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A COLORED AMERICAN IN ENGLAND
John S. Jacobs, 1815-1875
FROM National Anti-Slavery Standard 29 June 1861, p. 2.
THE writer of the letter from which we present the following extract is a brother of "LINDA," the fugitive slave, whose remarkably interesting life, written by herself, and revised by Mrs. Child, was lately reviewed in our columns. The letter was addressed to our friend, ISAAC POST, of Rochester.
LONDON, June 5th, 1861.
MY DEAR FRIEND: I hope you will not judge me by my long silence. Believe me, it does not characterize the language of my heart. I do not like much to deal with words, but with actions. You and your family have shown yourselves friends to me and mine, and not to me only, but to my oppressed brethren, for whose sake I hope our Father and our God will reward you all. You that have believed in the promise, and obeyed his word, are beginning to see the moving of His hand to execute judgment and bestow mercy. Those who have long sown chains and fetters will reap blood and carnage. Their troubles have begun; God only knows where they will end. The excitement in London is daily increasing, but the greater portion of the people seem to be ignorant of the character of the slaveholder and of the cause of the disturbed state of the Union, and still more so with regard to the best means of abolishing slavery. Yesterday I read the views of one man who believed it best to let the old slaves work out the freedom of their children, and when they have died off, then let the children be free, and there would be an end to the evil. This reminded me of the story of the poor-house, which I will not repeat. Last night I heard our tried and true friend, George Thompson, who tried to convince the people of this country of the great mistake they had made in not encouraging the cultivation of cotton in their colonies, and to explain the true cause of the slaveholders seceding from the Union. I am sorry to say, that with all the blood and guilt on the slaveholders' souls, there are Englishmen here that dare express sympathy for them. I hope it is their ignorance, and not the want of humanity. I do not think of leaving London at present. I shall wait to see what course the North intends to pursue. If the American flag is to be planted on the altar of freedom, then I am ready to be offered on that altar, if I am wanted; if it must wave over the slave, with his chains and fetters clanking, let me breathe the free air of another land, and die a man and not a chattel.
With dear remembrances of old friends,
I am yours, truly,
JOHN S. JACOBS.
Titles by John S. Jacobs
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