Printed captionDrawn by H. Edridge
Eng. by J. Andrews.
William Wilberforce Esq. M.P.
The Oasis.
Edited by Mrs. Child,
Author of An Appeal in Favor of that Class of
Americans called Africans.
Printed caption“Strike, but hear!”
“The Truth shall make us free.”
Boston: Benjamin C. Bacon. 18341834.
By Allen & Ticknor,
In the Clerk’s Office of the District Court of Massachusetts.
Boston:
Tuttle and Weeks, Printers.
No. 8, School Street.
To The Public.
Bear with me, my countrymen, while I again come
before you with an unwelcome message. I assure you
I do not take pleasure in bidding defiance to public
prejudice. I speak in humble sincerity, when I say
that I respect the opinion of the meanest individual
in the community, though I do not fear the censure of
the highest. Even if you would allow me to exert the
power of persuasion against the perfect freedom of
your own conclusions, I should have no wish to avail
myself of that power. But I beseech you not to trust
the gross misrepresentations of interested or thoughtless
persons, concerning principles of vital importance
to this country. In the Preface, I have frankly and
honestly stated what the opinions and wishes of the
Abolitionists really are. If you examine candidly, and
judge in freedom, I have no fear for the result; for I
have great confidence in the good sense and good feelings
of the American people.
Preface.
Though the principles illustrated in the following work
are rapidly increasing in popularity among firm, moderate,
conscientious, and sensible people, yet there are doubtless
many who still think the writing of such a book as this requires
apology; but to such I have no excuse to offer. Their God
is not my God.
In preparing this volume I have not been guided by any
romantic desire to idealize the African character. I know
very well that, as a class, the colored people are what any
people would be, who had so long been trampled upon by
the iron heel of contemptuous tyranny; but I likewise
know that there are many admirable exceptions to this
remark.
My purpose is a simple and honest one. I wish to
familiarize the public mind with the idea that colored people
are human beings—elevated or degraded by the same
circumstances that elevate or degrade other men. Perhaps
there are a few who will openly deny this; but many have
the latent feeling. If it were otherwise, we could not look
upon their wrongs so coldly as we do.
A lady once said to me, “I think it a duty to be kind to
colored people. I treat them civilly when I meet them. I
have entered their houses; and I can conceive of circumstances
that would make me willing to have them enter
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mine. But I consider this a great condescension; and I
wish them to consider it so, likewise.” Rochefoucault said
truly, “The greatest of all pride is the pride of condescension.”
Yet this lady did but candidly acknowledge feelings
which probably exist, consciously or unconsciously, in more
than nine-tenths of the white population of the United
States. Unquestionably every person has a right to choose
his own associates; but the removal, by prudent and appropriate
means, of an unreasonable prejudice, which operates
most oppressively on a large class of our fellow beings, is
not an act of condescension; it is simple justice. If we are
Christians,—nay, if we are honest republicans,—we must
try to do it.
On what is the prejudice founded, which makes us so
unwilling that a colored person should have a chance to be
our equal? It cannot be a natural, instinctive antipathy;
for white children have no repugnance to black nurses, and
the African schools show infinite shadings of complexion.
If you say your dislike is founded upon the vice and ignorance
of this unfortunate class, I earnestly conjure you,—
in the name of that religion which we all profess to believe,
—to consider seriously whether it is not your prejudice
that makes them so.
The attempt to sanction our illiberality, by assertions of a
natural and remediless inferiority of intellect, would be
unworthy of a cultivated mind, or a kind heart, even if
such assertions had a shadow of truth. The physiological
argument adduced is indeed a weak one. We have established
a very arbitrary standard with regard to the “African
skull” and “African features.” The testimony of
tribes which have furnished white nations with slaves.
The Fellatahs, Caffrarians, Nubians, Abyssinians, and many
other tribes, have skulls and features totally different from
those to which we attach ideas of mental degradation.
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With regard to the colored population of the United States,
both slave and free, it is well to remember that great numbers
of them are nearly white men.
But even if it could be proved that negro blood inevitably
produces stupidity in the brain, who would be absurd
enough to say that the civil and social rights of mankind
must be regulated according to the measure of genius?
Individuals of the human species are unquestionably fitted
to perform different uses in society, and true freedom consists
in giving every man a fair chance to find the place he
is qualified to fill; but here a whole class is excluded from
opportunities for improvement, merely on account of complexion.
Americans mistake if they consider this arrangement
as more liberal, or just, then the arbitrary and
unchanging distinction of castes in benighted Hindostan.
On the subject of equality, the principles of abolitionists
have been much misrepresented. They have not the
slightest wish to do violence to the distinctions of society,
by forcing the rude and illiterate into the presence of the
learned and refined. The learned and refined have indeed
important duties to perform on this subject; but those
duties are to be decided between their own consciences and
their God. The abolitionists merely wish that colored
people should have the same opportunities for instruction,
the same civil treatment at public places, the same chance
to enlarge their sphere of usefulness, that is enjoyed by the
lowest and most ignorant white man in America.
The Rev. Mr Williams, a colored clergyman of New
York, preached a sermon on the 1830-07-044th of July, 1830, in which
he expresses himself with a degree of moderation and good
sense, that might have been expected from one of his known
intelligence and worth. He says: “We are natives of this
country; we ask only to be treated as well as foreigners.
Not a few of our fathers suffered and bled to purchase its
independence; we ask only to be treated as well as those
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who fought against it. We have toiled to cultivate it, and
helped to raise it to its present prosperous condition, we
ask only to share equal privileges with strangers, who come
from distant lands to enjoy the fruits of our labor.”
Let us merely be careful that we do not prevent our
colored population from becoming respectable and well-
informed. Remove obstacles—then let them fare just as
well as their characters deserve, and no better.
Do not refrain from the performance of a duty, lest they
should abuse privileges to which they have been unaccustomed.
Believe me, there is a wholesome and renovating
power in goodness and truth, to which you may safely trust
the progress of things.
With regard to the question of slavery itself, the principles
of abolitionists are likewise strangely misunderstood.
There is among them a deep abhorrence of any efforts
which could excite the passions of slaves against their
masters. If books and papers are ever sent to the South,
they are sent to the planters themselves. Whatsoever is
done, is done openly and fairly. There are no secret
agencies, no hidden influence.
When insurrections are mentioned, they are alluded to as
the inevitable results of an unnatural and unjust relation
between man and man; and the perpetual danger of their
occurrence is urged only as an additional argument for the
abolition of a system alike hazardous and sinful. If the
friends of this righteous cause were to address the slaves in
any way, it would be to urge patience and submission, until
the good sense and good feeling of the country had devised
quiet measures for their relief.
The attempt to excite prejudice against Anti-Slavery
Societies, by representing them as violent and blood-thirsty,
reminds me of the Roman persecutors, who first dressed
Christian converts in the skins of wild beasts, and then set
the dogs upon them.
But of all accusations, that concerning intermarriages is
the most perfectly ridiculous and unfounded. No abolitionist
considers such a thing desirable. They would indeed
say that a man had no more right to destroy the
character, or trifle with the feelings of a colored woman
than of a white woman. In reading the history of Joanna,
contained in this volume, they would decide that Captain
Stedman was not justifiable in seeking to gain her affections,
unless he were firmly resolved to pay such attention to her
happiness, as her virtuous and disinterested conduct deserved.
When this perpetual accusation is urged, abolitionists
candidly admit, that if the blacks are well educated, and
especially if they acquire wealth, there may, in the course
of revolving centuries, be found some who would consider
the yellow complexion an insufficient balance against the
yellow coin; but they consider this as very unimportant,
while the nation is seeking relief from such a mass of evil
as now exists.
If a colored girl were heiress to a million of dollars, and
some person unjustly deprived her of this fortune, would
you decide that her rightful property must not be restored,
lest it should, perchance, tempt some white man to marry
her? Certainly not—you would promptly reply, “Let the
girl have justice, without regard to future contingencies.”
Are not freedom, and a chance to obtain knowledge, the
rightful property of every human being? Are we justified
in withholding them, for fear such and such consequences
may ensue?
It is our duty to obey the laws of God, and leave all
prospective results in His hands. Our anxious policy will
never devise anything better, or more wise.
Since I have prepared this work I have been led to suppose
that the meaning of “immediate emancipation” is
in general, very imperfectly understood. By this phrase
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we mean that the right to hold property in man should be
immediately relinquished. If this claim were renounced,
all the worst features of the slave system would be at once
destroyed. One human being would no longer have a right
to sell the wife and children of another—he would no
longer have a right to inflict punishment without limit or
responsibility—he could no longer forcibly deprive his
brother of the means of religious and intellectual improvement.
But the slave need not (as many seem to suppose) “be
turned loose upon society, without preparation or restraint,
to live in idleness, or by plunder.” Laws should be provided
for the emergency, with the utmost caution—laws framed
to protect the life, and the property, and happiness, of all
classes. No judicious person would wish to see the right
of suffrage bestowed upon the emancipated slaves, while
they were in a state of ignorance and degradation; and all
would acknowledge the wisdom of strict police regulations
to prevent idleness and crime. Any institutions and
decrees whatsoever, that are framed with a sincere wish to
secure the welfare of the whole community, servants as well
as masters, are perfectly consistent with immediate emancipation.
At present, the slave is subject to all the rigors of
the law, as well as the arbitrary power of his owner, while
he may be truly said to receive no protection from the law.
I do not deny that slaves have nominally some protection
from the laws—for it is necessary to pay “a decent respect
to the universal opinions of mankind;” but whoever candidly
examines the Statutes and Judicial Reports of the
slave States, will perceive that in effect there is no protection
for the slave.
While one man can claim a legal right to hold property
in another man, this state of things cannot be prevented;
but when the claim is relinquished, the colored population
may be effectually restrained by the strong arm of the law,
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while they are, at the same time, fully protected by it. It is
merely necessary to substitute wise legislative and municipal
regulations for the capricious tyranny of individuals. If
this were done in good faith, the greater proportion of the
slaves would remain with their masters, as hired laborers, or
free tenants. Those who had been treated kindly would, I
believe almost without exception, choose to do so. There
would be a diminution instead of an increase of crime; and
those hateful companions tyranny and fear would expire
together.
The abolitionists would indeed rejoice to see what is called
an immediate beginning of emancipation; but they cannot
conscientiously give up the principle that immediate emancipation,
as I have just explained it, is a sacred duty. They
consider slavery as a sin against God—and as such to be
repented or and reformed without delay. If it were a question
concerning internal improvements, or the opening of
new channels for wealth and enterprise, we should have an
undoubted right to choose “a more convenient season;”
but for the prompt reformation of crime, we are responsible
to Him, whose laws are founded on eternal, uncompromising
justice.
Though ameliorated laws would be delightful to the
friends of humanity,—and might be hailed by many as the
beginning of emancipation,—yet whoever candidly examines
this question will perceive that the root of the evil can
never be reached, so long as man is, upon any terms, the
property of man. In this relation, the laws cannot protect
the inferior, for in order to preserve the safety of the master,
the slaves must be regarded as mere cattle or machinery.
The common sense of any man, who reads and reflects on
the subject, must be convinced of the truth of this statement.
Some persons, with strange inconsistency, assert that not
a single word should be said to the planters on the subject
of slavery, because they alone are qualified to say what
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ought to be done, and when it ought to be done. To this
I will only answer that the doctrine of leaving the injurer
to decide when and how reparation should be made to the
injured, forms a very precarious basis for civil rights. No
person could urge this remark, if he in his heart acknowledged
colored people as brethren of the great human
family.
But earnestly as the friends of Anti-Slavery wish for an
entire change in this pernicious system, they have no
desire to see it effected by any hostile measures toward the
South, or any illegal interference with her internal
policy. While attempting to secure the constitutional
rights of one class of men, they would most earnestly
deprecate any infringement upon the constitutional rights
of another class. They have never done, or said, or felt,
anything on this subject inconsistent with the most perfect
obedience to the Laws of the Union. Everybody knows
that our Constitution provides for any change within itself,
that may be deemed necessary for the public good. The
abolitionists merely wish to induce men, in all parts of the
United States, to examine into the subject of slavery, and
candidly inquire what ought to be done, and what can be
done, toward the removal of a great and ever-increasing
evil. They are convinced that immediate emancipation,
attended by judicious regulations, is the safest and the only
cure; and they wish to convince others, by fair arguments
and incontrovertible facts. They are sustained in this great
work by strong faith in the power of truth; and they wish
to exert no other power.
The following is quoted from the very mild and dignified
letter, written by the New York Anti-Slavery Society to
the Mayor of that city, after the late disgraceful riots:
“The Constitution provides that ‘every citizen may freely
speak, write, and publish his sentiments, on all subjects,
being responsible [to the legal tribunals alone] for the abuse
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of that right; and no law shall be passed to restrain or
abridge the liberty of speech or of the press.’ We have kept
within these sacred enclosures; we shall not go beyond
them; and we respectfully claim of our fellow citizens, as
Americans and men, that while we do not violate the rights
of others, our own rights may be respected.”
“To show the objects of our Society, we annex an
extract from its Constitution: ‘The object of this Society is
the entire abolition of slavery in the United States. While
it admits that each State, in which slavery exists, has, by the
Constitution of the United States, the exclusive right to
legislate in regard to its abolition in said State, this Society
shall aim to convince all our fellow citizens, by arguments
addressed to their understandings and consciences, that slaveholding
is a heinous crime in the sight of God, and that the
duty, safety, and best interests of all concerned require its
immediate abandonment, without expatriation. The Society
will also endeavor, in a constitutional way, to influence
Congress to put an end to the domestic slave-trade, and to
abolish slavery in all those portions of our common country
which come under its control, especially in the District of
Columbia—and likewise to prevent the extension of slavery
to any State that may hereafter be admitted into the Union.’”
To enlighten the public mind by means of authentic
evidence, and to improve as far as possible the moral and
intellectual condition of the colored people within their own
influence, certainly constitutes the whole purpose of Anti-
Slavery Societies.
I do not make this declaration merely from the principles
laid down in their Constitutions; for there is lamentable
proof that the spirit of a Society may be so far apart from
the words of its Constitution, that “if one had the smallpox,
the other would never catch it.” But I have, for the
last two years, attended almost every Anti-Slavery meeting
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in this neighborhood, and I never heard one of the numerous
speakers, in public or private, express any opinion, the
spirit of which was at variance with what I have stated.
The Rev. Dr Cox, who from a well-meaning Colonizationist
has become a true-hearted Abolitionist, says: “We
merely beg leave fraternally to discuss the morality of
matters with our white brethren of the South. We will
canvass their objections, and beg them to look as well at
ours. We will not blame them for the legacy they have
received from their ancestors, but merely warn them of that
they are about to bequeath to their posterity.”
Those who assure Southerners that only a few “misguided
fanatics” feel interested in this cause, make a very
great mistake. The conscientious, the judicious, and the
intelligent, are among its most earnest advocates; and it
counts its adherents not by hundreds, but by tens of thousands.
It will soon become the universal public sentiment
of New England—a sentiment that cannot be repressed,
and will not be silent.
Printed caption“O woman! am not I thy sister!”
William Wilberforce.
The world hath need of thee.—
Thy soul was like a star, and dwelt apart:
Thou hadst a voice whose sound was like the sea;
Pure as the naked heavens, majestic, free,
So didst thou travel on life’s common way,
In cheerful godliness; and yet thy heart
The lowliest duties on herself did lay.”
Wordsworth.
William Wilberforce was born at Hull, in 17591759.
For many years his ancestors had been successfully
engaged in trade in that place.
At an early age he attended a grammar school,
under the superintendence of the Rev. Joseph Milner,
whose preaching made a strong impression upon his
mind. At twelve years old, he was placed at a school
in the neighborhood of London, where he resided
with a pious uncle and aunt. These relatives introduced
him to the venerable John Newton; and, from
what is afterward related, there is reason to suppose
that excellent man saw something in the child that
peculiarly interested him.
In 17721772, he was placed at a grammar school in
Pocklington, where he remained till he removed to St
John’s College, Cambridge, in 17761776, or 17771777. He
there formed a friendship with Mr Pitt, which continued
uninterrupted till the day of his death.
At Cambridge he fell under the influence of people
who were very much afraid of his becoming too
religious for the practical purposes of this busy world;
but he was never drawn into any vicious dissipation,
and was much distinguished as an elegant, classical
scholar. In 17801780, when he was little more than
twentyone years of age, and before he had graduated
at Cambridge, he was returned member of Parliament
for his native town. In 17841784, he was again returned
for Hull; but immediately after, he was quite unexpectedly
chosen to represent the county of York. His
name was placed at the head of the poll in preference
to the representatives of two noble families of great
rank and influence; and for six successive parliaments
he continued to represent the first county in the
empire. In 18121812 he retired, from choice.
Such extraordinary honors, bestowed upon a man so
young, did for a time prove dangerous to him; his
religious principles were somewhat shaken, and the
world took too strong hold upon his imagination. It
was, however, but a transient cloud passing over the
sun-dial of his soul, on which, forever after, time
marked its passage by the bright and quiet progress
of truth. In 17851785 Mr Wilberforce travelled on the
continent, with a party of friends, among whom was
Dr Isaac Milner, late Dean of Carlisle. The religious
conversations which occurred during this tour effectually
1(2)r
3
roused a sleeping conscience. “As I read,” said
he, “the promises of Holy Scripture—‘Ask and ye
shall receive, seek and ye shall find, knock and it shall
be opened unto you: God will give the Holy Spirit to
them that ask him: Come unto me, all ye that labor
and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest: I will
take away the heart of stone, and give you the heart
of flesh: I will put my laws in your hearts, and
write them in your inward parts: I will be merciful
unto their unrighteousness, and their sins and iniquities
will I remember no more,’—as I read these passages,
I reflected, if these things be so, and if I set myself to
seek the blessings thus promised, I shall certainly find
a sensible change wrought within me, such as is thus
described. I will seek that I may find the promised
blessings.”
He finally obtained that deep and abiding joy, known
only to him who conscientiously follows his perceptions
of truth. In this state of mind he resumed his
early acquaintance with the venerable John Newton.
He was surprised, and deeply affected, when that pious
man informed him that since he first saw him, during
a period of fifteen years, he had never ceased to pray
for him.
Many religious friends now urged Mr Wilberforce
to retire from public life; for they feared its honors
would prove too alluring to one of such high and
commanding intellect. He did not comply with this
advice, because he felt that his talents were given
him as a medium of use to his fellow creatures. It
has been beautifully said, “He continued in political
life—but abode therein with God.”
In 17871787, when the excellent Thomas Clarkson called
on Mr Wilberforce with the hope of interesting his
mind on the subject of the slave trade, he frankly and
readily confessed that his thoughts had already been
much employed upon it, and that it lay very near
his heart. He inquired into evidence with the earnestness
of one who loves the truth, not with the
busy pertinacity of a man who investigates because
he is determined to doubt.
When the friends of abolition,—with considerable
hesitation,—ventured to ask whether he would bring
the question before Parliament, he did not stop to
make any of those selfish calculations, which so often
lead statesmen from the path of true glory. He
promptly replied that he would do it as soon as he
could prepare himself, unless the friends of the cause
should, in the mean time, find some other person,
whom they considered more suitable; and he was
willing that this declaration should be announced,
wherever it could be of the least benefit.
From that moment to the latest hour of his life, he
lost no opportunity, in public or in private, of doing
good to the oppressed Africans.
There is no wonder that Clarkson and his friends
rejoiced in the co-operation of such a man as Wilberforce!
Perhaps there was not another human being
capable of affording such efficient aid. His great
talents, his persuasive eloquence, his habits of patient,
persevering inquiry, his extensive popularity, his influential
connexions, and particularly his intimacy with
the first minister of state, all conspired to give him a
degree of power seldom bestowed on one individual.
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This influence was never made to serve any selfish
views of popular applause, or party favor. It was
ever guided by a religious sense of duty. Therefore,
it was extensively felt during his life-time, and has left
itself impressed, in a very remarkable degree, on the
age that follows him.
When, in 17881788, the king ordered a privy council to
take into consideration the state of the African trade,
Mr Wilberforce was unfortunately too ill to attend to
the subject; but he begged Clarkson to go to London
immediately, that his evidence might be in readiness
to bring before the board; and he wrote to his friends,
Mr Pitt and Mr Grenville, to exert themselves in the
cause.
When Clarkson visited these eminent men, he found
Mr (afterward Lord) Grenville already zealous, requiring
evidence of facts only as a means of adding
strength to his own convictions. But Mr Pitt espoused
the cause more cautiously; he was disposed to keep
his heart under the government of his head. He
consented to bring the question before Parliament;
but he begged the House to observe that “he made
no statement of his own sentiments—that he should
not have had the honor of moving the resolution, had
it not been for the severe indisposition of his friend Mr
Wilberforce, in whose hands every measure belonging
to justice, humanity, and the national interest, was
peculiarly well placed.”
Mr Fox rose to say that “he had long felt an interest
in this great subject, and had intended himself to bring
it forward in Parliament; but when he heard Mr
Wilberforce had taken it up, he was sincerely rejoiced
1(3)v
6
—not merely on account of the purity of his character
and principles, but because, from various considerations,
he honestly thought the business would be better
in the hands of that gentleman than in his own.”
After some discussion, the question was postponed
until the next meeting of Parliament.
On the 1789-03-1919th of March, 1789, Mr Wilberforce rose to
propose a resolution, by which the House pledged
themselves to take the slave trade into consideration
during that session. This was the watchword of
strife. Merchants, planters, and all interested persons,
immediately commenced operations for a diligent and
furious opposition. Mr Wilberforce spoke three hours
and a half in favor of abolition. Of this speech Mr
Burke said that “the House, the nation, and all Europe,
were under great obligations to Mr Wilberforce, for
having brought this important subject forward in a
manner so masterly and impressive. It equalled
anything he had heard in modern eloquence, and
he believed it was not surpassed by anything in
ancient times.” Similar commendation was bestowed
by Mr Grenville, and other eminent members of Parliament.
The friends of abolition took the earliest
opportunity to express their heartfelt thanks to this
great and good man, for the unexampled industry
with which he had labored in the cause, and the
unrivalled talent with which he had supported it.
No attempt will here be made to trace even the
outline of those discussions, which year after year
agitated the British Parliament, on a question where
justice, humanity, and common-sense, so plainly
pointed to the right path. But the arguments then
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urged in support of the slave trade are, in their
spirit and tendency, so precisely similar to the
reasons now brought forward in palliation of the
system among us, that I cannot forbear a brief
allusion to them.
“Lord Thurlow talked pathetically, not of the
murder of the slaves, but of the ruin of slave
traders; Lord Sydney eulogized the tender legislation
of Jamaica; the Duke of Chandos deprecated universal
insurrection if the slave trade were abolished;
the Duke of Richmond proposed a clause of compensation;
Mr Baily talked of the religious cultivation
the poor heathen slaves obtained by being brought to
a christian land; Mr Vaughan recommended schools
for education; Colonel Thornton predicted the ruin of
British shipping; and Mr Dundas had the merit of
first proposing gradual abolition.”
Mr Molyneux said it would be downright swindling
to annihilate this profitable branch of trade;
Mr Macnamara called the measure hypocritical, fanatic,
and visionary. Mr Grosvenor complimented
the humanity and good intentions of Mr Wilberforce,
though he differed from him on the subject in question.
“He had heard a good deal about kidnapping
and other barbarous practices. He was sorry for
them. But these were the natural consequences of
the laws of Africa; and it became wise men to turn
those laws to their own advantage. The slave trade
was certainly not an amiable trade; neither was that
of a butcher; but yet it was a very necessary one.
He would not gratify his humanity at the expense of
the interests of his country. He thought we ought
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not too curiously to inquire into the unpleasant circumstances
that might be connected with this trade.
It was his advice not to meddle with troubled waters;
they would be found bitter waters, and waters of
affliction.” Mr Stanley said, “it seemed to him to
have been the intention of Providence, from the
beginning, that one set of men should be slaves to
another. This truth was as old as the universe. It
was recognised in every history, under every government,
and every religion. The Africans ought
to be thankful that they were transplanted from their
own country into British Colonies.”
Mr Alderman Watson defended the slave trade as
a lucrative branch of commerce. “The West Indian
trade depended upon it; and so did the Newfoundland
fisheries. The latter could not go on, if it were not
for the vast quantities of inferior fish brought up in the
West India market for the use of the negroes. How
were these refuse fish to be disposed of, if the slave trade
were abolished?” Mr Sumner “did not like to wound
the prejudices of the West Indians by immediate and
unqualified abolition; but gradual measures would
have his approbation.” Sir William Yonge was “apprehensive
that evils might follow any sudden decrease
in the slaves. They might be destroyed by hurricanes,
or swept off by fatal disorders. If this bill passed, the
owners would have no means of filling up the places
of the dead. Those, who had loaned money upon the
lands where losses occurred, would foreclose their
mortgages. He also feared a clandestine trade would
be carried on, by which the Africans would suffer
more than from the legal, authorized one. And even
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if Africa did gain by abolition, he wished, before he
voted for it, to ascertain that Britain would not lose by
it. He hated a traffic in men; but it could not be
stopped. If England relinquished it, other nations
would pursue it with increased zeal, and advance
their own interests by her folly. With regard to
the Colonies, abolition would be an act of downright
oppression. Supplies were absolutely necessary from
time to time. The negroes did not yet increase
by birth. The gradation of ages was not yet duly
filled. The planters, not having customary supplies,
would be obliged to sell to pay their debts. Slaves
would be imprisoned by creditors, or seized and sold.
It was really dreadful to think how families would be
separated in such cases. These and many other evils
would grow out of applying too sudden a remedy.
The question must be left to the planters to regulate.
They were much better acquainted with the subject
than any other persons possibly could be; and if the
desired end were pointed out to them, there was no
doubt they would heartily seek to attain it by moderate
and judicious means.” Lord Castlereagh could “entertain
no doubt that the slave trade was an evil; but
it was a political question, and a difficult one. He
advised a system of duties on fresh importations of
slaves, progressively increasing to a certain extent.”
To these and similar remarks, Mr Fox replied, with
the noble enthusiasm that marked his generous character:
“After what has fallen from the last speaker,”
said he, “I can no longer remain silent. Something
so mischievous has come out—something so like a
foundation for preserving forever this detestable traffic,
1(5)v
10
that I should feel myself wanting in duty to my
country, if I did not deprecate all such deceptions and
delusions. The honorable gentlemen call themselves
moderate men; but upon this subject, I neither feel,
nor desire to feel, anything like moderation. Their
remarks have reminded me of a passage in Middleton’s
life of Cicero. The translation is defective, but it will
equally suit my purpose. He says: ‘To enter into
a man’s house, and kill him, his wife, and family, in
the night time, is certainly a most heinous crime;
but to break open his house, to murder him, his
wife and children, in the night, may still be very right,
provided it be done with moderation.’”
The excellent and learned Sir Samuel Romilly
supported Mr Wilberforce and Mr Fox in their
opposition to the vague and deceptive propositions
advanced by the friends of slavery. “Who can
measure,” said he, “the space between the present
time and the abolition of this trade, if it be left
to the discretion of the Colonies? It has been
abundantly proved that this traffic is carried on by
means of rapine, robbery, and murder. There is
nothing brought forward in support of its continuance
but assertions already disproved, and arguments already
refuted.”
Sir William Yonge, and others in the West India
interest, loudly censured Mr Fox and Sir Samuel
Romilly for the harshness of their expressions, which
they construed into individual charges of crime upon
the planters, and a direct attack upon their personal
honor.
To this, Lord Henry Petty very judiciously replied:
“The honorable gentlemen had better reserve their
indignation for those who commit ‘rapine, robbery,
and murder,’ instead of lavishing it upon those who
simply do their duty in describing them.”
The struggle continued in the British Parliament
for nineteen years! During all which time the facts
brought forward by friends of humanity were opposed
by virulent abuse, flimsy arguments, negative assertions,
and fanciful conjectures. It was just such a
process as is now going on in this country; and then,
as now, the friends of abolition found their worst and
most insidious enemies among the advocates of gradual
measures. To meet in an open field with avarice
that boldly shows its cloven foot, and pride that wears
no mask, is comparatively an easy task.
Through the whole arduous conflict Mr Wilberforce
remained the same—the anchor on which British
benevolence rested its hopes—the guiding star of
many gifted minds! Nothing, however remotely connected
with the subject, escaped his attention; and
the question was never discussed without receiving
his most able and energetic support.
At last, on the 1807-03-24twentyfourth of March, 1807, the
Abolition Bill passed both Houses of Parliament; and
on the twentyfifth the royal assent was received!
British merchants were not ruined—no insurrections
took place—the West Indies did not secede
from the British government, as they had threatened
to do—neither were they sunk, as they deserved to
be. None of the predicted evils came to pass—if we
except the probable fact that Alderman Watson’s refuse
1(6)v
12
fish sold for a lower price in the markets. But we
may safely venture to assert that the price, whatever it
might be, was more than the worth of the man, who
could bring forward such an argument.
Though the name of Wilberforce has been peculiarly
distinguished in connexion with the subject of slavery,
yet his benevolence flowed in every other direction,
where the progress of religion, education, or freedom,
could be advanced. His highly intelligent conversation
was rendered doubly attractive by manners
peculiarly mild, affectionate and engaging; and though
religion was never ostentatiously brought forward, its
spirit was ever visibly with him. One day as he passed
through the castle yard, a man, in the honest enthusiasm
of his heart, seized his hand, and prayed that
God would grant him a long life. “I thanked him for
his kindness,” said Mr Wilberforce; “but I could not
but reflect how unchristian we are in our common
views and feelings. If we really kept christian principles
before us, we could not regard long life as one
of the greatest of blessings; we should assuredly feel
that it was far better to depart and be with Jesus.” He
often said that he could not have sustained the continued
stretch of mind required by his public avocations
if it had not been for the rest he enjoyed on the
Sabbath. He thought many who suffered, mind and
body, under the pressure of excessive mental labor,
might have been preserved in health and cheerfulness,
if they had conscientiously observed the Sabbath. A
minister of state once called upon him, on some public
business on Sunday; he excused himself, saying he
would wait upon his lordship at any hour the ensuing
day.
But though he made no compromise with the vanities
of the world, his religion had no tinge of severity or
gloom. His household was governed entirely by the
law of love. If any of the servants committed faults,
they were treated with the tenderness of a careful
shepherd seeking to bring a stray sheep into the fold
again. In him faith was a distinct and operative principle.
He often spoke of the large communications of
divine wisdom, which those were sure to receive, who
were careful “not to quench the spirit.” Nothing of
bigotry mingled with his attachment to the Church
of England. One of his friends having expressed
surprise that he partook of the sacrament in a Dissenting
Chapel, he replied, “Why, my dear friend, is it not
a church of God?” Neither was his patriotism of a
selfish kind. He regarded every human being as his
brother. Though his political predilections leaned
towards the tories, he took a deep and friendly
interest in the institutions of the United States.
He was extremely fond of children, among whom
he made himself a playful, gentle and familiar friend.
In person, he was small and insignificant; he was
near-sighted, very rapid in his movements, and altogether
unprepossessing; but when he spoke, an
expression of friendly earnestness glowed from his
benevolent soul, and made his hearers love to look
upon him. Those who heard him in public debate, or
private conversation, could not always understand the
secret of his power. He was more powerful than
others of equal talent, because he spoke in forgetfulness
of self—with plain sincerity and earnestness;
and he could so speak because he lived in humble
1(7)v
14
acknowledgement that his vigorous intellect was the
gift of God, entrusted to his care for the use of others.
This it was that made him such a transparent medium,
through which Divine Love could operate on the world.
A writer in the Christian Advocate says: “His
eloquence was seldom impassioned; not often energetic;
but his tones were mellifluous and persuasive,
exactly according with the sentiments they conveyed.
His memory was richly stored with classical allusion;
a natural poetry of mind constantly displayed itself;
a melodious cadence marked every expression of
thought.”
Mr Wilberforce was married in 17971797, when he was
about thirtyeight years old, to Miss Barbara Spooner,
the daughter of a rich banker in Birmingham, who is
said to have been an excellent woman. Soon after his
marriage, he published his celebrated work called A
Practical View of the prevailing Religious Systems of
professed Christians, in the higher and middle Classes
in this Country, contrasted with real Christianity.
This book is said to have had a great effect in checking
the fashionable irreligion of the age. At Clapham,
where he resided several years after his marriage, he
established a school for colored people. We are not
told that this step excited any of the opposition so
furiously manifested at Canterbury, Connecticut. Mr
Wilberforce and his friends thought it no shame to
walk arm in arm with colored gentlemen. Yet in
Europe they reckon the English a civilized people—
somewhat fastidiously refined—and not a little proud.
Can it be, as the tories have maliciously said, that
republicans, having few opportunities to indulge their
1(8)r
15
pride of dominion, use every possible chance with
more unsparing severity than other men?
About the year 18251825, the increasing infirmities of
a constitution naturally feeble, compelled Mr Wilberforce
to retire to the complete seclusion of domestic
life. The blessings of the world followed him to his
retreat; and the good and gifted of all lands felt as if
they visited England almost in vain if they were unable
to obtain an interview with Wilberforce.
An American clergyman, who visited him in 18281828,
writes thus: “Early this morning I left London for
High Wood Hill, the beautiful residence of Mr Wilberforce.
It is a large stone building, situated on a
delightful eminence, which commands an extensive
rural prospect, and especially a fine view of the beautiful
valley beneath. The servant said Mr Wilberforce
was at home, and would be disengaged in a short
time. In the meanwhile we were introduced into the
library, where, with the librarian’s leave, we amused
ourselves by looking over the books, and noticing
various corrections which Mr Wilberforce had made
with his pen. After nearly half an hour, he came in,
and received us with much kindness and cordiality.
After requesting us to notice the beautiful scenery
from the window, and making some remarks upon
the likeness of his friend Mr Pitt, he requested us
to walk into the drawing-room, that he might introduce
us to his family; adding, very kindly, that he wished
to do it the rather, that if I should visit England again,
though he should not be here to receive me, I might
be sure of the friendly attentions of his son. After
spending an hour and a half in listening to his charming
1(8)v
16
conversation, we took leave of him; and I am
sure, that I never parted with any person with a more
agreeable impression. If the sentiment was strong
that I had been in the company of one of the greatest
men in England, it was still stronger that I had been
in the company of one of the best men in the world.”
Mr Wilberforce was exceedingly beloved by his
family. Nothing could exceed the careful tenderness
with which they watched over his declining years.
His lady and four sons survived him. His two daughters
died before him. The younger, who died about a
year after her marriage with the Rev. J. James, is said to
have strongly resembled her father in character, and to
have been peculiarly dear to him. The old age of Mr
Wilberforce was such as his manhood promised. It
was cheerful, bland, and affectionate. To the latest
day of his life he retained a strong interest in every
question that involved the happiness and improvement
of mankind. He often expressed his conviction that
the friends of abolition made a mistake when they
supposed that the slave trade could ever be effectually
abolished, unless slavery itself were abolished. He,
of course, cordially sympathised with Mr Buxton on
the subject of entire emancipation. One of the last
things he wrote was his signature to a protest against
the influence of the American Colonization Society.
Not many months before his death, a meeting was
held at Bath, to petition for “the speedy and entire
abolition of slavery”; at which the Bishop of Bath
and Wells presided. Mr Wilberforce, who during all
his long and active life, had never been silent when
the question of slavery was introduced, arose to make
2(1)r
17
a few remarks. After briefly alluding to his age and
infirmities, he said: “I wish once more to raise my
feeble voice, to advocate, however faintly, that good
cause, for which I have so often pleaded, and for the
success of which my heart will never cease to feel
deeply to the latest moment of rational existence. To
a Christian, it must be regarded as an axiom, that an
opportunity of doing good is tantamount to a command
to undertake the service; and surely there never was
a greater mass of misery to be terminated, or a greater
amount of good to be conferred, than by the measure
which we are now met together to support. Some,
who have opposed our proceedings, mistake in supposing
that we rest the propriety of our interference
chiefly on the ground of individual acts of cruelty
committed on the bodies of the slaves.
That such cruelties do exist, and will exist, wherever
man is possessed of absolute power, is undeniable.
No man is fit to be trusted with it; and no man who
knows himself will wish to possess it. But it is the
system that we wish to change. We ought not to lose a
single hour in doing away the multiplied wrongs of the
slaves, by their actual admission to that liberty to which
the God of nature has entitled them, and which in its
consequences would give them all other blessings. Let
us then proceed with renewed energy in carrying
into execution one of the greatest acts of mercy a
people ever had it in their power to perform. Let us
all remember that here we have no option. Our
faculties are given, not as a property, but as a trust;
and we are bound, at our peril, to avail ourselves of
every opportunity Providence may place within our
2
2(1)v
18
reach, of doing justice and showing mercy—of lessening
the miseries, and augmenting the happiness of
the human species. Only let us act with an earnestness
and perseverance worthy of the cause in which we are
engaged. The blessing of Heaven will recompense us;
and we shall have wiped away a stain justly to be regarded
as the foulest blot that ever dishonored the annals
of a free and enlightened people.”
This great and good man died on the 1833-07-28twentyeighth
of July, 1833, in the seventyfourth year of his age.
The news of his death was severely felt throughout
the British empire, and touched the hearts of thousands
in the United States. His remains lie in
Westminster Abbey, by the side of Pitt and Canning.
Men of all parties, all classes, and of many nations,
have united in rendering homage to his memory.
How to Effect Emancipation.
A Venerable and excellent member of the Society of
Friends, from England, speaking to the editor concerning
the manner in which emancipation could be effected in the
United States, said “Thou must do as we have done in
England. A sculptor came among us with images, in
black marble, of an African child kneeling, in chains.
Almost every abolitionist purchased one; and when a man
came to ask us to vote for him as member of Parliament,
we held up the image and asked, ‘What hast thou done for
this?’ If he said he had not made up his mind on that
difficult question, we answered, ‘Then, friend, we have
made up our minds that we shall not vote for thee.’”
Remember the Slave.
Mother! when around your child
You clasp your arms in love,
And when with grateful joy you raise
Your eyes to God above,—
Think of the negro mother, when
Her child is torn away,
Sold for a little slave,—oh then
For the poor mother pray!
Father! whene’er your happy boys
You look upon with pride,
And pray to see them, when you’re old
All blooming by your side;—
Think of that father’s wither’d heart,
The father of a slave,
Who asks a pitying God to give
His little son a grave.
Brothers and sisters! who with joy
Meet round the social hearth,
And talk of home and happy days,
And laugh in careless mirth;—
Remember too the poor young slave
Who never felt your joy;
Who early old, has never known
The bliss to be a boy.
Ye Christians! ministers of him
Who came to make men free,
When at the Almighty Maker’s throne
You bend the suppliant knee;—
From the deep fountains of your soul
Then let your prayers ascend,
For the poor slave, who hardly knows
That God is still his friend.
Let all who know that God is just,
That Jesus came to save,
Unite in the most holy cause
Of the forsaken slave.
Printed caption“Deliver us from evil!”
Malem-Boo.
The Brazilian Slave.The following story is founded on fact. A friend of the editor, who
visited Brazil in 18321832, frequently saw the slave at his work, with a
little boy forever at his side. His sedate demeanor, so different from
the other slaves, and the thoughtful earnestness with which he pursued
his avocations, excited her curiosity, and led her to inquire into his
history.
On the eastern coast of Africa, near the river
Zambese, lived Malem-Boo, renowned among his
people for the vigor of his frame, and the graceful
agility of his motions. His bravery and handsome
person found great favor in the eyes of his countrywomen.
The belles of Mozambique stood by the
clear water, and arranged with studious care their
feathered coronets, and bracelets of beads and shells,
in hopes of gaining the heart of Malem-Boo. But
this conquest was reserved for one who came from
distant Caffraria. Malem-Boo saw her for the first
time, in the midst of a lion-hunt. He and his warlike
companions had chased the powerful beast into a
2(3)v
22
neighboring jungle, when suddenly a young woman,
with a little boy upon her shoulders, started up from
behind the thick shrubbery. The lion was just about
to spring upon her, when the spear of Malem-Boo
entered his forehead and laid him dead at her feet.
The stranger’s eyes sparkled with exultation; for
the women of her country loved brave deeds, and
often went out with the young warriors to hunt the
lion and the panther. Yet Yarrima was modest, gentle
and affectionate. Her expressive eyes, which glory so
easily kindled, could melt at once into mildness and
love.
The Caffres are remarkable among the tribes of
Africa, for their majestic figures, graceful motions and
proud deportment. They have short curly black hair;
and in this respect, as well as the iron gray of their
complexions, they appear to be a mixture of the Arab
and the negro. Yarrima had been regarded as the
most beautiful of her tribe; and the consciousness
of this imparted a kind of quiet, queenly dignity,
which was extremely pleasing. As she stood before
them, with no other ornament than a leopard skin,
and a string of red berries among her hair, the young
hunters thought they had never seen anything half
so charming. They eagerly crowded around her, to
ascertain her history. She spoke a dialect different
from their own, but they understood many of the
words; and these, aided by her expressive gestures,
enabled them to understand that she was the widow
of a young Caffre chief,—that she had been taken
by kidnappers,—had escaped from their hands,—and
wandered through the woods for many days, until
2(4)r
23
she met them. Malem-Boo listened with his whole
soul in his eyes; and from that moment he seemed
to forget that the world contained any other woman
than Yarrima.
Among those primitive people, courtship is not a
tedious process. The rules of civilized life have not
as yet taught them to divorce their words and actions
from the true affections of the heart. When Malem-
Boo asked the handsome Caffrarian to become his
wife, she answered by a timid glance, so expressive,
that he needed not the imperfect medium of language
to interpret it.
Yarrima’s first marriage had been managed by her
friends, when she was too young to have a preference;
but the hunter of Mozambique was the chosen of
her heart.
It is difficult to imagine human happiness more
perfect than that enjoyed by these untaught children
of nature. Their hut, plastered with clay, and thatched
with Palms, might have seemed rude to one accustomed
to European luxury; but Yarrima knew nothing
of this. Her husband was doatingly fond of her; and
little Yazoo, her infant son, grew every day more
intelligent and interesting. Then nature herself was
so beautiful in that sunny clime! The Palm trees
waved over their humble dwelling in silent love, as
if rejoicing in the blessed shade they gave; the happy
little palm squirrels glided up and down their tall
stems, or frolicked among the leaves, delighting
Yazoo with their graceful gambols; from the neighboring
groves the gaudy parrots screamed aloud to each
other; at sunrise, the superb Creeper, its feathers
2(4)v
24
glittering with blue, and crimson, and gold, filled the
air with melody; and often the sonorous voice of
the beautiful Pauline-touraco, was heard from the
topmost boughs of the cocoa trees. One of these
birds became so tame, that it frequently perched on the
thatched edges of the hut, and ate berries from Yazoo’s
little hand.
The boy loved dearly to run into the woods, to chase
butterflies, and pelt the beautiful green monkeys, that
continually threw down branches on his head, while
he was unable to distinguish their bright rich fur from
the foliage among which they hid themselves. But
Malem-Boo never allowed him to go out of sight of
the hut, unless he was with him; for in the night
time the loud roars of the lion thundered through the
air—and none could tell where the savage beast
might be lurking for his prey. Sometimes poisonous
scorpions crept forth from under the stones; and,
worse than all, the cruel slave-trader might get sight
of him, and be led to suspect that there was a defenceless
dwelling near. The heart of the poor
African sunk within him, whenever he thought that
they might possibly penetrate even to this secluded
nest, and leave it desolate.
Yazoo was an active child; and in order to gratify
his love of variety, Malem-Boo often took him to the
precipitous rocks, among which he laboriously gathered
particles of gold, for the market of Mozambique.
Many a happy hour did the boy spend watching the
klipspringer antelopes, as they bounded from ledge
to ledge, sometimes stopping to scratch their ears on
precipices where Yazoo could not have found room
2(5)r
25
for one of his own little feet. Once in a great while
he spied a large flock of the springer antelopes, or
showy-bocks, trooping away in the distance; and he
loved dearly to watch and see how, ever an anon,
some one of the herd sprung high in the air, and
showed the beautiful white spot upon his breast.
