper precaution in blasting, which they may chance to observe 
 on the park. 
 
 Fred. Law Olmsted, Archite<t-in-Chief" 
 
 CAUTION. 
 
 11 Visitors and WorJemrn, take Xotice ! — Except as shall be required by 
 those employed upon the work, in the execution of their orders, it is 
 positively forbidden to any one, for any motive, to pick any fruit, flowers, 
 leaves, nuts or berries, or to remove any sticks, roots, stones, stakes, or 
 broken stakes or boards, shavings, or any rubbish or supposed trifles of any 
 kind whatever ; to throw stones, or to cut. mark, or in any way deface. 
 
GUIDE TO THE CENTRAL PARK. 
 
 17 
 
 mutilate or soil any construction, tree, bush, rock or stone, upon the Cen- 
 tral Park. 
 
 " Many persons have been heavily fined and imprisoned for disregarding 
 the above prohibitions. 
 
 1 1 Police officers and police foremen are instructed to use the utmost 
 vigilance for the detection and apprehension of offenders, without regard 
 to age, sex or condition. 
 
 "If the Park is ever to meet the requirements of the public, it must 
 from the outset be preserved from the careless and the ignorant, as well as 
 the mischievous and malicious ; and all good citizens are requested to 
 give their countenance, influence and assistance to a rigid enforcement 
 of the ordinances of the Commission for this purpose. 
 
 Fred. Law Olmsted, Architect-in-Chief. v 
 
 " The Police officers of the park report in writing, four times a day, any 
 violation of the ordinances or of the rules, and any want of punctuality 
 or dereliction from duty on the part of any one whomsoever, which they 
 may observe within the park. 
 
 "No one employed on the park will at any time address a police officer 
 on duty, except for the purpose of giving him information, or otherwise 
 assisting him in his duty. Every one is required to give assistance, bravely 
 and zealously, when called upon to do so by a police officer. Any threat, 
 sneer or other form of disrespect or discouragement in his duty addressed 
 to a police officer, will be followed by the immediate dismissal, and if of 
 aggravated character, by the arrest and legal prosecution, of the offender. 
 Foremen will always suspend any one or all of their men when required 
 to do so by a police officer, stating the circumstances in their next daily 
 report. 
 
 4 'All foremen holding police warrants will, whenever on the park, con- 
 sider themselves on police duty, as auxiliary and subordinate to the regu- 
 lar police of the park. 
 
 Fred. Law Olmsted, Architect-in-Chief." 
 
 TO THE FOREMEN OF THE PARK. 
 
 " Rumors have frequently been circulated of foremen on the park im- 
 posing upon the ignorance of their men to collect money, or obtain ser- 
 vices for other purposes than the park work. To leave no ground hereafter 
 for such reports, and to make sure, as far as possible, that each man 
 understands his rights and the limits of his obligations to the park ; it is 
 ordered that foremen read the accompanying notice to their gangs, or get 
 their general foremen, or some other officer, to do so, at least as often as 
 once a month. 
 
 Fred. Law Olmsted, At chitect-in- Chief. 
 
 CENTRAL PARK. — NOTICE TO MEN EMPLOYED. 
 
 %i Everyman should distinctly understand that he is employed solely to 
 work on the park for his regular wages, and for no other consideration 
 whatever. Nothing but his labor, compliance with the rules of the park, 
 and a civil behavior to all engaged on it. can be required of him. 
 
 '•No one has a right to receive a payment, in any form, for having pro- 
 cured any man's employment, or for retaining any man on the work. If 
 
18 
 
 GUIDE TO THE CENTRAL PARK. 
 
 any such payments are made, or any presents or treats are offered, which 
 can be considered as payments or bribes for such favors or services, they 
 will be deemed proper ground for the discharge of the person offering them. 
 
 " It is entirely contrary to the intention of employing men on the park, 
 that any influence of any sort should be brought to bear upon their politi- 
 cal opinions or actions. Officers and foremen on the park will, therefore, 
 abstain from talking with the men upon political topics, and are distinctly 
 forbidden to solicit their votes for any person or measure, on any pretence 
 whatever. Men are requested to inform the Architect-in-Chief if they are 
 ever told that it is their duty to vote one way or another because they are 
 employed on the park, or that it is necessary for them to vote one way or 
 another in order to be kept at work on the park. 
 
 Fred. Law Olmsted, Architect-in-Chief" 
 
 The park-keepers, thirty-six in number, are especially 
 instructed to answer the inquiries of visitors, and to afford 
 them every practicable assistance ; but they are not al- 
 lowed to converse with them, except for this purpose. 
 
 In addition to the keepers, who are special policemen, 
 about fifty officers, engineers, and foremen of the park, 
 also hold warrants as special policemen, and are at all 
 times on duty as an auxiliary force. 
 
 The following are the principal officers on the park : 
 
 FRED. LAW OLMSTED, 
 
 Architect-in-Chief. 
 
 Calvert Vaux, Consulting Architect. 
 J. Wrey Mould, Assistant. Alfred J. Bloor, Assistant. 
 Edw. C. Miller, " Fritz Meyer, " 
 
 Jos. B. Curtis, " 
 
 Wm. H. Grant, Superintending Engineer. 
 
 M. A. Kellogg, Assistant to Do. Peter Hogan, Ass. Eng. 
 
 J. H. Pieper, Principal Ass. Eng. J. S. Lawrence, " " 
 
 Matthew Betts, " " J. A. Robertson, " " 
 
 John Bogart, " " Gr. P. McLachlan, Draughtsman. 
 
 A. G. Childs, ,{ " Chas. Spangeneerg, " 
 
 F. T. Hawks, " " Wm. B. Swan, 
 
 Geo. E. Waring, Jr., Agricultural Engineer. 
 Henry Bieringer, Assistant. John L. Mapes, Assistant. 
 
 The head-quarters of the Officers and of the Keepers 
 
GUIDE TO THE CENTRAL PARK. 
 
 19 
 
 are on the Fifth avenue, opposite Seventy-ninth street, 
 where strangers may always apply for information con- 
 cerning the park. 
 
 HOW TO SEE THE PARK — CITY CARS. 
 
 The park may be reached by the Third, Sixth, and 
 Eisrhth avenue railroads. The Third avenue cars run 
 
 o 
 
 from the Asto? House, via the Bowery and Third avenue, 
 to Ninety-second street. It is intended to continue this 
 line to Harlem — One Hundred and Thirtieth street — by 
 the middle of July ; at present the continuation from 
 Ninety-second street to Harlem is by stages. This line 
 runs parallel to the park, two blocks distant, for its entire 
 length, and affords the best accommodations for visiting 
 those parts which are now most interesting. Passengers 
 may leave the cars at the depot (Sixty- fifth street), and 
 walk across Hamilton square and a partially open street, 
 to the Fifth avenue, entering the park at the Arsenal 
 gate or at Sixty-seventh street, the route across being 
 tolerable in dry weather ; at Seventy -first street, which is 
 open to a very favorable point of entrance ; at Seventy- 
 ninth street, on the upper side of which there is a good 
 sidewalk, to the Superintendents' offices ; at Eighty-sixth 
 street, which is flagged to the park, crossing it between 
 the reservoirs ; or at One Hundred and Ninth street, 
 which is open to the park near its northern boundary. 
 These cars run every two and a half minutes, each alter- 
 nate car (marked, over the front, " Yorkville direct/') 
 running through to Ninety-second street, and the others 
 only to Sixty-fifth street. The stages leave for Harlem 
 every eight minutes. The fare to Sixty-fifth street is five 
 ents • to any point between there and Ninety-second 
 
20 
 
 GUIDE TO THE CENTRAL PARK. 
 
 street, six cents ; and to any point above Ninety-second 
 street, ten cents. The time from the Astor House to 
 Sixty-fifth street is forty-eight minutes ; to Seventy-ninth 
 street, fifty-four minutes ; and to Ninety-second street, 
 sixty minutes. From Canal street it is eleven minutes less 
 than from the Astor House, and from Fourteenth street, 
 twenty-five minutes less. 
 
