IN England, Douglass met Richard Cobden, at that time campaigning against the Corn Laws, who welcomed Douglass at London’s Free Trade Club, and also Thomas Clarkson, the last survivor of Wilberforce’s ‘Clapham Sect’, an emotional experience for them both.
Douglass chuckled over the occasion when, as he was chatting easily to Viscount Morpeth in the lobby of the House of Commons, an American clergyman timidly touched his elbow and begged the runaway slave for an introduction to the noble lord.* He also told how he had addressed the World’s Temperance Convention at Covent Garden in 1846, much to the disgust of some American delegates, and overrun his allotted time, only for the British public to chant his name until he was allowed to continue.
Douglass’s friends even suggested he remain in liberal England for safety’s sake, but two ladies from Newcastle-upon-Tyne kindly purchased his freedom for £150 from Captain Auld,** allowing Frederick to return to America in 1847 with nothing to fear from the law.
George William Frederick Howard (1802-1864), Viscount Morpeth, was at that time Liberal Party MP for the West Riding of Yorkshire, and heir to the title of Earl of Carlisle, to which he succeeded (as the 7th Earl) in 1848. He could no longer sit in the Commons, but went on to be Lord Lieutenant of Ireland from 1855 to 1858.
** They were Anna Richardson (née Atkins) and her sister-in-law Ellen. Anna in particular is remembered for her anti-slavery activities, for prison visiting, and for helping in the fight against alcohol abuse.