had him arrested. The case was fought out in the courts, twice
going against the Negro and then being appealed to the English Court
of Queen's Bench, which granted a writ of habeas corpus. Anderson was
defended by Gerrit Smith and the case attracted great attention
throughout Canada. The executive of the Canadian Anti-Slavery Society
kept the case well under observation and made its position quite clear
by a resolution declaring that principles of right and humanity should
prevail. In the end Anderson was acquitted.

The sentiment that was created in Canada by the friends of the
fugitive in the decade before the Civil War had its effect when that
struggle began. Sir John Macdonald, premier of Canada, made careful
investigation to find out how many Canadians were in the northern
armies and placed the number at 40,000.[7] The spirit that animated
the youth of the North in this moral struggle was powerful in the
minds of many of these young Canadians. There was present in Canada
not a little of the feeling of responsibility for the honor of the
continent that George Brown voiced and both by peaceful means and by
the sword the people of the British-American province to the North had
their part in striking off the shackles from the slave in the South.

FRED LANDON.

PUBLIC LIBRARIAN,
LONDON, CANADA

FOOTNOTES:

[1] _The Globe_, April 1, 1851.

[2] Ward, _Autobiography of a Fugitive Slave_.

[3] Lewis, _George Brown_, p. 114.

[4] Drew, _North Side View of Slavery_, p. 328.

[5] Anti-Slavery Society of Canada, First Annual Report, p. 10.

[6] First Annual Report, pp. 12-13.

[7] _Letters of Goldwin Smith_, p. 377.

DOCUMENTS

BENJAMIN FRANKLIN AND FREEDOM

Of the fathers of the republic who first saw the evils of slavery,
none made a more forceful argument against the institution than
Benjamin Franklin. A man of lowly estate himself, he could not
sympathize with the man who felt that his bread should be wrung from
the sweat of another's brow. Desiring to see the institution
abolished, Franklin early connected himself with the anti-slavery
forces of Pennsylvania and maintained this attitude of antagonism
toward it until his death. His printing press was placed at the
disposal of the pamphleteers who by their method endeavored to
influence public opinion, and as a means of effecting the liberation
of the blacks he cooperated with others in educating t