The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Anti-Slavery Examiner, Part 2 of 4
by American Anti-Slavery Society
This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or
re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
Title: The Anti-Slavery Examiner, Part 2 of 4
Author: American Anti-Slavery Society
Release Date: February 25, 2004 [EBook #11272]
Language: English
*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ANTI-SLAVERY EXAMINER, PART 2 OF 4 ***
Produced by Stan Goodman, Amy Overmyer and PG Distributed Proofreaders
THE ANTI-SLAVERY EXAMINER PART 2 OF 4
BY The American Anti-Slavery Society
1838
No. 5. THE CHATTEL PRINCIPLE THE ABHORRENCE OF JESUS CHRIST AND
THE APOSTLES; OR NO REFUGE FOR AMERICAN SLAVERY IN THE NEW
TESTAMENT.
No. 6. NARRATIVE OF JAMES WILLIAMS, AN AMERICAN SLAVE.
No. 7. EMANCIPATION IN THE WEST INDIES.
No. 8. CORRESPONDENCE, BETWEEN THE HON. F.H. ELMORE, ONE OF THE
SOUTH CAROLINA DELEGATION IN CONGRESS, AND JAMES G.
BIRNEY, ONE OF THE SECRETARIES OF THE AMERICAN
ANTI-SLAVERY SOCIETY.
No. 9. LETTER OF GERRIT SMITH, TO HON. HENRY CLAY.
No. 10. EMANCIPATION In The WEST INDIES, IN 1838.
* * * * *
NO. 5
THE ANTI-SLAVERY EXAMINER
* * * * *
THE
POWER OF CONGRESS
OVER THE
DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA.
* * * * *
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE NEW-YORK EVENING POST, UNDER THE SIGNATURE
OF "WYTHE."
* * * * *
WITH ADDITIONS BY THE AUTHOR.
FOURTH EDITION.
* * * * *
NEW YORK: PUBLISHED BY THE AMERICAN ANTI-SLAVERY SOCIETY, No. 143 NASSAU
STREET. 1838.
* * * * *
This No. contains 3-1/2 sheets.--Postage, under 100 miles, 6 cts. over
100, 10 cts.
POWER OF CONGRESS OVER THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA.
A civilized community presupposes a government of law. If that
government be a republic, its citizens are the sole _sources_, as well
as the _subjects_ of its power. Its constitution is their bill of
directions to their own agents--a grant authorizing the exercise of
certain powers, and prohibiting that of others. In the Constitution of
the United States, whatever else may be obscure, the clause granting
power to Congress over the Federal District may well defy
misconstruction. Art. 1, Sec. 8, Clause 18: "The Congress shall have
power to exercise exclusive legislation, _in all cases whatsoever_, over
such District." Congress may make laws for the District "in all
_cases_," not of all _kinds_. The grant respects the _subjects_ of
legislation, _not_ the moral nature of the laws. The law-making power
every where, is subject to _moral_ restrictions, whether limited by
constitutions or not. No legislature can authorize murder, nor make
honesty penal, nor virtue a crime, nor exact impossibilities. In these
and similar respects, the power of Congress is held in check by
principles existing in the nature of things, not imposed by the
Constitution, but presupposed and assumed by it. The power of Congress
over the District is restricted only by those principles that limit
ordinary legislation, and, in some respects, it has even wider scope.
In common with the legislatures of the States, Congress cannot
constitutionally pass ex post facto laws in criminal cases, nor suspend
the writ of habeas corpus, nor pass a bill of attainder, nor abridge the
freedom of speech and of the press, nor invade the right of the people
to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, nor enact
laws respecting an establishment of religion. These are general
limitations. Congress cannot do these things _any where_. The exact
import, therefore, of the clause "in all cases whatsoever," is, _on all
subjects within the appropriate sphere of legislation_. Some
legislatures are restrained by constitutions from the exercise of powers
strictly within the proper sphere of legislation. Congressional power
over the District has no such restraint. It traverses the whole field of
legitimate legislation. All the power which any legislature has within
its own jurisdiction, Congress holds over the District of Columbia.
It has been asserted that the clause in question respects merely police
regulations, and that its sole design was to enable Congress to protect
itself against popular tumults. But if the framers of the Constitution
aimed to provide for a _single_ case only, why did they provide for
"_all_ cases whatsoever?" Besides, this clause was opposed in many of
the state conventions, because the grant of power was not restricted to
police regulations _alone_. In the Virginia Convention, George Mason,
the father of the Virginia Constitution, said, "This clause gives an
unlimited authority in every possible case within the District. He would
willingly give them exclusive power as far as respected the police and
good government of the place, but he would give them no more." Mr.
Grayson said, that control over the _police_ was all-sufficient, and
that the "Continental Congress never had an idea of exclusive
legislation in all cases." Patrick Henry said. "Is it consistent with
any principle of prudence or good policy, to grant _unlimited, unbounded
authority?_" Mr. Madison said in reply: "I did conceive that the clause
under consideration was one of those parts which would speak its own
praise. When any power is given, its delegation necessarily involves
authority to make laws to execute it. * * * * The powers which are found
necessary to be given, are therefore delegated _generally_, and
particular and minute specification is left to the legislature. * * * It
is not within the limits of human capacity to delineate on paper all
those particular cases and circumstances, in which legislation by the
general legislature would be necessary." Governor Randolph said:
"Holland has no ten miles square, but she has the Hague where the
deputies of the States assemble. But the influence which it has given
the province of Holland, to have the seat of government within its
territory, subject in some respects to its control, has been injurious
to the other provinces. The wisdom of the Convention is therefore
manifest in granting to Congress exclusive jurisdiction over the place
of their session." [_Deb. Va. Con._, p. 320.] In the forty-third number
of the "Federalist," Mr. Madison says: "The indispensable necessity of
_complete_ authority at the seat of government, carries its own
evidence with it."
Finally, that the grant in question is to be interpreted according to
the obvious import of its _terms_, is proved by the fact, that Virginia
proposed an amendment to the United States' Constitution at the time of
its adoption, providing that this clause "should be so construed as to
give power only over the _police and good government_ of said District,"
_which amendment was rejected_.
The former part of the clause under consideration, "Congress shall have
power to exercise _exclusive_ legislation," gives _sole_ jurisdiction,
and the latter part, "in all cases whatsoever," defines the _extent_ of
it. Since, then, Congress is the _sole_ legislature within the District,
and since its power is limited only by the checks common to all
legislatures, it follows that what the law-making power is intrinsically
competent to do _any_ where, Congress is competent to do in the District
of Columbia. Having disposed of preliminaries, we proceed to state and
argue the _real_ question at issue.
IS THE LAW-MAKING POWER COMPETENT TO ABOLISH SLAVERY WHEN NOT RESTRICTED
IN THAT PARTICULAR BY CONSTITUTIONAL PROVISIONS--or, IS THE ABOLITION OF
SLAVERY WITHIN THE APPROPRIATE SPHERE OF LEGISLATION?
1. In every government, absolute sovereignty exists _somewhere_. In the
United States it exists primarily with the _people_, and _ultimate_
sovereignty _always_ exists with them. In each of the States, the
legislature possesses a _representative_ sovereignty, delegated by the
people through the Constitution--the people thus committing to the
legislature a portion of their sovereignty, and specifying in their
constitutions the amount of the grant and its conditions. That the
_people_ in any state where slavery exists, have the power to abolish
it, none will deny. If the legislature have not the power, it is because
_the people_ have reserved it to themselves. Had they lodged with the
legislature "power to exercise exclusive legislation in all cases
whatsoever," they would have parted with their sovereignty over the
legislation of the State, and so far forth, the legislature would have
become _the people_, clothed with all their functions, and as such
competent, _during the continuance of the grant_, to do whatever the
people might have done before the surrender of their power:
consequently, they would have the power to abolish slavery. The
sovereignty of the District of Columbia exists _somewhere_--where is it
lodged? The citizens of the District have no legislature of their own,
no representation in Congress, and no political power whatever. Maryland
and Virginia have surrendered to the United States their "full and
absolute right and entire sovereignty," and the people of the United
States have committed to Congress by the Constitution, the power to
"exercise exclusive legislation in all cases whatsoever over such
District."
Thus, the sovereignty of the District of Columbia, is shown to reside
solely in the Congress of the United States; and since the power of the
people of a state to abolish slavery within their own limits, results
from their entire sovereignty within that state, so the power of
Congress to abolish slavery in the District, results from its entire
sovereignty within the District. If it be objected that Congress can
have no more power over the District, than was held by the legislatures
of Maryland and Virginia, we ask what clause of the constitution
graduates the power of Congress by the standard of those legislatures?
Was the United States' constitution worked into its present shape under
the measuring line and square of Virginia and Maryland? and is its power
to be bevelled down till it can run in the grooves of state legislation?
There is a deal of prating about constitutional power over the District,
as though Congress were indebted for it to Maryland and Virginia. The
powers of those states, whether prodigies or nullities, have nothing to
do with the question. As well thrust in the powers of the Grand Lama to
join issue upon, or twist papal bulls into constitutional tether, with
which to curb congressional action. THE CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED
STATES gives power to Congress, and takes it away, and _it alone_.
Maryland and Virginia adopted the Constitution _before_ they ceded to
the United States the territory of the District. By their acts of
cession, they abdicated their own sovereignty over the District, and
thus made room for that provided by the United States' constitution,
which sovereignty was to commence as soon as a cession of territory by
states, and its acceptance by Congress, furnished a sphere for its
exercise. That the abolition of slavery is within the sphere of
legislation, I argue.
2. FROM THE FACT, THAT SLAVERY, AS A LEGAL SYSTEM, IS THE CREATURE OF
LEGISLATION. The law, by _creating_ slavery, not only affirmed its
_existence_ to be within the sphere and under the control of
legislation, but also, the conditions and terms of its existence, and
the _question_ whether or not it should exist. Of course legislation
would not travel _out_ of its sphere, in abolishing what is _within_ it,
and what had been recognized to be within it, by its own act. Cannot
legislatures repeal their own laws? If law can take from a man his
rights, it can give them back again. If it can say, "your body belongs
to your neighbor," it can say, "it belongs to _yourself_." If it can
annul a man's right to himself, held by express grant from his Maker,
and can create for another an _artificial_ title to him, can it not
annul the artificial title, and leave the original owner to hold himself
by his original title?
3. THE ABOLITION OF SLAVERY HAS ALWAYS BEEN CONSIDERED WITHIN THE
APPROPRIATE SPHERE OF LEGISLATION. Almost every civilized nation has
abolished slavery by law. The history of legislation since the revival
of letters, is a record crowded with testimony to the universally
admitted competency of the law-making power to abolish slavery. It is so
manifestly an attribute not merely of absolute sovereignty, but even of
ordinary legislation, that the competency of a legislature to exercise
it, may well nigh be reckoned among the legal axioms of the civilized
world. Even the night of the dark ages was not dark enough to make this
invisible.
The Abolition decree of the great council of England was passed in 1102.
The memorable Irish decree, "that all the English slaves in the whole of
Ireland, be immediately emancipated and restored to their former
liberty," was issued in 1171. Slavery in England was abolished by a
general charter of emancipation in 1381. Passing over many instances of
the abolition of slavery by law, both during the middle ages and since
the reformation, we find them multiplying as we approach our own times.
In 1776 slavery was abolished in Prussia by special edict. In St.
Domingo, Cayenne, Guadaloupe, and Martinique, in 1794, where more than
600,000 slaves were emancipated by the French government. In Java, 1811;
in Ceylon, 1815; in Buenos Ayres, 1816; in St. Helena, 1819; in
Colombia, 1821; by the Congress of Chili in 1821; in Cape Colony, 1823;
in Malacca, 1825; in the southern provinces of Birmah, 1826; in Bolivia,
1826; in Peru, Guatemala, and Monte Video, 1828; in Jamaica, Barbados,
the Bermudas, the Bahamas, Anguilla, Mauritius, St. Christopers, Nevis,
the Virgin Islands, (British), Antigua, Montserrat, Dominica, St.
Vincents, Grenada, Berbice, Tobago, St. Lucia, Trinidad, Honduras,
Demerara, Essequibo and the Cape of Good Hope, on the 1st of August,
1834. But waving details, suffice it to say, that England, France,
Spain, Portugal, Denmark, Russia, Austria, Prussia, and Germany, have
all and often given their testimony to the competency of the legislative
power to abolish slavery. In our own country, the Legislature of
Pennsylvania passed an act of abolition in 1780, Connecticut in 1784;
Rhode Island, 1784; New-York, 1799; New-Jersey, in 1804; Vermont, by
Constitution, in 1777; Massachusetts, in 1780; and New-Hampshire,
in 1784.
When the competency of the law-making power to abolish slavery has thus
been recognized every where and for ages, when it has been embodied in
the highest precedents, and celebrated in the thousand jubilees of
regenerated liberty, is it an achievement of modern discovery, that such
a power is a nullity?--that all these acts of abolition are void, and
that the millions disenthralled by them, are, either themselves or their
posterity, still legally in bondage?
4. LEGISLATIVE POWER HAS ABOLISHED SLAVERS IN ITS PARTS. The law of
South Carolina prohibits the working of slaves more than fifteen hours
in the twenty-four. In other words, it takes from the slaveholder his
power over nine hours of the slave's time daily; and if it can take nine
hours it may take twenty-four. The laws of Georgia prohibit the working
of slaves on the first day of the week; and if they can do it for the
first, they can for the six following. The law of North Carolina
prohibits the "immoderate" correction of slaves. If it has power to
prohibit _immoderate_ correction, it can prohibit _moderate_
correction--_all_ correction, which would be virtual emancipation; for,
take from the master the power to inflict pain, and he is master no
longer. Cease to ply the slave with the stimulus of fear, and he
is free.
The Constitution of Mississippi gives the General Assembly power to make
laws "to oblige the owners of slaves to _treat them with humanity_." The
Constitution of Missouri has the same clause, and an additional one
making it the DUTY of the legislature to pass such laws as may be
necessary to secure the _humane_ treatment of the slaves. This grant to
those legislatures, empowers them to decide what _is_ and what is _not_
"humane treatment." Otherwise it gives no "power"--the clause is mere
waste paper, and flouts in the face of a befooled legislature. A clause
giving power to require "humane treatment" covers all the _particulars_
of such treatment--gives power to exact it in _all respects--requiring_
certain acts, and _prohibiting_ others--maiming, branding, chaining
together, separating families, floggings for learning the alphabet, for
reading the Bible, for worshiping God according to conscience--the
legislature has power to specify each of these acts--declare that it is
not "_humane_ treatment," and PROHIBIT it.--The legislature may also
believe that driving men and women into the field, and forcing them to
work without pay, is not "humane treatment," and being constitutionally
bound "to _oblige_" masters to practise "humane treatment"--they have
the _power_ to _prohibit such_ treatment, and are bound to do it.
The law of Louisiana makes slaves real estate, prohibiting the holder,
if he be also a _land_ holder, to separate them from the soil.[A] If it
has power to prohibit the sale _without_ the soil, it can prohibit the
sale _with_ it; and if it can prohibit the _sale_ as property, it can
prohibit the _holding_ as property. Similar laws exist in the French,
Spanish, and Portuguese colonies. The law of Louisiana requires the
master to give his slaves a certain amount of food and clothing. If it
can oblige the master to give the slave _one_ thing, it can oblige him
to give him another: if food and clothing, then wages, liberty, his own
body. By the laws of Connecticut, slaves may receive and hold property,
and prosecute suits in their own name as plaintiffs: [This last was also
the law of Virginia in 1795. See Tucker's "Dissertation on Slavery," p.
73.] There were also laws making marriage contracts legal, in certain
contingencies, and punishing infringements of them, ["_Reeve's Law of
Baron and Femme_," p. 340-1.]
[Footnote A: Virginia made slaves real estate by a law passed in 1705.
(_Beverly's Hist. of Va._, p. 98.) I do not find the precise time when
this law was repealed, probably when Virginia became the chief slave
breeder for the cotton-growing and sugar-planting country, and made
young men and women "from fifteen to twenty-five" the main staple
production of the State.]
Each of the laws enumerated above, does, _in principle_, abolish
slavery; and all of them together abolish it _in fact_. True, not as a
_whole_, and at a _stroke_, nor all in one place; but in its _parts_, by
piecemeal, at divers times and places; thus showing that the abolition
of slavery is within the boundary of legislation.
In the "Washington (D.C.) City Laws," page 138, is "AN ACT to prevent
horses from being cruelly beaten or abused." Similar laws have been
passed by corporations in many of the slave states, and throughout the
civilized world, such acts are punishable either as violations of common
law or of legislative enactments. If a legislature can pass laws "to
prevent _horses_ from being cruelly abused," it can pass laws to prevent
_men_ from being cruelly abused, and if it can _prevent_ cruel abuse, it
can define _what it is_. It can declare that to make men _work without
pay_ is cruel abuse, and can PROHIBIT it.
5. THE COMPETENCY OF THE LAW-MAKING POWER TO ABOLISH SLAVERY, HAS BEEN
RECOGNIZED BY ALL THE SLAVEHOLDING STATES, EITHER DIRECTLY OR BY
IMPLICATION. Some States recognize it in their _Constitutions_, by
giving the legislature power to emancipate such slaves as may "have
rendered the state some distinguished service," and others by express
prohibitory restrictions. The Constitution of Mississippi, Arkansas, and
other States, restrict the power of the legislature in this respect. Why
this express prohibition, if the law-making power _cannot_ abolish
slavery? A stately farce indeed, with appropriate rites to induct into
the Constitution a special clause, for the express purpose of
restricting a nonentity!--to take from the law-making power what it
_never had_, and what _cannot_ pertain to it! The legislatures of those
States have no power to abolish slavery, simply because their
Constitutions have expressly _taken away_ that power. The people of
Arkansas, Mississippi, &c. well knew the competency of the law-making
power to abolish slavery, and hence their zeal to _restrict_ it.
The slaveholding States have recognised this power in their _laws_.
Virginia passed a law in 1786 to prevent the importation of Slaves, of
which the following is an extract: "And be it further enacted that every
slave imported into this commonwealth contrary to the true intent and
meaning of this act, shall upon such importation become _free_." By a
law of Virginia, passed Dec. 17, 1792, a slave brought into the state
and kept _there a year_, was _free_. The Maryland Court of Appeals,
Dec., 1813 [case of Stewart vs. Oakes,] decided that a slave owned in
Maryland, and sent by his master into Virginia to work at different
periods, making one year in the whole, became _free_, being
_emancipated_ by the above law. North Carolina and Georgia in their acts
of cession, transferring to the United States the territory now
constituting the States of Tennessee, Alabama and Mississippi, made it a
condition of the grant, that the provisions of the ordinance of '87
should be secured to the inhabitants, _with the exception of the sixth
article which prohibits slavery_; thus conceding, both the competency of
law to abolish slavery, and the power of Congress to do it, within its
jurisdiction. (These acts show the prevalent belief at that time, in the
slaveholding States, that the general government had adopted a line of
policy aiming at the exclusion of slavery from the entire territory of
the United States, not included within the original States, and that
this policy would be pursued unless prevented by specific and formal
stipulation.)
Slaveholding States have asserted this power _in their judicial
decisions_. In numerous cases their highest courts have decided that if
the legal owner of slaves takes them into those States where slavery has
been abolished either by law or by the constitution, such removal
emancipates them, such law or constitution abolishing their slavery.
This principle is asserted in the decision of the Supreme Court of
Louisiana, Lunsford vs. Coquillon, 14 Martin's La. Reps. 401. Also by
the Supreme Court of Virginia, Hunter vs. Fulcher, 1 Leigh's Reps. 172.
The same doctrine was laid down by Judge Washington, of the U. S. Sup.
Court, Butler vs. Hopper, Washington's C. C. Reps. 508; also, by the
Court of Appeals in Kentucky, Rankin vs. Lydia, 2 Marshall's Reps. 407;
see also, Wilson vs. Isbell, 5 Call's Reps. 425, Spotts vs. Gillespie, 6
Randolph's Reps. 566. The State vs. Lasselle, 1 Blackford's Reps. 60,
Marie Louise vs. Mariot, 8 La. Reps. 475. In this case, which was tried
in 1836, the slave had been taken by her master to France and brought
back; Judge Matthews, of the Supreme Court of Louisiana, decided that
"residence for one moment" under the laws of France emancipated her.
6. EMINENT STATESMEN, THEMSELVES SLAVEHOLDERS, HAVE CONCEDED THIS POWER.
Washington, in a letter to Robert Morris, April 12, 1786, says: "There
is not a man living, who wishes more sincerely than I do, to see a plan
adopted for the abolition of slavery; but there is only one proper and
effectual mode by which it can be accomplished, and that is by
_legislative_ authority." In a letter to Lafayette, May 10, 1786, he
says: "It (the abolition of slavery) certainly might, and assuredly
ought to be effected, and that too by _legislative_ authority." In a
letter to John Fenton Mercer, Sept. 9, 1786, he says: "It is among my
first wishes to see some plan adopted by which slavery in this country
may be abolished by _law_." In a letter to Sir John Sinclair, he says:
"There are in Pennsylvania, _laws_ for the gradual abolition of slavery,
which neither Maryland nor Virginia have at present, but which nothing
is more certain than that they _must have_, and at a period not remote."
Jefferson, speaking of movements in the Virginia Legislature in 1777,
for the passage of a law emancipating the slaves, says: "The principles
of the amendment were agreed on, that is to say, the freedom of all born
after a certain day; but it was found that the public mind would not
bear the proposition, yet the day is not far distant when _it must bear
and adopt it_."--Jefferson's Memoirs, v. i. p. 35. It is well known that
Jefferson, Pendleton, Mason, Wythe and Lee, while acting as a committee
of the Virginia House of Delegates to revise the State Laws, prepared a
plan for the gradual emancipation of the slaves by law. These men were
the great lights of Virginia. Mason, the author of the Virginia
Constitution; Pendleton, the President of the memorable Virginia
Convention in 1787, and President of the Virginia Court of Appeals;
Wythe was the Blackstone of the Virginia bench, for a quarter of a
century Chancellor of the State, the professor of law in the University
of William and Mary, and the preceptor of Jefferson, Madison, and Chief
Justice Marshall. He was the author of the celebrated remonstrance to
the English House of Commons on the subject of the stamp act. As to
Jefferson, his _name_ is his biography.
Every slaveholding member of Congress from the States of Maryland,
Virginia, North and South Carolina, and Georgia, voted for the
celebrated ordinance of 1787, which abolished the slavery then existing
in the Northwest Territory. Patrick Henry, in his well known letter to
Robert Pleasants, of Virginia, January 18, 1773, says: "I believe a time
will come when an opportunity will be offered to abolish this lamentable
evil." William Pinkney, of Maryland, advocated the abolition of slavery
by law, in the legislature of that State, in 1789. Luther Martin urged
the same measure both in the Federal Convention, and in his report to
the Legislature of Maryland. In 1796, St. George Tucker, of Virginia,
professor of law in the University of William and Mary, and Judge of the
General Court, published a dissertation on slavery, urging the abolition
of slavery by _law_.
John Jay, while New-York was yet a slave State, and himself in law a
slaveholder, said in a letter from Spain, in 1786, "An excellent law
might be made out of the Pennsylvania one, for the gradual abolition of
slavery. Were I in your legislature, I would present a bill for the
purpose, and I would never cease moving it till it became a law, or I
ceased to be a member."
Governor Tompkins, in a message to the Legislature of New-York, January
8, 1812, said: "To devise the means for the gradual and ultimate
_extermination_ from amongst us of slavery, is a work worthy the
_representatives_ of a polished and enlightened nation."
The Virginia Legislature asserted this power in 1832. At the close of a
month's debate, the following proceedings were had. I extract from an
editorial article in the Richmond Whig, Jan. 26, 1832.
"The report of the Select Committee, adverse to legislation on the
subject of Abolition, was in these words: _Resolved_, as the opinion of
this Committee, that it is INEXPEDIENT FOR THE PRESENT, to make any
_legislative enactments for the abolition of slavery_." This Report Mr.
Preston moved to reverse, and thus to declare that it _was_ expedient,
_now_ to make legislative enactments for the abolition of slavery. This
was meeting the question in its strongest form. It demanded action, and
immediate action. On this proposition the vote was 58 to 73. Many of the
most decided friends of abolition voted against the amendment, because
they thought public opinion not sufficiently prepared for it, and that
it might prejudice the cause to move too rapidly. The vote on Mr.
Witcher's motion to postpone the whole subject indefinitely, indicates
the true state of opinion in the House. That was the test question, and
was so intended and proclaimed by its mover. That motion was
_negatived_, 71 to 60; showing a majority of 11, who by that vote,
declared their belief that at the proper time, and in the proper mode,
Virginia ought to commence a system of gradual abolition.
7. THE CONGRESS OF THE UNITED STATES HAVE ASSERTED THIS POWER. The
ordinance of '87, declaring that there should be "neither slavery nor
involuntary servitude," in the North Western Territory, abolished the
slavery then existing there. The Sup. Court of Mississippi, [Harvey vs.
Decker, Walker's Mi. Reps. 36,] declared that the ordinance of '87
emancipated the slaves then held there. In this decision the question is
argued ably and at great length. The Supreme Court of La. made the same
decision in the case of Forsyth vs. Nash, 4 Martin's La. Reps. 385. The
same doctrine was laid down by Judge Porter, (late United States Senator
from La.,) in his decision at the March term of the La. Supreme Court,
1830, Merry vs. Chexnaider, 20 Martin's Reps. 699.
That the ordinance abolished the slavery then existing there is also
shown by the fact, that persons holding slaves in the territory
petitioned for the repeal of the article abolishing slavery, assigning
_that_ as a reason. "The petition of the citizens of Randolph and St.
Clair counties in the Illinois country, stating that they were in
possession of slaves, and praying the repeal of that act (the 6th
article of the ordinance of '87) and the passage of a law legalizing
slavery there." [Am. State papers, Public Lands, v. 1. p. 69.] Congress
passed this ordinance before the United States' Constitution was
adopted, when it derived all its authority from the articles of
Confederation, which conferred powers of legislation far more restricted
than those committed to Congress over the District and Territories by
the United States' Constitution. Now, we ask, how does the Constitution
_abridge_ the powers which Congress possessed under the articles of
confederation?
The abolition of the slave trade by Congress, in 1808, is another
illustration of the competency of legislative power to abolish slavery.
The African slave trade has become such a mere _technic_, in common
parlance, that the fact of its being _proper slavery_ is overlooked. The
buying and selling, the transportation, and the horrors of the middle
passage, were mere _incidents_ of the slavery in which the victims were
held. Let things be called by their own names. When Congress abolished
the African slave trade, it abolished SLAVERY--supreme slavery--power
frantic with license, trampling a whole hemisphere scathed with its
fires, and running down with blood. True, Congress did not, in the
abolition of the slave trade, abolish all the slavery within its
jurisdiction, but it did abolish _all_ the slavery _in one_ part of its
jurisdiction. What has rifled it of power to abolish slavery in
_another_ part of its jurisdiction, especially in that part where it has
"exclusive legislation in all cases whatsoever?"
8. THE CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES RECOGNIZES THIS POWER BY THE
MOST CONCLUSIVE IMPLICATION. In Art. 1, sec. 3, clause 1, it prohibits
the abolition of the slave trade previous to 1808: thus implying the
power of Congress to do it at once, but for the restriction; and its
power to do it _unconditionally_, when that restriction ceased. Again;
In Art. 4, sec. 2, "No person held to service or labor in one state
under the laws thereof, escaping into another, shall in consequence of
any law or regulation therein, be discharged from said service or
labor." This clause was inserted, as all admit, to prevent the runaway
slave from being emancipated by the _laws_ of the free states. If these
laws had _no power_ to emancipate, why this constitutional guard to
prevent it?
The insertion of the clause, was the testimony of the eminent jurists
that framed the Constitution, to the existence of the _power_, and their
public proclamation, that the abolition of slavery was within the
appropriate sphere of legislation. The right of the owner to that which
is rightfully property, is founded on a principle of _universal law_,
and is recognized and protected by all civilized nations; property in
slaves is, by general consent, an _exception_; hence slaveholders
insisted upon the insertion of this clause in the United States'
Constitution, that they might secure by an _express provision_, that
from which protection is withheld, by the acknowledged principles of
universal law.[A] By demanding this provision, slaveholders consented
that their slaves should not be recognized as property by the United
States' Constitution, and hence they found their claim, on the fact of
their being "_persons_, and _held_ to service."
[Footnote A: The fact, that under the articles of Confederation,
slaveholders, whose slaves had escaped into free states, had no legal
power to force them back,--that _now_ they have no power to recover, by
process of law, their slaves who escape to Canada, the South American
States, or to Europe--the case already cited, in which the Supreme Court
of Louisiana decided, that residence "_for one moment_," under the laws
of France emancipated an American slave--the case of Fulton, _vs._
Lewis, 3 Har. and John's Reps., 56, where the slave of a St. Domingo
slaveholder, who brought him to Maryland in '93, was pronounced free by
the Maryland Court of Appeals--are illustrations of the acknowledged
truth here asserted, that by the consent of the civilized world, and on
the principles of universal law, slaves are not "_property_," and that
whenever held as property under _law_, it is only by _positive
legislative acts_, forcibly setting aside the law of nature, the common
law, and the principles of universal justice and right between man and
man,--principles paramount to all law, and from which alone, law derives
its intrinsic authoritative sanction.]
9. CONGRESS HAS UNQUESTIONABLE POWER TO ADOPT THE COMMON LAW, AS THE
LEGAL SYSTEM, WITHIN ITS EXCLUSIVE JURISDICTION.--This has been done,
with certain restrictions, in most of the States, either by legislative
acts or by constitutional implication. THE COMMON LAW KNOWS NO SLAVES.
Its principles annihilate slavery wherever they touch it. It is a
universal, unconditional, abolition act. Wherever slavery is a legal
system, it is so only by _statute_ law, and in violation of the common
law. The declaration of Lord Chief Justice Holt, that, "by the common
law, no man can have property in another," is an acknowledged axiom, and
based upon the well known common law definition of property. "The
subjects of dominion or property are _things_, as contra-distinguished
from _persons_." Let Congress adopt the common law in the District of
Columbia, and slavery there is abolished. Congress may well be at home
in common law legislation, for the common law is the grand element of
the United States' Constitution. All its _fundamental_ provisions are
instinct with its spirit; and its existence, principles, and paramount
authority, are presupposed and assumed throughout the whole. The
preamble of the Constitution plants the standard of the Common Law
immovably in its foreground. "We, the people of the United States, in
order to ESTABLISH JUSTICE, &c., do ordain and establish this
Constitution;" thus proclaiming _devotion_ to JUSTICE, as the
controlling motive in the organization of the Government, and its secure
establishment the chief object of its aims. By this most solemn
recognition, the common law, that grand legal embodyment of "justice"
and fundamental right--was made the groundwork of the Constitution, and
intrenched behind its strongest munitions. The second clause of Sec. 9,
Art. 1; Sec. 4, Art. 2, and the last clause of Sec. 2, Art. 3, with
Articles 7, 8, 9, and 13 of the Amendments, are also express
recognitions of the common law as the presiding Genius of the
Constitution.
By adopting the common law within its exclusive jurisdiction Congress
would carry out the principles of our glorious Declaration, and follow
the highest precedents in our national history and jurisprudence. It is
a political maxim as old as civil legislation, that laws should be
strictly homogeneous with the principles of the government whose will
they express, embodying and carrying them out--being indeed the
_principles themselves_, in preceptive form--representatives alike of
the nature and power of the Government--standing illustrations of its
genius and spirit, while they proclaim and enforce its authority. Who
needs be told that slavery makes war upon the principles of the
Declaration, and the spirit of the Constitution, and that these and the
principles of the common law gravitate towards each other with
irrepressible affinities, and mingle into one? The common law came
hither with our pilgrim fathers; it was their birthright, their panoply,
their glory, and their song of rejoicing in the house of their
pilgrimage. It covered them in the day of their calamity, and their
trust was under the shadow of its wings. From the first settlement of
the country, the genius of our institutions and our national spirit have
claimed it as a common possession, and exulted in it with a common
pride. A century ago, Governor Pownall, one of the most eminent
constitutional jurists of colonial times, said of the common law, "In
all the colonies the common law is received as the foundation and main
body of their law." In the Declaration of Rights, made by the
Continental Congress at its first session in '74, there was the
following resolution: "Resolved, That the respective colonies are
entitled to the common law of England, and especially to the great and
inestimable privilege of being tried by their peers of the vicinage
according to the course of that law." Soon after the organization of the
general government, Chief Justice Ellsworth, in one of his decisions on
the bench of the U. S. Sup. Court, said: "The common law of this country
remains the same as it was before the revolution." Chief Justice
Marshall, in his decision in the case of Livingston _vs._ Jefferson,
said: "When our ancestors migrated to America, they brought with them
the common law of their native country, so far as it was applicable to
their new situation, and I do not conceive that the revolution in any
degree changed the relations of man to man, or the law which regulates
them. In breaking our political connection with the parent state, we did
not break our connection with each other." [_Hall's Law Journal, new
series_.] Mr. Duponceau, in his "Dissertation on the Jurisdiction of
Courts in the United States," says, "I consider the common law of
England the _jus commune_ of the United States. I think I can lay it
down as a correct principle, that the common law of England, as it was
at the time of the Declaration of Independence, still continues to be
the national law of this country, so far as it is applicable to our
present state, and subject to the modifications it has received here in
the course of nearly half a century." Chief Justice Taylor of North
Carolina, in his decision in the case of the State _vs._ Reed, in 1823,
Hawkes' N.C. Reps. 454, says, "a law of _paramount, obligation to the
statute_, was violated by the offence--COMMON LAW, founded upon the law
of nature, and confirmed by revelation." The legislation of the United
States abounds in recognitions of the principles of the common law,
asserting their paramount binding power. Sparing details, of which our
national state papers are full, we illustrate by a single instance. It
was made a condition of the admission of Louisiana into the Union, that
the right of trial by jury should be secured to all her citizens,--the
United States government thus employing its power to enlarge the
jurisdiction of the common law in this its great representative.
Having shown that the abolition of slavery is within the competency of
the law-making power, when unrestricted by constitutional provisions,
and that the legislation of Congress over the District is thus
unrestricted, its power to abolish slavery there is established. We
argue it further, from the fact that,
10. SLAVERY NOW EXISTS IN THE DISTRICT BY AN ACT OF CONGRESS. In the act
of 16th July, 1790, Congress accepted portions of territory offered by
the states of Maryland and Virginia, and enacted that the laws, as they
then were, should continue in force, "until Congress shall otherwise by
law provide." Under these laws, adopted by Congress, and in effect
re-enacted and made laws of the District, the slaves there are now held.
Is Congress so impotent in its own "exclusive jurisdiction" that it
cannot "otherwise by law provide?" If it can say, what _shall_ be
considered property, it can say what shall _not_ be considered property.
Suppose a legislature should enact that marriage contracts should be
mere bills of sale, making a husband the proprietor of his wife, as his
_bona fide_ property; and suppose husbands should herd their wives in
droves for the market as beasts of burden, or for the brothel as victims
of lust, and then prate about their inviolable legal property, and deny
the power of the legislature, which stamped them "property," to undo its
own wrong, and secure to wives by law the rights of human beings. Would
such cant about "legal rights" be heeded where reason and justice held
sway, and where law, based upon fundamental morality, received homage?
If a frantic legislature pronounces woman a chattel, has it no power,
with returning reason, to take back the blasphemy? Is the impious edict
irrepealable? Be it, that with legal forms it has stamped wives "wares."
Can no legislation blot out the brand? Must the handwriting of Deity on
human nature be expunged for ever? Has LAW no power to stay the erasing
pen, and tear off the scrawled label that covers up the IMAGE OF GOD?
II. THE POWER OF CONGRESS TO ABOLISH SLAVERY IN THE DISTRICT HAS BEEN,
TILL RECENTLY, UNIVERSALLY CONCEDED.
1. It has been assumed by Congress itself. The following record stands
on the journals of the House of Representatives for 1804, p. 225: "On
motion made and seconded that the House do come to the following
resolution: 'Resolved, That from and after the 4th day of July, 1805,
all blacks and people of color that shall be born within the District of
Columbia, or whose mothers shall be the property of any person residing
within the said District, shall be free, the males at the age of ----,
and the females at the age of ----. The main question being taken that
the House do agree to said motions as originally proposed, it was
negatived by a majority of 46.'" Though the motion was lost, it was on
the ground of its alleged _inexpediency_ alone. In the debate which
preceded the vote, the power of Congress was conceded. In March, 1816,
the House of Representatives passed the following resolution: "Resolved,
That a committee be appointed to inquire into the existence of an
inhuman and illegal traffic in slaves, carried on in and through the
District of Columbia, and to report whether any and what measures are
necessary for _putting a stop to the same_."
On the 9th of January, 1829, the House of Representatives passed the
following resolution by a vote of 114 to 66: "Resolved, That the
Committee on the District of Columbia, be instructed to inquire into the
_expediency_ of providing by _law_ for the gradual abolition of slavery
within the District, in such a manner that the interests of no
individual shall be injured thereby." Among those who voted in the
affirmative were Messrs. Barney of Md., Armstrong of Va., A.H. Shepperd
of N.C., Blair of Tenn., Chilton and Lyon of Ky., Johns of Del., and
others from slave states.
2. IT HAS BEEN CONCEDED BY COMMITTEES OF CONGRESS, ON THE DISTRICT OF
COLUMBIA.--In a report of the committee on the District, Jan. 11, 1837,
by their chairman, Mr. Powell of Va., there is the following
declaration: "The Congress of the United States, has by the constitution
exclusive jurisdiction over the District, and has power upon this
subject (_slavery_,) as upon all other subjects of legislation, to
exercise _unlimited discretion_." Reports of Comms. 2d Sess. 19th Cong.
v. iv. No. 43. In December, 1831, the committee on the District, Mr.
Doddridge of Va., Chairman, reported, "That until the adjoining states
act on the subject, (_slavery_) it would be (not _unconstitutional_ but)
unwise and impolitic, if not unjust, for Congress to interfere." In
April, 1836, a special committee on abolition memorials reported the
following resolutions by their Chairman, Mr. Pinckney of South Carolina:
"Resolved, That Congress possesses no constitutional authority to
interfere in any way with the institution of slavery in any of the
states of this confederacy."
"Resolved, That Congress _ought not to interfere_ in any way with
slavery in the District of Columbia." "Ought not to interfere,"
carefully avoiding the phraseology of the first resolution, and thus in
effect conceding the constitutional power. In a widely circulated
"Address to the electors of the Charleston District," Mr. Pinkney is
thus denounced by his own constituents: "He has proposed a resolution
which is received by the plain common sense of the whole country as a
concession that Congress has authority to abolish slavery in the
District of Columbia."
3. IT HAS BEEN CONCEDED BY THE CITIZENS OF THE DISTRICT. A petition for
the gradual abolition of slavery in the District, signed by nearly
eleven hundred of its citizens, was presented to Congress, March 24,
1827. Among the signers to this petition, were Chief Justice Cranch,
Judge Van Ness, Judge Morsel, Prof. J.M. Staughton, and a large number
of the most influential inhabitants of the District. Mr. Dickson, of New
York, asserted on the floor of Congress in 1835, that the signers to
this petition owned more than half the property in the District. The
accuracy of this statement has never been questioned.
THIS POWER HAS BEEN CONCEDED BY GRAND JURIES OF THE DISTRICT. The grand
jury of the county of Alexandria, at the March term, 1802, presented the
domestic slaves trade as a grievance, and said, "We consider these
grievances demanding _legislative_ redress." Jan. 19, 1829, Mr.
Alexander, of Virginia, presented a representation of the grand jury in
the city of Washington, remonstrating against "any measure for the
abolition of slavery within said District, unless accompanied by
measures for the removal of the emancipated from the same;" thus, not
only conceding the power to emancipate slaves, but affirming an
additional power, that of _excluding them when free_. Journal H. R.
1828-9, p. 174.
4. THIS POWER HAS BEEN CONCEDED BY STATE LEGISLATURES. In 1828 the
Legislature of Pennsylvania instructed their Senators in Congress "to
procure, if practicable, the passage of a law to abolish slavery in the
District of Columbia." Jan. 28, 1829, the House of Assembly of New York
passed a resolution, that their "Senators in Congress be instructed to
make every possible exertion to effect the passage of a law for the
abolition of Slavery in the District of Columbia." In February, 1837,
the Senate of Massachusetts "Resolved, That Congress having exclusive
legislation in the District of Columbia, possess the right to abolish
slavery and the slave trade therein." The House of Representatives
passed the following resolution at the same session: "Resolved, That
Congress having exclusive legislation in the District of Columbia,
possess the right to abolish slavery in said District." November 1,
1837, the Legislature of Vermont, "Resolved that Congress have the full
power by the constitution to abolish slavery and the slave trade in the
District of Columbia, and in the territories."
In May, 1838, the Legislature of Connecticut passed a resolution
asserting the power of Congress to abolish slavery in the District
of Columbia.
In January, 1836, the Legislature of South Carolina "Resolved, That we
should consider the abolition of Slavery in the District of Columbia as
a violation of the rights of the citizens of that District derived from
the _implied_ conditions on which that territory was ceded to the
General Government." Instead of denying the constitutional power, they
virtually admit its existence, by striving to smother it under an
_implication_. In February, 1836, the Legislature of North Carolina
"Resolved, That, although by the Constitution _all legislative power_
over the District of Columbia is vested in the Congress of the United
States, yet we would deprecate any legislative action on the part of
that body towards liberating the slaves of that District, as a breach of
faith towards those States by whom the territory was originally ceded.
Here is a full concession of the _power_. February 2, 1836, the Virginia
Legislature passed unanimously the following resolution: "Resolved, by
the General Assembly of Virginia, that the following article be proposed
to the several states of this Union, and to Congress, as an amendment of
the Constitution of the United States:" "The powers of Congress shall not
be so construed as to authorize the passage of any law for the
emancipation of slaves in the District of Columbia, without the consent
of the individual proprietors thereof, unless by the sanction of the
Legislatures of Virginia and Maryland, and under such conditions as they
shall by law prescribe."
Fifty years after the formation of the United States' constitution the
states are solemnly called upon by the Virginia Legislature, to amend
that instrument by a clause asserting that, in the grant to Congress of
"exclusive legislation in all cases whatsoever" over the District, the
"case" of slavery is not included!! What could have dictated such a
resolution but the conviction that the power to abolish slavery is an
irresistible inference from the constitution _as it is?_ The fact that
the same legislature, passed afterward a resolution, though by no means
unanimously, that Congress does not possess the power, abates not a
title of the testimony in the first resolution. March 23d, 1824, "Mr.
Brown presented the resolutions of the General Assembly of Ohio,
recommending to Congress the consideration of a system for the gradual
emancipation of persons of color held in servitude in the United
States." On the same day, "Mr. Noble, of Indiana, communicated a
resolution from the legislature of that state, respecting the gradual
emancipation of slaves within the United States." Journal of the United
States' Senate, for 1824-5, p.231.
The Ohio and Indiana resolutions, by taking for granted the _general_
power of Congress over the subject of slavery, do virtually assert its
_special_ power within its _exclusive_ jurisdiction.
5. THIS POWER HAS BEEN CONCEDED BY BODIES OF CITIZENS IN THE SLAVE
STATES. The petition of eleven hundred citizens of the District, has
been already mentioned. "March 5,1830, Mr. Washington presented a
memorial of inhabitants of the county of Frederick, in the state of
Maryland, praying that provision be made for the gradual abolition of
slavery in the District of Columbia." Journal H.R. 1829-30, p. 358.
March 30, 1828. Mr. A.H. Shepperd, of North Carolina, presented a
memorial of citizens of that state, "praying Congress to take measures
for the entire abolition of slavery in the District of Columbia."
Journal H.R. 1829-30, p. 379.
January 14, 1822. Mr. Rhea, of Tennessee, presented a memorial of
citizens of that state, praying that "provision may be made, whereby all
slaves that may hereafter be born in the District of Columbia, shall be
free at a certain period of their lives." Journal H.R. 1821-22, p.142.
December 13, 1824. Mr. Saunders of North Carolina, presented a memorial
of the citizens of that state, praying "that measures may be taken for
the gradual abolition of slavery in the United States." Journal H.R.
1824-25, p.27.
December 16, 1828. "Mr. Barnard presented the memorial of the American
Convention for promoting the abolition of slavery, held in Baltimore,
praying that slavery may be abolished in the District of Columbia."
Journal U.S. Senate, 1828-29, p.24.
6. DISTINGUISHED STATESMEN AND JURISTS IN THE SLAVEHOLDING STATES, HAVE
CONCEDED THIS POWER. The testimony Of Messrs. Doddridge, and Powell, of
Virginia, Chief Justice Cranch, and Judges Morsel and Van Ness, of the
District, has already been given. In the debate in Congress on the
memorial of the Society of Friends, in 1790, Mr. Madison, in speaking of
the territories of the United States, explicitly declared, from his own
knowledge of the views of the members of the convention that framed the
constitution, as well as from the obvious import of its terms, that in
the territories, "Congress have certainly the power to regulate the
subject of slavery." Congress can have no more power over the
territories than that of "exclusive legislation in all cases
whatsoever," consequently, according to Mr. Madison, "it has certainly
the power to regulate the subject of slavery in the" _District_. In
March, 1816, Mr. Randolph of Virginia, introduced a resolution for
putting a stop to the domestic slave trade within the District. December
12, 1827, Mr. Barney, of Maryland, presented a memorial for abolition in
the District, and moved that it be printed. Mr. McDuffie, of S.C.,
objected to the printing, but "expressly admitted the right of Congress
to grant to the people of the District any measure which they might deem
necessary to free themselves from the deplorable evil."--[See letter of
Mr. Claiborne of Miss. to his constituents published in the Washington
Globe, May 9, 1836.] The sentiments of Mr. Clay of Kentucky, on the
subject are well known. In a speech before the U.S. Senate, in 1836, he
declared the power of Congress to abolish slavery in the District
"unquestionable." Messrs. Blair, of Tennessee, and Chilton, Lyon, and
R.M. Johnson, of Kentucky, A.H. Shepperd, of N.C., Messrs. Armstrong and
Smyth of Va., Messrs. Dorsey, Archer, and Barney, of Md., and Johns, of
Del., with numerous others from slave states have asserted the power of
Congress to abolish slavery in the District. In the speech of Mr. Smyth,
of Virginia, on the Missouri question, January 28, 1820, he says on this
point: "If the future freedom of the blacks is your real object, and not
a mere pretence, why do you begin _here_? Within the ten miles square,
you have _undoubted power_ to exercise exclusive legislation. _Produce a
bill to emancipate the slaves in the District of Columbia_, or, if you
prefer it, to emancipate those born hereafter."
To this may be added the testimony of the present Vice President of the
United States, Hon. Richard M. Johnson, of Kentucky. In a speech before
the U.S. Senate, February 1, 1820, (National Intelligencer, April 29,
1829,) he says: "In the District of Columbia, containing a population of
30,000 souls, and probably as many slaves as the whole territory of
Missouri, THE POWER OF PROVIDING FOR THEIR EMANCIPATION RESTS WITH
CONGRESS ALONE. Why then, this heart-rending sympathy for the slaves of
Missouri, and this cold insensibility, this eternal apathy, towards the
slaves in the District of Columbia?"
It is quite unnecessary to add, that the most distinguished northern
statesmen of both political parties, have always affirmed the power of
Congress to abolish slavery in the District. President Van Buren in his
letter of March 6, 1836, to a committee of Gentlemen in North Carolina,
says, "I would not, from the light now before me, feel myself safe in
pronouncing that Congress does not possess the power of abolishing
slavery in the District of Columbia." This declaration of the President
is consistent with his avowed sentiments touching the Missouri question,
on which he coincided with such men as Daniel D. Thompkins, De Witt
Clinton, and others, whose names are a host.[A] It is consistent, also
with his recommendation in his last message, in which speaking of the
District, he strongly urges upon Congress "a thorough and careful
revision of its local government," speaks of the "entire independence"
of the people of the District "upon Congress," recommends that a
"uniform system of local government" be adopted, and adds, that
"although it was selected as the seat of the General Government, the
site of its public edifices, the depository of its archives, and the
residences of officers intrusted with large amounts of public property,
and the management of public business, yet it never has been subjected
to, or received, that _special_ and _comprehensive_ legislation which
these circumstances peculiarly demanded."
[Footnote A: Mr. Van Buren, when a member of the Senate of New-York,
voted for the following preamble and resolutions, which passed
unanimously:--Jan. 28th, 1820. "Whereas the inhibiting the further
extension of slavery in the United States, is a subject of deep concern
to the people of this state: and whereas, we consider slavery as an evil
much to be deplored, and that _every constitutional barrier should be
interposed to prevent its further extension_: and that the constitution
of the United States _clearly gives Congress the right_ to require new
states, not comprised within the original boundary of the United States,
to _make the prohibition of slavery_ a condition of their admission into
the Union: Therefore,
Resolved, That our Senators be instructed, and our members of
Congress be requested, to oppose the admission as a state into the
Union, of any territory not comprised as aforesaid, without making
_the prohibition of slavery_ therein an indispensible condition of
admission."
]
The tenor of Mr. Tallmadge's speech on the right of petition, and of Mr.
Webster's on the reception of abolition memorials, may be taken as
universal exponents of the sentiments of northern statesmen as to the
power of Congress to abolish slavery in the District of Columbia.
An explicit declaration, that an "_overwhelming majority_" of the
_present_ Congress concede the power to abolish slavery in the District
has just been made by Robert Barnwell Rhett, a member of Congress from
South Carolina, in a letter published in the Charleston Mercury of Dec.
27, 1837. The following is an extract:
"The time has arrived when we must have new guaranties under the
constitution, or the Union must be dissolved. _Our views of the
constitution are not those of the majority_. AN OVERWHELMING MAJORITY
_think that by the constitution, Congress may abolish slavery in the
District of Columbia--may abolish the slave trade between the States;
that is, it may prohibit their being carried out of the State in which
they are--and prohibit it in all the territories, Florida among them.
They think_, NOT WITHOUT STRONG REASONS, _that the power of Congress
extends to all of these subjects_."
_Direct testimony_ to show that the power of Congress to abolish slavery
in the District, has always till recently been _universally conceded_,
is perhaps quite superfluous. We subjoin, however, the following:
The Vice-President of the United States in his speech on the Missouri
question, quoted above, after contending that the restriction of slavery
in Missouri would be unconstitutional, declares, that the power of
Congress over slavery in the District "COULD NOT BE QUESTIONED." In the
speech of Mr. Smyth, of Va., also quoted above, he declares the power of
Congress to abolish slavery in the District to be "UNDOUBTED."
Mr. Sutherland, of Penn., in a speech in the House of Representatives,
on the motion to print Mr. Pinckney's Report, is thus reported in the
Washington Globe, of May 9th, '36. "He replied to the remark that the
report conceded that Congress had a right to legislate upon the subject
in the District of Columbia, and said that SUCH A RIGHT HAD NEVER BEEN,
TILL RECENTLY, DENIED."
The American Quarterly Review, published at Philadelphia, with a large
circulation and list of contributors in the slave states, holds the
following language in the September No. 1833, p. 55: "Under this
'exclusive jurisdiction,' granted by the constitution, Congress has
power to abolish slavery and the slave trade in the District of
Columbia. It would hardly be necessary to state this as a distinct
proposition, had it not been occasionally questioned. The truth of the
assertion, however, is too obvious to admit of argument--and we believe
has NEVER BEEN DISPUTED BY PERSONS WHO ARE FAMILIAR WITH THE
CONSTITUTION."
OBJECTIONS TO THE FOREGOING CONCLUSIONS CONSIDERED.
We now proceed to notice briefly the main arguments that have been
employed in Congress and elsewhere against the power of Congress to
abolish slavery in the District. One of the most plausible is, that "the
conditions on which Maryland and Virginia ceded the District to the
United States, would be violated, if Congress should abolish slavery
there." The reply to this is, that Congress had no power to _accept_ a
cession coupled with conditions restricting that "power of exclusive
legislation in all cases whatsoever, over such District," which was
given it by the constitution.
To show the futility of the objection, we insert here the acts of
cession. The cession of Maryland was made in November, 1788, and is as
follows: "An act to cede to Congress a district of ten miles square in
this state for the seat of the government of the United States."
"Be it enacted, by the General Assembly of Maryland, that the
representatives of this state in the House of Representatives of the
Congress of the United States, appointed to assemble at New-York, on the
first Wednesday of March next, be, and they are; hereby authorized and
required on the behalf of this state, to cede to the Congress of the
United States, any district in this state, not exceeding ten miles
square, which the Congress may fix upon, and accept for the seat of
government of the United States." Laws of Md., v. 2., c. 46.
The cession of Virginia was made on the 3d of December, 1788, in the
following words:
"Be it enacted by the General Assembly, That a tract of country, not
exceeding ten miles square, or any lesser quantity, to be located within
the limits of the State, and in any part thereof; as Congress may, by
law, direct, shall be, and the same is hereby forever ceded and
relinquished to the Congress and Government of the United States, in
full and absolute right, and exclusive jurisdiction, as well of soil, as
of persons residing or to reside thereon, pursuant to the tenor and
effect of the eighth section of the first article of the government of
the constitution of the United States."
But were there no provisos to these acts? The Maryland act had _none_.
The Virginia act had this proviso: "Sect. 2. Provided, that nothing
herein contained, shall be construed to vest in the United States any
right of property in the soil, or to affect the rights of individuals
_therein_, otherwise than the same shall or may be transferred by such
individuals to the United States."
This specification touching the soil was merely definitive and
explanatory of that clause in the act of cession, "_full and absolute
right_." Instead of restraining the power of Congress on _slavery_ and
other subjects, it even gives it freer course; for exceptions to _parts_
of a rule, give double confirmation to those parts not embraced in the
exceptions. If it was the _design_ of the proviso to restrict
congressional action on the subject of _slavery_, why is the _soil
alone_ specified? As legal instruments are not paragons of economy in
words, might not "John Doe," out of his abundance, and without spoiling
his style, have afforded an additional word--at least a hint--that
slavery was _meant_, though nothing was said about it?
But again, Maryland and Virginia, in their acts of cession, declare them
to be made "in pursuance of" that clause of the constitution which gives
to Congress "exclusive legislation in all cases whatsoever" over the ten
miles square--thus, instead of _restricting_ that clause, both States
_confirm_ it. Now, their acts of cession either accorded with that
clause of the constitution, or they conflicted with it. If they
conflicted with it, _accepting_ the cessions was a violation of the
constitution. The fact that Congress accepted the cessions, proves that
in its views their _terms_ did not conflict with its constitutional
grant of power. The inquiry whether these acts of cession were
consistent or inconsistent with the United Status' constitution, is
totally irrelevant to the question at issue. What with the CONSTITUTION?
That is the question. Not, what with Virginia, or Maryland, or--equally
to the point--John Bull! If Maryland and Virginia had been the
authorized interpreters of the constitution for the Union, these acts of
cession could hardly have been more magnified than they have been
recently by the southern delegation in Congress. A true understanding of
the constitution can be had, forsooth, only by holding it up in the
light of Maryland and Virginia legislation!
We are told, again, that those States would not have ceded the District
if they had supposed the constitution gave Congress power to abolish
slavery in it.
This comes with an ill grace from Maryland and Virginia. They _knew_ the
constitution. They were parties to it. They had sifted it, clause by
clause, in their State conventions. They had weighed its words in the
balance--they had tested them as by fire; and, finally, after long
pondering, they adopted the constitution. And _afterward_, self-moved,
they ceded the ten miles square, and declared the cession made "in
pursuance of" that oft-cited clause, "Congress shall have power to
exercise exclusive legislation in all cases whatsoever over such
District." And now verily "they would not have ceded if they had
_supposed_!" &c. Cede it they _did_, and in "full and absolute right
both of soil and persons." Congress accepted the cession--state power
over the District ceased, and congressional power over it
commenced,--and now, the sole question to be settled is, the _amount of
power over the District lodged in Congress by the constitution_. The
constitution--THE CONSTITUTION--that is the point. Maryland and Virginia
"suppositions" must be potent suppositions to abrogate a clause of the
United States' Constitution! That clause either gives Congress power to
abolish slavery in the District, or it does _not_--and that point is to
be settled, not by state "suppositions," nor state usages, nor state
legislation, but _by the terms of the clause themselves_.
Southern members of Congress, in the recent discussions, have conceded
the power of a contingent abolition in the District, by suspending it
upon the _consent_ of the people. Such a doctrine from _declaimers_ like
Messrs. Alford, of Georgia, and Walker, of Mississippi, would excite no
surprise; but that it should be honored with the endorsement of such men
as Mr. Rives and Mr. Calhoun, is quite unaccountable. Are attributes of
sovereignty mere creatures of contingency? Is delegated authority mere
conditional permission? Is a constitutional power to be exercised by
those who hold it, only by popular sufferance? Must it lie helpless at
the pool of public sentiment, waiting the gracious troubling of its
waters? Is it a lifeless corpse, save only when popular "consent" deigns
to puff breath into its nostrils? Besides, if the consent of the people
of the District be necessary, the consent of the _whole_ people must be
had--not that of a majority, however large. Majorities, to be
authoritative, must be _legal_--and a legal majority without legislative
power, or right of representation, or even the electoral franchise,
would be truly an anomaly! In the District of Columbia, such a thing as
a majority in a legal sense is unknown to law. To talk of the power of a
majority, or the will of a majority there, is mere mouthing. A majority?
Then it has an authoritative will, and an organ to make it known, and an
executive to carry it into effect--Where are they? We repeat it--if the
consent of the people of the District be necessary, the consent of
_every one_ is necessary--and _universal_ consent will come only with
the Greek Kalends and a "perpetual motion." A single individual might
thus perpetuate slavery in defiance of the expressed will of a whole
people. The most common form of this fallacy is given by Mr. Wise, of
Virginia, in his speech, February 16, 1835, in which he denied the power
of Congress to abolish slavery in the District, unless the inhabitants
owning slaves petitioned for it!! Southern members of Congress at the
present session (1837-8) ring changes almost daily upon the same
fallacy. What! pray Congress _to use_ a power which it _has not_? "It is
required of a man according to what he _hath_," saith the Scripture. I
commend Mr. Wise to Paul for his ethics. Would that he had got his
_logic_ of him! If Congress does not possess the power, why taunt it
with its weakness, by asking its exercise? Petitioning, according to Mr.
Wise, is, in matters of legislation, omnipotence itself; the very
_source_ of all constitutional power; for, _asking_ Congress to do what
it _cannot_ do, gives it the power!--to pray the exercise of a power
that is _not, creates_ it! A beautiful theory! Let us work it both ways.
If to petition for the exercise of a power that is _not_, creates it--to
petition against the exercise of a power that _is_, annihilates it. As
southern gentlemen are partial to summary processes, pray, sirs, try the
virtue of your own recipe on "exclusive legislation in all cases
whatsoever;" a better subject for experiment and test of the
prescription could not be had. But if the petitions of the citizens of
the District give Congress the _right_ to abolish slavery, they impose
the _duty_; if they confer constitutional _authority_, they create
constitutional _obligation_. If Congress _may_ abolish because of an
expression of their will, it _must_ abolish at the bidding of that will.
If the people of the District are a _source of power_ to Congress, their
_expressed will_ has the force of a constitutional provision, and has
the same binding power upon the National Legislature. To make Congress
dependent on the District for authority, is to make it a _subject_ of
its authority, restraining the exercise of its own discretion, and
sinking it into a mere organ of the District's will. We proceed to
another objection.
"_The southern states would not have ratified the constitution, if they
had supposed that it gave this power_." It is a sufficient answer to
this objection, that the northern states would not have ratified it, if
they had supposed that it _withheld_ the power. If "suppositions" are to
take the place of the constitution--coming from both sides, they
neutralize each other. To argue a constitutional question by _guessing_
at the "suppositions" that might have been made by the parties to it
would find small favor in a court of law. But even a desperate shift is
some easement when sorely pushed. If this question is to be settled by
"suppositions," suppositions shall be forthcoming, and that
without stint.
First, then, I affirm that the North ratified the constitution,
"supposing" that slavery had begun to wax old, and would speedily vanish
away, and especially that the abolition of the slave trade, which by the
constitution was to be surrendered to Congress after twenty years, would
plunge it headlong.
Would the North have adopted the constitution, giving three-fifths of
the "slave property" a representation, if it had "supposed" that the
slaves would have increased from half a million to two millions and a
half by 1838--and that the census of 1840 would give to the slave states
thirty representatives of "slave property?"
If they had "supposed" that this representation would have controlled
the legislation of the government, and carried against the North every
question vital to its interests, would Hamilton, Franklin, Sherman,
Gerry, Livingston, Langdon, and Rufus King have been such madmen, as to
sign the constitution, and the Northern States such suicides as to
ratify it? Every self-preserving instinct would have shrieked at such an
infatuate immolation. At the adoption of the United States constitution,
slavery was regarded as a fast waning system. This conviction was
universal. Washington, Jefferson, Henry, Grayson, Tucker, Madison,
Wythe, Pendleton, Lee, Blair, Mason, Page, Parker, Randolph, Iredell,
Spaight, Ramsey, Pinkney, Martin, McHenry, Chase, and nearly all the
illustrious names south of the Potomac, proclaimed it before the sun. A
reason urged in the convention that formed the United States'
constitution, why the word slave should not be used in it, was, _that
when slavery should cease_ there might remain upon the National Charter
no record that it had ever been. (See speech of Mr. Burrill, of R.I., on
the Missouri question.)
I now proceed to show by testimony, that at the date of the United
States' constitution, and for several years before and after that
period, slavery was rapidly on the wane; that the American Revolution
with the great events preceding, accompanying, and following it, had
wrought an immense and almost universal change in the public sentiment
of the nation on the subject, powerfully impelling it toward the entire
abolition of the system--and that it was the _general belief_ that
measures for its abolition throughout the Union, would be commenced by
the States generally before the lapse of many years. A great mass of
testimony establishing this position might be presented, but narrow
space, and the importance of speedy publication, counsel brevity. Let
the following proofs suffice. First, a few dates as points of
observation.
In 1757, Commissioners from seven colonies met at Albany, resolved upon
a Union and proposed a plan of general government. In 1765, delegates
from nine colonies met at New York and sent forth a bill of rights. The
first _general_ Congress met in 1774. The first Congress of the
_thirteen_ colonies met in 1775. The revolutionary war commenced in '75.
Independence was declared in '76. The articles of confederation were
adopted by the thirteen states in '77 and '78. Independence acknowledged
in '83. The convention for forming the U.S. constitution was held in
'87, the state conventions for considering it in '87 and '88. The first
Congress under the constitution in '89.
Dr. Rush, of Pennsylvania, one of the signers of the Declaration of
Independence, in a letter to Granville Sharpe, May 1, 1773, says: "A
spirit of humanity and religion begins to awaken in several of the
colonies in favor of the poor negroes. Great events have been brought
about by small beginnings. _Anthony Bènèzet stood alone a few years_
_ago in opposing negro slavery in Philadelphia_, and NOW THREE-FOURTHS
OF THE PROVINCE AS WELL AS OF THE CITY CRY OUT AGAINST IT."--[Stuart's
Life of Granville Sharpe, p. 21.]
In the preamble to the act prohibiting the importation of slaves into
Rhode Island, June, 1774, is the following: "Whereas the inhabitants of
America are generally engaged in the preservation of their own rights
and liberties, among which that of personal freedom must be considered
the greatest, and as those who are desirous of enjoying all the
advantages of liberty themselves, _should be willing to extend personal
liberty to others_, therefore," &c.
October 20, 1774, the Continental Congress passed the following: "We,
for ourselves and the inhabitants of the several colonies whom we
represent, _firmly agree and associate under the sacred ties of virtue,
honor, and love of our country_, as follows:"
"2d Article. _We will neither import nor purchase any slaves imported_
after the first day of December next, after which time we will _wholly
discontinue_ the slave trade, and we will neither be concerned in it
ourselves, nor will we hire our vessels nor _sell our commodities or
manufactures_ to those who are concerned in it."
The Continental Congress, in 1775, setting forth the causes and the
necessity for taking up arms, say: "_If it were possible_ for men who
exercise their reason to believe that the divine Author of our existence
intended a part of the human race _to hold an absolute property in_, and
_unbounded power over others_," &c.
In 1776, Dr. Hopkins, then at the head of New England divines,
in "An Address to the owners of negro slaves in the American colonies,"
says: "The conviction of the unjustifiableness of this practice (slavery)
has been _increasing_, and _greatly spreading of late_, and _many_
who have had slaves, have found themselves so unable to justify their
own conduct in holding them in bondage, as to be induced to _set them
at liberty_. * * * * * Slavery is _in
every instance_, wrong, unrighteous, and oppressive--a very great and
crying sin--_there being nothing of the kind equal to it on the face of
the earth_."
The same year the American Congress issued a solemn MANIFESTO to the
world. These were its first words: "We hold these truths to be
self-evident, that _all_ men are created equal, that they are endowed by
their Creator with certain inalienable rights; that among these are
life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness." _Once_, these were words
of power; _now_, "a rhetorical flourish."
The Virginia Gazette of March 19, 1767, in an essay on slavery says:
"_There cannot be in nature, there is not in all history, an instance in
which every right of man is more flagrantly violated_. Enough I hope has
been effected to prove that slavery is a violation of justice and
religion."
The celebrated Patrick Henry of Virginia, in a letter, Jan. 18, 1773, to
Robert Pleasants, afterwards president of the Virginia Abolition
Society, says: "Believe me, I shall honor the Quakers for their noble
efforts to abolish slavery. It is a debt we owe to the purity of our
religion to show that it is at variance with that law that warrants
slavery. I exhort you to persevere in so worthy a resolution."
The Pennsylvania Chronicle of Nov. 21, 1768, says: "Let every black that
shall henceforth be born amongst us be deemed free. One step farther
would be to emancipate the whole race, restoring that liberty we have so
long unjustly detained from them. Till some step of this kind be taken
we shall justly be the derision of the whole world."
In 1779, the Continental Congress ordered a pamphlet to be published,
entitled, "Observations on the American Revolution," from which the
following is an extract: "The great principle (of government) is and
ever will remain in force, _that men are by Nature free_; and so long as
we have any idea of divine _justice_, we must associate that of _human
freedom_. It is _conceded on all hands, that the right to be free_ CAN
NEVER BE ALIENATED."
Extract from the Pennsylvania act for the abolition of slavery, passed
March 1, 1780: * * * "We conceive that it is our duty, and we rejoice
that it is in our power, to extend a portion of that freedom to others
which has been extended to us. Weaned by a long course of experience
from those narrow prejudices and partialities we had imbibed, we find
our hearts enlarged with kindness and benevolence towards men of all
conditions and nations: * * * Therefore be it enacted, that no child
born hereafter be a slave," &c.
Jefferson, in his Notes on Virginia, written just before the close of
the Revolutionary War, says: "I think a change already perceptible since
the origin of the present revolution. The spirit of the master is
abating, that of the slave is rising from the dust, his condition
mollifying, _and the way I hope preparing, under the auspices of
heaven_, FOR A TOTAL EMANCIPATION."
In a letter to Dr. Price, of London, who had just published a pamphlet
in favor of the abolition of slavery, Mr. Jefferson, then minister at
Paris, (August 7, 1785,) says: "From the mouth to the head of the
Chesapeake, _the bulk of the people will approve of your pamphlet in
theory_, and it will find a respectable minority ready to _adopt it in
practice_--a minority which, for weight and worth of character,
_preponderates against the greater number_." Speaking of Virginia, he
says: "This is the next state to which we may turn our eyes for the
interesting spectacle of justice in conflict with avarice and
oppression,--a conflict in which the SACRED SIDE IS GAINING DAILY
RECRUITS. Be not, therefore, discouraged--what you have written will do
a _great deal of good_; and could you still trouble yourself with our
welfare, no man is more able to give aid to the laboring side. The
College of William and Mary, since the remodelling of its plan, is the
place where are collected together all the young men of Virginia, under
preparation for public life. They are there under the direction (most of
them) of a Mr. Wythe, one of the most virtuous of characters, and _whose
sentiments on the subject of slavery are unequivocal_. I am satisfied,
if you could resolve to address an exhortation to those young men with
all that eloquence of which you are master, that _its influence on the
future decision of this important question would be great, perhaps
decisive_. Thus. you see, that so far from thinking you have cause to
repent of what you have done, _I wish you to do more, and I wish it on
an assurance of its effect_."--Jefferson's Posthumous Works, vol. 1,
p. 268.
In 1786, John Jay drafted and signed a petition to the Legislature of
New York, on the subject of slavery, beginning with these words: "Your
memorialists being deeply affected by the situation of those, who,
although, FREE BY THE LAWS OF GOD, are held in slavery by the laws of
the State," &c. This memorial bore also the signatures of the celebrated
Alexander Hamilton; Robert R. Livingston, afterwards Secretary of
Foreign Affairs of the United States, and Chancellor of the State of New
York; James Duane, Mayor of the City of New York, and many others of the
most eminent individuals in the State.
In the preamble of an instrument, by which Mr. Jay emancipated a slave
in 1784, is the following passage:
"Whereas, the children of men are by nature equally free, and cannot,
without injustice, be either reduced to or HELD in slavery."
In his letter while Minister at Spain, in 1786, he says, speaking of the
abolition of slavery: "Till America comes into this measure, her prayers
to heaven will be IMPIOUS. I believe God governs the world; and I
believe it to be a maxim in his, as in our court, that those who ask for
equity _ought to do it_."
In 1785, the New York Manumission Society was formed. John Jay was
chosen its first President, and held the office five years. Alexander
Hamilton was its second President, and after holding the office one
year, resigned upon his removal to Philadelphia as Secretary of the
United States' Treasury. In 1787, the Pennsylvania Abolition Society was
formed. Benjamin Franklin, warm from the discussions of the convention
that formed the U.S. constitution, was chosen President, and Benjamin
Rush Secretary--both signers of the Declaration of Independence. In
1789, the Maryland Abolition Society was formed. Among its officers were
Samuel Chase, Judge of the U.S. Supreme Court, and Luther Martin, a
member of the convention that formed the U.S. constitution. In 1790, the
Connecticut Abolition Society was formed. The first President was Rev.
Dr. Stiles, President of Yale College, and the Secretary, Simeon
Baldwin, (late Judge Baldwin of New Haven.) In 1791, this Society sent a
memorial to Congress, from which the following is an extract:
"From a sober conviction of the unrighteousness of slavery, your
petitioners have long beheld, with grief, our fellow men doomed to
perpetual bondage, in a country which boasts of her freedom. Your
petitioners were led, by motives, we conceive, of general philanthropy,
to associate ourselves for the protection and assistance of this
unfortunate part of our fellow men; and, though this Society has been
_lately_ established, it has now become _generally extensive_ through
this state, and, we fully believe, _embraces, on this subject, the
sentiments of a large majority of its citizens_."
The same year the Virginia Abolition Society was formed. This Society,
and the Maryland Society, had auxiliaries in different parts of those
States. Both societies sent up memorials to Congress. The memorial of
the Virginia Society is headed--"The memorial of the _Virginia Society_,
for promoting the Abolition of Slavery," &c. The following is
an extract:
"Your memorialists, fully believing that slavery is not only an odious
degradation, but an _outrageous violation of one of the most essential
rights of human nature, and utterly repugnant to the precepts of the
gospel_," &c.
About the same time a Society was formed in New-Jersey. It had an acting
committee of five members in each county in the State. The following is
an extract from the preamble to its constitution:
"It is our boast, that we live under a government, wherein _life,
liberty_, and the _pursuit of happiness_, are recognized as the
universal rights of men. We _abhor that inconsistent, illiberal, and
interested policy, which withholds those rights from an unfortunate and
degraded class of our fellow creatures_."
Among other distinguished individuals who were efficient officers of
these Abolition Societies, and delegates from their respective state
societies, at the annual meetings of the American convention for
promoting the abolition of slavery, were Hon. Uriah Tracy, United
States' Senator, from Connecticut; Hon. Zephaniah Swift, Chief Justice
of the same State; Hon. Cesar A. Rodney, Attorney General of the United
States; Hon. James A. Bayard, United States' Senator, from Delaware;
Governor Bloomfield, of New-Jersey; Hon. Wm. Rawle, the late venerable
head of the Philadelphia bar; Dr. Caspar Wistar, of Philadelphia;
Messrs. Foster and Tillinghast, of Rhode Island; Messrs. Ridgely,
Buchanan, and Wilkinson, of Maryland; and Messrs. Pleasants, McLean, and
Anthony, of Virginia.
In July, 1787, the old Congress passed the celebrated ordinance
abolishing slavery in the northwestern territory, and declaring that it
should never thereafter exist there. This ordinance was passed while the
convention that formed the United States' constitution was in session.
At the first session of Congress under the constitution, this ordinance
was ratified by a special act. Washington, fresh from the discussions of
the convention, in which _more than forty days had been spent in
adjusting the question of slavery, gave it his approval_. The act passed
with only one dissenting voice, (that of Mr. Yates, of New York,) _the
South equally with the North avowing the fitness and expediency of the
measure on general considerations, and indicating thus early the line of
national policy, to be pursued by the United States' Government on the
subject of slavery_.
In the debates in the North Carolina Convention, Mr. Iredell, afterward
a Judge of the United States' Supreme Court, said, "_When the entire
abolition of slavery takes place_, it will be an event which must be
pleasing to every generous mind and every friend of human nature." Mr.
Galloway said, "I wish to see this abominable trade put an end to. I
apprehend the clause (touching the slave trade) means _to bring forward
manumission_." Luther Martin, of Maryland, a member of the convention
that formed the United States' Constitution, said, "We ought to
authorize the General Government to make such regulations as shall be
thought most advantageous for _the gradual abolition of slavery_, and
the _emancipation of the slaves_ which are already in the States." Judge
Wilson, of Pennsylvania, one of the framers of the constitution, said,
in the Pennsylvania convention of '87, [Deb. Pa. Con. p. 303, 156:] "I
consider this (the clause relative to the slave trade) as laying the
foundation for _banishing slavery out of this country_. It will produce
the same kind of gradual change which was produced in Pennsylvania; the
new States which are to be formed will be under the control of Congress
in this particular, and _slaves will never be introduced_ among them. It
presents us with the pleasing prospect that the rights of mankind will
be acknowledged and established _throughout the Union_. Yet the lapse of
a few years, and Congress will have power to _exterminate slavery_
within our borders." In the Virginia convention of '87, Mr. Mason,
author of the Virginia constitution, said, "The augmentation of slaves
weakens the States, and such a trade is _diabolical_ in itself, and
disgraceful to mankind. As much as I value a union of all the States, I
would not admit the Southern States, (i.e., South Carolina and Georgia,)
into the union, _unless they agree to a discontinuance of this
disgraceful trade_." Mr. Tyler opposed with great power the clause
prohibiting the abolition of the slave trade till 1808, and said, "My
earnest desire is, that it shall be handed down to posterity that I
oppose this wicked clause." Mr. Johnson said, "The principle of
emancipation _has begun since the revolution. Let us do what we will, it
will come round_."--[Deb. Va. Con. p. 463.] Patrick Henry, arguing the
power of Congress under the United States' constitution to abolish
slavery in the States, said, in the same convention, "Another thing will
contribute to bring this event (the abolition of slavery) about. Slavery
is _detested_. We feel its fatal effects; we deplore it with all the
pity of humanity." Governor Randolph said: "They insist that the
_abolition of slavery will result from this Constitution_. I hope that
there is no one here, who will advance _an objection so dishonorable_ to
Virginia--I hope that at the moment they are securing the rights of
their citizens, an objection will not be started, that those unfortunate
men now held in bondage, _by the operation of the general government_
may be made free!" [_Deb. Va. Con._ p. 421.] In the Mass. Con. of '88,
Judge Dawes said, "Although slavery is not smitten by an apoplexy, yet
_it has received a mortal wound_, and will die of consumption."--[_Deb.
Mass. Con._ p. 60.] General Heath said that, "Slavery was confined to
the States _now existing_, it _could not be extended_. By their
ordinance, Congress had declared that the new States should be
republican States, _and have no slavery_."--p. 147.
In the debate, in the first Congress, February 11th and 12th, 1789, on
the petitions of the Society of Friends, and the Pennsylvania Abolition
Society, Mr. Parker, of Virginia, said, "I cannot help expressing the
pleasure I feel in finding _so considerable a part_ of the community
attending to matters of such a momentous concern to the _future
prosperity_ and happiness of the people of America. I think it my duty,
as a citizen of the Union, to _espouse their cause_."
Mr. Page, of Virginia, (afterwards Governor)--"Was _in favor_ of the
commitment: he hoped that the designs of the respectable memorialists
would not be stopped at the threshold, in order to preclude a fair
discussion of the prayer of the memorial. He placed himself in the case
of a slave, and said, that on hearing that Congress had refused to
listen to the decent suggestions of the respectable part of the
community, he should infer, that the general government, _from which was
expected great good would result to_ EVERY CLASS _of citizens_, had shut
their ears against the voice of humanity, and he should despair of any
alleviation of the miseries he and his posterity had in prospect; if any
thing could induce him to rebel, it must be a stroke like this,
impressing on his mind all the horrors of despair. But if he was told,
that application was made in his behalf, and that Congress were willing
to hear what could be urged in favor of discouraging the practice of
importing his fellow-wretches, he would trust in their justice and
humanity, and _wait the decision patiently_."
Mr. Scott of Pennsylvania: "I cannot, for my part, conceive how any
person _can be said to acquire a property in another. I do not know how
far I might go, if I was one of the judges of the United States, and
those people were to come before me and claim their emancipation, but I
am sure I would go as far as I could_."
Mr. Burke, of South Carolina, said, "He _saw the disposition of the
House_, and he feared it would be referred to a committee, maugre all
their opposition."
Mr. Baldwin of Georgia said that the clause in the U.S. Constitution
relating to direct taxes "was intended to prevent Congress from laying
any special tax upon negro slaves, _as they might, in this way, so
burthen the possessors of them, as to induce a_ GENERAL EMANCIPATION."
Mr. Smith of South Carolina, said, "That on entering into this
government, they (South Carolina and Georgia) apprehended that the other
states, * * * _would, from motives of humanity and benevolence, be led
to vote for a general emancipation_."
In the debate, at the same session, May 13th, 1789, on the petition of
the society of Friends respecting the slave trade, Mr. Parker, of
Virginia, said, "He hoped Congress would do all that lay in their power
_to restore to human nature its inherent privileges_. The inconsistency
in our principles, with which we are justly charged _should be
done away_."
Mr. Jackson, of Georgia, said, "IT WAS THE FASHION OF THE DAY
TO FAVOR THE LIBERTY OF THE SLAVES. * * * * * Will Virginia
set her negroes free? _When this practice comes to be tried, then
the sound of liberty will lose those charms which make it grateful to the
ravished ear_."
Mr. Madison of Virginia,--"The dictates of humanity, the principles
of the people, the national safety and happiness, and prudent policy,
require it of us. * * * * * * * I conceive the constitution
in this particular was formed in order that the Government, whilst it
was restrained from laying a total prohibition, might be able to _give
some testimony of the sense of America_, with respect to the African
trade. * * * * * * It is to be hoped, that by expressing a
national disapprobation of this trade, we may destroy it, and save
ourselves from reproaches, AND OUR PROSPERITY THE IMBECILITY EVER
ATTENDANT ON A COUNTRY FILLED WITH SLAVES."
Mr. Gerry, of Massachusetts, said, "he highly commended the part the
Society of Friends had taken; it was the cause of humanity they had
interested themselves in."--Cong. Reg. v. 1, p. 308-12.
A writer in the "Gazette of the Unites States," Feb. 20th, 1790, (then
the government paper,) who opposes the abolition of slavery, and avows
himself a _slaveholder_, says, "I have seen in the papers accounts of
_large associations_, and applications to Government for _the abolition
of slavery_. Religion, humanity, and the generosity natural to a free
people, are the _noble principles which dictate those measures_. SUCH
MOTIVES COMMAND RESPECT, AND ARE ABOVE ANY EULOGIUM WORDS CAN BESTOW."
In the convention that formed the constitution of Kentucky in 1790, the
effort to prohibit slavery was nearly successful. A decided majority of
that body would undoubtedly have voted for its exclusion, but for the
great efforts and influence of two large slaveholders--men of commanding
talents and sway--Messrs. Breckenridge and Nicholas. The following
extract from a speech made in that convention by a member of it, Mr.
Rice a native Virginian, is a specimen of the _free discussion_ that
prevailed on that "delicate subject." Said Mr. Rice: "I do a man greater
injury, when I deprive him of his liberty, than when I deprive him of
his property. It is vain for me to plead that I have the sanction of
law; for this makes the injury the greater--it arms the community
against him, and makes his case desperate. The owners of such slaves
then are _licensed robbers_, and not the just proprietors of what they
claim. Freeing them is not depriving them of property, but _restoring it
to the right owner_. The master is the enemy of the slave; he _has made
open war upon him_, AND IS DAILY CARRYING IT ON in unremitted efforts.
Can any one imagine, then, that the slave is indebted to his master, and
_bound to serve him?_ Whence can the obligation arise? What is it
founded upon? What is my duty to an enemy that is carrying on war
against me? I do not deny, but in some circumstances, it is the duty of
the slave to serve; but it is a duty he owes himself, and not
his master."
President Edwards, the younger, said, in a sermon preached before the
Connecticut Abolition Society, Sept. 15, 1791: "Thirty years ago,
scarcely a man in this country thought either the slave trade or the
slavery of negroes to be wrong; but now how many and able advocates in
private life, in our legislatures, in Congress, have appeared, and have
openly and irrefragably pleaded the rights of humanity in this as well
as other instances? And if we judge of the future by the past, _within
fifty years from this time, it will be as shameful for a man to hold a
negro slave, as to be guilty of common robbery or theft_."
In 1794, the General Assembly of the Presbyterian church adopted its
"Scripture proofs," notes, and comments. Among these was the following:
"1 Tim. i. 10. The law is made for manstealers. This crime among the
Jews exposed the perpetrators of it to capital punishment. Exodus xxi.
16. And the apostle here classes them with _sinners of the first rank_.
The word he uses, in its original import comprehends all who are
concerned in bringing any of the human race into slavery, or in
_retaining_ them in it. _Stealers of men_ are all those who bring off
slaves or freemen, and _keep_, sell, or buy them."
In 1794, Dr. Rush declared: "Domestic slavery is repugnant to the
principles of Christianity. It prostrates every benevolent and just
principle of action in the human heart. It is rebellion against the
authority of a common Father. It is a practical denial of the extent and
efficacy of the death of a common Saviour. It is an usurpation of the
prerogative of the great Sovereign of the universe, who has solemnly
claimed an exclusive property in the souls of men."
In 1795, Mr. Fiske, then an officer of Dartmouth College, afterward a
Judge in Tennessee, said, in an oration published that year, speaking of
slaves: "I steadfastly maintain, that we must bring them to _an equal
standing, in point of privileges, with the whites!_ They must enjoy all
the rights belonging to human nature."
When the petition on the abolition of the slave trade was under
discussion in the Congress of '89, Mr. Brown, of North Carolina, said,
"The emancipation of the slaves _will be effected_ in time; it ought to
be a gradual business, but he hoped that Congress would not
_precipitate_ it to the great injury of the southern States." Mr.
Hartley, of Pennsylvania, said, in the same debate, "_He was not a
little surprised to hear the cause of slavery advocated in that house_."
WASHINGTON, in a letter to Sir John Sinclair, says, "There are, in
Pennsylvania, laws for the gradual abolition of slavery which neither
Maryland nor Virginia have at present, but which _nothing is more
certain_ than that they _must have_, and at a period NOT REMOTE." In
1782, Virginia passed her celebrated manumission act. Within nine years
from that time nearly eleven thousand slaves were voluntarily
emancipated by their masters. [Judge Tucker's "Dissertation on Slavery,"
p. 72.] In 1787, Maryland passed an act legalizing manumission. Mr.
Dorsey, of Maryland, in a speech in Congress, December 27th, 1826,
speaking of manumissions under that act, said, that "_The progress of
emancipation was astonishing_, the State became crowded with a free
black population."
The celebrated William Pinkney, in a speech before the Maryland House of
Delegates, in 1789, on the emancipation of slaves, said, "Sir, by the
eternal principles of natural justice, _no master in the state has a
right to hold his slave in bandage for a single hour_... Are we
apprehensive that these men will become more dangerous by becoming
freemen? Are we alarmed, lest by being admitted into the enjoyment of
civil rights, they will be inspired with a deadly enmity against the
rights of others? Strange, unaccountable paradox! How much more rational
would it be, to argue that the natural enemy of the privileges of a
freeman, is he who is robbed of them himself!"
Hon. James Campbell, in an address before the Pennsylvania Society of
Cincinnati, July 4, 1787, said, "Our separation from Great Britain has
extended the empire of _humanity_. The time _is not far distant_ when
our sister states, in imitation of our example, _shall turn their
vassals into freemen_." The Convention that formed the United States'
constitution being then in session, attended on the delivery of this
oration with General Washington at their head.
A Baltimore paper of September 8th, 1780, contains the following notice
of Major General Gates: "A few days ago passed through this town the
Hon. General Gates and lady. The General, previous to leaving Virginia,
summoned his numerous family of slaves about him, and amidst their tears
of affection and gratitude, gave them their FREEDOM."
In 1791, the university of William and Mary, in Virginia, conferred upon
Granville Sharpe the degree of Doctor of Laws. Sharpe was at that time
the acknowledged head of British abolitionists. His indefatigable
exertions, prosecuted for years in the case of Somerset, procured that
memorable decision in the Court of King's Bench, which settled the
principle that no slave could be held in England. He was most
uncompromising in his opposition to slavery, and for twenty years
previous he had spoken, written, and accomplished more against it than
any man living.
In the "Memoirs of the Revolutionary War in the Southern Department," by
Gen. Lee, of Va., Commandant of the Partizan Legion, is the following:
"The Constitution of the United States, adopted lately with so much
difficulty, has effectually provided against this evil (by importation)
after a few years. It is much to be lamented that having done so much in
this way, _a provision had not been made for the gradual abolition of
slavery_."--pp. 233, 4.
Mr. Tucker, of Virginia, Judge of the Supreme Court of that state, and
professor of law in the University of William and Mary, addressed a
letter to the General Assembly of that state, in 1796, urging the
abolition of slavery, from which the following is an extract. Speaking
of the slaves in Virginia, he says: "Should we not, at the time of the
revolution, have broken their fetters? Is it not our duty _to embrace
the first moment_ of constitutional health and vigor to effectuate so
desirable an object, and to remove from us a stigma with which our
enemies will never fail to upbraid us, nor our consciences to
reproach us?"
Mr. Faulkner, in a speech before the Virginia House of Delegates, Jan.
20, 1832, said: "The idea of a gradual emancipation and removal of the
slaves from this commonwealth, is coeval with the declaration of our
independence from the British yoke. When Virginia stood sustained in her
legislation by the pure and philosophic intellect of Pendleton, by the
patriotism of Mason and Lee, by the searching vigor and sagacity of
Wythe, and by the all-embracing, all-comprehensive genius of Thomas
Jefferson! Sir, it was a committee composed of those five illustrious
men, who, in 1777, submitted to the general assembly of this state, then
in session, _a plan for the gradual emancipation of the slaves of this
commonwealth_."
Hon. Benjamin Watkins Leigh, late United States' senator from Virginia,
in his letters to the people of Virginia, in 1832, signed Appomattox, p.
43, says: "I thought, till very lately, that it was known to every body
that during the revolution, _and for many years after, the abolition of
slavery was a favorite topic with many of our ablest statesmen_, who
entertained, with respect, all the schemes which wisdom or ingenuity
could suggest for accomplishing the object. Mr. Wythe, to the day of his
death, _was for a simple abolition, considering the objection to color
as founded in prejudice_. By degrees, all projects of the kind were
abandoned. Mr. Jefferson _retained_ his opinion, and now we have these
projects revived."
Governor Barbour, of Virginia, in his speech in the U.S. Senate, on the
Missouri question, Jan. 1820, said: "We are asked why has Virginia
changed her policy in reference to slavery? That the sentiments of our
most distinguished men, for thirty years _entirely corresponded_ with
the course which the friends of the restriction (of slavery in Missouri)
now advocated; and that the Virginia delegation, one of whom was the
late President of the United States, voted for the restriction (of
slavery) in the northwestern territory, and that Mr. Jefferson has
delineated a gloomy picture of the baneful effects of slavery. When it
is recollected that the Notes of Mr. Jefferson were written during the
progress of the revolution, it is no matter of surprise that the writer
should have imbibed a large portion of that enthusiasm which such an
occasion was so well calculated to produce. As to the consent of the
Virginia delegation to the restriction in question, whether the result
of a disposition to restrain the slave-trade indirectly, or the
influence of that enthusiasm to which I have just alluded, * * * * it is
not now important to decide. We have witnessed its effects. The
liberality of Virginia, or, as the result may prove, her folly, which
submitted to, or, if you will, PROPOSED _this measure_ (abolition of
slavery in the N.W. territory) has eventuated in effects which speak a
monitory lesson. _How is the representation from this quarter on the
present question_?"
Mr. Imlay, in his early history of Kentucky, p. 185, says: "We have
disgraced the fair face of humanity, and trampled upon the sacred
privileges of man, at the very moment that we were exclaiming against
the tyranny of your (the English) ministry. But in contending for the
birthright of freedom, we have learned to feel _for the bondage of
others_, and in the libations we offer to the goddess of liberty, we
contemplate an _emancipation of the slaves of this country_, as
honorable to themselves as it will be glorious to us."
In the debate in Congress, Jan. 20, 1806, on Mr. Sloan's motion to lay a
tax on the importation of slaves, Mr. Clark of Va. said: "He was no
advocate for a system of slavery." Mr. Marion, of S. Carolina, said: "He
never had purchased, nor should he ever purchase a slave." Mr. Southard
said: "Not revenue, but an expression of the _national sentiment_ is the
principal object." Mr. Smilie--"I rejoice that the word (slave) is not
in the constitution; its not being there does honor to the worthies who
would not suffer it to become a _part_ of it." Mr. Alston, of N.
Carolina--"In two years we shall have the power to prohibit the trade
altogether. Then this House will be unanimous. No one will object to our
exercising our full constitutional powers." National Intelligencer,
Jan. 24, 1806.
These witnesses need no vouchers to entitle them to credit; nor their
testimony comments to make it intelligible--their _names_ are their
_endorsers_, and their strong words their own interpreters. We waive all
comments. Our readers are of age. Whosoever hath ears to _hear_, let him
HEAR. And whosoever will not hear the fathers of the revolution, the
founders of the government, its chief magistrates, judges, legislators
and sages, who dared and perilled all under the burdens, and in the heat
of the day that tried men's souls--then "neither will he be persuaded
though THEY rose from the dead."
Some of the points established by this testimony are--The universal
expectation that Congress, state legislatures, seminaries of learning,
churches, ministers of religion, and public sentiment widely embodied in
abolition societies, would act against slavery, calling forth the moral
sense of the nation, and creating a power of opinion that would abolish
the system throughout the Union. In a word, that free speech and a free
press would be wielded against it without ceasing and without
restriction. Full well did the South know, not only that the national
government would probably legislate against slavery wherever the
constitution placed it within its reach, but she knew also that Congress
had already marked out the line of national policy to be pursued on the
subject--had committed itself before the world to a course of action
against slavery, wherever she could move upon it without encountering a
conflicting jurisdiction--that the nation had established by solemn
ordinance a memorable precedent for subsequent action, by abolishing
slavery in the northwest territory, and by declaring that it should
never thenceforward exist there; and this too, as soon as by cession of
Virginia and other states, the territory came under congressional
control. The South knew also that the sixth article in the ordinance
prohibiting slavery, was first proposed by the largest slaveholding
state in the confederacy--that in the Congress of '84, Mr. Jefferson, as
chairman of the committee on the N.W. territory, reported a resolution
abolishing slavery there--that the chairman of the committee that
reported the ordinance of '87 was also a slaveholder--that the ordinance
was enacted by Congress during the session of the convention that formed
the United States' Constitution--that the provisions of the ordinance
were, both while in prospect and when under discussion, matters of
universal notoriety and _approval_ with all parties, and when finally
passed, received the vote of _every member of Congress from each of the
slaveholding states_. The South also had every reason for believing that
the first Congress under the constitution would _ratify_ that
ordinance--as it did unanimously.
A crowd of reflections, suggested by the preceding testimony, presses
for utterance. The right of petition ravished and trampled by its
constitutional guardians, and insult and defiance hurled in the faces of
the SOVEREIGN PEOPLE while calmly remonstrating _with their_ SERVANTS
for violence committed on the nation's charter and their own dearest
rights! Added to this "the right of peaceably assembling" violently
wrested--the rights of minorities, _rights_ no longer--free speech
struck dumb--free _men_ outlawed and murdered--free presses cast into
the streets and their fragments strewed with shoutings, or flourished in
triumph before the gaze of approving crowds as proud mementos of
prostrate law! The spirit and power of our fathers, where are they?
Their deep homage always and every where rendered to FREE THOUGHT, with
its _inseparable signs--free speech and a free press_--their reverence
for justice, liberty, _rights_ and all-pervading law, where are they?
But we turn from these considerations--though the times on which we have
fallen, and those toward which we are borne with headlong haste, call
for their discussion as with the voices of departing life--and proceed
to topics relevant to the argument before us.
The seventh article of the amendments to the constitution is alleged to
withhold from Congress the power to abolish slavery in the District. "No
person shall be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due
process of law." All the slaves in the District have been "deprived of
liberty" by legislative acts. Now, these legislative acts "depriving"
them "of liberty," were either "due process of law," or they were _not_.
If they _were_, then a legislative act, taking from the master that
"property" which is the identical "liberty" previously taken from the
slave, would be "due process of law" _also_, and of course a
_constitutional_ act; but if the legislative acts "depriving" them of
"liberty" were _not_ "due process of law," then the slaves were deprived
of liberty _unconstitutionally_, and these acts are _void_. In that case
the _constitution emancipates them_.
If the objector reply, by saying that the import of the phrase "due
process of law," is _judicial_ process solely, it is granted, and that
fact is our rejoinder; for no slave in the District _has_ been deprived
of his liberty by "a judicial process," or, in other words, by "due
process of law;" consequently, upon the objector's own admission, every
slave in the District has been deprived of liberty _unconstitutionally_,
and is therefore _free by the constitution_. This is asserted only of
the slaves under the "exclusive legislation" of Congress.
The last clause of the article under consideration is quoted for the
same purpose: "Nor shall private property he taken for public use
without just compensation." Each of the state constitutions has a clause
of similar purport. The abolition of slavery in the District by
Congress, would not, as we shall presently show; violate this clause
either directly or by implication. Granting for argument's sake, that
slaves are "private property," and that to emancipate them, would be to
"take private property" for "public use," the objector admits the power
of Congress to do _this_, provided it will do something _else_, that is,
_pay_ for them. Thus, instead of denying the _power_, the objector not
only admits, but _affirms_ it, as the ground of the inference that
compensation must accompany it. So far from disproving the existence of
_one_ power, he asserts the existence of _two_--one, the power to take
the slaves from their masters, the other, the power to take the property
of the United States to pay for them.
If Congress cannot constitutionally impair the right of private
property, or take it without compensation, it cannot constitutionally,
_legalize_ the perpetration of such acts, by _others_, nor _protect_
those who commit them. Does the power to rob a man of his earnings, rob
the earner of his _right_ to them? Who has a better right to the
_product_ than the producer?--to the _interest_, than the owner of the
_principal_?--to the hands and arms, than he from whose shoulders they
swing?--to the body and soul, than he whose they are? Congress not only
impairs but annihilates the right of private property, while it
withholds from the slaves of the District their title to _themselves_.
What! Congress powerless to protect a man's right to _himself_, when it
can make inviolable the right to a _dog_! But, waiving this, I deny that
the abolition of slavery in the District would violate this clause. What
does the clause prohibit? The "taking" of "private property" for "public
use." Suppose Congress should emancipate the slaves in the District,
what would it "_take_?" Nothing. What would it _hold_? Nothing. What
would it put to "public use?" Nothing. Instead of _taking_ "private
property," Congress, by abolishing slavery, would say "_private
property_ shall not be taken; and those who have been robbed of it
already, shall be kept out of it no longer; and every man's right to his
own body shall be protected." True, Congress may not arbitrarily take
property, _as_ property, from one man and give it to another--and in the
abolition of slavery no such thing is done. A legislative act changes
the _condition_ of the slave--makes him his own _proprietor_, instead of
the property of another. It determines a question of _original right_
between two classes of persons--doing an act of justice to one, and
restraining the other from acts of injustice; or, in other words,
preventing one from robbing the other, by granting to the injured party
the protection of just and equitable laws.
Congress, by an act of abolition, would change the condition of seven
thousand "persons" in the District, but would "take" nothing. To
construe this provision so as to enable the citizens of the District to
hold as property, and in perpetuity, whatever they please, or to hold it
as property in all circumstances--all necessity, public welfare, and the
will and power of the government to the contrary notwithstanding--is a
total perversion of its whole _intent_. The _design_ of the provision,
was to throw up a barrier against Governmental aggrandizement. The right
to "take property" for _State uses_ is one thing;--the right so to
adjust the _tenures_ by which property is held, that _each may have his
own secured to him_, is another thing, and clearly within the scope of
legislation. Besides, if Congress were to "take" the slaves in the
District, it would be _adopting_, not abolishing slavery--becoming a
slaveholder itself, instead of requiring others to be such no longer.
The clause in question, prohibits the "taking" of individual property
for public use, to be employed or disposed of _as_ property for
governmental purposes. Congress, by abolishing slavery in the District,
would do no such thing. It would merely change the _condition_ of that
which has been recognized as a qualified property by congressional acts,
though previously declared "persons" by the constitution. More than this
is done continually by Congress and every other Legislature. Property
the most absolute and unqualified, is annihilated by legislative acts.
The embargo and non-intercourse act, levelled at a stroke a forest of
shipping, and sunk millions of capital. To say nothing of the power of
Congress to take hundreds of millions from the people by direct
taxation, who doubts its power to abolish at once the whole tariff
system, change the seat of Government, arrest the progress of national
works, prohibit any branch of commerce with the Indian tribes or with
foreign nations, change the locality of forts, arsenals, magazines and
dock yards; abolish the Post Office system, and the privilege of patents
and copyrights? By such acts Congress might, in the exercise of its
acknowledged powers, annihilate property to an incalculable amount, and
that without becoming liable to claims for compensation.
Finally, this clause prohibits the taking for public use of
"_property_." The constitution of the United States does not recognize
slaves as "PROPERTY" any where, and it does not recognize them in _any
sense_ in the District of Columbia. All allusions to them in the
constitution recognize them as "persons." Every reference to them points
_solely_ to the element of _personality_; and thus, by the strongest
implication, declares that the constitution _knows_ them only as
"persons," and _will_ not recognize them in any other light. If they
escape into free States, the constitution authorizes their being taken
back. But how? Not as the property of an "owner," but as "persons;" and
the peculiarity of the expression is a marked recognition of their
_personality_--a refusal to recognize them as chattels--"persons _held_
to service." Are _oxen "held_ to service?" That can be affirmed only of
_persons_. Again, slaves give political power as "persons." The
constitution, in settling the principle of representation, requires
their enumeration in the census. How? As property? Then why not include
race horses and game cocks? Slaves, like other inhabitants, are
enumerated as "persons." So by the constitution, the government was
pledged to non-interference with "the migration or importation of such
_persons_" as the States might think proper to admit until 1808, and
authorized the laying of a tax on each "person" so admitted. Further,
slaves are recognized as _persons_ by the exaction of their _allegiance_
to the government. For offences against the government slaves are tried
as _persons_; as persons they are entitled to counsel for their defence,
to the rules of evidence, and to "due process of law," and as _persons_
they are punished. True, they are loaded with cruel disabilities in
courts of law, such as greatly obstruct and often inevitably defeat the
ends of justice, yet they are still recognized as _persons_. Even in the
legislation of Congress, and in the diplomacy of the general government,
notwithstanding the frequent and wide departures from the integrity of
the constitution on this subject, slaves are not recognized as
_property_ without qualification. Congress has always refused to grant
compensation for slaves killed or taken by the enemy, even when these
slaves had been impressed into the United States' service. In half a
score of cases since the last war, Congress has rejected such
applications for compensation. Besides, both in Congressional acts, and
in our national diplomacy, slaves and property are not used as
convertible terms. When mentioned in treaties and state papers it is in
such a way as to distinguish them from mere property, and generally by a
recognition of their _personality_. In the invariable recognition of
slaves as _persons_, the United States' constitution caught the mantle
of the glorious Declaration, and most worthily wears it. It recognizes
all human beings as "men," "persons," and thus as "equals." In the
original draft of the Declaration, as it came from the hand of
Jefferson, it is alleged that Great Britain had "waged a cruel war
against _human_ nature itself, violating its most sacred rights of life
and liberty in the persons of a distant people, carrying them into
slavery, * * determined to keep up a market where MEN should be bought
and sold,"--thus disdaining to make the charter of freedom a warrant for
the arrest of _men_, that they might be shorn both of liberty
and humanity.
The celebrated Roger Sherman, one of the committee of five appointed to
draft the Declaration of Independence, and a member of the convention
that formed the United States' constitution, said, in the first Congress
after its adoption: "The constitution _does not consider these persons,
(slaves,) as a species of property_."--[Lloyd's Cong. Reg. v. 1, p.
313.] That the United States' Constitution does not make slaves
"property," is shown in the fact, that no person, either as a citizen of
the United States, or by having his domicile within the United States'
government, can hold slaves. He can hold them only by deriving his power
from _state_ laws, or from the laws of Congress, if he hold slaves
within the District. But no person resident within the United States'
jurisdiction, and _not_ within the District, nor within a state whose
laws support slavery, nor "held to service" under the laws of such a
state or district, having escaped therefrom, _can be held as a slave_.
Men can hold _property_ under the United States' government though
residing beyond the bounds of any state, district, or territory. An
inhabitant of the Iowa Territory can hold property there under the laws
of the United States, but he cannot hold _slaves_ there under the United
States' laws, nor by virtue of the United States' Constitution, nor upon
the ground of his United States' citizenship, nor by having his domicile
within the United States' jurisdiction. The constitution no where
recognizes the right to "slave property," _but merely the fact that the
states have jurisdiction each in its own limits, and that there are
certain "persons" within their jurisdictions "held to service" by their
own laws_.
Finally, in the clause under consideration "private property" is not to
be taken "without just compensation." "JUST!" If justice is to be
appealed to in determining the _amount_ of compensation, let her
determine the _grounds_ also. If it be her province to say _how much_
compensation is "just," it is hers to say whether _any_ is
"just,"--whether the slave is "just" property _at all_, rather than a
"_person_". Then, if justice adjudges the slave to be "private
property," it adjudges him to be _his own_ property, since the right to
one's self is the first right--the source of all others--the original
stock by which they are accumulated--the principal, of which they are
the interest. And since the slave's "private property" has been "taken,"
and since "compensation" is impossible--there being no _equivalent_ for
one's self--the least that can be done is to restore to him his original
private property.
Having shown that in abolishing slavery, "property" would not be "taken
for public use," it may be added that, in those states where slavery has
been abolished by law, no claim for compensation has been allowed.
Indeed the manifest absurdity of demanding it seems to have quite
forestalled the _setting up_ of such a claim.
The abolition of slavery in the District instead of being a legislative
anomaly, would proceed upon the principles of every day legislation. It
has been shown already, that the United States' Constitution does not
recognize slaves as "property." Yet ordinary legislation is full of
precedents, showing that even _absolute_ property is in many respects
wholly subject to legislation. The repeal of the law of entailments--all
those acts that control the alienation of property, its disposal by
will, its passing to heirs by descent, with the question, who shall be
heirs, and what shall be the rule of distribution among them, or whether
property shall be transmitted at all by descent, rather than escheat to
the estate--these, with statutes of limitation, and various other
classes of legislative acts, serve to illustrate the acknowledged scope
of the law-making power, even where property _is in every sense
absolute_. Persons whose property is thus affected by public laws,
receive from the government no compensation for their losses; unless the
state has been put in possession of the property taken from them.
The preamble of the United States' Constitution declares it to be a
fundamental object of the organization of the government "to ESTABLISH
JUSTICE." Has Congress _no power_ to do that for which it was made the
depository of power? CANNOT the United States' Government fulfil the
purpose for which it was brought into being?
To abolish slavery, is to take from no rightful owner his property; but
to "establish justice" between two parties. To emancipate the slave, is
to "establish justice" between him and his master--to throw around the
person, character, conscience; liberty, and domestic relations of the
one, _the same law_ that secures and blesses the other. In other words,
to prevent by legal restraints one class of men from seizing upon
another class, and robbing them at pleasure of their earnings, their
time, their liberty, their kindred, and the very use and ownership of
their own persons. Finally, to abolish slavery is to proclaim and
_enact_ that innocence and helplessness--now _free plunder_--are
entitled to _legal protection_; and that power, avarice, and lust, shall
no longer revel upon their spoils under the license, and by the
ministration of _law_! Congress, by possessing "exclusive legislation in
all cases whatsoever," has a _general protective power for_ ALL the
inhabitants of the District. If it has no power to protect _one_ man in
the District it has none to protect another--none to protect _any_--and
if it _can_ protect one man and is _bound_ to do it, it _can_ protect
_every_ man--and is _bound_ to do it. All admit the power of Congress to
protect the masters in the District against their slaves. What part of
the constitution gives the power? The clause so often quoted,--"power of
legislation in all cases whatsoever," equally in the "_case_" of
defending blacks against whites, as in that of defending whites against
blacks. The power is also conferred by Art. 1, Sec. 8, clause
15--"Congress shall have power to suppress insurrections"--a power to
protect, as well blacks against whites, as whites against blacks. If the
constitution gives power to protect _one_ class against the other, it
gives power to protect _either_ against the other. Suppose the blacks in
the District should seize the whites, drive them into the fields and
kitchens, force them to work without pay, flog them, imprison them, and
sell them at their pleasure, where would Congress find power to restrain
such acts? Answer; a _general_ power in the clause so often cited, and
an _express_ one in that cited above--"Congress shall have power to
suppress insurrections." So much for a supposed case. Here follows a
real one. The whites in the District are _perpetrating these identical
acts_ upon seven thousand blacks daily. That Congress has power to
restrain these acts in _one_ case, all assert, and in so doing they
assert the power "in _all_ cases whatsoever." For the grant of power to
suppress insurrections, is an _unconditional_ grant, not hampered by
provisos as to the color, shape, size, sex, language, creed, or
condition of the insurgents. Congress derives its power to suppress this
_actual_ insurrection, from the same source whence it derived its power
to suppress the _same_ acts in the case supposed. If one case is an
insurrection, the other is. The _acts_ in both are the same; the
_actors_ only are different. In the one case, ignorant and
degraded--goaded by the memory of the past, stung by the present, and
driven to desperation by the fearful looking for of wrongs for ever to
come. In the other, enlightened into the nature of _rights_, the
principles of justice, and the dictates of the law of love, unprovoked
by wrongs, with cool deliberation, and by system, they perpetrate these
acts upon those to whom they owe unnumbered obligations for _whole
lives_ of unrequited service. On which side may palliation be pleaded,
and which party may most reasonably claim an abatement of the rigors of
law? If Congress has power to suppress such acts _at all_, it has power
to suppress them _in_ all.
It has been shown already that _allegiance_ is exacted of the slave. Is
the government of the United States unable to grant _protection_ where
it exacts _allegiance_? It is an axiom of the civilized world, and a
maxim even with savages, that allegiance and protection are reciprocal
and correlative. Are principles powerless with us which exact homage of
barbarians? _Protection is the_ CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHT _of every human.
being under the exclusive legislation of Congress who has not forfeited
it by crime_.
In conclusion, I argue the power of Congress to abolish slavery in the
District, from Art. 1, sec. 8, clause 1, of the constitution; "Congress
shall have power to provide for the common defence and the general
welfare of the United States." Has the government of the United States
no power under this grant to legislate within its own exclusive
jurisdiction on subjects that vitally affect its interest? Suppose the
slaves in the district should rise upon their masters, and the United
States' government, in quelling the insurrection, should kill any number
of them. Could their masters claim compensation of the government?
Manifestly not; even though no proof existed that the particular slaves
killed were insurgents. This was precisely the point at issue between
those masters, whose slaves were killed by the State troops at the time
of the Southampton insurrection, and the Virginia Legislature: no
evidence was brought to show that the slaves killed by the troops were
insurgents; yet the Virginia Legislature decided that their masters were
_not entitled to compensation._ They proceeded on the sound principle,
that the government may in self-protection destroy the claim of its
subjects even to that which has been recognized as property by its own
acts. If in providing for the common defence, the United States'
government, in the case supposed, would have power to destroy slaves
both as _property_ and _persons_, it surely might stop _half-way_,
destroy them _as property_ while it legalized their existence as
_persons_, and thus provided for the common defence by giving them a
personal and powerful interest in the government, and securing their
strength for its defence.
Like other Legislatures, Congress has power to abate nuisances--to
remove or tear down unsafe buildings--to destroy infected cargoes--to
lay injunctions upon manufactories injurious to the public health--and
thus to "provide for the common defence and general welfare" by
destroying individual property, when such property puts in jeopardy the
public weal.
Granting, for argument's sake, that slaves are "property" in the
District of Columbia--if Congress has a right to annihilate property
there when the public safety requires it, it may annihilate its
existence _as_ property when the public safety requires it, especially
if it transform into a _protection_ and _defence_ that which as
_property_ perilled the public interests. In the District of Columbia
there are, besides the United States' Capitol, the President's house,
the national offices, and archives of the Departments of State,
Treasury, War, and Navy, the General Post-office, and Patent office. It
is also the residence of the President, of all the highest officers of
the government, of both houses of Congress, and of all the foreign
ambassadors. In this same District there are also seven thousand slaves.
Jefferson, in his Notes on Va. p. 241, says of slavery, that "the State
permitting one half of its citizens to trample on the rights of the
other, transforms them into _enemies_;" and Richard Henry Lee, in the
Va. House of Burgesses in 1758, declared that to those who held them,
"_slaves must be natural enemies_." Is Congress so impotent that it
_cannot_ exercise that right pronounced both by municipal and national
law, the most sacred and universal--the right of self-preservation and
defence? Is it shut up to the _necessity_ of keeping seven thousand
"enemies" in the heart of the nation's citadel? Does the iron fiat of
the constitution doom it to such imbecility that it _cannot_ arrest the
process that _made_ them "enemies," and still goads to deadlier hate by
fiery trials, and day by day adds others to their number? Is _this_
providing for the common defence and general welfare? If to rob men of
rights excites their hate, freely to restore them and make amends, will
win their love.
By emancipating the slaves in the District, the government of the United
States would disband an army of "enemies," and enlist "for the common
defence and general welfare," a body guard of _friends_ seven thousand
strong. In the last war, a handful of British soldiers sacked Washington
city, burned the capitol, the President's house, and the national
offices and archives; and no marvel, for thousands of the inhabitants of
the District had been "TRANSFORMED INTO ENEMIES." Would _they_ beat back
invasion? If the national government had exercised its constitutional
"power to provide for the common defence and to promote the general
welfare," by turning those "enemies" into friends, then, instead of a
hostile ambush lurking in every thicket inviting assault, and secret
foes in every house paralyzing defence, an army of allies would have
rallied in the hour of her calamity, and shouted defiance from their
munitions of rocks; whilst the banner of the republic, then trampled in
dust, would have floated securely over FREEMEN exulting amidst bulwarks
of strength.
To show that Congress can abolish slavery in the District, under the
grant of power "to provide for the common defence and to promote the
general welfare," I quote an extract from a speech of Mr. Madison, of
Va., in the first Congress under the constitution, May 13, 1789.
Speaking of the abolition of the slave trade, Mr. Madison says: "I
should venture to say it is as much for the interests of Georgia and
South Carolina, as of any state in the union. Every addition they
receive to their number of slaves tends to _weaken_ them, and renders
them less capable of self-defence. In case of hostilities with foreign
nations, they will be the means of _inviting_ attack instead of
repelling invasion. It is a necessary duty of the general government to
protect every part of the empire against danger, as well _internal_ as
external. _Every thing, therefore, which tends to increase this danger,
though it may be a local affair, yet if it involves national expense or
safety, it becomes of concern to every part of the union, and is a
proper subject for the consideration of those charged with the general
administration of the government._" Cong. Reg. vol. 1, p. 310, 11.
WYTHE.
POSTSCRIPT
My apology for adding a _postscript_, to a discussion already perhaps
too protracted, is the fact that the preceding sheets were in the hands
of the printer, and all but the concluding pages had gone through the
press, before the passage of Mr. Calhoun's late resolutions in the
Senate of the United States. A proceeding so extraordinary,--if indeed
henceforward _any_ act of Congress in derogation of freedom and in
deference to slavery, can be deemed extraordinary,--should not be passed
in silence at such a crisis as the present; especially as the passage of
one of the resolutions by a vote of 36 to 9, exhibits a shift of
position on the part of the South, as sudden as it is unaccountable,
being nothing less than the surrender of a fortress which until then,
they had defended with the pertinacity of a blind and almost infuriated
fatuity. Upon the discussions during the pendency of the resolutions,
and upon the vote, by which they were carried, I make no comment, save
only to record my exultation in the fact there exhibited, that great
emergencies are _true touchstones_, and that henceforward, until this
question is settled, whoever holds a seat in Congress will find upon,
and around him, a pressure strong enough to test him--a focal blaze that
will find its way through the carefully adjusted cloak of fair
pretension, and the sevenfold brass of two faced political intrigue, and
_no_-faced _non-committalism_, piercing to the dividing asunder of
joints and marrow. Be it known to every northern man who aspires to a
seat in our national councils, that hereafter congressional action on
this subject will be a MIGHTY REVELATOR--making secret thoughts public
property, and proclaiming on the house-tops what is whispered in the
ear--smiting off masks, and bursting open sepulchres beautiful
outwardly, and up-heaving to the sun their dead men's bones. To such we
say,--_Remember the Missouri Question, and the fate of those who then
sold the free states and their own birthright!_
Passing by the resolutions generally without remark--the attention of
the reader is specially solicited to Mr. Clay's substitute for Mr.
Calhoun's fifth resolution.
"Resolved, That when the District of Columbia was ceded by the states of
Virginia and Maryland to the United States, domestic slavery existed in
both of these states, including the ceded territory, and that, as it
still continues in both of them, it could not be abolished within the
District without a violation of that good faith, which was implied in
the cession and in the acceptance of the territory; nor, unless
compensation were made to the proprietors of slaves, without a manifest
infringement of an amendment to the constitution of the United States;
nor without exciting a degree of just alarm and apprehension in the
states recognizing slavery, far transcending in mischievous tendency,
any possible benefit which could be accomplished by the abolition."
By advocating this resolution, the south shifted its mode of defence,
not by taking a position entirely new, but by attempting to refortify an
old one--abandoned mainly long ago, as being unable to hold out against
assault however unskillfully directed. In the debate on this resolution,
the southern members of Congress silently drew off from the ground
hitherto maintained by them, viz.--that Congress has no power by the
constitution to abolish slavery in the District.
The passage of this resolution--with the vote of every southern senator,
forms a new era in the discussion of this question. We cannot join in
the lamentations of those who bewail it. We hail it, and rejoice in it.
It was as we would have had it--offered by a southern senator, advocated
by southern senators, and on the ground that it "was no
compromise"--that it embodied the true southern principle--that "this
resolution stood on as high ground as Mr. Calhoun's."--(Mr.
Preston)--"that Mr. Clay's resolution was as strong as Mr.
Calhoun's"--(Mr. Rives)--that "the resolution he (Mr. Calhoun) now
refused to support, was as strong as his own, and that in supporting it,
there was no abandonment of principle by the south."--(Mr. Walker, of
Mi.)--further, that it was advocated by the southern senators generally
as an expression of their views, and as setting the question of slavery
in the District on its _true_ ground--that finally, when the question
was taken, every slaveholding senator, including Mr. Calhoun himself,
voted for the resolution.
By passing this resolution, and with such avowals, the south has
unwittingly but explicitly, conceded the main point argued in the
preceding pages, and surrendered the whole question at issue between
them and the petitioners for abolition in the District.
The _only_ ground taken against the right of Congress to abolish slavery
in the District is, that it existed in Maryland and Virginia when the
cession was made, and "_as it still continues in both of them_, it could
not be abolished without a violation of that good faith which was
implied in the cession," &c. The argument is not that exclusive
_sovereignty_ has no power to abolish slavery within its jurisdiction,
nor that the powers of even ordinary legislation cannot do it, nor that
the clause granting Congress "exclusive legislation in all cases what
soever over such District," gives no power to do it; but that the
_unexpressed expectation_ of one of the parties that the other would not
"in all cases" use the power which said party had consented might be
used "_in all cases," prohibits_ the use of it. The only cardinal point
in the discussion, is here not only yielded, but formally laid down by
the South as the leading article in their creed on the question of
Congressional jurisdiction over slavery in the District. The reason
given why Congress should not abolish, and the sole evidence that if it
did, such abolition would be a violation of "good faith," is that
"_slavery still continues in those states_,"--thus admitting, that if
slavery did _not_ "still continue" in those States, Congress could
abolish it in the District. The same admission is made also in the
_premises_, which state that slavery existed in those states _at the
time of the cession_, &c. Admitting that if it had not existed there
then, but had grown up in the District under United States' laws,
Congress might constitutionally abolish it. Or that if the ceded parts
of those states had been the _only_ parts in which slaves were held
under their laws, Congress might have abolished in such a contingency
also. The cession in that case leaving no slaves in those states,--no
"good faith" would be "implied" in it, nor any "violated" by an act of
abolition. The resolution makes virtually this further admission, that
if Maryland and Virginia should at once abolish their slavery, Congress
might at once abolish it in the District. The principle goes even
further than this, and _requires_ Congress in such case to abolish
slavery in the District "by the _good faith implied_ in the cession and
acceptance of the territory." Since, according to the spirit and scope
of the resolution, this "implied good faith" of Maryland and Virginia
in making the cession, was, that Congress would do nothing within the
District which should counteract the policy, or discredit the
"institutions," or call in question the usages, or even in any way
ruffle the prejudices of those states, or do what _they_ might think
would unfavorably bear upon their interests; _themselves_ of course
being the judges.
But let us dissect another limb of the resolution. What is to be
understood by "that good faith which was IMPLIED?" It is of course an
admission that such a condition was not _expressed_ in the acts of
cession--that in their terms there is nothing restricting the power of
Congress on the subject of slavery in the District. This "implied
faith," then, rests on no clause or word in the United States'
Constitution, or in the acts of cession, or in the acts of Congress
accepting the cession, nor on any declarations of the legislatures of
Maryland and Virginia, nor on any _act_ of theirs, nor on any
declaration of the _people_ of those states, nor on the testimony of the
Washingtons, Jeffersons, Madisons, Chases, Martins, and Jennifers, of
those states and times. The assertion rests _on itself alone!_ Mr. Clay
_guesses_ that Maryland and Virginia _supposed_ that Congress would by
no means _use_ the power given them by the Constitution, except in such
ways as would be well pleasing in the eyes of those states; especially
as one of them was the "Ancient Dominion!" And now after half a century,
this _assumed expectation_ of Maryland and Virginia, the existence of
which is mere matter of conjecture with the 36 senators, is conjured up
and duly installed upon the judgment-seat of final appeal, before whose
nod constitutions are to flee away, and with whom, solemn grants of
power and explicit guaranties are, when weighed in the balance,
altogether lighter than vanity!
But survey it in another light. Why did Maryland and Virginia leave so
much to be "_implied?_?" Why did they not in some way _express_ what lay
so near their hearts? Had their vocabulary run so low that a single word
could not be eked out for the occasion? Or were those states so bashful
of a sudden that they dare not speak out and tell what they wanted? Or
did they take it for granted that Congress would always know their
wishes by intuition, and always take them for law? If, as honorable
senators tell us, Maryland and Virginia did verily travail with such
abounding _faith_, why brought they forth no _works_?
It is as true in legislation as in religion, that the only evidence of
"faith" is works, and that "faith" _without_ works is _dead_, i.e. has
no _power_. But here, forsooth, a blind implication with nothing
_expressed_, an "implied" faith without works, is omnipotent! Mr. Clay
is lawyer enough to know that Maryland and Virginia notions of
constitutional power, _abrogate no grant_, and that to plead them in a
court of law, would be of small service, except to jostle "their
Honors'" gravity! He need not be told that the Constitution gives
Congress "power to exercise exclusive legislation in all cases
whatsoever over such District;" nor that Maryland and Virginia
constructed their acts of cession with this clause _before their eyes_,
and declared those acts made "in _pursuance_" of it. Those states knew
that the U.S. Constitution had left nothing to be "_implied_" as to the
power of Congress over the District; an admonition quite sufficient, one
would think, to put them on their guard, and lead them to eschew vague
implications, and to resort to _stipulations_. They knew, moreover, that
those were times when, in matters of high import, _nothing_ was left to
be "implied." The colonies were then panting from a twenty years'
conflict with the mother country, about bills of rights, charters,
treaties, constitutions, grants, limitations, and _acts of cession_. The
severities of a long and terrible discipline had taught them to guard at
all points _legislative grants_, that their exact import and limit might
be self-evident--leaving no scope for a blind "faith" that _somehow_ in
the lottery of chances, every ticket would turn up a prize. Toil,
suffering, blood, and treasure outpoured like water over a whole
generation, counselled them to make all sure by the use of explicit
terms, and well chosen words, and just enough of them. The Constitution
of the United States, with its amendments, those of the individual
states, the national treaties, and the public documents of the general
and state governments at that period, show the universal conviction of
legislative bodies, that nothing should be left to be "implied," when
great public interests were at stake.
Further: suppose Maryland and Virginia had expressed their "implied
faith" in _words_, and embodied it in their acts of cession as a
proviso, declaring that Congress should not "exercise exclusive
legislation in _all_ cases whatsoever over the District," but that the
"case" of _slavery_ should be an exception: who does not know that
Congress, if it had accepted the cession on those terms, would have
violated the Constitution; and who that has studied the free mood of
those times in its bearings on slavery--proofs of which are given in
scores on the preceding pages--[See pp. 25-37.] can be made to believe
that the people of the United States would have re-modelled their
Constitution for the purpose of providing for slavery an inviolable
sanctuary; that when driven in from its outposts, and everywhere
retreating discomfited before the march of freedom, it might be received
into everlasting habitations on the common homestead and hearth-stone of
the republic? Who can believe that Virginia made such a condition, or
cherished such a purpose, when Washington, Jefferson, Wythe, Patrick
Henry, St. George Tucker, and all her most illustrious men, were at that
moment advocating the abolition of slavery by law; when Washington had
said, two years before, that Maryland and Virginia "must have laws for
the gradual abolition of slavery, and at a period _not remote_;" and when
Jefferson in his letter to Dr. Price, three years before the cession,
had said, speaking of Virginia, "This is the next state to which we may
turn our eyes for the interesting spectacle of justice in conflict with
avarice and oppression--a conflict in which THE SACRED SIDE IS GAINING
DAILY RECRUITS;" when voluntary emancipations on the soil were then
progressing at the rate of between one and two thousand annually, (See
Judge Tucker's "Dissertation on Slavery," p. 73;) when the public
sentiment of Virginia had undergone, so mighty a revolution that the
idea of the continuance of slavery as a permanent system could not be
tolerated, though she then contained about half the slaves in the Union.
Was this the time to stipulate for the _perpetuity_ of slavery under the
exclusive legislation of Congress? and that too when at the _same_
session _every one_ of her delegation voted for the abolition of slavery
in the North West Territory; a territory which she herself had ceded to
the Union, and surrendered along with it her jurisdiction over her
citizens, inhabitants of that territory, who held slaves there--and
whose slaves were emancipated by that act of Congress, in which all her
delegation with one accord participated?
Now in view of the universal belief then prevalent, that slavery in this
country was doomed to short life, and especially that in Maryland and
Virginia it would be _speedily_ abolished--must we adopt the monstrous
conclusion that those states _designed_ to bind Congress _never_ to
terminate it?--that it was the _intent_ of the Ancient Dominion thus to
_bind_ the United States by an "implied faith," and that when the
national government _accepted_ the cession, she did solemnly thus plight
her troth, and that Virginia did then so _understand_ it? Verily,
honorable senators must suppose themselves deputed to do our _thinking_
for us as well as our legislation, or rather, that they are themselves
absolved from such drudgery by virtue of their office!
Another absurdity of this "implied faith" dogma is, that where there was
no power to exact an _express_ pledge, there was none to demand an
_implied_ one, and where there was no power to give the one, there was
none to give the other. We have shown already that Congress could not
have accepted the cession with such a condition. To have signed away a
part of its constitutional grant of power would have been a _breach_ of
the Constitution. The Congress which accepted the cession was competent
to pass a resolution pledging itself not to _use all_ the power over the
District committed to it by the Constitution. But here its power ended.
Its resolution could only bind _itself_. It had no authority to bind a
subsequent Congress. Could the members of one Congress say to those of
another, because we do not choose to exercise all the authority vested
in us by the Constitution, therefore you _shall_ not? This would, have
been a prohibition to do what the Constitution gives power to do. Each
successive Congress would still have gone to THE CONSTITUTION for its
power, brushing away in its course the cobwebs stretched across its path
by the officiousness of an impertinent predecessor. Again, the
legislatures of Virginia and Maryland, had no power to bind Congress,
either by an express or an implied pledge, never to abolish slavery in
the District. Those legislatures had no power to bind _themselves_ never
to abolish slavery within their own territories--the ceded parts
included. Where then would they get power to bind _another_ not to do
what they had no power to bind _themselves_ not to do? If a legislature
could not in this respect control the successive legislatures of its own
State, could it control the successive Congresses of the United States?
But perhaps we shall be told, that the "implied faith" of Maryland and
Virginia was _not_ that Congress should _never_ abolish slavery in the
District, but that it should not do it until _they_ had done it within
their bounds! Verily this "faith" comes little short of the faith of
miracles! Maryland and Virginia have "good faith" that Congress will not
abolish until _they_ do; and then just as "good faith" that Congress
_will_ abolish _when_ they do! Excellently accommodated! Did those
states suppose that Congress would legislate over the national domain,
for Maryland and Virginia alone? And who, did they suppose, would be
judges in the matter?--themselves merely? or the whole Union?
This "good faith implied in the cession" is no longer of doubtful
interpretation. The principle at the bottom of it, when fairly stated,
is this:--That the Government of the United States are bound in "good
faith" to do in the District of Columbia, without demurring, just what
and when, Maryland and Virginia do within their own bounds. In short,
that the general government is eased of all the burdens of legislation
within its exclusive jurisdiction, save that of hiring a scrivener to
copy off the acts of the Maryland and Virginia legislatures as fast as
they are passed, and engross them, under the title of "Laws of the
United States for the District of Columbia!" A slight additional expense
would also be incurred in keeping up an express between the capitols of
those States and Washington city, bringing Congress from time to time
its "_instructions_" from head quarters!
What a "glorious Union" this doctrine of Mr. Clay bequeaths to the
people of the United States! We have been permitted to set up at our own
expense, and on our own territory, two great _sounding-boards_ called
"Senate Chamber" and "Representatives' Hall," for the purpose of sending
abroad "by authority" _national_ echoes of _state_ legislation!
--permitted also to keep in our pay a corps of pliant _national_
musicians, with peremptory instructions to sound on any line of the
staff according as Virginia and Maryland may give the sovereign
key note!
A careful analysis of Mr. Clay's resolution and of the discussions upon
it, will convince every fair mind that this is but the legitimate
carrying out of the _principle_ pervading both. They proceed virtually
upon the hypothesis that the will and pleasure of Virginia and Maryland
are paramount to those of the Union. If the original design of setting
apart a federal district had been for the sole accommodation of the
south, there could hardly have been higher assumption or louder
vaunting. The only object of _having_ such a District was in effect
totally perverted in the resolution of Mr. Clay, and in the discussions
of the entire southern delegation, upon its passage. Instead of taking
the ground, that the benefit of the whole Union was the sole _object_ of
a federal district, and that it was to be legislated over _for this
end_--the resolution proceeds upon an hypothesis totally the reverse. It
takes a single point of _state_ policy, and exalts it above NATIONAL
interests, utterly overshadowing them; abrogating national rights;
making void a clause of the Constitution; humbling the general
government into a subject crouching for favors to a superior, and that
too within its own exclusive jurisdiction. All the attributes of
sovereignty vested in Congress by the Constitution, it impales upon the
point of an alleged _implication_. And this is Mr. Clay's
peace-offering, to the lust of power and the ravenings of state
encroachment! A "compromise," forsooth! that sinks the general
government on _its own territory_, into a mere colony, with Virginia and
Maryland for its "mother country!" It is refreshing to turn from these
shallow, distorted constructions and servile cringings, to the high
bearing of other southern men in other times; men, who as legislators
and lawyers, scorned to accommodate their interpretations of
constitutions and charters to geographical lines, or to bend them to the
purposes of a political canvass. In the celebrated case of Cohens _vs._
the State of Virginia, Hon. William Pinkney, late of Baltimore, and Hon.
Walter Jones, of Washington city, with other eminent constitutional
lawyers, prepared an elaborate opinion, from which the following is an
extract: "Nor is there any danger to be apprehended from allowing to
Congressional legislation with regard to the District of Columbia, its
FULLEST EFFECT. Congress is responsible to the States, and to the people
for that legislation. It is in truth the legislation of the states over
a district placed under their control FOR THEIR OWN BENEFIT, not for
that of the District, except as the prosperity of the District is
involved, and _necessary to the general advantage_."--[Life of
Pinkney, p. 612.]
This profound legal opinion asserts, 1st, that Congressional legislation
over the District, is "the legislation of the _states_ and the
_people_." (not of _two_ states, and a mere _fraction_ of the people;)
2d. "Over a District placed under _their_ control," i.e. under the
control of _all_ the States, not of _two twenty-sixths_ of them. 3d.
That it was thus put under their control "_for_ THEIR OWN _benefit_."
4th. It asserts that the design of this exclusive control of Congress
over the District was "not for the benefit of the _District_," except as
that is _connected_ with, and _a means of promoting_ the _general_
advantage. If this is the case with the _District_, which is _directly_
concerned, it is pre-eminently so with Maryland and Virginia, which are
but _indirectly_ interested. The argument of Mr. Madison in the Congress
of '89, an extract from which has been given on a preceding page, lays
down the same principle; that though any matter "_may be a local affair,
yet if it involves national_ EXPENSE or SAFETY, _it becomes of concern
to every part of the union, and is a proper subject for the
consideration of those charged with the general administration of the
government_."--Cong. Reg. vol. 1. p. 310.
But these are only the initiatory absurdities of this "good faith
_implied_." Mr. Clay's resolution aptly illustrates the principle, that
error not only conflicts with truth, but is generally at issue with
itself: For if it would be a violation of "good faith" to Maryland and
Virginia, for Congress to abolish slavery in the District, it would be
_equally_ a violation for Congress to do it _with the consent_, or even
at the unanimous petition of the people of the District: yet for years
it has been the southern doctrine, that if the people of the District
demand of Congress relief in this respect, it has power, as their local
legislature, to grant it, and by abolishing slavery there, carry out the
will of the citizens. But now new light has broken in! The optics of Mr.
Clay have pierced the millstone with a deeper insight, and discoveries
thicken faster than they can be telegraphed! Congress has no power, O
no, not a modicum! to help the slaveholders of the District, however
loudly they may clamor for it. The southern doctrine, that Congress is
to the District a mere local Legislature to do its pleasure, is tumbled
from the genitive into the vocative! Hard fate--and that too at the
hands of those who begat it! The reasonings of Messrs. Pinckney and
Wise, are now found to be wholly at fault, and the chanticleer rhetoric
of Messrs. Glascock and Garland stalks featherless and crest-fallen. For
the resolution sweeps by the board all those stereotyped common-places,
such as "Congress a local Legislature," "consent of the District,"
"bound to consult the wishes of the District," with other catch phrases,
which for the last two sessions of Congress have served to eke out
scanty supplies. It declares, that as slavery existed in _Maryland and
Virginia at the time of the cession, and as_ it still continues _in both
those states_, it could not be abolished in the District without a
violation of "that good faith," &c.
But let us see where this principle will lead us. If "implied faith" to
Maryland and Virginia _restrains_ Congress from the abolition of slavery
in the District, because those states have not abolished _their_
slavery, it _requires_ Congress to do in the District what those states
have done within their own limits, i.e., restrain _others_ from
abolishing it. Upon the same principle Congress is _bound_ to _prohibit
emancipation_ within the District. There is no _stopping place_ for this
plighted "faith." Congress must not only refrain from laying violent
hands on slavery, and see to it that the slaveholders themselves do not,
but it is bound to keep the system up to the Maryland and Virginia
standard of vigor!
Again, if the good faith of Congress to Virginia and Maryland requires
that slavery should exist in the District, while it exists in those
states, it requires that it should exist there as it exists in those
states. If to abolish _every_ form of slavery in the District would
violate good faith, to abolish _the_ form existing in those states, and
to substitute a different one, would also violate it. The Congressional
"good faith" is to be kept not only with _slavery_, but with the
_Maryland and Virginia systems_ of slavery. The faith of those states
being not that Congress would maintain a system, but _their_ system;
otherwise instead of _sustaining_, Congress would counteract their
policy--principles would be brought into action there conflicting with
their system, and thus the true sprit of the "implied" pledge would be
violated. On this principle, so long as slaves are "chattels personal"
in Virginia and Maryland, Congress could not make them _real estate_ in
the District, as they are in Louisiana; nor could it permit slaves to
read, nor to worship God according to conscience; nor could it grant
them trial by jury, nor legalize marriage; nor require the master to
give sufficient food and clothing; nor prohibit the violent sundering of
families--because such provisions would conflict with the existing
slave laws of Virginia and Maryland, and thus violate the "good faith
implied," &c. So the principle of the resolution binds Congress in all
these particulars: 1st. Not to abolish slavery in the District _until_
Virginia and Maryland abolish. 2d. Not to abolish any _part_ of it that
exists in those states. 3d. Not to abolish any _form_ or _appendage_ of
it still existing in those states. 4th. To _abolish_ when they do. 5th.
To increase or abate its rigors _when, how,_ and _as_ the same are
modified by those states. In a word, Congressional action in the
District is to float passively in the wake of legislative action on the
subject in those states.
But here comes a dilemma. Suppose the legislation of those states should
steer different courses--then there would be _two_ wakes! Can Congress
float in both? Yea, verily! Nothing is too hard for it! Its
obsequiousness equals its "power of legislation in _all_ cases
whatsoever." It can float _up_ on the Virginia tide, and ebb down on the
Maryland. What Maryland does, Congress will do in the Maryland part.
What Virginia does, Congress will do in the Virginia part. Though it
might not always be able to run at the bidding of both _at once_,
especially in different directions, yet if it obeyed orders cheerfully,
and "kept in its place," according to its "good faith implied,"
impossibilities might not be rigidly exacted. True, we have the highest
sanction for the maxim that no _man_ can serve two masters--but if
"corporations have no souls," analogy would absolve Congress on that
score, or at most give it only a _very small soul_--not large enough to
be at all in the way, as an exception to the universal rule laid down in
the maxim!
In following out the absurdities of this "implied good faith," it will
be seen at once that the doctrine of Mr. Clay's Resolution extends to
_all the subjects of legislation_ existing in Maryland and Virginia,
which exist also within the District. Every system, "institution," law,
and established usage there, is placed beyond Congressional control
equally with slavery, and by the same "implied faith." The abolition of
the lottery system in the District as an immorality, was a flagrant
breach of this "good faith" to Maryland and Virginia, as the system
"still continued in those states." So to abolish imprisonment for debt,
or capital punishment, to remodel the bank system, the power of
corporations, the militia law, laws of limitation, &c., in the District,
_unless Virginia and Maryland took the lead,_ would violate the "good
faith implied in the cession."
That in the acts of cession no such "good faith" was "implied" by
Virginia and Maryland as is claimed in the Resolution, we argue from the
fact, that in 1784 Virginia ceded to the United States all her
north-west territory, with the special proviso that her citizens
inhabiting that territory should "have their _possessions_ and _titles_
confirmed to them, and be _protected_ in the enjoyment of their _rights_
and liberties." (See Journals of Congress, vol. 9, p. 63.) The cession
was made in the form of a deed, and signed by Thomas Jefferson, Samuel
Hardy, Arthur Lee, and James Munroe. Many of these inhabitants _held
slaves._ Three years after the cession, the Virginia delegation in
Congress _proposed_ the passage of an ordinance which should abolish
slavery, in that territory, and declare that it should never thereafter
exist there. All the members of Congress from Virginia and Maryland
voted for this ordinance. Suppose some member of Congress had during the
passage of the ordinance introduced the following resolution: "Resolved,
that when the northwest territory was ceded by Virginia to the United
States, domestic slavery existed in that State, including the ceded
territory, and as it still continues in that State, it could not be
abolished within the territory without a violation of that good faith,
which was implied in the cession and in the acceptance of the
territory." What would have been the indignant response of Grayson,
Griffin, Madison, and the Lees, in the Congress of '87, to such a
resolution, and of Carrington, Chairman of the Committee, who reported
the ratification of the ordinance in the Congress of '89, and of Page
and Parker, who with every other member of the Virginia delegation
supported it?
But to enumerate all the absurdities into which those interested for
this resolution have plunged themselves, would be to make a quarto
inventory. We decline the task; and in conclusion merely add, that Mr.
Clay, in presenting it, and each of the thirty-six Senators who voted
for it, entered on the records of the Senate, and proclaimed to the
world, a most unworthy accusation against the millions of American
citizens who have during nearly half a century petitioned the national
legislature to abolish slavery in the District of Columbia,--charging
them either with the ignorance or the impiety of praying the nation to
violate its "Plighted Faith." The resolution virtually indicts at the
bar of public opinion, and brands with odium, all the early Manumission
Societies, the _first_ petitioners for the abolition of slavery in the
District, and for a long time the only ones, petitioning from year to
year through evil report and good report, still petitioning, by
individual societies and in their national conventions.
But as if it were not enough to table the charge against such men as
Benjamin Rush, William Rawle, John Sergeant, Roberts Vaux, Cadwallader
Colden, and Peter A. Jay,--to whom we may add Rufus King, James
Hillhouse, William Pinkney, Thomas Addis Emmett, Daniel D. Tompkins, De
Witt Clinton, James Kent, and Daniel Webster, besides eleven hundred
citizens of the District itself, headed by their Chief Justice and
Judges--even the sovereign States of Pennsylvania, New-York,
Massachusetts, Vermont, and Connecticut, whose legislatures have either
memorialized Congress to abolish slavery in the District, or instructed
their Senators to move such a measure, must be gravely informed by
Messrs. Clay, Norvell, Niles, Smith, Pierce, Benton, Black, Tipton, and
other honorable Senators, either that their perception is so dull, they
know not whereof they affirm, or that their moral sense is so blunted
they can demand without compunction a violation of the nation's faith!
We have spoken already of the concessions unwittingly made in this
resolution to the true doctrine of Congressional power over the
District. For that concession, important as it is; we have small thanks
to render. That such a resolution, passed with such an _intent_, and
pressing at a thousand points on relations and interests vital to the
free states, should be hailed, as it has been, by a portion of the
northern press as a "compromise" originating in deference to northern
interests, and to be received by us as a free-will offering of
disinterested benevolence, demanding our gratitude to the mover,--may
well cover us with shame. We deserve the humiliation and have well
earned the mockery. Let it come!
If, after having been set up at auction in the public sales-room of the
nation, and for thirty years, and by each of a score of "compromises,"
treacherously knocked off to the lowest bidder, and that without money
and without price, the North, plundered and betrayed, _will not_, in
this her accepted time, consider the things that belong to her peace
before they are hidden from her eyes, then let her eat of the fruit of
her own way, and be filled with her own devices! Let the shorn and
blinded giant grind in the prison-house of the Philistines, till taught
by weariness and pain the folly of entrusting to Delilahs the secret and
the custody of his strength.
Have the free States bound themselves by an oath never to profit by the
lessons of experience? If lost to reason, are they dead to _instinct_
also? Can nothing rouse them to cast about for self preservation? And
shall a life of tame surrenders be terminated by suicidal sacrifice?
A "COMPROMISE!" Bitter irony! Is the plucked and hoodwinked North to be
wheedled by the sorcery of another Missouri compromise? A compromise in
which the South gained all, and the North lost all, and lost it forever.
A compromise which embargoed the free laborer of the North and West,
and, clutched at the staff he leaned upon, to turn it into a bludgeon
and fell him with its stroke. A compromise which wrested from liberty
her boundless birthright domain, stretching westward to the sunset,
while it gave to slavery loose reins and a free coarse, from the
Mississippi to the Pacific.
The resolution, as it finally passed, is here inserted.
"Resolved, That the interference by the citizens of any of the states,
with the view to the abolition of slavery in the District, is
endangering the rights and security of the people of the District; and
that any act or measure of Congress designed to abolish slavery in the
District, would be a violation of the faith implied in the cessions by
the states of Virginia and Maryland, a just cause of alarm to the people
of the slaveholding states, and have a direct and inevitable tendency to
disturb and endanger the Union."
The vote upon the resolution stood as follows:
_Yeas_.--Messrs. Allen, Bayard, Benton, Black, Buchanan, Brown, Calhoun,
Clay of Alabama, Clay of Kentucky, Clayton, Crittenden, Cuthbert,
Fulton, Grundy, Hubbard, King, Lumpkin, Lyon, Nicholas. Niles, Norvell,
Pierce, Preston, Rives, Roane, Robinson, Sevier, Smith, of Connecticut,
Strange, Tallmadge, Tipton, Walker, White, Williams, Wright, Young--36.
_Nays_.--Messrs. DAVIS, KNIGHT, McKEAN, MORRIS, PRENTISS, RUGGLES,
SMITH, of Indiana, SWIFT, WEBSTER--9.
* * * * *
ANTI-SLAVERY EXAMINER. NO. 6.
NARRATIVE OF JAMES WILLIAMS, AN AMERICAN SLAVE.
ONE DOLLAR PER 100] [143 NASSAU ST. N.Y.
* * * * *
PREFACE.
"American Slavery," said the celebrated John Wesley, "is the _vilest_
beneath the sun!" Of the truth of this emphatic remark, no other proof
is required, than an examination of the statute books of the American
slave states. Tested by its own laws, in all that facilitates and
protects the hateful process of converting a man into a "_chattel
personal_;" in all that stamps the law-maker, and law-upholder with
meanness and hypocrisy, it certainly has no present rival of its "bad
eminence," and we may search in vain the history of a world's despotism
for a parallel. The civil code of Justinian never acknowledged, with
that of our democratic despotisms, the essential equality of man. The
dreamer in the gardens of Epicurus recognized neither in himself, nor in
the slave who ministered to his luxury, the immortality of the spiritual
nature. Neither Solon nor Lycurgus taught the inalienability of human
rights. The Barons of the Feudal System, whose maxim was emphatically
that of Wordsworth's robber,
"That he should take who had the power,
And he should keep who can."
while trampling on the necks of their vassals, and counting the life of
a man as of less value than that of a wild beast, never appealed to God
for the sincerity of their belief, that all men were created equal. It
was reserved for American slave-holders to present to the world the
hideous anomaly of a code of laws, beginning with the emphatic
declaration of the inalienable rights of all men to life, liberty, and
the pursuit of happiness, and closing with a deliberate and systematic
denial of those rights, in respect to a large portion of their
countrymen; engrossing on the same parchment the antagonist laws of
liberty and tyranny. The very nature of this unnatural combination has
rendered it necessary that American slavery, in law and in practice,
should exceed every other in severity and cool atrocity. The masters of
Greece and Rome permitted their slaves to read and write and worship the
gods of paganism in peace and security, for there was nothing in the
laws, literature, or religion of the age to awaken in the soul of the
bondman a just sense of his rights as a man. But the American
slaveholder cannot be thus lenient. In the excess of his benevolence, as
a political propagandist, he has kindled a fire for the oppressed of the
old world to gaze at with hope, and for crowned heads and dynasties to
tremble at; but a due regard to the safety of his "peculiar
institution," compels him to put out the eyes of his own people, lest
they too should see it. Calling on all the world to shake off the
fetters of oppression, and wade through the blood of tyrants to freedom,
he has been compelled to smother, in darkness and silence, the minds of
his own bondmen, lest they too should hear and obey the summons, by
putting the knife to his own throat.--Proclaiming the truths of Divine
Revelation, and sending the Scriptures to the four quarters of the
earth, he has found it necessary to maintain heathenism at home by
special enactments; and to make the second offence of teaching his
slaves the message of salvation punishable with _death_!
What marvel then that American slavery even on the _statute book_
assumes the right to transform moral beings into brutes:[A] that it
legalizes man's usurpation of Divine authority; the substitution of the
will of the master, for the moral government of God: that it annihilates
the rights of conscience; debars from the enjoyment of religious rights
and privileges by specific enactments; and enjoins disobedience to the
Divine lawgiver: that it discourages purity and chastity, encourages
crime, legalizes concubinage; and, while it places the slave entirely in
the hands of his master, provides no real protection for his life or
his person.
[Footnote A: The _cardinal principle_ of slavery, that a slave is not to
be ranked among sentient beings, but among things, as an article of
property, a chattel personal, obtains as undoubted law, in all the slave
states. (Judge Stroud's Sketch of Slave Laws, p. 22.)]
But it may be said, that these laws afford no certain evidence of the
actual condition of the slaves: that, in judging the system by its code,
no allowance is made for the humanity of individual masters. It was a
just remark of the celebrated Priestley, that "_no people ever were
found to be better than their laws, though many have been known to be
worse._" All history and common experience confirm this. Besides,
admitting that the legal severity of a system may be softened in the
practice of the humane, may it not also be aggravated by that of the
avaricious and cruel?
But what are the testimony and admissions of slaveholders themselves on
this point? In an Essay published in Charleston, S.C., in 1822, and
entitled "A Refutation of the Calumnies circulated against the Southern
and Western States," by the late Edwin C. Holland, Esq., it is stated,
that "all slaveholders have laid down non-resistance, and perfect and
uniform _obedience_ to their orders as fundamental principles in the
government of their slaves:" that this is "a _necessary_ result of the
relation," and "_unavoidable_." Robert J. Turnbull, Esq., of South
Carolina, in remarking upon the management of slaves, says, "The only
principle upon which may authority over them, (the slaves,) can be
maintained is _fear_, and he who denies this has little knowledge of
them." To this may be added the testimony of Judge Ruffin, of North
Carolina, as quoted in Wheeler's Law of Slavery, p. 217. "The slave, to
remain a slave, must feel that there is _no appeal from his master_. No
man can anticipate the provocations which the slave would give, nor the
consequent wrath of the master, prompting him to BLOODY VENGEANCE on the
turbulent traitor, a vengeance _generally_ practised with impunity by
reason of its _privacy_."
In an Essay on the "improvement of negroes on plantations," by Rev.
Thomas S. Clay, a slaveholder of Bryan county, Georgia, and Printed at
the request of the Georgia Presbytery, in 1833, we are told "that the
present economy of the slave system is _to get all you can_ from the
slave, and give him in return _as little as will barely support him in a
working condition_!" Here, in a few words, the whole enormity of slavery
is exposed to view: "to _get all you can_ from the slave"--by means of
whips and forks and irons--by every device for torturing the body,
without destroying its capability of labor; and in return give him as
little of his coarse fare as will keep him, like a mere beast of burden,
in a "_working condition_;" this is slavery, as explained by the
slaveholder himself. Mr. Clay further says: "_Offences against the
master_ are more severely punished than violations of the law of God, a
fault which affects the slave's personal character a good deal. As
examples we may notice, that _running away_ is more severely punished
than adultery." "He (the slave) only knows his master as lawgiver and
executioner, and the _sole object of punishment_ held up to his view, is
to make him _a more obedient and profitable slave_."
Hon. W.B. Seabrook, in an address before the Agricultural Society of St.
John's, Colleton, published by order of the Society, at Charleston, in
1834, after stating that "as Slavery exists in South Carolina, the
action of the citizens should rigidly conform to that state of things:"
and, that "no _abstract opinions of the rights of man_ should be allowed
in any instance to modify the _police system of a plantation_," proceeds
as follows. "_He_ (the slave) _should be practically treated as a
slave_; and thoroughly taught the true cardinal principle on which our
peculiar institutions are founded, viz.; that to his owner he is bound
by the law of God and man; and that no human authority can sever the
link which unites them. The great aim of the slaveholder, then, should
be to keep his people in strict _subordination_. In this, it may in
truth be said, lies his _entire duty_." Again, in speaking of the
punishments of slaves, he remarks: "If to our army the disuse of THE
LASH has been prejudicial, to the slaveholder it would operate to
deprive him of the MAIN SUPPORT of his authority. For the first class of
offences, I consider imprisonment in THE STOCKS[A] at night, with or
without hard labor by day, as a powerful auxiliary in the cause of
_good_ government." "_Experience_ has convinced me that there is no
punishment to which the slave looks with more horror, than that upon
which I am commenting, (the stocks,) and none which has been attended
with happier results."
[Footnote A: Of the nature of this punishment in the stocks, something
may be learned by the following extract of a letter from a gentleman in
Tallahassee, Florida, to the editor of the Ohio Atlas, dated June 9,
1835: "A planter, a professer of religion, in conversing upon the
universality of whipping, remarked, that a planter in G____, who had
whipped a great deal, at length got tired of it, and invented the
following _excellent_ method of punishment, which I saw practised while
I was paying him a visit. The negro was placed in a sitting position,
with his hands made fast above his head, and his feet in the stocks, so
that he could not move any part of the body. The master retired,
intending to leave him till morning, but we were awakened in the night
by the groans of the negro, which were so doleful that we feared he was
dying. We went to him, and found him covered with a cold sweat, and
almost gone. He could not have lived an hour longer. Mr. ---- found the
'stocks' such an effective punishment, that it almost superseded
the whip."]
There is yet another class of testimony quite as pertinent as the
foregoing, which may at any time be gleaned from the newspapers of the
slave states--the advertisements of masters for their runaway slaves,
and casual paragraphs coldly relating cruelties, which would disgrace a
land of Heathenism. Let the following suffice for a specimen:
* * * * *
To the Editors of the Constitutionalist.
_Aiken, S.C., Dec._ 20, 1836.
I have just returned from an inquest I held over the dead body of a
negro man, a runaway, that was shot near the South Edisto, in this
district, (Barnwell,) on Saturday morning last. He came to his death by
his own recklessness. He refused to be taken alive; and said that other
attempts to take him had been made, and he was determined that he would
not be taken. When taken he was nearly naked--had a large dirk or knife
and a heavy club. He was at first, (when those who were in pursuit of
him found it absolutely necessary,) shot at with small shot, with the
intention of merely crippling him. He was shot at several times, and at
last he was so disabled as to be compelled to surrender. He kept in the
run of a creek in a very dense swamp all the time that the neighbors
were in pursuit of him. As soon as the negro was taken, the best medical
aid was procured, but he died on the same evening. One of the witnesses
at the inquisition stated that the negro boy said that he was from
Mississippi, and belonged to so many persons he did not know who his
master was; but again he said his master's name was _Brown_. He said his
own name was Sam; and when asked by another witness who his master was,
he muttered something like Augusta or Augustine. The boy was apparently
above 35 or 40 years of age--about six feet high--slightly yellow in the
face--very long beard or whiskers--and very stout built, and a stern
countenance; and appeared to have been run away a long time.
WILLIAM H. PRITCHARD,
_Coroner, (ex officio,) Barnwell Dist., S.C._
The Mississippi and other papers will please copy the above.--_Georgia
Constitutionalist_.
* * * * *
$100 REWARD.--Ran away from the subscriber, living on Herring Bay, Ann
Arundel county, Md., on Saturday, 28th January, negro man Elijah, who
calls himself Elijah Cook, is about 21 years of age, well made, of a
very dark complexion has an impediment in his speech, and _a scar on his
left cheek bone, apparently occasioned by a shot_.
J. SCRIVENER. Annapolis (Md.) Rep., Feb., 1837.
* * * * *
$40 REWARD.--Ran away from my residence near Mobile, two negro men,
Isaac and Tim. Isaac is from 25 to 30 years old, dark complexion, scar
on the right side of the head, and also one on the right side of the
body, occasioned by BUCK SHOT. Tim is 22 years old, dark complexion,
scar on the right cheek, as also another on the back of the neck.
Captains and owners of steamboats, vessels, and water crafts of every
description, are cautioned against taking them on board under the
penalty of the law; and all other persons against harboring or in any
manner favoring the escape of said negroes under like penalty.
_Mobile, Sept_. 1. SARAH WALSH. Montgomery (Ala.) Advertiser, Sept. 29,
1837.
* * * * *
$200 REWARD.--Ran away from the subscriber, about three years ago, a
certain negro man named Ben, (commonly known by the name of Ben Fox.) He
is about five feet five or six inches high, chunky made, yellow
complexion, and has but one eye. Also, one other negro, by the name of
Rigdon, who ran away on the 8th of this month. He is stout made, tall,
and very black, with large lips.
I will give the reward of one hundred dollars for each of the above
negroes, to be delivered to me or confined in the jail of Lenoir or
Jones county, or _for the killing of them so that I can see them_.
Masters of vessels and all others are cautioned against harboring,
employing, or carrying them away, under the penalty of the law.
W.D. COBB. _Lenoir county, N.C., Nov_. 12, 1836.
* * * * *
"A negro who had absconded from his master, and for who a reward was
offered of $100, has been apprehended and committed to prison in
Savannah, Georgia. The Editor who states the fact, adds, with as much
coolness as though there was no barbarity in the matter, that he did not
surrender until he was considerably _maimed by the dogs_[A] that had
been set on him,--desperately fighting them, one of which he cut badly
with a sword."
_New-York Commercial Advertiser, June_, 8, 1827.
[Footnote A: In regard to the use of bloodhounds, for the recapture of
runaway slaves, we insert the following from the New-York Evangelist,
being an extract of a letter from Natchez (Miss.) under date of January
31, 1835: "An instance was related to me in Claiborne County, in
Mississippi. A runaway was heard about the house in the night. The hound
was put upon his track, and in the morning was found watching the dead
body of the negro. The dogs are trained to this service when young. A
negro is directed to go into the woods and secure himself upon a tree.
When sufficient time has elapsed for doing this, the hound is put upon
his track. The blacks are compelled to worry them until they make them
their implacable enemies: and it is common to meet with dogs which will
take no notice of whites, though entire strangers, but will suffer no
blacks beside the house servants to enter the yard."]
* * * * *
From the foregoing evidence on the part of slaveholders themselves, we
gather the following facts:
1. That perfect obedience is required of the slave--that he is made to
feel that there is no appeal from his master.
2. That the authority of the master is only maintained by fear--a
"_reign of terror_."
3. That "the economy of slavery is to _get all you can_ from the slave,
and give him in return as little as will barely support him in a working
condition."
4. That runaway slaves may be shot down with impunity by any white
person.
5. That masters offer rewards for "_killing_" their slaves, "_so that
they may see them_!"
6. That slaves are branded with hot irons, and very much scarred with
the whip.
7. That _iron collars_, with projecting prongs, rendering it almost
impossible for the wearer to lie down, are fastened upon the _necks
of women_.
8. That the LASH is the MAIN SUPPORT of the slaveholder's authority:
but, that the _stocks_ are "a powerful auxiliary" to his government.
9. That runaway slaves are chased with dogs--men hunted like beasts of
prey.
Such is American Slavery in practice.
The testimony thus far adduced is only that of the slaveholder and
wrong-doer himself: the admission of men who have a direct interest in
keeping out of sight the horrors of their system. It is besides no
voluntary admission. Having "framed iniquity by law," it is out of their
power to hide it. For the recovery of their runaway property, they are
compelled to advertise in the public journals, and that it may be
identified, they are under the necessity of describing the marks of the
whip on the backs of women, the iron collars about the neck--the
gun-shot wounds, and the traces of the branding-iron. Such testimony
must, in the nature of things, be partial and incomplete. But for a full
revelation of the secrets of the prison-house, we must look to the slave
himself. The Inquisitors of Goa and Madrid never disclosed the peculiar
atrocities of their "hall of horrors." It was the escaping heretic, with
his swollen and disjointed limbs, and bearing about him the scars of
rack and fire, who exposed them to the gaze and abhorrence of
Christendom.
The following pages contain the simple and unvarnished story of an
AMERICAN SLAVE,--of one, whose situation, in the first place, as a
favorite servant in an aristocratic family in Virginia; and afterwards
as the sole and confidential driver on a large plantation in Alabama,
afforded him rare and peculiar advantages for accurate observation of
the practical workings of the system. His intelligence, evident candor,
and grateful remembrance of those kindnesses, which in a land of
Slavery, made his cup of suffering less bitter; the perfect accordance
of his statements, (made at different times, and to different
individuals),[B] one with another, as well as those statements
themselves, all afford strong confirmation of the truth and accuracy of
his story. There seems to have been no effort, on his part to make his
picture of Slavery one of entire darkness--he details every thing of a
mitigating character which fell under his observation; and even the
cruel deception of his master has not rendered him unmindful of his
early kindness.
[Footnote B: The reader is referred to JOHN G. WHITTIER, of
Philadelphia, or to the following gentlemen, who have heard the whole,
or a part of his story, from his own lips: Emmor Kimber, of Kimberton,
Pa., Lindley Coates, of Lancaster Co., do.; James Mott, of Philadelphia,
Lewis Tappan, Elizur Wright Jun., Rev. Dr. Follen, and James G. Birney,
of New York. The latter gentleman, who was a few years ago, a citizen of
Alabama, assures us that the statements made to him by James Williams,
were such as he had every reason to believe, from his own knowledge of
slavery in that State.]
The editor is fully aware that he has not been able to present this
affecting narrative in the simplicity and vivid freshness with which it
fell from the lips of the narrator. He has, however, as closely as
possible, copied his manner, and in many instances his precise language.
THE SLAVE HAS SPOKEN FOR HIMSELF. Acting merely as his amanuensis, he
has carefully abstained from comments of his own.[A]
[Footnote A: As the narrator was unable to read or write, it is quite
possible that the orthography of some of the names of individuals
mentioned in his story may not be entirely correct. For instance, the
name of his master may have been either Larrimer, or Larrrimore.]
The picture here presented to the people of the free states, is, in many
respects, a novel one. We all know something of Virginia and Kentucky
Slavery. We have heard of the internal slave trade--the pangs of
separation--the slave ship with its "cargo of despair" bound for the
New-Orleans market--the weary journey of the chained Coffle to the
cotton country. But here, in a great measure, we have lost sight of the
victims of avarice and lust. We have not studied the dreadful economy of
the cotton plantation, and know but little of the secrets of its
unlimited despotism.
But in this narrative the scenes of the plantation rise before us, with
a distinctness which approaches reality. We hear the sound of the horn
at daybreak, calling the sick and the weary to toil unrequited. Woman,
in her appealing delicacy and suffering, about to become a mother, is
fainting under the lash, or sinking exhausted beside her cotton row. We
hear the prayer for mercy answered with sneers and curses. We look on
the instruments of torture, and the corpses of murdered men. We see the
dogs, reeking hot from the chase, with their jaws foul with human blood.
We see the meek and aged Christian scarred with the lash, and bowed down
with toil, offering the supplication of a broken heart to his Father in
Heaven, for the forgiveness of his brutal enemy. We hear, and from our
inmost hearts repeat the affecting interrogatory of the aged slave,
_"How long, Oh Lord! how long!"_
The editor has written out the details of this painful narrative with
feelings of sorrow. If there be any who feel a morbid satisfaction in
dwelling upon the history of outrage and cruelty, he at least is not one
of them. His taste and habits incline him rather to look to the pure and
beautiful in our nature--the sunniest side of humanity--its kindly
sympathies--its holy affections--its charities and its love. But, it is
because he has seen that all which is thus beautiful and excellent in
mind and heart, perishes in the atmosphere of slavery: it is because
humanity in the slave sinks down to a level with the brute and in the
master gives place to the attributes of a fiend--that he has not felt at
liberty to decline the task. He cannot sympathize with that abstract and
delicate philanthropy, which hesitates to bring itself in contact with
the sufferer, and which shrinks from the effort of searching out the
extent of his afflictions. The emblem of Practical Philanthropy is the
Samaritan stooping over the wounded Jew. It must be no fastidious hand
which administers the oil and the wine, and binds up the
unsightly gashes.
Believing, as he does, that this narrative is one of truth; that it
presents an unexaggerated picture of Slavery as it exists on the cotton
plantations of the South and West, he would particularly invite to its
perusal, those individuals, and especially those professing Christians
at the North, who have ventured to claim for such a system, the sanction
and approval of the Religion of Jesus Christ. In view of the facts here
presented, let these men seriously inquire of themselves, whether in
advancing such a claim, they are not uttering a higher and more
audacious blasphemy than any which ever fell from the pens of Voltaire
and Paine. As if to cover them with confusion, and leave them utterly
without excuse for thus libelling the character of a just God, these
developments are making, and the veil rising, which for long years of
sinful apathy has rested upon the abominations of American Slavery.
Light is breaking into it's dungeons, disclosing the wreck of buried
intellect--of hearts broken--of human affections outraged--of souls
ruined. The world will see it as God has always seen it; and when He
shall at length make inquisition for blood, and His vengeance kindle
over the habitations of cruelty, with a destruction more terrible than
that of Sodom and Gomorrah, His righteous dealing will be justified of
man, and His name glorified among the nations, and there will be a voice
of rejoicing in Earth and in Heaven. ALLELUIA!--THE PROMISE IS
FULFILLED!--FOR THE SIGHING OF THE POOR AND THE OPPRESSION OF THE NEEDY,
GOD HATH RISEN!
It is the earnest desire of the Editor, that this narrative may be the
means, under God, of awakening in the hearts of all who read it, a
sympathy for the oppressed which shall manifest itself in immediate,
active, self-sacrificing exertion for their deliverance; and, while it
excites abhorrence of his crimes, call forth pity for the oppressor. May
it have the effect to prevent the avowed and associated friends of the
slave, from giving such an undue importance to their own trials and
grievances, as to forget in a great measure the sorrows of the slave.
Let its cry of wo, coming up from the plantations of the South, suppress
every feeling of selfishness in our hearts. Let our regret and
indignation at the denial of the right of petition, be felt only because
we are thereby prevented from pleading in the Halls of Congress for the
"suffering and the dumb." And let the fact, that we are shut out from
half the territory of our country, be lamented only because it prevents
us from bearing personally to the land of Slavery, the messages of hope
for the slave, and of rebuke and warning for the oppressor.
_New-York, 24th 1st mo._, 1838.
* * * * *
NARRATIVE
I was born in Powhatan County, Virginia, on the plantation of George
Larrimore. Sen., at a place called Mount Pleasant, on the 16th of May
1805. May father was the slave of an orphan family whose name I have
forgotten, and was under the care of a Mr. Brooks, guardian of the
family. He was a native of Africa, and was brought over when a mere
child, with his mother. My mother was the slave of George Larrimore,
Sen. She was nearly white, and is well known to have been the daughter
of Mr. Larrimore himself. She died when myself and my twin brother
Meshech were five years of age--I can scarcely remember her. She had in
all eight children, of whom only five are now living. One, a brother,
belongs to the heirs of the late Mr. Brockenbrough of Charlottesville;
of whom he hires his time, and pays annually $120 for it. He is a member
of the Baptist church, and used to preach occasionally. His wife is a
free woman from Philadelphia, and being able to read and write, taught
her husband. The whites do not know that he can write, and have often
wondered that he could preach so well without learning. It is the
practice when a church is crowded, to turn the blacks out of their
seats. My brother did not like this, and on one occasion preached a
sermon from a text, showing that all are of one blood. Some of the
whites who heard it, said that such preaching would raise an
insurrection among the negroes. Two of them told him that if he would
prove his doctrine by Scripture, they would let him go, but if he did
not, he should have nine and thirty lashes. He accordingly preached
another sermon and spoke with a great deal of boldness. The two men who
were in favor of having him whipped, left before the sermon was over;
those who remained, acknowledged that he had proved his doctrine, and
preached a good sermon, and many of them came up and shook hands with
him. The two opposers, Scott and Brockley, forbid my brother, after
this, to come upon their estates. They were both Baptists, and my
brother had before preached to their people. During the cholera at
Richmond, my brother preached a sermon, in which he compared the
pestilence to the plagues, which afflicted the Egyptian slaveholders,
because they would not let the people go. After the sermon some of the
whites threatened to whip him. Mr. Valentine, a merchant on Shocko Hill
prevented them; and a young lawyer named Brooks said it was wrong to
threaten a man for preaching the truth. Since the insurrection of Nat.
Turner he has not been allowed to preach much.
My twin brother was for some time the property of Mr. John Griggs, of
Richmond, who sold him about three years since, to an Alabama Cotton
Planter, with whom he staid one year, and then ran away and in all
probability escaped into the free states or Canada, as he was seen near
the Maryland line. My other brother lives in Fredericksburg, and belongs
to a Mr. Scott, a merchant formerly of Richmond. He was sold from Mr.
Larrimore's plantation because his wife was a slave of Mr. Scott. My
only sister is the slave of John Smith, of King William. Her husband was
the slave of Mr. Smith, when the latter lived in Powhatan county, and
when he removed to King William, she was taken with her husband.
My old master, George Larrimore, married Jane Roane, the sister of a
gentleman named John Roane, one of the most distinguished men in
Virginia, who in turn married a sister of my master. One of his sisters
married a Judge Scott, and another married Mr. Brockenbrough of
Charlottesville. Mr. Larrimore had three children; George, Jane, and
Elizabeth. The former was just ten days older than myself; and I was his
playmate and constant associate in childhood. I used to go with him to
his school, and carry his books for him as far as the door, and meet him
there when the school was dismissed. We were very fond of each other,
and frequently slept together. He taught me the letters of the alphabet,
and I should soon have acquired a knowledge of reading, had not George's
mother discovered her son in the act of teaching me. She took him aside
and severely reprimanded him. When I asked him, not long after, to tell
me more of what he had learned at school, he said that his mother had
forbidden him to do so any more, as her father had a slave, who was
instructed in reading and writing, and on that account proved very
troublesome. He could, they said, imitate the hand-writing of the
neighboring planters, and used to write passes and certificates of
freedom for the slaves, and finally wrote one for himself, and went off
to Philadelphia, from whence her father received from him a saucy
letter, thanking him for his education.
The early years of my life went by pleasantly. The bitterness of my lot
I had not yet realized. Comfortably clothed and fed, kindly treated by
my old master and mistress and the young ladies, and the playmate and
confidant of my young master, I did not dream of the dark reality of
evil before me.
When he was fourteen years of age, master George went to his uncle
Brockenbrough's at Charlottesville, as a student of the University.
After his return from College, he went to Paris and other parts of
Europe, and spent three or four years in study and travelling. In the
mean time I was a waiter in the house, dining-room servant, &c. My old
master visited and received visits from a great number of the principal
families in Virginia. Each summer, with his family, he visited the
Sulphur Springs and the mountains. While George was absent, I went with
him to New-Orleans, in the winter season, on account of his failing
health. We spent three days in Charleston, at Mr. McDuffie's, with whom
my master was on intimate terms. Mr. McDuffie spent several days on one
occasion at Mt. Pleasant. He took a fancy to me, and offered my master
the servant whom he brought with him and $500 beside, for me. My master
considered it almost an insult, and said after he was gone, that Mr.
McDuffie needed money to say the least, as much as he did.
He had a fine house in Richmond, and used to spend his winters there
with his family, taking me with him. He was not there much at other
times, except when the Convention of 1829 for amending the State
Constitution, was held in that city. He had a quarrel with Mr. Neal of
Richmond Co., in consequence of some remarks upon the subject of
Slavery. It came near terminating in a duel. I recollect that during the
sitting of the Convention, my master asked me before several other
gentlemen, if I wished to be free and go back to my own country. I
looked at him with surprise, and inquired what country?
"Africa, to be sure," said he, laughing.
I told him that was not my country--that I was born in Virginia.
"Oh yes," said he, "but your father was born in Africa." He then said
that there was a place on the African coast called Liberia where a great
many free blacks were going; and asked me to tell him honestly, whether
I would prefer to be set free on condition of going to Africa, or live
with him and remain a slave. I replied that I had rather be as I was.
I have frequently heard him speak against slavery to his visitors. I
heard him say on one occasion, when some gentlemen were arguing in favor
of sending the free colored people to Africa, that this was as really
the black man's country as the white's, and that it would be as humane
to knock the free negroes, at once, on the head, as to send them to
Liberia. He was a kind man to his slaves. He was proud of them, and of
the reputation he enjoyed of feeding and clothing them well. They were
as near as I can judge about 300 in number. He never to my knowledge
sold a slave, unless to go with a wife or husband, and at the slave's
own request. But all except the very wealthiest planters in his
neighborhood sold them frequently. John Smoot of Powhatan Co. has sold a
great number. Bacon Tait[A] used to be one of the principal purchasers.
He had a jail at Richmond where he kept them. There were many others who
made a business of buying and selling slaves. I saw on one occasion
while travelling with my master, a gang of nearly two hundred men
fastened with chains. The women followed unchained and the children in
wagons. It was a sorrowful sight. Some were praying, some crying, and
they all had a look of extreme wretchedness. It is an awful thing to a
Virginia slave to be sold for the Alabama and Mississippi country. I
have known some of them to die of grief, and others to commit suicide,
on account of it.
[Footnote A: Bacon Tait's advertisement of "new and commodious
buildings" for the keeping of negroes, situated at the corner of 15th
and Carey streets, appears in the Richmond Whig of Sept. 1896.--EDITOR.]
In my seventeenth year, I was married to a girl named Harriet, belonging
to John Gatewood, a planter living about four miles from Mr. Pleasant.
She was about a year younger than myself--was a tailoress, and used to
cut out clothes for the hands.
We were married by a white clergyman named Jones; and were allowed to or
three weeks to ourselves, which we spent in visiting and other
amusements.
The field hands are seldom married by a clergyman. They simply invite
their friends together, and have a wedding party.
Our two eldest children died in their infancy: two are now living. The
youngest was only two months old when I saw him for the last time. I
used to visit my wife on Saturday and Sunday evenings.
My young master came back from Europe in delicate health. He was advised
by his physicians to spend the winter in New-Orleans, whither he
accordingly went, taking me with him. Here he became acquainted with a
French lady of one of the first families in the city. The next winter he
also spent in New-Orleans, and on his third visit, three years after his
return from Europe, he was married to the lady above mentioned. In May
he returned to Mt. Pleasant, and found the elder Larrimore on his sick
bed, from which he never rose again. He died on the 14th of July. There
was a great and splendid funeral, as his relatives and friends
were numerous.
His large property was left principally in the hands of his widow until
her decease, after which it was to be divided among the three children.
In February Mrs. Larrimore also died. The administrators upon the estate
were John Green, Esq., and Benjamin Temple. My young master came back
from Europe in delicate health. He way advised by his physicians to
spend the winter in New-Orleans, whither he accordingly went, taking me
with him. Here he became acquainted with a French lady of one of the
first families in the city. The next winter he also spent in
New-Orleans, and on his third visit, three years after his return from
Europe, he was married to the lady above mentioned. In May he returned
to Mt. Pleasant, and found the elder Larrimore on his sick bed, from
which he never rose again. He died on the 14th of July. There was a
great and splendid funeral, as his relatives and friends were numerous.
His large property was left principally in the hands of his widow until
her decease, after which it was to be divided among the three children.
In February Mrs. Larrimore also died. The administrators upon the estate
were John Green, Esq., and Benjamin Temple.
My young mistresses, Jane and Elizabeth, were very kind to the servants.
They seemed to feel under obligations to afford them every comfort and
gratification, consistent with the dreadful relation of ownership which
they sustained towards them. Whipping was scarcely known on the estate;
and, whenever it did take place, it was invariably against the wishes of
the young ladies.
But the wife of master George was of a disposition entirely the reverse.