But what Yazoo liked better than all this, was to
accompany his father, when he went in search of
wild-honey, guided by the sagacious maroc. Every
few moments the little bird would cry cher, cher, as if
to let them know where he was; and when he came
within sight of a wild bee’s hive, he would flutter
round it, and keep up a great outcry, till some one
came to his assistance. Malem-Boo always gave
the friendly creatures a portion of the honey they
had helped to find; and Yazoo was taught never
to fire his little arrows at them. When Yarrima
joined in these pleasant excursions, their cup of joy
was full.
Thus two or three years passed away in perfect
content. Yarrima’s second marriage was not blessed
with children; and Malem-Boo’s affections seemed
to centre the more strongly on her infant son. His
tenderness was returned with all the exuberance of
childish love. Yazoo was never willing to close his
eyes until his father had returned home, and spoken to
him with his accustomed kindness; and if Malem-
Boo missed his merry little voice, and the joyful,
jumping step, with which he was wont to run and
meet him, he always quickened his pace, and eagerly
inquired, “Is the child well?” If, by chance, he
found him sleeping, he never partook his evening
2(5)v
26
meal till he had stooped over him, and kissed his
cheek, or touched his little hand. It seemed strange
that one so strong and warlike could be capable of
such womanly tenderness: but Malem-Boo, like most
brave and generous natures, had a heart very susceptible
of love for all young and innocent things;
and this sentiment was deepened by Yazoo’s marked
resemblance to his mother. Uncultivated as Yarrima
was, she felt that her husband’s love for the boy was
a part and portion of his true affection for her; and
she was more deeply grateful for it, than for all the
beads, and shells, and golden bracelets, with which it
was his pride to decorate her.
One day, when Malem-Boo departed early in the
morning to pursue his occupation among the mountains,
he repeated his usual charge to Yazoo, to keep
within sight of the hut; and particularly not to go
near the beach, lest white men should discover his
tracks in the sand. Only the day previous, the young
hunter, in full chase of an ostrich, had been suddenly
startled, and turned back, by the marks of shoes upon
the beach; but his little hut was several miles from the
sea, in such a hidden nook, that he felt as if danger
at his very door was nearly impossible.
As Malem-Boo passed along, he patted his boy upon
the head, and promised to return before dark. The
child capered a few steps toward him, and then stopped,
looking after him with smiling love. Yarrima,
fearful that he might wander too far, called to him
and bade him play near the door. With a few sticks,
an empty gourd, and some ostrich feathers, he was
happier than princes often are, with their golden and
facing 2(5)v
facing 2(6)r
Figure
Four children playing in the foreground in the grass. The background includes rolling hills and some palm trees.
Printed caption“She looked out, and saw the children playing under the shadow of the Palms.” Page 27
2(6)r
27
jewelled toys. Presently his mother heard a merry
shout; and going to inquire the cause, she found that
three or four children, whose parents lived nearer to
the sea, had wandered there, and joined Yazoo in his
sports. One of them had been on the beach, and
brought a palm leaf full of shells, with which Yazoo
immediately proposed to build a hut. His anxious
mother renewed her commands that he should keep
within sight of the door; and the children readily
promised to obey. From time to time, she looked
out, and saw them dancing and playing in the shadow
of the Palms. She was very busy weaving a garment
for her husband; and satisfied with hearing their merry
voices, she gradually looked out less and less frequently.
Suddenly the idea darted into her mind that she
had heard nothing from them for many minutes.
“Surely,” thought she, “they would have screamed
if danger had been near.” She hastened to the spot
where she had last seen them, calling, “Yazoo!
Yazoo!” But no sound, save the occasional twittering
of insects, was heard amid the sultry silence of approaching
noon.
Yarrima almost flew over the ground, in hopes
of discovering her child in the huts of her distant
neighbors. Something like anger at his supposed
disobedience was mingling with her terror, when
among a cluster of infant foot-prints, she discovered
the steps of a white man! Then the wretched mother
tossed her arms wildly in the air, and shrieked aloud
in the extremity of hopeless anguish. She hurried
onward to the beach; and still those horrid foot-prints
2(6)v
28
were ever in her path. Heedless of her own danger,
she screamed, “Yazoo! Yazoo!” and the lonely
rocks echoed “Yazoo! Yazoo!”
Suddenly the tracks ceased. Here and there, between
the shelving ledges, the sea was visible; its
waters sparkling quietly, all unconscious of the wickedness
of man.
Yarrima clambered to the highest rock, and saw
the white man’s boat moving rapidly over the waves
to a vessel just visible in the distance. She saw a
child stretch forth its arms, and thought a faint scream
reached her ear; but perhaps that sound was only
heard by a mother’s heart, throbbing in its utmost
agony.
How Yarrima reached her desolate home, I know
not. Malem-Boo returned early from the mountains,
oppressed by an undefined apprehension of some evil
awaiting him. He found his wife lying with her face
upon the ground, exhausted, and stupified. With
trembling eagerness, he asked, “Where is Yazoo?”
She answered with a shriek, that pierced through his
brain like an arrow. And then her whole frame was
convulsed, till a torrent of tears gushed forth, to save
her bursting heart.
Malem-Boo clasped his hands hard over his forehead;
for a suspicion of the dreadful truth worked
like fire in his brain. As soon as his fears were
confirmed by Yarrima’s broken sentences, he started
upon his feet, saying, “I will offer them all my gold;
and they will give us back our child.” With half
delirious eagerness, he gathered together all his treasures;
and his wife, trembling with the excitement of
facing 2(6)v
Figure
A woman climbing the face of a hill at the edge of an ocean. One of her arms is stretched toward the ocean where two boats are visible. The woman’s other hand rests on her forehead.
Printed caption“Yarrima climbed to the highest rock, and saw the white man’s boat moving rapidly over the
waves.” Page 28.
facing 2(7)r
2(7)r
29
renewed hope, brought forth her golden bracelets,
beads, and ostrich plumes. Malem-Boo smiled upon
her, saying, “My boat will move over the waters like
the bird of the desert, when he hears the voice of his
mate from afar. Trust me, I will soon bring back our
boy.” He turned to kiss Yarrima before he parted,
and with a look full of love, he bade her keep up
good courage till his return.
Alas, for the kind and simple hearted ones! How
could they estimate the extent of Christian avarice, and
civilized cruelty?
With a strong arm, and a strong heart, Malem-Boo
urged his canoe over the waters. He reached the
vessel, which still lay waiting to complete its miserable
cargo. He displayed his treasures, and assured them
the gold would bring ten times more than they could
obtain for his child. Such as the language man was
compelled to hold to his brother man!
The white men accepted the gold; and the father’s
eyes glistened with joy when they promised that the
boy should go with him. He did not understand their
cruel jest. While he waited, eagerly watching for a
glimpse of his darling Yazoo, four strong sailors suddenly
seized him, and bound him hand and foot. They
thrust him down under the hatches, in a place so low
that he could not sit upright. There he found the
child of his beloved Yarrima, chained hand and foot to
the children who had been playing with him under
the Palm trees. The poor boy uttered a wild cry of
delight; for to his guileless little heart the presence of
his father seemed a sufficient protection from all the
evil in the world. But the driver struck him a blow
2(7)v
30
with the butt end of his whip, which made the blood
stream over his face, and effectually checked the
ebullitions of his childish joy. Malem-Boo’s eyes
gleamed with a fierce expression of revenge; but
feeling that he was powerless in the hands of his
tormentors, he offered no resistance. He earnestly
begged to have the boy placed by his side. To this
they consented; saying, however, that if more captives
were brought on board, they could not suffer the little
brat to take up the room that might be filled by a slave
four times his value.
Malem-Boo glanced over the miserable creatures
packed around him, as close as bales of cotton, and he
could not understand how any more could be stowed
in that place.
The next day passed slowly away. Only two more
captives were brought in; and they were young lovers.
The kidnappers seized them as they sat beside a heap
of yams they had been digging, sharing the milk and
fruit of a cocoa.
At midnight the accursed vessel proceeded on its
way. Long before light dawned upon the poor slaves,
the shores of Africa were lost in the distance. When
they were brought on deck, chained and hand-cuffed,
to breathe the fresh air for a few moments, and
receive their daily allowance of water, it was a heartbreaking
sight to see the looks of deep dejection and
fixed despair, with which they gazed toward their
native land.
They were allowed a very brief time to breathe
the pure air, and look on the pleasant heavens. They
were soon ordered back to their den; and those who
2(8)r
31
lingered, were quickened by a merciless cut from the
driver’s whip. Shut up day after day, without the
power of changing their posture, diseases soon came
among them. Then were heard the gasping screams
of those who were suffocating in the close, pestilential,
filthy atmosphere—the howlings of rage—and the
groans of despair. Sometimes, the fierce visage of
the driver showed itself at the gratings, and the
cracking of his whip restored silence for awhile;—
but half stifled exclamations of bodily pain and mental
anguish soon burst forth anew.
Every day some among them was consigned to
the merciful deep; and often, through an entire day
and night, the dead and the dying sat upright, chained
to each other. Among these wretched beings the
two young lovers seemed most dejected. The girl
drooped and died, before they had been at sea twelve
days. She expired about noon; and, during the remainder
of that day and the following night, her
lifeless body fell cold and heavy upon the shoulders
of her to whom she was chained. The next morning,
when the slaves were turned on deck, and compelled
by the touch of the whip to dance for exercise, the
girl was loosened from her companion, and carelessly
tumbled into the sea. The young African, with an
intense expression of grief, gazed on the body of her
he had loved, as it rose to the surface of the waters;
then, with sudden desperation, he gave one high leap,
and plunged into the waves.
The captain ordered a boat out after him, with many
curses upon the refractory scoundrel, who thus wantonly
risked a white man’s property; but luckily for
2(8)v
32
the poor slave the weight of his chains carried him
down, before the boat could reach him. For an
instant Malem-Boo was tempted to share his fate; but
while Yazoo lived, he could not break the tie that
bound him to a wretched existence.
The boy soon grew feverish, and would no more
eat the yam, which his hungry father had been
accustomed to deny himself, in order to satisfy the
cravings of his childish appetite. There was a
fearful struggle in the parent’s heart. He earnestly
wished Yazoo were dead; yet he dreaded to lose
the only object he had on earth to love. The child
continually cried for water, of which a very small
portion was allowed the slaves. Malem-Boo, though
with a parched lip and a burning tongue, cheerfully
gave up his own share to the little sufferer; but
still the fever devoured him, and his cry was forever,
“Water! Water!”
One day, the driver sternly commanded Malem-
Boo to drink the portion of water assigned to him,
lest he too should be on the sick list. “No matter
if the boy does die,” said he: “He a’n’t worth much.
But we can’t afford to lose a lusty fellow, like you.”
As he finished this speech, he turned and whistled
to a monkey, that was jumping about among the
rigging. The African father gave him a look which
betrayed the feelings struggling in his bosom; but
who thought, or cared, for what was passing in a
negro’s breaking heart? The next day, five more
bodies were tossed into the sea; and three among
them were children. Malem-Boo gazed upon Yazoo’s
parched lips and glaring eyes, and for the first time,
3(1)r
33
in all his miseries, a deep groan escaped him. The
driver turned toward him, and observed the boy
eagerly grasping at his father’s draught of water, after
he had drank his own. He snatched it from him, and,
with a loud oath, struck the poor feverish child over
the head, with the butt of his whip. This was more
than human nature could endure. Malem-Boo seized
the tyrant by his throat, with the ferocity of a wounded
panther.
Alas, the momentary vengeance cost him dear!
He was immediately bound to the mast, and lashed
till his blood flowed freely on the deck. Yazoo,
being still chained to his unfortunate parent, now
and then received a stroke of the whip, on purpose
that it might cut deep into his father’s soul. Not a
groan, or a sigh, escaped from the sufferer, until
they separated his child from him, and carried him
away: then he clenched his hands upon his forehead,
with an expression of mortal agony.
For several days Yazoo was chained with some
other boys in a room smaller than that where
Malem-Boo was confined. They could not see
each other; but sometimes the parent’s watchful ear
heard his voice, in the delirium of fever, calling,
“Father! Father! Yazoo sick. Yazoo die.” Then
the spirit of that strong-hearted man was broken
with misery. He refused sustenance, and resolved
to die. The captain ordered his mouth to be forced
open with an iron instrument, often used for that
purpose on board slave ships; but he crowded his
tongue upon his throat in such a manner, that the
liquid flowed out as fast as it was poured in. Whipping3
3(1)v
34
was again and again tried; but to no purpose.
At last, they restored his child, with a curse upon his
stubborn will.
I gladly pass over the multiplied scenes of misery,
which each succeeding day renewed. At length the
deep blue color of the sea changing to light green,
announced the vicinity of land; and soon the harbor
of Rio de Janeiro, in the clear morning light, was
spread before them, in all its magnificence of beauty.
Rugged mountains, towering in the sky, stretched
far away in the distance. Beneath tremendous precipices,
richly cultivated valleys were seen, with their
white cottages and orange groves, winding away in
sweeping crescents to the mountains. Picturesque
hills were crowned with the broad-leaved Banana
and the feathery Palm; among which churches, convents,
and aqueducts, rose in airy, graceful proportions.
The shipping of all nations was spread over the broad
surface of the bay. The verdant islands, so still
and bright, seemed the favorite abode of angels.
Nature smiled at her sunny face in the waters, as
if in childlike joy at her own surpassing beauty. Over
the whole scene there rested an atmosphere of innocence,
tranquility, and love. Amid all this quiet
grandeur, this romantic, varied loveliness, that dark and
bloody ship sat brooding on the waters, like Satan
lurking among the groves of Paradise.
The poor Africans, ignorant of the fate which
awaited them, joyfully greeted the Palm trees, that
reminded them of their own beloved home. Everything
in the prospect was bright and cheering.
Cramped, emaciated, diseased, and filthy as they
3(2)r
35
were, any chance of situation appeared desirable.
When they scrambled on shore, their faces actually
beamed with delight. The advocates of slavery have
urged this circumstance as a sufficient proof that
negroes have no feeling; and that whipping, starvation,
and irons, are of much less consequence to them than
we imagine.
On landing, the beauty of Rio suddenly vanishes
from the imagination—as if the sooty wings of some
gigantic spectre overshadowed it.
Around the Alfandega, or Custom House, were
groups of dirty negroes, almost naked, accustomed to
drag on shore the cargoes of new arrived vessels.
“Some yoked to drays; some chained together by the
necks and legs; some carrying heavy weights on their
heads, singing in a most inarticulate and dismal tone,
as they moved along; some munching young sugarcanes,
like cattle eating green provender; and some
lying on the bare ground, coiled up among filth and
offal, seeming neither to expect, or require, any better
accommodation. The horses and mules, pampered,
spirited, and richly caparisoned, looked proudly down
on these poor fettered wretches, as if conscious they
were passing beings of an inferior rank in creation.”
Malem-Boo glanced around him, with a heavy eye
and a sinking heart. This scene of splendid wealth
and excessive misery, contrasted strangely with his
own rude but peaceful hut, under the shadow of the
3(2)v
36
Palms; and the dismal cadence of those mournful
chants was painfully unlike the merry rattling of the
saka-saka, which Yarrima was wont to shake above
her head, when they danced together among the
Mimosa groves.
Where was his beautiful and beloved Yarrima, now?
Had her heart died with its slow agony, as lingering
hope changed to cold despair? Had she already gone
to that “better land,” that other Africa, where all the
poor wanderers would meet at last in joy?
He looked at the skeleton of poor Yazoo, in which
the spark of life seemed almost extinct, and God gave
him comfort in the hope that the mother and her child
would be soon united.
But why do I endeavor to paint feelings, which no
language can describe? His love and misery were
hidden deep in the recesses of his own bosom. The
proud freedom of his glance was already exchanged
for an expression of hopeless resignation. He was
willing to live, for the sake of his boy; and when he
died, he determined no human power should longer
keep him from those shady African valleys, which he
believed awaited him in heaven.
Fresh water and cooling fruit were offered to the
captives; not from motives of humanity, but because
their price depended on cleanliness and apparent
strength. When brief repose and wholesome food
had somewhat renovated their appearance, the whole
cargo were driven to the slave-market.
Here the driver’s whip compelled them to go
through their paces, like horses offered for sale; while
the purchasers, with many a coarse jest, turned them
round, felt of their limbs, and ordered them to shout,
to test the soundness of their lungs.
Some, who lay about the ground, drooping and
dying, were bought at a venture by speculators, for
something less than the price of a hog.
Malem-Boo offered no resistance: for Yazoo’s sake,
he obeyed all commands implicitly. He merely broke
silence to signify to one, who understood the dialect of
his country, that he would work well if they allowed
his son to remain with him; but if they were separated,
he vowed no earthly power should compel him to
raise a hand in his master’s service. This threat
occasioned a smile, and was forgotten. Yazoo was
purchased by a woman, whose husband kept a venda
several leagues from Rio. With the most imploring
gestures, Malem-Boo stretched forth his arms to protect
the boy, who clung trembling to his knee, and
could not be forced from his hold by the whip of the
driver. The woman ordered one of her stout negroes
to pull him away; and the command was promptly
obeyed. Malem-Boo looked after his darling child,
with an expression of stupefied agony; and when he
could no longer see those little arms stretched toward
him, no longer hear the scream of “Father! Father!”
which grew fainter and fainter in the distance—he
ground his teeth together, and sent forth one loud,
unearthly yell of mingled rage and despair.
“That fellow has good lungs,” coolly observed one
of the Custom House clerks: “He is strong-limbed
3(3)v
38
too. If they don’t put him up too high, he will be a
good bargain.” Others seemed to have the same
opinion; for large sums were bid for him. The clerk
finally obtained possession of sinews, which promised
well to perform the labor of a cart-horse; and having
caused the initials of his own name to be branded just
below the shoulder, with red-hot iron, he gave the
slave his appointed task. But Malem-Boo fulfilled his
threat. He would not work. In vain they lashed him,
till he fainted with pain and loss of blood—in vain they
refused him food, till nature began to yield to death—
in vain they tortured him with pointed irons—in vain
they exhausted upon him the whole infernal machinery
of slavery. He did not utter a groan, and he remained
stubborn in his purpose. At last tyranny grew
weary of useless efforts, and avarice conquered rage.
Having had time to recruit from his wounds, Malem-
Boo was again put into the market. Again he
renewed his protestations that he would not work,
unless they restored his child. A man, who had
formerly resided at New Orleans, bought him, regardless
of his threats. The same process of whips, and
chains, and tortures, was again tried, without producing
any effect. The soul of the slave seemed about to
leave his exhausted and mutilated frame; but still his
resolution remained firm.
In order to avoid a loss, it became necessary to
allow some respite from punishment, to prepare him
for a third sale.
A Portuguese merchant bought him, and renewed
the same shocking process. Being soon convinced
that it would prove ineffectual, Malem-Boo was, for
the fourth time, put up at auction.
The story began to produce some sensation in Rio.
Such an exhibition of strong affection in a slave was
by many deemed equally strange and ridiculous.
The particulars happened to reach the ears of Mr
B―, a merchant originally from the United States.
He resolved to purchase the father, and restore his
child. He went to the slave-market, and signified to
Malem-Boo that his son should be bought and remain
with him, if he would promise to be faithful and
industrious. It was enough to make one weep, to see
the sudden ray of hope which flashed over that dark,
dejected countenance!
He followed his new master, like a child returning
to his beloved home. His eyes beamed with gratitude
and his limbs once more moved with something like
the elasticity of freedom. Mr B― easily ascertained
the residence of Yazoo, and brought him, at a higher
price than would have been demanded under other
circumstances. When the African clasped the child
to his long-suffering heart, the tears, which manifold
tortures had not been able to force from him, flowed
freely down his cheeks. From that hour, nothing
could surpass his willing industry. He worked as if
he had a frame of iron.
Mr B—, with a degree of benevolence rare among
slave-owners, toward their slaves, assigned moderate
tasks to the father and son, and allowed all the surplus
time for their own use. He likewise promised them
freedom, as soon as they had earned money enough to
pay the price of their own bones and sinews.
Mr B— was a wealthy bachelor. He lavished
thousands in matters of taste, or pleasure; but it never
occurred to him that he could well afford to send
3(4)v
40
Malem-Boo and his child to Africa, without receiving
any ransom. Perhaps this was too much to expect of
one accustomed to the sight of slavery.
Hope completed the change that gratitude began.
While the other slaves might be seen leaning on their
hoes, or stretched out lazily in the sunshine, Malem-Boo
and his son toiled like those with whom exertion is a
matter of life and death. From earliest dawn till
latest twilight, the vigorous African might be seen at
work, with his boy close by his side. No sounds of
merriment tempted him to look up, or changed for a
moment the thoughtful earnestness of his countenance.
With the hope of freedom were mingled fond thoughts
of Yarrima, and his distant home.
But what had she to sustain her sinking heart?
Merely a lively faith in that better Africa, beyond the
sky, where she should once more meet her beloved
husband, and see Yazoo frolicking beneath the Palm
trees.
I trust the heart-stricken wife and mother has long
since gone to her rest;—for should Malem-Boo
regain his freedom, there is great danger that the
avarice of white men will again enslave him, before
he can reach his native shore.
Henry Diaz.
This was one of the most remarkable men of his
age. In the course of a long and harassing war with
their Dutch masters, the Brazilians had become
fatigued, and their resources nearly exhausted. In the
midst of their greatest despondency, a stout, active,
negro slave, named Henry Diaz, presented himself in
the Brazilian camp. With the air and tone of one
whose purpose had been deliberately formed, he proposed
to the Commander, John Fernandes, to raise a
regiment of his own color, and bring them to the
rescue of their common country. Although the
Portuguese, and other nations of the south of Europe,
have never indulged toward the colored race those
rancorous prejudices which exist in the United States,
yet the sudden appearance, and singular proposal, of
this intrepid negro, occasioned no small surprise
among the Portuguese officers. The arrival of Joan
of Arc in the camp of Charles the Seventh could
scarcely have produced more wonder. But Diaz,
though an enthusiast, made no pretension to miracles.
He was well acquainted with the character of his race;
and he relied upon his own influence, and tact, to
develope the great qualities, which he well knew they
possessed. Their situation was indeed wretched and
degraded in the extreme; but he had occasionally seen
3(5)v
42
in them, as he felt within himself, a capacity for high
and noble deeds.
When a beggar is offered silver, he is not likely to
be very fastidious about the stamp of the coin; and
thus it was with the Portuguese commander. He
readily accepted the proposal of Diaz; but with an
incredulous smile, that plainly implied he considered
it no harm for the blackies to try; just as a father looks
and speaks to little boys, when they ask to hold the
plough.
Henry Diaz returned triumphantly to his companions,
to communicate the success of his mission. He
exhibited the parchment he had received; and though
few could read the words, all were able to appreciate
the magnitude of the seals, and the magnificence of
the flourishes.
Negroes have always shown a readiness to exchange
domestic slavery for the milder servitude, and more
exciting scenes of the army. They fear bullets
less than stripes. The history of revolutions in North
and South America,—but especially in the latter,—
furnish sufficient proofs of the truth of this remark.
The regiment was soon full, and organized into
regular battalions and companies. Such was the talent
and energy of Diaz, and such effective use had he
made of the hours he was enabled to steal from labor
and from sleep, that in less than two months his troops
were completely equipped, and in as perfect a state of
discipline as the oldest corps in the army. From
miserable, ragged, servile creatures, they had suddenly
started up into brave and stout men, their faces
3(6)r
43
animated with intelligence and hope, and their eyes
glistening like the flashing of the sun upon their bright
muskets.
By the fierce and unyielding courage of this regiment,
and the genius and skill of its commander, the
Dutch were repeatedly defeated, after the most severe
contests. The soldiers were never, but once, known
to waver from the rock-like firmness said to distinguish
colored troops. Once, when struggling against
a vast superiority of numbers, there was a momentary
relaxation of their efforts, and some symptoms of
dismay. Their Colonel rushed into the midst of the
breaking ranks, and exclaiming “Are these the brave
companions of Henry Diaz!” he restored their confidence,
and secured the victory. By a new and
desperate charge, the enemy was completely routed.
After eight years of almost constant warfare, the
Dutch were driven from that vast territory, which
now forms the empire of Brazil. Of all those rich
possessions, which they had expended millions to
conquer, by land and by sea,—and which their
avarice and cruelty had too long desolated,—nothing
finally remained, but one large, and apparently impregnable
fortress, called Cinco Pontas, near Pernambuco.
It commanded the whole city and neighborhood, and
was well provisioned, and garrisoned by an army of
five thousand men. Many useless attempts were made
to get possession of this important post. It was
defended by high and massive walls, and by deep and
wide ditches, containing twelve feet of water; and
provisions being constantly supplied from Dutch ships,
there was no hope of reducing it by famine. Every
3(6)v
44
fresh attack upon it was immediately punished by
pouring its powerful batteries on the city and surrounding
country. While the enemy possessed this
strong hold, the Brazilians were subject to continual
irritation and alarm, and could never regard their
dear-bought independence as secure.
Here was a subject fit to employ the bold genius
and unwearied energy of Henry Diaz!
He sent an officer to the Commander-in-Chief,
requesting an audience, that he might communicate a
plan for taking the Cinco Pontas. The General
readily granted this request; but with a still smaller
hope of any favorable result, than he had entertained,
when the slave first proposed his recruiting
scheme.
Diaz detailed his plan with characteristic earnestness.
The superior officers listened respectfully; for
his well-earned reputation effectually protected the
speaker from open derision. The result of the
conference was, that the General declined adopting
the measures proposed, but had no objection that Diaz
himself should carry them into effect, with the troops
under his command. “Then,” replied the brave
Colonel, “tomorrow at sunrise, you shall see the
Portuguese flag wave on the tower of Cinco Pontas!”
As Diaz retired he overheard his commander say
to one of the officers, “It is a nigger plan.” He took
no notice of the scornful remark; but made preparations
for his hazardous enterprise with all possible
secrecy and despatch.
His men were ordered to lay aside their muskets—
to retain their side-arms—to take a pair of pistols in
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45
their belts—and to carry upon their shoulders, a heap
of wood, tightly bound together with osier bands.
Thus prepared, at two o’clock in the morning, their
commander gave directions to march toward the fort.
The night was dark, and the column arrived at their
destination in perfect safety. Silently and rapidly
they deposited their bundles in the deep trench,
beginning at the outer margin, and building successive
layers toward the wall. As fast as this operation was
performed, they filed off, and formed companies, in
readiness to scale the wall, as soon as this combined
bridge and ladder should be completed. They were
obliged to wait but a brief period. The Roman
warriors could not have buried the parricide woman
under their shields with more celerity, than the soldiers
of Diaz filled up the fosse, and formed an ascent to
the wall.
Diaz was the first to leap upon the ramparts. The
first sentinel he met was laid dead at his feet.
The garrison were sleeping; and before they were
completely roused, the Brazilians had gained the
greater part of the fortress. As soon as the Dutch
recovered a little from their first surprise and confusion,
they formed a compact phalanx, and offered
desperate resistance. Diaz received a sabre-wound,
which shattered the bones of his left arm, above the
wrist. It was necessary to staunch the blood, which
flowed profusely. Finding that it would take the
surgeon some time to adjust the bones, and arrange
the dressing, he bade him cut off the hand, saying, “It
is of less consequence to me than a few moments’ time,
just now.”
This being done, he again rushed into the hottest of
the fight; and although the Dutch had greatly the
advantage in the use of their artillery and muskets, they
could not long withstand the determined bravery of
their assailants. Fighting hand to hand, they soon
killed, or captured, the whole garrison, and took
possession of their immense stores of provision and
ammunition.
When the darkness and smoke cleared away, the
Portuguese flag was seen waving from the tower of
Cinco Pontas!
The Commander-in-Chief could scarcely believe
the evidence of his own senses. The intrepid Diaz
sent an aid-de-camp to say that the fort and prisoners
were at the disposition of his Excellency. In a
few hours, the General, with a numerous suite entered
the fortress, and was saluted by the victorious troops.
They found Colonel Diaz reclining on his camp-bed,
enfeebled by exertion and loss of blood. He, however,
raised himself to a sitting posture, and received
the thanks and congratulations of his commanding
and brother officers, with the grave and placid air
habitual to him. Then looking up archly, he said,
“It was a nigger plan, General; but the Fort is taken.”
As the request of John the Fourth, Henry Diaz
visited Portugal, where he was received with great
distinction. The king desired him to choose any
reward within his power to bestow. Diaz merely
requested that his regiment might be perpetuated, and
none admitted to its ranks but those of his own color.
This was granted; and a considerable town and territory
were appropriated to secure pensions to these
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47
brave men and their successors. The town is called
Estancia, and is situated a short distance from Pernambuco.
The king conferred knighthood upon Diaz, and
caused a medal to be struck in commemoration of the
capture of Cinco Pontas. It was likewise ordained
that the regiment should forever bear the name of its
first commander. It still exists in Pernambuco. Its
uniform is white, faced with red, and embroidered
with gold. The decorations which Diaz received
from John the Fourth, are transmitted to the commander
of the regiment, to this day; and at royal
audiences they have the privilege of being the first to
kiss the sovereign’s hand.
The Slave Ships.
Built i’ the eclipse, and rigged with curses dark.” Milton’s Lycidas
“The French ship Le Rodeur, with a crew of twentytwo
men, and with one hundred and sixty negro slaves, sailed
from Bonny in Africa, 1819-04April, 1819. On approaching the
line, a terrible malady broke out—an obstinate disease of
the eyes—contagious, and altogether beyond the resources
of medicine. It was aggravated by the scarcity of water
among the slaves, (only half a wine-glass per day being
allowed to an individual,) and by the extreme impurity of
the air in which they breathed. By the advice of the
physician, they were brought upon deck occasionally, but
some of the poor wretches, locking themselves in each
other’s arms, leaped overboard, in the hope which so
universally prevails among them, of being swiftly transported
to their own homes in Africa. To check this, the
captain ordered several who were stopped in the attempt,
to be shot, or hanged, before their companions. The disease
extended to the crew; and one after another were smitten
with it, until only one remained unaffected. Yet even this
4(1)r
49
dreadful condition did not preclude calculation: to save the
expense of supporting slaves rendered unsaleable, and to
obtain grounds for a claim against the underwriters, thirtysix
of the negroes, having become blind, were thrown into
the sea and drowned!”—Speech of M. Benjamin Constant
in the Chamber of Deputies, 1820-06-17June 17, 1820.
“In the midst of their dreadful fears lest the solitary individual,
whose sight remained unaffected, should also be
seized with the malady, a sail was discovered. It was the
Spanish Slaver, Leon. The same disease had been there;
and horrible to tell, all the crew had become blind! Unable
to assist each other, the vessels parted. The Spanish ship
has never since been heard of. The Rodeur reached Guadaloupe
on the twentyfirst of June; the only man who had
escaped the disease, and had thus been enabled to steer the
slaver into port, caught it in three days after its arrival.”— Bibliotheque Opthalmologique, for 1819-11November, 1819.)
“All ready?” cried the Captain;
“Ay, Ay!” the seamen said—
“Heave up the worthless lubbers,
The dying and the dead.”
Up from the slave-ship’s prison
Fierce, bearded heads were thrust—
“Now let the sharks look to it—
Toss up the dead ones first!”
Corpse after corpse came up,—
Death had been busy there.
Where every blow is mercy,
Why should the spoiler spare?
Corpse after corpse they cast
Sullenly from the ship,
Yet bloody with the traces
Of fetter-link and whip.
Gloomily stood the captain,
With his arms upon his breast,
With his cold brow sternly knotted,
And his iron lip compress’d.
“Are all the dead dogs over?”
Growl’d through that matted lip—
“The blind ones are no better,
Let’s lighten the good ship!”
Hark! from the ship’s dark bosom,
The very sounds of hell!—
The ringing clank of iron—
The maniac’s short, sharp yell!
The hoarse, low curse, throat-stifled—
The starving infant’s moan—
The horror of a breaking heart
Pour’d through a mother’s groan!
Up from that loathsome prison
The stricken blind ones came—
Below, had all been darkness—
Above, was still the same.
Yet the holy breath of Heaven
Was sweetly breathing there,
And the heated brow of fever
Cool’d in the soft sea-air.
“Overboard with them, shipmates!”
Cutlass and dirk were plied;
Fetter’d and blind, one after one,
Plunged down the vessel’s side.
The sabre smote above—
Beneath, the lean shark lay,
Waiting with wide and bloody jaw
His quick and human prey.
God of the earth! what cries
Rang upward unto Thee?
Voices of agony and blood,
From ship-deck and from sea.
The last dull plunge was heard—
The last wave caught its stain—
And the unsated sharks look’d up
For human hearts in vain.
* * * * * *
Red glow’d the western waters—
The setting sun was there,
Scattering alike on wave and cloud
His fiery mesh of hair.
Amidst a group in blindness,
A solitary eye
Gazed, from the burden’d slaver’s deck,
Into that burning sky.
“A storm,” spoke out the gazer,
“Is gathering and at hand—
Curse on’t—I’d give my other eye
For one firm rood of land.”
And then he laugh’d—but only
His echoed laugh replied—
For the blinded and the suffering
Alone were at his side.
Night settled on the waters,
And on a stormy heaven,
While fiercely on that lone ship’s track
The thunder-gust was driven.
“A sail!—thank God! a sail!”
And, as the helmsman spoke,
Up through the stormy murmur
A shout of gladness broke.
Down came the stranger vessel
Unheeding, on her way,
So near, that on the slaver’s deck
Fell off her driven spray.
“Ho! for the love of mercy—
We’re perishing and blind!”
A wail of utter agony
Came back upon the wind.
“Help us! for we are stricken
With blindness every one—
Ten days we’ve floated fearfully,
Unnoting star or sun.
Our ship’s the slaver Leon—
We’ve but a score on board—
Our slaves are all gone over—
Help—for the love of God!”
On livid brows of agony
The broad red lightning shone—
But the roar of wind and thunder
Stifled the answering groan.
Wail’d from the broken waters
A last despairing cry,
As kindling in the stormy light,
The stranger ship went by.
* * * * * *
In the sunny Gaudaloupe
A dark hull’d vessel lay—
With a crew who noted never
The night-fall or the day.
The blossom of the orange
Waved white by every stream.
And tropic leaf, and flower, and bird,
Were in the warm sun-beam.
And the sky was bright as ever,
And the moonlight slept as well,
On the palm-trees by the hill-side,
And the streamlet of the dell.
And the glances of the Creole
Were still as archly deep,
And her smiles as full as ever
Of passion and of sleep.
But vain were bird and blossom,
The green earth and the sky,
And the smile of human faces,
To the ever-darken’d eye;—
For, amidst a world of beauty,
The slaver went abroad,
With his ghastly visage written
By the awful curse of God!
Illustration of the Strength of
Prejudice.
The following account is a literal matter of fact. The
names of places and persons are concealed by the editor,
because she wishes to excite no angry feeling in attempting
to show how many discouragements are thrown in the way
of colored people, who really desire to be respectable.
The letters are copied from the originals, with merely a few
alterations in the orthography of the last.
Mr James E***** was a respectable colored man,
residing in Massachusetts, in a certain town not far
distant from Boston. He had been early impressed
with the importance of religious subjects, and at twentysix
years of age made a public profession of his
faith. He had a large family; and when they were
all old enough to attend church, it was found difficult
to accommodate them in the seats their parents had
usually occupied. Mr E. was desirous of purchasing
a pew, which stood as it were by itself, being surrounded
by the aisle and the stair-case. Some difficulty
occurred, because a widow had a right to one
third; but this was finally arranged to the satisfaction
of all parties. Mr E.’s eldest son paid the purchase
money, and received a deed of the pew. As soon as
4(4)r
55
this became known, a member of the church called
upon Mr E. and exhorted him not to injure the sale of
the pew by occupying it. Mr E. answered, that it
had been bought for the accommodation of his family,
and they had no wish to sell it. The church brother
answered, “Let him that thinketh he standeth, take
heed lest he fall.”
Private meetings were immediately held, which
resulted in summoning Mr E. to appear before the
church, to give an account of his proceedings. Here
he was accused of a wilful and flagrant outrage upon
the church and the society. In reply, he called their
attention to the covenant, by which each church
member was bound to share the burdens of the church,
and promised full enjoyment of all its privileges. He
thought this gave any member a right to own a pew,
provided he could honestly pay for one. As a citizen
of a free country, he conceived that he had a right to
purchase a pew; nor could he find anythinganything in the
whole tenor of the Bible opposed to it.
When requested to declare the price his son had
paid for the pew, he declined answering. A committee
was appointed, and the meeting adjourned.
This committee called on Mr E. to “labor with
him,” as they termed it. The Elder attempted to
justify their proceedings, by talking of a gradation in
creation, from the highest seraph to the meanest
insect. To support his doctrine, he quoted from the
fifteenth chapter of the first Epistle to the Corinthians;
“All flesh is not the same flesh; but there is one kind
of flesh of men, another flesh of beasts, another of
fishes, and another of birds.
There are also celestial bodies, and bodies terrestrial;
but the glory of the celestial is one, and the glory
of the terrestrial is another.
There is one glory of the sun, and another glory
of the moon, and another glory of the stars; for one
star differeth from another star in glory.”
The Elder said this difference of flesh was visible
among people of different features and complexions.
In answer to these remarks, Mr E. reminded him that,
in the verses he had quoted, the Apostle expressly
says, “There is one kind of flesh of men”; the difference
alluded to was between the flesh of men and the
flesh of beasts. He added that God had distinctly
declared, “He made of one blood all nations of men to
dwell on the face of the earth.”
The committee easily perceived that the Elder’s
scriptural arguments were feeble. They said a good
deal about the advantages of peace and harmony in
the church, and earnestly desired that the pew might
be given up. One gentleman declared it was his
opinion that Mr E. had as good a right to own a pew
as any other individual in the community; but if he
would, of his own free will, relinquish the possession
of it, for the sake of peace, it would be a very acceptable
service. If all had spoken with equal mildness
and candor, the affair would probably have been easily
settled; but bitter and contemptuous words are not the
best means of persuading a man to relinquish his own
rights, for the convenience or pleasure of others.
The Elder declared that he had exerted his utmost
influence to restore order and tranquillity. When
asked if he had tried to induce the son to give up his
4(5)r
57
claim to the pew he had purchased, he answered, “No;
if I cannot persuade professors of religion to do right,
I cannot expect to gain anything by talking with
world’s people; and I will do nothing about it.”
Another meeting was soon after held. Mr E. and
his son attended, and, for the first time, took their seats
in the pew. The same arguments were made use of,
concerning a gradation in creation from things superior
to things most inferior; and these arguments were
met by similar replies. The question was put to vote,
whether Mr E. should be allowed to sit in the pew;
and it was unanimously decided that the church were
unwilling to allow him the privilege. A larger committee
was appointed, and the meeting adjourned.
On the next Sabbath Mr E. and his son took their
seats in the pew. In the afternoon, the Elder named
his text from the eleventh chapter of Ecclesiastes:
“Rejoice, O young man, in thy youth; and let thy
heart cheer thee in the days of thy youth, and walk in
the ways of thine heart, and in the sight of thine eyes:
but know thou that for all these things God will bring
thee into judgment.” During his discourse, the
speaker was very much excited.
The next Sunday, the pew was found covered with
tar, and a part of the seats torn down.
On the third Sunday, a cord was observed supended
from the gallery; on examination, it was found that a
jug of filthy water was tied to it, and so arranged as to
empty itself upon whoever touched the line, in entering
the pew. The remainder of the seats and the
walls were soon after torn down, and thrown into an
adjoining pasture. A temporary seat answered the
4(5)v
58
purposes of the family for awhile; but in a short time
this was demolished, and the platform itself torn
up, leaving a hole about two feet square.
The son of Mr E. related these facts to the editor,
and added very drily; “When the cold weather came
on, this proved a serious inconvenience to the whole
congregation; but they bore it for some time, with
Christian fortitude.”
Another church-meeting was called, and an attempt
made to prove that Mr E. had been guilty of dissimulation
in his manner of obtaining the pew. It was
stated that he had induced the widow to sell her share,
by telling her he had already given her son-in-law
security for the price, and that the deed was made out.
In reply, Mr E. urged that he had told the widow the
bargain was all completed, and waited only for her
consent; and when she asked if he had paid for it, he
answered he had given his word for the money, which
was as good security as his bond. He wished to prove
this statement by witness; but the church declined to
admit his evidence. A lawyer, who was present, said
if any man passed his word before witnesses, it was
good for one year; and therefore he conceived that
Mr E. had made himself responsible for the payment
of the pew, to all intents and purposes. The majority
were, however, decidedly in favor of withdrawing the
right hand of fellowship from their colored brother, on
the ground that he had practised deceit in saying he
had given security for the purchase. He was accordingly
excommunicated. The church denied any
co-operation in the destruction of the pew. Mr E.
told them he knew nothing about that; but he thought
4(6)r
59
they had, in their proceedings, manifested a similar
spirit. Since they were unwilling to listen to the
evidence he could bring, he asked to have the question
of dissimulation fairly tried before impartial referees.
But the Elder said that was unnecessary; and he
closed by reminding the culprit that he would have
avoided this punishment, if he had but followed his
directions in the beginning. Yet had he done as was
required of him, the charge of deceit in the purchase
of the pew must have had precisely the same degree
of truth it had under other circumstances.
Mr E. laid the case before ex-parte counsel, was
acquitted of the charge brought against him, and
received a recommendation to other churches. The
family no longer attended at the meeting-house where
their property had been so wantonly destroyed. After
some time, Mrs E. received the following letter:
have to regret that they are compelled to say to you
that in their opinion your reasons for being so long
time absent from the Communion are not sufficient to
justify you; and according to our covenant obligations,
we must withdraw from you the hand of fellowship,
and consider you no longer a member of the
church. We hope you will consider the solemn covenant
obligations you once took upon yourself, and
return to your Heavenly Father, and to the church,
who would gladly again restore you to your former
privilege in the church. By order and in behalf of the ― Church in
S********. J****** T*****, Clerk.” 4(6)v 60
Mrs E. replied as follows:
“To the ― Church in S********— I received your committee with marked respect,and agreeable to request gave my mind on the subject of
my former connexion with you. After you had bound
yourselves by a covenant obligation, in the presence of
God, angels, and men, that we should mutually enjoy
all the privileges of the church, you brought a groundless
allegation against my husband, of dissimulation
in attempting to purchase a pew. Elder ―, who
was at that time our minister, under the influence of a
blind, infatuated zeal, used all his influence against the
right cause. Instead of being as ‘wise as a serpent
and harmless as a dove,’ he was as venomous as a
serpent, to the everlasting shame and disgrace of his
profession. He, with a few others, urged my husband
to give up a pew my son had bought; upon the plea
that it was not customary for colored people to have a
pew on the floor of the meeting-house. They said
the difficulty would all be settled, if he would give it
up; and finding they could not obtain this, they called
a church meeting and set him aside. I have ever been dissatisfied with the treatment my
husband received. It seemed to me unreasonable,
unchristian, dishonest, and hypocritical—contrary to
every principle of justice and humanity, and to our
Saviour’s golden rule, ‘Do ye unto other whatsoever
ye would that they should do unto you.’ I ask what
man among you would like to be turned out of the
church merely because his son bought a pew? Who
cannot see that the real difficulty was on account of a
black man’s owning a pew, and that the charge of
dissimulation was forged out? 4(7)r 61 As it respects features and shades of complexion,
God has said that ‘He made of one blood all nations
of men to dwell on all the face of the earth.’ He
declares that ‘He is no respecter of persons; but in
every nation he that feareth God, and worketh righteousness,
is accepted of him.’ What right then had one
part of creation to usurp dominion over the other part,
merely because they are a little whiter? (and not
much, neither.) The Bill of Rights declares that all
men are born equal, and endowed with certain inalienable
rights; among which are life, liberty, and the
pursuit of happiness. Nothing is said concerning
color, whether it be white, red, black, or yellow. If a citizen buy a pew in a house dedicated to God,
what right have Christians and sinners, with the Elder
at their head, to join together in lording it over God’s
heritage, and declare by vote that they are not willing
people should enjoy their property, in this land of
gospel light and liberty? Does this seem like ‘sitting
together in heavenly places, in Christ Jesus’? Is this
letting love be without dissimulation? Be assured the
only way to be accepted with God is to keep his commandments;
and he requires us to love him supremely,
and our neighbors as ourselves. By the grace of God, I am determined to walk
worthy of the vocation whereunto I have been called.
I am far advanced in life, and the time of my departure
is at hand. It is a consolation to me that I have
no personal animosity against your church. I ever
cherish a spirit of forgiveness; but I cannot remain
in fellowship with any church, or people, who make a
distinction on account of complexion. ”
Original Protest
of
Wilberforce and Associates
Against The
American Colonization Society.