 The Sixth avenue cars run from the Astor House, and 
 from Broadway and Canal street, via Varick street, etc., 
 and the Sixth avenue, to Fifty-ninth street, the lower 
 boundary of the park. After leaving the cars, turn to 
 the left, and enter at the first or second stile. The first 
 leads to a high mass of rock, whence may be had a good 
 view of that part of the park ; and the second, by the 
 easiest route to the drive. 
 
 The Eighth avenue cars start from the same points as 
 the Sixth, and pass, via Hudson street, etc., to the Eighth 
 avenue, on which they run to Forty-ninth street, whence 
 passengers may walk, a half mile, to the park, or until 
 they meet, at Fifty-first street, (which they may, or may 
 not,) a small car, that runs to and from Fifty-ninth street. 
 From the terminus of this line, one may turn to the right, 
 and enter at the Seventh avenue gate, or continue up the 
 Eighth avenue to the Sixty-second street gate. The fare 
 on both of these roads is five cents, for any distance, and 
 the cars run at frequent intervals. 
 
 CARRIAGES 
 
 Can approach the park by Broadway and Seventh 
 avenue. The Sixth avenue is passable, but not particu- 
 larly pleasant above Forty-ninth street. The Fifth 
 avenue is now being graded above Fifty-ninth street. If 
 
GUIDE TO THE CENTRAL PAKK. 
 
 21 
 
 not found to be open, carriages can cross to the Sixth 
 avenue in front of St. Luke's Hospital (Fifty-fourth street), 
 or on Fifty-seventh street. There is an entrance to the 
 park on the Fifth avenue, about fifty feet north of Fifty- 
 ninth street, which will not be obstructed by the grad- 
 ing of the avenue; and another on Fifty-ninth street 
 near the Fifth avenue. The driving is good on the 
 Third avenue, and carriages can cross from it to the park 
 on Seventy -first, Seventy -ninth, and Eighty-sixth streets, 
 without difficulty. From the Bloomingdale road (Broad- 
 way) carriages can cross to the park on Sixty-third, 
 Seventy-first, Eighty-sixth, Ninety-third, and One Hun- 
 dred and Tenth streets — indicated on the map by arrows. 
 The Eighth avenue is passable for carriages as far as 
 Sixty-seventh street (where there is a gate), and above 
 Eighty-sixth street, but not between these streets. 
 
 The condition of the park will not be inviting for car- 
 riage travel during the coming season ; and on account 
 of the changes which it undergoes from week to week, 
 no directions as to routes can be here given ; but careful 
 drivers can always get about without danger, by fre- 
 quently inquiring their way. There are roads across 
 the park at Seventy-second street and Ninety-third street 
 — the latter is very soft in wet weather. 
 
 02s T HORSEBACK. 
 
 Equestrians may go to the park by any of the routes 
 pointed out for carriages, the Fifth avenue being the best 
 in dry weather, from not being paved above Forty-eighth 
 street ; and the Seventh avenue in wet weather, from 
 being paved to the park. Horses can usually get by the 
 difficulties at Fifth avenue and Fifty-ninth street ; or, if 
 they cannot, they can cross at Fifty-seventh street to the 
 
22 
 
 GUIDE TO THE CENTRAL PARK. 
 
 Sixth avenue, and thence go to the Seventh avenue 
 gate. When once in the park, equestrians can go where 
 they please, averting only gravel walks, new filling, 
 marshy ground, and newly-covered drains (shown by 
 long narrow mounds, six inches to one foot high), which 
 are particularly dangerous. Persons taking Fifth avenue 
 stages can conveniently supply themselves with horses, 
 as Disbrow's Biding School is near the end of the route 
 — Fifth avenue and Thirty-ninth street. 
 
 OBJECTS OF INTEREST. 
 
 In future editions of this work it is intended to specify 
 all objects of interest in and about the park, as fast as the 
 work is completed. At present there is little that is wor- 
 thy of the especial notice of the mere pleasure-seeker, 
 except "the Eamble." and McGowan's Hill, Eighth 
 avenue and One Hundred and Sixth street ; although 
 those interested in rural construction will much enjoy an 
 occasional tramp over the park, comparing it with the 
 map, and watching the progress of the work. 
 
 THE RAMBLE. 
 
 Between the old Eeservoir and the large lake, there is 
 a hilly tract of about forty acres, most of which is com- 
 pleted, with gravel walks, shrubbery, etc. This portion 
 of the grounds is now ready for public use, and its taste- 
 ful ornamentation augurs well for the beauty of the whole 
 park. The views by which these pages are embellished, 
 were suggested by proposed effects in the Eamble. For 
 a pleasant stroll in real country, a picnic on moss-covered 
 rocks, or a convenient view of the work, the Eamble will 
 be a great boon to the New Yorkers. At the west side of 
 this tract there is a considerable natural cave or fissure 
 
GUIDE TO THE CENTRAL PARK. 
 
 23 
 
 in the rocks, which is commended to the especial attention 
 of children. The best approach to the Eamble is by the 
 Third avenue cars to Seventy-first street, thence across to 
 the park, following the McAdam road toward the Bell 
 Tower (see K on the map) as far as the dam at the foot of 
 the lake, and thence up the broad walk to the left. It may 
 also be conveniently reached by the Seventy-ninth street 
 entrance, crossing the cedar knoll back of the offices. 
 
 mcgowan's hill, 
 Including the most interesting part of the newly au- 
 thorized addition to the park, is one of the most pictur- 
 esque spots on the island. Not only is it fine in itself, 
 but it commands a very extensive view, including Staten 
 Island, the Palisades, Westchester County, Long Island 
 Sound, and the hills of Long Island. It is the immediate 
 locality of an old line of fortifications. It may be ap- 
 proached by the Third avenue and One Hundred and 
 Ninth street, the best ascent to the hill being around on 
 the Eighth avenue side, near One Hundred and Eighth 
 street. It is the best convenient resort for parties de- 
 siring a " day in the country." 
 
 TREE PLANTING. 
 
 The Mall, which, by the way, comprises five acres of 
 made soil three and a-half feet deep, is now being sup- 
 plied with American elms of twenty years' growth. 
 These trees are brought on trucks from an average dis- 
 tance of thirty miles ; and the manner of planting them 
 is, at least, interesting to horticulturists. 
 
