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Page 44
But I must leave the good and hospitable people of the Scottish Capital
for the present. I have taken an elaborate stock of notes, and may speak
of Edinburgh again.
I left William and Ellen Craft (the latter of whom has just come to
Edinburgh), and took the Glasgow train, and after a ride of two hours
through a beautiful country, with its winding hills on either side--its
fertile fields, luxuriant woods, and stately mansions lying around us,
arrived in the muddy, dirty, smoky, foggy city of Glasgow. As I had had
a standing invitation from a distinguished gentleman with whom I became
acquainted in London, to partake of his hospitality, should I ever visit
Glasgow, and again received a note while in Edinburgh renewing the
invitation, I proceeded to his residence at Partick, three miles from
Glasgow. This is one of the loveliest spots which I have yet seen. Our
mansion is on the side of Laurel Bank, a range of the Kilpatrick hills.
We have a view of the surrounding country.
On Monday evening, Jan. 6, a public meeting was held in the City Hall,
to extend a welcome to the American fugitive slaves. The hall, one of
the largest in the kingdom, was filled at an early hour. At the
appointed time, Alex. Hastie, Esq., M.P., entered the great room,
followed by the fugitives and most of the leading abolitionists, amid
rapturous applause. With a Member of Parliament in the chair, and
almost any number of clergymen on the platform, the meeting had an
influential appearance. From report, I had imbibed the opinion that the
Scotch were not easily moved, but if I may judge from the enthusiasm
which characterised the City Hall demonstration, I should place them but
little behind the English. After an excellent speech from the Chairman,
and spirited addresses from several clergymen, William Craft was
introduced to the meeting, and gave an account of the escape of himself
and wife from slavery, and their subsequent flight from Boston. Any
description of mine would give but a poor idea of the intense feeling
that pervaded the meeting. I think all who were there, left the hall
after hearing that noble fugitive, with a greater abhorrence of American
slavery than they previously entertained.
LETTER XIV.
_Stirling--Dundee--Dr. Dick--Geo. Gilfillan--Dr. Dick at home._
PERTH, SCOTLAND, _Jan. 31, 1851_.
I am glad once more to breathe an atmosphere uncontaminated by the fumes
and smoke of a city with its population of three hundred thousand
inhabitants. In company with our friends Wm. and Ellen Craft, I left
Glasgow on the afternoon of the 23d inst., for Dundee, a beautiful town
situated on the banks of the river Tay. One like myself, who has spent
the best part of an eventful life in cities, and who prefers, as I do, a
country to a town life, feels a greater degree of freedom when
surrounded by forest trees, or country dwellings, and looking upon a
clear sky, than when walking through the thronged thoroughfares of a
city, with its dense population, meeting every moment a new or strange
face which one has never seen before, and never expects to see again.
Although I had met with one of the warmest public receptions with which
I have been greeted since my arrival in the country, and had had an
opportunity of shaking hands with many noble friends of the slave, whose
names I had often seen in print, yet I felt glad to see the tall
chimneys and smoke of Glasgow receding in the distance, as our 'iron
horse' was taking us with almost lightning speed from the commercial
capital of Scotland.
The distance from Glasgow to Dundee is some seventy or eighty miles, and
we passed through the finest country which I have seen in this portion
of the Queen's dominions. We passed through the old town of Stirling,
which lies about thirty miles distant from Glasgow, and is a place much
frequented by those who travel for pleasure. It is built on the brow of
a hill, and the Castle from which it most probably derived its name, may
be seen from a distance. Had it not been for a "professional" engagement
the same evening at Dundee, I would most assuredly have halted to take a
look at the old building.
The Castle is situated or built on an isolated rock, which seems as if
Nature had thrown it there for that purpose. It was once the retreat of
the Scottish Kings, and famous for its historical associations. Here the
"Lady of the Lake," with the magic ring, sought the monarch to intercede
for her father; here James II. murdered the Earl of Douglas; here the
beautiful but unfortunate Mary was made Queen; and here John Knox, the
Reformer, preached the coronation sermon of James VI. The Castle Hill
rises from the valley of the Forth, and makes an imposing and
picturesque appearance. The windings of the noble river till lost in the
distance, present pleasing contrasts, scarcely to be surpassed.
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