few days, and
then returned to Cincinnati, by way of Rochester. The poor, persecuted
colored people, had in the mean time made ready for their flight from
their homes, their native land, and from this boasted free Republic, to
seek a residence in the cold and dreary wilds of Canada; to claim that
protection from the English government which had been denied them in the
land of their birth; and like the overtasked Israelites, "they went out
with their wives and their little ones," but with smaller possessions.

During the stay of Mr. Lewis in Rochester, he reported there and
elsewhere, that eleven hundred persons were then in the dense woods of
Canada in a state of actual starvation, and called upon the humane
everywhere, to assist them in such extreme suffering.

To me he also told the story of their destitution, which affected me
deeply. I had at that time just made a public profession of my faith in
the Christian religion and my determination to be governed by its holy
precepts, I felt for the distressed and suffering everywhere; but
particularly for those who had fled, poor and destitute, from cruel
task-masters, choosing rather the sufferings of cold and hunger, with
liberty, than the meager necessities of life and Slavery. I concluded to
go to Canada and try to do some good; to be of some little service in the
great cause of humanity.

As soon as practicable therefore, I left Rochester for Toronto, the
capital of Upper Canada, which I found quite a thriving town, and
containing some fine brick buildings, and some I saw were built of mud,
dried in the sun, wearing rather a poor than pretty appearance. At Toronto
we hired a team to take us on to Ancaster, fifty miles distant. We
traveled now through a new country; the roads were very bad, and the
inhabitants few. We, however, reached Ancaster, a small village, where we
remained one night and next morning pursued our journey to the settlement
of the poor fugitives from Cincinnati. After some hard traveling, we
finally arrived at the place where we found our brethren, it is true, but
in quite destitute circumstances. Our fare was poor indeed, but as good as
they could get. The township was one unbroken wilderness when purchased
for the colony, and of course their lands must be cleared of the heavy
timber before crops could be got in, hence, there was a great deal of
destitution and suffering before their harvest could ripen after the land
was prepared for the seed.