 DRAINING. 
 
 Those who are interested in such matters will find, on 
 the park, an example of the most approved system of 
 
24 
 
 GUIDE TO THE CENTRAL PARK. 
 
 tile drainage, which they can at any time examine, in 
 connection with the plans, by applying to the Agricultu- 
 ral Engineer, or his assistants, at the Superintendents' 
 offices, Fifth avenue and Seventy-ninth street. 
 
 ROCK BLASTING. 
 
 The hours for blasting are 8 20 & 11 40 a.m. & 3 20 p. m. 
 This extensive cannonading, in which about forty kegs 
 of powder are used every day, can be safely viewed from 
 elevated points near the entrances, or in the Ramble, 
 and from McGowan's Hill. 
 
 Those who desire to spend a day in examining the 
 work on the park, are recommended to go first to the 
 Superintendents' offices (in case they desire information), 
 thence to the Bell Tower, thence toward the Arsenal, 
 from there across to the middle, or west side of the park, 
 and to follow the Drive to McGowan's Hill, and down on 
 the Fifth avenue side. They can get items of informa- 
 tion from the engineers and policemen on the ground. A 
 satisfactory examination may be made in a few hours on 
 horseback. 
 
SUPPLEMENT. 
 
 August 25th, 1859. 
 
 PROMENADE CONCERTS. 
 
 A fund for the purpose having been supplied, by sub- 
 scription, by citizens, Dod worth's Band gives a Concert 
 in the Eamble every Saturday, when the weather is favor- 
 able, commencing at 4 1-2 o'clock, P. M., and continuing 
 until dusk. Printed programmes are for sale on the 
 ground, at the time of the Concert — from that of the fifth 
 Concert we extract the following : — 
 
 Note. — The seats provided are not intended to be occu- 
 pied by the same persons (unless invalids) during all the 
 Concert. There will be an interval of fifteen minutes be- 
 tween the parts, to allow promenaders to extend their 
 walks to the lower parts of the Ramble. The Water 
 Boys are paid for their services, and visitors are requested 
 not to offer them gratuities. The expense attending these 
 Concerts is defrayed, in every particular, by the voluntary 
 contributions of citizens. If there should be any profit 
 attending the sale of these Programmes, it will be applied 
 to the same end. Subscriptions to sustain the Concerts 
 are solicited, and may be addressed to the Superintendent 
 of the Park. 
 
 These Concerts are very largely attended, and have 
 made the Ramble one of the most fashionable resorts of 
 the city. 
 
 THE RAMBLE, 
 
 at the north side of which the Band is stationed, is best 
 approached from the Third Avenue cars by 71st street 
 
 (25) 
 
26 
 
 SUPPLEMENT. 
 
 and the 72d street entrance, from which point there is a 
 finished gravel and plank walk ; or, from the Sixth Ave- 
 nue cars, by a similar walk, which is quite direct through, 
 or on the west side of the Mall,— past the partially-com- 
 pleted terrace at its northern end, — and past the eastern 
 end of the lake. 
 
 Carriages can, without difficulty, go to the foot of the 
 Ramble, near the eastern end of the pond, and safely to 
 to the northern part of the Ramble (near the music-stand). 
 The latter point is approached by cart-roads from 79th 
 street and Fifth Avenue, and from 72d street and Eighth 
 Avenue, running west of the pond to 79th street, and 
 thence up the hill to the south end of the Bell Tower 
 Rock. 
 
 Saddle Horses can very easily follow the same roads. 
 
 PRESENT CONDITION AND PROSPECTS OP THE PARK. 
 
 With the exception of the filling at the Fifth and 
 Eighth Avenues and 59th street, and the widening of 59th 
 street, which are delayed by a failure of the contractors 
 to complete their work within the contract-time ; and of 
 certain bridges which cannot probably be completed this 
 Fall, owing to the difficulty of procuring a sufficient quan- 
 tity of stone, it is expected that the drives and walks 
 below 79th street on the east side, and below 72d street 
 on the west side of the Park, will be completed in Octo- 
 ber. The gaps occasioned by the incomplete bridges, will 
 be passed by temporary roads; and, in less than one 
 month from this date, there will be a very good drive on 
 the lower Park. 
 
M AP <)K THE 
 
 ROADS WALKS OBNAMBTTTAL WATER etc. etc OF THE CENTRAL, PARK 
 
ANTI- SLAVERY TRACTS. No. 3. 
 
 COLONIZATION. 
 
 BY REV. O. B. FROTHING HAM. 
 
 I. The Colonization Society propose transporting to Africa the 
 whole free colored population of the United States, with or without 
 their consent. Said Mr. Webster, a If Virginia or the south see fit to 
 make any proposition to relieve themselves from the burden of their 
 free colored population, they have my free consent that the govern- 
 ment shall pay them out of these proceeds (two hundred million 
 dollars) any sum of money adequate to that end.' 7 Said Mr. Stanton, 
 of the " ebony line ,} of steamers, " Have we not driven away the red 
 man ? Who shall say nay when we say to the black man, You are 
 not wanted ? 77 Mr. Brodnax, of Virginia, avowed himself in favor 
 of compulsory laws to force the blacks into exile, and would extort 
 their " consent " by a species of oppression calculated to make 
 their situation here insupportable. He even confesses that some are 
 induced to emigrate " by the gentle admonition of a severe flagella- 
 tion.' 7 It is a fact, that out of eight thousand five hundred persons 
 sent by this society to Liberia, up to the year 1853, four thousand 
 and ninety-three were emancipated in view of emigrating. Of course 
 these had no choice about going. 
 
 II. The object of this wholesale banishment of the free blacks is 
 the security of the slave system. Proofs of this abound. We have 
 room for a few only. 
 
 1. The idea of removing the free blacks of the south, by colo- 
 nizing them in remote Africa, originated in 1777. But the first vig- 
 orous impulse towards it was given, in 1800, by a threatened insur- 
 rection in Virginia ; in consequence of which the governor was 
 " requested to correspond with the President of the United States 
 on the subject of purchasing lands without the limits of this State, 
 whither persons obnoxious to the laws, or dangerous to the peace 
 1 (1) 
 
2 
 
 ANTI-SLAVERY TRACTS. 
 
 of society , may be removed. 1 '' This was the beginning — a dread 
 of the disturbing presence of the free blacks — a dread on the part 
 of slaveholders, anxious to secure their property. 
 
 2. The society was founded and supported by slaveholders. It 
 had its birth in Virginia. At its formation Mr. Clay presided and 
 John Randolph spoke. Its first president was Judge Washington, 
 of Virginia. Its seventeen vice presidents were all from the south. 
 Its managers were owners of slaves. The substitution, in later years, 
 of northern men with southern principles for southern men has 
 not affected this peculiarity a whit. Its organs declare that " slave- 
 holders have given the society their approval ; that they will ap- 
 prove it ; and can approve no other ; " of course because it maintains 
 slavery. 
 