Feeble, languid, and inert, sitting motionless for hours at her window,
or moving her small fingers over the strings of her guitar, to some soft
and languishing air, she would have seemed to a stranger incapable of
rousing herself from that indolent repose, in which mind as well as body
participated. But, the slightest disregard of her commands--and
sometimes even the neglect to anticipate her wishes, on the part of the
servants; was sufficient to awake her. The inanimate and delicate beauty
then changed into a stormy virago. Her black eyes flawed and sparkled
with a snaky fierceness, her full lips compressed, and her brows bent
and darkened. Her very voice, soft and sweet when speaking to her
husband, and exquisitely fine and melodious, when accompanying her
guitar, was at such times, shrill, keen, and loud. She would order the
servants of my young mistresses upon her errands, and if they pleaded
their prior duty to obey the calls of another, would demand that they
should be forthwith whipped for their insolence. If the young ladies
remonstrated with her, she met them with a perfect torrent of invective
and abuse. In these paroxysms of fury she always spoke in French, with a
vehemence and volubility, which strongly contrasted with the calmness
and firmness of the young ladies. She would boast of what she had done
in New-Orleans, and of the excellent discipline of her father's slaves.
She said she had gone down in the night to the cell under her father's
house, and whipped the slaves confined there with her own hands. I had
heard the same thing from her father's servants at New-Orleans, when I
was there with my master. She brought with her from New-Orleans a girl
named Frances. I have seen her take her by the ear, lead her up to the
side of the room, and beat her head against it. At other times she would
snatch off her slipper and strike the girl on her face and head with it.
She seldom manifested her evil temper before master George. When she
did, he was greatly troubled, and he used to speak to his sisters about
it. Her manner towards him was almost invariably that of extreme
fondness. She was dark complexioned, but very beautiful; and the smile
of welcome with which she used to meet him was peculiarly fascinating. I
did not marvel that _he_ loved her; while at the same time, in common
with all the house servants, I regarded her as a being possessed with an
evil spirit,--half woman, and half fiend.
Soon after the settlement of the estate, I heard my master speak of
going out to Alabama. His wife had 1500 acres of wild land in Greene
County in that State: and he had been negociating for 500 more. Early in
the summer of 1833, he commenced making preparations for removing to
that place a sufficient number of hands to cultivate it. He took great
pains to buy up the wives and husbands of those of his own slaves who
had married out of the estate, in order, as he said, that his hands
might be contented in Alabama, and not need chaining together while on
their journey. It is always found necessary by the regular
slave-traders, in travelling with their slaves to the far South, to
handcuff and chain their wretched victims, who have been bought up as
the interest of the trader, and the luxury or necessities of the planter
may chance to require, without regard to the ties sundered or the
affections made desolate, by these infernal bargains. About the 1st of
September, after the slaves destined for Alabama had taken a final
farewell of their old home, and of the friends they were leaving behind,
our party started on their long journey. There were in all 214 slaves,
men, women and children. The men and women travelled on foot--the small
children in the wagons, containing the baggage, &c. Previous to my
departure, I visited my wife and children at Mr. Gatewood's. I took
leave of them with the belief that I should return with my master, as
soon as he had seen his hands established on his new plantation. I took
my children in my arms and embraced them; my wife, who was a member of
the Methodist church, implored the blessing of God upon me, during my
absence, and I turned away to follow my master.
Our journey was a long and tedious one, especially to those who were
compelled to walk the whole distance. My master rode in a sulky, and I,
as his body servant, on horseback: When we crossed over the Roanoke, and
were entering upon North Carolina, I remember with what sorrowful
countenances and language the poor slaves looked back for the last time
upon the land of their nativity. It was their last farewell to Old
Virginia. We passed through Georgia, and crossing the Chattahoochee,
entered Alabama. Our way for many days was through a sandy tract of
country, covered with pine woods, with here and there the plantation of
an Indian or a half-breed. After crossing what is called Line Creek, we
found large plantations along the road, at intervals of four or five
miles. The aspect of the whole country was wild and forbidding, save to
the eye of a cotton-planter. The clearings were all new, and the houses
rudely constructed of logs. The cotton fields, were skirted with an
enormous growth of oak, pine, and other wood. Charred stumps stood
thickly in the clearings, with here and there a large tree girdled by
the axe and left to decay. We reached at last the place of our
destination. It was a fine tract of land with a deep rich soil. We
halted on a small knoll, where the tents were pitched, and the wagons
unladen. I spent the night with my master at a neighboring plantation,
which was under the care of an overseer named Flincher.
The next morning my master received a visit from a man named Huckstep,
who had undertaken the management of his plantation as an overseer. He
had been an overseer on cotton plantations many years in Georgia and
North Carolina. He was apparently about forty years of age, with a
sunburnt and sallow countenance. His thick shock of black hair was
marked in several places with streaks of white, occasioned as he
afterwards told me by blows received from slaves whom he was chastising.
After remaining in the vicinity for about a week, my master took me
aside one morning--told me he was going to Selma in Dallas County, and
wished me to be in readiness on his return the next day, to start for
Virginia. This was to me cheering news. I spent that day and the next
among my old fellow servants who had lived with me in Virginia. Some of
them had messages to send by me to their friends and acquaintances. In
the afternoon of the second day after my master's departure, I
distributed, among them all the money which I had about me, viz.,
fifteen dollars. I noticed that the overseer Huckstep laughed at this
and called me a fool: and that whenever I spoke of going home with my
master, his countenance indicated something between a smile and a sneer.
Night came; but contrary to his promise, my master did not come. I still
however expected him the next day. But another night came, and he had
not returned. I grew uneasy, and inquired of Huckstep where be thought
my master was.
"On his way to Old Virginia," said he, with a malicious laugh.
"But," said I. "Master George told me that he should come back and take
me with him to Virginia."
"Well, boy," said the overseer, "I'll now tell ye what master George, as
you call him, told me. You are to stay here and act as driver of the
field hands. That was the order. So you may as well submit to it
at once."
I stood silent and horror-struck. Could it be that the man whom I had
served faithfully from our mutual boyhood, whose slightest wish had been
my law, to serve whom I would have laid down my life, while I had
confidence in his integrity--could it be that he had so cruelly and
wickedly deceived me? I looked at the overseer. He stood laughing at me
in my agony.
"Master George gave you no such orders," I exclaimed, maddened by the
overseer's look and manner.
The overseer looked at me with a fiendish grin. "None of your
insolence," said he, with a dreadful oath. "I never saw a Virginia
nigger that I couldn't manage, proud as they are. Your master has left
you in my hands, and you must obey my orders. If you don't, why I shall
have to make you '_hug the widow there_,'" pointing to a tree, to which I
afterwards found the slaves were tied when they were whipped.
That night was one of sleepless agony. Virginia--the hills and the
streams of my birth-place; the kind and hospitable home; the
gentle-hearted sisters, sweetening with their sympathy the sorrows of
the slave--my wife--my children--all that had thus far made up my
happiness, rose in contrast with my present condition. Deeply as he has
wronged me, may my master himself never endure such a night of misery!
At daybreak, Huckstep told me to dress myself, and attend to his
directions. I rose, subdued and wretched, and at his orders handed the
horn to the headmen of the gang, who summoned the hands to the field.
They were employed in clearing land for cultivation, cutting trees and
burning. I was with them through the day, and at night returned once
more to my lodgings to be laughed at by the overseer. He told me that I
should do well, he did not doubt, by and by, but that a Virginia driver
generally had to be whipped a few times himself before he could be
taught to do justice to the slaves under his charge. They were not equal
to those raised in North Carolina, for keeping the lazy hell-hounds, as
he called the slaves, at work.
And this was my condition!--a driver set over more than one hundred and
sixty of my kindred and friends, wish orders to apply the whip
unsparingly to every one, whether man or woman, who faltered in the
task, or was careless in the execution of it, myself subject at any
moment to feel the accursed lash upon my own back, if feelings of
humanity should perchance overcome the selfishness of misery, and induce
me to spare and pity.
I lived in the same house with Huckstep,--a large log house, roughly
finished; where we were waited upon by an old woman, whom we used to
call aunt Polly. Huckstep was, I soon found, inordinately fond of peach
brandy; and once or twice in the course of a month he had a drunken
debauch, which usually lasted from two to four days. He was then full of
talk, laughed immoderately at his own nonsense and would keep me up
until late at night listening to him. He was at these periods terribly
severe to his hands, and would order me to use up the cracker of my whip
every day upon the poor creatures, who were toiling in the field, and in
order to satisfy him, I used to tear it off when returning home at
night. He would then praise me for a good fellow, and invite me to
drink with him.
He used to tell me at such times, that if I would only drink as he did,
I should be worth a thousand dollars more for it. He would sit hours
with his peach brandy, cursing and swearing, laughing and telling
stories full of obscenity and blasphemy. He would sometimes start up,
take my whip, and rush out to the slave quarters, flourish it about and
frighten the inmates and often cruelly beat them. He would order the
women to pull up their clothes, in Alabama style, as he called it, and
then whip them for not complying. He would then come back roaring and
shouting to the house, and tell me what he had done; if I did not laugh
with him, he would get angry and demand what the matter was. Oh! how
often I have laughed, at such times, when my heart ached within me; and
how often, when permitted to retire to my bed, have I found relief
in tears!
He had no wife, but kept a colored mistress in a house situated on a
gore of land between the plantation and that of Mr. Goldsby. He brought
her with him from North Carolina, and had three children by her.
Sometimes in his fits of intoxication, he would come riding into the
field, swinging his whip, and crying out to the hands to strip off their
shirts, and be ready to take a whipping: and this too when they were all
busily at work. At another time, he would gather the hands around him
and fall to cursing and swearing about the neighboring overseers. They
were, he said, cruel to their hands, whipped them unmercifully, and in
addition starved them. As for himself, he was the kindest and best
fellow within forty miles; and the hands ought to be thankful that they
had such a good man for their overseer.
He would frequently be very familiar with me, and call me his child; he
would tell me that our people were going to get Texas, a fine cotton
country, and that he meant to go out there and have a plantation of his
own, and I should go with him and be his overseer.
The houses in the "_negro quarters_" were constructed of logs, and from
twelve to fifteen feet square; they had no glass, but there were holes
to let in the light and air. The furniture consisted of a table, a few
stools, and dishes made of wood, and an iron pot, and some other cooking
utensils. The houses were placed about three or four rods apart, with a
piece of ground attached to each of them for a garden, where the
occupant could raise a few vegetables. The "quarters" were about three
hundred yards from the dwelling of the overseer.
The hands were occupied in clearing land and burning brush, and in
constructing their houses, through the winter. In March we commenced
ploughing: and on the first of April began planting seed for cotton. The
hoeing season commenced about the last of May. At the earliest dawn of
day, and frequently before that time, the laborers were roused from
their sleep by the blowing of the horn. It was blown by the headman of
the gang who led the rest in the work and acted under my direction, as
my assistant.
Previous to the blowing of the horn the hands generally rose and eat
what was called the "morning's bit," consisting of ham and bread. If
exhaustion and fatigue prevented their rising before the dreaded sound
of the horn broke upon their slumbers, they had no time to snatch a
mouthful, but were harried out at once.
It was my business to give over to each of the hands his or her
appropriate implement of labor, from the toolhouse where they were
deposited at night. After all had been supplied, they were taken to the
field, and set at work as soon as it was sufficiently light to
distinguish the plants from the grass and weeds. I was employed in
passing from row to row, in order to see that the work was well done,
and to urge forward the laborers. At 12 o'clock, the horn was blown from
the overseer's house, calling the hands to dinner, each to his own
cabin. The intermission of labor was one hour and a half to hoers and
pickers, and two hours to the ploughmen. At the expiration of this
interval, the horn again summoned them to thus labor. They were kept in
the field until dark, when they were called home to supper.
There was little leisure for any of the hands on the plantation. In the
evenings, after it was too dark for work in the field, the men were
frequently employed in burning brush and in other labors until late at
night. The women after toiling in the field by day, were compelled to
card, spin, and weave cotton for their clothing, in the evening. Even on
Sundays there was little or no respite from toil. Those who had not been
able to work out all their tasks during the week were allowed by the
overseer to finish it on the Sabbath, and thus save themselves from a
whipping on Monday morning. Those whose tasks were finished frequently
employed most of that day in cultivating their gardens.
Many of the female hands were delicate young women, who in Virginia had
never been accustomed to field labor. They suffered greatly from the
extreme heat and the severity of the toil. Oh! how often have I seen
them dragging their weary limbs from the cotton field at nightfall,
faint and exhausted. The overseer used to laugh at their sufferings.
They were, he said, Virginia ladies, and altogether too delicate for
Alabama use: but they must be made to do their tasks notwithstanding.
The recollection of these things even now is dreadful. I used to tell
the poor creatures, when compelled by the overseer to urge them forward
with the whip, that I would much rather take their places, and endure
the stripes than inflict them.
When but three months old, the children born on the estate were given up
to the care of the old women who were not able to work out of doors.
Their mothers were kept at work in the field.
It was the object of the overseer to separate me in feeling and interest
as widely as possible from my suffering brethren and sisters. I had
relations among the field hands, and used to call them my cousins. He
forbid my doing so; and told me if I acknowledged relationship with any
of the hands I should be flogged for it. He used to speak of them as
devils and hell-hounds, and ridicule them in every possible way; and
endeavoured to make me speak of them and regard them in the same manner.
He would tell long stories about hunting and shooting "runaway niggers,"
and detail with great apparent satisfaction the cruel and horrid
punishments which he had inflicted. One thing he said troubled him. He
had once whipped a slave so severely that he died in consequence of it,
and it was soon after ascertained that he was wholly innocent of the
offence charged against him. That slave, he said, had haunted him
ever since.
Soon after we commenced weeding our cotton, some of the hands who were
threatened with a whipping for not finishing their tasks, ran away. The
overseer and myself went out after them, taking with us five
bloodhounds, which were kept on the Estate for the sole purpose of
catching runaways. There were no other hounds in the vicinity, and the
overseers of the neighboring plantations used to borrow them to hunt
their runaways. A Mr. Crop, who lived about ten miles distant, had two
packs, and made it his sole business to catch slaves with them. We used
to set the dogs upon the track of the fugitives, and they would follow
them until, to save themselves from being torn in pieces, they would
climb into a tree, where the dogs kept them until we came up and
secured them.
These hounds, when young, are taught to run after the negro boys; and
being always kept confined except when let out in pursuit of runaways,
they seldom fail of overtaking the fugitive, and seem to enjoy the sport
of hunting men as much as other dogs do that of chasing a fox or a deer.
My master gave a large sum for his five dogs,--a slut and her
four puppies.
While going over our cotton picking for the last time, one of our hands
named Little John, ran away. The next evening the dogs were started on
his track. We followed them awhile, until we knew by their ceasing to
bark that they had found him. We soon met the dogs returning. Their
jaws, heads, and feet, were bloody. The overseer looked at them and
said, "he was afraid the dogs had killed the nigger." It being dark, we
could not find him that night. Early the next morning, we started off
with our neighbors, Sturtivant and Flincher; and after searching about
for some time, we found the body of Little John lying in the midst of a
thicket of cane. It was nearly naked, and dreadfully mangled and gashed
by the teeth of the dogs. They had evidently dragged it some yards
through the thicket: blood, tatters of clothes, and even the entrails of
the unfortunate man, were clinging to the stubs of the old and broken
cane. Huckstep stooped over his saddle, looked at the body, and muttered
an oath. Sturtivant swore it was no more than the fellow deserved. We
dug a hole in the cane-brake, where he lay, buried him, and
returned home.
The murdered young man had a mother and two sisters on the plantation,
by whom he was dearly loved. When I told the old woman of what had
befallen her son, she only said that it was better for poor John than to
live in slavery.
Late in the fall of this year, a young man, who had already run away
several times, was missing from his task. It was four days before we
found him. The dogs drove him at last up a tree, where he was caught,
and brought home. He was then fastened down to the ground by means of
forked sticks of wood selected for the purpose, the longest fork being
driven into the ground until the other closed down upon the neck,
ancles, and wrists. The overseer then sent for two large cats belonging
to the house. These he placed upon the naked shoulders of his victim,
and dragged them suddenly by their tails downward. At first they did not
scratch deeply. He then ordered me to strike them with a small stick
after he had placed them once more upon the back of the sufferer. I did
so; and the enraged animals extended their claws, and tore his back
deeply and cruelly as they were dragged along it. He was then whipped
and placed in the stocks, where he was kept for three days. On the third
morning as I passed the stocks, I stopped to look at him. His head hung
down over the chain which supported his neck. I spoke, but he did not
answer. _He was dead in the stocks_! The overseer on seeing him seemed
surprised, and, I thought, manifested some remorse. Four of the field
hands took him out of the stocks and buried him: and every thing went
on as usual.
It is not in my power to give a narrative of the daily occurrences on
the plantation. The history of one day was that of all. The gloomy
monotony of our slavery, was only broken by the overseer's periodical
fits of drunkenness, at which times neither life nor limb on the estate
were secure from his caprice or violence.
In the spring of 1835, the overseer brought me a letter from my wife,
written for her by her young mistress, Mr. Gateweed's daughter. He read
it to me: it stated that herself and children were well--spoke of her
sad and heavy disappointment in consequence of my not returning with my
master; and of her having been told by him that I should come back the
next fall.
Hope for a moment lightened my heart; and I indulged the idea of once
more returning to the bosom of my family. But I recollected that my
master had already cruelly deceived me; and despair again took hold
on me.
Among our hands was one whom we used to call Big Harry. He was a stout,
athletic man--very intelligent, and an excellent workman; but he was of
a high and proud spirit, which the weary and crushing weight of a life
of slavery had not been able to subdue. On almost every plantation at
the South you may find one or more individuals, whose look and air show
that they have preserved their self-respect as _men_;--that with them
the power of the tyrant ends with the coercion of the body--that the
soul is free, and the inner man retaining the original uprightness of
the image of God. You may know them by the stern sobriety of their
countenances, and the contempt with which they regard the jests and
pastimes of their miserable and degraded companions, who, like Samson,
make sport for the keepers of their prison-house. These men are always
feared as well as hated by their task-masters. Harry had never been
whipped, and had always said that he would die rather than submit to it.
He made no secret of his detestation of the overseer. While most of the
slaves took off their hats, with cowering submission, in his presence,
Harry always refused to do so. He never spoke to him except in a brief
answer to his questions. Master George, who knew, and dreaded the
indomitable spirit of the man, told the overseer, before he left the
plantation, to beware how he attempted to punish him. But, the habits of
tyranny in which Huckstep had so long indulged, had accustomed him to
abject submission, on the part of his subjects; and he could not endure
this upright and unbroken manliness. He used frequently to curse and
swear about him, and devise plans for punishing him on account of his
impudence as he called it.
A pretext was at last afforded him. Sometime in August of this year,
there was a large quantity of yellow unpicked cotton lying in the gin
house. Harry was employed at night in removing the cotton see, which has
been thrown out by the gin. The rest of the male hands were engaged
during the day in weeding the cotton for the last time, and in the nigh,
in burning brush on the new lands clearing for the next year's crop.
Harry was told one evening to go with the others and assist in burning
the brush. He accordingly went and the next night a double quantity of
seed had accumulated in the gin house: and although he worked until
nearly 2 o'clock in the morning, he could not remove it all.
The next morning the overseer came into the field, and demanded of me
why I had not whipped Harry for not removing all the cotton seed. He
then called aloud to Harry to come forward and be whipped. Harry
answered somewhat sternly that he would neither be struck by overseer
nor driver; that he had worked nearly all night, and had scarcely fallen
asleep when the horn blew to summon him to his toil in the field. The
overseer raved and threatened, but Harry paid no farther attention to
him. He then turned to me and asked me for my pistols, with a pair of
which he had furnished me. I told him they were not with me. He growled
an oath, threw himself on his horse and left us. In the evening I found
him half drunk and raving like a madman. He said he would no longer bear
with that nigger's insolence; but would whip him if it cost him his
life. He at length fixed upon a plan for seizing him; and told me that
he would go out in the morning, ride along by the side of Harry and talk
pleasantly to him, and then, while Harry was attending to him, I was to
steal upon him and knock him down, by a blow on the head, from the
loaded and heavy handle of my whip. I was compelled to promise to obey
his directions.
The next morning when we got to the field I told Harry of the overseer's
plan, and advised him by all means to be on his guard and watch my
motions. His eye glistened with gratitude. "Thank you James", said he,
"I'll take care that you don't touch me."
Huckstep came into the field about 10 o'clock. He rode along by the side
of Harry talking and laughing. I was walking on the other side. When I
saw that Harry's eye was upon me I aimed a blow at him intending however
to miss him. He evaded the blow and turned fiercely round with his hoe
uplifted, threatening to cut down any one who again attempted to strike
him. Huckstep cursed my awkwardness, and told Harry to put down his hoe
and came to him. He refused to do so and swore he would kill the first
man who tried to lay hands on him. The cowardly tyrant shrank away from
his enraged bondman, and for two weeks Harry was not again molested.
About the first of September, the overseer had one of his drunken fits.
He made the house literally an earthly hell. He urged me to drink,
quarrelled and swore at me for declining, and chased the old woman round
the house, with his bottle of peach brandy. He then told me that Harry
had forgotten the attempt to seize him, and that is the morning we must
try our old game over again.
On the following morning, as I was handing to each of the hands their
hoes from the tool house, I caught Harry's eye. "Look out," said I to
him. "Huckstep will be after you again to day." He uttered a deep curse
against the overseer and passed on to his work. After breakfast Huckstep
came riding out to the cotton field. He tied his horse to a tree, and
came towards us. His sallow and haggard countenance was flushed, and his
step unsteady. He came up by the side of Harry and began talking about
the crops and the weather; I came at the same time on the other side,
and in striking at him, beat off his hat. He sprang aside and stepped
backwards. Huckstep with a dreadful oath commanded him to stop, saying
that he had determined to whip him, and neither earth nor hell should
prevent him. Harry defied him: and said he had always done the work
allotted to him and that was enough: he would sooner die than have the
accursed lash touch him. The overseer staggered to his horse, mounted
him and rode furiously to the house, and soon made his appearance,
returning, with his gun in his hand.
"Yonder comes the devil!" said one of the women whose row was near
Harry's.
"Yes," said another, "He's trying to scare Harry with his gun."
"Let him try as he pleases," said Harry, in his low, deep, determined
tones, "He may shoot me, but he can't whip me."
Huckstep came swearing on: when within a few yards of Harry he stopped,
looked at him with a stare of mingled rage and drunken imbecility; and
bid him throw down his hoe and come forward. The undaunted slave refused
to comply, and continuing his work told the drunken demon to shoot if he
pleased. Huckstep advanced within a few steps of him when Harry raised
his hoe and told him to stand back. He stepped back a few paces, leveled
his gun and fired. Harry received the charge in his breast, and fell
instantly across a cotton row. He threw up his hands wildly, and
groaned, "Oh, Lord!"
The hands instantly dropped their hoes. The women shrieked aloud. For my
own part I stood silent with horror. The cries of the women enraged the
overseer, he dropped his gun, and snatching the whip from my hand, with
horrid oaths, and imprecations fell to whipping them, laying about him
like a maniac. Upon Harry's sister he bestowed his blows without mercy,
commanding her to quit her screaming and go to work. The poor girl,
whose brother had thus been murdered before her eyes, could not wrestle
down the awful agony of her feelings, and the brutal tormentor left her
without effecting his object. He then, without going to look of his
victim, told four of the hands to carry him to the house, and taking up
his gun left the field. When we got to the poor fellow, he was alive,
and groaning faintly. The hands took him up, but before they reached the
house he was dead. Huckstep came out, and looked at him, and finding him
dead, ordered the hands to bury him. The burial of a slave in Alabama is
that of a brute. No coffin--no decent shroud--no prayer. A hole is dug,
and the body (sometimes enclosed in a rude box,) is thrown in without
further ceremony.
From this time the overseer was regarded by the whole gang with
detestation and fear--as a being to whose rage and cruelty there were no
limits. Yet he was constantly telling us that he was the kindest of
overseers--that he was formerly somewhat severe in managing his hands,
but that now he was, if any thing, too indulgent. Indeed he had the
reputation of being a good overseer, and an excellent manager, when
sober. The slaves on some of the neighboring plantations were certainly
worse clothed and fed, and more frequently and cruelly whipped than
ours. Whenever the saw them they complained of over working and short
feeding. One of Flincher's, and one of Sturtivant's hands ran away,
while I was in Alabama: and after remaining in the woods awhile, and
despairing of being able to effect their escape, resolved to put an end
to their existence and their slavery together. Each twisted himself a
vine of the muscadine grape, and fastened one end around the limb of an
oak, and made a noose in the other. Jacob, Flincher's man, swung himself
off first, and expired after a long struggle. The other, horrified by
the contortions and agony of his comrade, dropped his noose, and was
retaken. When discovered, two or three days afterwards, the body of
Jacob was dreadfully torn and mangled, by the buzzards, those winged
hyenas and goules of the Southwest.
Among the slaves who were brought from Virginia, were two young and
bright mulatto women, who were always understood throughout the
plantation to have been the daughters of the elder Larrimore, by one of
his slaves. One was named Sarah and the other Hannah. Sarah, being in a
state of pregnancy, failed of executing her daily allotted task of
hoeing cotton. I was ordered to whip her, and on my remonstrating with
the overseer, and representing the condition of the woman, I was told
that my business was to obey orders, and that if I was told "to whip a
dead nigger I must do it." I accordingly gave her fifty lashes. This was
on Thursday evening. On Friday she also failed through weakness, and was
compelled to lie down in the field. That night the overseer himself
whipped her. On Saturday the wretched woman dragged herself once more to
the cotton field. In the burning sun, and in a situation which would
have called forth pity in the bosom of any one save a cotton-growing
overseer, she struggled to finish her task. She failed--nature could do
no more--and sick and despairing, she sought her cabin. There the
overseer met her and inflicted fifty more lashes upon her already
lacerated back.
The next morning was the Sabbath. It brought no joy to that suffering
woman. Instead of the tones of the church bell summoning to the house of
prayer, she heard the dreadful sound of the lash falling upon the backs
of her brethren and sisters in bondage. For the voice of prayer she
heard curses. For the songs of Zion obscene and hateful blasphemies. No
bible was there with its consolations for the sick of heart. Faint and
fevered, scarred and smarting from the effects of her cruel punishment,
she lay upon her pallet of moss--dreading the coming of her relentless
persecutor,--who, in the madness of one of his periodical fits of
drunkenness, was now swearing and cursing through the quarters.
Some of the poor woman's friends on the evening before, had attempted to
relieve her of the task which had been assigned her, but exhausted
nature, and the selfishness induced by their own miserable situation,
did not permit them to finish it and the overseer, on examination, found
that the week's work of the woman, was still deficient. After breakfast,
he ordered her to be tied up to the limb of a tree, by means of a rope
fastened round her wrists, so as to leave her feet about six inches from
the ground. She begged him to let her down for she was very sick.
"Very well!" he exclaimed with a sneer and a laugh,--"I shall bleed you
then, and take out some of your Virginia blood. You are too proud a miss
for Alabama."
He struck her a few blows. Swinging thus by her arms, she succeeded in
placing one of her feet against the body of the tree, and thus partly
supported herself, and relieved in some degree the painful weight upon
her wrists. He threw down his whip--took a rail from the garden fence,
ordered her feet to be tied together, and thrust the rail between them.
He then ordered one of the hands to sit upon it. Her back at this time
was bare, but the strings of the only garment which she wore passed over
her shoulders and prevented the full force of the whip from acting on
her flesh. These he cut off with his pen-knife, and thus left her
entirely naked. He struck her only two blows, for the second one cut
open her side and abdomen with a frightful gash. Unable to look on any
longer in silence, I entreated him to stop, as I feared he had killed
her. The overseer looked at the wound--dropped his whip, and ordered her
to be untied. She was carried into the house in a state of
insensibility, and died in three days after.
During the whole season of picking cotton, the whip was frequently and
severely plied. In his seasons of intoxication, the overseer made no
distinction between the stout man and the feeble and delicate woman--the
sick and the well. Women in a far advanced state of pregnancy were
driven out to the cotton field. At other times he seemed to have some
consideration; and to manifest something like humanity. Our hands did
not suffer for food--they had a good supply of ham and corn-meal, while
on Flincher's plantation the slaves had meat but once a year, at
Christmas.
Near the commencement of the weeding season of 1835, I was ordered to
whip a young woman, a light mustee, for not performing her task. I told
the overseer that she was sick. He said he did not care for that, she
should be made to work. A day or two afterwards, I found him in the
house half intoxicated. He demanded of me why I had not whipped the
girl; and I gave the same reason as before. He flew into a dreadful
rage, but his miserable situation made him an object of contempt rather
than fear. He sat shaking his fist at me, and swearing for nearly half
an hour. He said he would teach the Virginia lady to sham sickness; and
that the only reason I did not whip her was, that she was a white woman,
and I did not like to cut up her delicate skin. Some time after I was
ordered to give two of our women, named Hannah and big Sarah, 150 lashes
each, for not performing their tasks. The overseer stood by until he saw
Hannah whipped, and until Sarah had been tied up to the tree. As soon as
his back was turned I struck the tree instead of the woman, who
understanding my object, shrieked as if the whip at every blow was
cutting into her flesh. The overseer heard the blows and the woman's
cries, and supposing that all was going on according to his mind, left
the field. Unfortunately the husband of Hannah stood looking on; and
indignant that his wife should be whipped and Sarah spared, determined
to revenge himself by informing against me.
Next morning Huckstep demanded of me whether I had whipped Sarah the day
before; I replied in the affirmative. Upon this he called Sarah forward
and made her show her back, which bore no traces of recent whipping. He
then turned upon me and told me that the blows intended for Sarah should
be laid on my back. That night the overseer, with the help of three of
the hands, tied me up to a large tree--my arms and legs being clasped
round it, and my body drawn up hard against it by two men pulling at my
arms and one pushing against my back. The agony occasioned by this alone
was almost intolerable. I felt a sense of painful suffocation, and could
scarcely catch my breath.
A moment after I felt the first blow of the overseer's whip across my
shoulders. It seemed to cut into my very heart. I felt the blood gush,
and run down my back. I fainted at length under the torture, and on
being taken down, my shoes contained blood which ran from the gashes in
my back. The skin was worn off from by breast, arms, and thighs, against
the rough bark of the tree. I was sick and feverish, and in great pain
for three weeks afterwards; most of which time I was obliged to lie with
my face downwards, in consequence of the extreme soreness of my sides
and back, Huckstep himself seemed concerned about me, and would come
frequently to see me, and tell me that he should not have touched me had
it not been for "the cursed peach brandy."
Almost the first person that I was compelled to whip after I recovered,
was the man who pushed at my back when I was tied up to the tree. The
hands who were looking on at that time, all thought he pushed me much
harder than was necessary: and they expected that I would retaliate upon
him the injury I had received. After he was tied up, the overseer told
me to give him a severe flogging, and left me. I struck the tree instead
of the man. His wife, who was looking on, almost overwhelmed me with her
gratitude.
At length one morning, late in the fall of 1835, I saw Huckstep, and a
gentleman ride out to the field. As they approached, I saw the latter
was my master. The hands all ceased their labor, and crowded around him,
inquiring about old Virginia. For my own part, I could not hasten to
greet him. He had too cruelly deceived me. He at length came towards me,
and seemed somewhat embarrassed. "Well James," said he, "how do you
stand it here?" "Badly enough," I replied. "I had no thought that you
could be so cruel as to go away and leave me as you did." "Well, well,
it was too bad, but it could not be helped--you must blame Huckstep for
it." "But," said I, "I was not his servant; I belonged to you, and you
could do as you pleased." "Well," said he, "we will talk about that by
and by." He then inquired of Huckstep where big Sarah was. "She was sick
and died," was the answer. He looked round amoung the slaves again, and
inquired for Harry. The overseer told him that Harry undertook to kill
him, and that, to save his life, he was obliged to fire upon him, and
that he died of the wound. After some further inquiries, he requested me
to go into the house with him. He then asked me to tell him how things
had been managed during his absence. I gave him a full account of the
overseer's cruelty. When he heard of the manner of Harry's death, he
seemed much affected and shed tears. He was a favorite servant of his
father's. I showed him the deep scars on my back occasioned by the
whipping I had received. He was, or professed to be, highly indignant
with Huckstep; and said he would see to it that he did not lay hands on
me again. He told me he should be glad to take me with him to Virginia,
but he did not know where he should find a driver who would be so kind
to the hands as I was. If I would stay ten years, he would give me a
thousand dollars, and a piece of land to plant on my own account. "But,"
said I, "my wife and children." "Well," said he, "I will do my best to
purchase them, and send them on to you." I now saw that my destiny was
fixed: and that I was to spend my days in Alabama, and I retired to my
bed that evening with a heavy heart.
My master staid only three or four days on the plantation. Before he
left, he cautioned Huckstep to be careful and not strike me again, as he
would on no account permit it. He told him to give the hands food
enough, and not over-work them, and, having thus satisfied his
conscience, left us to our fate.
Out of the two hundred and fourteen slaves who were brought out from
Virginia, at least one-third of them were members of the Methodist and
Baptist churches in that State. Of this number five or six could read.
Then had been torn away from the care and discipline of their respective
churches, and from the means of instruction, but they retained their
love for the exercises of religion; and felt a mournful pleasure in
speaking of the privileges and spiritual blessings which they enjoyed in
Old Virginia. Three of them had been preachers, or exhorters, viz.
Solomon, usually called Uncle Solomon, Richard and David. Uncle Solomon
was a grave, elderly man, mild and forgiving in his temper, and greatly
esteemed among the more serious portion of our hands. He used to snatch
every occasion to talk to the lewd and vicious about the concerns of
their souls, and to advise them to fix their minds upon the Savior, as
their only helper. Some I have heard curse and swear in answer, and
others would say that they could not keep their minds upon God and the
devil (meaning Huckstep) at the same time: that it was of no use to try
to be religious--they had no time--that the overseer wouldn't let them
meet to pray--and that even Uncle Solomon, when he prayed, had to keep
one eye open all the time, to see if Huckstep was coming. Uncle Solomon
could both read and write, and had brought out with him from Virginia a
Bible, a hymn-book, and some other religious books, which he carefully
concealed from the overseer, Huckstep was himself an open infidel as
well as blasphemer. He used to tell the hands that there was no hell
hereafter for white people, but that they had their punishment on earth
in being obliged to take care of the negroes. As for the blacks, he was
sure there was a hell for them. He used frequently to sit with his
bottle by his side, and a Bible in his hand; and read passages and
comment on them, and pronounce them lies. Any thing like religious
feeling among the slaves irritated him. He said that so much praying and
singing prevented the people from doing their tasks, as it kept them up
nights, when they should be asleep. He used to mock, and in every
possible way interrupt the poor slaves, who after the toil of the day,
knelt in their lowly cabins to offer their prayers and supplications to
Him whose ear is open to the sorrowful sighing of the prisoner, and who
hath promised in His own time to come down and deliver. In his drunken
seasons he would make excursions at night through the slave-quarters,
enter the cabins, and frighten the inmates, especially if engaged in
prayer or singing. On one of these occasions he came back rubbing his
hands and laughing. He said he had found Uncle Solomon in his garden,
down on his knees, praying like an old owl, and had tipped him over, and
frightened him half out of his wits. At another time he found Uncle
David sitting on his stool with his face thrust up the chimney, in order
that his voice might not be heard by his brutal persecutor. He was
praying, giving utterance to these words, probably in reference to his
bondage:--"_How long, oh, Lord, how long_?" "As long as my whip!" cried
the overseer, who had stolen behind him, giving him a blow. It was the
sport of a demon.
Not long after my master had left us, the overseer ascertained for the
first time that some of the hands could read, and that they had brought
books with them from Virginia. He compelled them to give up the keys of
their chests, and on searching found several Bibles and hymn-books.
Uncle Solomon's chest contained quite a library, which he could read at
night by the light of knots of the pitchpine. These books he collected
together, and in the evening called Uncle Solomon into the house. After
jeering him for some time, he gave him one of the Bibles and told him to
name his text and preach him a sermon. The old man was silent. He then
made him get up on the table, and ordered him to pray. Uncle Solomon
meekly replied, that "forced prayer was not good for soul or body." The
overseer then knelt down himself, and in a blasphemous manner, prayed
that the Lord would send his spirit into Uncle Solomon; or else let the
old man fall from the table and break his neck, and so have an end of
"nigger preaching." On getting up from his knees he went to the
cupboard, poured out a glass of brandy for himself, and brought another
to the table. "James," said he, addressing me, "Uncle Solomon stands
there, for all the world, like a Hickory Quaker. His spirit don't move.
I'll see if another spirit wont move it." He compelled the old preacher
to swallow the brandy; and then told him to preach and exhort, for the
spirit was in him. He set one of the Bibles on fire, and after it was
consumed, mixed up the ashes of it in a glass of water, and compelled
the old man to drink it, telling him that as the spirit and the word
were now both in him, there was no longer any excuse for not preaching.
After tormenting the wearied old man in this way until nearly midnight
he permitted him to go to his quarters.
The next day I saw Uncle Solomon, and talked with him about his
treatment. He said it would not always be so--that slavery was to come
to an end, for the Bible said so--that there would then be no more
whippings and fightings, but the lion the lamb would lie down together,
and all would be love. He said he prayed for Huckstep--that it was not
he but the devil in him who behaved so. At his request, I found means to
get him a Bible and a hymn-book from the overseer's room; and the old
man ever afterwards kept them concealed in the hen-house.
The weeding season of 1836, was marked by repeated acts of cruelty on
the part of Huckstep. One of the hands, Priscilla, was, owing to her
delicate situation, unable to perform her daily task. He ordered her to
be tied up against a tree, in the same manner that I had been. In this
situation she was whipped until _she was delivered of a dead infant, at
the foot of the tree_! Our men took her upon a sheet, and carried her to
the house, where she lay sick for several months, but finally recovered.
I have heard him repeatedly laugh at the circumstance.
Not long after this, we were surprised, one morning about ten o'clock,
by hearing the horn blown at the house. Presently Aunt Polly came
screaming into the field. "What is the matter, Aunty?" I inquired. "Oh
Lor!" said she, "Old Huckstep's pitched off his horse and broke his
head, and is e'en about dead."
"Thank God!" said little Simon, "The devil will have him at last."
"God-a-mighty be praised!" exclaimed half a dozen others.
The hands, with one accord dropped their hoes; and crowded round the old
woman, asking questions. "Is he dead?"--"Will he die?" "Did you feel of
him--was he cold?"
Aunt Polly explained as well as she could, that Huckstep, in a state of
partial intoxication, had attempted to leap his horse over a fence, had
fallen and cut a deep gash in his head, and that he was now lying
insensible.
It is impossible to describe the effect produced by this news among the
hands. Men, women and children shouted, clapped their hands, and laughed
aloud. Some cursed the overseer, and others thanked the Lord for taking
him away. Little Simon got down on his knees, and called loudly upon God
to finish his work, and never let the overseer again enter a cotton
field. "Let him die, Lord," said he, "let him. He's killed enough of us:
Oh, good Lord, let him die and not live."
"Peace, peace! it is a bad spirit," said Uncle Solomon, "God himself
willeth not the death of a sinner."
I followed the old woman to the house; and found Huckstep at the foot of
one of those trees, so common at the South, called the Pride of China.
His face was black, and there was a frightful contusion on the side of
his head. He was carried into the house, where, on my bleeding him, he
revived. He lay in great pain for several days, and it was nearly three
weeks before he was able to come out to the cotton fields.
On returning to the field after Huckstep had revived, I found the hands
sadly disappointed to hear that he was still living. Some of them fell
to cursing and swearing, and were enraged with me for trying to save his
life. Little Simon said I was a fool; if he had bled him he would have
done it to some purpose. He would at least, have so disable his arm that
he would never again try to swing a whip. Uncle Solomon remonstrated
with Simon, and told that I had done right.
The neighbouring overseers used frequently to visit Huckstep, and he, in
turn, visited them. I was sometimes present during their interviews, and
heard them tell each other stories of horse-racing, negro-huntings, &c.
Some time during this season, Ludlow, who was overseer of a plantation
about eight miles from ours, told of a slave of his named Thornton, who
had twice attempted to escape with his wife and one child. The first
time he was caught without much difficulty, chained to the overseer's
horse, and in that way brought back. The poor man, to save his wife from
a beating, laid all the blame upon himself; and said that his wife had
no wish to escape, and tried to prevent him from attempting it. He was
severely whipped; but soon ran away again, and was again arrested. The
overseer, Ludlow, said he was determined to put a stop to the runaway,
and accordingly had resort to a somewhat unusual method of punishment.
There is a great scarcity of good water in that section of Alabama; and
you will generally see a large cistern attached to the corners of the
houses to catch water for washing &c. Underneath this cistern is
frequently a tank from eight to ten feet deep, into which, when the
former is full the water is permitted to run. From this tank the water
is pumped out for use. Into one of these tanks the unfortunate slave was
placed, and confined by one of his ancles to the bottom of it; and the
water was suffered to flow in from above. He was compelled to pump out
the water as fast as it came in, by means of a long rod or handle
connected with the pump above ground. He was not allowed to begin until
the water had risen to his middle. Any pause or delay after this, from
weakness and exhaustion, would have been fatal, as the water would have
risen above his head. In this horrible dungeon, toiling for his life, he
was kept for twenty-four hours without any sustenance. Even Huckstep
said that this was too bad--that he had himself formerly punished
runaways in that way--but should not do it again.
I rejoice to be able to say that this sufferer has at last escaped with
his wife and child, into a free state. He was assisted by some white
men, but I do not know all the particulars of his escape.
Our overseer had not been long able to ride about the plantation after
his accident, before his life was again endangered. He found two of the
hands, Little Jarret and Simon, fighting with each other, and attempted
to chastise both of them. Jarret bore it patiently, but Simon turned
upon him, seized a stake or pin from a cart near by, and felled him to
the ground. The overseer got up--went to the house, and told aunt Polly
that he had nearly been killed by the 'niggers,' and requested her to
tie up his head, from which the blood was streaming. As soon as this was
done, he took down his gun, and went out in pursuit of Simon, who had
fled to his cabin, to get some things which he supposed necessary
previous to attempting his escape from the plantation. He was just
stepping out of the door when he met the enraged overseer with his gun
in his hand. Not a word was spoken by either. Huckstep raised his gun
and fired. The man fell without a groan across the door-sill. He rose up
twice on his hands and knees, but died in a few minutes. He was dragged
off and buried. The overseer told me that there was no other way to deal
with such a fellow. It was Alabama law, if a slave resisted to shoot him
at once. He told me of a case which occurred in 1834, on a plantation
about ten miles distant, and adjoining that where Crop, the negro
hunter, boarded with his hounds. The overseer had bought some slaves at
Selma, from a drove or coffle passing through the place. They proved
very refractory. He whipped three of them, and undertook to whip a
fourth who was from Maryland. The man raised his hoe in a threatening
manner, and the overseer fired upon him. The slave fell, but instantly
rose up on his hands and knees, and was beaten down again by the stock
of the overseer's gun. The wounded wretch raised himself once more, drew
a knife from the waistband of his pantaloons, and catching hold of the
overseer's coat, raised himself high enough to inflict a fatal wound
upon the latter. Both fell together, and died immediately after.
Nothing more of special importance occurred until July, of last year,
when one of our men named John, was whipped three times for not
performing his task. On the last day of the month, after his third
whipping, he ran away. On the following morning, I found that he was
missing at his row. The overseer said we must hunt him up; and he blew
the "nigger horn," as it is called, for the dogs. This horn was only
used when we went out in pursuit of fugitives. It is a cow's horn, and
makes a short, loud sound. We crossed Flincher's and Goldsby's
plantations, as the dogs had got upon John's track, and went of barking
in that direction, and the two overseers joined us in the chase. The
dogs soon caught sight of the runaway, and compelled him to climb a
tree. We came up; Huckstep ordered him down, and secured him upon my
horse by tying him to my back. On reaching home he was stripped entirely
naked and lashed up to a tree. Flincher then volunteered to whip him on
one side of his legs, and Goldsby on the other. I had, in the meantime,
been ordered to prepare a wash of salt and pepper, and wash his wounds
with it. The poor fellow groaned, and his flesh shrunk and quivered as
the burning solution was applied to it. This wash, while it adds to the
immediate torment of the sufferer, facilitates the cure of the wounded
parts. Huckstep then whipped him from his neck down to his thighs,
making the cuts lengthwise of his back. He was very expert with the
whip, and could strike, at any time, within an inch of his mark. He then
gave the whip to me and told me to strike directly across his back. When
I had finished, the miserable sufferer, from his neck to his heel, was
covered with blood and bruises. Goldsby and Flincher now turned to
Huckstep, and told him, that I deserved a whipping as much as John did:
that they had known me frequently disobey his orders, and that I was
partial to the "Virginia ladies," and didn't whip them as I did the men.
They said if I was a driver of theirs they would know what to do with
me. Huckstep agreed with them; and after directing me to go to the house
and prepare more of the wash for John's back, he called after me with an
oath, to see to it that I had some for myself, for he meant to give me,
at least, two hundred and fifty lashes. I returned to the house, and
scarcely conscious of what I was doing, filled an iron vessel with
water, put in the salt and pepper; and placed it over the embers.
As I stood by the fire watching the boiling of the mixture, and
reflecting upon the dreadful torture to which I was about to he
subjected, the thought of _escape_ flashed upon my mind. The chance was
a desperate one; but I resolved to attempt it. I ran up stairs, tied my
shirt in a handkerchief, and stepped out of the back door of the house,
telling Aunt Polly to take care of the wash at the fire until I
returned. The sun was about one hour high, but luckily for me the hands
as well as the three overseers, were on the other side of the house. I
kept the house between them and myself, and ran as fast as I could for
the woods. On reaching them I found myself obliged to proceed slowly as
there was a thick undergrowth of cane and reeds. Night came on. I
straggled forward by a dim star-light, amidst vines and reed beds. About
midnight the horizon began to be overcast; and the darkness increased
until in the thick forest, I could scarcely see a yard before me.
Fearing that I might lose my way and wander towards the plantation,
instead of from it, I resolved to wait until day. I laid down upon a
little hillock, and fell asleep.
When I awoke it was broad day. The clouds had vanished, and the hot
sunshine fell through the trees upon my face. I started up, realizing my
situation, and darted onward. My object was to reach the great road by
which we had travelled when we came out from Virginia. I had, however,
very little hope of escape. I knew that a hot pursuit would be made
after me, and what I most dreaded was, that the overseer would procure
Crop's bloodhounds to follow my track. If only the hounds of our
plantation were sent after me, I had hopes of being able to make friends
of them, as they were always good-natured and obedient to me. I
travelled until, as near as I could judge, about ten o'clock, when a
distant sound startled me. I stopped and listened. It was the deep bay
of the bloodhound, apparently at a great distance. I hurried on until I
came to a creek about fifteen yards wide, skirted by an almost
impenetrable growth of reeds and cane. Plunging into it, I swam across
and ran down by the side of it a short distance, and, in order to baffle
the dogs, swam back to the other side again. I stopped in the reed-bed
and listened. The dogs seemed close at hand, and by the loud barking I
felt persuaded that Crop's hounds were with them. I thought of the fate
of Little John, who had been torn in pieces by the hounds, and of the
scarcely less dreadful condition of those who had escaped the dogs only
to fall into the hands of the overseer. The yell of the dogs grew
louder. Escape seemed impossible. I ran down to the creek with a
determination to drown myself. I plunged into the water and went down to
the bottom; but the dreadful strangling sensation compelled me to
struggle up to the surface. Again I heard the yell of the bloodhounds;
and again desperately plunged down into the water. As I went down I
opened my mouth, and, choked and gasping, I found myself once more
struggling upward. As I rose to the top of the water and caught a
glimpse of the sunshine and the trees, the love of life revived in me. I
swam to the other side of the creek, and forced my way through the reeds
to a large tree, and stood under one of its lowest limbs, ready in case
of necessity, to spring up into it. Here panting and exhausted, I stood
waiting for the dogs. The woods seemed full of them. I heard a bell
tinkle, and, a moment after, our old hound Venus came bounding through
the cane, dripping wet from the creek. As the old hound came towards me,
I called to her as I used to do when out hunting with her. She stopped
suddenly, looked up at me, and then came wagging her tail and fawning
around me. A moment after the other dog came up hot in the chase, and
with their noses to the ground. I called to them, but they did not look
up, but came yelling on. I was just about to spring into the tree to
avoid them when Venus the old hound met them, and stopped them. They
then all came fawning and playing and jumping about me. The very
creatures whom a moment before I had feared would tear me limb from
limb, were now leaping and licking my hands, and rolling on the leaves
around me. I listened awhile in the fear of hearing the voices of men
following the dogs, but there was no sound in the forest save the
gurgling of the sluggish waters of the creek, and the chirp of black
squirrels in the trees. I took courage and started onward once more,
taking the dogs with me. The bell on the neck of the old dog, I feared
might betray me, and, unable to get it off her neck, I twisted some of
the long moss of the trees around it, so as to prevent its ringing. At
night I halted once more with the dogs by my side. Harassed with fear,
and tormented with hunger, I laid down and tried to sleep. But the dogs
were uneasy, and would start up and bark at the cries or the footsteps
of wild animals, and I was obliged, to use my utmost exertions to keep
them quiet, fearing that their barking would draw my pursuers upon me. I
slept but little; and as soon as daylight, started forward again. The
next day towards evening, I reached a great road which, I rejoiced to
find, was the same which my master and myself had travelled on our way
to Greene county. I now thought it best to get rid of the dogs, and
accordingly started them in pursuit of a deer. They went off, yelling on
the track, and I never saw them again. I remembered that my master told
me, near this place, that we were in the Creek country, and that there
were some Indian settlements not far distant. In the course of the
evening I crossed the road, and striking into a path through the woods,
soon came to a number of Indian cabins. I went into one of them and
begged for some food. The Indian women received me with a great deal of
kindness, and gave me a good supper of venison, corn bread, and stewed
pumpkin. I remained with them till the evening of the next day, when I
started afresh on my journey. I kept on the road leading to Georgia. In
the latter part of the night I entered into a long low bottom, heavily
timbered--sometimes called Wolf Valley. It was a dreary and frightful
place. As I walked on, I heard on all sides the howling of the wolves,
and the quick patter of their feet on the leaves and sticks, as they ran
through the woods. At daylight I laid down, but had scarcely closed my
eyes when I was roused up by the wolves snarling and howling around me.
I started on my feet, and saw several of them running by me. I did not
again close my eyes during the whole day. In the afternoon, a bear with
her two cubs came to a large chestnut tree near where I lay. She crept
up the tree, went out on one of the limbs, and broke off several twigs
in trying to shake down the nuts. They were not ripe enough to fall,
and, after several vain attempts to procure some of them, she crawled
down the tree again and went off with her young.
The day was long and tedious. As soon as it was dark, I once more
resumed my journey. But fatigue and the want of food and sleep rendered
me almost incapable of further effort. It was not long before I fell
asleep, while walking, and wandered out of the road. I was awakened by a
bunch of moss which hung down from the limb of a tree and met my face. I
looked up and saw, as I thought, a large man standing just before me. My
first idea was that some one had struck me over the face, and that I had
been at last overtaken by Huckstep. Rubbing my eyes once more, I saw the
figure before me sink down upon its hands and knees. Another glance
assured me that it was a bear and not a man. He passed across the road
and disappeared. This adventure kept me awake for the remainder of the
night. Towards morning I passed by a plantation, on which was a fine
growth of peach trees, full of ripe fruit. I took as many of them as I
could conveniently carry in my hands and pockets, and retiring a little
distance into the woods, laid down and slept till evening, when I again
went forward.
Sleeping thus by day and travelling by night, in a direction towards the
North Star, I entered Georgia. As I only travelled in the night time, I
was unable to recognize rivers and places which I had seen before until
I reached Columbus, where I recollected I had been with my master. From
this place I took the road leading to Washington, and passed directly
through that village. On leaving the village, I found myself contrary to
my expectation, in an open country with no woods in view. I walked on
until day broke in the east. At a considerable distance ahead, I saw a
group of trees, and hurried on towards it. Large and beautiful
plantations were on each side of me, from which I could hear dogs bark,
and the driver's horn sounding. On reaching the trees, I found that they
afforded but a poor place of concealment. On either hand, through its
openings, I could see the men turning out to the cotton fields. I found
a place to lie down between two oak stumps, around which the new shoots
had sprung up thickly, forming a comparatively close shelter. After
eating some peaches, which since leaving the Indian settlement had
constituted my sole food, I fell asleep. I was waked by the barking of a
dog. Raising my head and looking through the bushes, I found that the
dog was barking at a black squirrel who was chattering on a limb almost
directly above me. A moment after, I heard a voice speaking to the dog,
and soon saw a man with a gun in his hand, stealing through the wood. He
passed close to the stumps, where I lay trembling with terror lest he
should discover me. He kept his eye however upon the tree, and raising
his gun, fired. The squirrel dropped dead close by my side. I saw that
any further attempt at concealment would be in vain, and sprang upon my
feet. The man started forward on seeing me, struck at me with his gun
and beat my hat off. I leaped into the road; and he followed after,
swearing he would shoot me if I didn't stop. Knowing that his gun was
not loaded, I paid no attention to him, but ran across the road into a
cotton field where there was a great gang of slaves working. The man
with the gun followed, and called to the two colored drivers who were on
horseback, to ride after me and stop me. I saw a large piece of woodland
at some distance ahead, and directed my course towards it. Just as I
reached it, I looked back, and saw my pursuer far behind me; and found,
to my great joy, that the two drivers had not followed me. I got behind
a tree, and soon heard the man enter the woods and pass me. After all
had been still for more than an hour, I crept into a low place in the
depth of the woods and laid down amidst a bed of reeds, where I again
fell asleep. Towards evening, on awaking, I found the sky beginning to
be cloudy, and before night set in it was completely overcast. Having
lost my hat, I tied an old handkerchief over my head, and prepared to
resume my journey. It was foggy and very dark, and involved as I was in
the mazes of the forest, I did not know in what direction I was going. I
wandered on until I reached a road, which I supposed to be the same one
which I had left. The next day the weather was still dark and rainy, and
continued so for several days. During this time I slept only by leaning
against the body of a tree, as the ground was soaked with rain. On the
fifth night after my adventure near Washington, the clouds broke away,
and the clear moonlight and the stars shone down upon me.
I looked up to see the North Star, which I supposed still before me. But
I sought it in vain in all that quarter of the heavens. A dreadful
thought came over me that I had been travelling out of my way. I turned
round and saw the North Star, which had been shining directly upon my
back. I then knew that I had been travelling away from freedom, and
towards the place of my captivity ever since I left the woods into which
I had been pursued on the 21st, five days before. Oh, the keen and
bitter agony of that moment! I sat down on the decaying trunk of a
fallen tree, and wept like a child. Exhausted in mind and body, nature
came at last to my relief, and I fell asleep upon the log. When I awoke
it was still dark. I rose and nerved myself for another effort for
freedom. Taking the North Star for my guide, I turned upon my track, and
left once more the dreaded frontiers of Alabama behind me. The next
night, after crossing the one on which I travelled, and which seemed to
lead more directly towards the North. I took this road, and the next
night after, I came to a large village. Passing through the main street,
I saw a large hotel which I at once recollected. I was in Augusta, and
this was the hotel at which my master had spent several days when I was
with him, on one of his southern visits. I heard the guards patrolling
the town cry the hour of twelve; and fearful of being taken up, I turned
out of the main street, and got upon the road leading to Petersburg. On
reaching the latter place, I swam over the Savannah river into South
Carolina, and from thence passed into North Carolina.
Hitherto I had lived mainly upon peaches, which were plenty on almost
all the plantations in Alabama and Georgia; but the season was now too
far advanced for them, and I was obliged to resort to apples. These I
obtained without much difficulty until within two or three days journey
of the Virginia line. At this time I had had nothing to eat but two or
three small and sour apples for twenty-four hours, and I waited
impatiently for night, in the hope of obtaining fruit from the orchards
along the road. I passed by several plantations, but found no apples.
After midnight, I passed near a large house, with fruit trees around it.
I searched under, and climbed up and shook several of them to no
purpose. At last I found a tree on which there were a few apples. On
shaking it, half a dozen fell. I got down, and went groping and feeling
about for them in the grass, but could find only two, the rest were
devoured by several hogs who were there on the same errand with myself.
I pursued my way until day was about breaking, when I passed another
house. The feeling of extreme hunger was here so intense, that it
required all the resolution I was master of to keep myself from going,
up to the house and breaking into it in search of food. But the thought
of being again made a slave, and of suffering the horrible punishment of
a runaway restrained me. I lay in the worlds all that day without food.
The next evening, I soon found a large pile of excellent apples, from
which I supplied myself.
The next evening I reached Halifax Court House, and I then knew that I
was near Virginia. On the 7th of October, I came to the Roanoke, and
crossed it in the midst of a violent storm of rain and thunder. The
current ran so furiously that I was carried down with it, and with great
difficulty, and in a state of complete exhaustion, reached the
opposite shore.
At about 2 o'clock, on the night of the 15th, I approached Richmond, but
not daring to go into the city at that hour, on account of the patrols,
I lay in the woods near Manchester, until the next evening, when I
started in the twilight, in order to enter before the setting of the
watch. I passed over the bridge unmolested, although in great fear, as
my tattered clothes and naked head were well calculated to excite
suspicion; and being well acquainted with the localities of the city,
made my way to the house of a friend. I was received with the utmost
kindness, and welcomed as one risen from the dead. Oh, how inexpressibly
sweet were the tones of human sympathy, after the dreadful trials to
which I had been subjected--the wrongs and outrages which I witnessed
and suffered! For between two and three months I had not spoken with a
human being, and the sound even of my own voice now seemed strange to my
ears. During this time, save in two or three instances I had tasted of
no food except peaches and apples. I was supplied with some dried meat
and coffee, but the first mouthful occasioned nausea and faintness. I
was compelled to take my bed, and lay sick for several days. By the
assiduous attention and kindness of my friends, I was supplied with
every thing which was necessary during my sickness. I was detained in
Richmond nearly a month. As soon as I had sufficiently recovered to be
able to proceed on my journey, I bade my kind host and his wife an
affectionate farewell, and set forward once more towards a land of
freedom. I longed to visit my wife and children in Powhatan county, but
the dread of being discovered prevented me from attempting it. I had
learned from my friends in Richmond that they were living and in good
health, but greatly distressed on my account.
My friends had provided me with a fur cap, and with as much lean ham,
cake and biscuit, as I could conveniently carry. I proceeded in the same
way as before, travelling by night and lying close and sleeping by day.
About the last of November I reached the Shenandoah river. It was very
cold; ice had already formed along the margin, and in swimming the river
I was chilled through; and my clothes froze about me soon after I had
reached the opposite side. I passed into Maryland, and on the 5th of
December, stepped across the line which divided the free state of
Pennsylvania from the land of slavery.
I had a few shillings in money which were given me at Richmond, and
after travelling nearly twenty-four hours from the time I crossed the
line, I ventured to call at a tavern, and buy a dinner. On reaching
Carlisle, I enquired of the ostler in a stable if he knew of any one who
wished to hire a house servant or coachman. He said he did not. Some
more colored people came in, and taking me aside told me that they knew
that I was from Virginia, by my pronunciation of certain words--that I
was probably a runaway slave--but that I need not be alarmed, as they
were friends, and would do all in their power to protect me. I was taken
home by one of them, and treated with the utmost kindness; and at night
he took me in a wagon, and carried me some distance on my way to
Harrisburg, where he said I should meet with friends.
He told me that I had better go directly to Philadelphia, as there would
be less danger of my being discovered and retaken there than in the
country, and there were a great many persons there who would exert
themselves to secure me from the slaveholders. In parting he cautioned
me against conversing or stopping with any man on the road, unless he
wore a plain, straight collar on a round coat, and said, "thee," and
"thou." By following his directions I arrived safely in Philadelphia,
having been kindly entertained and assisted on my journey, by several
benevolent gentlemen and ladies, whose compassion for the wayworn and
hunted stranger I shall never forget, and whose names will always be
dear to me. On reaching Philadelphia, I was visited by a large number of
the Abolitionists, and friends of the colored people, who, after hearing
my story, thought it would not be safe for me to remain in any part of
the United States. I remained in Philadelphia a few days; and then a
gentleman came on to New-York with me, I being considered on board the
steam-boat, and in the cars, as his servant. I arrived at New-York, on
the 1st of January. The sympathy and kindness which I have every where
met with since leaving the slave states, has been the more grateful to
me because it was in a great measure unexpected. The slaves are always
told that if they escape into a free state, they will be seized and put
in prison, until their masters send for them. I had heard Huckstep and
the other overseers occasionally speak of the Abolitionists, but I did
not know or dream that they were the friends of the slave. Oh, if the
miserable men and women, now toiling on the plantations of Alabama,
could know that thousands in the free states are praying and striving
for their deliverance, how would the glad tidings be whispered from
cabin to cabin, and how would the slave-mother as she watches over her
infant, bless God, on her knees, for the hope that this child of her day
of sorrow, might never realize in stripes, and toil, and grief
unspeakable, what it is to be a slave?
* * * * *
This Narrative can he had at the Depository of the American Anti-Slavery
Society, No 143 Nassau Street, New York, in a neat volume, 108 pp.
12mo., embellished with an elegant and accurate steel engraved likeness
of James Williams, price 25 cts. single copy, $17 per hundred.
* * * * *
NO. 7
THE ANTI-SLAVERY EXAMINER.
EMANCIPATION IN THE WEST INDIES.
A SIX MONTHS' TOUR IN ANTIGUA, BARBADOES, AND JAMAICA IN THE YEAR 1837.
BY JAS. A. THOME, AND J. HORACE KIMBALL.
NEW YORK:
PUBLISHED BY THE AMERICAN ANTI-SLAVERY SOCIETY, No. 143 NASSAU-STREET.
1838.
This periodical contains 4 sheets.--Postage under 100 miles, 6 cents;
over 100 miles, 10 cents.
ENTERED,
according to the act of Congress, in the year 1838, by
JOHN RANKIN,
Treasurer, of the American, Anti-Slavery Society,
in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States,
for the Southern District of New York.
Price $12 50 per hundred copies, 18-3/4 cents single copy, _in sheets_:
$13 25 per hundred, and 20 cents single, _if stitched_.
NOTE.--This work is published in this cheap form, to give it a wide
circulation. Please, _after perusal_, to send it to some friend.
This work, as originally published, can be had at the Depository of the
American Anti-Slavery Society, No. 143, Nassau Street, New York, on fine
paper, handsomely bound, in a volume of 489 pages, price one dollar per
copy, $75 per hundred.
CONTENTS.
* * * * *
ANTIGUA.--CHAPTER I.
Geography and Statistics of the Island,--Reflections on
arrival,--Interview with Clergymen,--with the Governor,--with a
member of Assembly,--Sabbath,--Service at the Moravian
Chapel,--Sabbath School,--Service at the Episcopal Church,--Service
at the Wesleyan Chapel,--Millar's Estate,--Cane-holing,--Colored
planter,--Fitch's Creek Estate,--Free Villages,--Dinner at the
Governor's,--Donovan's Estate,--Breakfast at Mr. Watkins,--Dr.
Ferguson,--Market,--Lockup house,--Christmas Holidays,--Colored
Population,--Thibou Jarvis's Estate,--Testimony of the
Manager,--Anniversary of the Friendly Society,--A negro
patriarch,--Green Castle Estate,--Testimony of the
Manager,--Anniversary of the Juvenile Association,--Wetherill
Estate,--Testimony of the Manager,--Conversation with a
boatman,--Moravian station at Newfield,--Testimony of the
Missionaries,--School for Adults,--Interview with the Speaker of the
Assembly,--Moravian "Speaking,"--Conversation with Emancipated
Slaves,--The Rector of St. Philip's,--Frey's Estate,--Interview with
the American Consul,--Sabbath at Millar's,--Breakfast at the Villa
Estate,--A Fair,--Breakfast at Mr. Cranstoun's,--His
Testimony,--Moravian Station at Cedar Hall,--Conversation with
Emancipated Slaves,--Moravian Station at Grace Bay,--Testimony of
the Missionaries,--Grandfather Jacob,--Mr. Scotland's Estate.--A day
at Fitch's Creek,--Views of the Manager,--A call from the
Archdeacon,--from Rev. Edward Fraser,--Wesleyan District
Meeting,--Social interviews with the Missionaries,--Their Views and
Testimony,--Religious Anniversaries,--Temperance Society,--Bible
Society,--Wesleyan Missionary Society.--Resolution of the
Meeting,--Laying the Corner Stone of a Wesleyan Chapel,--Resolutions
of the Missionaries.
ANTIGUA.--CHAPTER II.
GENERAL RESULTS.
Religion,--Statistics of Denominations,--Morality,--Reverence for
the Lord's Day,--Marriage,--Conjugal faithfulness,--Concubinage
decreasing,--Temperance,--Profane Language rare,--Statistics of the
Bible Society,--Missionary Associations,--Temperance
Societies,--Friendly Societies,--Daily Meal Society,--Distressed
Females' Friend Society,--Education,--Annual Examination of the
Parochial School,--Infant Schools in the Country,--Examination at
Parham,--at Willoughby Bay,--Mr. Thwaite's Replies to Queries on
Education,--Great Ignorance before Emancipation,--Aptness of the
Negroes to learn,--Civil and Political Condition of the Emancipated.
ANTIGUA.--CHAPTER III.
FACTS AND TESTIMONY.
IMMEDIATE ABOLITION--an immense change to the condition of the
Slave,--Adopted from Political and Pecuniary Considerations,--Went
into operation peaceably,--gave additional security to Persons and
Property,--Is regarded by all as a great blessing to the
Island,--Free, cheaper than Slave labor,--More work done, and better
done, since Emancipation,--Freemen more easily managed than
Slaves,--The Emancipated more Trustworthy than when Slaves,--They
appreciate and reverence Law,--They stay at home and mind their own
business,--Are less "insolent" than when Slaves,--Gratitude a strong
trait of their character,--Emancipation has elevated them,--It has
raised the price of Real Estate, given new life to Trade, and to all
kinds of business,--Wrought a total change in the views of the
Planters,--Weakened Prejudice against Color,--The Discussions
preceding Emancipation restrained Masters from
Cruelties,--Concluding Remarks.
BARBADOES.
Passage to Barbadoes,--Bridgetown,--Visit to the Governor,--To the
Archdeacon,--Lear's Estate,--Testimony of the Manager,--Dinner Party
at Lear's,--Ride to Scotland,--The Red Shanks,--Sabbath at Lear's;
Religious Service,--Tour to the Windward,--Breakfast Party at the
Colliton Estate,--Testimony to the Working of the
Apprenticeship,--The Working of it in Demerara,--The Codrington
Estate,--Codrington College,--The "Horse,"--An Estate on Fire,--The
Ridge Estate; Dinner with a Company of Planters,--A Day at Colonel
Ashby's; his Testimony to the Working of the
Apprenticeship,--Interviews with Planters; their Testimony,--The
Belle Estate,--Edgecombe Estate; Colonel Barrow,--Horton
Estate,--Drax Hall Estate,--Dinner Party at the
Governor's,--Testimony concerning the Apprenticeship,--Market
People,--Interview with Special Justice Hamilton; his
Testimony,--Station House, District A; Trials of Apprentices before
Special Magistrate Colthurst,--Testimony of the Superintendent of
the Rural Police,--Communication from Special Justice
Colthurst,--Communication from Special Justice Hamilton,--Testimony
of Clergymen and Missionaries,--Curate of St. Paul's,--A FREE
Church,--A Sabbath School Annual Examination,--Interview with
Episcopal Clergymen; their Testimony,--Visit to Schools,--Interview
with the Superintendent of the Wesleyan Mission,--Persecution of the
Methodists by Slaveholders,--The Moravian Mission,--Colored
Population,--Dinner Party at Mr. Harris's,--Testimony concerning the
objects of our Mission,--A New Englander,--History of an Emancipated
Slave,--Breakfast Party at Mr. Thorne's,--Facts and Testimony
concerning Slavery and the Apprenticeship,--History of an
Emancipated Slave,--Breakfast Party at Mr. Prescod's,--Character and
History of the late Editor of the New Times,--Breakfast Party at Mr.
Bourne's,--Prejudice,--History and Character of an Emancipated
Slave,--Prejudice, vincible,--Concubinage,--Barbadoes as it was;
"Reign of Terror;"--Testimony; Cruelties,--Insurrection of
1816,--Licentiousness,--Prejudice--Indolence and Inefficiency of the
Whites,--Hostility to Emancipation,--Barbadoes as it is,--The
Apprenticeship System; Provisions respecting the Special
Magistrates,--Provisions respecting the Master,--Provisions
respecting the Apprentice,--The Design of the
Apprenticeship,--Practical Operation of the
Apprenticeship,--Sympathy of the Special Magistrates with the
Masters,--Apprenticeship, modified Slavery,--Vexatious to the
Master,--No Preparation for Freedom,--Begets hostility between
Master and Apprentice,--Has illustrated the Forbearance of the
Negroes,--Its tendency to exasperate them,--Testimony to the Working
of the Apprenticeship in the Windward Islands generally.
JAMAICA.
Sketch of its Scenery,--Interview with the Attorney General,--The
Solicitor General; his Testimony,--The American Consul; his
Testimony,--The Superintendent of the Wesleyan Missions,--The
Baptist Missionaries; Sabbath; Service in a Baptist
Chapel,--Moravians; Episcopalians; Scotch Presbyterians,--Schools in
Kingston,--Communication from the Teacher of the Wolmer Free School;
Education; Statistics,--The Union School,--"Prejudice
Vincible,"--Disabilities and Persecutions of Colored People,--Edward
Jordan, Esq.,--Colored Members of Assembly,--Richard Hill,
Esq.,--Colored Artisans and Merchants in Kingston,--Police Court of
Kingston,--American Prejudice in the "limbos,"--"Amalgamation!"--St.
Andrew's House of Correction; Tread-mill,--Tour through "St. Thomas
in the East,"--Morant Bay; Local Magistrate; his lachrymal
forebodings,--Proprietor of Green Wall Estate; his
Testimony,--Testimony of a Wesleyan Missionary,--Belvidere Estate;
Testimony of the Manager,--Chapel built by Apprentices,--House of
Correction,--Chain-Gang,--A call from Special Justice Baines; his
Testimony,--Bath,--Special Justice's Office; his
Testimony,--"Alarming Rebellion,"--Testimony of a Wesleyan
Missionary,--Principal of the Mico Charity School; his
Testimony,--Noble instance of Filial Affection in a Negro
Girl,--Plantain Garden River Valley; Alexander Barclay,
Esq.,--Golden Grove Estate; Testimony of the Manager,--The Custos of
the Parish; his Testimony,--Amity Hall Estate; Testimony of the
Manager,--Lord Belmore's Prophecy,--Manchioneal; Special Magistrate
Chamberlain; his Testimony,--his Weekly Court,--Pro slavery
gnashings,--Visit with the Special Magistrate to the Williamsfield
Estate; Testimony of the Manager,--Oppression of
Book-keepers,--Sabbath; Service at a Baptist Chapel,--Interview with
Apprentices; their Testimony,--Tour through St. Andrew's and Port
Royal,--Visit to Estates in company with Special Justice
Bourne,--White Emigrants to Jamaica,--Dublin Castle Estate; Special
Justice Court,--A Despot in convulsions; arbitrary power dies
hard,--Encounter with Mules in a mountain pass,--Silver Hill Estate;
cases tried; Appraisement of an Apprentice,--Peter's Rock
Estate,--Hall's Prospect Estate,--Female Traveling Merchant,--Negro
Provision Grounds,--Apprentices eager to work for Money,--Jury of
Inquest,--Character of Overseers,--Conversation with Special Justice
Hamilton,--With a Proprietor of Estates and Local Magistrate;
Testimony,--Spanishtown,--Richard Hill, Esq., Secretary of the
Special Magistracy,--Testimony of Lord Sligo concerning him,--Lord
Sligo's Administration; its independence and
impartiality,--Statements of Mr. Hill,--Statements of Special
Justice Ramsey,--Special Justice's Court,--Baptist Missionary at
Spanishtown; his Testimony,--Actual Working of the Apprenticeship;
no Insurrection; no fear of it; no Increase of Crime; Negroes
improving; Marriage increased; Sabbath better kept; Religious
Worship better attended; Law obeyed,--Apprenticeship vexatious to
both parties,--Atrocities perpetrated by Masters and
Magistrates,--Causes of the ill-working of the
Apprenticeship--Provisions of the Emancipation Act defeated by
Planters and Magistrates,--The present Governor a favorite with the
Planters,--Special Justice Palmer suspended by him,--Persecution of
Special Justice Bourne,--Character of the Special
Magistrates,--Official Cruelty; Correspondence between a Missionary
and Special Magistrate,--Sir Lionel Smith's Message to the House of
Assembly,--Causes of the Diminished Crops since
Emancipation,--Anticipated Consequences of full Emancipation in
1840,--Examination of the grounds of such anticipations,--Views of
Missionaries and Colored People, Magistrates and
Planters;--Concluding Remarks.
APPENDIX.
Official Communication from Special Justice Lyon,--Communication
from the Solicitor General of Jamaica,--Communication from Special
Justice Colthurst,--Official Returns of the Imports and Exports of
Barbadoes,--Valuations of Apprentices in Jamaica,--Tabular View of
the Crops in Jamaica for fifty-three years preceding 1836; Comments
of the Jamaica Watchman on the foregoing Table,--Comments of the
Spanishtown Telegraph,--Brougham's Speech in Parliament.
INTRODUCTION.
It is hardly possible that the success of British West India
Emancipation should be more conclusively proved, than it has been by the
absence among us of the exultation which awaited its failure. So many
thousands of the citizens of the United States, without counting
slaveholders, would not have suffered their prophesyings to be
falsified, if they could have found whereof to manufacture fulfilment.
But it is remarkable that, even since the first of August, 1834, the
evils of West India emancipation on the lips of the advocates of
slavery, or, as the most of them nicely prefer to be termed, the
opponents of abolition, have remained in the future tense. The bad
reports of the newspapers, spiritless as they have been compared with
the predictions, have been traceable, on the slightest inspection, not
to emancipation, but to the illegal continuance of slavery, under the
cover of its legal substitute. Not the slightest reference to the rash
act, whereby the thirty thousand slaves of Antigua were immediately
"turned loose," now mingles with the croaking which strives to defend
our republican slavery against argument and common sense.
The Executive Committee of the American Anti-Slavery Society, deemed it
important that the silence which the pro-slavery press of the United
States has seemed so desirous to maintain in regard to what is strangely
enough termed the "great experiment of freedom," should be thoroughly
broken up by a publication of facts and testimony collected on the spot.
To this end, REV. JAMES A. THOME, and JOSEPH H. KIMBALL, ESQ., were
deputed to the West Indies to make the proper investigations. Of their
qualifications for the task, the subsequent pages will furnish the best
evidence: it is proper, however, to remark, that Mr. Thome is thoroughly
acquainted with our own system of slavery, being a native and still a
resident of Kentucky, and the son of a slaveholder, (happily no longer
so,) and that Mr. Kimball is well known as the able editor of the Herald
of Freedom, published at Concord, New Hampshire.
They sailed from New York, the last of November, 1836, and returned
early in June, 1837. They improved a short stay at the Danish island of
St. Thomas, to give a description of slavery as it exists there, which,
as it appeared for the most part in the anti-slavery papers, and as it
is not directly connected with the great question at issue, has not been
inserted in the present volume. Hastily touching at some of the other
British islands, they made Antigua, Barbadoes, and Jamaica, successively
the objects of their deliberate and laborious study--as fairly
presenting the three grand phases of the "experiment"--Antigua,
exemplifying immediate unrestricted abolition; Barbadoes, the best
working of the apprenticeship, and Jamaica the worst. Nine weeks were
spent in Antigua, and the remainder of their time was divided between
the other two islands.
The reception of the delegates was in the highest degree favorable to
the promotion of their object, and their work will show how well they
have used the extraordinary facilities afforded them. The committee
have, in some instances, restored testimonials which their modesty led
them to suppress, showing in what estimation they themselves, as well as
the object of their mission, were held by some of the most distinguished
persons in the islands which they visited.
So wide was the field before them, and so rich and various the fruit to
be gathered, that they were tempted to go far beyond the strength
supplied by the failing health they carried with them. Most nobly did
they postpone every personal consideration to the interests of the
cause, and the reader will, we think, agree with us, that they have
achieved a result which undiminished energies could not have been
expected to exceed--a result sufficient, if any thing could be, to
justify the sacrifice it cost them. We regret to add that the labors and
exposures of Mr. Kimball, so far prevented his recovery from the
disease[A] which obliged him to resort to a milder climate, or perhaps
we should say aggravated it, that he has been compelled to leave to his
colleague, aided by a friend, nearly the whole burden of preparing for
the press--which, together with the great labor of condensing from the
immense amount of collected materials, accounts for the delay of the
publication. As neither Mr. Thome nor Mr. Kimball were here while the
work was in the press, it is not improbable that trivial errors have
occurred, especially in the names of individuals.
[Footnote A: We learn that Mr. Kimball closed his mortal career at
Pembroke, N.H. April 12th, in the 25th year of his age. Very few men in
the Anti-Slavery cause have been more distinguished, than this lamented
brother, for the zeal, discretion and ability with which he has
advocated the cause of the oppressed. "Peace to the memory of a man
of worth!"]
It will be perceived that the delegates rest nothing of importance on
their own unattested observation. At every point they are fortified by
the statements of a multitude of responsible persons in the islands,
whose names, when not forbidden, they leave taken the liberty to use in
behalf of humanity. Many of these statements were given in the
handwriting of the parties, and are in the possession of the Executive
Committee. Most of these island authorities are as unchallengeable on
the score of previous leaning towards abolitionism, as Mr. McDuffie of
Mr. Calhoun would be two years hence, if slavery were to be abolished
throughout the United States tomorrow.
Among the points established in this work, beyond the power of dispute
or cavil, are the following:
1. That the act of IMMEDIATE EMANCIPATION in Antigua, was not attended
with any disorder whatever.
2. That the emancipated slaves have readily, faithfully, and efficiently
worked for wages from the first.
3. That wherever there has been any disturbance in the working of the
apprenticeship, it has been invariably by the fault of the masters, or
of the officers charged with the execution of the "Abolition Act."
4. That the prejudice of caste is fast disappearing in the emancipated
islands.
5. That the apprenticeship was not sought for by the planters as a
_preparation for freedom_.
6. That no such preparation was needed.
7. That the planters who have fairly made the "experiment," now greatly
prefer the new system to the old.
8. That the emancipated people are perceptibly rising in the scale of
civilization, morals, and religion.
From these established facts, reason cannot fail to make its inferences
in favor of the two and a half millions of slaves in our republic. We
present the work to our countrymen who yet hold slaves, with the utmost
confidence that its perusal will not leave in their minds a doubt,
either of the duty or perfect safety of _immediate emancipation_,
however it may fail to persuade their hearts--which God grant it
may not!
By order of the Executive Committee of the American Anti-Slavery
Society.
New York, April 28th, 1838.
* * * * *
EXPLANATION OF TERMS USED IN THE NARRATIVE.
1. The words 'Clergy' and 'Missionary' are used to distinguish between
the ministers of the English or Scotch church, and those of all other
denominations.
2. The terms 'church' and 'chapel' denote a corresponding distinction in
the places of worship, though the English Church have what are
technically called 'chapels of ease!'
3. 'Manager' and 'overseer' are terms designating in different islands
the same station. In Antigua and Barbadoes, _manager_ is the word in
general use, in Jamaica it is _overseer_--both meaning the practical
conductor or immediate superintendent of an estate. In our own country,
a peculiar odium is attached to the latter term. In the West Indies, the
station of manager or overseer is an honorable one; proprietors of
estates, and even men of rank, do not hesitate to occupy it.
4. The terms 'colored' and 'black' or 'negro' indicate a distinction
long kept up in the West Indies between the mixed blood and the pure
negro. The former as a body were few previous to the abolition act; and
for this reason chiefly we presume the term of distinction was
originally applied to them. To have used these terms interchangeably in
accordance with the usage in the United States, would have occasioned
endless confusion in the narrative.
5. 'Praedial' and 'non-praedial' are terms used in the apprenticeship
colonies to mark the difference between the agricultural class and the
domestic; the former are called _praedials_, the latter _non-praedials_.
* * * * *
POPULATION OF THE BRITISH (FORMERLY SLAVE) COLONIES.
(_Compiled from recent authentic documents._)
British Colonies. White. Slave. F. Col'd. Total.
Anguilla 365 2,388 357 3,110
Antigua[A] 1,980 29,839 3,895 35,714
Bahamas 4,240 9,268 2,991 16,499
Barbadoes 15,000 82,000 5,100 102,100
Berbicel 550 21,300 1,150 23,000
Bermuda[A] 3,900 4,600 740 9,240
Cape of Good Hope[B] 43,000 35,500 29,000 107,500
Demerara[B] 3,000 70,000 6,400 79,400
Dominica 850 15,400 3,600 19,850
Grenada 800 24,000 2,800 27,600
Honduras[B] 250 2,100 2,300 4,650
Jamaica 37,000 323,000 55,000 415,000
Mauritius[B] 8,000 76,000 15,000 99,000
Montserrat 330 6,200 800 7,330
Nevis 700 6,600 2,000 9,300
St. Christophers,St. Kitts 1,612 19,310 3,000 23,922
St. Lucia[B] 980 13,600 3,700 18,280
St. Vincent 1,300 23,500 2,800 27,600
Tobago 320 12,500 1,200 14,020
Tortola 480 5,400 1,300 7,180
Trinidad[B] 4,200 24,000 16,000 44,200
Virgin Isles 800 5,400 600 6,800
Total 131,257 831,105 162,733 1,125,095
[Footnote A: These islands adopted immediate emancipation, Aug 1, 1834.]
[Footnote B: These are crown colonies, and have no local legislature.]
ANTIGUA.
CHAPTER I.
Antigua is about eighteen miles long and fifteen broad; the interior is
low and undulating, the coast mountainous. From the heights on the coast
the whole island may be taken in at one view, and in a clear day the
ocean can be seen entirely around the land, with the exception of a few
miles of cliff in one quarter. The population of Antigua is about
37,000, of whom 30,000 are negroes--lately slaves--4500 are free people
of color, and 2500 are whites.
The cultivation of the island is principally in sugar, of which the
average annual crop is 15,000 hogsheads. Antigua is one of the oldest of
the British West India colonies, and ranks high in importance and
influence. Owing to the proportion of proprietors resident in the
Island, there is an accumulation of talent, intelligence and refinement,
greater, perhaps, than in any English colony, excepting Jamaica.
Our solicitude on entering the Island of Antigua was intense. Charged
with a mission so nearly concerning the political and domestic
institutions of the colony, we might well be doubtful as to the manner
of our reception. We knew indeed that slavery was abolished, that
Antigua had rejected the apprenticeship, and adopted entire
emancipation. We knew also, that the free system had surpassed the hopes
of its advocates. But we were in the midst of those whose habits and
sentiments had been formed under the influences of slavery, whose
prejudices still clinging to it might lead them to regard our visit with
indifference at least, if not with jealousy. We dared not hope for aid
from men who, not three years before, were slaveholders, and who, as a
body, strenuously resisted the abolition measure, finally yielding to it
only because they found resistance vain.
Mingled with the depressing anxieties already referred to, were emotions
of pleasure and exultation, when we stepped upon the shores of an
unfettered isle. We trod a soil from which the last vestige of slavery
had been swept away! To us, accustomed as we were to infer the existence
of slavery from the presence of a particular hue, the numbers of negroes
passing to and fro, engaged in their several employments, denoted a land
of oppression; but the erect forms, the active movements, and the
sprightly countenances, bespoke that spirit of disinthrallment which had
gone abroad through Antigua.
On the day of our arrival we had an interview with the Rev. James Cox,
the superintendent of the Wesleyan mission in the island. He assured us
that we need apprehend no difficulty in procuring information, adding,
"We are all free here now; every man can speak his sentiments unawed. We
have nothing to conceal in our present system; had you come here as the
_advocates of slavery_ you might have met with a very different
reception."
At the same time we met the Rev. N. Gilbert, a clergyman of the English
Church, and proprietor of an estate. Mr. G. expressed the hope that we
might gather such facts during our stay in the island, as would tend
effectually to remove the curse of slavery from the United States. He
said that the failure of the crops, from the extraordinary drought which
was still prevailing, would, he feared, be charged by persons abroad to
the new system. "The enemies of freedom," said he, "will not ascribe the
failure to the proper cause. It will be in vain that we solemnly
declare, that for more than thirty years the island has not experienced
such a drought. Our enemies will persist in laying all to the charge of
our free system; men will look only at the amount of sugar exported,
which will be less than half the average. They will run away with this
fact, and triumph over it as the disastrous consequence of abolition."
On the same day we were introduced to the Rev. Bennet Harvey, the
principal of the Moravian mission, to a merchant, an agent for several
estates, and to an intelligent manager. Each of these gentlemen gave us
the most cordial welcome, and expressed a warm sympathy in the objects
of our visit. On the following day we dined, by invitation, with the
superintendent of the Wesleyan mission, in company with several
missionaries. _Freedom in Antigua_ was the engrossing and delightful
topic. They rejoiced in the change, not merely from sympathy with the
disinthralled negroes, but because it had emancipated them from a
disheartening surveillance, and opened new fields of usefulness. They
hailed the star of freedom "with exceeding great joy," because it
heralded the speedy dawning of the Sun of Righteousness.
We took an early opportunity to call on the Governor, whom we found
affable and courteous. On learning that we were from the United States,
he remarked, that he entertained a high respect for our country, but its
slavery was a stain upon the whole nation. He expressed his conviction
that the instigators of northern mobs must be implicated in some way,
pecuniary or otherwise, with slavery. The Governor stated various
particulars in which Antigua had been greatly improved by the abolition
of slavery. He said, the planters all conceded that emancipation had
been a great blessing to the island, and he did not know of a single
individual who wished to return to the old system.
His excellency proffered us every assistance in his power, and requested
his secretary--_a colored gentleman_--to furnish us with certain
documents which he thought would be of service to us. When we rose to
leave, the Governor followed us to the door, repeating the advice that
we should "see with our own eyes, and hear with our own ears." The
interest which his Excellency manifested in our enterprise, satisfied us
that the prevalent feeling in the island was opposed to slavery, since
it was a matter well understood that the Governor's partialities, if he
had any, were on the side of the planters rather than the people.
On the same day we were introduced to a barrister, a member of the
assembly and proprietor of an estate. He was in the assembly at the time
the abolition act was under discussion. He said that it was violently
opposed, until it was seen to be inevitable. Many were the predictions
made respecting the ruin which would be brought upon the colony; but
these predictions had failed, and abolition was now regarded as the
salvation of the island.
SABBATH.
The morning of our first Sabbath in Antigua came with that hushed
stillness which marks the Sabbath dawn in the retired villages of New
England. The arrangements of the family were conducted with a studied
silence that indicated habitual respect for the Lord's day. At 10
o'clock the streets were filled with the church-going throng. The rich
rolled along in their splendid vehicles with liveried outriders and
postillions. The poor moved in lowlier procession, yet in neat attire,
and with the serious air of Christian worshippers. We attended the
Moravian service. In going to the chapel, which is situated on the
border of the town, we passed through and across the most frequented
streets. No persons were to be seen, excepting those whose course was
toward some place of worship. The shops were all shut, and the voices of
business and amusement were hushed. The market place, which yesterday
was full of swarming life, and sent forth a confused uproar, was
deserted and dumb--not a straggler was to be seen of all the multitude.
On approaching the Moravian chapel we observed the negroes, wending
their way churchward, from the surrounding estates, along the roads
leading into town.
When we entered the chapel the service had begun, and the people were
standing, and repeating their liturgy. The house, which was capable of
holding about a thousand persons, was filled. The audience were all
black and colored, mostly of the deepest Ethiopian hue, and had come up
thither from the estates, where once they toiled as slaves, but now as
freemen, to present their thank-offerings unto Him whose truth and
Spirit had made them free. In the simplicity and tidiness of their
attire, in its uniformity and freedom from ornament, it resembled the
dress of the Friends. The females were clad in plain white gowns, with
neat turbans of cambric or muslin on their heads. The males were dressed
in spencers, vests, and pantaloons, all of white. All were serious in
their demeanor, and although the services continued more than two hours,
they gave a wakeful attention to the end. Their responses in the litany
were solemn and regular.
Great respect was paid to the aged and infirm. A poor blind man came
groping his way, and was kindly conducted to a seat in an airy place. A
lame man came wearily up to the door, when one within the house rose and
led him to the seat he himself had just occupied. As we sat facing the
congregation, we looked around upon the multitude to find the marks of
those demoniac passions which are to strew carnage through our own
country when its bondmen shall be made free. The countenances gathered
there, bore the traces of benevolence, of humility, of meekness, of
docility, and reverence; and we felt, while looking on them, that the
doers of justice to a wronged people "shall surely dwell in safety and
be quiet from fear of evil."
After the service, we visited the Sabbath school. The superintendent was
an interesting young colored man. We attended the recitation of a
Testament class of children of both sexes from eight to twelve. They
read, and answered numerous questions with great sprightliness.
In the afternoon we attended the Episcopal church, of which the Rev.
Robert Holberton is rector. We here saw a specimen of the aristocracy of
the island. A considerable number present were whites,--rich proprietors
with their families, managers of estates, officers of government, and
merchants. The greater proportion of the auditory, however, were colored
people and blacks. It might be expected that distinctions of color would
be found here, if any where;--however, the actual distinction, even in
this the most fashionable church in Antigua, amounted only to this, that
the body pews on each side of the broad aisle were occupied by the
whites, the side pews by the colored people, and the broad aisle in the
middle by the negroes. The gallery, on one side, was also appropriated
to the colored people, and on the other to the blacks. The finery of the
negroes was in sad contrast with the simplicity we had just seen at the
Moravian chapel. Their dresses were of every color and style; their hats
were of all shapes and sizes, and fillagreed with the most tawdry
superfluity of ribbons. Beneath these gaudy bonnets were glossy
ringlets, false and real, clustering in tropical luxuriance. This
fantastic display was evidently a rude attempt to follow the example set
them by the white aristocracy.
The choir was composed chiefly of colored boys, who were placed on the
right side of the organ, and about an equal number of colored girls on
the left. In front of the organ were eight or ten white children. The
music of this colored, or rather "amalgamated" choir, directed by a
colored chorister, and accompanied by a colored organist, was in
good taste.
In the evening, we accompanied a friend to the Wesleyan chapel, of which
the Rev. James Cox is pastor. The minister invited us to a seat within
the altar, where we could have a full view of the congregation. The
chapel was crowded. Nearly twelve hundred persons were present. All sat
promiscuously in respect of color. In one pew was a family of whites,
next a family of colored persons, and behind that perhaps might be seen,
side by side, the ebon hue of the negro, the mixed tint of the mulatto,
and the unblended whiteness of the European. Thus they sat in crowded
contact, seemingly unconscious that they were outraging good taste,
violating natural laws, and "confounding distinctions of divine
appointment!" In whatever direction we turned, there was the same
commixture of colors. What to one of our own countrymen whose contempt
for the oppressed has defended itself with the plea of _prejudice
against color_, would have been a combination absolutely shocking, was
to us a scene as gratifying as it was new.
On both sides, the gallery presented the same unconscious blending of
colors. The choir was composed of a large number, mostly colored, of all
ages. The front seats were filled by children of various ages--the rear,
of adults, rising above these tiny choristers, and softening the
shrillness of their notes by the deeper tones of mature age.
The style of the preaching which we heard on the different occasions
above described, so far as it is any index to the intelligence of the
several congregations, is certainly a high commendation. The language
used, would not offend the taste of any congregation, however refined.
On the other hand, the fixed attention of the people showed that the
truths delivered were understood and appreciated.
We observed, that in the last two services the subject of the present
drought was particularly noticed in prayer.
The account here given is but a fair specimen of the solemnity and
decorum of an Antigua sabbath.
VISIT TO MILLAR'S ESTATE.
Early in the week after our arrival, by the special invitation of the
manager, we visited this estate. It is situated about four miles from
the town of St. John's.
The smooth MacAdamized road extending across the rolling plains and
gently sloping hill sides, covered with waving cane, and interspersed
with provision grounds, contributed with the fresh bracing air of the
morning to make the drive pleasant and animating.
At short intervals were seen the buildings of the different estates
thrown together in small groups, consisting of the manager's mansion and
out-houses, negro huts, boiling house, cooling houses, distillery, and
windmill. The mansion is generally on an elevated spot, commanding a
view of the estate and surrounding country. The cane fields presented a
novel appearance--being without fences of any description. Even those
fields which lie bordering on the highways, are wholly unprotected by
hedge, ditch, or rails. This is from necessity. Wooden fences they
cannot have, for lack of timber. Hedges are not used, because they are
found to withdraw the moisture from the canes. To prevent depredations,
there are watchmen on every estate employed both day and night. There
are also stock keepers employed by day in keeping the cattle within
proper grazing limits. As each estate guards its own stock by day and
folds them by night, the fields are in little danger.
We passed great numbers of negroes on the road, loaded with every kind
of commodity for the town market. _The head is the beast of burthen_
among the negroes throughout the West Indies. Whatever the load, whether
it be trifling or valuable, strong or frail, it is consigned to the
head, both for safe keeping and for transportation. While the head is
thus taxed, the hands hang useless by the side, or are busied in
gesticulating, as the people chat together along the way. The negroes we
passed were all decently clad. They uniformly stopped as they came
opposite to us, to pay the usual civilities. This the men did by
touching their hats and bowing, and the women, by making a low courtesy,
and adding, sometimes, "howdy, massa," or "mornin', massa." We passed
several loaded wagons, drawn by three, four, or five yoke of oxen, and
in every instance the driver, so far from manifesting any disposition
"insolently" to crowd us off the road, or to contend for his part of it,
turned his team aside, leaving us double room to go by, and sometimes
stopping until we had passed.
We were kindly received at Millar's by Mr. Bourne, the manager. Millar's
is one of the first estates in Antigua. The last year it made the
largest sugar crop on the island. Mr. B. took us before breakfast to
view the estate. On the way, he remarked that we had visited the island
at a very unfavorable time for seeing the cultivation of it, as every
thing was suffering greatly from the drought. There had not been a
single copious rain, such as would "make the water run," since the first
of March previous. As we approached the laborers, the manager pointed
out one company of ten, who were at work with their hoes by the side of
the road, while a larger one of thirty were in the middle of the field.
They greeted us in the most friendly manner. The manager spoke kindly to
them, encouraging them to be industrious He stopped a moment to explain
to us the process of cane-holing. The field is first ploughed[A] in one
direction, and the ground thrown up in ridges of about a foot high. Then
similar ridges are formed crosswise, with the hoe, making regular
squares of two-feet-sides over the field. By raising the soil, a clear
space of six inches square is left at the bottom. In this space the
_plant_ is placed horizontally, and slightly covered with earth. The
ridges are left about it, for the purpose of conducting the rain to the
roots, and also to retain the moisture. When we came up to the large
company, they paused a moment, and with a hearty salutation, which ran
all along the line, bade us "good mornin'," and immediately resumed
their labor. The men and women were intermingled; the latter kept pace
with the former, wielding their hoes with energy and effect. The manager
addressed them for a few moments, telling them who we were, and the
object of our visit. He told them of the great number of slaves in
America, and appealed to them to know whether they would not be sober,
industrious, and diligent, so as to prove to American slaveholders the
benefit of freeing all their slaves. At the close of each sentence, they
all responded, "Yes, massa," or "God bless de massas," and at the
conclusion, they answered the appeal, with much feeling, "Yes, massa;
please God massa, we will all do so." When we turned to leave, they
wished to know what we thought of their industry. We assured them that
we were much pleased, for which they returned their "thankee, massa."
They were working at a _job_. The manager had given them a piece of
ground "to hole," engaging to pay them sixteen dollars when they had
finished it. He remarked that he had found it a good plan to give
_jobs_. He obtained more work in this way than he did by giving the
ordinary wages, which is about eleven cents per day. It looked very much
like slavery to see the females working in the field; but the manager
said they chose it generally "_for the sake of the wages_." Mr. B.
returned with us to the house, leaving the gangs in the field, with only
an aged negro in charge of the work, as _superintendent._ Such now is
the name of the overseer. The very _terms_, _driver_ and _overseer_, are
banished from Antigua; and the _whip_ is buried beneath the soil
of freedom.
[Footnote A: In those cases where the plough is used at all. It is not
yet generally introduced throughout the West Indies. Where the plough is
not used, the whole process of holing is done with the hoe, and is
extremely laborious]
When we reached the house we were introduced to Mr. Watkins, a _colored_
planter, whom Mr. B. had invited to breakfast with us. Mr. Watkins was
very communicative, and from him and Mr. B., who was equally free, we
obtained information on a great variety of points, which we reserve for
the different heads to which they appropriately belong.
FITCH'S CREEK ESTATE.
From Millar's we proceeded to Fitch's Creek Estate, where we had been
invited to dine by the intelligent manager, Mr. H. Armstrong. We three
met several Wesleyan missionaries. Mr. A. is himself a local preacher in
the Wesleyan connection. When a stranger visits an estate in the West
Indies, almost the first thing is an offer from the manager to accompany
him through the sugar works. Mr. A. conducted us first to a new boiling
house, which he was building after a plan of his own devising. The house
is of brick, on a very extensive scale. It has been built entirely by
negroes--chiefly those belonging to the estate who were emancipated in
1834. Fitch's Creek Estate is one of the largest on the Island,
consisting of 500 acres, of which 300 are under cultivation. The number
of people employed and living on the property is 260. This estate
indicates any thing else than an apprehension of approaching ruin. It
presents the appearance, far more, of a _resurrection_, from the grave.
In addition to his improved sugar and boiling establishment, he has
projected a plan for a new village, (as the collection of negro houses
is called,) and has already selected the ground and begun to build. The
houses are to be larger than those at present in use, they are to be
built of stone instead of mud and sticks, and to be neatly roofed.
Instead of being huddled together in a bye place, as has mostly been the
case, they are to be built on an elevated site, and ranged at regular
intervals around three sides of a large square, in the centre of which a
building for a chapel and school house is to be erected. Each house is
to have a garden. This and similar improvements are now in progress,
with the view of adding to the comforts of the laborers, and attaching
them to the estate. It has become the interest of the planter to make it
for the _interest of the people_ to remain on his estate. This _mutual
interest_ is the only sure basis of prosperity on the one hand and of
industry on the other.
The whole company heartily joined in assuring us that a knowledge of the
actual working of abolition in Antigua, would be altogether favorable to
the cause of freedom, _and that the more thorough our knowledge of the
facts in the case, the more perfect would be our confidence in the
safety of_ IMMEDIATE _emancipation_.
Mr. A. said that the spirit of enterprise, before dormant, had been
roused since emancipation, and planters were now beginning to inquire as
to the best modes of cultivation, and to propose measures of general
improvement. One of these measures was the establishing of _free
villages_, in which the laborers might dwell by paying a small rent.
When the adjacent planters needed help they could here find a supply for
the occasion. This plan would relieve the laborers from some of that
dependence which they must feel so long as they live on the estate and
in the houses of the planters. Many advantages of such a system were
specified. We allude to it here only as an illustration of that spirit
of inquiry, which freedom has kindled in the minds of the planters.
No little desire was manifested by the company to know the state of the
slavery question in this country. They all, planters and missionaries,
spoke in terms of abhorrence of our slavery, our snobs, our prejudice,
and our Christianity. One of the missionaries said it would never do for
him to go to America, for he should certainly be excommunicated by his
Methodist brethren, and Lynched by the advocates of slaver. He insisted
that slaveholding professors and ministers should be cut off from the
communion of the Church.
As we were about to take leave, the _proprietor_ of the estate rode up,
accompanied by the governor, who he had brought to see the new
boiling-house, and the other improvements which were in progress. The
proprietor reside in St. John's, is a gentleman of large fortune, and a
member of the assembly. He said he would be happy to aid us in any
way--but added, that in all details of a practical kind, and in all
matters of fact, the planters were the best witnesses, for they were the
conductors of the present system. We were glad to obtain the endorsement
of an influential proprietor to the testimony of practical planters.
DINNER AT THE GOVERNOR'S.
On the following day having received a very courteous invitation[A] from
the governor, to dine at the government house, we made our arrangements
to do so. The Hon. Paul Horsford, a member of the council, called during
the day, to say, that he expected to dine with us at the government
house and that he would be happy to call for us at the appointed hour,
and conduct us thither. At six o'clock Mr. H.'s carriage drove up to our
door, and we accompanied him to the governor's, where we were introduced
to Col. Jarvis, a member of the privy council, and proprietor of several
estates in the island, Col. Edwards, a member of the assembly and a
barrister, Dr. Musgrave, a member of the assembly, and Mr. Shiel,
attorney general. A dinner of state, at a Governor's house, attended by
a company of high-toned politicians, professional gentlemen, and
proprietors, could hardly be expected to furnish large accessions to our
stock of information, relating to the object of our visit. Dinner being
announced, we were hardly seated at the table when his excellency
politely offered to drink a glass of Madeira with us. We begged leave to
decline the honor. In a short time he proposed a glass of
Champaign--again we declined. "Why, surely, gentlemen," exclaimed the
Governor, "you must belong to the temperance society." "Yes, sir, we
do." "Is it possible? but you will surely take a glass of liqueur?"
"Your excellency must pardon us if we again decline the honor; we drink
no wines." This announcement of ultra temperance principles excited no
little surprise. Finding that our allegiance to cold water was not to be
shaken, the governor condescended at last to meet us on middle ground,
and drink his wine to our water.
[Footnote A: We venture to publish the note in which the governor
conveyed his invitation, simply because, though a trifle in itself, it
will serve to show the estimation in which our mission was held.
"If Messrs. Kimball and Thome are not engaged Tuesday next, the
Lieut. Governor will be happy to see them at dinner, at six o'clock,
when he will endeavor to facilitate their philanthropic inquiries,
by inviting two or three proprietors to met them."
"_Government House, St. John's, Dec. 18th_, 1836."
]
The conversation on the subject of emancipation served to show that the
prevailing sentiment was decidedly favorable to the free system. Col.
Jarvis, who is the proprietor of three estates, said that he was in
England at the time the bill for immediate emancipation passed the
legislature. Had he been in the island he should have opposed it; but
_now_ he was glad it had prevailed. The evil consequences which he
apprehended had not been realized, and he was now confident that they
never would be.
As to prejudice against the black and colored people, all thought it was
rapidly decreasing--indeed, they could scarcely say there was now any
such thing. To be sure, there was an aversion among the higher classes
of the whites, and especially among _females_, to associating in parties
with colored people; but it was not on account of their _color_, but
chiefly because of their _illegitimacy_. This was to us a new _source_
of prejudice: but subsequent information fully explained its bearings.
The whites of the West Indies are themselves the authors of that
_illegitimacy_, out of which their aversion springs. It is not to be
wondered at that they should be unwilling to invite the colored people
to their social parties, seeing they might not unfrequently be subjected
to the embarrassment of introducing to their white wives a colored
mistress or an _illegitimate_ daughter. This also explains the special
prejudice which the _ladies_ of the higher classes feel toward those
among whom are their guilty rivals in a husband's affections, and those
whose every feature tells the story of a husband's unfaithfulness!
A few days after our dinner with the governor and his friends, we took
breakfast, by invitation, with Mr. Watkins, the _colored_ planter whom
we had the pleasure of meeting at Millar's, on a previous occasion. Mr.
W. politely sent in his chaise for us, a distance of five miles, At an
early hour we reached Donovan's, the estate of which he is manager. We
found the sugar works in active operation: the broad wings of the
windmill were wheeling their stately revolutions, and the smoke was
issuing in dense volumes from the chimney of the boiling house. Some of
the negroes were employed in carrying cane to the mill, others in
carrying away the _trash_ or _megass_, as the cane is called after the
juice is expressed from it. Others, chiefly the old men and women, were
tearing the megass apart, and strewing it on the ground to dry. It is
the only fuel used for boiling the sugar.
On entering the house we found three planters whom Mr. W. had invited to
breakfast with us. The meeting of a number of intelligent practical
planters afforded a good opportunity for comparing their views. On all
the main points, touching the working of freedom, there was a strong
coincidence.
When breakfast was ready, Mrs. W. entered the room, and after our
introduction to her, took her place at the head of the table. Her
conversation was intelligent, her manners highly polished, and she
presided at the table with admirable grace and dignity.
On the following day, Dr. Ferguson, of St. John's, called on us. Dr.
Ferguson is a member of the assembly, and one of the first physicians in
the island. The Doctor said that freedom had wrought like a magician,
and had it not been for the unprecedented drought, the island would now
be in a state of prosperity unequalled in any period of its history. Dr.
F. remarked that a general spirit of improvement was pervading the
island. The moral condition of the whites was rapidly brightening;
formerly concubinage was _respectable_; it had been customary for
married men--those of the highest standing--to keep one or two colored
mistresses. This practice was now becoming disreputable. There had been
a great alteration as to the observance of the Sabbath; formerly more
business was done in St. John's on Sunday, by the merchants, than on all
the other days of the week together. The mercantile business of the town
had increased astonishingly; he thought that the stores and shops had
multiplied in a _ratio of ten to one_. Mechanical pursuits were likewise
in a flourishing condition. Dr. F. said that a greater number of
buildings had been erected since emancipation, than had been put up for
twenty years before. Great improvements had also been made in the
streets and roads in town and country.
MARKET.
SATURDAY.--This is the regular market-day here. The negroes come from all
parts of the island; walking sometimes ten or fifteen miles to attend
the St. John's market. We pressed our way through the dense mass of all
hues, which crowded the market. The ground was covered with wooden trays
filled with all kinds of fruits, grain, vegetables, fowls, fish, and
flesh. Each one, as we passed, called attention to his or her little
stock. We passed up to the head of the avenue, where men and women were
employed in cutting up the light fire-wood which they had brought from
the country on their heads, and in binding it into small bundles for
sale. Here we paused a moment and looked down upon the busy multitude
below. The whole street was a moving mass. There were broad Panama hats,
and gaudy turbans, and uncovered heads, and heads laden with water pots,
and boxes, and baskets, and trays--all moving and mingling in seemingly
inextricable confusion. There could not have been less than fifteen
hundred people congregated in that street--all, or nearly all,
emancipated slaves. Yet, amidst all the excitements and competitions of
trade, their conduct toward each other was polite and kind. Not a word,
or look, or gesture of insolence or indecency did we observe. Smiling
countenances and friendly voices greeted us on every side, and we felt
no fears either of having our pockets picked or our throats cut!
At the other end of the market-place stood the _Lock-up House_, the
_Cage_, and the _Whipping Post_, with stocks for feet and wrists. These
are almost the sole relics of slavery which still linger in the town.
The Lock-up House is a sort of jail, built of stone--about fifteen feet
square, and originally designed as a place of confinement for slaves
taken up by the patrol. The Cage is a smaller building, adjoining the
former, the sides of which are composed of strong iron bars--fitly
called a _cage!_ The prisoner was exposed to the gaze and insult of
every passer by, without the possibility of concealment. The Whipping
Post is hard by, but its occupation is gone. Indeed, all these
appendages of slavery have gone into entire disuse, and Time is doing
his work of dilapidation upon them. We fancied we could see in the
marketers, as they walked in and out at the doorless entrance of the
Lock-up House, or leaned against the Whipping Post, in careless chat,
that harmless defiance which would prompt one to beard the dead lion.
Returning from the market we observed a negro woman passing through the
street, with several large hat boxes strung on her arm. She accidentally
let one of them fall. The box had hardly reached the ground, when a
little boy sprang from the back of a carriage rolling by, handed the
woman the box, and hastened to remount the carriage.
CHRISTMAS.
During the reign of slavery, the Christmas holidays brought with them
general alarm. To prevent insurrections, the militia was uniformly
called out, and an array made of all that was formidable in military
enginery. This custom was dispensed with at once, after emancipation. As
Christmas came on the Sabbath, it tested the respect for that day. The
morning was similar, in all respects, to the morning of the Sabbath
described above; the same serenity reigning everywhere--the same quiet
in the household movements, and the same tranquillity prevailing through
the streets. We attended morning service at the Moravian chapel.
Notwithstanding the descriptions we had heard of the great change which
emancipation had wrought in the observance of Christmas, we were quite
unprepared for the delightful reality around us. Though thirty thousand
slaves had but lately been "turned loose" upon a white population of
less than three thousand! instead of meeting with scenes of disorder,
what were the sights which greeted our eyes? The neat attire, the
serious demeanor, and the thronged procession to the place of worship.
In every direction the roads leading into town were lined with happy
beings--attired for the house of God. When groups coming from different
quarters met at the corners, they stopped a moment to exchange
salutations and shake hands, and then proceeded on together.
The Moravian chapel was slightly decorated with green branches. They
were the only adorning which marked the plain sanctuary of a plain
people. It was crowded with black and colored people, and very many
stood without, who could not get in. After the close of the service in
the chapel, the minister proceeded to the adjacent school room, and
preached to another crowded audience. In the evening the Wesleyan chapel
was crowded to overflowing. The aisles and communion place were full. On
all festivals and holidays, which occur on the Sabbath, the churches and
chapels are more thronged than on any other Lord's day.
It is hardly necessary to state that there was no instance of a dance or
drunken riot, nor wild shouts of mirth during the day. The Christmas,
instead of breaking in upon the repose of the Sabbath, seemed only to
enhance the usual solemnity of the day.
The holidays continued until the next Wednesday morning, and the same
order prevailed to the close of them. On Monday there were religious
services in most of the churches and chapels, where sabbath-school
addresses, discourses on the relative duties of husband and wife, and on
kindred subjects, were delivered.
An intelligent gentleman informed us that the negroes, while slaves,
used to spend during the Christmas holidays, the extra money which they
got during the year. Now they save it--_to buy small tracts of land for
their own cultivation_.
The Governor informed us that the police returns did not report a single
case of arrest during the holidays. He said he had been well acquainted
with the country districts of England, he had also travelled extensively
in Europe, yet he had never found such a _peaceable, orderly, and
law-abiding people as those of Antigua_.
An acquaintance of nine weeks with the colored population of St. John's,
meeting them by the wayside, in their shops, in their parlors, and
elsewhere, enables us to pronounce them a people of general
intelligence, refinement of manners, personal accomplishments, and true
politeness. As to their style of dress and mode of living, were we
disposed to make any criticism, we should say that they were
extravagant. In refined and elevated conversation, they would certainly
bear a comparison with the white families of the island.
VISIT TO THIBOU JARVIS'S ESTATE.
After the Christmas holidays were over, we resumed our visits to the
country. Being provided with a letter to the manager of Thibou Jarvis's
estate, Mr. James Howell, we embraced the earliest opportunity to call
on him. Mr. H. has been in Antigua for thirty-six years, and has been a
practical planter during the whole of that time. He has the management
of two estates, on which there are more than five hundred people. The
principal items of Mr. Howell's testimony will be found in another
place. In this connection we shall record only miscellaneous statements
of a local nature.
1. The severity of the drought. He had been in Antigua since the year
1800, and he had never known so long a continuance of dry weather,
although the island is subject to severe droughts. He stated that a
field of yams, which in ordinary seasons yielded ten cart-loads to the
acre, would not produce this year more than _three_. The failure in the
crops was not in the least degree chargeable upon the laborers, for in
the first place, the cane plants for the present crop were put in
earlier and in greater quantities than usual, and _until_ the drought
commenced, the fields promised a large return.
2. _The religious condition_ of the negroes, during slavery, was
extremely low. It seemed almost impossible to teach them any higher
_religion_ than _obedience to their masters_. Their highest notion of
God was that he was a _little above_ their owner. He mentioned, by way
of illustration, that the slaves of a certain large proprietor used to
have this saying, "Massa only want he little finger to touch God!" that
is, _their master was lower than God only by the length of his little
finger_. But now the religious and moral condition of the people was
fast improving.
3. A great change in the use of _rum_ had been effected on the estates
under his management since emancipation. He formerly, in accordance with
the prevalent custom, gave his people a weekly allowance of rum, and
this was regarded as essential to their health and effectiveness. But he
has lately discontinued this altogether, and his people had not suffered
any inconvenience from it. He gave them in lieu of the rum, an allowance
of molasses, with which they appeared to be entirely satisfied. When Mr.
H. informed the people of his intention to discontinue the spirits, he
told them that he should _set them the example_ of total abstinence, by
abandoning wine and malt liquor also, which he accordingly did.
4. There had been much less _pretended sickness_ among the negroes since
freedom. They had now a strong aversion to going to the sick house[A],
so much so that on many estates it had been put to some other use.
[Footnote A: The _estate hospital_, in which, during slavery, all sick
persons were placed for medical attendance and nursing. There was one on
every estate.]
We were taken through the negro village, and shown the interior of
several houses. One of the finest looking huts was decorated with
pictures, printed cards, and booksellers' advertisements in large
letters. Amongst many ornaments of this kind, was an advertisement not
unfamiliar to our eyes--"THE GIRL'S OWN BOOK. BY MRS. CHILD."
We generally found the women at home. Some of them had been informed of
our intention to visit them, and took pains to have every thing in the
best order for our reception. The negro village on this estate contains
one hundred houses, each of which is occupied by a separate family. Mr.
H. next conducted us to a neighboring field, where the _great gang_[B]
were at work. There were about fifty persons in the gang--the majority
females--under two inspectors or superintendents, men who take the place
of the _quondam drivers_, though their province is totally different.
They merely direct the laborers in their work, employing with the
loiterers the stimulus of persuasion, or at farthest, no more than the
violence of the tongue.
[Footnote B: The people on most estates are divided into three gangs;
first, the great gang, composed of the principal effective men and
women; second, the weeding gang, consisting of younger and weekly
persons; and third, the grass gang, which embraces all the children
able to work.]
Mr. H. requested them to stop their work, and told them who we were, and
as we bowed, the men took off their hats and the women made a low
courtesy. Mr. Howell then informed them that we had come from America,
where there were a great many slaves: that we had visited Antigua to see
how freedom was working, and whether the people who were made free on
the first of August were doing well--and added, that he "hoped these
gentlemen might be able to carry back such a report as would induce the
masters in America to set their slaves free." They unanimously replied,
"Yes, massa, we hope dem will gib um free." We spoke a few words: told
them of the condition of the slaves in America, urged them to pray for
them that they might be patient under their sufferings, and that they
might soon be made free. They repeatedly promised to pray for the poor
slaves in America. We then received their hearty "Good bye, massa," and
returned to the house, while they resumed their work.
We took leave of Mr. Howell, grateful for his kind offices in
furtherance of the objects of our mission.
We had not been long in Antigua before we perceived the distress of the
poor from the scarcity of water. As there are but few springs in the
island, the sole reliance is upon rain water. Wealthy families have
cisterns or tanks in their yards, to receive the rain from the roofs.
There are also a few public cisterns in St. John's. These ordinarily
supply the whole population. During the present season many of these
cisterns have been dry, and the supply of water has been entirely
inadequate to the wants of the people. There are several large open
ponds in the vicinity of St. John's, which are commonly used to water
"stock." There are one or more on every estate, for the same purpose.
The poor people were obliged to use the water from these ponds both for
drinking and cooking while we were in Antigua. In taking our morning
walks, we uniformly met the negroes either going to, or returning from
the ponds, with their large pails balanced on their heads, happy
apparently in being able to get even such foul water.
Attended the anniversary of the "Friendly Society," connected with the
church in St. John's. Many of the most respectable citizens, including
the Governor, were present. After the services in the church, the
society moved in procession to the Rectory school-room. We counted one
hundred males and two hundred and sixty females in the procession.
Having been kindly invited by the Rector to attend at the school-room,
we followed the procession. We found the house crowded with women, many
others, besides those in the procession, having convened. The men were
seated without under a canvass, extended along one side of the house.
The whole number present was supposed to be nine hundred. Short
addresses were made by the Rector, the Archdeacon, and the Governor.
The Seventh Annual Report of the Society, drawn up by the secretary, a
colored man, was read. It was creditable to the author. The Rector in
his address affectionally warned the society, especially the female
members, against extravagance in dress.
The Archdeacon exhorted them to domestic and conjugal faithfulness. He
alluded to the prevalence of inconstancy during past years, and to the
great improvement in this particular lately; and concluded by wishing
them all "a happy new-year and _many_ of them, and a blessed immortality
in the end." For this kind wish they returned a loud and general
"thankee, massa."
The Governor then said, that he rose merely to remark, that this society
might aid in the emancipation of millions of slaves, now in bondage in
other countries. A people who are capable of forming such societies as
this among themselves, deserve to be free, and ought no longer to be
held in bondage. You, said he, are showing to the world what the negro
race are capable of doing. The Governor's remarks were received with
applause. After the addresses the audience were served with
refreshments, previous to which the Rector read the following lines,
which were sung to the tune of Old Hundred, the whole congregation
standing.
"Lord at our table now appear
And bless us here, as every where;
Let manna to our souls be given,
The bread of life sent down from heaven."
The simple refreshment was then handed round. It consisted merely of
buns and lemonade. The Governor and the Rector, each drank to the health
and happiness of the members. The loud response came up from all within
and all around the house--"thankee--thankee--thankee--massa--thankee
_good_ massa." A scene of animation ensued. The whole concourse of
black, colored and white, from the humblest to the highest, from the
unlettered apprentice to the Archdeacon and the Governor of the island,
joined in a common festivity.
After the repast was concluded, thanks were returned in the following
verse, also sung to Old Hundred.
"We thank thee, Lord, for this our food,
But bless thee more for Jesus' blood;
Let manna to our souls be given,
The bread of life sent down from heaven."
The benediction was pronounced, and the assembly retired.
There was an aged negro man present, who was noticed with marked
attention by the Archdeacon, the Rector and other clergymen. He is
sometimes called the African Bishop. He was evidently used to
familiarity with the clergy, and laid his hand on their shoulders as he
spoke to them. The old patriarch was highly delighted with the scene. He
said, when he was young he "never saw nothing, but sin and Satan. _Now I
just begin to live_."
On the same occasion the Governor remarked to us that the first thing to
be done in our country, toward the removal of slavery, was to discard
the absurd notion that _color_ made any difference, intellectually or
morally, among men. "All distinctions," said he, "founded in color, must
be abolished everywhere. We should learn to talk of men not as _colored_
men, but as MEN _as fellow citizens and fellow subjects_." His
Excellency certainly showed on this occasion a disposition to put in
practice his doctrine. He spoke affectionately to the children, and
conversed freely with the adults.
VISIT TO GREEN CASTLE.
According to a previous engagement, a member of the assembly called and
took us in his carriage to Green Castle estate.
Green Castle lies about three miles south-east from St. John's, and
contains 940 acres. The mansion stands on a rocky cliff; overlooking the
estate, and commanding a wide view of the island. In one direction
spreads a valley, interspersed with fields of sugar-cane and provisions.
In another stretches a range of hills, with their sides clad in culture,
and their tops covered with clouds. At the base of the rock are the
sugar Houses. On a neighboring upland lies the negro village, in the
rear of which are the provision grounds. Samuel Bernard, Esq., the
manager, received us kindly. He said, he had been on the island
forty-four years, most of the time engaged in the management of estates.
He is now the manager of two estates, and the attorney for six, and has
lately purchased an estate himself. Mr. B. is now an aged man, grown old
in the practice of slave holding. He has survived the wreck of slavery,
and now stripped of a tyrant's power, he still lives among the people,
who were lately his slaves, and manages an estate which was once his
empire. The testimony of such a man is invaluable. Hear him.
1. Mr. B. said, that the negroes throughout the island were very
peaceable when they received their freedom.
2. He said he had found no difficulty in getting his people to work
after they had received their freedom. Some estates had suffered for a
short time; there was a pretty general fluctuation for a month or two,
the people leaving one estate and going to another. But this, said Mr.
B., was chargeable to the _folly_ of the planters, who _overbid_ each
other in order to secure the best hands and enough of them. The negroes
had a _strong attachment to their homes_, and they would rarely abandon
them unless harshly treated.
3. He thought that the assembly acted very wisely in rejecting the
apprenticeship. He considered it absurd. It took the chains partly from
off the slave, and fastened them on the master, _and enslaved them
both_. It withdrew from the latter the power of compelling labor, and it
supplied to the former no incentive to industry.
He was opposed to the measures which many had adopted for further
securing the benefits of emancipation.--He referred particularly to the
system of education which now prevailed. He thought that the education
of the emancipated negroes should combine industry with study even in
childhood, so as not to disqualify the taught for cultivating the
ground. It will be readily seen that this prejudice against education,
evidently the remains of his attachment to slavery, gives additional
weight to his testimony.
The Mansion on the Rock (which from its elevated and almost inaccessible
position, and from the rich shrubbery in perpetual foliage surrounding
it, very fitly takes the name of Green Castle) is memorable as the scene
of the murder of the present proprietor's grandfather. He refused to
give his slaves holiday on a particular occasion. They came several
times in a body and asked for the holiday, but he obstinately refused to
grant it. They rushed into his bedroom, fell upon him with their hoes,
and killed him.
On our return to St. John's, we received a polite note from a colored
lady, inviting us to attend the anniversary of the "Juvenile
Association," at eleven o'clock. We found about forty children
assembled, the greater part of them colored girls, but some were white.
The ages of these juvenile philanthropists varied from four to fourteen.
After singing and prayer, the object of the association was stated,
which was to raise money by sewing, soliciting contributions, and
otherwise, for charitable purposes.
From the annual report it appeared that this was the _twenty-first
anniversary_ of the society. The treasurer reported nearly £60 currency
(or about $150) received and disbursed during the year. More than one
hundred dollars had been given towards the erection of the new Wesleyan
chapel in St. John's. Several resolutions were presented by little
misses, expressive of gratitude to God for continued blessings, which
were adopted unanimously--every child holding up its right hand in token
of assent.
After the resolutions and other business were despatched, the children
listened to several addresses from the gentlemen present. The last
speaker was a member of the assembly. He said that his presence there
was quite accidental; but that he had been amply repaid for coming by
witnessing the goodly work to which this juvenile society was engaged.
As there was a male branch association about to be organized, he begged
the privilege of enrolling his name as an honorary member, and promised
to be a constant contributor to its funds. He concluded by saying, that
though he had not before enjoyed the happiness of attending their
anniversaries, he should never again fail to be present (with the
permission of their worthy patroness) at the future meetings of this
most interesting society. We give the substance of this address, as one
of the signs of the times. The speaker was a wealthy merchant of
St. John's.
This society was organized in 1815. The _first proposal_ came from a few
_little colored girls_, who, after hearing a sermon on the blessedness
of doing good, wanted to know whether they might not have a society for
raising money to give to the poor.
This Juvenile Association has, since its organization, raised the sum of
_fourteen hundred dollars_! Even this little association has experienced
a great impulse from the free system. From a table of the annual
receipts since 1815, we found that the amount raised the two last years,
is nearly equal to that received during any three years before.
DR. DANIELL--WEATHERILL ESTATE.
On our return from Thibou Jarvis's estate, we called at Weatherill's;
but the manager, Dr. Daniell, not being at home, we left our names, with
an intimation of the object of our visit. Dr. D. called soon after at
our lodgings. As authority, he is unquestionable. Before retiring from
the practice of medicine, he stood at the head of his profession in the
island. He is now a member of the council, is proprietor of an estate,
manager of another, and attorney for six.
The fact that such men as Dr. D., but yesterday large slaveholders, and
still holding high civil and political stations, should most cheerfully
facilitate our anti-slavery investigations, manifesting a solicitude to
furnish us with all the information in their power, is of itself the
highest eulogy of the new system. The testimony of Dr. D. will be found
mainly in a subsequent part of the work. We state, in passing, a few
incidentals. He was satisfied that immediate emancipation was better
policy than a temporary apprenticeship. The apprenticeship was a middle
state--kept the negroes in suspense--vexed and harrassed them--_fed them
on a starved hope_; and therefore they would not be so likely, when they
ultimately obtained freedom, to feel grateful, and conduct themselves
properly. The reflection that they had been cheated out of their liberty
for six years would _sour their minds_. The planters in Antigua, by
giving immediate freedom, had secured the attachment of their people.
The Doctor said he did not expect to make more than two thirds of his
average crop; but he assured us that this was owing solely to the want
of rain. There had been no deficiency of labor. The crops were _in_, in
season, throughout the island, and the estates were never under better
cultivation than at the present time. Nothing was wanting but
RAIN--RAIN.
He said that the West India planters were very anxious to _retain_ the
services of the negro population.
Dr. D. made some inquiries as to the extent of slavery in the United
States, and what was doing for its abolition. He thought that
emancipation in our country would not be the result of a slow process.
The anti-slavery feeling of the civilized world had become too strong to
wait for a long course of "preparations" and "ameliorations." And
besides, continued he, "the arbitrary control of a master can never be a
preparation for freedom;--_sound and wholesome legal restraints are the
only preparative_."
The Doctor also spoke of the absurdity and wickedness of the caste of
color which prevailed in the United States. It was the offspring of
slavery, and it must disappear when slavery is abolished.
CONVERSATION WITH A NEGRO.
We had a conversation one morning with a boatman, while he was rowing us
across the harbor of St. John's. He was a young negro man. Said he was a
slave until emancipation. We inquired whether he heard any thing about
emancipation before it took place. He said, yes--the slaves heard of it,
but it was talked about so long that many of them lost all _believement_
in it, got tired waiting, and bought their freedom; but he had more
patience, and got his for nothing. We inquired of him, what the negroes
did on the first of August, 1834. He said they all went to church and
chapel. "Dare was more _religious_ on dat day dan you could tire of."
Speaking of the _law_, he said it was his _friend_. If there was no law
to take his part, a man, who was stronger than he, might step up and
knock him down. But now no one dare do so; all were afraid of the
_law_,--the law would never hurt any body who behaved well; but a master
would _slash a fellow, let him do his best_.
VISIT TO NEWFIELD.
Drove out to Newfield, a Moravian station, about eight miles from St.
John's. The Rev. Mr. Morrish, the missionary at that station, has under
his charge two thousand people. Connected with the station is a day
school for children, and a night school for adults twice in each week.
We looked in upon the day school, and found one hundred and fifteen
children. The teacher and assistant were colored persons. Mr. M.
superintends. He was just dismissing the school, by singing and prayer,
and the children marched out to the music of one of their little songs.
During the afternoon, Mr. Favey, manager of a neighboring estate,
(Lavicount's,) called on us.
He spoke of the tranquillity of the late Christmas holidays. They ended
Tuesday evening, and his people were all in the field at work on
Wednesday morning--there were no stragglers. Being asked to specify the
chief advantages of the new system over slavery, he stated at once the
following things: 1st. It (free labor) is less _expensive_. 2d. It costs
a planter far less _trouble_ to manage free laborers, than it did to
manage slaves. 3d. It had _removed all danger of insurrection,
conflagration, and conspiracies_.
ADULT SCHOOL.
In the evening, Mr. Morrish's adult school for women was held. About
thirty women assembled from different estates--some walking several
miles. Most of them were just beginning to read. They had just begun to
learn something about figures, and it was no small effort to add 4 and 2
together. They were incredibly ignorant about the simplest matters. When
they first came to the school, they could not tell which was their right
arm or their right side, and they had scarcely mastered that secret,
after repeated showing. We were astonished to observe that when Mr. M.
asked them to point to their cheeks, they laid their finger upon their
chins. They were much pleased with the evolutions of a dumb clock, which
Mr. M. exhibited, but none of them could tell the time of day by it.
Such is a specimen of the intelligence of the Antigua negroes. Mr. M.
told us that they were a pretty fair sample of the country negroes
generally. It surely cannot be said that they were uncommonly well
prepared for freedom; yet with all their ignorance, and with the merest
infantile state of intellect, they prove the peaceable subjects of law.
That they have a great desire to learn, is manifest from their coming
such distances, after working in the field all day. The school which
they attend has been established since the abolition of slavery.
The next morning, we visited the day school. It was opened with singing
and prayer. The children knelt and repeated the Lord's Prayer after Mr.
M. They then formed into a line and marched around the room, singing and
keeping the step. A tiny little one, just beginning to walk,
occasionally straggled out of the line. The next child, not a little
displeased with such disorderly movements, repeatedly seized the
straggler by the frock, and pulled her into the ranks; but finally
despaired of reducing her to subordination. When the children had taken
their seats, Mr. M., at our request, asked all those who were free
before August, 1834, to rise. Only one girl arose, and she was in no way
distinguishable from a white child. The first exercise, was an
examination of a passage of scripture. The children were then questioned
on the simple rules of addition and subtraction, and their answers were
prompt and accurate.
DR. NUGENT.
The hour having arrived when we were to visit a neighboring estate, Mr.
M. kindly accompanied us to Lyon's, the estate upon which Dr. Nugent
resides. In respect to general intelligence, scientific acquirements,
and agricultural knowledge, no man in Antigua stands higher than Dr.
Nugent. He has long been speaker of the house of assembly, and is
favorably known in Europe as a geologist and man of science. He is
manager of the estate on which he resides, and proprietor of another.
The Doctor informed us that the crop on his estate had almost totally
failed, on account of the drought--being reduced from one hundred and
fifty hogsheads, the average crop, to _fifteen_! His provision grounds
had yielded almost nothing. The same soil which ordinarily produced ten
cart-loads of yams to the acre--the present season barely averaged _one
load to ten acres_! Yams were reduced from the dimensions of a man's
head, to the size of a radish. The _cattle were dying_ from want of
water and grass. He had himself lost _five oxen_ within the past week.
Previous to emancipation, said the Doctor, no man in the island dared to
avow anti-slavery sentiments, if he wished to maintain a respectable
standing. Planters might have their hopes and aspirations; but they
could not make them public without incurring general odium, and being
denounced as the enemies of their country.
In allusion to the motives which prompted the legislature to reject the
apprenticeship and adopt immediate emancipation, Dr. N. said, "When we
saw that abolition was _inevitable_, we began, to inquire what would be
the safest course for getting rid of slavery. _We wished to let
ourselves down in the easiest manner possible_--THEREFORE WE CHOSE
IMMEDIATE EMANCIPATION!" These were his words.
On returning to the hospitable mansion of Mr. Morrish, we had an
opportunity of witnessing a custom peculiar to the Moravians. It is
called 'speaking.' All the members of the church are required to call on
the missionary once a month, and particular days are appropriated to it.
They come singly or in small companies, and the minister converses with
each individual.
Mr. M. manifested great faithfulness in this duty. He was affectionate
in manner--entered into all the minutiae of individual and family
affairs, and advised with them as a father with his children. We had an
opportunity of conversing with some of those who came. We asked one old
man what he did on the "First of August?"[A] His reply was, "Massa, we
went to church, and tank de Lord for make a we all free."
[Footnote A: By this phrase the freed people always understand the 1st
of August, 1834, when slavery was abolished.]
An aged infirm woman said to us, among other things, "Since de _free_
come de massa give me no--no, nothing to eat--gets all from my
cousins." We next conversed with two men, who were masons on an estate.
Being asked how they liked liberty, they replied, "O, it very
comfortable, Sir--very comfortable indeed." They said, "that on the day
when freedom came, they were as happy, as though they had just been
going to heaven." They said, now they had got free, they never would be
slaves again. They were asked if they would not be willing to sell
themselves to a man who would treat them well. They replied immediately
that they would be very willing to _serve_ such a man, but they would
not _sell themselves_ to the best person in the world! What fine
logicians a slave's experience had made these men! Without any effort
they struck out a distinction, which has puzzled learned men in church
and state, the difference between _serving_ a man and _being his
property_.
Being asked how they conducted themselves on the 1st of August they said
they had no frolicking, but they all went to church to "_tank God for
make a we free_." They said, they were very desirous to have their
children learn all they could while they were young. We asked them if
they did not fear that their children would become lazy if they went to
school all the time. One said, shrewdly, "Eh! nebber mind--dey _come to_
by'm by--_belly 'blige 'em_ to work."
In the evening Mr. M. held a religious meeting in the chapel; the weekly
meeting for exhortation. He stated to the people the object of our
visit, and requested one of us to say a few words. Accordingly, a short
time was occupied in stating the number of slaves in America, and in
explaining their condition, physical, moral, and spiritual; and the
congregation were urged to pray for the deliverance of the millions of
our bondmen. They manifested much sympathy, and promised repeatedly to
pray that they might be "free like we." At the close of the meeting they
pressed around us to say "howdy, massa;" and when we left the chapel,
they showered a thousand blessings upon us. Several of them, men and
women, gathered about Mr. M.'s door after we went in, and wished to talk
with us. The men were mechanics, foremen, and watchmen; the women were
nurses. During our interview, which lasted nearly an hour, these persons
remained standing.
When we asked them how they liked freedom, and whether it was better
than slavery, they answered with a significant _umph_ and a shrug of the
shoulders, as though they would say, "Why you ask dat question, massa?"
They said, "all the people went to chapel on the first of August, to
tank God for make such poor undeserving sinners as we free; we no nebber
expect to hab it. But it please de Lord to gib we free, and we tank him
good Lord for it."
We asked them if they thought the wages they got (a shilling per day, or
about eleven cents,) was enough for them. They said it seemed to be very
small, and it was as much as they could do to get along with it; but
they could not get any more, and they had to be "satify and conten."
As it grew late and the good people had far to walk, we shook hands with
them, and bade them good bye, telling them we hoped to meet them again
in a world where all would be free. The next morning Mr. M. accompanied
us to the residence of the Rev. Mr. Jones, the rector of St. Phillip's.
Mr. J. informed us that the planters in that part of the island were
gratified with the working of the new system. He alluded to the
prejudices of some against having the children educated, lest it should
foster indolence. But, said Mr. J., the planters have always been
opposed to improvements, until they were effected, and their good
results began to be manifest. They first insisted that the abolition of
the slave-trade would ruin the colonies--next the _abolition of slavery_
was to be the certain destruction of the islands--and now the education
of children is deprecated as fraught with disastrous consequences.
FREY'S ESTATE--MR. HATLEY.
Mr. Morrish accompanied us to a neighboring estate called Frey's, which
lies on the road from Newfield to English Harbor. Mr. Hatley, the
manager, showed an enthusiastic admiration of the new system. Most of
his testimony will be found in Chapter III. He said, that owing to the
dry weather he should not make one third of his average crop. Yet his
people had acted their part well. He had been encouraged by their
improved industry and efficiency, to bring into cultivation lands that
had never before been tilled.
It was delightful to witness the change which had been wrought in this
planter by the abolition of slavery. Although accustomed for years to
command a hundred human beings with absolute authority, he could rejoice
in the fact that his power was wrested from him, and when asked to
specify the advantages of freedom over slavery, he named emphatically
and above all others _the abolition of flogging_. Formerly, he said, it
was "_whip--whip--whip--incessantly_, but now we are relieved from this
disagreeable task."
THE AMERICAN CONSUL
We called on the American Consul, Mr. Higginbotham, at his country
residence, about four miles from St. John's. Shortly after we reached
his elevated and picturesque seat, we were joined by Mr. Cranstoun, a
planter, who had been invited to dine with us. Mr. C. is a _colored
gentleman_. The Consul received him in such a manner as plainly showed
that they were on terms of intimacy. Mr. C. is a gentleman of
intelligence and respectability, and occupies a station of trust and
honor in the island. On taking leave of us, he politely requested our
company at breakfast on a following morning, saying, he would send his
gig for us.
At the urgent request of Mr. Bourne, of Miller's, we consented to
address the people of his estate, on Sabbath evening. He sent in his gig
for us in the afternoon, and we drove out.
At the appointed hour we went to the place of meeting. The chapel was
crowded with attentive listeners. Whenever allusions were made to the
grout blessings which God had conferred upon them in delivering them
from bondage, the audience heartily responded in their rough but earnest
way to the sentiments expressed. At the conclusion of the meeting, they
gradually withdrew, bowing or courtesying as they passed us, and
dropping upon our ear their gentle "good bye, massa." During slavery
every estate had its _dungeon_ for refractory slaves. Just as we were
leaving Miller's, me asked Mr. B. what had become of these dungeons. He
instantly replied, "I'll show you one," In a few moments we stood at the
door of the old prison, a small stone building, strongly built, with two
cells. It was a dismal looking den, surrounded by stables, pig-styes,
and cattlepens. The door was off its hinges, and the entrance partly
filled up with mason work. The sheep and goats went in and out
at pleasure.
We breakfasted one morning at the Villa estate, which lies within half a
mile of St. John's. The manager was less sanguine in his views of
emancipation than the planters generally. We were disposed to think
that, were it not for the force of public sentiment, he might declare
himself against it. His feelings are easily accounted for. The estate is
situated so near the town; that his people are assailed by a variety of
temptations to leave their work; from which those on other estates are
exempt. The manager admitted that the danger of insurrection was
removed--crime was lessened--and the moral condition of society was
rapidly improving.
A few days after, we went by invitation to a bazaar, or fair, which was
held in the court-house in St. John's. The avails were to be
appropriated to the building of a new Wesleyan chapel in the town. The
council chamber and the assembly's call were given for the purpose. The
former spacious room was crowded with people of every class and
complexion. The fair was got up by the _colored_ members of the Wesleyan
church; nevertheless, some of the first ladies and gentlemen in town
attended it, and mingled promiscuously in the throng. Wealthy
proprietors, lawyers legislators, military officers in their uniform,
merchants, etc. swelled the crowd. We recognised a number of ladies whom
we had previously met at a fashionable dinner in St. John's. Colored
ladies presided at the tables, and before them was spread a profusion of
rich fancy articles. Among a small number of books exhibited for sale
were several copies of a work entitled "COMMEMORATIVE WREATH," being a
collection of poetical pieces relating to the abolition of slavery in
the West Indies.
VISIT TO MR. CRANSTOUN'S.
On the following morning Mr. C.'s gig came for us, and we drove out to
his residence. We were met at the door by the American Consul, who
breakfasted with us. When he had taken leave, Mr. C. proposed that we
should go over his grounds. To reach the estate, which lies in a
beautiful valley far below Mr. C.'s mountainous residence, we were
obliged to go on foot by a narrow path that wound along the sides of the
precipitous hills. This estate is the property of Mr. Athill, a colored
gentleman now residing in England. Mr. A. is post-master general of
Antigua, one of the first merchants in St. John's, and was a member of
the assembly until the close of 1836, when, on account of his continued
absence, he resigned his seat. A high-born white man, the Attorney
General, now occupies the same chair which this colored member vacated.
Mr. C. was formerly attorney for several estates, is now agent for a
number of them, and also a magistrate.
He remarked, that since emancipation the nocturnal disorders and
quarrels in the negro villages, which were incessant during slavery, had
nearly ceased. The people were ready and willing to work. He had
frequently given his gang jobs, instead of paying them by the day. This
had proved a gear stimulant to industry, and the work of the estate was
performed so much quicker by this plan that it was less expensive than
daily wages. When they had jobs given them, they would sometimes go to
work by three o'clock in the morning, and work by moonlight. When the
moon was not shining, he had known them to kindle fires among the trash
or dry cane leaves to work by. They would then continue working all day
until four o clock, stopping only for breakfast, and dispensing with the
usual intermission from twelve to two.
We requested him to state briefly what were in his estimation the
advantages of the free system over slavery. He replied thus: 1st. The
diminished expense of free labor. 2d. _The absence of coercion_. 3d. The
greater facility in managing an estate. Managers had not half the
perplexity and trouble in watching, driving, &c. They could leave the
affairs of the estate in the hands of the people with safety. 4th. _The
freedom from danger_. They had now put away all fears of insurrections,
robbery, and incendiarism.
There are two reflections which the perusal of these items will probably
suggest to most minds: 1st. The coincidence in the replies of different
planters to the question--What are the advantages of freedom over
slavery? These replies are almost identically the same in every case,
though given by men who reside in different parts of the island, and
have little communication with each other. 2d. They all speak
exclusively of the advantages to the _master_, and say nothing of the
benefit accruing to the emancipated. We are at some loss to decide
whether this arose from indifference to the interests of the
emancipated, or from a conviction that the blessings of freedom to them
were self-evident and needed no specification.
While we were in the boiling-house we witnessed a scene which
illustrated one of the benefits of freedom to the slave; it came quite
opportunely, and supplied the deficiency in the manager's enumeration of
advantages. The head boiler was performing the work of 'striking off;'
i.e. of removing the liquor, after it had been sufficiently boiled, from
the copper to the coolers. The liquor had been taken out of the boiler
by the skipper, and thence was being conducted to the coolers by a long
open spout. By some means the spout became choaked, and the liquor began
to run over. Mr. C. ordered the man to let down the valve, but he became
confused, and instead of letting go the string which lifted the valve,
he pulled on it the more. The consequence was that the liquor poured
over the sides of the spout in a torrent. The manager screamed at the
top of his voice--"_let down the valve, let it down_!" But the poor man,
more and more frightened, hoisted it still higher,--and the precious
liquid--pure sugar--spread in a thick sheet over the earthen floor. The
manager at last sprang forward, thrust aside the man, and stopped the
mischief, but not until many gallons of sugar were lost. Such an
accident as this, occurring during slavery, would have cost the negro a
severe flogging. As it was, however, in the present case, although Mr.
C. 'looked daggers,' and exclaimed by the workings of his countenance,
'a kingdom for a _cat_,'[A] yet the severest thing which he could say
was, "You bungling fellow--if you can't manage better than this, I shall
put some other person in your place--that's all." '_That_'s ALL' indeed,
but it would not have been all, three years ago. The negro replied to
his chidings in a humble way, saying 'I couldn't help it, sir, I
couldn't help it' Mr. C. finally turned to us, and said in a calmer
tone, "The poor fellow got confused, and was frightened half to death."
[Footnote A: A species of whip, well know in the West Indies.]
VISIT TO GRACE BAY.
We made a visit to the Moravian settlement at Grace Bay, which is on the
opposite side of the island. We called, in passing, at Cedar Hall, a
Moravian establishment four miles from town. Mr. Newby, one of the
missionaries stationed at this place, is the oldest preacher of the
Gospel in the island. He has been in Antigua for twenty-seven years. He
is quite of the _old way of thinking_ on all subjects, especially the
divine right of kings, and the scriptural sanction of slavery.
Nevertheless, he was persuaded that emancipation had been a great
blessing to the island and to all parties concerned. When he first came
to Antigua in 1809, he was not suffered to teach the slaves. After some
time he ventured to keep an evening school _in a secret way_. Now there
is a day school of one hundred and twenty children connected with the
station. It has been formed since emancipation.
From Cedar Hail we proceeded to Grace Bay. On the way we met some negro
men at work on the road, and stopped our chaise to chat with them. They
told us that they lived on Harvey's estate, which they pointed out to
us. Before emancipation that estate had four hundred slaves on it, but a
great number had since left because of ill usage during slavery. They
would not live on the estate, because the same manager remained, and
they could not trust him.
They told us they were Moravians, and that on the first of August they
all went to the Moravian chapel at Grace Bay, 'to tank and praise de
good Savior for make a we free.' We asked them if they still liked
liberty; they said, "Yes, massa, we all quite _proud_ to be free." The
negroes use the word _proud_ to express a strong feeling of delight. One
man said, "One morning as I was walking along the road all alone, I
prayed that the Savior would make me free, for then I could be so happy.
I don't know what made me pray so, for I wasn't looking for de free; but
please massa, _in one month de free come_."
They declared that they worked a great deal better since emancipation,
because they were _paid for it_. To be sure, said they, we get very
little wages, but it is better than none. They repeated it again and
again, that men could not be made to work well by _flogging_ them, "_it
was no use to try it_."
We asked one of the men, whether he would not be willing to be a slave
again provided he was _sure_ of having a kind master. "Heigh! me massa,"
said he, "me neber slave no more. A good massa a very good ting, _but
freedom till better_." They said that it was a great blessing to them to
have their children go to school. After getting them to show us the way
to Grace Bay, we bade them good bye.
We were welcomed at Grace Bay by the missionary, and his wife, Mr. and
Mrs. Möhne.[B] The place where these missionaries reside is a beautiful
spot. Their dwelling-house and the chapel are situated on a high
promontory, almost surrounded by the sea. A range of tall hills in the
rear cuts off the view of the island, giving to the missionary station
an air of loneliness and seclusion truly impressive. In this sequestered
spot, the found Mr. and Mrs. M. living alone. They informed us that they
rarely have white visiters, but their house is the constant resort of
the negroes, who gather there after the toil of the day to 'speak' about
their souls. Mr. and Mrs. M. are wholly engrossed in their labors of
love. They find their happiness in leading their numerous flock "by the
still waters and the green pastures" of salvation. Occupied in this
delightful work, they covet not other employments, nor other company,
and desire no other earthly abode than their own little hill-embosomed,
sea-girt missionary home.
[Footnote B: Pronounced Maynuh.]
There are a thousand people belonging to the church at this station,
each of whom, the missionaries see once every month. A day school has
been lately established, and one hundred children are already in
attendance. After dinner we walked out accompanied by the missionaries
to enjoy the beautiful sunset. It is one of the few _harmless_ luxuries
of a West India climate, to go forth after the heat of the day is spent
and the sun is sinking in the sea, and enjoy the refreshing coolness of
the air. The ocean stretched before us, motionless after the turmoil of
the day, like a child which has rocked itself asleep, yet indicating by
its mighty breathings as it heaved along the beach, that it only
slumbered. As the sun went down, the full moon arose, only less
luminous, and gradually the stars began to light up their beaming fires.
The work of the day now being over, the weary laborers were seen coming
from different directions to have a 'speak' with the missionaries. Mr.
M. stated a fact illustrative of the influence of the missionaries over
the negroes. Some time ago, the laborers on a certain estate became
dissatisfied with the wages they were receiving, and refused to work
unless they were increased. The manager tried in vain to reconcile his
people to the grievance of which they complained, and then sent to Mr.
M., requesting him to visit the estate, and use his influence to
persuade the negroes, most of whom belonged to his church, to work at
the usual terms. Mr. M. sent word to the manager that it was not his
province, as minister, to interfere with the affairs of any estate; but
he would talk with the people about it individually, when they came to
'speak.' Accordingly he spoke to each one, as he came, in a kind manner,
advising him to return to his work, and live as formerly. In a short
time peace and confidence were restored, and the whole gang to a man
were in the field.
Mr. and Mrs. M. stated that notwithstanding the very low rate of wages,
which was scarcely sufficient to support life, they had never seen a
single individual who desired to return to the condition of a slave.
Even the old and infirm, who were sometimes really in a suffering state
from neglect of the planters and from inability of their relatives
adequately to provide for them, expressed the liveliest gratitude for
the great blessing which the Savior had given them. They would often say
to Mrs. M. "Why, Missus, old sinner just sinkin in de grave, but God let
me old eyes see dis blessed sun."
The missionaries affirmed that the negroes were an affectionate
people--remarkably so. Any kindness shown them by a white person, was
treasured up and never forgotten. On the other hand, the slightest
neglect or contempt from a white person, was keenly felt. They are very
fond of saying '_howdy_' to white people; but if the salutation is not
returned, or noticed kindly, they are not likely to repeat it to the
same individual. To shake hands with a white person is a gratification
which they highly prize. Mrs. M. pleasantly remarked, that after service
on Sabbath, she was usually wearied out with saying _howdy_, and
_shaking hands_.
During the evening we had some conversation with two men who came to
'speak.' They spoke about the blessings of liberty, and their gratitude
to God for making them free. They spoke also, with deep feeling, of the
still greater importance of being free from _sin_. That, they said, was
better. _Heaven was the first best, and freedom was the next best_.
They gave us some account, in the course of the evening, of an aged
saint called Grandfather Jacob, who lived on a neighboring estate. He
had been a _helper_[A] in the Moravian church, until he became too
infirm to discharge the duties connected with that station. Being for
the same reason discharged from labor on the estate, he now occupied
himself in giving religious instruction to the other superannuated
people on the estate.
[Footnote A: An office somewhat similar to that of deacon]
Mrs. M. said it would constitute an era in the life of the old man, if
he could have an interview with two strangers from a distant land;
accordingly, she sent a servant to ask him to come to the mission-house
early the next morning. The old man was prompt to obey the call. He left
home, as he said, 'before the gun fire'--about five o'clock--and came
nearly three miles on foot. He was of a slender form, and had been tall,
but age and slavery had bowed him down. He shook us by the hand very
warmly, exclaiming, "God bless you, God bless you--me bery glad to see
you." He immediately commenced giving us an account of his conversion.
Said he, putting his hand on his breast, "You see old Jacob? de old
_sinner_ use to go on _drinkin', swearin', dancin', fightin'!_ No God--
no Savior--no soul! _When old England and de Merica fall out de first
time_, old Jacob was a man--a wicked sinner!--drink rum, fight--love to
fight! Carry coffin to de grabe on me head; put dead body under
ground--dance over it--den fight and knock man down--go 'way, drink rum,
den take de fiddle. And so me went on, just so, till me get sick and
going to die--thought when me die, dat be de end of me;--_den de Savior
come to me!_ Jacob love de Savior, and been followin' de good Savior
ever since." He continued his story, describing the opposition he had to
contend with, and the sacrifices he made to go to church. After working
on the estate till six o'clock at night, he and several others would
each take a large stone on his head and start for St. John's; nine miles
over the hills. They carried the stones to aid is building the Moravian
chapel at Spring Garden, St. John's. After he had finished this account,
he read to us, in a highly animated style, some of the hymns which he
taught to the old people, and then sung one of them. These exercises
caused the old man's heart to burn within him, and again he ran over his
past life, his early wickedness, and the grace that snatched him from
ruin, while the mingled tides of gratitude burst forth from heart, and
eyes, and tongue.
When we turned his attention to the temporal freedom he had received, he
instantly caught the word FREE, and exclaimed vehemently, "O yes, me
Massa--dat is anoder kind blessin from de Savior! Him make we all
_free_. Can never praise him too much for dat." We inquired whether he
was now provided for by the manager. He said he was not--never received
any thing from him--his _children_ supported him. We then asked him
whether it was not better to be a slave if he could get food and
clothing, than to be free and not have enough. He darted his quick eye
at us and said 'rader be free _still_.' He had been severely flogged
twice since his conversion, for leaving his post as watchman to bury the
dead. The minister was sick, and he was applied to, in his capacity of
_helper_, to perform funeral rites, and he left his watch to do it. He
said, his heavenly Master called him, and he _would_ go though he
expected a flogging. He must serve his Savior whatever come. "Can't put
we in dungeon _now_," said Grandfather Jacob with a triumphant look.
When told that there were slaves in America, and that they were not yet
emancipated, he exclaimed, "Ah, de Savior make we free, and he will make
dem free too. He come to Antigo first--he'll be in Merica soon."
When the time had come for him to leave, he came and pressed our hands,
and fervently gave us his patriarchal blessing. Our interview with
Grandfather Jacob can never be forgotten. Our hearts, we trust, will
long cherish his heavenly savor--well assured that if allowed a part in
the resurrection of the just, we shall behold his tall form, erect in
the vigor of immortal youth, amidst the patriarchs of past generations.
After breakfast we took leave of the kind-hearted missionaries, whose
singular devotedness and delightful spirit won greatly upon our
affections, and bent our way homeward by another route.
MR. SCOTLAND'S ESTATE.
We called at the estate of Mr. J. Scotland, Jr., barrister, and member
of the assembly. We expected to meet with the proprietor, but the
manager informed us that pressing business at court had called him to
St. John's on the preceding day. The testimony of the manager concerning
the dry weather, the consequent failure in the crop, the industry of the
laborers, and so forth, was similar to that which we had heard before.
He remarked that he had not been able to introduce job-work among his
people. It was a new thing with them, and they did not understand it. He
had lately made a proposal to give the gang four dollars per acre for
holding a certain field. They asked a little time to consider upon so
novel a proposition. He gave them half a day, and at the end of that
time asked them what their conclusion was. One, acting as spokesman for
the rest, said, "We rada hab de shilling wages." That was _certain_; the
job might yield them more, and it might fall short--quite a common sense
transaction!
At the pressing request of Mr. Armstrong we spent a day with him at
Fitch's Creek. Mr. A. received us with the most cordial hospitality,
remarking that he was glad to have another opportunity to state some
things which he regarded as obstacles to the complete success of the
experiment in Antigua. One was the entire want of concert among the
planters. There was no disposition to meet and compare views respecting
different modes of agriculture, treatment of laborers, and employment of
machinery. Another evil was, allowing people to live on the estates who
took no part in the regular labor of cultivation. Some planters had
adapted the foolish policy of encouraging such persons to remain on the
estates, in order that they might have help at hand in cases of
emergency. Mr. A. strongly condemned this policy. It withheld laborers
from the estates which needed them; it was calculated to make the
regular field hands discontented, and it offered a direct encouragement
to the negroes to follow irregular modes of living. A third obstacle to
the successful operation of free labor, was the absence of the most
influential proprietors. The consequences of absenteeism were very
serious. The proprietors were of all men the most deeply interested in
the soil; and no attorneys, agents, or managers, whom they could employ,
would feel an equal interest in it, nor make the same efforts to secure
the prosperous workings of the new system.
In the year 1833, when the abolition excitement was at its height in
England, and the people were thundering at the doors of parliament for
emancipation, Mr. A. visited that country for his health. To use his own
expressive words, he "got a terrible scraping wherever he went." He said
he could not travel in a stage-coach, or go into a party, or attend a
religious meeting, without being attacked. No one the most remotely
connected with the system could have peace there. He said it was
astonishing to see what a feeling was abroad, how mightily the mind of
the whole country, peer and priest and peasant, was wrought up. The
national heart seemed on fire.
Mr. A. said, he became a religious man whilst the manager of a slave
estate, and when he became a Christian, he became an abolitionist. Yet
this man, while his conscience was accusing him--while he was longing
and praying for abolition--did not dare open his mouth in public to
urge it on! How many such men are there in our southern states--men who
are inwardly cheering on the abolitionist in his devoted work, and yet
send up no voice to encourage him, but perhaps are traducing and
denouncing him!
We received a call at our lodgings in St. John's from the Archdeacon. He
made interesting statements respecting the improvement of the negroes in
dress, morals, education and religion, since emancipation. He had
resided in the island some years previous to the abolition of slavery,
and spoke from personal observation.
Among many other gentlemen who honored us with a call about the same
time, was the Rev. Edward Fraser, Wesleyan missionary, and a colored
gentleman. He is a native of Bermuda, and ten years ago was a _slave_.
He received a mercantile education, and was for several years the
confidential clerk of his master. He was treated with much regard and
general kindness. He said he was another Joseph--every thing which his
master had was in his hands. The account books and money were all
committed to him. He had servants under him, and did almost as he
pleased--except becoming free. Yet he must say, as respected himself,
kindly as he was treated, that slavery was a _grievous wrong, most
unjust and sinful_. The very thought--and it often came over him--that
he was a slave, brought with it a terrible sense of degradation. It came
over the soul like a frost. His sense of degradation grew more intense
in proportion as his mind became more cultivated. He said, _education
was a disagreeable companion for a slave_. But while he said this, Mr.
F. spoke very respectfully and tenderly of his master. He would not
willingly utter a word which would savor of unkindness towards him. Such
was the spirit of one whose best days had been spent under the exactions
of slavery. He was a local preacher in the Wesleyan connection while he
was a slave, and was liberated by his master, without remuneration, at
the request of the British Conference, who wished to employ him as an
itinerant. He is highly esteemed both for his natural talents and
general literary acquisitions and moral worth. The Conference have
recently called him to England to act as an agent in that country, to
procure funds for educational and religious purposes in these islands.
MEETING OF WESLEYAN MISSIONARIES.
As we were present at the annual meeting of the Wesleyan missionaries
for this district, we gained much information concerning the object of
our mission, as there were about twenty missionaries, mostly from
Dominica, Montserrat, Nevis, St. Christophers, Anguilla, and Tortola.
Not a few of them were men of superior acquirements, who had sacrificed
ease and popular applause at home, to minister to the outcast and
oppressed. They are the devoted friends of the black man. It was
soul-cheering to hear them rejoice over the abolition of slavery. It was
as though their own limbs had been of a sudden unshackled, and a high
wall had fallen from around them. Liberty had broken upon them like the
bursting forth of the sun to the watchman on his midnight tower.
During the session, the mission-house was thrown open to us, and we
frequently dined with the numerous company of missionaries, who there
ate at a common table. Mrs. F., wife of the colored clergyman mentioned
above, presided at the social board. The missionaries and their wives
associated with Mr. and Mrs. F. as unreservedly as though they wore the
most delicate European tint. The first time we took supper with them, at
one side of a large table, around which were about twenty missionaries
with their wives, sat Mrs. F., with the furniture of a tea table before
her. On the other side, with the coffee urn and its accompaniments, sat
the wife of a missionary, with a skin as lily-hued as the fairest
Caucasian. Nearly opposite to her, between two white preachers, sat a
colored missionary. Farther down, with the chairman of the district on
his right, sat another colored gentleman, a merchant and local preacher
in Antigua. Such was the uniform appearance of the table, excepting that
the numbers were occasionally swelled by the addition of several other
colored gentlemen and ladies. On another occasion, at dinner, we had an
interesting conversation, in which the whole company of missionaries
participated. The Rev. M. Banks, of St. Bartholomews, remarked, that one
of the grossest of all absurdities was that of _preparing men for
freedom_. Some, said he, pretend that immediate emancipation is unsafe,
but it was evident to him that if men _are peaceable while they are
slaves_, they might be trusted in any other condition, for they could
not possibly be placed in one more aggravating. If _slavery_ is a safe
system, _freedom_ surely will be. There can be no better evidence that a
people are prepared for liberty, _than their patient endurance of
slavery_. He expressed the greatest regret at the conduct of the
American churches, particularly that of the Methodist church. "Tell
them," said he, "on your return, that the missionaries in these islands
are cast down and grieved when they think of their brethren in America.
We feel persuaded that they are holding back the car of freedom; they
are holding up the gospel." Rev. Mr. Cheesbrough, of St. Christopher's,
said, "Tell them that much as we desire to visit the United States, we
cannot go so long as we are prohibited from speaking against slavery, or
while that _abominable prejudice_ is encouraged in the churches. _We
could not administer the sacrament to a church in which the distinction
of colors was maintained._" "Tell our brethren of the Wesleyan
connection," said Mr. B. again, "that slavery must be abolished by
_Christians_, and the church ought to take her stand at once against
it." We told him that a large number of Methodists and other Christians
had engaged already in the work, and that the number was daily
increasing. "That's right," he exclaimed, "agitate, _agitate_, AGITATE!
_You must succeed_: the Lord is with you." He dwelt particularly on the
obligations resting upon Christians in the free states. He said, "Men
must be at a distance from slavery to judge of its real character.
Persons living in the midst of it, gradually become familiarized with
its horrors and woes, so that they can view calmly, exhibitions from
which they would once have shrunk in dismay."
We had some conversation with Rev. Mr. Walton, of Montserrat. After
making a number of statements in reference to the apprenticeship there,
Mr. W. stated that there had been repeated instances of planters
_emancipating all their apprentices_. He thought there had been a case
of this kind every month for a year past. The planters were becoming
tired of the apprenticeship, and from mere considerations of interest
and comfort, were adopting free labor.
A new impulse had been given to education in Montserrat, and schools
were springing up in all parts of the island. Mr. W. thought there was
no island in which education was so extensive. Religious influences were
spreading among the people of all classes. Marriages were occurring
every week.
We had an interview with the Rev. Mr. H., an aged colored minister. He
has a high standing among his brethren, for talents, piety, and
usefulness. There are few ministers in the West Indies who have
accomplished more _for the cause of Christ_ than has Mr. H.[A]
[Footnote A: It is a fact well known in Antigua and Barbadoes, that this
colored missionary has been instrumental in the conversion of several
clergymen of the Episcopal Church in those islands, who are now
currently devoted men.]
He said he had at different periods been stationed in Antigua, Anguilla,
Tortola, and some other islands. He said that the negroes in the other
islands in which he had preached, were as intelligent as those in
Antigua, and in every respect as well prepared for freedom. He was in
Anguilla when emancipation took place. The negroes there were kept at
work on the very _day that freedom came!_ They worked as orderly as on
any other day. The Sabbath following, he preached to them on their new
state, explaining the apprenticeship to them. He said the whole
congregation were in a state of high excitement, weeping and shouting.
One man sprang to his feet, and exclaimed, 'Me never forget God and King
William.' This same man was so full that he went out of the chapel, and
burst into loud weeping.
The preaching of the missionaries, during their stay in Antigua, was
full of allusions to the abolition of slavery in the West Indies, and
especially to the entire emancipation in Antigua. Indeed, we rarely
attended a meeting in Antigua, of any kind, in which the late
emancipation was not in some way alluded to with feelings of gratitude
and exultation. In the ordinary services of the Sabbath, this subject
was almost uniformly introduced, either in the prayer or sermon.
Whenever thanksgiving was rendered to God for favors, _freedom_ was
among the number.
The meeting of the district afforded an opportunity for holding a number
of anniversary meetings. We notice them here, believing that they will
present the most accurate view that can be given of the religious and
moral condition of Antigua.
On the evening of the 1st of February, the first anniversary of the
Antigua Temperance Society was held in the Wesleyan chapel. We had been
invited to attend and take a part in the exercises. The chapel was
crowded with a congregation of all grades and complexions. Colored and
white gentlemen appeared together on the platform. We intimated to a
member of the committee, that we could not conscientiously speak without
advocating _total abstinence_, which doctrine, we concluded from the
nature of the pledge, (which only included ardent spirits,) would not be
well received. We were assured that we might use the most perfect
freedom in avowing our sentiments.
The speakers on this occasion were two planters, a Wesleyan missionary,
and ourselves. All advocated the doctrine of total abstinence. The first
speaker, a planter, concluded by saying, that it was commonly believed
that wine and malt were rendered absolutely indispensable in the West
Indies, by the exhausting nature of the climate. But facts disprove the
truth of this notion. "I am happy to say that I can now present this
large assembly with ocular demonstration of the fallacy of the popular
opinion. I need only point you to the worthy occupants of this platform.
Who are the healthiest among them? _The cold water drinkers--the
teetotallers_! We can assure you that we have not lost a pound of flesh,
by abandoning our cups. We have tried the cold water experiment
faithfully, and we can testify that since we became cold water men, _we
work better, we eat better, we sleep better, and we do every thing
better than before_." The next speaker, a planter also, dwelt on the
inconsistency of using wine and malt, and at the same time calling upon
the poor to give up ardent spirits. He said this inconsistency had been
cast in his teeth by his negroes. He never could prevail upon them to
stop drinking rum, until he threw away his wine and porter. Now he and
all his people were teetotallists. There were two other planters who had
taken the same course. He stated, as the result of a careful calculation
which he had made, that he and the two planters referred to, had been in
the habit of giving to their people not less than _one thousand gallons
of rum annually_. The whole of this was now withheld, and molasses and
sugar were given instead. The missionary who followed them was not a
whit behind in boldness and zeal, and between them, they left us little
to say in our turn on the subject of total abstinence.
On the following evening the anniversary of the Bible Society was held
in the Moravian school-room. During the day we received a note from the
Secretary of the Society, politely requesting us to be present. The
spacious school-room was filled, and the broad platform crowded with
church clergymen, Moravian ministers, and Wesleyan missionaries, colored
and white. The Secretary, a Moravian minister, read the twenty-first
annual report. It spoke emphatically of 'the joyful event of
emancipation', and in allusion to an individual in England, of whom it
spoke in terms of high commendation, it designated him, as one "who was
distinguished for his efforts in the abolition of slavery." The adoption
of the report was moved by one of the Wesleyan missionaries, who spoke
at some length. He commenced by speaking of "the peculiar emotions with
which he always arose to address an assembly of the free people of
Antigua." It had been his lot for a year past to labor in a colony[A]
where slavery still reigned, and he could not but thank God for the
happiness of setting his foot once more on the free soil of an
emancipated island.
[Footnote A: St. Martin's]
Perhaps the most interesting meeting in the series, was the anniversary
of the Wesleyan Missionary Society of Antigua. Both parts of the day
were devoted to this anniversary. The meetings were held in the Wesleyan
chapel, which was filled above and below, with the usual commixture of
white, colored, and black. We saw, as on former occasions, several
colored gentlemen seated among the ministers. After the usual
introductory exercises of singing and prayer, the annual report was read
by the Secretary, Rev. E. Fraser, the colored minister already
mentioned. It was terse, direct, and business like. The meeting was then
addressed by a Moravian missionary. He dwelt upon the decrease of the
sectarian spirit, and hailed the coming of Christian charity and
brotherly communion. He opened his Bible, and read about the middle wall
of partition being broken down. "Yes, brother," said Mr. Horne, "and
every other wall." "The rest are but paper walls," responded the
speaker, "and when once the middle wall is removed, these will soon be
burned up by the fire of Christian love."
The next speaker was a Wesleyan missionary of Nevis. He spoke of the
various instrumentalities which were now employed for the conversion of
the world. "We welcome," said he, "the co-operation of America, and with
all our hearts do we rejoice that she is now beginning to put away from
her that vile system of oppression which has hitherto crippled her moral
energy and her religious enterprise." Then turning and addressing
himself to us, he said, "We hail you, dear brethren, as co-workers with
us. Go forward in your blessed undertaking. Be not dismayed with the
huge dimensions of that vice which you are laboring to overthrow! Be not
disheartened by the violence and menaces of your enemies! Go forward.
Proclaim to the church and to your countrymen the sinfulness of slavery,
and be assured that soon the fire of truth will melt down the massy
chains of oppression." He then urged upon the people of Antigua _their_
peculiar obligations to extend the gospel to other lands. It was the
_Bible_ that made them free, and he begged them to bear in mind that
there were millions of their countrymen _still in the chains of
slavery_. This appeal was received with great enthusiasm.
We then spoke on a resolution which had been handed us by the Secretary,
and which affirmed "that the increasing and acknowledged usefulness of
Christian missions was a subject of congratulation." We spoke of the
increase of missionary operations in our own country, and of the spirit
of self-denial which was widely spreading, particularly among young
Christians. We spoke of that accursed thing in our midst, which not only
tended greatly to kill the spirit of missions in the church, but which
directly withheld _many_ young men from foreign missionary fields. It
had made more than two millions of heathen in our country; and so long
as the cries of these _heathen at home_ entered the ears of our young
men and young women, they could not, dare not, go abroad. How could they
go to Ceylon, to Burmah, or to Hindostan, with the cry of their
_country's heathen_ ringing their ears! How could they tear themselves
away from famished millions kneeling at their feet in chains and begging
for the bread of life, and roam afar to China or the South Sea Islands!
Increasing numbers filed with a missionary spirit felt that their
obligations were at home, and they were resolved that if they could not
carry the gospel _forthwith_ to the slaves, they would labor for the
overthrow of that system which made it a crime punishable with death to
preach salvation to the poor. In conclusion, the hope was expressed that
the people of Antigua--so highly favored with freedom, education, and
religion, would never forget that in the nation whence we came, there
were _two millions and a half of heathen_, who, instead of bread,
received stones and scorpions; instead of the Bible, bolts and bars;
instead of the gospel, chains and scourgings; instead of the hope of
salvation thick darkness and despair. They were entreated to remember
that in the gloomy dungeon, from which they had lately escaped there
were deeper and more dismal cells, _yet filled_ with millions of their
countrymen. The state of feeling produced by this reference to slavery,
was such as might be anticipated in an audience, a portion of which were
once slaves, and still remembered freshly the horrors of their late
condition.
The meeting was concluded after a sitting of more than four hours. The
attendance in the evening was larger than on any former occasion. Many
were unable to get within the chapel. We were again favored with an
opportunity of urging a variety of considerations touching the general
cause, as well as those drawn from the condition of our own country, and
the special objects of our mission.
The Rev. Mr. Horne spoke very pointedly on the subject of slavery. He
began by saying that he had been _so long accustomed_ to speak
cautiously about slavery that he was even now almost afraid of his own
voice when he alluded to it. [General laughter.] But he would remember
that he was in a _free island_, and that he spoke to _freemen_, and
therefore he had nothing to fear.
He said the peace and prosperity of these colonies is a matter of great
moment in itself considered, but it was only when viewed as an example
to the rest of the slaveholding world that its real magnitude and
importance was perceived. The influence of abolition, and especially of
entire emancipation in Antigua, must be very great. The eyes of the
world were fixed upon her. The great nation of America must now soon
_toll the knell_ of slavery, and this event will be hastened by the
happy operation of freedom here.
Mr. H. proceeded to say, that during the agitation of the slavery
question at home, he had been suspected of not being a friend to
emancipation; and it would probably be remembered by some present that
his name appeared in the report of the committee of the House of
Commons, where it stood in _no enviable society_. But whatever might be
thought of his course at that time, he felt assumed that the day was not
far distant when he should be able to clear up every thing connected
with it. It was not a little gratifying to us to see that the time had
come in the West Indies, when the suspicion of having been opposed to
emancipation is a stain upon the memory from which a public man is glad
to vindicate himself.
RESOLUTION OF THE MEETING.
After a few other addresses were delivered, and just previous to the
dismission of the assembly, Rev. Mr. Cox, Chairman of the District,
arose and said, that as this was the last of the anniversary meetings,
he begged to move a resolution which he had no doubt would meet with the
hearty and unanimous approval of that large assembly. He then read the
following resolution, which we insert here as an illustration of the
universal sympathy in the objects of our mission. As the resolution is
not easily divisible, we insert the whole of it, making no ado on the
score of modesty.
"Resolved, that this meeting is deeply impressed with the importance of
the services rendered this day to the cause of missions by the
acceptable addresses of Mr. ----, from America, and begs especially to
express to him and his friend Mr. ----, the assurance of their sincere
sympathy in the object of their visit to Antigua."
Mr. C. said he would make no remarks in support of the resolution he had
just read for he did not deem them necessary. He would therefore propose
at once that the vote be taken by rising. The Chairman read the
resolution accordingly, and requested those who were in favor of
adopting it, to rise. Not an individual in the crowded congregation kept
his seat. The masters and the slaves of yesterday--all rose together--a
phalanx of freemen, to testify "their sincere sympathy" in the efforts
and objects of American abolitionists.
After the congregation had resumed their seats, the worthy Chairman
addressed us briefly in behalf of the congregation, saying, that it was
incumbent on him to convey to us the unanimous expression of sympathy on
the part of this numerous assembly in the object of our visit to the
island. We might regard it as an unfeigned assurance that we were
welcomed among them, and that the cause which we were laboring to
promote was dear to the hearts of the people of Antigua.
This was the testimonial of an assembly, many of whom, only three years
before, were themselves slaveholders. It was not given at a meeting
specially concerted and called for the purpose, but grew up unexpectedly
and spontaneously out of the feelings of the occasion, a free-will
offering, the cheerful impulsive gush of _free_ sympathies. We returned
our acknowledgments in the best manner that our excited emotions
permitted.
LAYING THE CORNER STONE OF A WESLEYAN CHAPEL.
The corner stone of a new Wesleyan Chapel was laid in St. John's, during
the district meeting. The concourse of spectators was immense. At eleven
o'clock religious exercises were held in the old chapel. At the close of
the service a procession was formed, composed of Wesleyan missionaries,
Moravian ministers, clergymen of the church, members of the council and
of the assembly, planters, merchants, and other gentlemen, and the
children of the Sunday and infant schools, connected with the
Wesleyan Chapel.
As the procession moved to the new site, a hymn was sung, in which the
whole procession united. Our position in the procession, to which we
were assigned by the marshal, and much to our satisfaction, was at
either side of two colored gentlemen, with whom we walked, four abreast.
On one side of the foundation a gallery had been raised, which was
covered with an awning, and was occupied by a dense mass of white and
colored ladies. On another side the gentlemen of the procession stood.
The other sides were thronged with a promiscuous multitude of all
colors. After singing and prayer, the Hon. Nicholas Nugent, speaker of
the house of assembly, descended from the platform by a flight of stairs
into the cellar, escorted by two missionaries. The sealed phial was then
placed in his hand, and Mr. P., a Wesleyan missionary, read from a paper
the inscription written on the parchment within the phial. The closing
words of the inscription alluded to the present condition of the island,
thus: "The demand for a new and larger place of worship was pressing,
and the progress of public liberality advancing on a scale highly
creditable to this FREE, enlightened, and evangelized colony." The
Speaker then placed the phial in the cavity of the rock. When it was
properly secured, and the corner stone lowered down by pullies to its
place, he struck three blows upon it with a mallet, and then returned to
the platform. The most eager curiosity was exhibited on every side to
witness the ceremony.
At the conclusion of it, several addresses were delivered. The speakers
were, Rev. Messrs. Horne and Harvey, and D.B. Garling, Esq. Mr. Horne,
after enumerating several things which were deserving of praise, and
worthy of imitation, exclaimed, "The grand crowning glory of all--that
which places Antigua above all her sister colonies--was the magnanimous
measure of the legislature in entirely abolishing slavery." It was
estimated that there were more than two thousand persons assembled on
this occasion. The _order_ which prevailed among such a concourse was
highly creditable to the island. It was pleasing to see the perfect
intermixture of colors and conditions; not less so to observe the kindly
bearing of the high toward the low.[A] After the exercises were
finished, the numerous assembly dispersed quietly. Not an instance of
drunkenness, quarrelling, or anger, fell under our notice during
the day.
