The Underground Railroad | Page 2

my book, wherever reviewed or read by
leading friends of freedom, the press, or the race more deeply
represented by it, the expressions of approval and encouragement have

been hearty and unanimous, and the thousands of volumes which have
been sold by me, on the subscription plan, with hardly any facilities for
the work, makes it obvious that it would, in the hands of a competent
publisher, have a wide circulation.
And here I may frankly state, that but for the hope I have always
cherished that this work would encourage the race in efforts for
self-elevation, its publication never would have been undertaken by me.
I believe no more strongly at this moment than I have believed ever
since the Proclamation of Emancipation was made by Abraham
Lincoln, that as a class, in this country, no small exertion will have to
be put forth before the blessings of freedom and knowledge can be
fairly enjoyed by this people; and until colored men manage by dint of
hard acquisition to enter the ranks of skilled industry, very little
substantial respect will be shown them, even with the ballot-box and
musket in their hands.
Well-conducted shops and stores; lands acquired and good farms
managed in a manner to compete with any other; valuable books
produced and published on interesting and important subjects--these are
some of the fruits which the race are expected to exhibit from their
newly gained privileges.
If it is asked "how?" I answer, "through extraordinary determination
and endeavor," such as are demonstrated in hundreds of cases in the
pages of this book, in the struggles of men and women to obtain their
freedom, education and property.
These facts must never be lost sight of.
The race must not forget the rock from whence they were hewn, nor the
pit from whence, they were digged.
Like other races, this newly emancipated people will need all the
knowledge of their past condition which they can get.
The bondage and deliverance of the children of Israel will never be
allowed to sink into oblivion while the world stands.
Those scenes of suffering and martyrdom millions of Christians were
called upon to pass through in the days of the Inquisition are still
subjects of study, and have unabated interest for all enlightened minds.
The same is true of the history of this country. The struggles of the
pioneer fathers are preserved, produced and re-produced, and cherished
with undying interest by all Americans, and the day will not arrive

while the Republic exists, when these histories will not be found in
every library.
While the grand little army of abolitionists was waging its untiring
warfare for freedom, prior to the rebellion, no agency encouraged them
like the heroism of fugitives. The pulse of the four millions of slaves
and their desire for freedom, were better felt through "The
Underground Railroad," than through any other channel.
Frederick Douglass, Henry Bibb, Wm. Wells Brown, Rev. J.W. Logan,
and others, gave unmistakable evidence that the race had no more
eloquent advocates than its own self-emancipated champions.
Every step they took to rid themselves of their fetters, or to gain
education, or in pleading the cause of their fellow-bondmen in the
lecture-room, or with their pens, met with applause on every hand, and
the very argument needed was thus furnished in large measure. In those
dark days previous to emancipation, such testimony was indispensable.
The free colored men are as imperatively required now to furnish the
same manly testimony in support of the ability of the race to surmount
the remaining obstacles growing out of oppression, ignorance, and
poverty.
In the political struggles, the hopes of the race have been sadly
disappointed. From this direction no great advantage is likely to arise
very soon.
Only as desert can be proved by the acquisition of knowledge and the
exhibition of high moral character, in examples of economy and a
disposition to encourage industrial enterprises, conducted by men of
their own ranks, will it be possible to make political progress in the
face of the present public sentiment.
Here, therefore, in my judgment is the best possible reason for
vigorously pushing the circulation of this humble volume--that it may
testify for thousands and tens of thousands, as no other work can do.
WILLIAM STILL, Author.
September, 1878. Philadelphia, Pa.

ILLUSTRATIONS.

THE AUTHOR
PETER STILL--"THE KIDNAPPED AND THE RANSOMED"

CHARITY STILL TWICE ESCAPED FROM SLAVERY
DESPERATE CONFLICT IN A BARN
DEATH OF ROMULUS HALL
RESURRECTION OF HENRY BOX BROWN
RESCUE OF JANE JOHNSON AND HER CHILDREN
PASSMORE WILLIAMSON
JANE JOHNSON
ESCAPING FROM PORTSMOUTH, VA
TWENTY-EIGHT FUGITIVES ESCAPING FROM EASTERN
SHORE OF MARYLAND
ESCAPING FROM ALABAMA ON TOP OF A CAR
CROSSING THE RIVER ON HORSEBACK IN THE NIGHT
A BOLD STROKE FOR FREEDOM--CONTEST WITH FIRE-ARMS
ABRAM GALLOWAY
THE MAYOR AND POLICE