 3. The society has never manifested hostility to the institution of 
 slavery. This would seem to follow from the nature of the case. 
 But here are evidences : John Randolph, at the meeting called, in 
 1816, "-to consider the propriety and practicability of colonizing the 
 free people of color in the United States, and of forming a society 
 for that purpose," declared publicly that the meeting, in its effects, 
 " must materially tend to secure the property of every master in the 
 United States over his slaves. And again, in another speech : " The 
 measure proposed will prove one of the greatest securities to enable 
 the master to keep in possession his own property." To the same 
 purport hear Henry Clay : " It is not proposed to consider any 
 question of emancipation, or that is connected with the abolition of 
 slavery. I am myself a slaveholder, and consider that species of 
 property as inviolable as any other in the country." The society 
 " has always protested," say some memorialists. (12th Ann. Rep.,) 
 u that it has no wish to interfere with the delicate, but important, 
 question of slavery." u Its object, if I understand it aright," said 
 Mr. Archer, of Virginia, a involves no intrusion upon property, or even 
 upon prejudice." " It is necessary," contends Hermannus Bleecker, 
 " to disclaim all attempts for the immediate abolition of slavery, or 
 the instruction of the great body of the blades." Rev. J. M. Pease 
 announces that " in no sense whenever does the genius of this institu- 
 tion interfere with the legal relatien of master and servant. It 
 acknowledges the constitutionality of that relation, and the providen- 
 iial arrangement by which it subsists./* The editor of the New 
 
COLONIZATION. 
 
 3 
 
 York Colonization Society's Journal, (March, 1853.) informs his 
 readers that the Colonization Society was formed to assist free col- 
 ored people, and only such, and from its beginning disclaimed, as a 
 society, all interference with the question of slavery. Henry A. 
 Wise, of Virginia, in 1839, called on the Colonization society "to 
 maintain that great original principle on which it was founded — 
 friendship to the slaveholders." More than this, the society is often 
 recommended as the safeguard and defence of slavery. Thus in 
 the African Repository, vol. i. p. 67, we read : " The object of the Colo- 
 nization Society commends itself to every class. The landed proprie- 
 tor may enhance the value of his property by assisting the enterprise," 
 and " may contribute more effectually to the continuance and strength 
 of this system, by removing those now free, than by any or all other 
 methods which can possibly be devised." Again : Mr. Archer 
 speaks : " It is on the ground of interest, therefore, the most indis- 
 putable pecuniary interest, that I address myself to the people and 
 legislatures of the slaveholding States." Hon. T. Butler King, 
 writing to F. P. Stanton about his "ebony line,*' says, "The slaves 
 cannot be removed ; but the free colored people can be, and the secu- 
 rity of both master and servant promoted." Thus do the slavehold- 
 ing colonizationists describe their favorite institution : " Its objects 
 are, in the first place, to aid ourselves by relieving us from a species 
 of population pregnant with future danger and present inconven- 
 ience." In the African Repository, vol. xii. p. 375, it is maintained 
 " that the rights of the master or owner of slave property are ac- 
 knowledged by the divine law." And this is good colonization 
 doctrine, often uttered by the most eminent champions of the society. 
 
 4. The Colonization Society does not encourage emancipation. 
 u The managers could with no propriety depart from their original 
 and avowed purpose, and make emancipation their object. And they 
 would further say, that, if they were not thus restrained by the terms 
 of their association, they would still consider any attempts to promote 
 the increase of the free colored population by manumission unneces- 
 sary, premature, and dangerous." " The rights of the masters are to 
 remain sacred in the eyes of the society." (African Repos. vol. xi. 
 p. 58, and iv. 274.) " It would be as humane to throw them from the 
 decks in the middle passage as to set them free in our country. We 
 believe there is not the slightest moral turpitude in holding slaves 
 
4 
 
 AN TI- SLAVERY TRACTS. 
 
 under existing circumstances at the south." (African Repos. vol. 
 ix. p. 4.) And Mr. Hopkins, president of the Geneva (New York) 
 Colonization Society, goes further : " As I understand the Epistle to 
 Timothy," he says, " there is an express injunction not to preach man- 
 umission." Distinguished patrons of this scheme have not been 
 forward in emancipating their slaves. Judge Washington, the 
 first president of the society, in 1821 undeceived his sanguine serfs 
 by assuring them that none of them need expect freedom, and 
 soon after sold fifty-four to the New Orleans market. Its second 
 president, Mr. Carroll, held through life, and bequeathed at his 
 death, one thousand slaves. Mr. Madison, another president, left a 
 hundred slaves to his heirs, sending none to Liberia. Mr. Clay 
 directed that his slaves should be kept in bonds twenty-five years 
 after his death, and then should be removed to Liberia. Coloniza- 
 tion operates, not to accelerate emancipation, but to retard it. That 
 it must have this effect is plain, because the removal of the free 
 blacks enhances the value of slave property, and manumission 
 causes the market price of the non-manumitted to rise. It is doubtful 
 if the rate of emancipation has ever to any considerable extent been 
 influenced by this scheme. It has depended upon the cotton crop. 
 Statistics show that when the cotton crop, between 1800 and 1820, 
 increased nearly threefold, the number of emancipations decreased 
 nearly two thirds. Emancipations multiplied between 1820 and 
 1830, the value of the cotton crop remaining nearly stationary. In 
 1830-1840 they dwindled away more than one half, owing to the 
 more than double value of the cotton crop ; and in 1840-1850 they 
 diminished almost to nothing, from a similar cause. All this proves 
 that colonization does not encourage emancipation. It is perfectly 
 willing to leave slavery where and 'what it is, and only aims to 
 remove the already free people, whose presence menaces its safety. 
 
 5. The Colonization Society wages war upon the free blacks. It 
 calls them " notoriously ignorant, degraded, and miserable, mentally 
 diseased, broken spirited ; acted upon by no motives to honorable 
 exertion; scarcely reached in their debasement by the heavenly 
 light : " an incubus, a nuisance ; "more addicted to crime, and vice, 
 and dissolute manners than any other portion of the people of the 
 United States." And not in pity is this said of them, but in hate, 
 and with the design of awakening against them more hate. What 
 
COLONIZATION. 
 
 5 
 
 kind of love is it that thus vilifies its objects \ What kind of love 
 is it that strives to deepen degradation ; that views with u highest 
 gratification 75 the barbarous edicts of southern legislatures, by which 
 free colored people entering the State (Maryland) must pay twenty 
 dollars ; on conviction, for the first offence, and five hundred dollars 
 for the second offence, or be sold to satisfy the demand ; * are forbid- 
 den to attend religious meetings, save when conducted by whites ; t 
 and may not sell any of the most common articles of traffic among 
 whites, nine in number, without proving by certificate that they 
 came honestly by them ? Do they who despise and persecute the 
 blacks here really wish them well anywhere, even in Liberia? To 
 think so is absurd. Men do not scorn and revile those they love. 
 The free blacks are objects of antipathy ; and in banishing them, 
 the slaveholders wish only to protect themselves. 
 