We, the undersigned, having observed with regret
that the American Colonization Society appears to
be gaining some Adherents in this Country, are desirous
to express our opinions respecting it.
Our motive and excuse for thus coming forward are
the claims which the Society has put forth to Anti-
Slavery support.—These claims are in our opinion
wholly groundless:—and we feel bound to affirm
that our deliberate Judgement and Conviction is, that
the professions made by the Colonization Society of
promoting the Abolition of Slavery are altogether
delusive.
As far as the mere Colony of Liberia is concerned,
it has no doubt the advantages of other Trading
Establishments. In this sense, it is beneficial both to
America and to Africa, and we cordially wish it well.
We cannot however refrain from expressing our
strong opinion that it is a settlement of which the
United States ought to bear the whole cost. We
never required of that country to assist us in Sierra
Leone; we are enormously burdened by our own
connection with slavery:—and we do maintain that
we ought not to be called on to contribute to the
Expenses of a Colony, which though no doubt
comprising some advantages, was formed chiefly to
indulge the prejudices of American Slave Holders,
and which is regarded with aversion by the coloured
population of the United States.
With regard to the Extinction of the Slave Trade,
we apprehend that Liberia, however good the Intentions
of its supporters, will be able to do little or
nothing towards it, except on the limited Extent of its
own Territories. The only effectual Death Blow to
that accursed Traffic, will be the Destruction of
Slavery throughout the World. To the Destruction
of Slavery throughout the World, we are compelled
to say that we believe the Colonization Society to be
an obstruction.
Our objections to it are therefore briefly these.
While we believe its pretexts to be delusive, we
are convinced that its real effects are of the most
dangerous Nature. It takes its root from a cruel
Prejudice and Alienation in the Whites of America
against the coloured people; Slave or Free. This
being its source, the effects are what might be
expected—that it fosters and increases the Spirit
of Caste, already so unhappily predominant—that
it widens the breach between the two Races—
exposes the coloured people to great practical
Persecution in order to force them to emigrate;
—and finally is calculated to swallow up and
divert that feeling which America, as a Christian
and free country, cannot but entertain, that
Slavery is alike incompatible with the Law of
God, and with the well-being of Man, whether
of the Enslaver or the Enslaved.
On these grounds therefore and while we acknowledge
the Colony of Liberia, or any other Colony on
the Coast of Africa, to be in itself a good thing, we
must be understood utterly to repudiate the Principles
of the American Colonization Society. That Society
is in our Estimation not deserving of the Countenance
of the British Public.
Figure A reproduction of 11 signatures. Wm Wilberforce Suffield J Lushington Zachary Mencaulay Thos Fowell Buxton Williamwans James Gropper Sam Guerney Gerry Hephen Daniel Monnell M. P. Henry Ponnall John Glaphham Printed captionPendleton’s Lithographs, Boston
Printed captionDrawn by Capt. Stedman. Eng. by G. G. Smith
Joanna.
Page 65.
Joanna.
The following story is found scattered here and there
through the pages of a large and painfully interesting work,
called Narrative of a Five Years’ Expedition against the
Revolted Negroes of Surinam: By Captain John G. Stedman.
The author was an Englishman, who partly from a love
of seeing new countries, and partly from ambition, entered
the Dutch service, and went out to protect the Colony of
Surinam from the incursions of what he calls Rebel
Negroes; being in fact an independent republic of colored
citizens, daily augmented in numbers by runaway slaves.
He is the hero of his own story; and I leave him to tell
it in his own words. Should any fastidious readers be
alarmed, I beg leave to assure them that the Abolitionists
have no wish to induce any one to marry a mulatto, even
should their lives be saved by such an one ten times.
Editor.
where I daily breakfasted. She was about fifteen
years of age, and a remarkable favorite with his lady.
Rather taller than the middle size, she had the most
elegant shape nature can exhibit, and moved her well
formed limbs with unusual gracefulness. Her face
was full of native modesty, and the most distinguished 5 5(1)v 66
sweetness. Her eyes, as black as ebony, were large,
and full of expression, bespeaking the goodness of her
heart. A beautiful tinge of vermilion glowed through
her dark cheeks, when she was gazed upon. Her nose
was perfectly well formed, and rather small. Her lips,
a little prominent, discovered, when she spoke, two
regular rows of teeth as white as mountain snow. Her
hair was dark brown, inclining to black, forming a
beautiful globe of small ringlets, ornamented with
flowers and gold spangles. Round her neck, arms,
and ancles, she wore gold chains, rings and medals.
A shawl of India muslin was thrown negligently over
her polished shoulders; and a skirt of rich chintz
completed her apparel. In her delicate hand she
carried a beaver hat, ornamented with a band of silver.
The figure and appearance of this charming creature
could not but attract my particular attention; as they
did, indeed, that of all who beheld her. With much
surprise, I inquired of Mrs Demelly who this girl was,
that appeared so much distinguished above others of
her color in the colony. The lady replied, ‘she is, sir, the daughter of a
highly respectable gentleman, named Kruythoff. He
had five children by a black woman, called Cery, the
slave of a Mr D. B. on his estate Fauconberg. A few years since, Mr Kruythoff offered more than
a thousand pounds sterling to Mr D. B., to obtain
manumission for his offspring. This being inhumanly
refused, it had such an effect upon his spirits that he
became frantic, and died in that melancholy state soon
after; leaving in slavery, at the discretion of a tyrant,
two boys, and three fine girls, of which the one before 5(2)r 67
us is the eldest. The gold ornaments which seem to
surprise you, are the gift of her faithful mother, who
is a most deserving woman, and of some consequence
among her caste. She attended Mr Kruythoff to the
last moment, with the most exemplary affection; and
she received the gold ornaments in token of gratitude
from him, a short time before he expired. Since that
time, Mr D. B. has driven all his best negroes to the
woods, by his injustice and severity. He has been
obliged to fly the colony, leaving his estate and stock to
the disposal of creditors. One of the slaves, who
escaped from him and joined the rebel negroes, has by
his industry, been able to protect Cery and her children.
He is a samboe, and his name is Jolycœur. He
has become the first of Baron’s captains; and you
may chance to meet him in the rebel camp, breathing
revenge against the Christians. Mrs D. B. is still in
Surinam, being arrested for her husband’s debts, till
Fauconberg shall be sold by execution to pay them.
This lady now lodges at my house, attended by the
unfortunate Joanna, whom she treats with peculiar
tenderness and distinction.’ The tears glistened in Joanna’s eyes, during this
recital. Having thanked Mrs Demelly, I returned to
my lodging in a state of sadness and stupefaction. To
some people this relation may seem trifling and
romantic; it is nevertheless a genuine account; and
for that reason I flatter myself that there are some, to
whom it will not prove uninteresting. When I reflected how continually my ears were
stunned with the clang of the whip, and the dismal
yell of the wretched negroes, on whom it was exercised 5(2)v 68
from morning till night; when I considered that
this might be the fate of the unfortunate mulatto I
have been describing, I could not but execrate the
barbarity of Mr D. B. in having withheld her from the
protection of an affectionate parent. I became melancholy
with these reflections. In order to counterbalance,
though in a very small degree, the general
calamity of the miserable slaves who surrounded me,
I began to take more delight in the prattling of my
poor negro boy, Quacoo, than in all the fashionable
conversation of the polite inhabitants of this colony.
But my spirits were depressed; and in the space of
twentyfour hours I was very ill indeed; when a
cordial, a few preserved tamarinds, and a basket of
fine oranges, were sent by an unknown person. This
first contributed to my relief; and losing about twelve
ounces of blood, I recovered so far, that on the fifth I
was able to accompany Capt. Macneyl, who gave me
a pressing invitation to his beautiful coffee plantation,
on Matapaca Creek. On my return, I took an early opportunity to
inquire of Mrs Demelly what was become of the
amiable Joanna. She informed me that Mrs D. B.
had escaped to Holland; and that the young mulatto
was now at the house of her own aunt, a free woman,
whence she hourly expected to be sent to the estate
Fauconberg, friendless, and at the mercy of any
unprincipled overseer appointed by the creditors. I
flew in search of the poor girl, and found her bathed
in tears. When I expressed my compassion, she gave
me such a look—ah! such a look! that I determined
to protect her from every insult, cost me what it would. 5(3)r 69
Reader, let my youth and extreme sensibility plead my
excuse. Yet surely my feelings will be forgiven,
except by those few who approve of the prudent conduct
of Mr Inkle toward the unfortunate and much
injured Yarico, at Barbadoes. I next went to my friend, Mr Lolkens, who happened
to be the administrator of Fauconberg estate,
and intimated to him my strange determination of
purchasing Joanna, and giving her a good education.
Having looked at me in silence, until he recovered
from his surprise, he proposed an interview; the
beautiful slave, accompanied by a female relation, was
accordingly brought trembling into my presence. Reader, if the story of Lavinia ever afforded you
pleasure, do not reject this account of Joanna with
contempt. It now proved to be she who have privately
sent me the oranges and cordial, in March, when I
was nearly expiring; and she modestly acknowledged
that ‘it was in token of gratitude for the pity I had
expressed concerning her sad situation.’ Yet, with
singular delicacy, she rejected every proposal of
becoming mine upon any terms. She said, that if I
soon returned to Europe, she must either be parted
from me forever, or accompany me to a land where
the inferiority of her condition must prove a great
disadvantage of her benefactor and to herself; and in
either of these cases, she should be most miserable. Joanna returned to her aunt’s house, firmly persisting
in these sentiments. I could only request Mr
Lolkens to afford her all the protection in his power;
and that she might, at least for some time, be allowed 5(3)v 70
to live separate from the other slaves, and remain in
Paramaribo. In this request he kindly indulged me. * * * * * * * Notwithstanding my resolution of living retired, I
was again drawn into the vortex of dissipation; and I
did not escape without the punishment I deserved. I
was suddenly seized with a dreadful fever; and such
was its violence, that in a few days I was entirely given
over. In this situation, I lay in my hammock until
the seventeenth, with only a soldier and my black boy
to attend me, and without any other friend. Sickness
being universal among the new comers to this country,
neglect was an inevitable consequence, even
among the nearest acquaintance. The inhabitants of
the colony, it is true, not only supply the sick with a
variety of cordials at the same time, but they crowd
into his apartment, prescribing, insisting, bewailing,
and lamenting, friend and stranger, without exception.
This continues until the patient becomes delirious and
expires. Such must inevitably have been my case,
between the two extremes of neglect and importunity,
had it not been for the happy intervention of poor
Joanna, who one morning entered my apartment, with
one of her sisters, to my unspeakable surprise and joy.
She told me she had heard of my forlorn situation;
and if I still entertained for her the same good opinion
I had formerly expressed, her only request was that
she might be permitted to wait upon me till I recovered.
I gratefully accepted the offer; and by her
unwearied care and attention, I had the good fortune
to regain my health so far, that in a few days I was
able to take an airing in Mr Kennedy’s carriage. 5(4)r 71 Till this time, I had been chiefly Joanna’s friend;
but now I began to feel that I was her captive. I
renewed my wild proposals of purchasing, educating,
and transporting her to Europe; but though these
offers were made with the most perfect sincerity, she
once more rejected them, with the following humble
declaration: ‘I am born a low, contemptible slave. Were you
to treat me with too much attention, you must degrade
yourself with all your friends and relations. The
purchase of my freedom is apparently impossible; it
certainly will prove difficult and expensive. Yet
though I am a slave, I hope I have a soul not inferior
to Europeans. I do not blush to avow the great regard
I have for one, who has distinguished me so much
above others of my unhappy birth. You have, sir,
pitied me; and now, independent of every other
thought, I have pride in throwing myself at your feet,
till fate shall part us, or my conduct become such as to
give you cause to banish me from your presence.’ She uttered this with a timid, downcast look, and
the tears fell fast upon her heaving bosom, while she
held her companion by the hand. From that moment this excellent creature was
mine; nor had I ever any cause to repent of the step
I had taken. I cannot omit to record, that having purchased for
her bridal presents, to the value of twenty guineas, I
was greatly astonished to see all my gold returned
upon my table. The charming Joanna had carried
every article back to the merchants, who had cheerfully
restored the money. 5(4)v 72 ‘Your generous intentions toward me are sufficient,
sir,’ said she: ‘allow me to say that I consider any
superfluous expense on my account as a diminution of
that good opinion, which I hope you now, and ever
will, entertain concerning my disinterested disposition.’
Such was the language of a slave, who had simple
nature only for her instructer. The purity of her
sentiments requires no comment of mine; I respected
them, and resolved to improve them by every care. Regard for her superior virtues, gratitude for her
particular attention to me, and the pleasures of introducing
to the world a character so estimable, rising
from a situation usually so hopeless and degraded—
these considerations embolden me to risk the censure
of my readers, by intruding this subject upon their
attention. If my apology be accepted even by a few,
I shall not feel inclined to complain. In the evening, I visited Mr Demelly and his lady,
who congratulated me on my recovery; and, strange
as it may appear to many of my readers, they, with a
smile, wished me joy of what they were pleased to
call my conquest. One lady assured me that I was
censured by some, applauded by many, but she believed
in her heart envied by all. Many of our respectable friends sanctioned the
wedding by their presence; and I was as happy as
any bridegroom ever was. Thus concludes a chapter, which, methinks I hear
many of my readers whisper, had better never had a
beginning.”
* * * * * * *
5(5)r 73Not long after his marriage, Capt. Stedman was ordered
on a distant and hazardous expedition. He commemorates
his parting with Joanna in a paraphrase, which does
not contrast very favorably with the vigorous simplicity of
his prose, or with the spirit and gracefulness of his numerous
drawings:
The affectionate young wife was left under the protection
of her mother and aunt, with directions that she should
attend school during the absence of her husband.
The campaign was wearisome and fruitless; for the rebel
negroes, as cunning as they were courageous, continually
eluded pursuit; while the European troops sunk rapidly
under manifold sufferings and a burning climate. They
were in such a state of starvation, disease and despair, that
the slaves (who had been induced, by the offer of freedom,
to enlist against their own people) sighed deeply when they
looked upon them, and said, “Oh! poty backera!” “Oh!
poor Europeans!”
Their spirits were sustained by the hopes of being soon
recalled. Captain Stedman says:
letter from Colonel Fourgeoud; for we all expected to
be relieved from our horrid situation. But what was
our surprise and distress, to find that we were ordered
to remain on this forlorn station! The men declared
they were sacrificed to no manner of purpose. By
the distribution of some tamarinds, oranges, lemons,
and Madeira wine, sent by my best friend, at Paramaribo,
I was enabled to afford them a temporary 5(5)v 74
relief; but the next day we were as much distressed
as ever. ” “On the ninth, we marched to the port called
Devil’s Harwar, leaving ten men behind, some with
agues, some stung blind, and some with their feet full
of the tormenting insects called chigoes. After indescribable
sufferings we arrived, covered with mud and
blood. I was rejoiced to find Lieutenant Colonel
Westerloo had arrived and taken command; I hoped
at last to meet with some relief. Having ceded to him
my written orders, I plunged into the stream to bathe
and swim. I found myself greatly refreshed by this,
as well as by receiving a quantity of fine fruit, wine,
and sugar, from my Joanna. The surgeons declared
that I must soon die, unless I were allowed an
opportunity to recruit my health. A consultation was
held; and at last, not without great difficulties, a boat
was ordered to row me down to Paramaribo. Resting
on the shoulder of a negro, I walked to the water-side,
followed by my black boy Quacoo, and stepping into
the boat left my dismal spot where I had buried so
many brave fellows. At two o’clock in the morning I arrived, extremely
ill. Having no house of my own, I was hospitably
received by Mr De la Marre, a merchant, who immediately
sent for poor Joanna to come and attend me.
I soon found myself in an elegant, well-furnished
apartment, encouraged by the physician, caressed by
friends, and supported by the care and attention of my
incomparable mulatto. My linen had been gnawed to dust by the cockroach,
called cakreluce in Surinam; but Joanna’s
industry soon supplied me with a new stock. 5(6)r 75 Before I had entirely recovered from my debilitated
condition, I suddenly received the frightful
tidings that the estate of Fauconberg, with the whole
stock of slaves, was to be sold that very day for the
benefit of creditors. I hastened to the slave-market,
where I found my poor Joanna. After what I have
related concerning the savage treatment universally
bestowed upon the slaves, the reader may form some
faint idea of my distress. I suffered all the horrors of
the damned. Again and again, I bewailed the unlucky
fortune that put it out of my power to become her
proprietor. I imagined her ensuing dreadful situation.
I fancied I saw her insulted, tortured, bowing under the
weight of her chains, calling aloud for my assistance,
and calling in vain. Misery almost deprived me of
my senses. I was restored, in some degree, by the
assurances of my friend, Mr Lolkens, who providentially
was appointed to continue administrator of the
estate, during the absence of its new possessors,
Messrs Passelage and Son, of Amsterdam. This
disinterested and steady friend took Joanna from the
auction scene, brought her into my presence, and
solemnly pledged himself to protect her and assist me,
to the utmost of his power. In this promise he ever
after nobly persevered.”
* * * * * * *
Here follows the account of another distressing campaign,
which I pass over entirely, because it is unconnected
with the subject of the story. Captain Stedman proceeds
as follows:
Hope, a valuable sugar plantation, on the beautiful 5(6)v 76
river Comewina. Here the troops were lodged in
temporary houses, built with the manicole tree. I
became daily more charmed with my situation. I
was at liberty to breathe freely; and my prospect of
future contentment promised to reward me amply for
past hardships and mortifications. The neighboring
planters, for whose safety we were stationed at this
post, plentifully supplied us with game, fish, fruit and
vegetables. I had been here but a short time, when I was surprised
by the waving of a white handkerchief from a
tent-boat, that was rowing up the river; when, to
augment my happiness, it unexpectedly proved to be
my mulatto, accompanied by her aunt. They now
preferred Fauconberg estate, four miles above The
Hope, to a residence in town. I immediately accompanied
them to that plantation. Here Joanna introduced
me to a venerable old slave, her grandfather,
who made me a present of half a dozen fowls. He
was gray-headed and blind; but had been comfortably
supported many years through the kind attention of
his numerous offspring. He told me he was born in
Africa; where he had once been treated with more
respect than any of his Surinam masters ever were in
their own country. Many of my readers will no doubt be surprised
that I so often mention Joanna, and with so much
respect. But I cannot speak with indifference of an
object so deserving, and whose affectionate attachment
to me was more than sufficient to counterbalance all
my misfortunes. Her virtue, youth, and beauty, more
and more gained my esteem; while the lowness of her 5(7)r 77
origin increased, rather than diminished, my affection.
What can I say further upon this subject? I will
content myself with the consolation given by Horace
to the Roman soldier: ‘Let not my Phocius think it shame For a fair slave to own his flame; A slave could stern Achilles move, And bend his haughty soul to love: Ajax, invincible in arms, Was captivated by his captive’s charms.’ I have already said that I was happy at The Hope;
but how was my felicity increased, when Mr and Mrs
Lolkens came to visit me one evening, and not only
gave me the address of Messrs Passalage and Son, at
Amsterdam, but even desired me to take Joanna to live
with me at The Hope, where she could be more agreeably
situated than either at Fauconberg or Paramaribo.
This arrangement was unquestionably most readily
entered into by me. I immediately set the slaves to
work to build a house of manicole trees, for the
reception of my best friend. In the mean time I
wrote to Messrs Passalage and Son: Gentlemen, Being informed by Mr Lolkens, administrator of the
Fauconberg estate, that you are the present proprietors;
being under great obligations to one of your
slaves, named Joanna, who is the daughter of Mr
Kruythoff; and being grateful to her, particularly for
her attendance upon me during dangerous illness, I
request your permission to purchase her liberty without
delay: which favor shall ever be gratefully 5(7)v 78
acknowledged, and the money for her ransom immediately
paid, by Your most obedient servant,
John Gabriel Stedman,
Capt. in Col. Fourgeoud’s Corps of Marines. This letter was accompanied by another from my
friend Lolkens, who cheered me with assurances of
success. In about six days my house was completed. It
consisted of a parlor, a bed-chamber, a piazza to sit
under before the door, a small kitchen detached from
the house, and a poultry house. It was surrounded by
a paling to keep off the cattle, and commanded an
enchanting prospect on every side. My tables, stools,
and benches, were all comprised of manicole boards.
The doors and windows were guarded by ingenious
wooden locks and keys, presented to me by a negro,
who made them with his own hands. My next care was to lay in a stock of provisions.
Flour, salted mackerel, hams, pickled sausages, Boston
biscuit, wine, tea, and sugar. Mr Kennedy sent me two beautiful foreign sheep
and a hog; and Lucretia, my Joanna’s aunt, presented
two dozen fine fowls and ducks. Vegetables, fish,
and venison, came from all quarters, as usual. On the 1774-04-01first of April, 1774, Joanna came down the
river, in the Fauconberg tent-boat, rowed by eight
negroes, and arrived at The Hope. I told her of my
letter to Holland; and she heard me with that gratitude
and modesty in her looks, which spoke more forcibly
than any language. I introduced her to her new
habitation, where the plantation slaves, in token of 5(8)r 79
respect, immediately brought her presents of cassada,
yams, bananas, and plantains. Never were two people
more completely happy. Free as the roes in the
forest, and disencumbered of all care and ceremony,
we breathed the purest air in our walks, and refreshed
our limbs in the limpid stream. Health and good
spirits were again my portion; while my partner
flourished in youth and beauty, the envy and admiration
of the whole colony. On the thirteenth, my worthy friend, Mr Henneman,
arrived from Col. Fourgeoud’s camp, with a barge
full of men and ammunition. This poor young man
was much emaciated with misery and fatigue; I
therefore introduced him at his first landing, to Joanna,
who was a most incomparable nurse, and under whose
care he felt himself extremely happy. On the twentyfirst several officers came to visit me
at The Hope, and I entertained them with a fish dinner.
We were very happy, and my guests highly satisfied
with their entertainment. But on the morning of the
twentysecond, my poor Joanna, who had been our
cook, was attacked with a violent fever. She desired
to be removed to Fauconberg, where she could be
attended by her female relations; and I hastened to
comply with her request. On the evening of the
twentyfifth she was extremely ill. I was determined
to visit her; but I wished to do it as privately
as possible; for I expected Colonel Fourgeoud the
next day, and I had no disposition to hear his satirical
jokes upon my anxious affection: I likewise knew that
the most laudable motives were no protection against
his ungovernable temper. 5(8)v 80 In order to effect my purpose, I was obliged to
pass very near his post; but, however difficult the
undertaking, I was resolved, like another Leander,
to cross the Hellespont. Having informed my friend
Henneman, I set out about eleven at night, in my own
barge. I heard Fourgeoud’s voice distinctly, as he
walked on the beach with some other officers; and
immediately the boat was hailed by a sentinel, who
ordered us to come ashore. I now thought all was
over; but I told the slaves to answer the name of a
neighboring plantation, and thus obtained leave to pass
unmolested. I arrived safe at Fauconberg, and found
my dearest friend much better. In the morning, mistaking daylight for moonshine,
I overslept myself, and knew not how to return to The
Hope; for my barge and negroes could not possibly
pass without being recognized by the Colonel. Delay
was useless; I therefore set out, trusting entirely to
the ingenuity of the slaves, who put me ashore just
before we came within sight of head-quarters. One
of them escorted me through the woods, and I arrived
safe at The Hope. But here my barge soon followed
under a guard, with all the poor slave prisoners.
Fourgeoud sent me an order to flog every one of
them, as they had been apprehended without a pass,
while their excuse was that they had been out fishing
for Massera. Their fidelity to me was truly astonishing.
They all declared they would have preferred to
have been cut in pieces, rather than betray the secrets
of so good a master. However, the danger was soon
over, for I took all the blame upon myself. Colonel Fourgeoud did not visit me on the twenty 6(1)r 81
seventh; but the next morning my Joanna arrived,
accompanied by her uncle. On the twentyeighth Fourgeoud came with wrath
in his countenance; which alarmed me much. However,
I instantly introduced him to my cottage, where
he no sooner saw my mate, than the clouds were
dispelled from his gloomy forehead, like vapor dispersed
by the sun. I confess I never saw him behave
with more civility. ‘Her heavenly form Angelic, but more soft and feminine Her graceful innocence, her every air Of gesture, or least action, overawed His malice; and with rapine sweet bereaved His fierceness of the fierce intent it brought.’ Having entertained him in the best manner we were
able, and confessed the story of the Hellespont, he
laughed heartily at the stratagem, and shaking us both
by the hand, departed in high good humor. This was the golden age of my West Indian
expedition. How happy was I at this time, who
wanted for nothing, and had such an agreeable partner
constantly near me, whose sweet conversation was
divine music to my ears, and whose presence banished
every feeling of languor or hardship! I daily found some new object to describe, and
spent the most delightful hours in my walks, constantly
accompanied by my dear mulatto. But alas, in the midst of all my hopes, my happiness
was blasted by news that Mr Passalage, to whom
I had written for Joanna’s manumission, had died 6 6(1)v 82
suddenly. She was likely soon to become a mother:
and this redoubled my distress. The idea that my
best friend, and my offspring must be slaves, was insupportable.
I was totally distracted—I believe I
should have died of grief, if the mildness of her
temper had not supported me, by suggesting the
flattering hope that Mr Lolkens would still be able
to protect us.
* * * * * * * On the twelfth of May, having swum twice across
the river Cottica, which is about half a mile broad, I
came home in a shiver, and the next day had an intermitting
fever. By abstaining from animal food, and
using plenty of acid with my drink, I had no doubt of
getting well in a few days; especially as tamarinds
grew here in profusion. Indeed, on the sixteenth, I
was almost perfectly recovered, excepting weakness,
when, as I was sitting before my cottage with Joanna,
I had an unexpected visit from one of our surgeons.
Having felt my pulse, and examined my tongue, he
declared I should be a dead man before morning,
unless I made use of his prescription without delay.
Being well aware of the danger of the climate to
European constitutions, I instantly swallowed the dose
he prepared, although I was not at all in the habit of
using medicines. The moment I took it, I dropped
down on the ground. In this manner I lay till the
twentieth. After four days, I recovered my senses,
and found myself stretched on a mattrass, with poor
Joanna sitting by me alone, bathed in tears. She
begged me to ask no questions then, for fear it would 6(2)r 83
hurt my spirits; but the next day she told me the
whole transaction. The moment I fell, four strong negroes had taken
me up, and by her direction placed me where I now
was. The surgeon, having put on several blisters,
finally declared I was dead, and suddenly left the
plantation. A coffin and grave were prepared for my
burial on the seventeenth; but she knelt to implore a
little delay; and her tears and entreaties prevailed.
Having procured some wine-vinegar and a bottle of
old Rhenish, she constantly bathed my temples, wrists,
and feet with the former, keeping without intermission
five wet handkerchiefs tied around them; while, with
a tea-spoon, she found means, from time to time, to
make me swallow a few drops of mulled wine. She
had attended me day and night, by the help of Quacoo
and an old negro, still hoping for my recovery; for
which she now thanked her God. To all this, I could
only answer with the tears that started to my eyes, and
a feeble pressure of her hand. I had the good fortune to recover; but so slowly,
that, notwithstanding the great care taken of me by
that excellent woman, it was the fifteenth of June
before I was able to walk by myself. Until that time,
I was obliged to be carried in a species of sedan chair,
supported on poles by two negroes. I was fed like an
infant; being so lame and weak, that I could not raise
my hand to my mouth. Poor Joanna, who had suffered
so much on my account, was, for several days
following the twentyfifth, very ill herself. Great was the change from what I had so lately
been—the healthiest and happiest of mortals,—now 6(2)v 84
depressed to my lowest ebb in my constitution and
spirits. My friend Henneman, who visited me constantly,
told me he had discovered that the medicine,
which so nearly killed me, was four grains of tartar-
emetic with forty grains of ipecacuanha. The surgeon
had measured my constitution by my height, which is
above six feet. Being too weak to perform military duty, I surrendered
the command to the officer next in rank, and
went to visit a neighboring French planter, who had
given me and Joanna a hearty invitation. At this
place I was extremely comfortable; and nothing could
be better calculated for my speedy recovery than this
gentleman’s hospitality and good humor. How inconsistent
with all this was his severity and injustice to
his slaves! Two young negroes, that broke into their
master’s storehouse, and well deserved a flogging for
their robberies, came off with a few lashes; while
two old ones, for a trifling dispute, were condemned
to receive no less than three hundred. When I asked
the cause of this partiality, M. Cachelieu answered,
that the young negroes still had a very good skin, and
might do much work; whereas the old ones had long
been disfigured and worn out, and killing them altogether
would be a benefit to the estate. After remaining at this plantation nearly two
months, we returned to The Hope. Here I found Mr
Henneman, and several others, very ill, without
surgeon, medicine, or money. I, however, was so
carefully attended by Joanna, that I had little cause to
complain, except that my feet were infested with
chigoes, a small insect that gets under the skin and
occasions intolerable torment. 6(3)r 85 Joanna, with her needle, extracted twentythree of
these troublesome insects from under the nails of my
left foot. I bore the operation without flinching, with
the resolution of an African. I still continued so weak that I almost despaired
of recovering perfectly. The depression of my spirits,
on account of Joanna’s critical and almost hopeless
situation, greatly contributed to prevent the restoration
of my health. My anxiety was not diminished by
hearing that the estate Fauconberg had passed to a
new proprietor, a Mr Lude of Amsterdam, with whom
my friend Mr Lolkens had not the smallest interest;
and that there was in town a general report that we
had both been poisoned. These tidings were somewhat
softened by the kindness of Mrs Lolkens, who
came to insist that my Joanna should accompany her
to Paramaribo, where she should have every care and
attention her situation required. I thanked her in the
best manner I was able, and poor Joanna wept with
gratitude. Having accompanied them as far as the
estate where they dined, I took my leave of them and
Joanna, and bade them all an affectionate farewell for
the present. On my return to The Hope, I could hardly restrain
my indignation at the coarse manner in which my
messmates rallied me concerning my anxiety. ‘Do as
we do, Stedman,’ said they: ‘If our children are
slaves, they are provided for; and if they die, what
do we care? Keep your sighs in your bosom, and
your money in your pocket, my boy.’ I repeat this to
show how much my feelings must have been hurt and
disgusted with similar consolation. 6(3)v 86 I wrote to a Mr Seifke to inquire whether it was
not in the power of the Governor and Council to
relieve a gentleman’s child from bondage, provided the
master obtained such ransom as they thought proper
to adjudge. I received for answer, that no money or
interest could purchase its freedom, unless the proprietor
of the mother consented. This information completed my misery. I tried
to drown reflection in wine; which only raised my
spirits for a moment, to make them sink the lower.
During this conflict in my feelings, Mr De Graav
kindly invited me to his plantation, and did everything
in his power to amuse me; but to no purpose. At
last, seeing me seated by myself, on a small bridge that
led to an orange-grove, with a settled gloom on my
countenance, he took me by the hand, and, to my
astonishment, addressed me thus: ‘Mr Lolkens has
acquainted me with the cause of your just distress.
Heaven never left a good intention unrewarded. I
have the pleasure to inform you that Mr Lude has
chosen me his administrator. I shall provide myself
upon rendering any service in my power to you and
the virtuous Joanna, whose character has attracted the
attention of so many people; while your laudable
conduct towards her redounds to your lasting honor
throughout the colony.’ No criminal under sentence of death could have
received a reprieve with greater joy. I returned to
The Hope with the feeling that I might yet be happy. On the fourth of December I received tidings that
my Joanna was the mother of a strong, beautiful boy;
upon which occasion I roasted a sheep, and entertained 6(4)r 87
all my brother officers. That very morning I wrote
to Mr Lude at Amsterdam, to obtain her manumission;
urging despatch, because I was uncertain how much
longer our troops would remain in Surinam. In this
request I was seconded by my new friend, Mr De
Graav, as I had before been by Mr Lolkens. I was not able to take a trip to Paramaribo until
the eighteenth. I found my Joanna happy and perfectly
recovered; and my boy, according to the practice of
the country, bathing in Madeira wine and water,
generously given by Mrs Lolkens. I gave Joanna
a gold medal, which my father had presented to my
mother on the day of my birth. Having thanked
Mrs Lolkens for her very great kindness, I returned
to The Hope on the twentysecond. I found that a poor negro, whom I had sent with a
letter to Joanna, before I was able to visit her myself,
had had his canoe upset by the roughness of the water,
in the middle of the river Surinam. He was unable
to swim, but had the address to keep himself in an
erect posture. By the buoyancy and resistance of the
boat he was able to keep his head just above water,
while the weight of his body kept the canoe from
sinking. In this precarious situation, he was taken
up and put ashore by a man-of-war’s boat, who kept
the canoe for their pains. He preserved the letter in
his mouth, and, being eager to deliver it, accidentally
ran into the wrong house; where being taken up for a
thief, he was tied up to receive four hundred lashes;
he was saved by the intercession of an English merchant,
my particular friend. Thus the poor fellow
escaped drowning and flogging, either of which he 6(4)v 88
would have undergone, rather than disclose the secrets
of his Massera. How many Europeans are possessed
of equal fidelity and fortitude? * * * * * * * On the 1775-07-15fifteenth of July, 1775, I received letters
acquainting me finally, and to my heartfelt satisfaction,
that the amiable Joanna and the little boy were at my
disposal; but at no less a price than two thousand
florins; amounting, with other expenses, to two hundred
pounds sterling; a sum which I was totally
unable to raise. I already owed fifty pounds to Col.
Fourgeoud, that I had borrowed for the redemption of
my black servant, Quacoo. But Joanna was to me
invaluable. Though appraised at one twentieth part
of the whole estate of Fauconberg, no price would be
too dear for one so excellent, provided I could pay it. When the letters first arrived, they had a most
reviving effect upon me: but when I reflected how
impossible it was for me to obtain such a sum,—and
while I was employed in making trifling presents to
Joanna’s relations at Fauconberg, who loaded me with
adorations and caresses,—I exclaimed with a bitter
sigh, ‘Oh, if I could but find money enough to obtain
freedom for them all!’ Being still weak, Mr Gourlay humanely caused me
to be transported to Paramaribo in a tent-barge. I
had a relapse of my illness, and arrived just alive on
the evening of the 1775-07-19nineteenth, having passed the night
on the estate called the Jalosee, apparently dead. But comfortably lodged in the house of my friend,
Mr de la Marre, and attended by my good Joanna, I
recovered apace. On the 1775-07-25twentyfifth, I was able to 6(5)r 89
walk out; but Mr De Graav was not in town to concert
matters relative to the emancipation of my best
friend, who had a second time literally saved my life. On the 1775-08-03third of August Mr De Graav arrived; and
I took the earliest opportunity to beg him to give me
credit for the money demanded for my Joanna and
her boy. I was determined to save it out of my pay,
if I lived merely on bread, and salt, and water; though
even then, the debt could not be discharged under two
or three years. However, Providence interfered, and sent my excellent
acquaintance, Mrs Godefroy, to my assistance.
As soon as she heard of my difficult and anxious
situation, she sent for me to dine with her, and
addressed me in the following terms: ‘I know the
feelings of your heart, and the incapacity of an officer,
from his income only, to accomplish such a purpose
as the completion of your wishes. But be assured
even in Surinam virtue will meet with friends. Your
manly sensibility for that deserving woman and your
child must claim the esteem of all rational persons, in
spite of malice and folly. So much has your conduct
recommended you to my attention, that I beg leave to
have a share in your happiness, and the future prospects
of your virtuous Joanna, by requesting you to
accept from me the sum of two thousand florins.
Take the money, Stedman—and go immediately to
redeem innocence, good sense, and beauty, from
tyranny and insult.’ Seeing me gaze upon her, utterly stupefied with
amazement, she smiled and said, ‘Sailors and soldiers
should ever be men of the fewest compliments. All I
ask is, that you will say nothing upon the subject.’ 6(5)v 90 Having expressed myself as well as my overflowing
heart would permit, and promised to call the
next day, I immediately retired. I hastened to acquaint
Joanna with what had happened. Bursting into tears,
she exclaimed, ‘God will bless that woman!’ She
insisted upon being mortgaged to Mrs Godefroy, till
the utmost farthing was paid. She was indeed most
anxious for the emancipation of her child; but till that
was done, she absolutely refused to accept her own
freedom. I will not describe the contest I sustained between
affection and duty; but bluntly say that I yielded to
the wishes of this charming creature, whose sentiments
endeared her to me more and more. I drew up the
paper, which bound her to Mrs Godefroy, until the
last farthing of the money should be paid; and the
next day with the consent of her relations I conducted
her to that lady’s house. Joanna threw herself at her
feet and presented the paper. Mrs Godefroy raised her
up, saying, ‘If you will have it so, Joanna, you shall
remain with me: but I accept you as my companion,
not as my slave. You shall have a house built for you
in the orange garden, and slaves to attend upon you,
until Providence shall call me away. You shall then
be perfectly free; as indeed you now are, the moment
you wish for manumission. Your virtues, and your
parentage give you a claim to this.’ On these terms, I accepted the money; and my
friend was transferred from the wretched estate Fauconberg
to the protection of perhaps the best woman
in the Dutch West Indies, if not in the world. When
I showed Joanna the receipt in full, she thanked me 6(6)r 91
with a look that could only be expressed by the countenance
of an angel. Mr De Graav insisted upon having a share in the
happy event, by refusing the sum due to him as administrator.
‘I am amply paid,’ said he, ‘in being the
instrument to bring about what seems to contribute so
much to the enjoyment of two deserving people.’ Having thanked my disinterested friend, with a
cordial shake of the hand, I immediately restored to
Mrs Godefroy the two hundred florins, which he
refused. ”
* * * * * * *
After describing another tedious and dangerous campaign,
during which he was several times very near losing his
life, and Joanna and her boy narrowly escaped dying of a
fever, Capt. Stedman continues:
at Paramaribo, and found my little family perfectly
recovered, though they had been blind for more than
three weeks. Being invited to take up my abode with
them, at the house of my friend Mr De Graav, I was
again completely happy. On the 1776-01-25twentyfifth, I was attacked with fever, and
made lame by the surgeon, who struck too deep when he
blooded me in the foot. On the 1776-02-14fourteenth of February,
ill as I was, with a lame foot, a sore arm, the prickly
heat, and my teeth all loose with the scurvy, I found
means to scramble out on crutches, with a thousand
florins in my pocket, which I divided between Mrs
Godefroy and Col. Fourgeoud, for the redemption of
my mulatto, and the black boy, Quacoo. I returned
home without a shilling in my purse. Mrs Godefroy 6(6)v 92
generously renewed her persuasions of carrying Joanna
and the boy with me to Holland. But this Joanna
nobly and firmly refused. ‘Independent of all other
considerations,’ said she, ‘I can never think of sacrificing
one benefactor to the interest of another. My
own happiness, or that of him who is dearer to me
than life, must not be allowed to have any weight,
until the price of my liberty is paid to the utmost
fraction, by his generosity and my own industry. I
do not despair of seeing this completed. If we are
separated, I trust it will be only for a time. The
greatest proof that Capt. Stedman can give me of real
esteem is to undergo this trial like a man, without so
much as heaving a sigh in my presence.’ She spoke this with a smile, embraced her infant,
then turned round suddenly and wept bitterly. On the 1776-02-15fifteenth, news arrived that the order for return
were countermanded, and that we were to remain
six months longer in Surinam. All the officers,
except myself, were grievously disappointed. I rejoiced
in the determination to save all my pay until
Joanna’s redemption was completed. ”
The details of another campaign are given; and, after
various adventures, Capt. Stedman returns to The Hope.
He says:
and I promised myself a scene of happiness equal to
that I had enjoyed in this place in 17741774; especially as
my family, my sheep, and my poultry were now
doubled: besides I had at this time a beautiful garden,
and if I could not with propriety be called a planter, I 6(7)r 93
might at least claim with some degree of justice, the
name of a small farmer. Figure A man holding a bayonet speaking to a woman carrying a baby. The man holds the bayonet by the barrel and gestures outwards with it. Two farm animals graze nearby. The background shows fenced-in land with a prominent house. On the 1776-05-09ninth we all dined with Mr De Graav, at his
beautiful plantation on Cassawina Creek; where this
worthy man had foretold, before the birth of my boy,
that both he and his mother would one day be free
and happy. We returned in a boat loaded with presents
of every kind. The slaves of The Hope and
Fauconberg likewise testified their respect for Joanna,
by bringing in fowls, fruit, eggs, venison and fish.
Everything seemed to contribute to our felicity. The Hope was now a truly charming habitation;
being perfectly dry, even in spring-tides, and washed
by pleasant canals, that let in the fresh water every
tide. The hedges were neatly cut, and the garden
was filled with fruit and vegetables. Jessamines, pomegranates,
and Indian roses flourished in my garden, 6(7)v 94
while beautiful wild red lilies, with leaves of bright
and polished green, adorned the banks of my canals. Thus situated, we were visited, among others, by
a Madame de Q—e, in company with her brother,
lately arrived from Holland. This lady was supposed
to be the most accomplished woman Europe produced.
She spoke several languages, was perfect mistress of
music and painting, danced elegantly, and rode extremely
well on horseback. She even excelled in
shooting and fencing. On the 1776-06-23twentythird of June, I received positive
orders to prepare and be ready on the 1776-07-15fifteenth of
July, to leave the Comewina, and row down to Paramaribo,
where the transport ships were put in commission
to carry us back to Holland. The troops
received these tidings with unbounded joy. I alone
sighed bitterly. Oh, my Joanna! Oh, my boy!
Both were at this time dangerously ill; the one with a
fever, the other with convulsions; so that neither were
expected to survive. As soon as they were able to be
removed, I thought it necessary to send them to Paramaribo,
before it was too late. On the 1776-07-14fourteenth, I removed my flag from The
Hope to the barges; and in the evening took my last
farewell of Joanna’s relations on the Fauconberg
estate. They crowded around me, mourning aloud for
my departure, and invoking the protection of Heaven
for my safe and prosperous voyage to Europe. At Paramaribo I found, to my great joy, that
Joanna and the child were very much recovered.
When I offered Mrs Godefroy forty pounds more,
(being all the money I had) that excellent woman 6(8)r 95
renewed her entreaties that I would carry my boy
and his mother with me to Holland. But Joanna
was immovable, even to a degree of heroism. No
persuasion could make the least impression upon her.
We affected to bear our fate with perfect resignation,
though what each of us felt may more easily be
imagined than described. On the very eve of departure, orders again arrived
for the troops to remain until reinforcements were
sent out from Holland. When these orders were proclaimed,
I never saw dejection, disappointment and
despair so strongly marked on the countenances of
men. I alone was raised from misery to joy. * * * * * * * On the 1776-08-10tenth of August, I waited upon Mrs Godefroy,
and told her my earnest wish to see everything
arranged with certainty concerning the emancipation
of little Johnny Stedman. I requested her to become
bail before the Court, for the usual sum of three hundred
pounds; assuring her that he should never be
any charge to the Colony of Surinam. This she
decidedly declined, though it was a mere matter of
form. I was at first very much astonished; but I
found afterward that she had refused a similar favor to
her own son. Poor Joanna remained inflexible in her resolution;
and on the 1776-08-24twentyfourth, an agreement with Mrs
Godefroy was solemnly ratified in the presence of her
mother and all her relations, whereby that lady bound
herself never to part with her except to myself alone;
and that upon her death, not only her full liberty, but
a spot of ground for cultivation, with a neat house 6(8)v 96
built upon it, should be her portion forever, to dispose
of as she pleased. After this, she returned my remaining
bond of nine hundred florins, and gave Joanna a
purse containing near twenty ducats, besides two
pieces of East India chintz. At the same time, she
advised me to give into the Court a request for little
Johnny’s immediate manumission. She said it was
a necessary form, whether I were able to obtain the
bail usually required, or not; and that even if the
bail should be ready to appear, nothing could be done
if this formality were dispensed with. Having both of us thanked this most excellent
woman, I went to sup with the governor, and gave him
my request in full form. He coolly put it in his
pocket with one hand, while he gave me a hearty
squeeze with the other; and shaking his head, he told
me frankly that he was convinced my boy must die a
slave, unless I could find the necessary bail; which he
was well persuaded few people would wish to appear
for. Thus after so much time and labor, besides the
expense of more than a hundred guineas, I still had the
inexpressible mortification of seeing this dear little
fellow in danger of perpetual servitude. As for
Joanna, she, to my heartfelt satisfaction, was now
perfectly safe. ”
* * * * * * *
After describing some shocking scenes of cruelty toward
the slaves, Capt. Stedman continues:
could not prevent, I left the estate Catwyk, determined
never more to visit it. I made my retreat to the estate
Sgraven Hague; and there I chanced to meet a 7(1)r 97
mulatto youth in chains, whose father I well recollected.
