In the Trials of the Rioters, which took
place within a month after the Riots, no one
will be able to discover the name of Elijah
Watson. Nor has Kate ever been seen, since
the n'ght of the Riots, among the supernumeraries
of the theatre. Whatever became of
them — whether they escaped from the burning
roof, just before it fell, or whether they
were engulfed in the ruins — cannot be distinctly
stated. One incident will bring this
narrative to a close. A Philadelphia merchant,
who had been connected with Mr. Hicks in
his palmiest days, was observed to be in a
great tremor, soon after the riots. He had become
aware of the suicide of Don Jorge in
the house of Mr. Hicks; in fact, he had
visited that house, the day after the riot, seeking
Mr. Hicks on business connected with the
African trade, and had found only the dead
body of Don Jorge. Our merchant did not
waste much time in the house, but hurried
away to his own residence, where he was
confronted by a young lady, who spake of
matters which drove the very life-blood from
his cheek.

The young lady — to the merchant unknown—
had in some manner come into possession
of those papers of the deceased Hicks, which
implicated some four or five respectable houses
in the profitable transactions of the African
Slave Trade. Our merchant was among the
number.

And in a clear voice the young woman demanded
a certain favor as the price of her secrecy.
She was not to be frightened; the
goodly man of business tried in vain to terrify
her with the threat of a prosecution for “Conspiracy
to extort money.” She replied by
stating every little fact embraced in the papers
aforesaid, copies of which she placed in the
hands of the respectable man. And he grew
paler and trembled more violently as she continued
her narrative. She was a very beautiful,
and yet a very determined young woman.

He took counsel with the other parties implicated,
and agreed to grant her request.[1]

This request granted, the young lady disappeared,
and was not again heard from, until
the commencement of December, when our
Merchant and his confederates — all Respectable
Killers — received a large pacquet, which
had been brought from Charges by the steamer
Empire City. It was dated “Panama, Nov.
2nd, 1849 — and contained all the documents
about the slave trade, together with the following
letter, which we transcribe, and which
brings this Narrative to a close.

Panama, Nov. 2, 1849.
To — —, Esq., Philadelphia.

Sir:—You and your friends have fulfilled your promise,
to secure for Elijah and myself an unmolested
departure from your city, and a safe passage to Panama.
And I now fulfil mine by transmitting to you the accompanying
papers which you will understand. Elijah
and myself start for San Francisco to-morrow, where
some day or other we may be heard from by other
names, and under better circumstances than those which
surrounded us in Philadelphia.

eaf257.n1

[1] As a note to the above we append the following
paragraph, which we extract from the Message of President
Taylor transmitted to Congress, on the 24th of
December, 1849.

“Your attention is earnestly invited to an amendment
of our existing laws relating to the African slave
trade, with a view to the effectual suppression of that
barbarous traffic. It is not to be denied, that this trade
is still, in part, carried on by means of vessels built in
the United States, and owned or navigated by some of
our citizens. The correspondence between the Department
of State and the Minister and Consul of the United
States at Rio de Janeiro, which has from time to
time been laid before Congress, represents that it is a
customary device to evade the penalties of our laws by
means of sea letters. Vessels sold in Brazil, when provided
with such papers by the Consul, instead of returning
to the United States for a new register, proceed,
at once, to the coast of Africa, for the purpose of obtaining
cargoes of slaves. Much additional information
of the same character, has recently been transmitted to
the Department of State.”