[Footnote A: During Mr. Home's address, we observed Mr. A., a planter,
send his umbrella to a negro man who stood at the corner-stone, exposed
to the sun.]
RESOLUTIONS OF THE MISSIONARIES.
Toward the close of the district meeting, we received a kind note from
the chairman, inviting us to attend the meeting, and receive in person,
a set of resolutions which had been drawn up at our request, and signed
by all the missionaries. At the hour appointed, we repaired to the
chapel. The missionaries all arose as we entered, and gave us a
brotherly salutation. We were invited to take our seats at the right
hand of the chairman. He then, in the presence of the meeting, read to
us the subjoined resolutions; we briefly expressed, in behalf of
ourselves and our cause, the high sense we had of the value of the
testimony, which the meeting had been pleased to give us. The venerable
father Horne then prayed with us, commending our cause to the blessing
of the Head of the church, and ourselves to the protection and guidance
of our heavenly Father. After which we shook hands with the brethren,
severally, receiving their warmest assurances of affectionate regard,
and withdrew.
_"Resolutions passed at the meeting of the Wesleyan Missionaries of the
Antigua District, assembled at St. John's, Antigua, February 7th, 1837._
1. That the emancipation of the slaves of the West Indies, while it
was an act of undoubted justice to that oppressed people, has
operated most favorably in furthering the triumphs of the gospel, by
removing one prolific source of unmerited suspicion of religious
teachers, and thus opening a door to their more extensive labors and
usefulness--by furnishing a greater portion of time for the service
of the negro, and thus preventing the continuance of unavoidable
Sabbath desecrations, in labor and neglect of the means of
grace--and in its operation as a stimulus to proprietors and other
influential gentlemen, to encourage religious education, and the
wide dissemination of the Scriptures, as an incentive to industry
and good order.
2. That while the above statements are true with reference to all
the islands, even where the system of apprenticeship prevails, they
are especially applicable to Antigua, where the results of the great
measure, of entire freedom, so humanely and judiciously granted by
the legislature, cannot be contemplated without the most devout
thanks givings to Almighty God.
3. That we regard with much gratification, the great diminution
among all classes in these islands, of the most unchristian
prejudice of color the total absence of it in the government and
ordinances of the churches of God, with which we are connected, and
the prospect of its complete removal, by the abolition of slavery,
by the increased diffusion of general knowledge, and of that
religion which teaches to "honor _all_ men," and to love our
neighbor as ourselves.
4. That we cannot but contemplate with much humiliation and
distress, the existence, among professing Christians in America, of
this partial, unseemly, and unchristian system of _caste_, so
distinctly prohibited in the word of God, and so utterly
irreconcileable with Christian charity.
5. That regarding slavery as a most unjustifiable infringement of
the rational and inalienable rights of men, and in its moral
consequences, (from our own personal observation as well as other
sources,) as one of the greatest curses with which the great
Governor of the nations ever suffered this world to be blighted: we
cannot but deeply regret the connection which so intimately exists
between the various churches of Christ in the United States of
America, and this unchristian system. With much sorrow do we learn
that the _principle_ of the lawfulness of slavery has been defended
by some who are ministers of Christ, that so large a proportion of
that body in America, are exerting their influence in favor of the
continuance of so indefensible and monstrous a system--and that
these emotions of sorrow are especially occasioned with reference to
our own denomination.
6. That while we should deprecate and condemn any recourse on the
part of the slaves, to measures of rebellion, as an unjustifiable
mode of obtaining their freedom, we would most solemnly, and
affectionately, and imploringly, adjure our respected fathers and
brethren in America, to endeavor, in every legitimate way, to wipe
away this reproach from their body, and thus act in perfect
accordance with the deliberate and recorded sentiments of our
venerated founder on this subject, and in harmony with the feelings
and proceedings of their brethren in the United Kingdom, who have
had the honor to take a distinguished part in awakening such a
determined and resistless public feeling in that country, as issued
in the abolition of slavery among 800,000 of our fellow subjects.
7. That we hail with the most lively satisfaction the progress in
America of anti-slavery principles, the multiplication of
anti-slavery societies, and the diffusion of correct views on this
subject. We offer to the noble band of truly patriotic, and
enlightened, and philanthropic men, who are combating in that
country with such a fearful evil, the assurance of our most cordial
and fraternal sympathy, and our earnest prayers for their complete
success. We view with pity and sorrow the vile calumnies with which
they have been assailed. We welcome with Christian joyfulness, in
the success which has already attended their efforts, the dawn of a
cloudless day of light and glory, which shall presently shine upon
that vast continent, when the song of universal freedom shall sound
in its length and breadth.
8. That these sentiments have been increased and confirmed by the
intercourse, which some of our body Have enjoyed with our beloved
brethren, the Rev. James A. Thome, and Joseph Horace Kimball, Esq.,
the deputation to these islands, front the Anti-Slavery Society in
America. We regard this appointment, and the nomination of such men
to fulfil it, as most judicious. We trust we can appreciate the
spirit of entire devotedness to this cause, which animates our
respected brethren, and breathes throughout their whole deportment,
and rejoice in such a manifestation of the fruits of that divine
charity, which flow from the constraining love of Christ, and which
many waters cannot quench.
9. That the assurance of the affectionate sympathy of the
twenty-five brethren who compose this district meeting, and our
devout wishes for their success in the objects of their mission, are
hereby presented, in our collective and individual capacity, to our
endeared and Christian friends from America.
(Signed) JAMES COX, chairman of the district, and resident in
Antigua.
Jonathan Cadman, St. Martin's. James Horne, St. Kitts. Matthew
Banks, St. Bartholomew's. E. Frazer, Antigua. Charles Bates, do.
John Keightley, do. Jesse Pilcher, do. Benjamin Tregaskiss, do.
Thomas Edwards, St. Kitts. Robert Hawkins, Tortola. Thomas Pearson,
Nevis. George Craft, do. W.S. Wamouth, St. Kitts. John Hodge,
Tortola. William Satchel, Dominica. John Cullingford, Dominica. J.
Cameron, Nevis. B. Gartside, St. Kitts. John Parker, do. Hilton
Cheeseborough, do. Thomas Jeffery, do. William Rigglesworth,
Tortola. Daniel Stepney, Nevis. James Walton, Montserrat."
* * * * *
CHAPTER II.
GENERAL RESULTS.
Having given a general outline of our sojourn in Antigua, we proceed to
a mere minute account of the results of our investigations. We arrange
the testimony in two general divisions, placing that which relates to
the past and present condition of the colony in one, and that which
bears directly upon the question of slavery in America in another.
RELIGION.
There are three denominations of Christians in Antigua: the Established
Church; the Moravians, and Wesleyans. The Moravians number fifteen
thousand--almost exclusively negroes. The Wesleyans embrace three
thousand members, and about as many more attendants. Of the three
thousand members, says a Wesleyan missionary, "not fifty are whites--a
larger number are colored; but the greater part black." "The attendance
of the negro population at the churches and chapels," (of the
established order,) says the Rector of St. John's, "amounts to four
thousand six hundred and thirty-six." The whole number of blacks
receiving religious instruction from these Christian bodies, making
allowance for the proportion of white and colored included in the three
thousand Wesleyans, is about twenty-two thousand--leaving a population
of eight thousand negroes in Antigua who are unsupplied with religious
instruction.
The Established Church has six parish churches, as many "chapels of
ease," and nine clergymen. The Moravians have five settlements and
thirteen missionaries. The Wesleyans have seven chapels, with as many
more small preaching places on estates, and twelve ministers; half of
whom are itinerant missionaries, and the other half, local preachers,
employed as planters, or in mercantile, and other pursuits, and
preaching only occasionally. From the limited number of chapels and
missionaries, it may be inferred that only a portion of the twenty-two
thousand can enjoy stated weekly instruction. The superintendent of the
Moravian mission stated that their chapels could not accommodate more
than _one third_ of their members.
Each of the denominations complains of the lack of men and houses. The
Wesleyans are now building a large chapel in St. John's. It will
accommodate two thousand persons. "Besides free sittings, there will be
nearly two hundred pews, every one of which is now in demand."
However much disposed the churches of different denominations might have
been during slavery to maintain a strict discipline, they found it
exceedingly difficult to do so. It seems impossible to elevate a body of
slaves, _remaining such,_ to honesty and purity. The reekings of slavery
will almost inevitably taint the institutions of religion, and degrade
the standard of piety. Accordingly the ministers of every denomination
in Antigua, feel that in the abolition of slavery their greatest enemy
has been vanquished, and they now evince a determination to assume
higher ground than they ever aspired to during the reign of slavery. The
motto of all creeds is, "_We expect great things of freemen_." A report
which we obtained from the Wesleyan brethren, states, "Our own brethren
preach almost daily." "We think the negroes are uncommonly punctual and
regular in their attendance upon divine worship, particularly on the
Sabbath." "They always show a readiness to contribute to the support of
the gospel. With the present low wages, and the entire charge of
self-maintenance, they have little to spare." Parham and Sion Hill (taken
as specimens) have societies almost entirely composed of rural
blacks--about thirteen hundred and fifty in number. These have
contributed this year above £330 sterling, or sixteen hundred and fifty
dollars, in little weekly subscriptions; besides giving to special
objects occasionally, and contributing for the support of schools.[A]
[Footnote A: The superintendent of the Wesleyan mission informed us that
the collection in the several Wesleyan chapels last year, independent of
occasional contributions to Sunday schools, Missionary objects, &c.,
amounted to £850 sterling, or more than $4000!]
In a letter dated December 2d, 1834, but four months after emancipation,
and addressed to the missionary board in England, the Rev. B. Harvey
thus speaks of the Moravian missions: "With respect to our people, I
believe; I may say that in all our places here, they attend the meetings
of the church more numerously than ever, and that many are now in
frequent attendance who _could very seldom appear amongst us during
slavery_." The same statements substantially were made to us by Mr. H.,
showing that instead of any falling off the attendance was still on
the increase.
In a statement drawn up at our request by the Rector of St. John's, is
the following: "Cases of discipline are more frequent than is usual in
English congregations, but at the same time it should be observed, that
a _closer oversight_ is maintained by the ministers, and a _greater
readiness to submit themselves_ (to discipline) is manifested by the
late slaves here than by those who have always been a free people." "I
am able to speak very favorably of the attendance at church--it is
regular and crowded." "The negroes on some estates have been known to
contribute willingly to the Bible Society, since 1832. They are now
beginning to pay a penny and a half currency per week for their
children's instruction."
MORALITY.
The condition of Antigua, but a very few years previous to emancipation,
is represented to have been truly revolting. It has already been stated
that the Sabbath was the market day up to 1832, and this is evidence
enough that the Lord's day was utterly desecrated by the mass of the
population. Now there are few parts of our own country, equal in
population, which can vie with Antigua in the solemn and respectful
observance of the Sabbath. Christians in St. John's spoke with joy and
gratitude of the tranquillity of the Sabbath. They had long been shocked
with its open and abounding profanation--until they had well-nigh forgot
the aspect of a Christian Sabbath. At length the full-orbed blessing
beamed upon them, and they rejoiced in its brightness, and thanked God
for its holy repose.
All persons of all professions testify to the fact that _marriages_ are
rapidly increasing. In truth, there was scarcely such a thing as
marriage before the abolition of slavery. Promiscuous intercourse of the
sexes was almost universal. In a report of the Antigua Branch
Association of the Society for advancing the Christian Faith in the
British West Indies, (for 1836,) the following statements are made:
"The number of marriages in the six parishes of the island, in the year
1835, the first entire year of freedom, was 476; all of which, excepting
about 50, were between persons formerly slaves. The total number of
marriages between slaves solemnized in the Church during the nine years
ending December 31, 1832, was 157; in 1833, the last entire year of
slavery, it was 61."
Thus it appears that the whole number of marriages during _ten years_
previous to emancipation (by far the most favorable ten years that could
have been selected) was but _half_ as great as the number for a single
year following emancipation!
The Governor, in one of our earliest interviews with him, said, "the
great crime of this island, as indeed of all the West India Colonies,
has been licentiousness, but we are certainly fast improving in this
particular." An aged Christian, who has spent many years in the island,
and is now actively engaged in superintending several day schools for
the negro children, informed us that there was not _one third_ as much
concubinage as formerly. This he said was owing mainly to the greater
frequency of marriages, and the cessation of late night work on the
estates, and in the boiling houses, by which the females were constantly
exposed during slavery. Now they may all be in their houses by dark.
Formerly the mothers were the betrayers of their daughters, encouraging
them to form unhallowed connections, and even _selling_ them to
licentious white and colored men, for their own gain. Now they were
using great strictness to preserve the chastity of their daughters.
A worthy planter, who has been in the island since 1800, stated, that it
used to be a common practice for mothers to _sell their daughters_ to
the highest bidder!--generally a manager or overseer. "But now;" said he,
"the mothers _hold their daughters up for marriage_, and take pains to
let every body know that their virtue is not to be bought and sold any
longer." He also stated that those who live unmarried now are uniformly
neglected and suffer great deprivations. Faithfulness after marriage,
exists also to a greater extent than could have been expected from the
utter looseness to which they had been previously accustomed, and with
their ignorance of the nature and obligations of the marriage relation.
We were informed both by the missionaries and the planters, that every
year and month they are becoming more constant, as husband and wife,
more faithful as parents, and more dutiful as children. One planter said
that out of a number who left his employ after 1834, nearly all had
companions on other estates, and left for the purpose of being with
them. He was also of the opinion that the greater proportion of changes
of residence among the emancipated which took place at that time, were
owing to the same cause.[A] In an address before the Friendly Society in
St. John's, the Archdeacon stated that during the previous year (1835)
several individuals had been expelled from that society for domestic
unfaithfulness; but he was happy to say that he had not heard of a
single instance of expulsion for this cause during the year then ended.
Much inconvenience is felt on account of the Moravian and Wesleyan
missionaries being prohibited from performing the marriage service, even
for their own people. Efforts are now making to obtain the repeal of the
law which makes marriages performed by sectarians (as all save the
established church are called) void.
[Footnote A: What a resurrection to domestic life was that, when long
severed families flocked from the four corners of the island to meet
their kindred members! And what a glorious resurrection will that be in
our own country, when the millions of emancipated beings scattered over
the west and south, shall seek the embraces of parental and fraternal
and conjugal love.]
That form of licentiousness which appears among the higher classes in
every slaveholding country, abounded in Antigua during the reign of
slavery. It has yielded its redundant fruits in a population of four
thousand colored people; double the number of whites. The planters, with
but few exceptions, were unmarried and licentious. Nor was this vice
confined to the unmarried. Men with large families, kept one or more
mistresses without any effort at concealment. We were told of an
"Honorable" gentleman, who had his English wife and two concubines, a
colored and a black one. The governor himself stated as an apology for
the prevalence of licentiousness among the slaves, that the example was
set them constantly by their masters, and it was not to be wondered at
if they copied after their superiors. But it is now plain that
concubinage among the whites is nearly at an end. An unguarded statement
of a public man revealed the conviction which exists among his class
that concubinage must soon cease. He said that the present race of
colored people could not be received into the society of the whites,
_because of illegitimacy_; but the next generation would be fit
associates for the whites, _because they would be chiefly born
in wedlock_.
The uniform testimony respecting _intemperance_ was, that it _never had
been one of the vices of the negroes_. Several planters declared that
they had rarely seen a black person intoxicated. The report of the
Wesleyan missionaries already referred to, says, "Intemperance is most
uncommon among the rural negroes. Many have joined the Temperance
Society, and many act on tee-total principles." The only _colored_
person (either black or brown) whom we saw drunk during a residence of
nine weeks in Antigua, was a carpenter in St. John's, who as he reeled
by, stared in our faces and mumbled out his sentence of condemnation
against wine bibbers, "--Gemmen--you sees I'se a little bit drunk, but
'pon honor I only took th--th-ree bottles of wine--that's all." It was
"Christmas times," and doubtless the poor man thought he would venture
for once in the year to copy the example of the whites.
In conclusion, on the subject of morals in Antigua, we are warranted in
stating, 1st., That during the continuance of slavery, immoralities
were rife.
2d. That the repeated efforts of the home Government and the local
Legislature, for several successive years previous to 1834, to
_ameliorate_ the system of slavery, seconded by the labors of clergymen
and missionaries, teachers and catechists, to improve the character of
the slaves, failed to arrest the current of vice and profligacy. What
few reformations were effected were very partial, leaving the more
enormous immoralities as shameless and defiant as ever, up to the very
day of abolition; demonstrating the utter impotence of all attempts to
purify the _streams_ while the _fountain_ is poison.
3d. That the abolition of slavery gave the death blow to open vice,
overgrown and emboldened as it had become. Immediate emancipation,
instead of lifting the flood-gates, was the only power strong enough to
shut them down! It restored the proper restraints upon vice, and
supplied the incentives to virtue. Those great controllers of moral
action, _self-respect, attachment to law, and veneration for God_, which
slavery annihilated, _freedom has resuscitated_, and now they stand
round about the emancipated with flaming swords deterring from evil, and
with cheering voices exhorting to good. It is explicitly affirmed that
the grosser forms of immorality, which in every country attend upon
slavery, have in Antigua either shrunk into concealment or
become extinct.
BENEVOLENT INSTITUTIONS.
We insert here a brief account of the benevolent institutions of
Antigua. Our design in giving it, is to show the effect of freedom in
bringing into play those charities of social life, which slavery
uniformly stifles. Antigua abounds in benevolent societies, all of which
have been _materially revived_ since emancipation, and some of them have
been formed since that event.
THE BIBLE SOCIETY.
This is the oldest society in the island. It was organized in 1815. All
denominations in the island cordially unite in this cause. The principal
design of this society is to promote the Circulation of the Scriptures
among the laboring population of the island. To secure this object
numerous branch associations--amounting to nearly fifty--have been
organized throughout the island _among the negroes themselves._ The
society has been enabled not only to circulate the Scriptures among the
people of Antigua, but to send them extensively to the neighboring
islands.
The following table, drawn up at our request by the Secretary of the
Society, will show the extent of foreign operations:
Years. Colonies Supplied. Bibles. Test's.
1822 Anguilla 94 156
23 Demerara 18 18
24 Dominica 89 204
25 Montserrat 57 149
27 Nevis 79 117
32 Saba 6 12
33 St. Bart's 111 65
34 St. Eustatius 97 148
35 St. Kitts 227 487
St. Martins 48 37
36 Tortola 69 136
To
1837 Trinidad 25 67
____ ____
Total 920 1596
From the last annual report we quote the following cheering account,
touching the events of 1834:
"The next event of importance in or annals is the magnificent grant of
the parent society, on occasion of the emancipation of the slaves, and
the perpetual banishment of slavery from the shores of Antigua, on the
first of August, 1834; by which a choice portion of the Holy Scriptures
was gratuitously circulated to about one third of the inhabitants of
this colony. Nine thousand seven hundred copies of the New Testament,
bound together with the book of Psalms, were thus placed at the disposal
of your committee."
* * * "Following hard upon this joyful event another gratifying
circumstance occurred among us. The attention of the people was roused,
and their gratitude excited towards the Bible Society, and they who had
freely received, now freely gave, and thus a considerable sum of money
was presented to the parent society in acknowledgment of its
beneficent grant."
We here add an extract from the annual report for 1826. Its sentiments
contrast strongly with the congratulations of the last report upon 'the
joyful event' of emancipation.
"Another question of considerable delicacy and importance still remains
to be discussed. Is it advisable, under all the circumstances of the
case, to circulate the Holy Scriptures, without note of comment, among
the slave population of these islands? Your Committee can feel no
hesitation in affirming that such a measure is not merely expedient, but
one of almost indispensable necessity. The Sacred Volume is in many
respects peculiarly adapted to the slave. It enjoins upon him precepts
so plain, that the most ignorant cannot fail to understand them:
'Slaves, obey in all things your masters, not with eye service, as men
pleasers, but in singleness of heart, fearing God.' It furnishes him
with motives the most impressive and consoling: 'Ye serve,' says the
Apostle, 'the Lord Christ.' It promises him rewards sufficient to
stimulate the most indolent to exertion: 'Whatsoever good thing any man
doeth, the same shall he receive of the Lord, whether he be bond or
free.' And it holds forth to him an example so glorious, that it would
ennoble even angels to imitate it: 'Let this mind be in you which was
also in Christ Jesus, who made himself of no reputation, and took upon
him the form of a _slave_!'"
"It may here be proper to observe, that the precise import of the word,
which in general throughout the English Bible is translated _servant_,
is strictly that which has been assigned it in the foregoing quotations;
(!) and so understood, the Sacred Volume will be found to hold out to
our slaves, both by precept and example the most persuasive and the most
compelling motives to industry, obedience, and submission."
Nothing could more plainly show the corrupting influences of slavery,
upon all within its reach, than this spectacle of a noble, religious
institution, prostituted to the vile work of defending oppression, and,
in the zeal of its advocacy, blasphemously degrading the Savior into a
self-made slave!
The receipts of the Antigua Branch Society have greatly increased since
emancipation. From receipts for the year 1836, in each of the British
islands, it appears that the contributions from Antigua and Bermuda, the
only two islands which adopted entire emancipation, are about _double_
those from any other two islands.
MISSIONARY ASSOCIATIONS.
These associations are connected with the Wesleyan mission, and have
been in existence since 1820. Their object is to raise funds for the
parent society in England. Although it has been in existence for several
years, yet it was mostly confined to the whites and free people of
color, during slavery. The calling together assemblies of rural negroes,
and addressing them on the subject of missions, and soliciting
contributions in aid of the cause, is a new feature in the missionary
operations to which nothing but freedom could give birth.
TEMPERANCE SOCIETIES.
The first temperance society in Antigua was formed at the beginning of
1836. We give an extract from the first annual report: "Temperance
societies have been formed in each town, and on many of the estates. A
large number of persons who once used spirituous liquors moderately,
have entirely relinquished the use. Some who were once intemperate have
been reclaimed, and in some instances an adoption of the principles of
the temperance society, has been followed by the pursuit and enjoyment
of vital religion. Domestic peace and quietness have superseded discord
and strife, and a very general sense of astonishment at the gross
delusion which these drinks have long produced on the human species
is manifest."
"The numbers on the various books of the society amount to about 1700.
One pleasing feature in their history, is the very small number of those
who have violated their pledge."
"On several estates, the usual allowance of spirits has been
discontinued, and sugar or molasses substituted."
The temperance society in Antigua may be specially regarded as a result
of emancipation. It is one of the guardian angels which hastened to the
island as soon as the demon of slavery was cast out.
FRIENDLY SOCIETIES.
The friendly societies are designed exclusively for the benefit of the
negro population. The general object is thus stated in the constitution
of one of these societies: "The object of this society is to assist in
the purchase of articles of mourning for the dead; to give relief in
cases of unlooked for distress; to help those who through age or
infirmities are incapable of helping themselves by marketing, or working
their grounds; _to encourage sobriety and industry, and to check
disorderly and immoral conduct."_
These societies obtain their funds by laying a tax of one shilling per
month on every member above eighteen years of age, and of six pence per
month on all members under that age and above twelve, which is the
minimum of membership. The aged members are required to pay no more than
the sum last mentioned.
The first society of this kind was established in St. John's by the
present rector, in 1829. Subsequently the Moravians and Wesleyans formed
similar societies among their own people. Independent of the pecuniary
assistance which these societies bestow, they encourage in a variety of
ways the good order of the community. For example, no one is allowed to
receive assistance who is "disabled by drunkenness, debauchery, or
disorderly living;" also, "if any member of the society, male or female,
is guilty of adultery or fornication, the offending member shall be
suspended for so long a time as the members shall see fit, and shall
lose all claim on the society for any benefit during the suspension, and
shall not be readmitted until clear and satisfactory evidence is given
of penitence." Furthermore, "If any member of the society shall be
expelled from the church to which he or she belongs, or shall commit any
offence punishable by a magistrate, that member forfeits his membership
in the society." Again, the society directly encourages marriage, by
"making a present of a young pig to every child born in wedlock, and
according as their funds will admit of it, giving rewards to those
married persons living faithfully, or single persons living virtuously,
who take a pride in keeping their houses neat and tidy, and their
gardens flourishing."
These societies have been more than doubled, both in the number of
members and in the annual receipts, since emancipation.
Of the societies connected with the established church, the rector of
St. John's thus speaks: "At the beginning of 1834 there were eleven
societies, embracing 1602 members. At the beginning of 1835 they
numbered 4197; and in 1836 there were 4560 members," _almost quadrupled
in two years!_
The societies connected with the Moravian church, have more than
doubled, both in members and funds, since emancipation. The funds now
amount to $10,000 per year.
The Wesleyans have four Friendly societies. The largest society, which
contained six hundred and fifty members, was organized in the _month of
August_, 1834. The last year it had expended £700 currency, and had then
in its treasury £600 currency.
Now, be it remembered that the Friendly societies exist solely among the
freed negroes, _and that the moneys are raised exclusively among them._
Among whom? A people who are said to be so proverbially improvident,
that to emancipate them, would be to abandon them to beggary, nakedness,
and starvation;--a people who "cannot take care of themselves;" who
"will not work when freed from the fear of the lash;" who "would
squander the earnings of the day in debaucheries at night;" who "would
never provide for to-morrow for the wants of a family, or for the
infirmities of old age." Yea, among _negroes_ these things are done; and
that, too, where the wages are but one shilling per day--less than
sufficient, one would reasonably suppose, to provide daily food.
DAILY MEAL SOCIETY.
The main object of this society is denoted by its name. It supplies a
daily meal to those who are otherwise unprovided for. A commodious house
had just been completed in the suburbs of the town, capable of lodging a
considerable number of beneficiaries. It is designed to shelter those
who are diseased, and cannot walk to and fro for their meals. The number
now fed at this house is from eighty to a hundred. The diseased, who
live at the dispensary, are mostly those who are afflicted with the
elephantiasis, by which they are rendered entirely helpless. Medical aid
is supplied free of expense. It is worthy of remark, that there is no
_public poor-house_ in Antigua,--a proof of the industry and prosperity
of the emancipated people.
DISTRESSED FEMALES' FRIEND SOCIETY.
This is a society in St. John's: there is also a similar one, called the
Female Refuge Society, at English Harbor. Both these societies were
established and are conducted by colored ladies. They are designed to
promote two objects: the support of destitute aged females of color, and
the rescue of poor young colored females from vice. The necessity for
special efforts for the first object, arose out of the fact, that the
colored people were allowed no parochial aid whatever, though they were
required to pay their parochial taxes; hence, the support of their own
poor devolved upon themselves. The demand for vigorous action in behalf
of the young, grew out of the prevailing licentiousness of slave-holding
times. The society in St. John's has been in existence since 1815. It
has a large and commodious asylum, and an annual income, by
subscriptions, of £350, currency. This society, and the Female Refuge
Society established at English Harbor, have been instrumental in
effecting a great reform in the morals of females, and particularly in
exciting reprobation against that horrid traffic--the sale of girls by
their mothers for purposes of lust. We were told of a number of cases in
which the society in St. John's had rescued young females from impending
ruin. Many members of the society itself, look to it as the guardian of
their orphanage. Among other cases related to us, was that of a lovely
girl of fifteen, who was bartered away to a planter by her mother, a
dissolute woman. The planter was to give her a quantity of cloth to the
value of £80 currency, and two young slaves; he was also to give the
grandmother, for her interest in the girl, _one gallon of rum_! The
night was appointed, and a gig in waiting to take away the victim, when
a female friend was made acquainted with the plot, just in time to save
the girl by removing her to her own house. The mother was infuriated,
and endeavored to get her back, but the girl had occasionally attended a
Sabbath school, where she imbibed principles which forbade her to yield
even to her mother for such an unhallowed purpose. She was taken before
a magistrate, and indentured herself to a milliner for two years. The
mother made an attempt to regain her, and was assisted by some whites
with money to commence a suit for that purpose. The lady who defended
her was accordingly prosecuted, and the whole case became notorious. The
prosecutors were foiled. At the close of her apprenticeship, the young
woman was married to a highly respectable colored gentleman, now
resident in St. John's. The notoriety which was given to the above case
had a happy effect. It brought the society and its object more fully
before the public, and the contributions for its support greatly
increased. Those for whose benefit the asylum was opened, heard of it,
and came begging to be received.
This society is a signal evidence that the colored people neither lack
the ability to devise, nor the hearts to cherish, nor the zeal to
execute plans of enlarged benevolence and mercy.
The Juvenile Association, too, of which we gave some account in
describing its anniversary, originated with the colored people, and
furnishes additional evidence of the talents and charities of that class
of the community. Besides the societies already enumerated, there are
two associations connected with the Established Church, called the
"Society for the Promotion of Christian Knowledge," and the "Branch
Association of the Society for Advancing the Christian Faith in the
British West Indies, &c." These societies are also designed chiefly for
the benefit of the negro population.
EDUCATION.
Our inquiries under this head were directed to three principal
points--first, The extent to which education prevailed previous to
emancipation; second, The improvements introduced since; and third, The
comparative capacity of negroes for receiving instruction.
Being providentially in the island at the season of the year when all
the schools have their annual examinations, we enjoyed the most
favorable opportunities for procuring intelligence on the subject of
education. From various quarters we received invitations to attend
school examinations. We visited the schools at Parham, Willoughby Bay,
Newfield; Cedar Hall, Grace Bay, Fitch's Creek, and others: besides
visiting the parochial school, the rectory school, the Moravian and
Wesleyan schools, in St. John's. All the schools, save those in St.
John's, were almost exclusively composed of emancipated children from
the estates.
VISIT TO THE PAROCHIAL SCHOOL.
At the invitation of the Governor, we accompanied him to the annual
examination of the parochial school, in St. John's, under the
superintendance of the Episcopal church. It has increased greatly, both
in scholars and efficiency, since emancipation, and contributions are
made to its support by the parents whose children receive its benefits.
We found one hundred and fifty children, of both sexes, assembled in the
society's rooms. There was every color present, from the deepest hue of
the Ethiopian, to the faintest shadowing of brown.
The boys constituting the first class, to the number of fifty, were
called up. They read with much fluency and distinctness, equalling white
boys of the same age anywhere. After reading, various questions were put
to them by the Archdeacon, which they answered with promptness and
accuracy. Words were promiscuously selected from the chapter they had
read, and every one was promptly spelled. The catechism was the next
exercise, and they manifested a thorough acquaintance with its contents.
Our attention was particularly called to the examination in arithmetic.
Many of the children solved questions readily in the compound rules, and
several of them in Practice, giving the different parts of the pound,
shilling, and penny, used in that rule, and all the whys and wherefores
of the thing, with great promptness. One lad, only ten years of age,
whose attendance had been very irregular on account of being employed in
learning a trade, performed intricate examples in Practice, with a
facility worthy the counting-house desk. We put several inquiries on
different parts of the process, in order to test their real knowledge,
to which we always received clear answers.
The girls were then examined in the same studies and exercises, except
arithmetic, and displayed the same gratifying proficiency. They also
presented specimens of needlework and strawbraiding, which the ladies,
on whose better judgment we depend, pronounced very creditable. We
noticed several girls much older than the others, who had made much less
advance in their studies, and on inquiry learned, that they had been
members of the school but a short time, having formerly been employed to
wield the heavy hoe in the cane field. The parents are very desirous to
give their children education, and make many sacrifices for that
purpose. Many who are field-laborers in the country, receiving their
shilling a day, have sent their children to reside with some relations
or friends in town, for the purpose of giving them the benefits of this
school. Several such children were pointed out to us. The increase of
female scholars during the first year of emancipation, was in this
school alone, about eighty.
For our gratification, the Governor requested that all the children
emancipated on the _first of August_, might be called up and placed on
our side of the room. Nearly one hundred children, of both sexes, who
two years ago were _slaves_, now stood up before us FREE. We noticed one
little girl among the rest, about ten years old, who bore not the least
tinge of color. Her hair was straight and light, and her face had that
mingling of vermilion and white, which Americans seem to consider, not
only the nonpareil standard of beauty, but the immaculate test of human
rights. At her side was another with the deepest hue of the native
African. There were high emotions on the countenances of those redeemed
ones, when we spoke to them of emancipation. The undying principle of
freedom living and burning in the soul of the most degraded slave, like
lamps amid the darkness of eastern sepulchres, was kindling up
brilliantly within them, young as they were, and flashing in smiles upon
their ebon faces.
The Governor made a few remarks, in which he gave some good advice, and
expressed himself highly pleased with the appearance and proficiency of
the school.
His excellency remarked to us in a tone of pleasantry, "You see,
gentlemen, these children have _souls_."
During the progress of the examination; he said to us, "You perceive
that it is our policy to give these children every chance to make _men_
of themselves. We look upon them as our _future citizens_." He had no
doubt that the rising generation would assume a position in society
above the contempt or opposition of the whites.
INFANT SCHOOLS IN THE COUNTRY.
We had the pleasure of attending one of the infant schools in the
vicinity of Parham, on the east side of the island. Having been invited
by a planter, who kindly sent his horse and carriage for our conveyance,
to call and take breakfast with him on our way, we drove out early in
the morning.
While we were walking about the estate, our attention was arrested by
distant singing. As we cast our eyes up a road crossing the estate, we
discovered a party of children! They were about twenty in number, and
were marching hand in hand to the music of their infant voices. They
were children from a neighboring estate, on their way to the examination
at Parham, and were singing the hymns which they had learned at school.
All had their Testaments in their hands, and seemed right merry-hearted.
We were received at the gate of the chapel by the Wesleyan missionary
located in this distinct, a highly respectable and intelligent colored
man, who was ten years since a _slave_. He gave us a cordial welcome,
and conducted us to the chapel, where we found the children, to the
number of _four hundred_, assembled, and the examination already
commenced. There were six schools present, representing about twenty
estates, and arranged under their respective teachers. The ages of the
pupils were from three to ten or twelve. They were all, with the
exception of two or three, the children of emancipated slaves.
They came up by classes to the superintendent's desk, where they read
and were examined. They read correctly; some of them too, who had been
in school only a few mouths, in any portion of the New Testament
selected for them. By request of the superintendent, we put several
inquiries to them, which they answered in a way which showed that they
_thought_. They manifested an acquaintance with the Bible and the use of
language which was truly surprising. It was delightful to see so many
tiny beings stand around you, dressed in their tidy gowns and frocks,
with their bright morning faces, and read with the self-composure of
manhood, any passage chosen for them. They all, large and small, bore in
their hands the charter of their freedom, the book by the influence of
which they received all the privileges they were enjoying. On the cover
of each was stamped in large capitals--"PRESENTED BY THE BRITISH AND
FOREIGN BIBLE SOCIETY, IN COMMEMORATION OF THE FIRST OF AUGUST, 1834."
At the close of the examination, the rewards, consisting of books,
work-bags, &c. &c., chiefly sent by a society of females in England,
were distributed. It was impossible to repress the effervescence of the
little expectants. As a little one four years old came up for her
reward, the superintendent said to her--"Well, little Becky, what do you
want?" "Me wants a bag," said Becky, "and me wants a pin-cushion, and me
wants a little book." Becky's desires were large, but being a good girl,
she was gratified. Occasionally the girls were left to choose between a
book and a work-bag, and although the bag might be gaudy and tempting,
they invariably took the book.
The teachers were all but one blacks, and were formerly slaves. They are
very devoted and faithful, but are ill-qualified for their duties,
having obtained all the learning they possess in the Sabbath school.
They are all pious, and exert a harpy influence on the morals of
their pupils.
The number of scholars has very greatly increased since emancipation,
and their morals have essentially improved. Instances of falsehood and
theft, which at first were fearfully frequent and bold, have much
lessened. They begin to have a regard for _character_. Their sense of
right and wrong is enlightened, and their power of resisting temptation,
and adhering to right, manifestly increased.
On the whole, we know not where we have looked on a more delightful
scene. To stand in front of the pulpit and look around on a multitude of
negro children, gathered from the sordid huts into which slavery had
carried ignorance and misery--to see them coming up, with their teachers
of the same proscribed hue, to hear them read the Bible, answer with
readiness the questions of their superintendent, and lift up together
their songs of infant praise, and then to remember that two years ago
these four hundred children were _slaves_, and still more to remember
that in our own country, boasting its republicanism and Christian
institutions, there are thousands of just such children under the yoke
and scourge, in utter heathenism, the victims of tyrannic _law_ or of
more tyrannic public opinion--caused the heart to swell with emotions
unutterable. There were as many intelligent countenances, and as much
activity and sprightliness, as we ever saw among an equal number of
children anywhere. The correctness of their reading, the pertinence of
their replies, the general proofs of talent which they showed through
all the exercises, evinced that they are none inferior to the children
of their white oppressors.
After singing a hymn they all kneeled down, and the school closed with a
prayer and benediction. They continued singing as they retired from the
house, and long after they had parted on their different ways home,
their voices swelled on the breeze at a distance as the little parties
from the estates chanted on their way the songs of the school room.
WILLOUGHBY BAY EXAMINATION.
When we entered the school house at Willoughby Bay, which is capable of
containing a thousand persons, a low murmur, like the notes of
preparation, ran over the multitude. One school came in after we
arrived, marching in regular file, with their teacher, a negro man, at
their head, and their _standard bearer_ following; next, a sable girl
with a box of Testaments on her head. The whole number of children was
three hundred and fifty. The male division was first called out, and
marched several times around the room, singing and keeping a regular
step. After several rounds, they came to a halt, filing off and forming
into ranks four rows deep--in quarter-circle shape. The music still
continuing, the girls sallied forth, went through the same evolutions,
and finally formed in rows corresponding with those of the boys, so as
to compose with the latter a semicircle.
The schools were successively examined in spelling, reading, writing,
cyphering, &c., after the manner already detailed. In most respects they
showed equal proficiency with the children of Parham; and in reading the
Testament, their accuracy was even greater. In looking over the writing,
several "incendiary" copies caught our eyes. One was, "_Masters, give
unto your servants that which is just and equal_." Another, "_If I
neglect the cause of my servant, what shall I do when I appear before my
Master_!" A few years ago, _had children been permitted to write at
all_, one such copy as the above would have exploded the school, and
perchance sent the teacher to jail for sedition. But now, thanks to God!
the Negro children of Antigua are taught liberty from their Bibles, from
their song books, and from their _copy books_ too; they read of liberty,
they sing of it, and they write of it; they chant to liberty in their
school rooms, and they resume the strains on their homeward way, till
every rustling lime-grove, and waving cane-field, is alive with their
notes, and every hillock and dell rings with "free" echoes.
The girls, in their turn, pressed around us with the liveliest eagerness
to display their little pieces of needle-work. Some had samplers marked
with letters and devices in vari-colored silk. Others showed specimens
of stitching; while the little ones held up their rude attempts at
hemming handkerchiefs, aprons, and so on.
During the exercises we spoke to several elderly women, who were present
to witness the scene. They were laborers on the estates, but having
children in the school, they had put on their Sunday dresses, and "come
to see." We spoke to one, of the privileges which the children were
enjoying, since freedom. Her eyes filled, and she exclaimed, "Yes,
massa, we do tank de good Lord for bring de free--never can be too
tankful." She said she had seven children present, and it made her feel
happy to know that they were learning to read. Another woman said, when
she heard the children reading so finely, she wanted to "take de word's
out of da mouts and put em in her own." In the morning, when she first
entered the school house, she felt quite sick, but all the pleasant
things she saw and heard, had made her well, and she added, "I tell you,
me massa, it do my old heart good to come here." Another aged woman, who
had grand-children in the school, said, when she saw what advantages the
children enjoyed, she almost cried to think she was not a child too.
Besides these there were a number of adult men and women, whom curiosity
or parental solicitude had brought together, and they were thronging
about the windows and doors witnessing the various exercises with the
deepest interest. Among the rest was one old patriarch, who, anxious to
bear some part however humble in the exercises of the occasion, walked
to and fro among the children, with a six feet pole in his hand, to
keep order.
These schools, and those examined at Parham, are under the general
supervision of Mr. Charles Thwaites, an indefatigable and long tried
friend of the negroes.
We here insert a valuable communication which we received from Mr. T. in
reply to several queries addressed to him. It will give further
information relative to the schools.
_Mr. Charles Thwaites' Replies to Queries on Education in Antigua._
1. What has been your business for some years past in Antigua?
A superintendent of schools, and catechist to the negroes.
2. How long have you been engaged in this business?
Twenty-four years. The first four years engaged gratuitously, ten years
employed by the Church Missionary Society, and since, by the Wesleyan
Missionary Society.
3. How many schools have you under your charge?
Sunday schools, (including all belonging to the Wesleyan Missionary
Society,) eight, with 1850 scholars; day schools, seventeen with 1250
scholars; night schools on twenty-six estates, 336 scholars. The total
number of scholars under instruction is about 3500.
4. Are the scholars principally the children who were emancipated in
August, 1834?
Yes, except the children in St. John's, most of whom were free before.
5. Are the teachers negroes, colored, or white?
One white, four colored, and sixteen black.[A]
[Footnote A: This number includes only salaried teachers, and not the
gratuitous.]
6. How many of the teachers were slaves prior to the first of August,
1834?
Thirteen.
7. What were their opportunities for learning?
The Sunday and night schools; and they have much improved themselves
since they have been in their present employment.
8. What are their qualifications for teaching, as to education,
religion, zeal, perseverance, &c.?
The white and two of the colored teachers, I presume, are well
calculated, in all respects, to carry on a school in the ablest manner.
The others are deficient in education, but are zealous, and very
persevering.
9. What are the wages of these teachers?
The teachers' pay is, some four, and some three dollars per month. This
sum is far too small, and would be greater if the funds were sufficient.
10. How and by whom are the expenses of superintendent, teachers, and
schools defrayed?
The superintendent's salary, &c., is paid by the Wesleyan Missionary
Society. The expenses of teachers and schools are defrayed by charitable
societies and friends in England, particularly the Negro Education
Society, which grants 50l. sterling per annum towards this object, and
pays the rent of the Church Missionary Society's premises in Willoughby
Bay for use of the schools. About 46l. sterling per annum is also raised
from the children; each child taught writing and needle-work, pays
1-1/2d. sterling per week.
11. Is it your opinion that the negro children are as ready to receive
instruction as white children?
Yes, perfectly so.
12. Do parents manifest interest in the education of their children?
They do. Some of the parents are, however, still very ignorant, and are
not aware how much their children lose by irregular attendance at
the schools.
13. Have there been many instances of _theft_ among the scholars?
Not more than among any other class of children.
RESULTS.
Besides an attendance upon the various schools, we procured specific
information from teachers, missionaries, planters, and others, with
regard to the past and present state of education, and the weight of
testimony was to the following effect:
First, That education was by no means extensive previous to
emancipation. The testimony of one planter was, that not a _tenth part_
of the present adult population knew the letters of the alphabet. Other
planters, and some missionaries, thought the proportion might be
somewhat larger; but all agreed that it was very small. The testimony of
the venerable Mr. Newby, the oldest Moravian missionary in the island,
was, that such was the opposition among the planters, it was impossible
to teach the slaves, excepting by night, secretly. Mr. Thwaites informed
us that the children were not allowed to attend day school after they
were six years old. All the instruction they obtained after that age,
was got at night--a very unsuitable time to study, for those who worked
all day under an exhausting sun. It is manifest that the instruction
received under six years of age, would soon be effaced by the incessant
toil of subsequent life. The account given in a former connection of the
adult school under the charge of Mr. Morrish, at Newfield, shows most
clearly the past inattention to education. And yet Mr. M. stated that
his school was a _fair specimen of the intelligence of the negroes
generally_. One more evidence in point is the acknowledged ignorance of
Mr. Thwaites' teachers. After searching through the whole freed
population for a dozen suitable teachers of children. Mr. T. could not
find even that number who could _read well_. Many children in the
schools of six years old read better than their teachers.
We must not be understood to intimate that up to the period of the
Emancipation, the planters utterly prohibited the education of their
slaves. Public sentiment had undergone some change previous to that
event. When the public opinion of England began to be awakened against
slavery, the planters were indured, for peace sake, to _tolerate_
education to some extent; though they cannot be said to have
_encouraged_ it until after Emancipation. This is the substance of the
statements made to us. Hence it appears that when the active opposition
of the planters to education ceased, it was succeeded by a general
indifference, but little less discouraging. We of course speak of the
planters as a body; there were some honorable exceptions.
Second, Education has become very extensive _since_ emancipation. There
are probably not less than _six thousand_ children who now enjoy daily
instruction. These are of all ages under twelve. All classes feel an
interest in _knowledge_. While the schools previously established are
flourishing in newness of life, additional ones are springing up in
every quarter. Sabbath schools, adult and infant schools, day and
evening schools, are all crowded. A teacher in a Sabbath school in St.
John's informed us, that the increase in that school immediately after
emancipation was so sudden and great, that he could compare it to
nothing but the rising of the mercury when the thermometer is removed
_out of the shade into the sun_.
We learned that the Bible was the principal book taught in all the
schools throughout the island. As soon as the children have learned to
read, the Bible is put into their hands. They not only read it, but
commit to memory portions of it every day:--the first lesson in the
morning is an examination on some passage of scripture. We have never
seen, even among Sabbath school children, a better acquaintance with the
characters and events recorded in the Old and New Testaments, than among
the negro children in Antigua. Those passages which inculcate _obedience
to law_ are strongly enforced; and the prohibitions against stealing,
lying, cheating, idleness, &c., are reiterated day and night.
Great attention is paid to _singing_ in all the schools.
The songs which they usually sung, embraced such topics as Love to
God--the presence of God--obedience to parents--friendship for brothers
and sisters and schoolmates--love of school--the sinfulness of sloth, of
lying, and of stealing. We quote the following hymn as a specimen of the
subjects which are introduced into their songs: often were we greeted
with this sweet hymn, while visiting the different schools throughout
the island.
BROTHERLY LOVE.
CHORUS.
We're all brothers, sisters, brothers,
We're sisters and brothers,
And heaven is our home.
We're all brothers, sisters, brothers,
We're sisters and brothers,
And heaven is our home.
The God of heaven is pleased to see
That little children all agree;
And will not slight the praise they bring,
When loving children join to sing:
We're all brothers, sisters, brothers, &c.
For love and kindness please him more
Than if we gave him all our store;
And children here, who dwell in love,
Are like his happy ones above.
We're all brothers, sisters, brothers, &c.
The gentle child that tries to please,
That hates to quarrel, fret, and teaze,
And would not say an angry word--
That child is pleasing to the Lord.
We're all brothers, sisters, brothers, &c.
O God! forgive, whenever we
Forget thy will, and disagree;
And grant that each of us, may find
The sweet delight of being kind.
We're all brothers, sisters, brothers, &c.
We were convinced that the negroes were as capable of receiving
instruction as any people in the world. The testimony of teachers,
missionaries, clergymen, and planters, was uniform on this point.
Said one planter of age and long experience on the island, "The negroes
are as capable of culture as any people on earth. _Color makes no
difference in minds_. It is slavery alone that has degraded the negro."
Another planter, by way of replying to our inquiry on this subject, sent
for a negro child of five years, who read with great fluency in any part
of the Testament to which we turned her. "Now," said the gentleman, "I
should be ashamed to let you hear my own son, of the same age with that
little girl, read after her." We put the following questions to the
Wesleyan missionaries: "Are the negroes as _apt to learn_, as other
people in similar circumstances?" Their written reply was this: "We
think they are; the same diversified qualities of intellect appear among
them, as among other people." We put the same question to the Moravian
missionaries, to the clergymen, and to the teachers of each
denomination, some of whom, having taught schools in England, were well
qualified to judge between the European children and the negro children;
and we uniformly received substantially the same answer. Such, however,
was the air of surprise with which our question was often received, that
it required some courage to repeat it. Sometimes it excited a smile, as
though we could not be serious in the inquiry. And indeed we seldom got
a direct and explicit answer, without previously stating by way of
explanation that we had no doubts of our own, but wished to remove those
extensively entertained among our countrymen. After all, we were
scarcely credited in Antigua. Such cases as the following were common in
every school: children of four and five years old reading the Bible;
children beginning in their A, B, C's, and learning to read in four
months; children of five and six, answering a variety of questions on
the historical parts of the Old Testament; children but a little older,
displaying fine specimens of penmanship, performing sums in the compound
rules, and running over the multiplication table, and the pound,
shilling, and pence table, without mistake.
We were grieved to find that most of the teachers employed in the
instruction of the children, were exceedingly unfit for the work. They
are very ignorant themselves, and have but little skill in the
management of children. This however is a necessary evil. The
emancipated negroes feel a great anxiety for the education of their
children. They encourage them to go to school, and they labor to support
them, while they have strong temptation to detain them at home to work.
They also pay a small sum every week for the maintenance of the schools.
In conclusion, we would observe, that one of the prominent features of
_regenerated_ Antigua, is its _education_. An intelligent religion, and
a religious education, are the twin glories of this emancipated colony.
It is comment enough upon the difference between slavery and freedom,
that the same agents which are deprecated as the destroyers of the one,
are cherished as the defenders of the other.
Before entering upon a detail of the testimony which bears more directly
upon slavery in America, we deem it proper to consider the inquiry.
"What is the amount of freedom in Antigua, as regulated by law?"
1st. The people are entirely free from the whip, and from all compulsory
control of the master.
2d. They can change employers whenever they become dissatisfied with
their situation, by previously giving a month's notice.
3d. They have the right of trial by jury in all cases of a serious
nature, while for small offences, the magistrate's court is open. They
may have legal redress for any wrong or violence inflicted by their
employers.
4th. Parents have the entire control of their children. The planter
cannot in any way interfere with them. The parents have the whole charge
of their support.
5th. By an express provision of the legislature, it was made obligatory
upon every planter to support all the superannuated, infirm, or diseased
on the estate, _who were such at this time of emancipation_. Those who
have become so since 1834, fall upon the hands of their relatives for
maintenance.
6th. The amount of wages is not determined by law. By a general
understanding among the planters, the rate is at present fixed at a
shilling per day, or a little more than fifty cents per week, counting
five working days. This matter is wisely left to be regulated by the
character of the seasons, and the mutual agreement of the parties
concerned. As the island is suffering rather from a paucity of laborers,
than otherwise, labor must in good seasons command good wages. The
present rate of wages is extremely low, though it is made barely
tolerable by the additional perquisites which the people enjoy. They
have them houses rent free, and in connection with them small premises
forty feet square, suitable for gardens, and for raising poultry, and
pigs, &c.; for which they always find a ready market. Moreover, they are
burthened with no taxes whatever; and added to this, they are supplied
with medical attendance at the expense of the estates.
7th. The master is authorized in case of neglect of work, or turning out
late in the morning, or entire absence from labor, to reduce the wages,
or withhold them for a time, not exceeding a week.
8th. The agricultural laborers may leave the field whenever they choose,
(provided they give a month's previous notice,) and engage in any other
business; or they may purchase land and become cultivators themselves,
though in either case they are of course liable to forfeit their houses
on the estates.
9th. They may leave the island, if they choose, and seek their fortunes
in any other part of the world, by making provision for their near
relatives left behind. This privilege has been lately tested by the
emigration of some of the negroes to Demerara. The authorities of the
island became alarmed lest they should lose too many of the laboring
population, and the question was under discussion, at the time we were
in Antigua, whether it would not be lawful to prohibit the emigration.
It was settled, however, that such a measure would be illegal, and the
planters were left to the alternative of either being abandoned by their
negroes, or of securing their continuance by adding to their comforts
and treating them kindly.
10. The right of suffrage, and eligibility to office are subject to no
restrictions, save the single one of property, which is the same with
all colors. The property qualification, however, is so great, as
effectually to exclude the whole agricultural negro population for
many years.
11th. _The main constabulary force is composed of emancipated negroes,
living on the estates_. One or two trust-worthy men on each estate are
empowered with the authority of constables in relation to the people on
the same estate, and much reliance is placed upon these men, to preserve
order and to bring offenders to trial.
12th. A body of police has been established, whose duty it is to arrest
all disorderly or riotous persons, to repair to the estates in case of
trouble, and co-operate with the constables, in arraigning all persons
charged with the violation of law.
13th. The punishment for slight offences, such as stealing sugar-canes
from the field, is confinement in the house of correction, or being
sentenced to the tread-mill, for any period from three days to three
months. The punishment for burglary, and other high offences, is
solitary confinement in chains, or transportation for life to
Botany Bay.
Such are the main features in the statutes, regulating the freedom of
the emancipated population of Antigua. It will be seen that there is no
enactment which materially modifies, or unduly restrains, the liberty of
the subject. There are no secret reservations or postscript provisoes,
which nullify the boon of freedom. Not only is slavery utterly
abolished, but all its appendages are scattered to the winds; and a
system of impartial laws secures justice to all, of every color and
condition.
The measure of success which has crowned the experiment of emancipation
in Antigua--an experiment tried under so many adverse circumstances, and
with comparatively few local advantages--is highly encouraging to
slaveholders in our country. It must be evident that the balance of
advantages between the situation of Antigua and that of the South, _is
decidedly in favor of the latter_. The South has her resident
proprietors, her resources of wealth, talent, and enterprise, and her
preponderance of white population; she also enjoys a regularity of
seasons, but rarely disturbed by desolating droughts, a bracing climate,
which imparts energy and activity to her laboring population, and
comparatively numerous wants to stimulate and press the laborer up to
the _working mark_; she has close by her side the example of a free
country, whose superior progress in internal improvements, wealth, the
arts and sciences, morals and religion, all ocular demonstration to her
of her own wretched policy, and a moving appeal in favor of abolition;
and above all, site has the opportunity of choosing her own mode, and of
ensuring all the blessings of a _voluntary and peaceable manumission_,
while the energies, the resources, the sympathies, and the prayers of
the North, stand pledged to her assistance.
* * * * *
CHAPTER III.
FACTS AND TESTIMONY.
We have reserved the mass of facts and testimony, bearing immediately
upon slavery in America, in order that we might present them together in
a condensed furor, under distinct heads. These heads, it will be
perceived, consist chiefly of propositions which are warmly contested in
our country. Will the reader examine these principles in the light of
facts? Will the candid of our countrymen--whatever opinions they may
hitherto hate entertained on this subject--hear the concurrent testimony
of numerous planters, legislators, lawyers, physicians, and merchants,
who have until three years past been wedded to slavery by birth,
education, prejudice, associations, and supposed interest, but who have
since been divorced from all connection with the system?
In most cases we shall give the names, the stations, and business of our
witnesses; in a few instances, in which we were requested to withhold
the name, we shall state such circumstances as will serve to show the
standing and competency of the individuals. If the reader should find in
what follows, very little testimony unfavorable to emancipation, he may
know the reason to be, that little was to be gleaned from any part of
Antigua. Indeed, we may say that, with very few exceptions, the
sentiments here recorded as coming from individuals, are really the
sentiments of the whole community. There is no such thing known in
Antigua as an _opposing, disaffected party_. So complete and thorough
has been the change in public opinion, that it would be now
_disreputable_ to speak against emancipation.
FIRST PROPOSITION.--The transition from slavery to freedom is
represented as a greet revolution, by which a prodigious change was
effected in _the condition of the negroes_.
In conversation with us, the planters often spoke of the greatness and
suddenness of the change. Said Mr. Barnard, of Green Castle estate, "The
transition from slavery to freedom, was like passing suddenly out of a
dark dungeon into the light of the sun."
R.B. Eldridge, Esq., a member of the assembly, remarked, that, "There
never had been in the history of the world so great and instantaneous a
change in the condition of so large a body of people."
The Honorable Nicholas Nugent, speaker of the house of assembly, and
proprietor, said, "There never was so sudden a transition from one state
to another, by so large a body of people. When the clock began to strike
the hour of twelve on the last night of July, 1834, the negroes of
Antigua were _slaves_--when it ceased they were all _freemen!_ It was a
stupendous change," he said, "and it was one of the sublimest spectacles
ever witnessed, to see the subjects of the change engaged at the very
moment it occurred, in worshipping God."
These, and very many similar ones, were the spontaneous expressions of
men _who had long contended against the change_ of which they spoke.
It is exceedingly difficult to make slaveholders see that there is any
material difference between slavery and freedom; but when they have once
renounced slavery, they _will magnify this distinction_ more than any
other class of men.
SECOND PROPOSITION.--Emancipation in Antigua was the result of political
and pecuniary considerations merely.
Abolition was seen to be inevitable, and there were but two courses left
to the colonists--to adopt the apprenticeship system, or immediate
emancipation. Motives of convenience led them to choose the latter.
Considerations of general philanthropy, of human rights, and of the
sinfulness of slavery, were scarcely so much as thought of.
Some time previous to the abolition of slavery, a meeting of the
influential men of the island was called in St. John's, to memorialize
parliament against the measure of abolition. When the meeting convened,
the Hon. Samuel O. Baijer, who had been the champion of the opposition,
was called upon to propose a plan of procedure. To the consternation of
the pro-slavery meeting, their leader arose and spoke to the following
effect:--"Gentlemen, my previous sentiments on this subject are well
known to you all; be not surprised to learn that they have undergone an
entire change, I have not altered my views without mature deliberation.
I have been making calculations with regard to the probable results of
emancipation, and _I have ascertained beyond a doubt, that I can
cultivate my estate at least one third cheaper by free labor than by
slave labor_." After Mr. B. had finished his remarks, Mr. S. Shands,
member of assembly, and a wealthy proprietor, observed that he
entertained precisely the same views with those just expressed; but he
thought that the honorable gentleman had been unwise in uttering them in
so public a manner; "for," said he, "should these sentiments reach the
ear of parliament, as coming from us, _it might induce them to withhold
the compensation_."
Col. Edwards, member of the assembly, then arose and said, that he had
long been opposed to slavery, but he had not _dared to avow his
sentiments_.
As might be supposed, the meeting adjourned without effecting the object
for which it was convened.
When the question came before the colonial assembly, similar discussions
ensued, and finally the bill for immediate emancipation passed both
bodies _unanimously_. It was an evidence of the spirit of selfish
expediency, which prompted the whole procedure, that they clogged the
emancipation bill with the proviso that a certain governmental tax on
exports, called the four and a half per cent tax[A], should be repealed.
Thus clogged, the bill was sent home for sanction, but it was rejected
by parliament, and sent back with instructions, that before it could
receive his majesty's seal, it must appear wholly unencumbered with
extraneous provisoes. This was a great disappointment to the
legislature, and it so chagrined them that very many actually withdrew
their support from the bill for emancipation, which passed finally in
the assembly only by the casting vote of the speaker.
[Footnote A: We subjoin the following brief history of the four and a
half per cent. tax, which we procured from the speaker of the assembly.
In the rein of Charles II., Antigua was conquered by the French, and the
inhabitants were forced to swear allegiance to the French government. In
a very short time the French were driven off the island and the English
again took possession of it. It was then declared, by order of the king,
that as the people had, by swearing allegiance to another government,
forfeited the protection of the British government, and all title to
their lands, they should not again receive either, except on condition
of paying to the king a duty of four and a half per cent on every
article exported from the island--and that they were to do in
_perpetuity_. To this hard condition they were obliged to submit, and
they have groaned under the onerous duty ever since. On every occasion,
which offered any hope, they have sought the repeal of the tax, but have
uniformly been defeated. When they saw that the abolition question was
coming to a crisis, they resolved to make a last effort for the repeal
of the four and a half percent duty. They therefore adopted immediate
emancipation, and then, covered as they were, with the laurels of so
magnanimous an act, they presented to parliament their cherished object.
The defeat was a humiliating one, and it produced such a reaction in the
island, as well nigh led to the rescinding of the abolition bill.]
The verbal and written statements of numerous planters also confirm the
declaration that emancipation was a measure solely of selfish policy.
Said Mr. Bernard, of Green Castle estate "Emancipation was preferred to
apprenticeship, because it was attended with less trouble, and left the
planters independent, instead of being saddled with a legion of
stipendiary magistrates."
Said Dr. Daniell, member of the council, and proprietor--"The
apprenticeship was rejected by us solely from motives of policy. We did
not wish to be annoyed with stipendiary magistrates."
Said Hon. N. Nugent--"We wished to let ourselves down in the easiest
manner possible; _therefore_ we chose immediate freedom in preference to
the apprenticeship."
"Emancipation was preferred to apprenticeship, because of the inevitable
and endless perplexities connected with the latter system."--_David
Cranstoun, Esq., colonial magistrate and planter_.
"It is not pretended that emancipation was produced by the influence of
religious considerations. It was a measure of mere convenience and
interest."--_A Moravian Missionary_.
The following testimony is extracted from a letter addressed to us by a
highly respectable merchant of St. John's--a gentleman of long
experience on the island, and now agent for several estates.
"Emancipation was an act of mere policy, adopted as _the safest and most
economic_ measure."
Our last item of testimony under this head is from a written statement
by the Hon. N. Nugent, speaker of the assembly, at the time of
emancipation. His remarks on this subject, although long, we are sure
will be read with interest. Alluding to the adoption of immediate
emancipation in preference to the apprenticeship, he observes:--
"The reasons and considerations which led to this step were various, of
course impressing the minds of different individuals in different
degrees. As slave emancipation could not be averted, and must inevitably
take place very shortly, it was better to meet the crisis at once, than
to have it hanging over our heads for six years, with all its harassing
doubts and anxieties; better to give an air of grace to that which would
be ultimately unavoidable; the slaves should rather have a motive of
gratitude and kind reciprocation, than to feel, on being declared free,
that their emancipation could neither be withheld nor retarded by their
owners. The projected apprenticeship, while it destroyed the means of an
instant coercion in a state of involuntary labor, equally withdrew or
neutralized all those urgent motives which constrain to industrious
exertion in the case of freemen. It abstracted from the master, in a
state of things then barely remunerative, one fourth of the time and
labor required in cultivation, and gave it to the servant, while it
compelled the master to supply the same allowances as before. With many
irksome restraints, conditions, and responsibilities imposed on the
master, it had no equivalent advantages. There appeared no reason, in
short, why general emancipation would not do as well in 1834 as in 1840.
Finally, a strong conviction existed that from peculiarity of climate
and soil, the physical wants and necessities of the peasantry would
compel them to labor for their subsistence, to seek employment and wages
from the proprietors of the soil; and if the _transformation_ could be
safely and quietly brought about, that the _free_ system might be
cheaper and more profitable than the other."
The general testimony of planters, missionaries, clergymen, merchants,
and others, was in confirmation of the same truth.
There is little reason to believe that the views of the colonists on
this subject have subsequently undergone much change. We did not hear,
excepting occasionally among the missionaries and clergy, the slightest
insinuation thrown out that _slavery was sinful_; that the slaves had a
right to freedom, or that it would have been wrong to have continued
them in bondage. The _politics_ of anti-slavery the Antiguans are
exceedingly well versed in, but of its _religion_, they seem to feel but
little. They seem never to have examined slavery in its moral relations;
never to have perceived its monstrous violations of right and its
impious tramplings upon God and man. The Antigua planters, it would
appear, have _yet_ to repent of the sin of slaveholding.
If the results of an emancipation so destitute of _principle_, so purely
selfish, could produce such general satisfaction, and be followed by
such happy results, it warrants us in anticipating still more decided
and unmingled blessings in the train of a voluntary, conscientious, and
religious abolition.
THIRD PROPOSITION.--The _event_ of emancipation passed PEACEFULLY. The
first of August, 1834, is universally regarded in Antigua, as having
presented a most imposing and sublime moral spectacle. It is almost
impossible to be in the company of a missionary, a planter, or an
emancipated negro, for ten minutes, without hearing some allusion to
that occasion. Even at the time of our visit to Antigua, after the lapse
of nearly three years, they spoke of the event with an admiration
apparently unabated.
For some time previous to the first of August, forebodings of disaster
lowered over the island. The day was fixed! Thirty thousand degraded
human beings were to be brought forth from the dungeon of slavery and
"turned loose on the community!" and this was to be done "in a moment,
in the twinkling of an eye."
Gloomy apprehensions were entertained by many of the planters. Some
timorous families did not go to bed on the night of the 31st of July;
fear drove sleep from their eyes, and they awaited with fluttering pulse
the hour of midnight, fearing lest the same bell which sounded the
jubilee of the slaves might toll the death knell of the masters.[A]
[Footnote A: We were informed by a merchant of St. John's, that several
American vessels which had lain for weeks in the harbor, weighed anchor
on the 31st of July, and made their escape, through actual fear, that
the island would be destroyed on the following day. Ere they set sail
they earnestly besought our informant to escape from the island, as he
valued his life.]
The more intelligent, who understood the disposition of the negroes, and
contemplated the natural tendencies of emancipation, through
philosophical principles, and to the light of human nature and history,
were free from alarm.
To convey to the reader some idea of the manner in which the great
crisis passed, we give the substance of several accounts which were
related to us in different parts of the island, by those who
witnessed them.
The Wesleyans kept "watch-night" in all their chapels on the night of
the 31st July. One of the Wesleyan missionaries gave us an account of
the watch meeting at the chapel in St. John's. The spacious house was
filled with the candidates for liberty. All was animation and eagerness.
A mighty chorus of voices swelled the song of expectation and joy, and
as they united in prayer, the voice of the leader was drowned in the
universal acclamations of thanksgiving and praise, and blessing, and
honor, and glory, to God, who had come down for their deliverance. In
such exercises the evening was spent until the hour of twelve
approached. The missionary then proposed that when the clock on the
cathedral should begin to strike, the whole congregation should fall
upon their knees and receive the boon of freedom in silence.
Accordingly, as the loud bell tolled its first note, the immense
assembly fell prostrate on their knees. All was silence, save the
quivering half-stifled breath of the struggling spirit. The slow notes
of the clock fell upon the multitude; peal on peal, peal on peal, rolled
over the prostrate throng, in tones of angels' voices, thrilling among
the desolate chords and weary heart strings. Scarce had the clock
sounded its last note, when the lightning flashed vividly around, and a
loud peal of thunder roared along the sky--God's pillar of fire, and
trump of jubilee! A moment of profoundest silence passed--then came the
_burst_--they broke forth in prayer; they shouted, they sung, "Glory,"
"alleluia;" they clapped their hands, leaped up, fell down, clasped each
other in their free arms, cried, laughed, and went to and fro, tossing
upward their unfettered hands; but high above the whole there was a
mighty sound which ever and anon swelled up; it was the utterings in
broken negro dialect of gratitude to God.
After this gush of excitement had spent itself; and the congregation
became calm, the religious exercises were resumed, and the remainder of
the night was occupied in singing and prayer, in reading the Bible, and
in addresses from the missionaries explaining the nature of the freedom
just received, and exhorting the freed people to be industrious, steady,
obedient to the laws, and to show themselves in all things worthy of the
high boon which God had conferred upon them.
The first of August came on Friday, and a release was proclaimed from
all work until the next Monday. The day was chiefly spent by the great
mass of the negroes in the churches and chapels. Thither they flocked
"as clouds, and as doves to their windows." The clergy and missionaries
throughout the island were actively engaged, seizing the opportunity in
order to enlighten the people on all the duties and responsibilities of
their new relation, and above all, urging them to the attainment of that
higher liberty with which Christ maketh his children free. In every
quarter we were assured that the day was like a Sabbath. Work had
ceased; the hum of business was still, and noise and tumult were unheard
on the streets. Tranquillity pervaded the towns and country. A Sabbath
indeed! when the wicked ceased from troubling, and the weary were at
rest, and the slave was free from his master! The planters informed us
that they went to the chapels where their own people were assembled,
greeted them, shook hands with them, and exchanged the most hearty
good wishes.
The churches and chapels were thronged all over the island. At Cedar
Hall, a Moravian station, the crowd was so great that the minister was
obliged to remove the meeting from the chapel to a neighboring grove.
At Grace Hill, another Moravian station, the negroes went to the
Missionary on the day before the first of August, and begged that they
might be allowed to have a meeting in the chapel at sunrise. It is the
usual practice among the Moravians to hold but one sunrise meeting
during the year, and that is on the morning of Easter: but as the people
besought very earnestly for this special favor on the Easter morning of
their freedom, it was granted to them.
Early in the morning they assembled at the chapel. For some time they
sat in perfect silence. The missionary then proposed that they should
kneel down and sing. The whole audience fell upon their knees, and sung
a hymn commencing with the following verse:
"Now let us praise the Lord,
With body, soul and spirit,
Who doth such wondrous things,
Beyond our sense and merit."
The singing was frequently interrupted with the tears and sobbings of
the melted people, until finally it was wholly arrested, and a tumult of
emotion overwhelmed the congregation.
During the day, repeated meetings were held. At eleven o'clock, the
people assembled in vast numbers. There were at least a _thousand_
persons around the chapel, who could not get in. For once the house of
God suffered violence, and the violent took it by force. After all the
services of the day, the people went again to the missionaries in a
body, and petitioned to have a meeting in the evening.
At Grace Bay, the people, all dressed in white, assembled in a spacious
court in front of the Moravian chapel. They formed a procession and
walked arm in arm into the chapel. Similar scenes occurred at all the
chapels and at the churches also. We were told by the missionaries that
the dress of the negroes on that occasion was uncommonly simple and
modest. There was not the least disposition of gaiety.
We were also informed by planters and missionaries in every part of the
island, that there was not a single dance known of, either day or night,
nor so much as a fiddle played. There were no riotous assemblies, no
drunken carousals. It was not in such channels that the excitement of
the emancipated flowed. They were as far from dissipation and
debauchery, as they were from violence and carnage. GRATITUDE was the
absorbing emotion. From the hill-tops, and the valleys, the cry of a
disenthralled people went upward like the sound of many waters, "Glory
to God, glory to God."
The testimony of the planters corresponds fully with that of the
missionaries.
Said R.B. Eldridge, Esq., after speaking of the number emancipated, "Yet
this vast body, (30,000,) _glided_ out of slavery into freedom with the
utmost tranquillity."
Dr. Daniell observed, that after so prodigious a revolution in the
condition of the negroes, he expected that some irregularities would
ensue; but he had been entirely disappointed. He also said that he
anticipated some relaxation from labour during the week following
emancipation. But he found his hands in the field early on Monday
morning, and not one missing. The same day he received word from another
estate, of which he was proprietor,[A] that the negroes had to a man
refused to go to the field. He immediately rode to the estate and found
the people standing with their hoes in their hands doing nothing. He
accosted them in a friendly manner: "What does this mean, my fellows,
that you are not at work this morning?" They immediately replied, "It's
not because we don't want to work, massa, but we wanted to see you first
and foremost to _know what the bargain would be_." As soon as that
matter was settled, the whole body of negroes turned out cheerfully,
without a moment's cavil.
[Footnote A: It is not unusual in the West Indies for proprietors to
commit their own estates into the hands of managers; and be themselves,
the managers of other men's estates.]
Mr. Bourne, of Millar's, informed us that the largest gang he had ever
seen in the field on his property, turned out the _week after
emancipation_.
Said Hon. N. Nugent, "Nothing could surpass the universal propriety of
the negroes' conduct on the first of August, 1834! Never was there a
more beautiful and interesting spectacle exhibited, than on that
occasion."
FOURTH PROPOSITION.--There has been _since_ emancipation, not only _no
rebellion in fact_, but NO FEAR OF IT in Antigua.
Proof 1st. The militia were not called out during Christmas holidays.
_Before_ emancipation, martial law invariably prevailed on the holidays,
but the very first Christmas after emancipation, the Governor made a
proclamation stating that _in consequence of the abolition of slavery_
it was no longer necessary to resort to such a precaution. There has not
been a parade of soldiery on any subsequent Christmas.[B]
[Footnote B: This has been followed by a measure on the part of the
Legislature, which is further proof of the same thing. It is "an Act for
amending and further continuing the several Acts at present in force for
better organizing and ordering the militia."
The preamble reads thus:
"WHEREAS the abolition of slavery in this island renders it
expedient to provide against an unnecessary augmentation of the
militia, and the existing laws for better organizing and ordering
that local force require amendment."
The following military advertisement also shows the increasing
confidence which is felt in the freed men:
"RECRUITS WANTED.--The free men of Antigua are now called on to show
their gratitude and loyalty to King WILLIAM, for the benefits he has
conferred on them and their families, by volunteering their services
as soldiers in his First West India Regiment; in doing which they
will acquire a still higher rank in society, by being placed on a
footing of perfect equality with the other troops in his Majesty's
service, and receive the same bounty, pay, clothing, rations and
allowances.
None but young men of good character can be received, and all such
will meet with every encouragement by applying at St. John's
Barracks, to
H. DOWNIE, _Capt. 1st W.I. Regt_. _September 15th_, 1836."
]
2d. The uniform declaration of planters and others:
"Previous to emancipation, many persons apprehended violence and
bloodshed as the consequence of turning the slaves all loose. But when
emancipation took place, all these apprehensions vanished. The sense of
personal security is universal. We know not of a single instance in
which the negroes have exhibited a _revengeful spirit_."
_S. Bourne, Esq., of Millar's.--Watkins, Esq., of Donovan's._
"It has always appeared to me self-evident, that if a man is peaceable
while a _slave_, he will be so when a _free man_."
_Dr. Ferguson._
"There is no possible danger of personal violence from the slaves;
should a foreign power invade our island, I have no doubt that the
negroes would, to a man, fight for the planters. I have the utmost
confidence in all the people who are under my management; they are my
friends, and they consider me their friend."
_H. Armstrong, Esq., of Fitch's Creek._
The same gentleman informed us that during slavery, he used frequently
to lie sleepless on his bed, thinking about his dangerous situation--a
lone white person far away from help, and surrounded by hundreds of
savage slaves; and he had spent hours thus, in devising plans of
self-defence in case the house should be attacked by the negroes. "If
they come," he would say to himself, "and break down the door, and fill
my bedroom, what shall I do? It will be useless to fire at them; my only
hope is to frighten the superstitious fellows by covering myself with a
white sheet, and rushing into the midst of them, crying,
'ghost, ghost.'"
Now Mr. A. sleeps in peace and safety, without conjuring up a ghost to
keep guard at his bedside. His bodyguard is a battalion of substantial
flesh and blood, made up of those who were once the objects of his
nightly terror!
"There has been no instance of personal violence since freedom. Some
persons pretended, prior to emancipation, to apprehend disastrous
results; but for my part I cannot say that I ever entertained such
fears. I could not see any thing which was to instigate negroes to
rebellion, _after_ they had obtained their liberty. I have not heard of
a single case of even _meditated_ revenge."
_Dr. Daniell, Proprietor, Member of Council, Attorney of six estates,
and Manager of Weatherill's._
"One of the blessings of emancipation has been, that it has banished the
_fear_ of insurrections, incendiarism, &c."
_Mr. Favey, Manager of Lavicount's._
"In my extensive intercourse with the people, as missionary, I have
never heard of an instance of violence or revenge on the part of the
negroes, even where they had been ill-treated during slavery."
_Rev. Mr. Morrish, Moravian Missionary._
"Insurrection or revenge is in no case dreaded, not even by those
planters who were most cruel in the time of slavery. My family go to
sleep every night with the doors unlocked, and we fear neither violence
nor robbery."
_Hon. N. Nugent._
Again, in a written communication, the same gentleman remarks:--"There
is not the slightest feeling of insecurity--quite the contrary. Property
is more secure, _for all idea of insurrection is abolished forever_."
"We have no cause now to fear insurrections; emancipation has freed us
from all danger on this score."
_David Cranstoun, Esq._
Extract of a letter from a merchant of St. John's who has resided in
Antigua more than thirty years:
"There is no sense of personal danger arising from insurrections or
conspiracies among the blacks. Serious apprehensions of this nature were
formerly entertained; but they gradually died away _during the first
year of freedom_."
We quote the following from a communication addressed to us by a
gentleman of long experience in Antigua--now a merchant in St.
John's--_James Scotland, Sen., Esq._
"Disturbances, insubordinations, and revelry, have greatly decreased
since emancipation; and it is a remarkable fact, that on the day of
abolition, which was observed with the solemnity and services of the
Sabbath, not an instance of common insolence was experienced from any
freed man."
"There is no feeling of insecurity. A stronger proof of this cannot be
given than the dispensing, within five months after emancipation, with
the Christmas guards, which had been regularly and uninterruptedly kept,
for nearly one hundred years--during the whole time of slavery."
"The military has never been called out, but on one occasion, since the
abolition, and that was when a certain planter, the most violent enemy
of freedom, reported to the Governor that there were strong symptoms of
insurrection among his negroes. The story was generally laughed at, and
the reporter of it was quite ashamed of his weakness and fears."
"My former occupation, as editor of a newspaper, rendered it necessary
for me to make incessant inquiries into the conduct as well as the
treatment of the emancipated, and I have _never heard any instance of
revenge_ for former injuries. The negroes have _quitted_ managers who
were _harsh or cruel_ to them in their bondage, but they removed in a
peaceable and orderly manner."
"Our negroes, and I presume other negroes too, are very little less
sensible to the force of those motives which lead to the peace, order,
and welfare of society, than any other set of people."
"The general conduct of the negroes has been worthy of much praise,
especially considering the sudden transition from slavery to
unrestricted freedom. Their demeanor is peaceable and orderly."
_Ralph Higinbothom, U. S. Consul._
As we mingled with the missionaries, both in town and country, they all
bore witness to the security of their persons and families. They,
equally with the planters, were surprised that we should make any
inquiries about insurrections. A question on this subject generally
excited a smile, a look of astonishment, or some exclamation, such as
"_Insurrection_! my dear sirs, we do not think of such a thing;" or,
"Rebellion indeed! why, what should they rebel for _now_, since they
have got their liberty!"
Physicians informed us that they were in the habit of riding into the
country at all hours of the night, and though they were constantly
passing negroes, both singly and in companies, they never had
experienced any rudeness, nor even so much as an insolent word. They
could go by night or day, into any part of the island where their
professional duties called them, without the slightest sense of danger.
A residence of nine weeks in the island gave us no small opportunity of
testing the reality of its boasted security. The hospitality of planters
and missionaries, of which we have recorded so many instances in a
previous part of this work, gave us free access to their houses in every
part of the island. In many cases we were constrained to spend the night
with them, and thus enjoyed, in the intimacies of the domestic circle,
and in the unguarded moments of social intercourse, every opportunity of
detecting any lurking fears of violence, if such there had been; but we
saw no evidence of it, either in the arrangements of the houses or in
the conduct of the inmates[A].
[Footnote A: In addition to the evidence derived from Antigua, we
would mention the following fact:
A planter, who is also an attorney, informed us that on the neighboring
little island of Barbuda, (which is leased from the English government
by Sir Christopher Coddrington,) there are five hundred negroes and only
_three white men_. The negroes are entirely free, yet the whites
continue to live among them without any fear of having their throats
cut. The island is cultivated in sugar.--Barbuda is under the
government of Antigua, and accordingly the act of entire emancipation
extended to that island.]
FIFTH PROPOSITION.--There has been no fear of house breaking, highway
robberies, and like misdemeanors, since emancipation. Statements,
similar to those adduced under the last head, from planters, and other
gentlemen, might be introduced here; but as this proposition is so
intimately involved in the foregoing, separate proof is not necessary.
The same causes which excite apprehensions of insurrection, produce
fears of robberies and other acts of violence; so also the same state of
society which establishes security of person, insures the safety of
property. Both in town and country we heard gentlemen repeatedly speak
of the slight fastenings to their houses. A mere lock, or bolt, was all
that secured the outside doors, and they might be burst open with ease,
by a single man. In some cases, as has already been intimated, the
planters habitually neglect to fasten their doors--so strong is their
confidence of safety. We were not a little struck with the remark of a
gentleman in St. John's. He said he had long been desirous to remove to
England, his native country, and had slavery continued much longer in
Antigua, he certainly should have gone; but _now_ the _security of
property was so much greater in Antigua than it was in England_, that he
thought it doubtful whether he should ever _venture_ to take his
family thither.
SIXTH PROPOSITION.--Emancipation is regarded by all classes as a great
blessing to the island.
There is not a class, or party, or sect, who do not esteem the abolition
of slavery as a _special blessing to them_. The rich, because it
relieved them of "property" which was fast becoming a disgrace, as it
had always been a vexation and a tax, and because it has emancipated
them from the terrors of insurrection, which kept them all their life
time subject to bondage. The poor whites--because it lifted from off
them the yoke of civil oppression. The free colored population--because
it gave the death blow to the prejudice that crushed them, and opened
the prospect of social, civil, and political equality with the whites.
The _slaves_--because it broke open their dungeon, led them out to
liberty, and gave them, in one munificent donation, their wives, their
children, their bodies, their souls--every thing!
The following extracts from the journals of the legislature, show the
state of feeling existing shortly after emancipation. The first is dated
October 30, 1834:
"The Speaker said, that he looked with exultation at the prospect before
us. The hand of the Most High was evidently working for us. Could we
regard the universal tranquillity, the respectful demeanor of the lower
classes, as less than an interposition of Providence? The agricultural
and commercial prosperity of the island were absolutely on the advance;
and for his part he would not hesitate to purchase estates to-morrow."
The following remark was made in the course of a speech by a member of
the council, November 12, 1834:
"Colonel Brown stated, that since emancipation he had never been without
a sufficient number of laborers, and he was certain he could obtain as
many more to-morrow as he should wish."
The general confidence in the beneficial results of emancipation, has
grown stronger with every succeeding year and month. It has been seen
that freedom will bear trial; that it will endure, and continue to bring
forth fruits of increasing value.
The Governor informed us that "it was _universally admitted_, that
emancipation had been a great blessing to the island."
In a company of proprietors and planters, who met us on a certain
occasion, among whom were lawyers, magistrates, and members of the
council, and of the assembly, the sentiment was distinctly avowed, that
emancipation was highly beneficial to the island, and there was not a
dissenting opinion.
"Emancipation is working most admirably, especially for the planters. It
is infinitely better policy than slavery or the apprenticeship either."
--_Dr. Ferguson_.
"Our planters find that freedom answers a far better purpose than
slavery ever did. A gentleman, who is attorney for eight estates,
assured me that there was no comparison between the benefits and
advantages of the two systems."--_Archdeacon Parry_.
"All the planters in my neighborhood (St. Philip's parish) are highly
pleased with the operation of the new system."--_Rev. Mr. Jones, Rector
of St. Philip's_.
"I do not know of more than one or two planters in the whole island, who
do not consider emancipation as a decided advantage to all parties."
--_Dr. Daniell_.
That emancipation should be universally regarded as a blessing, is
remarkable, when we consider that combination of untoward circumstances
which it has been called to encounter--a combination wholly
unprecedented in the history of the island. In 1835, the first year of
the new system, the colony was visited by one of the most desolating
hurricanes which has occurred for many years. In the same year,
cultivation was arrested, and the crops greatly reduced, by drought.
About the same time, the yellow fever prevailed with fearful mortality.
The next year the drought returned, and brooded in terror from March
until January, and from January until June: not only blasting the
harvest of '36, but extending its blight over the crops of '37.
Nothing could be better calculated to try the confidence in the new
system. Yet we find all classes zealously exonerating emancipation, and
in despite of tornado, plague, and wasting, still affirming the
blessings and advantages of freedom!
SEVENTH PROPOSITION.--_Free labor_ is decidedly LESS EXPENSIVE than
_slave labor_. It costs the planter actually less to pay his free
laborers daily wages, than it did to maintain his slaves. It will be
observed in the testimony which follows, that there is some difference
of opinion as to the _precise amount_ of reduction in the expenses,
which is owing to the various modes of management on different estates,
and more particularly, to the fact that some estates raise all their
provisions, while others raise none. But as to the fact itself, there
can scarcely be said to be any dispute among the planters. There was one
class of planters whose expenses seemed to be somewhat increased, viz.
those who raised all their provisions before emancipation, and ceased to
raise any _after_ that event. But in the opinion of the most intelligent
planters, even these did not really sustain any loss, for originally it
was bad policy to raise provisions, since it engrossed that labor which
would have been more profitably directed to the cultivation of sugar;
and hence they would ultimately be gainers by the change.
S. Bourne, Esq. stated that the expenses on Millar's estate, of which he
is manager, had diminished about _one third_.
Mr. Barnard, of Green Castle, thought his expenses were about the same
that they were formerly.
Mr. Favey, of Lavicount's estate, enumerated, among the advantages of
freedom over slavery, "the diminished expense."
Dr. Nugent also stated, that "the expenses of cultivation were greatly
diminished."
Mr. Hatley, manager of Fry's estate, said that the expenses on his
estate had been greatly reduced since emancipation. He showed us the
account of his expenditures for the last year of slavery, and the first
full year of freedom, 1835. The expenses during the last year of slavery
were 1371_l._ 2_s._ 4-1/2_d._; the expenses for 1835 were 821_l._ 16_s._
7-1/2_d._: showing a reduction of more than one third.
D. Cranstoun, Esq., informed us that his weekly expenses during slavery,
on the estate which he managed, were, on an average, 45_l._; the average
expenses now do not exceed 20_l._
Extract of a letter from Hon. N. Nugent:
"The expenses of cultivating sugar estates have in no instance, I
believe, been found _greater_ than before. As far as my experience goes,
they are certainly less, particularly as regards those properties which
were overhanded before, when proprietors were compelled to support more
dependents than they required. In some cases, the present cost is less
by _one third_. I have not time to furnish you with any detailed
statements, but the elements of the calculation are simple enough."
It is not difficult to account for the diminution in the cost of
cultivation. In the first place, for those estates that bought their
provision previous to emancipation, it cost more money to purchase their
stores than they now pay out in wages. This was especially true in dry
seasons, when home provisions failed, and the island was mainly
dependent upon foreign supplies.
But the chief source of the diminution lies in the reduced number of
people to be supported by the planter. During slavery, the planter was
required by law to maintain _all_ the slaves belonging to the estate;
the superannuated, the infirm, the pregnant, the nurses, the young
children, and the infants, as well as the working slaves. Now it is only
the latter class, the effective laborers, (with the addition of such as
were superannuated or infirm at the period of emancipation,) who are
dependent upon the planter. These are generally not more than one half,
frequently less than a third, of the whole number of negroes resident on
the estate; consequently a very considerable burthen has been removed
from the planter.
The reader may form some estimate of the reduced expense to the planter,
resulting from these causes combined, by considering the statement made
to us by Hon. N. Nugent, and repeatedly by proprietors and managers,
that had slavery been in existence during the present drought, many of
the smaller estates _must have been inevitably ruined_; on account of
the high price of imported provisions, (home provisions having fallen
short) and the number of slaves to be fed.
EIGHTH PROPOSITION.--The negroes work _more cheerfully_, and _do their
work better_ than they did during slavery. Wages are found to be an
ample substitute for the lash--they never fail to secure the amount of
labor desired. This is particularly true where task work is tried, which
is done occasionally in cases of a pressing nature, when considerable
effort is required. We heard of no complaints on the score of idleness,
but on the contrary, the negroes were highly commended for the
punctuality and cheerfulness with which they performed the work
assigned them.
The Governor stated, that "he was assured by planters, from every part
of the island, that the negroes were very industriously disposed."
"My people have become much more industrious since they were
emancipated. I have been induced to extend the sugar cultivation over a
number of acres more than have ever been cultivated before."--_Mr.
Watkins, of Donovan's_.
"Fearing the consequences of emancipation, I reduced my cultivation in
the year '34; but soon finding that my people would work as well as
ever, I brought up the cultivation the next year to the customary
extent, and this year ('36) I have added fifteen acres of new
land."--_S. Bourne, of Millar's_.
"Throughout the island the estates were never in a more advanced state
than they now are. The failure in the crops is not in the slightest
degree chargeable to a deficiency of labor. I have frequently adopted
the job system for short periods; the results have always been
gratifying--the negroes accomplished twice as much as when they worked
for daily wages, because they made more money. On some days they would
make three shillings--three times the ordinary wages."--_Dr. Daniell_.
"They are as a body _more_ industrious than when slaves, for the obvious
reason that they are _working for themselves_."--_Ralph Higinbothom,
U.S. Consul_.
"I have no hesitation in saying that on my estate cultivation is more
forward than ever it has been at the same season. The failure of the
crops is not in the least degree the fault of the laborers. They have
done well."--_Mr. Favey, of Lavicount's estate_.
"The most general apprehension prior to emancipation was, that the
negroes would not work after they were made free--that they would be
indolent, buy small parcels of land, and '_squat_' on them to the
neglect of sugar cultivation. Time, however, has proved that there was
no foundation for this apprehension. The estates were never in better
order than they are at present. If you are interrogated on your return
home concerning the cultivation of Antigua, you can say that every thing
depends upon the _weather_. If we have _sufficient rain_, you may be
certain that we shall realize abundant crops. If we have no rain, the
crops _must inevitably_ fail. _But we always depend upon the laborers_.
On account of the stimulus to industry which wages afford, there is far
less feigned sickness than there was during slavery. When slaves, the
negroes were glad to find any excuse for deserting their labor, and they
were incessantly feigning sickness. The sick-house was thronged with
real and pretended invalids. After '34, it was wholly deserted. The
negroes would not go near it; and, in truth, I have lately used it for a
stable."--_Hon. N. Nugent_.
"Though the laborers on both the estates under my management have been
considerably reduced since freedom, yet the grounds have never been in a
finer state of cultivation, than they are at present. When my work is
backward, I give it out in jobs, and it is always done in half the
usual time."
"Emancipation has almost wholly put an end to the practice of
_skulking_, or pretending to be sick. That was a thing which caused the
planter a vast deal of trouble during slavery. Every Monday morning
regularly, when I awoke, I found ten or a dozen, or perhaps twenty men
and women, standing around my door, waiting for me to make my first
appearance, and begging that I would let them off from work that day on
account of sickness. It was seldom the case that one fourth of the
applicants were really unwell; but every one would maintain that he was
very sick, and as it was hard to contend with them about it, they were
all sent off to the sick-house. Now this is entirely done away, and my
sick-house is converted into a chapel for religious worship."--_James
Howell, Esq._
"I find my people much more disposed to work than they formerly were.
The habit of feigning sickness to get rid of going to the field, is
completely broken up. This practice was very common during slavery. It
was often amusing to hear their complaints. One would come carrying an
arm in one hand, and declaring that it had a mighty pain in it, and he
could not use the hoe no way; another would make his appearance with
both hands on his breast, and with a rueful look complain of a great
pain in the stomach; a third came limping along, with a _dreadful
rheumatiz_ in his knees; and so on for a dozen or more. It was vain to
dispute with them, although it was often manifest that nothing earthly
was ailing them. They would say, 'Ah! me massa, you no tink how bad me
feel--it's _deep in_, massa.' But all this trouble is passed. We have no
sick-house now; no feigned sickness, and really much less actual illness
than formerly. My people say, '_they have not time to be sick now_.' My
cultivation has never been so far advanced at the same season, or in
finer order than it is at the present time. I have been encouraged by
the increasing industry of my people to bring several additional acres
under cultivation."--_Mr. Hatley, Fry's estate_.
"I get my work done better than formerly, and with incomparably more
cheerfulness. My estate was never in a finer state of cultivation than
it is now, though I employ _fewer_ laborers than during slavery. I have
occasionally used job, or task work, and with great success. When I give
out a job, it is accomplished in about half the time that it would have
required by giving the customary wages. The people will do as much in
one week at job work, as they will in two, working for a shilling a day.
I have known them, when they had a job to do, turn out before three
o'clock in the morning, and work by moonlight."--_D. Cranstoun, Esq._
"My people work very well for the ordinary wages; I have no fault to
find with them in this respect."--_Manager of Scotland's estate_.
_Extract from the Superintendent's Report to the Commander in Chief_.
SUPERINTENDENT'S OFFICE, _June 6th_. 1836.
"During the last month I have visited the country in almost every
direction, with the express object of paying a strict attention to
all branches of agricultural operations at that period progressing.
The result of my observations is decidedly favorable, as regards
proprietors and laborers. The manufacture of sugar has advanced as
far as the long and continued want of rain will admit; the lands,
generally, appear to be in a forward state of preparation for the
ensuing crop, and the laborers seem to work with more steadiness and
satisfaction to themselves and their employers, than they have
manifested for some length of time past, and their work is much more
correctly performed.
Complaints are, for the most part, adduced by the employers against
the laborers, and principally consist, (as hitherto,) of breaches of
contract; but I am happy to observe, that a diminution of
dissatisfaction on this head even, has taken place, as will be seen
by the accompanying general return of offences reported.
Your honor's most obedient, humble servant,
_Richard S. Wickham, Superintendent of police_."
NINTH PROPOSITION.--The negroes are _more easily managed_ as freemen
than they were when slaves.
On this point as well as on every other connected with the system of
slavery, public opinion in Antigua has undergone an entire revolution,
since 1834. It was then a common maxim that the peculiar characteristics
of the negro absolutely required a government of terror and brute force.
The Governor said, "The negroes are as a race remarkable for _docility_;
they are very easily controlled by kind influence. It is only necessary
to gain their confidence, and you can sway them as you please."
"Before emancipation took place, I dreaded the consequence of abolishing
the power of compelling labor, but I have since found by experience that
forbearance and kindness are sufficient for all purposes of authority. I
have seldom had any trouble in managing my people. They consider me
their friend, and the expression of my wish is enough for them. Those
planters who have retained their _harsh manner_ do not succeed under the
new system. The people will not bear it."--_Mr. J. Howell_.
"I find it remarkably easy to manage my people. I govern them entirely
by mildness. In every instance in which managers have persisted in their
habits of arbitrary command, they have failed. I have lately been
obliged to discharge a manager from one of the estates under my
direction, on account of his overbearing disposition. If I had not
dismissed him, the people would have abandoned the estate _en
masse_."--_Dr. Daniell_.
"The management of an estate under the free system is a much lighter
business than it used to be. We do not have the trouble to get the
people to work, or to keep them in order."--_Mr. Favey_.
"Before the abolition of slavery, I thought it would be utterly
impossible to manage my people without tyrannizing over them as usual,
and that it would be giving up the reins of government entirely, to
abandon the whip; but I am now satisfied that I was mistaken. I have
lost all desire to exercise arbitrary power. I have known of several
instances in which unpleasant disturbances have been occasioned by
managers giving way to their anger, and domineering over the laborers.
The people became disobedient and disorderly, and remained so until the
estates went into other hands, and a good management immediately
restored confidence and peace."--_Mr. Watkins_.
"Among the advantages belonging to the free system, may he enumerated
the greater facility in managing estates. We are freed from a world of
trouble and perplexity."--_David Cranstoun, Esq._
"I have no hesitation in saying, that if I have a supply of cash, I can
take off any crop it may please God to send. Having already, since
emancipation, taken off one fully sixty hogsheads above the average of
the last twenty years. I can speak with confidence."--_Letter from S.
Bourne, Esq._
Mr. Bourne stated a fact which illustrates the ease with which the
negroes are governed by gentle means. He said that it was a prevailing
practice during slavery for the slaves to have a dance soon after they
had finished gathering in the crop. At the completion of his crop in
'35, the people made arrangements for having the customary dance. They
were particularly elated because the crop which they had first taken off
was the largest one that had ever been produced by the estate, and it
was also the largest crop on the island for that year. With these
extraordinary stimulants and excitements, operating in connection with
the influence of habit, the people were strongly inclined to have a
dance. Mr. B. told them that dancing was a bad practice--and a very
childish, barbarous amusement, and he thought it was wholly unbecoming
_freemen_. He hoped therefore that they would dispense with it. The
negroes could not exactly agree with their manager--and said they did
not like to be disappointed in their expected sport. Mr. B. finally
proposed to them that he would get the Moravian minister, Rev. Mr.
Harvey, to ride out and preach to them on the appointed evening. The
people all agreed to this. Accordingly, Mr. Harvey preached, and they
said no more about the dance--nor have they ever attempted to get up a
dance since.
We had repeated opportunities of witnessing the management of the
laborers on the estates, and were always struck with the absence of
every thing like coercion.
By the kind invitation of Mr. Bourne, we accompanied him once on a
morning circuit around his estate. After riding some distance, we came
to the 'great gang' cutting canes. Mr. B. saluted the people in a
friendly manner, and they all responded with a hearty 'good mornin,
massa.' There were more than fifty persons, male and female, on the
spot. The most of them were employed in cutting canes[A], which they did
with a heavy knife called a _bill_. Mr. B. beckoned to the
superintendent, a black man, to come to him, and gave him some
directions for the forenoon's work, and then, after saying a few
encouraging words to the people, took us to another part of the estate,
remarking as we rode off, "I have entire confidence that those laborers
will do their work just as I want to have it done." We next came upon
some men, who were hoeing in a field of corn. We found that there had
been a slight altercation between two of the men. Peter, who was a
foreman, came to Mr. B., and complained that George would not leave the
cornfield and go to another kind of work as he had bid him. Mr. B.
called George, and asked for an explanation. George had a long story to
tell, and he made an earnest defence, accompanied with impassioned
gesticulation; but his dialect was of such outlandish description, that
we could not understand him. Mr. B. told us that the main ground of his
defence was that Peter's direction was _altogether unreasonable_. Peter
was then called upon to sustain his complaint; he spoke with equal
earnestness and equal unintelligibility. Mr. B. then gave his decision,
with great kindness of manner, which quite pacified both parties.
[Footnote A: The process of cutting canes is this:--The leafy part, at
top is first cut off down as low as the saccharine matter A few of the
lowest joints of the part thus cut off, are then stripped of the leaves,
and cut off for _plants_, for the next crop. The stalk is then cut off
close to the ground--and it is that which furnishes the juice for
sugar. It is from three to twelve feet long, and from one to two inches
in diameter, according to the quality of the soil, the seasonableness of
the weather, &c. The cutters are followed by _gatherers_, who bind up
the plants and stalks, as the cutters cast them behind them, in
different bundles. The carts follow in the train, and take up the
bundles--carrying the stalks to the mill to be ground, and the plants in
another direction.]
As we rode on, Mr. B. informed us that George was himself the foreman of
a small weeding gang, and felt it derogatory to his dignity to be
ordered by Peter.
We observed on all the estates which we visited, that the planters, when
they wish to influence their people, are in the habit of appealing to
them as _freemen_, and that now better things are expected of them. This
appeal to their self-respect seldom fails of carrying the point.
It is evident from the foregoing testimony, that if the negroes do not
work well on any estate, it is generally speaking the _fault of the
manager_. We were informed of many instances in which arbitrary men were
discharged from the management of estates, and the result has been the
restoration of order and industry among the people.
On this point we quote the testimony of James Scotland, Sen., Esq., an
intelligent and aged merchant of St. John's:
"In this colony, the evils and troubles attending emancipation have
resulted almost entirely from the perseverance of the planters in their
old habits of domination. The planters very frequently, indeed, _in the
early stage of freedom_, used their power as employers to the annoyance
and injury of their laborers. For the slightest misconduct, and
sometimes without any reason whatever, the poor negroes were dragged
before the magistrates, (planters or their friends,) and mulcted in
their wages, fined otherwise, and committed to jail or the house of
correction. And yet those harassed people remained patient, orderly and
submissive. _Their treatment now is much improved. The planters have
happily discovered, that as long as they kept the cultivators of their
lands in agitations and sufferings, their own interests were
sacrificed._"
TENTH PROPOSITION.--The negroes are _more trust-worthy, and take a
deeper interest in their employers' affairs_, since emancipation.
"My laborers manifest an increasing attachment to the estate. In all
their habits they are becoming more settled, and they begin to feel that
they have a personal interest in the success of the property on which
they live."--_Mr. Favey_.
"As long as the negroes felt uncertain whether they would remain in one
place, or be dismissed and compelled to seek a home elsewhere, they
manifested very little concern for the advancement of their employers'
interest; but in proportion as they become permanently established on an
estate, they seem to identify themselves with its prosperity. The
confidence between master and servant is mutually increasing."--_Mr.
James Howell_.
The Hon. Mr. Nugent, Dr. Daniell, D. Cranstoun, Esq., and other
planters, enumerated among the advantages of freedom, the planters being
released from the perplexities growing out of want of confidence in the
sympathy and honesty of the slaves.
S. Bourne, Esq., of Millar's, remarked as we were going towards his mill
and boiling-house, which had been in operation about a week, "I have not
been near my works for several days; yet I have no fears but that I
shall find every thing going on properly."
The planters have been too deeply experienced in the nature of slavery,
not to know that mutual jealousy, distrust, and alienation of feeling
and interest, are its legitimate offspring; and they have already seen
enough of the operation of freedom, to entertain the confident
expectation, that fair wages, kind treatment, and comfortable homes,
will attach the laborers to the estates, and identify the interests of
the employer and the employed.
ELEVENTH PROPOSITION.--The experiment in Antigua proves that emancipated
slaves can _appreciate law_. It is a prevailing opinion that those who
have long been slaves, cannot at once be safely subjected to the
control of law.
It will now be seen how far this theory is supported by facts. Let it be
remembered that the negroes of Antigua passed, "by a single _jump_, from
absolute slavery to unqualified freedom."[A] In proof of _their
subordination to law_, we give the testimony of planters, and quote also
from the police reports sent in monthly to the Governor, with copies of
which we were kindly furnished by order of His Excellency.
[Footnote A: Dr. Daniell.]
"I have found that the negroes are readily controlled by law; more so
perhaps than the laboring classes in other countries."--_David
Cranstoun, Esq._
"The conduct of the negro population generally, has surpassed all
expectation. They are as pliant to the hand of legislation, as any
people; perhaps more so than some." _Wesleyan Missionary_.
Similar sentiments were expressed by the Governor, the Hon. N. Nugent,
R.B. Eldridge, Esq., Dr. Ferguson, Dr. Daniell, and James Scotland, Jr.,
Esq., and numerous other planters, managers, &c. This testimony is
corroborated by the police reports, exhibiting, as they do,
comparatively few crimes, and those for the most part minor ones. We
have in our possession the police reports for every month from
September, 1835, to January, 1837. We give such specimens as will serve
to show the general tenor of the reports.
_Police-Office, St. John's, Sept_. 3, 1835.
"From the information which I have been able to collect by my own
personal exertions, and from the reports of the assistant
inspectors, at the out stations, I am induced to believe that, in
general, a far better feeling and good understanding at present
prevails between the laborers and their employers, than hitherto.
Capital offences have much decreased in number, as well as all minor
ones, and the principal crimes lately submitted for the
investigation of the magistrates, seem to consist chiefly in
trifling offences and breaches of contract.
_Signed, Richard S. Wickham,
Superintendent of Police_."
* * * * *
"To his excellency,
_Sir C.I. Murray McGregor, Governor, &c_.
_St. John's, Antigua, Oct_. 2, 1835.
Sir--The general state of regularity and tranquillity which prevails
throughout the island, admits of my making but a concise report to
your Excellency, for the last month.
The autumnal agricultural labors continue to progress favorably, and
I have every reason to believe, that the agriculturalists,
generally, are far more satisfied with the internal state of the
island affairs, than could possibly have been anticipated a short
period since.
From conversations which I have had with several gentlemen of
extensive interest and practical experience, united with my own
observations, I do not hesitate in making a favorable report of the
general easy and quietly progressing state of contentedness,
evidently showing itself among the laboring class; and I may add,
that with few exceptions, a reciprocity of kind and friendly feeling
at present is maintained between the planters and their laborers.
Although instances do occur of breach of contract, they are not very
frequent, and in many cases I have been induced to believe, that the
crime has originated more from the want of a proper understanding of
the time, intent, and meaning of the contract into which the
laborers have entered, than from the actual existence of any
dissatisfaction on their part."
_Signed, &c._
* * * * *
_St. John's, Antigua, Dec. 2d_, 1835.
"Sir--I have the honor to report that a continued uninterrupted
state of peace and good order has happily prevailed throughout the
island, during the last month.
The calendar of offences for trial at the ensuing sessions, bears
little comparison with those of former periods, and I am happy to
state, that the crimes generally, are of a trifling nature, and
principally petty thefts.
By a comparison of the two last lists of offences submitted for
investigation, it will be found that a decrease has taken place in
that for November."
_Signed, &c_.
* * * * *
St. John's, January 2d, 1836.
"Sir--I have great satisfaction in reporting to your Honor the
peaceable termination of the last year, and of the
Christmas vacation.
At this period of the year, which has for ages been celebrated for
scenes of gaiety and amusement among the laboring, as well as all
other classes of society, and when several successive days of
idleness occur, I cannot but congratulate your Honor, on the quiet
demeanor and general good order, which has happily been maintained
throughout the island.
It may not be improper here to remark, that during the holidays, I
had only one prisoner committed to my charge, and that even his
offence was of a minor nature."
_Signed, &c_.
* * * * *
_Extract of Report for February, 1836._
"The operation of the late Contract Acts, caused some trifling
inconvenience at the commencement, but now that they are clearly
understood, even by the young and ignorant, I am of opinion, that
the most beneficial effects have resulted from these salutary Acts,
equally to master and servant, and that a permanent understanding is
fully established.
A return of crimes reported during the month of January, I beg leave
to enclose, and at the same time, to congratulate your Honor on the
vast diminution of all minor misdemeanors, and of the continued
total absence of capital offences."
* * * * *
_Superintendent's office_, _Antigua, April 4th_, 1836.
"SIR--I am happy to remark, for the information of your Honor, that
the Easter holidays have passed off, without the occurrence of any
violation of the existing laws sufficiently serious to merit
particular observation."[A]
_Signed, &c_.
* * * * *
[Footnote A: This and the other reports concern, not St. John's merely,
but the entire population of the island.]
_Extract from the Report for May, 1836._
"It affords me great satisfaction in being able to report that the
continued tranquillity prevailing throughout the island, prevents
the necessity of my calling the particular attention of your Honor
to the existence of any serious or flagrant offence.
The crop season having far advanced, I have much pleasure in
remarking the continued steady and settled disposition, which on
most properties appear to be reciprocally established between the
proprietors and their agricultural laborers; and I do also venture
to offer as my opinion, that a considerable improvement has taken
place, in the behavior of domestic, as well as other laborers, not
immediately employed in husbandry."
We quote the following table of offences as a specimen of the monthly
reports:
_Police Office, St. John's, 1836._
RETURN OF OFFENCES REPORTED AT THE POLICE STATIONS FROM 1ST TO 31ST MAY.
NATURE OF St. E. Par- John- Total. More Less
OFFENSES. John's. Har- ham. ston's than than
bour. Point. last last
month. month.
Assaults. 2 2 4 5
Do. and
Batteries. 2 3 5 10 8
Breach of
Contract. 4 11 59 74 16
Burglaries. 2 3 5 2
Commitments
under
Vagrant
Act. 4 1 5 10
Do. for
Fines. 5 5 2
Do under
amended
Porter's
and
Jobber's
Act. 7
Felonies. 2 2 2
Injury to
property. 4 9 7 20 5
Larcenies. 4 4 4
Misdemeanors.3 12 15 15
Murders.
Petty
Thefts. 1 1 10
Trespasses. 1 2 2 5
Riding
improperly
thro' the
streets.
Total 33 41 76 150 25 61
_Signed_, Richard S. Wickham,
_Superintendent of Police_.
* * * * *
_Superintendent's office_,
_Antigua, July 6th_, 1836.
"SIR,--I have the honor to submit for your information, a general
return of all offences reported during the last month, by which your
Honor will perceive, that no increase of 'breach of contract' has
been recorded.
While I congratulate your Honor on the successful maintenance of
general peace, and a reciprocal good feeling among all classes of
society, I beg to assure you, that the opinion which I have been
able to form in relation to the behavior of the laboring population,
differs but little from my late observations.
At a crisis like this, when all hopes of the ultimate success of so
grand and bold an experiment, depends, almost entirely, on a cordial
co-operation of the community, I sincerely hope, that no obstacles
or interruptions will now present themselves, to disturb that
general good understanding so happily established, since the
adoption of unrestricted freedom."
* * * * *
_Superintendent's office_,
_St. John's, Sept. 4th_, 1836.
"SIR--I have the honor to enclose, for the information of your
Excellency, the usual monthly return of offences reported for
punishment.
It affords me very great satisfaction to report, that the internal
peace and tranquillity of the island has remained uninterrupted
during the last month; the conduct of all classes of the community
has been orderly and peaceable, and strictly obedient to the laws of
their country.
The agricultural laborers continue a steady and uniform line of
conduct, and with some few exceptions, afford a general satisfaction
to their several employers.
Every friend to this country, and to the liberties of the world,
must view with satisfaction the gradual improvement in the character
and behavior of this class of the community, under the constant
operation of the local enactments.
The change must naturally be slow, but I feel sure that, in due
time, a general amelioration in the habits and industry of the
laborers will be sensibly experienced by all grades of society in
this island, and will prove the benign effects and propitious
results of the co-operated exertions of all, for their general
benefit and future advancement.
Complaints have been made in the public prints of the robberies
committed in this town, as well as the neglect of duty of the police
force, and as these statements must eventually come under the
observation of your Excellency, I deem it my duty to make a few
observations on this point.
The town of St. John's occupies a space of one hundred and sixty
acres of land, divided into fourteen main, and nine cross streets,
exclusive of lanes and alleys--with a population of about three
thousand four hundred persons.
The numerical strength of the police force in this district, is
eleven sergeants and two officers; five of these sergeants are on
duty every twenty-four hours. One remains in charge of the premises,
arms, and stores; the other four patrole by day and night, and have
also to attend to the daily duties of the magistrates, and the
eleventh is employed by me (being an old one) in general patrole
duties, pointing out nuisances and irregularities.
One burglary and one felony alone were reported throughout the
island population of 37,000 souls in the month of July; and no
burglary, and three felonies, were last month reported.
The cases of robbery complained of, have been effected without any
violence or noise, and have principally been by concealment in
stores, which, added to the great want of a single lamp, or other
light, in any one street at night, must reasonably facilitate the
design of the robber, and defy the detection of the most active and
vigilant body of police."
_Signed, &c._
* * * * *
_Superintendent's office,_
_Antigua, January 4th, 1837._
"SIR--It is with feelings of the most lively gratification that I
report, for your notice the quiet and peaceable termination of
Christmas vacation, and the last year, which were concluded without
a single serious violation of the governing laws.
I cannot refrain from cordially congratulating your Excellency on
the regular and steady behavior, maintained by all ranks of society,
at this particular period of the year.
Not one species of crime which can be considered of an heinous
nature, has yet been discovered; and I proudly venture to declare my
opinion, that in no part of his Majesty's dominions, has a
population of thirty thousand conducted themselves with more strict
propriety, at this annual festivity, or been more peaceably obedient
to the laws of their country."
_Signed, &c._
* * * * *
In connection with the above quotation from the monthly reports, we
present an extract of a letter from the superintendent of the police,
addressed to us.
_St. John's, 9th February, 1837._
"MY DEAR SIRS--In compliance with your request, I have not any
hesitation in affording you any information on the subject of the
free system adopted in this island, which my public situation has
naturally provided me with.
The opinion which I have formed has been, and yet remains, in favor
of the emancipation; and I feel very confident that the system has
and continues to work well, in almost all instances. The laborers
have conducted themselves generally in a highly satisfactory manner
to all the authorities, and strikingly so when we reflect that the
greater portion of the population of the island were at once removed
from a state of long existing slavery, to one of unrestricted
freedom. Unacquainted as they are with the laws newly enacted for
their future government and guidance, and having been led in their
ignorance to expect incalculable wonders and benefits arising from
freedom, I cannot but reflect with amazement on the peace and good
order which have been so fortunately maintained throughout the
island population of thirty thousand subjects.
Some trifling difficulties sprang up on the commencement of the new
system among the laborers, but even these, on strict investigation,
proved to originate more from _an ignorance of their actual
position_, than from any bad feeling, or improper motives, and
consequently _were of short duration_. In general the laborers are
peaceable orderly, and civil, not only to those who move in higher
spheres of life than themselves, but also to each other.
The crimes they are generally guilty of, are petty thefts, and other
minor offences against the local acts; but crimes of an heinous
nature are very rare among them; and I may venture to say, that
petty thefts, _breaking sugar-canes to eat_, and offences of the
like description, _principally_ swell the calendars of our quarterly
courts of sessions. _Murder_ has been a stranger to this island for
many years; no execution has occurred among the island population
for a very long period; the only two instances were two
_Irish_ soldiers.
The lower class having become more acquainted with their governing
laws, have also become infinitely more obedient to them, and I have
observed _that particular care is taken among most of them to
explain to each other the nature of the laws_, and to point out in
their usual style the ill consequences attending any violation of
them. ==> _A due fear of, and a prompt obedience to, the
authority of the magistrates, is a prominent feature of the lower
orders_, and to this I mainly attribute the successful maintenance
of rural tranquillity.
Since emancipation, the agricultural laborer has had to contend with
two of the most obstinate droughts experienced for many years in the
island, which has decreased the supply of his accustomed vegetables
and ground provisions, and consequently subjected him and family to
very great privations; but this even, I think, has been submitted to
with becoming resignation.
To judge of the past and present state of society throughout the
island, I presume that _the lives and properties of all classes are
as secure in this, as in any other portion of his Majesty's
dominions_; and I sincerely hope that the future behavior of all,
will more clearly manifest the correctness of my views of this
highly important subject.
I remain, dear sirs, yours faithfully, RICHARD S. WICKHAM,
_Superintendent of police_."
* * * * *
This testimony is pointed and emphatic; and it comes from one whose
_official business it is to know_ the things whereof he here affirms. We
have presented not merely the opinions of Mr. W., relative to the
subordination of the emancipated negroes in Antigua, but likewise the
_facts_ upon which be founded his opinion.
On a point of such paramount importance we cannot be too explicit. We
therefore add the testimony of planters as to the actual state of crime
compared with that previous to emancipation.
Said J. Howell, Esq., of T. Jarvis's estate, "I do not think that
aggressions on property, and crime in general, have increased since
emancipation, but rather decreased. They _appear_ to be more frequent,
because they are made _more public_. During slavery, all petty thefts,
insubordination, insolence, neglect of work, and so forth, were punished
summarily on the estate, by order of the manager, and not even so much
as the rumor of them ever reached beyond the confines of the property.
Now all offences, whether great or trifling, are to be taken cognizance
of by the magistrate or jury, and hence they become notorious. Formerly
each planter knew only of those crimes which occurred on his own
property; now every one knows something about the crimes committed on
every other estate, as well as his own."
It will be remembered that Mr. H. is a man of thorough and long
experience in the condition of the island, having lived in it since the
year 1800, and being most of that time engaged directly is the
management of estates.
"Aggression on private property, such as breaking into houses, cutting
canes, &c., are decidedly fewer than formerly. It is true that crime is
made more _public_ now, than during slavery, when the master was his own
magistrate."--_Dr. Daniell_.
"I am of the opinion that crime in the island has diminished rather than
increased since the abolition of slavery. There is an _apparent_
increase of crime, because every misdemeanor, however petty, floats to
the surface."--_Hon. N. Nugent_.
We might multiply testimony on this point; but suffice it to say that
with very few exceptions, the planters, many of whom are also civil
magistrates, concur in these two statements; that the amount of crime is
actually less than it was during slavery; and that it _appears_ to _be
greater_ because of the publicity which is necessarily given by legal
processes to offences which were formerly punished and forgotten on the
spot where they occurred.
Some of the prominent points established by the foregoing evidence are,
1st. That most of the crimes committed are petty misdemeanors such as
turning out to work late in the morning, cutting canes to eat, &c. _High
penal offences_ are exceedingly rare.
2d. That where offences of a serious nature do occur, or any open
insubordination takes place, they are founded in ignorance or
misapprehension of the law, and are seldom repeated a second time, if
the law be properly explained and fully understood.
3d. That the above statements apply to no particular part of the island,
where the negroes are peculiarly favored with intelligence and religion,
but are made with reference to tire island generally. Now it happens
that in one quarter of the island the negro population are remarkably
ignorant and degraded. We were credibly informed by various
missionaries, who had labored in Antigua and in a number of the other
English islands, that they had not found in any colony so much
debasement among the people, as prevailed in the part of Antigua just
alluded to. Yet they testified that the negroes in that quarter were as
peaceable, orderly, and obedient to law, as in any other part of the
colony. We make this statement here particularly for the purpose of
remarking that in the testimony of the planters, and in the police
reports; there is not a single allusion to this portion of the island as
forming an exception to the prevailing state of order and subordination.
After the foregoing facts and evidences, we ask, what becomes of the
dogma, that slaves cannot be immediately placed under the government of
_equitable laws_ with safety to themselves and the community?
Twelfth proposition.--The emancipated negroes have shown _no disposition
to roam from place to place._ A tendency to rove about, is thought by
many to be a characteristic of the negro; he is not allowed even an
ordinary share of local attachment, but must leave the chain and staple
of slavery to hold him amidst the graves of his fathers and the society
of his children. The experiment in Antigua shows that such sentiments
are groundless prejudices. There a large body of slaves were "_turned
loose_;" they had full liberty to leave their old homes and settle on
other properties--or if they preferred a continuous course of roving,
they might change employers every six weeks, and pass from one estate to
another until they had accomplished the circuit of the island. But, what
are the facts? "The negroes are not disposed to leave the estates on
which they have formerly lived, unless they are forced away by bad
treatment. I have witnessed many facts which illustrate this remark. Not
unfrequently one of the laborers will get dissatisfied about something,
and in the excitement of the moment will notify me that he intends to
leave my employ at the end of a month. But in nine cases out of ten such
persons, before the month has expired, beg to be allowed to remain on
the estate. The strength of their _local attachment_ soon overcomes
their resentment and even drives them to make the most humiliating
confessions in order to be restored to the favor of their employer, and
thus be permitted to remain in their old homes."--_H. Armstrong, Esq._
"Nothing but bad treatment on the part of the planters has ever caused
the negroes to leave the estates on which they were accustomed to live,
and in such cases a _change of management_ has almost uniformly been
sufficient to induce them to return. We have known several instances of
this kind."--_S. Bourne, Esq., of Millar's, and Mr. Watkins, of
Donavan's_.
"The negroes are remarkably attached to their homes. In the year 1828,
forty-three slaves were sold from the estate under my management, and
removed to another estate ten miles distant. After emancipation, the
whole of these came back, and plead with me to employ them, that they
might live in their former houses."--_James Howell, Esq._
"Very few of my people have left me. The negroes are peculiar for their
attachment to their homes."--_Samuel Barnard, Esq., of Green Castle_.
"Love of home is very remarkable in the negroes. It is a passion with
them. On one of the estates of which I am attorney, a part of the
laborers were hired from other proprietors. They had been for a great
many years living on the estate, and they became so strongly attached to
it, that they all continued to work on it after emancipation, and they
still remain on the same property. The negroes are loth to leave their
homes, and they very seldom do so unless forced away by ill
treatment."--_Dr. Daniell_.
On a certain occasion we were in the company of four planters, and among
other topics this subject was much spoken of. They all accorded
perfectly in the sentiment that the negroes were peculiarly sensible to
the influence of local attachments. One of the gentlemen observed that
it was a very common saying with them--"_Me nebber leave my bornin'
ground_,"--i.e., birth-place.
An aged gentleman in St. John's, who was formerly a planter, remarked,
"The negroes have very strong local attachments. They love their little
hut, where the calabash tree, planted at the birth of a son, waves over
the bones of their parents. They will endure almost any hardship and
suffer repeated wrongs before they will desert that spot."
Such are the sentiments of West India planters; expressed, in the
majority of cases, spontaneously, and mostly in illustration of other
statements. We did not hear a word that implied an opposite sentiment.
It is true, much was said about the emigration to Demerara, but the
facts in this case only serve to confirm the testimony already quoted.
In the first place, nothing but the inducement of very high wages[A]
could influence any to go, and in the next place, after they got there
they sighed to return, (but were not permitted,) and sent back word to
their relatives and friends not to leave Antigua.
[Footnote A: From fifty cents to a dollar per day.]
Facts clearly prove, that the negroes, instead of being indifferent to
local attachments, are peculiarly alive to them. That nothing short of
cruelty can drive them from their homes--that they will endure even
that, as long as it can be borne, rather than leave; and that as soon as
the instrument of cruelty is removed, they will hasten back to their
"_bornin' ground._"
THIRTEENTH PROPOSITION.--"The gift of unrestricted freedom, though so
suddenly bestowed, has not made the negroes more insolent than they were
while slaves, but has rendered them _less so_."--_Dr. Daniell_.
Said James Howell, Esq.--"A short time after emancipation, the negroes
showed some disposition to assume airs and affect a degree of
independence; but this soon disappeared, and they are now respectful and
civil. There has been a mutual improvement in this particular. The
planters treat the laborers more like fellow men, and this leads the
latter to be respectful in their turn."
R.B. Eldridge, Esq., asked us if we had not observed the civility of the
lower classes as we passed them on the streets, both in town and in the
country. He said it was their uniform custom to bow or touch their hat
when they passed a white person. They did so during slavery, and he had
not discovered any change in this respect since emancipation.
Said Mr. Bourne--"The negroes are decidedly less insolent now than they
were during slavery."
Said Mr. Watkins, of Donovan's--"The negroes are now all _cap in hand_;
as they know that it is for their interest to be respectful to their
employers."
Said Dr. Nugent--"Emancipation has not produced insolence among the
negroes."
During our stay in Antigua, we saw no indications whatsoever of
insolence. We spoke in a former part of this work of the uncommon
civility manifested in a variety of ways on the road-sides.
A trifling incident occurred one day in St. John's, which at first
seemed to be no small rudeness. As one of us was standing in the
verandah of our lodging house, in the dusk of the evening, a brawny
negro man who was walking down the middle of the street, stopped
opposite us, and squaring himself, called out. "Heigh! What for you
stand dare wid your arms so?" placing his arms akimbo, in imitation of
ours. Seeing we made no answer, he repeated the question, still standing
in the same posture. We took no notice of him, seeing that his supposed
insolence was at most good-humored and innocent. Our hostess, a colored
lady, happened to step out at the moment, and told us that the man had
mistaken us for her son, with whom he was well acquainted, at the same
time calling to the man, and telling him of his mistake. The negro
instantly dropped his arms, took off his hat, begged pardon, and walked
away apparently quite ashamed.
FOURTEENTH PROPOSITION.--Emancipation in Antigua has demonstrated that
GRATITUDE _is a prominent trait of the negro character_. The conduct of
the negroes on the first of August, 1834, is ample proof of this; and
their uniform conduct since that event manifests an _habitual_ feeling
of gratitude. Said one, "The liberty we received from the king, we can
never sufficiently thank God for; whenever we think of it, our hearts go
out in gratitude to God." Similar expressions we heard repeatedly from
the negroes.--We observed that the slightest allusion to the first of
August in a company of freed persons, would awaken powerful emotions,
accompanied with exclamations of "tank de good Lord," "bless de Savior,"
"praise de blessed Savior," and such like.
It was the remark of Mr. James Howell, manager of Thibou Jarvis's--"That
the negroes evinced very little gratitude to their _masters_ for
freedom. Their gratitude all flowed toward God and the king, whom they
regarded as the sole authors of their liberty."
Mr. Watkins observed that "the negroes' motto was God and the king. This
feeling existed particularly at the time of emancipation, and shortly
after it. They have since become more attached to their former masters."
It is by no means strange that the negroes should feel little gratitude
toward their late masters, since they knew their opposition to the
benevolent intentions of the English government. We were informed by Dr.
Daniell and many others, that for several months before emancipation
took place, the negroes had an idea that the king had sent them 'their
free papers,' and that _their masters were keeping them back._ Besides,
it was but two years before that period, that they had come into fierce
and open hostility with the planters for abolishing the Sunday market,
and giving them no market-day instead thereof. In this thing their
masters had shown themselves to be their enemies.
That any good thing could come from such persons the slaves were
doubtless slow to believe. However, it is an undeniable fact, that since
emancipation, kind treatment on the part of the masters, has never
failed to excite gratitude in the negroes. The planters understand fully
how they may secure the attachment and confidence of their people. A
_grateful_ and _contented_ spirit certainly characterizes the negroes of
Antigua. They do not lightly esteem what they have got, and murmur
because they have no more. They do not complain of small wages, and
strike for higher. They do not grumble about their simple food and their
coarse clothes, and flaunt about, saying '_freemen ought to live
better_.' They do not become dissatisfied with their lowly,
cane-thatched huts, and say we ought to have as good houses as massa.
They do not look with an evil eye upon the political privileges of the
whites, and say we have the majority, and we'll rule. It is the common
saying with them, when speaking of the inconveniences which they
sometimes suffer, "Well, we must be satify and conten."
FIFTEENTH PROPOSITION.--The freed negroes of Antigua have proved that
_they are able to take care of themselves_. It is affirmed by the
opponents of emancipation in the United States, that if the slaves were
liberated, they could not take care of themselves. Some of the reasons
assigned for entertaining this view are--1st, "The negro is naturally
improvident." 2d, "He is constitutionally indolent." 3d, "Being of an
inferior race, he is deficient in that shrewdness and management
necessary to prevent his being imposed upon, and which are indispensable
to enable him to conduct any business with success." 4th, "All these
natural defects have been aggravated by slavery. The slave never
provides for himself, but looks to his master for everything he needs.
So likewise he becomes increasingly averse to labor, by being driven to
it daily, and flogged for neglecting it. Furthermore, whatever of mind
he had originally has been extinguished by slavery." Thus by nature and
by habit the negro is utterly unqualified to take care of himself. So
much for theory; now for testimony. First, what is the evidence with
regard to the _improvidence_ of the negroes?
"During slavery, the negroes squandered every cent of money they got,
because they were sure of food and clothing. Since their freedom, they
have begun to cultivate habits of carefulness and economy".--_Mr.
James Howell_.
Facts--1st. The low wages of the laborers is proof of their providence.
Did they not observe the strictest economy, they could not live on fifty
cents per week.
2d. That they buy small parcels of land to cultivate, is proof of
economy and foresight. The planters have to resort to every means in
their power to induce their laborers not to purchase land.
3d. The Friendly Societies are an evidence of the same thing. How can we
account for the number of these societies, and for the large sums of
money annually contributed in them? And how is it that these societies
have trebled, both in members and means since emancipation, if it be
true that the negroes are thus improvident, and that freedom brings
starvation?
4th. The weekly and monthly contributions to the churches, to benevolent
societies, and to the schools, demonstrate the economy of the negroes;
and the _great increase_ of these contributions since August, 1834,
proves that emancipation has not made them less economical.
5th. The increasing attention paid to the cultivation of their private
provision grounds is further proof of their foresight. For some time
subsequent to emancipation, as long as the people were in an unsettled
state, they partially neglected their grounds. The reason was, they did
not know whether they should remain on the same estate long enough to
reap their provisions, should they plant any. This state of uncertainty
very naturally paralyzed all industry and enterprise; and their
neglecting the cultivation of their provision grounds, _under such
circumstances_, evinced foresight rather than improvidence. Since they
have become more permanently established on the estates, they are
resuming the cultivation of their grounds with renewed vigor.
Said Dr. Daniell--"There is an increasing attention paid by the negroes
to cultivating their private lands, since they have become more
permanently settled."
6th. The fact that the parents take care of the wages which their
children earn, shows their provident disposition. We were informed that
the mothers usually take charge of the money paid to their children,
especially their daughters, and this, in order to teach them proper
subordination, and to provide against casualties, sickness, and the
infirmities of age.
7th. The fact that the negroes are able to support their aged parents,
is further proof.
As it regards the second specification, viz., _constitutional
indolence_, we may refer generally to the evidence on this subject under
a former proposition. We will merely state here two facts.
1st. Although the negroes are not obliged to work on Saturday, yet they
are in the habit of going to estates that are weak-handed, and hiring
themselves out on that day.
2d. It is customary throughout the island to give two hours (from 12 to
2) recess from labor. We were told that in many cases this time is spent
in working on their private provision grounds, or in some active
employment by which a pittance may be added to their scanty earnings.
What are the facts respecting the natural _inferiority_ of the negro
race, and their incompetency to manage their own affairs?
Said Mr. Armstrong--"The negroes are exceedingly quick _to turn a
thought_. They show a great deal of shrewdness in every thing which
concerns their own interests. To a stranger it must be utterly
incredible how they can manage to live on such small wages. They are
very exact in keeping their accounts with the manager."
"The negroes are very acute in making bargains. A difficulty once arose
on an estate under my charge, between the manager and the people, in
settling for a job which the laborers had done. The latter complained
that the manager did not give them as much as was stipulated in the
original agreement. The manager contended that he had paid the whole
amount. The people brought their complaint before me, as attorney, and
maintained that there was one shilling and six-pence (about nineteen
cents) due each of them. I examined the accounts and found that they
were right, and that the manager had really made a mistake to the very
amount specified."--_Dr. Daniell_.
"The emancipated people manifest as much cunning and address in
business, as any class of persons."--_Mr. J. Howell_.
"The capabilities of the blacks for education are conspicuous; so also
as to mental acquirements and trades."--_Hon. N. Nugent_.
It is a little remarkable that while Americans fear that the negroes, if
emancipated, could not take care of themselves, the West Indians fear
lest they _should_ take care of themselves; hence they discourage them
from buying lands, from learning trades, and from all employments which
might render them independent of sugar cultivation.
SIXTEENTH PROPOSITION.--Emancipation has operated at once to elevate and
improve the negroes. It introduced them into the midst of all relations,
human and divine. It was the first formal acknowledgment that they were
MEN--personally interested in the operations of law, and the
requirements of God. It laid the corner-stone in the fabric of their
moral and intellectual improvement.
"The negroes have a growing self-respect and regard for character. This
was a feeling which was scarcely known by them during slavery."--_Mr.
J. Howell_.
"The negroes pay a great deal more attention to their personal
appearance, than they were accustomed to while slaves. The _women_ in
particular have improved astonishingly in their dress and
manners."--_Dr. Daniell_.
Abundant proof of this proposition may be found in the statements
already made respecting the decrease of licentiousness, the increased
attention paid to marriage, the abandonment by the mothers of the
horrible practice of selling their daughters to vile white men, the
reverence for the Sabbath, the attendance upon divine worship, the
exemplary subordination to law, the avoidance of riotous conduct,
insolence, and intemperance.
SEVENTEENTH PROPOSITION--Emancipation promises a vast improvement in the
condition of woman. What could more effectually force woman from her
sphere, than slavery has done by dragging her to the field, subjecting
her to the obscene remarks, and to the vile abominations of licentious
drivers and overseers; by compelling her to wield the heavy hoe, until
advancing pregnancy rendered her useless then at the earliest possible
period driving her back to the field with her infant swung at her back,
or torn from her and committed to a stranger. Some of these evils still
exist in Antigua, but there has already been a great abatement of them,
and the humane planters look forward to their complete removal, and to
the ultimate restoration of woman to the quiet and purity of
domestic life.
Samuel Bourne, Esq., stated, that there had been a great improvement in
the treatment of mothers on his estate. "Under the old system, mothers
were required to work half the time after their children were six weeks
old; but now we do not call them out for _nine months_ after their
confinement, until their children are entirely weaned."
"In those cases where women have husbands in the field, they do not turn
out while they are nursing their children. In many instances the
husbands prefer to have their wives engaged in other work, and I do not
require them to go to the field."--_Mr. J Howell_.
Much is already beginning to be said of the probability that the women
will withdraw from agricultural labor. A conviction of the impropriety
of females engaging in such employments is gradually forming in the
minds of enlightened and influential planters.
A short time previous to emancipation, the Hon. N. Nugent, speaker of
the assembly, made the following remarks before the house:--"At the
close of the debate, he uttered his fervent hope, that the day would
come when the principal part of the agriculture of the island would be
performed by males, and that the women would be occupied in keeping
their cottages in order, and in increasing their domestic comforts. The
desire of improvement is strong among them; they are looking anxiously
forward to the instruction and advancement of their children, and even
of themselves."--_Antigua Herald, of March_, 1834.
In a written communication to us, dated January 17, 1837, the Speaker
says: "Emancipation will, I doubt not, improve the condition of the
females. There can be no doubt that they will ultimately leave the
field, (except in times of emergency,) and confine themselves to their
appropriate domestic employments."
EIGHTEENTH PROPOSITION.--Real estate has risen in value since
emancipation; mercantile and mechanical occupations have received a
fresh impulse; and the general condition of the colony is decidedly more
flourishing than at any former period.
"The credit of the island has decidedly improved. The internal
prosperity of the island is advancing in an increased ratio. More
buildings have been erected since emancipation, than for twenty years
before. Stores and shops have multiplied astonishingly; I can safely say
that their number has more than quintupled since the abolition of
slavery."--_Dr. Ferguson_.
"Emancipation has very greatly increased the value of, and consequently
the demand for, real estate. That which three years ago was a drug
altogether unsaleable by private bargain; has now many inquirers after
it, and ready purchasers at good prices. The importation of British
manufactured goods has been considerably augmented, probably one fourth."
"The credit of the planters who have been chiefly affected by the
change, has been much improved. And _the great reduction of expense in
managing the estates_, has made them men of more real wealth, and
consequently raised their credit both with the English merchants and our
own."--_James Scotland, Sen., Esq._
"The effect of emancipation upon the commerce of the island _must needs_
have been beneficial, as the laborers indulge in more wheaten flour,
rice, mackerel, dry fish, and salt-pork, than formerly. More lumber is
used in the superior cottages now built for their habitations. More dry
goods--manufactures of wool, cotton, linen, silk, leather, &c., are also
used, now that the laborers can better afford to indulge their
propensity for gay clothing."--_Statement of a merchant and agent
for estates_.
"Real estate has risen in value, and mercantile business has greatly
improved."--_H. Armstrong, Esq._
A merchant of St. John's informed us, that real estate had increased in
value at least fifty per cent. He mentioned the fact, that an estate
which previous to emancipation could not be sold for £600 current,
lately brought £2000 current.
NINETEENTH PROPOSITION--Emancipation has been followed by the
introduction of labor-saving machinery.
"Various expedients for saving manual labor have already been
introduced, and we anticipate still greater improvements. Very little
was thought of this subject previous to emancipation."--_S.
Bourne, Esq._
"Planters are beginning to cast about for improvements in labor. My own
mind has been greatly turned to this subject since emancipation."--_H.
Armstrong, Esq._
"The plough is beginning to be very extensively used."--_Mr. Hatley_.
"There has been considerable simplification in agricultural labor
already, which would have been more conspicuous, had it not been for
the excessive drought which has prevailed since 1834. The plough is
more used, and the expedients for manuring land are less
laborious."--_Extract of a letter from Hon. N. Nugent_.
TWENTIETH PROPOSITION.--Emancipation has produced the most decided
change in the views of the _planters_.
"Before emancipation took place, there was the bitterest opposition to
it among the planters. But after freedom came, they were delighted with
the change. I felt strong opposition myself, being exceedingly unwilling
to give up my power of command. But I shall never forget how differently
I felt when freedom took place I arose from my bed on the first of
August, exclaiming with joy, 'I am free, I am free; I _was the greatest
slave on the estate_, but now I am free.'"--_Mr. J. Howell_.
"We all resisted violently the measure of abolition, when it first began
to be agitated in England. We regarded it as an outrageous interference
with our rights, with our property. But we are now rejoiced that slavery
is abolished."--_Dr. Daniell_.
"I have already seen such decided benefits growing out of the free labor
system, that for my part I wish never to see the face of slavery again."
--_Mr. Hatley_.
"I do not know of a single planter who would be willing to return to
slavery. We all feel that it was a great curse."--_D. Cranstoun, Esq._
The speaker of the assembly was requested to state especially the
advantages of freedom both to the master and the slave; and he kindly
communicated the following reply:
"The benefits to the master are conspicuous--he has got rid of the
cark and care, the anxiety and incessant worry of managing slaves;
all the trouble and responsibility of rearing them from infancy, of
their proper maintenance in health, and sickness, and decrepitude,
of coercing them to labor, restraining, correcting, and punishing
their faults and crimes--settling all their grievances and disputes.
He is now entirely free from all apprehension of injury, revenge, or
insurrection, however transient and momentary such impression may
have formerly been. He has no longer the reproach of being a
_slaveholder_; his property has lost all the _taint_ of slavery, and
is placed on as secure a footing, in a moral and political point of
view, as that in any other part of the British dominions.
As regards the _other_ party, it seems almost unnecessary to point
out the advantages of being a free man rather than a slave. He is no
longer liable to personal trespass of any sort; he has a right of
self-control, and all the immunities enjoyed by other classes of his
fellow subjects--he is enabled to better his condition as he thinks
proper--he can make what arrangements he likes best, as regards his
kindred, and all his domestic relations--he takes to his _own_ use
and behoof, all the wages and profits of his own labor; he receives
money wages instead of weekly allowances, and can purchase such
particular food and necessaries as he prefers--_and so on_! IT WOULD
BE ENDLESS TO ATTEMPT TO ENUMERATE ALL THE SUPERIOR ADVANTAGES OF A
STATE OF FREEDOM TO ONE OF SLAVERY!"
The writer says, at the close of his invaluable letter, "I was born in
Antigua, and have resided here with little interruption since 1809.
Since 1814, I have taken an active concern in plantation affairs." He
was born heir to a large slave property, and retained it up to the hour
of emancipation. He is now the proprietor of an estate.
We have, another witness to introduce to the reader, Ralph Higinbothom,
Esq., the UNITED STATES CONSUL!--_Hear him_!--
"Whatever may have been the dissatisfaction as regards emancipation
among the planters at its commencement, there are few, indeed, if any,
who are not _now_ well satisfied that under the present system, their
properties are better worked, and their laborers more contented and
cheerful, than in the time of slavery."
In order that the reader may see the _revolution_ that has taken place
since emancipation in the views of the highest class of society in
Antigua, we make a few extracts.
"There was the most violent opposition in the legislature, and
throughout the island, to the anti-slavery proceedings in Parliament.
The anti-slavery party in England were detested here for their
_fanatical and reckless course_. Such was the state of feeling previous
to emancipation, that it would have been certain disgrace for any
planter to have avowed the least sympathy with anti-slavery sentiments.
The humane might have their hopes and aspirations, and they might
secretly long to see slavery ultimately terminated; but they did not
dare to make such feelings public. _They would at once have been branded
as the enemies of their country!"--Hon. N. Nugent_.
"There cannot be said to have been any _anti-slavery party_ in the
island before emancipation. There were some individuals in St. John's,
and a very few planters, who favored the anti-slavery views, but they
dared not open their mouths, because of the bitter hostility which
prevailed."--_S. Bourne, Esq._
"The opinions of the clergymen and missionaries, with the exception of,
I believe, a few clergymen, were favorable to emancipation; but neither
in their conduct, preaching, or prayers, did they declare themselves
openly, until the measure of abolition was determined on. The
missionaries felt restrained by their instructions from home, and the
clergymen thought that it did not comport with their order 'to take part
in politics!' I never heard of a single _planter_ who was favorable,
until about three months before the emancipation took place; when some
few of them began to perceive that it would be advantageous to their
_interests_. Whoever was known or suspected of being an advocate for
freedom, became the object of vengeance, and was sure to suffer, if in
no other way, by a loss of part of his business. My son-in-law[A], my
son[B], and myself, were perhaps the chief marks for calumny and
resentment. The first was twice elected a member of the Assembly, and as
often put out by scrutinies conducted by the House, in the most
flagrantly dishonest manner. Every attempt was made to deprive the
second of his business, as a lawyer. With regard to myself, I was thrown
into prison, without any semblance of justice, without any form of
trial, but in the most summary manner, simply upon the complaint of one
of the justices, and without any opportunity being allowed me of saying
one word in my defence. I remained in jail until discharged by a
peremptory order from the Colonial Secretary, to whom I
appealed."--_James Scotland, Sen., Esq._
[Footnote A: Dr. Ferguson, physician in St. John's.]
[Footnote B: James Scotland, Jun., Esq., barrister, proprietor, and
member of Assembly.]
Another gentleman, a white man, was arrested on the charge of being in
the interest of the English Anti-Slavery party, and in a manner equally
summary and illegal, was cast into prison, and confined there for
one year.
From the foregoing statements we obtain the following comparative view
of the past and present state of sentiment in Antigua.
Views and conduct of the planters previous to emancipation:
1st. They regarded the negroes as an inferior race, fit only for slaves.
2d. They regarded them as their rightful property.
3d. They took it for granted that negroes could never be made to work
without the use of the whip; hence,
4th. They supposed that emancipation would annihilate sugar cultivation;
and,
5th. That it would lead to bloodshed and general rebellion.
6th. Those therefore who favored it, were considered the "_enemies of
their country_"--"TRAITORS"--and were accordingly persecuted in various
ways, not excepting imprisonment in the common jail.
7th. So popular was slavery among the higher classes, that its morality
or justice could not be questioned by a missionary--an editor--or a
_planter_ even, without endangering the safety of the individual.
8th. The anti-slavery people in England were considered detestable men,
intermeddling with matters which they did not understand, and which at
any rate did not concern them. They were accused of being influenced by
selfish motives, and of designing to further their own interests by the
ruin of the planters. They were denounced as _fanatics, incendiaries,
knaves, religious enthusiasts_.
9th The abolition measures of the English Government were considered a
gross outrage on the rights of private property, a violation their
multiplied pledges of countenance and support, and a flagrant usurpation
of power over the weak.
Views and conduct of the planters subsequent to emancipation:
1st. The negroes are retarded as _men_--equals standing on the same
footing as fellow-citizens.
2d. Slavery is considered a foolish, impolitic, and wicked system.
3d. Slaves are regarded as an _unsafe_ species of property, and to hold
them disgraceful.
4th. The planters have become the _decided enemies_ of slavery. The
worst thing they could say against the apprenticeship, was, that "it was
only another name for _slavery_."
5th. The abolition of slavery is applauded by the planters as one of the
most noble and magnanimous triumphs ever achieved by the British
government.
6th. Distinguished abolitionists are spoken of in terms of respect and
admiration. The English Anti-slavery Delegation[A] spent a fortnight in
the island, and left it the same day we arrived. Wherever we went we
heard of them as "the respectable gentlemen from England," "the worthy
and intelligent members of the Society of Friends," &c. A distinguished
agent of the English anti-slavery society now resides in St. John's, and
keeps a bookstore, well stocked with anti-slavery books and pamphlets.
The bust of GEORGE THOMPSON stands conspicuously upon the counter of the
bookstore, looking forth upon the public street.
[Footnote A: Messrs. Sturge and Harvey.]
7th. The planters affirm that the abolition of slavery put an end to all
danger from insurrection, rebellion, privy conspiracy, and sedition, on
the part of the slaves.
8th. Emancipation is deemed an incalculable blessing, because it
released the planters from an endless complication of responsibilities,
perplexities, temptations and anxieties, and because it _emancipated
them from the bondage of the whip_.
9th. _Slavery--emancipation--freedom_--are the universal topics of
conversation in Antigua. Anti-slavery is the popular doctrine among all
classes. He is considered an enemy to his country who opposes the
principles of liberty. The planters look with astonishment on the
continuance of slavery in the United States, and express their strong
belief that it must soon terminate here and throughout the world. They
hailed the arrival of French and American visitors on tours of inquiry
as a bright omen. In publishing our arrival, one of the St. John's
papers remarks, "We regard this as a pleasing indication that the
American public have their eyes turned upon our experiment, with a view,
we may hope, of ultimately following our excellent example." (!) All
classes showed the same readiness to aid us in what the Governor was
pleased to call "the objects of our philanthropic mission."
Such are the views now entertained among the planters of Antigua. What a
complete change[B]--and all in less than three years, and effected by
the abolition of slavery and a trial of freedom! Most certainly, if the
former views of the Antigua planters resemble those held by pro-slavery
men in this country, their present sentiments are a _fac simile_ of
those entertained by the immediate abolitionists.
[Footnote B: The following little story will further illustrate the
wonderful revolution which has taken place in the public sentiment of
this colony. The facts here stated all occurred while we were in
Antigua, and we procured them from a variety of authentic sources. They
were indeed publicly known and talked of, and produced no little
excitement throughout the island. Mr. Corbett was a respectable and
intelligent planter residing on an estate near Johnson's Point. Several
months previous to the time of which we now speak, a few colored
families (emancipated negroes) bought of a white man some small parcels
of land lying adjacent to Mr. C.'s estate. They planted their lands in
provisions, and also built them houses thereon, and moved into them.
After they had become actively engaged in cultivating their provisions,
Mr. Corbett laid claim to the lands, and ordered the negroes to leave
them forthwith.
They of course refused to do so. Mr. C. then flew into a violent rage,
and stormed and swore, and threatened to burn their houses down over
their heads. The terrified negroes forsook their property and fled. Mr.
C. then ordered his negroes to tear down their huts and burn up the
materials--which was accordingly done. He also turned in his cattle upon
the provision grounds, and destroyed them. The negroes made a complaint
against Mr. C., and he was arrested and committed to jail in St. John's
for trial on the charge of _arson_.
We heard of this circumstance on the day of Mr. C.'s commitment, and we
were told that it would probably go very hard with him on his trial, and
that he would be very fortunate if he escaped the _gallows_ or
_transportation_. A few days after this we were surprised to hear that
Mr. C. had died in prison. Upon inquiry, we learned that he died
literally from _rage and mortification_. His case defied the, skill and
power of the physicians. They could detect the presence of no disease
whatever, even on a minute post-mortem examination. They pronounced it
as their opinion that he had died from the violence of his
passions--excited by being imprisoned, together with his apprehensions
of the fatal issue of the trial.
Not long before emancipation, Mr. Scotland was imprisoned for
_befriending_ the negroes. After emancipation, Mr. Corbett was
imprisoned for wronging them.
Mr. Corbett was a respectable planter, of good family and moved in the
first circles in the island]
TWENTY-FIRST PROPOSITION.--Emancipation has been followed by a manifest
diminution of "_prejudice against color_," and has opened the prospect
off its speedy extirpation.
Some thirty years ago, the president of the island, Sir Edward Byam,
issued an order forbidding the great bell in the cathedral of St. John's
being tolled at the funeral of a colored person; and directing a
_smaller_ bell to be hung up in the same belfry, and used on such
occasions. For twenty years this distinction was strictly maintained.
When a white person, however _vile_, was buried, the great bell was
tolled; when a colored person, whatever his moral worth, intelligence,
or station, was carried to his grave, the little bell was tinkled. It
was not until the arrival of the present excellent Rector, that this
"prejudice bell" was silenced. The Rev. Mr. Cox informed us that
prejudice had greatly decreased since emancipation. It was very common
for white and colored gentlemen to be seen walking arm in arm an the
streets of St. John's.
"Prejudice against color is fast disappearing. The colored people have
themselves contributed to prolong this feeling, _by keeping aloof from
the society of the whites_."--_James Howell, of T. Jarvis's_.
How utterly at variance is this with the commonly received opinion, that
the colored people are disposed to _thrust_ themselves into the society
of the whites!
"_Prejudice against color_ exists in this community only to a limited
extent, and that chiefly among those who could never bring themselves to
believe that emancipation would really take place. Policy dictates to
them the propriety of confining any expression of their feelings to
those of the same opinions. Nothing is shown of this prejudice in their
intercourse with the colored class--it is '_kept behind the
scenes_.'"--_Ralph Higginbotham, U. S. Consul._
Mr. H. was not the only individual standing in "high places" who
insinuated that the whites that still entertained prejudice were ashamed
of it. His excellency the Governor intimated as much, by his repeated
assurances for himself and his compeers of the first circles, that there
was no such feeling in the island as prejudice against _color_. The
reasons for excluding the colored people from their society, he said,
were wholly different from that. It was chiefly because of their
_illegitimacy_, and also because they were not sufficiently refined, and
because their _occupations_ were of an inferior kind, such as mechanical
trades, small shop keeping, &c. Said he, "You would not wish to ask your
tailor, or your shoemaker, to dine with you?" However, we were too
unsophisticated to coincide in his Excellency's notions of social
propriety.
TWENTY-SECOND PROPOSITION.--The progress of the anti-slavery discussions
in England did not cause the masters to treat their slaves worse, but on
the contrary restrained them from outrage.
"The treatment of the slaves during the discussions in England, was
manifestly milder than before."--_Dr. Daniell._
"The effect of the proceedings in parliament was to make the planters
treat their slaves better. Milder laws were passed by the assembly, and
the general condition of the slave was greatly ameliorated."--_H.
Armstrong, Esq._
"The planters did not increase the rigor of their discipline because of
the anti-slavery discussions; but as a general thing, were more lenient
than formerly."--_S. Bourne. Esq._
"We pursued a much milder policy toward our slaves after the agitation
began in England."--_Mr. Jas. Hawoil_.
"The planters did not treat their slaves worse on account of the
discussions; but were more lenient and circumspect."--_Letter of Hon.
N. Nugent._
"There was far less cruelty exercised by the planters during the
anti-slavery excitement in gland. They were always on their guard to
escape the notice of the abolitionists. _They did not wish to have their
names published abroad, and to be exposed as monsters of
cruelty!_"--_David Cranstoun, Esq._
We have now completed our observations upon Antigua. It has been our
single object in the foregoing account to give an accurate statement of
the results of IMMEDIATE EMANCIPATION. We have not taken a single step
beyond the limits of testimony, and we are persuaded that testimony
materially conflicting with this, cannot be procured from respectable
sources in Antigua. We now leave it to our readers to decide, whether
emancipation in Antigua has been to all classes in that island a
_blessing_ or a _curse_.
We cannot pass from this part of our report without recording the
kindness and hospitality which we everywhere experienced during our
sojourn in Antigua. Whatever may have been our apprehensions of a cool
reception from a community of ex-slaveholders, none of our forebodings
were realized. It rarely Falls to the lot of strangers visiting a
distant land, with none of the contingencies of birth, fortune, or fame,
to herald their arrival, and without the imposing circumstance of a
popular mission to recommend them, to meet with a warmer reception, or
to enjoy a more hearty confidence, than that with which we were honored
in the interesting island of Antigua. The very _object_ of our visit,
humble, and even odious as it may appear in the eyes of many of our own
countrymen, was our passport to the consideration and attention of the
higher classes in that free colony. We hold in grateful remembrance the
interest which all--not excepting those most deeply implicated in the
late system of slavery--manifested in our investigations. To his
excellency the Governor, to officers both civil and military, to
legislators and judges, to proprietors and planters, to physicians,
barristers, and merchants, to clergymen, missionaries, and teachers, we
are indebted for their uniform readiness in furthering our objects, and
for the mass of information with which they were pleased to furnish us.
To the free colored population, also, we are lasting debtors for their
hearty co-operation and assistance. To the emancipated, we recognise our
obligations as the friends of the slave, for their simple-hearted and
reiterated assurances that they should remember the oppressed of our
land in their prayers to God. In the name of the multiplying hosts of
freedom's friends, and in behalf of the millions of speechless but
grateful-hearted slaves, we render to our acquaintances of every class
in Antigua our warmest thanks for their cordial sympathy with the cause
of emancipation in America. We left Antigua with regret. The natural
advantages of that lovely island; its climate, situation, and scenery;
the intelligence and hospitality of the higher orders, and the
simplicity and sobriety of the poor; the prevalence of education,
morality, and religion; its solemn Sabbaths and thronged sanctuaries;
and above _all_, its rising institutions of liberty--flourishing so
vigorously,--conspire to make Antigua one of the fairest portions of the
earth. Formerly it was in our eyes but a speck on the world's map, and
little had we checked if an earthquake had sunk, or the ocean had
overwhelmed it; but now, the minute circumstances in its condition, or
little incidents in its history, are to our minds invested with
grave interest.
None, who are alive to the cause of religious freedom in the world, can
be indifferent to the movements and destiny of this little colony.
Henceforth, Antigua is the morning star of our nation, and though it
glimmers faintly through a lurid sky, yet we hail it, and catch at every
ray as the token of a bright sun which may yet burst gloriously upon us.
BARBADOES
CHAPTER I.
PASSAGE
Barbadoes was the next island which we visited. Having failed of a
passage in the steamer,[A] (on account of her leaving Antigua on the
Sabbath,) we were reduced to the necessity of sailing in a small
schooner, a vessel of only seventeen tons burthen, with no cabin but a
mere _hole_, scarcely large enough to receive our baggage. The berths,
for there were two, had but one mattress between them; however, a
foresail folded made up the complement.
[Footnote A: There are several English steamers which ply between
Barbadoes and Jamaica, touching at several of the intermediate and
surrounding islands, and carrying the mails.]
The being for the most part directly against us, we were seven days in
reaching Barbadoes. Our aversion to the sepulchre-like cabin obliged us
to spend, not the days only, but the nights mostly on the open deck.
Wrapping our cloaks about us, and drawing our fur caps over our faces,
we slept securely in the soft air of a tropical clime, undisturbed save
by the hoarse voice of the black captain crying "ready, bout" and the
flapping of the sails, and the creaking of the cordage, in the frequent
tackings of our staunch little sea-boat. On our way we passed under the
lee of Guadaloupe and to the windward of Dominica, Martinique and St.
Lucia. In passing Guadaloupe, we were obliged to keep at a league's
distance from the land, in obedience to an express regulation of that
colony prohibiting small English vessels from approaching any nearer.
This is a precautionary measure against the escape of slaves to the
English islands. Numerous small vessels, called _guarda costas_, are
stationed around the coast to warn off vessels and seize upon all slaves
attempting to make their escape. We were informed that the eagerness of
the French negroes to taste the sweets of liberty, which they hear to
exist in the surrounding English islands, is so great, that
notwithstanding all the vigilance by land and sea, they are escaping in
vast numbers. They steal to the shores by night, and seizing upon any
sort of vessel within their reach, launch forth and make for Dominica,
Montserrat, or Antigua. They have been known to venture out in skiffs,
canoes, and such like hazardous conveyances, and make a voyage of fifty
or sixty miles; and it is not without reason supposed, that very many
have been lost in these eager darings for freedom.
Such is their defiance of dangers when liberty is to be won, that old
ocean, with its wild storms, and fierce monsters, and its yawning deep,
and even the superadded terrors of armed vessels ever hovering around
the island, are barriers altogether ineffectual to prevent escape. The
western side of Guadaloupe, along which we passed, is hilly and little
cultivated. It is mostly occupied in pasturage. The sugar estates are on
the opposite side of the island, which stretches out eastward in a low
sloping country, beautifully situated for sugar cultivation. The hills
were covered with trees, with here and there small patches of cultivated
grounds where the negroes raise provisions. A deep rich verdure covered
all that portion of the island which we saw. We were a day and night in
passing the long island of Guadaloupe. Another day and night were spent
in beating through the channel between Gaudaloupe and Dominica: another
day in passing the latter island, and then we stood or Martinique. This
is the queen island of the French West Indies. It is fertile and
healthful, and though not so large as Guadaloupe, produces a larger
revenue. It has large streams of water, and many of the sugar mills are
worked by them. Martinique and Dominica are both very mountainous. Their
highest peaks are constantly covered with clouds, which in their varied
siftings, now wheeling around, then rising or falling, give the hills
the appearance of smoking volcanoes. It was not until the eighth day of
the voyage, that we landed at Barbadoes. The passage from Barbadoes to
Antigua seldom occupies more than three days, the wind being mostly in
that direction.
In approaching Barbadoes, it presented an entirely difference appearance
from that of the islands we had passed on the way. It is low and level,
almost wholly destitute of trees. As we drew nearer we discovered in
every direction the marks of its extraordinary cultivation. The cane
fields and provision grounds in alternate patches cover the island with
one continuous mantle of green. The mansions of the planters, and the
clusters of negro houses, appear at shore intervals dotting the face of
the island, and giving to it the appearance of a vast village
interspersed with verdant gardens.
We "rounded up" in the bay, off Bridgetown, the principal place in
Barbadoes, where we underwent a searching examination by the health
officer; who, after some demurring, concluded that we might pass muster.
We took lodgings in Bridgetown with Mrs. M., a colored lady.
The houses are mostly built of brick or stone, or wood plastered. They
are seldom more than two stories high, with flat roofs, and huge window
shutters and doors--the structures of a hurricane country. The streets
are narrow and crooked, and formed of white marle, which reflects the
sun with a brilliancy half blinding to the eyes. Most of the buildings
are occupied as stores below and dwelling houses above, with piazzas to
the upper story, which jut over the narrow streets, and afford a shade
for the side walks. The population of Bridgetown is about 30,000. The
population of the island is about 140,000, of whom nearly 90,000 are
apprentices, the remainder are free colored and white in the proportion
of 30,000 free colored and 20,000 whites. The large population exists on
an island not more than twenty miles long, by fifteen broad. The whole
island is under the most vigorous and systematic culture. There is
scarcely a foot of productive land that is not brought into requisition.
There is no such thing as a forest of any extent in the island. It is
thus that, notwithstanding the insignificance of its size, Barbadoes
ranks among the British islands next to Jamaica in value and importance.
It was on account of its conspicuous standing among the English
colonies, that we were induced to visit it, and there investigate the
operations of the apprenticeship system.
Our principal object in the following tales is to give an account of the
working of the apprenticeship system, and to present it in contrast with
that of entire freedom, which has been described minutely in our account
of Antigua. The apprenticeship was designed as a sort of preparation for
freedom. A statement of its results will, therefore, afford no small
data for deciding upon the general principle of _gradualism_!
We shall pursue a plan less labored and prolix than that which it seemed
necessary to adopt in treating of Antigua. As that part of the testimony
which respects the abolition of slavery, and the sentiments of the
planters is substantially the same with what is recorded in the
foregoing pages, we shall be content with presenting it in the sketch of
our travels throughout the island, and our interviews with various
classes of men. The testimony respecting the nature and operations of
the apprenticeship system, will be embodied in a more regular form.
VISIT TO THE GOVERNOR.
At an early day after our arrival we called on the Governor, in
pursuance of the etiquette of the island, and in order to obtain the
assistance of his Excellency in our inquiries. The present Governor is
Sir Evan John Murray McGregor, a Scotchman of Irish reputation. He is
the present chieftain of the McGregor clan, which figures so
illustriously in the history of Scotland. Sir Evan has been
distinguished for his victory in war, and he now bears the title of
Knight, for his achievements in the British service. He is
Governor-General of the windward islands, which include Barbadoes,
Grenada, St. Vincent's, and Tobago. The government house, at which he
resides, is about two miles from town. The road leading to it is a
delightful one, lined with cane fields, and pasture grounds, all verdant
with the luxuriance of midsummer. It passes by the cathedral, the king's
house, the noble residence of the Archdeacon, and many other fine
mansions. The government house is situated in a pleasant eminence, and
surrounded with a large garden, park, and entrance yard. At the large
outer gate, which gives admittance to the avenue leading to the house,
stood a _black_ sentinel in his military dress, and with a gun on his
shoulder, pacing to and fro. At the door of the house we found another
black soldier on guard. We were ushered into the dining hall, which
seems to serve as ante-chamber when not otherwise used. It is a spacious
airy room, overhung with chandeliers and lamps in profusion, and bears
the marks of many scenes of mirth and wassail. The eastern windows,
which extend from the ceiling to the floor, look out upon a garden
filled with shrubs and flowers, among which we recognised a rare variety
of the floral family in full bloom. Every thing around--the extent of
the buildings, the garden, the park, with deer browsing amid the tangled
shrubbery--all bespoke the old English style and dignity.
After waiting a few minutes, we were introduced to his Excellency, who
received us very kindly. He conversed freely on the subject of
emancipation, and gave his opinion decidedly in favor of unconditional
freedom. He has been in the West Indies five years, and resided at
Antigua and Dominica before he received his present appointment; he has
visited several other islands besides. In no island that he has visited
have affairs gone on so quietly and satisfactorily to all parties as in
Antigua. He remarked that he was ignorant of the character of the black
population of the United States, but from what he knew of their
character in the West Indies, he could not avoid the conclusion that
immediate emancipation was entirely safe. He expressed his views of the
apprenticeship system with great freedom. He said it was vexatious to
all parties.
He remarked that he was so well satisfied that emancipation was safe and
proper, and that unconditional freedom was better than apprenticeship,
that had he the power, he would emancipate every apprentice to-morrow.
It would be better both for the planter and the laborer.
_He thought the negroes in Barbadoes, and in the windward islands
generally, now as well prepared for freedom as the slaves of Antigua._
The Governor is a dignified but plain man, of sound sense and judgement,
and of remarkable liberality. He promised to give us every assistance,
and said, as we arose to leave him, that he would mention the object of
our visit to a number of influential gentlemen, and that we should
shortly hear from him again.
A few days after our visit to the Governor's, we called on the Rev.
Edward Elliott, the Archdeacon at Barbadoes, to whom we had been
previously introduced at the house of a friend in Bridgetown. He is a
liberal-minded man. In 1812, he delivered a series of lectures in the
cathedral on the subject of slavery. The planters became
alarmed--declared that such discourses would lead to insurrection, and
demanded that they should lie abandoned. He received anonymous letters
threatening him with violence unless he discontinued them. Nothing
daunted, however, he went through the course, and afterwards published
the lectures in a volume.
The Archdeacon informed us that the number of churches and clergymen had
increased since emancipation; religious meetings were more fully
attended, and the instructions given had manifestly a greater influence.
Increased attention was paid to _education_ also. Before emancipation
the planters opposed education, and as far as possible, prevented the
teachers from coming to the estates. Now they encouraged it in many
instances, and where they do not directly encourage, they make no
opposition. He said that the number of marriages had very much increased
since the abolition of slavery. He had resided in Barbados for twelve
years, during which time he had repeatedly visited many of the
neighboring islands. He thought the negroes of Barbadoes _were as well
prepared for freedom in 1834, as those of Antigua_, and that there would
have been no bad results had entire emancipation been granted at that
time. He did not think there was the least danger of insurrection. On
this subject he spoke the sentiments of the inhabitants generally. He
did not suppose there were five planters on the island, who entertained
any fears on this score _now_.
On one other point the Archdeacon expressed himself substantially thus:
The planters undoubtedly treated their slaves better during the
anti-slavery discussions in England.
The condition of the slaves was very much mitigated by the efforts which
were made for their entire freedom. The planters softened down, the
system of slavery as much as possible. _They were exceedingly anxious to
put a stop to discussion and investigation._
Having obtained a letter of introduction from an American merchant here
to a planter residing about four miles from town, we drove out to his
estate. His mansion is pleasantly situated on a small eminence, in one
of the coolest and most inviting retreats which is to be seen in this
clime, and we were received by its master with all the cordiality and
frankness for which Barbados is famed. He introduced us to his family,
consisting of three daughters and two sons, and invited us to stop to
dinner. One of his daughters, now here on a visit, is married to an
American, a native of New York, but now a merchant in one of the
southern states, and our connection as fellow countrymen with one dear
to them, was an additional claim to their kindness and hospitality.
He conducted us through all the works and out-buildings, the mill,
boiling-house, caring-house, hospital, store-houses, &c. The people were
at work in the mill and boiling-house, and as we passed, bowed and bade
us "good mornin', massa," with the utmost respect and cheerfulness. A
white overseer was regulating the work, but wanted the insignia of
slaveholding authority, which he had borne for many years, the _whip_.
As we came out, we saw in a neighboring field a gang of seventy
apprentices, of both sexes, engaged in cutting up the cane, while others
were throwing it into carts to be carried to the mill. They were all as
quietly and industriously at work as any body of our own farmers or
mechanics. As we were looking at them, Mr. C., the planter, remarked,
"those people give me more work than when slaves. This estate was never
under so good cultivation as at the present time."
He took us to the building used as the mechanics' shop. Several of the
apprentices were at work in it, some setting up the casks for sugar,
others repairing utensils. Mr. C. says all the work of the estate is
done by the apprentices. His carts are made, his mill kept in order, his
coopering and blacksmithing are all done by them. "All these buildings,"
said he, "even to the dwelling-house, were built after the great storm
of 1831, by the slaves."
As we were passing through the hospital, or sick-house, as it is called
by the blacks, Mr. C. told us he had very little use for it now. There
is no skulking to it as there was under the old system.
Just as we were entering the door of the house, on our return, there was
an outcry among a small party of the apprentices who were working near
by. Mr. C. went to them and inquired the cause. It appeared that the
overseer had struck one of the lads with a stick. Mr. C. reproved him
severely for the act, and assured him if he did such a thing again he
would take him before a magistrate.
During the day we gathered the following information:--
Mr. C. had been a planter for thirty-six years. He has had charge of the
estate on which he now resides ten years. He is the attorney for two
other large estates a few miles from this, and has under his
superintendence, in all, more than a thousand apprenticed laborers. This
estate consists of six hundred and sixty-six acres of land, most of
which is under cultivation either in cane or provisions, and has on it
three hundred apprentices and ninety-two free children. The average
amount of sugar raised on it is two hundred hogsheads of a ton each, but
this year it will amount to at least two hundred and fifty
hogsheads--the largest crop ever taken off since he has been connected
with it. He has planted thirty acres additional this year. The island
has never been under so good cultivation, and is becoming better
every year.
During our walk round the works, and during the day, he spoke several
times in general terms of the great blessings of emancipation.
Emancipation is as great a blessing to the master as to the slave.
"Why," exclaimed Mr. C., "it was emancipation to me. I assure you the
first of August brought a great, _great_ relief to me. I felt myself,
for the first time, a freeman on that day. You cannot imagine the
responsibilities and anxieties which were swept away with the extinction
of slavery."
There were many unpleasant and annoying circumstances attending slavery,
which had a most pernicious effect on the master. There was continual
jealousy and suspicion between him and those under him. They looked on
each other as sworn enemies, and there was kept up a continual system of
plotting and counterplotting. Then there was the flogging, which was a
matter of course through the island. To strike a slave was as common as
to strike a horse--then the punishments were inflicted so unjustly, in
innumerable instances, that the poor victims knew no more why they were
punished than the dead in their graves. The master would be a little
ill--he had taken a cold, perhaps, and felt irritable--something were
wrong--his passion was up, and away went some poor fellow to the
whipping post. The slightest offence at such a moment, though it might
have passed unnoticed at another time, would meet with the severest
punishment. He said he himself had more than once ordered his slaves to
be flogged in a passion, and after he became cool he would have given
guineas not to have done it. Many a night had he been kept awake in
thinking of some poor fellow whom he had shut up in the dungeon, and had
rejoiced when daylight came. He feared lest the slave might die before
morning; either cut his throat or dash his head against the wall in his
desperation. He has known such cases to occur.
The apprenticeship will not have so beneficial an effect as he hoped it
would, on account of an indisposition on the part of many of the
planters to abide by its regulations. The planters generally are doing
very little to prepare the apprentices for freedom; but some are doing
very much to unprepare them. They are driving the people from them by
their conduct.
Mr. C. said he often wished for emancipation. There were several other
planters among his acquaintance who had the same feelings, but did not
dare express them. Most of the planters, however, were violently
opposed. Many of them declared that emancipation could not and should
not take place. So obstinate were they, that they would have sworn on
the 31st of July, 1831, that emancipation could not happen. _These very
men now see and acknowledge the benefits which have resulted from the
new system_.
The first of August passed off very quietly. The people labored on that
day as usual, and had a stranger gone over the island, he would not have
suspected any change had taken place. Mr. C. did not expect his people
would go to work that day. He told them what the conditions of the new
system were, and that after the first of August, they would be required
to turn out to work at six o'clock instead of five o'clock as before. At
the appointed hour every man was at his post in the field. Not one
individual was missing.
The apprentices do more work in the nine hours required by law, than in
twelve hours during slavery.
His apprentices are perfectly willing to work for him during their own
time. He pays them at the rate of twenty-five cents a day. The people
are less quarrelsome than when they were slaves.
About eight o'clock in the evening, Mr. C. invited us to step out into
the piazza. Pointing to the houses of the laborers, which were crowded
thickly together, and almost concealed by the cocoa-nut and calabash
trees around them, he said, "there are probably more than four hundred
people in that village. All my own laborers, with their free children,
are retired for the night, and with them are many from the neighboring
estates." We listened, but all was still, save here and there a low
whistle from some of the watchmen. He said that night was a specimen of
every night now. But it had not always been so. During slavery these
villages were oftentimes a scene of bickering, revelry, and contention.
One might hear the inmates reveling and shouting till midnight.
Sometimes it would be kept up till morning. Such scenes have much
decreased, and instead of the obscene and heathen songs which they used
to sing, they are learning hymns from the lips of their children.
The apprentices are more trusty. They are more faithful in work which is
given them to do. They take more interest in the prosperity of the
estate generally, in seeing that things are kept in order, and that the
property is not destroyed.
They are more open-hearted. Formerly they used to shrink before the eyes
of the master, and appear afraid to meet him. They would go out of their
way to avoid him, and never were willing to talk with him. They never
liked to have him visit their houses; they looked on him as a spy, and
always expected a reprimand, or perhaps a flogging. Now they look up
cheerfully when they meet him, and a visit to their homes is esteemed a
favor. Mr. C. has more confidence in his people than he ever had before.
There is less theft than during slavery. This is caused by greater
respect for character, and the protection afforded to property by law.
For a slave to steal from his master was never considered wrong, but
rather a meritorious act. He who could rob the most without being
detected was the best fellow. The blacks in several of the islands have
a proverb, that for a thief to steal from a thief makes God laugh.
The blacks have a great respect for, and even fear of law. Mr. C.
believes no people on earth are more influenced by it. They regard the
same punishment, inflicted by a magistrate, much more than when
inflicted by their master. Law is a kind of deity to them, and they
regard it with great reverence and awe.
There is no insecurity now. Before emancipation there was a continual
fear of insurrection. Mr. C. said he had lain down in bed many a night
fearing that his throat would be cut before morning. He has started up
often from a dream in which he thought his room was filled with armed
slaves. But when the abolition bill passed, his fears all passed away.
He felt assured there would be no trouble then. The motive to
insurrection was taken away. As for the cutting of throats, or insult
and violence in any way, he never suspects it. He never thinks of
fastening his door at night now. As we were retiring to bed he looked
round the room in which we had been sitting, where every thing spoke of
serenity and confidence--doors and windows open, and books and plate
scattered about on the tables and sideboards. "You see things now," he
said, "just as we leave them every night, but you would have seen quite
a different scene had you come here a few years ago."
_Mr. C. thinks the slaves of Barbadoes might have been entirely and
immediately emancipated as well as those of Antigua._ The results, he
doubts not, would have been the same.
He has no fear of disturbance or insubordination in 1840. He has no
doubt that the people will work. That there may be a little unsettled,
excited, _experimenting_ feeling for a short time, he thinks
probable--but feels confident that things generally will move on
peaceably and prosperously. He looks with much more anxiety to the
emancipation of the non-praedials in 1838.
There is no disposition among the apprentices to revenge their wrongs.
Mr. C. feels the utmost security both of person and property.
The slaves were very much excited by the discussions in England. They
were well acquainted, with them, and looked and longed for the result.
They watched every arrival of the packet with great anxiety. The people
on his estate often knew its arrival before he did. One of his daughters
remarked, that she could see their hopes flashing from their eyes. They
manifested, however, no disposition to rebel, waiting in anxious but
quiet hope for their release. Yet Mr. C. had no doubt, that if
parliament had thrown out the emancipation bill, and all measures had
ceased for their relief, there would have been a general
insurrection.--While there was hope they remained peaceable, but had
hope been destroyed it would have been buried in blood.
There was some dissatisfaction among the blacks with the apprenticeship.
They thought they ought to be entirely free, and that their masters were
deceiving them. They could not at first understand the conditions of the
new system--there was some murmuring among them, but they thought it
better, however, to wait six years for the boon, than to run the risk of
losing it altogether by revolt.
The expenses of the apprenticeship are about the same as during slavery.
But under the free system, Mr. C. has no doubt they will be much less.
He has made a calculation of the expenses of cultivating the estate on
which he resides for one year during slavery, and what they will
probably be for one year under the free system. He finds the latter are
less by about $3,000.
Real estate has increased in value more than thirty per rent. There is
greater confidence in the security of property. Instances were related
to us of estates that could not be sold at any price before
emancipation, that within the last two years have been disposed of at
great prices.
The complaints to the magistrates, on the part of the planters, were
very numerous at first, but have greatly diminished. They are of the
most trivial and even ludicrous character. One of the magistrates says
the greater part of the cases that come before him are from old women
who cannot get their coffee early enough in the morning! and for
offences of equal importance.
Prejudice has much diminished since emancipation. The discussions in
England prior to that period had done much to soften it down, but the
abolition of slavery has given it its death blow.
Such is a rapid sketch of the various topics touched upon during our
interview with Mr. C. and his family.
Before we left the hospitable mansion of Lear's, we had the pleasure of
meeting a company of gentlemen at dinner. With the exception of one, who
was provost-marshal, they were merchants of Bridgetown. These gentlemen
expressed their full concurrence in the statements of Mr. C., and gave
additional testimony equally valuable.
Mr. W., the provost-marshal, stated that he had the supervision of the
public jail, and enjoyed the best opportunity of knowing the state of
crime, and he was confident that there was a less amount of crime since
emancipation than before. He also spoke of the increasing attention
which the negroes paid to neatness of dress and personal appearance.
The company broke up about nine o'clock, but not until we had seen ample
evidence of the friendly feelings of all the gentlemen toward our
object. There was not a single dissenting voice to any of the statements
made, or any of the sentiments expressed. This fact shows that the
prevailing feeling is in favor of freedom, and that too on the score of
policy and self-interest.