The unhappy man had been obliged to leave his
son a slave, and was now dead. The thought of my
own poor boy gave me horrible sensations. I have already stated that I gave in a fruitless
request to the Governor for my son’s manumission.
On the 1776-10-08eighth of October I saw with joyful surprise,
the following advertisement posted up: ‘If any one
can give in a lawful objection why John Stedman, a
Quaderoon infant, son of Captain John Stedman,
should not be presented with the blessing of freedom,
such person, or persons are requested to appear before
1777-01-01January 1st, 1777.’ I no sooner read it, than I ran
with the good news to my friend, Mr Palmer, who
assured me it was a mere form, put in practice on the
supposition of my producing the required bail, which
was undoubtedly expected, from my having so boldly
given in my request to the Governor of the Colony.
Unable to utter a syllable in reply, I retired to the
company of Joanna, who with a smile bade me never
despair, for Johnny would certainly one day be free.
She never failed to give me consolation, even when
prospects were the darkest, and my feelings the most
desperate. * * * * * * * Having been some time encamped in the woods,
in a paltry hut, beaten by wind and rain, and receiving
tidings that we were to remain some time longer, I
earnestly set about building me a hut. It was finished
on the 1776-12-18eighteenth of December, in less than six days,
without nail or hammer, though it had two rooms, a
piazza with rails, and a small kitchen, besides a garden, 7 7(1)v 98
in which I sowed, in pepper-cresses, the names of
Joanna and John. During this short period of tranquillity,
I constructed in miniature, my cottage, in
which I had enjoyed so much domestic felicity, at The
Hope. It was made on an oblong board, of about
eighteen inches by twelve, entirely of the manicole
tree and its branches, like the original; and was
esteemed quite a masterpiece. I sent it as a present to
my friend, Mr De Graav, at Paramaribo, who has
since placed it in a cabinet of natural curiosities at
Amsterdam. Illness soon broke out in the camp, and mortality
every day gained ground, under the most loathsome
and hideous form; and to complete the distress, a part
of the camp took fire. My misery, however, received an unexpected termination
on the 1777-01-26twentysixth of January, by Colonel
Fourgeoud’s giving me, unasked, leave of absence, if
I chose to accompany him to Paramaribo. I joyfully
accepted the offer. On the way, he informed me of
his determination to return to the woods no more, and
in a few weeks to draw this long and painful expedition
to a conclusion. I arrived in fine spirits and perfect health; and
was most heartily welcomed by my friends, who
rejoiced to see me once more alive. Not wishing to
be troublesome to any person, I hired a small neat
house by the water-slide, where Joanna and I lived
almost as happily as we had done at The Hope. On the 1777-02-16sixteenth of February, being invited to
dine with his excellency the Governor, I laid before
him my collection of drawings, and my remarks on 7(2)r 99
the Colony of Surinam, which he honored with the
highest approbation. Availing myself of his friendship,
I ventured, two days after, to give him the
following very uncommon request, praying him to lay
it before the Court. With a smile on his countenance
and a hearty shake of the hand, he promised compliance.
I, the undersigned, do pledge my word of honor,
[being all I possess in the world, besides my pay,] as
bail, that if my late ardent request to the Court, for the
emancipation of my dear boy, John Stedman, be
granted, the said boy shall never, to the end of his life,
become a charge to the Colony of Surinam. John G. Stedman Paramaribo, 1777-02-18Feb. 18, 1777. Having now done all that lay in my power, I
awaited the result with anxiety. After several days I
began to be afraid that I must finally give the sweet
little fellow over for lost, or take him with me to
Europe, which must have been plunging a dagger in
the heart of his mother. My uneasiness was not of very long duration. I
was one day agreeably surprised by a polite message
from the Governor and Court, acquainting me, that,
‘having taken my former services into consideration,
together with my humanity and gallantry in offering
my honor as bail, to see my child made a free citizen
of the world, they had unanimously agreed, without
further celebration or expense, to present me with a
letter containing his emancipation from that day forever
after.’ 7(2)v 100 No man could be more suddenly transported from
anxiety to joy, than I was at that moment; while his
poor mother shed tears of delight and gratitude; the
more so, as we had almost lost our hopes. More than
forty beautiful boys and girls, the children of my
acquaintance, were left in perpetual slavery, without
being so much as inquired after. A few approved
highly of my conduct; while many not only blamed,
but publicly derided me, for what they termed a
ridiculous weakness. But so extravagant was my joy
on this day, as having acted a part of the reverse of Inkle
to Yarico, that I was half frantic with pleasure. I
made my will in favor of my boy, and appointed two
of my friends his guardians during my absence;
leaving all my papers sealed with them, in case of my
death. I ordered all my sheep and poultry, which had
prodigiously increased, to be put under their care, for
his use; and I waited on a clergyman to appoint a
day for his baptism. To my great surprise, the Reverend
gentleman refused to christen the boy; alleging
that as I was going to Europe, I could not answer for
his Christian education. I replied that the child was
under the care of two very proper guardians; but he
was deaf to my arguments; and I left him, saying, I
preferred my boy should die a heathen, rather than be
baptised by such a blockhead. The day of our departure now drew so near,
that I was obliged to give up my house. At Mrs
Godefroy’s pressing invitation, I spent the few remaining
days with Joanna, in the dwelling she had so
generously prepared for her reception, under the
shade of tamarind and orange trees. The house was 7(3)r 101
furnished with everything that could be desired; and
a negro woman and girl were appointed to attend
upon her. Thus situated, how blessed could I have
been to the end of my days! But fate ordered it
otherwise. On the evening of the 1777-02-26twentysixth, I took leave of
the numerous friends, who had treated me with so
much kindness, since I had been in the Colony; but
my soul was too full of a friend dearer than all, to
feel what I should have felt at parting under other
circumstances. While I gave the most impetuous vent to my
feelings, not the smallest expression of grief, or even
of dejection, escaped Joanna’s lips. Her good sense,
her fortitude, and her affection for me, restrained the
tears in my presence. I once more earnestly entreated
her to accompany me; and I was seconded by Mrs
Godefroy and all her friends; but she remained firm.
Her answer was, that ‘dreadful as this fatal separation
appeared—perhaps never more to meet,—she felt
that it was her duty to remain in Surinam. First,
from a consciousness that she had no right to dispose
of herself; secondly, because she had rather be among
the first of her own class in America, than a disgrace to
me in Europe; and lastly, because she was aware that
she must be a burthen to me, unless my circumstances
became more independent.’ As she said this, she showed great emotion, but
immediately retired to weep in private. What could
I say, or do? Not knowing how to admire sufficiently
her fortitude and resignation, I resolved if possible to
imitate her example. I calmly resigned myself to my 7(3)v 102
fate, and prepared for the painful moment, when my
heart forbade me we were to separate forever. * * * * * * * On the 1777-03-29twentyninth of March, at midnight, the
signal gun was fired. The ships got under weigh,
and dropped down before the fortress of New Amsterdam,
where they once more came to an anchor. Here my friends Gordon and Gourlay, the guardians
of my boy, came to insist upon my going back
with them to Paramaribo. My soul could not resist
the hope of once more seeing what was so dear to me.
I went—and found Joanna, who had displayed so
much fortitude in my presence, now bathed in tears,
and scarcely alive—so much was she become the
victim of melancholy and despair. She had not partaken
of food or sleep since my departure—nor spoken
to any living creature—nor stirred from the spot
where I had left her on the morning of the 1777-03-27twentyseventh.
She seemed cheered by the prospect of my
staying on shore a little longer. But, alas! we paid
too dear for this short reprieve! Only a few hours
had elapsed, when a sailor came in, saying the ship’s
boat lay in waiting at that moment to carry me on
board. Oh, who can describe my feelings at that
instant! Joanna’s mother took the infant from her
arms, while her brothers and sisters hung around me,
crying, and invoking Heaven aloud for my safety. The
unfortunate Joanna, now only nineteen, clung to my
arm and gazed upon me without the power to utter
one word. We exchanged ringlets of hair—I pressed
her and my child fondly to my bosom. My heart
invoked for them the protection of Providence—but 7(4)r 103
I could not speak. Joanna closed her beautiful eyes
—her lips became pale as death—and she sunk lifeless
into the arms of her adopted mother. Rousing
all my remaining fortitude, I rushed from the house
bidding God bless them. ”
* * * * * * *
Here follows an account of Capt. Stedman’s voyage, his
promotion in the army, and his reception in Holland and
England. His black boy Quacoo, whose freedom he had
purchased, accompanied him to Amsterdam, and became
butler to the Countess of Rosendaal. He mentions a pleasing
anecdote concerning the attachment of this boy.
Having found a crown piece more than he expected in
his purse, he questioned Quacoo; who replied, “I was
afraid you might be short of cash, where people seem so
fond of it; and I put my five shilling piece into your
pocket.” This was the more generous, being the only
crown poor Quacoo possessed in the world.
No further mention is made of Joanna, until near the
close of the volume. It is as follows:
from Mr Gourlay, that Joanna was no more. She had
died on the 1782-11-05fifth of November preceding. Some suspected
she was poisoned by the hand of jealousy and
envy, on account of her prosperity, and the marks
of distinction which her superior character so justly
attracted from the most respectable people in the
Colony. Mrs Godefroy wept for her with sincere
affection, and ordered her beautiful body to be buried
with every mark of respect, under the orange grove
where she had lived. Her lovely boy was sent to me,
with nearly two hundred pounds, which he received 7(4)v 104
by inheritance from his mother. This charming youth
made a most commendable progress in his education
at Devon; went two West India voyages, with the
highest character as a sailor; served with honor as
midshipman on board his Majesty’s ships Southampton
and Lizard, ever ready to engage in any
service for the benefit of his king and country; and
finally perished at sea, off the island of Jamaica. ” “Yet one small comfort soothes, (while doomed to part, Dear, gallant youth!) thy parent’s breaking heart. No more thy tender frame, thy blooming age, Shall be the sport of Ocean’s stormy rage; No more thy olive beauty, on the waves, Shall be the sport of some European slaves. Soar now, my angel, to thy Maker’s shrine, And reap reward due to such worth as thine. Fly, gentle shade—fly to that blest abode, There view thy mother, and adore thy God; There, oh, my boy!—on that celestial shore, Oh, may we gladly meet—and part no more.”
Such is Capt. Stedman’s own account of the beautiful
and excellent Joanna. In reading it, we cannot but feel
that he might have paid Mrs Godefroy, and sent for his
wife to England, long before 17831783. His marriage was
unquestionably a sincere tribute of respect to the delicacy
and natural refinement of Joanna’s character. Yet we
find him often apologizing for feelings and conduct, which
are more truly creditable to him than any of his exploits in
Surinam; and he never calls her his wife. Perhaps
Joanna, with the quick discernment of strong affection,
perceived that he would be ashamed of her in Europe, and
therefore heroically sacrificed her own happiness. If he
had any reluctance to acknowledge his love, his admiration
and his gratitude in England, he is at least manly enough
to be ashamed of confessing it.
Captain Stedman appears to have been extremely kindhearted,
and strongly prepossessed in favor of the African
character. He was often made ill and wretched by the
cruelties he witnessed;—(cruelties, which the imagination
of the most “fanatical” Abolitionist could never have conceived;)
he saved a negro slave from a dreadful whipping by
restoring a dozen of china, which she had accidentally
broken;—while fighting to support the tyranny of slave
owners, he mourned over the horrors of slavery, and left a
share of his own provisions, by stealth, in the woods,
where he had seen a poor rebel, half starved negro concealed;
—he was even unhappy for days, because he could
not forget the reproachful look of a dying monkey, which
he had shot in order to release the poor animal from lingering
torments. Yet he conjured the English Abolitionists
not to oppose the continuance of the Slave Trade; lest
Holland should make more money than England! Alas,
for the inconsistency and selfishness of man!
Richard III.
A Lady who is very friendly to Anti-Slavery principles,
was lately conversing with one of her acquaintance concerning
the cruel prejudice that exists towards colored
people. “I am sure I have none of this prejudice,”
rejoined her companion; “for I can truly say that I never
meet a negro in the street without thanking my God that I
was not born a black.”
Brief Account of an Emancipated
Slave.
Written by Himself, at the Request of the Editor.
Dear Madam,—
I will try to write a short account
of my life, as nearly as I can remember; though it
makes me sorrowful to think of my past days; for
they have been very dark and full of tears. I always
longed and prayed for liberty, and had at times hopes
that I should obtain it. I would pray, and try to study
out some way to earn money enough to buy myself,
by working in the night-time. But then something
would happen to disappoint my hopes, and it seemed
as though I must live and die a slave, with none to
pity me.
I will begin as far back as I can remember. I think
I was between two and three years old when the soul-
destroyers tore me from my mother’s arms, somewhere
in Africa, far back from the sea. They carried me a
long distance to a ship; all the way I looked back, and
cried. The ship was full of men and women loaded
with chains; but I was so small, they let me run about
on deck.
After many long days, they brought us into Charleston,
South Carolina. A slave-holder bought me,
7(6)r
107
and took me up into Pendleton County. I suppose
that I stayed with him about six months. He sold me
to a Mr Bradley, by whose name I have ever since
been called. This man was considered a wonderfully
kind master; and it is true that I was treated better
than most of the slaves I knew. I never suffered for
food, and never was flogged with the whip; but, oh,
my soul! I was tormented with kicks and knocks
more than I can tell. My master often knocked me
down, when I was young. Once, when I was a boy,
about nine years old, he struck me so hard that I fell
down and lost my senses. I remained thus some
time, and when I came to myself, he told me he
thought he had killed me. At another time he struck
me with a curry-comb, and sunk the knob into my
head. I have said that I had food enough; I wish I
could say as much concerning my clothing. But I let
that subject alone; because I cannot think of any
suitable words to use in telling you.
I used to work very hard. I was always obliged to
be in the field by sunrise, and I labored till dark,
stopping only at noon long enough to eat dinner.
When I was about fifteen years old, I took what was
called the cold plague, in consequence of being overworked,
and I was sick a long time. My master came
to me one day, and hearing me groan with pain, he
said, “This fellow will never be of any more use to
me—I would as soon knock him in the head, as if he
were an opossum.” His children sometimes came in,
and shook axes and knives at me, as if they were about
to knock me on the head. But I have said enough of
this. The Lord at length raised me up from the bed
7(6)v
108
of sickness, but I entirely lost the use of one of my
ancles. Not long after this, my master moved to
Arkansas Territory, and died. Then the family let
me out; but after a while my mistress sent for me, to
carry on the plantation, saying she could not do
without me. My master had kept me ignorant of
everything he could. I was never told anything about
God, or my own soul. Yet from the time I was
fourteen years old, I used to think a great deal about
freedom. It was my heart’s desire; I could not keep
it out of my mind. Many a sleepless night I have
spent in tears, because I was a slave. I looked back
on all I had suffered—and when I looked ahead, all
was dark and hopeless bondage. My heart ached to
feel within me the life of liberty. After the death of
my master, I began to contrive how I might buy
myself. After toiling all day for my mistress, I used
to sleep three or four hours, and then get up and work
for myself the remainder of the night. I made collars
for horses, out of plaited husks. I could weave one in
about eight hours; and I generally took time enough
from my sleep to make two collars in the course of a
week. I sold them for fifty cents each. One summer,
I tried to take two or three hours from my sleep every
night; but I found that I grew weak, and I was
obliged to sleep more. With my first money I bought
a pig. The next year I earned for myself about
thirteen dollars; and the next about thirty. There
was a good deal of wild land in the neighborhood, that
belonged to Congress. I used to go out with my hoe,
and dig up little patches, which I planted with corn,
and got up in the night to tend it. My hogs were
7(7)r
109
fattened with this corn, and I used to sell a number
every year. Besides this, I used to raise small patches
of tobacco, and sell it to buy more corn for my pigs.
In this way I worked for five years; at the end of
which time, after taking out my losses, I found that I
had earned one hundred and sixty dollars. With this
money I hired my own time for two years. During
this period, I worked almost all the time, night and
day. The hope of liberty strung my nerves, and
braced up my soul so much, that I could do with very
little sleep or rest. I could do a great deal more work
than I was ever able to do before. At the end of the
two years, I had earned three hundred dollars, besides
feeding and clothing myself. I now bought my time
for eighteen months longer, and went two hundred
and fifty miles west, nearly into Texas, where I could
make more money. Here I earned enough to buy
myself; which I did in 18331833, about one year ago. I
paid for myself, including what I gave for my time,
about seven hundred dollars.
As soon as I was free, I started for a free State.
When I arrived in Cincinnati, I heard of Lane Seminary,
about two miles out of the city. I had for years
been praying to God that my dark mind might see the
light of knowledge. I asked for admission into the
Seminary. They pitied me, and granted my request,
though I knew nothing of the studies which were
required for admission. I am so ignorant, that I suppose
it will take me two years to get up with the
lowest class in the institution. But in all respects I
am treated just as kindly, and as much like a brother
by the students, as if my skin were as white, and my
7(7)v
110
education as good as their own. Thanks to the Lord,
prejudice against color does not exist in Lane Seminary!
If my life is spared, I shall probably spend
several years here, and prepare to preach the gospel.
I will now mention a few things, that I could not
conveniently bring in, as I was going along with my
story.
In the year 18281828, I saw some Christians, who talked
with me concerning my soul, and the sinfulness of my
nature. They told me I must repent, and live to do
good. This led me to the cross of Christ;—and
then, oh, how I longed to be able to read the Bible! I
made out to get an old spelling-book, which I carried
in my hat for many months, until I could spell pretty
well, and read easy words. When I got up in the
night to work, I used to read a few minutes, if I could
manage to get a light. Indeed, every chance I could
find, I worked away at my spelling-book. After I had
learned to read a little, I wanted very much to learn to
write; and I persuaded one of my young masters to
teach me. But the second night, my mistress came
in, bustled about, scolded her son, and called him out.
I overheard her say to him, “You fool! what are you
doing? If you teach him to write, he will write himself
a pass and run away.” That was the end of my
instruction in writing; but I persevered, and made
marks of all sorts and shapes that I could think of.
By turning every way, I was, after a long time, able
to write tolerably plain.
I have said a good deal about my desire for freedom.
How strange it is that anybody should believe any
human being could be a slave, and yet be contented!
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I do not believe there ever was a slave, who did not
long for liberty. I know very well that slave-owners
take a great deal of pains to make the people in the
free States believe that the slaves are happy; but I
know, likewise, that I was never acquainted with a
slave, however well he was treated, who did not long
to be free. There is one thing about this, that people
in the free States do not understand. When they ask
slaves whether they wish for their liberty, they answer,
“No;” and very likely they will go so far as to say
they would not leave their masters for the world.
But, at the same time, they desire liberty more than
anything else, and have, perhaps, all along been laying
plans to get free. The truth is, if a slave shows any
discontent, he is sure to be treated worse, and worked
the harder for it; and every slave knows this. This
is why they are careful not to show any uneasiness
when white men ask them about freedom. When
they are alone by themselves, all their talk is about
liberty—liberty! It is the great thought and feeling
that fills the mind full all the time.
I could say much more; but as your letter requested
a “short account” of my life, I am afraid I have
written too much already. I will say but a few words
more. My heart overflows when I hear what is doing
for the poor broken-hearted slave, and free men of
color. God will help those who take part with the
oppressed. Yes, blessed be His holy name! He will
surely do it. Dear madam, I do hope I shall meet
you at the resurrection of the just. God preserve
you, and strengthen you in this holy cause, until the
walls of prejudice are broken down, the chains burst
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in pieces, and men of every color meet at the feet of
Jesus, speaking kind words, and looking upon each
other in love—willing to live together on earth, as
they hope to live in Heaven!
James Bradley.
Lane Seminary, 1834-06June, 1834.
Safe Mode of Operation.
An old negro, who had once been a slave, was asked by
a Boston clergyman whether he thought the slaves, if they
were emancipated, would be disposed to injure their masters.
He replied, “Oh, no! They would call down
blessings upon them. On what does the planter now
depend for safety? Why, he picks out some intelligent
slave, and keeps him about his person; he feeds and
clothes him well—flatters him, and calls him ‘his boy.’
This slave sleeps near his master’s chamber at night, and
during the day keeps watch upon what is said and done by
the other slaves, that he may report to his master. This
is the way the planter consults his safety. Now, if he only
would make ‘boys’ of them all!”
The Three Colored Republics of
Guiana.
The following passage from Mr Balbi’s excellent geography
will be interesting to the friends of the African race:
three small negro republics, which have been formed many
years; viz. the republic of the Oukas, along the Upper
Maroni; that of the Seramicas, on the Upper Seramica;
and that of the Cotticas, on the Upper Cottica. These are
maroons, or negro slaves who have fled into the woods,
and have attained to an acknowledgement of their independence
by the colonists. The two former of these
republics have existed ever since the year 17661766; that of
the Cotticas commenced later. A treaty concluded in 18091809
by the colonists with these negro states confirmed their
independence. From that time, relations of amity and
commerce have been established between them and the
Hollanders. Many of these negroes come to seek employment
in the colony, and bring wood and other articles.
These small states, whose population has been remarkably
exaggerated by some travellers, have too often carried terror
into this rich colony to permit us to imitate the example of
almost all geographers, who either take no notice of them,
or confine themselves to mentioning the Seramicas alone.” 8 8(1)v 114
These interesting communities are in the interior
of the Dutch province of Surinam, about midway
between the rivers Amazon and Oronoco. The Dutch
have ever been cruel slave-masters. Some specimens
of their system, as exemplified in this colony, will
show what cause the negroes had for flying to the
forests, and fighting their former tyrants. Their code
does not differ much from that of the United States;
for example:
If the mother be a slave, the child must be so too,
though the father may be free, and a white man.
No slave can be witness against a white person.
The owner, or overseer, has despotic power; he
may whip, chain, imprison, or half starve the slaves,
according to his pleasure.
A planter may send his slave to prison, and for a
slight compensation have him or her whipped by the
public executioner, according to his directions.
The murder of a slave is punished merely by a fine;
or if the murderer happens not to be the owner, the
culprit must pay him the value of the slave. In practice
it is extremely rare that any public punishment is
inflicted for the murder of a slave.
In some important particulars, the slave-laws of
Surinam were milder than they are in the United
States. The slaves there are not forbidden by law to
acquire education and property, or to make contracts
and ransom themselves; and no free man is disqualified
from being a witness, on account of the color of
his skin.
It is right to repeat some of the anecdotes of cruelty,
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which Stedman relates from his own observation in
Surinam; but for the reader’s sake, I quote them
sparingly; and for decency’s sake I forbear to describe
how frequently these punishments originated in the
most vile and shameless profligacy on the part of the
oppressors. There are scenes constantly occurring in
every slave State, too disgusting ever to meet the ears
of a civilized community.
An overseer in Surinam tormented a boy fourteen
years of age, for the space of a whole year. During
one month, he flogged him every day; the next he
kept him with his feet in the stocks, and an iron
triangle round his neck, so that he could neither run
away, nor sleep, except in an upright posture; the
third month he chained him to a dog kennel near the
landing-place, to remain there night and day, with
orders to bark at every boat or canoe that passed; and
thus he continued “varying his punishment monthly,
until the youth became insensible, walked crooked,
and almost degenerated into a brute.”
Stedman describes the whipping of a young negro
woman, who was likely soon to become a mother;
but his expressions are too shocking to bear repetition.
Yet the poor victim had done nothing worse than
breaking a tumbler!
A fine old negro was sentenced to receive some
hundred lashes, but declared himself innocent of the
offence with which he was charged. During the
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116
execution of his punishment he drew his knife, and
having made a fruitless thrust at his persecutor, he
plunged it into his own breast, repeating the blow, till
he fell at the tyrant’s feet. He was cured of his
wounds, and for this crime was chained to a furnace,
which distilled kill-devil. There he was to remain
blistered by the intense heat, until he should die of
infirmity or old age. Stedman says: “He showed
me his wounds, with a smile of contempt, which I
returned with a sign and a small donation. Nor shall
I ever forget that miserable man, loaded with irons,
and chained to perpetual torment.”
In contrast to this fearful scene, the planter’s
establishment was luxurious and splendid, and his
manners extremely courteous and hospitable: “But,”
said Stedman, “these Elysian fields could not dissipate
the gloom, which that infernal furnace had left upon
my mind.”
Mrs S—lk—r, of Surinam, was proceeding to her
plantation in her tent-barge. A negro woman with
her infant sat in the bow. The child cried; and the
mother was unable to pacify it immediately. Her
mistress ordered her aft, took the babe in her arms,
and held it under water till it was drowned, and then
let it sink. The frantic mother leaped overboard,
determined to end her miserable existence. She was
rescued, and received three or four hundred lashes for
her temerity.
The same diabolical slave-mistress observed, among
some newly purchased slaves, a young negro girl of
a remarkably fine figure, and a sweet engaging countenance.
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117
Prompted by mere prospective jealousy of
her husband, this wretch caused the girl’s mouth,
cheeks, and forehead, to be burned with red hot iron,
and the tendon of her heel to be cut. The poor young
creature, ignorant in what she had offended, survived
to be a cripple, and a monster of deformity all her
days. On this occasion, some of the other negroes
ventured to entreat their mistress to be more merciful.
This enraged her so much, that she immediately
knocked out the brains of a quaderoon child, and
caused the heads of two young negroes to be chopped
off. When she had left the estate, the surviving
relations tied the heads in a handkerchief, and laid
them at the Governor’s feet, with the following address:
“This, your Excellency, is the head of my son; and
this is the head of my brother, struck off by the command
of our mistress, for trying to prevent her
murders. We know our evidence is nothing in a
state of slavery; but if these bloody heads be a sufficient
proof of what we say, we only beg that such
pernicious acts may be prevented in time to come; in
acknowledgement of which we will all cheerfully shed
our blood for the preservation of our master, our
mistress, and the Colony.”
To this humble and affecting appeal the reply was
that they were all liars, and should be flogged round
the streets; which sentence was executed with the
utmost severity.
Had white people been present at this scene of
carnage, the tigress would have escaped by paying
fifty pounds for each murder.
When Surinam planters wish to get rid of old worn
out slaves, they sometimes take them on a hunting
excursion, under pretence of starting the game; as
soon as the bird rises, they shoot them, and call it
accident. Sometimes they push them overboard with
a weight chained to them, and call it accidental
drowning. Sometimes they are tied to a tree in the
forest, and left without clothing, till they are stung to
death by venomous insects. Sometimes they are
chained to a stake, in the middle of a plain, under a
burning sun, and fed with a plantain and one gill of
water a day, until they starve; but it is not called
starving—because the master declares he furnished
food and drink as long as the slave lived.
Breaking out the teeth for sucking the sugar cane,
which they themselves have cultivated—cutting off
ears—and slitting noses, are slight every day punishments.
However strong an attachment slaves may form
for each other, no respect is paid to it. The negro
husband is often unmercifully whipped by a profligate
overseer, for no other reason than because his wife is
handsome and happens to love him. Should he
attempt to protect her from abuse, he would be cut to
pieces for his pains.
Under such circumstances, suicide and crime, of
course, become common. These wretched beings
drown themselves—choke themselves, by turning the
tongue into the throat—and jump into cauldrons of
boiling sugar,—thus at once depriving the tyrant of
his crop and his laborer.
Such of the Surinam slaves, as were able to effect
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119
their escape, had two circumstances strongly in favor
of their independence. No civilized and Christian
states in their neighborhood were bound by a compact
to send them back to their oppressors; and they had
deep, impenetrable forests, and tangled swamps to flee
to, where they had the consolation of meeting nothing
worse than jaguars, alligators, aboma snakes, thirty
or forty feet long, and plenty of rattlesnakes.
From the earliest remembrance of the colony some
fugitives had taken refuge in the woods; but they did
not become important as a body, until about 17261726 or
17281728. At that time, they appeared on the upper parts
of the Copename and Seramica rivers, armed with
bows and arrows, together with guns and hatchets,
which they had from time to time captured from the
neighboring plantations.
In 17301730, eleven of their number, having been made
prisoners, were put to death with a shocking barbarity.
One was hanged on a gibbet from an iron hook passed
under two of his ribs, and left there to writhe and
expire, under a burning sun, with only an occasional
drop of rain to refresh his parched and swollen lips.
In this agonizing situation, he contemptuously reproved
two slaves, who were whipped near the gibbet, because
they were unmanly enough to utter any complaint.
Two of the prisoners were burned alive; and six
women were broken on the rack. They all endured
these tortures without a groan or a sigh.
The design of the planters was to intimidate the
“rebel negroes”; for thus, like the heroes of the American
Revolution, were they denominated. But these
transactions inspired them with new fury. They laid
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waste the plantations, and murdered the inhabitants,
and triumphed, hand to hand, in the fiercest battles.
Reinforcements were sent from Holland to the assistance
of the colony; but the European troops wasted
rapidly away, under a burning sun, led from forest to
forest by the valiant and hardy rebels, who constantly
eluded their pursuit, or gave them battle on the most
disadvantageous grounds. The colony was, at times,
reduced to the utmost confusion and distress. Thus
affairs went on,—interrupted only by one year’s truce,
to which the negroes were invited by parley,—until
17571757; when a new revolt of slaves broke out on the
Upper Maroni, owing, as before, to the abusive treatment
of the planters. These new rebels were added
to the old fugitives in the same quarter, supposed to be
about sixteen hundred in number; the combined
number was estimated at about three thousand.
After a long and very severe contest, commissioners
were sent to treat with these intrepid negroes. They
were introduced to a handsome chief named Araby,
who received them politely. Taking them by the
hand, he desired them to sit down upon the greensward,
on each side of him; assuring them that since
they came in so good a cause, none dared or wished
to molest them. A treaty of peace was agreed upon,
on condition that a quantity of fire-arms, ammunition,
and various other articles, should be delivered to the
negro chiefs at the ratification of the treaty, and every
year thereafter.
The commissioners received, in return, some very
good advice, by which the Dutch do not appear to
have profited. “We desire you,” said one of the
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121
negro officers, “to tell your Governor and Court, that
if they wish to prevent the rising of any new gangs
of rebels, they must take care that the planters do not
trust their slaves to drunken overseers, and managers,
who by unjustly beating the negroes, insulting their
wives and children, and neglecting the sick and
aged, are the ruin of the colony. It is this that drives
into the woods such numbers of stout people; people
who have earned your subsistence by the sweat of
their brows—without whom your colony would drop
to nothing—and to whom you are at last glad to come
and sue for friendship.”
Mr Abercrombie, one of the commissioners, asked
for some of the principal officers, as hostages. Araby
replied, “it would be time enough for that, when the
treaty was finally concluded: If they pleased, they
might then have his youngest son to be educated in
the colony; he would not give the Christians the
slightest trouble about his subsistence—he would
himself provide for that.”
The treaty was ratified, and the stipulated articles
sent, with an escort of six hundred men. The commander,
who was deemed something of a coward,
was in such haste to withdraw, that he delivered the
presents without remembering to demand the hostages.
But this made no difference with Araby; he did as he
had pledged his word; and sent several of his officers
to Paramaribo.
The rebels took a solemn oath to observe the treaty,
and required the same of the white commissioners;
but they insisted upon having it taken in their own
form; alleging that the Christian oath had been so
often broken, that they placed no value upon it.
This took place in 17611761; and in the same year a
treaty was concluded with the Seramicas. In each
case, a cane, with a large silver pummel, bearing the
arms of Surinam, was delivered to the head-captain,
as a token of the acknowledgement of their independence.
For a considerable time the colony was in a quiet
and flourishing condition; but the same causes were
at work to produce similar troubles.
In 17721772, the slaves on the Cottica river rose, and
nearly gave a finishing blow to Surinam. They
burned and massacred throughout the country; and the
surviving inhabitants, full of consternation, crowded
into Paramaribo.
Captain Barron, the leader of the Cotticas, had been
a favorite slave of a Mr Dahlbergh, who had taught
him to read and write. He accompanied his master
to Holland, with the flattering promise of receiving a
certificate of freedom, as soon as he returned. Dahlbergh
broke his word, and Barron refused to do any
more work.
For this, he was publicly flogged under the gallows.
Exasperated by such treatment, he fled to the woods,
vowing revenge against all Europeans. He was
chosen head-captain of the Cotticas, and his name
became terrible throughout the colony, particularly to
Dahlbergh, on whom he had vowed especial vengeance.
The following anecdote of the war will illustrate
the character and sentiments of these men. “This,”
said an old slave in the colony, holding a little girl
called Tamera by the hand, “This is the child of
Jolly-Cœur, the first captain belonging to Barron’s men,
and not without cause one of the fiercest rebels in the
forest. He has lately proved this on the estate of
New Rosenback. On that estate, (one Shultz, a Jew,
being manager) the rebels suddenly appeared and took
possession of the whole plantation. Having tied the
hands of Shultz, they began feasting and dancing,
before they ended his miserable existence. In this
deplorable state, he lay waiting Barron’s signal for
death, when happening to meet the eye of his enemy,
he thus addressed him: ‘O Jolly-Cœur! be merciful
to Mr Shultz, who was once your deputy-master.
Remember the dainties I gave you from my own
table when you were a little child, and my favorite
among so many others. Remember this, and spare
my life by your powerful intercession!’
Jolly-Cœur replied, ‘I remember it perfectly well.
But remember, vile tyrant, your shameless treatment
to my poor mother, in my infant presence. Remember
how you flogged my father for trying to protect
her. Remember this, and die by my hands.’ As he
spoke, he struck the head from the body, and rolled it
along the beach.”
Numerous instances of extraordinary bravery, and
able generalship, are recorded of these negroes, by
Stedman; who was an officer on the opposite side,
and therefore unlikely to exaggerate their merits.
Freedom gave them the same fearless and dignified
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air said to characterize the Haytians. In person they
were tall, stout and erect, and their countenances
expressed intelligence and vigilance. The fortitude
with which they endured the greatest torments was
even more wonderful than their courage.
Nothing could exceed their contempt and animosity
toward the corps of colored rangers, who were slaves
induced to fight for their masters by the promise of
freedom. “We compassionate the white soldiers,”
said they, “who are compelled, for so much a month,
to come here and hunt innocent men, who never did
them any harm; but you, vile traitors to your own
brethren! may your tyrants work their will upon
you!”
These rangers were likewise valiant soldiers. No
doubt it was a matter of policy with their masters to
train them to a hatred and contempt of the rebels, as
the slaves in this country are trained to dislike and
despise the free negroes.
The Rev. Wiltshire Stanton Austin, in his testimony
before the British House of Commons in 18321832, makes
some remarks concerning the present state of these
republics. Mr Austin was an Episcopal clergyman,
heir to the slave estates of his father, which he had
formerly managed.
In the course of his evidence, he says, “My belief
in the safety of emancipation is founded upon intimate
knowledge of negro character. They are naturally
peaceable, and they would be still more so, if the
great boon, for which they alone have contended,
were ceded to them.
There are in Surinam two settlements of emancipated
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slaves. Their employment was to cut and saw
timber into planks and bring it down from the interior,
and also their surplus provisions, as rice, yams, and
other articles, which they bartered for whatever they
wanted, besides accumulating property. I had in my
possession ten pounds belonging to one man, and I
knew a friend with whom as much as three hundred
pounds had been deposited by various individuals
belonging to these settlements; the produce of very
hard labor, at least as hard, if not as regular, as the
cultivation of sugar.
* * * * * * *
These free settlements are not settlements of
Indians, but of Africans, who had forcibly emancipated
themselves, as stated in Stedman’s History of
Surinam; and with whom the Dutch had entered into
treaty, which has been pretty well observed on both
sides.
I never heard of any want among them; and
though I have had much intercourse with them, I never
saw one intoxicated. Their settlements are not very far
from the cultivated parts of the colony; but they do
not themselves raise sugar or coffee. They are a very
handsome and well-formed race, with features sharper
and more raised, than the Africans generally. Their
number is not known, as they are jealous of inquiries
on that point; but the reports vary from ten thousand
to twenty thousand. Their habits are favorable to a
rapid increase. They speak what is called negro-
English; a compound of English, Dutch, and African.
The Bible has recently been translated into this dialect
by the Moravians, who maintained a mission there for
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a few years. The settlers allow no other Europeans
to reside among them. I made one or two attempts,
but did not succeed.”
It seems probable that Mr Austin made a mistake as
to the number of souls, as well as of the settlements.
In 17721772 the inhabitants were estimated at fifteen
thousand or twenty thousand; and at that time the
Cotticas, being a third division of maroons, rose
and commenced their struggle for liberty and independence;
which was definitively acknowledged, as
we must infer from M. Balbi, in 18091809.
Capt. J. E. Alexander, of the British army, who
visited Guiana in 18321832, and published his Travels, in
18331833, declares repeatedly that the entire population of
these negro states is now seventy thousand; and he
also mentions that the cruelties of the Dutch masters
continue about the same, as at the successive revolts
of the Seramicas, the Oukas and the Cotticas.
Printed captionO man, the blood of thy brother cries from the earth and the sea!
The Runaway.
A True Story.Behind the hills the setting sun
Has hidden now his golden light;
There stood a slave, his labor done,
Watching the slow approach of night.
To be a slave—this thought press’d deep
Upon his spirit, free and brave;
And often, when alone, he’d weep
To think that he was born a slave.
But then his faithful Nanny’s smile,
Or little Willy’s merry voice,
His soul would of its grief beguile—
And William’s heart would half rejoice.
His children climbing on his knees,
The watchful kindness of his wife,
Brought to his wounded spirit ease,
And help’d him bear the load of life.
And now you hear his fervent prayer,
As before God he bends the knee,
“My wife and children bid them spare,
And lay their burthens all on me.”
His master died; for he was old,
And nature still must have her due:
William, and all his slaves were sold,
With other goods and cattle too.
He in the market-place was sold.
His wife and children—where are they!
How can the dreadful tale be told!—
They tore them from his arms away.
They heard his agonizing groans,
They heard his little children’s cries,
They heard his wife’s heart-breaking tones
Piercing the hollow, silent skies.
They heard them all, and turn’d away;
They heeded not the negro’s pain.
If God is just, there is a day
When they must hear those sounds again.
Like a wild beast poor William then
Was chain’d, and by a whip was driven;
One of a drove of slaves, of men,
Whom Jesus came to lead to Heaven.
Time pass’d away—as pass it will,
Though cruel sorrow mark each day;
Through joy and wo, through good and ill,
The sands flow on, and pass away.
Who at the midnight hour is he,
Creeping along upon the ground,
Hiding behind each bush and tree,
And starting at the faintest sound?
’T is he—he’s near the river’s side,
He’s safe within the boat;
A friend is there, to help hide;
Poor William! he may yet be free.
The morning smiles, the steamboat flies,
And many a happy heart was there;
In a dark hole poor William lies,
And breathes to God his fervent prayer.
E’en there, constrain’d in every limb,
No space to move, no wholesome air,
E’en this was Paradise to him,
For he could hope for freedom there.
And he may yet his dear wife see,
His little girl, his little boy.
“I yet, I yet may set them free!”
And William’s heart ran o’er with joy.
But who His purposes can scan,
Who lets the tyrant work his will,
And trample on his brother man?—
Faith speaks, where Reason’s voice is still.
Whence is that sudden shriek of pain,
And whence those shouts, and wild uproar?
One struggle—he’s a slave again;—
Poor William’s dream of bliss is o’er.
And now they drag him forth to light.
What does his aching vision see?
His master stands before his sight,
Smiling upon his agony.
“Ha, ha! my boy,” he laughing cried,
“This is for me a lucky day.”
Now safely to the mast he’s tied;
And on the steamboat speeds her way.
There, clenching fast his fetter’d hands,
He heaves no sigh, he lifts no prayer.
He seems, as fix’d in wo he stands,
An iron statue of despair.
They offer’d food—he turn’d away;
And then he quickly seized the knife,
And ere they could his purpose stay,
He tried to end his hated life.
His master now, with cruel scorn,
Laugh’d at his poor slave’s frantic wo;
“What makes you, Bill, look so forlorn?
Why did you cut your jacket so?
I bade them give you food enough,
And I’ll forgive you for this trip;
I see you’re made of right good stuff;
I think you’ll go without the whip.
My negroes all are happy dogs,
They never have too much to do;
My driver very seldom flogs;
And why can’t you be happy too?”
“I’m not a dog; I am a man;
My wife and children, where are they?
Be happy! that I never can—
They’ve taken all I love away.”
“’T is all pretence, you silly loon;
You lead a very happy life:
You will feel better very soon;
I’ll give you, Bill, another wife.”
“Pity the creature thou hast made,
Almighty God!” the negro cried,
“On whom the load of life is laid,
Whilst all its blessings are denied.
My wife and children—God does know
They’re living in this breaking heart;
And when compell’d from them to go,
He saw how bitter’t was to part.
But soon will cease these cruel pains;
There’s one kind hand will set me free.
Death will strike off these hateful chains—
Death will restore my liberty.”
And now again in silent grief
He look’d up at the boundless sky;
And not one tear, with sad relief,
Moisten’d his glazed and bloodshot eye.
They reach’d the shore; and each one goes
Where pleasure or where duty calls;
All but the slave—his burning woes
Are hidden by his dungeon walls.
Hidden from men—but not from Him
Whose eye of light is everywhere;
That light which darkness cannot dim,
That eye of mercy, it was there.
They who could dare to take the name
Of him who came from Heaven to save—
On them the sin! on them the shame!
They made a heathen of the slave.
He thought that he was free to die;
He never tasted food again.
He utter’d not another cry;
He spoke not of his burning pain.
And thus he burst his prison door;
And thus he set his spirit free.
The negro’s misery is o’er—
Death has restored his liberty.
Scipio Africanus.
An extract from the unpublished memoirs of an officer of
the Grand Army.—Translated from a periodical published
at Paris.
Already master of Turin, of Alexandria, and of
Mantua, the celebrated Russian General Suwarrow
still wished to invade Tortona and Coni. The misfortunes
of the French troops, justly attributed to the
bad plans of the Directory, appeared to be the prelude
of new disasters to France. The powers united
against us counted about three hundred thousand
combatants, without including a new Russian army
destined to carry reinforcements, as they might be
needed, into Italy or Germany. The dangers of the
French Republic were pressing. They changed the
Minister of War, and the Generals in Chief; the new
Directory published officially that five hundred and
sixtyfive thousand men would be on foot in the month
of October. Finally, they called Joubert to the command
of the army in Italy, and Moreau was placed at
the head of the troops on the Lower Rhine; but all
this did not revive the fortunes of France. The star
of Bonaparte had not yet arisen!
In order to compel Suwarrow to abandon the
siege of Tortona, General Joubert resolved to give
him battle. Moreau, in this emergency, was anxious
to second his efforts, and served under his orders.
On the 1799-08-14fourteenth of August, 1799, the evening
preceding the battle of Novi, the two armies kept
watch upon each other. The Generals Bellegrade
and Kray commanded the right wing; the left, composed
of Austrian divisions, was under the orders of
General Melas; the Russian divisions, forming the
centre, had General Rosenberg at their head.
I shall never forget the night that preceded that
memorable day. I was about finishing a letter to my
mother,—in which, with the confidence that never
abandons youth, I spoke of tomorrow’s expedition
with a complete certainty of success,—when I perceived
a large man standing in the shadow of a tree,
against which he leaned, with his eye fixed earnestly
upon me. He was wrapped in a dark-colored cloak;
and one of his hands came out from among the folds
of the cape; this hand, as well as his head, appeared
to me to be entirely black. The bivouac fire was
nearly extinguished; and this large figure, sometimes
strongly illuminated by the flickering light, and then
as suddenly lost in darkness, had the appearance of a
fantastic apparition.
We remained for some time observing each other.
The traditions of antiquity concerning celebrated
men visited by their evil genius, the night preceding
their death, involuntarily occurred to my memory. I
had not indeed any right to this honor, nor was I
disturbed with any thoughts about quitting life; but I
9(3)v
134
was determined to know who was the dark figure that
stood observing me with so much attention. I arose
and advanced toward him; almost resolved to seek a
quarrel, if I found him a living being.