 6. Finally, the enemies of slavery, with almost unanimous con- 
 sent, are hostile to the Colonization Society. Repeatedly have the 
 free people of color exposed and protested against it, as in direct 
 opposition to their best hopes, prospects, and rights. As early as 
 1817, ere an anti-slavery society was formed, it was denounced in Vir- 
 ginia, and by public resolves, as cruel, and " in direct violation of 
 those principles which have been the boast of the republic." And 
 in 1853 the colored people of Syracuse held a meeting, and unani- 
 mously resolved, u That our abhorrence of the scheme of African 
 colonization is not in the slightest degree abated; that we recognize 
 in it the most intense hatred of the colored race, clad in the garb of 
 pretended philanthropy." The same estimate of its character was 
 formed and promulgated by such men as Wilberforce, Macaulay, 
 Gurney, Lushington, Buxton, Cropper, and O'Connell. And Thomas 
 Clarkson, in a letter to Mr. Garrison, giving his reasons for first 
 accepting, and afterwards rejecting, the plan, says, u I will only 
 say that I saw the scheme — shall I say the diabolical scheme? — 
 with new eyes, and that the new light thrown upon it determined 
 me to wash my hands clean forever of the undertaking." Who are 
 the truest friends of the slave — such persons as these ? or the 
 Clays, Stantons, Wises, and Archers, who favor colonization ? 
 
 * One half the net proceeds of sale goes to the State Colonization Society ! 
 f In Baltimore and Annapolis it is only necessary that the meeting should be held 
 " with the written permission of a white licensed ordained preacher." 
 1 * 
 
6 
 
 A NT I -SLAVERY TRACTS. 
 
 We think now we have fairly proved our propositions, that the 
 Colonization Society aims to expatriate the free blacks of the United 
 States, and that in doing this it has in view the security of slavery. 
 Many more evidences might be produced ; but let candid men pon- 
 der these. Let them consider, moreover, how much respect is fairly 
 due to a society whose agents say one thing at the north, and an- 
 other at the south * commend slavery in Georgia, and condemn it 
 in Massachusetts ; profess themselves the friends of the negro on 
 one side of the line, and the friends of the negro's oppressor on the 
 other side ; and use unsuspecting anti-slavery feeling to advance 
 the ends of crafty pro-slavery principles. Let them estimate the 
 feasibility of a scheme so slow that in thirty-six years it transported 
 to Liberia only about two thirds of the annual increase of the free 
 black population, and not one sixth of the annual increase of those 
 in bondage, and so costly that Mr. Webster's famous bid of two 
 hundred million dollars would pay not quite one third of the ex 
 pense of carrying it out. Let them ask what kind of civilization is 
 likely to be diffused in Africa by slaves, and how it is possible that 
 a free, enlightened Christian republic can be established by people 
 who are " notoriously ignorant, degraded, and miserable ; more 
 addicted to crime, and vice, and dissolute manners than any other 
 portion of the United States." Let them w T eigh well these facts and 
 reasonings ) and if they hear from colonizationists, as they will, 
 6entiments verbally at variance with the propositions maintained 
 above, let them regard such as illustrations of the duplicity, the sub- 
 lime hypocrisy and treachery, which are not the least remarkable 
 among the peculiarities of this remarkable society. 
 
 PROTEST. (1833.) 
 
 We the undersigned, observing with regret that the American Coloniza- 
 tion Society appears to be gaining some adherents in this country, are desi- 
 rous to express our opinions respecting it. 
 
 Our motive and excuse for thus coming forward are the claims which the 
 society has put forth to anti-slavery support. These claims are, in our opin- 
 ion, wholly groundless ; and we feel bound to affirm that our deliberate 
 judgment and conviction are, that the professions made by the Colonization 
 Society, of promoting the abolition of slavery, are altogether delusive. 
 
 As far as the mere colony of Liberia is concerned, it has, no doubt, the 
 advantages of other trading establishments. In this sense it is beneficial 
 
COLONIZATION. 
 
 7 
 
 both to Africa and America, and we cordially wish it well. We cannot, 
 however, refrain from expressing our strong opinion that it is a settlement 
 of which the United States ought to bear the whole cost. We never required 
 of that country to assist us in Sierra Leone. We are enormously burdened 
 by our own connection with slavery ; and we do maintain that we ought 
 not to be called on to contribute to the expenses of a colony which, though 
 no doubt comprising some advantages, was formed chiefly to indulge the 
 prejudices of American slaveholders, and which is regarded with aversion 
 by the colored population of the United States. 
 
 With regard to the extinction of the slave trade, we apprehend that 
 Liberia, however good the intentions of its supporters, will do little or noth- 
 ing towards it except on the extent of its own territory. The only effectual 
 deathblow to the accursed traffic will be a destruction of slavery throughout 
 the world. To the destruction of slavery throughout the world, we are com- 
 pelled to say that we believe the Colonization Society to be an obstruction. 
 
 Our objections to it are, therefore, briefly these: While we believe its pre- 
 texts to be delusive, we are convinced that its real effects are of the most 
 dangerous nature. It takes its root from a cruel prejudice and alienation 
 in the whites of America against the colored people, slave or free. This 
 being its source, the effects are what might be expected ; that it fosters and 
 increases the spirit of caste, already so unhappily predominant ; that it 
 widens the breach between the two races ; exposes the colored people to 
 great practical persecution, in order to force them to emigrate ; and, finally, 
 is calculated to swallow up and divert that feeling which America, as a 
 Christian and a free country, cannot but entertain, that slavery is alike in- 
 compatible with the law of God and with the well being of man, whether 
 the enslaved or the enslaver. 
 
 On these grounds, therefore, and while we acknowledge the colony of 
 Liberia, or any other colony on the coast of Africa, to be in itself a good 
 tiling, we must be understood utterly to repudiate the principles of the 
 American Colonization Society. That society is, in our estimation, not 
 deserving the countenance of the British public. 
 
 Wm. Wilberforce, Scffield, 
 Wm. Smith, , S. Lushington, M. P., 
 
 Zachary Macaulay, Thos. Foweil Buxton, 
 
 Wm. Evans, M. P., James Cropper, 
 
 Samuel Gurnet, William Allen, 
 
 George Stephen, Daniel O'Connell, M. P. 
 
8 
 
 ANTI- SLAVERY TRACTS. 
 
 TESTIMONY OF THOMAS CLARKSON. 
 
 This lamented British philanthropist, in a letter addressed to 
 William Lloyd Garrison in 1840. explaining in what manner he 
 became deceived in regard to the real character and designs of the 
 American Colonization Society, says, — 
 
 " You w?ll see in this narrative my reasons for patronizing at first the 
 American Colonization Society, and my reasons, also, for having afterwards 
 deserted it. I left it, first, because it was entirely impracticable. This is a 
 sufficient reason of itself; for no man in his senses would pursue a plan 
 which he thought could never be accomplished. I left it, secondly, because 
 I thought that newly -emancipated slaves were not qualified to become colo- 
 nists in Africa to any good purpose. How could persons be sent with any 
 propriety to civilize others w r ho wanted civilizing themselves ? Besides, the 
 advocates for the Colonization Society in America had no right to send the 
 scum of their population to Africa, to breed a moral pestilence there. * * * 
 If the society did not take these people, then the prospectus offered to the 
 public had no meaning in it, and slavery could never, according to its 
 promises, be extinguished in the United States." 
 
