A great proportion of the articles contributed were of a useful character, and the more necessary on that account, so many of our foreign importations belonging entirely to the domain of taste and art. Visitors occasionally say, “It is a pity you have not a larger variety of useful and cheap articles.” To such we would reply, it is almost impossible, with our scanty accommodations, to give such goods due prominence; a good deal of clothing suitable for charitable purposes was necessarily overlooked on the present occasion. We propose, another year, if possible, to have tables devoted to the sale of particular goods, to have the articles so systematically arranged, that the business of bargain and sale may be greatly facilitated.
We owe special acknowledgments to Rochester, Portsmouth, and Portland, for the very neat and beautiful ladies’ work sent from those places. It is very well suited to the Boston demand. To our Troy friend, we return our best thanks for “needle-work which is needle-work,” and which proved eminently profitable to the Bazaar. The very tasteful articles, sent by Mrs. Howe, of Cambridge, sold at once. Among our American objects of taste, we must instance the beautiful Lamp Shades, made by Miss Francis, of Cambridge, and Miss Bradford, of Duxbury; the ingenious and tasteful Leather Work, by Mrs. Bramhall and her friends, and the magnificent Bronze Vases, presented by Dr. Dix. To Mr. John P. Jewett, we are greatly obliged for his generous gift of many popular Anti-Slavery works. A Herbarium, from Miss Wilbur, of Rochester, on which great time and care had been expended, we regret to say, was unsold; but we feel not the less obliged by the kindness that prompted the gift. We find such things are in little demand, people preferring to make their own collections.
We are indebted to Pictou, Nova Scotia, for a few very nice articles.
Mr. Edmund Jackson’s annual gift of twenty-five boxes of excellent Soap, found, as usual, an immediate sale, as did much of the Britannia, Glass and Japaned Ware, so generously presented by Messrs. Morey & Ober, P. F. Slane, Kanes & Johnson, E. N. Cate, and J. C. Wyman, to whom we would beg leave to return our very sincere thanks.
We would also proffer them to Messrs. F. A. Sumner & Co., for their loan of china, and to the friends who so liberally supplied the refreshment table. The Committee feel, likewise, that they are again indebted for such kindness and personal assistance as materially lightened the burden of their labors, to Mr. Daniel T. Curtis.
They are also very sensible of the courtesy of the gentlemen of the Horticultural Society’s Committee. It is as a simple act of justice, that we would refer to the services Rev. Samuel May, General Agent of the Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society. Not ourselves, only, but the whole American Society, are his debtors. It would have been with extreme difficulty that the Bazaars of the last two or three years could have been held at all, had it not been for the most generous devotion of time and strength on his part.
We feel that we have given a very imperfect record of the gifts and labor which have secured to the Bazaar so gratifying a measure of success; but, in view of the difficulty of recalling such a multiplicity of details, we know that our omissions will be pardoned.
An unusually large number of visitors and purchasers were in attendance, during the first week; but on the second, the very terrible storm to which we have referred, proved most seriously detrimental. Commencing on the night of the 28th, it continued, with unabated violence, through the next day and night, leaving the streets almost impassable, and completely precluding all access to numbers of the country friends, who had postponed their visits till the Bazaar’s second week. In the opinion of excellent judges, our receipts were diminished not less than $500, by this cause. As the Hall had been engaged, and all arrangements made, in prospect of closing on the 31st, it was not thought best to depart from the original intention.
When we take into account the storm, disappointments and hindrances, in respect to the arrival of boxes, and the absence of the Liberty Bell, which circumstances rendered it inconvenient to issue, and then remember that our receipts have exceeded those of last year by $200, we have occasion to feel that we have great reason for hope and encouragement.
While money-making is our primary object, we yet manage to secure collateral results of a very agreeable, as well as useful character. The Bazaar furnishes an occasion, on which Anti-Slavery people of all shades of opinion, the pro-slavery world and the Poco curante, all meet together, and from the conflict of sentiment and exchange of ideas that ensue, it cannot be but that good is evolved. Much social enjoyment and much serious business are compressed into the ten days through which the Bazaar continues, and many friends from a distance make their annual visit to Boston at this season. Opportunities are also given for the direct inculcation of Anti-Slavery truth. On various evenings, addresses of a most earnest and argumentative character were given by Messrs. Garrison, Quincy, Foss, and Pillsbury.