The man quietly allowed me to approach, without
making any change in his position or countenance.
I was within a few steps of him, when the
fire,—on which a soldier had just thrown a dry
fagot,—burned up brightly, and cast a glaring light
over both our figures. The black man immediately
stretched forth his hand and smiled. Those eyes full
of energy, and a double row of teeth whiter than
ivory, recalled to my mind a face I had once known.
My heart throbbed with the indistinct recollections of
childhood. I exclaimed, “Do I not deceive myself?
Is this Scipio?”
Until I spoke, Scipio had not been entirely certain
that he did not mistake my person; but at these words
he threw himself into my arms. “Yes,” replied he,—
again and again pressing my hand, as if it had been
held in a vice,—“Yes, I am Scipio. Who would
have thought we were so near each other! and who
could have foretold that we should meet here for the
first time, since our last interview in the gardens of
the Palais Royal? In truth, it is a long time since
that. I was then no higher than your boot; now I
am five feet eight inches, well told. I seem still to see
you as you came to play with me in the private garden
of the Duke of Orleans, at the Palais Royal, when in
our plays we used sometimes to quarrel so briskly
with the young prince.”
“Go on, my dear Scipio, I see you have a good
memory.”
“By the same token, I can recount a scene of which
you were yourself the hero. One day having taken
the rounds of the garden, drawing the prince in his
little chariot, you took him out, without any ceremony,
and seated yourself in the carriage, saying to him,
‘Take your turn now.’ The tutor was quite scandalized
by this great liberty, and wished to make you get
out; but the little prince opposed it; and beginning to
draw the carriage, he replied, gravely: ‘It is no more
than right. I ought to take my turn now.’ You see,”
continued Scipio, “that I forget nothing.”
“If it be so, my dear Scipio, I wish you would
recount to me all the particulars how it came to pass
that a negro was ever the comrade of the little Duke
of Chartres; and by what chance I now find you here,
in the army of the republic, on the eve of battle.”
“Ah,” replied Scipio with a deep sigh, “I shall
never have strength to tell all my story, unless you can
find means to procure something to eat. I made a
bad breakfast; and according to all appearances I am
not likely to fare any better for supper.”
“And I, luckily, have a supper to offer, which is not
to be despised; for I never go without provisions.”
As I spoke, I led Scipio toward an empty barrel, which
had already served me for a table, and after he had
eaten three quarters of a cold chicken, and drank a
9(4)v
136
bottle of old Bordeaux, he told his story nearly in the
following terms:
should tell a falsehood if I pretended to speak of my
earliest childhood from my own recollections. I have
been told that I was born in Jamaica, where I should
probably have remained until the day of my death,
like all the black, employed in the culture of the
colonies, if I had not very early acquired a talent quite
useless for making one’s way in the world, but which,
nevertheless, decided my destiny. From the time I
was five years old, I could swim like a fish; there
was not in all Jamaica, a diver more daring than
myself. A slave-merchant, who confined his trade to such
slaves as were useful in agriculture, came at this time
to purchase a cargo. Finding me too small to be
troubled with, he separated my mother from me, and
in spite of her despair carried her on board a vessel
destined to transport her into another English colony.
This slave-merchant cared for nothing in the world
but his dog; which was in truth a noble animal. He
was one of the most beautiful of the Newfoundland
species. It seems as if I could now see that cruel merchant,
with his cane in his hand, standing on the vessel, which,
unknown to me, was about to carry off all that was
most dear to me in the world; for the departure of my
poor mother had been carefully concealed from me.
I was playing on the beach, when the vessel, with all
her sails hoisted, moved majestically from the shore.
At the same instant, my mother sprung upon the deck, 9(5)r 137
with loud shrieks. She stretched out her arms toward
me, and tried to escape from those that held her. At
this sight I suspected I was about to lose my
mother forever; or rather I thought of nothing but
the tears and kisses she tried to send me, in the midst
of the shower of blows, with which her new master
strove to drive her from the deck. I instantly sprung
into the sea, and followed the track of the vessel,
marked on the waves by a long furrow of white foam.
A cry of surprise and terror was heard at the same
moment from the vessel and the shore. The English
spectators of the scene began, according to their
custom, to bet with each other, whether I should or
should not reach the vessel, which was rapidly receding
from sight. I learned afterward that the captain proposed to
lower the sails, and put down a boat to take me up;
but the slave-merchant answered gruffly that the wind
was good, and it was best to profit by it. He carried
his cruelty still farther. Drawing out his watch, he
said carelessly, ‘Let us see how many minutes this
little droll can swim, before he goes to the bottom.
My Newfoundland dog certainly could not keep up
with us half an hour, at the rate we are going.’
While the barbarian kept his eyes fixed on me, he
fortunately did not perceive that the sailors contrived
to slacken sail a little. The vessel, however, still went
on; and my strength began to fail. I no longer had
power to cry out, although I was near enough to hear
the entreaties, which on all sides were addressed to the
cruel merchant in my behalf. Still holding his watch
in his hand, he contented himself with replying, 9(5)v 138
‘What a plague would you have me do with that little
marmot? If we stop his drowning, we shall have
him to feed; and what profit would there be in that?’
While all the people around him shed tears, he smoked
as quietly as if nothing had happened. All at once, a great noise was heard. It was my
mother; who, exerting all her strength, tore herself
away from her tormentor, all bloody as she was, and
in her despair seized hold of the Newfoundland dog,
with the sudden hope that he would be more compassionate
than these dealers in human flesh. She was not mistaken. The instant I was pointed
out to the noble animal, he jumped into the sea, and
seizing me just as I was about to perish, he kept me
above the waves. The merchant was at last subdued; the thoughts
of losing his beautiful dog distressed him; and he
instantly ordered a boat to be lowered. The dog was
saved; and I likewise—thanks to his protection. The slave-merchant died very soon after this
voyage; and I was sold together with the dog. My
new proprietor, having heard my history, resolved not
to separate us. He carried us first to Havre, and
afterward to Paris. He told my story everywhere.
This occasioned some tears to be shed, and brought
me a great many sugar-plums. I have sometimes
suspected that this man made a sort of speculation out
of my misfortune; for if I do not mistake, money was
often sent to me, as well as sugar-plums. However,
I never received anything but the bonbons; and I was
delighted with my share. My story made so much noise, that it finally reached facing 9(5)v facing 9(6)r Figure Three women wearing wigs and holding fans in an ornately furnished room. A young boy is riding a wigged man like a horse in the foreground. Printed captionLittle Scipio: a favorite plaything in the family of Egalite, Duke of
Orleans. Page 139. 9(6)r 139
the ears of the Duchess of Orleans, who took a great
fancy to me, and immediately bought me, together
with the dog. It was decided that I should teach the
young prince to swim; and though I never gave him
a lesson, I became, under this pretence, the playmate
of Monseigneur, the Duke of Chartres. As I had received much fewer cakes than beatings,
I was at first very much afraid; but the extreme kindness
of those around me soon gave me confidence. I
was continually in the lap of the Duchess and her
maids of honor, who devoured me with kisses, and
seemed to try which could do their best to spoil me.
Their indulgence was carried to such an extent, that
one day I sprung from them and jumped upon the
back of Monseigneur, the Duke of Orleans; who,
frizzled and powdered as he was, carried me round
the chamber on all-fours, while I held him sometimes
by the ears, and sometimes by the ribbon of his queue,
instead of a bridle. One of the old ladies of honor
cried out at this; but the Duchess did nothing but
laugh. You may judge by this how much of a
favorite I then was. Who could have foretold that I, a poor little negro
slave, sold with a dog, to whose compassion I owed my
life, should one day become the companion of a
prince? that I should eat with him from the same
service of silver gilt, and ride in the same magnificent
carriage from palace to palace? Fairy stories are rich
in marvellous adventures; but they offer nothing more
extraordinary than this. Well-a-day! It then seemed
to me all very simple and natural; and I was not in
the least surprised at my good fortune. 9(6)v 140 Whether they thought I was growing too large to
continue in the same relation to the prince, or whether
it was from regard to my health, which had been
somewhat deranged by change of climate, I know
not; but I was sent to one of those innumerable
estates, belonging to the House of Orleans, scattered
throughout all the provinces in France. From the
time that I quitted Paris and Versailles and went no
more to Court, I took the fancy to live like a country
gentleman. As I had arrived in the prince’s carriage,
and he sometimes condescended to write to me,
everybody treated me with the greatest respect; and I
did not fail to profit by this circumstance to do many
very foolish things. I became as insolent as a page,
and as dictatorial as a landlord. I spent my days in
hunting, and had no more concern for the future than
the son of a wealthy house, who is sure of receiving
some day his fifty thousand livres of rent. Finally,
when nothing more was wanting to render me altogether
insupportable, when I had become a young
man of fifteen, turbulent, irascible, and, above all,
ignorant, it pleased Divine Providence to give me one
of those severe but useful lessons, which are often in
reserve for those who abuse the favors they enjoy. I received orders to return to Paris. Taking with
me my handsomest dresses, I departed full of joy, and
the next day arrived at the Palais Royal. I was
received much more coldly than I expected; and for
the first time, I was embarrassed by my situation. All the beautiful ladies, who, a few years previous,
had been in the habit of seating me in their laps and
kissing me, now looked with an air of surprise upon 9(7)r 141
the tall lad that stood before them; some of them
smiled at the change; and others increased my distress
by whispers, of which I was evidently the subject.
The difficulty was not a little increased by my observing
several of the valets standing in a small chamber
adjoining, all of them apparently delighted with my
disgrace and mortification. A femme-de-chambre of
the Duchess was the only one who showed any compassion.
‘Poor child!’ she said, as she passed, ‘you
have eaten your whole white bread first.’ These were the
only friendly words addressed to me. My first repast at the Palais Royal almost broke my
heart; for alas! I was now invited to the pantry,
instead of the prince’s table; and I could not reconcile
myself to my new situation. Thus does prosperity spoil us! We enjoy it while
it lasts; but when a reverse comes, our happiness is
destroyed. Certainly had I been taken from slavery
and placed in an excellent house, where I was well
clothed, well lodged, well fed, and left at liberty to go
if I would, I should have found myself the happiest
of men. But the circumstances, which I should then
so much have desired, now seemed unworthy of me;
as if they were not a hundred times beyond the
personal merit of a young man whose vanity was
only equalled by his ignorance! Soon after my return, a council was held in the
apartment of the Duchess concerning what employment
was most suitable for me. In consequence of
my slender and elastic figure, and my expertness in
the chase, which had rendered me almost as swift as
my dogs, they decided with one voice that I should be 9(7)v 142
a courier; and they immediately ordered my costume
to be prepared. This dress was laced at the seams;
my hat was ornamented with a magnificent bunch of
feathers; my sash was fringed with gold; my stockings
were of white silk; and my cane was surmounted
with a golden apple, from which was suspended cord
and tassels. But all this finery did not console me for
the rank that I had lost. One evening as I was walking in melancholy mood
among the vast shadows of the palace-garden, a man
clothed in a laced habit approached me with a friendly
air; but when he came near enough to perceive what
sort of uniform I wore, he turned from me with a
gesture of contempt. My heart was already full, and
it needed but a trifle to make it overflow. I burst into
tears. The officer,—for such it was,—immediately
returned, and in the kindest manner inquired why I
wept. Encouraged by the soothing tones of his voice,
and still more by the deep shadows that concealed my
face, I told him how I had once been the spoiled
favorite of the Duke’s family, and how unhappy I now
found myself in a situation which many, no doubt,
regarded with envy. The stranger appeared touched by the confidence I
reposed in him. He gave me his address, and invited
me to visit him whenever I found it agreeable. As
we still continued talking, we approached a shop very
brilliantly lighted, and he perceived that I was a negro.
But this discovery, which I feared would chill his
interest in me, seemed only to increase it. ‘Alas, my
poor friend,’ said he, ‘I did not realize all the obstacles
in your path. I did not know that you belonged 9(8)r 143
to a race accursed. But I solemnly promise you, in
the name of that God, who created us both in his own
image, and gave to each of us a mind and a heart, that
I will do my utmost to overcome this most cruel of
prejudices! I hope you will become an instrument in
the hands of Providence to enfranchise your unfortunate
race; at least, to hasten the day of their
emancipation. If you have courage and good conduct,
it shall not be my fault if you do not become an officer.
Then, young man, you shall wear a uniform, which all
the world honors, and of which the bravest are
proud.’ I accepted his proposal with joy; but I confess I
was not aware of the extent of the sacrifice I should
be required to make. I did not then know how black
the military bread would seem; nor how hard the
camp-bed would prove to one accustomed to luxury.
I had never known any other law than my own
caprices, and I was little prepared for the rigor of
military discipline. But in the midst of all privations,
I was sustained by the one consoling idea that I should
owe my success to my own exertions. My poor mother
had died, before she had a chance to enjoy my brief
period of prosperity. I had but one hope upon earth;
and that was to become an officer, and show the world,
for the first time a company of whites commanded by
a black. What more can I say? The republic, the
war, and my own courage, have fulfilled my hope.
The excellent man, who placed this sword in my
hand, has been to me an instructor and a father.
Thanks to him, I have acquired all that ought to be
known by an officer; and my bravery has done the 9(8)v 144
rest. You see me a Captain; and if God spares my
life, I hope to be a Colonel, perhaps even a General.
I will try to do for others what a white man so generously
did for a negro. And when the world sees that
a black man can plan battles, and gain victories,
perhaps they will espouse the cause of that unfortunate
race, whose color alone condemns them to an
eternal and shameful bondage.”
The report of Austrian cannon interrupted this
deeply interesting conversation. We embraced each
other affectionately, and each one hastened to his
post.
Everybody knows that the result of the battle of
Novi was unfavorable to the French. At the very
first onset, at the moment when he called to the
soldiers, “Advance!” General Joubert fell, pierced
through the heart. With his dying voice, he exclaimed
“March on! March on!”
It was of this battle that Suwarrow (who was a good
judge of such matters) said he had never seen one
fought with such ferocity and obstinacy.
Among the dead bodies found on the field, I recognised
Scipio, pierced with twenty wounds, any one of
which would have given death. Poor Scipio! How
many have I seen fall like him, strong in their youth,
and full of hope for the future!
“It will not do to allow that negroes are men, lest it should
prove that we ourselves are not Christians.”—Montesquieu.
Alexander Vasselin.
A Dramatic Sketch.This story in its leading features is perfectly true. A
mulatto boy, the son of a wealthy white man in Jamaica,
was sent to Massachusetts to obtain an education, and was
obliged to return on account of the prejudice against his
color. The lad had been accustomed to luxury, and
respectful attendance, and was remarkable for his gentlemanly
deportment.
Scene First.
[A Wood. George Sandford meeting Edward andEugene.]
Edward.
George Sandford, how are you?
George.
How are you, boys. I am glad I have
met you, for I was taking my walk alone. Will you
join me?
Eugene.
Where are you going?
George.
Over the hill yonder, and round by the
saw-mill. Mr Grenville asked me to look up some
wild plants for his next botanical lecture.
Eugene.
He asked me to do the same; but I had
forgotten it. Let us go together.
Edward.
How is it, George, that you take so much
more interest in these things than you used to do?
Last summer I remember you were no more attentive
to your studies than the rest of us boys.
George.
To tell the truth, I never realized what a
privilege it was to attend a good school, until my friend
Alexander came here.
Edward.
Your friend Alexander! Your friend
Cuffy, you mean. That friendship of yours is so
comical!
George.
You may laugh as much as you please.
You know nothing of Alexander, but his color.
Edward.
And isn’t that enough to know?
George.
If you knew him as well as I do, you
would not think that a sufficient reason for despising
him.
Eugene.
Tell us all about him, George. How
came he to be at your house? And why does your
father interest himself so much about a mulatto?
George.
He is the son of a rich gentleman in
Jamaica, who was one of my father’s earliest friends;
and his father has sent him here to obtain a good
education.
Edward.
Why didn’t he receive an education at
home, if blacks must be educated, forsooth?
George.
Because there is a law in Jamaica prohibiting
the education of colored people. My father
10(2)r
147
says those who teach them even the most common
rudiments of reading and writing are liable to a heavy
fine.
Eugene.
That does seem hard, I acknowledge. I
really pity Alexander. He is very much of a gentleman
in his manners and appearance.
Edward.
A gentleman in his appearance! I suppose
you mean when his back is turned?
George.
He has noble and generous feelings; and
do not these constitute a gentleman? My father
wanted to procure a private tutor for him; but he
could not find any well-qualified person who was
willing to undertake the task. He is now trying to get
him admitted into our Academy.
Eugene and Edward.
Into our Academy!
George.
Yes, even so. I see what you think of it.
Poor Alexander! It is a hard case.
Edward.
A fine plan, to be sure! I think Mr
Grenville will have some trouble before he brings us
boys to consent to it.
George.
You know I have asked the scholars to
meet at our house, tomorrow? I want to see them all
together, to know whether they will vote in favor of
my friend Alexander.
Edward.
You may as well spare yourself the
trouble. Every boy in school will vote against him.
George.
Yet tell me, Edward, why it should be so?
He is a kind, generous boy; all who see him acknowledge
that he has uncommonly good manners; he can
leap, run, and wrestle, as well as the best of us; he is
very ambitious to learn; and, after all, he is very little
darker than the Spanish boy we all used to like so
10(2)v
148
much. Now, why can you not be willing to have him
in our school?
Edward.
It is out of the question; and there is no
use in talking about it. If the Spanish boy was dark,
it wasn’t nigger darkness; and that makes all the
difference in the world.
George.
I confess, Edward, that I can see nothing
manly or generous in such feelings. Because you
conceive that there is a mighty difference between
Spanish black, or Italian black, or Grecian black, and
nigger black, (as you are pleased to term it,) you are
willing to condemn a kind-hearted and intelligent boy
to perpetual ignorance.
Eugene.
I declare it does seem cruel. Edward,
suppose you and I unite with George, and try to
persuade the other scholars to consent to it.
Edward.
Oh, by all means! Let us take in all the
blacks far and near. A respectable school we shall
have of it! How Ned Clifford, and the other boys at
the institute would laugh at us!
Eugene.
That’s the worst of it.
George.
That the worst of it, Eugene! Could you
not bear to be laughed at, for the sake of dealing
generously by a lad who is so persecuted and lonely?
For my part, if I see any one abused and ridiculed, I
think that is the best of all reasons for being his
friend.
Eugene.
Well, George, I will vote to have Alexander
admitted to the school; and they may laugh at me
if they choose.
Edward.
And I will not vote for him. No blackeys
for me.
Alexander.
Your father advised me to follow you,
George, rather than stay in the house to mope by
myself; and you see I have taken his advice.
George.
I am glad of it. Four will be a pleasant
party.
Edward.
I will take your arm, if you please,
George.
George.
We are just two and two.
Edward.
Yes—you and I;—and, I say, Eugene,
[(whispering)] you and Cuffy.
Eugene.
Shall I take your arm, Alexander?
Alexander.
Perhaps you will prefer walking with
your friends?
Eugene.
I want to become better acquainted with
you; and I should like to hear about Jamaica. We
will walk together, if you please.
Scene Second.
[A street in the village.] [Enter William, a sailor.]William[Speaker label not present in original source]
[William, alone.]This is the place, and this is the
street. I am always blundering; but I believe I am
right this time. If I can read the direction, it says
to the care of Mr Sandford, Bell street, Beckford
village. A large white house, near the Academy. I
think I will keep the box tonight, and go to Mr Sandford’s
in the morning. Bless the kind boy! How glad
I shall be to see his bright eyes again!
First Boy.
A pretty story, indeed! Go to school
with a nigger! Who ever heard of such a thing?
Second Boy.
We are to vote tomorrow afternoon,
when we meet at Mr Sandford’s.
Sailor
[aside.]Ha! Mr Sandford’s!
First Boy.
Nobody will vote for him. It is impossible
to admit him.
Second Boy.
Yet they all say he is a fine fellow—
very generous, and very much of a gentleman in his
manners. All the boys like to play with him.
First Boy.
Yes, it is well enough to play with him
but to have him in school is quite a different affair.
William
[aside.]They must be talking about my
young gentleman.
Second Boy.
I know two boys who will vote for
him; and they are among the best boys in school.
First Boy.
George Sandford will, of course. He
has taken up the strangest notions.
Second Boy.
And so will Otis Morland. You know
Alexander saved his little brother from drowning last
week.
William
[aside.]Oh, the noble-hearted lad! It was
just like him.
Second Boy.
And Frederic Wilson can’t help voting
for him; because you know Alexander bore all the
blame of robbing the orchard, rather than betray
Fred.
William
[aside.]I would not trust much to him. A
boy who was selfish enough to let another suffer for
his fault, would not put himself to much inconvenience
to prove his gratitude.
First Boy.
I guess there will be twenty votes
against him, where there is one for him.
William
[coming forward.]Young gentlemen, will
10(4)r
151
you tell me at what hour you meet at Mr Sandford’s?
Boys.
At four o’clock. Why do you want to
know?
William.
Only I think of being there myself.
Boys
[laughing.]You there?
William.
Just show me the house, if you please.
Second Boy.
The white house yonder, with an
avenue of trees before it.—[apart] Do you suppose
he really means to come?
William.
I shall be there, at the time you have
said.
Boys
[smiling.]Ay, ay, we shall expect you.
Scene Third.
[Mr Sandford’s parlor.] [Enter George and Alexander.]George.
Don’t be anxious, Alexander. I don’t
believe anything will be said to hurt your feelings.
You have several good friends among the boys.
Father thinks it will be an advantage for you to be
present, or else I would not urge it.
Alexander.
If all the scholars were like you,
George, I should not have any fears; but as it is, I am
sure all your efforts will be useless. This visit to the
United States will be a good thing for my pride. At
home, I was indulged and waited upon, and no one
disputed the wishes of my father’s son. Yet notwithstanding
the change, I am very anxious to be admitted
into the school; my father will be so much disappointed
if I cannot get a good education. Hark! the
bell rings.
notice.]
Eugene
[whispers to Edward.]How dignified he is!
He is ready to offer his hand to all, as they enter; but
he seems neither angry nor embarrassed, when they
pass without speaking.—[To Alexander.] How did
you enjoy our walk last evening?
Alexander.
Very much; and I may thank your
friendly politeness for it.
Eugene.
I assure you that I likewise enjoyed it
highly.
George.
Come, gentlemen, you are provided with
votes. I will receive the yeas, and Eugene will take
the nays. The question is, shall my friend Alexander
be allowed to share the privileges of our school, or
not!
votes are given in, they examine the papers. George
appears distressed. Eugene comes forward, after a
short silence.]
Eugene.
Gentlemen, the yeas are seven, the nays
thirtyfour.
follows him.]
Eugene.
Poor George! I pity him! He feels so
for Alexander!
Edward.
Well, I cannot sympathize with him. It
seems to me a most ridiculous thing.
First Boy.
Such a fuss about a negro!
Eugene.
I think it is enough to vote against him,
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153
without making unkind remarks about a boy of whom
you know no harm.
Edward.
If there were anything very remarkable
in this boy it might alter the case;—but—
William[Speaker label not present in original source]
[Enter William.]Your servant, gentlemen. They
tell me Mr Sandford is not in. Can you tell me if
there is a young gentleman among you named Alexander
Vasselin?
Edward.
Among us! I think you might easily
distinguish him, if he were here.
Eugene.
I will call him, if you wish to see him for
anything in particular.
William.
No, master. I only want to pay back
some money that he gave me when I was poor, and
needed it more than I do now.
Edward.
What that large purse? Was blackey
rich enough to give you all that money?
First Boy.
And generous enough?
Second Boy.
What did he give it to you for?
What did you do for him?
William.
Just nothing at all, but abuse him. From
the talk I’ve heard among you, I reckon it may do you
good to hear my story. You see this young master
Alexander came over to this country in the Caroline,
a vessel that I’ve sailed in for three years; and, from
first to last, there never was a passenger on board of
her that I have so much reason to feel grateful to as to
Alexander Vasselin. When he first came aboard, I
despised a colored person as much as you young gentlemen
seem to do; and it nettled me some to see him
with his fine broadcloth clothes, and his gold watch,
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154
and his servant that always stood up with his hat off,
when his young master spoke to him. When he was
within hearing, I always liked to say something about
blackeys and cuffeys, on purpose to spite him; but he
bore it all like a gentleman—never taking any notice
of my speeches; and this made me the more provoked.
After we got ashore, I happened to meet him
at the stage-house. He was coming here, and I was
going further on, to see my mother. I was in trouble,
I assure you, young gentlemen; for I had lost my box
with all the money I had made during the voyage;
and I felt the worse about it, because I lotted upon
carrying some to my poor mother. I could hardly
muster change enough to get a cast in the stage.
While I stood there waiting, thinking over my loss, I
heard the driver tell somebody that he could not go in
the stage, because the passengers wouldn’t ride with
anybody of his color. I looked up, and saw that it
was Master Alexander Vasselin. He came up to me,
and taking out this purse, filled as it is now, he said,
“William, I hear that your money has all been stolen.
If this will do you any good you are welcome to it. I
believe I shall not have much use for money, in this
country.” He thrust the purse into my hands, and
was out of sight in a moment. I looked after him,
and the tears rolled down my cheeks; for my conscience
smote me, I can tell you. I have never seen
him since. But I have found my box, and made
another prosperous voyage; and here I am with the
dear fellow’s purse—and a thousand blessings on his
noble heart—and that I’d say, and stand to, if he were
ten times as black as he is.
Edward.
Whoever votes to admit Alexander Vasselin
into our school let him hold up his hand. I do,
for one.
Boys.
I do. And I. And I.
Boys.
Alexander! Alexander! I vote for Alexander.
George.
What does all this mean?
Charles.
We have changed our minds. We all
want to have your friend admitted into the school.
Eugene.
This honest sailor has told them a story
that has turned their hearts.
Mr Sandford.
Well, boys, how have you voted?
Boys.
For him, sir—For him—For him.
Mr Sandford.
This does you credit. It proves that
young hearts are more liberal than old ones. But I
am sorry to tell you that it is all in vain. The trustees
of the Academy will not allow him to be admitted.
Edward.
But have the scholars no voice, sir? All
the boys want him to be admitted.
Mr Grenville.
No, Edward, this question cannot be
decided by the scholars. All you can do is to treat
this unfortunate stranger with all possible kindness
while he remains here.
Mr Sandford.
And that will be but a very short
time; I have received letters from my friend Vasselin,
requesting me to send his son directly back to Jamaica,
unless I can here obtain for him such an education as
he had hoped to procure. I have heard of a vessel
that sails very soon; and he will probably leave us
tomorrow.
Boys.
Let us go and bid Alexander farewell,
and tell him we are sorry for the injustice we did him.
The Hottentots.
When the Dutch invaded South Africa, the Hottentots,
known among each other by the name of
Quaiquœ, were a numerous people. They were
divided into many separate tribes, governed by chiefs,
after the manner of the North American Indians. In
a climate so mild and serene, they needed no other
dwellings than huts made of boughs, and covered with
rush-mats. Sheep-skins, rendered soft by friction,
and sewed with sinews, answered for clothing and for
blankets. Their principal riches consisted in flocks
facing 10(6)v
Figure
A man wearing a poncho and a hat leans on his cane. The background is rolling hills with palm trees.
Printed captionA Hottentot Herdsman: originally drawn from life. P. 156.
facing 10(7)r
10(7)r
157
and herds; and the habits acquired by the necessity
of protecting these from the depredations of wild
beasts, rendered them very daring and expert huntsmen.
Though gentle, and somewhat indolent, in
character, they were not wanting in courage when
circumstances required it. “Almedia, the first Portuguese
Viceroy, was defeated and killed by them, after
a desperate battle, at the Salt River, near Cape Town;
and their Dutch invaders have recorded of them
extraordinary acts of bravery and devotion.”
But they gradually yielded to the superior strength
and intelligence of the white settlers. Emigrants
flocked thither in great numbers; and each one had a
right to receive as large a farm as the Veld-wagt-meester
could stride across in one hour. No doubt they took
care to choose a tall man, who could take long strides.
Whether “the white man’s stride” was with, or without,
the nominal consent of the natives, is not very
particularly specified. The farms were in all probability
obtained much after the same manner as a large
share of our Indian lands. At the end of a hundred
and fifty years, the helpless natives were entirely
dispossessed of their soil, and compelled to serve their
invaders. A few fierce tribes were driven to the
barren deserts on the North of the Colony, and there,
remained in savage freedom. These hordes, of whom
the principal are the Bojesmen, or Bushmen, are very
much dreaded by the Colonists. They lead a wandering
life, subsisting on wild roots, locusts, ant-eggs,
toads, lizards, mice, and such other food as can be
obtained amid the sterility of the desert. “They use
the ancient arms of the Hottentot race; namely, a
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158
javelin, or assagai, and a bow and arrow. These
arrows are very slight; but being tipped with poison
extracted from a venomous serpent, they are certain
death to the most powerful animal.”
The Colonial Hottentots were reduced to a most
deplorable situation. It had all the horrors of slavery,
except that the Dutch law did not allow them to be
sold from one estate to another. But they were compelled
to labor without compensation, and received
such food and clothing as it pleased their avaricious
masters to bestow. They were beaten, and kicked,
and chained, and mangled with whips of the sea cow’s
hide—“horrid instruments, tough, pliant, and exceeding
heavy.” With a strange refinement in tyranny,
their masters were accustomed to have the strokes
administered, not by numbers, but while they were
smoking out one, two, three, or four pipes, with all the
luxurious laziness of a Dutch boor.
Sometimes, by way of variety in torture, the poor
10(8)r
159
Hottentots were chained to a post, while shot was
fired into their legs and thighs.
Under this treatment, the wretched creatures became
what any human being would be—brutal, servile, and
degraded to the last degree. Stripped of their possessions,
emaciated by extreme poverty, dejected by the
utter hopelessness of their situation, how could they
be otherwise? By a most unrighteous law, any white
peasant had a right to claim as his property, till the
age of five and twenty, any Hottentot child, to whom
he had ever given a morsel of meat. And do you
believe the poor, ignorant, debased wretch, incapable
of asserting his own rights, and without friends to
protect him, was emancipated, when he arrived at
that age? Oh, no. It was just as it is in our Southern
States; where a free negro may be imprisoned on
suspicion of being a slave, and then sold for a limited
number of years, to pay the expenses of his imprisonment!
But nine times out of ten, he is sold at a
distance, and his terms of slavery proves unlimited. It
is true, Americans! Blush—blush for your country!
But we are told these laws are necessary to secure the
masters in the possession of their property; because
the slaves are continually running away, and pretending
to be free. What then ought to be done with
slavery itself? One answer—one only, can come
from the honest hearts of freemen.
Le Vaillant says, “The Hottentots are the best, the
kindest and the most hospitable of people. Whoever
travels among them, will be sure of sharing food and
lodging; and though they will receive presents, they
will never ask for anything.”
There is a universal idea that this oppressed race
are naturally the very ugliest and most loathsome of
all human beings; and such they were no doubt made
by years of hard labor, hunger, abuse, and despair;
but Mr Barrow, in his Travels in South Africa,
assures us that they are not so at an early age. He
says: “The person of a young Hottentot is by no
means devoid of symmetry. They are clean-limbed,
well proportioned, and erect. Their hands, their feet,
and all their joints, are remarkably small. The nose
is in some very flat, in others considerably raised.
The color of the eye is a deep chesnut; and the
eyelids, at the extremity next the nose, instead of
forming an angle, as in Europeans, are rounded into
each other, exactly like those of the Chinese; to
whom, indeed, in many other points they bear a
physical resemblance sufficiently striking. Their
teeth are beautifully white. The color of the skin is
that of a yellowish brown, or a faded leaf; very
different from the sickly hue of a person in the jaundice,
which it has been described to resemble. Many
are nearly as white as Europeans. Some of the
women, when young, are so well-formed, that they
might serve as perfect models of the human figure.
Their hands and feets are small and delicately turned;
and their gait is not deficient in ease and gracefulness.
Their charms, however, are very fleeting.
A deep gloom constantly overspends the countenance
of a Hottentot. The muscles of his face are
rarely seen to relax into a smile. Low as they are
really sunk in the scale of humanity, their character
has been much traduced and misrepresented. It is
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161
true there are not many prepossessing features in the
appearance of a Hottentot, but many good and amiable
qualities have been obscured by the false and ridiculous
accounts, with which the world has been abused.
They are a mild, quiet, and timid people; perfectly
harmless, honest and faithful; though extremely phlegmatic,
they are nevertheless kind and affectionate to
each other, and by no means incapable of strong
attachments. A Hottentot will, at any time, share his
last morsel with a companion. They seldom quarrel
among themselves, or use provoking language. They
are by no means deficient in talent, but they possess
little exertion to bring it into action.”
Yet we find that these indolent and listless beings
become very different men, when cheered by the same
hopes that stimulate the European. Those among
them who were under the protecting and encouraging
influence of the missionaries, were energetic,
skilful and industrious. “In 18241824, there were nearly
two thousand Hottentots on the books of the Missionary
Institution. They had acquired about two
thousand head of cattle, one hundred and seventyseven
horses, two hundred and forty sheep and goats, and
sixty wagons; the latter article is expensive and valuable
in South Africa. Three hundred children attended the
Sunday school, and there were about sixty communicants.
Few sheep-skin coverings were to be seen
in the premises; nearly all the men were dressed
in English broadcloth, and the women in English
11
11(1)v
162
chintzes. They competed successfully with the
English and Dutch farmers for the conveyance of
government stores from Algoa Bay to Graham’s town,
and during the year expended twenty thousand rix
dollars in the purchase of British manufactures; they
had likewise contributed five hundred rix dollars to
the Missionary Society, chiefly by small weekly subscriptions.”
Cape Colony was taken by the British in 18061806; but
the same inhabitants and the same customs remained,
and the change of government made little or no alteration
in the miserable conditions of the Hottentots. With
the exception of the small number under missionary
protection, they were sinking lower and lower in degradation,
and fast dwindling away from the face of the
earth, in consequence of suffering and privation.
But when the great question of West Indian emancipation
was brought before the notice of the British
people, the lamentable situation of the Hottentots
received a share of attention. The Colonists, both
Dutch and English, loudly protested against any
change. They said the Hottentots were fit for their
condition, and entirely unfit for any other. That they
were stupid, sensual, brutal, vicious, and totally incapable
of taking care of themselves. The British
government wished to alter all this, by means of that
great restorative, freedom; but the masters said any
measure tending to this would produce disastrous
effects—there would be no security to life or property,
the vineyards would be torn down, the flocks pilfered,
their houses burned, and their throats cut.
Perhaps a consciousness of what they deserved
helped to give the picture this high coloring. But, at
all events, their representations did not prevent the
intended experiment. “In 1828-07July, 1828, the Hottentot
Helots of the Cape, thirty thousand in number, were
emancipated from their long and grievous thraldom,
and admitted by law to all the rights and privileges,
civil and political, of the white colonists.”
The flocks were not pillaged, or throats cut. No
increase of crime took place. All went on peaceably;
and the emancipated slaves have ever since been improving
in religion, morality, and industry. A friend of
mine observed, “Hottentots as they were, they worked
much better for cash, than they had ever done for
lash.”
Just so it was in St Domingo; abolition proved a
blessing to all parties; prosperity and peace would
have continued, if Bonaparte had not attempted to
restore slavery, for the sake of a promised loan from
the planters.
It is a remarkable fact that emancipation has never
been fairly tried, either on a small or large scale,
without producing the happiest results. The apprehended
danger has never been realized. Yet abolition
arguments are always met by fanciful conjectures of
insurrection and bloodshed. It is not in human nature
for men to turn and stab those who give the boon they
have been most earnest to possess. If the negro does
not murder his master while he is a slave, there is no
danger of his doing it, when he is free.
Conversation Between the Editor
and a Colonizationist.
Colonizationist. The zeal and activity of the Anti-
Slavery people are truly wonderful; I could respect
them, if I did but understand their object.
Editor. Their purpose has been very often and
very clearly explained. They wish to abolish slavery
in the United States by calling the attention of a free
and enlightened people to facts, which illustrate its evil
effects on all classes of men; and they found their
hopes of success on the good sense and good feeling
of the public.
Col. But in what way can the abolition of slavery
be effected?
Ed. Certainly not by sending off hundreds of
colored free men, to starve and die on the shores of
Liberia. It is often and truly said that the Southerners
must have negroes to till their soil, in their
burning climate. If the soil supports them as reluctant
laborers, it will be very strange if it cannot do as
much, when they perform twice the amount of work,
and have a motive for doing it well.
Col. You do not speak with candor and charity.
The Colonizationists do not pretend to be able to remove
the slaves from the United States.
Ed. I have talked much with Colonizationists, and
have never yet found any ground on which they all
agreed to stand. They remind me of East India
thieves, so smoothly covered in oil, that they slip
through the fingers the moment one attempts to get
hold of them. Whatever the Society may mean, a
large proportion of people throughout the country have
certainly understood that they were giving their money
for the gradual extinction of slavery. They certainly
would not have been so liberal as they have been, if
they had realized that their funds were in effect used to
force free colored persons into Liberia, because their
presence was inconvenient to slave-owners; just as
the Poles are driven into Siberia, lest their love of
freedom should contaminate the Russian serfs, and
disturb the tranquility of the czar. I know you will
say that colonization was intended for the accommodation
and encouragement of such free colored people
11(3)v
166
as wished to return to Africa; and that thousands
would have availed themselves of the chance, if Mr
Garrison had not filled their ears full of false statements,
which make them distrust the whole project.
But it is a fact, which you may easily ascertain for
yourself, that the colored people formed Conventions
and sent forth remonstrances against the Colonization
Society, years and years before Mr Garrison was ever
heard of.
Col. It is a pity the colored people are so much
opposed to the scheme; for I believe the establishment
of a Colony in Africa would be productive of
great good; and to this object the Society entirely
confine their views.
Ed. I do not deny that the establishment of
Colonies in Africa may be beneficial; but the injury
your doctrines do in America must be weighed in the
balance—and assuredly it will prove a heavy mass.
Even if your efforts produce no mischief here, the
foundation of a Colony in Africa seems to me so
comparatively unimportant, that I could not feel justified
in expending energy upon it, while a question so
much more momentous lies close at hand. It is like
sending physicians to Calcutta, while our own people
are dying by thousands of the cholera.
Col. It is a sad pity that two philanthropic Societies,
whose object is precisely the same, cannot agree
together! What is the necessity of writing and
speaking so much against Colonization?
Ed. According to the declaration you have just
made, the purpose of the two Societies are not the
same. Our purpose is the entire abolition of slavery
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167
in the United States; you declare that you have no
other purpose than the foundation of a Colony in
Africa. If you would always remain firm in your
adherence to that proposition, the abolitionists would
not think it necessary to warn the people against you.
But you shift ground so rapidly that it is quite impossible
to decide where you are to be found. Even now,
you gravely declared that you have precisely the same
end in view which the Anti-Slavery Society has?
Col. And so we have; only we want to use
Christian epithets, and gradual measures.
Ed. For Christian epithets, how do you like, “O
generation of vipers, how can ye being evil speak
good things?” “Wo unto you Scribes and Pharisees,
hypocrites! for ye compass sea and land to make one
proselyte; and when he is made, ye make him twofold
more the child of hell than yourselves.” “Ye
are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear
beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men’s
bones and all uncleanness.” I believe no abolitionist
wishes to use more directness than this, in calling evil
things by their true names. As for gradual measures,
answer me candidly, how can the establishment of a
colony in Africa affect slavery in the United States,
either gradually or otherwise? And allowing that
you could remove millions of poor, ignorant, vicious
slaves to Africa, and keep them alive in a country
where civilization and wealth have not begun to produce
a demand for labor,—would not this be a strange
way of creating a moral and enlightened community
for the benefit of benighted Africa? The two propositions
destroy each other. A colony in Africa,—if
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168
judiciously managed, and left to the slow and natural
growth, which all new colonies must have, or be
ruined,—will no doubt be an ultimate benefit. When
the slaves are emancipated, it will form a natural outlet
for some portion of their industry and enterprise;
and this is all the effect it can produce upon the United
States.
Col. According to your own explanation of the
nature of your efforts, I do not see how Anti-Slavery
people can consistently talk of immediate emancipation.
Ed. We simply mean that immediate reformation
is a duty, and that we will use our utmost exertions to
induce people to perform their duty. I have heard
you say that slavery was a necessary evil. It is certainly
an unnecessary evil; and the planters themselves
assure us that it is inconvenient and expensive. What
do you mean by the phrase?
Col. We mean that it is so interwoven with the
habits and prejudices of the Southern people that it is
absurd to expect they will give it up immediately;
therefore, for the present, it is a necessary evil.
Ed. According to this logic, drunkenness is a
necessary evil; for it is so interwoven with the habits
and prejudices of those who have indulged in it, that
we cannot expect them to give it up immediately. In
both cases, the necessity lies merely in the will of those
who are doing wrong. Let public opinion constantly
and loudly assert that immediate reformation is in both
cases a duty, and a possibility. We have already seen
the wonderful effect produced on one of the evils, we
shall see still more wonderful results with regard to
the other. I have a better opinion of the Southerners
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169
than you seem to have. I believe a large proportion
of them have clear heads, generous hearts, and accessible
consciences. They are easily excited, and will be
angry for awhile; but many will be convinced at last.
Col. So far from not thinking well of the Southerners,
I consider the liberality and zeal with which
they have patronized the Colonization Society as
ample proof that they are willing to try any moderate
and feasible means of removing slavery.
Ed. I thought you said a short time ago that the
Colonizationists did not pretend to be able to remove
the slaves from the United States; but let that pass.—
When any person reads the Southern laws against free
negroes, and reflects for a moment on the powerful
motives the slave-owner has to dislike and suspect that
oppressed class, it seems to me that he must have less
than common sense, if he does not perceive why the
planters are willing to give their money to a Society
which promises to ship the free negroes to Liberia, as
fast as their funds will permit. Mr Finley says he has
“publicly discussed the subject of Colonization from
the Eastern shore of Maryland to the Gulf of Mexico,
in the presence of hundreds of slaves at a time, with
the general approbation of the audience.” I have no
doubt of the fact. It is like a fashionable congregation
pleased with a fashionable preacher, because he
is far too polite to speak of such a vulgar thing as sin.
I know a clergyman, who thinks it a proof of his
Christian charity, because he has talked in the course
of a week with Catholics, Calvinists, Methodists,
Quakers, Universalists, and Unitarians, and each one
of his hearers went away with the firm belief that he
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thought precisely as they did. I think such a man
would be a valuable missionary of Colonization in the
slave-states.
Col. A jest is no argument. We do not dissemble
with the Southerners; we tell them our real purposes
and opinions.
Ed. And they like it, and think it perfectly safe to
allow hundreds of their slaves to listen to it! When
Archbishop Laud was strongly suspected of a predilection
for popery, he exculpated himself by saying
that he had been offered a Cardinal’s hat, and had
refused it. If he had been a very staunch Protestant,
would he ever have received the offer of a Cardinal’s
hat from Rome?
Col. It seems hard and unjust to say so much about
the Southern laws; for bad as they appear, whoever
has lived in a slave-holding State knows that the safety
of the planter can be secured only by very severe laws.
Ed. I grant it; and this very fact is a most powerful
argument in favor of immediate emancipation. It
proves that nothing can be done to make the slaves fit
for freedom, so long as they are slaves. The masters
dare not enlighten them while they hold them in
bondage; and they have good reason for their fear.
Therefore, it any steps are taken, emancipation must
be the first step. We may talk smoothly, and beautifully,
about gradual measures; but it is like climbing
a pyramid of glass. There is no grappling place—
no way to make a beginning. People in general seem
to overlook one very important consideration. Allowing
emancipation to be as difficult and dangerous as
you suppose, the difficulties must be temporary. Each
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171
generation will become better and better, because they
will be growing up with chances of improvement and
with the habit of taking care of themselves. On the
contrary, the continuance of slavery involves eternal
and increasing evils—evils which are as much to be
deprecated for the white man’s sake, as for the negro’s.
The heaviest charge I bring against the Colonization
Society is, that they constantly talk as if the blessings
of religion, knowledge, and freedom, could not possibly
be allowed to colored people, while they remain
among us; we can tolerate their presence as slaves,
but their vicinity as freemen is entirely out of the
question.