Dinner parties are in one sense a very safe pulse in all matters of
general interest. They rarely beat faster than the heart of the
community. No subject is likely to be introduced amid the festivities of
a fashionable circle, until it is fully endorsed by public sentiment.
Through the urgency of Mr. C., we were induced to remain all night.
Early the next morning, he proposed a ride before breakfast to Scotland.
Scotland is the name given to an abrupt, hilly section, in the north of
the island. It is about five miles from Mr. C.'s, and nine from
Bridgetown. In approaching, the prospect bursts suddenly upon the eye,
extorting an involuntary exclamation of surprise. After riding for
miles, through a country which gradually swells into slight elevations,
or sweeps away in rolling plains, covered with cane, yams, potatoes,
eddoes, corn, and grass, alternately, and laid out with the regularity
of a garden; after admiring the cultivation, beauty, and skill exhibited
on every hand, until almost wearied with viewing the creations of art;
the eye at once falls upon a scene in which is crowded all the wildness
and abruptness of nature in one of her most freakish moods--a scene
which seems to defy the hand of cultivation and the graces of art. We
ascended a hill on the border of this section, which afforded us a
complete view. To describe it in one sentence, it is an immense basin,
from two to three miles in diameter at the top, the edges of which are
composed of ragged hills, and the sides and bottom of which are
diversified with myriads of little hillocks and corresponding
indentations. Here and there is a small sugar estate in the bottom, and
cultivation extends some distance up the sides, though this is at
considerable risk, for not infrequently, large tracts of soil, covered
with cane or provisions, slide down, over-spreading the crops below, and
destroying those which they carry with them.
Mr. C. pointed to the opposite side of the basin to a small group of
stunted trees, which he said were the last remains of the Barbadoes
forests. In the midst of them there is a boiling spring of considerable
notoriety.
In another direction, amid the rugged precipices, Mr. C. pointed out the
residences of a number of poor white families, whom he described as the
most degraded, vicious, and abandoned people in the island--"very far
below the negroes." They live promiscuously, are drunken, licentious,
and poverty-stricken,--a body of most squalid and miserable
human beings.
From the height on which we stood, we could see the ocean nearly around
the island, and on our right and left, overlooking the basin below us,
rose the two highest points of land of which Barbadoes can boast. The
white marl about their naked tops gives them a bleak and desolate
appearance, which contrasts gloomily with the verdure of the surrounding
cultivation.
After we had fully gratified ourselves with viewing the miniature
representation of old Scotia, we descended again into the road, and
returned to Lear's. We passed numbers of men and women going towards
town with loads of various kinds of provisions on their heads. Some were
black, and others were white--of the same class whose huts had just been
shown us amid the hills and ravines of Scotland. We observed that the
latter were barefoot, and carried their loads on their heads precisely
like the former. As we passed these busy pedestrians, the blacks almost
uniformly courtesied or spoke; but the whites did not appear to notice
us. Mr. C inquired whether we were not struck with this difference in
the conduct of the two people, remarking that he had always observed it.
It is very seldom, said he, that I meet a negro who does not speak to me
politely; but this class of whites either pass along without looking up,
or cast a half-vacant, rude stare into one's face, without opening their
mouths. Yet this people, he added, veriest raggamuffins that they are,
despise the negroes, and consider it quite degrading to put themselves
on term of equity with them. They will beg of blacks more provident and
industrious than themselves, or they will steal their poultry and rob
their provision grounds at night; but they would disdain to associate
with them. Doubtless these _sans culottes_ swell in their dangling rags
with the haughty consciousness that they possess _white skins_. What
proud reflections they must have, as they pursue their barefoot way,
thinking on their high lineage, and running back through the long list
of their illustrious ancestry whose notable badge was a _white skin_! No
wonder they cannot stop to bow to the passing stranger. These sprouts of
the Caucasian race are known among the Barbadians by the rather
ungracious name of _Red Shanks_. They are considered the pest of the
island, and are far more troublesome to the police, in proportion to
their members, than the apprentices. They are estimated at about
eight thousand.
The origin of this population we learned was the following: It has long
been a law in Barbadoes, that each proprietor should provide a white man
for every sixty slaves in his possession, and give him an acre of land,
a house, and arms requisite for defence of the island in case of
insurrection. This caused an importation of poor whites from Ireland and
England, and their number has been gradually increasing until the
present time.
During our stay of nearly two days with Mr. C., there was nothing to
which he so often alluded as to the security from danger which was now
enjoyed by the planters. As he sat in his parlor, surrounded by his
affectionate family, the sense of personal and domestic security
appeared to be a luxury to him. He repeatedly expressed himself
substantially thus: "During the existence of slavery, how often have I
retired to bed _fearing_ _that I should have my throat cut before
morning_, but _now_ the danger is all over."
We took leave of Lear's, after a protracted visit, not without a
pressing invitation from Mr. C. to call again.
SECOND VISIT TO LEAR'S.
The following week, on Saturday afternoon, we received a note from Mr.
C., inviting us to spend the Sabbath at Lear's, where we might attend
service at a neighboring chapel, and see a congregation composed chiefly
of apprentices. On our arrival, we received a welcome from the
residents, which reassured us of their sympathy in our object. We joined
the family circle around the centre table, and spent the evening in free
conversation on the subject of slavery.
During the evening Mr. C. stated, that he had lately met with a planter
who, for some years previous to emancipation, and indeed up to the very
event, maintained that it was utterly impossible for such a thing ever
to take place. The mother country, he said, could not be so mad as to
take a step which must inevitably ruin the colonies. _Now_, said Mr. C.,
this planter would be one of the last in the island to vote for a
restoration of slavery; nay, he even wishes to have the apprenticeship
terminated at once, and entire freedom given to the people. Such changes
as this were very common.
Mr. C. remarked that during slavery, if the negro ventured to express an
opinion about any point of management, he was met at once with a
reprimand. If one should say, "I think such a course would he best," or,
"Such a field of cane is fit for cutting," the reply would be, "_Think_!
you have no right to think any thing about it. _Do as I bid you_." Mr.
C. confessed frankly, that he had often used such language himself. Yet
at the same time that he affected such contempt for the opinions of the
slaves, he used to go around secretly among the negro houses at night to
overhear their conversation, and ascertain their views. Sometimes he
received very valuable suggestions from them, which he was glad to avail
himself of, though he was careful not to acknowledge their origin.
Soon after supper, Miss E., one of Mr. C.'s daughters, retired for the
purpose of teaching a class of colored children which came to her on
Wednesday and Saturday nights. A sister of Miss E. has a class on the
same days at noon.
During the evening we requested the favor of seeing Miss E.'s school. We
were conducted by a flight of stairs into the basement story, where we
found her sitting in a small recess, and surrounded by a dozen negro
girls; from the ages of eight to fifteen. She was instructing them from
the Testament, which most of them could read fluently. She afterwards
heard them recite some passages which they had committed to memory, and
interspersed the recitations with appropriate remarks of advice and
exhortation.
It is to be remarked that Miss E. commenced instructing after the
abolition; before that event the idea of such an employment would have
been rejected as degrading.
At ten o'clock on Sabbath morning, we drove to the chapel of the parish,
which is a mile and a half from Lear's. It contains seats for five
hundred persons. The body of the house is appropriated to the
apprentices. There were upwards of four hundred persons, mostly
apprentices, present, and a more quiet and attentive congregation we
have seldom seen. The people were neatly dressed. A great number of the
men wore black or blue cloth. The females were generally dressed in
white. The choir was composed entirely of blacks, and sung with
characteristic excellence.
There was so much intelligence in the countenances of the people, that
we could scarcely believe we were looking on a congregation of lately
emancipated slaves.
We returned to Lear's. Mr. C. noticed the change which has taken place
in the observance of the Sabbath since emancipation. Formerly the smoke
would be often seen at this time of day pouring from the chimneys of the
boiling-houses; but such a sight has not been seen since slavery
disappeared.
Sunday used to be the day for the negroes to work on their grounds; now
it is a rare thing for them to do so. Sunday markets also prevailed
throughout the island, until the abolition of slavery.
Mr. C. continued to speak of slavery. "I sometimes wonder," said he, "at
myself, when I think how long I was connected with slavery; but
self-interest and custom blinded me to its enormities." Taking a short
walk towards sunset, we found ourselves on the margin of a beautiful
pond, in which myriads of small gold fishes were disporting--now
circling about in rapid evolutions, and anon leaping above the surface,
and displaying their brilliant sides in the rays of the setting sun.
When we had watched for some moments their happy gambols, Mr. C. turned
around and broke a twig from a bush that stood behind us; "_there is a
bush_," said he, "_which has committed many a murder_." On requesting
him to explain, he said, that the root of it was a most deadly poison,
and that the slave women used to make a decoction of it and give to
their infants to destroy them; many a child had been murdered in this
way. Mothers would kill their children, rather than see them _grow up to
be slaves_. "Ah," he continued, in a solemn tone, pausing a moment and
looking at us in a most earnest manner, "I could write a book about the
evils of slavery. I could write a book about these things."
What a volume of blackness and blood![A]
[Footnote A: We are here reminded of a fact stated by Mr. C. on another
occasion. He said, that he once attended at the death of a planter who
had been noted for his severity to his slaves. It was the most horrid
scene he ever witnessed. For hours before his death he was in the
extremest agony, and the only words which he uttered were, "Africa. O
Africa!" These words he repeated every few minutes, till he died. And
such a ghastly countenance, such distortions of the muscles, such a
hellish glare of the eye, and such convulsions of the body--it made him
shudder to think of them.]
When we arose on Monday morning, the daylight has scarcely broken. On
looking out of the window, we saw the mill slowly moving in the wind,
and the field gang were going out to their daily work. Surely, we
thought, this does not look much like the laziness and insubordination
of freed negroes. After dressing, we walked down to the mill, to have
some conversation with the people. They all bade us a cordial "good
mornin'." The _tender_ of the mill was an old man, whose despised locks
were gray and thin, and on whose brow the hands of time and sorrow had
written many effaceless lines. He appeared hale and cheerful, and
answered our questions in distinct intelligible language. We asked him
how they were all getting along under the new system. "Very well,
massa," said he, "very well, thank God. All peaceable and good." "Do you
like the apprenticeship better then slavery?" "Great deal better, massa;
we is doing well now." "You like the apprenticeship as well as freedom,
don't you?" "O _no_ me massa, freedom _till better_."
"What will you do when you are entirely free?"
"We must work; all have to work when de free come, white and black."
"You are old, and will not enjoy freedom long; why do you wish for
freedom, then?" "Me want to _die_ free, massa--good ting to die free,
and me want to see _children_ free too."
We continued at Lear's during Monday, to be in readiness for a tour to
the windward of the island, which Mr. C. had projected for us, and on
which we were to set out early the next morning. In the course of the
day we had opportunities of seeing the apprentices in almost every
situation--in the field, at the mill, in the boiling-house, moving to
and from work, and at rest. In every aspect in which we viewed them,
they appeared cheerful, amiable, and easy of control. It was admirable
to see with what ease and regularity every thing moved. An estate of
nearly seven hundred acres, with extensive agriculture, and a large
manufactory and distillery, employing three hundred apprentices, and
supporting twenty-five horses, one hundred and thirty head of horned
cattle, and hogs, sheep; and poultry in proportion, is manifestly a most
complicated machinery. No wonder it should have been difficult to manage
during slavery, when the main spring was absent, and every wheel out
of gear.
We saw the apprentices assemble after twelve o'clock, to receive their
allowances of yams. These provisions are distributed to them twice every
week--on Monday and Thursday. They were strewed along the yard in heaps
of fifteen pounds each. The apprentices came with baskets to get their
allowances. It resembled a market scene, much chattering and talking,
but no anger. Each man, woman, and child, as they got their baskets
filled, placed them of their heads, and marched off to their
several huts.
On Tuesday morning, at an early hour, Mr. C. took us in his phaeton on
our projected excursion. It was a beautiful morning. There was a full
breeze from the east, which had already started the ponderous wings of
the wind-mills, in every direction. The sun was shaded by light clouds,
which rendered the air quite cool. Crossing the rich valley in which the
Bell estate and other noble properties are situated, we ascended the
cliffs of St. John's--a ridge extending through the parish of that name
and as we rode along its top, eastward, we had a delightful view of sea
and land. Below us on either hand lay vast estates glowing in the,
verdure of summer, and on three sides in the distance stretched the
ocean. Rich swells of land, cultivated and blooming like a vast garden,
extended to the north as far as the eye could reach, and on every other
side down to the water's edge. One who has been accustomed to the
wildness of American scenery, and to the imperfect cultivation,
intercepted with woodland, which yet characterizes the even the oldest
portions of the United States, might revel for a time amid the sunny
meadows. The waving cane fields, the verdant provision grounds, the
acres of rich black soil without a blade of grass, and divided into beds
two feet square for the cane plants with the precision almost of the
cells of a honey comb; and withal he might be charmed with the luxurious
mansions--more luxurious than superb--surrounded with the white cedar,
the cocoa-nut tree, and the tall, rich mountain cabbage--the most
beautiful of all tropical trees; but perchance it would not require a
very long excursion to weary him with the artificiality of the scenery,
and cause him to sigh for the "woods and wilds," the "banks and braes,"
of his own majestic country.
After an hour and a half's drive, we reached Colliton estate, where we
were engaged to breakfast. We met a hearty welcome from the manager,
Samuel Hinkston, Esq. we were soon joined by several gentlemen whom Mr.
H. had invited to take breakfast with us; these were the Rev. Mr.
Gittens, rector of St. Philip's parish, (in which Colliton estate is
situated,) and member of the colonial council; Mr. Thomas, an extensive
attorney of Barbadoes; and Dr. Bell, a planter of Demerara--then on a
visit to the island. We conversed with each of the gentlemen separately,
and obtained their individual views respecting emancipation.
Mr. Hinkston has been a planter for thirty-six years, and is highly
esteemed throughout the island. The estate which he manages, ranks among
the first in the island. It comprises six hundred acres of superior
land, has a population of two hundred apprentices, and yields an average
crop of one hundred and eighty hogsheads. Together with his long
experience and standing as a planter, Mr. H. has been for many years
local magistrate for the parish in which he resides. From these
circumstances combined, we are induced to give his opinions on a variety
of points.
1. He remarked that the planters were getting along _infinitely_ better
under the new system than they ever did under the old. Instead of
regretting that the change had taken place, he is looking forward with
pleasure to a better change in 1840, and he only regrets that it is not
to come sooner.
2. Mr. H. said it was generally conceded that the island was never under
better cultivation than at the present time. The crops for this year
will exceed the average by several thousand hogsheads. The canes were
planted in good season, and well attended to afterwards.
3. Real estate has risen very much since emancipation. Mr. H. stated
that he had lately purchased a small sugar estate, for which he was
obliged to give several hundred pounds more than it would have cost him
before 1834.
4. There is not the least sense of insecurity now. Before emancipation
there was much fear of insurrection, but that fear passed away
with slavery.
5. The prospect for 1840 is good. That people have no fear of ruin after
emancipation, is proved by the building of sugar works on estates which
never had any before, and which were obliged to cart their canes to
neighbouring estates to have them ground and manufactured. There are
also numerous improvements making on the larger estates. Mr. H. is
preparing to make a new mill and boiling-house on Colliton, and other
planters are doing the same. Arrangements are making too in various
directions to build new negro villages on a more commodious plan.
6. Mr. H. says he finds his apprentices perfectly ready to work for
wages during their own time. Whenever he needs their labor on Saturday,
he has only to ask them, and they are ready to go to the mill, or field
at once. There has not been an instance on Colliton estate in which the
apprentices have refused to work, either during the hours required by
law, or during their own time. When he does not need their services on
Saturday, they either hire themselves to other estates or work on their
own grounds.
7. Mr. H. was ready to say, both as a planter and a magistrate, that
vice and crime generally had decreased, and were still on the decrease.
Petty thefts are the principal offences. He has not had occasion to send
a single apprentice to the court of sessions for the last six months.
8. He has no difficulty in managing his people--far less than he did
when they were slaves. It is very seldom that he finds it necessary to
call in the aid of the special magistrate. Conciliatory treatment is
generally sufficient to maintain order and industry among the
apprentices.
9. He affirms that the negroes have no disposition to be revengeful. He
has never seen any thing like revenge.
10. His people are as far removed from insolence as from vindictiveness.
They have been uniformly civil.
11. His apprentices have more interest in the affairs of the estate, and
he puts more confidence in them than he ever did before.
12. He declares that the working of the apprenticeship, as also that of
entire freedom, depends entirely on the _planters_. If they act with
common humanity and reason, there is no fear but that the apprentices
will be peaceable.
Mr. Thomas is attorney for fifteen estates, on which there are upwards
of two thousand five hundred apprentices. We were informed that he had
been distinguished as a _severe disciplinarian_ under the old reign, or
in plain terms, had been a _cruel man and a hard driver_; but he was one
of those who, since emancipation, have turned about and conformed their
mode of treatment to the new system. In reply to our inquiry how the
present system was working, he said, "infinitely better (such was his
language) than slavery. I succeed better on all the estates under my
charge than I did formerly. I have far less difficulty with the people.
I have no reason to complain of their conduct. However, I think they
will do still better after 1840."
We made some inquiries of Dr. Bell concerning the results of abolition
in Demerara. He gave a decidedly flattering account of the working of
the apprenticeship system. No fears are entertained that Demerara will
be ruined after 1840. On the contrary it will be greatly benefited by
emancipation. It is now suffering from a want of laborers, and after
1840 there will be an increased emigration to that colony from the older
and less productive colonies. The planters of Demerara are making
arrangements for cultivating sugar on a larger scale than ever before.
Estates are selling at very high prices. Every thing indicates the
fullest confidence on the part of the planters that the prosperity of
the colony will not only be permanent, but progressive.
After breakfast we proceeded to the Society's estate. We were glad to
see this estate, as its history is peculiar. In 1726 it was bequeathed
by General Coddington to a society in England, called "The Society for
the promotion of Christian Knowledge." The proceeds of the estate were
to be applied to the support of an institution in Barbadoes, for
educating missionaries of the established order. Some of the provisions
of the will were that the estate should always have three hundred slaves
upon it; that it should support a school for the education of the negro
children who were to be taught a portion of every day until they were
twelve years old, when they were to go into the field; and that there
should be a chapel built upon it. The negroes belonging to the estate
have for upwards of a hundred years been under this kind of instruction.
They have all been taught to read, though in many instances they have
forgotten all they learned, having no opportunity to improve after they
left school. They enjoy some other comforts peculiar to the Society's
estate. They have neat cottages built apart--each on a half-acre lot,
which belongs to the apprentice and for the cultivation of which he is a
allowed one day out of the five working days. Another peculiarity is,
that the men and women work in separate gangs.
At this estate we procured horses to ride to the College. We rode by the
chapel and school-house belonging to the Society's estate which are
situated on the row of a high hill. From the same hill we caught a view
of Coddrington college, which is situated on a low bottom extending from
the foot of the rocky cliff on which we stood to the sea shore, a space
of quarter of a mile. It is a long, narrow, ill-constructed edifice.
We called on the principal, Rev. Mr. Jones, who received us very
cordially, and conducted us over the buildings and the grounds connected
with them. The college is large enough to accommodate a hundred
students. It is fitted out with lodging rooms, various professors'
departments, dining hall, chapel, library, and all the appurtenances of
a university. The number of student at the close of the last term was
_fifteen_.
The professors, two in number, are supported by a fund, consisting of
£40,000 sterling, which has in part accumulated from the revenue of
the estate.
The principal spoke favorably of the operation of the apprenticeship in
Barbadoes, and gave the negroes a decided superiority over the lower
class of whites. He had seen only one colored beggar since he came to
the island, but he was infested with multitudes of white ones.
It is intended to improve the college buildings as soon as the toil of
apprentices on the Society's estate furnishes the requisite means. This
robbing of God's image to promote education is horrible enough, taking
the wages of slavery to spread the kingdom of Christ!
On re-ascending the hill, we called at the Society's school. There are
usually in attendance about one hundred children, since the abolition of
slavery. Near the school-house is the chapel of the estate, a neat
building, capable of holding three or four hundred people. Adjacent to
the chapel is the burial ground for the negroes belonging to the
Society's estate. We noticed several neat tombs, which appeared to have
been erected only a short time previous. They were built of brick, and
covered over with lime, so as to resemble white marble slabs. On being
told that these were erected by the negroes themselves over the bodies
of their friends, we could not fail to note so beautiful an evidence of
their civilization and humanity. We returned to the Society's estate,
where we exchanged our saddles for the phaeton, and proceeded on our
eastward tour.
Mr. C. took us out of the way a few miles to show us one of the few
curiosities of which Barbadoes can boast. It is called the "Horse." The
shore for some distance is a high and precipitous ledge of rocks, which
overhangs the sea in broken cliffs. In one place a huge mass has been
riven from the main body of rock and fallen into the sea. Other huge
fragments have been broken off in the same manner. In the midst of
these, a number of steps have been cut in the rock for the purpose of
descending to the sea. At the bottom of these steps, there is a broad
platform of solid rock, where one may stand securely, and hear the waves
breaking around him like heavy thunders. Through the fissures we could
see the foam and spray mingling with the blue of the ocean, and flashing
in the sunshine. To the right, between the largest rock and the main
land, there is a chamber of about ten feet wide, and twenty feet long.
The fragment, which forms one of its sides, leans towards the main rock,
and touches it at top, forming a roof, with here and there a fissure,
through which the light enters. At the bottom of the room there is a
clear bed of water, which communicates with the sea by a small aperture
under the rock. It is as placid as a summer pond, and is fitted with
steps for a bathing place. Bathe, truly! with the sea ever dashing
against the side, and roaring and reverberating with deafening echo.
On a granite slab, fixed in the side of the rock at the bottom of the
first descent is an inscription. Time has very much effaced the letters,
but by the aid of Mr. C.'s memory, we succeeded in deciphering them.
They will serve as the hundred and first exemplification of the
Bonapartean maxim--"There is but one step from the sublime to the
ridiculous."
"In this remote, and hoarse resounding place,
Which billows clash, and craggy cliffs embrace,
These babbling springs amid such horrors rise,
But armed with virtue, horrors we despise.
Bathe undismayed, nor dread the impending rock,
'Tis virtue shields us from each adverse shock.
GENIO LOCI SACRUM POSUIT
J.R.
MARTIS MENSE
1769"
From the "Crane," which is the name given to that section of the country
in which the "Horse" is situated, we bent our way in a southerly
direction to the Ridge estate, which was about eight miles distant,
where we had engaged to dine. On the way we passed an estate which had
just been on fire. The apprentices, fearing lest their houses should be
burnt, had carried away all the moveables from them, and deposited them
in separate heaps, on a newly ploughed field. The very doors and window
shutters had been torn off and carried into the field, several acres of
which were strewed over with piles of such furniture. Mr. C. was
scarcely less struck with this scene than we were, and he assured us
that he had never known such providence manifested on a similar occasion
during slavery.
At the Ridge estate we met Mr. Clarke, manager at Staple Grove estate,
Mr. Applewhitte of Carton, and a brother of Mr. C. The manager, Mr.
Cecil, received us with the customary cordiality.
Mr. Clarke is the manager of an estate on which there are two hundred
apprentices. His testimony was, that the estate was better cultivated
since abolition than before, and that it is far easier to control the
laborers, and secure uniformity of labor under the present system. He
qualified this remark, by saying, that if harsh or violent measures were
used, there would be more difficulty now than during slavery; but kind
treatment and a conciliatory spirit never failed to secure peace and
industry. At the time of abolition, Mr. C. owned ten slaves, whom he
entirely emancipated. Some of these still remain with him as domestics;
others are hired on an adjoining estate. One of those who left him to
work on another estate, said to him, "Massa, whenever you want anybody
to help you, send to me, and I'll come. It makes no odds when it
is--I'll be ready at any time--day or night." Mr. C. declared himself
thoroughly convinced of the propriety of immediate emancipation; though
he was once a violent opposer of abolition. He said, that if he had the
power, be would emancipate every apprentice on his estate to-morrow. As
we were in the sugar-house examining the quality of the sugar, Mr. C.
turned to one of us, and putting his hand on a hogshead, said, "You do
not raise this article in your state, (Kentucky,) I believe." On being
answered in the negative, he continued, "Well, we will excuse you, then,
somewhat in your state--you can't treat your slaves so cruelly there.
_This, this_ is the dreadful thing! Wherever sugar is cultivated by
slaves, there is extreme suffering."
Mr. Applewhitte said emphatically, that there was no danger in entire
emancipation. He was the proprietor of more than a hundred apprentices
and he would like to see them all free at once.
During a long sitting at the dinner table, emancipation was the topic,
and we were gratified with the perfect unanimity of sentiment among
these planters. After the cloth was removed, and we were about leaving
the table, Mr. Clarke begged leave to propose a toast. Accordingly, the
glasses of the planters were once more filled, and Mr. C., bowing to us,
gave our health, and "success to our laudable undertaking,"--"_most_
laudable undertaking," added Mr. Applewhitte, and the glasses were
emptied. Had the glasses contained water instead of wine, our
gratification would have been complete. It was a thing altogether beyond
our most sanguine expectations, that a company of planters, all of whom
were but three years previous the actual oppressors of the slave, should
be found wishing success to the cause of emancipation.
At half past eight o'clock, we resumed our seats in Mr. C.'s phaeton,
and by the nearest route across the country, returned to Lear's. Mr. C.
entertained us by the way with eulogies upon the industry and
faithfulness of his apprentices. It was, he said, one of the greatest
pleasures he experienced, to visit the different estates under his
charge, and witness the respect and affection which the apprentices
entertained towards him. Their joyful welcome, their kind attentions
during his stay with them, and their hearty 'good-bye, massa,' when he
left, delighted him.
VISIT TO COLONEL ASHBY'S.
We were kindly invited to spend a day at the mansion of Colonel Ashby,
an aged and experienced planter, who is the proprietor of the estate on
which he resides. Colonel A.'s estate is situated in the parish of
Christ Church, and is almost on the extreme point of a promontory, which
forms the southernmost part of the island. An early and pleasant drive
of nine miles from Bridgetown, along the southeastern coast of the
island, brought us to his residence. Colonel A. is a native of
Barbadoes, has been a practical planter since 1795, and for a long time
a colonial magistrate, and commander of the parish troops. His present
estate contains three hundred and fifty acres, and has upon it two
hundred and thirty apprentices, with a large number of free children.
His average crop is eighty large hogsheads. Colonel A. remarked to us,
that he had witnessed many cruelties and enormities under "the reign of
terror." He said, that the abolition of slavery had been an incalculable
blessing, but added, that he had not always entertained the same views
respecting emancipation. Before it took place, he was a violent opposer
of any measure tending to abolition. He regarded the English
abolitionists, and the anti-slavery members in parliament, with
unmingled hatred. He had often cursed Wilberforce most bitterly, and
thought that no doom either in this life, or in the life to come, was
too bad for him. "But," he exclaimed, "how mistaken I was about that
man--I am convinced of it now--O he was a good man--_a noble
philanthropist_!--_if there is a chair in heaven, Wilberforce is in
it_!" Colonel A. is somewhat sceptical, which will account for his
hypothetical manner of speaking about heaven.
He said that he found no trouble in managing his apprentices. As local
or colonial magistrate, in which capacity he still continued to act he
had no cases of serious crime to adjudicate, and very few cases of petty
misdemeanor. Colonel A. stated emphatically, that the negroes were not
disposed to leave their employment, unless the master was intolerably
passionate and hard with them; as for himself, he did not fear losing a
single laborer after 1840.
He dwelt much on the trustiness and strong attachment of the negroes,
where they are well treated. There were no people in the world that he
would trust his property or life with sooner than negroes, provided he
had the previous management of them long enough to secure their
confidence. He stated the following fact in confirmation of this
sentiment. During the memorable insurrection of 1816, by which the
neighboring parishes were dreadfully ravaged, he was suddenly called
from home on military duty. After he had proceeded some distance, he
recollected that he had left five thousand dollars in an open desk at
home. He immediately told the fact to his slave who was with him, and
sent him back to take care of it. He knew nothing more of his money
until the rebellion was quelled, and peace restored. On returning home,
the slave led him to a cocoa-nut tree near by the house, and dug up the
money, which he had buried under its roots. He found the whole sum
secure. The negro, he said, might have taken the money, and he would
never have suspected him, but would have concluded that it had been, in
common with other larger sums, seized upon by the insurgents. Colonel A.
said that it was impossible for him to mistrust the negroes as a body.
He spoke in terms of praise also of the _conjugal attachment_ of the
negroes. His son, a merchant, stated a fact on this subject. The wife of
a negro man whom he knew, became afflicted with that loathsome disease,
the leprosy. The man continued to live with her, notwithstanding the
disease was universally considered contagious and was peculiarly dreaded
by the negroes. The man on being asked why he lived with his wife under
such circumstances, said, that he had lived with her when she was well,
and he could not bear to forsake her when she was in distress.
Colonel A. made numerous inquiries respecting slavery in America. He
said there certainly be insurrections in the slaveholding states, unless
slavery was abolished. Nothing but abolition could put an end to
insurrections.
Mr. Thomas, a neighboring planter, dined with us. He had not carried a
complaint to the special magistrate against his apprentices for six
months. He remarked particularly that emancipation had been a great
blessing to the master; it brought freedom to him as well as to
the slave.
A few days subsequent to our visit to Colonel A.'s, the Reverend Mr.
Packer, of the Established Church, called at our lodgings, and
introduced a planter from the parish of St. Thomas. The planter is
proprietor of an estate, and has eighty apprentices. His apprentices
conduct themselves very satisfactorily, and he had not carried a half
dozen complaints to the special magistrate since 1831. He said that
cases of crime were very rare, as he had opportunity of knowing, being
local magistrate. There were almost no penal offences brought before
him. Many of the apprentices of St. Thomas parish were buying their
freedom, and there were several cases of appraisement[A] every week. The
Monday previous, six cases came before him, in four of which the
apprentices paid the money on the spot.
[Footnote A: When an apprentice signifies his wish to purchase his
freedom, he applies to the magistrate for an appraisement. The
appraisement is made by one special and two local magistrates.]
Before this gentleman left, the Rev. Mr. C. called in with Mr. Pigeot,
another planter, with whom we had a long conversation. Mr. P. has been a
manager for many years. We had heard of him previously as the only
planter in the island who had made an experiment in task work prior to
abolition. He tried it for twenty months before that period on an estate
of four hundred acres and two hundred people. His plan was simply to
give each slave an ordinary day's work for a task; and after that was
performed, the remainder of the time, if any, belonged to the slave. _No
wages were allowed_. The gang were expected to accomplish just as much
as they did before, and to do it as well, however long a time it might
require; and if they could finish in half a day, the other half was
their own, and they might employ it as they saw fit. Mr. P. said, he was
very soon convinced of the good policy of the system; though he had one
of the most unruly gangs of negroes to manage in the whole island. The
results of the experiment he stated to be these:
1. The usual day's work was done generally before the middle of the
afternoon. Sometimes it was completed in five hours.
2. The work was done as well as it was ever done under the old system.
Indeed, the estate continued to improve in cultivation, and presented a
far better appearance at the close of the twenty months than when he
took the charge of it.
3. The trouble of management was greatly diminished. Mr. P. was almost
entirely released from the care of overseeing the work: he could trust
it to the slaves.
4. The whip was entirely laid aside. The idea of having a part of the
day which they could call their own and employ for their own interests,
was stimulus enough for the slaves without resorting to the whip.
5. The time gained was not spent (as many feared and prophecied it would
be) either in mischief or indolence. It was diligently improved in
cultivating their provision grounds, or working for wages on neighboring
estates. Frequently a man and his wife would commence early and work
together until they got the work of both so far advanced that the man
could finish it alone before night; and then the woman would gather on a
load of yams and start for the market.
6. The condition of the people improved astonishingly. They became one
of the most industrious and orderly gangs in the parish. Under the
former system they were considered inadequate to do the work of the
estate, and the manager was obliged to hire additional hands every year,
to take off the crop; but Mr. P. never hired any, though he made as
large crops as were made formerly.
7. After the abolition of slavery, his people chose to continue on the
same system of task work.
Mr. P. stated that the planters were universally opposed to his
experiment. They laughed at the idea of making negroes work without
using the whip; and they all prophesied that it would prove an utter
failure. After some months' successful trial, he asked some of his
neighbor planters what they thought of it then, and he appealed to than
to say whether he did not get his work done as thoroughly and seasonably
as they did theirs. They were compelled to admit it; but still they were
opposed to his system, even more than ever. They called it an
_innovation_--it was setting a bad example; and they honestly declared
that they did not wish the slaves to _have any time of their own_. Mr.
P. said, he was first induced to try the system of task work from a
consideration that the negroes were men as well as himself, and deserved
to he dealt with as liberally as their relation would allow. He soon
found that what was intended as a favor to the slaves was really a
benefit to the master. Mr. P. was persuaded that entire freedom would be
better for all parties than apprenticeship. He had heard some fears
expressed concerning the fate of the island after 1840; but he
considered them very absurd.
Although this planter looked forward with sanguine hopes to 1840, yet he
would freely say that he did not think the apprenticeship would be any
preparation for entire freedom. The single object with the great
majority of the planters seemed to be to _get as much out_ of the
apprentices as they possibly could during the term. No attention had
been paid to preparing the apprentices for freedom.
We were introduced to a planter who was notorious during the reign of
slavery for the _strictness of his discipline_, to use the Barbadian
phrase, or, in plain English, for his rigorous treatment and
his cruelty.
He is the proprietor of three sugar estates and one cotton plantation in
Barbadoes, on all of which there are seven hundred apprentices. He was a
luxurious looking personage, bottle-cheeked and huge i' the midst, and
had grown fat on slaveholding indulgences. He mingled with every
sentence he uttered some profane expression, or solemn appeal to his
"honor," and seemed to be greatly delighted with hearing himself talk.
He displayed all those prejudices which might naturally be looked for in
a mind educated and trained as his had been. As to the conduct of the
apprentices, he said they were peaceable and industrious, and mostly
well disposed. But after all, the negroes were a perverse race of
people. It was a singular fact, he said, that the severer the master,
the better the apprentices. When the master was mild and indulgent, they
were sure to be lazy, insolent, and unfaithful. _He knew this by
experience; this was the case with_ his _apprentices_. His house-servants
especially were very bad. But there was one complaint he had against
them all, domestics and praedials--they always hold him to the letter of
the law, and are ready to arraign him before the special magistrate for
every infraction of it on his part, however trifling. How ungrateful,
truly! After being provided for with parental care from earliest
infancy, and supplied yearly with two suits of clothes, and as many yams
is they could eat and only having to work thirteen or fifteen hours per
day in return; and now when they are no longer slaves, and new
privileges are conferred to exact them to the full extent of the law
which secures them--what ingratitude! How soon are the kindnesses of the
past, and the hand that bestowed them, forgotten! Had these people
possessed the sentiments of human beings, they would have been willing
to take the boon of freedom and lay it at their master's feet,
dedicating the remainder of their days to his discretionary service!
But with all his violent prejudices, this planter stated some facts
which are highly favorable to the apprentices.
1. He frankly acknowledged that his estates were never under better
cultivation than at the present time: and he could say the same of the
estates throughout the island. The largest crops that have ever been
made, will he realized this year.
2. The apprentices are generally willing to work on the estates on
Saturday whenever their labor is needed.
3. The females are very much disposed to abandon field labor. He has
great difficulty sometimes in inducing them to take their hoes and go
out to the field along with the men; it was the case particularly _with
the mothers!_ This he regarded as a sore evil!
4. The free children he represented as being in a wretched condition.
Their parents have the entire management of them, an they are utterly
opposed to having them employed on the estates. He condemned severely
the course taken in a particular instance by the late Governor, Sir
Lionel Smith. He took it upon himself to go around the island and advise
the parents never to bind their children in any kind of apprenticeship
to the planters. He told them that sooner than involve their free
children in any way, they ought to "work their own fingers to the
stubs." The consequence of this imprudent measure, said our informant,
is that the planters have no control over the children born on their
estates; and in many instances their parents have sent them away lest
their _residence_ on the property should, by some chance, give the
planter a claim upon their services. Under the good old system the young
children were placed together under the charge of some superannuated
women, who were fit for nothing else, and the mothers went into the
field to work; now the nursery is broken up, and the mothers spend half
of their time "_in taking care of their brats_."
5. As to the management of the working people, there need not he any
more difficulty now then during slavery. If the magistrates, instead of
encouraging the apprentices to complain and be insolent, would join
their influence to support the authority of the planters, things might
go on nearly as smoothly as before.
In company with Rev. Mr. Packer, late Rector of St. Thomas, we rode out
to the Belle estate, which is considered one of the finest in the
island. Mr. Marshall, the manager, received us cordially. He was
selected, with two others, by Sir Lionel Smith, to draw up a scale of
labor for general use in the island. There are five hundred acres in the
estate, and two hundred and thirty-five apprenticed laborers. The
manager stated that every thing was working well on his property. He
corroborated the statements made by other planters with retard to the
conduct of the apprentices. On one point he said the planters had found
themselves greatly disappointed. It was feared that after emancipation
the negroes would be very much verse to cultivating cane, as it was
supposed that nothing but the whip could induce them to perform that
species of labor. But the truth is, they now not only cultivate the
estate lands better than they did when under the lash, but also
cultivate a third of their half-acre allotments in cane on their own
accounts. They would plant the whole in cane if they were not
discouraged by the planter, whose principal objection to their doing so
is that it would lead to the entire neglect of _provision cultivation_.
The apprentices on Belle estate will make little short of one thousand
dollars the present season by their sugar.
Mr. M. stated that he was extensively acquainted with the cultivation of
the island, and he knew that it was in a better condition than it had
been for many years. There were twenty-four estates under the same
attorneyship with the Belle, and they were all in the same prosperous
condition.
A short time before we left Barbadoes we received an invitation from
Col. Barrow, to breakfast with him at his residence on Edgecome
estate--about eight miles from town. Mr. Cummins, a colored gentleman, a
merchant of Bridgetown, and agent of Col. B., accompanied us.
The proprietor of Edgecome is a native of Barbadoes, of polished manners
and very liberal views. He has travelled extensively, has held many
important offices, and is generally considered the _cleverest_ man in
the island. He is now a member of the council, and acting attorney for
about twenty estates. He remarked that he had always desired
emancipation, and had prepared himself for it; but that it had proved a
greater blessing than he had expected. His apprentices did as much work
as before, and it was done without the application of the whip. He had
not had any cases of insubordination, and it was very seldom that he
had any complaints to make to the special magistrate. "The apprentices."
said he, "understand the meaning of law, and they regard its authority."
He thought there was no such thing in the island as a _sense of
insecurity_, either as respected person or property. Real estate had
risen in value.
Col. B. alluded to the expensiveness of slavery, remarking that after
all that was expended in purchasing the slaves, it cost the proprietor
as much to maintain them, as it would to hire free men. He spoke of the
habit of exercising arbitrary power, which being in continual play up to
the time of abolition, had become so strong that managers even yet gave
way to it, and frequently punished their apprentices, in spite of all
penalties. The fines inflicted throughout the island in 1836, upon
planters, overseers, and others, for punishing apprentices, amounted to
one thousand two hundred dollars. Col. B. said that he found the legal
penalty so inadequate, that in his own practice he was obliged to resort
to other means to deter his book-keepers and overseers from violence;
hence he discharged every man under his control who was known to strike
an apprentice. He does not think that the apprenticeship will be a means
of preparing the negroes for freedom, nor does he believe that they
_need_ any preparation. He should have apprehended no danger, had
emancipation taken place in 1834.
At nine o'clock we sat down to breakfast. Our places were assigned at
opposite sides of the table, between Col. B. and Mr. C. To an American
eye, we presented a singular spectacle. A wealthy planter, a member of
the legislative council, sitting at the breakfast table with a colored
man, whose mother was a negress of the most unmitigated hue, and who
himself showed a head of hair as curly as his mother's! But this colored
guest was treated with all that courtesy and attention to which his
intelligence, worth and accomplished manners so justly entitle him.
About noon, we left Edgecome, and drove two miles farther, to Horton--an
estate owned by Foster Clarke, Esq., an attorney for twenty-two estates,
who is now temporarily residing in England. The intelligent manager of
Horton received us and our colored companion, with characteristic
hospitality. Like every one else, he told us that the apprenticeship was
far better than slavery, though he was looking forward to the still
better system, entire freedom.
After we had taken a lunch, Mr. Cummins invited our host to take a seat,
with us in his carriage, and we drove across the country to Drax Hall.
Drax Hall is the largest estate in the island--consisting of eight
hundred acres. The manager of this estate confirmed the testimony of the
Barbadian planters in every important particular.
From Drax Hall we returned to Bridgetown, accompanied by our friend
Cummins.
CHAPTER II.
TESTIMONY OF SPECIAL MAGISTRATES, POLICE OFFICERS, CLERGYMEN, AND
MISSIONARIES.
Next in weight to the testimony of the planters is that of the special
magistrates. Being officially connected with the administration of the
apprenticeship system, and tire adjudicators in all difficulties between
master and servant, their views of the system and of the conduct of the
different parties are entitled to special consideration. Our interviews
with this class of men were frequent during our stay in the island. We
found them uniformly ready to communicate information, and free to
express their sentiments.
In Barbadoes there are seven special magistrates, presiding over as many
districts, marked A, B, C, &c., which include the whole of the
apprentice population, praedial and non-praedial. These districts
embrace an average of twelve thousand apprentices--some more and some
less. All the complaints and difficulties which arise among that number
of apprentices and their masters, overseers and book-keepers, are
brought before the single magistrate presiding in the district in which
they occur. From the statement of this fact it will appear in the outset
either that the special magistrates have an incalculable amount of
business to transact, or that the conduct of the apprentices is
wonderfully peaceable. But more of this again.
About a week following our first interview with his excellency, Sir Evan
McCregor, we received an invitation to dine at Government House with a
company of gentlemen. On our arrival at six o'clock, we were conducted
into a large antechamber above the dining hall, where we were soon
joined by the Solicitor-General, Hon. R.B. Clarke. Dr. Clarke, a
physician, Maj. Colthurst, Capt. Hamilton, and Mr. Galloway, special
magistrates. The appearance of the Governor about an hour afterwards,
was the signal for an adjournment to dinner.
Slavery and emancipation were the engrossing topics during the evening.
As our conversation was for the most part general, we were enabled to
gather at the same time the opinions of all the persons present. There
was, for aught we heard or could see to the contrary, an entire
unanimity of sentiment. In the course of the evening we gathered the
following facts and testimony:
1. All the company testified to the benefits of abolition. It was
affirmed that the island was never in so prosperous a condition as
at present.
2. The estates generally are better cultivated than they were during
slavery. Said one of the magistrates:
"If, gentlemen, you would see for yourselves the evidences of our
successful cultivation, you need but to travel in any part of the
country, and view the superabundant crops which are now being taken off;
and if you would satisfy yourselves that emancipation has not been
ruinous to Barbadoes, only cast your eyes over the land in any
direction, and see the flourishing condition both of houses and fields:
every thing is starting into new life."
It as also stated that more work was done during the nine hours required
by law, than was done during slavery in twelve or fifteen hours, with
all the driving and goading which were then practised.
3. Offences have not increased, but rather lessened. The
Solicitor-General remarked, that the comparative state of crime could
not be ascertained by a mere reference to statistical records, since
previous to emancipation all offences were summarily punished by the
planter. Each estate was a little despotism, and the manager took
cognizance of all the misdemeanors committed among his slaves
--inflicting such punishment as he thought proper. The public knew
nothing about the offences of the slaves, unless something very
atrocious was committed. But since emancipation has taken place, all
offences, however trivial, come to the light and are recorded. He could
only give a judgment founded on observation. It was his opinion, that
there were fewer petty offences, such as thefts, larcenies, &c., than
during slavery. As for serious crime, it was hardly known in the island.
The whites enjoy far greater safety of person and property than they
did formerly.
Maj. Colthurst, who is an Irishman, remarked, that he had long been a
magistrate or justice of the peace in Ireland, and he was certain that
at the present ratio of crime in Barbadoes, there would not be as much
perpetrated in six years to come, as there is in Ireland among an equal
population in six months. For his part, he had never found in any part
of the world so peaceable and inoffensive a community.
4. It was the unanimous testimony that there was no disposition among
the apprentices to revenge injuries committed against them. _They are
not a revengeful people_, but on the contrary are remarkable for
forgetting wrongs, particularly when the are succeeded by kindness.
5. The apprentices were described as being generally civil and
respectful toward their employers. They were said to manifest more
independence of feeling and action than they did when slaves; but were
seldom known to be insolent unless grossly insulted or very
harshly used.
6. Ample testimony was given to the law-abiding character of the
negroes. When the apprenticeship system was first introduced, they did
not fully comprehend its provisions, and as they had anticipated entire
freedom, they were disappointed and dissatisfied. But in a little while
they became reconciled to the operations of the new system, and have
since manifested a due subordination to the laws and authorities.
7. There is great desire manifested among them to purchase their
freedom. Not a week passes without a number of appraisements. Those who
have purchased their freedom have generally conducted well, and in many
instances are laboring on the same estates on which they were slaves.
8. There is no difficulty in inducing the apprentices to work on
Saturday. They are usually willing to work if proper wages are given
them. If they are not needed on the estates, they either work on their
own grounds, or on some neighboring estate.
9. The special magistrates were all of the opinion that it would have
been entirely safe to have emancipated the slaves of Barbadoes in 1834.
They did not believe that any preparation was needed; but that entire
emancipation would have been decidedly better than the apprenticeship.
10. The magistrates also stated that the number of complaints brought
before them was comparatively small, and it was gradually diminishing.
The offences were of a very trivial nature, mostly cases of slight
insubordination, such as impertinent replies and disobedience of orders.
11. They stated that they had more trouble with petty overseers and
managers and small proprietors than with the entire black population.
12. The special magistrates further testified that wherever the planters
have exercised common kindness and humanity, the apprentices have
generally conducted peaceably. Whenever there are many complaints from
one estate, it is presumable that the manager is a bad man.
13. Real estate is much higher throughout the island than it has been
for many years. A magistrate said that he had heard of an estate which
had been in market for ten years before abolition and could not find a
purchaser. In 1835, the year following abolition, it was sold for one
third more than was asked for it two years before.
14. It was stated that there was not a proprietor in the island, whose
opinion was of any worth, who would wish to have slavery restored. Those
who were mostly bitterly opposed to abolition, have become reconciled,
and are satisfied that the change has been beneficial. The
Solicitor-General was candid enough to own that he himself was openly
opposed to emancipation. He had declared publicly and repeatedly while
the measure was pending in Parliament, that abolition would ruin the
colonies. But the results had proved so different that he was ashamed of
his former forebodings. He had no desire ever to see slavery
re-established.
15. The first of August, 1834, was described as a day of remarkable
quiet and tranquillity. The Solicitor-General remarked, that there were
many fears for the results of that first day of abolition. He said he
arose early that morning, and before eight o'clock rode through the most
populous part of the island, over an extent of twelve miles. The negroes
were all engaged in their work as on other days. A stranger riding
through the island, and ignorant of the event which had taken place that
morning, would have observed no indications of so extraordinary a
change. He returned home satisfied that all would work well.
16. The change in 1840 was spoken of as being associated with the most
sanguine expectations. It was thought that there was more danger to be
apprehended from the change in 1834. It was stated that there were about
fifteen thousand non-praedials, who would then be emancipated in
Barbadoes. This will most likely prove the occasion of much excitement
and uneasiness, though it is not supposed that any thing serious will
arise. The hope was expressed that the legislature would effect the
emancipation of the whole population at that time. One of the
magistrates informed us that he knew quite a number of planters in his
district who were willing to liberate their apprentices immediately, but
they were waiting for a general movement. It was thought that this state
of feeling was somewhat extensive.
17. The magistrates represented the negroes as naturally confiding and
docile, yielding readily to the authority of those who are placed over
them. Maj. Colthurst presides over a district of 9,000 apprentices;
Capt. Hamilton over a district of 13,000, and Mr. Galloway over the same
number. There are but three days in the week devoted to hearing and
settling complaints. It is very evident that in so short a time it would
be utterly impossible for one man to control and keep in order such a
number, unless the subjects were of themselves disposed to be peaceable
and submissive. The magistrates informed us that, notwithstanding the
extent of their districts, they often did not have more than from a
dozen to fifteen complaints in a week.
We were highly gratified with the liberal spirit and the intelligence of
the special magistrates. Major Colthurst is a gentleman of far more than
ordinary pretensions to refinement and general information. He was in
early life a justice of the peace in Ireland, he was afterwards a juror
in his Majesty's service, and withal, has been an extensive traveller.
Fifteen years ago he travelled in the United States, and passed through
several of the slaveholding states, where he was shocked with the
abominations of slavery. He was persuaded that slavery was worse in our
country, than it has been for many years in the West Indies. Captain
Hamilton was formerly an officer in the British navy. He seems quite
devoted to his business, and attached to the interests of the
apprentices. Mr. Galloway is a _colored_ gentleman, highly respected for
his talents. Mr. G. informed us that _prejudice_ against color was
rapidly diminishing--and that the present Governor was doing all in his
power to discountenance it.
The company spoke repeatedly of the _noble act of abolition, by which
Great Britain had immortalized her name more than by all the
achievements of her armies and navies._
The warmest wishes were expressed for the abolition of slavery in the
United States. All said they should rejoice when the descendants of
Great Britain should adopt the noble example of their mother country.
They hailed the present anti-slavery movements. Said the
Solicitor-General, "We were once strangely opposed to the English
anti-slavery party, but now we sympathize with you. Since slavery is
abolished to our own colonies, and we see the good which results from
the measure, we go for abolition throughout the world. Go on, gentlemen,
we are with you; _we are all sailing in the same vessel._"
Being kindly invited by Captain Hamilton, during our interview with him
at the government house, to call on him and attend his court, we availed
ourselves of his invitation a few days afterwards. We left Bridgetown
after breakfast, and as it chanced to be Saturday, we had a fine
opportunity of seeing the people coming into market. They were strung
all along the road for six miles, so closely, that there was scarcely a
minute at any time in which we did not pass them. As far as the eye
could reach there were files of men and women, moving peaceably forward.
From the cross paths leading through the estates, the busy marketers
were pouring into the highway. To their heads as usual was committed the
safe conveyance of the various commodities. It was amusing to observe
the almost infinite diversity of products which loaded them. There were
sweet potatoes, yams, eddoes, Guinea and Indian corn, various fruits and
berries, vegetables, nuts, cakes, bottled beer and empty bottles,
bundles of sugar cane, bundles of fire wood, &c. &c. Here was one woman
(the majority were females, as usual with the marketers in these
islands) with a small black pig doubled up under her arm. Another girl
had a brood of young chickens, with nest, coop, and all, on her head.
Further along the road we were specially attracted by a woman who was
trudging with an immense turkey elevated on her head. He quite filled
the tray; head and tail projecting beyond its bounds. He advanced, as
was very proper, head foremost, and it was irresistibly laughable to see
him ever and anon stretch out his neck and peep under the tray, as
though he would discover by what manner of locomotive it was that he got
along so fast while his own legs were tied together.
Of the hundreds whom we past, there were very few who were not well
dressed, healthy, and apparently in good spirits. We saw nothing
indecorous, heard no vile language, and witnessed no violence.
About four miles from town, we observed on the side of the road a small
grove of shade trees. Numbers of the marketers were seated there, or
lying in the cool shade with their trays beside them. It seemed to be a
sort of rendezvous place, where those going to, and those returning from
town, occasionally halt for a time for the purpose of resting, and to
tell and hear news concerning the state of the market. And why should
not these travelling merchants have an exchange as well as the
stationary ones of Bridgetown?
On reaching the station-house, which is about six miles from town, we
learned that Saturday was not one of the court days. We accordingly
drove to Captain Hamilton's residence. _He stated that during the week
he had only six cases of complaint among the thirteen thousand
apprentices embraced in his district._ Saturday is the day set apart for
the apprentices to visit him at his house for advice on any points
connected with their duties. He had several calls while we were with
him. One was from the mother of an apprentice girl who had been
committed for injuring the master's son. She came to inform Captain H.
that the girl had been whipped twice contrary to law, before her
commitment. Captain H. stated that the girl had said nothing about this
at the time of her trial; if she had, she would in all probability have
been _set free_, instead of being _committed to prison_. He remarked
that he had no question but there were numerous cases of flogging on the
estates which never came to light. The sufferers were afraid to inform
against their masters, lest they should be treated still worse. The
opportunity which he gave them of coming, to him one day in the week for
private advice, was the means of exposing many outrages which would
otherwise he unheard of: He observed that there were not a few whom he
had liberated on account of the cruelty of their masters.
Captain H. stated that the apprentices were much disposed to purchase
their freedom. To obtain money to pay for themselves they practice the
most severe economy and self-denial in the very few indulgences which
the law grants them. They sometimes resort to deception to depreciate
their value with the appraisers. He mentioned an instance of a man who
lead for many years been an overseer on a large estate. Wishing to
purchase himself, and knowing that his master valued him very highly, he
permitted his beard to grow; gave his face a wrinkled and haggard
appearance, and bound a handkerchief about his head. His clothes were
suffered to become ragged and dirty, and he began to feign great
weakness in his limbs, and to complain of a "misery all down his back."
He soon appeared marked with all the signs of old age and decrepitude.
In this plight, and leaning on a stick, he hobbled up to the
station-house one day, and requested to be appraised. He was appraised
at £10, which he immediately paid. A short time afterwards, he engaged
himself to a proprietor to manage a small estate for £30 per year in
cash and his own maintenance, all at once grew vigorous again; and is
prospering finely. Many of the masters in turn practice deception to
prevent the apprentices from buying themselves, or to make them pay the
very highest sum for their freedom. They extol their virtues--they are
every thing that is excellent and valuable--their services on the estate
are indispensable no one can fill their places. By such
misrepresentations they often get an exorbitant price for the remainder
of the term--more, sometimes, than they could have obtained for them for
life while they were slaves.
From Captain H.'s we returned to the station-house, the keeper of which
conducted us over the buildings, and showed us the cells of the prison.
The house contains the office and private room of the magistrate, and
the guard-room, below, and chambers for the police men above. There are
sixteen solitary cells, and two large rooms for those condemned to hard
labour--one for females and the other for males. There were at that time
seven in the solitary cells, and twenty-four employed in labor on the
roads. This is more than usual. The average number is twenty in all.
When it is considered that most of the commitments are for trivial
offences, and that the district contains thirteen thousand apprentices,
certainly we have grounds to conclude that the state of morals in
Barbadoes is decidedly superior to that in our own country.
The whole police force for this district is composed of seventeen
horsemen, four footmen, a sergeant, and the keeper. It was formerly
greater but has been reduced within the past year.
The keeper informed us that he found the apprentices, placed under his
care, very easily controlled. They sometimes attempt to escape; but
there has been no instance of revolt or insubordination. The island, he
said, was peaceable, and were it not for the petty complaints of the
overseers, nearly the whole police force might be disbanded. As for
insurrection, he laughed at the idea of it. It was feared before
abolition, but now no one thought of it. All but two or three of the
policemen at this station are black and colored men.
STATION-HOUSE AT DISTRICT A.
Being disappointed in our expectations of witnessing some trials at the
station-house in Captain Hamilton's district (B,) we visited the court
in district A, where Major Colthurst presides. Major C. was in the midst
of a trial when we entered, and we did not learn fully the nature of the
case then pending. We were immediately invited within the bar, whence we
had a fair view of all that passed.
There were several complaints made and tried, during our stay. We give a
brief account of them, as they will serve as specimens of the cases
usually brought before the special magistrates.
I. The first was a complaint made by a colored lady, apparently not more
than twenty, against a colored girl--her domestic apprentice. The charge
was insolence, and disobedience of orders. The complainant said that the
girl was exceedingly insolent--no one could imagine how insolent she had
been--it was beyond endurance. She seemed wholly unable to find words
enough to express the superlative insolence of her servant. The justice
requested her to particularize. Upon this, she brought out several
specific charges such as, first, That the girl brought a candle to her
one evening, and wiped her greasy fingers on her (the girl's) gown:
second, That one morning she refused to bring some warm water, as
commanded, to pour on a piece of flannel, until she had finished some
other work that she was doing at the time; third, That the same morning
she delayed coming into her chamber as usual to dress her, and when she
did come, she sung, and on being told to shut her mouth, she replied
that her mouth was her own, and that she would sing when she pleased;
and fourth, That she had said in her mistress's hearing that she would
be glad when she was freed. These several charges being sworn to, the
girl was sentenced to four days' solitary confinement, but at the
request of her mistress, she was discharged on promise of amendment.
II. The second complaint was against an apprentice-man by his master,
for absence from work. He had leave to go to the funeral of his mother,
and he did not return until after the time allowed him by his master.
The man was sentence to imprisonment.
III. The third complaint was against a woman for singing and making a
disturbance in the field. Sentenced to six days' solitary confinement.
IV. An apprentice was brought up for not doing his work well. He was a
mason, and was employed in erecting an arch on one of the public roads.
This case excited considerable interest. The apprentice was represented
by his master to be a praedial--the master testified on oath that he was
registered as a praedial; but in the course of the examination it was
proved that he had always been a mason; that he had labored at that
trade from his boyhood, and that he knew 'nothing about the hoe,' having
never worked an hour in the field. This was sufficient to prove that he
was a non-praedial, and of course entitled to liberty two years sooner
than he would have been as a praedial. As this matter came up
incidentally, it enraged the master exceedingly. He fiercely reiterated
his charge against the apprentice, who, on his part, averred that he did
his work as well as he could. The master manifested the greatest
excitement and fury during the trial. At one time, because the
apprentice disputed one of his assertions, he raised his clenched fist
over him, and threatened, with an oath, to knock him down. The
magistrate was obliged to threaten him severely before he would
keep quiet.
The defendant was ordered to prison to be tried the next day, time being
given to make further inquiries about his being a praedial.
V. The next case was a complaint against an apprentice, for leaving his
place in the boiling house without asking permission. It appeared that
he had been unwell during the evening, _and at half past ten o'clock at
night_, being attacked more severely, he left for a few moments,
expecting to return. He, however, was soon taken so ill that the could
not go back, but was obliged to lie down on the ground, where he
remained until twelve o'clock, when he recovered sufficiently to creep
home. His sickness was proved by a fellow apprentice, and indeed his
appearance at the bar clearly evinced it. He was punished by several
days imprisonment. With no little astonishment in view of such a
decision, we inquired of Maj. C. whether the planters had the power to
require their people to work as late as half past ten at night. He
replied, "Certainly, _the crops must be secured at any rate, and if they
are suffering, the people must be pressed the harder_."[A]
[Footnote A: We learned subsequently from various authentic sources,
that the master has _not_ the power to compel his apprentices to labor
more than nine hours per day on any condition, except in case of a fire,
or some similar emergency. If the call for labor in crop-time was to be
set down as an emergency similar to a "fire," and if in official
decisions he took equal latitude, alas for the poor apprentices!]
VI. The last case was a complaint against a man for not keeping up good
fires under the boilers. He stoutly denied the charge; said he built as
good fires as he could. He kept stuffing in the trash, and if it would
not burn he could not help it. He was sentenced to imprisonment.
Maj. C. said that these complaints were a fair specimen of the cases
that came up daily, save that there were many more frivolous and
ridiculous. By the trials which we witnessed we were painfully impressed
with two things:
1st. That the magistrate, with all his regard for the rights and welfare
of the apprentices, showed a great and inexcusable partiality for the
masters. The patience and consideration with which he heard the
complaints of the latter, the levity with which he regarded the defence
of the former, the summary manner in which he despatched the cases, and
the character of some of his decisions, manifested no small degree of
favoritism.
2d That the whole proceedings of the special magistrates' courts are
eminently calculated to perpetuate bad feeling between the masters and
apprentices. The court-room is a constant scene of angry dispute between
these parties. The master exhausts his store of abuse and violence upon
the apprentice, and the apprentice, emboldened by the place, and
provoked by the abuse, retorts in language which he would never think of
using on the estate, and thus, whatever may be the decision of the
magistrate, the parties return home with feelings more embittered
than ever.
There were twenty-six persons imprisoned at the station-house,
twenty-four were at hard labor, and two were in solitary confinement.
The keeper of the prison said, he had no difficulty in managing the
prisoners. The keeper is a colored man, and so also is the sergeant and
most of the policemen.
We visited one other station-house, in a distant part of the island,
situated in the district over which Captain Cuppage presides. We
witnessed several trials there which were similar in frivolity and
meanness to those detailed above. We were shocked with the mockery of
justice, and the indifference to the interests of the negro apparent in
the course of the magistrate. It seemed that little more was necessary
than for the manager or overseer to make his complaint and swear to it,
and the apprentice was forthwith condemned to punishment.
We never saw a set of men in whose countenances fierce passions of every
name were so strongly marked as in the overseers and managers who were
assembled at the station-houses. Trained up to use the whip and to
tyrannize over the slaves, their grim and evil expression accorded with
their hateful occupation.
Through the kindness of a friend in Bridgetown we were favored with an
interview with Mr. Jones, the superintendent of the rural police--the
whole body of police excepting those stationed in the town. Mr. J. has
been connected with the police since its first establishment in 1834. He
assured us that there was nothing in the local peculiarities of the
island, nor in the character of its population, which forbade immediate
emancipation in August, 1834. He had no doubt it would be perfectly safe
and decidedly profitable to the colony.
2. The good or bad working of the apprenticeship depends mainly on the
conduct of the masters. He was well acquainted with the character and
disposition of the negroes throughout the island, and he was ready to
say, that if disturbances should arise either before or after 1840, it
would be because the people were goaded on to desperation by the
planters, and not because they sought disturbance themselves.
3. Mr. J. declared unhesitatingly that crime had not increased since
abolition, but rather the contrary.
4. He represented the special magistrates as the friends of the
planters. They loved the _dinners_ which they got at the planters'
houses. The apprentices had no sumptuous dinners to give them. The
magistrates felt under very little obligation of any kind to assert the
cause of the apprentice and secure him justice, while they were under
very strong temptations to favor the master.
5. Real estate had increased in value nearly fifty per cent since
abolition. There is such entire security of property, and the crops
since 1834 have been so flattering, that capitalists from abroad are
desirous of investing their funds in estates or merchandise. All are
making high calculations for the future.
6. Mr. J. testified that marriages had greatly increased since
abolition. He had seen a dozen couples standing at one time on the
church floor. There had, he believed, been more marriages within the
last three years among the negro population, than have occurred before
since the settlement of the island.
We conclude this chapter by subjoining two highly interesting documents
from special magistrates. They were kindly furnished us by the authors
in pursuance of an order from his excellency the Governor, authorizing
the special magistrates to give us any official statements which we
might desire. Being made acquainted with these instructions from the
Governor, we addressed written queries to Major Colthurst and Captain
Hamilton. We insert their replies at length.
COMMUNICATION FROM MAJOR COLTHURST, SPECIAL MAGISTRATE.
The following fourteen questions on the working of the apprenticeship
system in this colony were submitted to me on the 30th of March, 1837,
requesting answers thereto.
1. What is the number of apprenticed laborers in your district, and what
is their character compared with other districts?
The number of apprenticed laborers, of all ages, in my district, in nine
thousand four hundred and eighty, spread over two hundred and
ninety-seven estates of various descriptions--some very large, and
others again very small--much the greater number consisting of small
lots in the near neighborhood of Bridgetown. Perhaps my district, in
consequence of this minute subdivision of property, and its contact with
the town, is the most troublesome district in the island; and the
character of the apprentices differs consequently from that in the more
rural districts, where not above half the complaints are made. I
attribute this to their almost daily intercourse with Bridgetown.
2. What is the state of agriculture in the island?
When the _planters themselves_ admit that general cultivation was
_never_ in a better state, and the plantations extremely clean, _it is
more than presumptive_ proof that agriculture generally is in a most
prosperous condition. The vast crop of canes grown this year proves this
fact. Other crops are also luxuriant.
3. Is there any difficulty occasioned by the apprentices refusing to
work?
No difficulty whatever has been experienced by the refusal of the
apprentices to work. This is done manfully and cheerfully, when they are
treated with humanity and consideration by the masters or managers. I
have never known an instance to the contrary.
4. Are the apprentices willing to work in their own time?
The apprentices are most willing to work in their own time.
5. What is the number and character of the complaints brought before
you--are they increasing or otherwise?
The number of complaints brought before me, during the last quarter, are
much fewer than during the corresponding quarter of the last year. Their
character is also greatly improved. Nine complaints out of ten made
lately to me are for small impertinences or saucy answers, which,
considering the former and present position of the parties, is naturally
to be expected. The number of such complaints is much diminished.
6. What is the state of crime among the apprentices?
What is usually denominated crime in the old countries, is by no means
frequent among the blacks or colored persons. It is amazing how few
material breaches of the law occur in so extraordinary a community. Some
few cases of crime do occasionally arise;--but when it is considered
that the population of this island is nearly as dense as that of any
part of China, and wholly uneducated, either by precept or example, this
absence of frequent crime excites our wonder, and is highly creditable
to the negroes. I sincerely believe there is no such person, of that
class called at home an accomplished villain, to be found in the whole
island.--Having discharged the duties of a general justice of the peace
in Ireland, for above twenty-four years, where crimes of a very
aggravated nature were perpetrated almost daily. I cannot help
contrasting the situation of that country with this colony, where I do
not hesitate to say perfect tranquillity exists.
7. Have the apprentices much respect for law?
It is perhaps, difficult to answer this question satisfactorily, as it
has been so short a time since they enjoyed the blessing of equal laws.
To appreciate just laws, time, and the experience of the benefit arising
from them must be felt. That the apprentices do not, to any material
extent, _outrage_ the law, is certain; and hence it may be inferred that
they respect it.
8. Do you find a spirit of revenge among the negroes?
From my general knowledge of the negro character in other countries, as
well as the study of it here, I do not consider them by any means a
revengeful people. Petty dislikes are frequent, but any thing like a
deep spirit of revenge for former injuries does not exist, nor is it for
one moment to be dreaded.
9. Is there any sense of insecurity arising from emancipation?
Not the most remote feeling of insecurity exists arising from
emancipation; far the contrary. All sensible and reasonable men think
the prospects before them most cheering, and would not go back to the
old system on any account whatever. There are some, however, who croak
and forebode evil; but they are few in number, and of no
intelligence,--such as are to be found in every community.
10. What is the prospect for 1840?--for 1838?
This question is answered I hope satisfactorily above. On the
termination of the two periods no evil is to be reasonably anticipated,
with the exception of a few days' idleness.
11. Are the planters generally satisfied with the apprenticeship, or
would they return back to the old system?
The whole body of respectable planters are fully satisfied with the
apprenticeship, and would not go back to the old system on any account
whatever. A few young managers, whose opinions are utterly worthless,
would perhaps have no objection to be put again into their puny
authority.
12. Do you think it would have been dangerous for the slaves in this
island to have been entirely emancipated in 1834?
I do not think it would have been productive of danger, had the slaves
of this island been fully emancipated in 1834; which is proved by what
has taken place in another colony.
13. Has emancipation been a decided blessing to this island, or has it
been otherwise?
Emancipation has been, under God, the greatest blessing ever conferred
upon this island. All good and respectable men fully admit it. This is
manifest throughout the whole progress of this mighty change. Whatever
may be said of the vast benefit conferred upon the slaves, in right
judgment the slave owner was the greatest gainer after all.
14. Are the apprentices disposed to purchase their freedom? How have
those conducted themselves who have purchased it?
The apprentices are inclined to purchase their discharge, particularly
when misunderstandings occur with their masters. When they obtain their
discharge they generally labor in the trades and occupations they were
previously accustomed to, and conduct themselves well. The discharged
apprentices seldom take to drinking. Indeed the negro and colored
population are the most temperate persons I ever knew of their class.
The experience of nearly forty years in various public situations,
confirms me in this very important fact.
The answers I have had the honor to give to the questions submitted to
me, have been given most conscientiously, and to the best of my judgment
are a faithful picture of the working of the apprenticeship in this
island, as far as relates to the inquiries made.--_John B. Colthurst,
Special Justice of the Peace, District A. Rural Division_.
COMMUNICATION FROM CAPT. HAMILTON.
Barbadoes, April 4th, 1837.
Gentlemen,
Presuming that you have kept a copy of the questions[A] you sent me, I
shall therefore only send the answers.
[Footnote A: The same interrogatories were propounded to Capt. Hamilton
which have been already inserted in Major Colthurst's communication.]
1. There are at present five thousand nine hundred and thirty male, and
six thousand six hundred and eighty-nine female apprentices in my
district, (B,) which comprises a part of the parishes of Christ Church
and St. George. Their conduct, compared with the neighboring
districts, is good.
2. The state of agriculture is very flourishing. Experienced planters
acknowledge that it is generally far superior to what it was
during slavery.
3. Where the managers are kind and temperate, they have not any trouble
with the laborers.
4. The apprentices are generally willing to work for wages in their own
time.
5. The average number of complaints tried by me, last year, ending
December, was one thousand nine hundred and thirty-two. The average
number of apprentices in the district during that time was twelve
thousand seven hundred. Offences, generally speaking, are not of any
magnitude. They do not increase, but fluctuate according to the season
of the year.
6. The state of crime is not so bad by any means as we might have
expected among the negroes--just released from such a degrading bondage.
Considering the state of ignorance in which they have been kept, and the
immoral examples set them by the lower class of whites, it is matter of
astonishment that they should behave so well.
7. The apprentices would have a great respect for law, were it not for
the erroneous proceedings of the managers, overseers, &c., in taking
them before the magistrates for every petty offence, and often abusing
the magistrate in the presence of the apprentices, when his decision
does not please them. The consequence is, that the apprentices too often
get indifferent to law, and have been known to say that they cared not
about going to prison, and that they would do just as they did before as
soon as they were released.
8. The apprentices in this colony are generally considered a peaceable
race. All acts of revenge committed by them originate in jealousy, as,
for instance, between husband and wife.
9. Not the slightest sense of insecurity. As a proof of this, property
has, since the commencement of the apprenticeship, increased in value
considerably--at least one third.
10. The change which will take place in 1838, in my opinion, will
occasion a great deal of discontent among those called praedials--which
will not subside for some months. They ought to have been all
emancipated at the same period. I cannot foresee any bad effects that
will ensue from the change in 1840, except those mentioned hereafter.
11. The most prejudiced planters would not return to the old system if
they possibly could. They admit that they get more work from the
laborers than they formerly did, and they are relieved from a great
responsibility.
12. It is my opinion that if entire emancipation had taken place in
1834, no more difficulty would have followed beyond what we may
naturally expect in 1810. It will then take two or three months before
the emancipated people finally settle themselves. I do not consider the
apprentice more fit or better prepared for entire freedom now than he
was in 1834.
13. I consider, most undoubtedly, that emancipation has been a decided
blessing to the colony.
14. They are much disposed to purchase the remainder of the
apprenticeship term. Their conduct after they become free is good.
I hope the foregoing answers and information may be of service to you in
your laudable pursuits, for which I wish you every success.
I am, gentlemen, your ob't serv't,
_Jos. Hamilton, Special Justice_.
TESTIMONY OF CLERGYMEN AND MISSIONARIES.
There are three religious denominations at the present time in
Barbadoes--Episcopalians, Wesleyans, and Moravians. The former have
about twenty clergymen, including the bishop and archdeacon. The bishop
was absent during our visit, and we did not see him; but as far as we
could learn, while in some of his political measures, as a member of the
council, he has benefited the colored population, his general influence
has been unfavorable to their moral and spiritual welfare. He has
discountenanced and defeated several attempts made by his rectors and
curates to abolish the odious distinctions of color in their churches.
We were led to form an unfavorable opinion of the Bishop's course, from
observing among the intelligent and well-disposed classes of colored
people, the current use of the phrase, "bishop's man," and "no bishop's
man," applied to different rectors and curates. Those that they were
averse to, either as pro-slavery or pro-prejudice characters, they
usually branded as "bishop's men," while those whom they esteemed their
friends, they designated as "no bishop's men."
The archdeacon has already been introduced to the reader. We enjoyed
several interviews with him, and were constrained to admire him for his
integrity, independence and piety. He spoke in terms of strong
condemnation of slavery, and of the apprenticeship system. He was a
determined advocate of entire and immediate emancipation, both from
principle and policy. He also discountenanced prejudice, both in the
church and in the social circle. The first time we had the pleasure of
meeting him was at the house of a colored gentleman in Bridgetown where
we were breakfasting. He called in incidentally, while we were sitting
at table, and exhibited all the familiarity of a frequent visitant.
One of the most worthy and devoted men whom we met in Barbadoes was the
Rev. Mr. Cummins, curate of St. Paul's church, in Bridgetown. The first
Sabbath after our arrival at the island we attended his church. It is
emphatically a free church. Distinctions of color are nowhere
recognized. There is the most complete intermingling of colors
throughout the house. In one pew were seen a family of whites, in the
next a family of colored people, and in the next perhaps a family of
blacks. In the same pews white and colored persons sat side by side. The
floor and gallery presented the same promiscuous blending of hues and
shades. We sat in a pew with white and colored people. In the pew before
and in that behind us the sitting was equally indiscriminate. The
audience was kneeling in their morning devotions when we entered, and we
were struck with the different colors bowing side by side as we passed
down the aisles. There is probably no clergyman in the island who has
secured so perfectly the affections of his people as Mr. C. He is of
course "no bishop's man." He is constantly employed in promoting the
spiritual and moral good of his people, of whatever complexion. The
annual examination of the Sabbath school connected with St. Paul's
occurred while we were in the island, and we were favored with the
privilege of attending it. There were about three hundred pupils
present, of all ages, from fifty down to three years. There were all
colors--white, tawny, and ebon black. The white children were classed
with the colored and black, in utter violation of those principles of
classification in vogue throughout the Sabbath schools of our own
country. The examination was chiefly conducted by Mr. Cummins. At the
close of the examination about fifty of the girls, and among them the
daughter of Mr. Cummins, were arranged in front of the altar, with the
female teachers in the rear of them, and all united in singing a hymn
written for the occasion. Part of the teachers were colored and part
white, as were also the scholars, and they stood side by side, mingled
promiscuously together. This is altogether the best Sabbath school in
the island.
After the exercises were closed, we were introduced, by a colored
gentleman who accompanied us to the examination, to Mr. Cummins, the
Rev. Mr. Packer, and the Rev. Mr. Rowe, master of the public school in
Bridgetown. By request of Mr. C., we accompanied him to his house, where
we enjoyed an interview with him and the other gentlemen, just
mentioned. Mr. C. informed us that his Sabbath school was commenced in
1833; but was quite small and inefficient until after 1834. It now
numbers more than four hundred scholars. Mr. C. spoke of prejudice. It
had wonderfully decreased within the last three years. He said he could
scarcely credit the testimony of his own senses, when he looked around
on the change which had taken place. Many now associate with colored
persons, and sit with them in the church, who once would have scorned to
be found near them. Mr. C. and the other clergymen stated, that there
had been an increase of places of worship and of clergymen since
abolition. All the churches are now crowded, and there is a growing
demand for more. The negroes manifest an increasing desire for religious
instruction. In respect to morals, they represent the people as being
greatly improved. They spoke of the general respect which was now paid
to the institution of marriage among the negroes, Mr. C. said, he was
convinced that the blacks had as much natural talent and capacity for
learning as the whites. He does not know any difference. Mr. Pocker, who
was formerly rector of St. Thomas' parish, and has been a public teacher
of children of all colors, expressed the same opinion. Mr. Rowe said,
that before he took charge of the white school, he was the teacher of
one of the free schools for blacks, and he testified that the latter has
just as much capacity for acquiring any kind of knowledge, as much
inquisitiveness, and ingenuity, as the former.
Accompanied by an intelligent gentleman of Bridgetown, we visited two
flourishing schools for colored children, connected with the Episcopal
church, and under the care of the Bishop. In the male school, there were
one hundred and ninety-five scholars, under the superintendence of one
master, who is himself a black man, and was educated and trained up in
the same school. He is assisted by several of his scholars, as monitors
and teachers. It was, altogether, the best specimen of a well-regulated
school which we saw in the West Indies.
The present instructor has had charge of the school two years. It has
increased considerably since abolition. Before the first of August,
1834, the whole number of names on the catalogue was a little above one
hundred, and the average attendance was seventy-five. The number
immediately increased, and new the average attendance is above two
hundred. Of this number at least sixty are the children of apprentices.
We visited also the infant school, established but two weeks previous.
Mr. S. the teacher, who has been for many years an instructor, says he
finds them as apt to learn as any children he ever taught. He said he
was surprised to see how soon the instructions of the school-room were
carried to the homes of the children, and caught up by their parents.
The very first night after the school closed, in passing through the
streets, he heard the children repeating what they had been taught, and
the parents learning the songs from their children's lips Mr. S. has a
hundred children already in his school, and additions were making daily.
He found among the negro parents much interest in the school.
WESLEYAN MISSIONARIES.
We called on the Rev. Mr. Fidler, the superintendent of the Wesleyan
missions in Barbadoes. Mr. F. resides in Bridgetown, and preaches mostly
in the chapel in town. He has been in the West Indies twelve years, and
in Barbadoes about two years. Mr. F. informed us that there were three
Wesleyan missionaries in the island, besides four or five local
preachers, one of whom is a black man. There are about one thousand
members belonging to their body, the greater part of whom live in town.
Two hundred and thirty-five were added during the year 1836, being by
far the largest number added in any one year since they began their
operations in the island.
A brief review of the history of the Wesleyan Methodists in Barbadoes,
will serve to show the great change which has been taking place in
public sentiment respecting the labors of missionaries. In the year
1823, not long after the establishment of the Wesleyan church in the
island, the chapel in Bridgetown was destroyed by a mob. Not one stone
was left upon another. They carried the fragments for miles away from
the site, and scattered them about in every direction, so that the
chapel might never be rebuilt. Some of the instigators and chief actors
in this outrage, were "gentlemen of property and standing," residents of
Bridgetown. The first morning after the outrage began, the mob sought
for the Rev. Mr. Shrewsbury, the missionary, threatening his life, and
he was obliged to flee precipitately from the island, with his wife. He
was hunted like a wild beast, and it is thought that he would have been
torn in pieces if he had been found. Not an effort or a movement was
made to quell the mob, during their assault upon the chapel. The first
men of the island connived at the violence--secretly rejoicing in what
they supposed would be the extermination of Methodism from the country.
The governor, Sir Henry Ward, utterly refused to interfere, and would
not suffer the militia to repair to the spot, though a mere handful of
soldiers could have instantaneously routed the whole assemblage.
The occasion of this riot was partly the efforts made by the Wesleyans
to instruct the negroes, and still more the circumstance of a letter
being written by Mr. Shrewsbury, and published in an English paper,
which contained some severe strictures on the morals of the Barbadians.
A planter informed us that the riot grew out of a suspicion that Mr. S.
was "leagued with the Wilberforce party in England."
Since the re-establishment of Wesleyanism in this island, it has
continued to struggle against the opposition of the Bishop, and most of
the clergy, and against the inveterate prejudices of nearly the whole of
the white community. The missionaries have been discouraged, and in many
instances absolutely prohibited from preaching on the estates. These
circumstances have greatly retarded the progress of religious
instruction through their means. But this state of things had been very
much altered since the abolition of slavery. There are several estates
now open to the missionaries. Mr. F. mentioned several places in the
country, where he was then purchasing land, and erecting chapels. He
also stated, that one man, who aided in pulling down the chapel in 1823,
had offered ground for a new chapel, and proffered the free use of a
building near by, for religious meetings and a school, till it could
be erected.
The Wesleyan chapel in Bridgetown is a spacious building, well filled
with worshippers every Sabbath. We attended service there frequently,
and observed the same indiscriminate sitting of the various colors,
which is described in the account of St. Paul's church.
The Wesleyan missionaries have stimulated the clergy to greater
diligence and faithfulness, and have especially induced them to turn
their attention to the negro population more than they did formerly.
There are several local preachers connected with the Wesleyan mission in
Barbadoes, who have been actively laboring to promote religion among the
apprentices. Two of these are converted soldiers in his Majesty's
service--acting sergeants of the troops stationed in the island. While
we were in Barbadoes, these pious men applied for a discharge from the
army, intending to devote themselves exclusively to the work of teaching
and preaching. Another of the local preachers is a negro man, of
considerable talent and exalted piety, highly esteemed among his
missionary brethren for his labors of love.
THE MORAVIAN MISSION.
Of the Moravians, we learned but little. Circumstances unavoidably
prevented us from visiting any of the stations, and also from calling on
any of the missionaries. We were informed that there were three stations
in the island, one in Bridgetown, and two in the country, and we learned
in general terms, that the few missionaries there were laboring with
their characteristic devotedness, assiduity, and self-denial, for the
spiritual welfare of the negro population.
CHAPTER III.
COLORED POPULATION.
The colored, or as they were termed previous to abolition, by way of
distinction, the free colored population, amount in Barbadoes to nearly
thirty thousand. They are composed chiefly of the mixed race, whose
paternal connection, though illegitimate, secured to them freedom at
their birth, and subsequently the advantages of an education more or
less extensive. There are some blacks among them, however, who were free
born, or obtained their freedom at an early period, and have since, by
great assiduity, attained an honorable standing.
During our stay in Barbadoes, we had many invitations to the houses of
colored gentlemen, of which we were glad to avail ourselves whenever it
was possible. At an early period after our arrival, we were invited to
dine with Thomas Harris, Esq. He politely sent his chaise for us, as he
resided about a mile from our residence. At his table, we met two other
colored gentlemen, Mr. Thorne of Bridgetown, and Mr. Prescod, a young
gentleman of much intelligence and ability. There was also at the table
a niece of Mr. Harris, a modest and highly interesting young lady. All
the luxuries and delicacies of a tropical clime loaded the board--an
epicurean variety of meats, flesh, fowl, and fish--of vegetables,
pastries, fruits, and nuts, and that invariable accompaniment of a West
India dinner, wine.
The dinner was enlivened by an interesting and well sustained
conversation respecting the abolition of slavery, the present state of
the colony, and its prospects for the future. Lively discussions were
maintained on points where there chanced to be a difference of opinion,
and we admired the liberality of the views which were thus elicited. We
are certainly prepared to say, and that too without feeling that we draw
any invidious distinctions, that in style of conversation, in ingenuity
and ability of argument, this company would compare with any company of
white gentlemen that we met in the island. In that circle of colored
gentlemen, were the keen sallies of wit, the admirable repartee, the
satire now severe, now playful, upon the measures of the colonial
government, the able exposure of aristocratic intolerance, of
plantership chicanery, of plottings and counterplottings in high
places--the strictures on the intrigues of the special magistrates and
managers, and withal, the just and indignant reprobation of the uniform
oppressions which have disabled and crushed the colored people.
The views of these gentlemen with regard to the present state of the
island, we found to differ in some respects from those of the planters
and special magistrates. They seemed to regard both those classes of men
with suspicion. The planters they represented as being still, at least
the mass of them, under the influence of the strong habits of
tyrannizing and cruelty which they formed during slavery. The
prohibitions and penalties of the law are not sufficient to prevent
occasional and even frequent outbreakings of violence, so that the
negroes even yet suffer much of the rigor of slavery. In regard to the
special magistrates, they allege that they are greatly controlled by the
planters. They associate with the planters, dine with the planters,
lounge on the planters' sofas, and marry the planters daughters. Such
intimacies as these, the gentlemen very plausibly argued, could not
exist without strongly biasing the magistrate towards the planters, and
rendering it almost impossible for them to administer equal justice to
the poor apprentice, who, unfortunately, had no sumptuous dinners to
give them, no luxurious sofas to offer them, nor dowered daughters to
present in marriage.
The gentlemen testified to the industry and subordination of the
apprentices. They had improved the general cultivation of the island,
and they were reaping for their masters greater crops than they did
while slaves. The whole company united in saying that many blessings had
already resulted from the abolition of slavery--imperfect as that
abolition was. Real estate had advanced in value at least one third. The
fear of insurrection had been removed; invasions of property, such as
occurred during slavery, the firing of cane-fields, the demolition of
houses, &c., were no longer apprehended. Marriage was spreading among
the apprentices, and the general morals of the whole community, high and
low, white, colored, and black, were rapidly improving.
At ten o'clock we took leave of Mr. Harris and his interesting friends.
We retired with feelings of pride and gratification that we had been
privileged to join a company which, though wearing the badge of a
proscribed race, displayed in happy combination, the treasures of
genuine intelligence, and the graces of accomplished manners. We were
happy to meet in that social circle a son of New England, and a graduate
of one of her universities. Mr. H. went to the West Indies a few months
after the abolition of slavery. He took with him all the prejudices
common to our country, as well as a determined hostility to abolition
principles and measures. A brief observation of the astonishing results
of abolition in those islands, effectually disarmed him of the latter,
and made him the decided and zealous advocate of immediate emancipation.
He established himself in business in Barbados, where he has been living
the greater part of the time since he left his native country. His
_prejudices_ did not long survive his abandonment of anti-abolition
sentiments. We rejoiced to find him on the occasion above referred to,
moving in the circle of colored society, with all the freedom of a
familiar guest, and prepared most cordially to unite with us in the wish
that all our prejudiced countrymen could witness similar exhibitions.
The gentleman at whose table we had the pleasure to dine, was _born a
slave_, and remained such until he was seventeen years of age. After
obtaining his freedom, he engaged as a clerk in a mercantile
establishment, and soon attracted attention by his business talents.
About the same period he warmly espoused the cause of the free colored
people, who were doubly crushed under a load of civil and political
impositions, and a still heavier one of prejudice. He soon made himself
conspicuous by his manly defence of the rights of his brethren against
the encroachments of the public authorities, and incurred the marked
displeasure of several influential characters. After a protracted
struggle for the civil immunities of the colored people, during which he
repeatedly came into collision with public men, and was often arraigned
before the public tribunals; finding his labors ineffectual, he left the
island and went to England. He spent some time there and in France,
moving on a footing of honorable equality among the distinguished
abolitionists of those countries. There, amid the free influences and
the generous sympathies which welcomed and surrounded him,--his whole
character ripened in those manly graces and accomplishments which now so
eminently distinguish him.
Since his return to Barbadoes, Mr. H. has not taken so public a part in
political controversies as he did formerly, but is by no means
indifferent to passing events. There is not, we venture to say, within
the colony, a keener or more sagacious observer of its institutions, its
public men and their measures.
When witnessing the exhibitions of his manly spirit, and listening to
his eloquent and glowing narratives of his struggles against the
political oppressions which ground to the dust himself and his brethren,
we could scarcely credit the fact that he was himself born and reared to
manhood--A SLAVE.
BREAKFAST AT MR. THORNE'S.
By invitation we took breakfast with Mr. Joseph Thorne, whom we met at
Mr. Harris's. Mr. T. resides in Bridgetown. In the parlor, we met two
colored gentlemen--the Rev. Mr. Hamilton, a local Wesleyan preacher, and
Mr. Cummins, a merchant of Bridgetown, mentioned in a previous chapter.
We were struck with the scientific appearance of Mr. Thorne's parlor. On
one side was a large library of religious, historical and literary
works, the selection of which displayed no small taste and judgment. On
the opposite side of the room was a fine cabinet of minerals and shells.
In one corner stood a number of curious relics of the aboriginal Caribs,
such as bows and arrows, etc., together with interesting fossil remains.
On the tops of the book-cases and mineral stand, were birds of rare
species, procured from the South American Continent. The centre table
was ornamented with shells, specimens of petrifactions, and elegantly
bound books. The remainder of the furniture of the room was costly and
elegant. Before breakfast two of Mr. Thorne's children, little boys of
six and four, stepped in to salute the company. They were of a bright
yellow, with slightly curled hair. When they had shaken hands with each
of the company, they withdrew from the parlor and were seen no more.
Their manners and demeanor indicated the teachings of an admirable
mother, and we were not a little curious to see the lady of whose taste
and delicate sense of propriety we had witnessed so attractive a
specimen in her children. At the breakfast table we were introduced to
Mrs. Thorne, and we soon discovered from her dignified air, from the
chaste and elevated style of her conversation, from her intelligence,
modesty and refinement, that we were in the presence of a highly
accomplished lady. The conversation was chiefly on subjects connected
with our mission. All spoke with great gratitude of the downfall of
slavery. It was not the slaves alone that were interested in that event.
Political oppression, prejudice, and licentiousness had combined greatly
to degrade the colored community, but these evils were now gradually
lessening, and would soon wholly disappear after the final extinction of
slavery--the parent of them all.
Several facts were stated to show the great rise in the value of real
estate since 1834. In one instance a gentleman bought a sugar estate for
nineteen thousand pounds sterling, and the very next year, after taking
off a crop from which he realized a profit of three thousand pounds
sterling, he sold the estate for thirty thousand pounds sterling. It has
frequently happened within two years that persons wishing to purchase
estates would inquire the price of particular properties, and would
hesitate to give what was demanded. Probably soon after they would
return to close the bargain, and find that the price was increased by
several hundreds of pounds; they would go away again, reluctant to
purchase, and return a third time, when they would find the price again
raised, and would finally be glad to buy at almost any price. It was
very difficult to purchase sugar estates now, whereas previous to the
abolition of slavery, they were, like the slaves, a drug in the market.
Mr. Joseph Thorne is a gentleman of forty-five, of a dark mulatto
complexion, with the negro features and hair. _He was born a slave_, and
remained so until about twenty years of age. This fact we learned from
the manager of the Belle estate, on which Mr. T. was born and raised a
slave. It was an interesting coincidence, that on the occasion of our
visit to the Belle estate we were indebted to Mr. Thorne, the former
_property_ of that estate, for his horse and chaise, which he politely
proffered to us. Mr. T. employs much of his time in laboring among the
colored people in town, and among the apprentices on the estates, in the
capacity of _lay-preacher_. In this way he renders himself very useful.
Being very competent, both by piety and talents, for the work, and
possessing more perhaps than any missionary, the confidence of the
planters, he is admitted to many estates, to lecture the apprentices on
religious and moral duties. Mr. T. is a member of the Episcopal church.
BREAKFAST AT MR. PRESCOD'S
We next had the pleasure of breakfasting with Mr. Prescod. Our esteemed
friend, Mr. Harris, was of the company. Mr. P. is a young man, but
lately married. His wife and himself were both liberally educated in
England. He was the late editor of the New Times, a weekly paper
established since the abolition of slavery and devoted chiefly to the
interests of the colored community. It was the first periodical and the
only one which advocated the rights of the colored people, and this it
did with the utmost fearlessness and independence. It boldly exposed
oppression, whether emanating from the government house or originating
in the colonial assembly. The measures of all parties, and the conduct
of every public man, were subject to its scrutiny, and when occasion
required, to its stern rebuke. Mr. P. exhibits a thorough acquaintance
with the politics of the country, and with the position of the various
parties. He is familiar with the spirit and operations of the white
gentry--far more so, it would seem; than many of his brethren who have
been repeatedly deceived by their professions of increasing liberality,
and their show of extending civil immunities, which after all proved to
be practical nullities, and as such were denounced by Mr. P. at the
outset. A few years ago the colored people mildly petitioned the
legislature for a removal of their disabilities. Their remonstrance was
too reasonable to be wholly disregarded. Something must he done which
would at least bear the semblance of favoring the object of the
petitioners. Accordingly the obnoxious clauses were repealed, and the
colored people were admitted to the polls. But the qualification was
made three times greater than that required of white citizens. This
virtually nullified the extension of privilege, and actually confirmed
the disabilities of which it was a pretended abrogation. The colored
people, in their credulity, hailed the apparent enfranchisement, and had
a public rejoicing in the occasion. But the delusion could not escape
the discrimination of Mr. P. He detected it at once, and exposed it, and
incurred the displeasure of the credulous people of color by refusing to
participate in their premature rejoicings. He soon succeeded however in
convincing his brethren that the new provision was a mockery of their
wrongs, and that the assembly had only added insult to past injuries.
Mr. P. now urged the colored people to be patient, as the great changes
which were working in the colony must bring to them all the rights of
which they had been so cruelly deprived. On the subject of prejudice he
spoke just as a man of keen sensibilities and manly spirit might be
expected to speak, who had himself been its victim. He was accustomed to
being flouted, scorned and condemned by those whom he could not but
regard as his interiors both in native talents and education. He had
submitted to be forever debarred from offices which were filled by men
far less worthy except in the single qualification of a _white skin_,
which however was paramount to all other virtues and acquirements! He
had seen himself and his accomplished wife excluded from the society of
whites, though keenly conscious of their capacity to move and shine in
the most elevated social circles. After all this, it may readily be
conceived how Mr. P. would speak of prejudice. But while he spoke
bitterly of the past, he was inspired with buoyancy of hope as he cast
his eye to the future. He was confident that prejudice would disappear.
It had already diminished very much, and it would ere long be wholly
exterminated.
Mr. P. gave a sprightly picture of the industry of the negroes. It was
common, he said, to hear them called lazy, but this was not true. That
they often appeared to be indolent, especially those about the town, was
true; but it was either because they had no work to do, or were asked to
work without reasonable wages. He had often been amused at their
conduct, when solicited to do small jobs--such as carrying baggage,
loading of unloading a vessel, or the like. If offered a very small
compensation, as was generally the case at first, they would stretch
themselves on the ground, and with a sleepy look, and lazy tone, would
say, "O, I can't do it, sir." Sometimes the applicants would turn away
at once, thinking that they were unwilling to work, and cursing "the
lazy devils;" but occasionally they would try the efficacy of offering a
larger compensation, when instantly the negroes would spring to their
feet, and the lounging inert mass would appear all activity.
We are very willing to hold up Mr. P as a specimen of what colored
people generally may become with proper cultivation, or to use the
language of one of their own number,[A] "with free minds and space
to rise."
[Footnote A: Thomas C. Brown, who renounced colonization, returned from
a disastrous and almost fatal expedition to Liberia, and afterwards went
to the West Indies, in quest of a free country.]
We have purposely refrained from speaking of Mrs. P., lest any thing we
should be willing to say respecting her, might seem to be adulation.
However, having alluded to her, we will say that it has seldom fallen to
our lot to meet with her superior.
BREAKFAST AT MR. LONDON BOURNE'S.
After what has been said in this chapter to try the patience and
irritate the nerves of the prejudiced, if there should be such among our
readers, they will doubtless deem it quite intolerable to be introduced,
not as hitherto to a family in whose faces the lineaments and the
complexion of the white man are discernible, relieving the ebon hue, but
to a household of genuine unadulterated negroes. We cordially accepted
an invitation to breakfast with Mr. London Bourne. If the reader's
horror of amalgamation does not allow him to join us at the table,
perhaps he will consent to retire to the parlor, whence, without fear of
contamination, he may safely view us through the folding doors, and note
down our several positions around the board. At the head of the table
presides, with much dignity, Mrs. Bourne; at the end opposite, sits Mr.
Bourne--both of the glossiest jet; the thick matted hair of Mr. B.
slightly frosted with age. He has an affable, open countenance, in which
the radiance of an amiable spirit, and the lustre of a sprightly
intellect, happily commingle, and illuminate the sable covering. On
either hand of Mr. B. _we_ sit, occupying the posts of honor. On the
right and left of Mrs. B., and at the opposite corners from us, sit two
other guests, one a colored merchant, and the other a young son-in-law
of Mr. B., whose face is the very double extract of blackness; for which
his intelligence, the splendor of his dress, and the elegance of his
manners, can make to be sure but slight atonement! The middle seats are
filled on the one side by an unmarried daughter of Mr. B., and on the
other side by a promising son of eleven, who is to start on the morrow
for Edinburgh, where he is to remain until he has received the honors of
Scotland's far famed university.
We shall doubtless be thought by some of our readers to glory in our
shame. Be it so. We _did_ glory in joining the company which we have
just described. On the present occasion we had a fair opportunity of
testing the merits of an unmixed negro party, and of determining how far
the various excellences of the gentlemen and ladies previously noticed
were attributable to the admixture of English blood. We are compelled in
candor to say; that the company of blacks did not fall a whit below
those of the colored race in any respect. We conversed on the same
general topics, which, of course, were introduced where-ever we went. The
gentlemen showed an intimate acquaintance with the state of the colony,
with the merits of the apprenticeship system, and with the movements of
the colonial government. As for Mrs. B., she presided at the table with
great ease, dignity, self-possession, and grace. Her occasional remarks,
made with genuine modesty, indicated good sense and discrimination.
Among other topics of conversation, prejudice was not forgotten. The
company were inquisitive as to the extent of it in the United States. We
informed them that it appeared to be strongest in those states which
held no slaves, that it prevailed among professing Christians, and that
it was most manifestly seen in the house of God. We also intimated, in
as delicate a manner as possible, that in almost any part of the United
States such a table-scene as we then presented would be reprobated and
denounced, if indeed it escaped the summary vengeance of the mob. We
were highly gratified with their views of the proper way for the colored
people to act in respect to prejudice. They said they were persuaded
that their policy was to wait patiently for the operation of those
influences which were now at work for the removal of prejudice. "_Social
intercourse_," they said, "was not a thing to be gained by _pushing_."
"They could not go to it, but it would come to them." It was for them
however, to maintain an upright, dignified course, to be uniformly
courteous, to seek the cultivation of their minds, and strive zealously
for substantial worth, and by such means, and such alone, they could aid
in overcoming prejudice.
Mr. Bourne was a slave until he was twenty-three years old. He was
purchased by his father, a free negro, who gave five hundred dollars for
him. His mother and four brothers were bought at the same time for the
sum of two thousand five hundred dollars. He spoke very kindly of his
former master. By industry, honesty, and close attention to business,
Mr. B. has now become a wealthy merchant. He owns three stores in
Bridgetown, lives in very genteel style in his own house, and is worth
from twenty to thirty thousand dollars. He is highly respected by the
merchants of Bridgetown for his integrity and business talents. By what
means Mr. B. has acquired so much general information, we are at a loss
to conjecture. Although we did not ourselves need the evidence of his
possessing extraordinary talents, industry, and perseverance, yet we are
happy to present our readers with such tangible proofs--proofs which are
read in every language, and which pass current in every nation.
The foregoing sketches are sufficient to give a general idea of the
colored people of Barbadoes. Perchance we may have taken too great
liberties with those whose hospitalities we enjoyed; should this ever
fall under their notice, we doubt not they will fully appreciate the
motives which have actuated us in making them public. We are only sorry,
for their sakes, and especially for that of our cause, that the
delineations are so imperfect. That the above specimens are an exact
likeness of the mass of colored people we do not pretend; but we do
affirm, that they are as true an index to the whole community, as the
merchants, physicians, and mechanics of any of our villages are to the
entire population. We must say, also, that families of equal merit are
by no means rare among the same people. We might mention many names
which deservedly rank as high as those we have specified. One of the
wealthiest merchants in Bridgetown is a colored gentleman. He has his
mercantile agents in England, English clerks in his employ, a branch
establishment in the city, and superintends the concerns of an extensive
and complicated business with distinguished ability and success. A large
portion, of not a majority of the merchants of Bridgetown are colored.
Some of the most popular instructors are colored men and ladies, and one
of these ranks high as a teacher of the ancient and modern languages.
The most efficient and enterprising mechanics of the city, are colored
and black men. There is scarcely any line of business which is not
either shared or engrossed by colored persons, if we except that of
_barber_. _The only barber in Bridgetown is a white man._
That so many of the colored people should have obtained wealth and
education is matter of astonishment, when we consider the numerous
discouragements with which they have ever been doomed to struggle. The
paths of political distinction have been barred against them by an
arbitrary denial of the right of suffrage, and consequent ineligibility
to office. Thus a large and powerful class of incitements to mental
effort, which have been operating continually upon the whites, have
never once stirred the sensibilities nor waked the ambition of the
colored community. Parents, however wealthy, had no inducement to
educate their sons for the learned professions, since no force of talent
nor extent of acquirement could hope to break down the granite walls and
iron bars which prejudice had erected round the pulpit, the bar, and the
bench. From the same cause there was very little encouragement to
acquire property, to seek education, to labor for the graces of
cultivated manners, or even to aspire to ordinary respectability, since
not even the poor favor of social intercourse with the whites, of
participating in the civilities and courtesies of every day life, was
granted them.
The crushing power of a prevailing licentiousness, has also been added
to the other discouragements of the colored people. Why should parents
labor to amass wealth enough, and much of course it required, to send
their daughters to Europe to receive their educations, if they were to
return only to become the victims of an all-whelming concubinism! It is
a fact, that in many cases young ladies, who have been sent to England
to receive education, have, after accomplishing themselves in all the
graces of womanhood, returned to the island to become the concubines of
white men. Hitherto this vice has swept over the colored community,
gathering its repeated conscriptions of beauty and innocence from the
highest as well as the lowest families. Colored ladies have been taught
to believe that it was more honorable, and quite as virtuous, to be the
kept mistresses of _white gentlemen_, than the lawfully wedded wives of
_colored men_. We repeat the remark, that the actual progress which the
colored people of Barbadoes have made, while laboring under so many
depressing influences, should excite our astonishment, and, we add, our
admiration too. Our acquaintance with this people was at a very
interesting period--just when they were beginning to be relieved from
these discouragements, and to feel the regenerating spirit of a new era.
It was to us like walking through a garden in the early spring. We could
see the young buds of hope, the first bursts of ambition, the early
up-shoots of confident aspiration, and occasionally the opening bloom of
assurance. The star of hope had risen upon the colored people, and they
were beginning to realize that _their_ day had come. The long winter of
their woes was melting into "glorious summer." Civil immunities and
political privileges were just before them, the learned professions were
opening to them, social equality and honorable domestic connections
would soon be theirs. Parents were making fresh efforts to establish
schools for the children, and to send the choicest of their sons and
daughters to England. They rejoiced in the privileges they were
securing, and they anticipated with virtuous pride the free access of
their children to all the fields of enterprise, all the paths of honest
emulation, and all the eminences of distinction.
We remark in conclusion, that the forbearance of the colored people of
Barbadoes under their complicated wrongs is worthy of all admiration.
Allied, as many of them are, to the first families of the island, and
gifted as they are with every susceptibility to feel disgrace, it is a
marvel that they have not indignantly cast off the yoke and demanded
their political rights. Their wrongs have been unprovoked on their part,
and unnatural on the part of those who have inflicted them--in many
cases the guilty authors of their being. The patience and endurance of
the sufferers under such circumstances are unexampled, except by the
conduct of the slaves, who, though still more wronged, were, if
possible, still more patient.
We regret to add, that until lately, the colored people of Barbadoes
hate been far in the background in the cause of abolition, and even now,
the majority of them are either indifferent, or actually hostile to
emancipation. They have no fellow feeling with the slave. In fact; they
have had prejudices against the negroes no less bitter than those which
the whites have exercised toward them. There are many honorable
exceptions to this, as has already been shown; but such, we are assured,
is the general fact.[A]
[Footnote A: We are here reminded, by the force of contrast, of the
noble spirit manifested by the free colored people of our own country.
As early as 1817, a numerous body of them in Philadelphia, with the
venerable James Forten at their head, pledged themselves to the cause of
the slave in the following sublime sentiment, which deserves to be
engraver to their glory on the granite of our "everlasting
hills"--"Resolved, That we never will separate ourselves voluntarily
from the slave population in this country; they are our brethren by the
ties of consanguinity, of suffering, and of wrong; and we feel that
there is more virtue in suffering privations with them, than enjoying
_fancied_ advantages for a season."
We believe that this resolution embodies the feelings and determinations
of the free colored people generally in the free states.]
CHAPTER IV.
BARBADOES AS IT WAS, AND IS.
According to the declaration of one of the special magistrates,
"Barbadoes has long been distinguished for its devotion to slavery."
There is probably no portion of the globe where slave-holding, slave
driving, and slave labor, have been reduced to a more perfect system.
The records of slavery in Barbadoes are stained with bloody atrocities.
The planters uniformly spoke of slavery as a system of cruelties; but
they expressed themselves in general terms. From colored gentlemen we
learned some particulars, a few of which we give. To most of the
following facts the narrators were themselves eye witnesses, and all of
them happened in their day and were fresh in their memories.
The slaves were not unfrequently worked in the streets of Bridgetown
with chains on their wrists and ankles. Flogging on the estates and in
the town, were no less public than frequent, and there was an utter
shamelessness often in the manner of its infliction. Even women were
stripped naked on the sides of the streets, and their backs lacerated
with the whip. It was a common practice, when a slave offended a white
man, for the master to send for a public whipper, and order him to take
the slave before the door of the person offended, and flog him till the
latter was satisfied. White females would order their male slaves to be
stripped naked in their presence and flogged, while they would look on
to see that their orders were faithfully executed. Mr. Prescod mentioned
an instance which he himself witnessed near Bridgetown. He had seen an
aged female slave, stripped and whipped by her own son, a child of
twelve, at the command of the mistress. As the boy was small, the mother
was obliged to get down upon her hands and knees, so that the child
could inflict the blows on her naked person with a rod. This was done on
the public highway, before the mistress's door. Mr. T. well remembered
when it was lawful for any man to shoot down his slave, under no greater
penalty than twenty-five pounds currency; and he knew of cases in which
this had been done. Just after the insurrection in 1816, white men made
a regular sport of shooting negroes. Mr. T. mentioned one case. A young
man had sworn that he would kill ten negroes before a certain time. When
he had shot nine he went to take breakfast with a neighbor, and carried
his gun along. The first slave he met on the estate, he accused of being
concerned in the rebellion. The negro protested that he was innocent,
and begged for mercy. The man told him to be gone, and as he turned to
go away, he shot him dead. Having fulfilled his bloody pledge, the young
knight ate his breakfast with a relish. Mr. H. said that a planter once,
in a time of perfect peace, went to his door and called one of his
slaves. The negro made some reply which the master construed into
insolence, and in a great rage he swore if he did not come to him
immediately he would shoot him. The man replied he hoped massa wan't in
earnest. 'I'll show you whether I am in earnest,' said the master, and
with that he levelled his rifle, took deliberate aim, and shot the negro
on the spot. He died immediately. Though great efforts were made by a
few colored men to bring the murderer to punishment, they were all
ineffectual. The evidence against him was clear enough, but the
influence in his favor was so strong that he finally escaped.
Dungeons were built on all the estates, and they were often abominably
filthy, and infested with loathsome and venomous vermin. For slight
offences the slaves were thrust into these prisons for several
successive nights--being dragged out every morning to work during the
day. Various modes of torture were employed upon those who were
consigned to the dungeon. There were stocks for their feet, and there
were staples in the floor for the ankles and wrists, placed in such a
position as to keep the victim stretched out and lying on his face. Mr.
H. described one mode which was called the _cabin_. A narrow board, only
wide enough for a man to lie upon, was fixed in an inclined position,
and elevated considerably above the ground. The offending slave was made
to lay upon this board, and a strong rope or chain, was tied about his
neck and fastened to the ceiling. It was so arranged, that if he should
fall from the plank, he would inevitably hang by his neck. Lying in this
position all night, he was more likely than not to fall asleep, and then
there were ninety-nine chances to one that he would roll off his narrow
bed and be killed before he could awake, or have time to extricate
himself. Peradventure this is the explanation of the anxiety Mr. ---- of
----, used to feel, when he had confined one of his slaves in the
dungeon. He stated that he would frequently wake up in the night, was
restless, and couldn't sleep, from fear that the prisoner would _kill
himself_ before morning.
It was common for the planters of Barbadoes, like those of Antigua, to
declare that the greatest blessing of abolition to them, was that it
relieved them from the disagreeable work of flogging the negroes. We had
the unsolicited testimony of a planter, that slave mothers frequently
poisoned, and otherwise murdered, their young infants, to rid them of a
life of slavery. What a horrible comment this upon the cruelties of
slavery! Scarce has the mother given birth to her child, when she
becomes its murderer. The slave-mother's joy begins, not like that of
other mothers, when "a man is born into the world," but when her infant
is hurried out of existence, and its first faint cry is hushed in the
silence of death! Why this perversion of nature? Ah, that mother knows
the agonies, the torments, the wasting woes, of a life of slavery, and
by the bowels of a mother's love, and the yearnings of a mother's pity,
she resolves that her babe shall never know the same. O, estimate who
can, how many groans have gone up from the cane field, from the
boiling-house, from around the wind mill, from the bye paths, from the
shade of every tree, from the recesses of every dungeon!
Colonel Barrow, of Edgecome estate, declared, that the habit of flogging
was so strong among the overseers and book-keepers, that even now they
frequently indulge it in the face of penalties and at the risk of
forfeiting their place.
The descriptions which the special magistrates give of the lower class
of overseers and the managers of the petty estates, furnish data enough
for judging of the manner in which they would be likely to act when
clothed with arbitrary power. They are "a low order of men," "without
education," "trained up to use the whip," "knowing nothing else save the
art of flogging," "ready at any time to perjure themselves in any matter
where a negro is concerned," &c. Now, may we not ask what but cruelty,
the most monstrous, could be expected under a system where _such men_
were constituted law makers, judges, and executioners?
From the foregoing facts, and the still stronger circumstantial
evidence, we leave the reader to judge for himself as to the amount of
cruelty attendant upon "the reign of terror," in Barbadoes. We must,
however, mention one qualification, without which a wrong impression may
be made. It has already been remarked that Barbadoes has, more than any
other island, reduced slave labor and sugar cultivation to a regular
system. This the planters have been compelled to do from the denseness
of their population, the smallness of their territory, the fact that the
land was all occupied, and still more, because the island, from long
continued cultivation, was partly worn out. A prominent feature in their
system was, theoretically at least, good bodily treatment of the slaves,
good feeding, attention to mothers, to pregnant women, and to children,
in order that the estates might always be kept _well stocked with
good-conditioned negroes_. They were considered the best managers, who
increased the population of the estates most rapidly, and often premiums
were given by the attorneys to such managers. Another feature in the
Barbadoes system was to raise sufficient provisions in the island to
maintain the slaves, or, in planter's phrase, to _feed the stock_,
without being dependent upon foreign countries. This made the supplies
of the slaves more certain and more abundant. From several circumstances
in the condition of Barbadoes, it is manifest, that there were fewer
motives to cruelty there than existed in other islands. First, the slave
population was abundant, then the whole of the island was under
cultivation, and again the lands were old and becoming exhausted. Now,
if either one of these things had not been true, if the number of slaves
had been inadequate to the cultivation, or if vast tracts of land, as in
Jamaica, Trinidad, and Demerara, had been uncultivated, or were being
brought into cultivation; or, again, if the lands under cultivation had
been fresh and fertile, so as to bear _pushing_, then it is plain that
there would have been inducements to hard driving, which, as the case
was, did not exist.
Such is a partial view of Barbadoes as it _was_, touching the matter of
cruelty. We say partial, for we have omitted to mention the selling of
slaves from one estate to another, whereby families were separated,
almost as effectually as though an ocean intervened. We have omitted to
notice the transportation of slaves to Trinidad, Berbice, and Demerara,
which was made an open traffic until prohibited in 1827, and was
afterwards continued with but little abatement by evasions of the law.
From the painful contemplation of all this outrage and wrong, the mind
is relieved by turning to the present state of the colony. It cannot be
denied that much oppression grows out of the apprenticeship system, both
from its essential nature, and from the want of virtuous principle and
independence in the men who administer it. Yet it is certainly true that
there has been a very great diminution in the amount of actual cruelty.
The total abolition of flogging on the estates, the prohibition to use
the dungeons, and depriving the masters, managers, overseers and
drivers, of the right to punish in any case, or in any way whatever,
leave no room for doubt on this subject. It is true, that the laws are
often violated, but this can only take place in cases of excessive
passion, and it is not likely to be a very frequent occurrence. The
penalty of the law is so heavy,[A] and the chances of detection[B] are
so great, that in all ordinary circumstances they will be a sufficient
security against the violence of the master. On the other hand, the
special magistrates themselves seldom use the whip, but resort to other
modes of punishment less cruel and degrading. Besides, it is manifest
that if they did use the whip and were ever so cruelly disposed, it
would be physically impossible for them to inflict as much suffering as
the drivers could during slavery; on account of the vast numbers over
whom they preside. We learned from the apprentices themselves, by
conversing with them, that their condition, in respect to treatment, is
incomparably better than it was during slavery. We were satisfied from
our observations and inquiries, that the planters, at least the more
extensive and enlightened ones, conduct their estates on different
principles from those formerly followed. Before the abolition of
slavery, they regarded the _whip_ as absolutely necessary to the
cultivation of sugar, and hence they uniformly used it, and loudly
deprecated its abolition as being _their_ certain ruin. But since the
whip has been abolished, and the planters have found that the negroes
continue, nevertheless, industrious and subordinate, they have changed
their measures, partly from necessity, and partly from policy, have
adopted a conciliatory course.
[Footnote A: A fine of sixteen dollars for the first assault, and the
liberation of the apprentice after a second.]
[Footnote B: Through the complaint of the apprentice to the special
magistrate]
Barbadoes was not without its insurrections during slavery. Although not
very frequent, they left upon the minds of the white colonists this
conviction, (repeatedly expressed to us by planters and others,) that
_slavery and rebellions are inseparable_. The last widely extended
insurrection occurred in 1816, in the eastern part of the island. Some
of the particulars were given us by a planter who resided to that
region, and suffered by it great loss of property. The plot was so
cautiously laid, and kept so secret, that no one suspected it. The
planter observed that if any one had told him that such a thing was
brewing _ten minutes_ before it burst forth, he would not have credited
the statement. It began with firing the cane-fields. A signal was given
by a man setting fire to a pile of trash on an elevated spot, when
instantly the fires broke out in every direction, and in less than a
half hour, more than one hundred estates were in flames. The planters
and their families, in the utmost alarm, either fled into other parts of
the island, or seized their arms and hurriedly mustered in self-defence.
Meanwhile the negroes, who had banded themselves in numerous companies,
took advantage of the general consternation, proceeded to the deserted
mansions of the planters, broke down the doors, battered in the windows,
destroyed all the furniture, and carried away the provision stores to
their own houses.
These ravages continued for three days, during which, the slaves flocked
together in increasing numbers; in one place there were several
thousands assembled. Above five hundred of the insurgents were shot down
by the militia, before they could be arrested. The destruction of
property during the rebellion was loosely estimated at many hundred
thousand pounds. The canes on many estates were almost wholly burned; so
that extensive properties, which ordinarily yielded from two to three
hundred hogsheads, did not make more than fifteen or twenty.
Our informant mentioned two circumstances which he considered
remarkable. One was, that the insurgents never touched the property of
the estates to which they severally belonged; but went to the
neighboring or more distant estates. The other was, that during the
whole insurrection the negroes did not make a single attempt to destroy
life. On the other hand, the sacrifice of negroes during the rebellion,
and subsequent to it, was appalling. It was a long time before the white
man's thirst for blood could be satiated.
No general insurrection occurred after this one. However, as late as
1823, the proprietor of Mount Wilton--the noblest estate in the
island--was murdered by his slaves in a most horrid manner. A number of
men entered his bed-chamber at night. He awoke ere they reached him, and
grasped his sword, which always hung by his bed, but it was wrested from
his hand, and he was mangled and killed. His death was caused by his
_cruelties_, and especially by his _extreme licentiousness_. All the
females on this estate were made successively the victims of his lust.
This, together with his cruelties, so incensed the men, that they
determined to murder the wretch. Several of them were publicly executed.
Next to the actual occurrence of rebellions, _the fear of them_ deserves
to be enumerated among the evils which slavery entailed upon Barbadoes.
The dread of hurricanes to the people of Barbadoes is tolerable in
comparison with the irrepressible apprehensions of bloody rebellions. A
planter told us that he seldom went to bed without thinking he might be
murdered before morning.
But now the whites are satisfied that slavery was the sole instigator of
rebellions, and since its removal they have no fear on this score.
_Licentiousness_ was another of the fruits of slavery. It will be
difficult to give to the reader a proper conception of the prevalence of
this vice in Barbadoes, and of the consequent demoralization. A numerous
colored population were both the offspring and the victims of it. On a
very moderate calculation, nineteen-twentieths of the present adult
colored race are illegitimate. Concubinage was practised among the
highest classes. Young merchants and others who were unmarried, on first
going to the island, regularly engaged colored females to live with them
as housekeepers and mistresses, and it was not unusual for a man to have
more than one. The children of these connections usually sat with the
mothers at the father's table, though when the gentlemen had company,
neither mothers nor children made their appearance. To such conduct no
disgrace was attached, nor was any shame felt by either party. We were
assured that there are in Bridgetown, colored ladies of
"respectability," who, though never married, have large families of
children whose different surnames indicate their difference of
parentage, but who probably do not know their fathers by any other
token. These remarks apply to the towns. The morals of the estates were
still more deplorable. The managers and overseers, commonly unmarried,
left no female virtue unattempted. Rewards sometimes, but oftener the
whip, or the dungeon, gave them the mastery in point of fact, which the
laws allowed in theory. To the slaves marriage was scarcely known. They
followed the example of the master, and were ready to minister to his
lust. The mass of mulatto population grew paler as it multiplied, and
catching the refinement along with the tint of civilization, waged a war
upon marriage which had well nigh expelled it from the island. Such was
Barbadoes under the auspices of slavery.
Although these evils still exist, yet, since the abolition of slavery,
there is one symptom of returning purity, the _sense of shame_.
Concubinage is becoming disreputable. The colored females are growing in
self-respect, and are beginning to seek regular connections with colored
men. They begin to feel (to use the language of one of them) that the
_light is come_, and that they can no longer have the apology of
ignorance to plead for their sin. It is the prevailing impression among
whites, colored, and blacks, that open licentiousness cannot long
survive slavery.
_Prejudice_ was another of the concomitants of slavery. Barbadoes was
proverbial for it. As far as was practicable, the colored people were
excluded from all business connections; though merchants were compelled
to make clerks of them for want of better, that is, _whiter_, ones.
Colored merchants of wealth were shut out of the merchants' exchange,
though possessed of untarnished integrity, while white men were admitted
as subscribers without regard to character. It was not a little
remarkable that the rooms occupied as the merchants' exchange were
rented from a colored gentleman, or more properly, a _negro_;[A] who,
though himself a merchant of extensive business at home and abroad, and
occupying the floor below with a store, was not suffered to set his foot
within them. This merchant, it will be remembered, is educating a son
for a learned profession at the university of Edinburgh. Colored
gentlemen were not allowed to become members of literary associations,
nor subscribers to the town libraries. Social intercourse was utterly
interdicted. To visit the houses of such men as we have already
mentioned in a previous chapter, and especially to sit down at their
tables, would have been a loss of caste; although the gentry were at the
same time living with colored concubines. But most of all did this
wicked prejudice delight to display itself in the churches. Originally,
we believe, the despised color was confined to the galleries, afterwards
it was admitted to the seats under the galleries, and ultimately it was
allowed to extend to the body pews below the cross aisle. If perchance
one of the proscribed class should ignorantly stray beyond these
precincts, and take a seat above the cross aisle, he was instantly, if
not forcibly, removed. Every opportunity was maliciously seized to taunt
the colored people with their complexion. A gentleman of the highest
worth stated that several years ago he applied to the proper officer for
a license to be married. The license was accordingly made out and handed
to him. It was expressed in the following insulting style: "T---- H----,
F.M., is licensed to marry H---- L----, F.C.W." The initials F.M. stood
for _free mulatto_, and F.C.W. for _free colored woman_! The gentleman
took his knife and cut out the initials; and was then threatened with a
prosecution for forging his license.
[Footnote A: Mr. London Bourne, the merchant mentioned in the previous
chapter.]
It must be admitted that this cruel feeling still exists in Barbadoes.
Prejudice is the last viper of the slavery-gendered brood that dies. But
it is evidently growing weaker. This the reader will infer from several
facts already stated. The colored people themselves are indulging
sanguine hopes that prejudice will shortly die away. They could discover
a bending on the part of the whites, and an apparent readiness to
concede much of the ground hitherto withheld. They informed us that they
had received intimations that they might be admitted as subscribers to
the merchants' exchange if they would apply; but they were in no hurry
to make the advances themselves. They felt assured that not only
business equality, but social equality, would soon be theirs, and were
waiting patiently for the course of events to bring them. They have too
much self-respect to sue for the consideration of their white neighbors,
or to accept it as a condescension and favor, when by a little patience
they might obtain it on more honorable terms. It will doubtless be found
in Barbadoes, as it has been in other countries--and perchance to the
mortification of some lordlings--that freedom is a mighty leveller of
human distinctions. The pyramid of pride and prejudice which slavery had
upreared there, must soon crumble in the dust.
_Indolence and inefficiency among the whites_, was another prominent
feature in slaveholding Barbadoes. Enterprise, public and personal, has
long been a stranger to the island. Internal improvements, such as the
laying and repairing of roads, the erection of bridges, building
wharves, piers, &c., were either wholly neglected, or conducted in such
a listless manner as to be a burlesque on the name of business. It was a
standing task, requiring the combined energy of the island, to repair
the damages of one hurricane before another came. The following
circumstance was told us, by one of the shrewdest observers of men and
things with whom we met in Barbadoes. On the southeastern coast of the
island there is a low point running far out into the sea, endangering
all vessels navigated by persons not well acquainted with the island.
Many vessels have been wrecked upon it in the attempt to make Bridgetown
from the windward. From time immemorial, it has been in contemplation to
erect a light-house on that point. Every time a vessel has been wrecked,
the whole island has been agog for a light-house. Public meetings were
called, and eloquent speeches made, and resolutions passed, to proceed
to the work forthwith. Bills were introduced into the assembly, long
speeches made, and appropriations voted commensurate with the stupendous
undertaking. There the matter ended, and the excitement died away, only
to be revived by another wreck, when a similar scene would ensue. The
light-house is not built to this day. In personal activity, the
Barbadians are as sadly deficient as in public spirit. London is said to
have scores of wealthy merchants who have never been beyond its limits,
nor once snuffed the country air. Bridgetown, we should think, is in
this respect as deserving of the name _Little London_ as Barbadoes is of
the title "Little England," which it proudly assumes. We were credibly
informed that there were merchants in Bridgetown who had never been off
the island in their lives, nor more than five or six miles into the
country. The sum total of their locomotion might be said to be, turning
softly to one side of their chairs, and then softly to the other. Having
no personal cares to harass them, and no political questions to agitate
them--having no extended speculations to push, and no public enterprises
to prosecute, (save occasionally when a wreck on the southern point
throws them into a ferment,) the lives of the higher classes seem a
perfect blank, as it regards every thing manly. Their thoughts are
chiefly occupied with sensual pleasure, anticipated or enjoyed. The
centre of existence to them is the _dinner-table_.
"They eat and drink and sleep, and then--
Eat and drink and sleep again."
That the abolition of slavery has laid the foundation for a reform in
this respect, there can be no doubt. The indolence and inefficiency of
the white community has grown out of slavery. It is the legitimate
offspring of oppression everywhere--one of the burning curses which it
never fails to visit upon its supporters. It may be seriously doubted,
however, whether in Barbadoes this evil will terminate with its cause.
There is there such a superabundance of the laboring population, that
for a long time to come, labor must be very cheap, and the habitually
indolent will doubtless prefer employing others to work for them, than
to work themselves. If, therefore, we should not see an active spirit of
enterprise at once kindling among the Barbadians, _if the light-house
should not be build for a quarter of a century to come_, it need not
excite our astonishment.
We heard not a little concerning the expected distress of those white
families whose property consisted chiefly of slaves. There were many
such families, who have hitherto lived respectably and independently by
hiring out their slaves. After 1840, these will be deprived of all their
property, and will have no means of support whatever. As they will
consider it degrading to work, and still more so to beg, they will be
thrown into extremely embarrassing circumstances. It is thought that
many of this class will leave the country, and seek a home where they
will not be ashamed to work for their subsistence. We were forcibly
reminded of the oft alleged objection to emancipation in the United
States, that it would impoverish many excellent families in the South,
and drive delicate females to the distaff and the wash-tub, whose hands
have never been used to any thing--_rougher than the cowhide_. Much
sympathy has been awakened in the North by such appeals, and vast
numbers have been led by them to conclude that it is better for millions
of slaves to famish in eternal bondage, than that a few white families,
here and there scattered over the South, should be reduced to the
humiliation of _working_.
_Hostility to emancipation_ prevailed in Barbadoes. That island has
always been peculiarly attached to slavery. From the beginning of the
anti-slavery agitations in England, the Barbadians distinguished
themselves by their inveterate opposition. As the grand result
approximated they increased their resistance. They appealed,
remonstrated, begged, threatened, deprecated, and imprecated. They
continually protested that abolition would ruin the colony--that the
negroes could never be brought to work--especially to raise
sugar--without the whip. They both besought and demanded of the English
that they should cease their interference with their private affairs and
personal property.
Again and again they informed them that they were wholly disqualified,
by their distance from the colonies, and their ignorance of the subject,
to do any thing respecting it, and they were entreated to leave the
whole matter with the colonies, who alone could judge as to the best
time and manner of moving, or whether it was proper to move at all.
We were assured that there was not a single planter in Barbadoes who was
known to be in favor of abolition, before it took place; if, however,
there had been one such, he would not have dared to avow his sentiments.
The anti-slavery party in England were detested; no epithets were too
vile for them--no curses too bitter. It was a Barbadian lady who once
exclaimed in a public company in England, "O, I wish we had Wilberforce
in the West Indies, I would be one of the very first to tear his heart
out!" If such a felon wish could escape the lips of a female, and that
too amid the awing influence of English society, what may we conclude
were the feelings of planters and drivers on the island!
The opposition was maintained even after the abolition of slavery; and
there was no colony, save Jamaica, with which the English government had
so much trouble in arranging the provisions and conditions under which
abolition was to take place.
From statements already made, the reader will see how great a change has
come over the feelings of the planters.
He has followed us through this and the preceding chapters, he has seen
tranquillity taking the place of insurrections, a sense of security
succeeding to gloomy forbodings, and public order supplanting mob law;
he has seen subordination to authority, peacefulness, industry, and
increasing morality, characterizing the negro population; he has seen
property rising in value, crime lessening, expenses of labor
diminishing, the whole island blooming with unexampled cultivation, and
waving with crops unprecedented in the memory of its inhabitants; above
all, he has seen licentiousness decreasing, prejudice fading away,
marriage extending, education spreading, and religion preparing to
multiply her churches and missionaries over the land.
_These_ are the blessing of abolition--_begun_ only, and but partially
realized as yet, but promising a rich maturity in time to come, after
the work of freedom shall have been completed.
CHAPTER V.
THE APPRENTICESHIP SYSTEM.
The nature of the apprenticeship system may be learned form the
following abstract of its provisions, relative to the three parties
chiefly concerned in its operation--the special magistrate, the master,
and the apprentice.
PROVISIONS RESPECTING THE SPECIAL MAGISTRATES.
1. They must be disconnected with planters and plantership, that they
may be independent of all colonial parties and interests whatever.
2. The special magistrates adjudicate only in cases where the master and
apprentice are parties. Offences committed by apprentices against any
person not connected with the estates on which they live, come under the
cognizance of the local magistrates or of higher courts.
3. The special justices sit three days in the week at their offices,
where all complaints are carried, both by the master and apprentice. The
magistrates do not go the estate, either to try or to punish offenders.
Besides, the three days the magistrates are required to be at home every
Saturday, (that being the day on which the apprentices are disengaged,)
to give friendly advice and instruction on points of law and personal
rights to all apprentices who may call.
PROVISIONS RESPECTING THE MASTER.
1. The master is allowed the gratuitous labor of the apprentice for
forty-five hours each week. The several islands were permitted by the
English government to make such a division of this time as local
circumstances might seem to require. In some islands, as for instance in
St. Christopher's and Tortola, it is spread over six days of the week in
proportions of seven and a half hours per day, thus leaving the
apprentice mere shreds of time in which he can accomplish nothing for
himself. In Barbadoes, the forty-five hours is confined within five
days, in portions of nine hours per day.
2. The allowances of food continue the same as during slavery, excepting
that now the master may give, instead of the allowance, a third of an
acre to each apprentice, but then he must also grant an additional day
every week for the cultivation of this land.
3. The master has no power whatever to punish. A planter observed, "if I
command my butler to stand for half an hour on the parlor floor, and it
can be proved that I designed it as a punishment, I may be fined for
it." The penalty for the first offence (punishing an apprentice) is a
fine of five pounds currency, or sixteen dollars, and imprisonment if
the punishment was cruel. For a second offence the apprentice is
set free.
Masters frequently do punish their apprentices _in despite of all
penalties_. A case in point occurred not long since, in Bridgetown. A
lady owned a handsome young mulatto woman, who had a beautiful head of
hair of which she was very proud. The servant did something displeasing
to her mistress, and the latter in a rage shaved off her hair close to
her head. The girl complained to the special magistrate, and procured an
immediate release from her mistress's service.
4. It is the duty of the master to make complaint to the special
magistrate. When the master chooses to take the punishment into his own
hand, the apprentice has a right to complain.
5. The master is obliged to sell the remainder of the apprentice's term,
whenever the apprentice signifies a wish to buy it. If the parties
cannot agree about the price, the special magistrate, in connection with
two local magistrates, appraises the latter, and the master is bound to
take the amount of the appraisement, whatever that is. Instances of
apprentices purchasing themselves are quite frequent, not withstanding
the term of service is now so short, extending only to August, 1840. The
value of an apprentice varies from thirty to one hundred dollars.
PROVISIONS RESPECTING THE APPRENTICE.
1. He has the whole of Saturday, and the remnants of the other five
days, after giving nine hours to the master.
2. The labor does not begin so early, nor continue so late as during
slavery. Instead of half past four or five o'clock the apprentices are
called out at six o'clock in the morning. They then work till seven,
have an hour for breakfast, again work from eight to twelve, have a
respite of two hours, and then work till six o'clock.
3. If an apprentice hires his time from his master as is not
unfrequently the case, especially among the non-praedials, he pays a
dollar a week, which is two thirds, or at least one half of
his earnings.
4. If the apprentice has a complaint to make against his master, he must
either make it during his own time, or if he prefers to go to the
magistrate during work hours, he must ask his master for a pass. If his
master refuse to give him one, he can then go without it.
5. There is an _unjustifiable inequality_ in the apprentice laws, which
was pointed out by one of the special magistrates. The master is
punishable only for cruelty or corporeal inflictions, whereas the
apprentice is punishable for a variety of offences, such as idleness,
stealing, insubordination, insolence, &c. The master may be as insolent
and abusive as he chooses to be, and the slave can have no redress.
6. Hard labor, solitary confinement, and the treadmill, are the
principal modes of punishment. Shaving the head is sometimes resorted
to. A very sever punishment frequently adopted, is requiring the
apprentice to make up for the time during which he is confined. If he is
committed for ten working days, he must give the master ten successive
Saturdays.
This last regulation is particularly oppressive and palpably unjust. It
matters not how slight the offence may have been, it is discretionary
with the special magistrate to mulct the apprentice of his Saturdays.
This provision really would appear to have been made expressly for the
purpose of depriving the apprentices of their own time. It is a direct
inducement to the master to complain. If the apprentice has been absent
from his work but an hour, the magistrate may sentence him to give a
whole day in return; consequently the master is encouraged to mark the
slightest omission, and to complain of it whether it was unavoidable
or not.
THE DESIGN OF THE APPRENTICESHIP.--It is a serious question with a
portion of the colonists, whether or not the apprenticeship was
originally designed as a preparation for freedom. This however was the
professed object with its advocates, and it was on the strength of this
plausible pretension, doubtless, that the measure was carried through.
We believe it is pretty well understood, both in England and the
colonies; that it was mainly intended _as an additional compensation to
the planters_. The latter complained that the twenty millions of pounds
was but a pittance of the value of their slaves, and to drown their
cries about robbery and oppression this system of modified slavery was
granted to them, that they might, for a term of years, enjoy the toil of
the negro without compensation. As a mockery to the hopes of the slaves
this system was called an apprenticeship, and it was held out to them as
a needful preparatory stage for them to pass through, ere they could
rightly appreciate the blessings of entire freedom. It was not wonderful
that they should be slow to apprehend the necessity of serving a six
years' apprenticeship, at a business which they had been all their lives
employed in. It is not too much to say that it was a grand cheat--a
national imposture at the expense of the poor victims of oppression,
whom, with benevolent pretences, it offered up a sacrifice to cupidity
and power.
PRACTICAL OPERATION OF THE APPRENTICESHIP.--It cannot be denied that
this system is in some respects far better than slavery. Many restraints
are imposed upon the master, and many important privileges are secured
to the apprentice. Being released from the arbitrary power of the
master, is regarded by the latter as a vast stride towards entire
liberty. We once asked an apprentice; if he thought apprenticeship was
better than slavery. "O yes," said he, "great deal better, sir; when we
was slaves, our masters git mad wid us, and give us _plenty of licks_;
but now, thank God, they can't touch us." But the actual enjoyment of
these advantages by the apprentices depends upon so many contingencies,
such as the disposition of the master, and the faithfulness of the
special magistrate, that it is left after all exceedingly precarious. A
very few observations respecting the special magistrates, will serve to
show how liable the apprentice is to suffer wrong without the
possibility of obtaining redress. It is evident that this will be the
case unless the special magistrates are _entirely independent_. This was
foreseen by the English government, and they pretended to provide for it
by paying the magistrates' salaries at home. But how inadequate was
their provision! The salaries scarcely answer for pocket money in the
West Indies. Thus situated, the magistrates are continually exposed to
those temptations, which the planters can so artfully present in the
shape of sumptuous dinners. They doubtless find it very convenient, when
their stinted purses run low, and mutton and wines run high, to do as
the New England school master does, "_board round_;" and consequently
the dependence of the magistrate upon the planter is of all things the
most deprecated by the apprentice.[A]
[Footnote A: The feelings of apprentices on this point are well
illustrated by the following anecdote, which was related to us while in
the West Indies. The governor of one of the islands, shortly after his
arrival, dined with one of the wealthiest proprietors. The next day one
of the negroes of the estate said to another, "De new gubner been
_poison'd_." "What dat you say?" inquired the other in astonishment, "De
gubner been _poison'd_." "Dah, now!--How him poisoned!" "_Him eat massa
turtle soup last night_," said the shrewd negro. The other took his
meaning at once; and his sympathy for the governor was turned into
concern for himself, when he perceived that the poison was one from
which _he_ was likely to suffer more than his excellency.]
Congeniality of feeling, habits, views, style and rank--identity of
country and color--these powerful influences bias the magistrate toward
the master, at the same time that the absence of them all, estrange and
even repel him from the apprentice. There is still an additional
consideration which operates against the unfortunate apprentice. The men
selected for magistrates, are mostly officers of the army and navy. To
those who are acquainted with the arbitrary habits of military and naval
officers, and with the iron despotism which they exercise among the
soldiers and sailors,[B] the bare mention of this fact is sufficient to
convince them of the unenviable situation of the apprentice. It is at
best but a gloomy transfer from the mercies of a slave driver, to the
justice of a military magistrate.
[Footnote B: We had a specimen of the stuff special magistrates are made
of in sailing from Barbadoes to Jamaica. The vessel was originally an
English man-of-war brig, which had been converted into a steamer, and
was employed by the English government, in conveying the island mails
from Barbadoes to Jamaica--to and fro. She was still under the strict
discipline of a man-of-war. The senior officer on board was a
lieutenant. This man was one of the veriest savages on earth. His
passions were in a perpetual storm, at some times higher than at others,
occasionally they blew a hurricane. He quarrelled with his officers, and
his orders to his men were always uttered in oaths. Scarcely a day
passed that he did not have some one of his sailors flogged. One night,
the cabin boy left the water-can sitting on the cabin floor, instead of
putting it on the sideboard, where it usually stood. For this offence
the commander ordered him up on deck after midnight, and made the
quarter-master flog him. The instrument used in this case, (the regular
flogging stick having been _used up_ by previous service,) was the
commander's cane--_a heavy knotted club_. The boy held out one hand and
received the blows. He howled most piteously, and it was some seconds
before he recovered sufficiently from the pain to extend the other.
"_Lay on_," stormed the commander. Down went the cane a second time. We
thought it must have broken every bone in the boy's hand. This was
repeated several times, the boy extending each hand alternately, and
recoiling at every blow. "Now lay on to his back," sternly vociferated
the commander--"give it to him--_hard_--_lay on harder_." The old
seaman, who had some mercy in his heart, seemed very loth to lay out his
strength on the boy with such a club. The commander became
furious--cursed and swore--and again yelled, "_Give it to him harder,
more_--MORE--MORE--there, stop." "you infernal villain"--speaking to the
quarter-master and using the most horrid oaths--"You infernal villain,
if you do not _lay on harder_ the next time I command you, I'll have you
put in irons." The boy limped away, writhing in every joint, and crying
piteously, when the commander called at him, "Silence there, you imp--or
I'll give you a second edition." One of the first things the commander
did after we left Barbadoes, was to have a man flogged, and the last
order we heard him give as we left the steamer at Kingston, was to put
two of the men _in irons_.]
It is not a little remarkable that the apprenticeship should be regarded
by the planters themselves, as well as by other persons generally
throughout the colony, as merely a modified form of slavery. It is
common to hear it called 'slavery under a different form,' 'another name
for slavery,'--'modified slavery,' 'but little better than slavery.'
Nor is the practical operation of the system upon the _master_ much less
exceptionable. It takes out of his hand the power of coercing labor, and
provides no other stimulus. Thus it subjects him to the necessity either
of resorting to empty threats, which must result only in incessant
disputes, or of condescending to persuade and entreat, against which his
habits at once rebel, or of complaining to a third party--an alternative
more revolting if possible, than the former, since it involves the
acknowledgment of a higher power than his own. It sets up over his
actions a foreign judge, at whose bar he is alike amenable (in theory)
with his apprentice, before whose tribunal he may be dragged at any
moment by his apprentice, and from whose lips he may receive the
humiliating sentence of punishment in the presence of his apprentice. It
introduces between him and his laborers, mutual repellancies and
estrangement; it encourages the former to exercise an authority which he
would not venture to assume under a system of perfect freedom; it
emboldens the latter to display an insolence which he would not have
dreamed of in a state of slavery, and thus begetting in the one, the
imperiousness of the slaveholder _without his power_, and in the other,
the independence of the freeman _without his immunities_, it perpetuates
a scene of angry collision, jealousy and hatred.
It does not even serve for the master the unworthy purpose for which it
was mainly devised, viz., that of an additional compensation. The
apprenticeship is estimated to be more expensive than a system of free
labor would be. It is but little less expensive than slavery, and
freedom it is confidently expected will be considerably less. So it
would seem that this system burthens the master with much of the
perplexity, the ignominy and the expensiveness of slavery, while it
denies him its power. Such is the apprenticeship system. A splendid
imposition!--which cheats the planter of his gains, cheats the British
nation of its money, and robs the world of what else might have been a
glorious example of immediate and entire emancipation.
THE APPRENTICESHIP IS NO PREPARATION FOR FREEDOM.--Indeed, as far as it
can be, it is an actual _disqualification_. The testimony on this
subject is ample. We rarely met a planter, who was disposed to maintain
that the apprenticeship was preparing the negroes for freedom. They
generally admitted that the people were no better prepared for freedom
now, than they were in 1834; and some of them did not hesitate to say
that the sole use to which they and their brother planters turned the
system, was to get _as much work out of the apprentices while it lasted,
as possible_. Clergymen and missionaries, declared that the
apprenticeship was no preparation for freedom. If it were a preparation
at all, it would most probably be so in a religious and educational
point of view. We should expect to find the masters, if laboring at all
to prepare their apprentices for freedom, doing so chiefly by
encouraging missionaries and teachers to come to their estates, and by
aiding in the erection of chapels and school-houses. But the
missionaries declare that they meet with little more direct
encouragement now, than they did during slavery.
The special magistrates also testify that the apprenticeship is no
preparation for freedom. On this subject they are very explicit.
The colored people bear the same testimony. Not a few, too, affirm, that
the tendency of the apprenticeship is to unfit the negroes for freedom,
and avow it as their firm persuasion, that the people will be less
prepared for liberty at the end of the apprenticeship, than they were at
its commencement. And it is not without reason that they thus speak.
They say, first, that the bickerings and disputes to which the system
gives rise between the master and the apprentice, and the arraigning of
each other before the special magistrate, are directly calculated to
alienate the parties. The effect of these contentions, kept up for six
years, will be to implant _deep mutual hostility_; and the parties will
be a hundred fold more irreconcilable than they were on the abolition of
slavery. Again, they argue that the apprenticeship system is calculated
to make the negroes regard _law as their foe_, and thus it unfits them
for freedom. They reason thus--the apprentice looks to the magistrate as
his judge, his avenger, his protector; he knows nothing of either law or
justice except as he sees them exemplified in the decisions of the
magistrate. When, therefore, the magistrate sentences him to punishment,
when he knows he was the injured party, he will become disgusted with
the very name of justice, and esteem law his greatest enemy.
The neglect of the planters to use the apprenticeship as a preparation
for freedom, warrants us in the conclusion, that they do not think any
preparation necessary. But we are not confined to doubtful inferences on
this point. They testify positively--and not only planters, but all
other classes of men likewise--that the slaves of Barbadoes were fit for
entire freedom in 1834, and that they might have been emancipated then
with perfect safety. Whatever may have been the sentiment of the
Barbadians relative to the necessity of preparation before the
experiment was made, it is clear that now they have no confidence either
in the necessity or the practicability of preparatory schemes.
But we cannot close our remarks upon the apprenticeship system without
noticing one good end which it has undesignedly accomplished, i.e., _the
illustration of the good disposition of the colored people_. We firmly
believe that if the friends of emancipation had wished to disprove all
that has ever been said about the ferocity and revengefulness of the
negroes, and at the same time to demonstrate that they possess, in a
pre-eminent degree, those other qualities which render them the fit
subjects of liberty and law, they could not have done it more
triumphantly than it has been done by the apprenticeship. _How_ this has
been done may be shown by pointing out several respects in which the
apprenticeship has been calculated to try the negro character most
severely, and to develop all that was fiery and rebellious in it.
1. The apprenticeship removed that strong arm of slavery and substituted
no adequate force. The arbitrary power of the master, which awed the
slave into submission, was annihilated. The whip which was held over the
slave, and compelled a kind of subordination--brutal, indeed, but
effectual--was abolished. Here in the outset the reins were given to the
long-oppressed, but now aspiring mass. No adequate force was
substituted, because it was the intent of the new system to govern by
milder means. This was well, but what were the milder means which were
to take the place of brute force?
2. Was the stimulus of wages substituted? No! That was expressly denied.
Was the liberty of locomotion granted? No. Was the privilege of gaining
a personal interest in the soil extended to them? No. Were the
immunities and rights of citizenship secured to them? No. Was the poor
favor allowed them of selecting their own business, or of choosing their
employer? Not even this? Thus far, then, we see nothing of the milder
measures of the apprenticeship. It has indeed opened the prison doors
and knocked off the prisoners' chains--but it still keeps them grinding
there, as before, and refuses to let them come forth, except
occasionally, and then only to be thrust back again. Is it not thus
directly calculated to encourage indolence and insubordination?
3. In the next place, this system introduces a third party, to whom the
apprentice is encouraged to look for justice, redress, and counsel. Thus
he is led to regard his master as his enemy, and all confidence in him
is for ever destroyed. But this is not the end of the difficulty. The
apprentice carries up complaints against his master. If they gain a
favorable hearing he triumphs over him--if they are disregarded, he
concludes that the magistrate also is his enemy, and he goes away with a
rankling grudge against his master. Thus he is gradually led to assert
his own cause, and he learns to contend with his master, to reply
insolently, to dispute, quarrel, and--it is well that we cannot add, to
_fight_. At least one thing is the result--a permanent state of
alienation, contempt of authority, and hatred. _All these are the fruits
of the apprenticeship system_. They are caused by transferring the power
of the master, while the _relation_ continues the same. Nor is this
contempt for the master, this alienation and hatred, all the mischief.
The unjust decisions of the magistrate, of which the apprentices have
such abundant reasons to complain, excite their abhorrence of him, and
thus their confidence in the protection of law is weakened or destroyed.
Here, then, is contempt for the master, abhorrence of the magistrate,
and mistrust of the law--the apprentice regarding all three as leagued
together to rob him of his rights. What a combination of circumstances
to drive the apprentices to desperation and madness! What a marvel that
the outraged negroes have been restrained from bloody rebellions!
Another insurrectionary feature peculiar to the apprenticeship is its
making the apprentices _free a portion of the time_. One fourth of the
time is given them every week--just enough to afford them a taste of the
sweets of liberty, and render them dissatisfied with their condition.
Then the manner in which this time is divided is calculated to irritate.
After being a slave nine hours, the apprentice is made a freeman for the
remainder of the day; early the next morning the halter is again put on,
and he treads the wheel another day. Thus the week wears away until
Saturday; which is an entire day of freedom. The negro goes out and
works for his master, or any one else, as he pleases, and at night he
receives his quarter of a dollar. This is something like freedom, and he
begins to have the feelings of a freeman--a lighter heart and more
active limbs. He puts his money carefully away at night, and lays
himself down to rest his toil-worn body. He awakes on Sabbath morning,
and _is still free_. He puts on his best clothes, goes to church,
worships a free God, contemplates a free heaven, sees his free children
about him, and his wedded wife; and ere the night again returns, the
consciousness that he is a slave is quite lost in the thoughts of
liberty which fill his breast, and the associations of freedom which
cluster around him. He sleeps again. _Monday morning he is startled from
his dreams by the old "shell-blow" of slavery_, and he arises to endure
another week of toil, alternated by the same tantalizing mockeries of
freedom. Is not this applying the _hot iron to the nerve_?
5. But, lastly, the apprenticeship system, as if it would apply the
match to this magazine of combustibles, holds out the reward of liberty
to every apprentice who shall by any means provoke his master to punish
him a second time.
[NOTE.--In a former part of this work--the report of Antigua--we
mentioned having received information respecting a number of the
apprenticeship islands, viz., Dominica, St. Christopher's, Nevis,
Montserrat, Anguilla, and Tortola, from the Wesleyan Missionaries whom
we providentially met with at the annual district meeting in Antigua. We
designed to give the statements of these men at some length in this
connection, but we find that it would swell our report to too great a
size. It only remains to say, therefore, in a word, that the same things
are generally true of those colonies which have been detailed in the
account of Barbadoes. There is the same peaceableness, subordination,
industry, and patient suffering on the part of the apprentices, the same
inefficiency of the apprenticeship as a preparation for freedom, and the
same conviction in the community that the people will, if at all
affected by it, be _less_ fit for emancipation in 1840 than they were in
1834. A short call at St. Christopher's confirmed these views in our
minds, so far as that island is concerned.
While in Barbadoes, we had repeated interviews with gentlemen who were
well acquainted with the adjacent islands, St. Lucia, St. Vincent's,
Grenada, &c.; one of whom was a proprietor of a sugar estate in St.
Vincent's; and they assured us that there was the same tranquillity
reigning in those islands which we saw in Barbadoes. Sir Evan McGregor,
who is the governor-general of the windward colonies, and of course
thoroughly informed respecting their internal state, gave us the same
assurances. From Mr. H., an American gentleman, a merchant of Barbadoes,
and formerly of Trinidad, we gathered similar information touching that
large and (compared with Barbadoes or Antigua) semi-barbarous island.
We learned enough from these authentic sources to satisfy ourselves that
the various degrees of intelligence in the several islands makes very
little difference in the actual results of abolition; but that in all
the colonies, conciliatory and equitable management has never failed to
secure industry and tranquillity.]
JAMAICA.
CHAPTER I.
KINGSTON.
Having drawn out in detail the results of abolition, and the working of
the apprenticeship system in Barbadoes, we shall spare the reader a
protracted account of Jamaica; but the importance of that colony, and
the fact that greater dissatisfaction on account of the abolition of
slavery has prevailed there than in all the other colonies together,
demand a careful statement of facts.
On landing in Jamaica, we pushed onward in our appropriate inquiries,
scarcely stopping to cast a glance at the towering mountains, with their
cloud-wreathed tops, and the valleys where sunshine and shade sleep side
by side--at the frowning precipices, made more awful by the impenetrable
forest-foliage which shrouds the abysses below, leaving the impression
of an ocean depth--at the broad lawns and magnificent savannahs glowing
in verdure and sunlight--at the princely estates and palace mansions--at
the luxuriant cultivation, and the sublime solitude of primeval forests,
where trees of every name, the mahogany, the boxwood, the rosewood, the
cedar, the palm, the fern, the bamboo, the cocoa, the breadfruit, the
mango, the almond, all grow in wild confusion, interwoven with a dense
tangled undergrowth.[A]
[Footnote A: It is less necessary for us to dwell long on Jamaica, than
it would otherwise be, since the English gentlemen, Messrs. Sturge and
Harvey, spent most of their time in that island, and will, doubtless,
publish their investigations, which will, ere long, be accessible to our
readers. We had the pleasure of meeting these intelligent philanthropic
and pious men in the West Indies, and from the great length of time, and
the superior facilities which they enjoyed over us, of gathering a mass
of facts in Jamaica, we feel assured that their report will be highly
interesting and useful, as well among us as on the other side of
the water.]
We were one month in Jamaica. For about a week we remained in
Kingston,[B] and called on some of the principal gentlemen, both white
and colored. We visited the Attorney-General, the Solicitor-General,
some of the editors, the Baptist and Wesleyan missionaries, and several
merchants. We likewise visited the public schools, the house of
correction, penitentiary, hospital, and other public institutions. We
shall speak briefly of several individuals whom we saw in Kingston, and
give some of their statements.
[Footnote B: The chief town of the island, with about forty thousand
inhabitants.]
The Hon. Dowel O'Reily; the Attorney-General; is an Irishman, and of one
of the influential families. In his own country he was a prominent
politician, and a bold advocate of Catholic Emancipation. He is
decidedly one of the ablest men in the island, distinguished for that
simplicity of manners, and flow of natural benevolence, which are the
characteristics of the Irishman. He received his present appointment
from the English government about six years ago, and is, by virtue of
his office, a member of the council. He declared that the apprenticeship
was in no manner preparing the negroes for freedom, but was operating in
a contrary way, especially in Jamaica, where it had been made the
instrument of greater cruelties in some cases, than slavery itself. Mr.
O'Reily is entirely free from prejudice; with all his family rank and
official standing, he identifies himself with the colored people as far
as his extensive professional engagements will allow. Having early
learned this, we were surprised to find him so highly respected by the
whites. In our subsequent excursions to the country, the letters of
introduction with which he kindly furnished us, to planters and others,
were uniformly received with avowals of the profoundest respect for him.
It should be observed, that Mr. O'Reily's attachment to the cause of
freedom in the colonies, is not a mere partizan feeling assumed in order
to be in keeping with the government under which he holds his office.
The fact of his being a Roman Catholic must, of itself, acquit him of
the suspicion of any strong partiality for the English government. On
the other hand, his decided hostility to the apprenticeship--the
favorite offspring of British legislation--demonstrates equally his
sincerity and independence.
We were introduced to the Solicitor-General, William Henry Anderson,
Esq., of Kingston. Mr. A. is a Scotchman, and has resided to Jamaica for
more than six years. We found him the fearless advocate of negro
emancipation. He exposed the corruptions and abominations of the
apprenticeship without reserve. Mr. A. furnished us with a written
statement of his views, respecting the state of the island, the
condition of the apprentices, &c., from which we here make a
few extracts.
"1. A very material change for the better has taken place in the
sentiments of the community since slavery was abolished. Religion and
education were formerly opposed as subversive of the security of
property; now they are in the most direct manner encouraged as its best
support. The value of all kinds of property has risen considerably, and
a general sense of security appears to be rapidly pervading the public
mind. I have not heard one man assert that it would be an advantage to
return to slavery, even were it practicable; and I believe that the
public is beginning to see that slave labor is not the cheapest."
"2. The prejudices against color are _rapidly vanishing_. I do not think
there is a respectable man, I mean one who would be regarded as
respectable on account of his good sense and weight of character, who
would impugn another's conduct for associating with persons of color. So
far as my observation goes, those who would formerly have acted on these
prejudices, will be ashamed to own that they had entertained them. The
distinction of superior acquirements still belongs to the whites, as a
body; but that, and character, will shortly be the only distinguishing
mark recognized among us."
"3. The apprentices are improving, _not, however, in consequence of the
apprenticeship, but in spite of it, and in consequence of the great act
of abolition_!"
"4. I think the negroes might have been emancipated as safely in 1834,
as in 1840; and had the emancipation then taken place, they would be
found much further in advance in 1840, than they can be after the
expiration of the present period of apprenticeship, _through which all,
both apprentices and masters, are_ LABORING HEAVILY."
"5. That the negroes will work if moderately compensated, no candid man
can doubt. Their _endurance_ for the sake of a very little gain is quite
amazing, and they are most desirous to procure for themselves and
families as large a share as possible of the comforts and decencies of
life. They appear peculiarly to reverence and desire intellectual
attainments. They employ, occasionally, children who have been taught in
the schools to teach them in their leisure time to read."
"6. I think the partial modifications of slavery have been attended by
so much improvement in all that constitutes the welfare and
respectability of society, that I cannot doubt the increase of the
benefit were a total abolition accomplished of every restriction that
has arisen out of the former state of things."
During our stay in Kingston, we called on the American consul, to whom
we had a letter from the consul at Antigua. We found him an elderly
gentleman, and a true hearted Virginian, both in his generosity and his
prejudices in favor of slavery. The consul, Colonel Harrison, is a near
relation of General W.H. Harrison, of Ohio. Things, he said, were going
ruinously in Jamaica. The English government were mad for abolishing
slavery. The negroes of Jamaica were the most degraded and ignorant of
all negroes he had ever seen. He had travelled in all our Southern
States, and the American negroes, even those of South Carolina and
Georgia, were as much superior to the negroes of Jamaica, as Henry Clay
was superior to him. He said they were the most ungrateful, faithless
set he ever saw; no confidence could be placed in them, and kindness was
always requited by insult. He proceeded to relate a fact from which it
appeared that the ground on which his grave charges against the negro
character rested, was the ill-conduct of one negro woman whom he had
hired some time ago to assist his family. The town negroes, he said,
were too lazy to work; they loitered and lounged about on the sidewalks
all day, jabbering with one another, and keeping up an incessant noise;
and they would not suffer a white man to order them in the least. They
were rearing their children in perfect idleness and for his part he
could not tell what would become of the rising population of blacks.
Their parents were too proud to let them work, and they sent them to
school all the time. Every afternoon, he said, the streets are thronged
with the half-naked little black devils, just broke from the schools,
and all singing some noisy tune learned in the infant schools; the
_burthen of_ their songs seems to be, "_O that will be joyful_." These
words, said he, are ringing in your ears wherever you go. How
aggravating truly such words must be, bursting cheerily from the lips of
the little free songsters! "O that will be joyful, _joyful_,
JOYFUL"--and so they ring the changes day after day, ceaseless and
untiring. A new song this, well befitting the times and the prospects,
but provoking enough to oppressors. The consul denounced he special
magistrates; they were an insolent set of fellows, they would fine a
white man as quick as they would flog a _nigger_.[A] If a master called
his apprentice "you scoundrel," or, "you huzzy," the magistrate would
either fine him for it or reprove him sharply in the presence of the
apprentice. This, in the eyes of the veteran Virginian, was intolerable.
Outrageous, not to allow a _gentleman_ to call his servant what names he
chooses! We were very much edified by the Colonel's _exposé_ of Jamaica
manners. We must say, however, that his opinions had much less weight
with us after we learned (as we did from the best authority) that he had
never been a half dozen miles into the country during a ten year's
residence in Kingston.
[Footnote A: We fear there is too little truth in this representation.]
We called on the Rev. Jonathan Edmonson, the superintendent of the
Wesleyan missions in Jamaica. Mr. E. has been for many years laboring as
a missionary in the West Indies, first in Barbadoes, then in St.
Vincent's, Grenada, Trinidad, and Demerara, and lastly in Jamaica. He
stated that the planters were doing comparatively nothing to prepare the
negroes for freedom. "_Their whole object was to get as much sugar out
of them as they possibly could_."
We received a call from the Rev. Mr. Wooldridge, one of the Independent
missionaries. He thinks the conduct of the planters is tending to make
the apprentices their bitter enemies. He mentioned one effect of the
apprenticeship which had not been pointed out to us before. The system
of appraisement, he said, was a _premium upon all the bad qualities of
the negroes and a tax upon all the good ones_. When a person is to be
appraised, his virtues and his vices are always inquired into, and they
materially influence the estimate of his value. For example, the usual
rate of appraisement is a dollar per week for the remainder of the term;
but if the apprentice is particularly sober, honest, and industrious,
more particularly if he be a _pious man_, he is valued at the rate of
two or three dollars per week. It was consequently for the interest of
the master, when an apprentice applied for an appraisement, to portray
his virtues, while on the other hand there was an inducement for the
apprentice to conceal or actually to renounce his good qualities, and
foster the worst vices. Some instances of this kind had fallen under his
personal observation.
We called on the Rev. Mr. Gardiner, and on the Rev. Mr. Tinson, two
Baptist missionaries in Kingston. On Sabbath we attended service at the
church of which Mr. G. is the pastor. It is a very large building,
capable of seating two thousand persons. The great mass of the
congregation were apprentices. At the time we were present, the chapel
was well filled, and the broad surface of black faces was scarcely at
all diversified with lighter colors. It was gratifying to witness the
neatness of dress, the sobriety of demeanor, the devotional aspect of
countenance, the quiet and wakeful attention to the preacher which
prevailed. They were mostly rural negroes from the estates adjacent
to Kingston.
The Baptists are the most numerous body of Christians in the island. The
number of their missionaries now in Jamaica is sixteen, the number of
Chapels is thirty-one, and the number of members thirty-two thousand
nine hundred and sixty. The increase of members during the year 1836 was
three thousand three hundred and forty-four.
At present the missionary field is mostly engrossed by the Baptists and
Wesleyans. The Moravians are the next most numerous body. Besides these,
there are the clergy of the English Church, with a Bishop, and a few
Scotch clergymen. The Baptist missionaries, as a body, have been most
distinguished for their opposition to slavery. Their boldness in the
midst of suffering and persecutions, their denunciations of oppression,
though they did for a time arouse the wrath of oppressors, and cause
their chapels to be torn down and themselves to be hunted, imprisoned,
and banished, did more probably than any other cause, to hasten the
abolition of slavery.
_Schools in Kingston_.--We visited the Wolmer free school--the largest
and oldest school in the island. The whole number of scholars is five
hundred. It is under the charge of Mr. Reid, a venerable Scotchman, of
scholarship and piety. All colors are mingled in it promiscuously. We
saw the infant school department examined by Mr. R. There were nearly
one hundred and fifty children, of every hue, from the jettiest black to
the fairest white; they were thoroughly intermingled, and the ready
answers ran along the ranks from black to white, from white to brown,
from brown to pale, with undistinguished vivacity and accuracy. We were
afterwards conducted into the higher department, where lads and misses
from nine to fifteen, were instructed in the various branches of
academic education. A class of lads, mostly colored, were examined in
arithmetic. They wrought several sums in pounds, shillings and pence
currency, with wonderful celerity.
Among other things which we witnessed in that school, we shall not soon
forget having seen a curly headed negro lad of twelve, examining a class
of white young ladies in scientific history.
Some written statements and statistical tables were furnished us by Mr.
Reid, which we subjoin..
_Kingston, May 13th, 1837_
DEAR SIR,--I delayed answering your queries in hopes of being able to
give you an accurate list of the number of schools in Kingston, and
pupils under tuition, but have not been able completely to accomplish my
intention. I shall now answer your queries in the order you propose
them. 1st Quest. How long have you been teaching in Jamaica? Ans.
Thirty-eight years in Kingston. 2d Q. How long have you been master of
Wolmer's free school? A. Twenty-three years. 3d Q. What is the number of
colored children now in the school? A. Four hundred and thirty. 4th Q.
Was there any opposition to their admission at first? A. Considerable
opposition the first year, but none afterwards. 5th Q. Do they learn as
readily us the white children? A. As they are more regular in their
attendance, they learn better. 6th Q. Are they as easily governed? A.
Much easier. 7th Q. What proportion of the school are the children of
apprentices? A. Fifty. 8th Q. Do their parents manifest a desire to have
them educated? A. In general they do. 9th Q. At what age do the children
leave your school? A. Generally between twelve and fourteen. 10th Q What
employments do they chiefly engage in upon leaving you? A. The boys go
to various mechanic trades, to counting-houses, attorney's offices,
clerks to planting attorneys, and others become planters. The, girls
seamstresses, mantuamakers, and a considerable proportion tailoresses,
in Kingston and throughout Jamaica, as situations offer.
I am, dear sirs, yours respectfully,
E. REID.
The following table will show the average numbers of the respective
classes, white and colored, who have attended Wolmer's free school in
each year, from 1814 to the present time.
White | Colored | Total.
Children.|Children.|
Average number in 1814 87 87
" " 1815 111 3 114
" " 1816 129 25 154
" " 1817 146 36 182
" " 1818 155 38 193
" " 1819 136 57 193
" " 1820 116 78 194
" " 1821 118 122 240
" " 1822 93 167 260
" " 1823 97 187 280
" " 1824 94 196 290
" " 1825 89 185 274
" " 1826 93 176 269
" " 1827 92 156 248
" " 1828 88 152 240
" " 1829 79 192 271
" " 1830 88 194 282
" " 1831 88 315 403
" " 1832 90 360 450
" " 1833 93 411 504
" " 1834 81 420 501
" " 1835 85 425 510
" " 1836 78 428 506
" " 1837 72 430 502
With regard to the _comparative intellect_ of white and colored
children, Mr. Reid gives the following valuable statement:
"For the last thirty-eight years I have been employed in this city in
the tuition of children of all classes and colors, and have no
hesitation in saying that the children of color are equal both in
conduct and ability to the white. They have always carried off more than
their proportion of prizes, and at one examination, out of seventy
prizes awarded, sixty-four were obtained by children of color."
Mr. R. afterwards sent to us the table of the number of schools in
Kingston, alluded to in the foregoing communication. We insert it here,
as it affords a view of the increase of schools and scholars since the
abolition of slavery.
1831.
Schools. Scholars.
2 Wolmer's, 403
1 National, 270
34 Gentlemen's private, 1368
40 Ladies' do. 1005
8 Sunday, 1042
---- ----
85 Total, 4088
1832.
Schools. Scholars.
2 Wolmer's, 472
1 National, 260
31 Gentlemen's private, 1169
41 Ladies' do. 856
8 Sunday, 981
---- ----
83 Total, 3738
1836.
Schools. Scholars.
2 Wolmer's, 527
3 National, 1136
3 Mico, 590
1 Baptist, 250
1 Jamaica Union, 120
31 Gentlemen's private, 1137
59 Ladies' do. 1339
9 Sunday, 1108
By itinerant teachers and children. 1500
---- ----
109 Total, 7707
1837.
Schools. Scholars.
2 Wolmer's, 502
3 National, 1238
4 Mico, 611
1 Baptist 260
1 Jamaica Union, 200
34 Gentlemen's private, 1476
63 Ladies' do. 1525
10 Sunday, 1316
By itinerant teachers and children, 1625
---- ----
118 Total, 8753
We also visited the Union school, which has been established for some
years in Kingston. All the children connected with it, about one hundred
and fifty, are, with two exceptions, black or colored. The school is
conducted generally on the Lancasterian plan. We examined several of the
boys in arithmetic. We put a variety of questions to them, to be worked
out on the slate, and the reasons of the process to be explained as they
went along; all which they executed with great expertness. There was a
jet black boy, whom we selected for a special trial. We commenced with
the simple rules, and went through them one by one, together with the
compound rules and Reduction, to Practice, propounding questions and
examples in each of them, which were entirely new to him, and to all of
them he gave prompt and correct replies. He was only thirteen years old,
and we can aver we never saw a boy of that age in any of our common
schools, that exhibited a fuller and clearer knowledge of the science
of numbers.
In general, our opinion of this school was similar to that already
expressed concerning the others. It is supported by the pupils, aided by
six hundred dollars granted by the assembly.
In connection with this subject, there is one fact of much interest.
However strong and exclusive was the prejudice of color a few years
since in the schools of Jamaica, we could not, during our stay in that
island, learn of more than two or three places of education, and those
private ones, from which colored children were excluded, and among the
numerous schools in Kingston, there is not one of this kind.
We called on several colored gentlemen of Kingston, from whom we
received much valuable information. The colored population are opposed
to the apprenticeship, and all the influence which they have, both in
the colony and with the home government, (which is not small,) is
exerted against it. They are a festering thorn in the sides of the
planters, among whom they maintain a fearless espionage, exposing by pen
and tongue their iniquitous proceedings. It is to be regretted that
their influence in this respect is so sadly weakened by their _holding
apprentices themselves_.
We had repeated invitations to breakfast and dine with colored
gentlemen, which we accepted as often as our engagements would permit.
On such occasions we generally met a company of gentlemen and ladies of
superior social and intellectual accomplishments. We must say, that it
is a great self-denial to refrain from a description of some of the
animated, and we must add splendid, parties of colored people which we
attended. The conversation on these occasions mostly turned on the
political and civil disabilities under which the colored population
formerly labored, and the various straggles by which they ultimately
obtained their rights. The following are a few items of their history.
The colored people of Jamaica, though very numerous, and to some extent
wealthy and intelligent, were long kept by the white colonists in a
state of abject political bondage. Not only were offices withheld from
them, and the right of suffrage denied, but they were not even allowed
the privilege of an oath in court, in defense of their property or their
persons. They might be violently assaulted, their limbs broken, their
wives and daughters might be outraged before their eyes by villains
having white skins; yet they had no legal redress unless another white
man chanced to see the deed. It was not until 1824 that this oppressive
enactment was repealed, and the protection of an oath extended to the
colored people; nor was it then effected without a long struggle on
their part.
Another law, equally worthy of a slaveholding legislature, prohibited
any white man, however wealthy, bequeathing, or in any manner giving his
colored son or daughter more than £2000 currency, or six thousand
dollars. The design of this law was to keep the colored people poor and
dependent upon the whites. Further to secure the same object, every
effort, both legislative and private, was made to debar them from
schools, and sink them in the lowest ignorance. Their young men of
talent were glad to get situations as clerks in the stores of white
merchants. Their young ladies of beauty and accomplishments were
fortune-made if they got a place in the white man's harem. These were
the highest stations to which the flower of their youth aspired. The
rest sank beneath the discouragements, and grovelled in vice and
debasement. If a colored person had any business with a white gentleman,
and should call at his house, "he must take off his hat, and wait at the
door, and be _as polite as a dog_."
These insults and oppressions the colored people in Jamaica bore, until
they could bear them no longer. By secret correspondence they formed a
union throughout the island, for the purpose of resistance. This,
however, was not effected for a long time, and while in process, the
correspondence was detected, and the most vigorous means were used by
the whites to crush the growing conspiracy--for such it was virtually.
Persuasions and intimations were used privately, and when these failed,
public persecutions were resorted to, under the form of judicial
procedures. Among the milder means was the dismission of clerks, agents,
&c., from the employ of a white men. As soon as a merchant discovered
that his clerk was implicated in the correspondence, he first threatened
to discharge him unless he would promise to desert his brethren: if he
could not extort this promise, he immediately put his threat in
execution. Edward Jordon, Esq., the talented editor of the Watchman,
then first clerk in the store of a Mr. Briden, was prominently concerned
in the correspondence, and was summarily dismissed.
White men drove their colored sons from their houses, and subjected them
to every indignity and suffering, in order to deter them from
prosecuting an enterprise which was seen by the terrified oppressors to
be fraught with danger to themselves. Then followed more violent
measures. Persons suspected of being the projectors of the disaffection,
were dragged before incensed judges, and after mock trials, were
sentenced to imprisonment in the city jail. Messrs. Jordon and Osborne,
(after they had established the Watchman paper,) were both imprisoned;
the former twice, for five months each time. At the close of the second
term of imprisonment, Mr. Jordon was _tried for his life_, on the charge
of having published _seditious matter_ in the Watchman.
The paragraph which was denominated '_seditious matter_' was this--
"Now that the member for Westmoreland (Mr. Beaumont) has come over to
our side, we will, by a long pull, a strong pull, and a pull altogether,
bring down the system by the run, knock off the fetters, and let the
oppressed go free."
On the day of Mr. J.'s trial, the court-room was thronged with colored
men, who had armed themselves, and were determined, if the sentence of
death were pronounced upon Mr. Jordon, to rescue him at whatever hazard.
It is supposed that their purpose was conjectured by the judges--at any
rate, they saw fit to acquit Mr. J. and give him his enlargement. The
Watchman continued as fearless and _seditious_ as ever, until the
Assembly were ultimately provoked to threaten some extreme measure which
should effectually silence the agitators. _Then_ Mr. Jordon issued a
spirited circular, in which he stated the extent of the coalition among
the colored people, and in a tone of defiance demanded the instant
repeal of every restrictive law, the removal of every disability, and
the extension of complete political equality; declaring, that if the
demand were not complied with, the whole colored population would rise
in arms, would proclaim freedom to their own slaves, instigate the
slaves generally to rebellion, and then shout war and wage it, until
_the streets of Kingston should run blood_. This bold piece of
generalship succeeded. The terrified legislators huddled together in
their Assembly-room, and swept away, at one blow, all restrictions, and
gave the colored people entire enfranchisement. These occurrences took
place in 1831; since which time the colored class have been politically
free, and have been marching forward with rapid step in every species of
improvement, and are now on a higher footing than in any other colony.
All offices are open to them; they are aldermen of the city, justices of
the peace, inspectors of public institutions, trustees of schools, etc.
There are, at least, then colored special magistrates, natives of the
island. There are four colored members of the Assembly, including
Messrs. Jordon and Osborne. Mr. Jordon now sits in the same Assembly,
side by side, with the man who, a few years ago, ejected him
disdainfully from his clerkship. He is a member of the Assembly for the
city of Kingston, where not long since he was imprisoned, and tried for
his life. He is also alderman of the city, and one of its local
magistrates. He is now inspector of the same prison in which he was
formerly immured as a pestilent fellow, and a mover of sedition.
The secretary of the special magistrate department, Richard Hill, Esq.,
is a colored gentleman, and is one of the first men in the island,[A]
for integrity, independence, superior abilities, and extensive
acquirements. It has seldom been our happiness to meet with a man more
illustrious for true nobility of soul, or in whose countenance there
were deeper traces of intellectual and moral greatness. We are confident
that no man can _see_ him without being impressed with his rare
combination of excellences.
[Footnote A: We learn from the Jamaica papers, since our return to this
country, that Mr. Hill has been elected a member of the Assembly.]
Having said thus much respecting the political advancement of the
colored people, it is proper to remark, that they have by no means
evinced a determination to claim more than their share of office and
influence. On the contrary, they stop very far short of what they are
entitled to. Having an extent of suffrage but little less than the
whites, they might fill one third of the seats in the Assembly, whereas
they now return but four members out of forty-five. The same may be said
of other offices, particularly those in the city of Kingston, and the
larger towns, where they are equal to, or more numerous, than the
whites. It is a fact, that a portion of the colored people continue at
this time to return white members to the Assembly, and to vote for white
aldermen and other city officers. The influential men among them, have
always urged them to take up white men, unless they could find
_competent_ men of their own color. As they remarked to us, if they were
obliged to send an _ass_ to the Assembly, it was far better for _them_
to send a _white_ ass than a _black_ one.
In company with a friend, we visited the principal streets and places of
business in Kingston, for the purpose of seeing for ourselves the
general employments of the people of color; and those who engage in the
lowest offices, such as porters, watermen, draymen, and servants of all
grades, from him who flaunts in livery, to him who polishes shoes, are
of course from this class. So with the fruiterers, fishmongers, and the
almost innumerable tribe of petty hucksters which swarm throughout the
city, and is collected in a dense mass in its suburbs. The market, which
is the largest and best in the West Indies, is almost entirely supplied
and attended by colored persons, mostly females. The great body of
artisans is composed mostly of colored persons.
There are two large furniture and cabinet manufactories in Kingston, one
owned by two colored men, and the other by a white man. The operatives,
of which one contains eighty, and the other nearly as many, are all
black and colored. A large number of them are what the British law terms
_apprentices_, and are still bound in unremunerated servitude, though
some of them for thrice seven years have been adepts in their trades,
and not a few are earning their masters twenty or thirty dollars each
month, clear of all expenses. Some of these _apprentices_ are
hoary-headed and wrinkle-browned men, with their children, and
grand-children, apprentices also, around them, and who, after having
used the plane and the chisel for half a century, with faithfulness for
_others_, are now spending the few hours and the failing strength of old
again in _preparing_ to use the plane and the chisel for _themselves_.
The work on which they were engaged evinced no lack of mechanical skill
and ingenuity, but on the contrary we were shown some of the most
elegant specimens of mechanical skill, which we ever saw. The rich woods
of the West Indies were put into almost every form and combination which
taste could designate or luxury desire.
