Woolfolk, the notorious Maryland slave dealer, and was carried along the
street in which Elisha Tyson lived. When they arrived opposite his
house, she demanded to see "Father Tyson." A crowd collected about the
party, and she so far moved their pity, that they insisted that her wish
should be complied with. One of the men hereupon went to inform his
employer, who galloped off, pistol in hand, and found Elisha Tyson
standing at his own door. Woolfolk with an oath declared he would "send
him to hell for interfering with his _property_." Elisha Tyson coolly
exposed his breast, telling him that he dared not shoot, and that he
(Woolfolk) "was in hell already, though he did not know it." An
investigation followed; the poor woman was proved to be illegally
detained, and was set at liberty.[A] It is generally allowed that so
bold and uncompromising an advocate of the negroes' right as Elisha
Tyson does not now remain in the slave States.

[Footnote A: See Appendix D for a brief account of this ancient
philanthropist.]

As the old school of abolitionists has been mentioned, and will
occasionally be referred to hereafter, the following historical
statement of its rise and decline, and of the commencement of the
present abolition movement, will probably be interesting to the
anti-slavery reader on this side of the Atlantic. It is from the pen of
my valued coadjutor John G. Whittier.


"The old Anti-Slavery Societies, established about the period of
the American Revolution, and of which the late Judge Jay,
Benjamin Franklin, Dr. Rush, and other distinguished statesmen
were members, were composed mainly of the Religious Society of