Col. I see your mind is completely prejudiced by
the assertions of Garrison.
Ed. I ask your pardon. I should not indeed, be
afraid to take upon trust anything that Mr Garrison
stated as fact. But in this matter, I have patiently and
industriously examined for myself. I have made up my
opinion from heaps and heaps of Colonization Addresses
and Reports, from the African Repository, and from
conversation with numerous individuals. I constantly
find assertions that you do not wish to meddle at all
with the question of abolition. I find assurances of
the happiness of slaves, I find appeals to our compassion
for the masters—In a word, I find anything and
everything, except a good, hearty, honest, detestation of
the system.
Col. I certainly regret many things that have been
said and printed; but no Society can be answerable for
all that is done by individual members. You do not
find such things said now; a great change has taken
place.
Ed. And what has produced that change? It is
nothing more nor less than the influence of the Anti-
Slavery Society. You know “there is a chiel amang
ye, takin notes—and faith he’ll prent it.”
Col. Well, if my face did not happen to be quite
clean, and a man thrust a dirty broom into it, so that I
was obliged to go and wash it, I should not thank him
for his proceedings.
Ed. Perhaps you would not; but you ought to
thank Divine Providence for sending the dirty broom,
without which your face never would have been made
clean.
Col. But while I sympathize with the slaves as much
as you do, I do not think it right to irritate our Southern
brethren. If people do not like my favorite tune,
I will play another, even if it be not so good a one,
rather than offend my neighbor.
Ed. And I, if my neighbors were in love with
discord, would still make true music, that they might
learn to love and enjoy it likewise. If we say things
for the sake of irritating, then indeed we are most culpable;
but if we are actuated by the belief that
certain truths are for the public good, we must not be
intimidated by fear of giving offence. We are not so
very scrupulous on other subjects. On questions
where interest is concerned, little attention is paid to
smooth and courteous language. When Congress
had under consideration a bill to reduce duties on
foreign manufactures, our Northern manufacturers
called aloud upon “all who were not willing to be
sacrificed,”—they circulated hand-bills, stating that
this was done on purpose “to place the industry of
our white population on a par with the slave labor of
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173
the South.” I even heard some of them speak contemptuously
of the bonds of the Union! Yet on the
slave question, some of the same individuals say we
must treat the South with great tenderness—we must
not say a word, lest we endanger the Union. I can
conceive of conscientious scruples on this subject, and
I respect them; but when men are willing to run all
risks for selfish considerations, I dislike such language
from their lips, even worse than I dislike slavery itself;
inasmuch as I abhor hypocrisy more than crime.
Col. But then you must acknowledge, after all, that
we have no right to wrest from individuals the property,
that has been secured to them by our mutual
compact?
Ed. Do you mean to say that no changes affecting
property must be made, even if the general results of
the existing systems are ever so injurious? If this be the
case, wrong is done every day. The introduction of
printing reduced the MS.manuscript copiers to penury. The
Reformation ruined abbots and monks, and their
uncounted train of adherents; yet much might have
been truly said in favor of the liberality and hospitality
of those monks and abbots. Are not free bridges
built, and deposits removed, and a thousand other
experiments tried, which grievously affect the fortunes
of numerous individuals? The experiments may be
right, or they may be wrong. It is candid to suppose
that the largest proportion of those who advocate them,
think they are merely sacrificing private interest to the
public good. Why on this question, and this question
only, must we so timidly weigh the sufferings and
degradation of millions of human beings, against the
paltry consideration of two per cent loss on property?
Col. I confess that you have all the justice and all
the argument on your side; but, after all, this is a
difficult and complicated question, and we cannot
move with too much caution. I would agree with
you if I could see any way of affecting an object so
desirable.
Ed. It is indeed a complicated question; and
therefore we cannot use too much diligence in disentangling
it. There are various methods of emancipation;
and the worst of them is better than the
continuance of slavery. Let those who wish to be
enlightened on this point, inquire what has been the
result of legislative wisdom in other countries. Let
them look at Mexico, at the South American Republics,
and the recent glorious example of England and
Denmark. Let them attend public meetings, and read
books where they will find the subject candidly
discussed. Only let us be careful that our sympathies
are as readily given to the miseries of the slave, as
they are to the difficulties of the master. Let us
remember that both classes are men, and both are our
fellow citizens. Free labor would eventually make
the planters richer instead of poorer. By emancipation
they would indeed lose their prospective chance of
gain, by selling the children of themselves and others;
and no doubt there are some who consider this a
sufficient reason for letting things remain as they are.
Those who think otherwise, must first strive to create
a will for abolition; “Where there is a will, there is
always a way.”
Col. I admire your zeal; and, notwithstanding
your dislike of Colonization, I assure you we are at
heart as sincere friends to abolition as any of the Anti-
Slavery Society.
Ed. It would be impolite to contradict you. I will
merely relate an anecdote. Two or three years ago, I
visited an old lady whose mind was much “exercised,”
as she termed it,—upon theological matters. She
asked me if I supposed her minister really believed in
regeneration. I told her I had no means of judging;
nor did I think it salutary to judge of each other.
“Well,” said she, “some of my neighbors say he does
not believe in it; and so, the last time he came to see
me, I asked him right out, whether he believed in
regeneration. He told me certainly, he believed in it
fully. But I don’t know how it is—I’ve heard him
preach these fifteen years, and I never heard him say
anything about it!”
A letter by Samuel A. Crozer, from Africa, to E. B.
Caldwell, 1820-03March, 1820, says: “I am aware it was not the
intention of the Colonization Society to use rum; but it is
absolutely necessary until we obtain proper footing in the
country. Mr Kezell made the following observations on
the subject, requesting me to transmit them to the Society.
‘A child cannot be weaned from the breast of its mother
immediately—and the poor Africans cannot be torn at
once from the use of ardent spirits, but must be gradually
weaned.’”—This gradual putting away of sin, works as
might be expected; instead of a few gallons a year, three
thousand barrels are now sent.
The Slave Trader.
The following lines are founded upon the history of one
of the writer’s townsmen, who in his youth was engaged
in the African Slave Trade. A short time after his return
to his native place, he was stricken with insanity;—and
it became necessary to confine his limbs. A pair of shackles
which he had brought from Africa, but whose former use
none of his family had suspected, were used on the occasion.
Just before his death, he started up suddenly—gazed on
his chains, and making a desperate effort to free himself,
exclaimed, “Oh, my God!—the very fetters of my slaves!”
’Tis long ago—the grass is green,
Where once a cheerful dwelling rose;
And where the frequent step hath been,
The thistle now untrampled grows.
Ay—long ago—since on that spot,
A lighted hearth, and voice of prayer,
From those who now are half forgot,
Told of a human dweller there.
Full eighty years have pass’d, since there,
His numerous household band beside,
A kneeling man with thin gray hair,
Offer’d his prayer at even-tide.
How fervent was that father’s prayer,
For those whose cherish’d love was dear
To Him, who hath a father’s care,
For all his lowly children here!
With earnest voice, and upraised eye,
His wrestling spirit rose above,
Asking for blessings, trustingly,
On him who bore his name and love.
A journeyer on the Ocean’s breast,
His best beloved—his elder born,
Dove-like, from home’s dear ark of rest,
Long weary years before had gone.
And ever had that wanderer’s name
Been breathed, as in the evening prayer.
The father’s voice uprose the same,
As it had risen when he was there.
* * * * * *
Night fell on Teemboo’s heated bay,
Its breeze the heavy palm-tops fann’d—
Quiet and cool the dew-drops lay
Upon the parch’d and burning land!
Abroad upon the earth that night,
The solemn veil of moonlight fell—
Each low-walled dwelling rose in light,
And tree and flowret slumber’d well!
Pure, dove-like peace watch’d o’er the scene,
And breathed upon the balmy air—
Had human hearts as holy been,
Bright angels might have worshipp’d there!
Casting her shadow on that bay,
Where all beside was waveless light,
Anchor’d, a stranger vessel lay,
With Afric’s slumbering world in sight.
Her leader—oh!—why was he there?
Forgetful of his childhood’s love,
Of home, where still for him in prayer,
A father’s spirit rose above?
From that dark vessel to the land,
A crowded boat was swiftly sped—
The forms it bore were on the sand,
With serpent eye and stealthy tread.
They bound their captives;—and the oar
Moved lightly for the ship again—
While from the water and the shore,
Arose wild shrieks of grief and pain!
Out sea-ward in the rising breeze,
That vessel’s sails were stretching far—
What power should guard her o’er the seas?
What light should be her guiding star.
* * * * * *
Again his foot is on the spot,
So often press’d in childhood’s hours—
All is the same—all unforgot—
The same green trees, the same bright flowers.
Again at home—as some young vine,
Torn rudely from its loved embrace,
Restored again will fondly twine,
Around its earlier resting-place—
So should the kindly heart return,
Though long and wearily estranged;
And still that heart’s own altar burn
With light and incense all unchanged.
Not so with him:—the guilty heart,
Might never thrill with joy again,
Nor the stung conscience bear a part,
In anything save sin and pain.
In vain he struggled to conceal,
Beneath a stern and gloomy air,
Feelings that scorched like burning steel,
Till reason yielded to despair.
In sleep the weary sufferer lay,
With fever’d brow and fetter’d limb—
Madness had worn his life away—
Another world awaited him.
Sleep pass’d away:—no longer burn’d
The fire of madness on his brain,
The blessed light of mind return’d,
And for a moment shone again!
“Why have ye bound me?”—and his eye
Fell quickly on his fetter’d hands,—
One glance—one shriek of agony—
One struggle to unloose his bands!
Visions of blood, and stormy waves,
Swept wildly o’er his clouded brain—
“Oh God!—the fetters of my slaves!
Take off—take off the negro’s chain!”
Kind hands had loosed each fetter’d limb,
As painful came the sufferer’s breath,
But other chains were binding him,
The colder, heavier chains of death!
Printed captionOh, man! am I not thy brother?
Miss Prudence Crandall.
Miss Crandall was born in Hopkinton, Rhode
Island, 1803-09-03September 3d, 1803.
The writer of this sketch was not personally acquainted
with Miss Crandall, until after she had
announced her intention to undertake that “labor of
love,” for which she has been so highly extolled by
some, and so wantonly traduced and persecuted by
others. I have been informed that for some months
previous to 1831-10October, 1831, she kept a school for young
ladies in the town of Plainfield, where she received
ample patronage, and was reputed to be a capable
teacher, and an excellent woman. At that time, the
house she now occupies, in the pretty village of Canterbury,
was offered for sale. It was considered by
her friends a better location for her, and she was
advised to purchase it, and establish her school there.
This she was soon determined to do, by the reception
of the following note, in the hand writing of Andrew
T. Judson, Esq., who has since distinguished himself
as her chief adversary.
taken into consideration the propriety of establishing facing 12(2)v Figure A portrait of a woman wearing a gown and shawl. She is holding a book in her lap. Printed captionEngd by W. L. Gransby from a Painting by F. Alexander. Prudence Crandall. facing 12(3)r 12(3)r 181
in the village of Canterbury, a school for the instruction
of female youth, take this method to signify our
entire approbation of the proposed undertaking, and
our strong desire in its accomplishment. Permit us
to offer you our efficient aid, and our cordial support. Canterbury, 1831-10-03Oct. 3, 1831.”
This note was signed by Mr Judson, and seventeen
other gentlemen, some of whom have since attained
with him a most unenviable notoriety among her persecutors.
In consequence of their invitations, Miss
Crandall purchased the house, and opened her school
in Canterbury about the middle of 1831-10October, 1831.
There is no reason to doubt that she sustained
her good reputation in the town, as an instructress
and a woman, for more than a year; until after she
had advertised her benevolent intention to devote herself
to the education of young females, of that class of
our countrymen, who are proscribed on account of
their complexion. She was led to this, as she informs
me, by the following circumstances.
In the fall of 18321832, an intelligent mulatto girl, living
in the town, of an irreproachable character, earnestly
sought permission to become one of her pupils. Miss
Crandall confesses that at first she shrunk from the
proposal, with the feeling that of course she could not
accede to it. But why not? This was the question
pressed home upon her conscience. The girl was well
known to be correct in her deportment, she was pleasing
in her personal appearance and manners. Her
father was able and willing to pay for her tuition, and
she evinced an ardent desire to be instructed. Then,
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182
why not receive her into the school? The question
revealed to Miss Crandall the common cruel prejudice
in her own bosom against those of our fellow beings,
who have a colored skin. After some hesitation she
determined to act according to her conviction of duty.
She received the girl as one of her pupils.
Some may here wish to ask why Miss Crandall did
not first consult her patrons, the parents of those, who
were already in her school? Her answer is, She
foresaw that there would be the same kind of opposition
in their bosoms, which she had quelled in her
own. Their opinions and feelings could not help her
to decide what was her duty. She thought it quite as
likely that they would acquiesce, if nothing was said
to them on the subject, as most of them were acquainted
with the character of the girl, and knew it to
be unexceptionable. At all events, she determined to
act as she was persuaded was right, and meet the
consequences, whatever they might be.
It was soon made apparent to her, that some of the
parents of her pupils were much offended. Indeed
she was explicitly assured, that unless she dismissed
the colored girl, her school would be entirely ruined.
This emergency compelled her mind to consider with
care the propriety and tendency of the course she had
adopted. The more she reflected upon it, the more
was she satisfied that it was right. Why should she
treat one with unkindness and contempt, merely to
gratify the prejudices of the rest? She felt that she
ought not. She resolved that she would not. Meanwhile,
her new pupil had put into her hands several of
the publications of the Abolitionists. These disclosed
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183
to her the wretched condition of more than two
millions of our countrymen, who are condemned by
our despotic laws to abject, cruel bondage, which
would not be enforced upon them a day, were it not
for this very prejudice against the color of their skins.
To indulge this prejudice, is then to perpetuate their
degradation.
In the same publications, the claims of our nominally
free colored population were presented to her. She
saw how they are denied a participation in the privileges
of which we boast, shut out from all our seminaries
of learning, except it be those of the lowest grade,
and in effect forbidden to aspire after knowledge or
excellence. Her reading and reflection led her to
perceive that education was to be one of the chief
instruments, by which the condition of our colored
population is to be improved; and to determine, if a
sufficient number of pupils could be obtained, to
devote herself wholly to their instruction. With this
view she visited Providence and Boston, New Haven
and New York; and soon ascertained that there were
enough young females among the colored people in
those cities and elsewhere, who were eager to avail
themselves of the advantages she offered them, and
whose parents were able to pay the expenses of their
board and tuition. She returned and informed her
pupils, then twentyfour in number, that, at the commencement
of the next term, her school would be
open for the reception of colored girls; and that
twenty had engaged to come to her at that time.
This annunciation caused a great excitement. Meetings
of the neighbors were held, and a committee was
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184
appointed to wait upon her, and remonstrate with her.
But she remained unshaken in her purpose. Her
opposers have said in their appeal to the public, “we
know of nothing that could have been done by the
town, that has not been done, to induce her to remove
the school to some place where there were no objections.”
They represent her as having been regardless
of the kind urgency of individuals, and deaf to the
entreaties of respectable committees. A glance at
dates however will enable us at once to perceive, that
they could not have been very considerate of the
rights, or the feelings, of Miss Crandall. Her intention
was first made known on the 25th or 26th of February,
and on the 4th of March, only six or seven days
afterwards, they resorted to the very gentle measure
of calling the town-meeting, which was held on the
9th. Now, during this short interval, they would have
it believed, they did everything that could be done to
induce her to remove; besides at the same time, as
the results showed, getting up such an excitement
throughout the town, that a larger number of the
freemen of Canterbury were induced to attend the
town-meeting, than were ever seen together before;
and all came prepared to adopt any measure her
persecutors might suggest. On the very face of their
own narrative, it is plain, that the course pursued by
them was much better fitted to arouse the prejudices
of the people, than to operate aright upon her mind.
They did not give her time to reflect calmly—much
less advise with her patrons and friends. She felt
deeply interested in the undertaking she had commenced.
She was under an engagement to receive
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185
twenty pupils on the first of April. Her arrangements
were made, and she was suddenly required by them
“to abandon the project.” Was it strange that she
hesitated—that she refused? If she was wholly in
the wrong, her opposers surely did not give her time
enough to get right.
Whatever may have transpired between Miss Crandall
and her persecutors, the writer of this sketch
found her on the fourth of March, perfectly willing to
accede to any fair proposals for a removal to some
more retired situation. She seemed determined only
upon this point—to maintain her right to teach
colored pupils, as she saw fit. She claimed that she
had a right to do this, on her own premises, in Canterbury.
But it was no part of her plan to disoblige
her neighbors; and therefore she assured me she
would hold herself in readiness to remove, whenever
her opposers would enable her so to do. She continued
to be of the same mind, of the ninth, the day
of the never-to-be-forgotten town-meeting. Another
gentleman and myself engaged to appear for her on
that occasion, and we were explicitly authorized by
her to agree to an honorable compromise of the
location, if her persecutors were disposed to make
one. But they were not disposed even to hear, or
permit their fellow citizens to hear, anything she had
to communicate. The proceedings of the town-meeting
are so well known, that it is unnecessary to sully
these pages with a recital of them. Grosser violations
of decorum and of republican principles are becoming
so common in our country, that even the conduct
of Miss Crandall’s persecutors on that occasion may
be forgotten.
A few days afterwards, notwithstanding the abuse
bestowed upon them, one of the gentlemen offered to
Col. Judson, to agree to a removal of the school on
the most honorable terms. Instead however of listening
to the proposal, he chose to mark out for himself
and his coadjutors the course, which they have since
been pursuing.
They at first endeavored to frighten her pupils away,
by threatening them with the process prescribed under
an old law, for the removal of paupers, vagabonds and
fugitives from justice. But finding they were not to
be so easily disposed of, a new law was obtained from
the Legislature in June following, which prohibited
the establishment of a school in Connecticut for the
instruction of colored persons belonging to other
States. Under the sanction of this law, he proceeded
soon after to commence a suit against Miss Crandall.
She was brought before a Court of Inquiry, held by
Rufus Adams, Esq., who cordially sympathized with
Colonel Judson in his opposition. By him she was
bound over to the County Court in August following;
and for want of bail, (her friends choosing to let her
opposers have their way for a season, that the odiousness
of their new law might be made manifest,) she
was committed to the Common Jail. Here, however,
she was suffered to remain only one night. Their
object being attained—the exposure of the shameful
fact that a law had been enacted in Connecticut,
making it a criminal offence to teach colored persons
of another State—the required bail was readily given
by one of her friends, the venerable George Benson of
Brooklyn, President of the New England Anti-Slavery
Society.
At the County Court in August, Miss Crandall was
arraigned and tried. Her counsel rested her defence
mainly upon that clause in the Constitution of the
United States, which provides that “the citizens of
each State shall be entitled to all privileges and immunities
of citizens in the several States.” Under
this it was claimed that, as the colored citizens of
Connecticut have the privilege of establishing schools
for the instruction of their children, colored citizens of
other States may send their children to these schools.
The able arguments of Hon. W. W. Ellsworth and
Henry Strong, Esq. are before the public. No account
of them need here be given. Joseph K. Eaton, the
Chief Justice of the County Court, charged the Jury.
He was one of the committee of the Legislature, that
framed the Law; and he evinced no little eagerness
to obtain the conviction of the accused. But the jury
could not be induced to agree in a verdict against her.
The following October, it so happened that Hon.
David Dagget, the Chief Justice of the Superior Court,
was appointed to preside at the session in Brooklyn.
It was known that his Honor distinguished himself in
the violent opposition, made by the citizens of New
Haven, 1831-09-10September 10, 1831, to the establishment of a
college in that city, for the education of colored youth.
His prejudices were therefore presumed to be in
unison with those of Miss Crandall’s persecutors. But
it was not suspected by her friends that any advantage
would be taken of this, as the first case was still
pending, to be tried again at the County Court in
December. In this however they were mistaken.
No movement was made until six days before the
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opening of the Court in October, when suddenly a
new action was commenced, to be tried before Judge
Dagget. The result was what Miss Crandall’s persecutors
anticipated. His Honor instructed the Jury,
that the free colored inhabitants are not citizens of the
United States, and therefore not entitled to the benefit
of the clause in the Constitution, already quoted.
The Jury, so instructed, found a verdict against the
accused. Her counsel took sundry exceptions in bar
of the decision, especially objecting to the charge
of the Judge respecting the citizenship of free colored
inhabitants. They appealed to the Court of Errors to
be held in 1834-07July, 1834.
Momentous consequences are involved in the final
decision of the question, which has thus been raised.
It remains to be determined whether our Courts of
Justice will extend any protection to the inalienable
rights of that portion of our countrymen, who have
any African blood in their veins—whether colored
Americans may be secured in the enjoyment of “life,
liberty and the pursuit of happiness” in their own
country—this boastful “land of freedom,”—whether
they are to be permitted by our laws to rise as they
may be able in intellectual and moral worth, or are to
be left at the mercy of the cruel prejudices of their
white neighbors. If this case shall be ultimately
decided in accordance with Judge Dagget’s opinion,
we see not why our whole colored population will not
be effectually disfranchised. If their right to education
is to be held alienable whenever their white
brethren may be so disposed, what sure protection
will they have for any other right? It is in view of
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189
the immeasurable importance of this question, that
many philanthropists in this country, and in England,
have felt so lively an interest in the preservation of
Miss Crandall’s school. Its present location, in itself
considered, is not worth a moment’s contention. But
her right to keep such a school should be insisted on,
and maintained; unless it shall be decided by the
highest tribunal in the land, that the law which has
been enacted by the Connecticut Legislature, at the
instance of her persecutors, is in accordance with the
spirit of our Federal Constitution.
I will not occupy these pages with a detail of the
insults which have been offered, and the injuries
which have been done to Miss Crandall and her pupils,
during the time in which the legal proceedings already
related have been going on. Many things which
might be told, are not fit to be told. Little, that malignity
could suggest, and wantonness inflict, has been
spared.
These things together have been to Miss Crandall
such a trial, as very few have ever been subjected to;
and which not one in ten thousand could have endured.
But she has been supported. The Father of
our spirits has upheld and comforted her. His Divine
Providence has called her to this duty, and fitted her
for it. She is blessed with strong good sense, a quick
and clear perception of right, and an inflexible determination
to follow her own convictions of duty.
These peculiarities have been strikingly manifested.
Without them indeed she would never have dared an
undertaking, to which the prejudices of the community
were so hostile. Without them, she would not
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190
have been able to persevere, if she had ventured to
begin.
It would be most unjust here to omit the mention of
one, who has been from the first her faithful and persevering
assistant. Her younger sister, Miss Almira
Crandall, though she did not plan the enterprise, has
given it from the beginning her unremitted co-operation.
Let her praise therefore be ever coupled with
that, which is her sister’s due. Having partaken
largely in the labor, anxiety, and suffering, let her share
as largely in the reward.
The school is now in a flourishing condition, having
twentytwo pupils. One of the scholars, the
daughter of a poor woman in New York, has her
expenses paid by one of her mother’s neighbors, who
was once a slave, and purchased freedom by her own
exertions.
Nothing that has ever happened in our country has
operated so effectually, as the establishment of this
little school, to bring the condition and the claims of
our colored population before the public. The persecution
of Miss Crandall, and the occasion of her
sufferings have, during the past year, been repeatedly
detailed in the newspapers throughout the land.
Owing to the attempt made to crush her, a question
of vital interest has been raised in our courts, which
may yet have to be argued before the Supreme Bench
at Washington. The eyes of this people will be
opened; their hearts will be convicted of the great
transgression of our land. And when our colored
population shall be disenthralled, and instated in the
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191
rights of men, and the privileges of Americans, they
will gratefully remember the establishment of the
Canterbury School, as a leading event in the history
of their deliverance.
Contrast.
The Quarterly Journal of Education states that in the
German dominions of despotic Austria the utmost exertions
are made to diffuse knowledge among the working classes.
“It is a law of the land, in the hereditary provinces, that
no male can enter the marriage state, unless he is able to
read, write and cast accounts; and every master is liable to
a heavy penalty, if he employs a workman who cannot read
and write. In every village there is a school under the
care of a master paid by the government.”
In several of the States of republican America, a heavy
penalty is incurred by whoever dares to teach the laboring
class their alphabet; and prompt punishment is administered
upon the laborer who dares to learn it.
In one of the states, (as has been stated above) it has
been judicially decided that laborers of a dark complexion
have no right to establish schools, ever at their own expense.
Voices from the South.
Because while vice walks erect, with an unabashed countenance,
men less vicious dare not paint her with that truth of coloring, which
should at once confirm the innocent, and reform the guilty. Because
the majority of those not involved in the busy scene, see that things
are not altogether right, yet see in so frigid a way, and with so
imperfect a view. If every man would at once tell all the truth he
knows, three years hence there would scarcely be a falsehood of any
magnitude in the civilized world.” —.
The debates at Lane Seminary, during the last
spring, are full of encouragement to the friends of
immediate emancipation. This college is under the
superintendence of the Rev. Dr Beecher. The students,
instead of being such mere boys as they have
been represented, are nearly all of them over twentysix
years of age, and several are between thirty and
thirtyfive.
The debate was divided into two questions: 1st,
“Whether slavery ought to be immediately abolished;”
2d, “Whether the doctrines and influence of the Colonization
Society were such as to render it worthy the
confidence of the Christian public.”
During eighteen evenings the discussion was maintained
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193
with a very remarkable degree of moderation,
candor, and kindness. Eight of the speakers were
born and had always lived in slave States; and ten
others had resided in slave States more or less; yet
there was a universal disposition to follow eternal
principles of justice, fearless of consequences.
Mr―, of Alabama, ridiculed the idea of any
danger attending immediate emancipation. Speaking
of the despotic power of slave-owners, he said: “A
brick-layer, a neighbor of ours, owned a very smart
young negro, who ran away. When he was caught,
his master tied him up by the hands, so high that his
feet could not touch the ground; he then put a board
between his limbs, and tied them together, to keep him
steady. He continued leisurely beating him all day,
with a paddle bored full of holes. At night, his flesh
was literally pounded to a jelly. It was two weeks
before he was able to walk. The punishment was
inflicted in hearing of the Academy, and the public
green; but no one took any notice of it. No one
thought any wrong was done. At our house, it is so
common to hear screams from a neighboring plantation,
that we think nothing of it. Lest any one should
think that the slaves are generally well-treated, and
the cases I have mentioned are exceptions, let me be
distinctly understood—Cruelty is the rule, and kindness
is the exception!”
Mr―, of Kentucky, went to Lane Seminary a
Colonizationist and a slave-holder. He became convinced
that it was his duty to emancipate his slaves.
13
13(1)v
194
He forthwith did his duty. May the blessing of God
be with him!
This gentleman likewise bore witness that cruelties
were so common, he hardly knew what facts to select
among the number that came under his observation.
Mr―, of Virginia, after relating circumstances of
great barbarity, said: “Such things as these are perfectly
common all over Virginia; at least so far as I
am acquainted. But the planters generally avoid punishing
their slaves before strangers.” He believed the
theory that emancipated slaves would not take care of
themselves was perfectly erroneous. “Several years
ago, I knew a slave, who bought himself, and paid
twelve hundred dollars. Some time after, when
coming up from Lynchburg, I happened to stay at the
same place with this colored man, I found that he had
secured quite a respectable property by his honest
industry. He was then driving a team of five horses,
that belonged to himself; and I was told that he was
as much esteemed and employed, as any man in the
town, in his line of business.”
Mr―, of Missouri, among other facts, related the
following: “A young woman, who was generally
very badly treated, after receiving a more severe
whipping than usual, ran away. In a few days she
came back, and was sent into the field to work. In
consequence of the severity of her punishment, she
was in a very shocking state. Toward night, she told
her master that she was sick, and must go into the
house. As soon as she reached it, she laid down on
the floor exhausted. Her mistress asked what was the
matter. She made no reply. She asked again, and
received no answer. ‘I’ll see if I can’t make you
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195
speak!’ said she. Having heated the tongs red-hot,
she put them upon the soles of her feet; then upon
her limbs and body; and finally, in a rage, she took
hold of her throat. The poor girl faintly whispered,
‘Oh, misse, don’t—I’m most gone’—and expired.”
Yet this woman still lives in the same community,
and slaves are subject to her power!
Mr Thome, of Kentucky, whose eloquent and
impressive addresses have thrilled so many hearts,
says: “That abolition principles do commend themselves
to the consciences and interest of slave-holders,
I have the honor to stand before you a living witness.
The sympathies of nature were dried up, even in their
spring-tide; compassion was deadened, and the heart
steeled by repeated scenes of cruelty, and oft-taught
lessons of the colored man’s inferiority. But though
I am at this moment heir to a slave inheritance—one
of those unfortunate beings upon whom slavery is by
force entailed,—I am bold to denounce the whole
system as an outrage, a complication of crimes, and
wrongs, and cruelties, that make angels weep.
inspire. Indeed I know of no subject that takes such
strong hold of the man as does abolition. All the
sympathies are its advocates, and every susceptibility
to compassionate outraged humanity stands pledged to
do its work. For several years I contributed to the funds of the
Colonization Society, and eulogized its measures;
and though I would not now leave my path to attack
this institution, yet duty bids me state, solemnly and
deliberately, that its direct influence upon my mind 13(2)v 196
was to lessen my conviction of the evil of slavery, and
to deepen and sanctify my prejudice against the
colored race. My apology for speaking thus, is that I know its
evils. I know the individual slaves, who are now in
bondage by its influence alone. I know the masters,
whose only plea for continuing in the sin is drawn
from the doctrines of the Colonization Society. But
Kentucky is rising above this influence. Conscientious
citizens are forming themselves into other associations.
The spirit of inquiry is abroad. The Legislature have
taken up the subject. The great object of my presence
in the free States is to urge abolitionists to renewed
efforts in behalf of the slave. The question has been
asked here, and repeated at the South, ‘What has the
North to do with slavery?’ At present she has everything
to do with it—everything. We have no abolition
periodicals in the West and South; and your principles
are grossly misrepresented and misunderstood. Yet,
under all these disadvantages, you have done much
already. The very little leaven you have been able to
introduce is working with tremendous power. One
of my acquaintance, heir to slave-property, a young
man of growing influence, became a whole-hearted
abolitionist, in consequence of reading a single number
of the Anti-Slavery Reporter, sent to him by some
unknown hand. A family of slaves in Arkansas Territory,
another in Tennessee, and a third, consisting of
eightyeight, in Virginia, have been emancipated
through the influence of one abolition periodical. 13(3)r 197 Then do not hesitate as to duty. We have been
lulled to sleep by the guilty apologist. We appeal to
you for light. Send us facts—send us kind remonstrance
and manly reasoning. We are perishing for
lack of truth. ”
In another address Mr Thome told the New Englanders
that if they really wished to do good, and to
induce their Southern brethren to co-operate with
their exertions, they must first honestly try to put
away their own prejudices—they must learn to consider
colored men as fellow citizens, with a perfect
claim to all those civil privileges, which are not denied
even to the meanest white man.
Too much importance cannot be attached to this
portion of Mr Thome’s excellent remarks. If we
wish for a blessing on this cause, we must look well to
our own hearts—we must be willing to have the
demon of pride overcome in ourselves, before we can
hope to produce a change in others. When I hear
people denouncing southern slavery, while they insist
upon keeping Northern prejudice, I am reminded of a
conversation between a minister and one of his congregation:
“How much wickedness there is in the
world! How is it ever to be cured?” exclaimed the
parishioner. “Truly there is abundance of evil,”
replied the clergyman; “but the world would soon
be reformed, if every person would begin at home,
and reform one.” “Well,” said the man, “I’ll go right
home, and try to reform—my sister!”
A clergyman who spoke at the late Anti-Slavery
Convention, in Boston, said he had recently conversed
with a Southern gentleman, on this “delicate subject.”
13(3)v
198
“Do you ever read anything against slavery?” inquired
he. “To be sure I do,” was the answer. “And
what do you think of this question?” “Why, if I
spoke my mind candidly,” replied the Southerner, “I
should say that I have no doubt the abolitionists will
ultimately effect their purpose.”
An intimate friend of mine last summer visited a
Southern family, who were travelling in New England.
The gentleman himself, though a slave-owner, made
some remarks about the blessing of living in a free
State; and therefore my friend did not think it impolite
to ask him if he paid any attention to the
question of immediate emancipation. “I could not
well help paying some attention to it,” he replied;
“for the whole world are now ringing changes upon it.
I cannot take up a book, a review, or a newspaper,
that does not contain something, pro or con, about
slavery.” “And what do you think will be the effect
of this?” inquired my friend. The planter replied,
“Oh, things will unquestionably take the same course
they have taken in England. Public opinion will grow
too strong for us; and slavery will be given up. It is a
great evil. I heartily wish we were well rid of it.
My wife will be glad when the day arrives. She has
long been urging me to remove to a State, where if she
had the head-ache in my absence, she could lie down
and sleep, without fears of having her throat cut before
she awoke. Public discussion even now produces one
good effect. It makes masters more careful how they
treat their slaves, on account of the danger of exposure.”
Notwithstanding fixed habits of indolence, and the
love of sway so natural to every human heart, there
are other motives, stronger even than apprehended
13(4)r
199
danger, which would induce many Southern ladies
heartily to denounce this vile system, if they were not
restrained by pride, or perchance a better feeling than
pride. Slavery is a poisonous and deadly vine twining
about the sanctuary of domestic life. The unnatural
and embarrassing relation that so often exists
between their slaves and their husbands, their brothers,
and their sons, is a sufficient argument against the
brutal and degrading system. There is no denying
this; the fact is proved on the very face of it.
Scale of Complexions.
The following scale of complexions may not be
uninteresting to some readers: Between black and
white is a mulatto; between mulatto and white is a
quaderoon; between quaderoon and white is a mestizo;
afterward the tinge becomes imperceptible. Between
mulatto and black is a samboe; between samboe and
black is a mongroon; between mongroon and black
the white hue is lost.
Those who observe the colored population in the
United States, will find what the Abbé Gregoire
näively calls “a magnificent variety of mulattoes.”
At the South they will see slaves of all shades, from
Congo black, to slaves with brown hair and blue eyes,
who, when they run away, are advertised as “passing
themselves for white men;” but they will see comparatively
few of the real African complexion—
particularly in cities.
An elderly gentleman, who served during the Revolution
in the South, lately returned from a Southern
13(4)v
200
tour. He expressed great surprise at the change that
had taken place during fortyfive years. He said black
slaves were numerous in the time of the war, but now
had seldom met with one in the old slave States.
Whoever candidly examines abolition doctrines will
find that they would tend to prevent amalgamation,
instead of encouraging it; for they would place a large
defenceless class under the protection of law and
public opinion.
Dangers of Emancipation.
When England first talked of emancipation in her Colonies
the West Indians made a great outcry concerning
insurrections. Again and again it was repeated that the
negroes were not yet fit for freedom—that every white
throat would be cut, and the islands deluged with blood.
To obviate this, the British government proposed that the
slaves should serve an apprenticeship of several years,
during which time they might be instructed and gradually
prepared for freedom. The Colonial Legislature were at liberty
to shorten the apprenticeship as much as they pleased;
and twenty millions of pounds were to be divided among
the planters, as an indemnification for loss of property.
When this became known, Antigua (a crown colony)
earnestly expostulated against any term of apprenticeship.
“It is all nonsense,” said they: “emancipate them tomorrow,
and give us our money.”
This reminds me of a lady, who when half crazed by an
irruption of little nephews and nieces, is in the habit of
doing up sundry papers of sugar-plums and candy, saying,
“There, my dears, is something for you, when you go home.”
The little troop are soon in motion, ready to receive their
compensation.
An Infant Abolitionist.
How often by a sinless child
May we of error be beguiled;
How oft a single, simple word
The sealed springs of thought have stirr’d,
And waken’d feelings deep, to be
A lesson for futurity!
The gayest, most aerial thing,
That moves on earth without a wing,
Today such lesson taught to me.
How sweetly, yet unconsciously,
The infant maiden, artless, mild,
Reproved her elder playmate’s pride!
And yet the babe has only smiled
Three years by her fond mother’s side.
They stood before a picture—one
Where dark ’neath Afric’s burning sun,
A wild and lonely native lay.
The child’s companion turn’d to say,
“There’s an old nigger, Anne, see!”
And pointed to the African;
The little one said quietly,
“I see he is a colored man.”
Ah, well may sages bow to thee,
Loving and guileless infancy!
13(5)v 202And sigh, amid their learned lore,
For one untaught delight of thine—
And feel they’d give their wisdom’s store
To know again thy truth divine!
The boasted power of eloquence
Can sway the soul with magic art—
But simple words from innocence
May sink more deeply in the heart.
Knowledge in the United States.
A highly cultivated Englishman lately said to the editor
of this work, “Since my arrival in your country, I have
been often asked if I did not think knowledge was more
universally disseminated among the population in the
United States, than in any other part of the world. I have
answered by inquiring, Do you mean among your black
population, or your white population? If you mean the
white population only, I answer decidedly, yes; but if you
mean all your population inclusive, I must remind you that
you have something like three millions of colored people;
more than two thirds of whom can neither read nor write.
These men constitute a large proportion of your laboring
class, and are represented in your government. We could
tell a glorious story of the dissemination of knowledge in
Britain, if we were allowed to leave the Welsh and Irish
peasantry out of the estimate; and why is it not as fair to
do so, as it is for you to leave so large a proportion of your
laboring class entirely out of the account?”
Old Scip.
This story is founded on facts which are familiar to the
old inhabitants of Medford.
It has long been a tradition that pirate treasure, to a
great amount, is hidden on the serpentine shores of the
Mystic. I have occasionally seen cavities dug deep
into the earth, which betray the midnight labors of
those who have sought the subterranean El Dorado.
Some have accounted for this tradition, by supposing
that the frequent windings of the river afforded the
pirates a good opportunity to escape from pursuers,
and that the quietude of its banks favored secrecy.
But the fruitless search, by which so many have
been tantalized and disappointed, was no doubt induced
by the following facts, which occurred in
Medford, a few years preceding the Revolution.
There were at that time slaves in Massachusetts;
and one by the name of Scipio, belonged to Mr Poole,
a respectable citizen in the middling class of life.
Scipio had been purchased of a sea-captain; and, as
usual no questions were asked how he came into his
possession. Perhaps his mother fled with him at midnight
from the house which the kidnappers had set on
fire; perhaps they gagged him when, in the joy of his
13(6)v
204
heart, he was building sand-heaps on the beach; or
perhaps they bound him hand and foot, when he was
gathering sticks to boil his mother’s favorite dinner of
yams. No one could tell; nor did Scipio himself
remember. A tedious scene of intermediate suffering
had effaced it from his memory. Contented to see the
green earth and breathe the pure air, he capered and
sung, and never thought what it meant to be a slave.
In Mr Poole’s family he found very little to convince
him of the misery of his situation. His labor was by
no means hard, he had wholesome food, and the
children loved him dearly for a playmate. He was, in
truth, the merriest, most good-natured little fellow
alive—full of the careless, hearty glee that results from
a happy physical temperament. More than once,
when told to scour the great pewter platter, he was
found with it placed on a bench, jumping up to the
reflection of his own white teeth and laughing eyes;
and in the garden he might be often seen dancing with
his own shadow on the wall. Yet Scipio was an
active, industrious lad, and Mr Poole found him a
profitable servant. The least sickness or distress in
the family at once tamed his heedless mirth. On such
occasions, Scipio was ready for any service, by night
or day. Silently, with careful tread and watchful eye,
he tended the invalid, as he would have tended his
own infant brother.
These amiable qualities endeared the African, not
only to the little ones of his master’s family, but to all
the children in the village. Every youthful eye
brightened at the approach of Scip, as they familiarly
called him.
Thus many years passed on. Scipio grew stronger
and more laborious, but still retained the same kind
and merry disposition.
Mr Poole resided on the banks of Mystic river, not
far from the place where Medford bridge is now built.
One day he sent his slave into the cellar to remove a
pile of dirt and stones, in order to repair a portion of
the cellar wall, which had fallen. When he had been
engaged in this work for some time, he suddenly ran
up stairs, with a face full of wonder, begging his
master to come and see a strange thing he had found.
Upon examination, the strange thing proved to be a
large rusty iron pot, full of silver pieces, and ingots of
gold! Mr Poole stood for a moment in utter amazement.
“Cover it again with dirt, Scipio,” said he,
“and don’t say a word about it to anybody. You
shall have some of it, Scip; but mind and say nothing
about it.” “O, yes, sure massa may trust Scip,”
replied the slave: “But oh, massa, how rich we shall
be!”
Scipio fell asleep that night, dreaming of a little
shop he would build for himself, where he might sell
cake and candy to the children; and thinking not a
little of a certain mulatto girl he had seen, for whose
sake he had of late often wished to be a free man.
The next day, Mr Poole visited Boston. When he
returned, he ordered Scipio to harness the horse to the
cart, and carry a few barrels of his soundest russet
apples to a West India captain, whom he would find
at a certain store in King’s Street. Scipio obeyed
promptly—bustling round with the important and
13(7)v
206
knowing look of a person who has possession of a
great secret, and finds it hard to keep.
The horse and cart were brought home that evening
by a white sailor; but Scipio was seen no more.
In a short time, Mr Poole built him a new house,
and his wife appeared at meeting in rich flowered
brocade, with gold buckles in her shoes, a ruby upon
her finger, and large gold beads about her neck. The
neighbors asked each other how it was that Mr Poole
had so suddenly grown rich; but no one could answer.
Several male and female slaves now supplied the place
of Scipio. The easily-acquired wealth brought its
usual attendants; pride, vanity, and luxury. The sons,
instead of the honest industry to which they had been
accustomed, now spent chief of their time in riding
to and from Boston, and learning to play on the French
horn. The daughters slept half the day, and spent
the other half in dressing themselves, and “trying
tricks” to ascertain whether they should marry a rich
husband. That rusty iron pot proved a perfect bottle
imp in the family. It destroyed peace and happiness,
while it procured the indulgence of every wish.
The neighbors, especially the children, often asked
what had become of Scip. Mr Poole replied that
Scipio always had a turn for the sea; and having been
a very good servant, he had allowed him to follow his
inclination.
As time passed away, and inquiries were repeated,
he shook his head and said he was afraid the poor
fellow was wrecked; for he had heard nothing from
him.
Several years after the discovery of the gold, a
13(8)r
207
merchant in Boston, who had known Mr Poole and
Scipio very well, went to the West Indies to transact
some business. One day, as he walked through a
sugar plantation, where several gangs of negro slaves
were at work, under the lash of the driver, he thought
he recognised among them a familiar face. He looked
again, and doubted. Could that indeed be the laughing,
the kind-hearted Scipio? More than twenty
years seemed added to his age; a settled gloom was
on his countenance; his ancles were torn by iron
fetters, and his back was scarred deeply by the torturing
whip.
The slave looked up from his work a moment—
their eyes met—“Ah, Scip, is it you!” The poor
fellow burst into tears. It was the first time, for many
a weary month, that he had heard the voice of kindness.
“But, Scipio, how came you here?” “Oh,
cursed gold, massa—cursed gold, massa.” He then
told the story, in his own simple, artless way; adding,
“God make massa sell his honest Scip to cruel men.
God never bless massa—never bless his children—
God he curse that gold.”
The gentleman was deeply affected, and promised
Scipio that he would try to buy him, and carry him
to Boston. All the native buoyancy of the African
returned at once. Hope again lighted up his countenance.
His wrongs and his sufferings were all forgotten.
After some difficulties and delays, the purchase was
completed, and Scipio returned to a state of comparative
freedom. Nothing could exceed the gratitude
and love he bore his new master. He watched his
13(8)v
208
looks as anxiously as a mother watches her babe—he
flew to anticipate his slightest wish—he would have
sacrificed his life to save him pain. This devoted
attachment met the reward it deserved. Scipio was
in no respect treated like a slave; he was an humble
but honored friend. In truth, it was a most patriarchal
and beautiful relation!
In Mr Poole’s family the course was rapidly downward.
The mother died; father and sons became
intemperate, and the daughters vicious.
The gold soon melted away—house and lands
followed—the children became vagabonds—and the
last of the family died in the alms-house. Afterward,
when people took to bad courses, and “wasted their
substance in riotous living,” it was proverbially said,
“Old Scip’s curse has lighted on them.”
Arguments and Men.