The owners of these establishments informed us that their business had
much _increased within the last two years_, and was still extending.
Neither of them had any fears for the results of complete emancipation,
but both were laying their plans for the future as broadly and
confidently as ever.
In our walk we accidentally met a colored man, whom we had heard
mentioned on several occasions as a superior architect. From the
conversation we had with him, then and subsequently, he appeared to
possess a fine mechanical genius, and to have made acquirements which
would be honorable in any man, but which were truly admirable in one who
had been shut up all his life by the disabilities which in Jamaica have,
until recently, attached to color. He superintended the erection of the
Wesleyan chapel in Kingston, the largest building of the kind in the
island, and esteemed by many as the most elegant. The plan was his own,
and the work was executed under his own eye. This man is using his means
and influence to encourage the study of his favorite art, and of the
arts and sciences generally, among those of his own hue.
One of the largest bookstores in the island is owned by two colored men.
(Messrs. Jordon and Osborne, already referred to.) Connected with it is
an extensive printing-office, from which a newspaper is issued twice a
week. Another paper, under the control of colored men, is published at
Spanishtown. These are the two principal liberal presses in Jamaica, and
are conducted with spirit and ability. Their influence in the political
and civil affairs of the island is very great. They are the organs of
the colored people, bond and free, and through them any violation of law
or humanity is exposed to the public, and redress demanded, and
generally obtained. In literary merit and correctness of moral
sentiment, they are not excelled by any press there, while some of their
white contemporaries fall far below them in both. Besides the workmen
employed in these two offices, there is a large number of colored
printers in the other printing offices, of which there are several.
We called at two large establishment for making jellies, comfits,
pickles, and all the varieties of tropic _preserves_. In each of them
thirty or more persons are constantly employed, and a capital of some
thousands of dollars invested. Several large rooms were occupied by
boxes, jars, and canisters, with the apparatus necessary to the process,
through which the fruit passes. We saw every species of fruits and
vegetables which the island produces, some fresh from the trees and
vines, and others ready to be transported to the four quarters of the
globe, in almost every state which the invalid or epicure could desire.
These articles, with the different preparations of arrow-root and
cassada, form a lucrative branch of trade, which is mostly in the hands
of the colored people.
We were introduced to a large number of colored merchants, dealers in
dry goods, crockery and glass ware, ironmongers, booksellers, druggists,
grocers, and general importers and were conducted by them through their
stores; many of which were on an extensive scale, and managed,
apparently, with much order and regularity. One of the largest
commercial houses in Kingston has a colored man as a partner, the other
two being white. Of a large auction and commission firm, the most active
and leading partner is a colored man. Besides these, there is hardly a
respectable house among the white merchants, in which some important
office, oftentimes the head clerkship, is not filled by a person of
color. They are as much respected in business transactions, and their
mercantile talents, their acquaintance with the generalities and details
of commerce, and sagacity and judgment in making bargains, are as highly
esteemed by the white merchants, as though they wore an European hue.
The commercial room is open to them, where they resort unrestrainedly to
ascertain the news; and a visitor may not unfrequently see sitting
together at a table of newspapers, or conversing together in the
parlance of trade, persons as dissimilar in complexion as white and
black can make them. In the streets the same intercourse is seen.
The general trade of the island is gradually and quietly passing into
the hands of the colored people. Before emancipation, they seldom
reached a higher grade in mercantile life than a clerkship, or, if they
commenced business for themselves, they were shackled and confined in
their operations by the overgrown and monopolizing establishments which
slavery had built up. Though the civil and political rights of one class
of them were acknowledged three years previous, yet they found they
could not, even if they desired it, disconnect themselves from the
slaves. They could not transact business--form credits and agencies, and
receive the confidence of the commercial public--like free men. Strange
or not, their fate was inseparably linked with that of the bondman,
their interests were considered as involved with his. However honest
they might be, it was not safe to trust them; and any attempt to rise
above a clerkship, to become the employer instead of the employed, was
regarded as a kind of insurrection, and strongly disapproved and
opposed. Since emancipation, they have been unshackling them selves from
white domination in matters of trade; extending their connections, and
becoming every day more and more independent. They have formed credits
with commercial houses abroad, and now import directly for themselves,
at wholesale prices, what they were formerly obliged to receive from
white importers, or rather speculators, at such prices as they, in their
tender mercies, saw fit to impose.
Trade is now equalizing itself among all classes. A spirit of
competition is awakened, banks have been established, steam navigation
introduced, railroads projected, old highways repaired, and new ones
opened. The descendants of the slaves are rapidly supplying the places
which were formerly filled by whites from abroad.
We had the pleasure of being present one day at the sitting of the
police court of Kingston. Mr. Jordon, the editor of the Watchman, in his
turn as a member of the common council, was presiding justice, with an
alderman of the city, a black man, as his associate. At a table below
them sat the superintendent of police, a white man, and two white
attorneys, with their huge law books and green bags before them. The bar
was surrounded by a motley assemblage of black, colored, and white
faces, intermingled without any regard to hue in the order of
superiority and precedence. There were about a dozen cases adjudged
while we were present. The court was conducted with order and dignity,
and the justices were treated with great respect and deference both by
white and black.
After the adjournment of the court, we had some conversation with the
presiding justice. He informed us that whites were not unfrequently
brought before him for trial, and, in spite of his color, sometimes even
our own countrymen. He mentioned several instances of the latter, in
some of which American prejudice assumed very amusing and ludicrous
forms. In one case, he was obliged to threaten the party, a captain from
one of our southern ports, with imprisonment for contempt, before he
could induce him to behave himself with proper decorum. The captain,
unaccustomed to obey injunctions from men of such a complexion, curled
his lip in scorn, and showed a spirit of defiance, but on the approach
of two police officers, whom the court had ordered to arrest him, he
submitted himself. We were gratified with the spirit of good humor and
pleasantry with which Mr. J. described the astonishment and gaping
curiosity which Americans manifest on seeing colored men in offices of
authority, particularly on the judicial bench, and their evident
embarrassment and uneasiness whenever obliged to transact business with
them as magistrates. He seemed to regard it as a subject well worthy of
ridicule; and we remarked, in our intercourse with the colored people,
that they were generally more disposed to make themselves merry with
American sensitiveness on this point, than to bring serious complaints
against it, though they feel deeply the wrongs which they have suffered
from it, and speak of them occasionally with solemnity and earnestness.
Still the feeling is so absurd and ludicrous in itself, and is exhibited
in so many grotesque positions, even when oppressive, that the sufferer
cannot help laughing at it. Mr. Jordon has held his present office since
1832. He has had an extensive opportunity, both as a justice of the
police court, and as a member of the jail committee, and in other
official stations, to become well acquainted with the state of crime in
the island at different periods. He informed us that the number of
complaints brought before him had much diminished since 1834, and he had
no hesitation in saying, that crime had decreased throughout the island
generally more than one third.
During one of our excursions into the country, we witnessed another
instance of the amicability with which the different colors associated
in the civil affairs of the island. It was a meeting of one of the
parish vestries, a kind of local legislature, which possesses
considerable power over its own territory. There were fifteen members
present, and nearly as many different shades of complexion. There was
the planter of aristocratic blood, and at his side was a deep mulatto,
born in the same parish a slave. There was the quadroon, and the
unmitigated hue and unmodified features of the negro. They sat together
around a circular table, and conversed as freely as though they had been
all of one color. There was no restraint, no uneasiness, as though the
parties felt themselves out of place, no assumption nor disrespect, but
all the proceedings manifested the most perfect harmony, confidence, and
good feeling.
At the same time there was a meeting of the parish committee on roads,
at which there was the same intermixture of colors, the same freedom and
kindness of demeanor, and the same unanimity of action. Thus it is with
all the political and civil bodies in the island, from the House of
Assembly, to committees on jails and houses of correction. Into all of
them, the colored people are gradually making their way, and
participating in public debates and public measures, and dividing with
the whites legislative and judicial power, and in many cases they
exhibit a superiority, and in all cases a respectability, of talents and
attainments, and a courtesy and general propriety of conduct, which gain
for them the respect of the intelligent and candid among their white
associates.
We visited the house of correction for the parish of St. Andrews. The
superintendent received us with the iron-hearted courtesy of a Newgate
turnkey. Our company was evidently unwelcome, but as the friend who
accompanied us was a man in authority, he was constrained to admit us.
The first sound that greeted us was a piercing outcry from the
treadmill. On going to it, we saw a youth of about eighteen hanging in
the air by a strap bound to his wrist, and dangling against the wheel in
such a manner that every revolution of it scraped the body from the
breast to the ankles. He had fallen off from weakness and fatigue, and
was struggling and crying in the greatest distress, while the strap,
which extended to a pole above and stretched his arm high above his
head, held him fast. The superintendent, in a harsh voice, ordered him
to be lifted up, and his feet again placed on the wheel. But before he
had taken five steps, he again fell off, and was suspended as before. At
the same instant, a woman also fell off, and without a sigh or the
motion of a muscle, for she was too much exhausted for either, but with
a shocking wildness of the eye, hung by her half-dislocated arms against
the wheel. As the allotted time (fifteen minutes) had expired, the
persons on the wheel were released, and permitted to rest. The boy could
hardly stand on the ground. He had a large ulcer on one of his feet,
which was much swollen and inflamed, and his legs and body were greatly
bruised and peeled by the revolving of the wheel. The gentleman who was
with us reproved the superintendent severely for his conduct, and told
him to remove the boy from the treadmill gang, and see that proper care
was taken of him. The poor woman who fell off, seemed completely
exhausted; she tottered to the wall near by, and took up a little babe
which we had not observed before. It appeared to be not more than two or
three months old, and the little thing stretched out its arms and
welcomed its mother. On inquiry, we ascertained that this woman's
offence was absence from the field an hour after the required time (six
o'clock) in the morning. Besides the infant with her, she had two or
three other children. Whether the care of them was any excuse for her,
we leave American mothers to judge. There were two other women on the
treadmill--one was sentenced there for stealing cane from her master's
field, and the other, we believe, for running away.
The superintendent next took us to the solitary cells. They were dirty,
and badly ventilated, and unfit to keep beasts in. On opening the doors,
such a stench rushed forth, that we could not remain. There was a poor
woman in one of them, who appeared, as the light of day and the fresh
air burst in upon her, like a despairing maniac.
We went through the other buildings, all of which were old and dirty,
nay, worse, _filthy_ in the extreme. The whole establishment was a
disgrace to the island. The prisoners were poorly clad, and had the
appearance of harsh usage. Our suspicions of ill treatment were
strengthened by noticing a large whip in the treadmill, and sundry iron
collars and handcuffs hanging about in the several rooms through which
we passed.
The number of inmates in this house at our visit, was
forty-eight--eighteen of whom were females. Twenty of these were in the
treadmill and in solitary confinement--the remainder were working on
the public road at a little distance--many of them _in irons_--iron
collars about their necks, and chains passing between, connecting them
together two and two.
CHAPTER II.
TOUR TO THE COUNTRY.
Wishing to accomplish the most that our limited time would allow; we
separated at Kingston;--the one taking a northwesterly route among the
mountainous coffee districts of Port Royal and St. Andrews, and the
other going into the parish of St. Thomas in the East.
St. Thomas in the East is said to present the apprenticeship in its most
favorable aspects. There is probably no other parish in the island which
includes so many fine estates, or has so many liberal-minded
planters.[A] A day's easy drive from Kingston, brought us to Morant Bay,
where we spent two days, and called on several influential gentlemen,
besides visiting the neighboring estate of Belvidere. One gentleman whom
we met was Thomas Thomson, Esq., the senior local magistrate of the
Parish, next in civil influence to the Custos. His standing may be
inferred from the circumstance, (not trifling in Jamaica,) that the
Governor, during his tour of the island, spent a night at his house. We
breakfasted with Mr. Thomson, and at that time, and subsequently, he
showed the utmost readiness in furnishing us with information. He is a
Scotchman, has been in the island for thirty-eight years, and has served
as a local magistrate for thirty-four. Until very lately, he has been a
proprietor of estates; he informed us that he had sold out, but did not
mention the reasons. We strongly suspected, from the drift of his
conversation, that he sold about the time of abolition, through alarm
for the consequences. We early discovered that he was one of the old
school tyrants, hostile to the change which _had_ taken place, and
dreadfully alarmed in view of that which was yet to come. Although full
of the prejudices of an old slaveholder, yet we found him a man of
strong native sense and considerable intelligence. He declared it most
unreservedly as his opinion, that the negroes would not work after
1810--they were _naturally so indolent_, that they would prefer
gaining a livelihood in some easier way than by digging cane holes. He
had all the results of the emancipation of 1840 as clearly before his
mind, as though he saw them in prophetic vision; he knew the whole
process. One portion of the negroes, too lazy to provide food by their
own labor, will rob the provision grounds of the few who will remain at
work. The latter will endure the wrong as long as they well can, and
then they will procure arms and fire upon the marauders; this will give
rise to incessant petty conflicts between the lazy and the industrious,
and a great destruction of life will ensue. Others will die in vast
numbers from starvation; among these will be the superannuated and the
young, who cannot support themselves, and whom the planters will not be
able to support. Others numerous will perish from disease, chiefly for
want of medical attendance, which it will be wholly out of their power
to provide. Such is the dismal picture drawn by a late slaveholder, of
the consequences of removing the negroes from the tender mercies of
oppressors. Happily for all parties, Mr. Thomson is not very likely to
establish his claim to the character of a prophet. We were not at all
surprised to hear him wind up his prophecies against freedom with a
_denunciation of slavery_. He declared that slavery was a wretched
system. Man was _naturally a tyrant_. Mr. T. said he had one good
thing to say of the negroes, viz., that they were an _exceedingly
temperate people_. It was a very unusual thing to see one of them drunk.
Slavery, he said, was a system of _horrid cruelties_. He had lately
read, in the history of Jamaica, of a planter, in 1763, having a slave's
_leg_ cut off, to keep him from running away. He said that dreadful
cruelties were perpetrated until the close of slavery, and they were
inseparable from slavery. He also spoke of the fears which haunted the
slaveholders. He never would live on an estate; and whenever he chanced
to stay over night in the country, he always took care to secure his
door by bolting and barricading it. At Mr. Thomson's we met Andrew
Wright, Esq., the proprietor of a sugar estate called Green Wall,
situated some six miles from the bay. He is an intelligent gentleman, of
an amiable disposition--has on his estate one hundred and sixty
apprentices. He described his people as being in a very peaceable state,
and as industrious as he could wish. He said he had no trouble with
them, and it was his opinion, that where there is trouble, it must be
_owing to bad management_. He anticipated no difficulty after 1840, and
was confident that his people would not leave him. He believed that the
negroes would not to any great extent abandon the cultivation of sugar
after 1840. Mr. T. stated two facts respecting this enlightened planter,
which amply account for the good conduct of his apprentices. One was,
that he was an exceedingly kind and amiable man. _He had never been
known to have a falling out with any man in his life_. Another fact was,
that Mr. Wright was the only resident sugar proprietor in all that
region of country. He superintends his own estate, while the other large
estates are generally left in the hands of unprincipled, mercenary men.
[Footnote A: We have the following testimony of Sir Lionel Smith to the
superiority of St. Thomas in the East. It is taken from the Royal
Gazette, (Kingston.) May 6, 1837. "His Excellency has said, that in all
his tour he was not more highly gratified with any parish than he was
with St. Thomas in the East."]
We called on the Wesleyan missionary at Morant Bay, Rev. Mr. Crookes,
who has been in Jamaica fifteen years. Mr. C. said, that in many
respects there had been a great improvement since the abolition of
slavery, but, said he, "I abominate the apprenticeship system. At best,
it is only _improved slavery_." The obstacles to religious efforts
have been considerably diminished, but the masters were not to be
thanked for this; it was owing chiefly to the protection of British law.
The apprenticeship, Mr. C. thought, could not be any material
preparation for freedom. He was persuaded that it would have been far
better policy to have granted entire emancipation at once.
In company with Mr. Howell, an Independent, and teacher of a school of
eighty negro children in Morant Bay, we drove out to Belvidere estate,
which is situated about four miles from the bay, in a rich district
called the Blue Mountain Valley. The Belvidere is one of the finest
estates in the valley. It contains two thousand acres, only four hundred
of which are cultivated in sugar; the most of it is woodland. This
estate belongs to Count Freeman, an absentee proprietor. We took
breakfast with the overseer, or manager, Mr. Briant. Mr. B. stated that
there was not so much work done now as there was during slavery. Thinks
there is _as much done for the length of time that the apprentices are
at work_; but a day and a half every week is lost; neither _are they
called out as early in the morning, nor do they work as late at night_.
The apprentices work at night very cheerfully for money: but they will
not work on Saturday for the common wages--quarter of a dollar. On
inquiry of Mr. B. we ascertained that the reason the apprentices did not
work on Saturdays was, that they could _make twice or three times as
much_ by cultivating their provision grounds, and carrying their produce
to market. At _night_ they cannot cultivate their grounds, then they
work for their masters "very cheerfully."
The manager stated, that there had been no disturbance with the people
of Belvidere since the change. They work well, and conduct themselves
peaceably; and he had no fear but that the great body of the negroes
would remain on the estate after 1840, and labor as usual. This he
thought would be the case on every estate where there _is mild
management_. Some, indeed, might leave even such estates to _try their
fortunes_ elsewhere, but they would soon discover that they could get no
better treatment abroad, and they would then return to their old homes.
While we were at Belvidere, Mr. Howell took us to see a new chapel which
the apprentices of that estate have erected since 1834, by their own
labor, and at their own expense. The house is thirty feet by forty;
composed of the same materials of which the negro huts are built. We
were told that the building of this chapel was first suggested by the
apprentices, and as soon as permission was obtained, they commenced the
preparations for its erection. We record this as a delightful _sign of
the times_.
On our return to Morant Bay, we visited the house of correction,
situated near the village. This is the only "institution," as a Kingston
paper gravely terms it, of the kind in the parish. It is a small,
ill-constructed establishment, horribly filthy, more like a receptacle
for wild beasts than human beings. There is a treadmill connected with
it, made to _accommodate_ fifteen persons at a time. Alternate companies
ascend the wheel every fifteen minutes. It was unoccupied when we went
in; most of the prisoners being at work on the public roads. Two or
three, who happened to be near by, were called in by the keeper, and
ordered to mount the wheel, to show us how it worked. It made our blood
run cold as we thought of the dreadful suffering that inevitably ensues,
when the foot loses the step, and the body hangs against the
revolving cylinder.
Leaving the house of correction, we proceeded to the village. In a small
open square in the centre of it, we saw a number of the unhappy inmates
of the house of correction at work under the direction, we are sorry to
say, of our friend Thomas Thomson, Esq. They were chained two and two by
heavy chains fastened to iron bands around their necks. On another
occasion, we saw the same gang at work in the yard attached to the
Independent chapel.
We received a visit, at our lodgings, from the special justice of this
district, Major Baines. He was accompanied by Mr. Thomson, who came to
introduce him as his friend. We were not left to this recommendation
alone, suspicious as it was, to infer the character of this magistrate,
for we were advertised previously that he was a "planter's man"--unjust
and cruel to the apprentices. Major B. appeared to have been looking
through his friend Thomson's prophetic telescope. There was certainly a
wonderful coincidence of vision--the same abandonment of labor, the same
preying upon provision grounds; the same violence, bloodshed and great
loss of life among the negroes themselves! However, the special
magistrate appeared to see a little further than the local magistrate,
even to the _end_ of the carnage, and to the re-establishment of
industry, peace and prosperity. The evil, he was confident, would soon
cure itself.
One remark of the special magistrate was worthy a prophet. When asked if
he thought there would be any serious disaffection produced among the
praedials by the emancipation of the non-praedials in 1838, he said, he
thought there would not be, and assigned as the reason, that the
praedials knew all about the arrangement, and did not _expect to be
free_. That is, the field apprentices knew that the domestics were to be
liberated two years sooner than they, and, without inquiring into the
grounds, or justice of the arrangement, _they would promptly
acquiesce in it_!
What a fine compliment to the patience and forbearance of the mass of
the negroes. The majority see the minority emancipated two years before
them, and that, too, upon the ground of an odious distinction which
makes the domestic more worthy than they who "bear the heat and burthen
of the day," in the open field; and yet they submit patiently, because
they are told that it is the pleasure of government that it should
be so!
The _non-praedials_, too, have their noble traits, as well as the less
favored agriculturalists. The special magistrate said that he was then
engaged in classifying the apprentices of the different estates in his
district. The object of this classification was, to ascertain all those
who were non-praedials, that they might be recorded as the subjects of
emancipation in 1838. To his astonishment he found numbers of this class
who expressed a wish to remain apprentices until 1840. On one estate,
six out of eight took this course, on another, twelve out of fourteen,
and in some instances, _all_ the non-praedials determined to suffer it
out with the rest of their brethren, refusing to accept freedom until
with the whole body they could rise up and shout the jubilee of
universal disinthrallment. Here is a nobility worthy to compare with the
patience of the praedials. In connection with the conduct of the
non-praedials, he mentioned the following instance of white brutality
and negro magnanimity. A planter, whose negroes he was classifying,
brought forward a woman whom he claimed as a praedial. The woman
declared that she was a non-praedial, and on investigation it was
clearly proved that she had always been a domestic; and consequently
entitled to freedom in 1838. After the planter's claim was set aside,
the woman said, "_Now_ I will stay with massa, and be his 'prentice for
de udder two year."
Shortly before we left the Bay, our landlady, a colored woman,
introduced one of her neighbors, whose conversation afforded us a rare
treat. She was a colored lady of good appearance and lady like manners.
Supposing from her color that she had been prompted by strong sympathy
in our objects to seek an interview with us, we immediately introduced
the subject of slavery, stating that as we had a vast number of slaves
in our country, we had visited Jamaica to see how the freed people
behaved, with the hope that our countrymen might be encouraged to adopt
emancipation. "Alack a day!" The tawny madam shook her head, and, with
that peculiar creole whine, so expressive of contempt, said, "Can't say
any thing for you, sir--they not doing no good now, sir--the negroes
an't!"--and on she went abusing the apprentices, and denouncing
abolition. No American white lady could speak more disparagingly of the
niggers, than did this recreant descendant of the negro race. They did
no work, they stole, were insolent, insubordinate, and what not.
She concluded in the following elegiac strain, which did not fail to
touch our sympathies. "I can't tell what will become of us after 1840.
Our negroes will be taken away from us--we shall find no work to do
ourselves--we shall all have to beg, and who shall we beg from? _All
will be beggars, and we must starve_!"
Poor Miss L. is one of that unfortunate class who have hitherto gained a
meagre support from the stolen hire of a few slaves, and who, after
entire emancipation, will be stripped of every thing. This is the class
upon whom emancipation will fall most heavily; it will at once cast many
out of a situation of ease, into the humiliating dilemma of _laboring or
begging_--to the _latter_ of which alternatives, Miss L. seems inclined.
Let Miss L. be comforted! It is better to beg than to _steal_.
We proceeded from Morant Bay to Bath, a distance of fourteen miles,
where we put up at a neat cottage lodging-house, kept by Miss P., a
colored lady. Bath is a picturesque little village, embowered in
perpetual green, and lying at the foot of a mountain on one side, and on
the other by the margin of a rambling little river. It seems to have
accumulated around it and within it, all the verdure and foliage of a
tropical clime.
Having a letter of introduction, we called on the special magistrate for
that district--George Willis, Esq. As we entered his office, an
apprentice was led up in irons by a policeman, and at the same time
another man rode up with a letter from the master of the apprentice,
directing the magistrate to release him instantly. The facts of this
case, as Mr. W. himself explained them to us, will illustrate the
careless manner in which the magistrates administer the law. The master
had sent his apprentice to a neighboring estate, where there had been
some disturbance, to get his clothes, which had been left there. The
overseer of the estate finding an intruder on his property, had him
handcuffed forthwith, notwithstanding his repeated declarations that his
master had sent him. Having handcuffed him, he ordered him to be taken
before the special magistrate, Mr. W., who had him confined in the
station-house all night. Mr. W., in pursuance of the direction received
from the master, ordered the man to be released, but at the same time
repeatedly declared to him that the _overseer was not to blame for
arresting him_.
After this case was disposed of, Mr. W, turned to us. He said he had a
district of thirty miles in extent, including five thousand apprentices;
these he visited thrice every month. He stated that there had been a
gradual decrease of crime since he came to the district, which was early
in 1835. For example, in March, 1837, there were but twenty-four persons
punished, and in March, 1835, there were as many punished in a single
week. He explained this by saying that the apprentices had become
_better acquainted with the requirements of the law_. The chief offence
at present was _absconding from labor_.
This magistrate gave us an account of an alarming rebellion which had
lately occurred in his district, which we will venture to notice, since
it is the only serious disturbance on the part of the negroes, which has
taken place in the island, from the beginning of the apprenticeship.
About two weeks before, the apprentices on Thornton estate, amounting to
about ninety, had refused to work, and fled in a body to the woods,
where they still remained. Their complaint, according to our informant,
was, that their master had turned the cattle upon their provision
grounds, and all their provisions were destroyed, so that they could not
live. They, therefore, determined that they would not continue at work,
seeing they would be obliged to starve. Mr. W. stated that he had
visited the provision grounds, in company with two _disinterested
planters_, and he could affirm that the apprentices had _no just cause
of complaint_. It was true their fences had been broken down, and their
provisions had been somewhat injured, but the fence could be very easily
repaired, and there was an _abundance of yams left_ to furnish food for
the whole gang for some time to come--those that were destroyed being
chiefly young roots which would not have come to maturity for several
months. These statements were the substance of a formal report which he
had just prepared for the eye of Sir Lionel Smith, and which he was kind
enough to read to us. This was a fine report, truly, to come from a
special justice. To say nothing of the short time in which the fence
might be repaired, those were surely very dainty-mouthed cattle that
would consume those roots only which were so small that several months
would be requisite for their maturity. The report concluded with a
recommendation to his Excellency to take seminary vengeance upon a few
of the gang as soon as they could be arrested, since they had set such
an example to the surrounding apprentices. He could not see how order
and subordination could be preserved in his district unless such a
punishment was inflicted as would be a warning to all evil doers. He
further suggested the propriety of sending the maroons[A] after them, to
hunt them out of their hiding places and bring them to justice.
[Footnote A: The maroons are free negroes, inhabiting the mountains of
the interior, who were formerly hired by the authorities, or by
planters, to hunt up runaway slaves, and return them to their masters.
Unfortunately our own country is not without _its_ maroons.]
We chanced to obtain a different version of this affair, which, as it
was confirmed by different persons in Bath, both white and colored, who
had no connection with each other, we cannot help thinking it the
true one.
The apprentices on Thornton, are what is termed a jobbing gang, that is,
they are hired out by their master to any planter who may want their
services. Jobbing is universally regarded by the negroes as the worst
kind of service, for many reasons--principally because it often takes
them many miles from their homes, and they are still required to supply
themselves with food from their own provision grounds. They are allowed
to return home every Friday evening or Saturday, and stay till Monday
morning. The owner of the gang in question lately died--to whom it is
said they were greatly attached--and they passed into the hands of a Mr.
Jocken, the present overseer. Jocken is a notoriously cruel man. It was
scarcely a twelvemonth ago, that he was fined one hundred pounds
currency, and sentenced to imprisonment for three months in the Kingston
jail, _for tying one of his apprentices to a dead ox_, because the
animal died while in the care of the apprentice. He also confined a
woman in the same pen with a dead sheep, because she suffered the sheep
to die. Repeated acts of cruelty have caused Jocken to be regarded as a
monster in the community. From a knowledge of his character, the
apprentices of Thornton had a strong prejudice against him. One of the
earliest acts after he went among them, was to break down their fences,
and turn his cattle into their provision grounds. He then ordered them
to go to a distant estate to work. This they refused to do, and when he
attempted to compel them to go, they left the estate in a body, and went
to the woods. This is what is called a _state of open rebellion_, and
for this they were to be hunted like beasts, and to suffer such a
terrible punishment as would deter all other apprentices from taking a
similar step.
This Jocken is the same wretch who wantonly handcuffed the apprentice,
who went on to his estate by the direction of his master.
Mr. Willis showed us a letter which he had received that morning from a
planter in his district, who had just been trying an experiment in job
work, (i.e., paying his people so much for a certain amount of work.) He
had made a proposition to one of the head men on the estate, that he
would give him a doubloon an acre if he would get ten acres of cane land
holed. The man employed a large number of apprentices, and accomplished
the job on three successive Saturdays. They worked at the rate of nearly
one hundred holes per day for each man, whereas the usual day's work is
only seventy-five holes.
Mr. W. bore testimony that the great body of the negroes in his district
were very peaceable. There were but a few _incorrigible fellows_, that
did all the mischief. When any disturbance took place on an estate, he
could generally tell who the individual offenders were. He did not think
there would be any serious difficulty after 1840. However, the result he
thought would _greatly depend on the conduct of the managers!_
We met in Bath with the proprietor of a coffee estate situated a few
miles in the country. He gave a very favorable account of the people on
his estate; stating that they were as peaceable and industrious as he
could desire, that he had their confidence, and fully expected to retain
it after entire emancipation. He anticipated no trouble whatever, and he
felt assured, too, that if _the planters would conduct in a proper
manner_, emancipation would be a blessing to the whole colony.
We called on the Wesleyan missionary, whom we found the decided friend
and advocate of freedom. He scrupled not to declare his sentiments
respecting the special magistrate, whom he declared to be a cruel and
dishonest man. He seemed to take delight in flogging the apprentices. He
had got a whipping machine made and erected in front of the Episcopal
church in the village of Bath. It was a frame of a triangular shape, the
base of which rested firmly on the ground, and having a perpendicular
beam from the base to the apex or angle. To this beam the apprentice's
body was lashed, with his face towards the machine, and his arms
extended at right angles, and tied by the wrists. The missionary had
witnessed the floggings at this machine repeatedly, as it stood but a
few steps from his house. Before we reached Bath, the machine had been
removed from its conspicuous place and _concealed in the bushes, that
the governor might not see it when he visited the village_.
As this missionary had been for several years laboring in the island,
and had enjoyed the best opportunities to become extensively acquainted
with the negroes, we solicited from him a written answer to a number of
inquiries. We make some extracts from his communication.
1. Have the facilities for missionary effort greatly increased since the
abolition of slavery?
The opportunities of the apprentices to attend the means of grace are
greater than during absolute slavery. They have now one day and a half
every week to work for their support, leaving the Sabbath free to
worship God.
2. Do you anticipate that these facilities will increase still more
after entire freedom?
Yes. The people will then have _six days of their own to labor for their
bread_, and will be at liberty to go to the house of God every Sabbath.
Under the present system, the magistrate often takes away the Saturday,
as a punishment, and then they must either work on the Sabbath
or starve.
3. Are the negroes likely to revenge by violence the wrongs which they
have suffered, after they obtain their freedom?
_I never heard the idea suggested, nor should I have thought of it had
you not made the inquiry._
We called on Mr. Rogers, the teacher of a Mico charity infant school in
Bath. Mr. R., his wife and daughter, are all engaged in this work. They
have a day school, and evening school three evenings in the week, and
Sabbath school twice each Sabbath. The evening schools are for the
benefit of the adult apprentices, who manifest the greatest eagerness to
learn to read. After working all day, they will come several miles to
school, and stay cheerfully till nine o'clock.
Mr. R. furnished us with a written communication, from which we extract
the following.
_Quest._ Are the apprentices desirous of being instructed?
_Ans._ Most assuredly they are; in proof of which I would observe that
since our establishment in Bath, the people not only attend the schools
regularly, but if they obtain a leaf of a book with letters upon it,
that is their _constant companion_. We have found mothers with their
sucking babes in their arms, standing night after night in their classes
learning the alphabet.
_Q._ Are the negroes grateful for attentions and favors?
_A._ They are; I have met some who have been so much affected by acts of
kindness, that they have burst into tears, exclaiming, 'Massa so
kind--my heart full.' Their affection to their teachers is very
remarkable. On my return lately from Kingston, after a temporary
absence, the negroes flocked to our residence and surrounded the chaise,
saying, 'We glad to see massa again; we glad to see school massa.' On my
way through an estate some time ago, some of the children observed me,
and in a transport of joy cried, 'Thank God, massa come again! Bless God
de Savior, massa come again!'
Mr. R., said he, casually met with an apprentice whose master had lately
died. The man was in the habit of visiting his master's grave every
Saturday. He said to Mr. R., "Me go to massa grave, and de water come
into me yeye; but me can't help it, massa, _de water will come into
me yeye_."
The Wesleyan missionary told us, that two apprentices, an aged man and
his daughter, a young woman, had been brought up by their master before
the special magistrate who sentenced them to several days confinement in
the house of correction at Morant Bay and to dance the treadmill. When
the sentence was passed the daughter entreated that she might be allowed
to _do her father's part_, as well as her own, on the treadmill, for he
was too old to dance the wheel--it would kill him.
From Bath we went into the Plantain Garden River Valley, one of the
richest and most beautiful savannahs in the island. It is an extensive
plain, from one to three miles wide, and about six miles long. The
Plantain Garden River, a small stream, winds through the midst of the
valley lengthwise, emptying into the sea. Passing through the valley, we
went a few miles south of it to call on Alexander Barclay, Esq., to whom
we had a letter of introduction. Mr. Barclay is a prominent member of
the assembly, and an attorney for eight estates. He made himself
somewhat distinguished a few years ago by writing an octavo volume of
five hundred pages in defence of the colonies, i.e., in defence of
colonial slavery. It was a reply to Stephen's masterly work against West
India slavery, and was considered by the Jamaicans a triumphant
vindication of their "peculiar institutions." We went several miles out
of our route expressly to have an interview with so zealous and
celebrated a champion of slavery. We were received with marked courtesy
by Mr. B., who constrained us to spend a day and night with him at his
seat at Fairfield. One of the first objects that met our eye in Mr. B.'s
dining hall was a splendid piece of silver plate, which was presented to
him by the planters of St. Thomas in the East, in consideration of his
able defence of colonial slavery. We were favorably impressed with Mr.
B.'s intelligence, and somewhat so with his present sentiments
respecting slavery. We gathered from him that he had resisted with all
his might the anti-slavery measures of the English government, and
exerted every power to prevent the introduction of the apprenticeship
system. After he saw that slavery would inevitably be abolished, he drew
up at length a plan of emancipation according to which the condition of
the slave was to be commuted into that of the old English _villein_--he
was to be made an appendage to _the soil_ instead of the "chattel
personal" of the master, the whip was to be partially abolished, a
modicum of wages was to be allowed the slave, and so on. There was to be
no fixed period when this system would terminate, but it was to fade
gradually and imperceptibly into entire freedom. He presented a copy of
his scheme to the then governor, the Earl of Mulgrave, requesting that
it might be forwarded to the home government. Mr. B. said that the
anti-slavery party in England had acted from the blind impulses of
religious fanaticism, and had precipitated to its issue a work which
required many years of silent preparation in order to its safe
accomplishment. He intimated that the management of abolition ought to
have been left with the colonists; they had been the long experienced
managers of slavery, and they were the only men qualified to superintend
its burial, and give it a decent interment.
He did not think that the apprenticeship afforded any clue to the dark
mystery of 1840. Apprenticeship was so inconsiderably different from
slavery, that it furnished no more satisfactory data for judging of the
results of entire freedom than slavery itself. Neither would he consent
to be comforted by the actual results of emancipation in Antigua.
Taking leave of Mr. Barclay, we returned to the Plantain Garden River
Valley, and called at the Golden Grove, one of the most splendid estates
in that magnificent district. This is an estate of two thousand acres;
it has five hundred apprentices and one hundred free children. The
average annual crop is six hundred hogsheads of sugar. Thomas McCornock,
Esq., the attorney of this estate, is the custos, or chief magistrate of
the parish, and colonel of the parish militia. There is no man in all
the parish of greater consequence, either in fact or in seeming
self-estimation, than Thomas McCornock, Esq. He is a Scotchman, as is
also Mr. Barclay. The custos received us with as much freedom as the
dignity of his numerous offices would admit of. The overseer, (manager,)
Mr. Duncan, is an intelligent, active, business man, and on any other
estate than Golden Grove, would doubtless be a personage of considerable
distinction. He conducted us through the numerous buildings, from the
boiling-house to the pig-stye. The principal complaint of the overseer,
was that he could not make the people work to any good purpose. They
were not at all refractory or disobedient; there was no difficulty in
getting them on to the field; but when they were there, they moved
without any life or energy. They took no interest in their work, and he
was obliged to be watching and scolding them all the time, or else they
would do nothing. We had not gone many steps after this observation,
before we met with a practical illustration of it. A number of the
apprentices had been ordered that morning to cart away some dirt to a
particular place. When we approached them, Mr. D. found that one of the
"wains" was standing idle. He inquired of the driver why he was keeping
the team idle. The reply was, that there was nothing there for it to do;
there were enough other wains to carry away all the dirt. "Then," inquired
the overseer with an ill-concealed irritation, "why did not go to some
other work?" The overseer then turned to us and said, "You see, sir,
what lazy dogs the apprentices are--this is the way they do every day,
if they are not closely watched." It was not long after this little
incident, before the overseer remarked that the apprentices worked very
well during their own time, _when they were paid for it_. When we went
into the hospital, Mr. D. directed out attention to one fact, which to
him was very provoking. A great portion of the patients that come in
during the week, unable to work, are in the habit of getting well on
Friday evening, so that they can go out on Saturday and Sunday; but on
Monday morning they are sure to be sick again, then they return to the
hospital and remain very poorly till Friday evening, when they get well
all at once, and ask permission to go out. The overseer saw into the
trick; but he could find no medicine that could cure the negroes of that
intermittent sickness. The Antigua planters discovered the remedy for
it, and doubtless Mr. D. will make the grand discovery in 1840.
On returning to the "great house," we found the custos sitting in state,
ready to communicate any official information which might be called for.
He expressed similar sentiments in the main, with those of Mr. Barclay.
He feared for the consequences of complete emancipation; the negroes
would to a great extent abandon the sugar cultivation and retire to the
woods, there to live in idleness, planting merely yams enough to keep
them alive, and in the process of time, retrograding into African
barbarism. The attorney did not see how it was possible to prevent this.
When asked whether he expected that such would be the case with the
negroes on Golden Grove, he replied that he did not think it would,
except with a very few persons. His people had been _so well treated_,
and had _so many comforts_, that they would not be at all likely to
abandon the estate! [Mark that!] Whose are the people that will desert
after 1840? Not Thomas McCornock's, Esq.! _They are too well situated.
Whose_ then will desert? _Mr. Jocken's_, or in other words, those who
are ill-treated, who are cruelly driven, whose fences are broken down,
and whose provision grounds are exposed to the cattle. They, and they
alone, will retire to the woods who can't get food any where else!
The custos thought the apprentices were behaving very ill. On being
asked if he had any trouble with his, he said, O, no! his apprentices
did quite well, and so did the apprentices generally, in the Plantain
Garden River Valley. But in _far off parishes_, he _heard_ that they
were very refractory and troublesome.
The custos testified that the negroes were very easily managed. He said
he had often thought that he would rather have the charge of six hundred
negroes, than of two hundred English sailors. He spoke also of the
temperate habits of the negroes. He had been in the island twenty-two
years, and he had never seen a negro woman drunk, on the estate. It was
very seldom that the men got drunk. There were not more than ten men on
Golden Grove, out of a population of five hundred, who were in the habit
of occasionally getting intoxicated. He also remarked that the negroes
were a remarkable people for their attention to the old and infirm among
them; they seldom suffered them to want, if it was in their power to
supply them. Among other remarks of the custos, was this sweeping
declaration--"_No man in his senses can pretend to defend slavery._"
After spending a day at Golden Grove, we proceeded to the adjacent
estate of Amity Hall. On entering the residence of the manager, Mr.
Kirkland, we were most gratefully surprised to find him engaged in
family prayers. It was the first time and the last that we heard the
voice of prayer in a Jamaican planter's house. We were no less
gratefully surprised to see a white lady, to whom we were introduced as
Mrs. Kirkland, and several modest and lovely little children. It was the
first and the last _family circle_ that we were permitted to see among
the planters of that licentious colony. The motley group of colored
children--of every age from tender infancy--which we found on other
estates, revealed the state of domestic manners among the planters.
Mr. K. regarded the abolition of slavery as a great blessing to the
colony; it was true that the apprenticeship was a wretchedly bad system,
but notwithstanding, things moved smoothly on his estate. He informed us
that the negroes on Amity Hall had formerly borne the character of being
the _worst gang in the parish_; and when he first came to the estate, he
found that half the truth had not been told of them; but they had become
remarkably peaceable and subordinate. It was his policy to give them
every comfort that he possibly could. Mr. K. made the same declaration,
which has been so often repeated in the course of this narrative, i.e.,
that if any of the estates were abandoned, it would be owing to the
harsh treatment of the people. He knew many overseers and book-keepers
who were cruel driving men, and he should not be surprised if _they_
lost a part, or all, of their laborers. He made one remark which we had
not heard before. There were some estates, he said, which would probably
be abandoned, for the same reason that they ought never to have been
cultivated, because they require _almost double labor_;--such are the
mountainous estates and barren, worn-out properties, which nothing but a
system of forced labor could possibly retain in cultivation. But the
idea that the negroes generally would leave their comfortable homes, and
various privileges on the estates, and retire to the wild woods, he
ridiculed as preposterous in the extreme. Mr. K. declared repeatedly
that he could not look forward to 1840, but with the most sanguine
hopes; he confidently believed that the introduction of complete freedom
would be the _regeneration of the island_. He alluded to the memorable
declaration of Lord Belmore, (made memorable by the excitement which it
caused among the colonists,) in his valedictory address to the assembly,
on the eve of his departure for England.[A] "Gentlemen," said he, "the
resources of this noble island will never be fully developed until
slavery is abolished!" For this manly avowal the assembly ignobly
refused him the usual marks of respect and honor at his departure. Mr.
K. expected to see Jamaica become a new world under the enterprise and
energies of freedom. There were a few disaffected planters, who would
probably remain so, and leave the islands after emancipation. It would
be a blessing to the country if such men left it, for as long as they
were disaffected, they were the enemies of its prosperity.
[Footnote A: Lord Belmore left the government of Jamaica, a short time
before the abolition act passed in parliament.]
Mr. K. conducted us through the negro quarters, which are situated on
the hill side, nearly a mile from his residence. We went into several of
the houses; which were of a better style somewhat than the huts in
Antigua and Barbadoes--larger, better finished and furnished. Some few
of them had verandahs or porches on one or more sides, after the West
India fashion, closed in with _jalousies_. In each of the houses to
which we were admitted, there was one apartment fitted up in a very neat
manner, with waxed floor, a good bedstead, and snow white coverings, a
few good chairs, a mahogany sideboard, ornamented with dishes,
decanters, etc.
From Amity Hall, we drove to Manchioneal, a small village ten miles
north of the Plantain Garden River Valley. We had a letter to the
special magistrate for that district, R. Chamberlain, Esq., a colored
gentleman, and the first magistrate we found in the parish of St. Thomas
in the East, who was faithful to the interests of the apprentices. He
was a boarder at the public house, where we were directed for lodgings,
and as we spent a few days in the village, we had opportunities of
obtaining much information from him, as well as of attending some of his
courts. Mr. C. had been only five months in the district of Manchioneal,
having been removed thither from a distant district. Being a friend of
the apprentices, he is hated and persecuted by the planters. He gave us
a gloomy picture of the oppressions and cruelties of the planters. Their
complaints brought before him are often of the most trivial kind; yet
because he does not condemn the apprentices to receive a punishment
which the most serious offences alone could justify him in inflicting,
they revile and denounce him as unfit for his station. He represents the
planters as not having the most distant idea that it is the province of
the special magistrate to secure justice to the apprentice; but they
regard it as his sole duty to _help them_ in getting from the laborers
as much work as whips, and chains, and tread-wheels can extort. His
predecessor, in the Manchioneal district, answered perfectly to the
planters' _beau ideal_. He ordered a _cat_ to be kept on every estate in
his district, to be ready for use as he went around on his weekly
visits. Every week he inspected the cats, and when they became too much
worn to do good execution, he _condemned_ them, and ordered new ones
to be made.
Mr. C. said the most frequent complaints made by the planters are for
_insolence_. He gave a few specimens of what were regarded by the
planters as serious offences. An overseer will say to his apprentice,
"Work along there faster, you lazy villain, or I'll strike you;" the
apprentice will reply, "You _can't_ strike me now," and for this he is
taken before the magistrate on the complaint of _insolence_. An
overseer, in passing the gang on the field, will hear them singing; he
will order them, in a peremptory tone to stop instantly, and if they
continue singing, they are complained of for _insubordination_. An
apprentice has been confined to the hospital with disease,--when he gets
able to walk, tired of the filthy sick house, he hobbles to his hut,
where he may have the attentions of his wife until he gets well. That is
called _absconding from labor_! Where the magistrate does not happen to
be an independent man, the complaint is sustained, and the poor invalid
is sentenced to the treadmill for absenting himself from work. It is
easy to conjecture the dreadful consequence. The apprentice, debilitated
by sickness, dragged off twenty-five miles on foot to Morant Bay,
mounted on the wheel, is unable to keep the step with the stronger ones,
slips off and hangs by the wrists, and his flesh is mangled and torn by
the wheel.
The apprentices frequently called at our lodgings to complain to Mr. C.
of the hard treatment of their masters. Among the numerous distressing
cases which we witnessed, we shall never forget that of a poor little
negro boy, of about twelve, who presented himself one afternoon before
Mr. C., with a complaint against his master for violently beating him. A
gash was cut in his head, and the blood had flowed freely. He fled from
his master, and came to Mr. C. for refuge. He belonged to A. Ross, Esq.,
of Mulatto Run estate. We remembered that we had a letter of
introduction to that planter, and we had designed visiting him, but
after witnessing this scene, we resolved not to go near a monster who
could inflict such a wound, with his own hand, upon a child. We were
highly gratified with the kind and sympathizing manner in which Mr. C.
spoke with the unfortunate beings who, in the extremity of their wrongs,
ventured to his door.
At the request of the magistrate we accompanied him, on one occasion, to
the station-house, where he held a weekly court. We had there a good
opportunity to observe the hostile feelings of the planters towards this
faithful officer--"faithful among the faithless," (though we are glad
that we cannot quite add, "_only he_.")
A number of managers, overseers, and book-keepers, assembled; some with
complaints, and some to have their apprentices classified. They all set
upon the magistrate like bloodhounds upon a lone stag. They strove
together with one accord, to subdue his independent spirit by taunts,
jeers, insults, intimidations and bullyings. He was obliged to threaten
one of the overseers with arrest, on account of his abusive conduct. We
were actually amazed at the intrepidity of the magistrate. We were
convinced from what we saw that day, that only the most fearless and
conscientious men could be _faithful magistrates_ in Jamaica. Mr. C.
assured us that he met with similar indignities every time he held his
courts, and on most of the estates that he visited. It was in his power
to punish them severely, but he chose to use all possible forbearance,
so as not to give the planters any grounds of complaint.
On a subsequent day we accompanied Mr. C. in one of his estate visits.
As it was late in the afternoon, he called at but one estate, the name
of which was Williamsfield. Mr. Gordon, the overseer of Williamsfield,
is among the fairest specimens of planters. He has naturally a generous
disposition, which, like that of Mr. Kirkland, has out-lived the
witherings of slavery.
He informed us that his people worked as well under the apprenticeship
system, as ever they did during slavery; and he had every encouragement
that they would do still better after they were completely free. He was
satisfied that he should be able to conduct his estate at much less
expense after 1840; he thought that fifty men would do as much then as a
hundred do now. We may add here a similar remark of Mr. Kirkland--that
forty freemen would accomplish as much as eighty slaves. Mr. Gordon
hires his people on Saturdays, and he expressed his astonishment at the
increased vigor with which they worked when they were to receive wages.
He pointedly condemned the driving system which was resorted to by many
of the planters. They foolishly endeavored to keep up the coercion of
slavery, _and they had the special magistrates incessantly flogging the
apprentices_. The planters also not unfrequently take away the provision
grounds from their apprentices, and in every way oppress and
harass them.
In the course of the conversation Mr. G. accidentally struck upon a
fresh vein of facts, respecting the SLAVERY OF BOOK-KEEPERS,[A] _under
the old system_. The book-keepers, said Mr. G., were the complete slaves
of the overseers, who acted like despots on the estates. They were
mostly young men from England, and not unfrequently had considerable
refinement; but ignorant of the treatment which book-keepers had to
submit to, and allured by the prospect of becoming wealthy by
plantership, they came to Jamaica and entered as candidates. They soon
discovered the cruel bondage in which they were involved. The overseers
domineered over them, and stormed at them as violently as though they
were the most abject slaves. They were allowed no privileges such as
their former habits impelled them to seek. If they played a flute in the
hearing of the overseer, they were commanded to be silent instantly. If
they dared to put a gold ring on their finger, even that trifling
pretension to gentility was detected and disallowed by the jealous
overseer. (These things were specified by Mr. G. himself.) They were
seldom permitted to associate with the overseers as equals. The only
thing which reconciled the book-keepers to this abject state, was the
reflection that they might one day _possibly_ become overseers
themselves, and then they could exercise the same authority over others.
In addition to this degradation, the book-keepers suffered great
hardships. Every morning (during slavery) they were obliged to be in the
field before day; they had to be there as soon as the slaves, in order
to call the roll, and mark absentees, if any. Often Mr. G. and the other
gentleman had gone to the field, when it was so dark that they could not
see to call the roll, and the negroes have all lain down on their hoes,
and slept till the light broke. Sometimes there would be a thick dew on
the ground, and the air was so cold and damp, that they would be
completely chilled. When they were shivering on the ground, the negroes
would often lend them their blankets, saying, "Poor _busha pickaninny_
sent out here from England to die." Mr. Gordon said that his
constitution had been permanently injured by such exposure. Many young
men, he said, had doubtless been killed by it. During crop time, the
book-keepers had to be up every night till twelve o'clock, and every
other night _all night_, superintending the work in the boiling-house,
and at the mill. They did not have rest even on the Sabbath; they must
have the mill put about (set to the wind so as to grind) by sunset every
Sabbath. Often the mills were in the wind before four o'clock, on
Sabbath afternoon. They knew of slaves being flogged for not being on
the spot by sunset, though it was known that they had been to meeting.
Mr. G. said that he had a young friend who came from England with him,
and acted as book-keeper. His labors and exposures were so intolerable,
that he had often said to Mr. G., confidentially, _that if the slaves
should rise in rebellion, he would most cheerfully join them_! Said Mr.
G., _there was great rejoicing_ among the book-keepers in August 1834!
_The abolition of slavery was_ EMANCIPATION TO THE BOOK-KEEPERS.
[Footnote A: The book-keepers are subordinate overseers and drivers;
they are generally young white men, who after serving a course of years
in a sort of apprenticeship, are promoted to managers of estates.]
No complaints were brought before Mr. Chamberlain. Mr. Gordon pleasantly
remarked when we arrived, that he had some cases which he should have
presented if the magistrate had come a little earlier, but he presumed
he should forget them before his next visit. When we left Williamsfield,
Mr. C. informed us that during five months there had been but two cases
of complaint on that estate--and but _a single instance of punishment._
Such are the results where there is a good manager and a good special
magistrate.
On Sabbath we attended service in the Baptist chapel, of which Rev. Mr.
Kingdon is pastor. The chapel, which is a part of Mr. K.'s
dwelling-house, is situated on the summit of a high mountain which
overlooks the sea. As seen from the valley below, it appears to topple
on the very brink of a frightful precipice. It is reached by a winding
tedious road, too rugged to admit of a chaise, and in some places so
steep as to try the activity of a horse. As we approached nearer, we
observed the people climbing up in throngs by various footpaths, and
halting in the thick woods which skirted the chapel, the men to put on
their shoes, which they had carried in their hands up the mountain, and
the women to draw on their white stockings and shoes. On entering the
place of worship, we found it well filled with the apprentices, who came
from many miles around in every direction. The services had commenced
when we arrived. We heard an excellent sermon from the devoted and pious
missionary, Mr. Kingdon, whose praise is among all the good throughout
the island, and who is eminently known as the negro's friend. After the
sermon, we were invited to make a few remarks; and the minister briefly
stated to the congregation whence we had come, and what was the object
of our visit. We cannot soon forget the scene which followed. We begun
by expressing, in simple terms, the interest which we felt in the
temporal and spiritual concerns of the people present, and scarcely had
we uttered a sentence when the whole congregation were filled with
emotion. Soon they burst into tears--some sobbed, others cried aloud;
insomuch that for a time we were unable to proceed. We were, indeed, not
a little astonished at so unusual a scene; it was a thing which we were
by no means expecting to see. Being at a loss to account for it, we
inquired of Mr. K. afterwards, who told us that it was occasioned by our
expressions of sympathy and regard. They were so unaccustomed to hear
such language from the lips of white people, that it fell upon them like
rain upon the parched earth. The idea that one who was a stranger and a
foreigner should feel an interest in their welfare, was to them, in such
circumstances, peculiarly affecting, and stirred the deep fountains of
their hearts.
After the services, the missionary, anxious to further our objects,
proposed that we should hold an interview with a number of the
apprentices; and he accordingly invited fifteen of them into his study,
and introduced them to us by name, stating also the estates to which
they severally belonged. We had thus an opportunity of seeing the
_representatives of twelve different estates_, men of trust on their
respective estates, mostly constables and head boilers. For nearly two
hours we conversed with these men, making inquiries on all points
connected with slavery, the apprenticeship, and the expected
emancipation.
From no interview, during our stay in the colonies, did we derive so
much information respecting the real workings of the apprenticeship;
from none did we gain such an insight into the character and disposition
of the negroes. The company was composed of intelligent and pious
men;--so manly and dignified were they in appearance, and so elevated in
their sentiments, that we could with difficulty realize that they were
_slaves_. They were wholly unreserved in their communications, though
they deeply implicated their masters, the special magistrates, and
others in authority. It is not improbable that they would have shrunk
from some of the disclosures which they made, had they known that they
would be published. Nevertheless we feel assured that in making them
public, we shall not betray the informants, concealing as we do their
names and the estates to which they belong.
With regard to the wrongs and hardships of the apprenticeship much as
said; we can only give a small part.
Their masters were often very harsh with them, more so than when they
were slaves. They could not flog them, but they would scold them, and
swear at them, and call them hard names, which hurt their feelings
almost as much as it would if they were to flog them. They would not
allow them as many privileges as they did formerly. Sometimes they would
take their provision grounds away, and sometimes they would go on their
grounds and carry away provisions for their own use without paying for
them, or as much as asking their leave. They had to bear this, for it
was useless to complain--they could get no justice; there was no law in
Manchioneal. The special magistrate would only hear the master, and
would not allow the apprentices to say any thing for themselves[A]. The
magistrate would do just as the busha (master) said. If he say flog him,
he flog him; if he say, send him to Morant Bay, (to the treadmill,) de
magistrate send him. If we happen to laugh before de busha, he complain
to de magistrate, and we get licked. If we go to a friend's house, when
we hungry, to get something to eat, and happen to get lost in de woods
between, we are called runaways, and are punished severely. Our half
Friday is taken away from us; we must give that time to busha for a
little salt-fish, which was always allowed us during slavery. If we lay
in bed after six o'clock, they take away our Saturday too. If we lose a
little time from work, they make us pay a great deal more time. They
stated, and so did several of the missionaries, that the loss of the
half Friday was very serious to them; as it often rendered it impossible
for them to get to meeting on Sunday. The whole work of cultivating
their grounds, preparing their produce for sale, carrying it to the
distant market, (Morant Bay, and sometimes further,) and returning, all
this was, by the loss of the Friday afternoon, crowded into Saturday,
and it was often impossible for them to get back from market before
Sabbath morning; then they had to dress and go six or ten miles further
to chapel, or stay away altogether, which, from weariness and worldly
cares, they would be strongly tempted to do. This they represented as
being a grievous thing to them. Said one of the men; in a peculiarly
solemn and earnest manner, while the tears stood in his eyes, "I declare
to you, massa, if de Lord spare we to be free, we be much more
'ligiours--_we be wise to many more tings_; we be better Christians;
because den we have all de Sunday for go to meeting. But now de holy
time taken up in work for we food." These words were deeply impressed
upon us by the intense earnestness with which they were spoken. They
revealed "the heart's own bitterness." There was also a lighting up of
joy and hope in the countenance of that child of God, as he looked
forward to the time when he might become _wise to many more tings_.
[Footnote A: We would observe, that they did not refer to Mr.
Chamberlain, but to another magistrate, whose name they mentioned.]
They gave a heart-sickening account of the cruelties of the treadmill.
They spoke of the apprentices having their wrists tied to the handboard,
and said it was very common for them to fall and hang against the wheel.
Some who had been sent to the treadmill, had actually died from the
injuries they there received. They were often obliged to see their wives
dragged off to Morant Bay, and tied to the treadmill, even when they
were in a state of pregnancy. They suffered a great deal of misery from
_that; but they could not help it_.
Sometimes it was a wonder to themselves how they could endure all the
provocations and sufferings of the apprenticeship; _it was only "by de
mercy of God_!"
They were asked why they did not complain to the special magistrates.
They replied, that it did no good, for the magistrates would not take
any notice of their complaints, besides, it made the masters treat them
still worse. Said one, "We go to de magistrate to complain, and den when
we come back de busha do all him can to vex us. He _wingle_ (tease) us,
and _wingle_ us; de book-keeper curse us and treaten us; de constable he
scold us, and call hard names, and dey all strive to make we mad, so we
say someting wrong, and den dey take we to de magistrate for insolence."
Such was the final consequence of complaining to the magistrate. We
asked them why they did not complain, when they had a good magistrate
who would do them justice. Their answer revealed a new fact. They were
afraid to complain to a magistrate, who they knew was their friend,
_because their masters told them that the magistrate would soon be
changed, and another would come who would flog them; and that for every
time they dared to complain to the GOOD magistrate, they would be
flogged when the BAD one came_. They said their masters had explained it
all to them long ago.
We inquired of them particularly what course they intended to take when
they should become free. We requested them to speak, not only with
reference to themselves, but of the apprentices generally, as far as
they knew their views. They said the apprentices expected to work on the
estates, if they were allowed to do so. They had no intention of leaving
work. Nothing would cause them to leave their estates but bad treatment;
if their masters were harsh, they would go to another estate, where they
would get better treatment. They would be _obliged_ to work when they
were free; even more than now, for _then_ they would have no other
dependence.
One tried to prove to us by reasoning, that the people would work
when they were free. Said he, "In slavery time we work _even_ wid de
whip, now we work 'till better--_what tink we will do when we free?
Won't_ we work den, _when we get paid_?" He appealed to us so earnestly,
that we could not help acknowledging we were fully convinced. However,
in order to establish the point still more clearly, he stated some
facts, such as the following:
During slavery, it took six men to tend the coppers in boiling sugar,
and it was thought that fewer could not possibly do the work; but now,
since the boilers are paid for their extra time, the work is monopolized
by _three_ men. They _would not have any help_; they did all the work
"_dat dey might get all de pay_."
We sounded them thoroughly on their views of law and freedom. We
inquired whether they expected to be allowed to do as they pleased when
they were free. On this subject they spoke very rationally. Said one,
"We could never live widout de law; (we use, his very expressions) we
must have some law when we free. In other countries, where dey are free,
_don't_ dey have law? Wouldn't dey shoot one another if they did not
have law?" Thus they reasoned about freedom. Their chief complaint
against the apprenticeship was, that it did not allow them _justice_.
"_There was no law now_." They had been told by the governor, that there
was the same law for all the island; but they knew better, for there was
more justice done them in some districts than in others.
Some of their expressions indicated very strongly the characteristic
kindness of the negro. They would say, we work now as well as we can
_for the sake of peace; any thing for peace_. Don't want to be
complained of to the magistrate; don't like to be called hard names--do
any thing to keep peace. Such expressions were repeatedly made. We asked
them what they thought of the domestics being emancipated in 1838, while
they had to remain apprentices two years longer? They said, "it bad
enough--but we know de law make it so, and _for peace sake_, we will be
satisfy. _But we murmur in we minds_."
We asked what they expected to do with the old and infirm, after
freedom? They said, "we will support dem--as how dey brought us up when
we was pickaninny, and now we come trong, must care for dem." In such a
spirit did these apprentices discourse for two hours. They won greatly
upon our sympathy and respect. The touching story of their wrongs, the
artless unbosoming of their hopes, their forgiving spirit toward their
masters, their distinct views of their own rights, their amiable bearing
under provocation, their just notions of law, and of a state of
freedom--these things were well calculated to excite our admiration for
them, and their companions in suffering. Having prayed with the company,
and commended them to the grace of God, and the salvation of Jesus
Christ, we shook hands with them individually, and separated from them,
never more to see them, until we meet at the bar of God.
While one of us was prosecuting the foregoing inquiries in St. Thomas in
the East, the other was performing a horse-back tour among the mountains
of St. Andrews and Port Royal. We had been invited by Stephen Bourne,
Esq., special magistrate for one of the rural districts in those
parishes, to spend a week in his family, and accompany him in his
official visits to the plantations embraced in his commission--an
invitation we were very glad to accept, as it laid open to us at the
same time three important sources of information,--the magistrate, the
planter, and the apprentice.
The sun was just rising as we left Kingston, and entered the high road.
The air, which the day before had been painfully hot and stived, was
cool and fresh, and from flowers and spice-trees, on which the dew still
lay, went forth a thousand fragrant exhalations. Our course for about
six miles, lay over the broad, low plain, which spreads around Kingston,
westward to the highlands of St. Andrews, and southward beyond
Spanishtown. All along the road, and in various directions in the
distance, were seen the residences--uncouthly termed 'pens'--of
merchants and gentlemen of wealth, whose business frequently calls them
to town. Unlike Barbadoes, the fields here were protected by walls and
hedges, with broad gateways and avenues leading to the house. We soon
began to meet here and there, at intervals, person going to the market
with fruits and provisions. The number continually increased, and at the
end of an hour, they could be seen trudging over the fields, and along
the by-paths and roads, on every hand. Some had a couple of stunted
donkeys yoked to a ricketty cart,--others had mules with
pack-saddles--but the many loaded their own heads, instead of the
donkeys and mules. Most of them were well dressed, and all civil and
respectful in their conduct.
Invigorated by the mountain air, and animated by the novelty and
grandeur of the mountain scenery, through which we had passed, we
arrived at 'Grecian Regale' in season for an early West Indian
breakfast, (8 o'clock.) Mr. Bourne's district is entirely composed of
coffee plantations, and embraces three thousand apprentices. The people
on coffee plantations are not worked so hard as those employed on sugar
estates; but they are more liable to suffer from insufficient food
and clothing.
After breakfast we accompanied Mr. Bourne on a visit to the plantations,
but there were no complaints either from the master or apprentice,
except on one. Here Mr. B. was hailed by a hoary-headed man, sitting at
the side of his house. He said that he was lame and sick, and could not
work, and complained that his master did not give him any food. All he
had to eat was given him by a relative. As the master was not at home,
Mr. B. could not attend to the complaint at that time, but promised to
write the master about it in the course of the day. He informed us that
the aged and disabled were very much neglected under the apprenticeship.
When the working days are over, the profit days are over, and how few in
any country are willing to support an animal which is past labor? If
these complaints are numerous under the new system, when magistrates are
all abroad to remedy them, what must it have been during slavery, when
master and magistrate were the same!
On one of the plantations we called at the house of an emigrant, of
which some hundreds have been imported from different parts of Europe,
since emancipation. He had been in the island eighteen months, and was
much dissatisfied with his situation. The experiment of importing whites
to Jamaica as laborers, has proved disastrous--an unfortunate
speculation to all parties, and all parties wish them back again.
We had some conversation with several apprentices, who called on Mr.
Bourne for advice and aid. They all thought the apprenticeship very
hard, but still, on the whole, liked it better than slavery. They "were
killed too bad,"--that was their expression--during slavery--were worked
hard and terribly flogged. They were up ever so early and late--went out
in the mountains to work, when so cold busha would have to cover himself
up on the ground. Had little time to eat, or go to meeting. 'Twas all
slash, slash! Now they couldn't be flogged, unless the magistrate said
so. Still the busha was very hard to them, and many of the apprentices
run away to the woods, they are so badly used.
The next plantation which we visited was Dublin Castle. It lies in a
deep valley, quite enclosed by mountains. The present attorney has been
in the island nine years, and is attorney for several other properties.
In England he was a religious man, and intimately acquainted with the
eccentric Irving. For a while after he came out he preached to the
slaves, but having taken a black concubine, and treating those under his
charge oppressively, he soon obtained a bad character among the blacks,
and his meetings were deserted. He is now a most passionate and wicked
man, having cast off even the show of religion.
Mr. B. visited Dublin Castle a few weeks since, and spent two days in
hearing complaints brought against the manager and book-keeper by the
apprentices. He fined the manager, for different acts of oppression, one
hundred and eight dollars. The attorney was present during the whole
time. Near the close of the second day he requested permission to say a
few words, which was granted. He raised his hands and eyes in the most
agonized manner, as though passion was writhing within, and burst
forth--"O, my God! my God! has it indeed come to this! Am I to be
arraigned in this way? Is my conduct to be questioned by these people?
Is my authority to be destroyed by the interference of stranger? O, my
God!" And he fell back into the arms of his book-keeper, and was carried
out of the room in convulsions.
The next morning we started on another excursion, for the purpose of
attending the appraisement of an apprentice belonging to Silver Hill, a
plantation about ten miles distant from Grecian Regale. We rode but a
short distance in the town road, when we struck off into a narrow defile
by a mule-path, and pushed into the very heart of the mountains.
We felt somewhat timid at the commencement of our excursion among these
minor Andes, but we gained confidence as we proceeded, and finding our
horse sure-footed and quite familiar with mountain paths, we soon
learned to gallop, without fear, along the highest cliffs, and through
the most dangerous passes. We were once put in some jeopardy by a drove
of mules, laden with coffee. We fortunately saw them, as they came round
the point of a hill, at some distance, in season to secure ourselves in
a little recess where the path widened. On they came, cheered by the
loud cries of their drivers, and passed rapidly forward, one after
another, with the headlong stupidity which animals, claiming more wisdom
than quadrupeds, not unfrequently manifest. When they came up to us,
however, they showed that they were not unaccustomed to such encounters,
and, although the space between us and the brow of the precipice, was
not three feet wide, they all contrived to sway their bodies and heavy
sacks in such a manner as to pass us safely, except one. He, more stupid
or more unlucky than the rest, struck us a full broad-side as he went by
jolting us hard against the hill, and well-nigh jolting himself down the
craggy descent into the abyss below. One leg hung a moment over the
precipice, but the poor beast suddenly threw his whole weight forward,
and by a desperate leap, obtained sure foothold in the path, and again
trudged along with his coffee-bags.
On our way we called at two plantations, but found no complaints. At one
of them we had some conversation with the overseer. He has on it one
hundred and thirty apprentices, and produces annually thirty thousand
pounds of coffee. He informed us that he was getting along well. His
people are industrious and obedient, as much so, to say the least, as
under the old system. The crop this year is not so great as usual, on
account of the severe drought. His plantation was never better
cultivated. Besides the one hundred and thirty apprentices, there are
forty free children, who are supported by their parents. None of them
will work for hire, or in any way put themselves under his control, as
the parents fear there is some plot laid for making them apprentices,
and through that process reducing them to slavery. He thinks this
feeling will continue till the apprenticeship is entirely broken up, and
the people begin to feel assured of complete freedom, when it will
disappear.
We reached Silver Hill about noon. This plantation contains one hundred
and ten apprentices, and is under the management of a colored man, who
has had charge of it seven years. He informed us that it was under as
good cultivation now as it was before emancipation. His people are
easily controlled. Very much depends on the conduct of the overseer. If
he is disposed to be just and kind, the apprentices are sure to behave
well; if he is harsh and severe, and attempts to _drive_ them, they will
take no pains to please him, but on the contrary, will be sulky and
obstinate.
There were three overseers from other estates present. One of them had
been an overseer for forty years, and he possessed the looks and
feelings which we suppose a man who has been thus long in a school of
despotism, must possess. He had a giant form, which seemed to be
breaking down with luxury and sensualism. His ordinary voice was hoarse
and gusty, and his smile diabolical. Emancipation had swept away his
power while it left the love of it ravaging his heart. He could not
speak of the new system with composure. His contempt and hatred of the
negro was unadulterated. He spoke of the apprentices with great
bitterness. They were excessively lazy and impudent, and were becoming
more and more so every day. They did not do half the work now that they
did before emancipation. It was the character of the negro never to work
unless compelled. His people would not labor for him an hour in their
own time, although he had offered to pay them for it. They have not the
least gratitude. They will leave him in the midst of his crop, and help
others, because they can get a little more. They spend all their half
Fridays and their Saturdays on other plantations where they receive
forty cents a day. Twenty-five cents is enough for them, and is as much
as he will give.
Mr. B. requested the overseer to bring forward his complaints. He had
only two. One was against a boy of ten for stealing a gill of goat's
milk. The charge was disproved. The other was against a boy of twelve
for neglecting the cattle, and permitting them to trespass on the lands
of a neighbor. He was sentenced to receive a good switching--that is, to
be beaten with a small stick by the constable of the plantation.
Several apprentices then appeared and made a few trivial complaints
against 'busha.' They were quickly adjusted. These were all the
complaints that had accumulated in five weeks.
The principal business which called Mr. Bourne to the plantation, as we
have already remarked, was the appraisement of an apprentice. The
appraisers were himself and a local magistrate. The apprentice was a
native born African, and was stolen from his country when a boy. He had
always resided on this plantation, and had always been a faithful
laborer. He was now the constable, or driver, as the office was called
in slavery times, of the second gang. The overseer testified to his
honesty and industry, and said he regretted much to have him leave. He
was, as appeared by the plantation books, fifty-four years old, but was
evidently above sixty. After examining several witnesses as to the old
man's ability and general health, and making calculations by the rule of
three, with the cold accuracy of a yankee horse-bargain, it was decided
that his services were worth to the plantation forty-eight dollars a
years, and for the remaining time of the apprenticeship, consequently,
at that rate, one hundred and fifty-six dollars. One third of this was
deducted as an allowance for the probabilities of death, and sickness,
leaving one hundred and four dollars as the price of his redemption. The
old man objected strongly and earnestly to the price; he said, it was
too much; he had not money enough to pay it; and begged them, with tears
in his eyes, not to make him pay so much "for his old bones;" but they
would not remit a cent. They could not. They were the stern ministers of
the British emancipation law, the praises of which have been shouted
through the earth!
Of the three overseers who were present, not one could be called a
respectable man. Their countenances were the mirrors of all lustful and
desperate passions. They were continually drinking rum and water, and
one of them was half drunk.
Our next visit was to an elevated plantation called Peter's Rock. The
path to it was, in one place, so steep, that we had to dismount and
permit our horses to work their way up as they could, while we followed
on foot. We then wound along among provision grounds and coffee fields,
through forests where hardly a track was to be seen, and over hedges,
which the horses were obliged to leap, till we issued on the great path
which leads from the plantation to Kingston.
Peter's Rock has one hundred apprentices, and is under the management,
as Mr. Bourne informed us, of a very humane man. During the two years
and a half of the apprenticeship, there had been _only six complaints_.
As we approached the plantation we saw the apprentices at the side of
the road, eating their breakfast. They had been at work some distance
from their houses, and could not spend time to go home. They saluted us
with great civility, most of them rising and uncovering their heads. In
answer to our questions, they said they were getting along very well.
They said their master was kind to them, and they appeared in
fine spirits.
The overseer met us as we rode up to the door, and received us very
courteously. He had no complaints. He informed us that the plantation
was as well cultivated as it had been for many years, and the people
were perfectly obedient and industrious.
From Peter's Rock we rode to "Hall's Prospect," a plantation on which
there are sixty apprentices under the charge of a black overseer, who,
two years ago, was a slave. It was five weeks since Mr. B. had been
there, and yet he had only one complaint, and that against a woman for
being late at work on Monday morning. The reason she gave for this was,
that she went to an estate some miles distant to spend the Sabbath with
her husband.
Mr. Bourne, by the aid of funds left in his hands by Mr. Sturge, is
about to establish a school on this plantation. Mr. B., at a previous
visit, had informed the people of what he intended to do, and asked
their co-operation. As soon as they saw him to-day, several of them
immediately inquired about the school, when it would begin, &c. They
showed the greatest eagerness and thankfulness. Mr. B. told them he
should send a teacher as soon as a house was prepared. He had been
talking with their master (the attorney of the plantation) about fixing
one, who had offered them the old "lock-up house," if they would put it
in order. There was a murmur among them at this annunciation. At length
one of the men said, they did not want the school to be held in the
"lock-up house." It was not a good place for their "pickaninnies" to go
to. They had much rather have some other building, and would be glad to
have it close to their houses. Mr. B. told them if they would put up a
small house near their own, he would furnish it with desks and benches.
To this they all assented with great joy.
On our way home we saw, as we did on various other occasions, many of
the apprentices with hoes, baskets, &c., going to their provision
grounds. We had some conversation with them as we rode along. They said
they had been in the fields picking coffee since half past five o'clock.
They were now going, as they always did after "horn-blow" in the
afternoon, (four o'clock,) to their grounds, where they should stay till
dark. Some of their grounds were four, others six miles from home. They
all liked the apprenticeship better than slavery. They were not flogged
so much now, and had more time to themselves. But they should like
freedom much better, and should be glad when it came.
We met a brown young woman driving an ass laden with a great variety of
articles. She said she had been to Kingston (fifteen miles off) with a
load of provisions, and had purchased some things to sell to the
apprentices. We asked her what she did with her money. "Give it to my
husband," said she. "Do you keep none for yourself?" She smiled and
replied: "What for him for me."
After we had passed, Mr. B. informed us that she had been an apprentice,
but purchased her freedom a few months previous, and was now engaged as
a kind of country merchant. She purchases provisions of the negroes, and
carries them to Kingston, where she exchanges them for pins, needles,
thread, dry goods, and such articles as the apprentices need, which she
again exchanges for provisions and money.
Mr. Bourne informed us that real estate is much higher than before
emancipation. He mentioned one "pen" which was purchased for eighteen
hundred dollars a few years since. The owner had received nine hundred
dollars as 'compensation' for freedom. It has lately been leased for
seven years by the owner, for nine hundred dollars per year.
A gentleman who owns a plantation in Mr. B.'s district, sold parcels of
land to the negroes before emancipation at five shillings per acre. He
now obtains twenty-seven shillings per acre.
The house in which Mr. B. resides was rented in 1833 for one hundred and
fifty dollars. Mr. B. engaged it on his arrival for three years, at two
hundred and forty dollars per year. His landlord informed him a few days
since, that on the expiration of his present lease, he should raise the
rent to three hundred and thirty dollars.
Mr. B. is acquainted with a gentleman of wealth, who has been
endeavoring for the last twelve months to purchase an estate in this
island. He has offered high prices, but has as yet been unable to obtain
one. Landholders have so much confidence in the value and security of
real estate, that they do not wish to part with it.
After our visit to Silver Hill, our attention was particularly turned to
the condition of the negro grounds. Most of them were very clean and
flourishing. Large plats of the onion, of cocoa, plantain, banana, yam,
potatoe, and other tropic vegetables, were scattered all around within
five or six miles of a plantation. We were much pleased with the
appearance of them during a ride on a Friday. In the forenoon, they had
all been vacant; not a person was to be seen in them; but after one
o'clock, they began gradually to be occupied, till, at the end of an
hour, where-ever we went, we saw men, women, and children laboring
industriously in their little gardens. In some places, the hills to
their very summits were spotted with cultivation. Till Monday morning
the apprentices were free, and they certainly manifested a strong
disposition to spend that time in taking care of themselves. The
testimony of the numerous apprentices with whom we conversed, was to the
same effect as our observation. They all testified that they were paying
as much attention to their grounds as they ever did, but that their
provisions had been cut short by the drought. They had their land all
prepared for a new crop, and were only waiting for rain to put in the
seed. Mr. Bourne corroborated their statement, and remarked, that he
never found the least difficulty in procuring laborers. Could he have
the possession of the largest plantation in the island to-day, he had no
doubt that, within a week, he could procure free laborers enough to
cultivate every acre.
On one occasion, while among the mountains, we were impressed on a jury
to sit in inquest on the body of a negro woman found dead on the high
road. She was, as appeared in evidence, on her return from the house of
correction, at Half-Way-Tree, where she had been sentenced for fourteen
days, and been put on the treadmill. She had complained to some of her
acquaintances of harsh treatment there, and said they had killed her,
and that if she ever lived to reach home, she should tell all her
massa's negroes never to cross the threshold of Half-Way-Tree, as it
would kill them. The evidence, however, was not clear that she died in
consequence of such treatment, and the jury, accordingly, decided that
she came to her death by some cause unknown to them.
Nine of the jury were overseers, and if they, collected together
indiscriminately on this occasion, were a specimen of those who have
charge of the apprentices in this island, they must be most degraded and
brutal men. They appeared more under the influence of low passions, more
degraded by sensuality, and but little more intelligent, than the
negroes themselves. Instead of possessing irresponsible power over their
fellows, they ought themselves to be under the power of the most strict
and energetic laws. Our visits to the plantations, and inquiries on this
point, confirmed this opinion. They are the 'feculum' of European
society--ignorant, passionate, licentious. We do them no injustice when
we say this, nor when we further add, that the apprentices suffer in a
hundred ways which the law cannot reach, gross insults and oppression
from their excessive rapaciousness and lust. What must it have been
during slavery?
We had some conversation with Cheny Hamilton, Esq., one of the special
magistrates for Port Royal. He is a colored man, and has held his office
about eighteen months. There are three thousand apprentices in his
district, which embraces sugar and coffee estates. The complaints are
few and of a very trivial nature. They mostly originate with the
planters. Most of the cases brought before him are for petty theft and
absence from work.
In his district, cultivation was never better. The negroes are willing
to work during their own time. His father-in-law is clearing up some
mountain land for a coffee plantation, by the labor of apprentices from
neighboring estates. The seasons since emancipation have been bad. The
blacks cultivate their own grounds on their half Fridays and Saturdays,
unless they can obtain employment from others.
Nothing is doing by the planters for the education of the apprentices.
Their only object is to get as much work out of them as possible.
The blacks, so far as he has had opportunity to observe, are in every
respect as quiet and industrious as they were before freedom. He said if
we would compare the character of the complaints brought by the
overseers and apprentices against each other, we should see for
ourselves which party was the most peaceable and law-abiding.
To these views we may here add those of another gentleman, with whom we
had considerable conversation about the same time. He is a proprietor
and local magistrate, and was represented to us as a kind and humane
man. Mr. Bourne stated to us that he had not had six cases of complaint
on his plantation for the last twelve months. We give his most important
statements in the following brief items:
1. He has had charge of estates in Jamaica since 1804. At one time he
had twelve hundred negroes under his control. He now owns a coffee
plantation, on which there are one hundred and ten apprentices, and is
also attorney for several others, the owners of which reside out of
the island.
2. His plantation is well cultivated and clean, and his people are as
industrious and civil as they ever were. He employs them during their
own time, and always finds them willing to work for him, unless their
own grounds require their attendance. Cultivation generally, through the
island, is as good as it ever was. Many of the planters, at the
commencement of the apprenticeship, reduced the quantity of land
cultivated; he did not do so, but on the contrary is extending his
plantation.
3. The crops this year are not so good as usual. This is no fault of the
apprentices, but is owing to the bad season.
4. The conduct of the apprentices depends very much on the conduct of
those who have charge of them. If you find a plantation on which the
overseer is kind, and does common justice to the laborer, you will find
things going on well--if otherwise, the reverse. Those estates and
plantations on which the proprietor himself resides, are most peaceable
and prosperous.
5. Real estate is more valuable than before emancipation. Property is
more secure, and capitalists are more ready to invest their funds.
6. The result of 1840 is as yet doubtful. For his part, he has no fears.
He doubts not he can cultivate his plantation as easily after that
period as before. He is confident he can do it cheaper. He thinks it not
only likely, but certain, that many of the plantations on which the
people have been ill used, while slaves and apprentices, will be
abandoned by the present laborers, and that they will never be worked
until overseers are put over them who, instead of doing all they can to
harass them, will soothe and conciliate them. The apprenticeship has
done much harm instead of good in the way of preparing the blacks to
work after 1840.
A few days after our return from the mountains, we rode to Spanishtown,
which is about twelve miles west of Kingston. Spanishtown is the seat of
government, containing the various buildings for the residence of the
governor, the meeting of the legislature, the session of the courts, and
rooms for the several officers of the crown. They are all strong and
massive structures, but display little architectural magnificence
or beauty.
We spent nearly a day with Richard Hill, Esq., the secretary of the
special magistrates' department, of whom we have already spoken. He is a
colored gentleman, and in every respect the noblest man, white or black,
whom we met in the West Indies. He is highly intelligent, and of fine
moral feelings. His manners are free and unassuming, and his language in
conversation fluent and well chosen. He is intimately acquainted with
English and French authors, and has studied thoroughly the history and
character of the people with whom the tie of color has connected him. He
travelled two years in Hayti, and his letters, written in a flowing and
luxuriant style, as a son of the tropics should write, giving an account
of his observations and inquiries in that interesting island, were
published extensively in England; and have been copied into the
anti-slavery journals in this country. His journal will be given to the
public as soon as his official duties will permit him to prepare it. He
is at the head of the special magistrates, (of which there are sixty in
the island,) and all the correspondence between them and the governor is
carried on through him. The station he holds is a very important one,
and the business connected with it is of a character and an extent that,
were he not a man of superior abilities, he could not sustain. He is
highly respected by the government in the island, and at home, and
possesses the esteem of his fellow-citizens of all colors. He associates
with persons of the highest rank, dining and attending parties at the
government-house with all the aristocracy of Jamaica. We had the
pleasure of spending an evening with him at the solicitor-general's.
Though an African sun has burnt a deep tinge on him, he is truly one of
nature's noblemen. His demeanor is such, so dignified, yet bland and
amiable, that no one can help respecting him.
He spoke in the warmest terms of Lord Sligo,[A] the predecessor of Sir
Lionel Smith, who was driven from the island by the machinations of the
planters and the enemies of the blacks. Lord Sligo was remarkable for
his statistical accuracy. Reports were made to him by the special
magistrates every week. No act of injustice or oppression could escape
his indefatigable inquiries. He was accessible, and lent an open ear to
the lowest person in the island. The planters left no means untried to
remove him, and unhappily succeeded.
[Footnote A: When Lord Sligo visited the United States in the summer of
1836, he spoke with great respect of Mr. Hill to Elizur Wright, Esq.,
Corresponding Secretary of the American Anti-Slavery Society. Mr. Wright
has furnished us with the following statement:--"Just before his
lordship left this city for England, he bore testimony to us
substantially as follows:--'When I went to Jamaica, Mr. Hill was a
special magistrate. In a certain case he refused to comply with my
directions, differing from me in his interpretation of the law. I
informed him that his continued non-compliance must result in his
removal from office. He replied that his mind was made up as to the law,
and he would not violate his reason to save his bread. Being satisfied
of the correctness of my own interpretation, I was obliged, of course,
to remove him; but I was so forcibly struck with his manly independence,
that I applied to the government for power to employ him as my
secretary, which was granted. And having had him as an _intimate of my
family_ for several months, I can most cordially bear my testimony to
his trustworthiness, ability, and gentlemanly deportment.' Lord Sligo
also added, that Mr. Hill was treated in his family in all respects as
if he had not been colored, and that with no gentleman in the West
Indies was he, in social life, on terms of more intimate friendship."]
The following items contain the principal information received from Mr.
Hill:
1. The apprenticeship is a most vicious system, full of blunders and
absurdities, and directly calculated to set master and slave at war.
2. The complaints against the apprentices are decreasing every month,
_except, perhaps, complaints against mothers for absence from work,
which he thinks are increasing_. The apprenticeship _law_ makes no
provision for the free children, and on most of the plantations and
estates no allowance is given them, but they are thrown entirely for
support on their parents, who are obliged to work the most and best part
of their time for their masters unrewarded. The nurseries are broken up,
and frequently the mothers are obliged to work in the fields with their
infants at their backs, or else to leave them at some distance under the
shade of a hedge or tree. Every year is making their condition worse and
worse. The number of children is increasing, and yet the mothers are
required, after their youngest child has attained the age of a few
weeks, to be at work the same number of hours as the men. Very little
time is given them to take care of their household. When they are tardy
they are brought before the magistrate.
A woman was brought before Mr. Hill a few days before we were there,
charged with not being in the field till one hour after the rest of the
gang. She had twins, and appeared before him with a child hanging on
each arm. What an eloquent defence! He dismissed the complaint.
He mentioned another case, of a woman whose master resided in
Spanishtown, but who was hired out by him to some person in the country.
Her child became sick, but her employer refused any assistance. With it
in her arms, she entreated aid of her master. The monster drove her and
her dying little one into the street at night, and she sought shelter
with Mr. Hill, where her child expired before morning. For such horrid
cruelty as this, the apprenticeship law provides no remedy. The woman
had no claim for the support of her child, on the man who was receiving
the wages of her daily toil. That child was not worth a farthing to him,
because it was no longer his _chattel_; and while the law gives him
power to rob the mother, it has no compulsion to make him support
the child.
3. The complaints are generally of the most trivial and frivolous
nature. They are mostly against mothers for neglect of duty, and vague
charges of insolence. There is no provision in the law to prevent the
master from using abusive language to the apprentice; any insult short
of a blow, he is free to commit; but the slightest word of incivility, a
look, smile, or grin, is punished in the apprentice, even though it
were provoked.
4. There is still much flogging by the overseers. Last week a girl came
to Mr. H. terribly scarred and "slashed," and complained that her master
had beaten her. It appeared that this was the _seventh offence_, for
neither of which she could obtain a hearing from the special magistrate
in her district. While Mr. H. was relating to me this fact, a girl came
in with a little babe in her arms. He called my attention to a large
bruise near her eye. He said her master knocked her down a few days
since, and made that wound by kicking her.
Frequently when complaints of insolence are made, on investigation, it
is found that the offence was the result of a quarrel commenced by the
master, during which he either cuffed or kicked the offender.
The special magistrates also frequently resort to flogging. Many of
them, as has been mentioned already, have been connected with the army
or navy, where corporal punishment is practised and flogging is not only
in consonance with their feelings and habits, but is a punishment more
briefly inflicted and more grateful to the planters, as it does not
deprive them of the apprentice's time.
5. Mr. H. says that the apprentices who have purchased their freedom
behave well. He has not known one of them to be brought before
the police.
6. Many of the special magistrates require much looking after. Their
salaries are not sufficient to support them independently. Some of them
leave their homes on Monday morning, and make the whole circuit of their
district before returning, living and lodging meanwhile, _free of
expense_, with the planters. If they are not inclined to listen to the
complaints of the apprentices, they soon find that the apprentices are
not inclined to make complaints to them, and that they consequently have
much more leisure time, and get through their district much easier. Of
the sixty magistrates in Jamaica, but few can be said to discharge their
duties faithfully. The governor is often required to interfere. A few
weeks since he discharged two magistrates for putting iron collars on
two women, in direct violation of the law, and then sending him
false reports.
7. The negro grounds are often at a great distance, five or six miles,
and some of them fifteen miles, from the plantation. Of course much
time, which would otherwise be spent in cultivating them, is necessarily
consumed in going to them and returning. Yet for all that, and though in
many cases the planters have withdrawn the watchmen who used to protect
them, and have left them entirely exposed to thieves and cattle, they
are generally well cultivated--on the whole, better than during slavery.
When there is inattention to them, it is caused either by some planters
hiring them during their own time, or because their master permits his
cattle to trespass on them, and the people feel an insecurity. When you
find a kind planter, in whom the apprentices have confidence, there you
will find beautiful gardens. In not a few instances, where the overseer
is particularly harsh and cruel, the negroes have thrown up their old
grounds, and taken new ones on other plantations, where the overseer is
better liked, or gone into the depths of the mountain forests, where no
human foot has been before them, and there cleared up small plats. This
was also done to some extent during slavery. Many of the people, against
whom the planters are declaiming as lazy and worthless, have rich
grounds of which those planters little dream.
8. There is no feeling of insecurity, either of life or property. One
may travel through the whole island without the least fear of violence.
If there is any danger, it is from the _emigrants_, who have been guilty
of several outrages. So far from the planters fearing violence from the
apprentices, when an assault or theft is committed, they refer it,
almost as a matter of course, to some one else. A few weeks ago one of
the island mails was robbed. As soon as it became known, it was at once
said, "Some of those villanous emigrants did it," and so indeed
it proved.
People in the country, in the midst of the mountains, where the whites
are few and isolated, sleep with their doors and windows open, without a
thought of being molested. In the towns there are no watchmen, and but a
small police, and yet the streets are quiet and property safe.
9. The apprentices understand the great provisions of the new system,
such as the number of hours they must work for their master, and that
their masters have no right to flog them, &c., but its details are
inexplicable mysteries. The masters have done much injury by deceiving
them on points of which they were ignorant.
10. The apprentices almost to a man are ready to work for wages during
their own time. When the overseer is severe towards them, they prefer
working on other plantations, even for less wages, as is very natural.
11. Almost all the evils of the apprenticeship arise from the obstinacy
and oppressive conduct of the overseers. They are constantly taking
advantage of the defects of the system, which are many, and while they
demand to the last grain's weight "the pound of flesh," they are utterly
unwilling to yield the requirements which the law makes of them. Where
you find an overseer endeavoring in every way to overreach the
apprentices, taking away the privileges which they enjoyed during
slavery, and exacting from them the utmost minute and mite of labor,
there you will find abundant complaints both against the master and the
apprentice. And the reverse. The cruel overseers are complaining of
idleness, insubordination, and ruin, while the kind master is moving on
peaceably and prosperously.
12. The domestic apprentices have either one day, or fifty cents cash,
each week, as an allowance for food and clothing. This is quite
insufficient. Many of the females seem obliged to resort to theft or to
prostitution to obtain a support. Two girls were brought before Mr. Hill
while we were with him, charged with neglect of duty and night-walking.
One of them said her allowance was too small, and she must get food in
some other way or starve.
13. The apprentices on many plantations have been deprived of several
privileges which they enjoyed under the old system. Nurseries have been
abolished, water-carriers have been taken away, keeping stock is
restricted, if not entirely forbidden, watchmen are no longer provided
to guard the negro grounds, &c.--petty aggressions in our eyes, perhaps,
but severe to them. Another instance is still more hard. By the custom
of slavery, women who had reared up seven children were permitted to
"sit down," as it was termed; that is, were not obliged to go into the
field to work. Now no such distinction is made, but all are driven into
the field.
14. One reason why the crops were smaller in 1835 and 1836 than in
former years, was, that the planters in the preceding seasons, either
fearful that the negroes would not take off the crops after
emancipation, and acting on their baseless predictions instead of facts,
or determined to make the results of emancipation appear as disastrous
as possible, neglected to put in the usual amount of cane, and to clean
the coffee fields. As they refused to sow, of course they could
not reap.
15. The complaints against the apprentices generally are becoming fewer
every week, but the complaints against the masters are increasing both
in number and severity. One reason of this is, that the apprentices, on
the one hand, are becoming better acquainted with the new system, and
therefore better able to avoid a violation of its provisions, and are
also learning that they cannot violate these provisions with impunity;
and, on the other hand, they are gaining courage to complain against
their masters, to whom they have hitherto been subjected by a fear
created by the whips and dungeons, and nameless tortures of slavery.
Another reason is, that the masters, as the term of the apprenticeship
shortens, and the end of their authority approaches nearer, are pressing
their poor victims harder and harder, determined to extort from them all
they can, before complete emancipation rescues them for ever from
their grasp.
While we were in conversation with Mr. Hill, Mr. Ramsay, one of the
special magistrates for this parish, called in. He is a native of
Jamaica, and has been educated under all the influences of West India
society, but has held fast his integrity, and is considered the firm
friend of the apprentices. He confirmed every fact and opinion which Mr.
Hill had given. He was even stronger than Mr. H. in his expressions of
disapprobation of the apprenticeship.
The day which we spent with Mr. Hill was one of those on which he holds
a special justice's court. There were only three cases of complaint
brought before him.
The first was brought by a woman, attended by her husband, against her
servant girl, for "impertinence and insubordination." She took the oath
and commenced her testimony with an abundance of vague charges. "She is
the most insolent girl I ever saw. She'll do nothing that she is told to
do--she never thinks of minding what is said to her--she is sulky and
saucy," etc. Mr. H. told her she must be specific--he could not convict
the girl on such general charges--some particular acts must be proved.
She became specific. Her charges were as follows:
1. On the previous Thursday the defendant was plaiting a shirt. The
complainant went up to her and asked her why she did not plait it as she
ought, and not hold it in her hand as she did. Defendant replied, that
it was easier, and she preferred that way to the other. The complainant
remonstrated, but, despite all she could say, the obstinate girl
persisted, and did it as she chose. The complainant granted that the
work was done well, only it was not done in the way she desired.
2. The same day she ordered the defendant to wipe up some tracks in the
hall. She did so. While she was doing it, the mistress told her the room
was very dusty, and reproved her for it. The girl replied, "Is it
morning?" (It is customary to clean the rooms early in the morning, and
the girl made this reply late in the afternoon, when sufficient time had
elapsed for the room to become dusty again.)
3. The girl did not wash a cloth clean which the complainant gave her,
and the complainant was obliged to wash it herself.
4. Several times when the complainant and her daughter have been
conversing together, this girl had burst into laughter--whether at them
or their conversation, complainant did not know.
5. When the complainant has reproved the defendant for not doing her
work well, she has replied, "Can't you let me alone to my work, and not
worry my life out."
A black man, a constable on the same property, was brought up to confirm
the charges. He knew nothing about the case, only that he often heard
the parties quarrelling, and sometimes had told the girl not to say any
thing, as she knew what her mistress was.
It appeared in the course of the evidence, that the complainant and her
husband had both been in the habit of speaking disrespectfully of the
special magistrate, stationed in their district, and that many of the
contentions arose out of that, as the girl sometimes defended him.
While the accused was making her defence, which she did in a modest way,
her mistress was highly enraged, and interrupted her several times, by
calling her a liar and a jade. The magistrate was two or three times
obliged to reprove her, and command her to be silent, and, so passionate
did she become, that her husband, ashamed of her, put his hand on her
shoulder, and entreated her to be calm.
Mr. Hill dismissed the complaint by giving some good advice to both
parties, much to the annoyance of the mistress.
The second complaint was brought by a man against a servant girl, for
disobedience of orders, and insolence. It appears that she was ordered,
at ten o'clock at night, to do some work. She was just leaving the house
to call on some friends, as she said, and refused. On being told by her
mistress that she only wanted to go out for bad purposes, she replied,
that "It was no matter--the allowance they gave her was not sufficient
to support her, and if they would not give her more, she must get a
living any way she could, so she did not steal." She was sentenced to
the house of correction for one week.
The third case was a complaint against a boy for taking every alternate
Friday and Saturday, instead of every Saturday, for allowance. He was
ordered to take every Saturday, or to receive in lieu of it half
a dollar.
Mr. Hill said these were a fair specimen of the character of the
complaints that came before him. We were much pleased with the manner in
which he presided in his court, the ease, dignity, and impartiality
which he exhibited, and the respect which was shown him by all parties.
In company with Mr. Hill, we called on Rev. Mr. Phillips, the Baptist
missionary, stationed at Spanishtown. Mr. P. has been in the island
thirteen years. He regards the apprenticeship as a great amelioration of
the old system of slavery, but as coming far short of the full
privileges and rights of freedom, and of what it was expected to be. It
is beneficial to the missionaries, as it gives them access to the
plantations, while before, in many instances, they were entirely
excluded from them, and in all cases were much shackled in their
operations.
Mr. P. has enlarged his chapel within the last fifteen months, so that
it admits several hundreds more than formerly. But it is now too small.
The apprentices are much more anxious to receive religious instruction,
and much more open to conviction, than when slaves. He finds a great
difference now on different plantations. Where severity is used, as it
still is on many estates, and the new system is moulded as nearly as
possible on the old, the minds of the apprentices are apparently closed
against all impressions,--but where they are treated with kindness, they
are warm in their affections, and solicitous to be taught.
In connection with his church, Mr. P. has charge of a large school. The
number present, when we visited it, was about two hundred. There was, to
say the least, as much manifestation of intellect and sprightliness as
we ever saw in white pupils of the same age. Most of the children were
slaves previous to 1834, and their parents are still apprentices.
Several were pointed out to us who were not yet free, and attend only by
permission, sometimes purchased, of their master. The greater part live
from three to five miles distant. Mr. P. says he finds no lack of
interest among the apprentices about education. He can find scholars for
as many schools as he can establish, if he keeps himself unconnected
with the planters. The apprentices are opposed to all schools
established by, or in any way allied to, their masters.
Mr. P. says the planters are doing nothing to prepare the apprentices
for freedom in 1840. They do not regard the apprenticeship as
intermediate time for preparation, but as part of the _compensation_.
Every day is counted, not as worth so much for education and moral
instruction, but as worth so much for digging cane-holes, and clearing
coffee fields.
Mr. P.'s church escaped destruction during the persecution of the
Baptists. The wives and connections of many of the colored soldiers had
taken refuge in it, and had given out word that they would defend it
even against their own husbands and brothers, who in turn informed their
officers that if ordered to destroy it, they should refuse at all peril.
CHAPTER III.
RESULTS OF ABOLITION.
The actual working of the apprenticeship in Jamaica, was the specific
object of our investigations in that island. That it had not operated so
happily as in Barbadoes, and in most of the other colonies, was admitted
by all parties. As to the _degree_ of its failure, we were satisfied it
was not so great as had been represented. There has been nothing of an
_insurrectionary_ character since the abolition of slavery. The affair
on Thornton's estate, of which an account is given in the preceding
chapter, is the most serious disturbance which has occurred during the
apprenticeship. The _fear_ of insurrection is as effectually dead in
Jamaica, as in Barbadoes--so long as the apprenticeship lasts. There has
been no _increase of crime_. The character of the negro population has
been gradually improving in morals and intelligence. Marriage has
increased, the Sabbath is more generally observed, and religious worship
is better attended. Again, the apprentices of Jamaica have not
manifested any peculiar _defiance of law_. The most illiberal
magistrates testified that the people respected the law, when they
understood it. As it respects the _industry_ of the apprentices, there
are different opinions among the _planters_ themselves. Some admitted
that they were as industrious as before, and did as much work _in
proportion to the time they were employed_. Others complained that they
_lacked the power_ to compel industry, and that hence there was a
falling off of work. The prominent evils complained of in Jamaica are,
absconding from work, and insolence to masters. From the statements in
the preceding chapter, it may be inferred that many things are called by
these names, and severely punished, which are really innocent or
unavoidable; however, it would not be wonderful if there were numerous
instances of both. Insolence is the legitimate fruit of the
apprenticeship, which holds out to the apprentice, that he possesses the
rights of a man, and still authorizes the master to treat him as though
he were little better than a dog. The result must often be that the
apprentice will repay insult with insolence. This will continue to exist
until either the former system of _absolute force_ is restored, or a
system of free compensated labor, with its powerful checks and balances
on both parties, is substituted. The prevalence and causes of the other
offence--absconding from labor--will be noticed hereafter.
The atrocities which are practised by the masters and magistrates, are
appalling enough. It is probable that the actual condition of the
negroes in Jamaica, is but little if any better than it was during
slavery. The amount of punishment inflicted by the special magistrates,
cannot fall much short of that usually perpetrated by the drivers. In
addition to this, the apprentices are robbed of the _time_ allowed them
by law, at the will of the magistrate, who often deprives them of it on
the slightest complaint of the overseer. The situation of the _free
children_[A] is often very deplorable. The master feels none of that
interest in them which he formerly felt in the children that were his
property, and consequently, makes no provision for them. They are thrown
entirely upon their parents, who are _unable_ to take proper care of
them, from the almost constant demands which the master makes upon their
time. The condition of pregnant women, and nursing mothers, is
_decidedly worse_ than it was during slavery. The privileges which the
planter felt it for his interest to grant these formerly, for _the sake
of their children_, are now withheld. The former are exposed to the
inclemencies of the weather, and the hardships of toil--the latter are
cruelly dragged away from their infants, that the master may not lose
the smallest portion of time,--and _both_ are liable at any moment to be
incarcerated in the dungeon, or strung up on the treadwheel. In
consequence of the cruelties which are practised, the apprentices are in
a _disaffected state_ throughout the island.
[Footnote A: All children under _six years_ of age at the time of
abolition, were made entirely free.]
In assigning the causes of the ill-working of the apprenticeship in
Jamaica, we would say in the commencement, that nearly all of them are
embodied in the intrinsic defects of the system itself. These defects
have been exposed in a former chapter, and we need not repeat them here.
The reason why the system has not produced as much mischief in all the
colonies as it has in Jamaica, is that the local circumstances in the
other islands were not so adapted to develop its legitimate results.
It is not without the most careful investigation of facts, that we have
allowed ourselves to entertain the views which we are now about to
express, respecting the conduct of the planters and special
justices--for it is to _them_ that we must ascribe the evils which exist
in Jamaica. We cheerfully accede to them all of palliation which may be
found in the provocations incident to the wretched system of
apprenticeship.
The causes of the difficulties rest chiefly with the _planters_. They
were _originally_ implicated, and by their wily schemes they soon
involved the special magistrates. The Jamaica planters, as a body,
always violently opposed the abolition of slavery. Unlike the planters
in most of the colonies, they cherished their hostility _after the act
of abolition_. It would seem that they had agreed with one accord, never
to become reconciled to the measures of the English government, and had
sworn eternal hostility to every scheme of emancipation. Whether this
resulted most from love for slavery or hatred of English interference,
it is difficult to determine. If we were to believe the planters
themselves, who are of the opposition, we should conclude that they were
far from being in favor of slavery--that they were "as much opposed to
slavery, as any one can be[A]." Notwithstanding this avowal, the
tenacity with which the planters cling to the remnant of their power,
shows an affection for it, of the strength of which they are not
probably themselves aware.
[Footnote A: It seems to be the order of the day, with the opposition
party in Jamaica, to disclaim all friendship with slavery. We noticed
several instances of this in the island papers, which have been most
hostile to abolition. We quote the following sample from the Royal
Gazette, (Kingston) for May 6, 1837. The editor, in an article
respecting Cuba, says:
"In writing this, one chief object is to arouse the attention of our
own fellow-subjects, in this colony, to the situation--the dangerous
situation--in which they stand, and to implore them to lend all
their energies to avert the ruin that is likely to visit them,
should America get the domination of Cuba.
The negroes of this and of all the British W.I. colonies have been
'_emancipated_.' Cuba on the other hand is still a _slave country_.
(Let not our readers imagine for one moment that we advocate the
_continuance of slavery_,") &c.
]
When public men have endeavored to be faithful and upright, they have
uniformly been abused, and even persecuted, by the planters. The
following facts will show that the latter have not scrupled to resort to
the most dishonest and unmanly intrigues to effect the removal or to
circumvent the influence of such men. Neglect, ridicule, vulgar abuse,
slander, threats, intimidation, misrepresentation, and legal
prosecutions, have been the mildest weapons employed against those who
in the discharge of their sworn duties dared to befriend the oppressed.
The shameful treatment of the late governor, Lord Sligo, illustrates
this. His Lordship was appointed to the government about the period of
abolition. Being himself a proprietor of estates in the island, and
formerly chairman of the West India Body, he was received at first with
the greatest cordiality; but it was soon perceived that he was disposed
to secure justice to the apprentices. From the accounts we received, we
have been led to entertain an exalted opinion of his integrity and
friendship for the poor. It was his custom (unprecedented in the West
Indies,) to give a patient hearing to the poorest negro who might carry
his grievances to the government-house. After hearing the complaint, he
would despatch an order to the special magistrate of the district in
which the complainant lived, directing him to inquire into the case. By
this means he kept the magistrates employed, and secured redress to the
apprentices to many cases where they would otherwise have bean
neglected.
The governor soon rendered himself exceedingly obnoxious to the
planters, and they began to manoeuvre for his removal, which, in a short
time, was effected by a most flagitious procedure. The home government,
disposed to humor their unruly colony, sent them a governor in whom they
are not likely to find any fault. The present governor, Sir Lionel
Smith, is the antipode of his predecessor in every worthy respect. When
the apprentices come to him with their complaints, he sends them back
unheard, with curses on their heads. A distinguished gentleman in the
colony remarked of him that he _was a heartless military chieftain, who
ruled without regard to mercy_. Of course the planters are full of his
praise. His late tour of the island was a _triumphal procession_, amid
the sycophantic greetings of oppressors.
Several special magistrates have been suspended because of the faithful
discharge of their duties. Among these was Dr. Palmer, an independent
and courageous man. Repeated complaints were urged against him by the
planters, until finally Sir Lionel Smith appointed a commission to
inquire into the grounds of the difficulty.
"This commission consisted of two local magistrates, both of them
planters or managers of estates, and two stipendiary magistrates, the
bias of one of whom, at least, was believed to be against Dr. Palmer. At
the conclusion of their inquiry they summed up their report by saying
that Dr. Palmer had administered the abolition law in the spirit of the
English abolition act, and in his administration of the law he had
adapted it more to the comprehension of freemen than to the
understandings of apprenticed laborers. Not only did Sir Lionel Smith
suspend Dr. Palmer on this report, but the colonial office at home have
dismissed him from his situation."
The following facts respecting the persecution of Special Justice
Bourne, illustrate the same thing.
"A book-keeper of the name of Maclean, on the estate of the Rev. M.
Hamilton, an Irish clergyman, committed a brutal assault upon an old
African. The attorney on the property refused to hear the complaint
of the negro, who went to Stephen Bourne, a special magistrate. When
Maclean was brought before him, he did not deny the fact; but said
as the old man was not a Christian, his oath could not be taken! The
magistrate not being able to ascertain the amount of injury
inflicted upon the negro (whose head was dreadfully cut,) but
feeling that it was a case which required a greater penalty than
three pounds sterling, the amount of punishment to which he was
limited by the local acts, detained Maclean, and afterwards
committed him to jail, and wrote the next day to the chief justice
upon the subject. He was discharged as soon as a doctor's
certificate was procured of the state of the wounded man, and bail
was given for his appearance at the assizes. Maclean's trial came on
at the assizes, and he was found guilty by a Jamaica Jury; he was
severely reprimanded for his inhuman conduct and fined thirty
pounds. The poor apprentice however got no remuneration for the
severe injury inflicted upon him, and the special justice was
prosecuted for false imprisonment, dragged from court to court,
represented as an oppressor and a tyrant, subjected to four hundred
pounds expenses in defending himself, and actually had judgment
given against him for one hundred and fifty pounds damages.
Thus have the planters succeeded in pulling down every magistrate
who ventures to do more than fine them three pounds sterling for any
act of cruelty of which they may be guilty. On the other hand, there
were two magistrates who were lately dismissed, through, I believe,
the representation of Lord Sligo, for flagrant violations of the law
in inflicting punishment; and in order to evince their sympathy for
those men, the planters gave them a farewell dinner, and had
actually set on foot a subscription, as a tribute of gratitude for
their "Impartial" conduct in administering the laws, as special
justices. Thus were two men, notoriously guilty of violations of law
and humanity, publicly encouraged and protected, while Stephen
Bourne, who according to the testimony of the present and late
attorney-general had acted not only justly but _legally_, was
suffering every species of persecution and indignity for so doing."
Probably nothing could demonstrate the meanness of the artifices to
which the planters resort to get rid of troublesome magistrates better
than the following fact. When the present governor, in making his tour
of the island, came into St. Thomas in the East, some of the planters of
Manchioneal district hired a negro constable on one of the estates to go
to the governor and complain to him that Mr. Chamberlain encouraged the
apprentices to be disorderly and idle. The negro went accordingly, but
like another Balaam, he prophesied _against his employers_. He stated to
the governor that the apprentices on the estate where he lived were lazy
and wouldn't do right, _but he declared that it was not Mr. C.'s fault,
for that he was not allowed to come on the estate!_
Having given such an unfavorable description of the mass of planters, it
is but just to add that there are a few honorable exceptions. There are
some attorneys and overseers, who if they dared to face the allied
powers of oppression, would act a noble part. But they are trammelled by
an overpowering public sentiment, and are induced to fall in very much
with the prevailing practices. One of this class, an attorney of
considerable influence, declined giving us his views in writing, stating
that his situation and the state of public sentiment must be his
apology. An overseer who was disposed to manifest the most liberal
bearing towards his apprentices, and who had directions from the
absentee proprietor to that effect, was yet effectually prevented by his
attorney, who having several other estates under his charge, was fearful
of losing them, if he did not maintain the same severe discipline
on all.
The special magistrates are also deeply implicated in causing the
difficulties existing under the apprenticeship. They are incessantly
exposed to multiplied and powerful temptations. The persecution which
they are sure to incur by a faithful discharge of their duties, has
already been noticed. It would require men of unusual sternness of
principle to face so fierce an array. Instead of being _independent_ of
the planters, their situation is in every respect totally the reverse.
Instead of having a central office or station-house to hold their courts
at, as is the case in Barbadoes, they are required to visit each estate
in their districts. They have a circuit from forty to sixty miles to
compass every fortnight, or in some cases three times every month. On
these tours they are absolutely dependent upon the hospitality of the
planters. None but men of the "sterner stuff" could escape, (to use the
negro's phrase) _being poisoned by massa's turtle soup._ The _character_
of the men who are acting as magistrates is thus described by a colonial
magistrate of high standing and experience.
"The special magistracy department is filled with the most worthless
men, both domestic and imported. It was a necessary qualification of the
former to possess no property; hence the most worthless vagabonds on the
island were appointed. The latter were worn out officers and dissipated
rakes, whom the English government sent off here in order to get rid of
them." As a specimen of the latter kind, this gentleman mentioned one
(special Justice Light) who died lately from excessive dissipation. He
was constantly drunk, and the only way in which to get him to do any
business was to take him on to an estate in the evening so that he might
sleep off his intoxication, and then the business was brought before him
early the next morning, before he had time to get to his cups.
It is well known that many of the special magistrates are totally
unprincipled men, monsters of cruelty, lust, and despotism. As a result
of natural character in many cases, and of dependence upon planters in
many more, the great mass of the special justices are a disgrace to
their office, and to the government which commissioned them. Out of
sixty, the number of special justices in Jamaica, there are not more
than fifteen, or twenty at farthest, who are not the merest tools of the
attorneys and overseers. Their servility was graphically hit off by the
apprentice. "If busha say flog em, he flog em; if busha say send them to
the treadmill, he send em." If an apprentice laughs or sings, and the
busha represents it to the magistrate as insolence, he _feels it his
duty_ to make an example of the offender!
The following fact will illustrate the injustice of the magistrates. It
was stated in writing by a missionary. We conceal all names, in
compliance with the request of the writer. "An apprentice belonging to
---- in the ---- was sent to the treadmill by special justice G. He was
ordered to go out and count the sheep, as he was able to count higher
than some of the field people, although a house servant from his
youth--I may say childhood. Instead of bringing in the tally cut upon a
piece of board, as usual, he wrote the number eighty upon a piece of
paper. When the overseer saw it, he would scarcely believe that any of
his people could write, and ordered a piece of coal to be brought and
made him write it over again; the next day he turned him into the field,
but unable to perform the task (to hoe and weed one hundred coffee roots
daily) with those who had been accustomed to field work all their lives,
he was tried for neglect of duty, and sentenced to fourteen days on the
treadmill!"
We quote the following heart-rending account from the Telegraph,
(Spanishtown,) April 28, 1837. It is from a Baptist missionary.
"I see something is doing in England to shorten the apprenticeship
system. I pray God it may soon follow its predecessor--slavery, for
it is indeed slavery under a less disgusting name. Business lately
(December 23) called me to Rodney Hall; and while I was there, a
poor old negro was brought in for punishment. I heard the fearful
vociferation, 'twenty stripes.' 'Very well; here ----, put this man
down.' I felt as I cannot describe; yet I thought, as the supervisor
was disposed to be civil, my presence might tend to make the
punishment less severe than it usually is--but I was disappointed. I
inquired into the crime for which such an old man could be so
severely punished, and heard various accounts. I wrote to the
magistrate who sentenced him to receive it; and after many days I
got the following reply."
"_Logan Castle, Jan. 9, 1836._
Sir--In answer to your note of the 4th instant, I beg leave to
state, that ---- ----, an apprentice belonging to ---- ----, was
brought before me by Mr. ----, his late overseer, charged upon oath
with continual neglect of duty and disobedience of orders as
cattle-man, and also for stealing milk--was convicted, and sentenced
to receive twenty stripes. So far from the punishment of the
offender being severe, he was not ordered one half the number of
stripes provided for such cases by the abolition act--if he received
more than that number, or if those were inflicted with undue
severity, I shall feel happy in making every inquiry amongst the
authorities at Rodney Hall institution.
I remain, sir, yours, truly,
T.W. JONES, S.M."
'Rev. J. Clarke, &c., &c.'
From Mr. Clarke's reply, we make the following extract:
"_Jericho, January 19, 1836._
Sir--I beg to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 9th
instant.
Respecting the punishment of ---- ----, I still adhere to the
opinion I before expressed, that, for an old man of about sixty
years of age, the punishment was severe. To see a venerable old man
tied as if to be broken on the wheel, and cut to the bone by the
lash of an athletic driver--writhing and yelling under the most
exquisite torture, were certainly circumstances sufficiently strong
to touch the heart of any one possessed of the smallest degree of
common humanity. The usual preparations being made, the old man
quietly stripped off his upper garments, and lay down upon the
board--he was then tied by his legs, middle, above the elbows, and
at each wrist. Mr. ---- then called out to the driver, 'I hope you
will do your duty--he is not sent here for nothing.' At the first
lash the skin started up; and at the third, the blood began to flow;
ere the driver had given ten, the cat was covered with gore; and he
stopped to change it for a dry one, which appeared to me somewhat
longer than the first. When the poor tortured creature had received
sixteen, his violent struggles enabled him to get one of his hands
loose, which he put instantly to his back--the driver stopped to
retie him, and then proceeded to give the remaining four. The
struggles of the poor old man from the first lash bespoke the most
extreme torture; and his cries were to me most distressing. 'Oh! oh!
mercy! mercy! mercy! oh! massa! massa! dat enough--enough! oh,
enough! O, massa, have pity! O, massa! massa! dat enough--enough!
Oh, never do de like again--only pity me--forgive me dis once! oh!
pity! mercy! mercy! oh! oh!' were the cries he perpetually uttered.
I shall remember them while I live; and would not for ten thousand
worlds have been the cause of producing them. It was some minutes
after he was loosed ere he could rise to his feet, and as he
attempted to rise, he continued calling out, 'My back! oh! my back!
my back is broken.' A long time he remained half-doubled, the blood
flowing round his body; 'I serve my master,' said the aged sufferer,
'at all times; get no Saturday, no Sunday; yet this is de way
dem use me.'
With such planters, and such magistrates to play into their hands,
is it to be wondered at that the apprentices do badly? Enough has
been said, we think, to satisfy any candid person as to the _causes
of the evils in Jamaica_. If any thing further were needed, we might
speak of the peculiar facilities which these men have for
perpetrating acts of cruelty and injustice. The major part of the
island is exceedingly mountainous, and a large portion of the sugar
estates, and most of the coffee plantations, are among the
mountains. These estates are scattered over a wide extent of
country, and separated by dense forests and mountains, which conceal
each plantation from the public view almost as effectually as though
it were the only property on the island. The only mode of access to
many of the estates in the mountainous districts, is by mule paths
winding about, amid fastnesses, precipices, and frightful solitudes.
In those lone retirements, on the mountain top, or in the deep glen
by the side of the rocky rivers, the traveller occasionally meets
with an estate. Strangers but rarely intrude upon those little
domains. They are left to the solitary sway of the overseers
dwelling amid their "gangs," and undisturbed, save by the weekly
visitations of the special magistrates. While the traveller is
struck with the facilities for the perpetration of those enormities
which must have existed there during slavery; he is painfully
impressed also with the numerous opportunities which are still
afforded for oppressing the apprentices, particularly where the
special magistrates are not honest men.[A]
[Footnote A: From the nature of the case, it must be impossible to know
how much actual flogging is perpetrated by the overseers. We might
safely conjecture that there must be a vast deal of it that never comes
to the light. Such is the decided belief of many of the first men in the
island. The planters, say they, flog their apprentices, and then, to
prevent their complaining to the magistrate, threaten them with severe
punishment, or bribe them to silence by giving them a few shillings. The
attorney-general mentioned an instance of the latter policy. A planter
got angry with one of his head men, who was a constable, and knocked him
down. The man started off to complain to the special magistrate. The
master called him back, and told him he need not go to the
magistrate--that he was constable, and had a right to fine him himself.
"Well, massa," said the negro, "I fine you five shillings on de spot."
The master was glad to get off with that--the magistrate would probably
have fined him £5 currency.]
In view of the local situation of Jamaica--the violent character of
its planters--and the inevitable dependency of the magistrates, it
is very manifest _that immediate emancipation was imperatively
demanded there_. In no other colony did the negroes require to be
more _entirely released from the tyranny of the overseers, or more
thoroughly shielded by the power of equal law_. This is a principle
which must hold good always--that where slavery has been most
rigorous and absolute, there emancipation, needs to be most
unqualified; and where the sway of the master has been _most
despotic, cruel, and_ LONG CONTINUED, there the protection of law
should be most SPEEDILY _extended and most impartially applied_."[B]
[Footnote B: Since the above was written we have seen a copy of a
message sent by Sir Lionel Smith, to the house of assembly of Jamaica,
on the 3d November, 1837, in which a statement of the deprivations of
the apprentices, is officially laid before the house. We make the
following extract from it, which contains, to use his Excellency's
language, "the principal causes, as has been found by the records of the
special magistrates, of complaints among the apprentices; and of
consequent collisions between the planters and magistrates."
"Prudent and humane planters have already adopted what is
recommended, and their properties present the good working of this
system in peace and industry, without their resorting to the
authority of the special magistrates; but there are other properties
where neither the law of the apprenticeship nor the usages of
slavery have been found sufficient to guard the rights of the
apprentices.
First, the magistrates' reports show that on some estates the
apprentices have been deprived of cooks and water-carriers while at
work in the field--thus, the time allowed for breakfast, instead of
being a period of rest, is one of continual labor, as they have to
seek for fuel and to cook. The depriving them of water-carriers is
still more injurious, as the workmen are not allowed to quit their
rows to obtain it. Both these privations are detrimental to the
planter's work. Second, a law seems wanting to supply the estates'
hospitals with sufficient attendants on the sick apprentices, as
well as for the supply of proper food, as they cannot depend on
their own grounds, whilst unable to leave the hospitals. The first
clause of the abolition law has not been found strong enough to
secure these necessary attentions to the sick. Third, in regard to
jobbers, more exposed to hardships than any other class. A law is
greatly required allowing them the distance they may have to walk to
their work, at the rate of three miles an hour, and for compelling
the parties hiring them to supply them with salt food and meal;
their grounds are oftentimes so many miles distant, it is impossible
for them to supply themselves. Hence constant complaints and
irregularities. Fourth, that mothers of six children and upwards,
pregnant women, and the aged of both sexes, would be greatly
benefited by a law enforcing the kind treatment which they received
in slavery, but which is now considered optional, or is altogether
avoided on many properties. Fifth, nothing would tend more to effect
general contentment and repress the evils of comparative treatment,
than the issue of fish as a right by law. It was an indulgence in
slavery seldom denied, but on many properties is now withheld, or
given for extra labor instead of wages. Sixth, his Excellency during
the last sessions had the honor to address a message to the house
for a stronger definition of working time. The clause of the act in
aid expressed that it was the intention of the legislature to
regulate 'uniformity' of labor, but in practice there is still a
great diversity of system. The legal adviser of the crown considers
the clause active and binding; the special magistrate cannot,
therefore, adjudicate on disputes of labor under the eight hour
system, and the consequences have been continual complaints and
bickerings between the magistrates and managers, and discontent
among the apprentices by comparison of the advantages which one
system presents over the other. Seventh, if your honorable house
would adopt some equitable fixed principle for the value of
apprentices desirous of purchasing their discharge, either by
ascertained rates of weekly labor, or by fixed sums according to
their trade or occupation, which should not be exceeded, and
allowing the deduction of one third from the extreme value for the
contingencies of maintenance, clothing, medical aid, risk of life,
and health, it would greatly tend to set at rest one cause of
constant disappointment. In proportion as the term of apprenticeship
draws to a close, THE DEMANDS FOR THE SALE OF SERVICES HAVE GREATLY
INCREASED. It is in the hope that the honorable house will be
disposed to enforce a more general system of equal treatment, that
his Excellency now circumstantially represents what have been the
most common causes of complaint among the apprentices, and why the
island is subject to the reproach that the negroes, in some
respects, are now in a worse condition than they were in slavery."
]
We heard frequent complaints in Jamaica respecting the falling off of
the crops since abolition. In order that the reader may know the extent
of the failure in the aggregate island crops, we have inserted in the
appendix a table showing the "exports for fifty-three years, ending 31st
December, 1836, condensed from the journals of the House."
By the disaffected planters, the diminished crops were hailed as "an
evident token of perdition." They had foretold that abolition would be
the ruin of cultivation, they had maintained that sugar, coffee, rum,
&c., could not be produced extensively without the _whip of slavery_,
and now they exultingly point to the short crops and say, "See the
results of abolition!" We say exultingly, for a portion of the planters
do really seem to rejoice in any indication of ruin. Having staked their
reputation as prophets against their credit as colonists and their
interests as men, they seem happy in the establishment of the former,
even though it be by the sacrifice of the latter. Said an intelligent
gentleman in St. Thomas in the East, "The planters have _set their
hearts upon_ ruin, and they will be sorely disappointed if it should
not come."
Hearing so much said concerning the diminution of the crops, we spared
no pains to ascertain the _true causes_. We satisfied ourselves that the
causes were mainly two.
First. The prevailing impression that the negroes would not _work well_
after the abolition of slavery, led many planters to throw a part of
their land out of cultivation, in 1834. This is a fact which was
published by Lord Sligo, in an official account which he gave shortly
before leaving Jamaica, of the working of the apprenticeship. The
overseer of Belvidere estate declared that he knew of many cases in
which part of the land usually planted in canes was thrown up, owing to
the general expectation that _much less work_ would be done after
abolition. He also mentioned one attorney _who ordered all the estates
under his charge to be thrown out of cultivation_ in 1834, so confident
was he that the negroes would not work. The name of this attorney was
White. Mr. Gordon, of Williamsfield, stated, that the quantity of land
planted in cane, in 1834, was considerably less than the usual amount:
on some estates it was less by twenty, and on others by forty acres. Now
if such were the fact in the Parish of St. Thomas in the East, where
greater confidence was felt probably than in any other parish, we have a
clue by which we may conjecture (if indeed we were left to conjecture)
to what extent the cultivation was diminished in the island generally.
This of itself would satisfactorily account for the falling off in the
crops--which at most is not above one third. Nor would this explain the
decrease in '34 _only_, for it is well known among sugar planters that a
neglect of planting, either total or partial, for one year, will affect
the crops for two or three successive years.
The other cause of short crops has been the _diminished amount of time
for labor_. One fourth of the time now belongs to the laborers, and they
often prefer to employ it in cultivating their provision grounds and
carrying their produce to market. Thus the estate cultivation is
necessarily impeded. This cause operates very extensively, particularly
on two classes of estates: those which lie convenient to market places,
where the apprentices have strong inducements to cultivate their
grounds, and those (more numerous still) which _have harsh overseers_,
to whom the apprentices are averse to hire their time--in which cases
they will choose to work for neighboring planters, who are better men.
We should not omit to add here, that owing to a singular fact, the
falling off of the crops _appears_ greater than it really has been. We
learned from the most credible sources that _the size of the hogsheads_
had been considerably enlarged since abolition. Formerly they contained,
on an average, eighteen hundred weight, now they vary from a ton to
twenty-two hundred! As the crops are estimated by the number of
hogsheads, this will make a material difference. There were two reasons
for enlarging in the hogsheads,--one was, to lessen the amount of
certain port charges in exportation, which were made _by the hogshead_;
the other, and perhaps the principal, was to create some foundation in
appearance for the complaint that the crops had failed because of
abolition.
While we feel fully warranted in stating these as the chief causes of
the diminished crops, we are at the same time disposed to admit that the
apprenticeship is in itself exceedingly ill calculated either to
encourage or to compel industry. We must confess that we have no special
zeal to vindicate this system from its full share of blame; but we are
rather inclined to award to it every jot and tittle of the dishonored
instrumentality which it has had in working mischief to the colony.
However, in all candor, we must say, that we can scarcely check the
risings of exultation when we perceive that this party-fangled
measure--this offspring of old Slavery in her dying throes, _which was
expressly designed as a compensation to the proprietor_, HAS ACTUALLY
DIMINISHED HIS ANNUAL RETURNS BY ONE THIRD! So may it ever be with
legislation which is based on _iniquity and robbery!_
But the subject which excites the deepest interest in Jamaica _is the
probable consequences of entire emancipation in 1840_. The most common
opinion among the prognosticators of evil is, that the emancipated
negroes will abandon the cultivation of all the staple products, retire
to the woods, and live in a state of semi-barbarism; and as a
consequence, the splendid sugar and coffee estates must be "thrown up,"
and the beautiful and fertile island of Jamaica become a waste howling
wilderness.
The _reasons_ for this opinion consist in part of naked assumptions, and
in part of inferences from _supposed_ facts. The assumed reasons are
such as these. The negroes will not cultivate the cane _without the
whip_. How is this known? Simply because _they never have_, to any great
extent, in Jamaica. Such, it has been shown, was the opinion formerly in
Barbadoes, but it has been forever exploded there by experiment. Again,
the negroes are _naturally improvident_, and will never have enough
foresight to work steadily. What is the evidence of _natural_
improvidence in the negroes? Barely this--their carelessness in a state
of slavery. But that furnishes no ground at all for judging of _natural_
character, or of the developments of character under a _totally
different system_. If it testifies any thing, it is only this, that the
natural disposition of the negroes is not always _proof_ against the
degenerating influences of slavery.[A] Again, the actual wants of the
negroes are very few and easily supplied, and they will undoubtedly
prefer going into the woods where they can live almost without labor, to
toiling in the hot cane fields or climbing the coffee mountains. But
they who urge this, lose sight of the fact that the negroes are
considerably civilized, and that, like other civilized people, they will
seek for more than supply for the necessities of the rudest state of
nature. Their wants are already many, even in the degraded condition of
slaves; is it probable that they will be satisfied with _fewer of the
comforts and luxuries of civilized life_, when they are elevated to the
sphere, and feel the self-respect and dignity of freemen? But let us
notice some of the reasons which profess to be _founded on fact_. They
may all be resolved into two, _the laziness of negroes, and their
tendency to barbarism_.
[Footnote A: Probably in more instances than the one recorded in the
foregoing chapter, the improvidence of the negroes is inferred from
their otherwise unaccountable preference in walking six or ten miles to
chapel, rather than to work for a maccaroni a day.]
i. They _now_ refuse to work on Saturdays, even with wages. On this
assertion we have several remarks to make.
1.) It is true only to a partial extent. The apprentices on many
estates--whether a majority or not it is impossible to say--do work for
their masters on Saturdays, when their services are called for.
2.) They often refuse to work on the estates, because they can earn
three or four times as much by cultivating their provision grounds and
carrying their produce to market. The ordinary day's wages on an estate
is a quarter of a dollar, and where the apprentices are conveniently
situated to market, they can make from seventy-five cents to a dollar a
day with their provisions.
3.) The overseers are often such overbearing and detestable men, that
the apprentices doubtless feel it a great relief to be freed from their
command on Saturday, after submitting to it compulsorily for five days
of the week.
2. Another fact from which the laziness of the negroes is inferred, is
their _neglecting their provision grounds_. It is said that they have
fallen off greatly to their attention to their grounds, since the
abolition of slavery. This fact does not comport very well with the
complaint, that the apprentices cultivate their provision grounds to the
neglect of the estates. But both assertions may be true under opposite
circumstances. On those estates which are situated near the market,
provisions will be cultivated; on those which are remote from the
market, provisions will of course be partially neglected, and it will be
more profitable to the apprentices to work on the estates at a quarter
of a dollar per day, raising only enough provisions for their own use.
But we ascertained another circumstance which throws light on this
point. The negroes expect, after emancipation, to _lose their provision
grounds_; many expect certainly to be turned off by their masters, and
many who have harsh masters, intend to leave, and seek homes on other
estates, and _all_ feel a great uncertainty about their situation after
1840; and consequently they can have but little encouragement to
vigorous and extended cultivation of their grounds. Besides this, there
are very many cases in which the apprentices of one estate cultivate
provision grounds on another estate, where the manager is a man in whom
they have more confidence than they have in their own "busha." They, of
course, in such cases, abandon their former grounds, and consequently
are charged with neglecting them through laziness.
3. Another alleged fact is, that _actually less work_ is done now than
was done during slavery. The argument founded on this fact is this:
there is less work done under the apprenticeship than was done during
slavery: therefore _no work at all_ will be done after entire freedom!
But the apprenticeship allows _one fourth less time_ for labor than
slavery did, and presents no inducement, either compulsory or
persuasive, to continued industry. Will it be replied that emancipation
will take away _all_ the time from labor, and offer no encouragement
_but to idleness_? How is it now? Do the apprentices work better or
worse during their own time when they are paid? Better, unquestionably.
What does this prove? That freedom will supply both the time and the
inducement to the most vigorous industry.
The _other reason_ for believing that the negroes will abandon
estate-labor after entire emancipation, is their _strong tendency to
barbarism!_ And what are the facts in proof of this? We know but one.
We heard it said repeatedly that the apprentices were not willing to
have their free children educated--that they had pertinaciously declined
every offer of the _bushas_ to educate their children, and _this_, it
was alleged, evinced a determination on the part of the negroes to
perpetuate ignorance and barbarism among their posterity. We heard from
no less than four persons of distinction in St. Thomas in the East, the
following curious fact. It was stated each time for the double purpose
of proving that the apprentices did not wish to have their children
_learn to work_, and that they were opposed to their _receiving
education_. A company of the first-gentlemen of that parish, consisting
of the rector of the parish, the custos, the special magistrate, an
attorney, and member of the assembly, etc., had mustered in imposing
array, and proceeded to one of the large estates in the Plantain Garden
River Valley, and there having called the apprentices together, made the
following proposals to them respecting their free children, the rector
acting as spokesman. The attorney would provide a teacher for the
estate, and would give the children four hours' instruction daily, if
the parents would _bind them to work_ four hours every day; the attorney
further offered to pay for all medical attendance the children should
require. The apprentices, after due deliberation among themselves,
unanimously declined this proposition. It was repeatedly urged upon
them, and the advantages it promised were held up to them; but they
persisted in declining it wholly. This was a great marvel to the
planters; and they could not account for it in any other way than by
supposing that the apprentices were opposed both to labor and education,
and were determined that their free children should grow up in ignorance
and indolence! Now the true reason why the apprentices rejected this
proposal was, _because it came from the planters_, in whom they have no
confidence. They suspected that some evil scheme was hid under the fair
pretence of benevolence; the design of the planters, as they firmly
believed, was to get their _free children bound to them_, so that they
might continue to keep them in a species of apprenticeship. This was
stated to us, as the real ground of the rejection, by several
missionaries, who gave the best evidence that it was so; viz. that at
the same time that the apprentices declined the offer, they would send
their free children _six or eight miles to a school taught by a
missionary_. We inquired particularly of some of the apprentices, to
whom this offer was made, why they did not accept it. They said that
they could not trust their masters; the whole design of it was to get
them to give up their children, and if they should give them up _but for
a single month_, it would be the same as acknowledging that they (the
parents) were not able to take care of them themselves. The busha would
then send word to the Governor that the people had given up their
children, not being able to support them, and the Governor would have
the children bound to the busha, "and _then_," said they, "_we might
whistle for our children_!" In this manner the apprentices, the
_parents_, reasoned. They professed the greatest anxiety to have their
children educated, but they said they could have no confidence in the
honest intentions of their busha.
The views given above, touching the results of entire emancipation in
1840, are not unanimously entertained even among the planters, and they
are far from prevailing to any great extent among other classes of the
community. The missionaries, as a body, a portion of the special
magistrates, and most of the intelligent free colored people, anticipate
glorious consequences; they hail the approach of 1840, as a deliverance
from the oppressions of the apprenticeship, and its train of
disaffections, complaints and incessant disputes. They say they have
nothing to fear--nor has the island any thing to fear, but every thing
to hope, from entire emancipation. We subjoin a specimen of the
reasoning of the minority of the planters. They represent the idea that
the negroes will abandon the estates, and retire to the woods, as wild
and absurd in the extreme. They say the negroes have a great regard for
the comforts which they enjoy on the estates; they are strongly attached
to their houses and little furniture, and their provision grounds. These
are as much to them as the 'great house' and the estate are to their
master. Besides, they have very _strong local attachments_, and these
would bind them to the properties. These planters also argue, from _the
great willingness_ of the apprentices now to work for money, during
their own time, that they will not be likely to relinquish labor when
they are to get wages for the whole time. There was no doubt much truth
in the remark of a planter in St. Thomas in the East, that if _any_
estates were abandoned by the negroes after 1840, it would be those
which had harsh managers, and those which are so mountainous and
inaccessible, or barren, that they _ought_ to be abandoned. It was the
declaration of a _planter_, that entire emancipation would _regenerate_
the island of Jamaica.
* * * * *
We now submit to the candid examination of the American, especially the
Christian public, the results of our inquiries in Antigua, Barbadoes,
and Jamaica. The deficiency of the narrative in ability and interest, we
are sure is neither the fault of the subject nor of the materials. Could
we have thrown into vivid forms a few only of the numberless incidents
of rare beauty which thronged our path--could we have imparted to pages
that freshness and glow, which invested the institutions of freedom,
just bursting into bloom over the late wastes of slavery--could we, in
fine, have carried our readers amid the scenes which we witnessed, and
the sounds which we heard, and the things which we handled, we should
not doubt the power and permanence of the impression produced. It is due
to the cause, and to the society under whose commission we acted,
frankly to state, that we were not selected on account of any peculiar
qualifications for the work. As both of us were invalids, and compelled
to fly from the rigors of an American winter, it was believed that we
might combine the improvement of health, with the prosecution of
important investigations, while abler men could thus be retained in the
field at home; but we found that the unexpected abundance of materials
requires the strongest health and powers of endurance. We regret to add,
that the continued ill health of both of us, since our return, so
serious in the case of one, as to deprive him almost wholly of
participation in the preparation of the work, has necessarily, delayed
its appearance, and rendered its execution more imperfect.
We lay no claim to literary merit. To present as simple narrative of
facts, has been our sole aim. We have not given the results of our
personal observations merely, or chiefly, nor have we made a record of
private impressions or idle speculations. _Well authenticated facts_,
accompanied with the testimony, verbal and documentary, of public men,
planters, and other responsible individuals, make up the body of the
volume, as almost every page will show. That no statements, if
erroneous, might escape detection and exposure, we have, in nearly every
case, given the _names_ of our authorities. By so doing we may have
subjected ourselves to the censure of those respected gentlemen, with
whose names we have taken such liberty. We are assured, however, that
their interest in the cause of freedom will quite reconcile them to what
otherwise might be an unpleasant personal publicity.
Commending our narrative to the blessing of the God of truth, and the
Redeemer of the oppressed, we send it forth to do its part, however
humble, toward the removal of slavery from our beloved but
guilty country.
APPENDIX.
We have in our possession a number of official documents from gentlemen,
officers of the government, and variously connected with its
administration, in the different islands which we visited: some of
these--such as could not be conveniently incorporated into the body of
the work--we insert in the form of an appendix. To insert them _all_,
would unduly increase the size of the present volume. Those not embodied
in this appendix, will be published in the periodicals of the American
Anti-Slavery Society.
* * * * *
OFFICIAL COMMUNICATION FROM E.B. LYON, ESQ., SPECIAL MAGISTRATE.
_Jamaica, Hillingdon, near Falmouth, Trelawney, May 15, 1837_.
TO J.H. KIMBALL., ESQ., and J.A. THOME, ESQ.
DEAR SIRS,--Of the operation of the apprenticeship system in this
district, from the slight opportunity I have had of observing the
conduct of managers and apprentices, I could only speak conjecturally,
and my opinions, wanting the authority of experience, would be of little
service to you; I shall therefore confine the remarks I have to make, to
the operation of the system in the district from which I have
lately removed.
I commenced my duties in August, 1834, and from the paucity of special
magistrates at that eventful era, I had the superintendence of a most
extensive district, comprising nearly one half of the populous parish of
St. Thomas in the East, and the whole of the parish of St. David,
embracing an apprentice population of nearly eighteen thousand,--in
charge of which I continued until December, when I was relieved of St.
David, and in March, 1835, my surveillance was confined to that portion
of St. Thomas in the East, consisting of the coffee plantations in the
Blue Mountains, and the sugar estates of Blue Mountain Valley, over
which I continued to preside until last March, a district containing a
population of four thousand two hundred and twenty-seven apprentices, of
which two thousand eighty-seven were males, and two thousand one hundred
and forty, females. The apprentices of the Blue Mountain Valley were, at
the period of my assumption of the duties of a special magistrate, the
most disorderly in the island. They were greatly excited, and almost
desperate from disappointment, in finding their trammels under the new
law, nearly as burdensome as under the old, and their condition, in many
respects, much more intolerable. They were also extremely irritated at
what they deemed an attempt upon the part of their masters to rob them
of one of the greatest advantages they had been led to believe the new
law secured to them--this was the half of Friday. Special Justice
Everard, who went through the district during the first two weeks of
August, 1834, and who was the first special justice to read and explain
the new law to them, had told them that the law gave to them the extra
four and a half hours on the Friday, and some of the proprietors and
managers, who were desirous of preparing their people for the coming
change, had likewise explained it so; but, most unfortunately, the
governor issued a proclamation, justifying the masters in withholding
the four and a half hours on that day, and substituting any other half
day, or by working them eight hours per day, they might deprive them
altogether of the advantage to be derived from the extra time, which, by
the abolition of Sunday marketing, was almost indispensable to people
whose grounds, in some instances, were many miles from their
habitations, and who were above thirty miles from Kingston market, where
prices were fifty per cent. more than the country markets in their favor
for the articles they had to dispose of, and correspondingly lower for
those they had to purchase. To be in time for which market, it was
necessary to walk all Friday night, so that without the use of the
previous half day, they could not procure their provisions, or prepare
themselves for it. The deprivation of the half of Friday was therefore a
serious hardship to them, and this, coupled to the previous assurance of
their masters, and Special Justice Everard, that they were entitled to
it, made them to suspect a fraud was about being practised on them,
which, if they did not resist, would lead to the destruction of the
remaining few privileges they possessed. The resistance was very
general, but without violence; whole gangs leaving the fields on the
afternoon of Friday; refusing to take any other afternoon, and sometimes
leaving the estates for two or three days together. They fortunately had
confidence in me--and I succeeded in restoring order, and all would have
been well,--but the managers, no longer alarmed by the fear of rebellion
or violence, began a system of retaliation and revenge, by withdrawing
cooks, water-carriers, and nurses, from the field, by refusing medicine
and admittance to the hospital to the apprentice children, and by
compelling old and infirm people, who had been allowed to withdraw from
labor, and mothers of six children, who were exempt by the slave law
from hard labor, to come out and work in the field. All this had a
natural tendency to create irritation, and did do so; though, to the
great credit of the people, in many instances, they submitted with the
most extraordinary patience, to evils which were the more onerous,
because inflicted under the affected sanction of a law, whose advent, as
the herald of liberty, they had expected would have been attended with a
train of blessings. I effected a change in this miserable state of
things; and mutual contract for labor, in crop and out of it, were made
on twenty-five estates in my district, before, I believe, any
arrangement had been made in other parts of the island, between the
managers and the apprentices; so that from being in a more unsettled
state than others, we were soon happily in a more prosperous one, and so
continued.
No peasantry in the most favored country on the globe, can have been
more irreproachable in morals and conduct than the majority of
apprentices in that district, since the beginning of 1835. I have, month
after month, in my despatches to the governor, had to record instances
of excess of labor, compared with the quantity performed during slavery
in some kinds of work; and while I have with pleasure reported the
improving condition, habits, manners, and the industry which
characterized the labors of the peasantry, I have not been an
indifferent or uninterested witness of the improvement in the condition
of many estates, the result of the judicious application of labor, and
of the confidence in the future and sanguine expectations of the
proprietors, evinced in the enlargements of the works, and expensive and
permanent repair of the buildings on various estates, and in the high
prices given for properties and land since the apprenticeship system,
which would scarcely have commanded a purchaser, at any price, during
the existence of slavery.
I have invariably found the apprentice willing to work for an equitable
hire, and on all the sugar estates, and several of the plantations, in
the district I speak of, they worked a considerable portion of their own
time during crop, about the works, for money, or an equivalent in
herrings, sugar, etc., to so great a degree, that less than the time
allotted to them during slavery, was left for appropriation to the
cultivation of their grounds, and for marketing, as the majority, very
much to their credit, scrupulously avoided working on the Sabbath day.
In no community in the world is crime less prevalent. At the quarter
sessions, in January last, for the precinct of St. Thomas in the East,
and St. David, which contains an apprentice population of about thirty
thousand, there was only one apprentice tried. And the offences that
have, in general, for the last eighteen months, been brought before me
on estates, have been of the most trivial description, such as an
individual occasionally turning out late, or some one of an irritable
temper answering impatiently, or for some trifling act of disobedience;
in fact, the majority of apprentices on estates have been untainted with
offence, and have steadily and quietly performed their duty, and
respected the law. The apprentices of St. Thomas in the East, I do not
hesitate to say, are much superior in manners and morals to those who
inhabit the towns.
During the first six or eight months, while the planters were in doubt
how far the endurance of their laborers might be taxed, the utmost
deference and respect was paid by them to the special magistrates; their
suggestions or recommendations were adopted without cavil, and opinions
taken without reference to the letter of the law; but when the obedience
of the apprentice, and his strict deference to the law and its
administrators, had inspired them with a consciousness of perfect
security, I observed with much regret, a great alteration in the
deportment of many of the managers towards myself and the people;
trivial and insignificant complaints were astonishingly increased, and
assaults on apprentices became more frequent, so that in the degree that
the conduct of one party was more in accordance with the obligations
imposed on him by the apprenticeship, was that of the other in
opposition to it; again with the hold and infirm harassed; again were
mothers of six living children attempted to be forced to perform field
labor; and again were mothers with sucking children complained of, and
some attempts made to deprive them of the usual nurses.
Such treatment was not calculated to promote cordiality between master
and apprentice, and the effect will, I fear, have a very unfavorable
influence upon the working of many estates, at the termination of the
system; in fact, when that period arrives, if the feeling of
estrangement be no worse, I am convinced it will be no better than it is
at the present moment, as I have witnessed no pains taking on the part
of the attorneys generally to attach the apprentices to the properties,
or to prepare them in a beneficial manner for the coming change. It was
a very common practice in the district, when an apprentice was about to
purchase his discharge, to attempt to intimidate him by threats of
immediate ejectment from the property, and if in the face of this
threatened separation from family and connections, he persevered and
procured his release, then the sincerity of the previous intimations was
evinced by a peremptory order, to instantly quit the property, under the
penalty of having the trespass act enforced against him; and if my
interference prevented any outrageous violation of law, so many
obstructions and annoyances were placed in the way of his communication
with his family, or enjoyment of his domestic rights, that he would be
compelled for their peace, and his own personal convenience, to submit
to privations, which, as a slave, he would not have been subject to. The
consequence is, that those released from the obligations of the
apprenticeship by purchase, instead of being located, and laboring for
hire upon the estate to which they were attached, and forming a nucleus
around which others would have gathered and settled themselves, they
have been principally driven to find other homes, and in the majority of
instances have purchased land, and become settlers on their own account.
If complete emancipation had taken place in 1834, there would have been
no more excitement, and no more trouble to allay it, than that which was
the consequence of the introduction of the present system of coerced and
uncompensated labor. The relations of society would have been fixed upon
a permanent basis, and the two orders would not have been placed in that
situation of jealousy and suspicion which their present anomalous
condition has been the baneful means of creating.
I am convinced there never was any serious alarm about the consequences
of immediate emancipation among those who were acquainted with the
peasantry of Jamaica. The fears of the morbidly humane were purposely
excited to increase the amount of compensation, or to lengthen the
duration of the apprenticeship; and the daily ridiculous and untruthful
statements that are made by the vitiated portion of the Jamaica press,
of the indolence of the apprentices, their disinclination to work in
their own time, and the great increase of crime, are purposely and
insidiously put forward to prevent the fact of the industry, and
decorum, and deference to the law, of the people, and the prosperous
condition of the estates, appearing in too prominent a light, lest the
friends of humanity, and the advocates for the equal rights of men,
should be encouraged to agitate for the destruction of a system which,
in its general operation, has retained many of the worst features of
slavery, perpetuated many gross infringements of the social and domestic
rights of the working classes; and which, instead of working out the
benevolent intention of the imperial legislature, by aiding and
encouraging the expansion of intellect, and supplying motives for the
permanent good conduct of the apprentices, in its termination, has, I
fear, retarded the rapidity with which civilization would have advanced,
and sown the seeds of a feeling more bitter than that which slavery,
with all its abominations, had engendered.
I am, dear sirs, your very faithful servant,
EDMUND B. LYON, _Special Justice._
Extract from a communication which we received from Wm. Henry Anderson,
Esq., of Kingston, the Solicitor-General for Jamaica.
The staples of the island must be cultivated after 1840 as now, because
if not, the negroes could not obtain the comforts or luxuries, of which
they are undoubtedly very desirous, from cultivation of their grounds.
The fruits and roots necessary for the public markets are already
supplied in profusion at tolerably moderate prices: if the supply were
greatly increased, the prices could not be remunerative. There is no way
in which they can so readily as by labor for wages, _obtain money_, and
therefore I hold that there must ever be an adequate supply of labor in
the market.
The negroes are in my opinion very acute in their perceptions of right
and wrong, justice and injustice, and appreciate fully the benefits of
equitable legislation, and would unreservedly submit to it where they
felt confidence in the purity of its administration.
There is not the slightest likelihood of rebellion on the part of the
negroes after 1840, unless some unrighteous attempts be made to keep up
the helotism of the class by enactments of partial laws. _They_ could
have no interest in rebellion, they could gain nothing by it; and might
lose every thing; nor do I think they dream of such a thing. They are
ardently attached to the British government, and would be so to the
colonial government, were it to indicate by its enactments any purposes
of kindness or protection towards them. Hitherto the scope of its
legislation has been, in reference to them, almost exclusively coercive;
certainly there have been no enactments of a tendency to conciliate
their good will or attachment.
The negroes are much desirous of education and religious instruction: no
one who has attended to the matter can gainsay that. Formerly marriage
was unknown amongst them; they were in fact only regarded by their
masters, and I fear by themselves too, as so many brutes for labor, and
for increase. Now they seek the benefits of the social institution of
marriage and its train of hallowed relationships: concubinage is
becoming quite disreputable; many are seeking to repair their conduct by
marriage to their former partners, and no one in any rank of life would
be hardy enough to express disapprobation of those who have done or
may do so.
WM. HENRY ANDERSON.
_Kingston, Jamaica, 24th April, 1837_.
* * * * *
The following communication is the monthly report for March, 1837, of
Major J.B. Colthurst, special justice for District A., Rural Division,
Barbadoes.
The general conduct of the apprentices since my last report has been
excellent, considering that greater demands have been made upon their
labor at this moment to save perhaps the finest crop of canes ever grown
in the island.
Upon the large estates generally the best feeling exists, because they
are in three cases out of four conducted by either the proprietors
themselves, or attorneys and managers of sense and consideration. Here
all things go on well; the people are well provided and comfortable, and
therefore the best possible understanding prevails.
The apprentices in my district _perform their work most willingly_,
whenever the immediate manager is a man of sense and humanity. If this
is not the case, the effect is soon seen, and complaints begin to be
made. Misunderstandings are usually confined to the smaller estates,
particularly in the neighborhood of Bridgetown, where the lots are very
small, and the apprentice population of a less rural description, and
more or less also corrupted by daily intercourse with the town.
The working hours most generally in use in my district are as follows:
On most estates, the apprentices work from six to nine, breakfast; from
ten to one, dinner--rest; from three to six, work.
It is almost the constant practice of the apprentices, particularly the
praedials or rural portion, to work in their own time for money wages,
at the rate of a quarter dollar a day. They sometimes work also during
those periods in their little gardens round their negro houses, and
which they most generally enjoy without charge, or in the land they
obtain in lieu of allowance, they seem ALWAYS well pleased to be fully
employed at _free_ labor, and work, when so employed, exceedingly well.
I know a small estate, worked exclusively on this system. It is in
excellent order, and the proprietor tells me his profits are greater
than they would be under the apprenticeship. He is a sensible and
correct man, and I therefore rely upon his information. During the hurry
always attendant on the saving of the crop, the apprentices are
generally hired in their own time upon their respective estates at the
above rate, and which they seldom refuse. No hesitation generally occurs
in this or any other matter, whenever the employer discharges his duty
by them in a steady and considerate manner.
The attendance at church throughout my district is most respectable; but
the accommodation, either in this respect or as regards schools, is by
no means adequate to the wants of the people. The apprentices conduct
themselves during divine service in the most correct manner, and it is
most gratifying to perceive, that only very little exertion, indeed,
would be required to render them excellent members of society. This fact
is fully proved by the orderly situation of a few estates in my
district, that have had the opportunity of receiving some moral and
religious instruction. There are sixty-four estates in my district over
twenty-five acres. Upon four of those plantations where the apprentices
have been thus taught, there are a greater number of _married_ couples
(which may be considered a fair test) than upon the remaining sixty. I
scarcely ever have a complaint from these four estates, and they are
generally reported to be in a most orderly state.
In the memory of the oldest inhabitant, the island has never produced a
finer crop of canes than that now in the course of manufacture. All
other crops are luxuriant, and the plantations in a high state of
agricultural cleanliness. The season has been very favorable.
Under the head of general inquiry, I beg leave to offer a few remarks. I
have now great pleasure in having it in my power to state, that a
manifest change for the better has taken place _gradually_ in my
district within the last few months. Asperities seem to be giving way to
calm discussion, and the laws are better understood and obeyed.
It is said in other colonies as well as here, that there has been, and
still continues to be, a great want of natural affection among the negro
parents for their children, and that great mortality among the free
children has occurred in consequence. This opinion, I understand, has
been lately expressed in confident terms by the legislature of St.
Vincent's, which has been fully and satisfactorily contradicted by the
reports of the special justices to the lieutenant-governor. The same
assertion has been made by individuals to myself. As regards Barbadoes,
I have spared no pains to discover whether such statements were facts,
and I now am happy to say, that not a _single instance_ of unnatural
conduct on the part of the negro parents to their children has come to
my knowledge--far, perhaps too far, the contrary is the case; _over
indulgence_ and _petting_ them seems in my judgment to be the only
matter the parents can be, with any justice, accused of. They exhibit
their fondness in a thousand ways. Contrasting the actual conduct of the
negro parents with the assertions of the planters, it is impossible not
to infer that _some bitterness is felt by the latter on the score of
their lost authority_. When this is the case, reaction is the natural
consequence, and thus misunderstandings and complaints ensue. The like
assertions are made with respect to the disinclination of the parents to
send their children to school. This certainly does exist to a certain
extent, particularly to schools where the under classes of whites are
taught, who often treat the negro children in a most imperious and
hostile manner. As some proof that no decided objection exists in the
negro to educate his children, a vast number of the apprentices of my
district send them to school, and take pride in paying a bit a week each
for them--a quarter dollar entrance and a quarter dollar for each
vacation. Those schools are almost always conducted by a black man and
his _married_ wife. However, they are well attended, but are very few
in number.
To show that the apprentices fully estimate the blessings of education,
many females _hire their apprentice_ children at a quarter dollar a week
from their masters, for the express purpose of sending them to school.
This proves the possibility of a _voluntary_ system of education
succeeding, provided it was preceded by full and satisfactory
explanation to the parties concerned. I have also little doubt that
labor to the extent I speak of, may be successfully introduced when the
apprentices become assured that nothing but the ultimate welfare of
themselves and children is intended; but so suspicious are they from
habit, and, as I said before, so profoundly ignorant of what may in
truth and sincerity be meant only for their benefit, that it will
require great caution and delicacy on the occasion. Those suspicions
have not been matured in the negroes mind without cause--the whole
history of slavery proves it. Such suspicions are even _now_ only
relinquished under doubts and apprehensions; therefore, all new and
material points, to be carried successfully with them, should be
proposed to them upon the most liberal and open grounds.
J.B. COLTHURST, _Special Justice Peace, District A, Rural Division_.
* * * * *
_General return of the imports and exports of the island of Barbadoes,
during a series of years--furnished by the Custom-house officer at
Bridgetown_.
£. s, d.
1832 481,610 6 3
1833 462,132 14 4
1834 449,169 12 4
1835 595,961 13 2
1836 622,128 19 11
IMPORTS OF LUMBER.
Feet. Shingles.
1833 5,290,086 5,598,958
1834 5,708,494 5,506,646
1835 5,794,596 4,289,025
1836 7,196,189 7,037,462
IMPORTS OF PROVISIONS.
| Flour. | Corn Meal. |
Y'rs.| bbls. |1/2 bbls.| bush.| bbls.|
-----+--------+---------+-------+------+
1833 | 21,535 | 397 | 629 | 265 |
1834 | 34,191 | 865 | 1675 | 1580 |
1835 | 32,393 | 828 | 160 | 809 |
1836 | 41,975 | 433 | 823 | 1123 |
-----+--------+---------+-------+------+
| Bread and Biscuits. |Oats & Corn.|
Y'rs.| hds.| bbls.|1/2 bbls.|kegs.|bags.| bags.| qrs.|
-----+-----+------+---------+-----+-----+------+-----+
1833 | 49| 2146| 30 | " | " | 430| 50|
1834 | 401| 8561| 99 | 57 | " | 100| 1025|
1835 | 2024| 10762| " | " | " | 2913| 3134|
1836 | 4| 4048| " | " | 1058| 8168| 3119|
-----+-----+------+---------+-----+-----+------+-----+
IMPORTS OF CATTLE, ETC.
Cattle. Horses. Mules.
1833 649 462 65
1834 549 728 24
1835 569 1047 43
1836 1013 1345 104
RETURN OF EXPORTS--SUGAR.
hhds. trcs. bbls.
1832 18,804 1278 838
1833 27,015 1505 651
1834 27,593 1464 1083
1835 24,309 1417 938
1836 25,060 1796 804
* * * * *
VALUATIONS OF APPRENTICES IN JAMAICA.
"From the 1st of August, 1834, to 31st of May, 1836, 998 apprentices
purchased their freedom by valuation, and paid £33,998. From 31st May,
1836, to 1st November, in the same year, 582 apprentices purchased
themselves, and paid £18,217--making, in all, £52,216--a prodigious sum
to be furnished by the negroes in two years. From the above statement it
appears that the desire to be free is daily becoming more general and
more intense, and that the price of liberty remains the same, although
the term of apprenticeship is decreasing. The amount paid by the
apprentices is a proof of the extent of the exertions and sacrifices
they are willing to make for freedom, which can scarcely be appreciated
by those who are unacquainted with the disadvantages of their previous
condition. The negroes frequently raise the money by loans to purchase
their freedom, and they are scrupulous in repaying money lent them for
that purpose."
The above is extracted from the "West Indies in 1837," an English work
by Messrs. Sturge and Harvey, page 86, Appendix.
* * * * *
We insert the following tabular view of the crops in Jamaica for a
series of years preceding 1837.--As the table and "Remarks" appended
were first published in the St. Jago Gazette, a decided "pro-slavery"
paper, we insert, in connection with them, the remarks of the Jamaica
Watchman, published at Kingston, and an article on the present condition
of slavery, from the Telegraph, published at Spanishtown, the seat of
the colonial government.
A GENERAL RETURN OF EXPORTS _From the island of Jamaica, for 53 years,
ending 31st December, 1836--copied from the Journals of the House._
___________________________________________________________________
. | | | | |
d | | |MO-| |
e | SUGAR | RUM |LAS| GINGER |
t | | |SES| |
r |____________________|_______________________|___|____________|
o | s | | | s | s | | | | | |
p | d | | | n | d | | | | | |
x | a | s | s | o | a | | s | | | |
E | e | e | l | e | e | | l | | | |
| h | c | e | h | h | s | e | s | s | |
r | s | r | r | c | s | k | r | k | k | s |
a | g | e | r | n | g | s | r | s | s | g |
e | o | i | a | u | o | a | a | a | a | a |
Y | H | T | B | P | H | C | B | C | C | B |
___________________________________________________________________
1772| 69,451| 9,936| 270| | | | | | | |
1773| 72,996|11,453| 849| | | | | | | |
1774| 69,579| 9,250| 278| | | | | | | |
1775| 75,291| 9,090| 425| | | | | | | |
1776| | | | | | | | | | |
1788| 83,036| 9,256|1,063| | | | | | | |
1789| 84,167|10,078|1,077| | | | | | | |
1790| 84,741| 9,284|1,599| | | | | | | |
1791| 85,447| 8,037|1,718| | | | | | | |
1792| | | | | | | | | | |
1793| 77,575| 6,722| 642|34,755| 879| | | | 62| 8,605|
1794| 89,532|11,158|1,224|39,843|1,570| | | | 121|10,305|
1795| 88,851| 9,537|1,225|37,684|1,475| | | | 426|14,861|
1796| 89,219|10,700| 858|40,810|1,364| | | | 690|20,275|
1797| 78,373| 9,963| 753|28,014|1,463| | | | 259|29,098|
1798| 87,896|11,725|1,163|40,823|2,234| | | | 119|18,454|
1799|101,457|13,538|1,321|37,022|1,981| | | | 221|10,358|
1800| 96,347|13,549|1,631|37,166|1,350| | | | 444| 3,586|
1801|123,251|18,704|2,692|48,879|1,514| | | | 12| 239|
1802|129,544|15,403|2,403|45,632|2,073| 473| 205|366| 23| 2,079|
1803|107,387|11,825|1,797|43,298|1,416| | |461| 51| 3,287|
1804|103,352|12,802|2,207|42,207| 913| | |429|1,094| 1,854|
1805|137,906|17,977|3,689|53,211|1,328| 133| 167|471| 315| 2,128|
1806|133,996|18,237|3,579|58,191|1,178| | |499| 485| 1,818|
1807|123,175|17,344|3,716|51,812|1,998| | |699| 512| 1,411|
1808|121,444|15,836|2,625|52,409|2,196| | |379| 436| 1,470|
1809|104,457|14,596|3,534|43,492|2,717| | |230|2,321| 572|
1810|108,703| 4,560|3,719|42,353|1,964| | |293| 520| 1,881|
1811|127,751|15,235|3,046|54,093|2,011| | |446|1,110| 2,072|
1812|105,283|11,357|2,558|43,346|1,531| | |151| 804| 1,235|
1813| 97,548|10,029|2,304|44,618|1,345| 382| 874|208| 816| 1,428|
1814|101,846|10,485|2,575|43,486|1,551| 202|1,146|145| 884| 1,668|
1815|118,767|12,224|2,817|52,996|1,465| 574|1,398|242|1,493| 1,667|
1816| 93,881| 9,332|2,236|35,736| 769| 281| 903|166|2,354| 1,118|
1817|116,012|11,094|2,868|47,949|1,094| 203| 916|254|3,361| 1,195|
1818|113,818|11,388|2,786|50,195|1,108| 121| 191|407|2,526| 1,067|
1819|108,305|11,450|3,244|43,946|1,695| 602|1,558|253|1,714| 718|
1820|115,065|11,322|2,474|45,361|1,783| 106| 460|252|1,159| 316|
1821|111,512|11,703|1,972|46,802|1,793| 153| 534|167| 984| 274|
1822| 88,551| 8,705|1,292|28,728|1,124| 9| 442|144| 891| 72|
1823| 94,905| 9,179|1,947|35,242|1,935| 20| 118|614|1,041| 60|
1824| 99,225| 9,651|2,791|37,121|3,261| 5| 64|910|2,230| 52|
1825| 73,813| 7,380|2,858|27,630|2,077| 101| 215|894|3,947| 348|
1826| 99,978| 9,514|3,126|35,610|3,098|1,852| |549|5,724| 517|
1827| 82,096| 7,435|2,770|31,840|2,672|1,573| |204|4,871| 240|
1828| 94,912| 9,428|3,024|36,585|2,793|1,013| |189|5,382| 279|
1829| 91,364| 9,193|3,204|36,285|2,009| 563| | 66|4,101| 168|
1830| 93,882| 8,739|3,645|33,355|2,657|1,367| |154|3,494| 15|
1831| 88,409| 9,053|3,492|34,743|2,846| 982| |230|3,224| 22|
1832| 91,453| 9,987|4,600|32,060|2,570|1,362| |799|4,702| 38|
1833| 78,375| 9,325|4,074|33,215|3,034| 977| |755|4,818| 23|
1834| 77,801| 9,860|3,055|30,495|2,588|1,288| |486|5,925| 116|
1835| 71,017| 8,840|8,455|26,433|1,820| 747| |300|3,985| 486|
1836| 61,644| 7,707|2,497|19,938| 874| 646| |182|5,224| 69|
. | | |
d | | |
e | PIMENTO | COFFEE |
t | | |
r |_____________|__________|
o | | | |
p | | | |
x | | | | REMARKS
E | | | s |
| s | | d |
r | k | s | n |
a | s | g | u |
e | a | a | o |
Y | C | B | P |
________________________________________________________________
1772| | | 841,558|
1773| | | 779,303|
1774| | | 739,039|
1775| | | 493,981|
1776| | | |
1788| | | 1,035,368|
1789| | | 1,493,282|
1790| | | 1,783,740|
1791| | | 2,299,874| August--Destruction of
1792| | | | Santo Domingo.
1793| 420| 9,108| 3,983,576|
1794| 554|22,153| 4,911,549|
1795| 957|20,451| 6,318,812|
1796| 136| 9,820| 7,203,539|
1797| 328| 2,935| 7,869,133|
1798| 1,181| 8,961| 7,894,306|
1799| 1,766|28,273|11,745,425| Bourbon cane introduced.
1800| 610|12,759|11,116,474|
1801| 648|14,084|13,401,468|
1802| 591| 7,793|17,961,923|
1803| 867|14,875|15,866,291|
1804| 1,417|19,572|22,063,980|
1805| 288| 7,157|21,137,393| Largest sugar crop.
1806| 1,094|19,534|29,298,036|
1807| 525|19,224|26,761,188| March 25th, abolition of
1808| 225| 6,529|29,528,273| African slave trade.
1809|21,022| 1,177|25,586,668|
1810| 4,276|21,163|25,885,285|
1811| 638|22,074|17,460,068|
1812| 598| 7,778|18,481,986|
1813| 1,124|14,361|24,623,572| Storm in October, 1812
1814| 394|10,711|34,045,585| Largest coffee crop.
1815| 844|27,386|27,362,742|
1816| 851|28,047|17,289,393| Storm in October, 1815
1817| 946|15,817|14,793,706|
1818| 941|21,071|25,329,456|
1819| 882|24,500|14,091,983|
1820| 673|12,880|22,127,444|
1821| 1,224|24,827|16,819,761|
1822| 699|18,672|19,773,912| Extreme drought.
1823| 1,894|21,481|20,326,445| Mr. Canning's resolutions
1824| 599|33,306|27,667,239| relative to slavery.
1825| 537|20,979|21,254,656|
1826| 522|16,433|20,352,886| Severe drought in 1824, the previous year.
1827| 3,236|26,691|25,741,520|
1828| 4,003|25,352|22,216,780|
1829| 3,733|48,933|22,234,640|
1830| 5,609|37,925|22,256,950|
1831| 2,844|22,170|14,055,350|
1832| 3,736|27,936|19,815,010|
1833| 7,741|58,581| 9,866,060| Emancipation act passed.
1834| 496|29,301|17,725,731| Seasons favorable.
1835| 1,115|59,033|10,593,018| do.
1836| 227|46,779|13,446,053| do.
The following are the remarks of the editor of the Jamaica Watchman, on
the foregoing, in his paper of April 8, 1837:--
A general return of exports from the island for fifty-three years,
ending the 31st December last, and purporting to be extracted from the
journals of the assembly, has been published, and as usual, the decrease
in the crops of the respective years has been attributed to the
resolutions passed by the British House of Commons in 1823, and the
abolition of slavery in 1833. It is remarkable that in preparing this
table, a manifest disposition is evinced to account for the falling off
of the crops in certain years anterior, and subsequent to the passing of
Mr. Canning's memorable resolution, whilst opposite to the years 1834
and 1835, is written "seasons favorable." In 1813, the sugar crop fell
off 8,000 hhds. compared with the previous year, and we are told in
reference to this circumstance, that there was a storm in October, 1812.
This remark is evidently made to account for the decrease, and perhaps
the storm at the close of the previous year was the cause of it. But it
is astonishing, and the circumstance is worthy of notice, that whilst
the sugar crop fell off nearly 8,000 hhds. the coffee crop increased
nearly six millions of pounds. We should have supposed that the coffee
trees would have suffered more from the effects of a storm, than the
canes. However, the effect was as we have stated it, whatever might have
been the cause. In 1814, the largest coffee crop was made. Again, in
1816, there was a decrease in the sugar crop compared with the year
immediately preceding it of nearly 25,000 hhds. And here we have the
storm of October, 1815, assigned as a reason. The coffee crop in this
instance also fell off nearly ten millions of pounds. In 1822, the sugar
crop was reduced 23,000 hhds., and the coffee crop increased three
millions of pounds. The reason now assigned is an "extreme drought." The
celebrated resolutions relative to slavery now appear to begin to
exercise their baneful influence on the _seasons_ and the _soil_ of our
island. In the year in which they were passed, 1823, 94,900 hogsheads of
sugar were made, and twenty millions of pounds of coffee gathered. 1824
came, and the crop, instead of being reduced, was increased from nearly
95,000 hogsheads to upwards of 99,000 hogsheads. The coffee crop was
also greater by seven millions of pounds. In 1825, they fall off to
73,860 hogsheads and twenty-one millions. In 1826, the sugar crop rather
exceeded that of 1824, but the coffee crop was seven millions less. In
1827, from causes not known to us, for none were assigned, there was a
difference of 16,000 hhds. of sugar, and an increase of five millions of
pounds of coffee. 1828, 29, and 30, were pretty nearly alike in sugar
and coffee crops, and about equal to 1823. The crops of 1831 fell off
from 93 to 88,000 hogsheads of sugar, and from 22 to 14 millions of
pounds of coffee. No reason is assigned for this reduction. It was
during the continuance of the driving system, and therefore no blame can
attach to the managers. In 1832, the crop rose to 91,000 hogsheads of
sugar, and nearly twenty millions of pounds of coffee. But 1833 comes,
and, with it, fresh troubles for the planters. In that ill-fated year,
there was a decrease of 13,000 hogsheads sugar, and of ten millions of
pounds of coffee. Its sugar crop was the smallest made, with the
exception of that of 1825, since 1793, and its coffee crop since that of
1798. But if this determination be alarming, what must be that of the
succeeding years. Can we be blamed, if, in a strain truly lachrymal, we
allude to the deductions which have annually been made from the
miserable return which 1833 gave to the unfortunate proprietors of
estates? What boots it to tell us that we have fingered thousands of
pounds sterling, in the shape of compensation: and what consolation is
it to know, that a hogshead of sugar will now bring thirty pounds,
which, a short time ago, was only worth twelve. Let any _unprejudiced_
individual look at the return now before us, and say whether our
prospects are not deplorably dull and obscure. If we take the four years
immediately preceding the passing of Mr. Canning's resolutions, say
1819, 20, 21, and 22; we will find the average to be 105,858 hogsheads,
and if from this we even deduct one fourth for the time now lost, there
will be an average crop of 79,394 hhds., being 7,185 hogsheads mere than
the average of 1833, 34, 35, and 36; and no one will deny that this
falling off of one tenth, (supposing that the hogsheads made during the
last four years are _not larger_ than those of 1819 to 1822) is
_nearly_, if not _quite equal_ to the increase of price, from twelve to
thirty pounds, or one hundred and fifty per cent.
It is true some persons may be disposed to take the four years
subsequent to the passing of Mr. Canning's resolutions, say 1823, 4, 5,
and 6, and compare them with the four years ending 31st December last.
Should this be done, it will be found that the average crop of the
previous four years is 91,980 hhds., and if from it is deducted one
fourth, there will remain 68,985 hhds., whilst the average of the other
four years is 72,200 hhds. Such a mode of comparison must, however, be
obviously incorrect; because, in the first place, Mr. Canning's
resolutions had reduced the crops of those years considerably below the
average of the years immediately preceding them, and next, because it
would show the advantage to be on the side of freedom in the ratio of
seventy-two to sixty-nine, which cannot be correct. Besides, in 1824,
there was a severe drought, whereas in 1834 and 35 the seasons are
reported as being favorable. Again, it is necessary, in instituting such
an inquiry, to go back more than fourteen years; nor is it a valid
objection to this to say, that even during that period a number of
estates have been thrown out of cultivation, in consequence of being
worn out and unprofitable. "Deplorable," however, as is the "falling off
in the yearly amounts of our staple productions, which have decreased,"
gentle reader, according to the despatch, "in an accelerated ratio
within the last few years, till in the year 1836, when they do not
average one half the returns of former years preceding that of 1823, the
year that Mr. Canning's resolutions for the ultimate abolition of
slavery in the British colonies passed the House of Commons," still it
is a matter of sincere gratification to know, that the sugar planters
are better off now than they have been for the last fourteen or fifteen
years. With the compensation money a great many of them have been
enabled to pay off their English debts, and the remainder very
considerably to reduce them, whilst the reduction in the quantity of
sugar produced, has occasioned such a rise in the price of that article
as will place the former in easy circumstances, and enable the latter
entirely to free themselves from the trammels of English mortgagees, and
the tender mercies of English mortgagees before the 1st August, 1840,
arrives. And ought these parties not to be thankful? Unquestionably they
ought. Ingratitude, we are told, is as the sin of witchcraft, and
although the table of exports exhibits our fair island as hastening to a
state of ruin, and the despatch tells us that "by the united influence
of mock philanthropy, religious cant, and humbug," a reformed parliament
was _forced_ "to precipitate the _slavery spoliation_ act under the
specious pretext of promoting the industry and improving the condition
of the manumitted slaves," still we maintain, and the reasonable will
agree with us, that we are much better off now than we have been for a
long time, and that Jamaica's brightest and happiest days have not yet
dawned. Let the croakers remember the remarkable words of the Tory Lord,
Belmore, the planter's friend, and be silent--"The resources of this
fine island will never be fully developed until slavery ceases." The
happiness and prosperity of the inhabitants of Jamaica are not
contingent, nor need they be, upon the number of hogsheads of sugar
annually exported from her shores.
* * * * *
To the foregoing we add the remarks of the editor of the "Spanishtown
Telegraph," on the present state of the colony, made in his paper of May
9, 1837:--
"When it was understood that the island of Jamaica and the other
British West Indian colonies were to undergo the blessed transition
from slavery to freedom, it was the hourly cry of the pro-slavery
party and press, that the ruin of Jamaica would, as a natural
consequence, follow liberty! Commerce, said they, will cease; hordes
of barbarians will come upon us and drive us from our own
properties; agriculture will be completely paralyzed; and Jamaica,
in the space of a few short months, will be seen buried in
ashes--irretrievably ruined. Such were the awful predictions of an
unjust, illiberal faction!! Such the first fruits that were to
follow the incomparable blessings of liberty! The staple productions
of the island, it was vainly surmised, could never be cultivated
without the name of slavery; rebellions, massacres, starvation,
rapine and bloodshed, danced through the columns of the
liberty-hating papers, in mazes of metaphorical confusion. In short,
the name of freedom was, according to their assertions, directly
calculated to overthrow our beautiful island, and involve it in one
mass of ruin, unequalled in the annals of history!! But what has
been the result? All their fearful forebodings and horrible
predictions have been entirely disproved, and instead of liberty
proving a curse, she has, on the contrary, unfolded her banners,
and, ere long, is likely to reign triumphant in our land. _Banks,
steam companies, railroads, charity schools, etc._, seem all to have
remained dormant until the time arrived when Jamaica was to be
_enveloped in smoke_! No man thought of hazarding his capital in an
extensive _banking establishment_ until _Jamaica's ruin_, by the
introduction of _freedom, had been accomplished_!! No person was
found possessed of sufficient energy to speak of navigation
companies in Jamaica's brightest days of slavery; but now that ruin
stares every one in the face--now that we have no longer the power
to treat out peasantry as we please, they have taken it into their
heads to establish so excellent an undertaking. Railroads were not
dreamt of until _darling_ slavery had (_in a great measure_)
departed, and now, when we thought of throwing up our estates, and
flying from the _dangers of emancipation_, the best projects are
being set on foot, and what is _worst_, are likely to _succeed_!