 Referring to the speeches made by the friends of the Colonization 
 Society in different states of the Union, he adds, — 
 
 "It appeared from these speeches that the most violent supporters of this 
 society were planters themselves, and that the speakers did not hesitate to 
 hold out the monstrous and hateful proposition, that the negroes were not 
 men and women, but that they belonged to the brute creation. It w r as impos- 
 sible to read these speeches, which were so many public documents, and not 
 perceive that the persons then assembled were no friends, but bitter enemies, 
 to the whole African race, and that nothing in the way of good intentions to- 
 wards the negro could be expected from them. It is unnecessary for me to 
 attempt to describe what my feelings were upon this occasion. I will only 
 say that I saw the scheme — shall I say the diabolical scheme ? — with new 
 eyes, and that the new light thus thrown upon it, added to the two argu- 
 ments before mentioned, determined me to wash my hands clean forever of 
 the undertaking. * * * 
 
 " I have now given you my reasons "for having once patronized the Colo- 
 nization Society and then deserted it, and hope you will consider them 
 satisfactory. I am, dear sir, with great esteem, 
 
 Very truly and cordially yours, 
 
 THOMAS CLARKSON." 
 
 Published for gratuitous distribution, at the Office of the American 
 Anti-Slavery Society, No. 138 Nassau Street, New York. Also 
 to be had at the Anti- Slavery Offices, No. 21 Cornhill, Boston, and 
 No. 31 North Fifth Street, Philadelphia. 
 
ANTI-SLAVERY TRACTS. No. 5. 
 
 THE INTER-STATE SLAVE TRADE. 
 
 BY JOHN G. PALFREY. 
 
 It is only about seventy years since Clarkson, Wilberforce, and 
 their philanthropic associates began to move the British legislature 
 for the abolition of the African slave trade. Every obstacle which 
 the basest cupidity' could contrive was placed in their way. The 
 West India interest worked upon the commercial interest, and both 
 together upon the manufacturing interest, and all three upon the 
 landed interest, and the united four upon the ministry and Parlia- 
 ment. Liverpool and Bristol, with millions invested in the nefari- 
 ous business, raised as holy a howl as New York did four years ago 
 when the Union was in danger. In his place in the House of Lords, 
 a prince of the blood presumed to stigmatize Wilberforce and his 
 friends as " either fanatics or hypocrites." He lived to set his name 
 as king to the immortal act which abolished slavery from the Brit- 
 ish dominions. His throne might have been overset by this time 
 if he had stuck to the doctrines of his misguided youth. 
 
 In monarchical England there was a power too strong for princes 
 or ministers, planters or spinners, merchants or landed gentlemen, 
 or all of them together. It was a plain common sense, informed by 
 a moral and religious sense, in the minds and hearts of the British 
 people. By dint of industrious writing and talking through some 
 five and twenty years, that sentiment got its peremptory voice heard 
 in Parliament ; and then omnipotent Parliament made known to 
 Liverpool and Bristol merchant that, if he did not want to go to 
 Botany Bay for fourteen years, he must let alone dealing in dark- 
 colored men — an alternative of which it changed the terms a little, a 
 few years afterwards, by substituting hanging for transportation. And 
 so a hitherto creditable business fell into great disesteem, in which 
 condition it has remained in England to this day. Not a decent 
 man is known to have been hung under that law. The decent men 
 took note of it, and mended their manners in time. 
 
 Plenty of fortunes have been made in America in the same way ; 
 
 (1) 
 
2 
 
 ANTI- SLAVERY TRACTS. 
 
 and seventy years ago the men who made them held up their heads 
 as high as their neighbors on exchanges and in drawing rooms. 
 The carriages which had been set up by owners and masters of 
 slave ships might be seen quite lately. Horrible traditions, of no 
 ancient date, are still current at Bristol and Newport. But the 
 thing has had its day. Since 1820, if a man be caught at this busi- 
 ness, he must end his days on the gallows in America as sureJy as 
 in England. And so wholesome is the provision, that a person sus- 
 pected of dealing in Guinea slaves is now taboo among people who 
 are choice as to their company • and such is the further effect of 
 this social frown, that whoever means to make money, and at the 
 same time keep on fair terms with the circles, finds it indispensable 
 to pursue the former object by some other use $f his talents than 
 that of trading in his Maker's image in ebony. 
 
 So far, so good. But what remains to be wondered at and grieved 
 over is, that the law should make such a parade of its own incon- 
 sistency. According to the law, it is not the act that makes the crime, 
 but the place where the act is committed. If an American deals 
 in slaves on the Guinea Coast, and we can lay hands on him, we 
 hang him, not only without scruple, but with uncommon satisfac- 
 tion. But nobody has a right to touch a hair of his head for carry- 
 ing on the same business in Virginia. The slaves may be his own 
 children, and still the business is perfectly legal, and, according to 
 the local opinion, not disreputable. Judge Washington, at his slave 
 barrack overlooking the Potomac, may do just what Mongo John does 
 at his barracoon on the Rio Pongo, and yet continue to be a much- 
 considered judge of the Supreme Court of the United States, and to 
 have as good estimation with his neighbors as Mongo John with his. 
 If Judge Washington had conducted himself in this manner on the 
 Rio Pongo, and Mongo John at Mount Vernon, the law would have 
 noosed Judge Washington, while John's fellow-citizens might have 
 seated him in Congress or on the bench of the Supreme Court. 
 
 Importation from abroad being a hanging business, the domestic 
 trade thrives in the absence of competition. Guinea proper being 
 driven out of the market, the northern slave States, and especially 
 Virginia, become the American Slave Coast. Virginia breeds men 
 for exportation as Vermont breeds horses. The thing is no secret, 
 and the breeders, on their own ground, take no shame to themselves, 
 though our late minister, Mr. Stevenson, was annoyed by the charge 
 in England, and denied it. " The six thousand slaves which Vir- 
 ginia annually sends off to the south are a source of wealth to Vir- 
 
THE INTER-STATE SLAVE TRADE. 
 
 3 
 
 ginia." So wrote, in 1832, Professor Dew, of the College of William 
 and Mary, in that State. " Virginia," he continued, " is in fact a 
 negro-raising State for other States." " Negroes," said the Virginia 
 Enquirer eight years ago, " have become the only reliable staple of 
 the tobacco-growing sections of Virginia — the only reliable means 
 of liquidating debts, foreign and domestic." 
 
 The African slave trade was made a felony in England and the 
 United States because humanity in those nations cried out against 
 it as an intolerable abomination. How much less detestable an 
 abomination is the Virginian slave trade ? 
 
 In some respects it is less horrible : in others it is more so. 
 
 The sufferings of slaves in the " middle passage," or sea voyage, 
 are probably not quite paralleled in their transfer from one slave 
 State to another. The poor creatures, in the latter case, are not so 
 crowded together, nor put to such distress for want of food, water, 
 and air as when stowed in bulk between the decks of a Captain 
 Canot's little slave schooner ; though any one who has seen a coffle 
 of them on their journey, the men in pairs, handcuffed and chained 
 to the opposite sides of an iron bar, and the women and children, 
 tied to each other, driven behind them by armed brutes on horse- 
 back, will be apt to think that it is only by comparison with some- 
 thing still more wretched if their misery is not to be called extreme. 
 Here is a picture drawn by a gentleman, since Secretary of the Navy, 
 who, when he came to covet office, was fain to eat his w T ords. 
 