A Clergyman in the neighborhood of Boston, who loves
a paradox, was asked what he thought of the Anti-Slavery
and Colonization Societies. He replied, “It appears to me
that Anti-Slavery has all the arguments, and Colonization
all the men.”
This was said more than a year ago, when the latter part
of the remark was much more true than it now is.
Cornelius of St Croix.
St Croix, or Santa Cruz, is a Danish West India
island. A missionary station has been established
here for more than a hundred years. The following
record of a pious negro is in the Annals of the Moravian
Missions:
was deprived of one of the most intelligent and useful
native assistants, who for more than fifty years had
walked worthily of his calling by the gospel—namely,
the negro Cornelius. He was baptized in 17491749. God
had blessed him with a good natural understanding.
He had the appointment of master-mason to the royal
buildings, in which employment he was esteemed
by all who knew him as a clever, upright, and
disinterested man. He was able to write and speak
the Creole, Dutch, Danish, German, and English
languages. Till 17671767 he was a slave in the royal
plantation, which afterward belonged to Count Schimmelman.
He first purchased the freedom of his wife,
and then labored hard to gain his own liberty, which
after much entreaty and the payment of a considerable
ransom, he effected. God blessed the work of his
hands in such a manner, that he was enabled also to purchase,
by degrees, the emancipation of his six children. 14 14(1)v 210 In 17541754 he was appointed assistant in the mission.
After his emancipation, he greatly exerted himself in
the service of the Lord, especially among the people
of his own color. He spent whole days, and often
whole nights, in visiting them on the different plantations.
He possessed a peculiar talent of expressing
his ideas with great clearness, which rendered his
discourses pleasing and edifying to white people as
well as to people of his own color. Yet he was never
elated by the talents he possessed. His character was
that of a humble servant of Christ, who thought too
meekly of himself to treat others with contempt. To
distribute to the indigent, and assist the feeble, was
the delight of his heart; they always found in him a
generous sympathizing friend, and a faithful adviser. While thus zealously employed, he did not neglect
the concerns of his family. We have already seen
how sedulously he cared for their temporal prosperity,
in working hard to purchase their freedom. But he
was more solicitous for the welfare of their souls. God
blessed his instructions, and he had the joy of seeing
his whole family share in the salvation of the Lord.
Being found faithful, they too were employed as
assistants in the mission. The infirmities of old age, accompanied by a constant
cough and pain in the side, checked his great
activity, and made him ardently long to depart and be
with Christ. A short time before his death, he addressed
his children and grandchildren in the following
very solemn and impressive manner: ‘I rejoice
exceedingly, my dearly beloved children, to see you
once more together before my departure; for I believe
our Lord and Saviour will very soon take your father 14(2)r 211
home to himself. You know, dear children, what my
chief concern has been respecting you, as long as I
was with you—how frequently, and how urgently, I
have exhorted you to surrender yourselves to your
Redeemer, and follow him faithfully. I have sometimes
dealt strictly with you, in matters which I
believed would bring harm to your souls, and grieve
the spirit of God. It was all done out of love to you;
but if at any time I have been too severe, I pray you,
my dear children, to forgive your poor dying father.’ Here he was obliged to stop, most of the children
weeping and sobbing aloud. At last, one of his
daughters recovered herself and said, ‘We alone have
cause to ask forgiveness, dear father. We have often
made your life heavy, and have been disobedient
children.’ The others joined in the same confession.
The father continued, ‘Well, my dear children, if you
all forgive me, attend to my dying request. Love one
another! Do not suffer any disputes to arise among
you, after my decease. Love one another cordially:
let each strive to show proofs of his love to his brother
or sister. Do not suffer yourselves to become proud;
but pray continually to the Saviour to grant you lowly
minds and humble hearts. If you follow this advice
of your father, my joy will be complete, when I shall
meet you again in eternal bliss, and be able to say,
Here, Lord, is thy poor, unworthy Cornelius, and the
children thou wast pleased to give him. I am sure the
Saviour will never forsake you: I beseech you do not
forsake him.’ He feelfell gently asleep in Jesus, on the 1801-11-2929th of
November, 1801, being according to his own account,
eightyfour years of age. ”
Ruins of Egyptian Thebes.
Thebes! what a glory on thy temples sate,
When monarchs, hardly less than gods were thine—
Though mystery and darkness shroud thy fate,
The glimpse imagination gives us is divine!
Through the long vista, as we gaze, half hid,
Distinct though distant, graceful though austere,
Palace and pillar, fane and pyramid,
In awful grandeur and repose appear.
Nations since born have wept o’er thy decay:
Science and art have flourish’d and have died;
And glory, like a dream, has pass’d away—
Yet thine imperishable fame shall aye abide.
And can it be that a degraded race,
Scorn’d of their fellows, fetter’d, bought and sold,
Were once the might rulers in that place?
The master spirits, who the age controll’d?
The poor despised negro might look up,
And smile, to hear that Greece, that classic Greece,
Refused not to partake the enticing cup,
Which swarthy Egypt tendered with the arts of peace:
That the proud white man sough,tsought in ages back,
The intellectual fire that lights his brow,
And found it too, among a race as black
As the poor slave he makes his victim now!
Printed captionRuins of Egyptian Thebes. Page 212.
The heir of Afric may not always be
The “lowest link” in this our being’s chain;
There is a magic power in liberty,
To make the smother’d flame break out and blaze again.
The native spirit yet may wake and live,
(Freedom and culture—what have these not done?)
And Ethiopia kindle and revive,
Like her own table, when it felt the sun.
Derivation of Negro.
The word negro, which is now considered insulting,
because it has long been used as an epithet of contempt,
does not in reality mean anything worse than the phrase,
“colored man,” “red man,” or “white man.” Negro is
the Spanish and Portuguese word for black, and was by
them applied to people merely to distinguish color. It is
indeed applied to anything of a dark shade: thus pāo
negro is brown bread, and negro váso is the purple cup.
Opinions of Travellers.
To see oursels as others see us!”
I am aware that much prejudice exists with regard to the
remarks of foreign travellers; and it is undoubtedly true
that those who come here from monarchical countries are
often rendered unfit, by their education and habits, to judge
fairly on our institutions. But there is an old adage that
“an enemy is the best friend,” because he tells of our
faults. I trust those who read this article, will likewise
read Judicial Decisions, and Negro Hunting, and then
decide for themselves whether travellers censure us with
justice. If they really speak truths, do not let us, like the
orientals, be angry with every one that refuses to call us
“the celestial nation”—“brothers of the Sun and Moon,”
&c. I have quoted the observations of but few travellers,
because the limits of the book did not admit of copious
extracts. Capt. Basil Hall speaks much more mildly of
slavery than of any other evil, real or imaginary, in the
United States. Mr Stuart is decidedly very partial to
America; and the Duke of Saxe Weimar entertained very
friendly sentiments toward us.
Editor.
From the Travels of Capt. Alexander.
“By means of the internal slave-trade, between four 14(4)r 215and five thousand slaves arrive in the Southern
States annually. Kidnappers of negroes still travel
about the country, and not unfrequently secure the
manumitted negroes in the Northern States, and convey
them for sale to the South. A planter in Louisiana,
of forty years’ standing, assured me that there are a
set of miscreants in the city of New Orleans, who
are connected with slave-traders in Cuba, and who at
certain periods proceed up the Mississippi, as far as
the Fourche mouth, which they descend in large rowboats
and meet slave-ships off the coast; returning
with their cargoes to the main stream of the Mississippi,
they dispose of the negroes to those who want
them. ”
From Three Years in North America.
“My stopping-place was on a rice plantation, (inSouth Carolina.) The slaves were numerous, and I
had reason to believe from what I afterward heard, 14(4)v 216
that they were as well treated as they generally are in
this country; but it seemed to me that their want of
education, and the want of ordinary comforts, placed
them in a situation not much removed from the brutes.
They had little clothing, all of one drab-color; and
not one of them had bed-clothes. I had full leisure
to talk with them, but I was, of course, bound to do
so with prudence. Every one that I questioned
declared themselves unhappy and miserable in their
condition. A certain task is allotted to each of them,
and if this is not done, they are subjected to one of
three punishments, whipping, wearing irons, or putting
in the stocks. I was told by a wealthy planter, who lived in the
neighborhood, that a planter, whose estate is at no
great distance from the high road, which I was
travelling, was in the habit of punishing his slaves by
putting them in coffins, which were partly nailed
down, and that this punishment had again and again
resulted in the death of his slaves. The gentleman,
who communicated this information to me spoke of it
with horror; but when I asked why such conduct
was not punished, by virtue of a law which declared
the killing of a slave to be murder, he replied that his
neighbor took very good care of himself. The punishment
was administered only in the presence of slaves,
whose evidence was inadmissible. But he added that
the coffins had been seen, and that the slaves, who it
was said had lost their lives, had disappeared; and no
doubt was entertained that they came to their deaths
by being shut up in coffins. The same planter, who
has recourse to this savage punishment, works his 14(5)r 217
slaves on Sunday, though contrary to law; taking
care that no white man sees them. In the West
Indies it is the usual practice to allow the slaves
Sunday, and part of another day. Though the evidence of colored people in slave
States is in no case admissible against whites, and for
each other, the affirmation of free persons of color, or
of fellow slaves is received against slaves. In 1822-07July,
1822, thirtyfive slaves were executed at Charleston,
S.C. for an alleged conspiracy against their masters.
Sixtyseven persons were convicted without a jury,
before a court consisting of a justice of the peace, and
free-holders, (that is, slave-holders.) The evidence of
slaves, not under oath, was admitted against them; and
after all, the proof was extremely scanty. The judge’s
address, when pronouncing sentence of death on
persons sold to slavery, and who, if they were guilty,
were merely trying to get rid of it by the only way in
their power, seems monstrous. He told them the
servant who was false to his master would be false to
his God; that the precept of St Paul was to obey
their masters in all things, and St Peter told them to
be subject to their masters with all fear; and that if
they had listened to such doctrines they would have
avoided an ignominious death. The slaves here, as in other countries speak a
broken language, peculiar to themselves—the consequence
of their total want of education—but still
many of them go to church, and are admitted to church
privileges. I have, however, seen enough to be
satisfied that they are generally brought up in such
ignorance, and in a way so repugnant to moral feeling, 14(5)v 218
that it is quite surprising to see so many marks of
civilization among them. Marriage is generally allowed
among the slaves; but where a young man has
a fine family, the planter often compels him to have
several wives, with a view of the increase of stock; in
the same way the women are often obliged to have
many husbands. They are as much subject to the
commands of their masters in these respects as in all
others. The moral effect may be easily conceived.
No doubt many humane masters discourage such a
system; but that this evil exists to a great extent is
unquestionably true. On returning to Mr Street’s hotel, (Charleston,
S.C.) I asked him to allow one of the boys to carry a
note for me, in answer to an invitation to dine; but he
at once told me he could not send any of the slaves
out of his house. Mr Ferguson, the bar-keeper,
offered to carry it, and the landlord consented. Ferguson
told me that the slaves were most cruelly treated
in this house, and were never allowed to go out of it;
because, as soon as they were out of sight, they infallibly
made every exertion to run away. Next morning,
looking from my window, before breakfast, I saw Mrs
Street give a servant a blow that made him reel. I
afterward found it was her daily and hourly practice
to beat her slaves, male and female, with her fist, or
a thong made of cow-hide. The cook told me he was
leading a life of terrible suffering. His wife and
children had been purchased by another person, and
though living in the same town for more than two
years he was never allowed to see them; he would
be beaten within an ace of his life, if he ventured to
go even to the corner of the street. 14(6)r 219 I have seen instances of attachment quite as
strong, if not stronger, on the part of slaves toward
their masters, than I ever saw on the part of a white
man to his master; but the master may at pleasure
abuse his power; and it is a notorious fact in the
southern part of the United States, that the largest
slave proprietors, whose interest it is to be humane,
treat their slaves the worst. I could easily refer to
many instances. One is so well known that there is
no impropriety in mentioning it. General H―, one
of the greatest slave proprietors in the United States,
a South Carolinian, not only maltreats his slaves, but
stints them in food, over-works them, and keeps them
almost naked. I have seen more than one of his
overseers, who gave a dreadful account of the state of
slaves on his plantations, and who left the service
because they would no longer assist in the cruel
punishments inflicted. I do not mention this fact
merely on such authority; it is a matter of notoriety. There is in Charleston a guard of soldiers, who
patrol the city during the night. Whenever the least
symptom of rebellion, or insubordination appears, the
master sends the slave to the jail, where for a trifling
douceur to the jailer, or his assistants, he is whipped
or beaten as the master desires. In New Orleans the cleaning of the streets is
performed, under the direction of overseers, by slaves
chained together, with hardly any clothes on their
backs, sent there at the discretion of their masters, as
a punishment for some delinquency, real or supposed.
Females are frequently employed in this way. The
laws respecting slaves are as cruelly strict and tyrannical 14(6)v 220
here as at Charleston, or in Georgia. While I was
in New Orleans, a slave was hung, for some trifling
offence; but none of the newspapers took the slightest
notice of it. The editors were afraid that i doing
so might be construed into an offence against the laws,
which made it criminal to publish anything ‘tending
to produce discontent among the colored population.’
Nothing can be more clear than that neither the liberty
of the press, or the liberty of speech, exists in a State
where such laws are found in the statute book. What
renders the severe enactments with regard to free
colored people peculiarly galling, is that they force
into banishment many colored citizens of New Orleans,
who were among the most conspicuous defenders of
the State during the British invasion, in 18141814.”
From the Duke of Saxe Weimar’s Travels.
“At Charleston, S.C. I took up my abode in Jones’sHotel, a well supported and finely situated house,
whose host was a mulatto. In consequence of a
conspiracy among the slaves, a few years previous,
supposed to have been instigated by colored people
who had been in the free States, very severe laws
were passed, and no free colored person having once
crossed the boundary of the State was allowed to
return. The wife of our host, Jones, found herself
in this predicament. She had visited her native city,
New York, and now dared not attempt to return
home. I was informed that if I had brought a free
black servant with me, he would have been put in
custody till I left the State, or I must deposit a considerable
security for him. 14(7)r 221 The prison in Charleston, destined for the punishment
of minor offences of the slaves, displays throughout
a remarkable neatness; black overseers go about
everywhere armed with cow-hides. In the basement
story is an apparatus upon which the negroes, by
order of the police, or at the request of their master,
are flogged. They can receive nineteen lashes according
to the existing law. The machine consists of
a sort of crane, on which a cord with two nooses runs
over pulleys; the nooses are made fast to the hands of
the slave and drawn up while the feet are bound tight
to a plank. The body is stretched out as much as
possible, and thus the miserable creature receives the
exact number of lashes counted off! In our road from Milledgeville to Macon, in Georgia,
we noticed a gentleman and lady on horseback; a
barefooted negro wench was obliged to run with a
heavy sack of corn on her shoulders to feed the
horses! Then I was convinced, and with pleasure,
that I was not in Europe! At the house on Perdido river, we met with a
planter from the banks of the Alabama, who had
come here to take back one of his negroes, whom he
hired to the mistress of this house and ferry. He
had treated the poor creature with such barbarity, that
the negro, not far from the house, had threatened him
with the knife, and had ran back. The man had put
us across the river, but as soon as he saw his master,
he ran away quickly and was no more to be seen.
The gentleman asked us to assist him in arresting and
detaining his negro; but we unanimously rejected his
proposal with disgust. Some days before, the negro 14(7)v 222
had pleased me much by his lively and agreeable
disposition, while his master and tormentor appeared
to me, in every respect, highly the reverse. In Chartres Street, where we dwelt, in New Orleans,
were two establishments, which constantly revolted
my feelings, viz: shops in which negroes were bought
and sold. These unfortunate beings, or both sexes,
stood or sat the whole day, in these shops, or in front
of them, to exhibit themselves, and wait for purchasers.
The abomination is shocking; and the
barbarity and indifference produced among white men
by the custom is indescribable. Among the slave-
traders, a Hollander from Amsterdam, disgusted me
particularly,—his name was Jacobs. He had the
most vulgar and sinister countenance imaginable, was
constantly drunk, and treated the wretched negroes in
the most brutal manner; he was, however, severely
beaten by these miserable beings, driven to despair. If a person wishes to have a house negro, male or
female chastised, at New Orleans, they are sent to the
Calaboose, or slave-prison, with a quarter of a dollar,
and a note specifying how many lashes the bearer is
to receive. The maximum of lashes is thirtynine.
When the punishment is completed, the slave receives
a certificate to carry to his master. One species of
punishment is termed aux quatres piquets. The poor 14(8)r 223
wretch is pressed out flat on his face upon the earth,
and his hands and feet are bound to four posts. In this
posture he receives his flogging. This frightful
method of chastisement is principally in use on plantations,
where cruel discipline is chiefly practised.
Whoever wishes to punish a house-servant severely
sends him to work on the plantation. A stranger should see everything, in order to
acquire a knowledge of the habits, customs, opinions,
and prejudices, of the people he is among; I therefore
accepted the offer of some gentlemen, who
offered to conduct me from the ball-room of white
ladies, to the quaderoon ball. I must avow that I
found it much more decent than the masked ball I
had left. The colored ladies were under the eyes of
their mothers; they were well and gracefully dressed,
and behaved with much modesty and propriety.
Cotillons and waltzes were danced, and several ladies
performed elegantly. I did not remain long; and
when I returned, I took great care not to disclose to
the white ladies where I had been; but I could not
refrain from making comparisons, which in no wise
redounded to their advantage. The quaderoons are
almost entirely white; from their skin, no one would
detect their origin; nay, many of them have as fair a
complexion as the haughty creole females. They
were formally known by black hair and eyes; but at
present many of them are completely fair. Such of
them as frequent these balls are free. Marriage between
the white and colored populations is forbidden
by law; and as the quaderoons, on their part regard
the negroes and mulattoes with contempt, nothing 14(8)v 224
remains for them but to be the ‘friends,’ as it is
termed, of the white men. They assume the name
of their ‘friend,’ and I am assured they preserve this
engagement with as much fidelity as ladies espoused
at the altar. Some of these girls have inherited
handsome fortunes from their fathers and ‘friends.’
Still their situation is very humiliating. They cannot
drive through the streets in a carriage; and their
‘friends’ are obliged to carry them to the ball, after
dark, in their own conveyances. They cannot sit in
the presence of white ladies, or enter their apartments,
without especial permission. The whites have
likewise power to procure these unfortunate creatures
a whipping, like that inflicted on slaves, upon an
accusation proved by two witnesses. Many of this
class have enjoyed the benefit of a careful education;
they conduct themselves ordinarily with more propriety
and decorum than the whites; and confer more
happiness on their ‘friends’ than many of the married
ladies to their lords. Many wealthy fathers on
account of existing prejudices send their daughters to
France, where they find no difficulty in forming a
legitimate establishment. Yet the white ladies constantly
speak of these unhappy and oppressed beings
with the greatest contempt and animosity. The
strongest language of high nobility in the old world,
cannot be more haughty, overweening, or contemptuous
toward their fellow creatures, than the expressions
of white women with regard to quaderoons, in one of
the much-vaunted States of this free Union. In truth
such comparison strikes the mind of a thinking being
very singularly! 15(1)r 225 One witness almost daily examples of the degrading
treatment, which the poor negroes experience.
One scene, which roused my imagination in the
highest manner, I cannot suffer to pass in silence.
There was a young Virginian slave in our boarding-
house, employed as a chambermaid; a cleanly, attentive,
quiet, and very regular individual. A Frenchman
residing in the house called early in the morning for
water to wash. As the water was not instantly
brought, he went down the steps, and encountered the
poor girl, who just then had some other occupation in
hand. He struck her with his fist in the face, so that
the blood ran from her forehead. The poor creature,
roused by this sudden and unmerited abuse, put
herself on the defensive, and seized the Frenchman
by the throat. The fellow ran to his room, gathered
his things together, and was about to leave the house.
When our landlady, Madame Herries (of New Orleans)
was informed of this, in order to satisfy the
wretch, she disgraced herself by having twentysix
lashes inflicted upon the poor slave with a cow-hide;
and she refined upon her cruelty so much as to compel
the girl’s sweetheart, a young negro slave who waited
in the house, to count off the lashes upon her. The
Frenchman, a merchant’s clerk, from Montpelier, was
not satisfied with this; he went to the police, lodged a
complaint against the girl, had her arrested by two
constables, and whipped again in his presence. I
regret that I did not take note of this miscreant’s
name, that I might give his disgraceful conduct its
merited publicity. ”
From Ramble through the United States.
“In the South, slavery exists in its most unqualifiedcondition, wanting those milder modifications which
serve to dress and decorate the person of this ugly
fiend. Here may be seen hundreds of animals of our
own genus exposed for sale, and examined in precisely
the same manner as we examine horses. Many melancholy
instances occur here, which clearly illustrate the
evils of slavery and its demoralizing influence on
human character. It is no uncommon occurrence to
see the Christian father sell his own daughter, and the
brother of his own sister by the same father. Slaves do
not marry, but pair at discretion; and the more
children are produced the better for the masters. During my stay, Doctor ― came down the
river with thirty slaves, among whom were an old
negro and negress, between sixty and seventy years of
age. This unfortunate old woman had borne twentyone
children, all of whom had been sold in the New
Orleans market, and carried into other States, and to
distant parts of Louisiana. The Doctor said he was
bringing her into Louisiana, in preference to other
markets, because he thought the prospect of being
with some of her children would induce her to leave
home quietly. ‘Aldo I suckle my massa at dis breast,’
said the old negress, ‘yet now he sell me to sugar-
planter, after he sell all my children away from me.’ I was informed that this gentleman was a strict
Methodist, much esteemed by preachers of that persuasion, 15(2)r 227
on account of his liberal contributions to their
support. ”
From Travels in the United States.
“As I had never happened to be present at the saleof a negro, I resolved to witness it for once, in the
city of Washington, where, at first sight, such an
incident might least of all have been looked for. As
I passed, the flags were just hoisted on the Capitol,
to intimate that the Senate and House of Representatives
had assembled to discuss the affairs of this
free nation—slavery among the rest. The only man
I could see in the passage of the County Court House
was a great, heavy-looking black fellow, who appeared
so downcast and miserable, that I settled within myself
that this must needs be Negro George placed there for
inspection. The Deputy Marshal told me he was a
slave, indeed; but not for sale. After various delays,
the slave was put up at auction. There was a good
deal of laughing and talking among the buyers, and
several jests were sported on the occasion, of which
their little victim took no more notice than if he had
been a horse or a dog. He was a slender, delicate-
looking youth, more yellow than black, with an
expression suitable to his forlorn situation. Both his
parents, and all his brothers and sisters, he told me
had been sold into the Southern States—he knew not
where! ‘Well, gentlemen,’ cried the Deputy Marshal, ‘will
you give us a bid?—as smart a fellow as ever you
saw—works like a tiger!’ I felt my pulse accelerating
at each successive offer. Finding the price to 15(2)v 228
hang at one hundred dollars, the Marshal looked over
to me, and said, ‘Do give us a bid, sir.’ My indignation
was just beginning to boil over, and I cried out,
with more asperity than good sense, or good breeding,
‘No! I thank God we don’t do such things in my
country!’ ‘And I wish with all my heart we did not
do such things here,’ replied the auctioneer, in a tone
that made me sorry for having spoken so hastily.
‘Amen,’ said several voices. The sale went on. ” “I was somewhat amused, if this be a proper word
to apply to such things, to observe how adroitly the
inhabitants of the different States in America shifted
the blame off their own shoulders to those of their
neighbors. The Virginians told me sad stories of the
way in which the South Carolinians used their
negroes. But when I reached that State, I heard such
language as follows:—‘Wait till you go to Georgia,’
said the Carolina planters; ‘there you will see what
the slaves suffer.’ On reaching Savannah, however,
the ball was tossed along to the westward. ‘Oh, sir,
you have no idea how ill the slaves are used in Louisiana;
there among the sugar plantations, they have to
work day and night, Sundays and all.’ I believe the
real truth is this: men of sense and feeling use their
slaves well in every State; not only because it is more
agreeable to be kind to them, but because the pecuniary
advantages are always greater. Men who have
not sense, or command of temper, are sure to disregard
the feelings of those over whom they have
unlimited authority. Consequently, wherever there
is slavery, there must be more or less injustice. Under
any system of legislative arrangement in America, as 15(3)r 229
far as I could learn, the negroes must in every case, be
left almost entirely to the control of their masters, or
with no appeal that deserves the name. In most cases
the masters are obliged to act as judge, jury, and executioner.
Painful as this is to think upon, I was
assured, and I fear with justice, that it was indispensable
to the continuance of the system. One Southern gentleman declared to me that
slavery was a very great evil, in every sense of the
word. He said all practical men admitted that the
amount of work done by slaves, was, generally speaking,
the lowest possible, and of the worst quality; for
since the fear of the lash was their chief motive to
exertion, so every act which ingenuity could devise,
was put in force to evade their assigned tasks. How
these things would modify themselves in time, no one
could tell. There might be bloody insurrections,
aided by foreign enemies—the State might separate,
and civil wars ensue—or servile wars might follow—
or the blacks and whites might, in process of ages, by
the combination of some moral and political miracle,
learn to assimilate. But in the meantime he believed
the present generation could do nothing to advance
such an object. ” 15(3)v 230 “The planters themselves, almost without exception,
admitted to me, with perfect frankness, that there was
more or less of a deleterious effect produced on their
own character by the unfortunate circumstances inseparable
from their situation. I have seldom felt
more sincerely for any set of men, when I heard them
lamenting, with bitterness of spirit, the evil influences
of the system infusing itself, daily and hourly, into the
minds of their children, in the very teeth of their own
strenuous efforts to prevent such contamination. At Camden a gentleman said to me, ‘You have no
idea, sir, how we are cursed with our servants. If my
slave be a drunkard, or a thief, nobody will buy him,
and the laws wont allow me to turn him about his
business. I must feed and clothe the rogue all the
time, while I get little or no service of him.’”
From Voyages dans L’Interieur de la Louisiane, par C. C. Robin.
“The owners of slaves encourage licentiousness, inorder to receive the profits. These arrangements are
not only perfectly well known to the lady of the house,
but generally sanctioned, and regulated by her. Our European ladies would not know how to
reconcile the approbation of such shameful customs
with the spirits of the Christian religion. Yet we see
women who thus degrade the unfortunate beings 15(4)r 231
within their power,—or, at best, consent to their
degradation, from motives of avarice,—we see these
very women kneeling around the sacred altar, in
commemoration of him, who came to ‘overcome evil
with good.’ Nor are the priests themselves free from
similar stains. The perpetual clashing between interest
and religious principle, produced by the system of
slavery, is beginning to give rise to fermentations,
which are preparing the way for the dissolution of
these United States. The event may be retarded; but
while the existing cause remains, it can only be
retarded to become more violent.”
From Men and Manners in America.
“At New York I visited a school for the educationof children of color. I here found about a hundred
boys, in whose countenances might be traced every
possible gradation of complexion between the swarthy
Ethiop and the florid European. Indeed several of
the children were so fair, that I certainly never should
have discovered the lurking taint of African descent.
In person they were clean and neat, and though of
course the offspring of the lower class of people,
nothing in their dress or appearance indicated abject
poverty. The master struck me as an intelligent
and benevolent man. He frankly answered all my
questions, and evidently took pride in the proficiency
of his pupils. In this country, I have often heard it gravely
maintained by men of education and intelligence, that
the negroes were an inferior race, a link as it were
between men and brutes. I asked the master whether
the results of his experience had led to the inference,
that the aptitude of negro children for acquiring 15(4)v 232
knowledge was inferior to that of the whites. He
declared that in sagacity, perseverance, and capacity
for the acquisition and retention of knowledge, his
poor, despised scholars were equal to any boys he had
ever known. ‘But, alas, sir,’ said he, ‘to what end are
these poor creatures taught acquirements, from the
exercise of which they are destined to be debarred by
the prejudices of society? It is surely but a cruel
mockery to cultivate talents, when in the present state
of public feeling, there is no field open for their useful
employment. Be his acquirements what they may, a
negro is still a creature marked out for degradation,
and exclusion from those objects which stimulate the
hopes and powers of other men.’ I asked whether, in
the free States, all offices and employments were not
open to the man of color as well as to the white? He
said my question indicated that I was not a native of
the country. The exclusion to which he referred, did
not arise from any legislative enactment, but from the
tyranny of that prejudice, which regarding the poor
black as a being of inferior order, works its own fulfilment
in making him so. One class in the school were employed in navigation,
and worked several complicated problems with
great accuracy and rapidity. A large proportion were
perfectly conversant with arithmetic, and not a few
with the lower mathematics. Questions in geography
were answered with a facility, which I confess would
have puzzled me exceedingly, had they been addressed
to myself. The master told me that the class studying navigation
were destined to be sailors; but let their talents 15(5)r 233
be what they might, it was just as feasible for the poor
creatures to become Chancellor of State, as mate of a
ship. As masons, they might carry a hod, and handle
a trowel, but the office of master-bricklayer was open
to them in precisely the same sense as the Professor
of Natural Philosophy. As carpenters, shoemakers,
or tailors, they were still arrested by the same barrier.
No gentleman would ever think of ordering garments
from a schneider whose cuticle was less white than his
own. Grocers they might be; but who could conceive
of a respectable matron purchasing tea, or
spiceries, from a vile nigger? I cannot help considering it a mistake that slavery
has been abolished in the Northern States. It is true
that one human being, within their limits, can no
longer claim property in the thews and sinews of
another. But is this all we mean by freedom? If
the word mean anything, it must mean the enjoyment
of equal rights, and the unfettered exercise in each
individual of such powers and faculties as God has
given him. In this true meaning of the word, it may
be safely asserted that this degraded caste are still
slaves. It is a mere abuse of language to call him
free, who is tyrannically deprived of all the motives to
exertion, which animate other men. It cannot be
denied that the negro population are still compelled to
be hewers of wood and drawers of water, to their
fellow citizens. Citizens! There is something ludicrous
in the application of the word to these miserable
Pariahs. What privileges can they enjoy as 15(5)v 234
such? Are they admissible upon a jury? Can they
enrol themselves in the militia? Will a white man
eat with them, or extend to them the hand of fellowship?
If men, so irresistibly manacled to degradation,
are to be called free, tell us, at least, what stuff
slaves are made of! Many enlightened men, I am convinced, are above
these prejudices. To these I would appeal. They
have already begun the work of raising this unfortunate
race from the almost brutal state to which tyranny and
injustice had condemned it. But let them not content
themselves with such delusive benefits as the extension
of the right of suffrage, recently conferred in
New York. The opposition to be overcome, is not
that of law, but of opinion. If, in unison with the
ministers of religion, they will set their shoulders to
the wheel, and combat prejudice with reason, ignorance
with knowledge, and pharisaical assumption
with the mild tenets of Christianity, they must succeed
in infusing a better tone into the minds and
hearts of their countrymen. In doing this, they will
become the benefactors, not only of the colored
population, but of their fellow citizens. They will
give freedom to both; for the man whose mind is
shackled by degrading prejudice, is really not more
free than he who is its victim.” 15(6)r 235 “A young mulatto from St Domingo, accompanied
an English merchant to New York, which he came to
visit for pleasure and instruction. He was the son of
a Haytian General, high in the favor of President
Boyer. At home, he had been accustomed to receive
all the deference due to his rank; and he had high
anticipations of the pleasure that awaited him in a
city so opulent and enlightened as New York. He
ordered his baggage to be conveyed to the best hotel;
but he was rudely refused admittance. He tried
several others with a similar result, and was at length
obliged to take up his abode in a miserable lodging
house kept by a negro woman. Sooth to say, the
young Haytian was something of a dandy, and made
an imposing display of gold chains and brooches.
His pride was sadly galled by this treatment; and
every day’s experience confirmed the conviction that
he was regarded as a degraded being, with whom the
meanest white man would hold it disgraceful to associate.
When he went to the theatre, his money was
tossed back to him with a disdainful intimation that
the place for persons of his color was the upper
gallery. The English merchant, who had often been
a guest at his father’s table, visited him the next
morning, and found him in a state of despair. All his
dreams of pleasure were gone. He returned by the
first conveyance, to visit the United States no more. Should this young man visit England, he may feel
quite secure, that if he have money in his pocket, he
will offer himself at no hotel, from Land’s End to
John O’Groat’s house, where he will not meet a very
cordial reception. Chruches, theatres, operas, concerts, 15(6)v 236
coaches, chariots, steam-boats, railway carriages,
and air-balloons, will all be open to him as the daylight.
He may repose on cushions of down, or
cushions of air, he may charm his ear with music,
and his palate with luxuries of all sorts. He may even
enjoy the honors of a crowned head, if he will only
pay like one. In short, so long as he carries certain
golden ballast with him, all will go well. But when
that is done—God help him! Washington, the seat of government of a free
people, is disgraced by slavery. While the orators
in Congress are rounding periods about liberty in one
part of the city, proclaiming alto voce that all men are
equal, and that ‘resistance to tyrants is obedience to
God,’ the auctioneer is exposing human flesh for sale
in another! I trust I do not write on this painful subject in an
insulting spirit. That slavery should exist in the United
States is far less the fault than the misfortune of the
people. The present generation are the involuntary
inheritors of a patrimony of guilt and misery, and are
condemned to pay the penalty of that original sin,
which has left a deep tarnish on the memory of our
common ancestors. But that slavery should exist in
the District of Columbia—that even the foot-print of
a slave should be suffered to contaminate the soil
peculiarly consecrated to freedom—that the very
shrine of the goddess should be polluted with chains
and fetters—this is perhaps the most extraordinary
and monstrous anomaly to which human inconsistency
has given birth. He who would study the contradictions of national 15(7)r 237
and individual character should come to Washington.
He will hear the words of freedom, and see the
practice of slavery. Men who sell their fellow creatures
will discourse to him of indefeasible rights; he
will look for charters, and find manacles; expect
liberality, and be met by prejudice. During our passage down the Mississippi, the
man who generally occupied the place next to me at
dinner was a slave-dealer. He swallowed brandy
every half hour of the day, and passed three fourths
of both day and night in gambling. His poor gang of
slaves were above stairs, the men loaded with heavy
chains, and the women with scarcely rags enough to
serve the purposes of decency. They seemed to take
pride in the largeness of the prices they had formerly
brought in the market; and one, with a look of dignity,
told me her master had refused three hundred
dollars for her. Who, after this, shall presume to say
that vanity is not inherent in woman? The men
were in a wretched and disgusting state. Their
chains prevented their performing the ordinary functions
of cleanliness, and their skin had become
covered with a sort of scaly eruption. But I will not
enlarge on a subject so revolting. I remember, however,
that no one on board talked about freedom so
loudly or so long as this slave-dealer. He at length
left us, and the sky seemed brighter, and the earth
greener, after his departure. There are slave auctions almost every day in the
New Orleans Exchange. I was frequently present at
these; and the man who wants an excuse for misanthropy
will nowhere discover better reason for hating 15(7)v 238
and despising his species. The poor object of traffic is
mounted on a table; while purchasers examine his
points, the auctioneer dilates on his value, and enumerates
his accomplishments. When a woman is
sold, he usually puts his audience in good humor by a
few indecent jokes. One of the first human beings whom I happened to
see thus sold, was a poor woman, apparently dying of
consumption. She was emaciated, her voice was
husky and feeble, and her proper place was evidently
the hospital. It was with difficulty she was raised
upon the table. ‘Now, gentlemen, here is Mary!’ said
the auctioneer; ‘a clever house servant and an excellent
cook. She has only one fault, gentlemen, and that is
shamming sick. She pretends to be ill, but there is
nothing more the matter with her than there is with
me at this moment. Will nobody say a hundred
dollars for Mary, a clever servant and excellent cook?
Fifty dollars is bid for her—thank you, sir.’ Here the
auctioneer stopped, while several men began feeling
the poor woman’s ribs, and putting questions as to her
health. ‘Are you well?’ asked one man. ‘Oh, no, I
am very ill.’ ‘What is the matter with you?’ ‘I
have a bad cough, and a pain in my side.’ ‘How long
have you had it?’ ‘Three months and more.’ Here
the auctioneer, finding such questions did not enhance
the value of the lot, again went on. ‘Never mind
what she says, gentlemen. I told you she was a shammer.
Her health is good enough. D― her humbug.
Give her a touch or two of the cow-hide, and I’ll
warrant she’ll do your work.’ Seventy dollars were
bid, and the sale concluded amid sundry jests at the 15(8)r 239
purchaser. ‘A bloody good lot of skin and bone,’
said one. ‘I guess she’ll soon be food for the land
crabs,’ said another; and amid such atrocious merriment
the poor dying creature was led off. If such scenes are acted in a Christian country, it
is the duty of each traveller to proclaim them loudly
to the world, that those who perpetuate the enormities,
may receive their due meed of indignation and contempt.
The time is past when it was necessary to
write whole volumes, in illustration of the evils and
injustices of slavery. They are now admitted and
confessed by every one. They are so great as to
admit of no exaggeration by eloquence, nor of palliation
or concealment by sophistry. It probably ought
not to be charged as a crime upon the American
people that slavery still exists in by far the larger
portion of the territory of the Union. But now, when
the United States have enjoyed more than half a
century of almost unbroken prosperity—when their
people, as they themselves declare, are the most moral,
the most benevolent, the most enlightened in the
world—we surely are entitled to ask what this people
have done for the mitigation of slavery. The answer
may unfortunately be comprised in one word—
Nothing. The voice of justice and humanity has
been raised in vain; and it may be safely predicted
that while slavery is confessedly incompatible with the
progress of intelligence, its last strong-hold will be
found, not in Portugal—not in Turkey—not in
Algiers—but in the United States. ” “I admit that the abolition of slavery in the United
States is involved in peculiar difficulties; but there 15(8)v 240
are crying evils on which immediate legislation is
imperiously demanded. The first of these is undoubtedly
the internal slave-trade, carried on between the
different States. Some of these, where the climate is
healthy, and the soil easy, are slave breeders, for the
consumption of other States, where the climate is
deadly and labor severe. The cultivation of sugar in
Louisiana, for instance, is carried on at an enormous
expense of human life. Planters, in order to keep up
their stock, must buy from Maryland, Virginia, and
North Carolina. On my return from New Orleans, I
met a whole drove of these miserable creatures,
chained together like felons, and driven like brute
beasts by the lash. In God’s name, let this unhallowed
traffic be put a stop to! Let not men’s eyes be
shocked by sights so atrocious. Let not the licentiousness
of one State furnish materials for the cruelties of
another;—but by wise legislation, let humanity be
made the interest, as it is the duty of all. It would be
difficult to decide whether slavery is most to be
lamented for the injustice perpetuated towards its
victims, or for its depraving influence upon those who
inflict that injustice. Sure I am that the evils of this
detestable system cannot be exaggerated by the most
fervid imagination. While Jefferson was continually puling about
liberty, equality, and the degrading curse of slavery,
he brought his own children to the hammer, and made
money of his debaucheries. Even at his death, he
did not manumit his numerous offspring, but left them
soul and body, to degradation and the cart-whip. A
daughter of Jefferson was sold some years ago, 16(1)r 241
by public auction, at New Orleans, and was purchased by
a society of gentlemen, who wished to testify, by her
liberation, their admiration of that statesman. It will scarcely be believed that in the United
States it is common for fathers to sell their children,
for sons to sell their brothers and their sisters; and
that atrocities so heinous are unvisited by public
indignation or contempt. And yet it is so. I will not enlarge on this odious subject. But in
the name of consistency and common sense, either
let such enormities cease to be perpetuated in the
United States, or let the word morality be at once
erased from the American vocabulary. To suppose that slavery can long continue in
this country, when other nations shall have freed
themselves from the foulest stain which ever polluted
humanity, is to contemplate a period when the
United States will become a nuisance upon earth, and
an object of derision to the whole world. ”
Auction.
Printed captionAll men born free and equal?
Judicial Decisions in Slave States.
Jourdan vs. Patten.
The plaintiff, a lady of Louisiana, sued a neighboring
proprietor for the damage of putting out the only eye of
one of her slaves. The Parish [County] Court decreed
that the lady should recover twelve hundred dollars,
the value of her slave, and a further sum of twentyfive
dollars per month from the time that the slave was
deprived of his sight; that the defendant should pay
the physician’s bill, and two hundred dollars for the
sustenance of the slave during his life, and that he
should remain in the possession of the lady, his mistress.
The Supreme Court were of opinion that this
judgment was erroneous in giving, in addition to the full
value of the slave, compensation for the loss of his
labor after he was rendered blind; in decreeing that
the defendant should pay two hundred dollars for the
subsistence of the slave, and that he should remain
forever with his mistress. “When the defendant,” say
the Court, “shall have paid the sum decreed, [twelve
hundred dollars], we are of opinion that the slave
ought to be placed in his possession, deeming that the
judgment making full compensation to the owner
16(2)r
243
operates a change of the property. * *The principle
of humanity, which would lead us to suppose that
the mistress, whom he had long served, would treat
her miserable blind slave with more humanity than
the defendant, cannot be taken into consideration in
deciding this case. Cruelty and inhumanity ought not
to be presumed against any person.”—
Martin’s Louisiana
Reports, 18181818.
Note.—By the Jewish law, if the owner smote out an
eye of a slave, he went free “for his eye’s sake.” A law to
the like prevailed in Egypt, Athens and Rome. Here
a slave by an inhuman injury done to him, is made the
property of the injurer! The reader will observe in this
and subsequent cases, that it is the owner who seeks and
obtains protection for his property, not the slave for his
limbs or his life. The slave is regarded as a mere chattel.
The cases here cited are a few among many recorded
in the Judicial Reports of the Southern States.
Commonwealth vs. Booth.
A jury of the Superior Court of Petersburg, Virginia,
presented to the Judges in a special verdict the following
question; viz: “Can a master be indicted for beating
his own slave cruelly, inhumanly and beyond the
bounds of moderation?”
“R. E. Parker, J. We mean to express no opinion
as to this point. It involves a grave and serious, as
well as a delicate inquiry into the rights and duties of
slave-holders and the condition of their slaves, which
we shall be prepared to enter upon with a due sense
of its importance, whenever a proper occasion arises.”
—Judge Brockenbrough’s Virginia Cases, 18241824.
Note.—This question, which the judges deemed of so
much “gravity,” “delicacy,” and “importance,” has never
been decided to this day, in any American slave State.
The “proper occasion” has never arrived; and probably
never will arrive, while judges, jurors, witnesses, and
lawyers, are all slave owners.
Harris vs. Nicholas.
Harris let a slave to Nicholas, to labor for a term;
Nicholas underlet the same slave to one Patterson.
Patterson’s overseer, Thilmon by name, “so unlawfully,
cruelly, and excessively whipped the said slave
Joe, alias Roger, that by reason of such unlawful,
cruel, and excessive whipping, the said slave afterward
died.” These words are extracted from the writ
which Harris brought against Nicholas to recover the
value of the murdered slave. Mr Wirt prosecuted the
suit. The claim was not sustained by the Court.
Roane, J. “The act of Thilman was not authorized
by the defendant, and was not committed in the usual
and proper course of duty; but was a wilful and unauthorized
trespass.”
—Munford’s Virginia Reports, 18171817.
The State vs. Guy Raines.
This was an indictment for the murder of a slave
named Isaac.
Raines, the prisoner was permitted to show what
had been his own account of the matter. According
to that account, one William Gray, the owner of the
deceased, had given him in charge to Raines to be
carried to the county jail; that the slave was a very
bad slave, had been shot, and had the shot in him; that he
refused to proceed toward the jail, that thereupon
16(3)r
245
Raines gave him five hundred lashes, but still he refused
to go along; that Raines then tied his legs, and left
him to go for assistance; that soon after he sent two
white women to prevent any one from cutting the
slave loose.
On the part of the prosecution, it was proved that
Isaac expired about eight minutes after the women
reached him; that he bled at the nose, mouth, and
ears; that he appeared to have been severely whipped
below the small of his back; that the blood appeared
in several places; that several small switches and
two or three larger ones, much worn, lay near; and
also that a stick with a small end and a larger one
seemed to have been used. Nothing was said of any
dying declarations of the slave. Further, on the part
of the prisoner, it was proved (by witnesses other than
himself,) that Isaac had been shot twice, that he had
one load of buck-shot in him, that he had been shot
at several times, that he was a powerful man; that
Gray his master had given him a thousand lashes a few
weeks before his death; that shortly after he escaped
and run away, and having been caught was committed
to the custody of the prisoner as above mentioned.
