Page:My Bondage and My Freedom (1855).djvu/385

From Wikisource
Jump to navigation Jump to search
This page has been validated.
TIME AND LABORS ABROAD.
373

with my friend, Buffum, and several other friends, I went to Eaton Hall, the residence of the Marquis of Westminster, one of the most splendid buildings in England. On approaching the door, I found several of our American passengers, who came out with us in the Cambria, waiting for admission, as but one party was allowed in the house at a time. We all had to wait till the company within came out. And of all the faces, expressive of chagrin, those of the Americans were preeminent. They looked as sour as vinegar, and as bitter as gall, when they found I was to be admitted on equal terms with themselves. When the door was opened, I walked in, on an equal footing with my white fellow-citizens, and from all I could see, I had as much attention paid me by the servants that showed us through the house, as any with a paler skin. As I walked through the building, the statuary did not fall down, the pictures did not leap from their places, the doors did not refuse to open, and the servants did not say, 'We don't allow niggers in here!'

"A happy new-year to you, and all the friends of freedom."


My time and labors, while abroad, were divided between England, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales. Upon tins experience alone, I might write a book twice the size of this, "My Bondage and my Freedom." I visited and lectured in nearly all the large towns and cities in the United Kingdom, and enjoyed, many favorable opportunities for observation and information. But books on England are abundant, and the public may, therefore, dismiss any fear that I am meditating another infliction in that line; though, in truth, I should like much to write a book on those countries, if for nothing else, to make grateful mention of the many dear friends, whose benevolent ac-