 " The sun was shining out very hot, and in turning an angle of 
 the road, we encountered the following group : first a little cart 
 drawn by one horse, in which five or six naked black children were 
 tumbled like pi*rs together. The cart had no covering, and they 
 seemed to have been actually broiled to sleep. Behind the cart 
 marched three black women, with head, neck, and breasts uncov- 
 ered, and without shoes or stockings. Next came three men bare- 
 headed, half naked, and chained together with an ox chain. Last 
 of all came a white man on horseback, carrying pistols in his belt, 
 and who, as we passed him, had the impudence to look us in the 
 face without blushing. I should like to see him hunted ]jy blood- 
 hounds. 7 ' 
 
 The original of this sketch, on a much larger scale, is a familiar 
 sight, in the proper season, in the transit states. 
 
 Nor as to mere loss of life is the excess of the African slave 
 trade, as compared with the American, so large as is commonly sup- 
 posed. The rice, cotton, and sugar regions are notoriously un- 
 
4 
 
 ANTI- SLAVERY TRACTS. 
 
 healthy. Persons not natives do not pass their summers in those re- 
 gions if they can help it, lest their first summer should be their 
 last. To an immigrant, spending his first summer under the* scorch- 
 ing sun in a rice ditch or a cane field, a black skin is insufficient 
 protection. Accordingly, acclimation is one of the most familiar 
 elements of a bargain in the article. The advertisements of prime 
 negroes in the more southerly slave States constantly describe them 
 as acclimated. Why ? Of course with a view to a better price. 
 And why a better price ? Of course because slaves not acclimated 
 are more likely to die on the buyer's hands. In what proportion 
 more likely to die? A writer in the New Orleans Argus, on the cul- 
 tivation of sugar, says, " The loss by death in bringing slaves from 
 a northern climate, which our planters are under the necessity of 
 doing, is not less than twenty-five per cent." It is likely he is 
 not far from right. He wrote on the spot ; there was no occasion 
 for overstatement ; and such results of experience, affecting the 
 prices current of a great article of merchandise, are just as accu- 
 rately noted and determined as the facts that fix our rates of marine 
 and life insurance are noted and ciphered out by us. But if twen- 
 ty-five per cent, is the actual ratio of loss of life in the internal slave 
 trade, it is very little, if at all, less than that of the African slave 
 trade used to be, the horrors of " the middle passage n included. 
 Sir Thomas Fowell Buxton computed that proportion to be nearly 
 one third. Newton placed it at one quarter. 
 
 But supposing a less amount of mortality and of physical suffer- 
 ing, in the process of sending to market the home-made commodity 
 of white Colonel Horseracer, of Albemarle, than takes place among 
 the prisoners shipped by black Prince Bumbo in the Bight of Be- 
 nin, other circumstances tend to throw the balance of agony on the 
 other side. Compared with the Guinea negro, his brother in Vir- 
 ginia is a civilized and cultivated person. He has much more of 
 local attachment, 'of love for wife, children, and friends, to make 
 him wretched when he is torn away from them, or they from him, 
 never to see or hear from one another more. Comparatively he has 
 sensibility, reflection, and forethought ; he can look backward and 
 forward, and each view brings aggravations to his woe. Between 
 the two sufferers there is all the difference as to mental distress that 
 there is difference in the respective capacities of suffering between 
 a human being scarcely raised above brute life and another of some 
 culture of the mind and affections. Accordingly a person who will 
 De at the pains may collect any number of perfectly well-authenti- 
 
THE INTER-STATE SLAVE TRADE. 
 
 5 
 
 cated instances of suicides committed under these circumstances, 
 with occasional killing of children by their parents to save them 
 from the dreaded doom. The same Secretary of the Navy before 
 quoted from had some account from one of the dealers of a bad 
 speculation of this kind in a young mulatto girl. 
 
 " I swore most bitterly I was only to take her to her mother's at 
 
 , and she went with me, though she seemed to doubt me. 
 
 But when she discovered that we were out of the State, I thought 
 she would go mad ; and in fact the next night she drowned herself 
 in the river close by. I lost a good five hundred dollars." # 
 
 The weak attempt to qualify the indignation of humanity and 
 Christianity at such proceedings by a denial that separations of 
 families are an incident of slave sales is too preposterous upon its 
 face to require any refutation. How likely is it that of people who 
 can make up their minds to buy and sell wives and husbands, 
 'parents and children, brothers, sisters, and so on, any considerable 
 number will be so scrupulous as to lose a good bargain rather than 
 hurt the feelings of the article bought and the article rejected? But 
 if any one is doubtful on this point, let him step into the nearest 
 reading room and look at the first column that comes in his way of 
 the advertisements daily issued in the southern newspapers. Or, if 
 more convenient, he may find ample specimens of them in various 
 books which are easily accessible ; for instance, in that unanswered 
 and unanswerable treatise, Mrs. Beecher Stowe's " Key to Uncle 
 Tom's Cabin.'' Messrs. Mayhew, Bliss, & Co., of New Orleans, 
 advertise negroes " to be sold separately or together as desired." 
 Mr. Benjamin Davis, of Hamburg, South Carolina, will sell "small 
 
 * Extracts from a letter to the writer from a gentleman in Washington : — 
 "Williams & Co., of this city, sold a woman and two children to a slave- 
 dealing house in Alexandria. While they were imprisoned, she murdered 
 the children, and the purchaser sued the vender for selling him a vicious 
 slave." 
 
 " Williams & Co., (I think — perhaps their predecessors) of this city, bought 
 a mother and two children near Rockville, Maryland, brought them here, and 
 put them in their own prison on Seventh Street and Maryland Avenue. The 
 mother murdered her two children, and then took her own life. My authority 
 was a dark intimation in the National Intelligencer that a horrid deed had 
 occurred in the city ; and this was explained to me by the people here as re- 
 ferring to this murder and suicide. No one here ever doubted the facts, so far 
 as I have information, though I had no other proof than that stated." 
 
 "Another was that of a young woman who threw herself from the long 
 bridge. The story has been poetically told by Grace Greenwood. Another 
 was the case of a young man employed in a restaurant in one of the lower 
 rooms of the Capitol. He learned that his master had sold him ; he fled, was 
 overtaken, and while his captors were preparing the irons, he took a knife from 
 his pocket and cut his throat. This occurred some two years since." 
 
