Report of the Twentieth National Anti-Slavery Bazaar

by A. W. Weston

To Madame and Monsieur Geoffroy, St. Hilaire, to Madame De Tourgueneff, to Madame Brenier, to Madame De Stael, to Mademoiselle Lecomte, to Madame Meynieu, to Mademoiselle Wild and Madame Juillerant, to Mesdames Byrne and Power, to Madame De Chaune, to Madame Belloc, to the family of the great and good Arago, in particular, and to many others, not less deeply interested in our cause, we beg leave to express that sense of grateful obligation which will impel us to constant energy and fidelity in its service. In the midst of the persecution and violence we are so often obliged to witness and to meet, how much do we not owe to those friends who give us, from time to time, to feel the consolation of influences so kindly and gracious as those which come to us from France!

We will not attempt to enumerate the exquisite articles in China, Bronze, Buhl, Ivory and Leather; the Drawings, Pictures, Photographs, Toys, and petits objets of every variety, that made up the Paris collection. We think the French box, of this year, the most elegant and attractive that Mrs. Chapman has ever forwarded. A gift from Mrs. F. G. Shaw, of the wood work of Sorrento, redolent of olive groves and orange bowers, furnished Christmas and New Year’s presents that were entirely novel, while Mrs. Follen’s contribution from London was rich in Pictures, Books, and the prettiest possible Toys.

We have alluded to the donations of the absent members of our Committee, simply for the purpose of showing that while we are holding out our hands to the whole world for help, we are performing a condition essential to securing the aid of others, helping ourselves, and also, “remembering those in bonds as bound with them,” as well abroad as at home.

We now come to the detail of an event, at which we are greatly grieved, and where we are sure all Abolition hearts will sympathize with us.

That a heavy pecuniary loss should have been sustained by a Cause so poor as ours, of course we deeply regret, but that is nothing to our sorrow that the most unwearied labor and generous devotion of time and money should be met with entire failure and disappointment.

Madame C. B. Hunt, a most earnest friend of the slave, resident in Stuttgart, Wurttemberg, not satisfied with her own private contribution to his cause, but anxious for some public expression of German sympathy, undertook, almost alone, to procure the presentation of this subject to the public, in connection with collections for the Bazaar. Her exertions were very ably seconded by Pralat Kapff, a clergyman of high standing, who introduced the subject to his congregation in a very impressive manner. The work was highly successful. German artisans contributed articles and fabrics unknown in this country. German ladies of rank sent rare articles from their family repositories. Authors gave their own volumes, and artists beautiful views of the Wurttemberg Alps and adjacent scenery. Madame H. writes as follows:—​“It would be gratifying to Mrs. Stowe to know that‘Uncle Tom’ had so successfully performed his mission, that notwithstanding all the disadvantages your agent, as an unknown foreigner, had for bringing the cause before the public, still, from many distant places, as soon as the Bazaar was pointed out as a means of assisting in the emancipation of the oppressed, trifles were forwarded, some of them evidently from people in very humble life. Amongst others, I ought perhaps to mention the way in which I received the portraits of the Prince and Princess of Wurttemberg. They must have been sent by the donor, Philip Schmabried, of Munclingen, the day after he saw the advertisement, and I have no doubt they were in his eyes the greatest ornament of his humble dwelling.‘Is the sender a frame-maker, or has he a shop?’ I asked the carrier who brought them.‘Lord bless you! he is only a peasant, and he took them down from his walls,’ was the answer. I only hope they may find a purchaser who will recognise in them the hidden moral worth that they certainly possess, when one calls to mind the value persons of that class set upon such ornaments for their dwellings.”

This precious box, the object of so much care and industry, and obtained under so many disadvantages, was wrecked in the steamer Humboldt, near Halifax. This fact supplies the apology for the non-appearance at the Bazaar of several articles mentioned in our advertisements.

It only remains to us to proffer to Madame Hunt and her coadjutors, the assurance of a gratitude proportionate to their exertions. Their labor has been lost to the promotion of the Bazaar, lost to the treasury of the slave, but the fresh motive to hope and encouragement it has supplied to our hearts, can never be lost; and as to their own souls, it shall in no wise lose its reward.

The contributions of the American abolitionists are in amount about the same as in previous years. Horticultural Hall is so entirely inadequate in size, that we can hardly allow our country friends any room for separate tables, and this circumstance is naturally somewhat discouraging in its tendency. We hope it may be in our power to make more ample arrangements another year. Several of our most active Ladies’ Societies have chosen to assist us by contributions of money, rather than articles,—​a mode equally useful and acceptable. Other towns propose shortly the holding of Fairs at home, the proceeds of which are to be devoted to the American Society. The greater part of our goods that remain unsold are forwarded to these sales. Our foreign friends will perceive that this arrangement prevents the necessity of any sacrifice of merchandise on our part, and much enlarges the sphere of our operations.

We have received, in various ways, valuable assistance from the following places:—​Boston, Springfield, Milford, Fitchburg, Leicester, Duxbury, Blackstone, Concord, Salem, Lynn, Fairhaven, Fall River, Danvers, Roxbury, Cummington, Weymouth, Cambridge, West Cambridge, Raynham, Dorchester, Hingham, and Leominster, of Massachusetts; Rochester, Troy, and Staten Island, New York; Portsmouth, Concord, Weare, and Amherst, New Hampshire; Portland, Maine; Randolph, Vermont; and Brooklyn, Connecticut.