The people of Massachusetts
felt the most profound interest in the great conflict between
slavery and freedom for the possession of the vast territory
between the Mississippi and the Pacific. But almost every
man in Massachusetts felt the Fugitive Slave Law as a personal
dishonor. I think no great public calamity, not the death
of Webster, not the death of Sumner, not the loss of great
battles during the War, brought such a sense of gloom over
the whole State as the surrender of Anthony Burns and of Sims.
Worcester, where I dwelt, was the centre and stronghold of
the anti-slavery feeling in Massachusetts. This odious statute
was, perhaps, the greatest single cause of the union of the
people of the North in opposition to the further encroachments
of slavery. Yet but two slaves were taken back into slavery
from Massachusetts by reason of its provisions. I will not
undertake to tell the story of those years which will form
an important chapter in the history of the country. But I
had a special knowledge of two occurrences which are alluded
to by Colonel Higginson in his charming essay entitled, "Cheerful
Yesterdays," in regard to which that most delightful writer
and admirable gentleman has fallen into some slight errors
of recollection.
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