 I 
 
6 
 
 ANTI-SLAVERY TRACTS. 
 
 girls, suitable for nurses, and several small boys ; without their 
 mothers." Mr. Benjamin Little, of Memphis, Tennessee, has for 
 sale " likely young negroes.' 7 Mr. T. B. McClendon, " having lo- 
 cated in Lynchburg, (Virginia,) is giving the highest cash prices for 
 negroes between the ages of ten and thirty years." Mr. Seth Wood- 
 roof " continues in market for negroes of both sexes, between the 
 ages of ten and thirty years." Mr. A. A. McLean, General Agent, 
 Cherry Street, Nashville, " wants to purchase immediately twenty- 
 five likely negroes, male and female, between the ages of fifteen 
 and twenty years." Mr. S. N. Brown, of Montgomery, Alabama, 
 "has now on hand, of his own selection and purchasing, a lot of 
 likely young negroes, consisting of men, boys, and women, field 
 hands, and superior house servants," &c. Messrs. Sanders & Fos- 
 ter, of the same place, '-intend to keep constantly on hand a large 
 assortment of negroes, comprising every description." And so on, 
 to any extent to which the inquirer may incline to go. How are- 
 these " selections " and " assortments " made ? Nature does not 
 make them. She puts young and old, coachmen and housemaids, 
 Children and their mothers, together in one group, and binds them 
 so with strong ties, and when they are assorted into different lots, it 
 is not without much laceration of heartstrings, nor without great 
 violence to nature, and impious defiance of nature's God. The 
 friends so separated — separated by force, or what may be even 
 more cruel, treacherously, and without the chance of a word of fare- 
 well — are parted never to see each other more on earth — the one 
 never to hear of the others more unless by some rare accident, 
 never to know where they live or when they die. The Presbyterian 
 synod of the slave State of Kentucky, in an address to the churches 
 under its care, before synods and other such bodies got silenced, 
 thus condensed its observations on this subject : — 
 
 " Brothers and sisters, parents and children, husbands and wives, 
 are torn asunder, and permitted to see each other no more. These 
 acts are daily occurring in the midst of us. The shrieks and the 
 agony often witnessed on such occasions proclaim, with a trumpet 
 tongue, the iniquity of our system. There is not a neighborhood 
 where these heart-rending scenes are not displayed ; there is not a 
 village or road that does not behold the sad procession of manacled 
 outcasts, whose mournful countenances tell that they are exiled by 
 force from all that their hearts hold dear." 
 
 It would be very interesting to know by what figure we are to 
 multiply the bitter distress of each single doom of this kind, in 
 
THE INTER-STATE SLAVE TRADE. 
 
 7 
 
 order to get at the sum total of woe ; in other words, to know what 
 number of persons are subjects of the inter-state slave trade. It has 
 been estimated as high as an average of forty thousand annually ; 
 and there appears no room to doubt that in some years, as in 1835 
 and 1836, this estimate was below the reality. An easy computation 
 from the census tables (which, unfortunately, in such matters can 
 by no means be relied upon as telling the whole truth) indicates 
 the number to be, on an average, something over twenty thousand a 
 year. The decennial ratio of increase in slaves in the United States 
 for fifty years preceding 1840 (and of course preceding the admis- 
 sion of Texas) was as follows, viz.: between 1790 and 1800, 27.9; 
 between 1800 and 1810,33.4 ; between 1810 and 1820,29.1; be- 
 tween 1820 and 1830, 30.61; between 1830 and 1840, 23.8. (See 
 u Report of the Superintendent of the Census for December 1, 
 1852/*' p. 153.) The average of these decennial ratios is 28.90. 
 Apply it to the slave-exporting States ; viz., Delaware, Maryland, 
 Virginia, the tw T o Carolinas, Kentucky, and Tennessee, with the 
 District of Columbia, (for we will leave out of the account the large 
 number of transfers which undoubtedly takes place between states 
 classed respectively as exporting and importing, as from Virginia to 
 South Carolina, and from Missouri to Mississippi.) In 1840 the 
 States and Territory just named held 1,484,195 slaves. Increasing in 
 the ratio of 28.96 per cent, in ten years, they should have had, in 
 1850, 1.914,017. In fact, according to the census, they had only 
 1,703,936, leaving a difference of 210,081, or something more than 
 21,000 a year, to be accounted for by emigration. On the other hand, 
 the number of slaves in the slave-importing States — viz., Georgia, 
 Florida, Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi, Arkansas, and Missouri 
 — in 1840 was 1,002,031. Increasing in the ratio of 28.96 per cent, 
 in ten years, their number in 1850 should have been 1,292,219 ; the 
 census of that year, however, ascertained it to be 1,429,544. In 
 other words, they had received 137,325, or 13,732 each year, by im- 
 portation. But the exporting States had sent out 21,008 each year. 
 What became of the residue of 72,756 — the annual residue of 
 7,275 — more than one third of the number sold out of the northern 
 slave States ? Some of them went to Texas ; by no means the 
 larger part, however ; for Texas, with all its various sources of sup- 
 ply, importations before the annexation, importations from the neigh- 
 boring and from more northerly States, and from natural increase, had 
 only 53,346 slaves in 1850. To say that Texas received one third 
 of the residue in question would be to allow an excessive propor- 
 
8 
 
 ANT I -SLAVERY TRACTS. 
 
 tion. Account in this way for an annual average of 2.276 in the ten 
 years from 1S40 to 1850 ; (during only one third of which time Texas 
 was in our possession,) it follows that an annual average of 5,000, 
 or close upon one quarter of the whole number annually exported 
 from the slave-raising States, are lost sight of after the time of ex- 
 portation. In other words, they perish in the miseries of the land 
 "middle passage/' and the " acclimation."' 
 
 Such, very imperfectly sketched, and with a total omission of 
 some material views, are the nature and extent of the inter-state 
 slave trade. Whatever may be other political relations of slavery, 
 the remedy for the unutterable wickedness of this traffic is in the 
 hands of that Congress of the United States to which the free States 
 send a majority of members. u Congress, 7 ' says the Federal Con- 
 stitution, (Art. 1. sec. 8,) "shall have power to regulate commerce 
 with foreign nations, and among the several States." Under the au- 
 thority given in the former clause. Congress made the African slave 
 trade a felony • the latter clause gives Congress the same power to 
 deal in the same way with the American slave trade. It has 
 actually legislated under the authority of this latter clause. The 
 act of March 2, 1807, prohibits the transportation of slaves from one 
 State to another in vessels of less than forty tons burden. An ex- 
 tension of the provisions of this act to vessels of any tonnage what- 
 ever would put a stop to this business as part of the coasting trade. 
 The constitution further provides (Art. 1, sec. 9) that " the migration 
 or importation of such persons as any of the States now existing 
 shall think proper to admit, shall not be prohibited by the Congress 
 prior to the year one thousand eight hundred and eight." To pro- 
 vide that importation should not be prohibited before 1808 was to 
 provide by implication that it might be prohibited after that year; 
 and accordingly the federal legislature has in fact prohibited it 
 since 1808 by law. The constitutional provision respecting migra- 
 tion is precisely the same. Ever since 1808 the legislature has had 
 the constitutional power to prohibit the migration of slaves — a 
 power which would long ago have been put into beneficent exer- 
 cise if the spirit of the fathers had not long ago died out. 
 
 Published for gratuitous distribution, at the Office of the American 
 Anti- Slavery Society, No. 138 Nassau Street, New York. Also 
 to be had at the Anti- Slavery Offices, No. 21 Cornhill, Boston, and 
 No. 31 North Fifth Street, Philadelphia.