This is the way that our Jamaica folks, no doubt, reason with
themselves. But the reasons for the delay which have taken place in
the establishment of all these valuable undertakings, are too
evident to require elucidation. We behold the _Despatch_ and
_Chronicle_, asserting the ruin of our island; the overthrow of all
order and society; and with the knowledge of all this, they speak of
the profits likely to result from steam navigation, banking
establishments, and railroads! What in the name of conscience, can
be the use of steam-vessels when Jamaica's ruin is so fast
approaching? What are the planters and merchants to ship in steamers
when the apprentices will not work, and there is nothing doing? How
is the bank expected to advance money to the planters, when their
total destruction has been accomplished by the abolition of slavery?
What, in the name of reason, can be the use of railroads, when
commerce and agriculture have been nipped in the bud, by that
_baneful weed, Freedom_? Let the unjust panderers of discord, the
haters of liberty, answer. Let them consider what has all this time
retarded the development of Jamaica's resources, and they will find
that it was _slavery_; yes, it was its very name which prevented the
idea of undertakings such as are being brought about. Had it not
been for the introduction of freedom in our land; had the cruel
monster, Slavery, not partially disappeared, when would we have seen
banks, steamers, or railroads? No man thought of hazarding his
capital in the days of slavery, but now that a new era has burst
upon us, a complete change has taken possession of the hearts of all
just men, and they think of improving the blessing of freedom by the
introduction of other things which must ever prove beneficial to
the country.
The vast improvements that are every day being effected in this
island, and throughout the other colonies, stamp the assertions of
the pro-slavery party as the vilest falsehoods. They glory in the
introduction of banks, steam-vessels, and railroads; with the
knowledge (as they would have us believe) that the island is fast
verging into destruction. They speak of the utility and success of
railroads, when, according to their showing, there is no produce to
be sent to market, when agriculture has been paralyzed, and Jamaica
swept to destruction."
* * * * *
The following copious extracts from a speech of Lord Brougham, on the
workings of the apprenticeship, and on the immediate emancipation
substituted therefor in Antigua and the Bermudas, are specially
commended to the notice of the reader. The speech was delivered in the
House of Lords, Feb. 20, 1838. We take it from the published report of
the speech in the London Times, of Feb. 25:--
I now must approach that subject which has some time excited almost
universal anxiety. Allow me, however, first to remind your
lordships--because that goes to the root of the evil--allow me first
to remind you of the anxiety that existed previous to the
Emancipation Act which was passed in January, 1833, coming into
operation in August, 1834. My lords, there was much to apprehend
from the character of the masters of the slaves. I know the nature
of man. * * * * I know that he who has abused power clings to it
with a yet more convulsive grasp. I know his revenge against those
who have been rescued from his tyrannous fangs; I know that he never
forgives those whom he has injured, whether white or black. I have
never yet met with an unforgiving enemy, except in the person of one
of whose injustice I had a right to complain. On the part of the
slaves, my lords, I was not without anxiety; for I know the corrupt
nature of the degrading system under which they groaned. * * * * It
was, therefore, I confess, my lords, with some anxiety that I looked
forward to the 1st of August, 1834; and I yielded, though
reluctantly, to the plan of an intermediate state before what was
called the full enjoyment of freedom--the transition condition of
indentured apprenticeship.
The first of August arrived--that day so confidently and joyously
anticipated by the poor slaves, and so sorely dreaded by their hard
taskmasters--and if ever there was a picture interesting to look
upon--if ever there was a passage in the history of a people
redounding to their eternal honor--if ever there was a complete
refutation of all the scandalous calumnies which had been heaped
upon them for ages, as if in justification of the wrongs which we
had done them--(Hear, hear)--that picture and that passage are to be
found in the uniform and unvarying history of that people throughout
the whole of the West India islands. Instead of the fires of
rebellion, lit by a feeling of lawless revenge and resistance to
oppression, the whole of those islands were, like an Arabian scene,
illuminated by the light of contentment, joy, peace, and good-will
towards all men. No civilized people, after gaining an unexpected
victory, could have shown more delicacy and forbearance than was
exhibited by the slaves at the great moral consummation which they
had attained. There was not a look or a gesture which could gall the
eyes of their masters. Not a sound escaped from negro lips which
could wound the ears of the most feverish planter in the islands.
All was joy, mutual congratulation, and hope.
This peaceful joy, this delicacy towards the feelings of others, was
all that was to be seen, heard, or felt, on that occasion,
throughout the West India islands.
It was held that the day of emancipation would be one of riot and
debauchery, and that even the lives of the planters would be
endangered. So far from this proving the case, the whole of the
negro population kept it as a most sacred festival, and in this
light I am convinced it will ever be viewed.
In one island, where the bounty of nature seems to provoke the
appetite to indulgence, and to scatter with a profuse hand all the
means of excitement, I state the fact when I say not one drunken
negro was found during the whole of the day. No less than 800,000
slaves were liberated in that one day, and their peaceful festivity
was disturbed only on one estate, in one parish, by an irregularity
which three or four persons sufficed to put down.
Well, my lords, baffled in their expectations that the first of
August would prove a day of disturbance--baffled also in the
expectation that no voluntary labor would be done--we were then told
by the "practical men," to look forward to a later period. We have
done so, and what have we seen? Why, that from the time voluntary
labor began, there was no want of men to work for hire, and that
there was no difficulty in getting those who as apprentices had to
give the planters certain hours of work, to extend, upon emergency,
their period of labor, by hiring out their services for wages to
strangers. I have the authority of my noble friend behind me, (the
Marquis of Sligo,) who very particularly, inquired into the matter,
when I state that on nine estates out of ten there was no difficulty
in obtaining as much work as the owners had occasion for, on the
payment of wages. How does all this contrast with the predictions of
the "practical men?" "Oh," said they, in 1833, "it is idle talking;
the cart-whip must be used--without that stimulant no negro will
work--the nature of the negro is idle and indolent, and without the
thought of the cartwhip is before his eyes he falls asleep--put the
cartwhip aside and no labor will be done." Has this proved the case?
No, my lords, it has not; and while every abundance of voluntary
labor has been found, in no one instance has the stimulus of the
cartwhip been found wanting. The apprentices work well without the
whip, and wages have been found quite as good a stimulus as the
scourge even to negro industry. "Oh, but" it is said, "this may do
in cotton planting and cotton picking, and indigo making; but the
cane will cease to grow, the operation of hoeing will be known no
more, boiling will cease to be practised, and sugar-making will
terminate entirely." Many, I know, were appalled by these
reasonings, and the hopes of many were dissipated by these confident
predictions of these so-deemed experienced men. But how stands the
case now? My lords, let these experienced men, come forth with their
experience. I will plant mine against it, and you will find he will
talk no more of his experience when I tell him--tell him, too,
without fear of contradiction--that during the year which followed
the first of August, 1834, twice as much sugar per hour, and of a
better quality as compared with the preceding years, was stored
throughout the sugar districts; and that one man, a large planter,
has expressly avowed, that with twenty freemen he could do more work
than with a hundred slaves or fifty indentured apprentices. (Hear,
hear.) But Antigua!--what has happened there? There has not been
even the system of indentured apprentices. In Antigua and the
Bermudas, as would have been the case at Montserrat if the upper
house had not thrown out the bill which was prepared by the planters
themselves, there had been no preparatory step. In Antigua and the
Bermudas, since the first of August, 1834, not a slave or indentured
apprentice was to be found. Well, had idleness reigned there--had
indolence supplanted work--had there been any deficiency of crop?
No. On the contrary, there had been an increase, and not a
diminution of crop. (Hear.) But, then, it was said that quiet could
not be expected after slavery in its most complete and abject form
had so long reigned paramount, and that any sudden emancipation must
endanger the peace of the islands. The experience of the first of
August at once scattered to the winds that most fallacious prophecy.
Then it was said, only wait till Christmas, for that is a period
when, by all who have any practical knowledge of the negro
character, a rebellion on their part is most to be apprehended. We
did wait for this dreaded Christmas; and what was the result? I will
go for it to Antigua, for it is the strongest case, there being
there no indentured apprentices--no preparatory state--no
transition--the chains being at once knocked off, and the negroes
made at once free. For the first time within the last thirty years,
at the Christmas of the year 1834, martial law was not proclaimed in
the island of Antigua. You talk of facts--here is one. You talk of
experience--here it is. And with these facts and this experience
before us, I call on those _soi-disant_ men of experience--those men
who scoffed at us--who laughed to scorn at what they called our
visionary, theoretical schemes--schemes that never could be carried
into effect without rebellion and the loss of the colonies--I say,
my lords, I call on these experienced men to come forward, and, if
they can, deny one single iota of the statement I am now making. Let
those who thought that with the use of those phrases, "a planter of
Jamaica" "the West India interest," "residence in Jamaica and its
experience," they could make our balance kick the beam--let them, I
say, hear what I tell, for it is but the fact--that when the chains
were knocked off there was not a single breach of the peace
committed either on the day itself, or on the Christmas festival
which followed.
Well, my lords, beaten from these two positions, where did the
experienced men retreat to under what flimsy pretext did they next
undertake to disparage the poor negro race? Had I not seen it in
print, and been otherwise informed of the fact, I could not have
believed it possible that from any reasonable man any such absurdity
could issue. They actually held out this last fear, which, like the
others, was fated to be dissipated by the fact. "Wait only," said
they, "till the anniversary of the first of August, and then you
will see what the negro character is, and how little these
indentured apprentices are fit to be entrusted with freedom." Was
there ever such an absurdity uttered, as if my lords, the man who
could meet with firm tranquillity and peaceful thankfulness the
event itself, was likely to be raised to rebellion and rioting by
the recollection of it a year afterwards. My lords, in considering
this matter, I ask you, then, to be guided by your own experience,
and nothing else; profit by it, my lords, and turn it to your own
account; for it, according to that book which all of us must revere,
teaches even the most foolish of a foolish race. I do not ask you to
adopt as your own the experience of others; you have as much as you
can desire of your own, and by no other test do I wish or desire to
be judged. But I think my task may be said to be done. I think I
have proved my case, for I have shown that the negro can work
without the stimulant of the whip; I have shown that he can labor
for hire without any other motive than that of industry to inspire
him. I have demonstrated that all over the West Indies, even when
fatigued with working the allotted hours for the profit of his
master, he can work again for wages for him who chooses to hire him
and has wherewithal to pay him; I have also most distinctly shown
that the experience of Antigua and the Bermudas is demonstrative to
show that without any state of preparation, without any indenture of
apprenticeship at all, he is fit to be intrusted with his freedom,
and will work voluntarily as a free laborer for hire. But I have
also demonstrated from the same experience, and by reference to the
same state of facts, that a more quiet, inoffensive, peaceable,
innocent people, is not to be found on the face of this earth than
the negro--not in their own unhappy country, but after they have
been removed from it and enslaved in your Christian land, made the
victim of the barbarizing demon of civilized powers, and has all
this character, if it were possible to corrupt it, and his feelings,
if it were possible to pervert them, attempted to be corrupted and
perverted by Christian and civilized men, and that in this state,
with all incentives to misdemeanor poured around him, and all the
temptation to misconduct which the arts and artifices and examples
of civilized man can give hovering over him--that after this
transition is made from slavery to apprenticeship, and from slavery
to absolute freedom, a negro's spirit has been found to rival the
unbroken tranquillity of the Caribbean Seas. (Cheers.) This was not
the state of things we expected, my lords; and in proof that it was
not so, I have but to refer you to the statute book itself. On what
ground did you enact the intermediate state of indenture
apprenticeship, and on what arguments did you justify it? You felt
and acknowledged that the negro had a right to be free, and that you
had no right to detain him in bondage. Every one admitted this, but
in the prevailing ignorance of their character it was apprehended
that they could not be made free at once, and that time was
requisite to train the negro to receive the boon it was intended
bestowing upon him.
This was the delusion which prevailed, and which was stated in the
preamble of the statute--the same delusion which had made the men on
one side state and the other to believe that it was necessary to pay
the slave-owners for the loss it was supposed they would sustain.
But it was found to be a baseless fear, and the only result of the
phantom so conjured up was a payment of twenty millions to the
conjurors. (Hear, and a laugh.) Now, I maintain that had we known
what we now know of the character of the negroes, neither would this
compensation have been given to the slave-owners, nor we have been
guilty of proposing to keep the negro in slavery five years, after we
were decided that he had a right to his freedom. The noble and
learned lord here proceeded to contend that up to the present time
the slave-owners, so far from being sufferers, had been gainers by
the abolition of slavery and the enactment of the system of
apprenticeship, and that consequently up to the present moment
nothing had occurred to entitle them to a claim upon the
compensation allotted by parliament. The slave-owners might be said
to have pocketed the seven millions without having the least claim
to them, and therefore, in considering the proposition he was about
to make, parliament should bear in mind that the slave proprietors
were, if anything, the debtors to the nation. The money had, in
fact, been paid to them by mistake, and, were the transaction one
between man and man, an action for its recovery might lie. But the
slave-owners alleged that if the apprenticeship were now done away
there would be a loss, and that to meet that loss they had a right
to the money. For argument's sake he would suppose this to be true,
and that there would be loss; but would it not be fair that the
money should be lodged in the hands of a third party, with authority
to pay back at the expiration of the two years whatever rateable sum
the master could prove himself to have lost? His firm belief was,
that no loss could arise; but, desirous to meet the planter at every
point, he should have no objection to make terms with him. Let him,
then, pay the money into court, as it were, and at the end of two
years he should be fully indemnified for any loss he might prove. He
called upon their lordships to look to Antigua and the Bermudas for
proof that the free negro worked well, and that no loss was
occasioned to the planters or their property by the granting of
emancipation. But it was said that there was a difference between
the cases of Antigua and other colonies, such as Jamaica, and it was
urged that while the negroes of the former, from the smallness and
barrenness of the place, would be forced into work, that in the
latter they would run away, and take refuge in the woods. Now, he
asked, why should the negro run away from his work, on being made
free, more than during the continuance of his apprenticeship? Why,
again, should it be supposed that on the 1st of August, 1840, the
emancipated negroes should have less inclination to betake
themselves to the woods than in 1838? If there was a risk of the
slaves running to the woods in 1838, that risk would be increased
and not diminished during the intermediate period up to 1840, by the
treatment they were receiving from their masters, and the deferring
of their hopes.
My lords, (continued the noble lord,) I have now to say a few words
upon the treatment which the slaves have received during the past
three years of their apprenticeship, and which, it is alleged,
during the next two years is to make them fitted for absolute
emancipation. My lords, I am prepared to show that in most respects
the treatment the slaves have received since 1834 is no better, and
in many others more unjust and worse, than it ever was in the time
of absolute slavery. It is true that the use of the cartwhip as a
stimulus to labor has been abolished. This, I admit, is a great and
most satisfactory improvement; but, in every other particular, the
state of the slave, I am prepared to show, is not improved, and, in
many respects, it is materially worse. First, with regard to the
article of food, I will compare the Jamaica prison allowance with
that allotted to the apprenticed negroes in other colonies. In the
Jamaica prison the allowance of rice is 14 pints a week to each
person. I have no return of the allowance to the indentured
apprentice in Jamaica, but I believe it is little over this; but in
Barbadoes and the Leeward Islands, it is much under. In Barbadoes,
instead of receiving the Jamaica prison allowance of 14 pints a
week, the apprenticed negro received but 10 pints: while in the
Leeward Islands he had but 8 pints. In the crown colonies, before
1834, the slave received 21 pints of rice, now the apprentice gets
but 10; so that in the material article, food, no improvement in the
condition of the negro was observable. Then, with regard to time, it
is obviously of the utmost importance that the apprentice should
have at least two holidays and a half a week--the Sabbath for
religious worship and instruction, the Saturday to attend the
markets, and half of Friday to work in his own garden. The act of
emancipation specified 45 hours a week as the period the apprentice
was to work for his master, but the master so contrived matters as
in most instances to make the 45 hours the law allotted him run into
the apprentice's half of Friday, and even in some cases into the
Saturday. The planter invariably counted the time from the moment
that the slave commenced his work; and as it often occurs that his
residence was on the border of the estate, he may have to walk five
or six miles to get to the place he has to work. This was a point
which he was sure their lordships would agree with him in thinking
required alteration.
The next topic to which I shall advert relates to the administration
of justice; and this large and important subject I cannot pass over
without a word to remind your lordships how little safe it is, how
little deserving the name of just, or any thing like just, that
where you have two classes you should separate them into conflicting
parties, until they became so exasperated in their resentment as
scarcely to regard each other as brethren of the same species; and
that you should place all the administration of justice in the hands
of one dominant class, whose principles, whose passions whose
interests, are all likely to be preferred by the judges when they
presume to sit where you have placed them on the judgment seat. The
chief and puisne judges are raised to their situations from amongst
the class which includes the white men and planters. But, worse than
that, the jurors are taken from the same privileged body: jurors,
who are to assess civil damages in actions for injuries done to the
negroes--jurors, who are to try bills of indictment against the
whites for the maltreatment of the blacks--jurors who are to convict
or acquit on those bills--jurors who are to try the slaves
themselves--nay, magistrates, jailors, turnkeys, the whole apparatus
of justice, both administrative and executive, exclusively in the
hands of one race! What is the consequence? Why, it is proverbial
that no bills are found for the blacks. (Hear, hear.) Six bills of
indictment were preferred, some for murder and some for bad
manslaughter, and at one assizes every one of these six indictments
was thrown out. Assizes after assizes the same thing happened, until
at length wagers were held that no such bill would be found, and no
one was found to accept them. Well was it for them that they
declined, for every one of the bills preferred was ignored. Now,
observe that in proceedings, as your lordships know; before grand
jurors, not a tittle of evidence is heard for the prisoners; every
witness is in favor of the indictment, or finding of the bill; but
in all these instances the bills were flung out on the examination
of evidence solely against the prisoner. Even in the worst cases of
murder, as certainly and plainly committed as the sun shines at noon
day, monstrous to all, the bills were thrown out when half the
witnesses for the prosecution remained to be examined. (Hear, hear.)
Some individuals swore against the prisoners, and though others
tendered their evidence, the jury refused to hear them. (Hear,
hear.) Besides, the punishments inflicted are monstrous; thirty-nine
lashes are inflicted for the vague, indefinite--because incapable to
be defined--offence of insolence. Thirty-nine lashes for the grave
and the more definite, I admit, offence of an attempt to carry a
small knife. Three months imprisonment, or fifty lashes for the
equally grave offence of cutting off the shoot of a cane plant!
There seems to have prevailed at all times amongst the governors of
our colonies a feeling, of which, I grieve to say, the governors at
home have ever and anon largely partaken, that there is something in
the nature of a slave--something in the habits of the African
negro--something in the disposition of the unfortunate hapless
victims of our own crimes and cruelties, which makes what is mercy
and justice to other men cruelty to society and injustice to the law
in the case of the negro, and which condemns offences slightly
visited, if visited at all, with punishment, when committed by other
men, to the sentence that for his obdurate nature none can be too
severe. (Hear, hear.) As if we had any one to blame but
ourselves--as if we had any right to visit on him that character if
it were obdurate, those habits if they were insubordinate, that
dishonest disposition if it did corrupt his character, all of which
I deny, and which experience proves to be contrary to the fact and
truth; but even if these statements were all truth instead of being
foully slanderous and absolutely false, we, of all men, have
ourselves to blame, ourselves to tax, and ourselves to punish, at
least for the self abasement, for we have been the very causes of
corrupting the negro character. (Cheers.)
If some capricious despot, in his career of ordinary tyranny, were
to tax his imagination to produce something more monstrous and
unnatural than himself, and were to place a dove amongst vultures,
or engraft a thorn on the olive tree, much as we should marvel at
the caprice, we should be still more astounded at the expectation,
which exceeds even a tyrant's proverbial unreasonableness, that he
should gather grapes from the thorn, or that the dove should be
habituated to a thirst for blood. Yet that is the caprice, that is
the unreasonable, the foul, the gross, the monstrous, the
outrageous, incredible injustice of which we are hourly guilty
towards the whole unhappy race of negroes. (Cheers.) My lords, we
fill up the incasare of injustice by severely executing laws badly
conceived in a still more atrocious and cruel spirit. The whole
punishments smell of blood. (Hear, Hear.) If the treadmill stop in
consequence of the languid limbs and exhausted frames of the
victims, within a minute the lash resounds through the building--if
the stones which they are set to break be not broken by limbs
scarred, and marred, and whaled, they are summoned by the crack of
the whip to their toilsome task! I myself have heard within the last
three hours, from a person, who was an eye-witness of the appalling
and disgusting fact, that a leper was introduced amongst the
negroes; and in passing let me remark, that in private houses or
hospitals no more care has been taken to separate those who are
stricken with infectious diseases from the sound portion, any more
than to furnish food to those in prison who are compelled, from the
unheard-of, the paltry, the miserable disposition to treat with
cruelty the victims of a prison, to go out and gather their own
food,--a thing which I believe even the tyrant of Siberia does not
commit. Yet in that prison, where blood flows profusely, and the
limbs of those human beings are subjected to perpetual torture, the
frightful, the nauseous, the disgusting--except that all other
feelings are lost in pity towards the victim and indignation against
the oppressor--sight was presented of a leper, scarred from the
eruptions of disease on his legs and previous mistreatment, whaled
again and again, and his blood again made to flow from the jailer's
lash. I have told your lordships how bills have been thrown out for
murdering the negroes. But a man had a bill presented for this
offence: a petition was preferred, and by a white man. Yes, a white
man who had dared, under feelings of excited indignation, to
complain to the regularly constituted authorities, instead of
receiving for his gallant conduct the thanks of the community, had a
bill found which was presented against him as a nuisance. I have,
within the last two hours, amid the new mass of papers laid before
your lordships within the last forty-eight hours, culled a sample
which, I believe, represents the whole odious mass.
Eleven females have been flogged, starved, lashed, attached to the
treadmill, and compelled to work until nature could no longer endure
their sufferings. At the moment when the wretched victims were about
to fall off--when they could no longer bring down the mechanism and
continue the movement, they were suspended by their arms, and at
each revolution of the wheel received new wounds on their members,
until, in the language of that law so grossly outraged in their
persons, they "languished and died." Ask you if a cringe of this
murderous nature went unvisited, and if no inquiry was made
respecting its circumstances? The forms of justice were observed;
the handmaid was present, but the sacred mistress was far away. A
coroner's inquest was called; for the laws decreed that no such
injuries should take place without having an inquiry instituted.
Eleven inquisitions were held, eleven inquiries were made, eleven
verdicts were returned. For murder? Manslaughter? Misconduct? No;
but that "they died by the visitation of God." A lie--a perjury--a
blasphemy! The visitation of God! Yes, for of the visitations of the
Divine being by which the inscrutable purposes of his will are
mysteriously worked out, one of the most mysterious is the power
which, from time to time, is allowed by him to be exercised by the
wicked for the torment of the innocent. (Cheers.) But of those
visitations prescribed by Divine Providence there is one yet more
inscrutable, for which it is still more difficult to affix a reason,
and that is, when heaven rolls down on this earth the judgment, not
of scorpions, or the plague of pestilence, or famine, or war--but
incomparably the worse plague, the worser judgment, of the injustice
of judges who become betrayers of the law--perjured, wicked men who
abuse the law which they are sworn to administer, in order to
gratify their own foul passions, to take the part of the wrong-doer
against his victim, and to forswear themselves on God's gospel, in
order that justice may not be done. * * * * My lords, I entirely
concur in what was formerly said by Mr. Burke, and afterwards
repeated by Mr. Canning, that while the making of laws was confined
to the owners of slaves, nothing they did was ever found real or
effectual. And when, perchance, any thing was accomplished, it had
not, as Mr. Burke said, "an executive principle." But, when they
find you determined to do your duty, it is proved, by the example
which they have given in passing the Apprenticeship Amendment Act,
that they will even outstrip you to prevent your interference with
them. * * * * Place the negroes on the same footing with other men,
and give them the uncontrolled power over their time and labor, and
it will become the interest of the planter, as well as the rest of
the community, to treat the negro well, for their comfort and
happiness depend on his industry and good behavior. It is a
consequence perfectly clear, notwithstanding former distinctions,
notwithstanding the difference of color and the variety of race in
that population, the negro and the West Indian will in a very few
generations--when the clank of his chain is no longer heard, when
the oppression of the master can vex no more, when equal rights are
enjoyed by all, and all have a common interest in the general
prosperity--be impressed with a sense of their having an equal share
in the promotion of the public welfare; nay, that social
improvement, the progress of knowledge, civility, and even
refinement itself, will proceed as rapidly and diffuse itself as
universally in the islands of the Western Ocean as in any part of
her Majesty's dominions. * * * *
I see no danger in the immediate emancipation of the negro; I see no
possible injury in terminating the apprenticeship, (which we now
have found should never have been adopted,) and in causing it to
cease for slaves previous to August, 1838, at that date, as those
subsequent to that date must in that case be exempt. * * * * I
regard the freedom of the negro as accomplished and sure. Why?
Because it is his right--because he has shown himself fit for
it--because a pretext or a shadow of a pretext can no longer be
devised for withholding that right from its possessor. I know that
all men now take a part in the question, and that they will no
longer bear to be imposed upon now they are well informed. My
reliance is firm and unflinching upon the great change which I have
witnessed--the education of the people unfettered by party or by
sect--from the beginning of its progress, I may say from the hour of
its birth. Yes; it was not for a humble man like me to assist at
royal births with the illustrious prince who condescended to grace
the pageant of this opening session, or the great captain and
statesman in whose presence I now am proud to speak. But with that
illustrious prince, and with the father of the Queen I assisted at
that other birth, more conspicuous still. With them and with the
lord of the house of Russel I watched over its cradle--I marked its
growth--I rejoiced in its strength--I witnessed its maturity--I have
been spared to see it ascend the very height of supreme
power--directing the councils of the state--accelerating every great
improvement--uniting itself with every good work--propping honorable
and useful institutions--extirpating abuses in all our
institutions--passing the bounds of our dominion, and in the new
world, as in the old, proclaiming that freedom is the birthright of
man--that distinction of color gives no title to oppression--that
the chains now loosened must be struck off, and even the marks they
have left effaced by the same eternal law of our nature which makes
nations the masters of their own destiny, and which in Europe has
caused every tyrant's throne to quake. But they need to feel no
alarm at the progress of right who defend a limited monarchy and
support their popular institutions--who place their chiefest pride
not in ruling over slaves, be they white or be they black--not in
protecting the oppressor, but in wearing a constitutional crown, in
holding the sword of justice with the hand of mercy, in being the
first citizen of a country whose air is too pure for slavery to
breathe, and on whose shores, if the captive's foot but touch, his
fetters of themselves fall off. (Cheers.) To the resistless progress
of this great principle I look with a confidence which nothing can
shake; it makes all improvement certain--it makes all change safe
which it produces; for none can be brought about, unless all has
been accomplished in a cautious and salutary spirit. So now the
fulness of time is come; for our duty being at length discharged to
the African captive, I have demonstrated to you that every thing is
ordered--every previous step taken--all safe, by experience shown to
be safe, for the long-desired consummation. The time has come--the
trial has been made--the hour is striking: you have no longer a
pretext for hesitation, or faltering, or delay. The slave has shown,
by four years' blameless behavior and devotion, unsurpassed by any
English peasant, to the pursuit of peaceful industry, that he is as
fit for his freedom as any lord whom I now address. I demand his
rights--I demand his liberty without stint, in the names of justice
and of law--in the name of reason--in the name of God, who has given
you no right to work injustice. I demand that your brother be no
longer trampled upon as your slave. (Hear, hear.) I make my appeal
to the Commons, who represent the free people of England; and I
require at their hands the performance of that condition for which
they paid so enormous a price--that condition which all their
constituents are in breathless anxiety to see fulfilled! I appeal to
his house--the hereditary judges of the first tribunal in the
world--to you I appeal for justice. Patrons of all the arts that
humanize mankind, under your protection I place humanity herself! To
the merciful Sovereign of a free people I call aloud for mercy to
the hundreds of thousands in whose behalf half a million of her
Christian sisters have cried aloud, that their cry may not have
risen in vain. But first I turn my eye to the throne of all justice,
and devoutly humbling myself before Him who is of purer eyes than to
behold any longer such vast iniquities--I implore that the curse
over our heads of unjust oppression be averted from us--that your
hearts may be turned to mercy--and that over all the earth His will
may at length be done!
* * * * *
INDEX.
ABSCONDING from labor,
Accident in a boiling house,
Aged negro,
Allowance to Apprentices,
"Amalgamation,"
American Consul, (_See Consul_.)
American Prejudice,
Amity Hall Estate,
Anderson, Wm. II. Esq.,
Anguilla,
Annual Meeting of Missionaries,
Antigua, Dimensions of,
" Sugar Crop of,
Applewhitte, Mr.
Appraisement of Apprentices,
Apprentice, provisions respecting the,
Apprenticeship compared with slavery,
Apprenticeship System,
" Design of,
" Good effect of,
" No preparation for freedom,
Apprenticeship, Operation of,
Apprenticeship, Opinion of, in Antigua;--in Barbadoes;--in Jamaica,
Apprentices liberated,
Apprentices' work compared with slaves
Archdeacon of Antigua,
" of Barbadoes,
Aristocracy of Antigua,
Armstrong, Mr. H.,
Ashby, Colonel,
Athill, Mr.,
Attachment to home,
Attorney General of Jamaica,
Attendance on Church
August, First of
Baijer, Hon. Samuel O.,
Baines, Major,
Banks, Rev. Mr.,
Baptist Chapel
Baptists in Jamaica,
Barbadoes,
Barbuda,
Barber in Bridgetown,
Barclay, Alexander, Esq.,
Barnard, Samuel, Esq.,
Barrow, Colonel,
Bath,
Bazaar,
Bell, Dr.,
Belle Estate,
Bell not tolled for colored person,
"_Belly, 'blige_ 'em to work,"
Belmore, Lord,
Belvidere Estate,
Benevolent institutions of Antigua,
Bible Society,
Bishop of Barbadoes,
Blessings of Abolition, (See _Morals_, &c.)
Blind man,
Boiling House,
Bookkeepers, Slaver of,
"Bornin' Ground,"
Bourne, Mr. London,
Bourne, Mr. S., (of Antigua,)
Bourne, Stephen, Esq., (of Jamaica,)
Breakfast at Mr. Bourne's,
" at Mr. Prescod's,
" at Mr. Thorne's,
Briant, Mr.,
Bridgetown,
Brown, Colonel,
Brown, Thomas C.,
C., Mr., of Barbadoes,
"Cage,"
Cane cultivated by apprentices on their own ground,
Cane-cutting,
Cane-holing,
Cecil, Mr.,
Cedar Hall,
Chamberlain, R., Esq.,
Change of opinion in regard to slavery,
Chapel erected by apprentices,
Character of colored people,
Cheesborough, Rev. Mr.,
Children, care of, (See _Free_.)
Christmas,
Church, Established,
Civility of negroes,
Clarke, Dr.,
Clarke, Hon. R.B.,
Clarke, Mr.,
Classification of apprentices,
Codrington Estate,
Coddrington, Sir Christopher.
Coffee Estates.
College, Coddrington.
Colliton Estate.
Colored Architect.
" Editors.
" Lady.
" Legislators.
" Magistrates.
" Merchants.
" Policemen.
" Population.
" Proprietor.
" Teachers.
Colthurst, Major.
Complaints to Special Magistrates.
Concubinage.
Condition of the negroes, changed.
Conduct of the Emancipated on the first of August.
Confidence increased.
Conjugal attachment.
Consul, American at Antigua.
" " at Jamaica.
Constabulary force, colored.
Contributions for religious purposes.
Conversation with a negro boatman.
Conversation with negroes on Harvey's estate.
Conversation with apprentices.
Corbett, Mr. Trial of.
Corner stone laid.
Courts in Barbadoes.
Courts in Jamaica.
Cox, Rev. James.
Cranstoun, Mr.
Crimes, Diminution of.
Crimes in Jamaica.
Crookes, Rev. Mr.
Crops in Barbadoes.
Crops in Jamaica.
Cruelty of slavery.
" to apprentices.
Cultivation in Barbadoes, (See _Crops_.)
Cultivation in Jamaica.
Cummins, Mr.
Cummins, Rev. Mr.
Cuppage, Captain.
Custom House returns, Barbadoes.
Daily meal Society.
Dangers of slavery.
Daniell, Dr.
Death-bed of a planter.
Deception.
Defect of law.
Demerara, Apprenticeship in.
Desire for instruction.
Dinner at Mr. Harris's.
" at the Governor's.
Disabilities of colored people.
Discussion, Effect of.
Distinction between _serving_ and being _property_.
Distressed Females' Friend Society.
Disturbances, Reason of.
Docility of the negroes.
Domestic Apprentices.
Donovan's Estate.
Drax Hall.
Dress in Antigua.
"Driver and overseer."
Drought in Antigua.
Dublin Castle Estate.
Duncan, Mr.
Dungeons in Antigua.
" in Barbadoes.
Economy of the negroes.
Edgecomb Estate.
Edmonson, Rev. Jonathan.
Education of Apprentices.
" in Antigua.
" in Barbadoes. (See _Schools_.)
Education, Queries on, replied to.
" Results, in regard to.
Edwards, Colonel.
Eldridge, R. B. Esq..
Elliot, Rev. Edward.
Emancipation, Immediate. (See _Preparation, &c._)
Emancipation, Motives of, in Antigua.
Emigrants from Europe.
Employments of the colored.
English Delegation.
Enrolment of colored militia.
Escape of slaves from French islands.
Expectations in regard to 1838 and 1840.
Expense of free compared with slave labor.
Expense of Apprenticeship compared with slavery.
Explanation of terms.
Exports of Jamaica for 53 years.
Fair of St. John's.
Favey, Mr.
Feeding in Barbadoes.
Feeling, intense, of the negroes.
Females in the field.
Fences wanting in Antigua.
Ferguson, Dr.
Fines upon the planters.
Fire in the canes.
Fitch's Creek Estate.
Flogging.
" machine.
Forten, James.
Four and a half per cent tax.
Fraser, Rev. Edward.
" Mrs., ----
Free children.
Freedom in Antigua.
Free labor less expensive.
Freeman, Count.
Frey's Estate.
Friendly Societies.
Fright of American vessels.
Galloway, Mr.
Gangs, Division of.
Gardiner, Rev. Mr.
Gilbert, Rev. N.
Girl sold by her mother.
Gitters, Rev. Mr.
Golden Grove Estate.
Gordon, Mr.
Governor of Antigua.
" of Barbadoes.
Grace Bay.
Grenada.
"Grandfather Jacob."
Gratitude of the Negroes.
"Grecian Regale."
Green Castle Estate.
Green Wall Estate.
Guadaloupe.
Guarda Costas.
"Gubner poisoned."
H., Mr., an American.
Hamilton, Capt.
Hamilton, Cheny, Esq.
Hamilton, Rev. Mr.
Harrison, Colonel.
Harris, Thomas, Esq.
Harvey, Rev. B.
Hatley, Mr.
Heroism of colored women.
Higginbothom, Ralph, Esq.
Hill, Richard, Esq.
Hinkston, Samuel, Esq.
Holberton, Rev. Robert.
Holidays in Antigua.
Horne, Rev. Mr.
"Horse."
Horton Estate.
Horsford, Hon. Paul.
Hostility to Emancipation. (See also, _Change, &c._)
House of Correction.
Howell, Mr., (of Jamaica).
Howell, James Esq.
Hurricane.
Imports and Exports of Barbadoes.
Improvement since Emancipation. (See _Morals_.)
Indolence of Apprentices.
" of Whites.
Industry of Emancipated Slaves.
Industry of Apprentices.
Infanticide.
Insolence.
Insubordination. (See _Subordination_.)
Insurrection in Barbadoes in 1816.
Insurrection not feared in Antigua;
nor in Barbadoes;
nor in Jamaica.
Intelligence of blacks, as compared with whites.
Intemperance in Antigua. (See _Temperance_.)
Intermixture. (See also _Amalgamation_.)
Internal Improvement.
Jamaica.
Jarvis, Colonel.
Jobs.
Jocken, Mr.
Jones, Mr.
Jones, Rev. Mr.
Jones, T. Watkins, S. M.
Jordon, Edward, Esq.
Jury on the body of a negro woman.
"Juvenile Association."
Kingdon, Rev. Mr.
Kingston.
Kirkland, Mr.
Law, respect for.
Lear's Estate.
Legislature of Antigua.
Letter to a Special Magistrate.
License to marry.
Licentiousness.
Lighthouse.
Lock-up house at St. John's.
Lyon, E.B., Esq.
Lyon's Estate.
Machinery, Labor-saving.
Managers, Testimony of.
Manchioneal.
Market in St. John's.
Market people.
Maroons.
Marriage.
Marshall, Mr.
Martinique.
Master's power over the apprentice.
McCornock, Thomas, Esq.
McGregor, Sir Evan, J. M.
Megass.
Merchants, Testimony of.
Messages of Sir Lionel Smith.
Mico Charity Infant School.
Miller's Estate.
Missionaries, Wesleyan.
Missionary associations.
" Society, Wesleyan.
Mob, Pro-Slavery, in Barbadoes.
Möhne, Mr. and Mrs.
Montserrat.
Morals, improvement of.
Morant Bay.
Moravian Chapel.
" Missionary.
Moravians.
Morrish, Rev. Mr.
Mule-traveling.
Murder of a planter.
Musgrave, Dr.
Negro Grounds.
Negro Quarters.
Nevis.
Newby, Mr.
Newfield, visit to.
Noble trait in the apprentices.
Nugent, Hon. Nicholas.
Obstacles to free labor in Antigua.
Old school tyrant.
Opinions in Antigua in regard to Emancipation.
Opinions of the United States.
Opposition to slavery in Jamaica.
O'Reily, Hon. Dowel.
Osburne, Mr.
Overseers.
Packer, Rev. Mr.
Parry, Archdeacon.
Partiality of the Special Magistrates.
Peaceableness of negro villages.
Peaceableness of the change from slavery to freedom.
Peaceableness of the negro character.
Persecution of a Special Justice.
Peter's Rock.
Phillips, Rev. Mr.
Physician, Testimony of.
Pigeot, Mr.
Plantain Garden River Valley.
Planter, a severe one.
Planters, cruelty of.
" in Barbadoes.
Plough.
Police Court.
" of Antigua.
" Officers, Testimony of.
" Reports.
Policy of colored people in regard to prejudice.
Port Royal.
Prejudice against color.
"Prejudice Bell."
Preparation for freedom.
Prescod, Mr.
Promiscuous seating in church (See _"Amalgamation," &c._)
Proprietor, testimony of.
Pro-slavery pretences.
Providence of the emancipated, the.
Provost Marshal, Testimony of.
Punishment, cruel.
Punishment in Antigua.
Ramsay, Mr.
Real Estate.
Rebellion, so called.
Rector of St. John's.
"Red Shanks."
Reid, Mr. E.
Religion in Antigua;
in Barbadoes;
in Jamaica.
Religious condition of slaves in Antigua.
Religious instruction desired.
Report of a Special Magistrate.
Resolution in regard to Messrs. Thome and Kimball.
Resolutions of Wesleyan Missionaries.
Respect for the aged.
Results in Antigua.
Revengefulness.
Ridge Estate.
Right of suffrage.
Rogers, Mr.
Ross, A., Esq.
Rowe, Rev. Mr.
Rum, use of in Antigua.
Sabbath in Antigua;
in Barbadoes;
in Jamaica.
Sabbath school in Bridgetown.
Safety of immediate emancipation. (See _Insurrections_.)
School, adult;
at Lear's;
Parochial;
Wolmer Free.
Schools in Antigua;
in Bridgetown;
infant;
in Kingston;
in Spanishtown.
Scotland in Barbadoes.
Scotland, James, Esq.
Scotland, J., Jr. Esq.
Security restored.
Self-emancipation.
Self-respect.
Shands, Mr. S.
Shiel, Mr.
Shrewsbury, Rev. Mr.
Sickness, pretended.
Silver Hill.
Sligo, Lord.
Smith, Sir Lionel.
Social intercourse.
Societies, benevolent.
Society among colored people.
" for promotion of Christian knowledge.
Soldiers, black.
Solicitor General of Barbadoes.
" of Jamaica.
Song sung in the schools.
Spanishtown.
"Speaking," a Moravian custom.
Special Magistrates. (See also _Partiality_.)
Special Magistrates, Testimony of.
St. Andrews.
Station House, A.
St. Christopher's.
St. Lucia.
Stock Keepers.
St. Thomas in the East.
Sturge & Harvey, Messrs.
St. Vincent's.
Subordination.
Sugar Crop.
" cultivation hard for the slave.
Sugar Mill.
Sunday Markets.
Superintendent of Police.
Suspension of faithful magistrates.
Task-work.
Teacher, Black.
Teachers.
"Telegraph," Remarks of the.
Temperance in Antigua.
" of negroes.
" Society.
Testimony of Managers.
Testimony of clergymen and missionaries.
Testimony of Governors.
" of magistrates.
" of physicians.
Theft, decrease of.
Thibou Jarvis's estate.
Thomas, Mr.
Thompson, George, Bust of.
Thompson, Thomas, Esq.
Thorne, Mr.
Thwaites, Mr. Charles.
Tinson, Rev. Mr.
Toast to Immediate Emancipation.
Tortala.
Traffic in Slaves.
Transition from slavery to freedom.
Treatment of slaves ameliorated by discussion.
Treadmill.
Trinidad.
Trustworthiness.
Unwilling witness.
Vagrancy.
Value of an apprentice. (See _Appraisement_.)
Villa Estate.
Wages.
Walton, Rev. Mr.
Watchman, Jamaica.
" Remarks of the.
Watkins, Mr.
Ward, Sir Henry.
Weatherill's Estate.
Wesleyan Chapel, Antigua.
" " New, ".
" Missionary Society.
Wesleyans in Antigua.
" in Barbadoes.
" in Jamaica.
Whip banished.
Whipping Post.
White lady.
Wilberforce, opinion of.
Wickham, Richard S.
Willis, George, Esq.
Willoughby Bay Examination.
Wolmer Free School.
Women abandon the field.
" condition of.
Woolridge, Rev. Mr.
Wright, Andrew, Esq.
* * * * *
THE ANTI-SLAVERY EXAMINER--EXTRA.
* * * * *
EMANCIPATION
In The
WEST INDIES, IN 1838.
* * * * *
IMPORTANT TO THE UNITED STATES.
False prophets were never stiller about their time-detected impostures
than are the pro-slavery presses of the United States about the results
of West India Emancipation. Now and then, for the sake of appearances,
they obscurely copy into their immense sheets an inch or two of
complaints, from some snarling West India paper, that the emancipated
are lazy and won't work. But they make no parade. They are more taciturn
than grave-stones.
In the following closely printed columns, those who wish to know will
find out precisely how the "_great experiment_" has worked. They
will find,
1. The _safety_ of abolition demonstrated--its safety in the worst
possible case.
2. That the colonies are prospering in their _agriculture_.
3. That the planters conferred freedom because they were _obliged to_ by
public opinion abroad.
4. That freedom, even thus unwillingly conferred, was accepted as a
precious boon by the slaves--they were grateful to God, and ready to
work for their masters for fair pay.
5. That the mass of the planters have endeavoured, from the first, to
get work out of the free laborers for as small wages as possible.
6. That many of the attorneys and managers have refused fair wages and
practiced extortion, _to depreciate the price of property_, that they
might profit thereby.
7. That all the indisposition to labor which has yet been exhibited is
fully accounted for by these causes.
8. That in spite of all, the abolition is working well for the _honest_
of all parties.
* * * * *
WEST INDIA EMANCIPATION, IN 1838.
The immediate abolitionists hold that the change from slavery to freedom
cannot be too sudden. They say that the first step in raising the slave
from his degradation should be that of making him a proper subject of
law, by putting him in possession of himself. This position they rest on
the ground both of justice and expediency, which indeed they believe to
be inseparable. With exceptions too trifling to affect the question,
they believe the laborer who feels no stimulus but that of wages and no
restraint but that of law, is the most _profitable_, not only to himself
and society at large, but to any employer other than a brutal tyrant.
The benefit of this role they claim for every man and woman living
within this republic, till on fair trial the proper tribunal shall have
judged them unworthy of it. They deny both the justice and expediency of
permitting any degree of ignorance or debasement to work the forfeiture
of self-ownership, and pronounce slavery continued for such a cause the
worst of all, inasmuch as it is the _robbery of the poor because he
is poor_.
What light was thrown upon this doctrine by the process of abolition in
the British West Indies from the 1st of August 1834 to the 1st of June
1837, may be seen in the work of Messrs. Thome and Kimball entitled,
"Emancipation in the West Indies." That light continues to shine.
Bermuda and Antigua, in which the slaves passed instantaneously out of
absolute slavery into full freedom, are living witnesses of the blessing
of heaven upon immediate emancipation. In Antigua, one of the old sugar
colonies, where slavery had had its full sway there has been especially
a fair test of immediatism, and the increasing prosperity of the island
does the utmost honor to the principle. After the fullest inquiry on the
point, Messrs. Thome and Kimball say of this island:--
"There is not a class, or party, or sect, who do not esteem the
abolition of slavery as a _special blessing to them_. The rich, because
it relieved them of "property" which was fast becoming a disgrace, as it
had always been a vexation and a tax, and because it has emancipated
them from the terrors of insurrection, which kept them all their
life-time subject to bondage. The poor whites--because it lifted from
off them the yoke of civil oppression. The free colored
population--because it gave the death blow to the prejudice that crushed
them, and opened the prospect of social, civil, and political equality
with the whites. The _slaves_--because it broke open their dungeons, led
them out to liberty, and gave them, in one munificent donation, their
wives, their children, their bodies, their souls--everything."
In the emphatic language of the Governor, "It was _universally admitted_
that emancipation had been a great blessing to the island."
In November 1837, Lord Brougham thus summed up the results of the
Antigua experiment in a speech in the House of Lords:--
"It might be known to their lordships that in one most important colony
the experiment of instant and entire emancipation had been tried.
Infinitely to the honor of the island of Antigua was it, that it did not
wait for the period fixed by the Legislature, but had at once converted
the state of slavery into one of perfect liberty. On the 1st of August,
1834, the day fixed by act of Parliament for the commencement of a ten
years' apprenticeship, the Legislature of that colony, to the immortal
honor of their wisdom, their justice, and their humanity, had abolished
the system of apprenticeship, and had absolutely and entirely struck the
fetters off from 30,000 slaves. Their lordships would naturally ask
whether the experiment had succeeded; and whether this sudden
emancipation had been wisely and politically done. He should move for
some returns which he would venture to say would prove that the
experiment had entirely succeeded. He would give their lordships some
proofs: First, property in that island had risen in value; secondly,
with a very few exceptions, and those of not greater importance than
occurred in England during harvest, there was no deficiency in the
number of laborers to be obtained when laborers were wanted; thirdly,
offences of all sorts, from capital offences downwards, had decreased;
and this appeared from returns sent by the inspector of slaves to the
governor of that colony, and by him transmitted to the proper authority
here; and, fourthly, the exports of sugar had increased: during the
three years ending 1834, the average yearly export was 165,000 cwts.,
and for the three subsequent years this average had increased to 189,000
cwts., being an increase of 21,000 cwts, or one clear seventh, produced
by free labor. Nor were the last three years productive seasons; for in
1835 there was a very severe and destructive hurricane, and in the year
1836 there was such a drought that water was obliged to be imported from
Barbados."
Of such sort, with regard to both the colonies that adopted the
principle of immediate emancipation, have been the facts--and all the
facts--up to the latest intelligence.
The rest of the colonies adopted the plan proposed by the British
government, which contrary to the wishes of the great body of British
abolitionists, made the slaves but partially free under the name of
apprentices. In this mongrel condition they were to remain, the house
servants four, and the field laborers six years. This apprenticeship was
the darling child of that expediency, which, holding the transaction
from wrong to right to be dangerous and difficult, illustrates its
wisdom by lingering on the dividing line. Therefore any mischance that
might have occurred in any part of this tardy process would have been
justly attributable to _gradualism_ and not to _immediatism_. The force
of this remark will be better seen by referring to the nature and
working of the apprenticeship as described in the book of Messrs. Thome
and Kimball. We have only room to say that the masters universally
regarded the system as a part of the compensation or bonus to the
slaveholder and not as a preparatory school for the slave. By law they
were granted a property in the uncompensated _labor_ of the slaves for
six years; but the same law, by taking away the sole means of enforcing
this labor, in fact threw the masters and slaves into a six years'
quarrel in which they stood on something like equal terms. It was surely
not to be wondered if the parties should come out of this contest too
hostile ever to maintain to each other the relation of employer and
employed. This six years of vexatious swinging like a pendulum over the
line between bondage and liberty was well calculated to spoil all the
gratitude and glory of getting across.
It was early discovered that the masters generally were disposed to
abuse their power and get from their apprentices all that could by any
means be extorted. The friends of humanity in Great Britain were
aroused, Mr. Sturge, a distinguished philanthropist of Birmingham,
accompanied by Messrs. Scohle, Harvey, and Lloyd, proceeded to the West
Indies on a mission of inquiry, and prosecuted their investigation
contemporaneously with Messrs. Thome and Kimball. Their Report produced
a general conviction in England, that the planters had forfeited all
claim to retain their authority over the apprentices, and the government
was accordingly petitioned immediately to abolish the system. This it
was loth to do. It caused inquiries to be instituted in the colonies,
especially in Jamaica, with the evident hope of overthrowing the charges
of Mr. Sturge. The result more than confirmed those charges. The
government still plead for delay, and brought in a bill for the
_improvement_ of the apprenticeship. In the progress of these
proceedings, urged on as they were by the heaven-high enthusiasm of the
British nation, many of the planters clearly perceived that their chance
of power during the remaining two years of the apprenticeship had become
worth less to them than the good will which they might get by
voluntarily giving it up. Whether it was this motive operating in good
faith, or a hope to escape philanthropic interference for the future by
yielding to its full claim, and thus gain a clear field to oppress under
the new system of wages, one thing is certain the chartered colonies,
suddenly, and to the surprise of many, put the finishing stroke to the
system and made their apprentices free from the 1st of August, 1838. The
crown colonies have mostly imitated their example.
The following table exhibits the extent and population of these
colonies.
Possessions. Date of Extent. Population
acquisit. sq. m. White Slaves F. Col.
Anguilla[B], 1650 . . . 365 2,388 327
Antigua[A], 1632 108 1,980 29,537 3,895
Bahamas[B], 1629 4,400 4,240 9,268 2,991
Barbados[B], 1625 166 14,959 82,807 5,146
Bermudas[A], 1611 22 3,905 4,608 738
Dominica[B], 1783 275 840 15,392 3,606
Grenada[B], 1783 125 801 24,145 3,786
Jamaica[B], 1655 6,400 37,000 311,692 55,000
Montserrat[B], 1632 47 330 6,262 814
Nevis[B], 1628 20 700 9,259 2,000
St. Christophers[B],1632 68 1,612 19,310 3,000
St. Lucia[B], 1803 58 972 13,661 3,718
St. Vincent[B], 1783 130 1,301 23,589 2,824
Tobago[B], 1763 187 322 12,556 1,164
Trinidad[B], 1797 2,460 4,201 24,006 15,956
Tortola, or
Virgin Isles[B], 1666 . . . 800 5,399 607
Total, B.W.I . . . 14,466 74,328 593,879 105,572
Cape of Good Hope, . . . . . . 43,000 35,500 29,000
Berbice[B] . . . . . . 523 20,645 1,161
Guiana Demarara[B] 1803 . . . 3,006 65,556 6,360
Essequibo[B], . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Honduras, 1650 62,750 250 2,100 2,300
Mauritius, . . . . . . 8,000 76,000 15,000
Total. . . . . . . 129,107 793,680 159,393
[Footnote A: Emancipated entirely on the 1st. of August, 1834.]
[Footnote B: Emancipated entirely on the 1st. of August, 1838, by vote
of the local legislatures in the chartered Colonies; and by Governor and
Council, in the Crown Colonies.]
The _unanimity_ with which the apprenticeship was given up is a most
remarkable and instructive fact. In the Council and Assembly of
Montserrat, there was an unanimous decision in favor of Emancipation as
early as February 1838. In the legislature of Tortola, which passed the
bill in April 1838, the opposing party was small. In that of Barbados
the bill was passed on the 15th of May with but _one_ dissenting voice.
In that of Jamaica, the bill seems to have been passed on the 8th of
June, and the _Jamaica Times_ remarks:--"No dissentient voice was heard
within the walls of the Assembly, all joined in the wish so often
expressed, that the remaining term of the apprenticeship should be
cancelled, that the excitement produced by a law which has done
inconceivable harm in Jamaica, in alienating the affections of her
people, and creating discord and disaffection, should at once cease.
Thank God! it is now nearly at an end, and we trust that Jamaica will
enjoy that repose, so eagerly and anxiously sought after, by all who
wish the Island well."
These facts come down upon the question of the safety of an _immediate_
emancipation with an _a fortiori_, a _much more then_. For it is
admitted on all hands that the apprenticeship had "alienated the
affections of the people;" they were in a state less favorable to a
quiet sequel, than they were before the first of August, 1834, yet the
danger was not thought of. The _safety_ was an argument _in favor_ of
emancipation, not _against_ it. The raw head and bloody bones had
vanished. The following is a fair exhibition of the feeling of the most
influential planters, in regard to the _safety_ of the step.
From the Barbadian, May 9, 1838.
AT A MEETING OF THE BOARD OF LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL, IN THE NEW COURT
HOUSE, APRIL 24TH, 1838.
The Lord Bishop rose and spoke as follows:
"_Mr. President, and Gentlemen of the Council_,
'I was informed yesterday that, during my absence from this island, the
members recorded their opinion as to the expediency of absolutely
abolishing the apprenticeship in August, 1838. I am most anxious to
record my entire concurrence in this resolution, but I wish it to be
understood that I do not consider the measure as called for by any
hardships, under which the laborers in this island are suffering--nor
from the want of any essential comfort--nor from the deprivation of any
thing, which a laborer can fairly claim from his master; still I do
express my concurrence in the resolution of the board, and I do so on
these grounds: that I am satisfied the measure can be safely carried in
this island, and if safely, then I feel justly; for I consider the very
important interests which are involved in the measure. I must confess,
too, that I am unwilling the Barbados should be behind any other island,
especially in a measure which may be carried both safely and justly, and
where its example may be of such beneficial consequence. I am just
returned from visiting the Northern Islands of the Diocese. I have gone
over every part of Tortola, and though it is far more fertile than the
Off Islands, yet even these are sufficiently productive for the laborer
to raise the lesser and necessary provision of life,--and yet with these
islands in their very face, the Legislature of Tortola has passed the
act of abolition. Some of the proprietors were opposed to it, but they
have now given up their opposition; and I heard, whilst in Antigua, not
only that the act had passed, but that on the day of its passing, or the
following day, some of the leading proprietors rode through the island,
and were met by the people with expressions of the utmost gratitude,
regarding the act as a boon granted to them by their masters. At Nevis
the act has passed. At St. Christopher's the council are in favor of its
passing, and with Nevis emancipated in its vicinity, there is little
doubt but the Act must pass. At Montserrat also it has passed. At
Antigua, which I visited last year, I found that every thing was
proceeding quietly and regularly. I found too, the planters in high
spirits, and some estates, which had been given up, restored; and the
small patches and tenements of the free people, commencing last year,
now in a very satisfactory state of cultivation. It is possible, indeed,
that these last mentioned, unless the population is proportionably
increased, may affect the cultivation of the larger estates, but there
they are, and flourishing, as I have described, whilst I was in the
island. A contiguous, though abandoned estate was purchased by Sir Henry
Martin for about 9,500 _l._ currency, being 3,000 _l._ more than he had
offered a few years previously. To compare Barbados with any other
island, either as to population, wealth, or state of agriculture, is
unnecessary. I have seen nothing like the commercial activity which I
saw in the streets yesterday, except at St. Thomas; and I feel,
therefore, on all these grounds, that the act may be passed safely and
justly. At the same time I am not unmindful or insensible to the state
of public opinion in the mother country, nor to the many new and
harassing annoyances to which the proprietors may be exposed during a
protracted continuance of the apprenticeship. I request that my full
concurrence in the resolution of the council, may be accorded on the
minutes of this day's proceedings.'"
Such is the testimony of a witness in no wise warped by prejudice in
favor of the anti-slavery party.
The debates which took place in the legislatures of both Barbados and
Jamaica, are full of similar testimony, uttered by men every way
qualified to bear witness, and under influences which relieve their
testimony from every taint of suspicion.
In the legislature of Jamaica, on the question of a Committee to bring
in a Bill, Mr. GOOD remarked, "He could say that the negroes from their
general good conduct were deserving of the boon. Then why not give in
with a good heart? why exhibit any bad feelings about the matter? There
were many honorable gentlemen who had benefitted by the pressure from
without, who owed their rank in society and their seats in that house to
the industry of the negroes. Why should they now show a bad heart in the
matter?--Nine tenths of the proprietors of this island had determined
upon giving up the apprenticeship. Hundreds of thousands were to be
benefited--were to take their stations as men of society, and he hoped
the boon would not be retarded by a handful of men who owed their all
to slavery."
Mr. Dallas said,--"_The abolition of the remaining term of
apprenticeship must take place; let them then join hand and heart in
doing it well, and with such grace as we now could. Let it have the
appearance of a boon from ourselves, and not in downright submission to
the coercive measures adopted by the British Parliament_."
After a committee had been appointed to prepare and bring in a Bill for
the abolition of the apprenticeship, a member rose and proposed that the
28th of June should be its termination. We give his speech as reported
in the Jamaica papers, to show how fanatical even a slaveholder
may become.
"On the members resuming their seats, Mr. HART proposed that it be an
instruction to the committee appointed to bring in the bill or
abolishing the remainder of the apprenticeship, to insert a clause in
it, that the operation of that bill should commence on the 28th of June,
that being the day appointed for the coronation of the Queen. _He felt
proud in telling the house that he was the representative of the black
population. He was sent there by the blacks and his other friends_. The
white Christians had their representatives, the people of color had
their representatives, and _he hoped shortly to see the day when the
blacks would send in their own representatives_. He wanted the thing
done at once, Sir, said the honorable member waxing warm. It was
nonsense to delay it. It could be done in three lines as he said before,
dele 1840 and put in 1838. That was all that they had to do. If it were
possible, let the thing be done in two words. He went there to do his
duty to his constituents, and he was determined to do so. His black
friends looked up to him to protect them--and he would press his motion
that all the apprentices in the island should be _crowned_ on the 28th
of June. (Thundering roars of laughter.) He was as independent as any
honorable member, and would deliver his sentiment, without caring who
were and who were not pleased. He was possessed of property in
apprentices--_he had an estate with nearly two hundred negroes, that he
was determined to crown on the 28th of June_. (Increased roars of
laughter in the house, and at the bar.) He would not be laughed down.
His properties were not encumbered. He would not owe anything on them
after they were paid for, and that he could do. (Loud laughter.) He was
determined to have his opinion. As he had said before, the 28th day of
June being fixed for the coronation of all the negroes in the island,
that is the day they ought to be released from the apprenticeship.
(Thundering and deafening roars of laughter). (Here the honorable member
was told that the Queen was to be crowned on that day.) Ah, well, he had
made a mistake, but he would tell the house the truth, _he had made up
his mind to give his apprentices freedom on that day, but he did not
wish to do it without his neighbors doing the same, lest they should say
he was setting a bad example_. He would press his motion to a division.
It had been seconded by his honorable friend on his right.--(Aside,
"Good, didn't you promise to second it?") The honorable member then read
his motion, and handed it up to the clerk."
The "mistake" of this liberal descendant of Israel, which excited so
much merriment was, after all, not a very unfortunate one, _if_ the
"crown" of manhood is more important than that of monarchy. The members
objected to so near an approach to _immediatism_, not, however, be it
remarked, on account of the unfitness of the apprentices, (slaves) but
their own convenience. Among those who replied to Mr. Hart, was Mr.
Osborn, of unmingled African blood, born a slave, and who, we are
informed, was a successful competitor for the seat he now occupies
against the very man who formerly claimed him as property. Mr. Osborn
and his partner Mr. Jordon were editors of the Jamaica Watchman, and had
contended manfully for liberty when it was a dangerous word. Mr. Osborn
said:--"He was astonished at the galloping liberality which seemed to
have seized some honorable members, now there was nothing to contend
for. Their liberality seemed to have outrun all prudence. Where were
they and their liberality when it was almost death to breach the
question of slavery? What had become of their philanthropy? But no, it
was not convenient then. The stream was too strong for them to resist.
Now, however, when the question was finally settled, when nothing
remained for them to do, it was the time that some honorable gentlemen
began to clamor their liberality, and began a race who should be the
first, or who should have the honor of first terminating the
apprenticeship. He hoped the motion would be withdrawn, and the
discussion put an end to."
What had become of the visions of blood and slaughter? Could there be
more impressive testimony to the safety of Emancipation in all, even the
worst cases?
We might add to this testimony that of the universal newspaper press of
the British West India colonies. We have room, however, to select only
from a few of the well known opponents of freedom.
"We seriously call upon our representatives to consider well all the
bearings of the question, and if they cannot resist effectually these
encroachments of the Imperial Government, adopt the remaining
alternative of saving themselves from an infliction, by giving up at
once and entirely, the bone of contention between us. Thus only shall we
disarm, if anything in reason or in nature can, our enemies of their
slanderous weapons of offence, and secure in as far as possible, a
speedy and safe return of peace and prosperity to the "distracted"
colony.--Without this sacrifice on our parts, we see no shelter from our
sufferings--no amelioration of present wrongs--no hope for the future;
but on the contrary, a systematic and remorseless train laid for the
ultimate ruin of every proprietor in the country. With this sacrifice
which can only be to any extent to a few and which the wisdom of our
legislature may possibly find out some means or other of compensation,
we have the hope that the sunshine of Jamaica's prosperity shall not
receive any farther diminution; but shall rather dawn again with renewed
vigor; when all shall be alike free under the protection of the same
law, and the same law-givers; and all shall be alike amenable to the
powers that punish without favor and without affection."--_Jamaica
Standard_.
"There is great reason to expect that many Jamaica proprietors will
anticipate the period established by the Slavery Abolition Act for the
termination of the apprenticeship. They will, as an act of grace, and
with a view to their future arrangements with their negroes, terminate
the apprenticeship either of all at once, or by giving immediate freedom
to the most deserving; try the effect of this gift, and of the example
afforded to the apprentices when they see those who have been discharged
from the apprenticeship working on the estates for wages. If such a
course is adopted, it will afford an additional motive for inducing the
Legislature to consider whether the good feeling of the laboring
population, and their future connection with their former employers, may
not be promoted by permitting them to owe to the grace of their own
Legislature the termination of the apprenticeship as soon as the
requisite legislation for the new state of things has been
adopted."--_Jamaica Despatch_.
Of such sort as this is the testimony from all the Colonies, most
abundantly published in the Emancipator and other abolition papers, to
the point of the _safety_ of entire Emancipation. At the time when the
step was taken, it was universally concluded that so far from being
dangerous it promised the greatest safety. It would not only put an end
to the danger apprehended from the foreign interference of the
abolitionists, but it would _conciliate the negroes_! And we are not
able to find any one who professes to be disappointed with the result
thus far. The only evil now complained of, is the new freemen do not in
some instances choose _to work_ on the _terms_ offered by the planters.
They have shed no man's blood. They have committed no depredation. They
peaceably obey the laws. All this, up to the latest date, is universally
admitted. Neither does any one _now_ presume to prophesy anything
different for the future.
INDUSTRY.
On the one topic of the industry of the Emancipated people, the West
Indian papers give the most conflicting accounts. Some represent them as
laboring with alacrity, diligence and effect wherever anything like an
adequate compensation is offered. It is asserted by some, and not denied
by any authorities that we have seen, that the emancipated are
industriously at work on those estates where the masters voluntarily
relinquished the apprenticeship before the first of August and met their
freed people in good faith. But most of the papers, especially in
Jamaica, complain grievously that the freed people will work on no
reasonable terms. We give a fair specimen from one of the Jamaica
papers, on which our political editors choose most to rely for their
information:--
"In referring to the state of the country this week, we have still the
same tale to tell of little work, and that little indifferently done,
but exorbitantly charged for; and wherever resisted, a general "strike"
is the consequence. Now this, whatever more favourable complexion the
interested and sinister motives of others may attempt to throw around
it, is the real state of matters upon nine-tenths of the properties
situated in St. James's, Westmoreland, and Hanover. In Trelawny they
_appear_ to be doing a little better; but that only arises, we are
confident from the longer purses, and patience of endurance under
exorbitant wages, exhibited by the generality of the managers of that
parish. Let them wait till they find they can no longer continue making
sugar at its present expensive rate, and they will then find whether
Trelawny is substantially in a better condition than either of the other
parties."--_Standard, quoted in the Morning Journal of Nov. 2_.
This is the "tale" indeed, of a great part of the West India papers,
sung to the same hum drum tune ever since the first of August; and so
faithfully echoed by our own pro slavery press that many of our
estimable fellow citizens have given it up that the great "experiment"
has turned out unfavorably, and that the colored population of the West
Indies are rapidly _sinking_ from the condition of _slaves_ to that of
idle freemen. Were we all in a position perfectly disinterested and
above the peculiar influence of slavery, we might perhaps consider these
complaints as asking for, rather than against, the character of the
Emancipated and the cause of freedom, inasmuch as they prove the former
slaves to have both the discretion and the spirit which should
characterise freemen. But to the peculiar optics which abound in these
United States it may be necessary to show the entire picture.
To prove in the first place the general falsehood of the complaints
themselves it is only necessary to advert to recent official documents.
For our present purpose it will be sufficient to refer to Jamaica. The
legislature was convened on the 30th of October and addressed by the
Governor Sir Lionel Smith in a speech of which the following extract
pertains to our subject:--
_"Gentlemen of the Council, Mr. Speaker, and Gentlemen of the House
of Assembly,_
The most important event in the annals of colonial history has taken
place since last I had the pleasure of meeting the legislature of
this Island; and I am happy in being able to declare that the
conduct of the laboring population, who were then the objects of
your liberal and enlightened policy, _entitles them to the highest
praise, and amply proves how_ WELL THEY HAVE DESERVED _the boon
of freedom._
It was not to be expected that the total extinction of the
apprenticeship law would be followed by an instantaneous return to
active labor, but feeling as I do the deepest interest in the
successful result of the great measurement now in progress, I
sincerely congratulate you and the country at large, on the
improvement which is daily taking place on the resumption of
industrious habits, and I TRUST THERE IS EVERY PROSPECT OF
AGRICULTURAL PROSPERITY."
Such is the testimony of a Governor who is no stranger in the West
Indies and who was put in the place of Lord Sligo as more acceptable to
the planters. But what said the House of Assembly in reply?--a House
made up chiefly of attornies who had more interest than any other men in
the continuance of the old system and who, as will presently be shown,
were not unwilling to have the "experiment" fail? They speak as
follows:--
_"May it Please your Excellency,_
We, her Majesty's dutiful and loyal subjects, the Assembly of
Jamaica, thank your Excellency for your speech at the opening of
the session.
The House join your Excellency in bearing testimony TO THE
PEACEABLE MANNER in which the laboring population have conducted
themselves in a state of FREEDOM.
It certainly was not to be expected that so great a change in the
condition of the people would be followed by an immediate return to
active labor. The House, however, are willing to believe that some
degree of improvement is taking place, and they sincerely join in
the HOPE expressed by your Excellency, that the agricultural
interests of the Island may ultimately prosper, by a resumption of
industrious habits on the part of the peasantry in their new
condition."
This settles the question. Those who will not be convinced by such
documents as these that the mass of the Emancipated in Jamaica are ready
_to do their part_ in the system of free labor, would not be convinced
if one rose from the deed to prove it.
We are now prepared to investigate the causes of the complaints, and
inquire why in numerous cases the negros have refused to work. Let us
first go back to the debates Jamaica Legislature on the passage of the
Emancipation bill in June, and see whether we can discover the _temper_
in which it was passed, and the prospect of good faith in its execution.
We can hardly doubt that some members, and some especially from whose
speeches on that occasion we have already quoted, designed really to
confer the "boon of freedom." But others spoke very differently. To
understand their language we must commence with the Governor's speech at
the opening of the session:--
_"Gentlemen of the Council,
Mr. Speaker, and Gentlemen of the Assembly,_
I have called you together, at an unusual season, to take it to your
consideration the state of the Island under the Laws of
Apprenticeship, for the labouring population.
I need not refer you to the agitation on this subject throughout the
British Empire, or to the discussions upon it in Parliament, _where
the honourable efforts of the ministry_ were barely found sufficient
to preserve the original duration of the Laws, as an obligation of
the National faith.
I shall lay before you some despatches on this subject."
* * * * *
_"Gentlemen,_
_General agitation and Parliamentary interference have not, I am
afraid, yet terminated._
_A corresponding excitement has been long going on among the
apprentices themselves,_ but still they have rested in sober and
quiet hopes, relying on your generosity, that you will extend to
them that boon which has been granted to their class in
other Colonies."
* * * * *
_"Gentlemen of the Council,
Mr. Speaker and Gentlemen of the Assembly,_
In this posture of affairs, it is my duty to declare my sentiments,
and distinctly to _recommend to you the early and equal abolition of
the apprenticeship for all classes._ I do so in confidence that the
apprentices will be found worthy of freedom, and that it will
operate as a double blessing, by securing also the future interests
of the planters.
I am commanded, however, to inform you that her Majesty's ministers
will not entertain any question of further compensation. But should
your views be opposed to the policy I recommend, I would entreat you
to consider well _how impracticable it will become to carry on
coercive labor_--always difficult, it would in future be in peril of
constant comparisons with other colonies made free, and with those
estates in this island made free by individual proprietors.
As Governor, under these circumstances, and I never shrink from any
of my responsibilities, _I pronounce it physically impossible to
maintain the apprenticeship with any hope of successful agriculture._
* * * * *
"_Gentlemen of the Council,
Mr. Speaker, and gentlemen of the Assembly._
Jamaica, is in your hands--she requires repose, by the removal of a
law which has _equally tormented the laborer, and disappointed the
planter_--a law by which man still constrains man in unnatural
servitude. This is her first exigency. For her future welfare she
appeals to your wisdom to legislate in the spirit of the times, with
liberality and benevolence towards all classes."
* * * * *
When such a man as Sir Lionel Smith pronounced it no longer practicable
to carry on coercive labor, he must have been a bold as well as a rash
planter who would venture to hold on to the old system under Lord
Glenelg's improvement Act. Accordingly we find some of the staunchest
advocates of slavery, men who had been fattening on the oppression of
the apprentices up to that moment the first, and the most precipitate,
is their proposals of abolition. Mr. Hyslop, Mr. Gay and others were for
acting at once on the Governor's speech without referring it to a
committee. The former said: "He believed that a proposition would be
made to abandon the apprenticeship from the 1st of August, _but he would
say let it be abandoned from Sunday next_. He would therefore move that
the speech be made the order of the day for tomorrow."
Mr. Guy said:--
"The Governor's speech contained nothing more than what every Gentlemen
expected, _and what every Gentlemen, he believed, was prepared to do. In
short he_ would state that _a bill had already been prepared by him,
which he intended to introduce tomorrow, for the abolition of the
apprenticeship on the 1st of August next_."
Both these gentlemen are well known by the readers of Jamaica papers as
obstinate defenders slavery. The latter was so passionately devoted to
the abuses of the apprenticeship that Lord Sligo was obliged to dismiss
him from the post of Adjutant General of militia. In the ardor of his
attachment to the "peculiar institution" of getting work without pay, he
is reported to have declared on a public occasion, that the British
ministry were a "parcel of reptiles" and that the "English nation was
fast going to the dogs." In another part of the debate:--
"Mr. Guy hoped the house would not _go into a discussion of the nature of
the apprenticeship_, or the terms upon which it was forced us by the
government. All that he knew about the matter was, that it was a part
and parcel of the compensation. Government had so declared it. In short
it was made law. He could not help believing that the Hon. member for
Trelawny, was arguing against the dictates of his own honest heart--that
he came there cut and dry with a speech prepared to _defend the
government_."
Mr. Barclay, to whom, some years ago, the planters gave a _splendid
service of plate_ for his ingenious defence of slavery against the
terrible pen of JAMES STEPHEN, said "it appeared to be the general
feeling of the house that the apprenticeship should be done away with.
Be that as it may, he was free to say that in that part of the island he
was from, and certainly it was a large and wealthy district, the
apprenticeship system _had worked well_, and all parties _appeared_
satisfied with it. He denied that there existed any necessity to disturb
the working of the system, it would have _gradually_ slided into
_absolute freedom if they were permitted to regulate their own affairs_,
but the government, or rather, _the people of England, had forced on the
predicament in which they were placed_. The ministry could not help
themselves--They were driven to violate the national compact, not in
express words, it is true, but in fact. It was, however, the _force of
public opinion that operated_ in producing the change. They were placed
in a situation from which they could hardly extricate themselves.--
_They had no alternative, he was afraid, but to go along with
the stream_."
Mr. Hamilton Brown, who at the commencement of the apprenticeship came
into a Special Magistrate's court and publicly told him that unless he
and his colleagues "_did their duty by having recourse to a frequent and
vigorous application of the lash, there would he rebellion in the Parish
(of St. Ann's!) in less than a month, and all the responsibility of such
a calamity would rest on their shoulders_"! discoursed in the following
manner. "It was always understood, for the apprenticeship _had become
marketable_. Properties had been bought and sold with them, their time
had been bought by others, and by themselves."
"He had no hesitation in saying, that the statements which had been made
in England against the planters _were as false as hell_--they had been
concocted here, and sent home by a parcel of spies in the island. They
were represented as a cruel set of men, as having outraged the feelings
of humanity towards the negroes, or in matters in which they were
concerned. This was false. He did not mean to deny that there were a
_few instances_ of cruelty to the apprentices, but then those were
_isolated cases_, and was it not hard that a hue and cry should be
raised against the whole body of planters, and all made to suffer on
account of those _few_. He would say that there was a greater
disposition to be cruel to the negroes evinced _by young men arriving in
this island from England, than by the planters. There was, indeed, a
great deal of difficulty in restraining them from doing so, but the
longer they lived in the country, the more kind and humane they became_.
The negroes _were better off here than many of the people of Great
Britain_, and they would have been contented, had it not been for the
injudicious _interference of some of the Special Justices_. Who had ever
heard of negroes being starved to death? Had they not read accounts in
the English papers of men destroying their wives, their children, _and
afterwards themselves_, because they could not obtain food. They had
been grossly defrauded of their property; and after doing that, it was
now sought to destroy their constitutional rights. He would repeat, they
had been grossly defrauded of their property." [Here is the true
slaveholder, logic, chivalry and all.]
Mr. Frater said, among other things, "He knew that it might be said the
bill (Lord Glenelg's) did not go to the extent of freeing the
negroes--_that we are about to do ourselves_, but he would ask whether
we were not _driven into the difficulty_ by which we are now surrounded!
Had we not been brought into this _alarming position_, into this
_exigency_, by the conduct of the British Government. _Why do we not
tell the English nation frankly and candidly, that they agreed to give
the planter six years' services of their apprentices, as a part of the
compensation, and if they desired to do away with it, that we must be
paid for it_, otherwise we will NOT ANSWER FOR ANY CHANGE, FOR ANY EVILS
WHICH ARE LIKELY TO ENSUE. Why did the government force such an
obnoxious bill upon us? They had in substance done this, they refused to
annul the apprenticeship themselves, it is true, but said, we will place
them in a situation that will compel them to do it themselves. He must
say that the Government had acted _cowardly and unjustly_, they had in
substance deprived them of the further two years' services of their
apprentices, agreeably to the compact entered into, upon a pretext that
we had not kept faith with them, and now tell us they will give us no
compensation. He hoped the allusion to it in the address would be
retained."
We beg the patient attention of the reader to still more of these
extracts. The present state of things in Jamaica renders them very
important. It is indispensable to a correct judgment of the results of
the experiment to understand in what temper it was entered upon by the
parties. Nothing can show this more clearly or authoritatively than the
quotations we are making. We find another little torrent of eloquence
from the same Mr. Hamilton Brown above quoted. He and several other
gentlemen rose to reply to the statements of Richard Hill, a friend of
freedom, and Secretary of the Special Magistracy.
Mr. Brown--"Mr. Chairman, I am on my legs, Sir. I say that we have to
thank the Special Justices, and the _private instructions_ which they
have acted upon, _for all the evils that have occurred in the country_.
Had they taken _the law_ for their guide, had they acted upon that, Sir,
and not upon their private instructions, _every thing would have gone on
splendidly_, and we should have done well. But they had _destroyed the
negroes with their instructions_, they had _given them bad advice_, and
_encouraged them in disobedience to their masters_. I say it, Sir, in
the face of this committee--I would say it on my death-bed tomorrow,
that if the Stipendiary Magistrates had _done their duty_ all would have
gone on well, _and I told his Excellency that he might then have slept
on a bed of roses_."
Here was one of the abolishers of the apprenticeship who held that more
flogging would have made it work more "splendidly." Mr. Hugh Fraser
Leslie, who the February before had, in his place in the Assembly,
denominated the anti-slavery delegates assembled in London, as "a set of
crawling wretches;" "the scum and refuse of society." "The washings and
scrapings of the manufacturing districts," &c. &c. now delivered himself
of the following:--
"_He would ask any man in the house, nay, in the country, whether the
house had any discretion left to them in the steps they were about to
take_? Could it be denied, that they were driven to the present
alternative? Could they any longer say they were an independent
legislature? It would be preposterous--absolutely absurd to entertain
any such idea. The apprenticeship had been _forced upon the country_ as
a part and parcel of the planters' compensation--it had been working
well, and would insensibly _have slided into a state of absolute
freedom, had the masters been left alone to themselves. It is now
utterly impracticable to continue it_. A most obnoxious measure had been
passed by the British parliament, and sent out to this country to be
promulgated by the Governor as the law of the land. The functions of the
legislature were put in abeyance, and a British act _crammed down their
throats_. It could not be denied that they were now under a military
Government. _He was only sorry that the thing had not been more honestly
done_; in his opinion, it would have been better for all classes, for
then the government would have taken all the responsibilities which
might attend the sudden change they had driven the house to make, and
find the means of conducting the affairs of the country into a peaceable
and successful state. _Let any person look to the excitement which at
present prevailed throughout the country, couple that with the speech
which had been delivered by the Governor, and say if it was any longer
practicable to carry one the system of apprenticeship_. With respect to
the doctrine which had been broached, that the apprenticeship was not a
part and parcel of the compact between the government and the planters;
that they (the planters) did not possess an absolute but an incidental
right to the services of their apprentices, _he confessed he was at a
loss to understand it_, he was incapable of drawing so nice a
distinction. He repeated, the government and nation had made the
apprenticeship a part of the consideration of the abolition of slavery,
and having placed us in a situation to render its continuance
impracticable they were bound in honor and common honesty _to compensate
us_ for the two years."
Once more, and we have done. Mr. Berry said,
"He did not think that because the Governor said they were not entitled
to compensation, that therefore they should give up the claim which they
unquestionably had upon the British nation for further compensation. He
would contend also, that the apprenticeship was one part of the
consideration for the abolition of slavery. He had heard it remarked
that the apprenticeship must cease, but it ought to be added that they
were compelled--they were driven to put an end to it by the Government,
though they were convinced that neither party was at this moment
prepared for immediate abandonment. The Governor, in his opening speech,
had told the house that from the agitation at home, and the
corresponding agitation which at the present moment prevailed here, it
was physically impossible to carry one the apprenticeship with advantage
to masters and labourers. He would take leave to remark, that the
apprenticeship _was working very well_--in some of the parishes had
worked extremely well. Where this was not the case, it was attributable
_to the improper conduct of the Special Justices_. He did not mean to
reflect upon them all; there were some honorable exceptions, but he
would say that a great deal of the ill-feeling which had arisen in the
country between the masters and their apprentices, was to be traced to
the _injudicious advice_ and conduct of the special Justices."
Such were the sentiments of by far the majority of those who spoke in
the Assembly. Such, doubtless, were the sentiments of more than
nine-tenths of the persons invested with the management of estates in
Jamaica. What, then if we had heard that nine-tenths of the emancipated
had refused to be employed? Could that have been counted a failure of
the experiment? Was there any reason to believe that the planters would
not resort to every species of oppression compatible with a system
of wages?
Before proceeding to the question of wages, however, we invite the
reader to scan the temper and disposition of the parties of the other
part, viz., the laboring population. Let us observe more carefully how
_they_ behaved at the important period of
TRANSITION
Two of the sturdiest advocates of slavery, the _Jamaica Standard_ and
the _Cornwall Courier_, speak as follows:--
The _Standard_ says--"On Tuesday evening, (July 31), the Wesleyan, and we
believe, Baptist Chapels, (St. James') were opened for service--the
former being tastefully decorated with branches of the palm, sage, and
other trees, with a variety of appropriate devices, having a portrait of
her Majesty in the center, and a crown above. When we visited the
Chapel, about 10 o'clock, it was completely full, but not crowded, the
generality of the audience well dressed; and all evidently of the better
class of the colored and negro population. Shortly after, we understand,
a very excellent and modern sermon, in all political points, was
delivered by the Rev. Mr. Kerr, the highly respected pastor. The
congregation was dismissed shortly after 12 o'clock; at which hour the
church bell commenced its solemn peal, and a few noisy spirits welcomed
in the morning of Freedom with loud cheers, and planted a huge branch,
which they termed the "Tree of Liberty," in the center of the two roads
crossing the market square."
Again the _Standard_ observes, "The long, and somewhat anxiously
expected jubilee of Emancipation has arrived, and now nearly passed
over, with a remarkable degree of quiet and circumspection. Of St.
James's of course, we speak more particularly,--St. James's, hitherto the
most reviled, and most unwarrantably calumniated parish, of all the
parishes in this unfortunate and distracted colony!"
The _Cornwall Courier_ says, "The first of August, the most important
day ever witnessed in Jamaica, has passed quietly as far as actual
disturbance is concerned."
The _Jamaica Morning Journal_, of whose recent course the planters
should be the last to complain, gives more particular information of the
transition in all parts of the island. We give copious extracts, for to
dwell upon such a scene must soften the heart. It is good sometimes to
behold the joy of mere brute freedom--the boundings of the noble horse
freed from his stable and his halter--the glad homeward flight of the
bird from its cage--but here was besides the rational joy of a
heaven-born nature. Here were 300,000 souls set free; and on wings of
gratitude flying upwards to the throne of God. There were the gatherings
in the public squares, there were the fireworks, the transparencies, the
trees of liberty and the shouts of the jubilee, but the churches and the
schools were the chief scenes, and hymns and prayer the chief language
of this great ovation. There was no giving up to drunken revelry, but a
solemn recognition of God, even by those who had not been wont to
worship him. His temples were never so crowded. His ministers never so
much honored. We give the picture in all its parts, faithfully, and as
completely as our information will enable us to do.
August 2.
"In this city, the day has passed off in the way in which such a day
ought to pass off. With glad hearts and joyful lips, the people have
crowded the temples of the living God, and poured out their praises and
thanksgivings for the great benefits they had received at the hands of a
beneficent Providence. That they will continue to deport themselves as
dutiful subjects, and good men and women, we have no doubt. From the
country we wait with anxious hopes to hear that everything has gone off
with the same peace, and quiet, and order, and regularity which have
prevailed here, and especially that the people have returned to their
labor, and are giving general satisfaction."
From the same.
Among the various ways of interesting the minds of our newly
enfranchised peasantry on the 1st of August, was that of planting a Palm
tree emblematical of liberty, and commemorative of its commencement in
this island. Both in Kingston and in Liguanca, we understand, this
ceremony was performed by the schools and congregations of the "London
Missionary Society." The following hymn, composed by Mr. Wooldridge, for
the purpose, and committed to memory by many of the children, who were
treated with cakes and lemonade.
Appropriate sermons were preached, both morning and evening, by the Rev.
Messrs. Woodbridge and Ingraham, and in the evening a Temperance Society
was formed for the district of Liguanca, when several signed the pledge.
The thorny bush we'll clear away
The emblem of old slavery--
Let every fibre of it die,
And all its vices cease to be.
Let indolence, deceit, and theft,
Be of their nourishment bereft,
Let cruel wrong now disappear,
And decent order crown each year.
PROCEEDINGS AT TRELAWNEY.--A correspondent in Trelawney writes. The
first of August was observed by the people so decently and devoutly, and
with such manifestations of subdued, yet grateful feeling, that they
appeared more like a select class of Christians celebrating some holy
day of their church, than a race but recently converted from idolatry,
and who were just emerging from the pollutions and degradation
of slavery.
TREAT TO THE CHILDREN.--The most interesting and truly exciting scene of
all in Trelawny, was the spectacle of some hundreds of happy children
dining. This feast for them, and for all who had hearts that could
sympathise with the happiness of others, was provided by the Rev. Mr.
Knibb. Similar scenes were enacted in the rural districts. The Rev. Mr.
Blyth had, I believe, a meeting of his scholars, and a treat provided
for them. The Rev. Mr. Anderson had a large assemblage of his scholars
at the school-house, who were regaled with meat, bread, and beverage,
and also a large meeting of the adult members of his Church, to every
one of whom, who could, or was attempting to learn to read, he gave a
book.--[HE GAVE A BOOK.]
AT ST. ELIZABETH.--At the hour of 10, A.M., there was about 3000 persons
assembled at Crosmond, when the clergyman, the Rev. Mr. Hylton, proposed
an adjournment from the Chapel to the shade of some wide-spreading trees
in the common pasture, whither the happy multitude immediately
adjourned. The morning service of the church having ended, the Rev.
Gentleman preached a most impressive sermon from the 4th chapter of
Zech. 6th verse--"Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, saith
the Lord of Hosts"--In his application, he took a brief review of the
history of the island--the conquest by the Spanish--the extermination by
the Indians--and the consequent introduction of the negroes from Africa.
He then adverted to the several insurrections that had taken place
during the period since the conquest by the British, to the last general
rebellion in 1832, in which both himself and many present were deeply
interested. Having shown that all these insurrections had been
suppressed, and had come to nought, he proceeded to point out how
through Divine providence Mr. Wilberforce was raised up to advocate the
cause of the oppressed African, and since that period, step by step,
various privileges had been quietly conceded to the colored race, until
the final consummation by the Legislature, in abolishing the last
vestiges of slavery on the 1st of August, 1838.
The Rev. Gentleman's honorable mention of Mr. Wilberforce appeared to be
deeply felt and acknowledged by all around. After the service was
concluded, the assembled multitude gave three hearty cheers for Queen
Victoria, and three for Lord Mulgrave, the first _free Governor_ that
ever came to Jamaica.
A more decent, orderly, and well-behaved assemblage could not be seen in
any part of the world. The people have indeed proved themselves worthy
of the "_great boon_" conferred upon them.
AT PORT MARIA.--The first of August passed off happily and peaceably.
The people felt deeply the great blessing that had been conferred on
them, and behaved uncommonly well. All the places of worship were
crowded; indeed, thrice the number would not have contained those who
attended, and many of whom could not be accommodated.
From the Cornwall Chronicle of Aug. 4.
Nothing could give a fairer and fuller confidence in the character of
the negroes than their conduct on so joyous and trying an occasion, as
what they have exhibited during the brief period of their political
regeneration. It may be considered as an earnest of their future
peaceable demeanor; the disbelief of the sceptic will thus be put to the
blush, and the apprehensions of the timid allayed. The first of August
has passed, and with it the conduct of the people has been such as to
convince the most jealous, as well as the most sanguine of the evil
prognosticators, that they are a good and trust-worthy people. There is
no doubt but that this day will be held for ever as a sacred
anniversary--a new Pentecost--upon which they will render thanks for the
quiet "possession of their Canaan"--free from all political oppressions,
and that they can suffer only from the acts of their own indiscretion.
If ever they were placed in a favorable situation which they could
improve, it could not have been equal to the present.--The exercise of
moderation, however, is now most required, and will be greatly
appreciated to themselves at a future time.
CUMBERLAND PEN., ST. CATHERINE.--The
conduct of the people in this district generally,
is such as to entitle them to the highest commendation.
Well knowing the inconvenience to
which their masters' customers would be otherwise
reduced from a want of food for their horses
and cattle, they voluntarily went out to work on
the second day, and in some instances on the following,
and supplied the usual demand of the
market, presenting their labor thus voluntarily
given as a free-will offering to their employers.
Comment on such conduct world be superfluous.
The late apprentices of Jamaica have hitherto
acquired honors,
Above all Greek,
Above all Roman fame.
So far as they are concerned, the highest expectations
of their friends have been more than
realized. Let the higher classes universally but
exhibit the same dispositions and conduct, and
the peace and prosperity of Jamaica are for ever
secured.
Morning Journal of August 4.
SAINT THOMAS IN THE EAST.
Up to the moment when the post left Morant Bay, the utmost tranquillity
prevailed. In fact, from the quiet of the day and the circumstance of
droves of well-dressed persons going to and from the Church and Chapels,
I was occasionally deluded, says a correspondent, into the belief of the
day being Sunday. The parish Church was crowded, and the Rector
delivered a very able and appropriate address. The Methodist and
Independent Chapels were also filled. At both places suitable sermons
were preached. At the latter, the resident minister provided an ample
second breakfast, which was faithfully discussed under the shade of a
large tent purposely erected for the occasion. The Rev. Mr. Atkins,
Wesleyan Minister, has proceeded from this place to lay the foundation
stone of a chapel this afternoon, (1st August) at Port Morant, in which
important service he will be assisted by Thomas Thomson, Esq., Church
warden, and Alexander Barclay, Esq., Member for the parish. It is
expected that many thousand spectators will be present at the
interesting ceremony. From all I have been able to learn the changes
among the labourers on the estates in this quarter, will be very
limited, these people being apparently satisfied with the arrangement
for their continued domicile on the respective properties.
Another correspondent writes--"we are very quiet here. The day has
arrived and nearly passed off, and thank God the predictions of the
alarmists are not fulfilled. The Chapels were quite full with a great
many persons in the yards. The Independents are just sitting down to a
feast. The Rector delivered a sermon or rather a string of advices and
opinions to the labouring population, the most intolerant I have heard
for a long time. This parish will, I am quite certain, enjoy in peace
and quietness this happy jubilee."
MANCHESTER.
We learn from this parish that the Churches and Chapels were crowded
many hours before the usual time for beginning service. Several thousand
persons remained outside the respective places, which were much too
small to afford the accommodation. Every thing was quiet and orderly
when the post left.
Says the Jamaica Gazette of Aug. 4th, a paper of the Old School--"In
spite of all the endeavours of a _clique_ of self-interested agitators,
clerical humbug and radical rabble, to excite the bad passions of the
sable populace against those who have been the true friends of Colonial
freedom, and the conservators of the public peace and prosperity of the
country, the bonfire, bull-roast, and malignant effigy exhibited to
rouse the rancor of the savage, failed to produce the effect anticipated
by the projectors of the _Saturnalia_, and the negro multitude fully
satisfied with the boon so generously conceded by the Island
Legislature, were in no humor to wreak their wrath on individual
benefactors, whom the envy of party spirit had marked out as the victims
of truth and independence.
We are happy to give our meed of praise to the decent and orderly
conduct of the sable multitude, and to record that it far excelled the
Loco Foco group of bullies and boasters in decency of propriety of
demeanor. A kind of spree or scuffle took place between donkey-driver
Quallo and another. We don't know if they came to close fisti-cuffs, but
it was, we are assured, the most serious affray on the Course."
The following is the testimony borne in regard to Barbados.
_From the Barbados Liberal, Aug. 4th._
FIRST OF AUGUST.
"It gives us great pleasure to state that, so far as our information
from the country extends, this day was observed in a manner highly
creditable to our brethren. We never ourselves anticipated any riotings
or disorder on the part of the emancipated. A little exhilaration
begetting a shout or two, would not have surprised us; but even this, we
are happy to say, made no part of their manifestation of joy. The day
was spent in quiet piety! In heartfelt, soul overflowing gratitude to
their heavenly Father, whose divine agency had raised up friends in
their necessity, and brought their great tribulation to an end, they
crowded at an early hour to the several churches and chapels, in which
their numbers could scarcely find turning room, and then quietly and
devoutly poured forth their souls in prayer and praise and thanksgiving!
No revellings, no riotings, no drunkenness, desecrated this day. We have
heard from five parishes, and in none of the five have we heard of a
single convivial meeting. From church and chapel they went to their
homes, and eat their first free dinner with their families, putting to
shame the intolerant prejudices which had prepared powder and balls, and
held the Riot Act in readiness to correct their insubordinate notions
of liberty!"
From the New Haven, Ct., Herald.
_"Barbados, Aug. 2, 1838_
Yesterday's sun rose upon eight hundred thousand freemen, on whom
and their ancestors the badge of slavery had rested for two hundred
years. It was a solemn, delightful, most memorable day. I look upon
it as a matter of exceeding thankfulness, that I have been permitted
to be a witness to it, and to be able to speak from experience and
from observation, of the happiness to which that day has given
birth. The day had previously been set apart by proclamation of the
Governor, "as a day of devout thanksgiving and praise to Almighty
God for the happy termination of slavery." The thanksgiving and
praise were most truly sincere, heartfelt and general. It was an
emancipation not merely of the slave but of the proprietor. It was
felt as such; openly acknowledged and rejoiced in as such. Never
have I witnessed more apparently unfeigned expressions of
satisfaction than were made on that day by the former owners of
slaves, at the load of which they had been relieved.
I do not wish to be understood as asserting that previous to the
working of emancipation, the slave proprietors wished the abolition
of slavery. Far from it. But having, though unwillingly, been made
witnesses of the operations of freedom; and having themselves tasted
of the previously unknown satisfaction of employing voluntary and
contented, because _free_ laborers; their minds became enlightened,
softened, changed: and from being the determined opposers, they
became themselves the _authors_ of complete emancipation. I know not
in what terms to describe to you the emotions excited by passing
through the streets of this populous town on that memorable morning.
There was a stillness and solemnity that might be felt. It was
caused by no display of force, for none was to be seen. Here and
there a policeman going his usual rounds, but not a soldier, nor the
slightest warlike preparation of any kind to strike the eye, or
overawe the spirit of disorder.
The spirit that seemed to fill the entire population was eminently
the spirit of peace, good will, thankfulness and joy too deep, too
solemn, to allow of any loud or noisy demonstration of it. Of
course, all stores, shops and offices of every kind were closed. So
also were all places of amusement. No sound of revelry, no evidences
of nightly excess were to be heard or seen. I do not say too much
when I assert that the reign of order, peace, and sobriety,
was complete.
To give eclat to an event of such importance, the Governor had
ordered one company of militia to attend with him at the cathedral.
It is an immense building, and was crowded in every part of its
spacious area, galleries and aisles, with a most attentive
assemblage of people, of all colors and conditions. Several
clergymen officiated, and one of them at the opening of the services
read most appropriately the 58th chapter of Isaiah. Imagine for a
moment the effect in such an audience, on such an occasion, where
were many hundreds of emancipated slaves, of words like these:--"Is
not this the fast that I have chosen, to loose the bonds of
wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, and to let the oppressed go
free, and that ye break every yoke?" The sermon by the Bishop was,
as might have been expected on such an occasion, interesting and
impressive. He spoke with great effect of the unexpected progress of
freedom, from island to island, from colony to colony, until, with a
solitary exception, upon that day the stain of slavery was
obliterated forever from every British possession. The progress of
education, the gradual reformation of morals, and the increasing
thirst for religious instruction, were all dwelt upon with great
force, and the glory of all ascribed, as was most fit, to the Great
Giver of every good and perfect gift. It was an occasion rich with
happy emotions, and long to be remembered as a bright and beautiful
spot in the pathway of our earthly pilgrimage.
The close of the day was not less auspicious than its commencement.
In company with Mrs. H., I drove through several of the principal
streets, and thence through the most public thoroughfare into the
country; and no where could aught be seen to mar the decent and
truly impressive solemnity of the day. There were no dances, no
merry-making of any sort; not a solitary drunkard, not a gun fired,
nor even was a shout heard to welcome in the newborn liberty. The
only groups we saw were going to or returning from the different
chapels and churches: except in a few instances, where families
might be seen reading or singing hymns at their own dwellings.
And now, sir, having arrived at the long looked for consummation of
all the labors and prayers of the friends of the slave for so many
years, as I cast my eye around this _land of liberty_, how many
thoughts crowd my mind? I ask myself--is it indeed finished? And are
there none to lament the downfall of time-honored, hoary-headed
slavery? Where are the mourners? Where are the prognosticators of
ruin, desolation, and woe? Where are the riots and disorders, the
bloodshed and the burnings? The prophets and their prophecies are
alike empty, vain, and unfounded, and are alike buried in oblivion.
And why, in the name of humanity, was not this glorious consummation
brought about ages ago?--Is it because the slaves of 1838 are better
fitted for freedom than those of fifty or a hundred years since? No
one believes it. The only preparation for freedom required in this
island, or any where else, in order to put a peaceful end to
slavery, is the preparation of heart in the slaveholder to grant
deliverance to the captive.
Yours truly,
WM. R. HAYES
P.S. August 9th.--All is quiet, and the utmost good order every
where prevails."
To complete the picture we will give two extracts of letters from
eminent Jamaica Attornies to their employers in England, with regard to
the turning out to work. It is remarked by the English papers that the
Attornies generally in writing to their employers adopt the same strain.
They are all doing well on _their_ estates, but hear that the rest of
the island is in a woful condition.--These are the men who are the
greatest, if not the only, losers by emancipation; hence their testimony
is doubly valuable.
From the British Emancipator, Nov. 14.
LETTERS FROM ATTORNIES.
_Extract of a Letter from an eminent Estate Attorney, in St. Mary's,
Jamaica, dated August_ 24, 1838.
"There was nothing whatever done in this parish, or throughout the
island, for the first two weeks of the month. In this quarter some
estates did a little last week, and have been making more progress
since, but the far greater number have not yet done any work; the
minds of the people are very unsettled, and full of all sorts of
foolish notions, which will continue more or less till we hear of
the home government having accepted and approved of our abolition
bill, and their views with regard to us.
On several of the estates which have wrought, the people have struck
once or twice. We have in this parish ministers of every
denomination, and they are all acting very properly; but they do not
seem to have as much influence as expected; we must _be as
considerate and liberal as possible to secure their confidence_
ourselves. We are in St. Mary's paying the highest rate of wages in
the island; 1s. 8d. currency per day nett, with allowances, are
generally offered; I am giving here, from sheer necessity, 2s. 6d.
currency per day, without charging any rent in the mean time. In the
present state of things when so few estates are doing anything at
all, I have much satisfaction in saying that the people here, on
----, a good proportion of them were at work last week, and I have
now the mill about making sugar, with every probability, I think of
going on satisfactorily; and looking dispassionately at the great
change which has so suddenly taken place, our present difficulties
are not much to be wondered at.
Sunday night, 8th Sept.--The foregoing was written, but too late,
for the last packet; but as another sails to-morrow, I write you a
few lines more. There is, up to this moment, but little material
alteration in the state of affairs generally, certainly none for the
worse. I have made here twenty hogsheads of sugar since the 1st ult.
We are altogether in an uncertain state, but there are more mills
about, and more work doing _in this district than in any other in
the island_, which might and ought to be a feather in the cap of
Maitter, our late stipe. I have no time to say more now, excepting
that, although I am in great hopes that things will soon generally
improve, and am of opinion that our present difficulties are not to
be wondered at, yet our situation is still so critical, that I dare
not venture to hazard an opinion as to the success of the great
experiment, I repeat, however, again, that we have not seen anything
to disappoint or surprise us, bad as many things are."
_Extract of a Letter from an Attorney in St. Mary's, Jamaica, 24th
August_, 1838
"The services of the stipes are much wanting here; I am paying 10s. a
week for first class, 6s. 8d. for second, and 4s. 2d. for third, for
five days work; they say they will not work on Fridays. However, I have
got people at ---- to work today; they are behaving better than most
others. I hope things will now improve; and it is my opinion that good
estates will do, and others will fall to the ground. Old Mr. Tytte is
dead, and his son Alexander made stipe for the district. The Governor's
speech respecting women has done a great deal of harm. None of the women
want to work. If Lord Glenelg had made such a mistake, he would have
heard enough of it. I wish the Government would take it on themselves to
settle the rate of wages, otherwise two-thirds of the estates will be
thrown up before next year; of course I can stand this as well as any.
The ---- people have behaved well: they did every thing I told them;
they are working on piece-work, which is the best plan."
Precisely similar is the testimony of private correspondents and of the
public press so far as we have been able to learn, in all the other
colonies where emancipation has taken place. There is certainly nothing
in all this that indicates a disposition on the part of the emancipated
to throw off the employment of their former masters, but much the
reverse. We may safely challenge contradiction to the assertion, that at
the expiration of the jubilee there were not a set of free laborers on
earth from whom the West India planters could have got more work for the
same money. It may be proper in these days, when the maxims of slavery
have so fearfully overshadowed the rights of man, to say that a man has
a _right_ to forbear laboring when he can live honestly without it--or,
at all events, he has a right to choose whether he will employ himself
or be employed by another. Hence it _may_ turn out that the refusal to
labor, so far as there has been any, only serves to prove the more
clearly the fitness of the laborers of freedom.
WAGES
It must have been obvious to every man of reflection that in a change so
vast, involving so many laborers, and in circumstances so various, there
would arise almost infinite disputes about the rate of wages. The
colonies differ widely as to the real value of labor. Some have a rich,
unexhausted, and, perhaps, inexhaustible soil, and a scanty supply of
laborers. Others are more populous and less fertile. The former would of
course offer higher wages than the latter, for so sudden was the step
there could be no common understanding on the point. Again, as we have
seen, the planters came into the measure with different views. Some
anticipated the general change, and either from motives of humanity or
policy, or more probably of both, adopted a course calculated to gain
the gratitude and good will of the laborer.--These would offer wages
which the less liberal would call ruinous. Many, and it would seem the
great body of them in Jamaica, yielded unwillingly to superior power.
They saw the sceptre of despotic authority was to be wrested from their
grasp. They threw it down, as one may easily believe, resolved to seize
the best substitute they could. They would infallibly fall upon the plan
of getting the greatest possible amount of work for the least possible
amount of pay. When we consider that even in the oldest, most civilized,
and most Christianized free-labor communities, employers are wont to
combine to keep down the rate of wages, while on the other hand the
laborers throw up work to raise it, we shall not be surprised that there
should be things of this sort in Jamaica, liberty being in the gristle.
The only help for such an evil is, that there is always a rate of wages
which is advantageous to both parties, and things being left to
themselves, it will at last be found.
To the planters and freed-men in settling the question what wages they
should offer and receive, two standards or guides presented
themselves,--1. The rate of wages which had been given in Antigua since
1834. 2. The compensation that had been demanded by the Jamaica planters
themselves, and adjudged by the magistrates, in case of apprentices
buying their own time. Hundreds of planters had declared upon oath what
the time of the apprentice was worth to them. Possibly as sellers, in
the elasticity of their consciences, they may have set a higher price
than they would be willing to give as buyers. In strict honesty,
however, it is difficult to see why labor should not be worth to them as
much in the one case as the other. The rate of wages fixed upon in
Antigua may be seen by a reference to the Journal of Thome and Kimball
to be very inadequate to the wants of the laborer. Free labor is there
screwed down to the lowest possible point. The wonder is that the
laborers should have submitted to such a scale for a moment. But they
had no precedent to guide them, no advisers free from the yoke of the
proprietary, no valuations given by their own masters, and there was
every facility for successful combination on the part of the masters.
They must work for such wages as the masters pleased to offer,
or starve.
Say Messrs. Thome and Kimball--"_By a general understanding among the
planters_, the rate is at present fixed at a _shilling_ per day, or a
little more than fifty cents per week, counting five working days." This
Antigua scale, and not the one they themselves had sold labor by during
the apprenticeship, became at once the favorite with a great part of the
Jamaica and Barbados planters. If they in any cases offered higher
wages, they made it up by charging higher rent for the houses and
grounds, which the negroes had built and brought under culture on their
properties. It was before the first of August that this procedure was
resolved upon by the planters, as we gather from numerous communications
in the papers recommending a variety of modes of getting labor for less
than its natural market value. We select a single one of these as a
specimen, by the application to which of a little arithmetic, it will be
perceived that the employer would _bring the laborer in debt_ to him at
the end of the year, though not a moment should be lost by sickness or
other casualty. The humanity of the document is perfectly of a piece
with that of the system which would civilize mankind by making
merchandize of them.
To the Editor of the Morning journal.
SIR,--Let meetings be held, not only in every parish, but in every
district of a parish, and let all land-owners, &c., agree not to rent
land under £8[A] per acre, and not to sell it for less than double that
sum. Should a few be found regardless of the _general weal_, let the
proprietary, &c. join and purchase such lands, and if otherwise, it is
presumed the dissentients to the measure would be so small as not to
affect in any material degree the _general_ interest, inasmuch as those
who dissented, from the consequent scarcity of land arising from the
measure, would demand a high rental for their land. The _maximum_ system
appears to be preferable to the _minimum_. I have therefore made choice
of it as a stimulus to the laborers to work _at least_ four days or
thirty-six hours in the week to pay for their rent, &c. &c., _or pay 2s.
1d. for every day's absence_; or, if sick, pay up the labor by working
on the Friday, &c., _and Saturday, if needful_. Weekly settlements with
both parties, or _immediate summary ejectment_, if deemed necessary.
[Footnote A: The sums are in the currency of the islands when not
otherwise specified, that is 7s 6d to the dollar.]
£ s. d.
Rent of 2 acres of land as a ground for
each able adult, at £5 per acre 10 0 0
Do. of house and garden, from £4 to
£10 per annum, say 6 0 0
_Medical attendance, medicine, &c. &c.,
worth £4 per annum_ 4 0 0
Clothing and Christmas allowance per
annum 1 13 4
----------
21 13 4
----------
Four days' or 36 hours' labor in each
week, at 2s. 1d. per day, or 208
days, at 2s. 1d. 21 13 4
If task-work were adopted, or the day's
labor prolonged to 10-1/2 or 12 hours'
labor, 3 days' or 3-1/2 days' labor
_would suffice_, consequently, the
laborer would have 2 or 3 days
in each week to work for extra
wages.
In addition to the above, say pasturage
for a horse, at 4s. 2d. per week per
annum 10 16 8
Pasturage for an ass, at 2s. 1d. per week
per annum 5 6 4
_Run of pasturage and fruit, for a sow,
barrow, or sholt_; IF RUNG IN THE
NOSE, 10_d. per week_; IF NOT RUNG,
1_s._ 8_d. per week; per annum, at
10d. per week_ 2 3 4
The above charges for pasturage might be paid for either _by additional
labor_ or in money, and to a good head-man they might be granted as a
gratuity, and perhaps an additional acre of land allowed him to
cultivate. It would be desirable that the negroes should, when quite
free, work 11 hours per day in the short days, and 12 hours in the
longer ones. I believe the shortest day's labor in England in the winter
months in 10 hours' actual labor, and 12 hours' in the summer, for which
2 hours they are paid extra wages.
_St. Mary's, 8th June, 1838_. S.R.
The date should not escape notice. By this plan, for a few petty
indulgences, _all of which were professedly granted in the time of
slavery itself_, the master could get the entire labor of the negro, and
_seven or eight pounds per annum besides_! Some may be disposed to
regard this as a mere joke, but we can assure them it was a serious
proposal, and not more monstrous than many things that the planters are
now attempting to put in practice. The idea of actually paying money
wages was horrifying and intolerable to many of the planters; they seem
to have exercised their utmost ingenuity to provide against so dreadful
a result. One who signed himself an "Old Planter" in the _Despatch_,
before the abolition of the apprenticeship, in view of the emancipation
of the non-praedials which was to take place on the first of August,
gravely wrote as follows:--
"It is my intention, therefore, when the period arrives for any
arrangement with them, to offer them in return for such services, _the
same time as the praedials now have_, with of course the same allowances
generally, putting out of the question, however, any relaxation from
labor during the day, usually allowed field laborers, and understood as
shell-blow--house people being considered at all times capable of
enjoying that indulgence at their pleasure, besides the impossibility of
their master submitting to such an inconvenience.--This appears to me to
be the only mode of arrangement that would be feasible, unless we resort
to money wages, and I should regret to find that such a precedent was
established in this instance, for it would only be a forerunner to
similar demands at the coming period, when the praedials became free."
There were more reasons than one why "money wages" were feared by the
Jamaica planters. A great many estates are managed by attorneys for
absentee proprietors. These gentlemen pocket certain commissions, for
which reason they keep in cultivation estates which cannot possibly
yield a profit under a system of paid labor. They deem it for their
interest to retain their occupation even at the expense of their
employers. Not a few conceive it for their interest to depreciate the
value of property that they may purchase low, hence they deem it good
policy to refuse wages, let the crops perish, and get up a panic. The
documents we shall furnish will be clear on these points. The great
diversity of practice in the planters in regard to wages, as well as the
reasonable disposition of the laborers, is shown by the following
paragraphs culled from the _Morning Journal_ of August 10:--
"ST. DAVIDS.--A gentleman in the management of a property in this parish,
writes in the following strain to his employer--"I have an accession of
strength this morning. The people are civil and industrious. I have
received letters assuring me that the example of the Cocoa Walt estate
people, has been the means of inducing those on other estates to enter
into the terms proposed"--that is 5s. per week, with houses, grounds,
medicines, &c, &c."
"St. Thomas in the East.--The apprentices on Golden Grove Estate, turned
out to work on Monday, but we have not learnt on what terms. At Mount
Vernon, the property of Kenneth McPherson Esq., they turned out on
Tuesday morning to work for five days in the week, at 10d. per day with
houses, grounds, &c."
"Trelawny--A correspondent writes, every thing is quiet, and the people
would go to work if any bargains were made, but I believe throughout the
parish the people were directed to go to work on Monday morning, without
any previous arrangement, or being even told how much they would be
paid, or asked what they expected. On one estate 1s. 8d. with houses and
grounds was offered and refused. Some of the masters are determined, it
is said, to hold out, and will not consent to give more than 1s. 3d. or
1s. 8d. per day."
"St. Johns.--The people in this parish are at work on most of the
estates without any agreement. They refuse the offer of 1s. 01-2d. per
day, but continue to labor, relying on the honor and liberality of the
planters for fair and reasonable pay. If they do not get these in two
weeks, our correspondent writes, there will be a dead stop. The laborers
fix the quantity of work to be done in a day, agreeable to the scale of
labor approved of by the Governor during the apprenticeship. For any
thing beyond that, they demand extra pay, as was usual under
that system."
"St. Thomas in the Vale--No work, we understand, is being done in this
parish as yet. A correspondent states that some of the overseers and
attorneys wish the people to turn out to work without entering into any
arrangements, which they refuse to do. The attorney for Rose Hall,
Knollis, New Works, and Wallace Estates has offered 1s. 3d. per day, out
of which £5 per annum is to be deducted for houses and grounds. The
offer has been refused. The overseer of Byndloss estate required his
people to work without agreeing as to the rate of wages they were to
receive, but they refused to do any thing without a proper agreement."
"St. Mary's--On some estates in this parish we are informed, and
particularly those under the charge of Richard Lewis, Esq. such as
Ballard's Valley, Timperon's estates, Ellis' estates, &c. and of Charles
Stewart, Esq. Trinity, Royal, Roslin Bremer Hall, &c., and also of James
Geddes, Esq., the laborers are getting from 2s. 6d. to 3s. 4d. per day.
The same rates are paid upon many outer properties. On many estates the
people have refused to labor, and urge objections against the managers,
as a reason for so acting. They remain and will engage to labor,
provided the obnoxious parties are removed."
How could the people be blamed for refusing 10d. per day, while on "many
properties" they were getting from 2s. 6d. to 3s. 4d.? Such being also
the valuation which the masters had uniformly placed upon their time
during the apprenticeship?
When the planters found that the free laborers could neither be
prevailed upon to labor for half-price nor be driven to excesses by such
paltry persecution, they turned their wrath, as had been long their
custom, upon the Baptist Missionaries. Upon Mr. Knibb especially they
laid the blame of giving mischievous advice to the peasantry. And for
the obvious purpose of exciting the thousands of people warmly devoted
to him, to acts of violence, they attempted to burn him in effigy and
actually circulated the report that he had been murdered. Thousands of
his people flocked into Spanish Town, threatening to destroy the town if
the report proved true. But on learning its falsity were easily
persuaded to retire, and did so without being guilty of any excess
whatever. Unmeasured and unceasing have been the attacks of the Jamaica
press upon the missionaries. Upon their shoulders has been laid "the
ruin of that fine island."--They have corrupted the peasantry and put it
in their heads to ask more wages than the estate can possibly give. To
determine the value of the testimony of the missionaries in this case it
is important to know the nature of their influence upon the laborers
touching the question of wages. We are happily furnished with the
required information from their own lips and pens in the Jamaica papers.
_From the Falmouth Post._
REV. W. KNIBB'S ADVICE TO THE NEGROES.
MEETING AT THE "SUFFIELD SCHOOL-ROOM."
On Friday evening last we attended the suffield School-room, in this
town, which, at an early hour was crowded with apprentices and head
people, from upwards of twenty properties, who had met for the purpose
of receiving advice from the Rev. Wm. Knibb, and Special Justice Lyon,
respecting the course of conduct it will be necessary for them to adopt,
on taking their stand in society as freemen. Several gentlemen connected
with the commercial and agricultural interests of the parish were
present on the occasion.
The Rev. W. Knibb commenced by saying, that he attended a meeting of a
similar nature at Wilberforce Chapel, on the preceding evening. He had
thought it better to request the attendance this evening of the head
people, who being the more intelligent would be able to explain to
others, the advice which they would now receive themselves. "I am glad,"
said the Rev. Gentleman, "to see so many persons present, among whom I
notice a few gentlemen who are not connected with my church: I am glad
of the attendance of these gentlemen, for what I do, I do openly, and
any one is at liberty to express his opinion at this meeting if he
desires to do so.
You will shortly, my friends, be released from your present state of
bondage; in the course of a very few weeks you will receive the boon of
freedom, and I would therefore impress deeply on your minds the
necessity of your continuing the cultivation of the soil on the receipt
of fair and equitable wages. I am not aware myself of any complete scale
of wages having been drawn up, but I have been on 10 or 12 different
properties, I have conversed with several proprietors, and I am glad to
say that with some of them there appears to be a disposition to meet the
charge fairly and honorably. Those who are more conversant with figures
than I am, will be enabled to show what the owner can afford to give for
the cultivation of his property. In the mean time I would say to you, do
not make any hasty bargain: take time and consider the subject, for it
is one of vital interest and importance to all! If you demand too high a
rate of wages, the proprietors will be ruined; if you consent to take
too low a sum, you will not be able to provide for the wants of
yourselves and families. In making your arrangement, if there be an
attempt to grind you down, resist the attempt by all legal means; for
you must consider that you are not acting for yourselves alone, but for
posterity. I desire to see every vestige of slavery completely rooted
out. You must work for money; you must pay money to your employers for
all you receive at their hands: a fair scale of wages must be
established, and you must be entirely independent of any one. If you
continue to receive those allowances which have been given during
slavery and apprenticeship, it will go abroad that you are not able to
take care of yourselves; that your employers are obliged to provide you
with these allowances to keep you from starvation; in such a case you
will be nothing more than slaves.--To be free, you must be independent;
you must receive money for your work; come to market with money;
purchase from whom you please, and be accountable to no one but that
Being above, who I hope will watch over and protect you!--I sincerely
trust that proper arrangements will be made before the 1st of August.--I
have spoken to nearly four thousand persons connected with my church,
and I have not yet learnt that there is any disposition among them to
leave their present employers, provided they receive equitable wages.
Your employer will expect from you good crops of sugar and rum; and
while you labour to give him these, he must pay you such wages as will
enable you to provide yourselves with wholesome food, good clothing,
comfortable houses, and every other necessity of life. Your wages must
be such as to enable you to do this; to contribute to the support of
your church; the relief of the distressed; the education of your
children, and to put by something for sickness and old age. I hail the
coming of the 1st August with feelings of joy and gratitude. Oh, it will
be a blessed day; a day which gives liberty to all; and my friends, I
hope that the liberty which it will bring to you will by duly
appreciated. I trust I may live to see the black man in the full
enjoyment of every privilege with his white brethren, and that you may
all so conduct yourselves as to give the lie direct to those who have
affirmed that the only idea you have of liberty is that it will enable
you to indulge in idle habits and licentious pursuits. When liberty
casts her benignant smiles on this beautiful island, I trust that the
employer and the laborer will endeavour to live on terms of friendship
and good will with one another.--When the labourer receives a proper
remuneration for his services--when the employer contemplates the
luxuriance of his well-cultivated fields, may they both return thanks to
a merciful God, for permitting the sun of liberty to shine with bright
effulgence! I need scarcely assure you, my friends, that I will be at
all times ready to protect your rights. I care not about the abuse with
which I may probably be assailed; I am ready to meet all the obloquy and
scorn of those who have been accustomed to place the most unfavourable
constructions on my actions. I am willing to meet the proprietors in a
spirit of candour and conciliation. I desire to see you fairly
compensated for your labor; I desire also to you performing your work
with cheerful industry: but I would warn you _not to be too hasty in
entering into contracts_. Think seriously before you act, and remember,
as I have already old you, that you have now to act not only for
yourselves, but for posterity."
We give numerous documents from these gentlemen, as among the best if
not the greatest part of our fellow citizens; we trust their testimony
will be deemed the best that could be offered.
LETTER OF EIGHT BAPTIST MISSIONARIES.
_To the Right Hon. Lord_ GLENELG, &c.
My Lord--We feel assured that no apology is necessary, in requesting
your attention to the subject of this letter. The official connection
which you hold with the colony, together with the peculiar circumstances
in which its newly-emancipated population are placed, render it an
imperative duty we owe to ourselves to lay before you our sentiments.
Having labored in the island for many years, and having been in daily
intercourse with the objects of our solicitude, we do feel devoutly
thankful to ALMIGHTY GOD, that he has spared us to see the
disenthralment of our beloved flocks; while it gives us increased
pleasure to assure your lordship that they received the boon with holy
joy, and that the hour which made them men beheld them in thousands
humbly prostrate at the footstool of mercy, imploring the blessing of
HEAVEN upon themselves and their country, while, during the night and
joyful day, not a single case of intoxication was seen.
To us, as their pastors, they naturally looked for advice, both as to
the labor they should perform and the wages they should receive. The
importance of this subject was deeply felt by us, and we were prepared
to meet it with a full sense of the responsibility it involved, and
happily succeeded in inducing them to accept of a sum lower than that
which the representatives of the landowners had formerly asserted was
fair and just.
We regret to state, that a deep combination was formed by many of these
_middlemen_ to grind the peasantry to the dust, and to induce, if
possible, the acceptance of remuneration which, by affording no
inducement to the peasant cheerfully to labor, would have entailed
pauperism on him and his family, and ruin on the absentee proprietor. It
was to this circumstance, and not in the least to any unwillingness in
the free negro to work, or to demand more for his labor than it was
fairly worth, that for one or two weeks, in some places, the cultivation
of the soil was not resumed. Upon the planting attorneys, so long
accustomed to tyranny and oppression, and armed with a power over the
land which must prove inimical to the full development of the resources
of this valuable colony, the blame entirely rests.
We suppose that your lordship is fully aware, that the laws under which
the laborer is now placed are tyrannical and unjust in the extreme;
laws, we hesitate not to affirm, which are a disgrace to those who
framed them, and which, if acted upon by a local magistracy, will entail
upon the oft-cheated, over-patient negro some of the worst features of
that degrading state of vassalage from which he has just escaped. We
particularly refer to "An Act to enlarge the Powers of Justices in
determining complaints between Masters and Servants, and between
Masters, and Apprentices, Artificers, and others," which passed the
Assembly the 3rd day of July, 1834, while by police acts, especially one
regulating the town of Falmouth, our people will be daily harassed
and annoyed.
We think it right to inform your lordship, that the greater part of
those who hold the commission of magistrates are the very persons who,
by their connection with the soil, are the most unfit, because the most
interested, honestly to discharge their important duties; while their
ignorance of the law is, in too many cases, equalled only by their love
of tyranny and misrule. Time must work a mighty change in the views of
numbers who hold this office, ere they believe there is any dereliction
of duty in daily defrauding the humble African. We cannot but entreat
your lordship to use those means which are in your power to obtain for
the laborer, who imploringly looks to the Queen for protection, justice
at the hands of those by whom the law is administered. We must, indeed,
be blind to all passing events, did we not see that, without the
watchful care of the home government, the country district courts, held
sometimes in the very habitations of those who will have to make the
complaints, will be dens of injustice and cruelty, and that our hearts
will again be lacerated by the oppressions under which our beloved
people will groan.
We beg to apprise your lordship, that we have every reason to believe
that an early attempt will be made to deprive the peasantry of their
provision grounds--that they will not be permitted, even to rent them;
so that, by producing starvation and rendering the population entirely
dependent upon foreign-supplies for the daily necessaries of life, a
lower rate of wages may be enforced. Cruel as this may appear to your
lordship, and unlikely as it may seem, long experience has taught us
that there is no possible baseness of which a slave-owner will not be
guilty, and no means of accomplishing his purposes, however fraught with
ruin to those around him, which he will not employ.
Should the peasantry be thus treated, we shall feel it our duty humbly
to implore that the lands belonging to the crown may be made available
for their use. Your lordship will remember that these ill-treated people
became not the subjects of her Majesty by choice, though they are now
devotedly attached to her government. Their fathers were stolen and
brought hither. On their native shores they had lands and possessions
capable of supplying all their wants. If, then, after having toiled
without remuneration, they are prevented even renting a portion of land
which has hitherto been esteemed as their own, we shall ask, and shall
feel assured that the boon will not be withheld, that her Most Gracious
Majesty will throw open the lands belonging to the crown, where we may
retire from the tyranny of man, and with our people find a peaceful and
quiet home.
Though still surrounded by obloquy and reproach, though the most abusive
epithets and language disgracefully vulgar has been employed to assail
us, especially by a newspaper known to be under the patronage of a
bishop, and in which all official accounts of his diocese are given to
the world, yet we assure your lordship that, in endeavouring to promote
the general interests and welfare of this colony, we shall still pursue
that line of conduct which is the result of our judgment, and in
accordance with the dictates of our conscience.
In no part of the island are arrangements made so fully or so fairly, as
in those districts where our congregations reside, and in no part are
the laborers more faithfully performing their duty. We deeply feel our
responsibility at the present crisis, and pledging ourselves to your
lordship and the British Government by the sacred office we hold, we
assure you that ceaseless efforts shall still be exerted, as they have
ever been, to promote the peace and happiness of those around us.
In the name and on the behalf of our churches, for the sacred cause of
freedom throughout the world, we unitedly implore your lordship to throw
the shield of Britain's protection over those who are just made her
loyal subjects. All they want, and all they ask, is, that, as they are
raised to the dignity, so they may receive all the rights of man, and
that the nation who purchased them from bondage may fully secure to them
that civil and religious liberty, to which both their unparalleled
sufferings and their unexampled patience so richly entitle them.
We cannot conclude this letter, without expressing the high sense we
entertain of the noble and disinterested conduct pursued by his
excellency Sir Lionel Smith, the Governor of this colony. But for his
firmness, Jamaica would have presented all the horrors of a civil war.
Feeling assured that your lordship will give that attention to this
letter which the subject demands, and with earnest prayer that this
colony, now blest with liberty, may exhibit increasing prosperity, we
are, my lord, your most obedient servants, Signed by
THOMAS BURCHELL
WILLIAM KNIBB
THOMAS ABBOTT
WALTER DENDY
JOHN CLARK
B.B. DEXTER
SAMUEL OUGHTON
J. HUTCHINS
Baptist Missionaries, North Side Union.
[On the foregoing letter the _London Sun_ has the following
observations.]
"Every arrival from the West Indies but strengthens our conviction, that
there never will be happiness, security, or peace for the emancipated
negroes, so long as the administration of the laws, and the management
of the plantations, are continued in the hands of those white officials
whose occupation, previous to the passing of the emancipation act,
consisted in torturing and tormenting them with impunity. They cannot
endure to witness the elevation to the rank of free, intelligent, and
well-behaved fellow-citizens, of a class of beings whom they were
accustomed to treat a myriad of times worse than they did the "beasts
that perish." Having pronounced them incapable of civilization, and
strangers to all the better feelings of our nature, they deem it a sort
of duty to themselves to employ every artifice to neutralize or retard
every measure calculated to ameliorate the moral and social condition of
the negro race. Several of the colonial agents have powerful inducements
to the provocation of some insurrectionary outbreak, on the part of the
colored population. In the first place, such an _emute_ would fulfil
their predictions with regard to the passing the Emancipation Act, and
so establish their reputation as seers; and in the next, it would lead
to the sale of many of the plantations at one-sixth their real value,
and so transform them from agents to principles, as they would not fail
to be the purchasers. That such is their policy cannot, we think, be
doubted for a moment by those who will take the trouble to peruse a
letter addressed by eight Baptist missionaries, long resident in
Jamaica, to Lord Glenelg, which will be found in another part of _The
Sun_. These missionaries, we are assured, are men of irreproachable
lives, of indefatigable Christian zeal, and of conversation becoming
persons whose sacred office it is to preach the gospel of peace. That
their representation will produce a powerful effect upon the minds of
the people of this country, we feel as confident as we do that our
gracious Queen will concede any boon in her royal gift, necessary to the
welfare of her colored subjects."
The following are a series of letters to Mr. Sturge, published in the
British Emancipator for Nov. 28, 1838. The one from a Special Justice
clearly developes the principal causes of the backwardness of the
laborers. The testimony of this letter to some important facts will be
fully confirmed by that of the Governor of Jamaica. The evidence of
extortion submitted by the missionaries is so explicit, that we beg the
attention of the reader to all the details. Remember the experiment
involves the claims of millions to that without which life is little
better than a curse. Every thing hangs on the inquiry whether the
emancipated or their former masters are chargeable with whatever there
is of _ruin_ in the "fine island" of Jamaica. Says Mr. Sturge, in laying
these letters before the public, "it should be clearly understood that
the fee simple of all negro houses in Jamaica is not worth £10 each on
an average, and that their provision grounds have been brought into
cultivation by the negroes themselves in their _own_ time."
Extract of a letter from a Missionary:--
Savannah-la-Mar, Sept. 8, 1838.
MY DEAR SIR,--You are probably aware that the following question has
been submitted by the Governor to the Attorney-General for his opinion:
(copy.)
(No. 844.) King' House, Aug. 27, 1838.
SIR,--I am desired by the Governor to request you will give your opinion
for general publication. 1st. Whether in instances of notices to quit
their houses and grounds, having been served upon the late apprentices,
they are liable to be made to pay rent for the occupation of such house,
during the three months allowed by law?
(OPINION.)
They are.
(Signed,)
D O'REILL.
We shall soon see the evil effects of this opinion, it being generally
previously understood that the late apprenticed population would not be
liable for rent until the three months had expired, after receiving
notice to quit.
As a specimen of this being made an instrument of great oppression in
the hands of managers of estates, I would state that two notices were
yesterday brought to brother Hutchins for his inspection; one was served
upon David Clarke, a labourer, on King's Valley estate, in this parish.
On the back of the notice to quit was written as under;--
"The rent of your house and grounds is twenty-one pounds six shillings
and eight pence, per annum, commencing 1st of August, 1838, if legal."
(Signed) J. H. JONES.
Mr. Sturge appends the following West India accounts, which be says are
in his possession by which it is evident that the planters are bringing
their laborers in debt to them, by a spirit of shameless extortion.
Charles Duncan to John Dixon, Dr.
1838. Sept. 15. To rent of house
and ground, from 1st of August to
date, 6s. 8d. per week. 2 3 9-1/2
Cr. By balance, five days, 1s.8d. per day 0 8 4
-------------
1 15 5-1/2
Charles Brown, to John Dixon, Dr.
1838. Sept. 13. To rent of house
and ground, 6s. 8d. per week,
from 1st Aug, to date. 2 1 10
Charge for running a sow and pigs,
from 1st Aug. to date, 2s. 6d. per
week 0 15 8-1/2
-------------
2 17 6-1/2
John Alfred Bullock to John Dixon, Dr.
1838. Sept. 15. To rent of house
and garden, from 1st of Aug.
to date, 6s. 8d. per week, 2 3 9-1/2
Rent of provision ground, 5s. per
week, 1 12 6
Pasturage, two weeks, for an ass,
6s. 3d, per month, 0 3 4
Two hogs, 1s. 8d. per week, 1 1 10-3/4
-------------
5 1 6-1/4
Cr. By two days' labour, 1s.
8d. per day 0 3 4
-------------
4 18 2-1/3
LETTER TO MR. STURGE, FROM A SPECIAL JUSTICE.
_Jamaica, Oct. 12th, 1838._
Freedom has brought with it the blessings we anticipated; and as we
progress in civilization we shall all be happier. I have ever been
sanguine as to its beneficial results, and I am not in the least
disappointed. I cannot find language sufficiently strong to express the
commendation due to the negroes for their steady and good conduct since
the 1st of August. Amidst the most trying circumstance, they have
exhibited the greatest forbearance, and placed their whole reliance on
the laws for protection. I am satisfied that no other nation of free men
could conduct themselves so temperately and well, under similar
circumstances; and in my opinion, they have proved themselves infinitely
superior to many of those who so lately exercised almost unlimited
control over them. I declare to you, to see such a mass of persons,
whose morals have been little regarded by those who held them in
slavery, and without education, rise all at once, and express and
conduct themselves so admirably, is wonderful. When seeking redress
before the magistrates for wrongs committed by there former owners they
have maintained more coolness and temper than their more fortunate
brethren, when maters are decided against them. There is a hard struggle
on the part of the pro-slavery faction to compel the negro to work for
little or nothing, in order that the attorneys and overseers may keep
their places as before; and I am informed, by a gentleman whose veracity
is not to be doubted, and who is himself an attorney, that he can still
keep his overseer and merchant as in former days, draw his own
commissions, and send home to his employer a very handsome surplus.
Under such circumstances, well may the friends of freedom cry shame at
the opposition which has for so long a time been thrown in the way of
liberty, by these West Indians of practical knowledge. The facts are,
that the absent proprietors have been led by the advice they have
received from their attorneys; and these have had so many ways of making
more than an honest commission, and have so speedily made their
fortunes, that as long as they could continue slavery, they have exerted
every influence. The overseer was paid, housed, fed, and waited upon,
all at the expense of master and slave, beside; keeping a fine stud of
horses, and as many brood mares at pasture on the property as would
enable him to dispose of seven or eight prime mules annually; and so
long as he drove and tormented the poor negro, and made good crops for
the attorney's commissions, and supplied his horses with corn, these
_little perquisites_ were never discovered. Now the proprietor will
hardly pay for more labor than is absolutely necessary to grow and
manufacture the produce of his estate; and these gentlemen must
henceforth look to their own resources, for the payment of servants to
attend and take care of their own interests and comforts. An overseer's
situation on an estate making 300 hogsheads, was calculated in slavery
to be equal to 2000l. a year. Indeed no man in any town could have lived
in such luxury for that sum. If the proprietor would only come out, and
live prudently, he would save all this by residing on his property,
which he could easily manage by employing, for extra wages, his former
steady head people. _They_, from long residence, know the best manner of
working the land; and, as to the manufacture of sugar, they are the
persons who have _all their lives_ been working at it. The most
important part of an overseer and book-keeper's business was to make use
of their _eyes_. The negro had to make use of his legs, arms and
strength; and, in nine cases out of ten, his brains kept the white
people in their situations, by preventing matters from going wrong.
I perfectly coincide with you, as to the propriety of the negro speedily
becoming possessed of the elective franchise. In Antigua there is very
little more land than is in cultivation for the estates, but here it is
widely different; and they are beginning to settle themselves by
purchasing small lots very fast. At Sligoville there are nearly fifty
new freeholders. The negroes are taught to do this by the perpetual
worry of their employers, threatening to oust them on every trifling
occasion, and withholding part of their wages on the plea of
non-performance of work.--The root of all evil is the Assembly and the
Juries. Nothing requires greater alteration; and I shall never rest,
until I see the black man stand the same chance at the bar of his
country as the white man.--The negroes will not work under their former
hard task-masters. They determinedly resist all solicitations to labor
with those who treated them ill. They say that the pain is gone, but the
mark remains, and I respect them for this proud feeling.
* * * * *
I have come under his displeasure for taking the opinion of Middleton
and McDougal, as to the legality of charging the negro hire for his
house and grounds, for the three months during which the notices to quit
are running.--Had we not taken these opinions, what a fearful state
things might we have been brought to in this country! I am quite
satisfied that no rent could be recovered until the expiration of the
three months, from which time it would commence to run, and the
plaintiff would in law be considered in possession of his lands again,
which, in slavery, he was compelled to give to his slave for his support
and maintenance. He must re-enter before he could demand rent, for it is
impossible for him to prove a contract, or imply one. The negro did not
willingly come from Africa, and occupy his land; he was torn from his
native land, and compelled by his owner, under laws that took his life,
not to quit the land; how therefore can he be considered to have made a
contract, or consented to one?
FROM THE REV. J. KINGDON
_Manchioneal, Oct. 9, 1838._
In passing through Hector's River great house yard, in my way to my
preaching spot, I have the most sensible demonstration of the reality of
the political change happily brought about; for that hot-house, in which
I have seen one of my own members in irons for having a bad sore leg,
and in which I have been grossly insulted for daring to go to see my
poor people--that house is _shut up_! Delightful, I assure you, are my
feelings, whenever I go by that place, attached to which, too, was the
old-time prison, a perfect charnel-house.
FROM THE REV. S. OUGHTON.
_Lucea, October 2, 1838._
Unused to acts of justice and humanity, the Planters, in a moment of mad
excitement passed an act to abolish the accursed system of Slavery. The
debates on that occasion proved with what an ill grace they performed
that scanty act of justice, and all experience since that period proves
how bitterly they repent it. It is true, we are not now, as before,
distressed by hearing recitals of barbarous corporeal punishments, and
we are no longer pained by seeing human beings chained to each other by
the neck; but, although cruelty has, to a certain extent, ceased,
oppression has become ten thousand times more rampant than ever. Every
act which ingenuity or malice can invent, is employed to harass the poor
negroes. Prior to August 1st, the planter studiously avoided every thing
like an arrangement with the laborer, and when, on the following Monday,
they turned out to work, the paltry pittance of 12-1/2d. (7-1/2d.
sterl.) was all that in the majority of cases was offered for the
services of an able-bodied negro, although 2s. 6d. per day (currency),
had before been invariably exacted from them, when they were desirous of
purchasing the remaining term of their apprenticeship. Of course, the
people refused to receive so paltry a remuneration for their labour, and
this has laid the foundation for a course of systematic oppression
scarcely conceivable. Notices to quit were served indiscriminately on
every one, old and young, sick and healthy. Medical attendance was
refused, and even a dose of physic from the Estates' hospitals. Cattle
were turned into the provision-grounds of the negroes, thus destroying
their only means of support; and assaults of the most wanton and brutal
description were committed on many of the peasantry. On one estate the
proprietor and his brother assaulted a young man in the most unprovoked
manner. One presented a pistol to his breast, and threatened to shoot
him; while the other levelled a gun at his head for the same purpose.
They were bound over to take their trial at the Quarter Sessions; but
what hope is there in such a tribunal as that, composed principally of
men engaged in the same reckless course, and banded together by mutual
interests? On another estate (_Content_), the attorney ordered the
cattle of a poor man (a member of my Chapel) to be taken up and
impounded. It was done, and the man was obliged to pay 6l. to redeem
them; when, as soon as he carried them back, they were again taken and
impounded. The man has been to my house with his case of oppression, on
my return from Kingston. He states that he exhausted his last farthing
to redeem the cattle the first time, and was also obliged to borrow of
his friends; they have now been impounded five weeks, and unless he can
raise the money to redeem them (upwards of 10l.), they will be sold to
pay the expenses. Thus is an honest and worthy man, in a few weeks,
stripped of every thing which, by years of industry and care, he had
accumulated for the comfort of his old age, or the benefit of his
family. Yesterday a negro came and informed me that the owner of a
property had told him last year, that he must cultivate more ground, so
as to be able to continue possession as a tenant; and now that he has
done so, another person, saying that he had purchased the property, came
a few days ago, and told him that in three weeks he would drive him from
the place. He then ordered a man whom he had with him to climb a
bread-fruit tree, and pull the fruit, which he forcibly carried away to
give to his hogs. But I must forbear: were I to state half the cases of
oppression which have occurred in Hanover since August 1st; I should
require a volume instead of a sheet. I think, however, I have said
enough to prove the bitter and rancorous spirit which at present
animates the planters. Enclosed I send a specimen of another artifice
adopted to harass and distress the negroes. They have adopted the notion
(sanctioned by the opinion of the old Planters' Jackall, Batty, and the
Attorney General), that the people are liable to pay rent for houses and
grounds during the three months' possession to which the Abolition Act
entitled them, and notices have been served on the people, demanding the
most extravagant amounts for the miserable sheds which the people
inhabited. You will perceive that in once case 21l. 6s. 9d. has been
demanded. This conscientious demand was made by John Houghton James,
Executor and Attorney for Sir Simon Clark. Another is from a Mr. Bowen,
of _Orchard_ Estate; and the third from Mr. Brockett, of _Hopewell_ and
_Content_ Estates, the property of Mr. Miles, M.P. for Bristol. Let it
be borne in mind that these shameful and exorbitant demands are not
made, as in England, on the head of the family only, but on _every
member who is able to do the least work_, and even little children have
papers demanding 2s. 4d. per week for ground, although unable to do the
least thing: one of these I also enclose.
Jamaica, ss. Notice is hereby Given, That the sum of eight shillings and
four pence, weekly, will be exacted from you and each of you
respectively, for the houses and grounds at Orchard Estate, in the
parish of Hanover, from August of the present year, until the expiration
of the three months' notice, from its period of service to quit; or to
the period of surrendering to me the peaceable possession of the
aforesaid house and provision grounds.
J. R. BOWEN.
Dated this 17th day of Sep. 1838.
TO JAMES DARLING and SARAH DARLING, of the parish of HANOVER.
Here then, my dear Sir, you may perceive something of the atrocious
proceedings in the island of Jamaica. Pray insert these documents in the
_Emancipator_. Let the Anti-slavery friends know the state of things,
and urge them to redoubled diligence. The House of Assembly will meet on
the 30th instant, and then, I fear, dreadful measures will be taken. A
letter from Mr. Harker, of the Jamaica Royal Gazette, about a fortnight
since, addressed to Mr. Abbott, shows what absolute and cruel statutes
they would wish either to act upon, or to make the models of new laws.
Every act must be watched with the most jealous scrutiny. Experience
shows that the planters possess an ingenuity truly diabolical, in
twisting and distorting the laws to suit their own selfish purpose. Our
hope is in British Christians; and we confidently hope every one of them
will feel the importance of increased diligence, lest the great, and
long prayed-for boon of freedom, should become a curse, instead of a
blessing. The papers will inform you of the odium I have drawn on myself
in defending the people's rights. That contained in the great mass, only
provokes a smile. I know that every friend in England will interpret it
inversely. I did feel Mr. ----'s letter in the Falmouth Post, but he
knows his error, and is sorry for it. I could have answered it, but did
not choose to cause a division amongst the few friends of the negro,
when they had quite enough to do to withstand the attacks of
their enemies.
FROM THE REV. J. M. PHILIPPO.
_Spanish Town, Oct. 13, 1838._
The following is one of the seven of the same tenor now in my
possession, which will, in addition to those I forwarded by last mail,
inform you of the cause of the late disinclination of the people in some
districts to labour--which, with so much effrontery, has been proclaimed
through the public Journals here:--
Charles Michael Kelly and Wife, to J.S. Benbow, Dr.
1830: July 14th to Sept. 9th.
1. To the rent of house and
ground on Castle Kelly
plantation, for eight weeks,
at 6s. 8d. per week. 3l. 13 4
2. Richard Kelly and Wife. Same.
3. Elenor Mercer. Same.
4. John Ried and Wife. Same.
5. Mary Ann Christie. Same.
6. Venus Owen (or such like name). Same.
FROM THE REV. J. HUTCHINS.
_Savanna-la-Mar, Sept. 17, 1838._
I now, according to promise in my last, send you a few out of the many
cases I am almost hourly troubled with. Some of our would-be great men
are, I am sorry to say, harassing the poor free labourers shamefully;
and should it prove, as I think in some cases it must, of serious injury
to the absentee proprietors, I shall publish the cases of grievance
brought me, together with the names of the estates, owners, attorneys,
overseers, &c., and leave all parties to form their own opinion on
the subject.
Amelia Martin, to Retrieve Estate, Dr.
1838: August 29.
To house and ground, rent at
5s. per week, from 1st August
to date 4_l._ 0 0
[A]Alliac Davis, ground
rent at
10d. per week 3 0
[A]William Davis; ditto
ditto 0 3 4
-------------
4_l._ 6 4
-------------
Thos. Tats, Esq. is Attorney, and Mr. Comry
Overseer,
[Footnote A: Boys from 9 to 11, her sons.]
* * * * *
Louisa Patter, to Retrieve Estate, Dr.
1838: Aug. 28.
To house and ground from 1st
Aug. to date 1_l._ 0 0
She states she has been sickly so long, that she has no ground in
cultivation, and cannot help herself, and has only what yams her
friends give her.
* * * * *
Susan James, to Albany Estate, Dr.
1838: Aug. 28.
To house and ground rent at
5s. per week, from 1st August,
to date 1l. 0 0
Thos. Hewett, ground rent 0 13 4
Elizabeth James, ditto 0 13 4
Mary Dunn, ditto 0 10 0
Letitia, ditto[A] 0 6 8
-------------
3l. 3 4
-------------
[Footnote A: These are a mother and four children in
one house, and with but one ground, they tell
me.]
* * * * *
Richard Warren, to Albany Estate, Dr.
1838: Aug. 28.
To house and ground rent to
date 1l. 0 0
Wife 0 15 4
Child[B] 0 10 0
-------------
2l. 5 4
-------------
[Footnote B: The child is quite young, and in daily attendance
at one of my schools.]
* * * * *
On this property, under the same managers as Retrieve, the people state
that they are going on shamefully. "The last Sabbath but one, when we
were at service, Stephen Campbell, the book-keeper, and Edward Pulsey,
old-time constable, come round and mark all for we house, and charge for
ebery one of we family. We don't know what kind of fee dis we hab at
all; for we attorney, Mr. Tate, neber come on we property, leave all to
Mr. Comeoy. We peak to him for make bargain, him say him can't make law,
and him no make bargain till him heare what law come out in packet. Him
say dem who make bargain are fools; beside him no call up a parcel of
niggers to hold service wid me; should only get laughed at. So we know
not what for do. You are for we minister, and for we only friend; and if
you did not advise we to go on work till things settle down, we no lift
another hoe. We would left the property." Unless an arrangement is soon
entered into, I shall advise them to do so.
James Greenheld, to New Galloway Estate, Dr.
To one week's rent of house, garden, and
ground, and to 5 ditto for his wife, Margaret
Greenfield, at 5s. per week. £1 10 0
J.G. states, "I come for massa. When we make bargain with Mr. McNeal, it
was a maccaroni (1s. 8d.) a day, and for we house and ground. Me is able
and willing for work, so let my wife stop home; so him charge me de same
sum for my wife, as for me own house and ground. And den last week me
sick and get no money, and they charge me over again, (as above) one
week me sick. Me no able for say what to call dat massa, me sure."
I leave with you to make your own comments, and to do what you please
with the above. Although my chapel is £700 in debt, and my schools, one
of 180 and one of 160 scholars, are heavy, very heavy on me, I cannot do
other than advise my people to save every mite, buy an acre of land, and
by that means be independent, and job about wherever they may be wanted.
FROM THE REV. T. BURCHELL.
_Montego Bay, October_ 2, 1838.
The reason why I have not written to you so long, is the intensely
anxious time we have had. I feel, however, that it is high time now to
address you; for, if our friends in England relax their efforts, my
conviction is, that freedom will be more in name than in reality, in
this slave-holding Island. There is nothing to be feared, if the noble
band of friends who have so long and so successfully struggled, will but
continue their assistance a short time longer. The planters have made a
desperate struggle, and so, I have no doubt, will the House of Assembly,
against the emancipated negroes. My firm conviction has been, and still
is, that the planters have endeavored, by the offer of the most paltry
wages, to reduce the condition of the laborer, and make him as badly off
as he was when an apprentice or a slave, that he may curse the day that
made him free.
Though unable to conduct the usual services on Sunday the 5th August, at
the close I addressed the congregation, urging upon them the necessity
of commencing their work on the following day, whether arrangements were
made between themselves and their masters or not; as by so doing they
would put it out of the power of their opponents to say anything evil of
them. They assembled, and on Monday the 6th thousands turned out to
work, and continued to labor, unless prevented by the Manager, until
arrangements were made.
You will remember, that prior to the 1st of August, a white man who
hired out a gang of apprentices to an estate was paid at the rate of 1s.
6d. sterling per diem for each able laborer. The apprentice received the
same when he worked for the estate on his own days, Friday and Saturday;
and whenever they were valued for the purpose of purchasing the
remaining time of their apprenticeship, the planter upon oath stated
that their services were worth at least 1s. 6. per diem to the estate,
and the apprentice had to redeem himself at that rate.
After the 1st of August, the planters discovered, that, whilst the
properties would well afford to continue the lavish and extravagant
expenditure in managing the estates, "it would be certain ruin to the
properties, if the labourer was paid more than 71/2d. per diem. for the
1st class of labourers, 6d. the 2nd class, and 41/2d. for the 3rd
class:" and why? I know not why, unless it was because the long
oppressed negro was to put the money into his own pocket, and not his
white oppressors. This seems to have made all the difference. The above
wages were accordingly offered, and rejected with scorn; the people
feeling the greatest indignation at the atrocious attempt of their old
oppressors to grind them down now they are free, and keep them in a
state of degradation. The greatest confusion and disorder ensued; the
labourers indignant at the conduct of their masters, and the planters
enraged against the people, for presuming to think and act for
themselves. As a matter of course, the fury of the planters was directed
against half a dozen Baptist missionaries, and as many more friends and
stipendiary Magistrates; and I can assure you that the Jamaica press
equalled its most vituperative days, and came forth worthy of itself.
The Despatch, or the Old Jamaica Courant, so well known in 1832 for
advocating the burning of chapels, and the hanging of missionaries; was
quite in the shade. The pious Polypheme, the Bishop's paper, with the
Jamaica Standard of infamy and falsehood, published in this town, took
the lead, and a pretty standard it is. Let foreigners judge of Jamaica
by the Jamaica Standard of August last, and they must suppose it is an
island of savages, or a little hell. The press teemed with abuse of the
most savage nature against us, and published the most barefaced lies.
That, however, you who know the generality of the Jamaica Press, will
say is nothing new or strange; well, it is not, nor do we regard any
statements they make; for no one believes what they publish, and it is a
source of gratification to us that we have never forfeited our character
or principles in the estimation of the reflecting, the philanthropist,
or the Christian public, by meriting their approbation.
In the mulct of this seemingly general conspiracy to defraud the laborer
of his wages by exorbitant rents, &c. Sir Lionel Smith, the Governor,
proceeds from district to district, giving advice to both of the
contending parties, and striving to promote a mutual understanding. His
testimony to the designs of the planters given to their faces, and not
denied, is very important; we give therefore one of his meetings, as the
find it reported in the Jamaica papers. Here is a rather familiar
conversation among some of the chief men of that island--where can we
expect to find more authoritative testimony?
SIR LIONEL SMITH'S VISIT TO DUNSINANE.
His Excellency, Sir Lionel Smith, visited Dunsinane on Thursday last,
agreeably to arrangements previously entered into, for the purpose of
addressing the late apprenticed population in that neighborhood, on the
propriety of resuming the cultivation of the soil. About two miles from
Dunsinane, his Excellency was met by a cavalcade composed of the late
apprentices, who were preceded by Messrs. Bourne, Hamilton, and Kent,
late Special Justices. On the arrival of his Excellency at Dunsinane, he
was met by the Hon. Joseph Gordon, Custos, the Lord Bishop attended by
his Secretary, and the Rev. Alexander Campbell; the Hon. Hector Mitchel,
Mayor of Kingston, and a large number of highly respectable planters,
proprietors, and attorneys. His Excellency, on being seated in the
dwelling, said, that from information which he had received from other
parishes, and facts gathered from personal observation, he believed that
the same bone of contention existed there as elsewhere--a source of
discontent brought about by the planters serving the people with notices
to quit their houses and grounds. He did not question their right to do
so, or the legality of such a proceeding, but he questioned the prudence
of the step. The great change from slavery to unrestricted freedom
surely deserved some consideration. Things cannot so soon be quiet and
calm. Depend upon it, nothing will be done by force. Much may be by
conciliation and prudence. Do away with every emblem of slavery; throw
off the Kilmarnock cap, and adopt in its stead, like rational men,
Britannia's cap of liberty. He (Sir Lionel) doubted not the right of the
planters to rent their houses and grounds; in order to be more certain
on that head, he had procured the opinion of the Attorney General; but
the exercise of the right by the planter, and getting the people to
work, were very different matters. Much difficulty must be felt in
getting rid of slavery. Even in the little island of Antigua, it had
taken six months to get matters into a quiet state; but here, in a large
country like Jamaica, could it be expected to be done in a day, and was
it because it was not done, that the planters were to be opposed to him?
You are all in arms against me (said his Excellency,) but all I ask of
you is to exercise patience, and all will be right. I have done, and am
doing all in my power for the good of my country. If you have served the
people with notices to quit, with a view to compel them to work, or
thinking to force them to work for a certain rate of wages, you have
done wrong. Coercive measures will never succeed. In Vere, which I
lately visited, the planters have agreed to give the people 1s. 8d. per
day, and to let them have their houses and grounds for three months free
of charge. His Excellency, on seeing some symptoms of disapprobation
manifested, said, Well, if you cannot afford to pay so much, pay what
you can afford; but above all, use conciliatory measures, and I have not
a doubt on my mind but that the people will go to their work. Seeing so
many planters present, he should be happy if they would come to an
arrangement among themselves, before he addressed the people outside.
Mr. WELLWOOD HYSLOP remarked, that Vere and other rich sugar parishes
might be able to pay high rates of wages, because the land yielded
profitable crops, but in this district it was impossible to follow the
example of those parishes. He thought that two bits a day might do very
well, but that was as much as could be afforded.
His EXCELLENCY said that in Manchester, where he believed he had more
enemies than in any other parish, he had advised them to work by the
piece, and it had been found to answer well.
Mr. HINTON EAST said that he would submit a measure which he thought
would be approved of. He proposed that the people should be paid 5s. for
four days' labor; that if they cleaned more than 130 trees per day,
either themselves or by bringing out their wives and children, they
should be paid extra wages in the same proportion.
Mr. ANDREW SIMPSON said that he could not afford to pay the rates named
by his Excellency. It was entirely out of the question; that a good deal
depended upon the state the fields are in--that his people, for
instance, could, with much ease, if they chose, clean 170 trees by
half-past three o'clock.
Mr. MASON, of St. George's, said he was willing to pay his people 1s.
8d. per day, if they would but work; but the fact was that they refused
to do so, on account of the stories that had been told them by Special
Justice Fishbourne; willingly too would I have given them their houses
and grounds for three months, free of charge, had they shown a desire to
labor; but what was the lamentable fact? the people would not work,
because Mr. Fishbourne had influenced them not to do so, and he (Mr.
Mason) had been a loser of one thousand pounds in consequence. He had
been compelled in self-defence to issue summonses against two of his
people. He had purchased his property--it was his all--he had sacrificed
twenty of the best years of his life as a planter, he had a wife and
family to support, and what was the prospect before him and them? He
admitted having served notices on his people to quit their houses--in
truth he did not now care whether they were or were not located on the
property--he was willing to pay fair, nay, high wages, but the demand
was exorbitant. He had a servant, a trustworthy white man, who laboured
from day-dawn to sunset for 2s. 1d. per day, and he was quite satisfied.
All the mischief in his district had been owing to the poisonous stories
poured into the ears of the people by Special Justice Fishbourne. If he
were removed, the parish might probably assume a healthy state; if
allowed to remain, no improvement could possibly take place.
His EXCELLENCY said that the Assembly had passed a law preventing the
special magistrates from going on the estates; they could not, however,
prevent the people from going to them, and taking their advice if they
wished it. He had understood that the people had gone to the special
magistrates, informing them that the planters demanded 3s. 4d. per week
rent for the houses and grounds, and that they had been advised, if such
were the case, that they ought to be paid higher wages. He understood
that to be a fact.
Mr. ANDREW SIMPSON said that the people would, he had no doubt, have
worked, but for the pernicious advice of Mr. Fishbourne. He had heard
that the people had been told that the Governor did not wish them to
work, and that he would be vexed with them if they did.
Sir LIONEL replied that he was aware that white men were going about the
country disguised as policemen, pretending to have his (Sir Lionel's)
authority, telling the people not to work. He knew well their intention
and design, he understood the trick. You are anxious (said his
Excellency) to produce a panic, to reduce the value of property, to
create dismay, in order that you may speculate, by reducing the present
value of property; but you will be disappointed, notwithstanding a press
sends forth daily abuse against me, and black-guard and contemptible
remarks against my acts. I assure you I am up to your tricks.
Mr. ANDREW SIMPSON would be glad if his Excellency would speak
individually. There was a paper called the West Indian, and another the
Colonial Freeman. He wished to know whether his Excellency meant either
of those papers. [Some slight interruption here took place, several
gentlemen speaking at the same time.]
His EXCELLENCY said he had not come to discuss politics, but to
endeavour to get the people to work, and it would be well for them to
turn their attention to that subject.
Mr. SIMPSON said he had a gang who had jobbed by the acre, and had done
well, but it was unfortunate in other respects to observe the
disinclination shown by the laborers to work. He wished them to know
that they must work, and trusted that his Excellency would endeavour to
force them to labor.
Sir LIONEL--I can't compel them to do as you would wish, nor have I the
power of forcing them to labor. The people will not suffer themselves to
be driven by means of the cart-whip. It is the policy of every man to
make the best bargain he can. I can say nothing to the people about
houses and grounds, and price of wages. I can only ask them to work.
Mr. WILES said that the planters were anxious to come to amicable
arrangements with the people, but they were unreasonable in their
demands. The planters could not consent to be injured--they must profit
by their properties.
Mr. MASON said, that the only bone of contention was the subject of
rent. His people were outside waiting to be satisfied on that head. He
hesitated not to say, that the proprietors were entitled to rent in
every instance where the laborer was unwilling to labor, and unless that
subject was at once settled, it would involve both parties in endless
disagreement. He was not one of those persons alluded to by his
Excellency, who circulated misrepresentations for private benefit, nor
was he aware that any one in the parish in which he lived had done so.
All that he desired was the good of the country, with which his
interests were identified.
Sir LIONEL--I could not possibly be personal towards any gentleman
present, for I have not the honour of knowing most of you. My
observations were not confined to any particular parish, but to the
Island of Jamaica, in which the occurrences named have taken place.
Dr. RAPKY, of St. George's--If your Excellency will only do away with a
curtain magistrate, things will go on smoothly in the parish of St.
George. This gentleman has told the people that they are entitled to the
lands occupied by them, in consequence of which the parish is now in an
unsettled state.
Sir LIONEL--Who is the magistrate!
Dr. RAPKY--Mr. Fishbourne.
Sir LIONEL--I am afraid I cannot please you. The question of possession
of lands and houses has for the present been settled by the opinion of
the Attorney-General, but it is still an undetermined question at law.
There are many persons in the island who are of opinion that the
legislature had not so intended; he (Sir Lionel) was at a loss to know
what they meant; seeing, however, some members of the assembly present,
perhaps they would be disposed to give some information.
Mr. S.J. DALLAS said, that it was the intention of the legislature that
rent should be paid. He thought it fair that 1s. 8d. per day should be
offered the people to work five days in the week, they returning one
day's labor for the houses and grounds.
Mr. SPECIAL JUSTICE HAMILTON said that complaints had been made to him,
that in many instances where the husband and wife lived in the same
house, rent had been demanded of both. The laborers had, in consequence,
been thrown into a state of consternation and alarm, which accounted for
the unsettled state of several properties--a serious bone of contention
had in consequence been produced. He held a notice in his hand demanding
of a laborer the enormous sum of 10s. per week for house and ground. He
had seen other notices in which 6s, 8d. and 5s. had been demanded for
the same. He did not consider that the parties issuing those notices had
acted with prudence.
Mr. HYSLOP explained--He admitted the charge, but said that the sum was
never intended to be exacted.
Sir LIONEL said he was aware of what was going on; he had heard of it.
"It was a policy which ought no longer to be pursued."
We have given the foregoing documents, full and ungarbled, that our
readers might fairly judge for themselves. We have not picked here a
sentence and there a sentence, but let the Governor, the Assembly, the
Missionaries, and the press tell their whole story. Let them be read,
compared, and weighed.
We might indefinitely prolong our extracts from the West India papers to
show, not only in regard to the important island of Jamaica, but
Barbados and several other colonies, that the former masters are alone
guilty of the non-working of the emancipated, so far as they refuse to
work. But we think we have already produced proof enough to establish
the following points:--
1. That there was a strong predisposition on the part of the Jamaica
planters to defraud their labourers of their wages. They hoped that by
yielding, before they were driven quite to the last extremity, by the
tide of public sentiment in England, they should escape from all
philanthropic interference and surveillance, and be able to bring the
faces of their unyoked peasantry to the grindstone of inadequate wages.
2. That the emancipated were not only peaceful in their new freedom, but
ready to grant an amnesty of all post abuses, and enter cheerfully into
the employ of their former masters for reasonable wages. That in cases
where disagreement has arisen as to the rate of daily or weekly wages,
the labourers have been ready to engage in task work, to be paid by the
piece, and have laboured so efficiently and profitably--proving a strong
disposition for industry and the acquisition of property.
3. That in the face of this good disposition of the laborers, the
planters have, in many cases, refused to give adequate wages.
4. That in still more numerous cases, including many in which the wages
have been apparently liberal, enormous extortion has been practiced upon
the laborer, in the form of rent demanded for his hovel and provision
patch--£20 per annum being demanded for a shanty not worth half that
money, and rent being frequently demanded from _every member_ of a
family more than should have been taken from the whole.
5. That the negroes are able to look out for their own interest, and
have very distinct ideas of their own about the value of money and the
worth of their labour, as well as the best methods of bringing their
employers to reasonable terms. On this point we might have made a still
stronger case by quoting from the Despatch and Standard, which assert
numerous instances in which the labourers have refused to work for wages
recommended to them by the Governor, Special Magistrates, or
Missionaries, though they offered to work for 3s. 4d., 5s., or a dollar
a day. They are shown to be rare bargain-makers and not easily trapped.
6. That the attorneys and managers have deliberately endeavoured to
raise a panic, whereby property might be depreciated to their own
advantage; showing clearly thereby, that they consider Jamaica property,
even with the laborers, irreclaimably free, a desirable investment.
7. That in spite of all their efforts, the great body of the laborers
continue industrious, doing more work in the same time than in slavery.
_The testimony to his very important point, of the Governor and House of
Assembly, is perfectly conclusive_, as we have already said. A house
that represents the very men who, in 1832, burnt the missionary chapels,
and defied the British Parliament with the threat, that in case it
proceeded to legislate Abolition, Jamaica would attach herself to the
United States, now HOPES for the agricultural prosperity of the island!
Indeed no one in Jamaica expresses a doubt on this subject, who does not
obviously do so _for the sake of buying land to better advantage_! Were
the colony a shade _worse_ off than before Emancipation, either in fact
or in the opinion of its landholders, or of any considerable portion of
persons acquainted with it, the inevitable consequence would be a
depreciation of _real estate_. But what is the fact? said Rev. John
Clark, a Jamaica Baptist Missionary, who has visited this country since
the first of August, in a letter published in the Journal of Commerce:--
"The Island of Jamaica is not in the deplorable state set forth by your
correspondent.--Land is rising in value so rapidly, that what was
bought five years ago at 3 dollars per acre, is now selling for 15
dollars; and this in the interior of the Island, in a parish not
reckoned the most healthy, and sixteen miles distant from the nearest
town. Crops are better than in the days of slavery--extra labour is
easily obtained where kindness and justice are exercised towards the
people. The hopes of proprietors are great, and larger sums are being
offered for estates than were offered previous to August, 1834, when
estates, and negroes upon them, were disposed of together."
Again, as in Jamaica commerce rests wholly upon agriculture, _its_
institutions can only flourish in a flourishing condition of the
latter.--What then are we to infer from an imposing prospectus which
appears in the island papers, commencing thus:--
"Kingston, October 26, 1838
Jamaica Marine, Fire, and Life Assurance Company.
Capital £100,000,
In 5000 shares of £20 each.
It has been long a matter of astonishment that, in a community so
essentially mercantile as Jamaica, no Company should have been
formed for the purpose of effecting Insurance on Life and Property;
although it cannot be doubted for an instant, that not only would
such an establishment be highly useful to all classes of the
community, but that it must yield a handsome return to such persons
as may be inclined to invest their money in it," &c.
Farther down in the prospectus we are told--"It may here be stated,
that the scheme for the formation of this Company has been mentioned to
some of the principal Merchants and _Gentlemen of the Country_, and has
met with decidedly favourable notice: and it is expected that the
shares, a large number of which have been already taken, will be rapidly
disposed of."
The same paper, the Morning Journal, from which we make this extract,
informs us: Nov. 2d--
"The shares subscribed for yesterday, in the Marine Fire and Life
Insurance Company, we understand, amount to the almost unprecedented
number of One Thousand Six Hundred, with a number of applicants whose
names have not been added to the list."
The Morning Journal of October 20th in remarking upon this project
says:--
"Jamaica is now happily a free country; she contains within herself the
means of becoming prosperous. Let her sons develope those resources
which Lord Belmore with so much truth declared never would be developed
_until slavery had ceased_. She has her Banks.--Give her, in addition,
her Loan Society, her Marine, Fire, and life Assurance Company, and some
others that will shortly be proposed, and capital will flow in from
other countries--property will acquire a value in the market, that will
increase with the increase of wealth, and she will yet be a flourishing
island, and her inhabitants a happy and contented people."
Now men desperately in debt _might_ invite in foreign capital for
temporary relief, but, since the _compensation_, this is understood not
to be the case with the Jamaica planters; and if they are rushing into
speculation, it must be because they have strong _hope_ of the safety
and prosperity of their country--in other words, because they confide in
the system of free labor. This one prospectus, coupled with its prompt
success, is sufficient to prove the falsehood of all the stories so
industriously retailed among us from the Standard and the Despatch. But
speculators and large capitalists are not the only men who confide in
the success of the "great experiment."
The following editorial notice in the Morning Journal of a recent date
speaks volumes:--
SAVINGS BANK.
"We were asked not many days ago how the Savings Bank in this City was
getting on. We answered well, very well indeed. By a notification
published in our paper of Saturday, it will be seen that £1600 has been
placed in the hands of the Receiver-General. By the establishment of
these Banks, a great deal of the money now locked up, and which yields
no return whatever to the possessors, and is liable to be stolen, will
be brought into circulation. This circumstance of itself ought to
operate as a powerful inducement to those parishes in which no Banks are
yet established to be up and doing. We have got some _five_ or _six_ of
them fairly underweigh, as Jack would say, and hope the remainder will
speedily trip their anchors and follow."
We believe banks were not known in the West Indies before the 1st of
August 1834. Says the Spanishtown Telegraph of May 1st, 1837, "_Banks,
Steam-Companies, Rail-Roads, Charity Schools_, etc., seem all to have
remained dormant until the time arrived when Jamaica was to be
_enveloped in smoke_! No man thought of hazarding his capital in an
extensive banking establishment until Jamaica's ruin, by the
introduction of freedom, had been accomplished!" And it was not till
after the 1st of August, 1838, that Jamaica had either savings banks or
savings. These institutions for the industrious classes came only with
their manhood. But why came they at all, if Emancipated industry is, or
is likely to be, unsuccessful?--In Barbados we notice the same
forwardness in founding monied institutions. A Bank is there proposed,
with a capital of £200,000. More than this, the all absorbing subject in
all the West India papers at the present moment is that of the
_currency_. Why such anxiety to provide the means of paying for labor
which is to become valueless? Why such keenness for a good circulating
medium if they are to have nothing to sell? The complaints about the old
fashioned coinage we venture to assort have since the first of August
occupied five times as much space in the colonial papers, we might
probably say in each and every one of them, as those of the non-working
of the freemen. The inference is irresistible. _The white colonists take
it for granted that industry is to thrive_.
It may be proper to remark that the late refusal of the Jamaica
legislature to fulfil its appropriate functions has no connection with
the working of freedom, any further than it may have been a struggle to
get rid in some measure of the surveillance of the mother country in
order to coerce the labourer so far as possible by vagrant laws, &c. The
immediate pretext was the passing of a law by the imperial Parliament
for the regulation of prisons, which the House of Assembly declared a
violation of that principle of their charter which forbids the
mother-country to lay a tax on them without their consent, in as much as
it authorized a crown officer to impose a fine, in a certain case, of
£20. A large majority considered this an infringement of their
prerogatives, and among them were some members who have nobly stood up
for the slave in times of danger. The remarks of Mr. Osborn especially,
on this subject, (he is the full blooded, slave-born, African man to
whom we have already referred) are worthy of consideration in several
points of view. Although he had always been a staunch advocate of the
home government on the floor of the Assembly are now contended for the
rights of the Jamaica legislature with arguments which to us republicans
are certainly quite forcible. In a speech of some length, which appears
very creditable to him throughout, he said--
"Government could not be acting fair towards them to assume that the
mass of the people of this island would remain in the state of political
indifference to which poverty and slavery had reduced them. They were
now free, every man to rise as rapidly as he could; and the day was not
very distant when it would be demonstrated by the change of
representatives that would be seen in that house. It did appear to him,
that under the pretext of extending the privileges of freemen to the
mass of the people of this country, the government was about to deprive
them of those privileges, by curtailing the power of the representative
Assembly of those very people. He could not bring himself to admit, with
any regard for truth, that the late apprentices could now be oppressed;
they were quite alive to their own interests, and were now capable of
taking care of themselves. So long as labor was marketable, so long they
could resist oppression, while on the other hand, the proprietor, for
his own interest's sake, would be compelled to deal fairly with them."
Though it is evidently all important that the same public opinion which
has wrested the whip from the master should continue to watch his
proceedings as an employer of freemen, there is much truth in the speech
of this black representative and alderman of Kingston. The brutalized
and reckless attorneys and managers, _may_ possibly succeed in driving
the negroes from the estates by exorbitant rent and low wages. They
_may_ succeed in their effort to buy in property at half its value. But
when they have effected that, they will be totally dependent for the
profits of their ill-gotten gains upon the _free laboring people_. They
may produce what they call idleness now, and a great deal of vexation
and suffering. But land is plenty, and the laborers, if thrust from the
estates, will take it up, and become still more independent. Reasonable
wages they will be able to command, and for such they are willing to
labor. The few thousand whites of Jamaica will never be able to
establish slavery, or any thing like it, over its 300,000 blacks.
Already they are fain to swallow their prejudice against color. Mr.
Jordon, member for Kingston and "free nigger," was listened to with
respect. Nay more, his argument was copied into the "Protest" which the
legislature proudly flung back in the face of Parliament, along with the
abolition of the apprenticeship, in return for Lord Glenelg's Bill. Let
all in the United States read and ponder it who assert that "the two
races cannot live together on term of equality."
Legislative independence of Jamaica has ever been the pride of her
English conquerors. They have received with joy the colored fellow
colonists into an equal participation of their valued liberty, and they
were prepared to rejoice at the extension of the constitution to the
emancipated blacks. But the British Government, by a great fault, if not
a crime, has, at the moment when all should have been free, torn from
the lately ascendant class, the privileges which were their birthright,
another class, now the equals of the former, the rights they had long
and fortunately struggled for, and from the emancipated blacks the
rights which they fondly expected to enjoy with their personal freedom.
The boon of earlier freedom will not compensate this most numerous part
of our population for the injustice and wrong done to the whole
Jamaica people.
The documents already adduced are confined almost exclusively to
Jamaica. We will refer briefly to one of the other colonies. The next in
importance is
BARBADOS
Here has been played nearly the same game in regard to wages, and with
the same results. We are now furnished with advices from the island down
to the 19th of December 1838. At the latter date the panic making papers
had tapered down their complainings to a very faint whisper, and withal
expressing more hope than fears. As the fruit of what they had already
done we are told by one of them, _the Barbadian_, that the unfavourable
news carried home by the packets after the emancipation had served to
raise the price of sugar in England, which object being accomplished, it
is hoped that they will intermit the manufacture of such news. The first
and most important document, and indeed of itself sufficient to save the
trouble of giving more, is the comparison of crime during two and a half
months of freedom, and the corresponding two and a half months of
slavery or apprenticeship last year, submitted to the legislature at the
opening of its session in the latter part of October. Here it is. We
hope it will be held up before every slave holder.
From the Barbadian of Dec. 1.
Barbados.--Comparative Table, exhibiting the number of Complaints
preferred against the Apprentice population of this Colony, in the
months of August, September and to the 15th of October, 1838; together
with the Complaints charged against Free Labourers of the same Colony,
during the months of August, September and to the 15th of October, 1838.
The former compiled from the Monthly Journals of the Special Justice of
the Peace and the latter from the Returns of the Local Magistracy
transmitted to his excellency the Governor
APPRENTICESHIP.
Total of Complaints vs. Apprentices from the
1st to 31st August 1837. 1708
Ditto from the 1st to 30th September 1464
Ditto from the 1st to 15th October 574
Grand Total 3746
Total number of Apprentices punished from the
1st to 31st August 1608
Ditto from 1st to 31st September 1321
Ditto from the 1st to 15th October 561
Grand Total 3490
Total compromised, admonished and dismissed
from 1st to 31st August 105
Ditto from the 1st to 30th September 113
Ditto from 1st to 15th October 38
Total 256
Deficiency in compromised cases in 1837 comparatively
with those of 1838 158
Grand Total 414
FREEDOM.
Total of Complaints vs. Labourers from the
1st to the 31st August 1838 582
Ditto from the 1st to the 30th September 386
Ditto from the 1st to the 15th October 103
Total 1071
Comparative Surplus of Complaints in 1838 2675
Grand Total 3746
Total of Laborers punished from the 1st to
the 31st August, 1838, 334
Ditto from the 1st to 30th September 270
Ditto from the 1st to 15th October 53
Total 657
Comparative surplus of punishment in 1837 2833
Grand total 3490
Total compromised, admonished and dismissed
from the 1st to the 31st August 248
Ditto from the 1st to 30th September 116
Ditto from the 1st to 15th October 50
Grand Total 414
NOTE.
It may be proper to remark that the accompanying General Abstract
for August, September, and to the 15th October, 1837, does not
include complaints preferred and heard before the Local Magistrates
during those months for such offences--viz. for misdemeanors, petty
debts, assaults and petty thefts--as were not cognizable by the
Special Justices; so that estimating these offences--the number of
which does not appear in the Abstract for 1837--at a similar number
as that enumerated in the Abstract for 1838, the actual relative
difference of punishments between the two and a half months in 1837
and these in 1838, would thus appear:
Surplus of Apprentices punished in 1837, as
above 2833
Offences in August, September, and to the
15th, October, 1837 heard before the General
Justices of the Peace, and estimated as follows:
Petty thefts 75
Assaults 143
Misdemeanors 98
Petty Debts 19--835
Actual surplus of punishment in 1837, 3168
From the Journal of Commerce.
_Letter from W.R. Hays, Esq. Barbados, W.I. to Rev. H.G. Ludlow, of New
Haven_.
BARBADOS, Dec. 26, 1838.
