Virginia, would have hung him with cheerful alacrity, and
publicly expressed his desire to do so. Douglass, with timely warning
that extradition papers had been issued for his arrest, escaped to
Canada. He had previously planned a second visit to England, and the
John Brown affair had delayed his departure by some days. He sailed
from Quebec, November 12, 1859.

After a most uncomfortable winter voyage of fourteen days Douglass
found himself again in England, an object of marked interest and in
very great demand as a speaker. Six months he spent on the hospitable
shores of Great Britain, lecturing on John Brown, on slavery and other
subjects, and renewing the friendships of former years. Being informed
of the death of his youngest daughter, he cut short his visit, which
he had meant to extend to France, and returned to the United States.
So rapid had been the course of events since his departure that the
excitement over the John Brown raid had subsided. The first Lincoln
campaign was in active progress; and the whole country quivered with
vague anticipation of the impending crisis which was to end the
conflict of irreconcilable principles, and sweep slavery out of the
path of civilization and progress. Douglass plunged into the campaign
with his accustomed zeal, and did what he could to promote the triumph
of the Republican party. Lincoln was elected, and in a few short
months the country found itself in the midst of war. God was not dead,
and slavery was to end in blood.

IX.

Ever mindful of his people and seeking always to promote their
welfare, Douglass was one of those who urged, in all his addresses at
this period, the abolition of slavery and the arming of the negroes
as the most effective means of crushing the rebellion. In 1862 he
delivered a series of lectures in New England under the auspices of
the recently formed Emancipation League, which contended for abolition
as a military necessity.

The first or conditional emancipation proclamation was issued in
September, 1862; and shortly afterward Douglass published a pamphlet
for circulation in Great Britain, entitled _The Slave's Appeal to
Great Britain_, in which he urged the English people to refuse
recognition of the independence of the Confederate States. He always
endeavored in his public utterances to remove the doubts and fears of
those who were tempted to leave the negroes in slavery because of the
difficulty of disposing of them after they