The counsel for Raines moved the court that
the prisoner be sworn, and permitted to exculpate
and acquit himself by his own oath, according to a
statute law of the State. The Court overruled the
motion, on the ground that white witnesses were
present, the law providing for the admission of a
man’s own oath to his own innocence only in case
that no other white person were present, or, if present,
16(3)v
246
refused to appear in court, or to be examined. Here the
women had testified. The Jury brought in a verdict
of manslaughter; but recommended the prisoner to
mercy. The Court of Appeals afterward decided
that the “exculpatory oath” ought to have been admitted,
and Raines was fully acquitted.—
McCord’s
South Carolina Reports, 18261826.
Note.—That a person charged with murder should
be allowed to justify the crime, by his declaration that
he or somebody else had attempted to commit murder
upon the same unfortunate being before, is a phenomenon
in a learned and Christian court, which would be looked
for in vain, except in “the most enlightened and virtuous
nation upon earth.”
The reader will have observed the convenient indefiniteness
of the evidence about the size of the sticks. This
was not without an object; for though the laws of South
Carolina do not pretend to prescribe or limit the punishment
of a slave, but allow it to any extent “by whipping
or beating with a horse-whip, cow-skin, switch, or small
stick, or by putting irons on, or confining or imprisoning
a slave,” yet for using a large stick so as to kill, it would,
by the terms of the law, be murder. This seems to explain
the singular indefiniteness of the testimony on this point.
The story told by Raines, respecting the whole affair,
was allowed to be introduced as evidence, while on the
other hand the words of the dying man were given to the
winds. After all, the jury found him guilty of a penitentiary
offence. But his own oath that he was not guilty
countervailed the verdict of twelve men, all interested to
uphold slave-holding power!
And this was the case not of a slave-owner, but of a mere
laborer, who had killed the slave of another man. If all
16(4)r
247
these strings were applied and pulled to save him from the
consequences of murdering a slave, how many more are
likely to be put in operation to save a planter—who is
now in America what a feudal nobleman was in the dark
ages in Europe?
Richardson vs. Dukes
This was an action of trespass for killing the
plantiff’s slave. It appeared in evidence that the
defendant discovered two negroes stealing potatoes
from a bank, which he had put up near his house; he
shot at them with a gun loaded with buckshot, and
killed one of them belonging to the plaintiff. The
evidence was that the negro was of bad character.
The jury found a verdict for the plaintiff for one
dollar.
The Court per Nott, J. The defendant acknowledged
he did not know the negroes, but that he nevertheless
shot with a determination to kill; “for he was
determined to kill every rascal that came inside of his
plantation.” It was not then because he was under
any state of alarm, or that he apprehended these persons
to be of a dangerous character, but it was in
pursuance of a resolution to kill every one that he
found trespassing upon him. It is true that it turned
out that this negro was of bad character; but still he
was entitled to the protection of law, and his master to
his services. It is only in the latter point of view that
the case is now to be considered. * * The jury were
not at liberty to let this defendant off with merely
nominal damages. There is no principle upon which
this verdict can be justified, and the motion for a new
16(4)v
248
trial must be granted.—
McCord’s South Carolina Reports,
18271827.
Witsell vs. Earnest and Parker.
The defendants, who were in the service of Doctor
Glover, proceeded from his plantation to Mrs E. Witsell’s,
for the purpose of hunting runaway negroes.
They loaded their guns with buckshot, and on approaching
the house they separated, so as to command
the back of the house. A negro, who was in or near
the house, on their approach jumped up and ran off
towards a swamp, which was at no great distance.
The defendants fired at the same instant and killed
the negro. He was the property of the plaintiff, who
commenced this action to recover his value.
The country had been in a state of alarm in consequence
of the depredations of runaway negroes,
and a murder had been committed at no great distance
from this place some time previously to this. The
presiding judge instructed the jury to such circumstances
might exist as to authorize the killing of a
negro, without the sanction of a magistrate, or the order
of an officer of the militia. Verdict for the defendants,
and a motion to set it aside, on the ground that the
circumstances stated were not connected with this
transaction.
Mr Justice Colcock delivered the opinion of the
Court. The killing is not justified by the statute or
common law. The plaintiff has sustained an injury in
her property, and is entitled to compensation. * * I am
of opinion that the act was unnecessary and illegal.—
Nott and McCord’s South Carolina Reports, 18181818.
Note.—In this case, the slave was shot on his mistress’
plantation, and near her dwelling house, in the act of running,
it is true, but it might be for some lawful object, or it
might be to get out of the way of those hunting parties,
who are habitually reckless of the lives of all colored men.
Mahony vs. Ashton.
Ann Joice, a slave, was carried by her master, Lord
Baltimore, from Barbadoes to England, from whence
she afterward came with him to Maryland, between
16781678 and 16811681. In 17971797, her great-great-grandson
petitioned the Court for his freedom, on the ground
that a residence in England had made Ann Joice a
free woman.
Ridgely, for the petitioner. If Joice was previously
a slave, she became free the moment she set her foot
upon English soil—no matter where she was born, or
whence she came. If she was once free, change
of residence could not afterward make her a slave,
and her issue had of course a right to freedom. The
Common Law takes no notice of negroes being different
from other men. Slavery is incompatible with
every principle of religion and morality. It is unnatural,
and contrary to the maxims of political law;
especially in this country, where we hold these truths
to be self-evident, that “all men are created equal,”
and that liberty is an “inalienable right.”
Schaff, for the defendant, objected to the admissibility
of a general report in the neighborhood that Ann
Joice’s family had a right to freedom, as evidence to
the Jury. There might be an opinion in future times
that all men have a right to be free; this might in course
of years come to be a general report, and according to
the doctrine contended for by the counsel for the petitioner,
16(5)v
250
would be admissible as evidence! On the general
question he said: “A slave has no rights. Even the
killing or maiming of one if only an offence against
government. Ann Joice went a slave to England, and
as the common law protects property, she was not a
subject for the law to act upon. Magna Carta relates
to freemen. Lord Mansfield may be charged with
bending to the policy of the times, ‘Wilkes and Liberty’,
of which the young heated brain of Hargrave, who
argued the case, was full; and Lord Holt, when he
made the dictum that a slave when he touches England
is free, had a revolutionary ebullition of liberty in
his brain.”
Harper, on the same side. Lord Mansfield, in Somerset’s
case does not say the negro becomes free; but
only that the right of the master cannot be enforced in
England. The right was only suspended. * * No
right can originate in wrong. If the slave had run
away and gone to England, she would by the doctrine
contended for, have been free!!
Chase, Ch. J, at the sittings of the General Court
having decided in favor of the petitioner, the Court
of Appeals now gave the following opinion: That
upon bringing Ann Joice into this State, (then the
Province of Maryland) the relation of master and
slave continued in its extent, as authorized by the laws
of this State, and that therefore the judgment of the
General Court must be reversed. Judgment Reversed.
—
Harris and McHenry’s Maryland Reports,
17991799.
The Land of the Free!
A coming bark has heaved in sight;
She hastens with the morning light;
Upon her deck, where many stand,
A thoughtful stranger marks the land;
And when the sails at last are furl’d
To moor him in this western world,
Feelings he never knew before,
Thrill through him as he leaps on shore—
For the first time his feet have felt
The soil on which the Pilgrims knelt!
It is Columbia’s natal day!
Her flags are floating broad and gay
Upon the air—and bell and gun
Have loudly hail’d the rising sun—
There’s sporting, feasting, and the song
Of Liberty is borne along
On every breeze; while joy, and mirth,
And plenty, seem to fill the earth—
The stranger thinks, “How blest to be
In this bright birth-place of the free!”
He hears the holy anthem raised—
He hears the God of nations praised—
That God, who wills all men should be
Endow’d with light and liberty:
But bark! the clanking of a chain,
With groans that come from mortal pain—
16(6)v 252Sad moanings, like a mother’s wail,
Are floating on the balmy’s gale!
The startled stranger turns to know
Whence come those sounds of deep-felt wo.
In one sad group before him stand,
(And one of thousands in the land)
Parents and children, husband, wife,
From all the dearest ties of life
Destined forever to depart,
In utter hopelessness of heart—
With fetter’d feet, and hands confined,
Slaves of the body and the mind,
They wait till those who buy have told
The price of human souls in gold.
Men! Freemen! Christians! it is true,
That sights like these are seen with you?
You, who have pledged yourselves to be
The guardians of liberty?
And dare you thus with freedom’s song,
Insult the wretched ones you wrong?
And kneeling on a brother’s breast,
While he lies helpless, low, opprest,
To ask that Heaven will bless the toil
Of him, a slave upon your soil?
Oh, if you love your country’s name,
Wash from her flag this bloody stain!
If you believe in God above,
Obey his written Law of Love!
Unloose at once the galling cord,
That binds the captive to his lord!
You need not fear to turn from wrong—
For they who have clean hands grow strong;
And can you pause in doubt, or pride,
When God and truth are on their side?
History of Mr Thomas Jenkins.
The following remarkable and interesting account was
published in Chamber’s Edinburgh Journal, a short time
before 1832-01January, 1832. The story is authentic, and the facts
perfectly well known in Scotland.
King, and bore all the usual features of the negro.
His father reigned over a considerable tract of country
to the east of, and, we believe, including, Little Cape
Mount, a part of the wide coast of Guinea, which used
to be much resorted to by British vessels for the purchase
of slaves. The negro sovereign,—whom the
British sailors knew by the name of King Cock-eye,
from a personal peculiarity,—having observed what
a superiority civilization and learning gave the
Europeans over the Africans, resolved to send his
eldest son to Britain, in order that he might acquire
the advantages of knowledge. He accordingly bargained
with a Captain Swanstone, a native of Hawick,
in Scotland, who traded to that coast for ivory, gold-
dust, &c. that the child should be taken by him to his
own country, and returned in a few years, fully
educated; for which he was to receive a certain
consideration in the productions of Africa. The lad 16(7)v 254
recollected a little of the scene which took place on
his being handed over to Swanstone. His father, an
old man, came with his mother, who was much
younger, and a number of sable courtiers, to a place
on the side of a green eminence near the coast, and
there, amidst the tears of his mother, he was formally
consigned to the care of the British trader, who
pledged himself to return his tender charge, some
years afterwards, endowed with as much learning, as
he might be found capable of receiving. The lad was
accordingly conveyed on ship-board, where the fancy
of the master conferred upon him the name of Thomas
Jenkins. Swanstone brought his protegé to Hawick, and
was about to take the proper means for fulfilling his
bargain, when he unfortunately died. No provision
having been made for such a contingency, Tom was
thrown upon the wide world, not only without the
means of obtaining a Christian education, but destitute
of everything that was necessary to supply still more
pressing wants. Mr Swanstone died in a room in the
Tower Inn, at Hawick, where Tom very faithfully
attended him, though almost starved by the cold of a
Scottish winter. After his guardian had expired, he
was in a state of the greatest distress from cold, till
the worthy landlady, Mrs Brown, brought him down
to her huge kitchen fire, where alone he could find a
climate agreeable to his nerves. Tom was ever after
very grateful to Mrs Brown for her kindness. After
he had remained some time at the inn, a farmer in
Teviot-Head, who was the nearest surviving relation
of his guardian, agreed to take charge of him; and 16(8)r 255
accordingly he was removed to the house of that
individual, where he soon made himself useful in
rocking the cradle, looking after the pigs and poultry,
and other such humble duties. When he left the inn
he understood hardly a word of English; but here he
speedily acquired the common dialect of the district,
with all its peculiarities of accent and intonation. He
lived in Mr L―’s family for several years, in the
course of which he was successively advanced to the
offices of cowherd and driver of peats to Hawick for
sale on his master’s account; which latter duty he
discharged very satisfactorily. After he had become
a stout boy, Mr Laidlaw, of Falnash, a gentleman of
great respectability and intelligence, took a fancy for
him, and readily prevailed upon his former protector
to yield him into his charge. Black Tom, as he was
called, became, at Falnash, a sort of Jack-of-all trades.
He acted as cow-herd at one time, and stable-boy at
another; in short, he could turn his hand to any sort
of job. It was his special duty to go upon all errands
to Hawick, for which a retentive memory well qualified
him. He afterward became a regular farm-servant
to Mr Laidlaw, and it was while acting in this
capacity that he first discovered a taste for learning.
How Tom acquired his first instructions is not known.
The boy probably cherished a notion of duty on this
subject, and was anxious to fulfil, as far as his unfortunate
circumstances would permit, the designs of his
father. He probably picked up a few crumbs of
elementary literature at the table of Mr Laidlaw’s
children, or interested the servant lasses to give him
what knowledge they could. In a short time, Mr 16(8)v 256
Laidlaw was surprised to find that Tom began to have
a strange appetency for candle-ends. Not a doup about
the farm-house could escape him. Every scrap of
wick and tallow was secreted and taken away to his
loft above the stable, and very dismal suspicions began
to be entertained respecting the use he put them to.
Curiosity soon incited the people about the farm to
watch his proceeding, after he had retired to his den;
and it was then discovered, to the astonishment of all,
that the poor lad was engaged with a book and a slate,
in drawing rude imitations of the letters of the alphabet.
It was found that he also kept an old fiddle
beside him, which cost the poor horses below many a
sleepless night. On the discovery of his literary taste,
Mr Laidlaw put him to an evening school, kept by a
neighboring rustic, at which he made rapid progress—
such indeed as to excite astonishment all over the
country; for no one had ever dreamed that there was
a possibility of his becoming a scholar. By and by,
though daily occupied with his drudgery as a farm-
servant, he began to instruct himself in Latin and
Greek. A boy-friend,—who afterward communicated
to us most of the facts we are now narrating,—lent
him several books necessary to these studies; and Mr
and Mrs Laidlaw did all in their power to favor his
wishes, though the distance of a classical school was a
sufficient bar (if there had been no other) to prevent
their giving him the opportunity of regular instruction.
In speaking of the kind treatment he received
from these worthy individuals, his heart has often been
observed to swell, and the tear to start into his honest
dark eye. Besides acquainting himself tolerably well 17(1)r 257
with Latin and Greek, he initiated himself into the
study of mathematics. A great era in Tom’s life was his possessing himself
of a Greek dictionary. Having learned that there
was to be a sale of books at Hawick, he proceeded
thither, in company with our informant. Tom possessed
twelve shillings, saved out of his wages, and his
companion promised to aid him as far as eighteen
pence would warrant, that being the amount of his
own little stock. Tom at once pitched upon the
Lexicon as an indispensable article in his education,
and accordingly he began to bid for it. All present
stared with wonder when they saw a negro, clad in
the gray cast-off surtout of a private soldier, with the
number XCVI still glaring in white oil paint on his
back, competing for a book which could only be useful
to a student at a considerably advanced stage. A
gentleman, of the name of Moncrieff, who knew
Tom’s companion, beckoned him forward, and inquired,
with eager curiosity, the meaning of the
apparent mystery. When it was explained, and Mr
Moncrieff learned that thirteen-and-sixpence was the
utmost extent of their joint stocks, he told his young
friend to bid as far beyond that sum as he chose, and
he would be answerable for the deficiency. Tom had
now bidden as far as he could go, and was turning
away in despair, when his young friend threw himself
into the competition. ‘What do you mean?’ said the
poor negro, in great agitation; ‘you know we cannot
pay both that and the duty.’ His friend, however, did
not regard his remonstrances, and soon had the satisfaction
of placing the precious volume in the hands 17 17(1)v 258
which were eager to possess it—only a shilling or so
being required from Mr Moncrieff. Tom carried off
his prize in triumph, and it is needless to say he made
good use of it. Tom’s personal character was the best possible.
He was a mild, unassuming creature, free from every
kind of vice, and possessing a kindliness of manner,
which made him the favorite of all who knew him.
In fact, he was one of the most popular characters in
the whole district of Upper Teviot-dale. His employers
respected him for the faithful and zealous
manner in which he discharged his humble duties,
and everybody was interested in his singular efforts to
obtain knowledge. Having retained no trace of his
native language, he resembled in every respect, except
his skin, an ordinary peasant of the South of Scotland;
only he was much more learned than most of them,
and spent his time somewhat more abstractly. His
mind was deeply impressed with the truths of the
Christian faith, and he was a regular attender upon
every kind of religious ordinances. Altogether, Tom
was a person of the most worthy and respectable
properties, and even without considering his meritorious
struggles for knowledge, would have been beloved
and esteemed wherever he was known. When he was about twenty years of age, a vacancy
occurred in the school at Teviot-head, which was an
appendage to the parish school, for the use of the
scattered inhabitants of a very wild pastoral territory.
A committee of the presbytery of Jedburgh was
appointed to examine the candidate for this humble
charge, and report the result to their constituents. 17(2)r 259
Among three or four competitors appeared the black
farm-servant of Falnash, with a heap of books under
his arm, and the everlasting soldier’s great coat with
the staring XCVI upon his back. The committee
were surprised; but they could not refuse to read his
testimonials of character, and put him through the
usual forms of examination. More than this; his
exhibition was so decidedly superior to the rest, that
they could not avoid reporting him as the best fitted
for the situation. Tom retired triumphant from the
field, enjoying the delightful reflection that now he
should be placed in a situation much more agreeable
than any he had ever known, and where he could
enjoy infinitely better opportunities of acquiring
instruction. But when the report came before the presbytery, a
majority of the members were alarmed at the strange
idea of placing a negro and a born pagan in such a situation;
and Tom was accordingly voted out of all the
benefits of the competition. The poor fellow appeared
to suffer dreadfully from this sentence, which made
him feel keenly the misfortune of his skin, and the
awkwardness of his situation in the world. Fortunately,
the people most interested in the matter felt as
indignant at the treatment he had received as he could
possibly feel depressed. The heritors,—among
whom the late Duke of Buccleugh was chief,—took
up the case so warmly, that it was immediately
resolved to set up Tom in opposition to the teacher
appointed by the presbytery, and to give him an exact
duplicate of the salary already paid to that person.
A blacksmith’s shop was hastily fitted up for his reception, 17(2)v 260
and Tom was immediately installed in office,
with the universal approbation of both parents and
children. The other school was completely deserted;
and the African, who came to this country to learn,
soon found himself engaged in teaching, with an
income more than adequate to his wants. To the
gratification of all his friends, and some little confusion
of face to the presbytery, he turned out an excellent
teacher. He had a way of communicating knowledge
that proved in the highest degree successful; and as
he contrived to carry on the usual exercises without
resorting to severity, he was as much beloved by his
pupils as he was respected by his employers. Five
days every week he spent in the school. On Saturday
he walked eight miles to Hawick, to make an
exhibition, to the master of the Academy there, of what
he had himself acquired during the week; thus keeping
up his own advance in knowledge. He returned
on Saturday evening; but such was his untiring zeal,
that he always walked to Hawick the next day to
attend church. After he had conducted the school for one or
two years, finding himself in possession of about
twenty pounds, he bethought him of spending a
winter at college. The esteem in which he was held
rendered it an easy matter to demit his duties to an
assistant for the winter; and this matter being settled,
he waited upon his good friend, Mr Moncrieff, (the
gentleman who enabled him to purchase the Lexicon,
and who had since done him many good offices) in
order to consult about the step he wished to take.
Mr Moncrieff, though accustomed to regard Tom as a 17(3)r 261
wonder, was, nevertheless, truly surprised at this new
project. On being told that twenty pounds was all
his stock of cash, and that he contemplated attending
the Latin, Greek, and mathematical classes, he told
him this would never do—the money would hardly
pay his fees. Tom was much disconcerted at this;
but his generous friend soon relieved him, by placing
in his hands a carte-blanche order upon a merchant in
Edinburgh, for whatever might be further required to
support him a winter at college. Tom now pursued his way to Edinburgh, with
his twenty pounds. On applying to the Professor of
Latin for a ticket to his class, that gentleman looked
at him for a moment in silent wonder, and then asked
him if he had acquired any rudimental knowledge of
the language. Mr Jenkins (as he ought now to be
called) answered modestly that he had studied Latin
for a considerable time, and was anxious to complete
his acquaintance with it. Mr P. finding that he spoke
only the truth, presented a ticket, and generously
refused to take the usual fee. Of the other two Professors,
to whom he applied, both stared as much as
the former, and only one took the fee. He was thus
enabled to spend the winter in a most valuable course
of instruction, without requiring to trench much upon
Mr Moncrieff’s generous order. The next spring he
returned to Teviot-head, and resumed his professional
duties.”
Mobs in Jamaica.
In 18321832, there was a rebellion among the negroes of
Jamaica, occasioned principally, if not entirely, by an
attempt to deprive the slaves of two of their customary
holidays. This insurrection was considered a good
opportunity for manifesting a long-cherished hatred
against the Methodist and Baptist Missionaries in the
island. The planters, overseers, drivers, &c. were all
willing to have the entire blame laid upon these innocent
men; and forthwith there was a hue and cry
raised against them as incendiaries, cut-throats, &c.
In point of fact, the Missionaries were meek and
pious men, who had quietly obeyed the laws, and
urged the slaves to a patient performance of their
duties, according to the maxims of forbearance and
love, inculcated by our holy religion. They were
indeed abolitionists at heart, as one would suppose
every Christian minister must be; but into the minds
of the slaves they sought to infuse nothing save kindness
and consolation. Yet there were many in the
community determined to brand them as insurrectionists
and murderers—stories utterly false were
circulated and believed, just as is now the case with
regard to abolitionists in the United States. In vain
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263
they denied the charges, and asserted that they had
never done, or said, or wished, anything against the
public peace; few took the pains to inquire into what
they secretly wished to have proved true. There was
nothing to be done, but to let persecution do its
wildest work, and trust, as Luther did of old, for
protection “under the broad shield of God.”
One writer from Jamaica says: “The great and
glorious work has commenced. It is now ten o’clock,
and all hands are at work demolishing the Baptist and
Wesleyan chapels. Lots of groans, as you may imagine,
from the saints and their followers.” Another
says: “Some true-hearted Jamaicans have truly
ennobled themselves this night by razing to the
earth that pestilential hole, Knibb’s preaching shop.
Verily, friend, they have not spared Box’s also. He
no longer will be able to beat the roll-call to prayers,
nor the tattoo upon the consciences of our poor
deluded slaves.”
Property to the value of more than £20,000 was
destroyed in this violent way, without the least provocation.
The missionaries, who suffered much, and
suffered meekly, found great difficulty in escaping
with life. The magistrates, at heart, sympathized
with their persecutors, and of course extended very
inefficient protection. In some cases those in authority
actually assisted in deeds of violence.
There was a strong effort to attribute insurrections
in other West India Islands to the missionaries; but
in one case it was shown that no missionaries had
been on the island for several years when the event
happened; and in other cases, it was proved that the
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264
religious slaves almost without exception declined
joining in rebellion. Among the opponents of emancipation
in the West Indies no small pains have been
taken to promote insurrections, on purpose to throw
the blame on abolitionists; false reports of rebellions
that never took place were likewise occasionally
resorted to. Some idea of the savage spirit of the
community may be drawn from the fact that an
Englishman was obliged to retreat hastily from
Jamaica, being assailed with the utmost fury as a
promoter of insurrections, though he was merely found
guilty of having said, “God bless you!” to a slave,
who opened the gate as he passed.
It seems remarkable the world is not yet convinced
that even the worst cause is helped by persecution.
A good one is prodigiously assisted by it;
because it induces that very examination and inquiry,
which its friends are most desirous to promote. But
it is wisely ordered by Divine Providence, that the
passions of selfish men should compel them to aid a
righteous purpose in the only way they would ever be
willing to do it. Accumulated experience will never
enable the proud and the vicious to estimate rightly
the strength and perseverance of those who labor from
serious convictions of duty. Ambition and worldly
prudence may be intimidated by calumny and insult;
but conscience is made “of sterner stuff.” Success
will come—not by the influence of wealth, or the
might of eloquence—but by the simple power of
Truth; which must and will prevail, though earth
and hell combine against it.
Printed captionShooting Scene. Page 265.
A Negro Hunt.
The following sketch is written at the request of the
editor by a gentleman of well known intelligence and
veracity. He has motives for withholding his name, which
are honorable to his feelings.
“What, the actual hunting down of a fellow being,
with dogs and guns!” I have often heard people at
the north exclaim, with indignant surprise.
I have always been glad to hear such a question;
for it implies a liberal confidence in the human species.
The idea of slave hunting, as an appendage to slave
holding, does not occur to the mind not expressly
informed of it. The enormity of the imputation
seems to render it inadmissible. Yet results such as
these,—appalling as they are,—form but a part of
the progeny of the parent evil of slavery.
Who can enumerate the ever-swelling train of
crime and suffering, which walks in the footsteps of
the original act of rapine, when man goes forth
against the sacred right of human freedom? or who
can tell the numberless degrees of sin and misery,
through which that most outrageous violation of
eternal justice, drags down the community by which
it is committed, or subsequently sanctioned?
Ye who rose from your sumptuous tables, to repair
to the slave-mart, and coolly sauntered to the perpetration
of the darkest of human crimes,—the deliberate
appropriation of the persons, the liberty, and the
lives of your fellow men, whom God has created the
free tenants of the same earth which ye trod; and over
whom extended the unretracted and irrevocable mandate
of Christianity, “Do unto all men, even as ye
would that they should do unto you!”—Ye who dared
the Universal Father, in the insulted person of his
offspring, what an overwhelming mass of evil have
ye entailed on your descendants!—Your children and
your children’s children, while they look with horror
on the act which propagated the curse of their own
condition, yet shrink with dread from the deluge of
suffering, which they have been taught to apprehend
from its breaking up.
Who that knows the magnanimous and generous
spirit which pervades our southern communities,—
the frank and ingenuous manliness, the ever ready
kindness and sympathy, the courtesy and hospitality,
by which they are characterized,—does not fervently
wish that the cloud which overhangs their moral
horizon, were swept away, forever? But, alas! those
high, courageous hearts, and benignant spirits, are
entangled in the toils—some, of insidious custom
and ensnaring sophistry, and all, of that smooth assassin
of human rights, expediency; and their extrication
from their present abyss of mingled wrong and suffering,
which ought to be the result of their own convictions,
is yet at a hopeless distance.
So it has ever been. The evil of the usurpation of
17(6)r
267
human liberty has not been first seen, in its true
magnitude, by those who were overshadowed by its
immediate presence, or reconciled to its aspect by long
continued familiarity with it. The sense of wrong
rises not in the bosom of him who holds the chain,
which another fastened on the victim of bondage. It
is the uncontaminated spectator, who feels the stirring
of humanity within him; whose healthful sympathy
goes forth towards his injured brother; and who steps
forward to plead for human justice. May all who, in
our own community, assume the responsible attitude
of the mediator, be endowed with the eloquence, and
the calm, effective power of wisdom!
From the incidents of several years’ residence at the
South, I have selected the following—not with a view
to exaggerate the horrors of slavery, but rather for
the purpose of showing how extensively the evils of
bondage ramify; intertwining themselves with the
safety and with the moral condition of domestic life.
I wish, at the same time, to indicate some of the
numerous and complicated difficulties, which are
interwoven with the pernicious system. They know
little of the South, who are not apprised, that thousands
there, are ready to emancipate their slaves, were
it only practicable for individuals to proceed in this
matter, without the consentaneous action of the community
to which they belong.
In the winter of 1817–18181817-18, I resided with an opulent
planter, in the interior of Georgia, in whose family
the evils of slave-holding were palliated by every
expedient that humane and generous disposition could
suggest. The proprietor himself was a man of noble
17(6)v
268
and elevated character, and distinguished for his generosity
and kindness of heart. The lady of the house
was mild and calm in her temper, and indulgent to
her household.
With such qualities in the master and mistress, the
slaves, within doors and without, would have led a life
of comparative ease—at least, of moderate labor, and
proper provision for their wants. Unfortunately,
however, the overseer employed on the plantation, was
a man of depraved character, and a victim to brandy.
The cruelties which, when instigated by this demon
of modern life, he perpetrated on the few slaves
whom he himself owned, and let to the plantation,
would transcend belief. It is unnecessary to enter
into details. But often, when the brutal master had
staggered home, at night, and the slave, whose office
it was to watch for his coming, had, from the fatigue
of the day’s toil, and the lateness of the hour, dropped
asleep, the shrieks of the sufferer from vindictive rage,
would be heard at the neighboring plantations; the
well ascertained truth transpiring on the following
day, that no usual form or instrument of punishment
had been used on the preceding night. Horror,
if not humanity, here forbids the mention of facts.
An inebriated man sometimes reveals the ferocity of
a hyena. But it is seldom that he retains the intellect
to be ingenious in modes of torture.
It is unnecessary to say that individuals of such
character as this are held in utter abhorrence by surrounding
society. For humane sentiments generally
prevail towards the slave population, throughout the
southern States, though exasperation sometimes produces
17(7)r
269
deviations from this habitual feeling. The
southern masters in general, are free from the vice
of cruelty.
Do you ask, in indignation, why a man, himself
humane, could retain such a monster as I have
alluded to, in his employment. Here opens another
view down the long vista of the interminable evils of
slavery. It is extremely difficult for proprietors, of
whatever wealth or liberality, to find a proper person
to fill the office of overseer. It is not a pleasing task
for good men. So that a charge requiring energetic
control, to be tempered by the calmness of wisdom, is
sometimes entrusted to men, who do not extend to their
fellow beings the same measure of allowance, which
they habitually give to their brute dependants. It being
deemed necessary that slaves should be held, overseers
must be found. The inhumanity of the overseer,
however, was not, in this instance, fully known to the
proprietor.
On the plantation of this gentleman, there happened
to be several slaves extremely vicious. The conduct
of these individuals brought them frequently under
the lash, in hands never moderated by leniency; and
after several aggravated occurrences of this nature,
three of the slaves, the property of the plantation,
together with one belonging to the overseer, had taken
to the woods.
The southern country abounds in extensive tracts of
swampy forest, nearly impervious; and to such places
fugitive negroes are accustomed to resort,—lying still
during the day, and prowling abroad for food and
plunder at night.
Here is another overwhelming evil attendant on
slavery. The white families in the neighborhood of
such resorts are exposed to all the horrors of apprehension,
and of real suffering, at the hand of the runaways.
Nightly robbery is among the least of these evils.
The fidelity of the slaves on the adjoining plantations,
is, generally, to some extent, corrupted. Clandestine
communications are perpetually kept up with them;
and, from day to day, a deserter is reported, as having
joined the band of depredators.
Defenceless white families, with female, and perhaps
widowed heads, are at the mercy of these poor,
ignorant, and exasperated wretches. Under these
circumstances, a combination is formed, for patroling
and searching the forests adjoining. Such parties are,
of course, armed, and sometimes attended by trained
hounds, to track the footsteps of the fugitives.
In case of surprising a party of the runaways, it is
customary to give a warning shout of “stand!” or,
“lie flat!” If fear or hope induce the culprits to stir,
the gun of the pursuer is immediately discharged, with
or without regard to what part of the body its contents
shall be lodged in. The negro, if arrested by the
command of the pursuer, is manacled, and conducted,
forthwith, to punishment, always severe, and sometimes
prolonged into instalments, administered on
successive days. If the command to stand still, or to
lie prostrate, be disregarded, and the aim has been true,
a death-wound is the consequence, or fatal maiming
for life, after a lingering cure of protracted pain, aggravated
by daily reproaches. If the aim fail, and the
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271
fugitives escape, the evils of banding and plunder are
continued, till a more extensive hunt succeeds in
breaking up the party.
If the question is asked, how often such scenes
generally occur? I cannot answer it definitely. In
the vicinity where I resided, at the time alluded to,
three took place, during the first nine months of my
stay. What circumstances for the training up of
Christian children are presented in the families in
which such occurrences transpire!
I have mentioned that, on the plantation to which
I have referred, a scene of this description had commenced.
The circumstances were all highly aggravated.
Several weeks had elapsed, during which, the
cattle and the corn of the plantation had been, night
after night, carried off. The depredations had extended
to the property of a neighboring family,
consisting of two aged sisters—one a widow.
A few days after, the overseer of the plantation
reported to the proprietor, that, being out, towards
evening, on a remote part of the estate, he had observed
smoke rising above the trees, in an adjacent
swamp. Being unarmed, the overseer hesitated, at
first, to approach the fire, as he immediately suspected
its cause. But hoping that the party might be scattered,
and that he might find but one or two at the fire, he
dismounted, and, fastening his horse to a tree, ventured
to enter the swamp.
He was on the party, before he was aware; and, to
his great alarm, was instantly recognised by the whole
group. They sprang to their feet; and darting across
the fallen trees, or using them occasionally as a bridge
17(8)v
272
over the more marshy spots, they rushed towards
him.
The alarmed overseer now perceived that he had no
resource but stratagem; and, with an effort to smother
his apprehensions, he called out to inquire whose hog
they had been slaughtering; for he had surprised them
in the act of cutting one up.
The band replied with one voice, “Why, master’s,
to be sure!” “So far well;” replied the overseer,
pretending to be somewhat pacified; “I suppose master
would rather have you take his hogs than any
body’s else.”
He then proceeded to offer them terms, in case they
would return to the plantation. This he contrived to
do, moving backward, all the while, towards the edge
of the swamp, and succeeded in gaining the firm
ground, not far from the place where his horse had
been fastened.
But the negroes, now perceiving his intention, and
having, it would seem, made up their minds to an act
of desperation, rushed upon him with a furious yell.
In a moment more, he was on the ground, struggling
against three of them; two of whom were holding him
down, whilst the third, with his knee on the breast of
the fallen man, raised the slaughter knife, which he
had retained in his hand; and, with a volley of mingled
taunts and curses, (the more galling to the ear of
the helpless overseer, that they came from the lips of
his own slave,) was about the plunge the weapon into
the breast of his imploring master;—when the sudden
report of a distant rifle arrested the uplifted arm,
and roused the negroes to a sense of their own
18(1)r
273
danger. They immediately sprang up, and darted, in
various directions, into the thick swamp.
It was now evening twilight; and the overseer,
dreading that he would be waylaid in the dark, gladly
hurried home, without wanting to ascertain from what
source the accidental shot had come, to which he
owed his safety.
The report of this circumstance from the lips of the
overseer to his employer was aggravated by the parting
defiance, which, on letting him go, the negroes
had found a moment to utter, before getting out of
sight. “Tell master we had rather be shot, every one,
than ever come back.”
The following night was appointed, with the overseer,
and several of the adjoining planters, for a patrol
and hunt.
These circumstances had not been mentioned in
my hearing; and, at midnight, I was roused by an
extraordinary stir in the rooms below. Hearing a well
known voice inquiring loudly for a particular gun,
and apprehending danger, I hastened down stairs.
The gentlemen of the family were cleaning and loading
their guns, trying their flints, and going through
the usual preparations, apparently, for a deer hunt, as
buckshot and bullets were in demand.
The children of the family had partaken of the general
excitement, and arisen from their beds. As I
entered the room, I could hear one of the youngest of
them say, “Why, pa, you would not kill Ralph, would
you?”—“I would take him, and sell him, and get
money for him,” said the next in age. “You will only
lame him, I suppose, so as to seize him,” said the
18
18(1)v
274
mother. “I would rather kill him, than the best fat
buck in all the country,” replied the father, as he
rammed down the heavy charge.
The moonlight from the window glanced along the
barrel of the piece, and caught the eye of the eldest
boy. The reflected light kindled up his glance with
something of an unnatural flash, but in vivid sympathy
with the paternal look and attitude. The anticipated
joy of vengeance seemed to be the predominating
emotion.
Here was a scene in the drama of juvenile education,
which probably can never be erased from the
memory or the spirit of its youthful witnesses. What
moral influence can a teacher or a parent expect to
exert over the young mind, in comparison with the
vivid impress of that moment? Alas! that the heart
of childhood must be desecrated by the sights and feelings
of such an hour! The young group around the
hearth, which was made the scene of that dark rehearsal,
possessed, in no ordinary degree, the amiable
feelings natural to their innocent years. Most, or all, of
the individuals, that then formed the little circle of
spectators, are now busy with the cares and the duties
of adult life. All of them are just, honorable, and
generous, I doubt not, in the various relations which
they sustain, toward their white brethren. Yet who
can wonder that the spirit of that hour—not to speak
of many such—should have cast a cloud over the
vision of conscience, in regard to the rights and the
condition of the African?
The patrol that ensued, on the night alluded to, was
unavailing. But after a few days, an invitation was
18(2)r
275
sent to some distance, for a man, whose dogs were
famed for their scent, and whose rifle had already
brought down several black victims—three, fatally.
The hunt was successful. The unerring dogs tracked
their objects with mortal certainty. The party was
surprised in the recesses of a distant swamp; and, in
agitation, or despair, neglecting the warning shout,
broke, and fled. The rifle of the fortunate hunter did
its usual work; and Ralph lay bleeding from a ball
lodged in his side. Some of the gang were wounded
less dangerously; and others were secured, without
injury.
The wounded man was the property of the overseer,
and the same whose knife had, on a former occasion,
gleamed before his master’s eyes. The circumstance
was not forgotten by the latter. “Let him die, as he
deserves!” was the answer he returned, when asked
if he would have the negro cared for. But his more
human employer had the sufferer conveyed to one of
his plantations, and attended by the physician. Death
ensured, however, in a few weeks.
The habits of the overseer, ere long, grew to such a
pitch, that it became necessary to supersede him.
Loss of employment, recklessness, and despair, gave
yet freer scope of his besetting vice; and ere another
season, he departed to confront the victim of his cruelty,
at a bar where the plea of expediency is never
heard.
This brief sketch will suggest, to the reflective and
benevolent mind, more than, in any form of language,
it could be made to express. It has been penned with
no view to excite unkind feelings. My wish is
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276
to appeal to parents, and to the thoughtful few among
teachers, who are endeavoring to build up aright the
fabric of human character.
Slavery is a deep-seated, hereditary disease, interwoven
with the constitution, requiring skilful, delibererate,
and provident treatment, and, most of all, those
anticipative and preventive measures, which shall
prove an adequate obstruction to its further transmission.
Wo to us, if, through a selfish fear, or the base
desire of gain, we hand down the evil unmitigated to
our children! Let us generously think and act for
them, if not for ourselves. Above all, let not those
communities, which are free from the taint of actual
contact with it, defile themselves anew, by legalizing
measures which close the door of hope on the mental
prospects of the African, and contribute to render his
wrongs perpetual.
R.
prospects and American liberty, it is mortifying to be
reminded that a large portion of the people in that
very country are slaves. It is a dark spot on the face
of the nation. Such a state of things cannot always
exist. ” .
Annotations
Textual note 1
The English made an effort to have teams introduced into use at
the Custom House of Rio; but it was violently opposed by the clerks
of the establishment, who made money by letting out their slaves for
this purpose.
Go to note 1 in context.
Textual note 2
The saka-saka is a kind of African castanets made of a gourd, with
a handle passed through the centre, and filled with pebbles, or dried
peas.
Go to note 2 in context.
Textual note 5
A letter from Theodore D. Weld, of the same institution,
says: “We have established five day schools among
the three thousand colored people of Cincinnati; a Lyceum
with tri-weekly lectures; evening schools for teaching
adults to read; Sabbath schools and Bible classes. We are
also trying to establish a reading-room and library for them.
I have never seen such eagerness to acquire knowledge, nor
such rapidity of acquisition.”
Go to note 5 in context.
Textual note 7
This instrument of torture is in use in our own slave States. The
late Mr Wirt, in his Life of Patrick Henry, calls the southern overseers,
“the feculum of the human race.” Yet they are a necessary part of
this hateful system.
Go to note 7 in context.
Textual note 9
The first revolt of the slaves in St Domingo was caused in the
same manner. The French promised the slaves emancipation if they
would fight against the English. They fought bravely; but when the
English were repelled, the masters refused to keep their promise.
Go to note 9 in context.
Textual note 10
This story was related by a Southern gentleman, who particularly
dwelt upon the scornful irony, with which the master addressed the
slave.
Go to note 10 in context.
Textual note 12
One who played a part in this scene, having a long time after obtained
an audience on business, with the young prince (then Duke of
Orleans) recalled this anecdote to his memory, and said smiling, “You
see, Monseigneur, that you very early had a taste for equality.”
Go to note 12 in context.
Textual note 13
This law was in existence in Jamaica at the period alluded to. The
English have had sufficient wisdom and benevolence to remove all the
obstacles that necessarily prevented the black man from rising to a
moral and intellectual equality with the white man. But in half the
States of this republic it is still a deadly crime, in the eye of the law,
to teach the alphabet to a colored person.
Go to note 13 in context.
Textual note 14
This reminds me of a story I have heard of a very delicate and
languid lady in one of our Southern States. Being displeased with a
female slave, she ordered the overseer to flog her, and to tie her in
front of the window where she was sitting, that she might see the
punishment administered. After a while, she gently waved her lily-
white hand, and said, in an exceedingly soft, indolent voice, “It is
sufficient.”
Go to note 14 in context.
Textual note 15
It is worthy of remark that the Colonists favored Mahometism and
Paganism among their slaves, because they were afraid of Christianity.
Go to note 15 in context.
Textual note 16
The conversation here recorded has actually occurred between the
Editor and different Colonizationists.
Go to note 16 in context.
Textual note 17
This confession was made verbatim to the editor by a friend of
Colonization.
Go to note 17 in context.
Textual note 19
Last winter the Senate of Kentucky were equally divided on the
subject of immediate abolition.
Go to note 19 in context.
Textual note 21
According to mythology, Ethiopia contained the Table of the Sun,
which kindled whenever the rays of that great luminary shone upon it.
Go to note 21 in context.
Textual note 22
The author tells but a small portion of the truth. More than ten
thousand are annually exported to the new slave States from Virginia
alone. A single gang, or coffle often consists of some hundreds. In
this way the planters manage to resuscitate fortunes exhausted by the
canker-worm of slave-labor. Some who have resided in Virginia
have expressed their firm conviction, that they would give up slavery
in the old States from sheer inability to support “the costly iniquity,”
if it were not for the facility of raising money by breeding black cattle
for the new slave States. The translator of Saxe Weimar’s Travels
says: “A plain unvarnished picture of the internal slave-trade carried
on in this country would shock and disgust the reader to a degree that
would render him almost ashamed to acknowledge himself a member
of the same community. In unmanly, degrading barbarity, wanton
cruelty, and horrible indifference to every human emotion, facts could
be produced worthy of association with whatever is recorded of the
slave-trade in any other form.”
Go to note 22 in context.
Textual note 23
Here the translator of Saxe Weimar’s work says: “The virtuous
indignation of the Duke at these horrible consequences of slavery, is
what every man not hardened by long familiarity with such scenes
must feel. It is not so generally known as it should be that the slave-
trade is carried on almost as vigorously now, as it ever was, and by
citizens of almost every nation—not in the least excepting Americans.”
Go to note 23 in context.
Textual note 24
Slaves have the utmost horror of sugar plantations, on account of
the toilsome nature of the occupation.
Go to note 24 in context.
Textual note 25
Capt. Hall is of the same opinion, and talks of abolition as a very
rash thing. I have heard several planters say “The time had not yet come
to do away with this great evil; perhaps in one or two hundred years it
might be effected.” If they are sincere, is it not a strange kind of
selfish indolence which leads them to entail upon their posterity, the
curse which they so pathetically bewail has been entailed upon them
by England? What they now consider so difficult, will be a thousand
fold more difficult a hundred years hence. Are these the men who
fought about a small tax on tea, because it involved a principle dangerous
to the liberty and prosperity of their descendants?
Go to note 25 in context.
Textual note 26
The value of slave labor reminds me of an anecdote. Some gentlemen
travelling through a sandy and barren part of New England,
stood looking over into the fields, while the driver changed horses. “I
pity whoever owns this land,” said one. “He must be a confounded
poor fellow,” said another. A man, who had been working, unperceived,
near the wall, started up, and exclaimed, “Not so confounded
poor, neither! I don’t own but two acres of it.”
Go to note 26 in context.
Textual note 27
The Pariahs are the lowest caste in Hindostan, compelled to follow
none but the most toilsome occupations, and forbidden to marry out of
their own caste.
Go to note 27 in context.
Textual note 28
In 18291829 the Legislature of New York extended the right of suffrage
to colored men possessed of a clear freehold estate, without encumbrance,
of the value of two hundred and fifty dollars. The same right
was granted to every white man of twentyone years, who had been one
year in the State.
Go to note 28 in context.