I gave you in my last, some account of the manner in which the first
day of emancipation came and went in this island. We very soon
afterwards received similar accounts from all the neighboring
islands. In all of them the day was celebrated as an occasion "of
devout thanksgiving and praise to God, for the happy termination of
slavery." In all of them, the change took place in a manner highly
creditable to the emancipated, and intensely gratifying to the
friends of liberty. The quiet, good order, and solemnity of the day,
were every where remarkable. Indeed, is it not a fact worth
remembering, that whereas in former years, a single day's relaxation
from labor was met by the slaves with shouting and revelry, and
merry-making, yet now, when the last link of slavery was broken
forever, sobriety and decorum were especially the order of the day.
The perfect order and subordination to the laws, which marked the
first day of August, are yet unbroken. We have now nearly five
months' experience of entire emancipation; and I venture to say,
that a period of more profound peace never existed in the West
Indies. There have been disputes about wages, as in New England and
in other free countries; but no concert, no combination even, here;
and the only attempt at a combination was among the planters, to
keep down wages--and that but for a short time only. I will not
enter particularly into the questions, whether or not the people
will continue to work for wages, whether they will remain quiet,--or
on the other hand, whether the Island will be suffered to become
desolate, and the freed slaves relapse into barbarism, &c. These
things have been speculated about, and gloomy predictions have had
their day; the time has now come for the proof. People do not buy
land and houses, and rent property for long terms of years, in
countries where life is insecure, or where labor cannot be had, and
the tendency of things is to ruin and decay. In short, men, in their
senses, do not embark on board a sinking ship. Confidence is the
very soul of prosperity; of the existence of this confidence in this
Island, the immense operations in real estate, since the first of
August, are abundant proof. There are multitudes of instances in
which estates have sold for $20,000 _more_ than was asked for them
six months ago; and yet at the time they were considered very
high. A proprietor who was persuaded a few weeks since to part with
his estate for a very large sum of money, went and bought _it back
again_ at an _advance_ of $9600. A great many long leases of
property have been entered into. An estate called "Edgecombe,"
mentioned by Thome and Kimball, has been rented for 21 years at
$7500 per annum. Another called the "hope" has been rented for 10
years at £2000 sterling, equal to $9600 per annum. Another, after
being rented at a high price, was relet, by the lessee, who became
entirely absolved from the contract, and took $16,000 for his
bargain. If required, I could give you a host of similar cases, with
the names of the parties. But it seems unnecessary. The mere impulse
given to the value of property in this island by emancipation, is a
thing as notorious _here_, as the _fact_ of emancipation.
But, are not crimes more frequent than before? I have now before me
a Barbados newspaper, printed two weeks since, in which the fact is
stated, that in _all_ the county prisons, among a population of
80,000, only _two_ prisoners were confined for any cause whatever!
"But," says a believer in the necessity of Colonization, "how will
you _get rid_ of the negroes?" I answer by adverting to the
spectacle which is now witnessed in _all_ the Islands of the former
proprietors of slaves, now _employers_ of _free_ laborers, using
every endeavor to _prevent_ emigration. Trinidad, Demerara, and
Berbice, _want_ laborers. The former has passed a law to pay the
passage money of any laborer who comes to the Island, leaving him
free to choose him employment. Demerara and Berbize have sent
Emigration agents to this and other islands, to induce the laborers
to join those colonies, offering high wages, good treatment, &c. On
the other hand, Barbados, Grenada, St. Vincent, and all the old and
populous islands, individually and collectively, by legislative
resolves, legal enactments, &c. &c.--loudly protest that they have
_not a man to spare_! What is still better, the old island
proprietors are on every hand building new houses for the peasantry,
and with great forethought adding to their comfort; knowing that
they will thereby secure their contentment on their native soil. As
a pleasing instance of the good understanding which now exists
between proprietors and laborers, I will mention, that great numbers
of the former were in town on the 24th, buying up pork, hams, rice,
&c. as presents for their people on the ensuing Christmas; a day
which has this year passed by amid scenes of quiet Sabbath
devotions, a striking contrast to the tumult and drunkenness of
former times. I cannot close this subject, without beating my
testimony to the correctness of the statements made by our
countrymen, Thome and Kimball. They were highly esteemed here by all
classes, and had free access to every source of valuable
information. If they have not done justice to the subject of their
book, it is because the manifold blessings of a deliverance from
slavery are beyond the powers of language to represent. When I
attempt, as I have done in this letter, to enumerate a few of the, I
know not where to begin, or where to end. One must _see_, in order
to know and feel how unspeakable a boon these islands have
received,--a boon, which is by no means confined to the emancipated
slaves; but, like the dew and rains of heaven, it fell upon all the
inhabitants of the land, bond and free, rich and poor, together.
It is a common thing here, when you hear one speak of the benefits
of emancipation--the remark--that it ought to have taken place long
ago. Some say fifty years ago, some twenty, and some, that at any
rate it ought to have taken place all at once, without any
apprenticeship. The noon-day sun is not clearer than the fact, that
no preparation was required on the part of the slaves. It was the
dictate of an accusing conscience, that foretold of bloodshed, and
burning, and devastation. Can it be supposed to be an accidental
circumstance, that peace and good-will have _uniformly_, in _all_
the colonies, followed the steps of emancipation. Is it not rather
the broad seal of attestation to that heaven born principle, "It is
safe to do right." Dear brother, if you or any other friend to down
trodden humanity, have any lingering fear that the blaze of light
which is now going forth from the islands will ever be quenched,
even for a moment, dismiss that fear. The light, instead of growing
dim, will continue to brighten. Your prayers for the safe and happy
introduction of freedom, upon a soil long trodden by the foot of
slavery, may be turned into praises--for the event has come to pass.
When shall we be able to rejoice in such a consummation in our
beloved America? How I long to see a deputation of slaveholders
making the tour of these islands. It would only be necessary for
them to use their eyes and ears. Argument would be quite out of
place. Even an appeal to principle--to compassion--to the fear of
God--would not be needed. Self-interest alone would decide them in
favor of immediate emancipation.
Ever yours,
W.R. HAYES.
DEMERARA.
SPEECH OF THE GOVERNOR, ON OPENING THE SESSION OF THE COURT OF POLICY,
SEPT. 17, 1838.
From the Guiana Royal Gazette.
"I should fail in my duty to the public, and perhaps no respond to
the expectations of yourselves, Gentlemen of the Colonial Section of
this Honorable Court, did I not say a few words on the state of the
Colony, at this our first meeting after the memorable first
of August.
We are now approaching the close of the second month since that
date--a sufficient time to enable us to judge of the good
disposition of the new race of Freemen, but not perhaps of the
prosperity of the Colony. It is a proud thing for the
Colonist--Proprietors and Employers--that nothing has occurred to
indicate a want of good feeling in the great body of the laborers.
It is creditable to them, satisfactory to their employers, and
confounding to those who anticipated a contrary state of affairs.
That partial changes of location should have taken place, cannot
surprise any reasonable mind--that men who have all their lives been
subject to compulsory labor should, on having this labor left to
their discretion, be disposed at first to relax, and, in some
instances, totally abstain from it, was equally to be expected. But
we have no reason to despond, nor to imagine that, because such has
occurred in some districts, it will continue.
It is sufficient that the ignorant have been undeceived in their
exaggerated notions of their rights as Freemen: it was the first
step towards resumption of labor in every part of the Colony. The
patient forbearance of the Employers has produced great changes. If
some Estates have been disappointed in the amount of labor
performed, others again, and I have reason to believe a great
number, are doing well. It is well known that the Peasantry have not
taken to a wandering life: they are not lost to the cultivated parts
of the Colony: for the reports hitherto received from the
Superintendents of Rivers and Creeks make no mention of an augmented
population in the distant parts of their respective districts.
I hear of few commitments, except in this town, where, of course,
many of the idle have flocked from the country. On the East Coast,
there has been only one case brought before the High Sheriff's Court
since the 1st of August. In the last Circuit, not one!
With these facts before us, we may, I trust, anticipate the
continued prosperity of the Colony; and though it be possible there
may be a diminution in the exports of the staple commodities in this
and the succeeding quarter, yet we must take into consideration that
the season had been unfavorable, in some districts, previous to the
1st August, therefore a larger proportion of the crops remained
uncut; and we may ask, whether a continuance of compulsory labor
would have produced a more favorable result? Our united efforts
will, I trust, not be wanting to base individual prosperity on the
welfare of all."
The Governor of Demerara is HENRY LIGHT, Esq., a gentlemen who seems
strongly inclined to court the old slavery party and determined to shew
his want of affinity to the abolitionists. In another speech delivered
on a similar occasion, he says:
"Many of the new freemen may still be said to be in their infancy of
freedom, and like children are wayward. On _many of the estates_ they
have repaid the kindness and forbearance of their masters; on others
they have continued to take advantage of (what? the kindness and
forbearance of their masters? No.) their new condition, are idle or
irregular in their work. The good sense of the mass gives me reason to
hope that idleness will be the exception, not the rule."
The Barbadian of NOV. 28, remarks, that of six districts in Demerara
whose condition had been reported, _five_ were working favorably. In the
sixth the laborers were standing out for higher wages.
TRINIDAD.
In the _Jamaica Morning Journal_ of Oct. 2d and 15th, we find the
following paragraphs in relation to this colony:
"Trinidad.--The reports from the various districts as to the conduct of
our laboring population, are as various and opposite, the Standard says,
to each other as it is possible for them to be. There are many of the
Estates on which the laborers had at first gone on steadily to work
which now have scarcely a hand upon them, whilst upon others they muster
a greater force than they could before command. We hear also that the
people have already in many instances exhibited that propensity common
to the habits of common life, which we call squatting, and to which we
have always looked forward as one of the evils likely to accompany their
emancipation, and calling for the earliest and most serious attention of
our Legislature. We must confess, however, that it is a subject not easy
to deal with safely and effectually."
TRINIDAD,--The Standard says: "The state of the cultivation at present
is said to be as far advanced as could have been anticipated under the
new circumstances in which the Island stands. The weather throughout the
month has been more than usually favorable to weeding, whilst there has
also been sufficient rain to bring out the plants; and many planters
having, before the 1st of Augus, pushed on their weeding by free labor
and (paid) extra tasks, the derangement in their customary labor which
has been experienced since that period, does not leave them much below
an average progress."
"Of the laborers, although they are far from being settled, we believe
we may say, that they are not working badly; indeed, compared with those
of the sister colonies, they are both more industrious and more disposed
to be on good terms with their late masters. Some few estates continue
short of their usual compliment of hands; but many of the laborers who
had left the proprietors, have returned to them, whilst many others have
changed their locality either to join their relations, or to return to
their haunts of former days. So far as we can learn, nothing like
insubordination or combination exists. We are also happy to say, that on
some estates, the laborers have turned their attention to their
provision grounds. There is one point, however, which few seem to
comprehend, which is, that although free, they cannot work one day and
be idle the next, _ad libitum_."
Later accounts mention that some thousands more of laborers were wanted
to take off the crop, and that a committee of immigration had been
appointed to obtain them. [See Amos Townsend's letter on the last page.]
So it seems the free laborers are so good they want more of them. The
same is notoriously true of Demerara, and Berbice. Instead of a
colonization spirit to get rid of the free blacks, the quarrel among the
colonies is, which shall get the most. It is no wonder that the poor
negroes in Trinidad should betake themselves to squatting. The island is
thinly peopled and the administration or justice is horribly corrupt,
under the governorship and judgeship of Sir George Hill, the well known
defaulter as Vice Treasurer of Ireland, on whose appointment Mr.
O'Connell remarked that "delinquents might excuse themselves by
referring to the case of their judge."
GRENADA.
"GRENADA--The Gazette expresses its gratification at being able to
record, that the accounts which have been received from several parts of
the country, are of a satisfactory nature. On many of the properties the
peasantry have, during the week, evinced a disposition to resume their
several accustomed avocations, at the rates, and on the terms proposed
by the directors of the respective estates, to which they were formerly
belonging; and very little desire to change their residence has been
manifested. One of our correspondents writes, that 'already, by a
conciliatory method, and holding out the stimulus of extra pay, in
proportion to the quantity of work performed beyond that allowed to
them, he had, 'succeeded in obtaining, for three days, double the former
average of work, rendered by the labors during the days of slavery; and
this, too, by four o'clock, at which hour it seems, they are now wishful
of ceasing to work, and to enable them to do so, they work continuously
from the time they return from their breakfast.'"
"It is one decided opinion, the paper named says, that in a very short
time the cultivation of the cane still be generally resumed, and all
things continue to progress to the mutual satisfaction of both employer
and laborer. We shall feel indebted to our friends for such information,
as it may be in their power to afford us on this important subject, as
it will tend to their advantage equally with that of their laborers,
from the same being made public. We would wish also that permission be
given as to mention the names of the properties on which matters have
assumed a favorable aspect."
_Jamaica Morning Journal of Oct. 2_.
GRENADA.--According to the _Free Press_, it would appear that 'the
proprietors and managers of several estates in Duquesne Valley, and
elsewhere, their patience being worn out, and seeing the cultivation of
their estates going to ruin, determined to put the law into operation,
by compelling, after allowing twenty-three or twenty-four days of
idleness, the people either to work or to leave the estates. They
resisted; the aid of the magistrates and of the constabulary force was
called in, but without effect, and actual violence was, we learn, used
towards those who came to enforce the law. Advices were immediately sent
down to the Executive, despatched by a gentleman of the Troop, who
reached town about half past five o'clock on Saturday morning last. We
believe a Privy Council was summoned, and during the day, Capt. Clarke
of the 1st West-India Regiment, and Government Secretary, Lieut. Mould
of the Royal Engineers, and Lieut. Costabodie of the 70th, together with
twenty men of the 70th, and 20 of the 1st West India, embarked, to be
conveyed by water to the scene of insubordination.'
"'We have not learnt the reception this force met with, from the
laborers, but the results of the visit paid them were, that yesterday,
there were at work, on four estates, none: on eleven others, 287 in all,
and on another all except three, who are in the hands of the
magistrates. On one of the above properties, the great gang was, on
Friday last, represented in the cane-piece by one old woman!'"
"'The presence of the soldiers has had, it will be seen, some effect,
yet still the prospects are far from encouraging; a system of stock
plundering, &c. is prevalent to a fearful degree, some gentlemen and the
industrious laborers having had their fowls, &c. entirely carried off by
the worthless criminals; it is consolatory, however, to be able to quote
the following written, to us by a gentleman: "Although there are a good
many people on the different estates, still obstinate and resisting
either to work or to leave the properties, yet I hope that if the
military are posted at Samaritan for some time longer, they will come
round, several of the very obstinate having done so already." Two
negroes were sent down to goal on Monday last, to have their trial for
assaulting the magistrates.'"
"'Such are the facts, as far as we have been able to ascertain them,
which have attended a rebellious demonstration among a portion of the
laboring population, calculated to excite well-founded apprehension in
the whole community. Had earlier preventive measures been adopted, this
open manifestation of a spirit of resistance to, and defiance of the
law, might have been avoided. On this point, we have, in contempt of the
time-serving reflections it has drawn upon us, freely and fearlessly
expressed our opinion, and we shall now only remark, that matters having
come to the pass we have stated, the Executive has adopted the only
effective means to bring affairs again to a healthy state; fortunate is
it for the colony, that this has been done, and we trust that the
effects will be most beneficial.'"
TOBAGO.
The following testifies well for the ability of the emancipated to take
care of themselves.
"'Tobago.--The Gazette of this Island informs us that up to the period
of its going to press, the accounts from the country, as to the
disinclination of the laborers to turn out to work are much the same as
we have given of last week. Early this morning parties of them were seen
passing through town in various directions, accompanied by their
children, and carrying along with them their ground provisions, stock,
&c. indicating a change of location. Whilst on many estates where
peremptory demands have been made that work be resumed, or the laborers
should leave the estate, downright refusal to do either the one or the
other has been the reply; and that reply has been accompanied by threat
and menace of personal violence against any attempts to turn them out of
their houses and grounds. In the transition of the laborers from a state
of bondage to freedom, much that in their manners and deportment would
have brought them summarily under the coercion of the stipendiary
magistrate, formerly, may now be practised with impunity; and the fear
is lest that nice discrimination betwixt restraints just terminated and
rights newly acquired, will not be clouded for some time, even in the
minds of the authorities, before whom laborers are likely to be brought
for their transgression. Thus, although it may appear like an alarming
confederacy, the system of sending delegates, or head men, around the
estates, which the laborers have adopted, as advisers, or agents, to
promote general unanimity; it must be borne in mind that this is
perfectly justifiable; and it is only where actual violence has been
threatened by those delegates against those who choose to work at under
wages, that the authorities can merely assure them of their protection
from violence.'--_Morning Jour., Oct. 2._"
The _Barbadian_ of November 21, says, "An agricultural report has been
lately made of the windward district of the Island, which is favorable
as to the general working of the negroes." The same paper of November
28, says, "It is satisfactory to learn that _many_ laborers in Tobago
are engaging more readily in agricultural operations."
ST. VINCENT.
"Saint Vincent.--Our intelligence this week, observes the Gazette of
25th August, from the country districts, is considerably more favorable
than for the previous fortnight. In most of the leeward quarter, the
people have, more or less, returned to work, with the exception of very
few estates, which we decline naming, as we trust that on these also
they will resume their labor in a few days. The same may be said
generally of the properties in St. George's parish; and in the more
extensive district of Charlotte, there is every prospect that the same
example will be followed next week particularly in the Caraib country,
where a few laborers on some properties have been at work during the
present week, and the explanation and advice given them by Mr. Special
Justice Ross has been attended with the best effect, and we doubt not
will so continue. In the Biabou quarter the laborers have resumed work
in greater numbers than in other parts of the parish, and the exceptions
in this, as in ether districts, we hope will continue but a short time."
The Barbadian of November 21, speaks of a "megass house" set on fire in
this island which the peasantry refused to extinguish, and adds that but
half work is performed by the laborer in that parish. "Those of the
adjoining parish," its says, "are said to be working satisfactorily." In
a subsequent paper we notice a report from the Chief of Police to the
Lieutenant Governor, which speaks favorably of the general working of
the negroes, as far as he had been able to ascertain by inquiry into a
district comprising one-third of the laborers.
The New York Commercial Advertiser of February 25, has a communication
from Amos Townsend, Esq., Cashier of the New Haven Bank; dated New
Haven, February 21, 1839, from which we make the following extract. He
says he obtained his information from one of the most extensive shipping
houses in that city connected with the West India trade.
"A Mr. Jackson, a planter from St. Vincents, has been in this city
within a few day, and says that the emancipation of the slaves on
that island works extremely well; and that his plantation produces
more and yields a larger profit than it has ever done before. The
emancipated slaves now do in eight hours what was before considered
a two-days' task, and he pays the laborers a dollar a day.
Mr. Jackson further states that he, and Mr. Nelson, of Trinidad,
with another gentleman from the same islands, have been to
Washington, and conferred with Mr. Calhoun and Mr. Clay, _to
endeavour to concert some plan to get colored laborers from this
country to emigrate to these islands, as there is a great want of
hands._ They offer one dollar a day for able bodied hands. The
gentlemen at Washington were pleased with the idea of thus disposing
of the free blacks at the South, and would encourage their efforts
to induce that class of the colored people to emigrate. Mr. Calhoun
remarked that it was the most feasible plan of colonizing the free
blacks that had ever been suggested.
This is the amount of my information, and comes in so direct a
channel as leaves no room to doubt its correctness. What our
southern champions will now say to this direct testimony from their
brother planters of the West Indies, of the practicability and
safety of immediate emancipation, remains to be seen. Truly yours."
AMOS TOWNSEND, JUN.
ST. LUCIA.
Saint Lucia.--The Palladium states that affairs are becoming worse every
day with the planters. Their properties are left without labourers to
work them; their buildings broken into, stores and produce stolen,
ground provisions destroyed, stock robbed, and they themselves insulted
and laughed at.
On Saturday night, the Commissary of Police arrived in town from the
third and fourth districts, with some twenty or thirty prisoners, who
had been convicted before the Chief Justice of having assaulted the
police in the execution of their duty, and sent to gaol.
"It has been deemed necessary to call for military aid with a view of
humbling the high and extravagant ideas entertained by the
ex-apprentices upon the independence of their present condition;
thirty-six men of the first West India regiment, and twelve of the
seventy-fourth have been accordingly despatched; the detachment embarked
yesterday on board Mr. Muter's schooner, the Louisa, to land at
Soufriere, and march into the interior."
In both the above cases where the military was called out, the
provocation was given by the white. And in both cases it was afterwards
granted to be needless. Indeed, in the quelling of one of these
factitious rebellions, the prisoners taken were two white men, and one
of them a manager.
* * * * *
THE
CHATTEL PRINCIPLE
THE ABHORRENCE OF
JESUS CHRIST AND THE APOSTLES;
OR
NO REFUGE FOR AMERICAN SLAVERY
IN
THE NEW TESTAMENT.
NEW YORK
PUBLISHED BY THE AMERICAN ANTI-SLAVERY SOCIETY.
NO. 143 NASSAU STREET.
1839
_Please read and circulate._
The
NEW TESTAMENT AGAINST SLAVERY.
* * * * *
"THE SON OF MAN IS COME TO SEEK AND TO SAVE THAT WHICH WAS LOST."
Is Jesus Christ in favor of American slavery? In 1776 THOMAS JEFFERSON,
supported by a noble band of patriots and surrounded by the American
people, opened his lips in the authoritative declaration: "We hold these
truths to be SELF-EVIDENT, _that all men are created equal; that they
are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights; that among
these are life, LIBERTY and the pursuit of happiness._" And from the
inmost heart of the multitudes around, and in a strong and clear voice,
broke forth the unanimous and decisive answer: Amen--such truths we do
indeed hold to be self-evident. And animated and sustained by a
declaration, so inspiring and sublime, they rushed to arms, and as the
result of agonizing efforts and dreadful sufferings, achieved under God
the independence of their country. The great truth, whence they derived
light and strength to assert and defend their rights, they made the
foundation of their republic. And in the midst of _this republic_, must
we prove, that He, who was the Truth, did not contradict "the truths"
which He Himself, as their Creator, had made self-evident to mankind?
Is Jesus Christ in favor of American slavery? What, according to those
laws which make it what it is, is American slavery? In the Statute-Book
of South Carolina thus it is written:[A] "Slaves shall be deemed, sold,
taken, reputed and adjudged in law to be _chattels personal_ in the
hands of their owners and possessors, and their executors,
administrators and assigns, to all intents, constructions and purposes
whatever." The very root of American slavery consists in the assumption,
that _law has reduced men to chattels_. But this assumption is, and must
be, a gross falsehood. Men and cattle are separated from each other by
the Creator, immutably, eternally, and by an impassable gulf. To
confound or identify men and cattle must be to _lie_ most wantonly,
impudently, and maliciously. And must we prove, that Jesus Christ is not
in favor of palpable, monstrous falsehood?
[Footnote A: Stroud's Slave Laws, p. 23.]
Is Jesus Christ in favor of American slavery? How can a system, built
upon a stout and impudent denial of self-evident truth--a system of
treating men like cattle--operate? Thomas Jefferson shall answer. Hear
him.[B] "The whole commerce between master and slave is a perpetual
exercise of the most boisterous passions; the most unremitting despotism
on the one part, and degrading submission on the other. The parent
storms, the child looks on, catches the lineaments of wrath, puts on the
same airs in the circle of smaller slaves, gives loose to his worst
passions, and thus nursed, educated, and daily exercised in tyranny, can
not but be stamped by it with odious peculiarities. The man must be a
prodigy, who can retain his manners and morals undepraved by such
circumstances." Such is the practical operation of a system, which puts
men and cattle into the same family and treats them alike. And must we
prove, that Jesus Christ is not in favor of a school where the worst
vices in their most hateful forms are systematically and efficiently
taught and practiced?
[Footnote B: Notes on Virginia.]
Is Jesus Christ in favor of American slavery? What, in 1818, did the
General Assembly of the Presbyterian church affirm respecting its nature
and operation?[C] "Slavery creates a paradox in the moral system--it
exhibits rational, accountable, and immortal beings, in such
circumstances as scarcely to leave them the power of moral action. It
exhibits them as dependent on the will of others, whether they shall
receive religious instruction; whether they shall know and worship the
true God; whether they shall enjoy the ordinances of the gospel; whether
they shall perform the duties and cherish the endearments of husbands
and wives, parents and children, neighbors and friends; whether they
shall preserve their chastity and purity, or regard the dictates of
justice and humanity. Such are some of the consequences of slavery;
consequences not imaginary, but which connect themselves with its very
existence. The evils to which the slave is _always_ exposed, _often take
place_ in their very worst degree and form; and where all of them do not
take place, still the slave is deprived of his natural rights, degraded
as a human being, and exposed to the danger of passing into the hands of
a master who may inflict upon him all the hardships and injuries which
inhumanity and avarice may suggest." Must we prove, that Jesus Christ is
not in favor of such things?
[Footnote C: Minutes of the General Assembly for 1818, p. 29.]
Is Jesus Christ in favor of American slavery? It is already widely felt
and openly acknowledged at the South, that they can not support slavery
without sustaining the opposition of universal christendom. And Thomas
Jefferson declared, that "he trembled for his country when he reflected,
that God is just; that his justice can not sleep forever; that
considering numbers, nature, and natural means only, a revolution of the
wheel of fortune, an exchange of situation, is among possible events;
that it may become practicable by supernatural influences! The Almighty
has no attribute which can take sides with us in such a contest."[A] And
must we prove, that Jesus Christ is not in favor of what universal
christendom is impelled to abhor, denounce, and oppose;--is not in favor
of what every attribute of Almighty God is armed against?
[Footnote A: Notes on Virginia]
"YE HAVE DESPISED THE POOR."
It is no man of straw, with whom in making out such proof we are called
to contend. Would to God we had no other antagonist! Would to God that
our labor of love could be regarded as a work of supererogation! But we
may well be ashamed and grieved; to find it necessary to "stop the
mouths" of grave and learned ecclesiastics, who from the heights of Zion
have undertaken to defend the institution of slavery. We speak not now
of those, who amidst the monuments of oppression are engaged in the
sacred vocation; who as ministers of the Gospel can "prophesy smooth
things" to such as pollute the altar of Jehovah with human sacrifices;
nay, who themselves bind the victim and kindle the sacrifice. That
_they_ should put their Savior to the torture, to wring from his lips
something in favor of slavery, is not to be wondered at. They consent to
the murder of the children; can they respect the rights of the Father?
But what shall we say of theological professors at the North--professors
of sacred literature at our oldest divinity schools--who stand up to
defend, both by argument and authority, southern slavery! And from the
Bible! Who, Balaam-like, try a thousand expedients to force from the
mouth of Jehovah a sentence which they know the heart of Jehovah abhors!
Surely we have here something more mischievous and formidable than a man
of straw. More than two years ago, and just before the meeting of the
General Assembly of the Presbyterian church, appeared an article in the
Biblical Repertory,[A] understood to be from the pen of the Professor of
Sacred Literature at Princeton, in which an effort is made to show, that
slavery, whatever may be said of _any abuses_ of it, is _not a violation
of the precepts of the Gospel_. This article, we are informed, was
industriously and extensively distributed among the members of the
General Assembly--a body of men, who by a frightful majority seemed
already too much disposed to wink at the horrors of slavery. The effect
of the Princeton Apology on the southern mind, we have high authority
for saying, has been most decisive and injurious. It has contributed
greatly to turn the public eye off from the sin--from the inherent and
necessary _evils of slavery_ to incidental evils, which the _abuse_ of
it might be expected to occasion. And how few can be brought to admit,
that whatever abuses may prevail nobody knows where or how, any such
thing is chargeable upon them! Thus our Princeton prophet has done what
he could to lay the southern conscience asleep upon ingenious
perversions of the sacred volume!
[Footnote A: For April, 1836. The General Assembly of the Presbyterian
Church met in the following May, at Pittsburgh, where, in pamphlet form,
this article was distributed. The following appeared upon the
title page:
PITTSBURGH:
1836.
_For gratuitous distribution_.
]
About a year after this, an effort in the same direction was jointly
made by Dr. Fisk and Prof. Stuart. In a letter to a Methodist clergyman,
Mr. Merritt, published in Zion's Herald, Dr. Fisk gives utterance to
such things as the following:--"But that you and the public may see and
_feel_, that you have the ablest and those who are among the honestest
men of this age, arrayed against you, be pleased to notice the following
letter from Prof. Stuart." I wrote to him, knowing as I did his integrity
of purpose, his unflinching regard for truth, as well as his deserved
reputation as a scholar and biblical critic, proposing the following
questions:--
1. Does the New Testament directly or indirectly teach, that slavery
existed in the primitive church?
2. In 1 Tim. vi. 2, And they that have believing masters, &c., what is
the relation expressed or implied between "they" (servants) and
"_believing masters_?" And what are your reasons for the construction of
the passage?
3. What was the character of ancient and eastern slavery?--Especially
what (legal) power did this relation give the master over the slave?
PROFESSOR STUART'S REPLY.
ANDOVER, 10th April, 1837.
REV. AND DEAR SIR,--Yours is before me. A sickness of three months'
standing (typhus fever,) in which I have just escaped death, and
which still confines me to my house, renders it impossible for me to
answer your letter at large.
1. The precepts of the New Testament respecting the demeanor of
slaves and of their masters, beyond all question, recognize the
existence of slavery. The masters are in part "believing masters,"
so that a precept to them, how they are to behave as _masters_,
recognizes that the relation may still exist, _salva fide et salva
ecclesia_, ("without violating the Christian faith or the church.")
Otherwise, Paul had nothing to do but to cut the band asunder at
once. He could not lawfully and properly temporize with a _malum in
se_, ("that which is in itself sin.")
If any one doubts, let him take the case of Paul's sending Onesimus
back to Philemon, with an apology for his running away, and sending
him back to be his servant for life. The relation did exist, may
exist. The _abuse_ of it is the essential and fundamental wrong. Not
that the theory of slavery is in itself right. No; "Love thy
neighbor as thyself," "Do unto others that which ye would that
others should do unto you," decide against this. But the relation
once constituted and continued, is not such a _malum in se_ as calls
for immediate and violent disruption at all hazards. So Paul did
not counsel.
2. 1 Tim. vi. 2, expresses the sentiment, that slaves, who are
Christians and have Christian masters, are not, on that account, and
because _as Christians they are brethren_, to forego the reverence
due to them as masters. That is, the relation of master and slave is
not, as a matter of course, abrogated between all Christians. Nay,
servants should in such a case, a _fortiori_, do their duty
cheerfully. This sentiment lies on the very face of the case. What
the master's duty in such a case may be in respect to _liberation_,
is another question, and one which the apostle does not here
treat of.
3. Every one knows, who is acquainted with Greek or Latin
antiquities, that slavery among heathen nations has ever been more
unqualified and at looser ends than among Christian nations. Slaves
were _property_ in Greece and Rome. That decides all questions about
their _relation_. Their treatment depended, as it does now, on the
temper of their masters. The power of the master over the slave was,
for a long time, that of _life and death_. Horrible cruelties at
length mitigated it. In the apostle's day, it was at least as great
as among us.
After all the spouting and vehemence on this subject, which have
been exhibited, the _good old Book_ remains the same. Paul's conduct
and advice are still safe guides. Paul knew well that Christianity
would ultimately destroy slavery, as it certainly will. He knew too,
that it would destroy monarchy and aristocracy from the earth; for
it is fundamentally a doctrine of _true liberty and equality_. Yet
Paul did not expect slavery or anarchy to be ousted in a day; and
gave precepts to Christians respecting their demeanor _ad interim_.
With sincere and paternal regard,
Your friend and brother,
M. STUART.
* * * * *
--This, sir, is doctrine that will stand, because it is _Bible
doctrine_. The abolitionists, then, are on a wrong course. They have
traveled out of the record; and if they would succeed, they must
take a different position, and approach the subject in a different
manner. Respectfully yours,
W. FISK
"SO THEY WRAP [SNARL] IT UP."
What are we taught here? That in the ecclesiastical organizations which
grew up under the hands of the apostles, slavery was admitted as a
relation, that did not violate the Christian faith; that the relation
may now in like manner exist; that "the abuse of it is the essential and
fundamental wrong;" and, of course, that American Christians may hold
their own brethren in slavery without incurring guilt or inflicting
injury. Thus according to Prof. Stuart, Jesus Christ has not a word to
say against "the peculiar institutions" of the South. If our brethren
there do not "abuse" the privilege of exacting unpaid labor, they may
multiply their slaves to their hearts' content, without exposing
themselves to the frown of the Savior or laying their Christian
character open to the least suspicion. Could any trafficker in human
flesh ask for greater latitude? And to such doctrines, Dr. Fisk eagerly
aid earnestly subscribes. He goes further. He urges it on the attention
of his brethren, as containing important truth, which they ought to
embrace. According to him, it is "_Bible doctrine_," showing, that "the
abolitionists are on a wrong course," and must, "if they would succeed,
take a different position."
We now refer to such distinguished names, to show, that in attempting to
prove that Jeans Christ is not in favor of American slavery, we contend
with something else than a man of straw. The ungrateful task, which a
particular examination of Prof. Stuart's letter lays upon us, we hope
fairly to dispose of in due season.--Enough has now been said, to make
it clear and certain, that American slavery has its apologists and
advocates in the northern pulpit; advocates and apologists, who fall
behind few if any of their brethren in the reputation they have
acquired, the stations they occupy, and the general influence they are
supposed to exert.
Is it so? Did slavery exist in Judea, and among the Jews, in its worst
form, during the Savior's incarnation? If the Jews held slaves, they
must have done so in open and flagrant violation of the letter and the
spirit of the Mosaic Dispensation. Whoever has any doubts of this may
well resolve his doubts in the light of the Argument entitled "The Bible
against Slavery." If, after a careful and thorough examination of that
article, he can believe that slaveholding prevailed during the ministry
of Jesus Christ among the Jews and in accordance with the authority of
Moses, he would do the reading public an important service to record the
grounds of his belief--especially in a fair and full refutation of that
Argument. Till that is done, we hold ourselves excused from attempting
to prove what we now repeat, that if the Jews during our Savior's
incarnation held slaves, they must have done so in open and flagrant
violation of the letter and the spirit of the Mosaic Dispensation. Could
Christ and the Apostles every where among their countrymen come in
contact with slaveholding, being as it was a gross violation of that law
which their office and their profession required them to honor and
enforce, without exposing and condemning it.
In its worst forms, we are told, slavery prevailed over the whole world,
not excepting Judea. As, according to such ecclesiastics as Stuart,
Hodge, and Fisk, slavery in itself is not bad at all, the term "_worst_"
could be applied only to "_abuses_" of this innocent relation. Slavery
accordingly existed among the Jews, disfigured and disgraced by the
"worst abuses" to which it is liable. These abuses in the ancient world,
Prof. Stuart describes as "horrible cruelties." And in our own country,
such abuses have grown so rank, as to lead a distinguished
eye-witness--no less a philosopher and statesman than Thomas
Jefferson--to say, that they had armed against us every attribute of the
Almighty. With these things the Savior every where came in contact,
among the people to whose improvement and salvation he devoted his
living powers, and yet not a word, not a syllable, in exposure and
condemnation of such "horrible cruelties," escaped his lips! He
saw--among the "covenant people" of Jehovah he saw, the babe plucked
from the bosom of its mother; the wife torn from the embrace of her
husband; the daughter driven to the market by the scourge of her own
father;--he saw the word of God sealed up from those who, of all men,
were especially entitled to its enlightening, quickening
influence;--nay, he saw men beaten for kneeling before the throne of
heavenly mercy;--such things he saw without a word of admonition or
reproof! No sympathy with them who suffered wrong--no indignation at
them who inflicted wrong, moved his heart!
From the alledged silence of the Savior, when in contact with slavery
among the Jews, our divines infer, that it is quite consistent with
Christianity. And they affirm, that he saw it in its worst forms; that
is, he witnessed what Prof. Stuart ventures to call "horrible
cruelties." But what right have these interpreters of the sacred volume
to regard any form of slavery which the Savior found, as "worst," or
even bad? According to their inference--which they would thrust gag-wise
into the mouths of abolitionists--his silence should seal up their lips.
They ought to hold their tongues. They have no right to call any form of
slavery bad--an abuse; much less, horribly cruel! Their inference is
broad enough to protect the most brutal driver amidst his deadliest
inflictions!
"THINK NOT THAT I AM COME TO DESTROY THE LAW OR THE PROPHETS; I AM NOT
COME TO DESTROY, BUT TO FULFILL."
And did the Head of the new dispensation, then, fall so far behind the
prophets of the old in a hearty and effective regard for suffering
humanity? The forms of oppression which they witnessed, excited their
compassion and aroused their indignation. In terms the most pointed and
powerful, they exposed, denounced, threatened. They could not endure the
creatures, who "used their neighbors' service without wages, and gave
him not for his work;"[A] who imposed "heavy burdens"[B] upon their
fellows, and loaded them with "the bands of wickedness;" who, "hiding
themselves from their own flesh," disowned their own mothers' children.
Professions of piety, joined with the oppression of the poor, they held
up to universal scorn and execration, as the dregs of hypocrisy. They
warned the creature of such professions, that he could escape the wrath
of Jehovah only by heartfelt repentance. And yet, according to the
ecclesiastics with whom we have to do, the Lord of these prophets passed
by in silence just such enormities as he commanded them to expose and
denounce! Every where, he came in contact with slavery in its worst
forms--"horrible cruelties" forced themselves upon his notice; but not a
word of rebuke or warning did he utter. He saw "a boy given for a
harlot, and a girl sold for wine, that they might drink,"[C] without the
slightest feeling of displeasure, or any mark of disapprobation! To such
disgusting and horrible conclusions, do the arguings which, from the
haunts of sacred literature, are inflictcd on our churches, lead us!
According to them, Jesus Christ, instead of shining as the light of the
world, extinguished the torches which his own prophets had kindled, and
plunged mankind into the palpable darkness of a starless midnight! O
Savior, in pity to thy suffering people, let thy temple be no longer
used as a "den of thieves!"
[Footnote A: Jeremiah xxii. 13.]
[Footnote B: Isaiah lviii. 6,7.]
[Footnote C: Joel iii. 3.]
"THOU THOUGHTEST THAT I WAS ALTOGETHER SUCH AN ONE AS THYSELF."
In passing by the worst forms of slavery, with which he every where came
in contact among the Jews, the Savior must have been inconsistent with
himself. He was commissioned to preach glad tidings to the poor; to heal
the broken-hearted; to preach deliverance to the captives; to set at
liberty them that are bruised; to preach the year of Jubilee. In
accordance with this commission, he bound himself, from the earliest
date of his incarnation, to the poor, by the strongest ties; himself
"had not where to lay his head;" he exposed himself to misrepresentation
and abuse for his affectionate intercourse with the outcasts of society;
he stood up as the advocate of the widow, denouncing and dooming the
heartless ecclesiastics, who had made her bereavement a source of gain;
and in describing the scenes of the final judgment, he selected the very
personification of poverty, disease, and oppression, as the test by
which our regard for him should be determined. To the poor and wretched;
to the degraded and despised, his arms were ever open. They had his
tenderest sympathies. They had his warmest love. His heart's blood he
poured out upon the ground for the human family, reduced to the deepest
degradation, and exposed to the heaviest inflictions, as the slaves of
the grand usurper. And yet, according to our ecclesiastics, that class
of sufferers who had been reduced immeasurably below every other shape
and form of degradation and distress; who had been most rudely thrust
out of the family of Adam, and forced to herd with swine; who, without
the slightest offense, had been made the foot-stool of the worst
criminals; whose "tears were their meat night and day," while, under
nameless insults and killing injuries, they were continually crying, O
Lord, O Lord:--this class of sufferers, and this alone, our biblical
expositors, occupying the high places of sacred literature, would make
us believe the compassionate Savior coldly overlooked. Not an emotion of
pity; not a look of sympathy; not a word of consolation, did his
gracious heart prompt him to bestow upon them! He denounces damnation
upon the devourer of the widow's house. But the monster, whose trade it
is to make widows and devour them and their babes, he can calmly endure!
O Savior, when wilt thou stop the mouths of such blasphemers!
IT IS THE SPIRIT THAT QUICKENETH.
It seems, that though, according to our Princeton professor, "the
subject" of slavery "is hardly alluded to by Christ in any of his
personal instructions[A]," he had a way of "treating it." What was that?
Why, "he taught the true nature, DIGNITY, EQUALITY, and destiny of men,"
and "inculcated the principles of justice and love."[B] And according to
Professor Stuart, the maxims which our Savior furnished, "decide
against" "the theory of slavery." All, then, that these ecclesiastical
apologists for slavery can make of the Savior's alledged silence is,
that he did not, in his personal instructions, "_apply his own principles
to this particular form of wickedness_." For wicked that must be, which
the maxims of the Savior decide against, and which our Princeton
professor assures us the principles of the gospel, duly acted on, would
speedily extinguish[C]. How remarkable it is, that a teacher should
"hardly allude to a subject in any of his personal instructions," and
yet inculcate principles which have a direct and vital bearing upon
it!--should so conduct, as to justify the inference, that "slaveholding
is not a crime[D]," and at the same time lend his authority for its
"speedy extinction!"
[Footnote A: Pittsburgh pamphlet, (already alluded to,)p.9.]
[Footnote B: Pittsburgh pamphlet, p.9.]
[Footnote C: The same, p.34.]
[Footnote D: The same, p.13.]
Higher authority than sustains _self-evident truths_ there can not be.
As forms of reason, they are rays from the face of Jehovah. Not only are
their presence and power self-manifested, but they also shed a strong
and clear light around them. In this light, other truths are visible.
Luminaries themselves, it is their office to enlighten. To their
authority, in every department of thought, the sane mind bows promptly,
gratefully, fully. And by their authority, he explains, proves, and
disposes of whatever engages his attention and engrosses his powers as a
reasonable and reasoning creature. For what, when thus employed and when
most successful, is the utmost he can accomplish? Why, to make the
conclusions which he would establish and commend, _clear in the light of
reason_;--in other words, to evince that _they are reasonable_. He
expects, that those with whom he has to do, will acknowledge the
authority of principle--will see whatever is exhibited in the light of
reason. If they require him to go further, and, in order to convince
them, to do something more that show that the doctrines he maintains,
and the methods he proposes, are accordant with reason--are illustrated
and supported by "self-evident truths"--they are plainly "beside
themselves." They have lost the use of reason. They are not to be argued
with. They belong to the mad-house.
"COME NOW, LET US REASON TOGETHER, SAITH THE LORD."
Are we to honor the Bible, which Prof. Stuart quaintly calls "the good
old book," by turning away from "self-evident truths" to receive its
instructions? Can these truths be contradicted or denied there? Do we
search for something there to obscure their clearness, or break their
force, or reduce their authority? Do we long to find something there, in
the form of premises or conclusions, of arguing or of inference, in
broad statements or blind hints, creed-wise or fact-wise, which may set
us free from the light and power of first principles? And what if we
were to discover what we were thus in search of?--something directly or
indirectly, expressly or impliedly prejudicial to the principles, which
reason, placing us under the authority of, makes self-evident? In what
estimation, in that case, should we be constrained to hold the Bible?
Could we longer honor it, as the book of God? _The book of God opposed
to the authority of_ REASON! Why, before what tribunal do we dispose of
the claims of the sacred volume to divine authority? The tribunal of
reason. _This every one acknowledges the moment he begins to reason on
the subject_. And what must reason do with a book, which reduced the
authority of its own principles--broke the force of self-evident truths?
Is he not, by way of eminence, the apostle of infidelity, who, as a
minister of the gospel or a professor of sacred literature, exerts
himself, with whatever arts of ingenuity or show of piety, to exalt the
Bible at the expense of reason? Let such arts succeed and such piety
prevail, and Jesus Christ is "crucified afresh and put to an
open shame."
What saith the Princeton professor? Why, in spite of "general
principles," and "clear as we may think the arguments against DESPOTISM,
there have been thousands of ENLIGHTENED _and good men_, who _honestly_
believe it to be of all forms of government the best and most acceptable
to God."[A] Now, these "good men" must have been thus warmly in favor of
despotism, in consequence of, or in opposition to, their being
"enlightened." In other words, the light, which in such abundance they
enjoyed, conducted them to the position in favor of despotism, where the
Princeton professor so heartily shook hands with them, or they must have
forced their way there in despite of its hallowed influence. Either in
accordance with, or in resistance to the light, they became what he
found them--the advocates of despotism. If in resistance to the
light--and he says they were "enlightened men"--what, so far as the
subject with which alone he and we are now concerned, becomes of their
"honesty" and "goodness?" Good and honest resisters of the light, which
was freely poured around them! Of such, what says Professor Stuart's
"good old Book?" Their authority, where "general principles" command the
least respect, must be small indeed. But if in accordance with the
light, they have become the advocates of despotism, then is despotism
"the best form of government and most acceptable to God." It is
sustained by the authority of reason, by the word of Jehovah, by the
will of Heaven! If this be the doctrine which prevails at certain
theological seminaries, it must be easy to account for the spirit which
they breathe, and the general influence which they exert. Why did not
the Princeton professor place this "general principle" as a shield,
heaven-wrought and reason-approved, over that cherished form of
despotism which prevails among the churches of the South, and leave the
"peculiar institutions" he is so forward to defend, under its
protection?
[Footnote A: Pittsburgh pamphlet, p.12.]
What is the "general principle" to which, whatever may become of
despotism with its "honest" admirers and "enlightened" supporters, human
governments should be universally and carefully adjusted? Clearly
this--_that as capable of, man is entitled to, self-government_. And
this is a specific form of a still more general principle, which may
well be pronounced self-evident--_that every thing should be treated
according to its nature_. The mind that can doubt of this, must be
incapable of rational conviction. Man, then,--it is the dictate of
reason, it is the voice of Jehovah--must be treated _as a man_. What is
he? What are his distinctive attributes? The Creator impressed his own
image on him. In this were found the grand peculiarities of his
character. Here shone his glory. Here REASON manifests its laws. Here
the WILL puts forth its volitions. Here is the crown of IMMORTALITY. Why
such endowments? Thus furnished--the image of Jehovah--is he not capable
of self-government? And is he not to be so treated? _Within the sphere
where the laws of reason place him_, may he not act according to his
choice--carry out his own volitions?--may he not enjoy life, exult in
freedom and pursue as he will the path of blessedness? If not, why was
he so created and endowed? Why the mysterious, awful attribute of will?
To be a source, profound as the depths of hell, of exquisite misery, of
keen anguish, of insufferable torment! Was man formed "according to the
image of Jehovah," to be crossed, thwarted, counteracted; to be forced
in upon himself; to be the sport of endless contradictions; to be driven
back and forth forever between mutually repellant forces; and all, all
"_at the discretion of another!"_[A] How can men be treated according to
his nature, as endowed with reason or will, if excluded from the powers
and privileges of self government?--if "despotism" be let loose upon
him, to "deprive him of personal liberty, oblige him to serve at the
discretion of another," and with the power of "transferring" such
"authority" over him and such claim upon him, to "another master?" If
"thousands of enlightened and good men" can so easily be found, who are
forward to support "despotism" as "of all governments the best and most
acceptable to God," we need not wonder at the testimony of universal
history, that "the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain
together until now." Groans and travail-pangs must continue to be the
order of the day throughout "the whole creation," till the rod of
despotism be broken, and man be treated as man--as capable of, and
entitled to, self-government.
[Footnote A: Pittsburgh pamphlet, p.12]
But what is the despotism whose horrid features our smooth professor
tries to hide beneath an array of cunningly-selected words and
nicely-adjusted sentences? It is the despotism of American
slavery--which crushes the very life of humanity out of its victims, and
transforms them to cattle! At its touch, they sink from men to things!
"Slaves," with Prof. Stuart, "were _property_ in Greece and Rome. That
decides all questions about their _relation_." Yes, truly. And slaves in
republican America are _property_; and as that easily, clearly, and
definitely settles "all questions about their _relation_," why should
the Princeton professor have put himself to the trouble of weaving a
definition equally ingenious and inadequate--at once subtle and
deceitful? Ah, why? Was he willing thus to conceal the wrongs of his
mother's children even from himself? If among the figments of his brain,
he could fashion slaves, and make them something else than property, he
knew full well that a very different pattern was in use among the
southern patriarchs. Why did he not, in plain words, and sober earnest,
and good faith, describe the thing as it was, instead of employing
honied words and courtly phrases, to set forth with all becoming
vagueness and ambiguity what might possibly be supposed to exist in the
regions of fancy.
"FOR RULERS ARE NOT A TERROR TO GOOD WORKS, BUT TO THE EVIL."
But are we, in maintaining the principle of self-government, to overlook
the unripe, or neglected, or broken powers of any of our fellow-men with
whom we may be connected?--or the strong passions, vicious propensities,
or criminal pursuit of others? Certainly not. But in providing for their
welfare, we are to exert influences and impose restraints suited to
their character. In wielding those prerogatives which the social of our
nature authorizes us to employ for their benefit, we are to regard them
as they are in truth, not things, not cattle, not articles of
merchandize, but men, our fellow-men--reflecting, from however battered
and broken a surface, reflecting with us the image of a common Father.
And the great principle of self-government is to be the basis, to which
the whole structure of discipline under which they may be placed, should
be adapted. From the nursery and village school on to the work-house and
state-prison, this principle is over and in all things to be before the
eyes, present in the thoughts, warm on the heart. Otherwise, God is
insulted, while his image is despised and abused. Yes, indeed, we
remember that in carrying out the principle of self-government,
multiplied embarrassments and obstructions grow out of wickedness on the
one hand and passion on the other. Such difficulties and obstacles we
are far enough from overlooking. But where are they to be found? Are
imbecility and wickedness, bad hearts and bad heads, confined to the
bottom of society? Alas, the weakest of the weak, and the desperately
wicked, often occupy the high places of the earth, reducing every thing
within their reach to subserviency to the foulest purposes. Nay, the
very power they have usurped, has often been the chief instrument of
turning their heads, inflaming their passions, corrupting their hearts.
All the world knows, that the possession of arbitrary power has a strong
tendency to make men shamelessly wicked and insufferably mischievous.
And this, whether the vassals over whom they domineer, be few or many.
If you can not trust man with himself, will you put his fellows under
his control?--and flee from the inconveniences incident to
self-government, to the horrors of despotism?
"THOU THAT PREACHEST A MAN SHOULD NOT STEAL, DOST THOU STEAL."
Is the slaveholder, the most absolute and shameless of all despots, to
be intrusted with the discipline of the injured men whom he himself has
reduced to cattle?--with the discipline by which they are to be prepared
to wield the powers and enjoy the privileges of freemen? Alas, of such
discipline as he can furnish, in the relation of owner to property, they
have had enough. From this sprang the vary ignorance and vice, which in
the view of many lie in the way of their immediate enfranchisement. He
it is, who has darkened their eyes and crippled their powers. And are
they to look to him for illumination and renewed vigor!--and expect
"grapes from thorns and figs from thistles!" Heaven forbid! When,
according to arrangements which had usurped the sacred name of law, he
consented to receive and use them as property, he forfeited all claims
to the esteem and confidence, not only of the helpless sufferers
themselves, but also of every philanthropist. In becoming a slaveholder,
he became the enemy of mankind. The very act was a declaration of war
upon human man nature. What less can be made of the process of turning
men to cattle? It is rank absurdity--it is the height of madness, to
propose to employ _him_ to train, for the places of freemen, those whom
he has wantonly robbed of every right--whom he has stolen from
themselves. Sooner place Burke, who used to murder for the sake of
selling bodies to the dissector, at the head of a hospital. Why, what
have our slaveholders been about these two hundred years? Have they not
been constantly and earnestly engaged in the work of education?
--training up their human cattle? And how? Thomas Jefferson shall
answer. "The whole commerce between master and slave, is a perpetual
exercise of the most boisterous passions; the most unremitting despotism
on the one part, and degrading submission on the other." Is this the way
to fit the unprepared for the duties and privileges of American
citizens? Will the evils of the dreadful process be diminished by adding
to it length? What, in 1818, was the unanimous testimony of the General
Assembly of the Presbyterian church? Why, after describing a variety of
influences growing out of slavery, most fatal to mental and moral
improvement, the General Assembly assure us, that such "consequences are
not imaginary, but connect themselves WITH THE VERY EXISTENCE of
slavery. The evils to which the slave is _always_ exposed, often take
place in fact, and IN THEIR VERY WORST DEGREE AND FORM[A]; and where all
of them do not take place," "still the slave is deprived of his natural
right, degraded as a human being, and exposed to the danger of passing
into the hands of a master who may inflict upon him all the hardships
and injuries, which inhumanity and avarice may suggest." Is this the
condition in which our ecclesiastics would keep the slave, at least a
little longer, to fit him to be restored to himself?
[Footnote A: The words here marked as emphasis were so distinguished by
ourselves.]
"AND THEY STOPPED THEIR EARS."
The methods of discipline under which, as slaveholders, the Southrons
now place their human cattle, they with one consent and in great wrath,
forbid us to examine. The statesman and the priest unite in the
assurance, that these methods are none of our business. Nay, they give
us distinctly to understand, that if we come among them to take
observations, and make inquiries, and discuss questions, they will
dispose of us as outlaws. Nothing will avail to protect us from speedy
and deadly violence! What inference does all this warrant? Surely, not
that the methods which they employ are happy and worthy of universal
application. If so, why do they not take the praise, and give us the
benefit, of their wisdom, enterprise, and success? Who, that has nothing
to hide, practices concealment?--"He that doeth truth cometh to the
light, that his deeds may be manifest, that they are wrought in God." Is
this the way of slaveholders? Darkness they court--they will have
darkness. Doubtless "because their deeds are evil." Can we confide in
methods for the benefit of our enslaved brethren, which it is death for
us to examine? Whet good ever came, what good can we expect, from deeds
of darkness?
Did the influence of the masters contribute any thing in the West
Indies; to prepare the apprentices for enfranchisement? Nay, verily. All
the world knows better. They did what in them lay, to turn back the tide
of blessings, which through emancipation was pouring in upon the
famishing around them. Are not the best minds and hearts in England now
thoroughly convinced, that slavery, under no modification, can be a
school for freedom?
We say such things to the many who alledge, that slaves can not at once
be entrusted with the powers and privileges of self-government. However
this may be, they can not be better qualified under _the influence of
slavery_. _That must be broken up_ from which their ignorance, and
viciousness, and wretchedness proceeded. That which can only do what it
has always done, pollute and degrade, must not be employed to purify and
elevate. _The lower their character and condition, the louder, clearer,
sterner, the just demand for immediate emancipation_. The plague-smitten
sufferer can derive no benefit from breathing a little longer an
infected atmosphere.
In thus referring to elemental principles--in thus availing ourselves of
the light of self-evident truths--we bow to the authority and tread in
the foot-prints of the great Teacher. He chid those around him for
refusing to make the same use of their reason in promoting their
spiritual, as they made in promoting their temporal welfare. He gives
them distinctly to understand, that they need not go out of themselves
to form a just estimation of their position, duties, and prospects, as
standing in the presence of the Messiah. "Why, EVEN OF YOURSELVES," he
demands of them, "judge ye not what is _right_?"[A] How could they,
unless they had a clear light, and an infallible standard _within them_,
whereby, amidst the relations they sustained and the interests they had
to provide for, they might discriminate between truth and falsehood,
right and wrong, what they ought to attempt and what they ought to
eschew? From this pointed, significant appeal of the Savior, it is clear
and certain, that in human consciousness may be found self-evident
truths, self-manifested principles; that every man, studying his own
consciousness, is bound to recognize their presence and authority, and
in sober earnest and good faith to apply them to the highest practical
concerns of "life and godliness." It is in obedience to the Bible, that
we apply self-evident truths, and walk in the light of general
principles. When our fathers proclaimed these truths, and at the hazard
of their property, reputation, and life, stood up in their defense, they
did homage to the sacred Scriptures--they honored the Bible. In that
volume, not a syllable can be found to justify that form of infidelity,
which in the abused name of piety, reproaches us for practicing the
lessons which "nature teacheth."[B] These lessons, the Bible requires us
reverently to listen to, earnestly to appropriate, and most diligently
and faithfully to act upon in every direction and on all occasions.
[Footnote A: Luke xii. 67.]
[Footnote B: 1 Cor. xi. 14.]
Why, our Savior goes so far in doing honor to reason, as to encourage
men universally to dispose of the characteristic peculiarities and
distinctive features of the Gospel in the light of its principles. "If
any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be
of God, or whether I speak of myself."[C] Natural religion--the
principles which nature reveals, and the lessons which nature
teaches--he thus makes a test of the truth and authority of revealed
religion. So far was he, as a teacher, from shrinking from the clearest
and most piercing rays of reason--from calling off the attention of
those around him from the import, bearings, and practical application of
general principle. And those who would have us escape from the pressure
of self-evident truths, by betaking ourselves to the doctrines and
precepts of Christianity, whatever airs of piety they may put on, do
foul dishonor to the Savior of mankind.
[Footnote C: John vii. 17.]
And what shall we say of the Golden Rule, which, according to the
Savior, comprehends all the precepts of the Bible? "Whatsoever ye would
that men should do to you, do ye even so to them; for this is the law
and the prophets."
According to this maxim, in human consciousness, universally, may be
found, 1. The standard whereby, in all the relations and circumstances
of life, we may determine what Heaven demands and expects of us. 2. The
just application of this standard, is practicable for, and obligatory
upon, every child of Adam. 3. The qualification requisite to a just
application of this rule to all the cases in which we can be concerned,
is simply this--_to regard all the members of the human family as our
brethren, our equals_.
In other words, the Savior here teaches us, that in the principles and
laws of reason, we have an infallible guide in all the relations and
circumstances of life; that nothing can hinder our following this guide,
but the bias of _selfishness_; and that the moment, in deciding any
moral question, we place _ourselves in the room of our brother_, before
the bar of reason, we shall see what decision ought to be pronounced.
Does this, in the Savior, look like fleeing self-evident truths!--like
decrying the authority of general principles!--like exalting himself at
the expense of reason!--like opening a refuge in the Gospel for those
whose practice is at variance with the dictates of humanity!
What then is the just application of the Golden Rule--that fundamental
maxim of the Gospel, giving character to, and shedding light upon, all
its precepts and arrangements--to the subject of slavery?--_that we must
"do to" slaves as we would be done by_, AS SLAVES, _the_ RELATION
_itself being justified and continued_? Surely not. A little reflection
will enable us to see, that the Golden Rule reaches farther in its
demands, and strikes deeper in its influences and operations. The
_natural equality_ of mankind lies at the very basis of this great
precept. It obviously requires _every man to acknowledge another self in
every other man_. With my powers and resources, and in my appropriate
circumstances, I am to recognize in any child of Adam who may address
me, another self in his appropriate circumstances and with his powers
and resources. This is the natural equality of mankind; and this the
Golden Rule requires us to admit, defend, and maintain.
"WHY DO YE NOT UNDERSTAND MY SPEECH; EVEN BECAUSE YE CAN NOT HEAR MY
WORD."
They strangely misunderstand and grossly misrepresent this doctrine, who
charge upon it the absurdities and mischiefs which _any "levelling
system"_ can not but produce. In all its bearings, tendencies, and
effects, it is directly contrary and powerfully hostile to any such
system. EQUALITY OF RIGHTS, the doctrine asserts; and this necessarily
opens the way for _variety of condition_. In other words, every child of
Adam has, from the Creator, the inalienable right of wielding, within
reasonable limits, his own powers, and employing his own resources,
according to his own choice; while he respects his social relations, to
promote as he will his own welfare. But mark--HIS OWN powers and
resources, and NOT ANOTHER'S, are thus inalienably put under his
control. The Creator makes every man free, in whatever he may do, to
exert HIMSELF, and not _another_. Here no man may lawfully cripple or
embarrass another. The feeble may not hinder the strong, nor may the
strong crush the feeble. Every man may make the most of himself; in his
own proper sphere. Now, as in the constitutional endowments, and natural
opportunities, and lawful acquisitions of mankind, infinite variety
prevails, so in exerting each HIMSELF, in his own sphere, according to
his own choice, the variety of human condition can be little less than
infinite. Thus equality of rights opens the way for variety of
condition.
But with all this variety of make, means, and condition, considered
individually, the children of Adam are bound together by strong ties
which can never be dissolved. They are mutually united by the social of
their nature. Hence mutual dependence and mutual claims. While each is
inalienably entitled to assert and enjoy his own personality as a man,
each sustains to all and all to each, various relations. While each owns
and honors the individual, all are to own and honor the social of their
nature. Now, the Golden Rule distinctly recognizes, lays its
requisitions upon, and extends its obligations to, the whole nature of
man, in his individual capacities and social relations. What higher
honor could it do to man, as _an individual_, than to constitute him the
judge, by whose decision, when fairly rendered, all the claims of his
fellows should be authoritatively and definitely disposed of?
"Whatsoever YE WOULD" have done to you, so do ye to others. Every member
of the family of Adam, placing himself in the position here pointed out,
is competent and authorized to pass judgment on all the cases in social
life in which he may be concerned. Could higher responsibilities or
greater confidence be reposed in men individually? And then, how are
their _claims upon each other_ herein magnified! What inherent worth and
solid dignity are ascribed to the social of their nature! In every man
with whom I may have to do, I am to recognize the presence of _another
self_, whose case I am to make _my own_. And thus I am to dispose of
whatever claims he may urge upon me.
Thus, in accordance with the Golden Rule, mankind are naturally brought,
in the voluntary use of their powers and resources, to promote each
other's welfare. As his contribution to this great object, it is the
inalienable birth-right of every child of Adam, to consecrate whatever
he may possess. With exalted powers and large resources, he has a
natural claim to a correspondent field of effort. If his "abilities" are
small, his task must be easy and his burden light. Thus the Golden Rule
requires mankind mutually to serve each other. In this service, each is
to exert _himself_--employ _his own_ powers, lay out his own resources,
improve his own opportunities. A division of labor is the natural
result. One is remarkable for his intellectual endowments and
acquisitions; another, for his wealth; and a third, for power and skill
in using his muscles. Such attributes, endlessly varied and diversified,
proceed from the basis of a _common character_, by virtue of which all
men and each--one as truly as another--are entitled, as a birth-right,
to "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness." Each and all, one as
well as another, may choose his own modes of contributing his share to
the general welfare, in which his own is involved and identified. Under
one great law of mutual dependence and mutual responsibility, all are
placed--the strong as well as the weak, the rich as much as the poor,
the learned no less than the unlearned. All bring their wares, the
products of their enterprise, skill and industry, to the same market,
where mutual exchanges are freely effected. The fruits of muscular
exertion procure the fruits of mental effort. John serves Thomas with
his hands, and Thomas serves John with his money. Peter wields the axe
for James, and James wields the pen for Peter. Moses, Joshua, and Caleb,
employ their wisdom, courage, and experience, in the service of the
community, and the community serve Moses, Joshua, and Caleb, in
furnishing them with food and raiment, and making them partakers of the
general prosperity. And all this by mutual understanding and voluntary
arrangement. And all this according to the Golden Rule.
What then becomes of _slavery_--a system of arrangements, in which one
man treats his fellow, not as another self, but as a thing--a
chattel--an article of merchandize, which is not to be consulted in any
disposition which may be made of it;--a system which is built on the
annihilation of the attributes of our common nature--in which man doth
to others, what he would sooner die than have done to himself? The
Golden Rule and slavery are mutually subversive of each other. If one
stands, the other must fall. The one strikes at the very root of the
other. The Golden Rule aims at the abolition of THE RELATION ITSELF, in
which slavery consists. It lays its demands upon every thing within the
scope of _human action_. To "whatever MEN DO," it extends its authority.
And the relation itself, in which slavery consists, is the work of human
hands. It is what men have done to each other--contrary to nature and
most injurious to the general welfare. THIS RELATION, therefore, the
Golden Rule condemns. Wherever its authority prevails, this relation
must be annihilated. Mutual service and slavery--like light and
darkness, life and death--are directly opposed to, and subversive of,
each other. The one the Golden Rule can not endure; the other it
requires, honors, and blesses.
"LOVE WORKETH NO ILL TO HIS NEIGHBOR."
Like unto the Golden Rule is the second great commandment--"_Thou shalt
love thy neighbor as thyself_." "A certain lawyer," who seems to have
been fond of applying the doctrine of limitation of human obligations,
once demanded of the Savior, within what limits the meshing of the word
"neighbor" ought to be confined. "And who is my neighbor?" The parable
of the good Samaritan set that matter in the clearest light, and made it
manifest and certain, that _every man_ whom we could reach with our
sympathy and assistance, was our neighbor, entitled to the same regard
which we cherished for ourselves. Consistently with such obligations,
can _slavery_, as a RELATION, be maintained? Is it then a _labor of
love_--such love as we cherish for ourselves--to strip a child of Adam
of all the prerogatives and privileges which are his inalienable
birth-right?--To obscure his reason, crush his will, and trample on his
immortality?--To strike home to the inmost of his being, and break the
heart of his heart?--To thrust him out of the human family, and dispose
of him as a chattel--as a thing in the hands of an owner, a beast under
the lash of a driver? All this, apart from every thing incidental and
extraordinary, belongs to the RELATION, in which slavery, as such,
consists. All this--well fed or ill fed, underwrought or overwrought,
clothed or naked, caressed or kicked, whether idle songs break from his
thoughtless tongue or "tears be his meat night and day," fondly
cherished or cruelly murdered;--_all this_ ENTERS VITALLY INTO THE
RELATION ITSELF, _by which every slave_, AS A SLAVE, _is set apart from
the rest of the human family_. Is it an exercise of love, to place our
"neighbor" under the crushing weight, the killing power, of such a
relation?--to apply the murderous steel to the very vitals of
his humanity?
"YE THEREFORE APPLAUD AND DELIGHT IN THE DEEDS OF YOUR FATHERS; FOR THEY
KILLED THEM, AND YE BUILD THEIR SEPULCHRES."[A]
The slaveholder may eagerly and loudly deny, that any such thing is
chargeable upon him. He may confidently and earnestly alledge, that he
is not responsible for the state of society in which he is placed.
Slavery was established before he began to breathe. It was his
inheritance. His slaves are his property by birth or testament. But why
will he thus deceive himself? Why will he permit the cunning and
rapacious spiders, which in the very sanctuary of ethics and religion
are laboriously weaving webs from their own bowels, to catch him with
their wretched sophistries?--and devour him, body, soul, and substance?
Let him know, as he must one day with shame and terror own, that whoever
holds slaves is himself responsible for _the relation_, into which,
whether reluctantly or willingly, he thus enters. _The relation can not
be forced upon him_. What though Elizabeth countenanced John Hawkins in
stealing the natives of Africa?--what though James, and Charles, and
George, opened a market for them in the English colonies?--what though
modern Dracos have "framed mischief by law," in legalizing man-stealing
and slaveholding?--what though your ancestors, in preparing to go "to
their own place," constituted you the owner of the "neighbors" whom they
had used as cattle?--what of all this, and as much more like this, as
can be drawn from the history of that dreadful process by which men "are
deemed, sold, taken, reputed, and adjudged in law to be _chattels
personal_?" Can all this force you to put the cap upon the climax--to
clinch the nail by doing that, without which nothing in the work of
slave-making would be attempted? _The slaveholder is the soul of the
whole system_. Without him, the chattel principle is a lifeless
abstraction. Without him, charters, and markets, and laws, and
testaments, are empty names. And does _he_ think to escape
responsibility? Why, kidnappers, and soul-drivers, and law-makers, are
nothing but his _agents_. He is the guilty _principal_. Let him look
to it.
[Footnote A: You join with them in their bloody work. They murder, and
you bury the victims.]
But what can he do? Do? Keep his hands off his "neighbor's" throat. Let
him refuse to finish and ratify the process by which the chattel
principle is carried into effect. Let him refuse, in the face of
derision, and reproach, and opposition. Though poverty should fasten its
bony hand upon him, and persecution shoot forth its forked tongue;
whatever may betide him--scorn, flight, flames--let him promptly and
steadfastly refuse. Better the spite and hate of men than the wrath of
Heaven! "If thy right eye offend thee, pluck it out and cast it from
thee; for it is profitable for thee, that one of thy members should
perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell."
Prof. Stuart admits, that the Golden Rule and the second great
commandment "decide against the theory of slavery as being in itself
right." What, then, is their relation to the particular precepts,
institutions, and usages, which are authorized and enjoined in the New
Testament? Of all these, they are the summary expression--the
comprehensive description. No precept in the Bible enforcing our mutual
obligations, can be more or less than _the application of these
injunctions to specific relations or particular occasions and
conditions_. Neither in the Old Testament nor the New, do prophets teach
or laws enjoin, any thing which the Golden Rule and the second great
command do not contain. Whatever they forbid, no other precept can
require; and whatever they require, no other precept can forbid. What,
then, does he attempt, who turns over the sacred pages to find something
in the way of permission or command, which may set him free from the
obligations of the Golden Rule? What must his objects, methods, spirit
be, to force him to enter upon such inquiries?--to compel him to search
the Bible for such a purpose? Can he have good intentions, or be well
employed? Is his frame of mind adapted to the study of the Bible?--to
make its meaning plain and welcome? What must he think of God, to search
his word in quest of gross inconsistencies and grave contradictions!
Inconsistent legislation in Jehovah! Contradictory commands! Permissions
at war with prohibitions! General requirements at variance with
particular arrangements!
What must be the moral character of any institution which the Golden
Rule decides against?--which the second great command condemns? _It can
not but be wicked_, whether newly established or long maintained.
However it may be shaped, turned, colored--under every modification and
at all times--_wickedness must be its proper character_. _It must be_,
IN ITSELF, _apart from its circumstances_, IN ITS ESSENCE, _apart from
its incidents_, SINFUL.
"THINK NOT TO SAY WITHIN YOURSELVES, WE HAVE ABRAHAM FOR OUR FATHER."
In disposing of those precepts and exhortations which have a specific
bearing upon the subject of slavery, it is greatly important, nay,
absolutely essential, that we look forth upon the objects around us,
from the right post of observation. Our stand we must take at some
central point, amidst the general maxims and fundamental precepts, the
known circumstances and characteristic arrangements, of primitive
Christianity. Otherwise, wrong views and false conclusions will be the
result of our studies. We can not, therefore, be too earnest in trying
to catch the general features and prevalent spirit of the New Testament
institutions and arrangements. For to what conclusions must we come, if
we unwittingly pursue our inquires under the bias of the prejudice, that
the general maxims of social life which now prevail in this country,
were current, on the authority of the Savior, among the primitive
Christians! That, for instance, wealth, station, talents, are the
standard by which our claims upon, and our regard for, others, should be
modified?--That those who are pinched by poverty, worn by disease,
tasked in menial labors, or marked by features offensive to the taste of
the artificial and capricious, are to be excluded from those refreshing
and elevating influences which intelligence and refinement may be
expected to exert; that thus they are to constitute a class by
themselves, and to be made to know and keep their place at the very
bottom of society? Or, what if we should think and speak of the
primitive Christians, as if they had the same pecuniary resources as
Heaven has lavished upon the American churches?--as if they were as
remarkable for affluence, elegance, and splendor? Or, as if they had as
high a position and as extensive an influence in politics and
literature?--having directly or indirectly, the control over the high
places of learning and of power?
If we should pursue our studies and arrange our arguments--if we should
explain words and interpret language--under such a bias, what must
inevitably be the results? What would be the worth of our conclusions?
What confidence could be reposed in any instruction we might undertake
to furnish? And is not this the way in which the advocates and
apologists of slavery dispose of the bearing which primitive
Christianity has upon it? They first ascribe, unwittingly perhaps, to
the primitive churches, the character, relations, and condition, of
American Christianity, and amidst the deep darkness and strange
confusion thus produced, set about interpreting the language and
explaining the usages of the New Testament!
"SO THAT YE ARE WITHOUT EXCUSE."
Among the lessons of instruction which our Savior imparted, having a
general bearing on the subject of slavery, that in which he sets up the
_true standard of greatness_, deserves particular attention. In
repressing the ambition of his disciples, he held up before them the
methods by which alone healthful aspirations for eminence could be
gratified, and thus set the elements of true greatness in the clearest
light. "Ye know, that they which are accounted to rule over the
Gentiles, exercise lordship over them; and their great ones exercise
authority upon them. But so shall it not be among you; but whosoever
will be great among you, shall be your minister; _and whosoever of you
will be chiefest, shall be servant of all_." In other words, through the
selfishness and pride of mankind, the maxim widely prevails in the
world, that it is the privilege, prerogative, and mark of greatness, TO
EXACT SERVICE; that our superiority to others, while it authorizes us to
relax the exertion of our own powers, gives us a fair title to the use
of theirs; that "might," while it exempts us from serving, "gives the
right" to be served. The instructions of the Savior open the way to
greatness for us in the opposite direction. Superiority to others, in
whatever it may consist, gives us a claim to a wider field of exertion,
and demands of us a larger amount of service. We can be great only as we
_are useful_. And "might gives right" to bless our fellow men, by
improving every opportunity and employing every faculty, affectionately,
earnestly, and unweariedly, in their service. Thus the greater the man,
the more active, faithful, and useful the servant.
The Savior has himself taught us how this doctrine must be applied. He
bids us improve every opportunity and employ every power, even, through
the most menial services, in blessing the human family. And to make this
lesson shine upon our understandings and move our hearts, he embodied it
in a most instructive and attractive example. On a memorable occasion,
and just before his crucifixion, he discharged for his disciples the
most menial of all offices--taking, _in washing their feet_, the place
of the lowest servant. He took great pains to make them understand, that
only by imitating this example could they honor their relations to him
as their Master; that thus only would they find themselves blessed. By
what possibility could slavery exist under the influence of such a
lesson, set home by such an example? _Was it while washing the
disciples' feet, that our Savior authorized one man to make a chattel
of another_?
To refuse to provide for ourselves by useful labor, the apostle Paul
teaches us to regard as a grave offence. After reminding the
Thessalonian Christians, that in addition to all his official exertions
he had with his own muscles earned his own bread, he calls their
attention to an arrangement which was supported by apostolical
authority, "that if any would not work, neither should he eat." In the
most earnest and solemn manner, and as a minister of the Lord Jesus
Christ, he commanded and exhorted those who neglected useful labor,
"_with quietness to work and eat their own bread_." What must be the
bearing of all this upon slavery? Could slavery be maintained where
every man eat the bread which himself had earned?--where idleness was
esteemed so great a crime, as to be reckoned worthy of starvation as a
punishment? How could unrequited labor be exacted, or used, or needed?
Must not every one in such a community contribute his share to the
general welfare?--and mutual service and mutual support be the
natural result?
The same apostle, in writing to another church, describes the true
source whence the means of liberality ought to be derived. "Let him that
stole steal no more; but rather let him labor, working with his hands
the thing which is good, that he may have to give to him that needeth."
Let this lesson, as from the lips of Jehovah, be proclaimed throughout
the length and breadth of South Carolina. Let it be universally welcomed
and reduced to practice. Let thieves give up what they had stolen to the
lawful proprietors, cease stealing, and begin at once to "labor, working
with their hands," for necessary and charitable purposes. Could slavery,
in such a case, continue to exist? Surely not! Instead of exacting
unpaid services from others, every man would be busy, exerting himself
not only to provide for his own wants, but also to accumulate funds,
"that he might have to give to" the needy. Slavery must disappear, root
and branch, at once and forever.
In describing the source whence his ministers should expect their
support, the Savior furnished a general principle, which has an obvious
and powerful bearing on the subject of slavery. He would have them
remember, while exerting themselves for the benefit of their fellow men,
that "the laborer is worthy of his hire." He has thus united wages with
work. Whoever renders the one is entitled to the other. And this
manifestly according to a mutual understanding and a voluntary
arrangement. For the doctrine that I may force you to work for me for
whatever consideration I may please to fix upon, fairly opens the way
for the doctrine, that you, in turn, may force me to render you whatever
wages you may choose to exact for any services you may see fit to
render. Thus slavery, even as involuntary servitude, is cut up by the
root. Even the Princeton professor seems to regard it as a violation of
the principle which unites work with wages.
The apostle James applies this principle to the claims of manual
laborers--of those who hold the plough and thrust in the sickle. He
calls the rich lordlings who exacted sweat and withheld wages, to
"weeping and howling," assuring them that the complaints of the injured
laborer had entered into the ear of the Lord of Hosts, and that, as a
result of their oppression, their riches were corrupted, and their
garments moth-eaten; their gold and silver were cankered; that the rest
of them should be a witness against them, and should eat their flesh as
it were fire; that, in one word, they had heaped treasure together for
the last days, when "miseries were coming upon them," the prospect of
which might well drench them in tears and fill them with terror. If
these admonition and warnings were heeded there, would not "the South"
break forth into "weeping and wailing, and gnashing of teeth?" What else
are its rich men about, but withholding by a system of fraud, his wages
from the laborer, who is wearing himself out under the impulse of fear,
in cultivating their fields and producing their luxuries? Encouragement
and support do they derive from James, in maintaining the "peculiar
institution" whence they derived their wealth, which they call
patriarchal, and boast of as the "corner-stone" of the republic?
In the New Testament, we have, moreover, the general injunction, "_Honor
all men_." Under this broad precept, every form of humanity may justly
claim protection and respect. The invasion of any human right must do
dishonor to humanity, and be a transgression of this command. How then,
in the light of such obligations, must slavery be regarded? Are those
men honored, who are rudely excluded from a place in the human family,
and shut up to the deep degradation and nameless horrors of chattelship?
_Can they be held as slaves, and at the same time be honored as men_?
How far, in obeying this command, we are to go, we may infer from the
admonitions and instructions which James applies to the arrangements and
usages of religious assemblies. Into these he can not allow "respect of
persons" to enter. "My brethren," he exclaims, "have not the faith of
our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, with respect of persons. For
if there come unto your assembly a man with a gold ring, in goodly
apparel; and there come in also a poor man in vile raiment; and ye have
respect to him that weareth the gay clothing, and say unto him, sit thou
here in a good place; and say to the poor, stand thou there, or sit here
under my footstool; are ye not then partial in yourselves, and are
become judges of evil thoughts? _If ye have respect to persons, ye
commit sin, and are convinced of the law as transgressors_." On this
general principle, then, religious assemblies ought to be
regulated--that every man is to be estimated, not according to his
_circumstances_--not according to any thing incidental to his
_condition_; but according to his _moral worth_--according to the
essential features and vital elements of his _character_. Gold rings and
gay clothing, as they qualify no man for, can entitle no man to, a "good
place" in the church. Nor can the "vile raiment of the poor man," fairly
exclude him from any sphere, however exalted, which his heart and head
may fit him to fill. To deny this, in theory or practice, is to degrade
a man below a thing; for what are gold rings, or gay clothing, or vile
raiment, but things, "which perish with the using?" And this must be "to
commit sin, and be convinced of the law as transgressors."
In slavery, we have "respect of persons," strongly marked, and reduced
to system. Here men are despised not merely for "the vile raiment,"
which may cover their scarred bodies. This is bad enough. But the
deepest contempt for humanity here grows out of birth or complexion.
Vile raiment may be, often is, the result of indolence, or improvidence,
or extravagance. It may be, often is, an index of character. But how can
I be responsible for the incidents of my birth?--how for my complexion?
To despise or honor me for these, is to be guilty of "respect of
persons" in its grossest form, and with its worst effects. It is to
reward or punish me for what I had nothing to do with; for which,
therefore, I can not, without the greatest injustice, be held
responsible. It is to poison the very fountains of justice, by
confounding all moral distinctions. It is with a worse temper, and in
the way of inflicting infinitely greater injuries, to copy the kingly
folly of Xerxes, in chaining and scourging the Hellespont. What, then,
so far as the authority of the New Testament is concerned, becomes of
slavery, which can not be maintained under any form nor for a single
moment, without "respect of persons" the most aggravated and
unendurable? And what would become of that most pitiful, silly, and
wicked arrangement in so many of our churches, in which worshipers of a
dark complexion are to be shut up to the negro pew?[A]
[Footnote A: In Carlyle's Review of the Memoirs of Mirabeau, we have the
following anecdote, illustrative of the character of a "grandmother" of
the Count. "Fancy the dame Mirabeau sailing stately towards the church
font; another dame striking in to take precedence of her; the dame
Mirabeau despatching this latter with a box on the ear, and these words,
'_Here, as in the army_, THE BAGGAGE _goes last_!'" Let those who
justify the negro-pew-arrangement, throw a stone at this proud woman--if
they dare.]
Nor are we permitted to confine this principle to _religious_
assemblies. It is to pervade social life every where. Even where plenty,
intelligence, and refinement, diffuse their brightest rays, the poor are
to be welcomed with especial favor. "Then said he to him that bade him,
when thou makest a dinner or a supper, call not thy friends, nor thy
brethren, neither thy kinsmen, nor thy rich neighbors, lest they also
bid thee again, and a recompense be made thee. But when thou makest a
feast, call the poor and the maimed, the lame and the blind, and thou
shalt be blessed; for they can not recompense thee, but thou shalt be
recompensed at the resurrection of the just."
In the high places of social life then--in the parlor, the drawing-room,
the saloon--special reference should be had, in every arrangement, to
the comfort and improvement of those who are least able to provide for
the cheapest rites of hospitality. For these, ample accommodations must
be made, whatever may become of our kinsmen and rich neighbors. And for
this good reason, that while such occasions signify little to the
latter, to the former they are pregnant with good--raising their
drooping spirits, cheering their desponding hearts, inspiring them with
life, and hope, and joy. The rich and the poor thus meeting joyfully
together, can not but mutually contribute to each other's benefit; the
rich will be led to moderation, sobriety, and circumspection, and the
poor to industry, providence, and contentment. The recompense must be
rich and sure.
A most beautiful and instructive commentary on the text in which these
things are taught, the Savior furnished in his own conduct. He freely
mingled with those who were reduced to the very bottom of society. At
the tables of the outcasts of society, he did not hesitate to be a
cheerful guest, surrounded by publicans and sinners. And when flouted
and reproached by smooth and lofty ecclesiastics, as an ultraist and
leveler, he explained and justified himself by observing, that he had
only done what his office demanded. It was his to seek the lost, to heal
the sick, to pity the wretched;--in a word, to bestow just such benefits
as the various necessities of mankind made appropriate and welcome. In
his great heart, there was room enough for those who had been excluded
from the sympathy of little souls. In its spirit and design, the gospel
overlooked none--least of all, the outcasts of a selfish world.
Can slavery, however modified, be consistent with such a gospel?--a
gospel which requires us, even amidst the highest forms of social life,
to exert ourselves to raise the depressed by giving our warmest
sympathies to those who have the smallest share in the favor of
the world?
Those who are in "bonds" are set before us as deserving an especial
remembrance. Their claims upon us are described as a modification of the
Golden Rule--as one of the many forms to which its obligations are
reducible. To them we are to extend the same affectionate regard as we
would covet for ourselves, if the chains upon their limbs were fastened
upon ours. To the benefits of this precept, the enslaved have a natural
claim of the greatest strength. The wrongs they suffer, spring from a
persecution which can hardly be surpassed in malignancy. Their birth and
complexion are the occasion of the insults and injuries which they can
neither endure nor escape. It is for the _work of God_, and not them own
deserts, that they are loaded with chains. _This is persecution._
Can I regard the slave as another self--can I put myself in his
place--and be indifferent to his wrongs? Especially, can I, thus
affected, take sides with the oppressor? Could I, in such a state of
mind as the gospel requires me to cherish, reduce him to slavery or keep
him in bonds? Is not the precept under hand naturally subversive of
every system and every form of slavery?
The _general descriptions_ of the church which are found here and there
in the New Testament, are highly instructive in their bearing on the
subject of slavery. In one connection, the following words meet the eye:
"There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there
is neither male nor female; for ye are all one in Christ Jesus."[A] Here
we have--1. A clear and strong description of the doctrine of _human
equality_. "Ye are all ONE;"--so much alike, so truly placed on common
ground, all wielding each his own powers with such freedom, _that one is
the same as another_.
[Footnote A: Gal. iii. 23.]
2. This doctrine, self-evident in the light of reason, is affirmed on
divine authority. "IN CHRIST JESUS, _ye are all one_." The natural
equality of the human family is a part of the gospel. For--
3. All the human family are included in this description. Whether men or
women, whether bond or free, whether Jews or Gentiles, all are alike
entitled to the benefit of this doctrine. Wherever Christianity
prevails, the _artificial_ distinctions which grow out of birth,
condition, sex, are done away. _Natural_ distinctions are not destroyed.
_They_ are recognized, hallowed, confirmed. The gospel does not abolish
the sexes, forbid a division of labor, or extinguish patriotism. It
takes woman from beneath the feet, and places her by the side of man;
delivers the manual laborer from "the yoke," and gives him wages for his
work; and brings the Jew and Gentile to embrace each other with
fraternal love and confidence. Thus it raises all to a common level,
gives to each the free use of his own powers and resources, binds all
together in one dear and loving brotherhood. Such, according to the
description of the apostle, was the influence, and such the effect of
primitive Christianity. "Behold the picture!" Is it like American
slavery, which, in all its tendencies and effects, is destructive of all
oneness among brethren?
"Where the spirit of the Lord is," exclaims the same apostle, with his
eye upon the condition and relations of the church, "_where the spirit
of the Lord is_, THERE IS LIBERTY." Where, then, may we reverently
recognize the presence, and bow before the manifested power, of this
spirit? _There_, where the laborer may not choose how he shall be
employed!--in what way his wants shall he supplied!--with whom he shall
associate!--who shall have the fruit of his exertions! _There_, where he
is not free to enjoy his wife and children! _There_, where his body and
his soul, his very "destiny,"[A] are placed altogether beyond his
control! _There_, where every power is crippled, every energy blasted,
every hope crushed! _There_, where in all the relations and concerns of
life, he is legally treated as if he had nothing to do with the laws of
reason, the light of immortality, or the exercise of will! Is the spirit
of the Lord _there_, where liberty is decried and denounced, mocked at
and spit upon, betrayed and crucified! In the midst of a church which
justified slavery, which derived its support from slavery, which carried
on its enterprises by means of slavery, would the apostle have found the
fruits of the Spirit of the Lord! Let that Spirit exert his influences,
and assert his authority, and wield his power, and slavery must vanish
at once and forever.
[Footnote A: "The Legislature [of South Carolina] from time to time, has
passed many restricted and penal acts, with a view to bring under direct
control and subjection the DESTINY _of the black population_." See the
Remonstrance of James S. Pope and 352 others, against home missionary
efforts for the benefit of the enslaved--a most instructive paper.]
In more than one connection, the apostle James describes Christianity as
"_the law of liberty_." It is in other words the law under which liberty
can not but live and flourish--the law in which liberty is clearly
defined, strongly asserted, and well protected. As the law of liberty,
how can it be consistent with the law of slavery? The presence and the
power of this law are felt wherever the light of reason shines. They are
felt in the uneasiness and conscious degradation of the slave, and in
the shame and remorse which the master betrays in his reluctant and
desperate efforts to defend himself. This law it is which has armed
human nature against the oppressor. Wherever it is obeyed, "every yoke
is broken."
In these references to the New Testament we have a _general description_
of the primitive church, and the _principles_ on which it was founded
and fashioned. These principles bear the same relation to Christian
_history_ as to Christian _character_, since the former is occupied with
the development of the latter. What then is Christian character but
Christian principle _realized_, acted out, bodied forth, and animated?
Christian principle is the soul, of which Christian character is the
expression--the manifestation. It comprehends in itself, as a living
seed, such Christian character, under every form, modification, and
complexion. The former is, therefore, the test and interpreter of the
latter. In the light of Christian principle, and in that light only, we
can judge of and explain Christian character. Christian history is
occupied with the forms, modifications, and various aspects of Christian
character. The facts which are there recorded serve to show, how
Christian principle has fared in this world--how it has appeared, what
it has done, how it has been treated. In these facts we have the various
institutions, usages, designs, doings, and sufferings of the church of
Christ. And all these have of necessity, the closest relation to
Christian principle. They are the production of its power. Through them,
it is revealed and manifested. In its light, they are to be studied,
explained, and understood. Without it they must be as unintelligible and
insignificant as the letters of a book, scattered on the wind.
In the principles of Christianity, then, we have a comprehensive and
faithful account of its objects, institutions, and usages--of how it
must behave, and act, and suffer, in a world of sin and misery. For
between the principles which God reveals, on the one hand, and the
precepts he enjoins, the institutions he establishes, and the usages he
approves, on the other, there must be consistency and harmony. Otherwise
we impute to God what we must abhor in man--practice at war with
principle. Does the Savior, then, lay down the _principle_ that our
standing in the church must depend upon the habits, formed within us, of
readily and heartily subserving the welfare of others; and permit us _in
practice_ to invade the rights and trample on the happiness of our
fellows, by reducing them to slavery. Does he, _in principle_ and by
example, require us to go all lengths in rendering mutual service,
comprehending offices the most menial, as well as the most honorable;
and permit us _in practice_ to EXACT service of our brethren, as if they
were nothing better than "articles of merchandize?" Does he require us
_in principle_ "to work with quietness and eat our own bread;" and
permit us _in practice_ to wrest from our brethren the fruits of their
unrequited toil? Does he in principle require us, abstaining from every
form of theft, to employ our powers in useful labor, not only to provide
for ourselves but also to relieve the indigence of others; and permit us
_in practice_, abstaining from every form of labor, to enrich and
aggrandize ourselves with the fruits of man-stealing? Does he require us
_in principle_ to regard "the laborer as worthy of his hire;" and permit
us _in practice_ to defraud him of his wages? Does he require us _in
principle_ "to honor ALL men;" and permit us _in practice_ to treat
multitudes like cattle? Does he _in principle_ prohibit "respect of
persons;" and permit us _in practice_ to place the feet of the rich upon
the necks of the poor? Does he _in principle_ require us to sympathize
with the bondman as another self; and permit us _in practice_ to leave
him unpitied and unhelped in the hands of the oppressor? _In principle_,
"where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty;" _in practice_, is
_slavery_ the fruit of the Spirit? _In principle_, Christianity is the
law of liberty; _in practice_, is it the law of slavery? Bring practice
in these various respects into harmony with principle, and what becomes
of slavery? And if, where the divine government is concerned, practice
is the expression of principle, and principle the standard and
interpreter of practice, such harmony cannot but be maintained and must
be asserted. In studying, therefore, fragments of history and sketches
of biography--in disposing of references to institutions, usages, and
facts in the New Testament, this necessary harmony between principle and
practice in the government, should be continually present to the
thoughts of the interpreter. Principles assert what practice must be.
Whatever principle condemns, God condemns. It belongs to those weeds of
the dunghill which, planted by "an enemy," his hand will assuredly "root
up." It is most certain, then, that if slavery prevailed in the first
ages of Christianity, it could nowhere have prevailed under its
influence and with its sanction.
The _condition_ in which, in its efforts to bless mankind, the primitive
church was placed, must have greatly assisted the early Christians in
understanding and applying the principles of the gospel.--Their _Master_
was born in great obscurity, lived in the deepest poverty, and died the
most ignominious death. The place of his residence, his familiarity with
the outcasts of society, his welcoming assistance and support from
female hands, his casting his beloved mother, when he hung upon the
cross, upon the charity of a disciple--such things evince the depth of
his poverty, and show to what derision and contempt he must have been
exposed. Could such an one, "despised and rejected of men--a man of
sorrows and acquainted with grief," play the oppressor, or smile on
those who made merchandize of the poor!
And what was the history of the _apostles_, but an illustration of the
doctrine, that "it is enough for the disciple, that he be as his
Master?" Were they lordly ecclesiastics, abounding with wealth, shining
with splendor, bloated with luxury! Were they ambitious of distinction,
fleecing, and trampling, and devouring "the flocks," that they
themselves might "have the pre-eminence!" Were they slaveholding
bishops! Or did they derive their support from the wages of iniquity and
the price of blood! Can such inferences be drawn from the account of
their condition, which the most gifted and enterprising of their number
has put upon record? "Even unto this present hour, we both hunger, and
thirst, and are naked, and _are buffetted_, and have _no certain
dwelling place, and labor working with our own hands_. Being reviled, we
bless; being persecuted, we suffer it; being defamed, we entreat; we are
made as _the filth of the world_, and are THE OFFSCOURING OF ALL THINGS
unto this day[A]." Are these the men who practiced or countenanced
slavery? _With such a temper, they WOULD NOT; in such circumstances,
they COULD NOT_. Exposed to "tribulation, distress, and persecution;"
subject to famine and nakedness, to peril and the sword; "killed all the
day long; accounted as sheep for the slaughter[B]," they would have made
but a sorry figure at the great-house or slave-market!
[Footnote A: 1 Cor. iv. 11-13.]
[Footnote B: 1 Rom. viii. 35, 36.]
Nor was the condition of the brethren, generally, better than that of
the apostles. The position of the apostles doubtless entitled them to
the strongest opposition, the heaviest reproaches, the fiercest
persecution. But derision and contempt must have been the lot of
Christians generally. Surely we cannot think so ill of primitive
Christianity as to suppose that believers, generally, refused to share
in the trials and sufferings of their leaders; as to suppose that while
the leaders submitted to manual labor, to buffeting, to be reckoned the
filth of the world, to be accounted as sheep for the slaughter, his
brethren lived in affluence, ease, and honor! despising manual labor!
and living upon the sweat of unrequited toil! But on this point we are
not left to mere inference and conjecture. The apostle Paul in the
plainest language explains the ordination of Heaven. "But _God hath_
CHOSEN the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God
hath CHOSEN the weak things of the world to confound the things which
are mighty; and base things of the world, and things which are despised
hath God CHOSEN, yea, and THINGS WHICH ARE NOT, to bring to nought
things that are."[A] Here we may well notice,
[Footnote A: 1 Cor. i. 27, 28.]
1. That it was not by _accident_, that the primitive churches were made
up of such elements, but the result of the DIVINE CHOICE--an arrangement
of His wise and gracious Providence. The inference is natural, that this
ordination was co-extensive with the triumphs of Christianity. It was
nothing new or strange, that Jehovah had concealed his glory "from the
wise and prudent, and had revealed it unto babes," or that "the common
people heard him gladly," while "not many wise men after the flesh, not
many mighty, not many noble, had been called."
2. The description of character which the apostle records, could be
adapted only to what are reckoned the _very dregs of humanity_. The
foolish and the weak, the base and the contemptible, in the estimation
of worldly pride and wisdom--these were they whose broken hearts were
reached, and moulded, and refreshed by the gospel; these were they whom
the apostle took to his bosom as his own brethren.
That _slaves_ abounded at Corinth, may easily be admitted. _They_ have a
place in the enumeration of elements of which, according to the apostle,
the church there was composed. The most remarkable class found there,
consisted of "THINGS WHICH ARE NOT"--mere nobodies, not admitted to the
privileges of men, but degraded to a level with "goods and chattels;" of
whom _no account_ was made in such arrangements of society as subserved
the improvement, and dignity, and happiness of MANKIND. How accurately
this description applies to those who are crushed under the chattel
principle!
The reference which the apostle makes to the "deep poverty of the
churches of Macedonia,"[B] and this to stir up the sluggish liberality
of his Corinthian brethren, naturally leaves the impression, that the
latter were by no means inferior to the former in the gifts of
Providence. But, pressed with want and pinched by poverty as were the
believers in "Macedonia and Achaia, it pleased them to make a certain
contribution for the poor saints which were at Jerusalem."[C] Thus it
appears, that Christians every where were familiar with contempt and
indigence, so much so, that the apostle would dissuade such as had no
families from assuming the responsibilities of the conjugal relation[D]!
[Footnote B: 2 Cor. viii. 2.]
[Footnote C: Rom. xv. 26.]
[Footnote D: 1 Cor. vi 26,27]
Now, how did these good people treat each other? Did the few among them,
who were esteemed wise, mighty, or noble, exert their influence and
employ their power in oppressing the weak, in disposing of the "things
that are not," as marketable commodities!--kneeling with them in prayer
in the evening, and putting them up at auction the next morning! Did the
church sell any of the members to swell the "certain contribution far
the poor saints at Jerusalem!" Far otherwise--as far as possible! In
those Christian communities where the influence of the apostles was most
powerful, and where the arrangements drew forth their highest
commendations, believers treated each other as brethren, in the
strongest sense of that sweet word. So warm was their mutual love, so
strong the public spirit, so open-handed and abundant the general
liberality, that they are set forth as "_having all things common._" [E]
Slaves and their holders here? Neither the one nor the other could in
that relation to each other have breathed such an atmosphere. The appeal
of the kneeling bondman, "Am I not a man and a brother," must here have
met with a prompt and powerful response.
[Footnote E: Acts iv. 32]
The _tests_ by which our Savior tries the character of his professed
disciples, shed a strong light upon the genius of the gospel. In one
connection[F], an inquirer demands of the Savior, "What good thing shall
I do that I may have eternal life?" After being reminded of the
obligations which his social nature imposed upon him, he ventured, while
claiming to be free from guilt in his relations to mankind, to demand,
"what lack I yet?" The radical deficiency under which his character
labored, the Savior was not long or obscure in pointing out. If thou
wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast and give to the poor, and
thou shalt have treasure in heaven; and come and follow me. On this
passage it is natural to suggest--
[Footnote F: Luke xvii 18-24]
1. That we have here a _test of universal application._ The rectitude
and benevolence of our Savior's character forbid us to suppose that he
would subject this inquirer, especially as he was highly amiable, to a
trial, where eternal life was at stake, _peculiarly_ severe. Indeed, the
test seems to have been only a fair exposition of the second great
command, and of course it must be applicable to all who are placed under
the obligations of that precept. Those who can not stand this test, as
their character is radically imperfect and unsound, must, with the
inquirer to whom our Lord applied it, be pronounced unfit for the
kingdom of heaven.
2. The least that our Savior can in that passage be understood to demand
is, that we disinterestedly and heartily devote ourselves to the welfare
of mankind, "the poor" especially. We are to put ourselves on a level
with _them_, as we must do "in selling that we have" for their
benefit--in other words, in employing our powers and resources to
elevate their character, condition, and prospects. This our Savior did;
and if we refuse to enter into sympathy and cooperation with him, how
can we be his _followers_? Apply this test to the slaveholder. Instead
of "selling that he hath" for the benefit of the poor, he BUYS THE POOR,
and exacts their sweat with stripes, to enable him to "clothe himself in
purple and fine linen, and fare sumptuously every day;" or, HE SELLS THE
POOR to support the gospel and convert the heathen!
What, in describing the scenes of the final judgment, does our Savior
teach us? _By what standard_ must our character be estimated, and the
retributions of eternity be awarded? A standard, which both the
righteous and the wicked will be surprised to see erected. From the
"offscouring of all things," the meanest specimen of humanity will be
selected--a "stranger" in the hands of the oppressor, naked, hungry,
sickly; and this stranger, placed in the midst of the assembled
universe, by the side of the sovereign Judge, will be openly
acknowledged as his representative. "Glory, honor, and immortality,"
will be the reward of those who had recognized and cheered their Lord
through his outraged poor. And tribulation, anguish, and despair, will
seize on "every soul of man," who had neglected or despised them. But
whom, within the limits of our country, are we to regard especially as
the representatives of our final Judge? Every feature of the Savior's
picture finds its appropriate original in our enslaved countrymen.
1. They are the LEAST of his brethren.
2. They are subject to thirst and hunger, unable to command a cup of
water or a crumb of bread.
3. They are exposed to wasting sickness, without the ability to procure
a nurse or employ a physician.
4. They are emphatically "in prison," restrained by chains, goaded with
whips, tasked, and under keepers. Not a wretch groans in any cell of the
prisons of our country, who is exposed to a confinement so rigorous and
heart-breaking as the law allows theirs to be continually and
permanently.
5. And then they are emphatically, and peculiarly, and exclusively,
STRANGERS--_strangers_ in the land which gave them birth. Whom else do
we constrain to remain aliens in the midst of our free institutions? The
Welch, the Swiss, the Irish? The Jews even? Alas, it is the _negro_
only, who may not strike his roots into our soil. Every where we have
conspired to treat him as a stranger--every where he is forced to feel
himself a stranger. In the stage and steamboat, in the parlor and at our
tables, in the scenes of business and in the scenes of amusement--even
in the church of God and at the communion table, he is regarded as a
stranger. The intelligent and religious are generally disgusted and
horror-struck at the thought of his becoming identified with the
citizens of our republic--so much so, that thousands of them have
entered into a conspiracy to send him off "out of sight," to find a home
on a foreign shore!--And justify themselves by openly alledging, that a
"single drop" of his blood, in the veins of any human creature, must
make him hateful to his fellow citizens!--That nothing but banishment
from "our coasts," can redeem him from the scorn and contempt to which
his "stranger" blood has reduced him among his own mother's children!
Who, then, in this land "of milk and honey," is "hungry and athirst,"
but the man from whom the law takes away the last crumb of bread and the
smallest drop of water?
Who "naked," but the man whom the law strips of the last rag of
clothing?
Who "sick," but the man whom the law deprives of the power of procuring
medicine or sending for a physician?
Who "in prison," but the man who, all his life is under the control of
merciless masters and cruel keepers?
Who a "stranger," but the man who is scornfully denied the cheapest
courtesies of life--who is treated as an alien in his native country?
There is one point in this awful description which deserves particular
attention. Those who are doomed to the left hand of the Judge, are not
charged with inflicting _positive injuries_ on their helpless, needy,
and oppressed brother. Theirs was what is often called _negative_
character. What they _had done_ is not described in the indictment.
Their _neglect_ of duty, what they _had_ NOT _done_, was the ground of
their "everlasting punishment." The representative of their Judge, they
had seen a hungered and they gave him no meat, thirsty and they have him
no drink, a stranger and they took him not in, naked and they clothed
him not, sick and in prison and they visited him not. In as much as they
did NOT yield to the claims of suffering humanity--did NOT exert
themselves to bless the meanest of the human family, they were driven
away in their wickedness. But what if the indictment had run thus: I was
a hungered and ye snatched away the crust which might have saved me from
starvation; I was thirsty and ye dashed to the ground the "cup of cold
water," which might have moistened my parched lips; I was a stranger and
ye drove me from the hovel which might have sheltered me from the
piercing wind; I was sick and ye scourged me to my task; in prison and
you sold me for my jail-fees--to what depths of hell must not those who
were convicted under such charges be consigned! And what is the history
of American slavery but one long indictment, describing under
ever-varying forms and hues just such injuries!
Nor should it be forgotten, that those who incurred the displeasure of
their Judge, took far other views than he, of their own past history.
The charges which he brought against them, they heard with great
surprise. They were sure that they had never thus turned away from his
necessities. Indeed, when had they seen him thus subject to poverty,
insult, and oppression! Never. And as to that poor friendless creature
whom they left unpitied and unhelped in the hands of the oppressor, and
whom their Judge now presented as his own representative, they never
once supposed, that _he_ had any claims on their compassion and
assistance. Had they known, that he was destined to so prominent a place
at the final judgment, they would have treated him as a human being, in
despite of any social, pecuniary, or political considerations. But
neither their _negative virtue_ nor their _voluntary ignorance_ could
shield them from the penal fire which their selfishness had kindled.
Now amidst the general maxims, the leading principles, the "great
commandments" of the gospel; amidst its comprehensive descriptions and
authorized tests of Christian character, we should take our position in
disposing of any particular allusions to such forms and usages of the
primitive churches as are supposed by divine authority. The latter must
be interpreted and understood in the light of the former. But how do the
apologists and defenders of slavery proceed? Placing themselves amidst
the arrangements and usages which grew out of the _corruptions_ of
Christianity, they make these the standard by which the gospel is to be
explained and understood! Some Recorder or Justice, without the light of
inquiry or the aid of a jury, consigns the negro whom the kidnapper has
dragged into his presence to the horrors of slavery. As the poor wretch
shrieks and faints, Humanity shudders and demands why such atrocities
are endured? Some "priest" or "Levite," "passing by on the other side,"
quite self-possessed and all complacent reads in reply from his bread
phylactery, _Paul sent back Onesimus to Philemon_! Yes, echoes the
negro-hating mob, made up of "gentlemen of property and standing"
together with equally gentle-men reeking from the gutter; _Yes--Paul
sent back Onesimus to Philemon_! And Humanity, brow-beaten, stunned with
noise and tumult, is pushed aside by the crowd! A fair specimen this of
the manner in which modern usages are made to interpret the sacred
Scriptures?
Of the particular passages in the New Testament on which the apologists
for slavery especially rely, the epistle to Philemon first demands our
attention.
1. This letter was written by the apostle Paul while a "prisoner of
Jesus Christ" at Rome.
2. Philemon was a benevolent and trustworthy member of the church at
Colosse, at whose house the disciples of Christ held their assemblies,
and who owed his conversion, under God, directly or indirectly to the
ministry of Paul.
3. Onesimus was the servant of Philemon; under a relation which it is
difficult with accuracy and certainty to define. His condition, though
servile, could not have been like that of an American slave; as, in that
case, however he might have "wronged" Philemon, he could not also have
"_owed him ought_."[A] The American slave is, according to law, as much
the property of his master as any other chattel; and can no more "owe"
his master than can a sheep or a horse. The basis of all pecuniary
obligations lies in some "value received." How can "an article of
merchandise" stand on this basis and sustain commercial relations to its
owner? There is no _person_ to offer or promise. _Personality is
swallowed up in American slavery_!
[Footnote A: Phil. 18.]
4. How Onesimus found his way to Rome it is not easy to determine. He
and Philemon appear to have parted from each other on ill terms. The
general character of Onesimus, certainly, in his relation to Philemon,
had been far from attractive, and he seems to have left him without
repairing the wrongs he had done him or paying the debts which he owed
him. At Rome, by the blessing of God upon the exertions of the apostle,
he was brought to reflection and repentance.
5. In reviewing his history in the light of Christian truth, he became
painfully aware of the injuries, he had inflicted on Philemon. He longed
for an opportunity for frank confession and full restitution. Having,
however, parted with Philemon on ill terms, he knew not how to appear in
his presence. Under such embarrassments, he naturally sought sympathy
and advice of Paul. _His_ influence upon Philemon, Onesimus knew must be
powerful, especially as an apostle.
6. A letter in behalf of Onesimus was therefore written by the apostle
to Philemon. After such salutations, benedictions, and thanks giving as
the good character and useful life of Philemon naturally drew from the
heart of Paul, he proceeds to the object of the letter. He admits that
Onesimus had behaved ill in the service of Philemon; not in running
away, for how they had parted with each other is not explained, but in
being unprofitable and in refusing to pay the debts[B] which he had
contracted. But his character had undergone a radical change.
Thenceforward fidelity and usefulness would be his aim and mark his
course. And as to any pecuniary obligations which he had violated, the
apostle authorized Philemon to put them on _his_ account.[C] Thus a way
was fairly opened to the heart of Philemon. And now what does the
apostles ask?
[Footnote B: Verse 11,18.]
[Footnote C: Verse 18.]
7. He asks that Philemon would receive Onesimus. How? "Not as a
_servant_, but _above_ a servant."[A] How much above? Philemon was to
receive him as "a son" of the apostle--"as a brother beloved"--nay, if
he counted Paul a partner, an equal, he was to receive Onesimus as he
would receive _the apostle himself[B]. So much_ above a servant was he
to receive him!
[Footnote A: Verse 16.]
[Footnote B: Verse 10, 16, 17.]
8. But was not this request to be so interpreted and complied with as to
put Onesimus in the hands of Philemon as "an article of merchandise,"
CARNALLY, while it raised him to the dignity of a "brother beloved,"
SPIRITUALLY? In other words, might not Philemon consistently with the
request of Paul, have reduced Onesimus to a chattel, AS A MAN, while he
admitted him fraternally to his bosom, as a CHRISTIAN? Such gibberish in
an apostolic epistle! Never. As if, however, to guard against such
folly, the natural product of mist and moonshine, the apostle would have
Onesimus raised above a servant to the dignity of a brother beloved,
"BOTH IN THE FLESH AND IN THE LORD;"[C] as a man and Christian, in all
the relations, circumstances, and responsibilities of life.
[Footnote C: Verse 16.]
It is easy now with definiteness and certainty to determine in what
sense the apostle in such connections uses the word "_brother_." It
describes a relation inconsistent with and opposite to the _servile_. It
is "NOT" the relation of a "SERVANT." It elevates its subject "above"
the servile condition. It raises him to full equality with the master,
to the same equality, on which Paul and Philemon stood side by side as
brothers; and this, not in some vague, undefined, spiritual sense,
affecting the soul and leaving the body in bonds, but in every way,
"both in the FLESH and in the Lord." This matter deserves particular and
earnest attention. It sheds a strong light on other lessons of apostolic
instruction.
9. It is greatly to our purpose, moreover, to observe that the apostle
clearly defines the _moral character_ of his request. It was fit,
proper, right, suited to the nature and relations of things--a thing
which _ought_ to be done.[D] On this account, he might have urged it
upon Philemon in the form of an _injunction_, on apostolic authority and
with great boldness.[E] _The very nature_ of the request made it
obligatory on Philemon. He was sacredly bound, out of regard to the
fitness of things, to admit Onesimus to full equality with himself--to
treat him as a brother both in the Lord and as having flesh--as a fellow
man. Thus were the inalienable rights and birth-right privileges of
Onesimus, as a member of the human family, defined and protected by
apostolic authority.
[Footnote D: Verse 8. To [Greek: anaekon]. See Robinson's New Testament
Lexicon; "_it is fit, proper, becoming, it ought_." In what sense King
James' translators used the word "convenient" any one may see who will
read Rom. i. 28 and Eph. v. 3, 4.]
[Footnote E: Verse 8.]
10. The apostle preferred a request instead of imposing a command, on
the ground of CHARITY.[A] He would give Philemon an opportunity of
discharging his obligations under the impulse of love. To this impulse,
he was confident Philemon would promptly and fully yield. How could he
do otherwise? The thing itself was right. The request respecting it came
from a benefactor, to whom, under God, he was under the highest
obligations.[B] That benefactor, now an old man and in the hands of
persecutors, manifested a deep and tender interest in the matter, and
had the strongest persuasion that Philemon was more ready to grant than
himself to entreat. The result, as he was soon to visit Colosse, and had
commissioned Philemon to prepare a lodging for him, must come under the
eye of the apostle. The request was so manifestly reasonable and
obligatory, that the apostle, after all, described a compliance with it,
by the strong word "_obedience_."[C]
[Footnote A: Verse 9 [Greek: dia taen agapaen].]
[Footnote B: Verse 19.]
[Footnote C: Verse 21.]
Now how must all this have been understood by the church at Colosse?--a
church, doubtless, made up of such materials as the church at Corinth,
that is, of members chiefly from the humblest walks of life. Many of
them had probably felt the degradation and tasted the bitterness of the
servile condition. Would they have been likely to interpret the
apostle's letter under the bias of feelings friendly to slavery!--And
put the slaveholder's construction on its contents! Would their past
experience or present sufferings--for doubtless some of them were still
"under the yoke"--have suggested to their thoughts such glosses as some
of our theological professors venture to put upon the words of the
apostle! Far otherwise. The Spirit of the Lord was there, and the
epistle was read in the light of "_liberty_." It contained the
principles of holy freedom, faithfully and affectionately applied. This
must have made it precious in the eyes of such men "of low degree" as
were most of the believers, and welcome to a place in the sacred canon.
There let it remain as a luminous and powerful defense of the cause of
emancipation!
But what with Prof. Stuart? "If any one doubts, let him take the case of
Paul's sending Onesimus back to Philemon, with an apology for his
running away, and sending him back to be his servant for life."[A]
[Footnote A: See his letter to Dr. Fisk, supra p. 8.]
"Paul sent back Onesimus to Philemon." By what process? Did the apostle,
a prisoner at Rome, seize upon the fugitive, and drag him before some
heartless and perfidious "Judge," for authority to send him back to
Colosse? Did he hurry his victim away from the presence of the fat and
supple magistrate, to be driven under chains and the lash to the field
of unrequited toil, whence he had escaped? Had the apostle been like
some teachers in the American churches, he might, as a professor of
sacred literature in one of our seminaries, or a preacher of the gospel
to the rich in some of our cities, have consented thus to subserve the
"peculiar" interests of a dear slaveholding brother. But the venerable
champion of truth and freedom was himself under bonds in the imperial
city, waiting for the crown of martyrdom. He wrote a letter to the
church at Colosse, which was accustomed to meet at the house of
Philemon, and another letter to that magnanimous disciple, and sent them
by the hand of Onesimus. So much for _the way_ in which Onesimus was
sent back to his master.
A slave escapes from a patriarch in Georgia, and seeks a refuge in the
parish of the Connecticut doctor, who once gave public notice that he
saw no reason for caring for the servitude of his fellow men.[B] Under
his influence, Caesar becomes a Christian convert. Burning with love for
the son whom he hath begotten in the gospel, our doctor resolves to send
him back to his master. Accordingly, he writes a letter, gives it to
Caesar, and bids him return, staff in hand, to the "corner-stone of our
republican institutions." Now, what would any Caesar do, who had ever
felt a link of slavery's chain? As he left his _spiritual father_,
should we be surprized to hear him say to himself, What, return of my
own accord to the man who, with the hand of a robber, plucked me from my
mother's bosom!--for whom I have been so often drenched in the sweat of
unrequited toil!--whose violence so often cut my flesh and scarred my
limbs!--who shut out every ray of light from my mind!--who laid claim to
those honors to which my Creator and Redeemer only are entitled! And for
what am I to return? To be cursed, and smitten, and sold! To be tempted,
and torn, and destroyed! I can not thus throw myself away--thus rush
upon my own destruction.
[Footnote B: "Why should I care?"]
Who ever heard of the voluntary return of a fugitive from American
oppression? Do you think that the doctor and his friends could persuade
one to carry a letter to the patriarch from whom he had escaped? And
must we believe this of Onesimus!
"Paul sent back Onesimus to Philemon." On what occasion?--"If," writes
the apostle, "he hath wronged thee, or oweth thee ought, put that on my
account." Alive to the claims of duty, Onesimus would "restore" whatever
he "had taken away." He would honestly pay his debts. This resolution,
the apostle warmly approved. He was ready, at whatever expense, to help
his young disciple in carrying it into full effect. Of this he assured
Philemon, in language the most explicit and emphatic. Here we find one
reason for the conduct of Paul in sending Onesimus to Philemon.
If a fugitive slave of the Rev. Mr. Smylie, of Mississippi, should
return to him with a letter from a doctor of divinity in New York,
containing such an assurance, how would the reverend slaveholder dispose
of it? What, he exclaims, have we here? "If Cato has not been upright in
his pecuniary intercourse with you--if he owes you any thing--put that
on my account." What ignorance of southern institutions! What mockery,
to talk of pecuniary intercourse between a slave and his master! _The
slave himself, with all he is and has, is an article of merchandise_.
What can _he_ owe his master?--A rustic may lay a wager with his mule,
and give the creature the peck of oats which he had permitted it to win.
But who in sober earnest would call this a pecuniary transaction?
"TO BE HIS SERVANT FOR LIFE!" From what part of the epistle could the
expositor have evolved a thought so soothing to tyrants--so revolting to
every man who loves his own nature? From this? "For perhaps he therefore
departed for a season, that thou shouldest receive him for ever."
Receive him how? _As a servant_, exclaims our commentator. But what
wrote the apostle? "NOT _now as a servant, but above a servant_, a
brother beloved, especially to me, but how much more unto thee, both in
the flesh and in the Lord." Who authorized the professor to bereave the
word '_not_' of its negative influence? According to Paul, Philemon was
to receive Onesimus '_not_ as a servant;'--according to Stuart, he was
to receive him "_as a servant!_" If the professor will apply the same
rules of exposition to the writings of the abolitionists, all difference
between him and them must in his view presently vanish away. The
harmonizing process would be equally simple and effectual. He has only
to understand them as affirming what they deny, and as denying what
they affirm.
Suppose that Prof. Stuart had a son residing at the South. His slave,
having stolen money of his master, effected his escape. He fled to
Andover, to find a refuge among the "sons of the prophets." There he
finds his way to Prof. Stuart's house, and offers to render any service
which the professor, dangerously ill "of a typhus fever," might require.
He is soon found to be a most active, skillful, faithful nurse. He
spares no pains, night and day, to make himself useful to the venerable
sufferer. He anticipates every want. In the most delicate and tender
manner, he tries to sooth every pain. He fastens himself strongly on the
heart of the reverend object of his care. Touched with the heavenly
spirit, the meek demeanor, the submissive frame, which the sick bed
exhibits, Archy becomes a Christian. A new bond now ties him and his
convalescent teacher together. As soon as he is able to write, the
professor sends by Archy the following letter to the South, to Isaac
Stuart, Esq.:--
"MY DEAR SON,--With a hand enfeebled by a distressing and dangerous
illness, from which I am slowly recovering, I address you, on a subject
which lies very near my heart. I have a request to urge, which my
acquaintance with you, and your strong obligations to me, will, I can
not doubt, make you eager fully to grant. I say a request, though the
thing I ask is, in its very nature and on the principles of the gospel,
obligatory upon you. I might, therefore, boldly demand, what I earnestly
entreat. But I know how generous, magnanimous, and Christ-like you are,
and how readily you will "do even more than I say"--I, your own father,
an old man, almost exhausted with multiplied exertions for the benefit
of my family and my country, and now just rising, emaciated and broken,
from the brink of the grave. I write in behalf of Archy, whom I regard
with the affection of a father, and whom, indeed, 'I have begotten in my
sickness.' Gladly would I have retained him, to be an _Isaac_ to me; for
how often did not his soothing voice, and skillful hand, and unwearied
attention to my wants, remind me of you! But I chose to give you an
opportunity of manifesting, voluntarily, the goodness of your heart; as,
if I had retained him with me, you might seem to have been forced to
grant what you will gratefully bestow. His temporary absence from you
may have opened the way for his permanent continuance with you. Not now
as a slave. Heaven forbid! But superior to a slave. Superior, did I say?
Take him to your bosom, as a beloved brother; for I own him as a son,
and regard him as such, in all the relations of life, both as a man and
a Christian.--'Receive him as myself.' And that nothing may hinder you
from complying with my request at once, I hereby promise, without
adverting to your many and great obligations to me, to pay you every
cent which he took from your drawer. Any preparation which my comfort
with you may require, you will make without much delay, when you learn,
that I intend, as soon as I shall be able 'to perform the journey,' to
make you a visit."
And what if Dr. Baxter, in giving an account of this letter should
publicly declare that Prof. Stuart of Andover regarded slaveholding as
lawful; for that "he had sent Archy back to his son Isaac, with an
apology for his running away" to be held in perpetual slavery? With what
propriety might not the professor exclaim: False, every syllable false.
I sent him back, NOT TO BE HELD AS A SLAVE, _but recognized as a dear
brother, in all respects, under every relation, civil and
ecclesiastical_. I bade my son receive _Archy as myself_. If this was
not equivalent to a requisition to set him fully and most honorably
free, and that, too, on the ground of natural obligation and Christian
principle, then I know not how to frame such a requisition.
I am well aware that my supposition is by no means strong enough fully
to illustrate the case to which it is applied. Prof. Stuart lacks
apostolical authority. Isaac Stuart is not a leading member of a church
consisting, as the early churches chiefly consisted, of what the world
regard as the dregs of society--"the offscouring of all things." Nor was
slavery at Colosse, it seems, supported by such barbarous usages, such
horrid laws as disgrace the South.
But it is time to turn to another passage which, in its bearing on the
subject in hand, is, in our view, as well as in the view of Dr. Fisk and
Prof. Stuart, in the highest degree authoritative and instructive. "Let
as many servants as are under the yoke count their own masters worthy of
all honor, that the name of God and his doctrines be not blasphemed. And
they that have believing masters, let them not despise them because they
are brethren; but rather do them service, because they are faithful and
beloved, partakers of the benefit."[A]
[Footnote A: 1 Tim. vi. 1, 2.]
1. The apostle addresses himself here to two classes of servants, with
instructions to each respectively appropriate. Both the one class and
the other, in Prof. Stuart's eye, were _slaves_. This he assumes, and
thus begs the very question in dispute. The term servant is _generic_,
as used by the sacred writers. It comprehends all the various offices
which men discharge for the benefit of each other, however honorable, or
however menial; from that of an apostle[B] opening the path to heaven,
to that of washing "one another's feet."[C] A general term it is,
comprehending every office which belongs to human relations and
Christian character.[D]
[Footnote B: Cor. iv. 5.]
[Footnote C: John xiii. 14.]
[Footnote D: Mat. xx. 26-28.]
A leading signification gives us the _manual laborer_, to whom, in the
division of labor, muscular exertion was allotted. As in his exertions
the bodily powers are especially employed--such powers as belong to man
in common with mere animals--his sphere has generally been considered
low and humble. And as intellectual power is superior to bodily, the
manual laborer has always been exposed in very numerous ways and in
various degrees to oppression. Cunning, intrigue, the oily tongue, have,
through extended and powerful conspiracies, brought the resources of
society under the control of the few, who stood aloof from his homely
toil. Hence his dependence upon them. Hence the multiplied injuries
which have fallen so heavily upon him. Hence the reduction of his wages
from one degree to another, till at length, in the case of millions,
fraud and violence strip him of his all, blot his name from the record
of _mankind_, and, putting a yoke upon his neck, drive him away to toil
among the cattle. _Here you find the slave._ To reduce the servant to
his condition, requires abuses altogether monstrous--injuries reaching
the very vitals of man--stabs upon the very heart of humanity. Now, what
right has Prof. Stuart to make the word "_servants_," comprehending,
even as manual laborers, so many and such various meanings, signify
"_slaves_," especially where different classes are concerned? Such a
right he could never have derived from humanity, or philosophy, or
hermeneutics. Is it his by sympathy with the oppressor?
Yes, different classes. This is implied in the term "_as many_,"[A]
which sets apart the class now to be addressed. From these he proceeds
to others, who are introduced by a particle,[B] whose natural meaning
indicates the presence of another and a different subject.
[Footnote A: [Greek: Osoi.] See Passow's Schneider.]
[Footnote B: [Greek: De.] See Passow.]
2. The first class are described as "_under the yoke_"--a yoke from
which they were, according to the apostle, to make their escape if
possible.[C] If not, they must in every way regard the master with
respect--bowing to his authority, working his will, subserving his
interests so far as might be consistent with Christian character.[D] And
this, to prevent blasphemy--to prevent the pagan master from heaping
profane reproaches upon the name of God and the doctrines of the gospel.
They should beware of rousing his passions, which, as his helpless
victims, they might be unable to allay or withstand.
[Footnote C: See 1 Cor. vii. 21--[Greek: All ei kai d u n a s a i
eleutheros genesthai.]]
[Footnote D: 1 Cor. vii. 23--[Greek: Mae ginesthe douloi anthropon.]]
But all the servants whom the apostle addressed were not "_under the
yoke_"[E]--an instrument appropriate to cattle and to slaves. These he
distinguishes from another class, who instead of a "yoke"--the badge of
a slave--had "_believing masters_." _To have a "believing master," then,
was equivalent to freedom from "the yoke."_ These servants were exhorted
not _to despise_ their masters. What need of such an exhortation, if
their masters had been slaveholders, holding them as property, wielding
them as mere instruments, disposing of them as "articles of
merchandise?" But this was not consistent with believing. Faith,
"breaking every yoke," united master and servants in the bonds of
brotherhood. Brethren they were, joined in a relation which, excluding
the yoke,[F] placed them side by side on the ground of equality, where,
each in his appropriate sphere, they might exert themselves freely and
usefully, to the mutual benefit of each other. Here, servants might need
to be cautioned against getting above their appropriate business,
putting on airs, despising their masters, and thus declining or
neglecting their service.[G] Instead of this, they should be, as
emancipated slaves often have been,[H] models of enterprise, fidelity,
activity, and usefulness--especially as their masters were "worthy of
their confidence and love," their helpers in this well-doing.[I]
[Footnote E: See Lev. xxvi. 13; Isa. lviii. 6, 9.]
[Footnote F: Supra p. 47.]
[Footnote G: See Matt. vi. 24.]
[Footnote H: Those, for instance, set free by that "believing master"
James G. Birney.]
[Footnote I: The following exposition is from the pen of ELIZUR WRIGHT,
JR.:--"This word [Greek: antilambanesthai,] in our humble opinion, has
been so unfairly used by the commentators, that we feel constrained to
take its part. Our excellent translators, in rendering the clause
'partakers of the benefit,' evidently lost sight of the component
preposition, which expresses the _opposition of reciprocity_, rather
than the _connection of participation_. They have given it exactly the
sense of [Greek: metalambanein,] (2 Tim. ii. 6.) Had the apostle
intended such a sense, he would have used the latter verb, or one of the
more common words, [Greek: metochoi, koinonountes], &c. (See Heb. iii.
1, and 1 Tim. v. 22, where the latter word is used in the clause,
'neither be partaker of other men's sins.' Had the verb in our text been
used, it might have been rendered, 'neither be the _part-taker_ of other
men's sins.') The primary sense of [Greek: antilambano] is _to take in
return--to take instead of, &c_. Hence, in the middle with the genitive,
it signifies _assist_, or _do one's part towards_ the person or thing
expressed by that genitive. In this sense only is the word used in the
New Testament.--(See Luke i. 54, and Acts xx. 35.) If this be true, the
word [Greek: euergesai] can not signify the benefit conferred by the
gospel, as our common version would make it, but the _well-doing_ of the
servants, who should continue to serve their believing masters, while
they were no longer under the _yoke_ of compulsion. This word is used
elsewhere in the New Testament but once, (Acts iv. 3.) in relation to
the '_good deed_' done to the impotent man. The plain import of the
clause, unmystified by the commentators, is, that believing masters
would not fail to _do their part towards_, or encourage by suitable
returns, the _free_ service of those who had once been under
the _yoke_."]
Such, then, is the relation between those who, in the view of Prof.
Stuart, were Christian masters and Christian slaves[A]--the relation of
"brethren," which, excluding "the yoke," and of course conferring
freedom, placed them side by side on the common ground of mutual
service, both retaining, for convenience's sake, the one while giving
and the other while receiving employment, the correlative name, _as is
usual in such cases_, under which they had been known. Such was the
instruction which Timothy was required, as a Christian minister, to
give. Was it friendly to slaveholding?
[Footnote A: Letter to Dr. Fisk, supra, p. 7.]
And on what ground, according to the Princeton professor, did these
masters and these servants stand in their relation to each other? On
that _of a "perfect religious equality_."[A] In all the relations,
duties, and privileges--in all the objects, interests, and prospects,
which belong to the province of Christianity, servants were as free as
their master. The powers of the one, were allowed as wide a range and as
free an exercise, with as warm encouragements, as active aids, and as
high results, as the other. Here, the relation of a servant to his
master imposed no restrictions, involved no embarrassments, occasioned
no injury. All this, clearly and certainly, is implied in "_perfect
religious equality_," which the Princeton professor accords to servants
in relation to their master. Might the _master_, then, in order more
fully to attain the great ends for which he was created and redeemed,
freely exert himself to increase his acquaintance with his own powers,
and relations, and resources--with his prospects, opportunities, and
advantages? So might his _servants_. Was _he_ at liberty to "study to
approve himself to God," to submit to his will and bow to his authority,
as the sole standard of affection and exertion? So were _they_. Was _he_
at liberty to sanctify the Sabbath, and frequent the "solemn assembly?"
So were _they_. Was _he_ at liberty so to honor the filial, conjugal,
and paternal relations, as to find in them that spring of activity and
that source of enjoyment, which they are capable of yielding? So were
_they_. In every department of interest and exertion, they might use
their capacities, and wield their powers, and improve their
opportunities, and employ their resources, as freely as he, in
glorifying God, in blessing mankind, and in laying up imperishable
treasures for themselves! Give perfect religious equality to the
American slave, and the most eager abolitionist must be satisfied. Such
equality would, like the breath of the Almighty, dissolve the last link
of the chain of servitude. Dare those who, for the benefit of slavery,
have given so wide and active a circulation do the Pittsburgh pamphlet,
make the experiment?
[Footnote A: Pittsburgh Pamphlet, p. 9.]
In the epistle to the Colossians, the following passage deserves earnest
attention:--"Servants, obey in all things your masters according to the
flesh; not with eye-service, as men-pleasers; but in singleness of
heart, fearing God: and whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the
Lord, and not unto men; knowing, that of the Lord ye shall receive the
reward of the inheritance; for ye serve the Lord Christ. But he that
doeth wrong shall receive for the wrong which he hath done: and there is
no respect of persons.--Masters, give unto your servants that which is
just and equal; knowing that ye have a Master in heaven."[A]
[Footnote A: Col. iii. 22 to iv. 1.]
Here it is natural to remark--
1. That in maintaining the relation, which mutually united them, both
masters and servants were to act in conformity with the principles of
the divine government. Whatever _they_ did, servants were to do in
hearty obedience to the Lord, by whose authority they were to be
controlled and by whose hand they were to be rewarded. To the same Lord,
and according to the same law, was the _master_ to hold himself
responsible. _Both the one and the other were of course equally at
liberty and alike required to study and apply the standard, by which
they were to be governed and judged._
2. The basis of the government under which they thus were placed, was
_righteousness_--strict, stern, impartial. Nothing here of bias or
antipathy. Birth, wealth, station,--the dust of the balance not so
light! Both master and servants were hastening to a tribunal, where
nothing of "respect of persons" could be feared or hoped for. There the
wrong-doer, whoever he might be, and whether from the top or bottom of
society, must be dealt with according to his deservings.
3. Under this government, servants were to be universally and heartily
obedient; and both in the presence and absence of the master, faithfully
to discharge their obligations. The master on his part, in his relations
to the servants, was to make JUSTICE AND EQUALITY the _standard of his
conduct_. Under the authority of such instructions, slavery falls
discountenanced, condemned, abhorred. It is flagrantly at war with the
government of God, consists in "respect of persons" the most shameless
and outrageous, treads justice and equality under foot, and in its
natural tendency and practical effects is nothing else than a system of
wrong-doing. What have _they_ to do with the just and the equal who in
their "respect of persons" proceed to such a pitch as to treat one
brother as a thing because he is a servant, and place him, without the
least regard to his welfare here, or his prospects hereafter, absolutely
at the disposal of another brother, under the name of master, in the
relation of owner to property? Justice and equality on the one hand, and
the chattel principle on the other, are naturally subversive of each
other--proof clear and decisive that the correlates, masters and
servants, cannot here be rendered slaves and owners, without the
grossest absurdity and the greatest violence.
"The relation of slavery," according to Prof. Stuart, is recognized in
"the precepts of the New Testament," as one which "may still exist
without violating the Christian faith or the church."[A] Slavery and the
chattel principle! So our professor thinks; otherwise his reference has
nothing to do with the subject--with the slavery which the abolitionist,
whom he derides, stands opposed to. How gross and hurtful is the mistake
into which he allows himself to fall. The relation recognized in the
precepts of the New Testament had its basis and support in "justice and
equality;" the very opposite of the chattel principle; a relation which
may exist as long as justice and equality remain, and thus escape the
destruction to which, in the view of Prof. Stuart, slavery is doomed.
The description of Paul obliterates every feature of American slavery,
raising the servant to equality with his master, and placing his rights
under the protection of justice; yet the eye of Prof. Stuart can see
nothing in his master and servant but a slave and his owner. With this
relation he is so thoroughly possessed, that, like an evil angel, it
haunts him even when he enters the temple of justice!
[Footnote A: Letter to Dr. Fisk, supra p. 7.]
"It is remarkable," with the Princeton professor, "that there is not
even an exhortation" in the writings of the apostles "to masters to
liberate their slaves, much less is it urged as an imperative and
immediate duty."[B] It would be remarkable, indeed, if they were
chargeable with a defect so great and glaring. And so they have nothing
to say upon the subject? _That_ not even the Princeton professor has the
assurance to affirm. He admits that KINDNESS, MERCY, AND JUSTICE, were
enjoined with a _distinct reference to the government of God_.[C]
"Without respect of persons," they were to be God-like in doing justice.
They were to act the part of kind and merciful "brethren." And whither
would this lead them? Could they stop short of restoring to every man
his natural, inalienable rights?--of doing what they could to redress
the wrongs, soothe the sorrows, improve the character, and raise the
condition of the degraded and oppressed? Especially, if oppressed and
degraded by any agency of theirs. Could it be kind, merciful, or just to
keep the chains of slavery on their helpless, unoffending brother? Would
this be to honor the Golden Rule, or obey the second great command of
"their Master in heaven?" Could the apostles have subserved the cause of
freedom more directly, intelligibly, and effectually, than _to enjoin
the principles, and sentiments, and habits, in which freedom
consists--constituting its living root and fruitful germ_?
[Footnote B: Pittsburgh pamphlet, p. 9.]
[Footnote C: Pittsburgh pamphlet, p. 10.]
The Princeton professor himself, in the very paper which the South has
so warmly welcomed and so loudly applauded as a scriptural defense of
"the peculiar institution," maintains, that the "GENERAL PRINCIPLES OF
THE GOSPEL _have_ DESTROYED SLAVERY _throughout out the greater part of
Christendom"_[A]--"THAT CHRISTIANITY HAS ABOLISHED BOTH POLITICAL AND
DOMESTIC BONDAGE WHEREVER IT HAS HAD FREE SCOPE--_that it_ ENJOINS _a
fair compensation for labor; insists on the mental and intellectual
improvement of_ ALL _classes of men; condemns_ ALL _infractions of
marital or parental rights; requires in short not only that_ FREE SCOPE
_should be allowed to human improvement, but that _ALL SUITABLE MEANS_
_should be employed for the attainment of that end._"[B] It is indeed
"remarkable," that while neither Christ nor his apostles ever gave "an
exhortation to masters to liberate their slaves," they enjoined such
"general principles as have destroyed domestic slavery throughout the
greater part of Christendom;" that while Christianity forbears "to urge"
emancipation "as an imperative and immediate duty," it throws a barrier,
heaven high, around every domestic circle; protects all the rights of
the husband and the fathers; gives every laborer a fair compensation;
and makes the moral and intellectual improvement of all classes, with
free scope and all suitable means, the object of its tender solicitude
and high authority. This is not only "remarkable," but inexplicable. Yes
and no--hot and cold, in one and the same breath! And yet these things
stand prominent in what is reckoned an acute, ingenious, effective
defense of slavery!
[Footnote A: Pittsburgh pamphlet p. 18. 19.]
[Footnote B: The same, p. 31.]
In his letter to the Corinthian church, the apostle Paul furnishes
another lesson of instruction, expressive of his views and feelings on
the subject of slavery. "Let every man abide in the same calling wherein
he was called. Art thou called being a servant? care not for it: but if
thou mayest be made free, use it rather. For he that is called in the
Lord, being a servant, is the Lord's freeman: likewise also he that is
called, being free, is Christ's servant. Ye are bought with a price; be
not ye the servants of men."[A]
[Footnote A: 1 Cor. vii. 20-23.]
In explaining and applying this passage, it is proper to suggest,
1. That it _could_ not have been the object of the apostle to bind the
Corinthian converts to the stations and employments in which the Gospel
found them. For he exhorts some of them to escape, if possible, from
their present condition. In the servile state, "under the yoke," they
ought not to remain unless impelled by stern necessity. "If thou canst
be free, use it rather." If they ought to prefer freedom to bondage and
to exert themselves to escape from the latter for the sake of the
former, could their master consistently with the claims and spirit of
the Gospel have hindered or discouraged them in so doing? Their
"brother" could _he_ be, who kept "the yoke" upon their neck, which the
apostle would have them shake off if possible? And had such masters been
members of the Corinthian church, what inferences must they have drawn
from this exhortation to their servants? That the apostle regarded
slavery as a Christian institution?--or could look complacently on any
efforts to introduce or maintain it in the church? Could they have
expected less from him than a stern rebuke, if they refused to exert
themselves in the cause of freedom?
2. But while they were to use their freedom, if they could obtain it,
they should not, even on such a subject, give themselves up to ceaseless
anxiety. "The Lord was no respecter of persons." They need not fear,
that the "low estate," to which they had been wickedly reduced, would
prevent them from enjoying the gifts of his hand or the light of his
countenance. _He_ would respect their rights, sooth their sorrows, and
pour upon their hearts, and cherish there, the spirit of liberty. "For
he that is called in the Lord, being a servant, is the Lord's freeman."
In _him_, therefore, should they cheerfully confide.
3. The apostle, however, forbids them so to acquiesce in the servile
relation, as to act inconsistently with their Christian obligations. To
their Savior they belonged. By his blood they had been purchased. It
should be their great object, therefore, to render _Him_ a hearty and
effective service. They should permit no man, whoever he might be, to
thrust in himself between them and their Redeemer. "_Ye are bought with
a price_; BE NOT YE THE SERVANTS OF MEN."
With his eye upon the passage just quoted and explained, the Princeton
professor asserts that "Paul represents this relation"--the relation of
slavery--"as of comparatively little account."[A] And this he
applies--otherwise it is nothing to his purpose--to _American_ slavery.
Does he then regard it as a small matter, a mere trifle, to be thrown
under the slave-laws of this republic, grimly and fiercely excluding
their victim from almost every means of improvement, and field of
usefulness, and source of comfort; and making him, body and substance,
with his wife and babes, "the servant of men?" Could such a relation be
acquiesced in consistently with the instructions of the apostle?
[Footnote A: Pittsburgh pamphlet p. 10.]
To the Princeton professor the commend a practical trial of the bearing
of the passage in hand upon American slavery. His regard for the unity
and prosperity of the ecclesiastical organizations, which in various
forms and under different names unite the southern with the northern
churches, will make the experiment grateful to his feelings. Let him,
then, as soon as his convenience will permit, proceed to Georgia. No
religious teacher[B] from any free state, can be likely to receive so
general and so warm a welcome there. To allay the heat, which the
doctrines and movements of the abolitionists have occasioned in the
southern mind, let him with as much despatch as possible collect, as he
goes from place to place, masters and their slaves. Now let all men,
whom it may concern, see and own that slavery is a Christian
institution! With his Bible in his hand and his eye upon the passage in
question, he addresses himself to the task of instructing the slaves
around him. Let not your hearts, my brethren, be overcharged with
sorrow, or eaten up with anxiety. Your servile condition cannot deprive
you of the fatherly regards of Him "who is no respecter of persons."
Freedom you ought, indeed, to prefer. If you can escape from "the yoke,"
throw it off. In the mean time rejoice that "where the Spirit of the
Lord is, there is liberty;" that the Gospel places slaves "on a perfect
religious equality" with their master; so that every Christian is "the
Lord's freeman." And, for your encouragement, remember that
"Christianity has abolished both political and domestic servitude
whenever it has had free scope. It enjoins a fair compensation for
labor; it insists on the moral and intellectual improvement of all
classes of men; it condemns all infractions of marital or parental
rights; in short it requires not only that free scope be allowed to
human improvement, but that all suitable means should be employed for
the attainment of that end."[C] Let your lives, then, be honorable to
your relations to your Savior. He bought you with his own blood; and is
entitled to your warmest love and most effective service. "Be not ye the
servants of men." Let no human arrangements prevent you, as citizens of
the kingdom of heaven, from making the most of your powers and
opportunities. Would such an effort, generally and heartily made, allay
excitement at the South, and quench the flames of discord, every day
rising higher and waxing hotter, in almost every part of the republic,
and cement "the Union?"
[Footnote B: Rev. Mr. Savage, of Utica, New York, had, not very long
ago, a free conversation with a gentleman of high standing in the
literary and religious world from a slaveholding state, where the
"peculiar institution" is cherished with great warmth and maintained
with iron rigor. By him, Mr. Savage was assured, that the Princeton
professor had, through the Pittsburgh pamphlet, contributed most
powerfully and effectually to bring the "whole South" under the
persuasion, _that slaveholding is in itself right_--a system _to which
the Bible gives countenance and support_.
In an extract from an article in the Southern Christian Sentinel, a new
Presbyterian paper established in Charleston, South Carolina, and
inserted in the Christian Journal for March 21, 1839, we find the
following paragraphs from the pen of Rev. C.W. Howard, and according to
Mr. Chester, ably and freely endorsed by the editor. "There is scarcely
any diversity of sentiment at the North upon this subject. The great
mass of the people believing slavery to be sinful, are clearly of the
opinion that as a system, it should be abolished throughout this land
and throughout the world. They differ as to the time and mode of
abolition. The abolitionists consistently argue, that whatever is
sinful, should be instantly abandoned. The others, _by a strange sort of
reasoning for Christian men_, contend that though slavery is sinful,
_yet it may be allowed to exist until it shall be expedient to abolish
it_; or if, in many cases, this reasoning might be translated into plain
English, the sense would be, both in church and State, _slavery, though
sinful, may be allowed to exist until our interest will suffer us to say
that it must be abolished_. This is not slander; it is simply a plain
way of stating a plain truth. It does seem the evident duty of every man
to become an abolitionist, who believes slavery to be sinful, for the
Bible allows no tampering with sin."
"To these remarks, there are some noble exceptions to be found in both
parties in the church. _The South owes a debt of gratitude to the
Biblical Repertory, for the fearless argument in behalf of the position,
that slavery is not forbidden by the Bible_. The writer of that article
is said, without contradiction, to be _Prof. Hodge of Princeton--HIS
NAME OUGHT TO BE KNOWN AND REVERED AMONG YOU, my brethren, for in a land
of anti-slavery men, he is the ONLY ONE who has dared to vindicate your
character from the serious charge of living in the habitual
transgression of God's holy law_."]
[Footnote C: Pittsburgh pamphlet p. 31.]
"It is," affirms the Princeton professor, "on all hands acknowledged,
that, at the time of the advent of Jesus Christ, slavery in its worst
forms prevailed over the whole world. _The Savior found it around him_
in JUDEA."[A] To say that he found it _in Judea_, is to speak
ambiguously. Many things were to be found "_in_ Judea," which neither
belonged to, nor were characteristic of _the Jews_. It is not denied
that _the Gentiles_, who resided among them, might have had slaves; _but
of the Jews this is denied_. How could the professor take that as
granted, the proof of which entered vitally into the argument and was
essential to the soundness of the conclusions to which he would conduct
us? How could he take advantage of an ambiguous expression to conduct
his confiding readers on to a position which, if his own eyes were open,
he must have known they could not hold in the light of open day?
[Footnote A: Pittsburgh pamphlet p. 9.]
We do not charge the Savior with any want of wisdom, goodness, or
courage,[B] for refusing to "break down the wall of partition between
Jews and Gentiles" "before the time appointed." While this barrier
stood, he could not, consistently with the plan of redemption, impart
instruction freely to the Gentiles. To some extent, and on extraordinary
occasions, he might have done so. But his business then was with "the
lost sheep of the house of Israel."[C] The propriety of this arrangement
is not the matter of dispute between the Princeton professor and
ourselves.
[Footnote B: The same, p. 10.]
[Footnote C: Matt. xv. 24.]
In disposing of the question whether the Jews held slaves during our
Savior's incarnation among them, the following points deserve earnest
attention:--
1. Slaveholding is inconsistent with the Mosaic economy. For the proof
of this, we would refer our readers, among other arguments more or less
appropriate and powerful, to the tract already alluded to.[A] In all the
external relations and visible arrangements of life, the Jews, during
our Savior's ministry among them, seem to have been scrupulously
observant of the institutions and usages of the "Old Dispensation." They
stood far aloof from whatever was characteristic of Samaritans and
Gentiles. From idolatry and slaveholding--those twin-vices which had
always so greatly prevailed among the heathen--they seem at length, as
the result of a most painful discipline, to have been effectually
divorced.
[Footnote A: "The Bible against Slavery."]
2. While, therefore, John the Baptist, with marked fidelity and great
power, acted among the Jews the part of a _reprover_, he found no
occasion to repeat and apply the language of his predecessors,[B] in
exposing and rebuking idolatry and slaveholding. Could he, the greatest
of the prophets, have been less effectually aroused by the presence of
"the yoke," than was Isaiah?--or less intrepid and decisive in exposing
and denouncing the sin of oppression under its most hateful and
injurious forms?
[Footnote B: Psalm lxxxii; Isa. lviii. 1-12; Jer. xxii. 13-16.]
3. The Savior was not backward in applying his own principles plainly
and pointedly to such forms of oppression as appeared among the Jews.
These principles, whenever they have been freely acted on, the Princeton
professor admits, have abolished domestic bondage. Had this prevailed
within the sphere of our Savior's ministry, he could not, consistently
with his general character, have failed to expose and condemn it. The
oppression of the people by lordly ecclesiastics, of parents by their
selfish children, of widows by their ghostly counsellors, drew from his
lips scorching rebukes and terrible denunciations.[C] How, then, must he
have felt and spoke in the presence of such tyranny, if _such tyranny
had been within his official sphere_, as should _have made widows_, by
driving their husbands to some flesh-market, and their children not
orphans, _but cattle_?
[Footnote C: Matt. xxiii; Mark vii. 1-13.]
4. Domestic slavery was manifestly inconsistent with the _industry_,
which, _in the form of manual labor_, so generally prevailed among the
Jews. In one connection, in the Acts of the Apostles, we are informed,
that, coming from Athens to Corinth, Paul "found a certain Jew named
Aquila, born in Pontus, lately come from Italy, with his wife Priscilla;
(because that Claudius had commanded all Jews to depart from Rome;) and
came unto them. And because he was of the same craft, he abode with them
and wrought: (for by their occupation they were tent-makers.")[A] This
passage has opened the way for different commentators to refer us to the
public sentiment and general practice of the Jews respecting useful
industry and manual labor. According to _Lightfoot_, "it was their
custom to bring up their children to some trade, yea, though they gave
them learning or estates." According to Rabbi Judah, "He that teaches
not his son a trade, is as if he taught him to be a thief."[B] It was,
_Kuinoel_ affirms, customary even for Jewish teachers to unite labor
(opificium) with the study of the law. This he confirms by the highest
Rabbinical authority.[C] _Heinrichs_ quotes a Rabbi as teaching, that no
man should by any means neglect to train his son to honest industry.[D]
Accordingly, the apostle Paul, though brought up at the "feet of
Gamaliel," the distinguished disciple of a most illustrious teacher,
practiced the art of tent-making. His own hands ministered to his
necessities; and his example in so doing, he commends to his Gentile
brethren for their imitation.[E] That Zebedee, the father of John the
Evangelist, had wealth, various hints in the New Testament render
probable.[F] Yet how do we find him and his sons, while prosecuting
their appropriate business? In the midst of the hired servants, "in the
ship mending their nets."[G]
[Footnote A: Acts xviii. 1-3.]
[Footnote B: Henry on Acts xviii, 1-3.]
[Footnote C: Kuinoel on Acts.]
[Footnote D: Heinrichs on Acts.]
[Footnote E: Acts xx. 34, 35; 1 Thess. iv. 11]
[Footnote F: See Kuinoel's Prolegom. to the Gospel of John.]
[Footnote G: Mark i. 19, 20.]
Slavery among a people who, from the highest to the lowest, were used to
manual labor! What occasion for slavery there? And how could it be
maintained? No place can be found for slavery among a people generally
inured to useful industry. With such, especially if men of learning,
wealth, and station "labor, working with their hands," such labor must
be honorable. On this subject, let Jewish maxims and Jewish habits be
adopted at the South, and the "peculiar institution" would vanish like a
ghost at daybreak.
5. Another hint, here deserving particular attention, is furnished in
the allusions of the New Testament to the lowest casts and most servile
employments among the Jews. With profligates, _publicans_ were joined as
depraved and contemptible. The outcasts of society were described, not
as fit to herd with slaves, but as deserving a place among Samaritans
and publicans. They were "_hired servants_," whom Zebedee employed. In
the parable of the prodigal son we have a wealthy Jewish family. Here
servants seem to have abounded. The prodigal, bitterly bewailing his
wretchedness and folly, described their condition as greatly superior to
his own. How happy the change which should place him by their side! His
remorse, and shame, and penitence made him willing to embrace the lot of
the lowest of them all. But these--what was their condition? They were
HIRED SERVANTS. "Make me as one of thy hired servants." Such he refers
to as the lowest menials known in Jewish life.
Lay such hints as have now been suggested together; let it be
remembered, that slavery was inconsistent with the Mosaic economy; that
John the Baptist in preparing the way for the Messiah makes no reference
"to the yoke" which, had it been before him, he would, like Isaiah, have
condemned; that the Savior, while he took the part of the poor and
sympathized with the oppressed; was evidently spared the pain of
witnessing within the sphere of his ministry, the presence of the
chattel principle; that it was the habit of the Jews, whoever they might
be, high or low, rich or poor, learned or rude, "to labor, working with
their hands;" and that where reference was had to the most menial
employments, in families, they were described as carried on by hired
servants; and the question of slavery "in Judea," so far as the seed of
Abraham were concerned, is very easily disposed of. With every phase and
form of society among them slavery was inconsistent.
The position which, in the article so often referred to in this paper,
the Princeton professor takes, is sufficiently remarkable. Northern
abolitionists he saw in an earnest struggle with southern slaveholders.
The present welfare and future happiness of myriads of the human family
were at stake in this contest. In the heat of the battle, he throws
himself between the belligerent powers. He gives the abolitionists to
understand, that they are quite mistaken in the character of the object
they have set themselves so openly and sternly against. Slaveholding is
not, as they suppose, contrary to the law of God. It was witnessed by
the Savior "in its worst form,"[A] without extorting from his lips a
syllable of rebuke. "The sacred writers did not condemn it."[B] And why
should they? By a definition[C] sufficiently ambiguous and slippery, he
undertakes to set forth a form of slavery which he looks upon as
consistent with the law of Righteousness. From this definition he infers
that the abolitionists are greatly to blame for maintaining that
American slavery is inherently and essentially sinful, and for insisting
that it ought at once to be abolished. For this labor of love the
slaveholding South is warmly grateful and applauds its reverend ally, as
if a very Daniel had come as their advocate to judgment.[D]
[Footnote A: Pittsburgh pamphlet p. 9.]
[Footnote B: The same p. 13.]
[Footnote C: The same p. 12.]
[Footnote D: Supra p. 61.]
A few questions, briefly put, may not here be inappropriate.
1. Was the form of slavery which our professor pronounces innocent _the
form_ witnessed by our Savior "in Judea?" That, _he_ will by no means
admit. The slavery there was, he affirms, of the "worst" kind. _How then
does he account for the alledged silence of the Savior?--a silence
covering the essence and the form--the institution and its
"worst" abuses?_
2. Is the slaveholding, which, according to the Princeton professor,
Christianity justifies, the same as that which the abolitionists so
earnestly wish to see abolished? Let us see.
_Christianity in supporting _The American system for
Slavery, according to Prof. supporting Slavery,_
Hodge,_
"Enjoins a fair compensation Makes compensation impossible
for labor." by reducing the laborer to a
chattel.
"It insists on the moral It sternly forbids its victim
and intellectual improvement to learn to read even the
of all classes of men." name of his Creator and
Redeemer.
"It condemns all infractions It outlaws the conjugal and
of marital or parental rights." parental relations.
"It requires that free scope It forbids any effort, on the
should be allowed to human part of myriads of the human
improvement." family, to improve their
character, condition, and
prospects.
"It requires that all suitable It inflicts heavy penalties
means should be employed to improve for teaching letters to the
mankind." to the poorest of the poor.
"Wherever it has had free scope, it Wherever it has free scope,
has abolished domestic bondage." it perpetuates domestic
bondage.
_Now it is slavery according to the American system_ that the
abolitionists are set against. _Of the existence of any_ such form of
slavery as is consistent with Prof. Hodge's account of the requisitions
of Christianity, they know nothing. It has never met their notice, and
of course, has never roused their feelings, or called forth their
exertions. What, then, have _they_ to do with the censures and
reproaches which the Princeton professor deals around? Let those who
have leisure and good nature protect the _man of straw_ he is so hot
against. The abolitionists have other business. It is not the figment of
some sickly brain; but that system of oppression which in theory is
corrupting, and in practice destroying both Church and State;--it is
this that they feel pledged to do battle upon, till by the just judgment
of Almighty God it is thrown, dead and damned, into the
bottomless abyss.
3. _How can the South feel itself protected by any shield which may be
thrown over SUCH SLAVERY, as may be consistent with what the Princeton
professor describes as the requisitions of Christianity?_ Is _this?_
THE _slavery_ which their laws describe, and their hands maintain? "Fair
compensation for labor"--"marital and parental rights"--"free scope"
and "all suitable means" for the "improvement, moral and intellectual,
of all classes of men;"--are these, according to the statutes of the
South, among the objects of slaveholding legislation? Every body knows
that any such requisition and American slavery are flatly opposed to and
directly subversive of each other. What service, then, has the Princeton
professor, with all his ingenuity and all his zeal, rendered the
"peculiar institution?" Their gratitude must be of a stamp and
complexion quite peculiar, if they can thank him for throwing their
"domestic system" under the weight of such Christian requisitions as
must at once crush its snaky head "and grind it to powder."
And what, moreover, is the bearing of the Christian requisitions which
Prof. Hodge quotes, upon _the definition of slavery_ which he has
elaborated? "All the ideas which necessarily enter into the definition
of slavery are, deprivation of personal liberty, obligation of service
at the discretion of another, and the transferable character of the
authority and claim of service of the master[A]."
[Footnote A: Pittsburgh pamphlet p. 12]
_According to Prof. Hodge's According to Prof. Hodge's
account of the requisitions of account of Slavery,
Christianity,_
The spring of effort in the labor The laborer must serve at the
is a fair compensation. discretion of another.
Free scope must be given for his moral He is deprived of personal
and intellectual improvement. liberty--the necessary
condition, and living soul
of improvement, without which
he has no control of either
intellect or morals.
His rights as a husband and a father The authority and claims of
are to be protected. the master may throw an ocean
between him and his family,
and separate them from each
other's presence at any moment
and forever.
Christianity, then, requires such slavery as Prof. Hodge so cunningly
defines, to be abolished. It was well provided, for the peace of the
respective parties, that he placed _his definition_ so far from _the
requisitions of Christianity_. Had he brought them into each other's
presence, their natural and invincible antipathy to each other would
have broken out into open and exterminating warfare. But why should we
delay longer upon an argument which is based on gross and monstrous
sophistry? It can mislead only such as _wish_ to be misled. The lovers
of sunlight are in little danger of rushing into the professor's
dungeon. Those who, having something to conceal, covet darkness, can
find it there, to their hearts' content. The hour can not be far away,
when upright and reflective minds at the South will be astonished at the
blindness which could welcome such protection as the Princeton argument
offers to the slaveholder.
But _Prof. Stuart_ must not be forgotten. In his celebrated letter to
Dr. Fisk, he affirms that "_Paul did not expect slavery to be ousted in
a day_[A]." _Did not_ EXPECT! What then? Are the _requisitions_ of
Christianity adapted to any EXPECTATIONS which in any quarter and on any
ground might have risen to human consciousness? And are we to interpret
the _precepts_ of the Gospel by the expectations of Paul? The Savior
commanded all men every where to repent, and this, though "Paul did not
expect" that human wickedness, in its ten thousand forms would in any
community "be ousted in a day." Expectations are one thing; requisitions
quite another.
[Footnote A: Supra, p.8.]
In the mean time, while expectation waited, Paul, the professor adds,
"gave precepts to Christians respecting their demeanor." _That_ he did.
Of what character were these precepts? Must they not have been in
harmony with the Golden Rule? But this, according to Prof. Stuart,
"decides against the righteousness of slavery" even as a "theory."
Accordingly, Christians were required, _without_ _respect of persons_,
to do each other justice--to maintain equality as common ground for all
to stand upon--to cherish and express in all their intercourse that
tender love and disinterested charity which one _brother_ naturally
feels for another. These were the "ad interim precepts,"[A] which can
not fail, if obeyed, to cut up slavery, "root and branch," at once
and forever.
[Footnote A: Letter to Dr. Fisk, p. 8.]
Prof. Stuart comforts us with the assurance that "_Christianity will
ultimately certainly destroy slavery_." Of this _we_ have not the
feeblest doubt. But how could _he_ admit a persuasion and utter a
prediction so much at war with the doctrine he maintains, that "_slavery
may exist without_ VIOLATING THE CHRISTIAN FAITH OR THE CHURCH?"[B]
What, Christianity bent on the destruction of an ancient and cherished
institution which hurts neither her character nor condition![C] Why not
correct its abuses and purify its spirit; and shedding upon it her own
beauty, preserve it, as a living trophy of her reformatory power? Whence
the discovery that, in her onward progress, she would trample down and
destroy what was no way hurtful to her? This is to be _aggressive_ with
a witness. Far be it from the Judge of all the earth to whelm the
innocent and guilty in the same destruction! In aid of Professor Stuart,
in the rude and scarcely covert attack which he makes upon himself, we
maintain that Christianity will certainly destroy slavery on account of
its inherent wickedness--its malignant temper--its deadly effects--its
constitutional, insolent, and unmitigable opposition to the authority of
God and the welfare of man.
[Footnote B: The same, p. 7.]
[Footnote C: Prof. Stuart applies here the words, _salva fide et salva
ecclesia_.]
"Christianity will _ultimately_ destroy slavery." "ULTIMATELY!" What
meaneth that portentous word? To what limit of remotest time, concealed
in the darkness of futurity, may it look? Tell us, O watchman, on the
hill of Andover. Almost nineteen centuries have rolled over this world
of wrong and outrage--and yet we tremble in the presence of a form of
slavery whose breath is poison, whose fang is death! If any one of the
incidents of slavery should fall, but for a single day, upon the head of
the prophet who dipped his pen, in such cold blood, to write that word
"ultimately," how, under the sufferings of the first tedious hour, would
he break out in the lamentable cry, "How _long_, O Lord, HOW LONG!" In
the agony of beholding a wife or daughter upon the table of the
auctioneer, while every bid fell upon his heart like the groan of
despair, small comfort would he find in the dull assurance of some
heartless prophet, quite at "ease in Zion," that "ULTIMATELY
_Christianity would destroy slavery_." As the hammer falls and the
beloved of his soul, all helpless and most wretched, is borne away to
the haunts of _legalized_ debauchery, his heart turns to stone, while
the cry dies upon his lips, "_How_ LONG, _O Lord_, HOW LONG?"
"_Ultimately!_" In _what circumstances_ does Prof. Stuart assure himself
that Christianity will destroy slavery? Are we, as American citizens,
under the sceptre of a Nero? When, as integral parts of this
republic--as living members of this community, did we forfeit the
prerogatives of _freemen_? Have we not the right to speak and act as
wielding the powers which the principle of self-government has put in
our possession? And without asking leave of priest or statesman, of the
North or the South, may we not make the most of the freedom which we
enjoy under the guaranty of the ordinances of Heaven and the
Constitution of our country? Can we expect to see Christianity on higher
vantage-ground than in this country she stands upon? In the midst of a
republic based on the principle of the equality of mankind, where every
Christian, as vitally connected with the state, freely wields the
highest political rights and enjoys the richest political privileges;
where the unanimous demand of one-half of the members of the churches
would be promptly met in the abolition of slavery, what "_ultimately_"
must Christianity here wait for before she crushes the chattel principle
beneath her heel? Her triumph over slavery is retarded by nothing but
the corruption and defection so widely spread through the "sacramental
host" beneath her banners! Let her voice be heard and her energies
exerted, and the _ultimately_ of the "dark spirit of slavery" would at
once give place to the _immediately_ of the Avenger of the Poor.
* * * * *
NO 8.
THE ANTI-SLAVERY EXAMINER.
* * * * *
CORRESPONDENCE,
BETWEEN THE
HON. F.H. ELMORE,
ONE OF THE SOUTH CAROLINA DELEGATION IN CONGRESS,
AND
JAMES G. BIRNEY,
ONE OF THE SECRETARIES OF THE AMERICAN ANTI-SLAVERY SOCIETY.
* * * * *
NEW-YORK:
PUBLISHED BY THE AMERICAN ANTI-SLAVERY SOCIETY,
No. 143 NASSAU STREET.
1838.
* * * * *
This periodical contains 5 sheets.--Postage under 100 miles, 7-1/2 cts.;
over 100 miles, 12-1/2 cts.
_Please read and circulate_.
REMARKS IN EXPLANATION.
* * * * *
ANTI-SLAVERY OFFICE, _New York, May 24, 1838_.
In January, a tract entitled "WHY WORK FOR THE SLAVE?" was issued from
this office by the agent for the _Cent-a-week Societies_. A copy of it
was transmitted to the Hon. John C. Calhoun;--to _him_, because he has
seemed, from the first, more solicitous than the generality of Southern
politicians, to possess himself of accurate information about the
Anti-Slavery movement. A note written by me accompanied the tract,
informing Mr. Calhoun, why it was sent to him.
Not long afterward, the following letter was received from the Hon. F.H.
Elmore, of the House of Representatives in Congress. From this and
another of his letters just now received, it seems, that the
Slaveholding Representatives in Congress, after conferring together,
appointed a committee, of their own number, to obtain authentic
information of the intentions and progress of the Anti-Slavery
associations,--and that Mr. Elmore was selected, as the _South Carolina_
member of the Committee.
Several other communications have passed between Mr. Elmore and me. They
relate, chiefly, however, to the transmission and reception of
Anti-slavery publications, which he requested to be sent to him,--and to
other matters not having any connection with the merits of the main
subject. It is, therefore, thought unnecessary to publish them. It may
be sufficient to remark of all the communications received from Mr.
Elmore--that they are characterized by exemplary courtesy and good
temper, and that they bear the impress of an educated, refined, and
liberal mind.
It is intended to circulate this correspondence throughout the _whole
country_. If the information it communicates be important for southern
Representatives in Congress, it is not less so for their Constituents.
The Anti-slavery movement has become so important in a National point of
view, that no statesman can innocently remain ignorant of its progress
and tendencies. The facts stated in my answer may be relied on, in
proportion to the degree of accuracy to which they lay claim;--the
arguments will, of course, be estimated according to their worth.
JAMES G. BIRNEY.
CORRESPONDENCE.
* * * * *
WASHINGTON CITY, FEB. 16, 1838
To Jas. G. Birney, Esq., _Cor. Sec. A.A.S. Soc._
Sir:--A letter from you to the Hon. John C. Calhoun, dated 29th January
last, has been given to me, by him, in which you say, (in reference to
the abolitionists or Anti-Slavery Societies,) "we have nothing to
conceal--and should you desire any information as to our procedure, it
will be cheerfully communicated on [my] being apprised of your wishes."
The frankness of this unsolicited offer indicates a fairness and honesty
of purpose, which has caused the present communication, and which
demands the same full and frank disclosure of the views with which the
subjoined inquiries are proposed.
Your letter was handed to me, in consequence of a duty assigned me by my
delegation, and which requires me to procure all the authentic
information I can, as to the nature and intentions of yours and similar
associations, in order that we may, if we deem it advisable, lay the
information before our people, so that they may be prepared to decide
understandingly, as to the course it becomes them to pursue on this all
important question. If you "have nothing to conceal," and it is not
imposing too much on, what may have been, an unguarded proffer, I will
esteem your compliance as a courtesy to an opponent, and be pleased to
have an opportunity to make a suitable return. And if, on the other
hand, you have the least difficulty or objection, I trust you will not
hesitate to withhold the information sought for, as I would not have it,
unless as freely given, as it will, if deemed expedient, be freely used.
I am, Sir,
Your ob'd't serv't,
F.H. ELMORE, of S.C.
QUESTIONS for J.G. Birney, Esq., Cor. Sec. A.A.S. Society.
1. How many societies, affiliated with that of which you are the
Corresponding Secretary, are there in the United States? And how many
members belong to them _in the aggregate_?
2. Are there any other societies similar to yours, and not affiliated
with it, in the United States? and how many, and what is the aggregate
their members?
3. Have you affiliation, intercourse or connection with any similar
societies out of the United States, and in what countries?
4. Do your or similar societies exist in the Colleges and other Literary
institutions of the non-slaveholding States, and to what extent?
5. What do you estimate the numbers of those who co-operate in this
matter at? What proportion do they bear in the population of the
Northern states, and what in the Middle non-slaveholding states? Are
they increasing, and at what rate?
6. What is the object your associations aim at? does it extend to the
abolition of slavery only in the District of Columbia, or in the whole
slave country?
7. By what means, and under what power, do you propose to carry your
views into effect?
8. What has been for three years past, the annual income of your
societies? and how is it raised?
9. In what way, and to what purposes, do you apply these funds?
10. How many priming presses and periodical publications have you?
11. To what classes of persons do you address your publications, and are
they addressed to the judgment, the imagination, or the feelings?
12. Do you propagate your doctrines by any other means than oral and
written discussions,--for instance, by prints and pictures in
manufactures--say pocket handkerchiefs, &c. Pray, state the
various modes?
13. Are your hopes and expectations increased or lessened by the events
of the last year, and, especially, by the action of this Congress? And
will your exertions be relaxed or increased?
14. Have you any permanent fund, and how much?
ANTI-SLAVERY OFFICE, _New York, March 8, 1838_
Hon. F.H. ELMORE,
Member of Congress from S. Carolina:
SIR,--I take pleasure in furnishing the information you have so politely
asked for, in your letter of the 16th ult., in relation to the American
Anti-Slavery Society;--and trust, that this correspondence, by
presenting in a sober light, the objects and measures of the society,
may contribute to dispel, not only from your own mind, but--if it be
diffused throughout the South--from the minds of our fellow-citizens
there generally, a great deal of undeserved prejudice and groundless
alarm. I cannot hesitate to believe, that such as enter on the
examination of its claims to public favour, without bias, will find that
it aims intelligently, not only at the promotion of the interests of the
slave, but of the master,--not only at the re-animation of the
Republican principles of our Constitution, but at the establishment of
the Union on an enduring basis.
I shall proceed to state the several questions submitted in your letter,
and answer them, in the order in which they are proposed. You ask,--
"1. _How many societies, affiliated with that of which you are
corresponding secretary, are there in the United States? And how many
members belong to them_ IN THE AGGREGATE?"
ANSWER.--Our anniversary is held on the Tuesday immediately preceding
the second Thursday in May. Returns of societies are made only a short
time before. In May, 1835, there were 225 auxiliaries reported. In May,
1836, 527. In May, 1837, 1006. Returns for the anniversary in May next
have not come in yet. It may, however, be safely said, that the
increase, since last May, is not less than 400.[A] Of late, the
multiplication of societies has not kept pace with the progress of our
principles. Where these are well received, our agents are not so careful
to organize societies as in former times, when our numbers were few;
_societies, now_, being not deemed so necessary for the advancement of
our cause. The auxiliaries average not less than 80 members each; making
an aggregate of 112,480. Others estimate the auxiliaries at 1500, and
the average of members at 100. I give you, what I believe to be the
lowest numbers.
[Footnote A: The number reported for May was three hundred and forty,
making, in the aggregate, 1346.--_Report for May_, 1838.]
"2. _Are there any other societies similar to yours, and not affiliated
with it in the United States? And how many, and what is the aggregate of
their members_?"
ANSWER.--Several societies have been formed in the Methodist connection
within the last two years,--although most of the Methodists who are
abolitionists, are members of societies auxiliary to the American. These
societies have been originated by Ministers, and others of weight and
influence, who think that their brethren can be more easily persuaded,
as a religious body, to aid in the anti-slavery movement by this twofold
action. None of the large religious denominations bid fairer soon to be
on the side of emancipation than the Methodist. Of the number of the
Methodist societies that are not auxiliary, I am not informed.--The
ILLINOIS SOCIETY comes under the same class. The REV. ELIJAH P. LOVEJOY,
the corresponding secretary, was slain by a mob, a few days after its
organization. It has not held a meeting since; and I have no data for
stating the number of its members. It is supposed not to be
large.--Neither is the DELAWARE SOCIETY, organized, a few weeks ago, at
Wilmington, auxiliary to the American. I have no information as to its
numbers.--The MANUMISSION SOCIETY in this city, formed in 1785, with
JOHN JAY its first, and ALEXANDER HAMILTON its second president, might,
from its name, be supposed to be affiliated with the American.
Originally, its object, so far as regarded the slaves, and those
illegally held in bondage _in this state_, was, in a great measure,
similar. Slavery being extinguished in New-York in 1827, as a state
system, the efforts of the Manumission Society are limited now to the
rescue, from kidnappers and others, of such persons as are really free
by the laws, but who have been reduced to slavery. Of the old Abolition
societies, organized in the time, and under the influence of Franklin
and Rush and Jay, and the most active of their coadjutors, but few
remain. Their declension may be ascribed to this defect,--they did not
inflexibly ask for _immediate_ emancipation.--The PENNSYLVANIA ABOLITION
SOCIETY, formed in 1789, with DR. FRANKLIN, president, and DR. RUSH,
secretary, is still in existence--but unconnected with the American
Society. Some of the most active and benevolent members of both the
associations last named, are members of the American Society. Besides
the societies already mentioned, there may be in the country a few
others of anti-slavery name; but they are of small note and efficiency,
and are unconnected with this.
"3. _Have you affiliation, intercourse, or connection with any similar
societies out of the United States, and in what countries_?"
ANSWER.--A few societies have spontaneously sprung up in Canada. Two
have declared themselves auxiliary to the American. We have an agent--a
native of the United States--in Upper Canada; not with a view to the
organization of societies, but to the moral and intellectual elevation
of the Ten thousand colored people there; most of whom have escaped from
slavery in this Republic, to enjoy freedom under the protection of a
Monarchy. In Great Britain there are numerous Anti-slavery Societies,
whose particular object, of late, has been, to bring about the abolition
of the Apprentice-system, as established by the emancipation act in her
slaveholding colonies. In England, there is a society whose professed
object is, to abolish slavery _throughout the world_. Of the existence
of the British societies, you are, doubtless, fully aware; as also of
the fact, that, in Britain, the great mass of the people are opposed to
slavery as it existed, a little while ago, in their own colonies, and as
it exists now in the United States.--In France, the "FRENCH SOCIETY FOR
THE ABOLITION OF SLAVERY" was founded in 1834. I shall have the pleasure
of transmitting to you two pamphlets, containing an account of some of
its proceedings; from which you will learn, that, the DUC DE BROGLIE is
its presiding officer, and many of the most distinguished and
influential of the public men of that country are members.--In Hayti,
also, "The HAYTIAN ABOLITION SOCIETY" was formed in May, 1836.
These are all the foreign societies of which I have knowledge. They are
connected with the American by no formal affiliation. The only
intercourse between them and it, is, that which springs up spontaneously
among those of every land who sympathize with Humanity in her conflicts
with Slavery.
"4. _Do your or similar societies exist in the Colleges and other
Literary institutions of the non-slaveholding states, and to
what extent_?"
ANSWER.--Strenuous efforts have been made, and they are still being
made, by those who have the direction of most of the literary and
theological institutions in the free states, to bar out our principles
and doctrines, and prevent the formation of societies among the
students. To this course they have been prompted by various, and
possibly, in their view, good motives. One of them, I think it not
uncharitable to say, is, to conciliate the wealthy of the south, that
they may send their sons to the north, to swell the college catalogues.
Neither do I think it uncharitable to say, that in this we have a
manifestation of that Aristocratic pride, which, feeling itself honored
by having entrusted to its charge the sons of distant, opulent, and
distinguished planters, fails not to dull everything like sympathy for
those whose unpaid toil supplies the means so lavishly expended in
educating southern youth at northern colleges. These efforts at
suppression or restraint, on the part of Faculties and Boards of
Trustees, have heretofore succeeded to a considerable extent.
Anti-Slavery Societies, notwithstanding, have been formed in a few of
our most distinguished colleges and theological seminaries. Public
opinion is beginning to call for a relaxation of restraints and
impositions; they are yielding to its demands; and _now_, for the most
part, sympathy for the slave may be manifested by our generous college
youth, in the institution of Anti-Slavery Societies, without any
downright prohibition by their more politic teachers. College societies
will probably increase more rapidly hereafter; as, in addition to the
removal or relaxation of former restraints, just referred to, the murder
of Mr. Lovejoy, the assaults on the Freedom of speech and of the press,
the prostration of the Right of petition in Congress, &c, &c, all
believed to have been perpetrated to secure slavery from the scrutiny
that the intelligent world is demanding, have greatly augmented the
number of college abolitionists. They are, for the most part, the
diligent, the intellectual, the religious of the students. United in
societies, their influence is generally extensively felt in the
surrounding region; _dispersed_, it seems scarcely less effective. An
instance of the latter deserves particular notice.
The Trustees and Faculty of one of our theological and literary
institutions united for the suppression of anti-slavery action among the
students. The latter refused to cease pleading for the slave, as he
could not plead for himself. They left the institution; were
providentially dispersed over various parts of the country, and made
useful, in a remarkable manner, in advancing the cause of humanity and
liberty. One of these dismissed students, the son of a slaveholder,
brought up in the midst of slavery, and well acquainted with its
peculiarities, succeeded in persuading a pious father to emancipate his
fourteen slaves. After lecturing a long time with signal success--having
contracted a disease of the throat, which prevented him from further
prosecuting his labors in this way--he visited the West Indies, eighteen
months ago, in company with another gentleman of the most ample
qualifications, to note the operation of the British emancipation act.
Together, they collected a mass of facts--now in a course of
publication--that will astonish, as it ought to delight, the whole
south; for it shows, conclusively, that IMMEDIATE emancipation is the
best, the safest, the most profitable, as it is the most just and
honorable, of all emancipations.[A]
[Footnote A: See Appendix, A.]
Another of these dismissed students is one of the secretaries of this
society. He has, for a long time, discharged its arduous and responsible
duties with singular ability. To his qualifications as secretary, he
adds those of an able and successful lecturer. He was heard, several
times, before the joint committee of the Legislature of Massachusetts, a
year ago, prior to the report of that committee, and to the adoption, by
the Senate and House of Representatives, of their memorable resolutions
in favor of the Power of Congress to abolish slavery in the District of
Columbia, and of the Right of petition.
"5. _What do you estimate the number of those who co-operate in the
matter at? What proportion do they bear in the population of the
northern states, and what in the middle non-slaveholding states? Are
they increasing, and at what rate_?"
ANSWER.--Those who stand _ready to join_ our societies on the first
suitable occasion, may be set down as equal in number to those who are
now _actually members_. Those who are ready _fully to co-operate with
us_ in supporting the freedom of speech and the press, the right of
petition, &c, may be estimated at _double_, if not _treble_, the joint
numbers of those who _already are members_, and those who are _ready to
become members_. The Recording secretary of the MASSACHUSETTS SOCIETY
stated, a few weeks ago, that the abolitionists in the various minor
societies in that state were one in thirty of the whole population. The
proportion of abolitionists to the whole population is greater in
Massachusetts than in any other of the free states, except
VERMONT,--where the spirit of liberty has almost entirely escaped the
corruptions which slavery has infused into it in most of her sister
states, by means of commercial and other intercourse with them.
In MAINE, not much of systematic effort has, as yet, been put forth to
enlighten her population as to our principles and proceedings. I
attended the anniversary of the State Society on the 31st of January, at
Augusta, the seat of government. The Ministers of the large religious
denominations were beginning, as I was told, to unite with us--and
Politicians, to descry the ultimate prevalence of our principles. The
impression I received was, that much could, and that much would,
speedily be done.
In NEW HAMPSHIRE, more labor has been expended, and a greater effect
produced. Public functionaries, who have been pleased to speak in
contemptuous terms of the progress of abolitionism, both in Maine and
New Hampshire, will, it is thought, soon be made to see, through a
medium not at all deceptive, the grossness of their error.
In RHODE ISLAND, our principles are fast pervading the great body of the
people. This, it is thought, is the only one of the free states, in
which the subject of abolition has been fully introduced, which has not
been disgraced by a mob, triumphant, for the time being, over the right
of the people to discuss any, and every, matter in which they feel
interested. A short time previous to the last election of members of
Congress, questions, embodying our views as to certain political
measures were propounded to the several candidates. Respectful answers
and, in the main, conformable with our views, were returned. I shall
transmit you a newspaper containing both the questions and the
answers.[A]
[Footnote A: Since the above was written, at the last election in this
state for governor and lieutenant governor, the abolitionists
_interrogated_ the gentlemen who stood candidates for these offices. Two
of them answered respectfully, and conformably to the views of the
abolitionists. Their opponents neglected to answer at all. The first
were elected.--See Appendix, B.]
In CONNECTICUT, there has not been, as yet, a great expenditure of
abolition effort. Although the moral tone of this state, so far as
slavery is concerned, has been a good deal weakened by the influence of
her multiform connexions with the south, yet the energies that have been
put forth to reanimate her ancient and lofty feelings, so far from
proving fruitless, have been followed by the most encouraging results.
Evidence of this is found in the faithful administration of the laws by
judges and juries. In May last, a slave, who had been brought from
Georgia to Hartford, successfully asserted her freedom under the laws of
Connecticut. The cause was elaborately argued before the Supreme court.
The most eminent counsel were employed on both sides. And it is but a
few days, since two anti-abolition rioters (the only ones on trial) were
convicted before the Superior court in New Haven, and sentenced to pay a
fine of twenty dollars each, and to be imprisoned six months, the
longest term authorized by the law. A convention, for the organization
of a State Society, was held in the city of Hartford on the last day of
February. It was continued three days. The _call_ for it (which I send
you) was signed by nearly EIGHTEEN HUNDRED of the citizens of that
state. SEVENTEEN HUNDRED, as I was informed, are legal voters. The
proceedings of the convention were of the most harmonious and animating
character.[B]
[Footnote B: See Appendix, C.]
In NEW YORK, our cause is evidently advancing. The state is rapidly
coming up to the high ground of principle, so far as universal liberty
is concerned, on which the abolitionists would place her. Several large
Anti-Slavery conventions have lately been held in the western counties.
Their reports are of the most encouraging character. Nor is the change
more remarkable in the state than in this city. Less than five years
ago, a few of the citizens advertised a meeting, to be held in Clinton
Hall, to form a City Anti-Slavery Society. A mob prevented their
assembling at the place appointed. They repaired, privately, to one of
the churches. To this they were pursued by the mob, and routed from it,
though not before they had completed, in a hasty manner, the form of
organization. In the summer of 1834, some of the leading political and
commercial journals of the city were enabled to stir up the mob against
the persons and property of the abolitionists, and several of the most
prominent were compelled to leave the city for safety; their houses were
attacked, broken into, and, in one instance, the furniture publicly
burnt in the street. _Now_, things are much changed. Many of the
merchants and mechanics are favorable to our cause; gentlemen of the
bar, especially the younger and more growing ones, are directing their
attention to it; twenty-one of our city ministers are professed
abolitionists; the churches are beginning to be more accessible to us;
our meetings are held in them openly, attract large numbers, are
unmolested; and the abolitionists sometimes hear themselves commended in
other assemblies, not only for their honest _intentions_, but for their
_respectability_ and _intelligence_.
NEW JERSEY has, as yet, no State Society, and the number of avowed
abolitionists is small. In some of the most populous and influential
parts of the state, great solicitude exists on the subject; and the call
for lecturers is beginning to be earnest, if not importunate.
PENNSYLVANIA has advanced to our principles just in proportion to the
labor that has been bestowed, by means of lectures and publications in
enlightening her population as to our objects, and the evils and dangers
impending over the whole country, from southern slavery. The act of her
late Convention, in depriving a large number of their own constituents
(the colored people) of the elective franchise, heretofore possessed by
them without any allegation of its abuse on their part, would seem to
prove an unpropitious state of public sentiment. We would neither deny,
nor elude, the force of such evidence. But when this measure of the
convention is brought out and unfolded in its true light--shown to be a
party measure to bring succor from the south--a mere following in the
wake of North Carolina and Tennessee, who led the way, in their _new_
constitutions, to this violation of the rights of their colored
citizens, that they might the more firmly compact the wrongs of the
enslaved--a pernicious, a profitless violation of great principles--a
vulgar defiance of the advancing spirit of humanity and justice--a
relapse into the by-gone darkness of a barbarous age--we apprehend from
it no serious detriment to our cause.
OHIO has been well advanced. In a short time, she will be found among
the most prominent of the states on the right side in the contest now
going on between the spirit of liberty embodied in the free institutions
of the north, and the spirit of slavery pervading the south. Her
Constitution publishes the most honorable reprobation of slavery of any
other in the Union. In providing for its own revision or amendment, it
declares, that _no alteration of it shall ever take place, so as to
introduce slavery or involuntary servitude into the state_. Her Supreme
court is intelligent and firm. It has lately decided, virtually, against
the constitutionality of an act of the Legislature, made, in effect, to
favor southern slavery by the persecution of the colored people within
her bounds. She has, already, abolitionists enough to turn the scale in
her elections, and an abundance of excellent material for augmenting
the number.
In INDIANA but little has been done, except by the diffusion of our
publications. But even with these appliances, several auxiliary
societies have been organized.[A]
[Footnote A: The first Legislative movement against the annexation of
Texas to the Union, was made, it is believed, in Indiana. So early as
December, 1836, a joint resolution passed its second reading in one or
both branches of the Legislature. How it was ultimately disposed of, is
not known.]
In MICHIGAN, the leaven of abolitionists pervades the whole population.
The cause is well sustained by a high order of talent; and we trust soon
to see the influence of it in all her public acts.
In ILLINOIS, the murder of Mr. Lovejoy has multiplied and confirmed
abolitionists, and led to the formation of many societies, which, in all
probability, would not have been formed so soon, had not that event
taken place.
I am not possessed of sufficient data for stating, with precision, what
proportion the abolitionists bear in the population of the Northern and
Middle non-slaveholding states respectively. Within the last ten months,
I have travelled extensively in both these geographical divisions. I
have had whatever advantage this, assisted by a strong interest in the
general cause, and abundant conversations with the best informed
abolitionists, could give, for making a fair estimate of their numbers.
In the Northern states I should say, _they are one in ten_--in New York,
New Jersey, and Pennsylvania, _one in twenty_--of the whole adult
population. That the abolitionists have multiplied, and that they are
still multiplying rapidly, no one acquainted with the smallness of their
numbers at their first organization a few years ago, and who has kept
his eyes about him since, need ask. That they have not, thus far, been
more successful, is owing to the vastness of the undertaking, and the
difficulties with which they have had to contend, from comparatively
limited means, for presenting their measures and objects, with the
proper developments and explanations, to the great mass of the popular
mind. The progress of their principles, under the same amount of
intelligence in presenting them, and where no peculiar causes of
prejudice exist in the minds of the hearers, is generally proportioned
to the degree of religious and intellectual worth prevailing in the
different sections of the country where the subject is introduced. I
know no instance, in which any one notoriously profane or intemperate,
or licentious, or of openly irreligious _practice_, has professed,
cordially to have received our principles.
"6. _What is the object your associations aim at? Does it extend to
abolition of slavery only in the District of Columbia, or in the whole
slave country_?"
ANSWER.--This question is fully answered in the second Article of the
Constitution of the American Anti-Slavery Society, which is in
these words:--
"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, it 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 it to any state that may hereafter be admitted to
the Union."
Other objects, accompanied by a pledge of peace, are stated in the third
article of the Constitution,--
"This Society shall aim to elevate the character and condition of the
people of color, by encouraging their intellectual, moral, and religious
improvement, and by removing public prejudice,--that thus they may,
according to their intellectual and moral worth, share an equality with
the whites of civil and religious privileges; but this Society will
never in any way, countenance the oppressed in vindicating their rights
by resorting to physical force."
"7. _By what means and by what power do you propose to carry your views
into effect_?"
ANSWER.--Our "means" are the Truth,--the "Power" under whose guidance we
propose to carry our views into effect, is, the Almighty. Confiding in
these means, when directed by the spirit and wisdom of Him, who has so
made them as to act on the hearts of men, and so constituted the hearts
of then as to be affected by them, we expect, 1. To bring the CHURCH of
this country to repentance for the sin of OPPRESSION. Not only the
Southern portion of it that has been the oppressor--but the Northern,
that has stood by, consenting, for half a century, to the wrong. 2. To
bring our countrymen to see, that for a nation to persist in injustice
is, but to rush on its own ruin; that to do justice is the highest
expediency--to love mercy its noblest ornament. In other countries,
slavery has sometimes yielded to fortuitous circumstances, or been
extinguished by physical force. _We_ strive to win for truth the victory
over error, and on the broken fragments of slavery to rear for her a
temple, that shall reach to the heavens, and toward which all nations
shall worship. It has been said, that the slaveholders of the South will
not yield, nor hearken to the influence of the truth on this subject. We
believe it not--nor give we entertainment to the slander that such an
unworthy defence of them implies. We believe them _men_,--that they have
understandings that arguments will convince--consciences to which the
appeals of justice and mercy will not be made in vain. If our principles
be true--our arguments right--if slaveholders be men--and God have not
delivered over our guilty country to the retributions of the oppressor,
not only of the STRANGER but of the NATIVE--our success is certain.
"8. _What has been for three years past, the annual income of your
societies? And how has it been raised?_"
ANSWER.--The annual income of the societies at large, it would be
impossible to ascertain. The total receipts of this society, for the
year ending 9th of May, 1835--leaving out odd numbers--was $10,000; for
the year ending 9th of May, 1837, $25,000; and for the year ending 11th
of May, 1836, $38,000. From the last date, up to this--not quite ten
months--there has been paid into the treasury the sum of $36,000.[A]
These sums are independent of what is raised by state and auxiliary
societies, for expenditure within their own particular bounds, and for
their own particular exigencies. Also, of the sums paid in subscriptions
for the support of newspapers, and for the printing (by auxiliaries,) of
periodicals, pamphlets, and essays, either for sale at low prices, or
for gratuitous distribution. The moneys contributed in these various
modes would make an aggregate greater, perhaps, than is paid into the
treasury of any one of the Benevolent societies of the country. Most of
the wealthy contributors of former years suffered so severely in the
money-pressure of this, that they have been unable to contribute much to
our funds. This has made it necessary to call for aid on the great body
of abolitionists--persons, generally, in moderate circumstances. They
have well responded to the call, considering the hardness of the times.
To show you the extremes that meet at our treasury,--General Sewall, of
Maine, a revolutionary officer, eighty-five years old--William
Philbrick, a little boy near Boston, not four years old--and a colored
woman, who makes her subsistence by selling apples in the streets in
this city, lately sent in their respective sums to assist in promoting
the emancipation of the "poor slave."
[Footnote A: The report for May states the sum received during the
previous year at $44,000.]
All contributions of whatever kind are _voluntary_.
"9. _In what way, and to what purposes do you apply these funds!_"
ANSWER.--They are used in sustaining the society's office in this
city--in paying lecturers and agents of various kinds--in upholding the
press--in printing books, pamphlets, tracts, &c, containing expositions
of our principles--accounts of our progress--refutations of
objections--and disquisitions on points, scriptural, constitutional,
political, legal, economical, as they chance to arise and become
important. In this office three secretaries are employed in different
departments of duty; one editor; one publishing agent, with an
assistant, and two or three young men and boys, for folding, directing,
and despatching papers, executing errands, &c. The business of the
society has increased so much of late, as to make it necessary, in order
to ensure the proper despatch of it, to employ additional clerks for the
particular exigency. Last year, the society had in its service about
sixty "permanent agents." This year, the number is considerably
diminished. The deficiency has been more than made up by creating a
large number of "Local" agents--so called, from the fact, that being
generally Professional men, lawyers or physicians in good practice, or
Ministers with congregations, they are confined, for the most part, to
their respective neighborhoods. Some of the best minds in our country
are thus engaged. Their labors have not only been eminently successful,
but have been rendered at but small charge to the society; they
receiving only their travelling expenses, whilst employed in lecturing
and forming societies. In the case of a minister, there is the
additional expense of supplying his pulpit while absent on the business
of his agency, However, in many instances, these agents, being in easy
circumstances, make no charge, even for their expenses.
In making appointments, the executive committee have no regard to party
discrimination. This will be fully understood, when it is stated, that
on a late occasion, two of our local agents were the candidates of their
respective political parties for the office of Secretary of State for
the state of Vermont.
It ought to be stated here, that two of the most effective advocates of
the anti-slavery cause are females--the Misses Grimké--natives of South
Carolina--brought up in the midst of the usages of slavery--most
intelligently acquainted with the merits of the system, and qualified,
in an eminent degree, to communicate their views to others in public
addresses. They are not only the advocates of the slave at their own
charge, but they actually contribute to the funds of the societies. So
successfully have they recommended the cause of emancipation to the
crowds that attended their lectures during the last year, that they were
permitted on three several occasions publicly to address the joint
committee (on slavery) of the Massachusetts Legislature, now in session,
on the interesting matters that occupy their attention.
"10. _How many printing presses and periodical publications have you?_"
ANSWER.--We own no press. Our publications are all printed by contract.
The EMANCIPATOR and HUMAN RIGHTS are the organs of the Executive
Committee. The first (which you have seen,) is a large sheet, is
published weekly, and employs almost exclusively the time of the
gentleman who edits it. Human Rights is a monthly sheet of smaller size,
and is edited by one of the secretaries. The increasing interest that is
fast manifesting itself in the cause of emancipation and its kindred
subjects will, in all probability, before long, call for the more
frequent publication of one or both of these papers.--The ANTI-SLAVERY
MAGAZINE, a quarterly, was commenced in October, 1835, and continued
through two years. It has been intermitted, only to make the necessary
arrangements for issuing it on a more extended scale.--It is proposed to
give it size enough to admit the amplest discussions that we or our
opponents may desire, and to give _them_ a full share of its room--in
fine, to make it, in form and merit, what the importance of the subject
calls for. I send you a copy of the Prospectus for the new series.--The
ANTI-SLAVERY RECORD, published for three years as a monthly, has been
discontinued _as such_, and it will be issued hereafter, only as
occasion may require:--THE SLAVE'S FRIEND, a small monthly tract, of
neat appearance, intended principally for children and young persons,
has been issued for several years. It is replete with facts relating to
slavery, and with accounts of the hair-breadth escapes of slaves from
their masters and pursuers that rarely fail to impart the most thrilling
interest to its little readers.--Besides these, there is the
ANTI-SLAVERY EXAMINER, in which are published, as the times call for
them, our larger essays partaking of a controversial character, such as
Smith's reply to the Rev. Mr. Smylie--Grimké's letter and "Wythe." By
turning to page 32 of our Fourth Report (included in your order for
books, &c,) you will find, that in the year ending 11th May, the issues
from the press were--bound volumes, 7,877--Tracts and Pamphlets,
47,250--Circulars, &c, 4,100--Prints, 10,490--Anti-Slavery Magazine,
9000--Slave's Friend, 131,050--Human Rights, 189,400--Emancipator,
217,000. These are the issues of the American Anti-Slavery Society, from
their office in this city. Other publications of similar character are
issued by State Societies or individuals--the LIBERATOR, in Boston;
HERALD OF FREEDOM, in Concord, N.H.; ZION'S WATCHMAN and the COLORED
AMERICAN in this city. The latter is conducted in the editorial, and
other departments, by colored citizens. You can judge of its character,
by a few numbers that I send to you. Then, there is the FRIEND of MAN,
in Utica, in this state. The NATIONAL ENQUIRER, in Philadelphia;[A] the
CHRISTIAN WITNESS, in Pittsburgh; the PHILANTHROPIST, in
Cincinnati.--All these are sustained by the friends, and devoted almost
exclusively to the cause, of emancipation. Many of the Religious
journals that do not make emancipation their main object have adopted
the sentiments of abolitionists, and aid in promoting them. The Alton
Observer, edited by the late Mr. Lovejoy, was one of these.
[Footnote A: The NATIONAL ENQUIRER, edited by Benjamin Lundy, has been
converted into the PENNSYLVANIA FREEMAN, edited by John G. Whittier. Mr.
Lundy proposes to issue the GENIUS OF UNIVERSAL EMANCIPATION, in
Illinois.]
From the data I have, I set down the newspapers, as classed above, at
upwards of one hundred. Here it may also be stated, that the presses
which print the abolition journals above named, throw off besides, a
great variety of other anti-slavery matter, in the form of books,
pamphlets, single sheets, &c, &c, and that, at many of the principal
commercial points throughout the free states, DEPOSITORIES are
established, at which our publications of every sort are kept for sale.
A large and fast increasing number of the Political journals of the
country have become, within the last two years, if not the avowed
supporters of our cause, well inclined to it. Formerly, it was a common
thing for most of the leading _party_-papers, especially in the large
cities, to speak of the abolitionists in terms signally disrespectful
and offensive. Except in rare instances, and these, it is thought, only
where they are largely subsidized by southern patronage, it is not so
now. The desertions that are taking place from their ranks will, in a
short time, render their position undesirable for any, who aspire to
gain, or influence, or reputation in the North.
"11. _To what class of persons do you address your publications--and are
they addressed to the judgment, the imagination, or the feelings_?"
ANSWER.--They are intended for the great mass of intelligent mind, both
in the free and in the slave states. They partake, of course, of the
intellectual peculiarities of the different authors. Jay's "INQUIRY" and
Mrs. Child's "APPEAL" abound in facts--are dispassionate, ingenious,
argumentative. The "BIBLE AGAINST SLAVERY," by the most careful and
laborious research, has struck from slavery the prop, which careless
Annotators, (writing, unconscious of the influence, the prevailing
system of slavery throughout the Christian world exercised on their own
minds,) have admitted was furnished for it in the Scriptures. "Wythe" by
a pains-taking and lucid adjustment of facts in the history of the
Government, both before and after the adoption of the Constitution, and
with a rigor of logic, that cannot, it is thought, be successfully
encountered, has put to flight forever with unbiased minds, every doubt
as to the "Power of Congress over the District of Columbia."
There are among the abolitionists, Poets, and by the acknowledgment of
their opponents, poets of no mean name too--who, as the use of poets is,
do address themselves often--as John G. Whittier does _always_
--powerfully to the imagination and feelings of their readers.
Our publications cannot be classed according to any particular style or
quality of composition. They may characterized generally, as well suited
to affect the public mind--to rouse into healthful activity the
conscience of this nation, stupified, torpid, almost dead, in relation
to HUMAN RIGHTS, the high theme of which they treat!
It has often been alleged, that our writings appeal to the worst
passions of the slaves, and that they are placed in their hands with a
view to stir them to revolt. Neither charge has any foundation in truth
to rest upon. The first finds no support in the tenor of the writings
themselves; the last ought forever to be abandoned, in the absence of
any single well authenticated instance of their having been conveyed by
abolitionists to slaves, or of their having been even found in their
possession. To instigate the slaves to revolt, as the means of obtaining
their liberty, would prove a lack of wisdom and honesty that none would
impute to abolitionists, except such as are unacquainted with their
character. Revolt would be followed by the sure destruction, not only of
all the slaves who might be concerned in it, but of multitudes of the
innocent. Moreover, the abolitionists, as a class, are religious--they
favor peace, and stand pledged in their constitution, before the country
and heaven, to abide in peace, so far as a forcible vindication of the
right of the slaves to their freedom is concerned. Further still, no
small number of them deny the right of defence, either to individuals or
nations, even when forcibly and wrongfully attacked. This disagreement
among ourselves on this single point--of which our adversaries are by no
means ignorant, as they often throw it reproachfully in our teeth--would
forever prevent concert in any scheme that looked to instigating servile
revolt. If there be, in all our ranks, one, who--personal danger out of
the question--would excite the slaves to insurrection and massacre, or
who would not be swift to repeat the earliest attempt to concoct such an
iniquity--I say, on my obligations as a man, he is unknown to me.
Yet it ought not to be matter of surprise to abolitionists, that the
South should consider them "fanatics," "incendiaries," "cut-throats,"
and call them so too. The South has had their character reported to them
by the North, by those who are their neighbors, who, it was supposed,
knew, and would speak the truth, and the truth only, concerning them. It
would, I apprehend, be unavailing for abolitionists now to enter on any
formal vindication of their character from charges that can be so easily
repeated after every refutation. False and fraudulent as they knew them
to be, they must be content to live under them till the consummation of
the work of Freedom shall prove to the master that they have been _his_
friends, as well as the friends of the slave. The mischief of these
charges has fallen on the South--the malice is to be placed to the
credit of the North.
"12. _Do you propagate your doctrines by any other means than oral and
written discussions--for instance, by prints and pictures in
manufactures--say of pocket-handkerchiefs, calicoes, &c? Pray, state the
various modes?_"
ANSWER.--Two or three years ago, an abolitionist of this city procured
to be manufactured, at his own charge, a small lot of children's
pocket-handkerchiefs, impressed with anti-slavery pictures and mottoes.
I have no recollection of having seen any of them but once. None such, I
believe, are now to be found, or I would send you a sample. If any
manufactures of the kinds mentioned, or others similar to theta, are in
existence, they have been produced independently of the agency of this
society. It is thought that none such exist, unless the following should
be supposed to fall within the terms of the inquiry. Female
abolitionists often unite in sewing societies. They meet together,
usually once a week or fortnight, and labor through the afternoon, with
their own hands, to furnish means for advancing the cause of the slave.
One of the company reads passages from the Bible, or some religious
book, whilst the others are engaged at their work. The articles they
prepare, especially if they be of the "fancy" kind, are often ornamented
with handsomely executed emblems, underwritten with appropriate mottoes.
The picture of a slave kneeling (such as you will see impressed on one
of the sheets of this letter) and supplicating in the words, "AM I NOT A
MAN AND A BROTHER," is an example. The mottoes or sentences are,
however, most generally selected from the Scriptures; either appealing
to human sympathy in behalf of human suffering, or breathing forth God's
tender compassion for the oppressed, or proclaiming, in thunder tones,
his avenging justice on the oppressor. A few quotations will show their
general character:--
"Blessed is he that considereth the poor."
"Defend the poor and fatherless; do justice to the afflicted and needy.
Deliver the poor and the needy; rid him out of the hand of the wicked."
"Open thy mouth for the dumb, plead the cause of the poor and needy."
"Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy."
"First, be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift."
"Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself."
"All things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so
to them."
Again:--
"For he shall deliver the needy when he crieth; the poor also, and him
that hath no helper."
"The Lord looseth the prisoners; the Lord raiseth them that are bowed
down; the Lord preserveth the strangers."
"He hath sent me to heal the broken-hearted, to preach deliverance to
the captives, to set at liberty them that are bruised."'
"For the oppression of the poor, for the sighing of the needy, now will
I arise, saith the Lord; I will set him in safety from him that
puffeth at him."
Again:--
"The Lord executeth righteousness and judgment for all that are
oppressed."
"Rob not the poor because he is poor, neither oppress the afflicted in
the gate; for the Lord will plead their cause, and spoil the soul of
those that spoiled them."
"And I will come near to you to judgment, and I will be a swift witness
against those that oppress the hireling in his wages, the widow and the
fatherless, and that turn aside the stranger from his right, and fear
not me, saith the Lord of hosts."
"Wo unto him that buildeth his house by unrighteousness, and his
chambers by wrong; that useth his neighbor's service without wages, and
giveth him not for his work."
Fairs, for the sale of articles fabricated by the hands of female
abolitionists, and recommended by such pictures and sentences as those
quoted above, are held in many of our cities and large towns. Crowds
frequent them to purchase; hundreds of dollars are thus realized, to be
appropriated to the anti-slavery cause; and, from the cheap rate at
which the articles are sold, vast numbers of them are scattered far and
wide over the country. Besides these, if we except various drawings or
pictures on _paper_, (samples of which were put up in the packages you
ordered a few days ago,) such as the Slave-market in the District of
Columbia, with Members of congress attending it--views of slavery in the
South--a Lynch court in the slave-states--the scourging of Mr. Dresser
by a vigilance committee in the public square of Nashville--the
plundering of the post-office in Charleston, S.C., and the conflagration
of part of its contents, &c, &c, I am apprised of no other means of
propagating our doctrines than by oral and written discussions.
"13. _Are your hopes and expectations of success increased or lessened
by the events of the last year, and especially by the action of this
Congress? And will your exertions be relaxed or increased?_"
ANSWER.--The events of the last year, including the action of the
present Congress, are of the same character with the events of the
eighteen months which immediately preceded it. In the question before
us, they may be regarded as one series. I would say, answering your
interrogatory generally, that none of them, however unpropitious to the
cause of the abolitionists they may appear, to those who look at the
subject from an opposite point to the one _they_ occupy, seem, thus far,
in any degree to have lessened their hopes and expectations. The events
alluded to have not come altogether unexpected. They are regarded as the
legitimate manifestations of slavery--necessary, perhaps, in the present
dull and unapprehensive state of the public mind as to human rights, to
be brought out and spread before the people, before they will
sufficiently revolt against slavery itself.
1. They are seen in the CHURCH, and in the practice of its individual
members. The southern portion of the American church may now be regarded
as having admitted the dogma, that _slavery is a Divine institution_.
She has been forced by the anti-slavery discussion into this
position--either to cease from slaveholding, or formally to adopt the
only alternative, that slaveholding is right. She has chosen the
alternative--reluctantly, to be sure, but substantially, and, within the
last year, almost unequivocally. In defending what was dear to her, she
has been forced to cast away her garments, and thus to reveal a
deformity, of which she herself, before, was scarcely aware, and the
existence of which others did not credit. So much for the action of the
southern church as a body.--On the part of her MEMBERS, the revelation
of a time-serving spirit, that not only yielded to the ferocity of the
multitude, but fell in with it, may be reckoned among the events of the
last three years. Instances of this may be found in the attendance of
the "clergy of all denominations," at a tumultuous meeting of the
citizens of Charleston, S.C., held in August, 1835, for the purpose of
reducing to _system_ their unlawful surveillance and control of the
post-office and mail; and in the alacrity with which they obeyed the
popular call to dissolve the Sunday-schools for the instruction of the
colored people. Also in the fact, that, throughout the whole South,
church members are not only found on the Vigilance Committees,
(tribunals organized in opposition to the laws of the states where they
exist,) but uniting with the merciless and the profligate in passing
sentence consigning to infamous and excruciating, if not extreme
punishment, persons, by their own acknowledgment, innocent of any
unlawful act. Out of sixty persons that composed the vigilance committee
which condemned Mr. Dresser to be scourged in the public square of
Nashville, TWENTY-SEVEN were members of churches, and one of them a
professed Teachers of Christianity. A member of the committee stated
afterward, in a newspaper of which he was the editor, that Mr. D. _had
not laid himself liable to any punishment known to the laws_. Another
instance is to be found in the conduct of the Rev. Wm. S. Plumer, of
Virginia. Having been absent from Richmond, when the ministers of the
gospel assembled together formally to testify their abhorrence of the
abolitionists, he addressed the chairman of the committee of
correspondence a note, in which he uses this language:--"If
abolitionists will set the country in a blaze, it is but fair that they
should have the first warming at the fire."--"Let them understand, that
they will be caught, if they come among us, and they will take good heed
to keep out of our way." Mr. P. has no doubtful standing in the
Presbyterian church with which he is connected. He has been regarded as
one of its brightest ornaments.[A] To drive the slaveholding church and
its members from the equivocal, the neutral position, from which they
had so long successfully defended slavery--to compel them to elevate
their practice to an even height with their avowed principles, or to
degrade their principles to the level of their known practice, was a
preliminary, necessary in the view of abolitionists, either for bringing
that part of the church into the common action against slavery, or as a
ground for treating it as confederate with oppressors. So far, then, as
the action of the church, or of its individual members, is to be
reckoned among the events of the last two or three years, the
abolitionists find in it nothing to lessen their hopes or expectations.
[Footnote A: In the division of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian
church, that has just taken place, Mr. Plumer has been elected Moderator
of the "Old School" portion.]
2. The abolitionists believed, from the beginning, that the slaves of
the South were (as slaves are everywhere) unhappy, _because of their
condition_. Their adversaries denied it, averring that, as a class, they
were "contented and happy." The abolitionists thought that the argument
against slavery could be made good, so far as this point was concerned,
by either _admitting_ or _denying_ the assertion.
_Admitting_ it, they insisted, that, nothing could demonstrate the
turpitude of any system more surely than the fact, that MAN--made in the
image of God--but a little lower than the angels--crowned with glory and
honor, and set over the works of God's hands--his mind sweeping in an
instant from planet to planet, from the sun of one system to the sun of
another, even to the great centre sun of them all--contemplating the
machinery of the universe "wheeling unshaken" in the awful and
mysterious grandeur of its movements "through the void immense"--with a
spirit delighting in upward aspiration--bounding from earth to
heaven--that seats itself fast by the throne of God, to drink in the
instructions of Infinite Wisdom, or flies to execute the commands of
Infinite Goodness;--that such a being could be made "contented and
happy" with "enough to eat, and drink, and wear," and shelter from the
weather--with the base provision that satisfies the brutes, is (say the
abolitionists) enough to render superfluous all other arguments for the
_instant_ abandonment of a system whose appropriate work is such
infinite wrong.
_Denying_ that "the slaves are contented and happy," the abolitionists
have argued, that, from the structure of his moral nature--the laws of
his mind--man cannot be happy in the fact, that he is _enslaved_. True,
he may be happy in slavery, but it is not slavery that makes him so--it
is virtue and faith, elevating him above the afflictions of his lot. The
slave has a will, leading him to seek those things which the Author of
his nature has made conducive to its happiness. In these things, the
will of the master comes in collision with his will. The slave desires
to receive the rewards of his own labor; the power of the master wrests
them from him. The slave desires to possess his wife, to whom God has
joined him, in affection, to have the superintendence, and enjoy the
services, of the children whom God has confided to him as a parent to
train them, by the habits of the filial relation, for the yet higher
relation that they may sustain to him as their heavenly Father. But here
he is met by the opposing will of the master, pressing _his_ claims with
irresistible power. The ties that heaven has sanctioned and blessed--of
husband and wife, of parent and child--are all sundered in a moment by
the master, at the prompting of avarice or luxury or lust; and there is
none that can stay his ruthless hand, or say unto him, "What doest
thou?" The slave thirsts for the pleasures of refined and elevated
intellect--the master denies to him the humblest literary acquisition.
The slave pants to know something of that still higher nature that he
feels burning within him--of his present state, his future destiny, of
the Being who made him, to whose judgment-seat he is going. The master's
interests cry, "No!" "Such knowledge is too wonderful for you; it is
high, you cannot attain unto it." To predicate _happiness_ of a class of
beings, placed in circumstances where their will is everlastingly
defeated by an irresistible power--the abolitionists say, is to prove
them destitute of the sympathies of _our_ nature--not _human_. It is to
declare with the Atheist, that man is independent of the goodness of his
Creator for his enjoyments--that human happiness calls not for any of
the appliances of his bounty--that God's throne is a nullity, himself a
superfluity.
But, independently of any abstract reasoning drawn from the nature of
moral and intelligent beings, FACTS have been elicited in the discussion
of the point before us, proving slavery everywhere (especially Southern
slavery, maintained by enlightened Protestants of the nineteenth
century) replete with torments and horrors--the direst form of
oppression that upheaves itself before the sun. These facts have been so
successfully impressed on a large portion of the intelligent mind of the
country, that the slaves of the South are beginning to be considered as
those whom God emphatically regards as the "poor," the "needy," the
"afflicted," the "oppressed," the "bowed down;" and for whose
consolation he has said, "Now will I arise--I will set him in safety
from him that puffeth at him."
This state of the public mind has been brought about within the last two
or three years; and it is an event which, so far from lessening, greatly
animates, the hopes and expectations of abolitionists.
3. The abolitionists believed from the first, that the tendency of
slavery is to produce, on the part of the whites, looseness of morals,
disdain of the wholesome restraints of law, and a ferocity of temper,
found, only in solitary instances, in those countries where slavery is
unknown. They were not ignorant of the fact, that this was disputed; nor
that the "CHIVALRY OF THE SOUTH" had become a cant phrase, including,
all that is high-minded and honorable among men; nor, that it had been
formally asserted in our National legislature, that slavery, as it
exists in the South, "produces the highest toned, the purest, best
organization of society that has ever existed on the face of the earth."
Nor were the abolitionists unaware, that these pretensions, proving
anything else but their own solidity, had been echoed and re-echoed so
long by the unthinking and the interested of the North, that the
character of the South had been injuriously affected by them--till she
began boldly to attribute her _peculiar_ superiority to her _peculiar_
institution, and thus to strengthen it. All this the abolitionists saw
and knew. But few others saw and understood it as they did. The
revelations of the last three years are fast dissipating the old notion,
and bringing multitudes in the North to see the subject as the
abolitionists see it. When "Southern Chivalry" and the _purity_ of
southern society are spoken of now, it is at once replied, that a large
number of the slaves show, by their _color_, their indisputable claim to
white paternity; and that, notwithstanding their near consanguineous
relation to the whites, they are still held and treated, in all
respects, _as slaves_. Nor is it forgotten now, when the claims of the
South to "hospitality" are pressed, to object, because they are grounded
on the unpaid wages of the laborer--on the robbery of the poor. When
"Southern generosity" is mentioned, the old adage, "be just before you
are generous," furnishes the reply. It is no proof of generosity (say
the objectors) to take the bread of the laborer, to lavish it in
banquetings on the rich. When "Southern Chivalry" is the theme of its
admirers, the hard-handed, but intelligent, working man of the North
asks, if the espionage of southern hotels, and of ships and steamboats
on their arrival at southern ports; if the prowl, by day and by night,
for the solitary stranger suspected of sympathizing with the enslaved,
that he may be delivered over to the mercies of a vigilance committee,
furnishes the proof of its existence; if the unlawful importation of
slaves from Africa[A] furnishes the proof; if the abuse, the scourging,
the hanging on suspicion, without law, of friendless strangers, furnish
the proof; if the summary execution of slaves and of colored freemen,
almost by the score, without legal trial, furnishes the proof; if the
cruelties and tortures to which _citizens_ have been exposed, and the
burning to death of slaves by slow fires,[B] furnish the proof. All
these things, says he, furnish any thing but proof of _true_
hospitality, or generosity, or gallantry, or purity, or chivalry.
[Footnote A: Mr. Mercer, of Virginia, some years ago, asserted in
Congress, that "CARGOES" of African slaves were smuggled into the
southern states to a deplorable extent. Mr. Middleton, of South
Carolina, declared it to be his belief, that THIRTEEN THOUSAND Africans
were annually smuggled into the southern states. Mr. Wright, of
Maryland, estimated the number at FIFTEEN THOUSAND. Miss Martineau was
told in 1835, by a wealthy slaveholder of Louisiana, (who probably spoke
of that state alone,) that the annual importation of native Africans was
from THIRTEEN THOUSAND to FIFTEEN THOUSAND. The President of the United
States, in his last Annual Message, speaking of the Navy, says, "The
large force under Commodore Dallas [on the West India station] has been
most actively and efficiently employed in protecting our commerce, IN
PREVENTING THE IMPORTATION OF SLAVES, &c."]
[Footnote B: Within the last few years, four slaves, and one citizen of
color, have been put to death in this manner, in Alabama, Mississippi,
Missouri, and Arkansas.]
Certain it is, that the time when southern slavery derived countenance
at the North, from its supposed connection with "chivalry," is rapidly
passing away. "Southern Chivalry" will soon be regarded as one of the
by-gone fooleries of a less intelligent and less virtuous age. It will
soon be cast out--giving place to the more reasonable idea, that the
denial of wages to the laborer, the selling of men and women, the
whipping of husbands and wives in each others presence, to compel them
to unrequited toil, the deliberate attempt to extinguish mind, and,
consequently, to destroy the soul--is among the highest offences against
God and man--unspeakably mean and ungentlemanly.
The impression made on the minds of the people as to this matter, is one
of the events of the last two or three years that does not contribute to
lessen the hopes or expectations of abolitionists.
4. The ascendency that Slavery has acquired, and exercises, in the
administration of the government, and the apprehension now prevailing
among the sober and intelligent, irrespective of party, that it will
soon overmaster the Constitution itself, may be ranked among the events
of the last two or three years that affect the course of abolitionists.
The abolitionists regard the Constitution with unabated affection. They
hold in no common veneration the memory of those who made it. They would
be the last to brand Franklin and King and Morris and Wilson and Sherman
and Hamilton with the ineffaceable infamy of attempting to ingraft on
the Constitution, and therefore to _perpetuate_, a system of oppression
in absolute antagonism to its high and professed objects, one which
their own practice condemned,--and this, too, when they had scarcely
wiped away the dust and sweat of the Revolution from their brows! Whilst
abolitionists feel and speak thus of our Constitutional fathers, they do
not justify the dereliction of principle into which they were betrayed,
when they imparted to the work of their hands _any_ power to contribute
to the continuance of such a system. They can only palliate it, by
supposing, that they thought, slavery was already a waning institution,
destined soon to pass away. In their time, (1787) slaves were
comparatively of little value--there being then no great slave-labor
staple (as cotton is now) to make them profitable to their holders.[A]
Had the circumstances of the country remained as they then were,
slave-labor, always and every where the most expensive--would have
disappeared before the competition of free labour. They had seen, too,
the principle of universal liberty, on which the Revolution was
justified, recognised and embodied in most of the State Constitutions;
they had seen slavery utterly forbidden in that of Vermont
--instantaneously abolished in that of Massachusetts--and laws
enacted in the New-England States and in Pennsylvania, for its gradual
abolition. Well might they have anticipated, that Justice and Humanity,
now starting forth with fresh vigor, would, in their march, sweep away
the whole system; more especially, as freedom of speech and of the
press--the legitimate abolisher not only of the acknowledged vice of
slavery, but of every other that time should reveal in our institutions
or practices--had been fully secured to the people. Again; power was
conferred on Congress to put a stop to the African slave-trade, without
which it was thought, at that time, to be impossible to maintain
slavery, as a system, on this continent,--so great was the havoc it
committed on human life. Authority was also granted to Congress to
prevent the transfer of slaves, as articles of commerce, from one State
to another; and the introduction of slavery into the territories. All
this was crowned by the power of refusing admission into the Union, to
any new state, whose form of government was repugnant to the principles
of liberty set forth in that of the United States. The faithful
execution, by Congress, of these powers, it was reasonably enough
supposed, would, at least, prevent the growth of slavery, if it did not
entirely remove it. Congress did, at the set time, execute _one_ of
them--deemed, then, the most effectual of the whole; but, as it has
turned out, the least so.
[Footnote A: The cultivation of cotton was almost unknown in the United
States before 1787. It was not till two years afterward that it began to
be raised or exported. (See Report of the Secretary of the Treasury,
Feb. 29, 1836.)--See Appendix, D.]
The effect of the interdiction of the African slave-trade was, not to
diminish the trade itself, or greatly to mitigate its horrors; it only
changed its name from African to American--transferred the seat of
commerce from Africa to America--its profits from African princes to
American farmers. Indeed, it is almost certain, if the African
slave-trade had been left unrestrained, that slavery would not have
covered so large a portion of our country as it does now. The cheap rate
at which slaves might have been imported by the planters of the south,
would have prevented the rearing of them for sale, by the farmers of
Maryland, Virginia, and the other slave-selling states. If these states
could be restrained from the _commerce_ in slaves, slavery could not be
supported by them for any length of time, or to any considerable extent.
They could not maintain it, as an economical system, under the
competition of free labor. It is owing to the _non-user_ by Congress, or
rather to their unfaithful application of their power to the other
points, on which it was expected to act for the limitation or
extermination of slavery, that the hopes of our fathers have not been
realized; and that slavery has, at length, become so audacious, as
openly to challenge the principles of 1776--to trample on the most
precious rights secured to the citizen--to menace the integrity of the
Union and the very existence of the government itself.
Slavery has advanced to its present position by steps that were, at
first, gradual, and, for a long time, almost unnoticed; afterward, it
made its way by intimidating or corrupting those who ought to have been
forward to resist its pretensions. Up to the time of the "Missouri
Compromise," by which the nation was wheedled out of its honor, slavery
was looked on as an evil that was finally to yield to the expanding and
ripening influences of our Constitutional principles and regulations.
Why it has not yielded, we may easily see, by even a slight glance at
some of the incidents in our history.
It has already been said, that we have been brought into our present
condition by the unfaithfulness of Congress, in not _exerting_ the power
vested in it, to stop the domestic slave-trade, and in the _abuse_ of
the power of admitting "_new_ states" into the Union. Kentucky made
application in 1792, with a slave-holding Constitution in her
hand.--With what a mere _technicality_ Congress suffered itself to be
drugged into torpor:--_She was part of one of the "Original States"--and
therefore entitled to all their privileges._
One precedent established, it was easy to make another. Tennessee was
admitted in 1796, without scruple, on the same ground.
The next triumph of slavery was in 1803, in the purchase of Louisiana,
acknowledged afterward, even by Mr. Jefferson who made it, to be
unauthorized by the Constitution--and in the establishment of slavery
throughout its vast limits, actually and substantially under the
auspices of that instrument which declares its only objects to be--"to
form a more perfect union, establish JUSTICE, insure DOMESTIC
TRANQUILITY, provide for the common defence, promote the general
welfare, and secure the blessings of LIBERTY to ourselves and our
posterity."[A]
[Footnote A: It may be replied, The colored people were held as
_property_ by the laws of Louisiana previously to the cession, and that
Congress had no right to divest the newly acquired citizens of their
property. This statement is evasive. It does not include, nor touch the
question, which is this:--Had Congress, or the treaty-making power, a
right to recognise, and, by recognising, to establish, in a territory
that had no claim of privilege, on the ground of being part of one of
the "Original States," a condition of things that it could not establish
_directly_, because there was no grant in the constitution of power,
direct or incidental, to do so--and because, _to do so_, was in
downright oppugnancy to the principles of the Constitution itself? The
question may be easily answered by stating the following case:--Suppose
a law had existed in Louisiana, previous to the cession, by which the
children--male and female--of all such parents as were not owners of
real estate of the yearly value of $500, had been--no matter how
long--held in slavery by their more wealthy land-holding
neighbors:--would Congress, under the Constitution, have a right (by
recognising) to establish, for ever, such a relation as one white
person, under such a law, might hold to another? Surely not. And yet no
substantial difference between the two cases can be pointed out.]
In this case, the violation of the Constitution was suffered to pass
with but little opposition, except from Massachusetts, because we were
content to receive in exchange, multiplied commercial benefits and
enlarged territorial limits.
The next stride that slavery made over the Constitution was in the
admission of the State of Louisiana into the Union. _She_ could claim no
favor as part of an "Original State." At this point, it might have been
supposed, the friends of Freedom and of the Constitution according to
its original intent, would have made a stand. But no: with the exception
of Massachusetts, they hesitated and were persuaded to acquiesce,
because the country was just about entering into a war with England, and
the crisis was unpropitious for discussing questions that would create
divisions between different sections of the Union. We must wait till the
country was at peace. Thus it was that Louisiana was admitted without a
controversy.
Next followed, in 1817 and 1820, Mississippi and Alabama--admitted after
the example of Kentucky and Tennessee, without any contest.
Meantime, Florida had given some uneasiness to the slaveholders of the
neighboring states; and for their accommodation chiefly, a negociation
was set on foot by the government to purchase it.
Missouri was next in order in 1821. She could plead no privilege, on the
score of being part of one of the original states; the country too, was
relieved from the pressure of her late conflict with England; it was
prosperous and quiet; every thing seemed propitious to a calm and
dispassionate consideration of the claims of slaveholders to add props
to their system, by admitting indefinitely, new slave states to the
Union. Up to this time, the "EVIL" of slavery had been almost
universally acknowledged and deplored by the South, and its termination
(apparently) sincerely hoped for.[A] By this management its friends
succeeded in blinding the confiding people of the North. They thought
for the most part, that the slaveholders were acting in good faith. It
is not intended by this remark, to make the impression, that the South
had all along pressed the admission of new slave states, simply with a
view to the increase of its own relative power. By no means: slavery had
insinuated itself into favor because of its being mixed up with (other)
supposed benefits--and because its ultimate influence on the government
was neither suspected nor dreaded. But, on the Missouri question, there
was a fair trial of strength between the friends of Slavery and the
friends of the Constitution. The former triumphed, and by the prime
agency of one whose raiment, the remainder of his days, ought to be
sackcloth and ashes,--because of the disgrace he has continued on the
name of his country, and the consequent injury that he has inflicted on
the cause of Freedom throughout the world. Although all the different
Administrations, from the first organization of the government, had, in
the indirect manner already mentioned, favored slavery,--there had not
been on any previous occasion, a direct struggle between its pretensions
and the principles of liberty ingrafted on the Constitution. The friends
of the latter were induced to believe, whenever they should be arrayed
against each other, that _theirs_ would be the triumph. Tremendous
error! Mistake almost fatal! The battle was fought. Slavery emerged from
it unhurt--her hands made gory--her bloody plume still floating in the
air--exultingly brandishing her dripping sword over her prostrate and
vanquished enemy. She had won all for which she fought. Her victory was
complete--THE SANCTION OF THE NATION WAS GIVEN TO SLAVERY![B]
[Footnote A: Mr. Clay, in conducting the Missouri compromise, found it
necessary to argue, that the admission of Missouri, as a slaveholding
state, would aid in bringing about the termination of slavery. His
argument is thus stated by Mr. Sergeant, who replied to him:--"In this
long view of remote and distant consequences, the gentleman from
Kentucky (Mr. Clay) thinks he sees how slavery, when thus spread, is at
last to find its end. It is to be brought about by the combined
operation of the laws which regulate the price of labor, and the laws
which govern population. When the country shall be filled with
inhabitants, and the price of labor shall have reached a minimum, (a
comparative minimum I suppose is meant,) free labor will be found
cheaper than slave labor. Slaves will then be without employment, and,
of course, without the means of comfortable subsistence, which will
reduce their numbers, and finally extirpate them. This is the argument
as I understand it," says Mr. Sergeant; and, certainly, one more
chimerical or more inhuman could not have been urged.]
[Footnote B: See Appendix, E.]
Immediately after this achievement, the slaveholding interest was still
more strongly fortified by the acquisition of Florida, and the
establishment of slavery there, as it had already been in the territory
of Louisiana. The Missouri triumph, however, seems to have extinguished
every thing like a systematic or spirited opposition, on the part of the
free states, to the pretensions of the slaveholding South.
Arkansas was admitted but the other day, with nothing that deserves to
be called an effort to prevent it--although her Constitution attempts to
_perpetuate_ slavery, by forbidding the master to emancipate his bondmen
without the consent of the Legislature, and the Legislature without the
consent of the master. Emboldened, but not satisfied, with their success
in every political contest with the people of the free states, the
slaveholders are beginning now to throw off their disguise--to brand
their former notions about the "_evil_, political and moral" of slavery,
as "folly and delusion,"[A]--and as if to "make assurance double sure,"
and defend themselves forever, by territorial power, against the
progress of Free principles and the renovation of the Constitution, they
now demand openly--scorning to conceal that their object is, to _advance
and establish their political power in the country_,--that Texas, a
foreign state, five or six times as large as all New England, with a
Constitution dyed as deep in slavery, as that of Arkansas, shall be
added to the Union.
[Footnote A: Mr. Calhoun is reported, in the National Intelligencer, as
having used these words in a speech delivered in the Senate, the 10th
day of January:--
"Many in the South once believed that it [slavery] was a moral and
political evil; that folly and delusion are gone. We see it now in its
true light, and regard it as the most safe and stable basis for free
institutions in the world."
Mr. Hammond, formerly a Representative in Congress from South Carolina,
delivered a speech (Feb. 1, 1836) on the question of receiving petitions
for the abolition of slavery in the District of Columbia. In answering
those who objected to a slaveholding country, that it was "assimilated
to an aristocracy," he says--"In this they are right. I accept the
terms. _It is a government of the best._ Combining all the advantages,
and possessing but few of the disadvantages, of the aristocracy of the
old world--without fostering, to an unwarrantable extent, the pride, the
exclusiveness, the selfishness, the thirst for sway, the contempt for
the rights of others, which distinguish the nobility of Europe--it gives
us their education, their polish, their munificence, their high honor,
their undaunted spirit. Slavery does indeed create an aristocracy--an
aristocracy of talents, of virtue, of generosity, of courage. In a slave
country, every freeman is an aristocrat. Be he rich or poor, if he does
not possess a single slave, he has been born to all the natural
advantages of the society in which he is placed; and all its honors lie
open before him, inviting his genius and industry. Sir, I do firmly
believe, that domestic slavery, regulated as ours is, produces the
highest toned, the purest, best organization of society, that has ever
existed on the face of the earth."
That this _retraxit_ of former _follies and delusions_ is not confined
to the mere politician, we have the following proofs:--
The CHARLESTON (S.C.) UNION PRESBYTERY--"Resolved. That in the opinion
of this Presbytery, the holding of slaves, so far from being a sin in
the sight of God, is nowhere condemned in his holy word; that it is in
accordance with the example, or consistent with the precepts, of
patriarchs, prophets, and apostles; and that it is compatible with the
most fraternal regard to the good of the servants whom God has committed
to our charge."--Within the last few months, as we learn from a late No.
of the Charleston Courier, the late Synod of the Presbyterian Church, in
Augusta, (Ga.) passed resolutions declaring "That slavery is a CIVIL
INSTITUTION, with which the General Assembly [the highest ecclesiastical
tribunal] has NOTHING TO DO."
Again:--The CHARLESTON BAPTIST ASSOCIATION, in a memorial to the
Legislature of South Carolina, say--"The undersigned would further
represent, that the said Association does not consider that the Holy
Scriptures have made the FACT of slavery a question of morals at all."
And further,--"The right of masters to dispose of the time of their
slaves, has been distinctly recognised by the Creator of all things."
Again:--The EDGEFIELD (S.C.) ASSOCIATION--"Resolved, That the practical
question of slavery, in a country where the system has obtained as a
part of its stated policy, is settled in the Scriptures by Jesus Christ
and his apostles." "Resolved, That these uniformly recognised the
relation of master and slave, and enjoined on both their respective
duties, under a system of servitude more degrading and absolute than
that which obtains in our country."
Again we find, in a late No. of the Charleston Courier, the following:--
"THE SOUTHERN CHURCH.--The Georgia Conference of the Methodist Episcopal
Church, at a recent meeting in Athens, passed resolutions, declaring
that slavery, as it exists in the United States, is not a moral evil,
and is a civil and domestic institution, with which Christian ministers
have nothing to do, further than to meliorate the condition of the
slave, by endeavoring to impart to him and his master the benign
influence of the religion of Christ, and aiding both on their way
to heaven."]
The abolitionists feel a deep regard for the integrity and union of the
government, _on the principles of the Constitution_. Therefore it is,
that they look with earnest concern on the attempt now making by the
South, to do, what, in the view of multitudes of our citizens, would
amount to good cause for the separation of the free from the slave
states. Their concern is not mingled with any feelings of despair. The
alarm they sounded on the "annexation" question has penetrated the free
states; it will, in all probability, be favorably responded to by every
one of them; thus giving encouragement to our faith, that the admission
of Texas will be successfully resisted,--that this additional stain will
not be impressed on our national escutcheon, nor this additional peril
brought upon the South.[A]
[Footnote A: See Appendix, F.]
This, the present condition of the country, induced by a long train of
usurpations on the part of the South, and by unworthy concessions to it
by the North, may justly be regarded as one of the events of the last
few years affecting in some way, the measures of the abolitionists. It
has certainly done so. And whilst it is not to be denied, that many
abolitionists feel painful apprehensions for the result, it has only
roused them up to make more strenuous efforts for the preservation of
the country.
It may be replied--if the abolitionists are such firm friends of the
Union, why do they persist in what must end in its rupture and
dissolution? The abolitionists, let it be repeated _are_ friends of
_the_ Union that was intended by the Constitution; but not of a Union
from which is eviscerated, to be trodden under foot, the right to
SPEAK,--to PRINT--to PETITION,--the rights of CONSCIENCE; not of a Union
whose ligaments are whips, where the interest of the oppressor is the
_great_ interest, the right to oppress the _paramount_ right. It is
against the distortion of the glorious Union our fathers left us into
one bound with despotic bands that the abolitionists are contending. In
the political aspect of the question, they have nothing to ask, except
what the Constitution authorizes--no change to desire, but that the
Constitution may be restored to its pristine republican purity.
But they have well considered the "dissolution of the Union." There is
no just ground for apprehending that such a measure will ever be
resorted to by the _South_. It is by no means intended by this, to
affirm, that the South, like a spoiled child, for the first time denied
some favourite object, may not fall into sudden frenzy and do herself
some great harm. But knowing as I do, the intelligence and forecast of
the leading men of the South--and believing that they will, if ever such
a crisis should come, be judiciously influenced by the _existing_ state
of the case, and by the _consequences_ that would inevitably flow from
an act of dissolution--they would not, I am sure, deem it desirable or
politic. They would be brought, in their calmer moments, to coincide
with one who has facetiously, but not the less truly remarked, that it
would be as indiscreet in the slave South to separate from the free
North, as for the poor, to separate from the parish that supported them.
In support of this opinion, I would say:
First--A dissolution of the Union by the South would, in no manner,
secure to her the object she has in view.--The _leaders_ at the South,
both in the church and in the state, must, by this time, be too well
informed as to the nature of the anti-slavery movement, and the
character of those engaged in it, to entertain fears that, violence of
any kind will be resorted to, directly or indirectly.[A] The whole
complaint of the South is neither more nor less than this--THE NORTH
TALKS ABOUT SLAVERY. Now, of all the means or appliances that could be
devised, to give greater life and publicity to the discussion of
slavery, none could be half so effectual as the dissolution of the Union
_because of the discussion_. It would astonish the civilized world--they
would inquire into the cause of such a remarkable event in its
history;--the result would be not only enlarged _discussion_ of the
whole subject, but it would bring such a measure of contempt on the
guilty movers of the deed, that even with all the advantages of "their
education, their polish, their munificence, their high honor, their
undaunted spirit," so eloquently set forth by the Hon. Mr. Hammond, they
would find it hard to withstand its influence. It is difficult for men
in a _good_ cause, to maintain their steadfastness in opposition to an
extensively corrupt public sentiment; in a _bad_ one, against public
sentiment purified and enlightened, next to impossible, if not quite so.
[Footnote A: "It is not," says Mr. Calhoun, "that we expect the
abolitionists will resort to arms--will commence a crusade to deliver
our slaves by force."--"Let me tell our friends of the South, who differ
from us, that the war which the abolitionists wage against us is of a
very different character, and _far more effective_. It is waged, not
against our lives, but our character." More correctly, Mr. C. might have
said against a _system_, with which the slaveholders have chosen to
involve their characters, and which they have determined to defend, at
the hazard of losing them.]
Another result would follow the dissolution:--_Now_, the abolitionists
find it difficult, by reason of the odium which the principal
slaveholders and their friends have succeeded in attaching to their
_name_, to introduce a knowledge of their principles and measures into
the great mass of southern mind. There are multitudes at the South who
would co-operate with us, if they could be informed of our aim.[A] Now,
we cannot reach them--then, it would be otherwise. The united power of
the large slaveholders would not be able longer to keep them in
ignorance. If the Union were dissolved, they _would_ know the cause, and
discuss it, and condemn it.
[Footnote A: There is abundant evidence of this. Our limits confine us
to the following, from the first No. of the Southern Literary Journal,
(Charleston, S.C.):--"There are _many good men even among us_, who have
begun to grow _timid_. They think, that what the virtuous and
high-minded men of the North look upon as a crime and a plague-spot,
cannot be perfectly innocent or quite harmless in a slaveholding
community."
This, also, from the North Carolina Watchman:--
"It (the abolition party) is the growing party at the North. We are
inclined to believe that there is even more of it at the South than
prudence will permit to be openly avowed."
"It is well known, Mr. Speaker, that there is a LARGE, RESPECTABLE and
INTELLIGENT PARTY in Kentucky, who will exert every nerve and spare no
efforts to dislodge the subsisting rights to our Slave population, or
alter in some manner, and to some extent, at least, the tenure by which
that species of property is held."--_Speech of the Hon. James T.
Morehead in the Kentucky Legislature, last winter_.]
A second reason why the South will not dissolve the Union is, that she
would be exposed to the visitation of _real_ incendiaries, exciting her
slaves to revolt. Now, it would cover any one with infamy, who would
stir them up to vindicate their rights by the massacre of their masters.
Dissolve the Union, and the candidates for "GLORY" would find in the
plains of Carolina and Louisiana as inviting a theatre for their
enterprise, as their prototypes, the Houstons, the Van Rennsselaers, and
the Sutherlands did, in the prairies of Texas or the forests of Canada.
A third reason why the South will not dissolve is, that the slaves would
leave their masters and take refuge in the free states. The South would
not be able to establish a _cordon_ along her wide frontier sufficiently
strong to prevent it. Then, the slaves could not be reclaimed, as they
now are, under the Constitution. Some may say, the free states would not
permit them to come in and dwell among them.--Believe it not. The fact
of separation on the ground supposed, would abolitionize the whole
North. Beside this, in an economical point of view, the _demand for
labor_ in the Western States would make their presence welcome. At all
events, a passage through the Northern States to Canada would not be
denied them.
A fourth reason why the South will not dissolve is, that a large number
of her most steady and effective population would emigrate to the free
states. In the slave-_selling_ states especially, there has always been
a class who have consented to remain there with their families, only in
the hope that slavery would, in some way or other, be terminated. I do
not say they are abolitionists, for many of them are slaveholders. It
may be, too, that such would expect compensation for their slaves,
should they be emancipated, and also that they should be sent out of the
country. The particular mode of emancipation, however crude it may be,
that has occupied their minds, has nothing to do with the point before
us. _They look for emancipation--in this hope they have remained, and
now remain, where they are_. Take away this hope, by making slavery the
_distinctive bond of union_ of a new government, and you drive them to
the North. These persons are not among the rich, the voluptuous, the
effeminate; nor are they the despised, the indigent, the
thriftless--they are men of moderate property, of intelligence, of
conscience--in every way the "bone and sinew" of the South.
A fifth reason why the South will not dissolve, is her _weakness_. It is
a remarkable fact, that in modern times, and in the Christian world, all
slaveholding countries have been united with countries that are free.
Thus, the West Indian and Mexican and South American slaveholding
colonies were united to England, France, Spain, Portugal, and other
states of Europe. If England (before her Emancipation Act) and the
others had at any time withdrawn the protection of their _power_ from
their colonies, slavery would have been extinguished almost
simultaneously with the knowledge of the fact. In the West Indies there
could have been no doubt of this, from the disparity in numbers between
the whites and the slaves, from the multiplied attempts made from time
to time by the latter to vindicate their rights by insurrection, and
from the fact, that all their insurrections had to be suppressed by the
_force_ of the mother country. As soon as Mexico and the South American
colonies dissolved their connexion with Spain, slavery was abolished in
every one of them. This may, I know, be attributed to the necessity
imposed on these states, by the wars in which they engaged to establish
their independence. However this may be--the _fact_ still remains. The
free states of this Union are to the slave, so far as the maintenance of
slavery is concerned, substantially, in the relation of the European
states to their slaveholding colonies. Slavery, in all probability,
could not be maintained by the South disjoined from the North, a single
year. So far from there existing any reason for making the South an
exception, in this particular, to other slave countries, there are
circumstances in her condition that seem to make her dependence more
complete. Two of them are, the superior intelligence of her slaves on
the subject of human rights, and the geographical connexion of the slave
region in the United States. In the West Indies, in Mexico and South
America the great body of the slaves were far below the slaves of this
country in their intellectual and moral condition--and, in the former,
their power to act in concert was weakened by the insular fragments into
which they were divided.
Again, the depopulation of the South of large numbers of its white
inhabitants, from the cause mentioned under the fourth head, would, it
is apprehended, bring the two classes to something like a numerical
equality. Now, consider the present state of the moral sentiment of the
Christianized and commercial world in relation to slavery; add to it the
impulse that this sentiment, acknowledged by the South already to be
wholly opposed to her, would naturally acquire by an act of separation
on her part, with a single view to the perpetuation of slavery; bring
this sentiment in all its accumulation and intensity to act upon a
nation where one half are enslavers, the other the enslaved--and what
must be the effect? From the nature of mind; from the laws of moral
influence, (which are as sure in their operation, if not so well
understood, as the laws of physical influence,) the party "whose
conscience with injustice is oppressed," must become dispirited,
weakened in courage, and in the end unnerved and contemptible. On the
other hand, the sympathy that would be felt for the oppressed--the
comfort they would receive--the encouragement that would be given them
to assert their rights, would make it an impossibility, to keep them in
slavish peace and submission.
This state of things would be greatly aggravated by the peculiarly
morbid sensitiveness of the South to every thing that is supposed to
touch her _character_. Her highest distinction would then become her
most troublesome one. How, for instance, could her chivalrous sons bear
to be taunted, wherever they went, on business or for pleasure, out of
their own limits, with the cry "the knights of the lash!" "Go home and
pay your laborers!" "Cease from the scourging of husbands and wives in
each others presence--from attending the shambles, to sell or buy as
slaves those whom God has made of the same blood with yourselves--your
brethren--your sisters! Cease, high minded sons of the 'ANCIENT
DOMINION,' from estimating your revenue by the number of children you
rear, to sell in the flesh market!" "Go home and pay your laborers!" "Go
home and pay your laborers!" This would be a trial to which "southern
chivalry" could not patiently submit. Their "high honor," their
"undaunted spirit" would impel them to the field--only to prove that the
"last resort" requires something more substantial than mere "honor" and
"spirit" to maintain it. Suppose there should be a disagreement--as in
all likelihood there soon would, leading to war between the North and
the South? The North would scarcely have occasion to march a squadron to
the field. She would have an army that could be raised up by the
million, at the fireside of her enemy. It has been said, that during the
late war with England, it was proposed to her cabinet, by some
enterprising officers, to land five thousand men on the coast of South
Carolina and proclaim liberty to the slates. The success of the scheme
was well thought of. But then the example! England herself held nearly a
million of slaves at no greater distance from the scene of action than
the West Indies. _Now_, a restraint of this kind on such a scheme does
not exist.
It seems plain beyond the power of argument to make it plainer, that a
slaveholding nation--one under the circumstances in which the South
separated from the North would be placed--must be at the mercy of every
free people having neither power to vindicate a right nor avenge
a wrong.[A]
[Footnote A: Governor Hayne, of South Carolina, spoke in high terms, a
few years ago, of the ability that the South would possess, in a
military point of view, because her great wealth would enable her, at
all times, to command the services of mercenary troops. Without stopping
to dispute with him, as to her comparative wealth, I would remark, that
he seemed entirely to have overlooked this truth--that whenever a
government is under the necessity of calling in foreign troops, to keep
in subjection one half of the people, the power of the government has
already passed into the hands of the _Protectors_. They can and will, of
course, act with whichever party will best subserve their purpose.]
A sixth reason why the South will not dissolve the Union, is found in
the difficulty of bringing about an _actual_ separation. Preparatory to
such a movement, it would seem indispensable, that _Union_ among the
seceding states themselves should be secured. A General Convention would
be necessary to adjust its terms. This would, of course, be preceded by
_particular_ conventions in the several states. To this procedure the
same objection applies, that has been made, for the last two or three
years, to holding an anti-abolition convention in the South:--It would
give to the _question_ such notoriety, that the object of holding the
convention could not be concealed from the slaves. The more sagacious in
the South have been opposed to a convention; nor have they been
influenced solely by the consideration just mentioned--which, in my
view, is but of little moment--but by the apprehension, that the
diversity of sentiment which exists among the slave states, themselves,
in relation to the _system_, would be disclosed to the country; and that
the slaveholding interest would be found deficient in that harmony
which, from its perfectness heretofore, has made the slaveholders so
successful in their action on the North.
The slaveholding region may be divided into the _farming_ and the
_planting_--or the slave-_selling_ and the slave-_buying_ districts.
Maryland, Virginia, Kentucky, Missouri and East Tennessee constitute the
first. West Tennessee is somewhat equivocal. All the states south of
Tennessee belong to the slave-_buying_ district. The first, with but few
exceptions, have from the earliest times, felt slavery a reproach to
their good name--an encumbrance on their advancement--at some period, to
be cast off. This sentiment, had it been at all encouraged by the action
of the General Government, in accordance with the views of the
convention that formed the Constitution, would, in all probability, by
this time, have brought slavery in Maryland and Virginia to an end.
Notwithstanding the easy admission of slave states into the Union, and
the _yielding_ of the free states whenever they were brought in
collision with the South, have had a strong tendency to persuade the
_farming_ slave states to continue their system, yet the sentiment in
favor of emancipation in some form, still exists among them. Proof,
encouraging proof of this, is found in the present attitude of Kentucky.
Her legislature has just passed a law, proposing to the people, to hold
a convention to alter the constitution. In the discussion of the bill,
slavery as connected with some form of emancipation, seems to have
constituted the most important element. The public journals too, that
are _opposed_ to touching the subject at all, declare that the main
object for recommending a convention was, to act on slavery in
some way.
Now, it would be in vain for the _planting_ South to expect, that
Kentucky or any other of the _farming_ slave states would unite with
her, in making slavery the _perpetual bond_ of a new political
organization. If they feel the inconveniences of slavery _in their
present condition_, they could not be expected to enter on another,
where these inconveniences would be inconceivably multiplied and
aggravated, and, by the very terms of their new contract, _perpetuated_.
This letter is already so protracted, that I cannot stop here to develop
more at large this part of the subject. To one acquainted with the state
of public sentiment, in what I have called, the _farming_ district, it
needs no further development. There is not one of these states embraced
in it, that would not, when brought to the test, prefer the privileges
of the Union to the privilege of perpetual slaveholding. And if there
should turn out to be a single _desertion_ in this matter, the whole
project of secession must come to nought.
But laying aside all the obstacles to union among the seceding states,
how is it possible to take the first step to _actual_ separation! The
separation, at the worst, can only be _political_. There will be no
chasm--no rent made in the earth between the two sections. The natural
and ideal boundaries will remain unaltered. Mason and Dixon's line will
not become a wall of adamant that can neither be undermined nor
surmounted. The Ohio river will not be converted into flame, or into
another Styx, denying a passage to every living thing.
Besides this stability of natural things, the multiform interests of the
two sections would, in the main, continue as they are. The complicate
ties of commerce could not be suddenly unloosed. The breadstuffs, the
beef, the pork, the turkies, the chickens, the woollen and cotton
fabrics, the hats, the shoes, the socks, the "_horn flints and bark
nutmegs_,"[A] the machinery, the sugar-kettles, the cotton-gins, the
axes, the hoes, the drawing-chains of the North, would be as much needed
by the South, the day after the separation as the day before. The
newspapers of the North--its Magazines, its Quarterlies, its Monthlies,
would be more sought after by the readers of the South than they now
are; and the Southern journals would become doubly interesting to us.
There would be the same lust for our northern summers and your southern
winters, with all their health-giving influences; and last, though not
least, the same desire of marrying and of being given in marriage that
now exists between the North and South. Really it is difficult to say
_where_ this long threatened separation is to _begin_; and if the place
of beginning could be found, it would seem like a poor exchange for the
South, to give up all these pleasant and profitable relations and
connections for the privilege of enslaving an equal number of their
fellow-creatures.
[Footnote A: Senator Preston's Railroad Speech, delivered at Colombia,
S.C., in 1836.]
Thus much for the menace, that the "UNION WILL BE DISSOLVED" unless the
discussion of the slavery question be stopped.
But you may reply, "Do you think the South is not in earnest in her
threat of dissolving the Union?" I rejoin, by no means;--yet she pursues
a perfectly reasonable course (leaving out of view the justice or
morality of it)--just such a course as I should expect she would pursue,
emboldened as she must be by her multiplied triumphs over the North by
the use of the same weapon. "We'll dissolve the Union!" was the cry,
"unless Missouri be admitted!!" The North were frightened, and Missouri
was admitted with SLAVERY engraved on her forehead. "We'll dissolve the
Union!" unless the Indians be driven out of the South!! The North forgot
her treaties, parted with humanity, and it is done--the defenceless
Indians are forced to "consent" to be driven out, or they are left,
undefended, to the mercies of southern land-jobbers and gold-hunters.
"We'll dissolve the Union! If the Tariff" [established at her own
suggestion] "be not repealed or modified so that our slave-labor may
compete with your free-labor." The Tariff is accordingly modified to
suit the South. "We'll dissolve the Union!" unless the freedom of speech
and the press be put down in the North!!--With the promptness of
commission-merchants, the alternative is adopted. Public assemblies met
for deliberation are assailed and broken up at the North; her citizens
are stoned and beaten and dragged through the streets of her cities; her
presses are attacked by mobs, instigated and led on by men of influence
and character; whilst those concerned in conducting them are compelled
to fly from their homes, pursued as if they were noxious wild beasts;
or, if they remain to defend, they are sacrificed to appease the
southern divinity. "We'll dissolve the Union" if slavery be abolished in
the District of Columbia! The North, frightened from her propriety,
declares that slavery ought not to be abolished there NOW.--"We'll
dissolve the Union!" if you read petitions from your constituents for
its abolition, or for stopping the slave-trade at the Capital, or
between the states. FIFTY NORTHERN REPRESENTATIVES respond to the cry,
"down, then, with the RIGHT OF PETITION!!" All these assaults have
succeeded because the North has been frightened by the war-cry, "WE'LL
DISSOLVE THE UNION!"
After achieving so much by a process so simple, why should not the South
persist in it when striving for further conquests? No other course ought
to be expected from her, till this has failed. And it is not at all
improbable, that she will persist, till she almost persuades herself
that she is serious in her menace to dissolve the Union. She may in her
eagerness, even approach so near the verge of dissolution, that the
earth may give way under her feet and she be dashed in ruins in the
gulf below.
Nothing will more surely arrest her fury, than the firm array of the
North, setting up anew the almost forgotten principles of our fathers,
and saying to the "dark spirit of slavery,"--"thus far shalt thou go,
and no farther." This is the best--the only--means of saving the South
from the fruits of her own folly--folly that has been so long, and so
strangely encouraged by the North, that it has grown into intolerable
arrogance--down right presumption.
There are many other "events" of the last two or three years which have,
doubtless, had their influence on the course of the abolitionists--and
which might properly be dwelt upon at considerable length, were it not
that this communication is already greatly protracted beyond its
intended limits. I shall, therefore, in mentioning the remaining topics,
do little more than enumerate them.
The Legislature of Vermont has taken a decided stand in favor of
anti-slavery principles and action. In the Autumn of 1836, the following
resolutions were passed by an almost unanimous vote in both houses:--
"Resolved, By the General Assembly of the State of Vermont, That neither
Congress nor the State Governments have any constitutional right to
abridge the free expressions of opinions, or the transmission of them
through the medium of the public mails."
"Resolved, That Congress do possess the power to abolish slavery in the
District of Columbia."
"Resolved, That His Excellency, the Governor, be requested to transmit a
copy of the foregoing resolutions to the Executive of each of the
States, and to each of our Senators and Representatives in Congress."
At the session held in November last, the following joint resolutions,
preceded by a decisive memorial against the admission of Texas, were
passed by both branches--with the exception of the _fifth_ which was
passed only by the House of Representatives:--
1. Resolved, By the Senate and House of Representatives, That our
Senators in Congress be instructed, and our Representatives requested,
to use their influence in that body to prevent the annexation of Texas
to the Union.
2. Resolved, That, representing, as we do, the people of Vermont, we do
hereby, in their name, SOLEMNLY PROTEST against such annexation in
any form.
3. Resolved, That, as the Representatives of the people of Vermont, we
do solemnly protest against the admission, into this Union, of any state
whose constitution tolerates domestic slavery.
4. Resolved, That Congress have full power, by the Constitution, to
abolish slavery and the slave-trade in the District of Columbia and in
the territories of the United States.
[5. Resolved, That Congress has the constitutional power to prohibit the
slave-trade between the several states of this Union, and to make such
laws as shall effectually prohibit such trade.]
6. Resolved, That our Senators in Congress be instructed, and our
Representatives requested, to present the foregoing Report and
Resolutions to their respective Houses in Congress, and use their
influence to carry the same speedily into effect.
7. Resolved, That the Governor of this State be requested to transmit a
copy of the foregoing Report and Resolutions to the President of the
United States, and to each of our Senators and Representatives
in Congress.
The influence of anti-slavery principles in Massachusetts has become
decisive, if we are to judge from the change of sentiment in the
legislative body. The governor of that commonwealth saw fit to introduce
into his inaugural speech, delivered in January, 1836, a severe censure
of the abolitionists, and to intimate that they were guilty of an
offence punishable at common law. This part of the speech was referred
to a joint committee of five, of which a member of the senate was
chairman. To the same committee were also referred communications which
had been received by the governor from several of the legislatures of
the slaveholding states, requesting the Legislature of Massachusetts to
enact laws, making it PENAL for citizens of that state to form societies
for the abolition of slavery, or to speak or publish sentiments such as
had been uttered in anti-slavery meetings and published in anti-slavery
tracts and papers. The managers of the Massachusetts Anti-Slavery
Society, in a note addressed to the chairman of the committee, requested
permission, as a party whose rights were drawn in question, to appear
before it. This was granted. The gentlemen selected by them to appear on
their behalf were of unimpeachable character, and distinguished for
professional merit and general literary and scientific intelligence.
Such was _then_ the unpopularity of abolitionism, that notwithstanding
the personal influence of these gentlemen, they were ill--not to say
rudely--treated, especially by the chairman of the committee; so much
so, that respect for themselves, and the cause they were deputed to
defend, persuaded them to desist before they had completed their
remarks. A Report, including Resolutions unfavorable to the
abolitionists was made, of which the following is a copy:--
The Joint Special Committee, to whom was referred so much of the
governor's message as related to the abolition of slavery, together with
certain documents upon the same subject, communicated to the Executive
by the several Legislatures of Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina,
Georgia, and Alabama, transmitted by his Excellency to the Legislature,
and hereunto annexed, have considered the same, and ask leave,
respectfully, to submit the following:--
Resolved, That this Legislature distinctly disavow any right whatever in
itself, or in the citizens of this commonwealth, to interfere in the
institution of domestic slavery in the southern states: it having
existed therein before the establishment of the Constitution; it having
been recognised by that instrument; and it being strictly within their
own keeping.
Resolved, That this Legislature, regarding the agitation of the question
of domestic slavery as having already interrupted the friendly relations
which ought to exist between the several states of this Union, and as
tending permanently to injure, if not altogether to subvert, the
principles of the Union itself; and believing that the good effected by
those who excite its discussion in the non-slaveholding states is, under
the circumstances of the case, altogether visionary, while the immediate
and future evil is great and certain; does hereby express its entire
disapprobation of the doctrine upon this subject avowed, and the general
measures pursued by such as agitate the question; and does earnestly
recommend to them carefully to abstain from all such discussion, and all
such measures, as may tend to disturb and irritate the public mind.
The report was laid on the table, whence it was not taken up during the
session--its friends being afraid of a lean majority on its passage; for
the _alarm_ had already been taken by many of the members who otherwise
would have favored it. From this time till the election in the
succeeding autumn, the subject was much agitated in Massachusetts. The
abolitionists again petitioned the Legislature at its session begun in
January, 1837; especially, that it should remonstrate against the
resolution of Mr. Hawes, adopted by the House of Representatives in
Congress, by which all memorials, &c, in relation to slavery were laid,
and to be laid, on the table, without further action on them. The
abolitionists were again heard, in behalf of their petitions, before the
proper committee.[A] The result was, the passage of the following
resolutions with only 16 dissenting voices to 378, in the House of
Representatives, and in the Senate with not more than one or two
dissentients on any one of them:--
[Footnote A: The gentleman who had been chairman of the committee the
preceding year, was supposed, in consequence of the change in public
opinion in relation to abolitionists, to have injured his political
standing too much, even to be nominated as a candidate for re-election.]
"Whereas, The House of Representatives of the United States, in the
month of January, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred
and thirty-seven, did adopt a resolution, whereby it was ordered
that all petitions, memorials, resolutions, propositions, or papers,
relating in any way, or to any extent whatever, to the subject of
slavery, or the abolition of slavery, without being either printed
or referred, should be laid upon the table, and that no further
action whatever should be had thereon; and whereas such a
disposition of petitions, then or thereafter to be received, is a
virtual denial of the right itself; and whereas, by the resolution
aforesaid, which is adopted as a standing rule in the present House
of Representatives, the petitions of a large number of the people of
this commonwealth, praying for the removal of a great social, moral,
and political evil, have been slighted and contemned: therefore,--
Resolved, That the resolution above named is an assumption of power
and authority at variance with the spirit and intent of the
Constitution of the United States, and injurious to the cause of
freedom and free institutions; that it does violence to the
inherent, absolute, and inalienable rights of man; and that it
tends, essentially, to impair those fundamental principles of
natural justice and natural law which are antecedent to any written
constitutions of government, independent of them all, and essential
to the security of freedom in a state.
Resolved, That our Senators and Representatives in Congress, in
maintaining and advocating the right of petition, have entitled
themselves to the cordial approbation of the people of this
commonwealth.
Resolved, That Congress, having exclusive legislation in the
District of Columbia, possess the right to abolish slavery in said
district, and that its exercise should only be restrained by a
regard to the public good."
That you may yourself, judge what influence the abolition question
exercised in the elections in Massachusetts _last_ autumn, I send you
three numbers of the Liberator containing copies of letters addressed to
many of the candidates, and their respective answers.
The Legislature have passed, _unanimously_, at its present session,
resolutions (preceded by a report of great ability) protesting
"_earnestly and solemnly against the annexation of Texas to this
Union_;" and declaring that, "_no act done, or compact made, for such
purpose, by the government of the United States, will be binding on the
states or the people_."
Two years ago, Governor Marcy, of this state, showed himself willing, at
the dictation of the South, to aid in passing laws for restraining and
punishing the abolitionists, whenever the extremity of the case might
call for it. Two weeks ago, at the request of the Young Men's
Anti-Slavery Society of Albany, the Assembly-chamber, by a vote of the
House (only two dissentient) was granted to Alvan Stewart, Esq., a
distinguished lawyer, to lecture on the subject of abolition.
Kentucky is assuming an attitude of great interest to the friends of
Liberty and the Constitution. The blessings of "them that are ready to
perish" throughout the land, the applause of the good throughout the
world will be hers, if she should show moral energy enough to break
every yoke that she has hitherto imposed on the "poor," and by which her
own prosperity and true power have been hindered.
In view of the late action in the Senate and House of Representatives in
Congress--adverse as they may seem, to those who think more highly of
the branches of the Legislature than of the SOURCE of their power--the
abolitionists see nothing that is cause for discouragement. They find
the PEOPLE sound; they know that they still cherish, as their fathers
did, the right of petition--the freedom of the press--the freedom of
speech--the rights of conscience; that they love the liberty of the
North more than they love the slavery of the South. What care they for
_Resolutions_ in the House, or Resolutions in the Senate, when the House
and the Senate are but their ministers, their servants, and they know
that they can discharge them at their pleasure? It may be, that Congress
has yet to learn, that the people have but slight regard for their
restraining resolutions. They ought to have known this from the history
of such resolutions for the last two years. THIRTY-SEVEN THOUSAND
petitioners for the abolition of slavery in the District of Columbia had
their petitions laid on the table by the resolution of the House of
Representatives in May, 1836. At the succeeding session, they had
increased to ONE HUNDRED AND TEN THOUSAND.--The resolution of Jan. 18,
1837, laid all _their_ petitions in the same way on the table. At the
_called_, and at the present session, these 110,000 had multiplied to
FIVE HUNDRED THOUSAND[A]. Soon, Senators and Representatives will be
sent from the free states who will need no petitions--they will know
the prayer of their constituents _before they leave their homes_.
[Footnote A: See Appendix, G.]
In concluding this, my answer to your 13th interrogatory, I will say
that I know of no event, that has transpired, either in or out of
Congress, for the last two or three years, that has had any other
influence on the efforts of abolitionists than to increase and stimulate
them. Indeed, every thing that has taken place within that period, ought
to excite to their utmost efforts all who are not despairing dastards.
The Demon of oppression in this land is tenfold more fierce and rampant
and relentless than he was supposed to be before roused from the quiet
of his lair. To every thing that is precious the abolitionists have seen
him lay claim. The religion of the Bible must be adulterated--the claims
of Humanity must be smothered--the demands of justice must be
nullified--a part of our Race must be shut out from the common sympathy
of a common nature. Nor is this all: they see their _own_ rights and
those of the people; the right to SPEAK--to WRITE--to PRINT--to
PUBLISH--to ASSEMBLE TOGETHER--to PETITION THEIR OWN SERVANTS--all
brought in peril. They feel that the final conflict between Popular
liberty and Aristocratic slavery has come; that one or the other must
fall; and they have made up their minds, with the blessing of God on
their efforts, that their adversary shall die.
"14. _Have you any permanent fund, and how much?_"
ANSWER.--We have none. The contributions are anticipated. We are always
in debt, and always getting out of debt.
I have now, Sir, completed my answers to the questions proposed in your
letter of the 16th ult. It gives me pleasure to have had such an
auspicious opportunity of doing so. I cannot but hope for good to both
the parties concerned, where candor and civility have characterized
their representatives.
Part of the answer to your 13th question may seem to wander from the
strict terms of the question proposed. Let it be set down to a desire,
on my part, to give you all the information I can, at all germain to the
inquiry. The "proffer," made in my note to Mr. Calhoun, was not
"unguarded;"--nor was it _singular_. The information I have furnished
has been always accessible to our adversaries--even though the
application for it might not have been clothed in the polite and
gentlemanly terms which have so strongly recommended yours to the most
respectful consideration of
Your very obedient servant,
JAMES G. BIRNEY.
* * * * *
[In the Explanatory Remarks placed at the beginning of this
Correspondence, reasons were given, that were deemed sufficient, for not
publishing more of the letters that passed between Mr. Elmore and myself
than the two above. Since they were in type, I have received from Mr.
Elmore a communication, in reply to one from me, informing him that I
proposed limiting the publication to the two letters just mentioned. It
is dated May 19. The following extract shows that he entertains a
different opinion from mine, and thinks that justice to him requires
that _another_ of his letters should be included in the
Correspondence:--
"The order you propose in the publication is proper enough; the omission
of business and immaterial letters being perfectly proper, as they can
interest nobody. I had supposed my last letter would have formed an
exception to the rule, which excluded immaterial papers. It explained,
more fully than my first, my reasons for this correspondence, defined
the limits to _which I had prescribed myself_, and was a proper
accompaniment to _a publication_ of what _I_ had not written for
publication. Allow me, Sir, to say, that it will be but bare justice to
me that it should be printed with the other papers. I only suggest this
for your own consideration, for--adhering to my former opinions and
decision--I ask nothing and complain of nothing."
It is still thought that the publication of the letter alluded to is
unnecessary to the purpose of enlightening the public, as to the state,
prospects, &c, of the anti-slavery cause. It contains no denial of the
facts, nor impeachment of the statements, nor answer to the arguments,
presented in my communication. But as Mr. Elmore is personally
interested in this matter, and as it is intended to maintain the
consistent liberality which has characterized the Executive Committee in
all their intercourse with their opponents, the suggestion made by Mr.
Elmore is cheerfully complied with. The following is a copy of the
letter alluded to.--J.G.B.]
"WASHINGTON, May 5, 1838.
To JAMES G. BIRNEY, Esq., Cor. Sec. A.A.S.S.
SIR,--I have to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 1st
instant, in which you again refer to the publication of the
Correspondence between us, in relation to the measures and designs
of the abolitionists. I would have certainly answered yours of the
2d ult., on the same subject, more fully before this, had it not
escaped my recollection, in consequence [of] having been more
engaged than usual in the business before the House. I hope the
delay has been productive of no inconvenience.
If I correctly understand your letters above referred to, the
control of these papers, and the decision as to their publication,
have passed into the 'Executive Committee of the American
Anti-Slavery Society;' and, from their tenor, I infer that their
determination is so far made, that nothing I could object would
prevent it, if I desired to do so. I was certainly not apprised,
when I entered into this Correspondence, that its disposition was to
depend on any other will than yours and mine,--but that matters
nothing now,--you had the power, and I am not disposed to question
the right or propriety of its exercise. I heard of you as a man of
intelligence, sincerity, and truth,--who, although laboring in a bad
cause, did it with ability, and from a mistaken conviction of its
justice. As one of the Representatives of a slave-holding
constituency, and one of a committee raised by the Representatives
of the slave-holding States, to ascertain the intentions and
progress of your associations, I availed myself of the opportunity
offered by your character and situation, to propose to you inquiries
_as to facts_, which would make those _developments so important to
be known by our people_. My inquiries were framed to draw out _full
and authentic details_ of the organization, numbers, resources, and
designs of the abolitionists, of the means they resorted to for the
accomplishment of their ends, and the progress made, and making, in
their dangerous work, that all such information might be laid before
the _four millions and a half of white inhabitants in the slave
States, whose lives and property are menaced and endangered_ by this
ill-considered, misnamed, and disorganizing philanthropy. They
should be informed of the full length and breadth and depth of this
storm which is gathering over their heads, before it breaks in its
desolating fury. Christians and civilized, they are _now_
industrious, prosperous, and happy; but should your schemes of
abolition prevail, it will bring upon them overwhelming ruin, and
misery unutterable. The two races cannot exist together upon terms
of equality--the extirpation of one and the ruin of the other _would
be inevitable_. This humanity, conceived in wrong and born in civil
strife, would be baptized in a people's blood. It was, that our
people might know, in time to guard against the mad onset, the full
extent of this gigantic conspiracy and crusade against their
institutions; and of necessity upon their lives with which they must
sustain them; and their fortunes and prosperity, which _exist only
while these institutions exist_, that I was induced to enter into a
correspondence with you, who by your official station and
intelligence were known to be well informed on these points, and
from your well established character for candor and fairness, would
make no statements of facts which were not known or believed by you
to be true. To a great extent, my end has been accomplished by your
replies to my inquiries. How far, or whether at all, your answers
have run, beyond _the facts inquired for_, into theories, arguments,
and dissertations, as erroneous as mischievous, is not a matter of
present consideration. We differed no wider than I expected, but
that difference has been exhibited courteously, and has nothing to
do with the question of publication. Your object, or rather the
object of your Committee, is to publish; and I, having no reason to
desire it, as you have put me in possession of the facts I wished,
and no reason not to desire it, as there is nothing to conceal, will
leave yourself and the Committee to take your own course, neither
assenting nor dissenting, in what you may finally decide to do.
Very respectfully,
Your obedient servant,
F.H. Elmore."
[This letter of Mr. Elmore contains but little more than a reiteration
of alarming cries on the part of the slaveholder;--cries that are as old
as the earliest attempts of philanthropy to break the fetters of the
enslaved, and that have been repeated up to the present day, with a
boldness that seems to increase, as instances of emancipation multiply
to prove them groundless. Those who utter them seem, in their panic, not
only to overlook the most obvious laws of the human mind, and the lights
of experience, but to be almost unconscious of the great events
connected with slavery, that are now passing around them in the world,
and conspiring to bring about its early abrogation among all civilized
and commercial nations.
However _Christian, and civilized, industrious, prosperous and happy_,
the SLAVEHOLDERS of the South may be, this cannot be said of the SLAVES.
A large religious denomination of the state in which Mr. Elmore resides,
has deliberately pronounced them to be "HEATHEN." _Their_ "industry" is
seen at the end of the lash--of "prosperity" they have none, for they
cannot possess any thing that is an element of prosperity--their
"happiness" they prove, by running away from their masters, whenever
they think they can effect their escape. This is the condition of a
large _majority_ of the people in South Carolina, Mississippi and
Louisiana.
The "two races" exist in peace in Mexico,--in all the former South
American dependencies of Spain, in Antigua, in the Bermudas, in Canada,
in Massachusetts, in Vermont, in fine, in every country where they enjoy
_legal equality_. It is the _denial_ of this that produces discontent.
MEN will never be satisfied without it. Let the slaveholders consult the
irreversible laws of the human mind--make a full concession of right to
those from whom they have withheld it, and they will be blessed with a
peace, political, social, moral, beyond their present conceptions;
without such concessions they never can possess it.
A system that cannot withstand the assaults of truth--that replies to
arguments with threats--that cannot be "talked about"--that flourishes
in secrecy and darkness, and dies when brought forth into the light and
examined, must in this time of inexorable scrutiny and relentless
agitation, be a dangerous one. If _justice_ be done, all necessity for
the extirpation of any part of the people will at once be removed.
Baptisms _of blood_ are seen only when humanity has failed in her
offices, and the suffering discern hope only in the brute efforts
of despair.
Mr. Elmore is doubtless well versed in general history. To his vigorous
declamation, I reply by asking, if he can produce from the history of
our race a single instance, where emancipation, full and immediate, has
been followed, as a legitimate consequence, by insurrection or
bloodshed. I may go further, and ask him for a well authenticated
instance, where an emancipated slave, singly has imbrued his hands in
his master's blood. The first record of such an act in modern times, is
yet to be made.
Mr. Elmore says "the white inhabitants in the slave states should be
informed of the full length and breadth and depth of this storm which is
gathering over their heads, before it breaks in its desolating fury." In
this sentiment there is not a reasonable man in the country, be he
abolitionist or not, who will not coincide with him. We rejoice at the
evidence we here have, in a gentleman of the influence and intelligence
of Mr. Elmore, of the returning sanity of the South. How wildly and
mischievously has she been heretofore misled! Whilst the Governors of
Virginia, Alabama, Tennessee and Arkansas, have been repelling offers,
made in respectful terms, of the fullest and most authentic accounts of
our movements; and whilst Governor Butler of South Carolina, has not
only followed the example of his gubernatorial brethren just named, but
is found corresponding with an obscure culprit in Massachusetts--bribing
him with a few dollars, the sum he demanded for his fraudulent promise
to aid in thwarting the abolitionists[A]; whilst too, Mr. Calhoun has
been willing to pass laws to shut out from his constituents and the
South generally information that concerned them more nearly than all
others--we now have it from the highest source, from one selected by a
state delegation as its _representative_ in a general committee of the
whole slaveholding delegations, that the South ought to be "_informed of
the full length and breadth and depth_" of the measures, intentions, &c,
of the abolitionists. At this there is not an abolitionist who will not
rejoice. We ask for nothing but access to the popular mind of the South.
We feel full confidence in the eternal rectitude of our principles, and
of their reception at the South, when once they are understood. Let the
conflict come, let the truth of liberty fairly enter the lists with the
error of slavery, and we have not a doubt of a glorious triumph.
[Footnote A: Appendix H.]
May we not, after this, expect the aid of Mr. Elmore and others of equal
distinction in the South, in giving to their fellow-citizens the
information that we have always believed, and that they now acknowledge,
to be so, important to them?
_May 24, 1838_.
JAMES G. BIRNEY.]
APPENDIX.
* * * * *
APPENDIX A.
Extract from an article addressed to the editor of the Christian
Register and Observer, signed W.E.C.--attributed to the Rev.
Dr. Channing.
"Speaking of slavery, I wish to recommend to your readers a book
just from the press, entitled 'Emancipation in the West Indies,' and
written by J. A. Thome and J.H. Kimball, who had visited those
islands to inquire into the great experiment now going on there. I
regard it as the most important work which has appeared among us for
years. No man, without reading it, should undertake to pass judgment
on Emancipation. It is something more than a report of the
observation and opinions of the writers. It consists, chiefly, of
the opinions, conversations, letters, and other documents of the
very inhabitants of the islands whose judgments are most
trust-worthy; of the governors, special magistrates, police
officers, managers, attorneys, physicians, &c; and, in most cases,
the names of these individuals are given, so that we have the
strongest evidence of the correctness of the work.
The results of this great experiment surpass what the most sanguine
could have hoped. It is hardly possible that the trial could have
been made under more unfavorable circumstances. The planters on all
the islands were opposed to the Act of Emancipation, and, in most,
exceedingly and fiercely hostile to it, and utterly indisposed to
give it the best chance of success. The disproportion of the colored
race to the whites was fearfully great, being that of seven or eight
to one; whilst, in our slaveholding states, the whites outnumber the
colored people. The slaves of the West Indies were less civilized
than ours, and less fit to be trusted with their own support.
Another great evil was, that the proprietors, to a considerable
extent, were absentees; residing in England, and leaving the care of
their estates and slaves to managers and owners; the last people for
such a trust, and utterly unfit to carry the wretched victims of
their tyranny through the solemn transition from slavery to freedom.
To complete the unhappy circumstances under which the experiment
began, the Act of Emancipation was passed by a distant government,
having no intimate knowledge of the subject; and the consequence
was, that a system of 'Apprenticeship,' as it was called, was
adopted, so absurd, and betraying such ignorance of the principles
of human nature, that, did we not know otherwise, we might suspect
its author of intending to produce a failure. It was to witness the
results of an experiment promising so little good, that our authors
visited three islands, particularly worthy of examination--Antigua,
Barbadoes, and Jamaica.
Our authors went first to Antigua, an island which had been wise
enough to foresee the mischiefs of the proposed apprenticeship, and
had substituted for it immediate and unqualified emancipation. The
report given of this island is most cheering. It is, indeed, one of
the brightest records in history. The account, beginning page 143,
of the transition from slavery to freedom, can hardly be read by a
man of ordinary sensibility without a thrill of tender and holy joy.
Why is it not published in all our newspapers as among the most
interesting events of our age? From the accounts of Antigua, it
appears that immediate emancipation has produced only good. Its
fruits are, greater security, the removal of the fears which
accompany slavery, better and cheaper cultivation of the soil,
increased value of real estate, improved morals, more frequent
marriages, and fewer crimes. _The people proclaim, with one voice,
that emancipation is a blessing, and that nothing would tempt than
to revert to slavery._
Our authors proceeded next to Barbadoes, where the apprenticeship
system is in operation; and if any proof were needed of the docility
and good dispositions of the negroes, it would be found in their
acquiescence to so wonderful a degree in this unhappy arrangement.
The planters on this island have been more disposed, than could have
been anticipated, to make the best of this system, and here,
accordingly, the same fruits of the Act of Emancipation are found as
in Antigua, though less abundant; and a very general and strong
conviction prevails of the happiness of the change.
In Jamaica, apprenticeship manifests its worst tendencies. The
planters of this island were, from first to last, furious in their
hostility to the act of emancipation; and the effort seems to have
been, to make the apprenticeship bear as heavily as possible on the
colored people; so that, instead of preparing them for complete
emancipation, it has rather unfitted them for this boon. Still,
under all these disadvantages, there is strong reason for expecting,
that emancipation, when it shall come, will prove a great good. At
any rate, it is hardly possible for the slaves to fall into a more
deplorable condition, than that in which this interposition of
parliament found them.
The degree of success which has attended this experiment in the
West Indies, under such unfavorable auspices, makes us sure, that
emancipation in this country, accorded by the good will of the
masters, would be attended with the happiest effects. One thing is
plain, that it would be perfectly _safe_. Never were the West Indies
so peaceful and secure as since emancipation. So far from general
massacre and insurrection, not an instance is recorded or intimated
of violence of any kind being offered to a white man. Our authors
were continually met by assurances of security on the part of the
planters, so that, in this respect at least, emancipation has been
unspeakable gain. The only obstacle to emancipation is, therefore,
removed; for nothing but well grounded fears of violence and crime
can authorize a man to encroach one moment on another's freedom.
The subject of this book is of great interest at the present
moment. Slavery, in the abstract, has been thoroughly discussed
among us. We all agree that it is a great wrong. Not a voice is here
lifted up in defence of the system, when viewed in a general light.
We only differ when we come to apply our principles to a particular
case. The only question is, whether the Southern states can abolish
slavery consistently with the public safety, order, and peace? Many,
very many well disposed people, both at the North and South, are
possessed with vague fears of massacre and universal misrule, as the
consequences of emancipation. Such ought to inquire into the ground
of their alarm. They are bound to listen to the voice of _facts_,
and such are given in this book. None of us have a right to make up
our minds without inquiry, or to rest in opinions adopted indolently
and without thought. It is a great crime to doom millions of our
race to brutal degradation, on the ground of unreasonable fears. The
power of public opinion is here irresistible, and to this power
every man contributes something; so that every man, by his spirit
and language, helps to loosen or rivet the chains of the slave."
* * * * *
The following sentiments are expressed by GOVERNOR EVERETT, of
Massachusetts, in a letter to EDMUND QUINCY, Esq., dated
"Boston, April 29, 1838.
DEAR SIR,--I have your favor of the 21st, accompanied with the
volume containing the account of the tour of Messrs. Thome and
Kimball in the West Indies, for which you will be pleased to accept
my thanks. I have perused this highly interesting narrative with the
greatest satisfaction. From the moment of the passage of the law,
making provision for the immediate or prospective abolition of
slavery in the British colonial possessions, I have looked with the
deepest solicitude for tidings of its operation. The success of the
measure, as it seemed to me, would afford a better hope than had
before existed, that a like blessing might be enjoyed by those
portions of the United States where slavery prevails. The only
ground on which I had been accustomed to hear the continuance of
slavery defended at the South, was that of necessity, and the
impossibility of abolishing it without producing consequences of the
most disastrous character to both parties. The passage of a law
providing for the emancipation of nearly a million of slaves in the
British colonies, seemed to afford full opportunity of bringing this
momentous question to the decisive test of experience. _If the
result proved satisfactory, I have never doubted that it would seal
the fate of slavery throughout the civilised world_. As far as the
observations of Messrs. Thome and Kimball extended, the result is of
the most gratifying character. It appears to place beyond a doubt,
that the experiment of immediate emancipation, adopted by the
colonial Legislature of Antigua, has fully succeeded in that island;
and the plan of apprenticeship in other portions of the West Indies,
as well as could have been expected from the obvious inherent vices
of that measure. _It has given me new views of the practicability of
emancipation_. It has been effected in Antigua, as appears from
unquestionable authorities contained in the work of Messrs. Thome
and Kimball, not merely _without danger_ to the master, but without
any sacrifice of his _interest_. I cannot but think that the
information collected in the volume will have a powerful effect on
public opinion, not only in the northern states, but in the
slaveholding states."
GOVERNOR ELLSWORTH, of Connecticut, writes thus to A.F. WILLIAMS, Esq.,
of this city:--
"NEW HAVEN, _May_ 19, 1838.
MY DEAR SIR,--Just before I left home, I received from you the
Journal of Thome and Kimball, for which token of friendship I
intended to have made you my acknowledgments before this; but I
wished first to read the book. As far as time would permit, I have
gone over most of its pages; and let me assure you, it is justly
calculated to produce great effects, provided you can once get it
into the hands of the planters. Convince _them_ that their
interests, as well as their security, will be advanced by employing
free blacks, and emancipation will be accomplished without
difficulty or delay.
I have looked with great interest at the startling measure of
emancipation in Antigua; but if this book is correct, the question
is settled as to that island beyond a doubt, since there is such
accumulated testimony from all classes, that the business and real
estate of the island have advanced, by reason of the emancipation,
one fourth, at least, in value; while personal security, without
military force, is felt by the former masters, and contentment,
industry, and gratitude, are seen in those who were slaves.
The great moral example of England, in abolishing slavery in the
West Indies, will produce a revolution on this subject throughout
the world, and put down slavery in every Christian country.
With sentiments of high esteem, &c,
W. W. ELLSWORTH."
* * * * *
APPENDIX B.
A short time previous to the late election in Rhode Island for governor
and lieutenant-governor, a letter was addressed to each of the
candidates for those offices by Mr. Johnson, Corresponding Secretary of
the Rhode Island Anti-Slavery Society, embodying the views of the
abolitionists on the several subjects it embraced, in a series of
queries. Their purport will appear from the answer of Mr. Sprague, (who
was elected governor,) given below. The answer of Mr. Childs (elected
lieutenant-governor) is fully as direct as that of governor Sprague.
"WARWICK, _March 28, 1838_.
DEAR SIR,--Your favor of the 19th inst. requesting of me, in
conformity to a resolution of the Executive Committee of the Rhode
Island Anti-Slavery Society, an expression of my opinions on certain
topics, was duly received. I have no motive whatever for withholding
my opinions on any subject which is interesting to any portion of my
fellow-citizens. I will, therefore, cheerfully proceed to reply to
the interrogatories proposed, and in the order in which they are
submitted.
1. Among the powers vested by the Constitution in Congress, is the
power to exercise exclusive legislation, 'in all cases whatsoever,'
over the District of Columbia? 'All cases' must, of course, include
the _case_ of slavery and the slave-trade. I am, therefore, clearly
of opinion, that the Constitution does confer upon Congress the
power to abolish slavery and the slave-trade in that District; and,
as they are great moral and political evils, the principles of
justice and humanity demand the exercise of that power.
2. The traffic in slaves, whether foreign or domestic, is equally
obnoxious to every principle of justice and humanity; and, as
Congress has exercised its powers to suppress the slave-trade
between this country and foreign nations, it ought, as a matter of
consistency and justice, to exercise the same powers to suppress the
slave-trade between the states of this Union. The slave-trade within
the states is, undoubtedly, beyond the control of Congress; as the
'sovereignty of each state, to legislate exclusively on the subject
of slavery, which is tolerated within its limits,' is, I believe,
universally conceded. The Constitution unquestionably recognises the
sovereign power of each state to legislate on the subject within its
limits; but it imposes on us no obligation to add to the evils of
the system by countenancing the traffic between the states. That
which our laws have solemnly pronounced to be piracy in our foreign
intercourse, no sophistry can make honorable or justifiable in a
domestic form. For a proof of the feelings which this traffic
naturally inspires, we need but refer to the universal execration in
which the slave-dealer is held in those portions of the country
where the institution of slavery is guarded with the most jealous
vigilance.
3. Congress has no power to abridge the right of petition. The
right of the people of the non-slaveholding states to petition
Congress for the abolition of slavery and the slave-trade in the
District of Columbia, and the traffic of human beings among the
states, is as undoubted as any right guarantied by the Constitution;
and I regard the Resolution which was adopted by the House of
Representatives on the 21st of December last as a virtual denial of
that right, inasmuch as it disposed of all such petitions, as might
be presented thereafter, in advance of presentation and reception.
If it was right thus to dispose of petitions on _one_ subject, it
would be equally right to dispose of them in the same manner on
_all_ subjects, and thus cut of all communication, by petition
between the people and their representatives. Nothing can be more
clearly a violation of the spirit of the Constitution, as it
rendered utterly nugatory a right which was considered of such vast
importance as to be specially guarantied in that sacred instrument.
A similar Resolution passed the House of Representatives at the
first session of the last Congress, and as I then entertained the
same views which I have now expressed, I recorded my vote
against it.
4. I fully concur in the sentiment, that 'every principle of
justice and humanity requires, that every human being, when personal
freedom is at stake, should have the benefit of a jury trial;' and I
have no hesitation in saying, that the laws of this state ought to
secure that benefit, so far as they can, to persons claimed as
fugitives from 'service or labor,' without interfering with the laws
of the United States. The course pursued in relation to this subject
by the Legislature of Massachusetts meets my approbation.
5. I am opposed to all attempts to abridge or restrain the freedom
of speech and the press, or to forbid any portion of the people
peaceably to assemble to discuss any subject--moral, political, or
religious.
6. I am opposed to the annexation of Texas to the United States.
7. It is undoubtedly inconsistent with the principles of a free
state, professing to be governed in its legislation by the
principles of freedom, to sanction slavery, in any form, within its
jurisdiction. If we have laws in this state which bear this
construction, they ought to be repealed. We should extend to our
southern brethren, whenever they may have occasion to come among us,
all the privileges and immunities enjoyed by our own citizens, and
all the rights and privileges guarantied to them by the Constitution
of the United States; but they cannot expect of us to depart from
the fundamental principles of civil liberty for the purpose of
obviating any temporal inconvenience which they may experience.
These are my views upon the topics proposed for my consideration.
They are the views which I have always entertained, (at least ever
since I have been awakened to their vast importance,) and which I
have always supported, so far as I could, by my vote in Congress;
and if, in any respect, my answers have not been sufficiently
explicit, it will afford me pleasure to reply to any other questions
which you may think proper to propose.
I am, Sir, very respectfully,
Your friend and fellow citizen,
WILLIAM SPRAGUE."
Oliver Johnson, Esq., Cor. Sec. R.I.A.S. Society.
APPENDIX C.
The abolitionists in Connecticut petitioned the Legislature of that
state at its late session on several subjects deemed by them proper for
legislative action. In answer to these petitions--
1. The law known as the "Black Act" or the "Canterbury law"--under which
Miss Crandall was indicted and tried--was repealed, except a single
provision, which is not considered objectionable.
2. The right to _trial by jury_ was secured to persons who are claimed
as slaves.
3. Resolutions were passed asserting the power of Congress to abolish
slavery in the District of Columbia, and recommending that it be done as
soon as it can be, "consistently with the _best good_ of the _whole
country_."(!)
4. Resolutions were passed protesting against the annexation of Texas to
the Union.
5. Resolutions were passed asserting the right of petition as
inalienable--condemning Mr. Patton's resolution of Dec. 21, 1837 as an
invasion of the rights of the people, and calling on the Connecticut
delegation in Congress to use their efforts to have the same rescinded.
* * * * *
APPENDIX D.
In the year 1793 there were but 5,000,000 pounds of cotton produced in
the United States, and but 500,000 exported. Cotton never could have
become an article of much commercial importance under the old method of
preparing it for market. By hand-picking, or by a process strictly
_manual_, a cultivator could not prepare for market, during the year,
more than from 200 to 300 pounds; being only about one-tenth of what he
could cultivate to maturity in the field. In '93 Mr. Whitney invented
the Cotton-gin now in use, by which the labor of at least _one thousand_
hands under the old system, is performed by _one_, in preparing the crop
for market. Seven years after the invention (1800) 35,000,000 pounds
were raised, and 17,800,000 exported. In 1834, 460,000,000 were
raised--384,750,000 exported. Such was the effect of Mr. Whitney's
invention. It gave, at once, extraordinary value to the _land_ in that
part of the country where alone cotton could be raised; and to _slaves_,
because it was the general, the almost universal, impression that the
cultivation of the South could be carried on only by slaves. There being
no _free_ state in the South, competition between free and slave labor
never could exist on a scale sufficiently extensive to prove the
superiority of the former in the production of cotton, and in the
preparation of it for market.
Thus, it has happened that Mr. Whitney has been the innocent occasion of
giving to slavery in this country its present importance--of magnifying
it into the great interest to which all others must yield. How he was
rewarded by the South--especially by the planters of Georgia--the reader
may see by consulting Silliman's Journal for January, 1832, and the
Encyclopedia Americana, article, WHITNEY.
* * * * *
APPENDIX E.
It is impossible, of course, to pronounce with precision, how great
would have been the effect in favor of emancipation, if the effort to
resist the admission of Missouri as a slaveholding state had been
successful. We can only conjecture what it would have been, by the
effect its admission has had in fostering slavery up to its present huge
growth and pretensions. If the American people had shown, through their
National legislature, a _sincere_ opposition to slavery by the rejection
of Missouri, it is probable at least--late as it was--that the early
expiration of the 'system' would, by this time, have been discerned
by all men.
When the Constitution was formed, the state of public sentiment even in
the South--with the exception of South Carolina and Georgia, was
favorable to emancipation. Under the influence of this public sentiment
was the Constitution formed. No person at all versed in constitutional
or legal interpretation--with his judgment unaffected by interest or any
of the prejudices to which the existing controversy has given
birth--could, it is thought, construe the Constitution, _in its letter_,
as intending to perpetuate slavery. To come to such a conclusion with a
full knowledge of what was the mind of this nation in regard to slavery,
when that instrument was made, demonstrates a moral or intellectual flaw
that makes all reasoning useless.
Although it is a fact beyond controversy in our history, that the power
conferred by the Constitution on Congress to "regulate commerce with
foreign nations" was known to include the power of abolishing the
African slave-trade--and that it was expected that Congress, at the end
of the period for which the exercise of that power on this particular
subject was restrained, would use it (as it did) _with a view to the
influence that the cutting off of that traffic would have on the
"system" in this country_--yet, such has been the influence of the action
of Congress on all matters with which slavery has been mingled--more
especially on the Missouri question, in which slavery was the sole
interest--that an impression has been produced on the popular mind, that
the Constitution of the United States _guaranties_, and consequently
_perpetuates_, slavery to the South. Most artfully, incessantly, and
powerfully, has this lamentable error been harped on by the
slaveholders, and by their advocates in the free states. The impression
of _constitutional favor_ to the slaveholders would, of itself,
naturally create for them an undue and disproportionate influence in the
control of the government; but when to this is added the arrogance that
the possession of irresponsible power almost invariably engenders in its
possessors--their overreaching assumptions--the contempt that the
slaveholders entertain for the great body of the _people_ of the North,
it has almost delivered over the government, bound neck and heels, into
the hands of slaveholding politicians--to be bound still more
rigorously, or unloosed, as may seem well in their discretion.
Who can doubt that, as a nation, we should have been more honorable and
influential abroad--more prosperous and united at home--if Kentucky, at
the very outset of this matter, had been refused admission to the Union
until she had expunged from her Constitution the covenant with
oppression? She would not have remained out of the Union a single year
on that account. If the worship of Liberty had not been exchanged for
that of Power--if her principles had been successfully maintained in
this first assault, their triumph in every other would have been easy.
We should not have had a state less in the confederacy, and slavery
would have been seen, at this time, shrunk up to the most contemptible
dimensions, if it had not vanished entirely away. But we have furnished
another instance to be added to the long and melancholy list already
existing, to prove that,--
"facilis descensus Averni,
Sed revocare gradum
Hoc opus hic labor est,"
if _poetry_ is not _fiction_.
Success in the Missouri struggle--late as it was--would have placed the
cause of freedom in our country out of the reach of danger from its
inexorable foe. The principles of liberty would have struck deeper root
in the free states, and have derived fresh vigor from such a triumph. If
these principles had been honored by the government from that period to
the present, (as they would have been, had the free states, even then,
assumed their just preponderance in its administration,) we should now
have, in Missouri herself, a healthful and vigorous ally in the cause of
freedom; and, in Arkansas, a free people--_twice_ her present
numbers--pressing on the confines of slavery, and summoning the keepers
of the southern charnel-house to open its doors, that its inmates might
walk forth, in a glorious resurrection to liberty and life. Although
young, as a people, we should be, among the nations, venerable for our
virtue; and we should exercise an influence on the civilized and
commercial world that we most despair of possessing, as long as we
remain vulnerable to every shaft that malice, or satire, or philanthropy
may find it convenient to hurl against us.[A]
[Footnote A: A comic piece--the production of one of the most popular of
the French writers in his way--had possession of the Paris stage last
winter. When one of the personages SEPARATES HUSBAND AND WIFE, he cries
out, "BRAVO! THIS IS THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE OF THE UNITED
STATES!" [Bravo! C'est la Declaration d'Independence des Etats Unis.]
One of our distinguished College-professors, lately on a tour in Europe,
had his attention called, while passing along the street of a German
city, to the pictorial representation of a WHITE MAN SCOURGING A
SUPPLICATING COLORED FEMALE, with this allusion underwritten:--"A
SPECIMEN OF EQUALITY--FROM REPUBLICAN AMERICA."
Truly might our countryman have exclaimed in the language, if not with
the generous emotions of the Trojan hero, when he beheld the noble deeds
of his countrymen pencilled in a strange land--
--"Quis jam locus--
Quae regio in terris nostri non plena laboris?"
]
Instead of being thus seated on a "heaven-kissing hill," and seen of all
in its pure radiance; instead of enjoying its delightful airs, and
imparting to them the healthful savor of justice, truth, mercy,
magnanimity, see what a picture we present;--our cannibal burnings of
human beings--our Lynch courts--our lawless scourgings and capital
executions, not only of slaves, but of freemen--our demoniac mobs raging
through the streets of our cities and large towns at midday as well as
at midnight, shedding innocent blood, devastating property, and applying
the incendiaries' torch to edifices erected and dedicated to FREE
DISCUSSION--the known friends of order, of law, of liberty, of the
Constitution--citizens, distinguished for their worth at home, and
reflecting honor on their country abroad, shut out from more than half
our territory, or visiting it at the hazard of their lives, or of the
most degrading and painful personal inflictions--freedom of speech and
of the press overthrown and hooted at--the right of petition struck down
in Congress, where, above all places, it ought to have been maintained
to the last--the people mocked at, and attempted to be gagged by their
own servants--the time the office-honored veteran, who fearlessly
contended for the _right_, publicly menaced for words spoken in his
place as a representative of the people, with an indictment by a
slaveholding grand jury--in fine, the great principles of government
asserted by our fathers in the Declaration of Independence, and embodied
in our Constitution, with which they won for us the sympathy, the
admiration of the world--all forgotten, dishonoured, despised, trodden
under foot! And this for slavery!!
Horrible catalogue!--yet by no means a complete one--for so young a
nation, boasting itself, too, to be the freest on earth! It is the ripe
fruit of that _chef d'oeuvre_ of political skill and patriotic
achievement--the MISSOURI COMPROMISE.
Another such compromise--or any compromise now with slavery--and the
nation is undone.
APPENDIX F.
The following is believed to be a correct exhibit of the legislative
resolutions against the annexation of Texas--of the times at which they
were passed, and of the _votes_ by which they were passed:--
1. VERMONT.
"1. _Resolved, By the Senate and House of Representatives_, That our
Senators in Congress be instructed, and our Representatives
requested, to use their influence in that body to prevent the
annexation of Texas to the Union.
2. _Resolved_, That representing, as we do, the people of Vermont,
we do hereby, in their name, SOLEMNLY PROTEST against such
annexation in any form."
[Passed unanimously, Nov. 1, 1837.]
2. RHODE ISLAND.
(_In General Assembly, October Session, A. D. 1837_.)
"Whereas the compact of the Union between these states was entered
into by the people thereof in their respective states, 'in order to
form a more perfect Union, establish justice, ensure domestic
tranquillity, provide for the common defence, promote the general
welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to themselves and their
posterity;' and, therefore, a Representative Government was
instituted by them, with certain limited powers, clearly specified
and defined in the Constitution--all other powers, not therein
expressly relinquished, being 'reserved to the states respectively,
or to the people.'
And whereas this limited government possesses no power to extend
its jurisdiction over any foreign nation, and no foreign nation,
country, or people, can be admitted into this Union but by the
sovereign will and act of the free people of all and each of these
United States, nor without the formation of a new compact of
Union--and another frame of government radically different, in
objects, principles, and powers, from that which was framed for our
own self-government, and deemed to be adequate to all the exigencies
of our own free republic:--
Therefore, Resolved, That we have witnessed, with deep concern, the
indications of a disposition to bring into this Union, as a
constituent member thereof, the foreign province or territory
of Texas.
Resolved, That, although we are fully aware of the consequences
which must follow the accomplishment of such a project, could it be
accomplished--aware that it would lead speedily to the conquest and
annexation of Mexico itself, and its fourteen remaining provinces or
intendencies--which, together with the revolted province of Texas,
would furnish foreign territories and foreign people for at least
twenty members of the new Union; that the government of a nation so
extended and so constructed would soon become radically [changed] in
character, if not in form--would unavoidably become a military
government; and, under the plea of necessity, would free itself from
the restraints of the Constitution and from its accountability to
the people. That the ties of kindred, common origin and common
interests, which have so long bound this people together, and would
still continue to bind them: these ties, which ought to be held
sacred by all true Americans, would be angrily dissolved, and
sectional political combinations would be formed with the newly
admitted foreign states, unnatural and adverse to the peace and
prosperity of the country. The civil government, with all the
arbitrary powers it might assume, would be unable to control the
storm. The usurper would find himself in his proper element; and,
after acting the patriot and the hero for a due season, as the only
means of rescuing the country from the ruin which he had chiefly
contributed to bring upon it, would reluctantly and modestly allow
himself to be declared 'Protector of the Commonwealth.'
We are now fully aware of the deep degradation into which the
republic would sink itself in the eyes of the whole world, should it
annex to its own vast territories other and foreign territories of
immense though unknown extent, for the purpose of encouraging the
propagation of slavery, and giving aid to the raising of slaves
within its own bosom, the very bosom of freedom, to be esported and
sold in those unhallowed regions. Although we are fully aware of
these fearful evils, and numberless others which would come in their
train, yet we do not here dwell upon them; because we are here
firmly convinced that the free people of most, and we trust of all
these states, will never suffer the admission of the foreign
territory of Texas into this Union as a constituent member
thereof--will never suffer the integrity of this Republic to be
violated, either by the introduction and addition to it of foreign
nations or territories, one or many, or by dismemberment of it by
the transfer of any one or more of its members to a foreign nation.
The people will be aware, that should one foreign state or country
be introduced, another and another may be, without end, whether
situated in South America, in the West India islands, or in any
other part of the world; and that a single foreign state, thus
admitted, might have in its power, by holding the balance between
contending parties, to wrest their own government from the hands and
control of the people, by whom it was established for their own
benefit and self-government. We are firmly convinced, that the free
people of these states will look upon any attempt to introduce the
foreign territory of Texas, or any other foreign territory or nation
into this Union, as a constituent member or members thereof, as
manifesting a willingness to prostrate the Constitution and dissolve
the Union.
Resolved, That His Excellency, the Governor, be requested to
forward a copy of the foregoing resolutions to each of our Senators
and Representatives in Congress, and to each of the Executives of
the several states, with a request that the same may be laid before
the respective Legislatures of said states."
[The Preamble and Resolutions were unanimously adopted, Nov. 3, 1837.]
3. OHIO.
"_Resolved, by the General Assembly of the State of Ohio_, That in
the name, and on behalf of the people of the State of Ohio, we do
hereby SOLEMNLY PROTEST against the annexation of Texas to the Union
of these United States.
_And be it further resolved_, That the Governor be requested to
transmit to each of our Senators and Representatives in Congress,
and to the Governors of each of the States, a copy of the foregoing
resolution, with a statement of the votes by which it was passed in
each branch of the Legislature."
[Passed by 64 out of 72, the whole number in the House of
Representatives--unanomously in the Senate. Feb. 24, 1838.]
4. MASSACHUSETTS.
"Resolves against the annexation of Texas to the United States.
Whereas a proposition to admit into the United States as a
constituent member thereof, the foreign nation of Texas, has been
recommended by the legislative resolutions of several States, and
brought before Congress for its approval and sanction; and whereas
such a measure would involve great wrong to Mexico, and otherwise be
of evil precedent, injurious to the interests and dishonorable to
the character of this country; and whereas its avowed objects are
doubly fraught with peril to the prosperity and permanence of this
Union, as tending to disturb and destroy the conditions of those
compromises and concessions, entered into at the formation of the
Constitution, by which the relative weights of different sections
and interests were adjusted, and to strengthen and extend the evils
of a system which is unjust in itself, in striking contrast with the
theory of our institutions, and condemned by the moral sentiment of
mankind; and whereas the people of these United States have not
granted to any or all of the departments of their Government, but
have retained in themselves, the only power adequate to the
admission of a foreign nation into this confederacy; therefore,
_Resolved_, That we, the Senate and House of Representatives, in
General Court assembled, do in the name of the people of
Massachusetts, earnestly and solemnly protest against the
incorporation of Texas into this Union, and declare, that no act
done or compact made, for such purpose by the government of the
United States, will be binding on the States or the People.
_Resolved_, That his Excellency the Governor be requested to
forward a copy of these resolutions and the accompanying report to
the Executive of the United States, and the Executive of each State
and also to each of our Senators and Representatives in Congress,
with a request that they present the resolves to both Houses of
Congress."
[Passed MARCH 16, 1838, UNANIMOUSLY, in both Houses.]
* * * * *
5. MICHIGAN.
Whereas, propositions have been made for the annexation of Texas to the
United States, with a view to its ultimate incorporation into the Union:
"And whereas, the extension of this General Government over so large
a country on the south-west, between which and that of the original
states, there is little affinity, and less identity of interest,
would tend, in the opinion of this Legislature, greatly to disturb
the safe and harmonious operations of the Government of the United
States, and put in imminent danger the continuance of this happy
Union: Therefore,
_Be it resolved, by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
State of Michigan_, That in behalf, and in the name of the State of
Michigan, this Legislature doth hereby dissent from, and solemnly
protest against the annexation, for any purpose, to this Union, of
Texas, or of any other territory or district of country, heretofore
constituting a part of the dominions of Spain in America, lying west
or south-west of Louisiana.
And be it further Resolved, by the Authority aforesaid, That the
Governor of this State be requested to transmit a copy of the
foregoing preamble and resolve, under the great seal of this state,
to the President of the United States; also, that he transmit one
copy thereof, authenticated in manner aforesaid, to the President of
the Senate of the United States, with the respectful request of this
Legislature, that the same may be laid before the Senate; also, that
he transmit one copy thereof to the Speaker of the House of
Representatives of the United States, authenticated in like manner,
with the respectful request of this Legislature, that the same may
be laid before the House of Representatives; and also, that he
transmit to each of our Senators and Representatives in Congress,
one copy thereof, together with the Report adopted by this
Legislature, and which accompanies said preamble and resolves."
[Passed nearly if not quite unanimously, April 2, 1838].
* * * * *
6. CONNECTICUT.
"_Resolved_, That we, the Senate and House of Representatives in
General Assembly convened, do, in the name of the people of this
State, solemnly _protest_ against the annexation of Texas to
this Union."
[Passed, it is believed, unanimously in both houses.]
* * * * *
(Those which follow were passed by but one branch of the respective
Legislatures in which they were introduced.)
7. PENNSYLVANIA.
_Resolutions relative to the admission of Texas into the Union._
"_Whereas_ the annexation of Texas to the United States has been
advocated and strongly urged by many of our fellow-citizens,
particularly in the southern part of our country, and the president
of Texas has received authority to open a correspondence with, and
appoint, a commissioner to our government to accomplish the
object;--_And whereas_ such a measure would bring to us a dangerous
extension of territory, with a population generally not desirable,
and would probably involve us in war;--_And whereas_ the subject is
now pressed upon and agitated in Congress; therefore,
_Resolved_, &c, That our Senators in Congress be instructed, and
our Representatives requested, to use their influence and vote
against the annexation of Texas to the territory of the
united States.
_Resolved_, That the Governor transmit to each of our Senators and
Representatives a copy of the foregoing preamble and resolutions."
[Passed the Senate March 9, 1835, by 22 to 6. Postponed indefinitely in
the House of Representatives, April 13, by 41 to 39.]
* * * * *
8. MAINE.
"_Resolved_, That the Legislature of the State of Maine, on behalf
of the people of said state, do earnestly and solemnly protest
against the annexation of the Republic of Texas to these United
States; and that our Senators and Representatives in Congress be,
and they hereby are, requested to exert their utmost influence to
prevent the adoption of a measure at once so clearly
unconstitutional, and so directly calculated to disturb our foreign
relations, to destroy our domestic peace, and to dismember our
blessed Union."
[Passed in the House of Representatives, March 22, 1838, by 85 to 30.
Senate (same day) refused to concur by 11 to 10.]
* * * * *
9. NEW-YORK.
"_Resolved_, (if the Senate concur,) That the admission of the
Republic of Texas into this Union would be entirely repugnant to the
will of the people of this state, and would endanger the union of
these United States.
_Resolved_, (if the Senate concur,) That this Legislature do, in
the name of the people of the State of New York, solemnly protest
against the admission of the Republic of Texas into this Union.
_Resolved_, (if the Senate concur.) That his Excellency the Governor
be requested to transmit a copy of the foregoing resolutions to each
of our Senators and Representatives in Congress, and also to the
governors of each of the United States, with a request that the same
be laid before their respective Legislatures."
[These resolutions passed the House of Representatives in April, by a
large majority--the newspapers say, 83 to 13. They were indefinitely
postponed in the Senate, by a vote of 21 to 9.]
* * * * *
APPENDIX G.
The number of petitioners for abolition in the District of Columbia, and
on other subjects allied to it, have been ascertained (in the House of
Representatives) to be as follows:--
Men. Women. Total.
For abolition in the District, 51,366 78,882 130,248
Against the annexation of Texas, 104,973 77,419 182,392
Rescinding the gag resolution, 21,015 10,821 31,836
Against admitting any new slave state, 11,770 10,391 22,161
For abolition of the slave-trade
between the states, 11,864 11,541 23,405
For abolition of slavery in the
territories, 9,129 12,083 21,212
At the extra session for rescinding
the gag resolution of Jan. 21, 1837, 3,377 3,377
----------------------------
Total, 213,494 201,137 414,631
The number in the Senate, where some difficulty was interposed that
prevented its being taken, is estimated to have been about two-thirds as
great as that in the House.
* * * * *
APPENDIX H.
[On the 1st of December, one of the secretaries of the American
Anti-Slavery Society addressed a note to each of the Governors of the
slave states, in which he informed them, in courteous and respectful
terms, that he had directed the Publishing Agent of this society,
thereafter regularly to transmit to them, free of charge, the periodical
publications issued from the office of the society. To this offer the
following replies were received:--]
GOVERNOR CAMPBELL'S LETTER.
JAMES G. BIRNEY, Esq., _New York_
"RICHMOND, _Dec. 4, 1837_.
SIR,--I received, by yesterday's mail, your letter of the 1st
instant, in which you state that you had directed the publishing
agent of the American Anti-Slavery Society, hereafter, regularly to
transmit, free of charge, by mail, to all the governors of the slave
states, the periodical publications issued from that office.
Regarding your society as highly mischievous, I decline receiving
any communications from it, and must request that no publications
from your office be transmitted to me.
I am, &c,
DAVID CAMPBELL."
* * * * *
GOVERNOR BAGBY'S LETTER.
"TUSCALOOSA, _Jan. 6, 1838_
SIR,--I received, by due course of mail, your favor of the 1st of
December, informing me that you had directed the publishing agent of
the American Anti-Slavery Society to forward to the governors of the
slaveholding states the periodicals issued from that office. Taking
it for granted, that the only object which the society or yourself
could have in view, in adopting this course, is, the dissemination
of the opinions and principles of the society--having made up my own
opinion, unalterably, in relation to the whole question of slavery,
as it exists in a portion of the United States, and feeling
confident that, in the correctness of this opinion, I am sustained
by the entire free white population of Alabama, as well as the great
body of the people of this Union, I must, with the greatest respect
for yourself, personally but not for the opinions or principles
advocated by the society--positively decline receiving said
publications, or any others of a similar character, either
personally or officially. Indeed, it is presuming a little too much,
to expect that the chief magistrate of a free people, elected by
themselves, would hold correspondence or give currency to the
publications of an organized society, openly engaged in a scheme
fraught with more mischievous consequences to their interest and
repose, than any that the wit or folly of mankind has
heretofore devised.
I am, very respectfully,
Your ob't servant,
A.P. BAGBY"
JAMES G. BIRNEY, _Esq., New York_.
* * * * *
GOVERNOR CANNON'S LETTER.
[This letter required so many alterations to bring it up to the ordinary
standard of epistolary, grammatical, and orthographical accuracy, that
it is thought best to give it in _word_ and _letter_, precisely as it
was received at the office.]
"EXECUTIVE DEPT.--
NASHVILLE. _Dec. 12th, 1837_.
Sir
I have rec'd yours of the 1st Inst notifying me, that you had
directed, your periodical publications, on the subject of Slavery to
be sent to me free of charge &c--and you are correct, if sincere, in
your views, in supposing that we widely differ, on this subject, we
do indeed widely differ, on it, if the publications said to have
emanated from you, are honest and sincere, which, I admit,
is possible.
My opinions are fix'd and settled, and I seldom Look into or
examine, the, different vague notions of others who write and
theorise on that subject. Hence I trust you will not expect me to
examine, what you have printed on this subject, or cause to have
printed. If you or any other man are influenced by feelings of
humanity, and are laboring to relieve the sufferings, of the human
race, you may find objects enough immediately around you, where you
are, in any nonslaveholding State, to engage your, attention, and
all your exertions, in that good cause.
But if your aim is to make a flourish on the subject, before the
world, and to gain yourself some notoriety, or distinction, without,
doing good to any, and evil to many, of the human race, you are,
pursuing the course calculated to effect. Such an object, in which
no honest man need envy. Your honours, thus gaind, I know there are
many such in our country, but would fain hope, you are not one of
them. If you have Lived, as you state forty years in a Slave holding
State, you know that, that class of its population, are not the
most, miserable, degraded, or unhappy, either in their feelings or
habits, You know they are generally governd, and provided for by men
of information and understanding sufficient to guard them against
the most, odious vices, and hibets of the country, from which, you
know the slaves are in a far greater degree, exempt than, are other
portions of the population. That the slaves are the most happy,
moral and contented generally, and free from suffering of any kind,
having, each full confidence, in his masters, skill means and
disposition to provide well for him, knowing also at the same time
that _it is his interest to do it_. Hence in this State of Society
more than any other, Superior intelligence has the ascendency, in
governing and provideing, for the wants of those inferior, also in
giveing direction to their Labour, and industry, as should be the
case, superior intelligence Should govern, when united with Virtue,
and interest, that great predominating principle in all human
affairs. It is my rule of Life, when I see any man labouring to
produce effects, at a distance from him, while neglecting the
objects immediately around him, (in doing good) to suspect his
sincerity, to suspect him for some selfish, or sinister motive, all
is not gold that glitters, and every man is not what he, endeavours
to appear to be, is too well known. It is the duty of masters to
take care of there slaves and provide for them, and this duty I
believe is as generally and as fully complyd with as any other duty
enjoind on the human family, for next to their children their own
offspring, their slaves stand next foremost in their care and
attention, there are indeed very few instances of a contrary
character.
You can find around you, I doubt not a large number of persons
intemix'd, in your society, who are entirely destitute of that care,
and attention, towards them that is enjoyed by our slaves, and who
are destitute of that deep feeling of interest, in guarding their
morals and habits, and directing them through Life in all things,
which is here enjoyd by our slaves, to those let your efforts be
directed immediately around you and do not trouble with your vague
speculations those who are contented and happy, at a distance
from you.
Very respectfully yours,
N. CANNON."
Mr. JAS. G. BIRNEY, _Cor. Sec._ &c.
* * * * *
[The letter of the Secretary to the governor of South Carolina was not
_answered_, but was so inverted and folded as to present the
_subscribed_ name of the secretary, as the _superscription_ of the same
letter to be returned. The addition of _New York_ to the address brought
it back to this office.
Whilst governor Butler was thus refusing the information that was
proffered to him in the most respectful terms from this office, he was
engaged in another affair, having connection with the anti-slavery
movement, as indiscreet, as it was unbecoming the dignity of the office
he holds. The following account of it is from one of the Boston
papers:--]
"_Hoaxing a Governor_.--The National Aegis says, that Hollis Parker,
who was sentenced to the state prison at the late term of the
criminal court for Worcester county, for endeavoring to extort money
from governor Everett, had opened an extensive correspondence,
previous to his arrest, with similar intent, with other
distinguished men of the country. Besides several individuals in New
York, governor Butler, of South Carolina, was honored with his
notice. A letter from that gentleman, directed to Parker, was lately
received at the post office in a town near Worcester, enclosing a
check for fifty dollars. So far as the character of Parker's letter
can be inferred from the reply of governor Butler, it would appear,
that Parker informed the governor, that the design was entertained
by some of our citizens, of transmitting to South Carolina a
quantity of 'incendiary publications,' and that with the aid of a
little money, he (Parker) would be able to unravel the plot, and
furnish full information concerning it to his excellency. The bait
took, and the money was forwarded, with earnest appeals to Parker to
be vigilant and active in thoroughly investigating the supposed
conspiracy against the peace and happiness of the South.
The Aegis has the following very just remarks touching this
case:--'Governor Butler belongs to a state loud in its professions
of regard for state rights and state sovereignty. We, also, are
sincere advocates of that good old republican doctrine. It strikes
us, that it would have comported better with the spirit of that
doctrine, the dignity, of his own station and character, the respect
and courtesy due to a sovereign and independent state, if governor
Butler had made the proper representation, if the subject was
deserving of such notice, to the acknowledged head and constituted
authorities of that state, instead of holding official
correspondence with a citizen of a foreign jurisdiction, and
employing a secret agent and informer, whose very offer of such
service was proof of the base and irresponsible character of him who
made it.'"
* * * * *
GOVERNOR CONWAY'S LETTER.
EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT, LITTLE ROCK, ARKANSAS, _March_ 1, 1838.
Sir--A newspaper, headed '_The Emancipator_,' in which you are
announced the 'publishing agent,' has, for some weeks past, arrived
at the post office in this city, to my address. Not having
subscribed, or authorized any individual to give my name as a
subscriber, for that or any such paper, it is entirely _gratuitous_
on the part of its publishers to send me a copy; and not having a
favorable opinion of the _intentions_ of the _authors and founders_
of the '_American Anti-Slavery Society_;' I have to request a
discontinuance of '_The Emancipator_.'
Your ob't servant, "J.S. CONWAY."
R. G. WILLIAMS, Esq., New York.
* * * * *
[NOTE.--The following extract of a letter, from the late Chief Justice
Jay to the late venerable Elias Boudinot, dated Nov. 17, 1819, might
well have formed part of Appendix E. Its existence, however, was not
known till it was too late to insert it in its most appropriate place.
It shows the view taken of some of the _constitutional_ questions by a
distinguished jurist,--one of the purest patriots too, by whom our early
history was illustrated.]
"Little can be added to what has been said and written on the
subject of slavery. I concur in the opinion, that it ought not to be
_introduced, nor permitted_ in any of the _new_ states; and that it
ought to be gradually diminished, and finally, abolished, in all
of them.
To me, the _constitutional authority_ of the Congress to prohibit
the _migration_ and _importation_ of slaves into any of the states,
does not appear questionable.
The first article of the Constitution specifics the legislative
powers committed to Congress. The ninth section of that article has
these words:--'The _migration_ or _importation_ of such persons as
any of the _now existing_ states shall think proper to admit, shall
not be prohibited by the Congress prior to the year 1808--but a tax
or duty may be imposed on such importation not exceeding _ten
dollars_ for each person.'
I understand the sense and meaning of this clause to be, That the
power of the Congress, although _competent to prohibit such
migration and importation_, was not to be exercised with respect to
the THEN existing states, and _them only_, until the year 1808; but
that Congress were at liberty to make such prohibition as to any
_new state_ which might in the _meantime_ be established. And
further, that from and after _that_ period, they were authorized to
make such prohibition as to _all the states, whether new or old_.
Slaves were the persons intended. The word slaves was avoided, on
account of the existing toleration of slavery, and its discordancy
with the principles of the Revolution; and from a consciousness of
its being repugnant to those propositions to the Declaration of
Independence:--'We hold these truths to be self-evident--that all
men are created equal--that they are endowed by their Creator with
certain inalienable rights--and that, among these, are life,
liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.'"
* * * * *
NO. 9.
THE ANTI-SLAVERY EXAMINER.
* * * * *
LETTER
OF
GERRIT SMITH,
TO
HON. HENRY CLAY.
* * * * *
NEW YORK:
PUBLISHED BY THE AMERICAN ANTI-SLAVERY SOCIETY, NO. 143 NASSAU STREET.
----- 1839.
* * * * *
This No. contains 3-1/2 sheets.--Postage, under 100 miles, 6 cts. over
100, 10 cts.
_Please Read and circulate_.
LETTER.
* * * * *
PETERBORO, MARCH 21, 1839.
HON. HENRY CLAY:
DEAR SIR,
In the Annual Meeting of the American Colonization Society, held in the
Capitol in the city of Washington, December, 1835, you commented on a
speech made by myself, the previous autumn. Your objections to that
speech formed the principal subject matter of your remarks. Does not
this fact somewhat mitigate the great presumption of which I feel myself
guilty, in undertaking, all unhonored and humble as I am, to review the
production of one of the most distinguished statesmen of the age?
Until the appearance of your celebrated speech on the subject of
slavery, I had supposed that you cherished a sacred regard for the right
of petition. I now find, that you value it no more highly than they do,
who make open war upon it. Indeed, you admit, that, in relation to this
right, "there is no substantial difference between" them and yourself.
Instead of rebuking, you compliment them; and, in saying that "the
majority of the Senate" would not "violate the right of petition in any
case, in which, according to its judgment, the object of the petition
could be safely or properly granted," you show to what destructive
conditions you subject this absolute right. Your doctrine is, that in
those cases, where the object of the petition is such, as the
supplicated party can approve, previously to any discussion of its
merits--there, and there only, exists the right of petition. For aught I
see, you are no more to be regarded as the friend of this right, than is
the conspicuous gentleman[A] who framed the Report on that subject,
which was presented to the Senate of my state the last month. That
gentleman admits the sacredness of "the right to petition on any
subject;" and yet, in the same breath, he insists on the equal
sacredness of the right to refuse to attend to a petition. He manifestly
failed to bear in mind, that a right to petition implies the correlative
right to be heard. How different are the statesmen, who insist "on the
right to refuse to attend to a petition," from Him, who says, "Whoso
stoppeth his ears at the cry of the poor, he also shall cry himself, but
shall not be heard." And who are poor, if it be not those for whom the
abolitionists cry? They must even cry by proxy. For, in the language of
John Quincy Adams, the champion of the right of petition, "The slave is
not permitted to cry for mercy--to plead for pardon--to utter the shriek
of perishing nature for relief." It may be well to remark, that the
error, which I have pointed out in the Report in question, lies in the
premises of the principal argument of that paper; and that the
correction of this error is necessarily attended with the destruction of
the premises, and with the overthrow of the argument, which is built
upon them.
[Footnote A: Colonel Young.]
I surely need not stop to vindicate the right of petition. It is a
natural right--one that human laws can guarantee, but can neither create
nor destroy. It is an interesting fact, that the Amendment to the
Federal Constitution, which guarantees the right of petition, was
opposed in the Congress of 1789 as superfluous. It was argued, that this
is "a self-evident, inalienable right, which the people possess," and
that "it would never be called in question." What a change in
fifty years!
You deny the power of Congress to abolish the inter-state traffic in
human beings; and, inasmuch as you say, that the right "to regulate
commerce with foreign nations, and among the several states," does not
include the right to prohibit and destroy commerce; and, inasmuch as it
is understood, that it was in virtue of the right to regulate commerce,
that Congress enacted laws to restrain our participation in the "African
slave trade," you perhaps also deny, that Congress had the power to
enact such laws. The history of the times in which the Federal
Constitution was framed and adopted, justifies the belief, that the
clause of that instrument under consideration conveys the power, which
Congress exercised. For instance, Governor Randolph, when speaking in
the Virginia Convention of 1788, of the clause which declares, that "the
migration or importation of such persons as any of the states now
existing shall think proper to admit, shall not be prohibited by
Congress prior to the year 1808," said, "This is an exception from the
power of regulating commerce, and the restriction is to continue only
till 1808. Then Congress can, by the exercise of that power, prevent
future importations."
Were I, however, to admit that the right "to regulate commerce," does
not include the right to prohibit and destroy commerce, it nevertheless
would not follow, that Congress might not prohibit or destroy certain
branches of commerce. It might need to do so, in order to preserve our
general commerce with a state or nation. So large a proportion of the
cloths of Turkey might be fraught with the contagion of the plague, as
to make it necessary for our Government to forbid the importation of all
cloths from that country, and thus totally destroy one branch of our
commerce with it, to the end that the other branches might be preserved.
No inconsiderable evidence that Congress has the right to prohibit or
destroy a branch of commerce, is to be found in the fact, that it has
done so. From March, 1794, to May, 1820, it enacted several laws, which
went to prohibit or destroy, and, in the end, did prohibit or destroy
the trade of this country with Africa in human beings. And, if Congress
has the power to pass embargo laws, has it not the power to prohibit or
destroy commerce altogether?
It is, however, wholly immaterial, whether Congress could prohibit our
participation in the "African slave trade," in virtue of the clause
which empowers it "to regulate commerce." That the Constitution does, in
some one or more of its passages, convey the power, is manifest from the
testimony of the Constitution itself. The first clause of the ninth
section says: "The migration or importation of such persons, as any of
the states now existing shall think proper to admit, shall not be
prohibited by the Congress prior to they year 1808." Now the implication
in this clause of the existence of the power in question, is as
conclusive, as would be the express and positive grant of it. You will
observe, too, that the power of Congress over "migration or
importation," which this clause implies, is a power not merely to
"regulate," as you define the word, but to "prohibit."
It is clear, then, that Congress had the power to interdict our trade in
human beings with Africa. But, in view of what has been said on that
point--in view of the language of the Federal Constitution--of the
proceedings of the Convention, which framed it--and of the cotemporary
public sentiment--is it any less clear, that Congress has the power to
interdict the inter-state traffic in human beings?
There are some, who assert that the words "migration" and "importation,"
instead of referring, as I maintain they do--the former to the removal
of slaves from state to state, and the latter to their introduction from
Africa--are used in the Constitution as synonyms, and refer exclusively
to the "African slave trade." But there is surely no ground for the
imputation of such utter tautology, if we recollect that the
Constitution was written by scholars, and that remarkable pains were
taken to clear it of all superfluous words--a Committee having been
appointed for that special purpose. But, it may be asked, Why, in
reference to the taking of slaves from one state to another, use the
word "migration," which denotes voluntary removal? One answer is--that
it can be used with as much propriety in that case, as in the removal of
slaves from Africa--the removal in the one case being no less
involuntary than in the other. Another answer is--that the framers of
the Constitution selected the word "migration," because of its congruity
with that of "persons," under which their virtuous shame sought to
conceal from posterity the existence of seven hundred thousand slaves
amongst a people, who had but recently entered upon their national
career, with the solemn declaration, that "all men are created equal."
John Jay, whose great celebrity is partly owing to his very able
expositions of the Constitution, says: "To me, the constitutional
authority of the Congress to prohibit the migration _and_ importation of
slaves into any of the states, does not appear questionable." If the
disjunctive between "migration" and "importation" in the Constitution,
argues their reference to the same thing, Mr. Jay's copulative argues
more strongly, that, in his judgment, they refer to different things.
The law of Congress constituting the "Territory of Orleans," was enacted
in 1804. It fully recognizes the power of that body to prohibit the
trade in slaves between a territory and the states. But, if Congress had
this power, why had it not as clear a power to prohibit, at that time,
the trade in slaves between any two of the states? It might have
prohibited it, but for the constitutional suspension of the exercise of
the power. The term of that suspension closed, however, in 1808; and,
since that year, Congress has had as full power to abolish the whole
slave trade between the states, as it had in 1804 to abolish the like
trade between the Territory of Orleans and the states.
But, notwithstanding the conclusive evidence, that the Constitution
empowers Congress to abolish the inter-state slave trade, it is
incomprehensible to many, that such states as Virginia and Maryland
should have consented to deprive themselves of the benefit of selling
their slaves into other states. It is incomprehensible, only because
they look upon such states in the light of their present character and
present interests. It will no longer be so, if they will bear in mind,
that slave labor was then, as it is now, unprofitable for ordinary
agriculture, and that Whitney's cotton-gin, which gave great value to
such labor, was not yet invented, and that the purchase of Louisiana,
which has had so great an effect to extend and perpetuate the dominion
of slavery, was not yet made. It will no longer be incomprehensible to
them, if they will recollect, that, at the period in question, American
slavery was regarded as a rapidly decaying, if not already expiring
institution. It will no longer be so, if they will recollect, how small
was the price of slaves then, compared with their present value; and
that, during the ten years, which followed the passage of the Act of
Virginia in 1782, legalizing manumissions, her citizens emancipated
slaves to the number of nearly one-twentieth of the whole amount of her
slaves in that year. To learn whether your native Virginia clung in the
year 1787 to the inter-state traffic in human flesh, we must take our
post of observation, not amongst her degenerate sons, who, in 1836, sold
men, women, and children, to the amount of twenty-four millions of
dollars--not amongst her President Dews, who write books in favor of
breeding human stock for exportation--but amongst her Washingtons, and
Jeffersons, and Henrys, and Masons, who, at the period when the
Constitution was framed, freely expressed their abhorrence of slavery.
But, however confident you may be, that Congress has not the lawful
power to abolish the branch of commerce in question; nevertheless, would
the abolition of it be so clearly and grossly unconstitutional, as to
justify the contempt with which the numerous petitions for the measure
are treated, and the impeachment of their fidelity to the Constitution,
and of their patriotism and purity, which the petitioners are made
to endure?
I was about to take it for granted, that, although you deny the power of
Congress to abolish the inter-state traffic in human beings, you do not
justify the traffic--when I recollected the intimation in your speech,
that there is no such traffic. For, when you speak of "the slave trade
between the states," and add--"or, as it is described in abolition
petitions, the traffic in human beings between the states"--do you not
intimate there is no such traffic? Whence this language? Do you not
believe slaves are human beings? And do you not believe that they suffer
under the disruption of the dearest earthly ties, as human beings
suffer? I will not detain you to hear what we of the North think of this
internal slave trade. But I will call your attention to what is thought
of it in your own Kentucky and in your native Virginia. Says the
"Address of the Presbyterian Synod of Kentucky to the Churches in
1835:"--"Brothers and sisters, parents and children, husbands and wives,
are torn asunder, and permitted to see each other no more. Those acts
are daily occurring in the midst of us. The shrieks and the agony often
witnessed on such occasions, proclaim with a trumpet tongue the iniquity
and cruelty of the system. There is not a neighborhood where these
heart-rending scenes are not displayed. There is not a village or road
that does not behold the sad procession of manacled outcasts, whose
chains and mournful countenances tell that they are exiled by force from
all that their hearts hold dear." Says Thomas Jefferson Randolph, in the
Virginia Legislature in 1832, when speaking of this trade: "It is a
practice, and an increasing practice, in parts of Virginia, to rear
slaves for market. How can an honourable mind, a patriot, and a lover of
his country, bear to see this ancient dominion, rendered illustrious by
the noble devotion and patriotism of her sons in the cause of liberty,
converted into one grand menagerie, where men are to be reared for the
market like oxen for the shambles. Is it better--is it not worse than
the (foreign) slave trade--that trade which enlisted the labor of the
good and wise of every creed and every clime to abolish? The (foreign)
trader receives the slave, a stranger in language, aspect, and manner,
from the merchant who has brought him from the interior. The ties of
father, mother, husband, and child, have already been rent in twain;
before he receives him, his soul has become callous. But here, sir,
individuals whom the master has known from infancy, whom he has seen
sporting in the innocent gambols of childhood--who have been accustomed
to look to him for protection, he tears from the mother's arms, and
sells into a strange country--among strange people, subject to cruel
taskmasters."
You are in favor of increasing the number of slave states. The terms of
the celebrated "Missouri compromise" warrant, in your judgment, the
increase. But, notwithstanding you admit, that this unholy compromise,
in which tranquillity was purchased at the expense of humanity and
righteousness, does not "in terms embrace the case," and "is not
absolutely binding and obligatory;" you, nevertheless, make no attempt
whatever to do away any one of the conclusive objections, which are
urged against such increase. You do not attempt to show how the
multiplication of slave states can consist with the constitutional duty
of the "United States to guarantee to every state in the Union a
republican form of government," any more than if it were perfectly
clear, that a government is republican under which one half of the
people are lawfully engaged in buying and selling the other half; or
than if the doctrine that "all men are created equal" were not the
fundamental and distinctive doctrine of a republican government. You no
more vindicate the proposition to enlarge the realm of slavery, than if
the proposition were as obviously in harmony with, as it is opposed to
the anti-slavery tenor and policy of the Constitution--the rights of
man--and the laws of God.
You are perhaps of the number of those, who, believing, that a state can
change its Constitution as it pleases, deem it futile in Congress to
require, that States, on entering the Union, shall have anti-slavery
Constitutions. The Framers of the Federal Constitution doubtless foresaw
the possibility of treachery, on the part of the new States, in the
matter of slavery: and the restriction in that instrument to the old
States--"the States now existing"--of the right to participate in the
internal and "African slave trade" may be ascribed to the motive of
diminishing, if not indeed of entirely preventing, temptation to such
treachery. The Ordinance concerning the North-west Territory, passed by
the Congress of 1787, and ratified by the Congress of 1790, shows, so
far as those bodies can be regarded as correct interpreters of the
Constitution which was framed in 1787, and adopted in 1789, that slavery
was not to have a constitutional existence in the new States. The
Ordinance continues the privilege of recapturing fugitive slaves in the
North-west Territory to the "existing States." Slaves in that territory,
to be the subjects of lawful recapture, must in the language of the
Ordinance, owe "labour or service in one of the _original_ States."
I close what I have to say on this topic, with the remark, that were it
admitted, that the reasons for the increase of the number of slave
States are sound and satisfactory, it nevertheless would not follow,
that the moral and constitutional wrong of preventing that increase is
so palpable, as to justify the scorn and insult, which are heaped by
Congress upon this hundred thousand petitioners for this measure.
It has hitherto been supposed, that you distinctly and fully admitted
the Constitutional power of Congress to abolish slavery in the District
of Columbia. But, on this point, as on that of the right of petition,
you have for reasons known to yourself, suddenly and greatly changed
your tone. Whilst your speech argues, at no small length, that Congress
has not the right to abolish slavery in the District, all that it says
in favor of the Constitutional power to abolish it, is that "the
language (of the Constitution) may _possibly_ be sufficiently
comprehensive to include a power of abolition." "Faint praise dams;" and
your very reluctant and qualified concession of the Constitutional power
under consideration, is to be construed, rather as a denial than a
concession.
Until I acquire the skill of making white whiter, and black blacker, I
shall have nothing to say in proof of the Constitutional power of
Congress over slavery in the District of Columbia, beyond referring to
the terms, in which the Constitution so plainly conveys this power. That
instrument authorises Congress "to exercise exclusive legislation in all
cases whatsoever over such District." If these words do not confer the
power, it is manifest that no words could confer it. I will add that,
never, until the last few years, had doubts been expressed, that these
words do fully confer that power.
You will, perhaps, say, that Virginia and Maryland made their cessions
of the territory, which constitutes the District of Columbia, with
reservations on the subject of slavery. We answer, that none were
expressed;[A] and that if there had been, Congress would not, and in
view of the language of the Constitution, could not, have accepted the
cessions. You may then say, that they would not have ceded the
territory, had it occurred to them, that Congress would have cleared it
of slavery; and that, this being the fact, Congress could not thus clear
it, without being guilty of bad faith, and of an ungenerous and
unjustifiable surprise on those States. There are several reasons for
believing, that those States, not only did not, at the period in
question, cherish a dread of the abolition of slavery; but that the
public sentiment within them was decidedly in favor of its speedy
abolition. At that period, their most distinguished statesmen were
trumpet-tongued against slavery. At that period, there was both a
Virginia and a Maryland society "for promoting the abolition of
slavery;" and, it was then, that, with the entire consent of Virginia
and Maryland, effectual measures were adopted to preclude slavery from
that large territory, which has since given Ohio and several other
States to the Union. On this subject, as on that of the inter-state
slave trade, we misinterpret Virginia and Maryland, by not considering,
how unlike was their temper in relation to slavery, amidst the decays
and dying throes of that institution half a century ago, to what it is
now, when slavery is not only revivified, but has become the predominant
interest and giant power of the nation. We forget, that our whole
country was, at that time, smitten with love for the holy cause of
impartial and universal liberty. To judge correctly of the view, which
our Revolutionary fathers took of oppression, we must go back and stand
by their side, in their struggles against it,--we must survey them
through the medium of the anti-slavery sentiment of their own times, and
not impute to them the pro-slavery spirit so rampant in ours.
[Footnote A: There is a proviso in the Act of Virginia. It was on this,
that three years ago, in the Senate of the United States, Benjamin
Watkins Leigh built his argument against the constitutional power of
Congress to abolish slavery in the District of Columbia. I well remember
that you then denied the soundness of his argument. This superfluous
proviso virtually forbids Congress to pass laws, which shall "affect the
rights of individuals" in the ceded territory. Amongst the inviolable
"rights" was that of holding slaves, as Mr. Leigh contended. I regret,
that, in replying to him, you did not make use of the fact, that all the
members of Congress from Virginia voted in favor of the Ordinance, which
abolished slavery in the North-West Territory; and this too,
notwithstanding, that, in the Act of 1784, by which she ceded the
North-West Territory to the Confederacy, she provided, that the
"citizens of Virginia" in the said Territory, many of whom held slaves,
should "be protected in the enjoyment of their rights." This fact
furnishes striking evidence that at, or about, the time of the cession
by Virginia of her portion of the District of Columbia, her statesmen
believed, that the right to hold slaves in those portions of our country
under the exclusive jurisdiction of Congress, was not beyond the reach
of the controlling power of Congress.]
I will, however, suppose it true, that Virginia and Maryland would not
have made the cessions in question, had they foreseen, that Congress
would abolish slavery in the District of Columbia:--and yet, I affirm,
that it would be the duty of Congress to abolish it. Had there been
State Prisons in the territory, at the time Congress acquired
jurisdiction over it, and had Congress immediately opened their doors,
and turned loose hundreds of depraved and bloody criminals, there would
indeed have been abundant occasion for complaint. But, had the exercise
of its power in the premises extended no farther than to the liberation
of such convicts, as, on a re-examination of their cases, were found to
be clearly guiltless of the crimes charged upon them; the sternest
justice could not have objected to such an occasion for the rejoicing of
mercy. And are not the thousands in the District, for whose liberation
Congress is besought, unjustly deprived of their liberty? Not only are
they guiltless, but they are even unaccused of such crimes, as in the
judgment of any, justly work a forfeiture of liberty. And what do
Virginia and Maryland ask? Is it, that Congress shall resubject to their
control those thousands of deeply wronged men? No--for this Congress
cannot do. They ask, that Congress shall fulfil the tyrant wishes of
these States. They ask, that the whole people of the United
States--those who hate, as well as those who love slavery, shall, by
their representatives, assume the guilty and awful responsibility of
perpetuating the enslavement of their innocent fellow men:--of chaining
the bodies and crushing the wills, and blotting out the minds of such,
as have neither transgressed, nor even been accused of having
transgressed, a single human law. And the crime, which Virginia and
Maryland, and they, who sympathise with them, would have the nation
perpetrate, is, not simply that of prolonging the captivity of those,
who were slaves before the cession--for but a handful of them are now
remaining in the District. Most of the present number became slaves
under the authority of this guilty nation. Their wrongs originated with
Congress: and Congress is asked, not only to perpetuate their
oppression, but to fasten the yoke of slavery on generations yet unborn.
There are those, who advocate the recession of the District of Columbia.
If the nation were to consent to this, without having previously
exercised her power to "break every yoke" of slavery in the District,
the blood of those so cruelly left there in "the house of bondage,"
would remain indelible and damning upon her skirts:--and this too,
whether Virginia and Maryland did or did not intend to vest Congress
with any power over slavery. It is enough, that the nation has the power
"to deliver them that are drawn unto death, and those that are ready to
be slain," to make her fearfully guilty before God, if she "forbear" to
exercise it.
Suppose, I were to obtain a lease of my neighbor's barn for the single
and express purpose of securing my crops; and that I should find,
chained up in one of its dark corners, an innocent fellow man, whom that
neighbor was subjecting to the process of a lingering death; ought I to
pause and recall President Wayland's, "Limitations of Human
Responsibility," and finally let the poor sufferer remain in his chains;
or ought I not rather, promptly to respond to the laws of my nature and
my nature's God, and let him go free? But, to make this case analogous
to that we have been considering--to that, which imposes its claims on
Congress--we must strike out entirely the condition of the lease, and
with it all possible doubts of my right to release the victim of my
neighbor's murderous hate.
I am entirely willing to yield, for the sake of argument, that Virginia
and Maryland, when ceding the territory which constitutes the District
of Columbia, did not anticipate, and did not choose the abolition of
slavery in it. To make the admission stronger, I will allow, that these
States were, at the time of the cession, as warmly opposed to the
abolition of slavery in the District as they are said to be now: and to
make it stronger still, I will allow, that the abolition of slavery in
the District would prove deeply injurious, not only to Virginia and
Maryland but to the nation at large. And, after all these admissions, I
must still insist, that Congress is under perfectly plain moral
obligation to abolish slavery in the District of Columbia.
They, who are deterred from favoring the abolition of slavery in the
District by the apprehension, that Virginia and Maryland, if not,
indeed, the nation at large, might suffer injurious consequences from
the measure, overlook the fact, that there is a third party in the case.
It is common to regard the nation as constituting one of the
parties--Virginia and Maryland another, and the only other. But in point
of fact, there is a third party. Of what does it consist? Of horses,
oxen, and other brutes? Then we need not be greatly concerned about
it--since its rights in that case, would be obviously subordinate to
those of the other parties. Again, if such be the composition of this
third party, we are not to be greatly troubled, that President Wayland
and thousands of others entirely overlook its rights and interests;
though they ought to be somewhat mindful even of brutes. But, this third
party is composed, not of brutes--but of men--of the seven thousand men
in the District, who have fallen under the iron hoofs of slavery--and
who, because they are men, have rights equal to, and as sacred as the
rights of any other men--rights, moreover, which cannot be innocently
encroached on, even to the breadth of one hair, whether under the plea
of "state necessity"--of the perils of emancipation--or under any other
plea, which conscience-smitten and cowardly tyranny can suggest.
If these lines shall ever be so favored, as to fall under the eye of the
venerable and beloved John Quincy Adams, I beg, that, when he shall have
read them, he will solemnly inquire of his heart, whether, if he should
ever be left to vote against the abolition of slavery in the District of
Columbia, and thus stab deeply the cause of civil liberty, of humanity,
and of God; the guilty act would not result from overlooking the rights
and interests, and even the existence itself, of a third party in the
case--and from considering the claims of the nation and those of
Virginia and Maryland, as the only claims on which he was called to
pass, because they were the claims of the only parties, of which he
was aware.
You admit that "the first duty of Congress in relation to the District,
of Columbia, is to render it available, comfortable, and convenient as a
seat of the government of the whole Union." I thank you for an
admission, which can be used, with great effect, against the many, who
maintain, that Congress is as much bound to consult the interests and
wishes of the inhabitants of the District, and be governed by them, as a
State Legislature is to study and serve the interests and wishes of its
constituents. The inhabitants of the District have taken up their
residence in it, aware, that the paramount object of Congressional
legislation is not their, but the nation's advantage. They judge, that
their disfranchisement and the other disadvantages attending their
residence are more than balanced by their favorable position for
participating in Governmental patronage and other benefits. They know,
that they have no better right to complain, that the legislation of
Congress is not dictated by a primary regard to their interests, than
has the Colonization Society, of which you are President, to complain,
that the Capitol, in which it holds its annual meetings, is not
constructed and fitted up in the best possible manner for such
occasions. They know, that to sacrifice the design and main object of
that building to its occasional and incidental uses, would be an
absurdity no greater than would Congress be guilty of in shaping its
legislation to the views of the thirty thousand white inhabitants of the
District of Columbia, at the expense of neglecting the will and
interests of the nation.
You feel, that there is no hazard in your admission, that the paramount
object in relation to the District of Columbia, is its suitableness for
a seat of Government, since you accompany that admission with the
denial, that the presence of slavery interferes with such suitableness.
But is it not a matter of deep regret, that the place, in which our
national laws are made--that the place from which the sentiment and
fashion of the whole country derive so much of their tone and
direction--should cherish a system, which you have often admitted, is at
war with the first principles of our religion and civil polity;[A] and
the influences of which are no less pervading and controlling than
corrupting? Is it not a matter of deep regret, that they, whom other
governments send to our own, and to whom, on account of their superior
intellect and influence, it is our desire, as it is our duty, to commend
our free institutions, should be obliged to learn their lessons of
practical republicanism amidst the monuments and abominations of
slavery? Is it no objection to the District of Columbia, as the seat of
our Government, that slavery, which concerns the political and moral
interests of the nation, more than any other subject coming within the
range of legislation, is not allowed to be discussed there--either
within or without the Halls of Congress? It is one of the doctrines of
slavery, that slavery shall not be discussed. Some of its advocates are
frank enough to avow, as the reason for this prohibition, that slavery
cannot bear to be discussed. In your speech before the American
Colonization Society in 1835, to which I have referred, you distinctly
take the ground, that slavery is a subject not open to general
discussion. Very far am I from believing, that you would employ, or
intentionally countenance violence, to prevent such discussion.
Nevertheless, it is to this doctrine of non-discussion, which you and
others put forth, that the North is indebted for her pro-slavery mobs,
and the South for her pro-slavery Lynchings. The declarations of such
men as Henry Clay and John C. Calhoun, that slavery is a question not to
be discussed, are a license to mobs to burn up halls and break up
abolition meetings, and destroy abolition presses, and murder abolition
editors. Had such men held the opposite doctrine, and admitted, yea, and
insisted, as it was their duty to do, that every question in morals and
politics is a legitimate subject of free discussion--the District of
Columbia would be far less objectionable, as the seat of our Government.
In that case the lamented Dr. Crandall would not have been seized in the
city of Washington on the suspicion of being an abolitionist, and thrown
into prison, and subjected to distresses of mind and body, which
resulted in his premature death. Had there been no slavery in the
District, this outrage would not have been committed; and the murders,
chargeable on the bloodiest of all bloody institutions, would have been
one less than they now are. Talk of the slaveholding District of
Columbia being a suitable locality for the seat of our Government! Why,
Sir, a distinguished member of Congress was threatened there with an
indictment for the _crime_ of presenting, or rather of proposing to
present, a petition to the body with which he was connected! Indeed the
occasion of the speech, on which I am now commenting, was the _impudent_
protest of inhabitants of that District against the right of the
American people to petition their own Congress, in relation to matters
of vital importance to the seat of their own Government! I take occasion
here to admit, that I have seen but references to this protest--not the
protest itself. I presume, that it is not dissimilar, in its spirit, to
the petition presented about the same time by Mr. Moore in the other
House of Congress--his speech on which, he complains was ungenerously
anticipated by yours on the petition presented by yourself. As the
petition presented by Mr. Moore is short, I will copy it, that I may say
to you with the more effect--how unfit is the spirit of a slaveholding
people, as illustrated in this petition, to be the spirit of the people
at the seat of a free Government!
[Footnote A: "It (slavery) is a sin and a curse both to the master and
the slave:"--_Henry Clay_.]
"_To the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States_:
The petition of the undersigned, citizens of the District of Columbia
represents--That they have witnessed with deep regret the attempts which
are making _to disturb the integrity_ of the Union by a BAND OF
FANATICS, embracing men, women, and children, who cease not day and
night to crowd the tables of your halls with SEDITIOUS MEMORIALS--and
solicit your honorable bodies that you will, in your wisdom, henceforth
give neither support nor countenance to such UNHALLOWED ATTEMPTS, but
that you will, in the most emphatic manner, set the seal of your
disapprobation upon all such FOUL AND UNNATURAL EFFORTS, by refusing not
only to READ and REFER, but also to RECEIVE any papers which either
directly or indirectly, or by implication, aim at any interference with
the rights of your petitioners, or of those of any citizen of any of the
States or Territories of the United States, or of this District of which
we are inhabitants."
A Legislature should be imbued with a free, independent, fearless
spirit. But it cannot be, where discussion is overawed and interdicted,
or its boundaries at all contracted. Wherever slavery reigns, the
freedom of discussion is not tolerated: and whenever slavery exists,
there slavery reigns;--reigns too with that exclusive spirit of Turkish
despotism, that, "bears no brother near the throne."
You agree with President Wayland, that it is as improper for Congress to
abolish slavery in the District of Columbia, as to create it in some
place in the free States, over which it has jurisdiction. As improper,
in the judgment of an eminent statesman, and of a no less eminent
divine, to destroy what they both admit to be a system of
unrighteousness, as to establish it! As improper to restrain as to
practice, a violation of God's law! What will other countries and coming
ages think of the politics of our statesmen and the ethics of
our divines?
But, besides its immorality, Congress has no Constitutional right to
create slavery. You have not yet presumed to deny positively, that
Congress has the right to abolish slavery in the District of Columbia;
and, notwithstanding the intimation in your speech, you will not presume
to affirm, that Congress has the Constitutional right to enact laws
reducing to, or holding in slavery, the inhabitants of West Point, or
any other locality in the free States, over which it has exclusive
jurisdiction. I would here remark, that the law of Congress, which
revived the operation of the laws of Virginia and Maryland in the
District of Columbia, being, so far as it respects the slave laws of
those States, a violation of the Federal Constitution, should be held of
no avail towards legalizing slavery in the District--and the subjects of
that slavery, should, consequently, be declared by our Courts
unconditionally free.
You will admit that slavery is a system of surpassing injustice:--but
an avowed object of the Constitution is to "establish justice." You will
admit that it utterly annihilates the liberty of its victims:--but
another of the avowed objects of the Constitution is to "secure the
blessings of liberty." You will admit, that slavery does, and
necessarily must, regard its victims as _chattels_. The Constitution, on
the contrary, speaks of them as nothing short of _persons_. Roger
Sherman, a signer of the Declaration of Independence, a framer of the
Federal Constitution, and a member of the first Congress under it,
denied that this instrument considers slaves "as a species of property."
Mr. Madison, in the 54th No. of the Federalist admits, that the
Constitution "regards them as inhabitants." Many cases might be cited,
in which Congress has, in consonance with the Constitution, refused to
recognize slaves as property. It was the expectation, as well as the
desire of the framers of the Constitution, that slavery should soon
cease to exist is our country; and, but for the laws, which both
Congress and the slave States, have, in flagrant violation of the letter
and spirit and obvious policy of the Constitution, enacted in behalf of
slavery, that vice would, ere this, have disappeared from our land.
Look, for instance, at the laws enacted in the fact of the clause: "The
citizens of each State shall be entitled to all the privileges and
immunities of citizens in the several States"--laws too, which the
States that enacted them, will not consent to repeal, until they consent
to abandon slavery. It is by these laws, that they shut out the colored
people of the North, the presence of a single individual of whom so
alarms them with the prospect of a servile insurrection, that they
immediately imprison him. Such was the view of the Federal Constitution
taken by James Wilson one of its framers, that, without, as I presume,
claiming for Congress any direct power over slavery in the slave States,
he declared that it possessed "power to exterminate slavery from within
our borders." It was probably under a like view, that Benjamin Franklin,
another of its framers, and Benjamin Rush, a signer of the Declaration
of Independence, and other men of glorious and blessed memory,
petitioned the first Congress under the Constitution to "countenance the
restoration to liberty of those unhappy men," (the slaves of our
country). And in what light that same Congress viewed the Constitution
may be inferred from the fact, that, by a special act, it ratified the
celebrated Ordinance, by the terms of which slavery was forbidden for
ever in the North West Territory. It is worthy of note, that the avowed
object of the Ordinance harmonizes with that of the Constitution: and
that the Ordinance was passed the same year that the Constitution was
drafted, is a fact, on which we can strongly rely to justify a reference
to the spirit of the one instrument for illustrating the spirit of the
other. What the spirit of the Ordinance is, and in what light they who
passed it, regarded "republics, their laws and constitutions," may be
inferred from the following declaration in the Ordinance of its grand
object: "For extending the fundamental principles of civil and religious
liberty, which form the basis wherever these Republics, their laws and
constitutions are erected; to fix and establish those principles as the
basis of all laws, constitutions, and governments, which forever
hereafter shall be formed in the said territory, &c.; it is hereby
ordained and declared that the following articles, &c." One of these
articles is that, which has been referred to, and which declares that
"there shall be neither slavery nor involuntary servitude in the said
Territory."
You will perhaps make light of my reference to James Wilson and Benjamin
Franklin, for I recollect you say, that, "When the Constitution was
about going into operation, its powers were not well understood by the
community at large, and remained to be accurately interpreted and
defined." Nevertheless, I think it wise to repose more confidence in the
views, which the framers of the Constitution took of the spirit and
principles of that instrument, than in the definitions and
interpretations of the pro-slavery generation, which has succeeded them.
It should be regarded as no inconsiderable evidence of the anti-slavery
genius and policy of the Constitution, that Congress promptly
interdicted slavery in the first portion of territory, and that, too, a
territory of vast extent, over which it acquired jurisdiction. And is it
not a perfectly reasonable supposition, that the seat of our Government
would not have been polluted by the presence of slavery, had Congress
acted on that subject by itself, instead of losing sight of it in the
wholesale legislation, by which the laws of Virginia and Maryland were
revived in the District?
If the Federal Constitution be not anti-slavery in its general scope and
character; if it be not impregnated with the principles of universal
liberty; why was it necessary, in order to restrain Congress, for a
limited period, from acting against the slave trade, which is but a
branch or incident of slavery, to have a clause to that end in the
Constitution? The fact that the framers of the Constitution refused to
blot its pages with the word "slave" or "slavery;" and that, by
periphrase and the substitution of "persons" for "slaves," they sought
to conceal from posterity and the world the mortifying fact, that
slavery existed under a government based on the principle, that
governments derive "their just powers from the consent of the governed,"
contains volumes of proof, that they looked upon American slavery as a
decaying institution; and that they would naturally shape the
Constitution to the abridgment and the extinction, rather than the
extension and perpetuity of the giant vice of the country.
It is not to be denied, that the Constitution tolerates a limited
measure of slavery: but it tolerates this measure only as the exception
to its rule of impartial and universal liberty. Were it otherwise, the
principles of that instrument could be pleaded to justify the holding of
men as property, in cases, other than those specifically provided for in
it. Were it otherwise, these principles might be appealed to, as well to
sanction the enslavement of men, as the capture of wild beasts. Were it
otherwise, the American people might be Constitutionally realizing the
prophet's declaration: "they all lie in wait for blood: they hunt every
man his brother with a net." But mere principles, whether in or out of
the Constitution, do not avail to justify and uphold slavery. Says Lord
Mansfield in the famous Somerset case: "The state of slavery is of such
a nature, that it is incapable of being now introduced by courts of
justice upon mere reasoning or inferences from any principles, natural
or political; it must take its rise from _positive law_; the origin of
it can in no country or age be traced back to any other source. A case
so odious as the condition of slaves, must be taken strictly." Grotius
says, that "slavery places man in an unnatural relation to man--a
relation which nothing but positive law can sustain." All are aware,
that, by the common law, man cannot have property in man; and that
wherever that law is not counteracted on this point by positive law,
"slaves cannot breathe," and their "shackles fall." I scarcely need add,
that the Federal Constitution does, in the main, accord with the common
law. In the words of a very able writer: "The common law is the grand
element of the United States Constitution. All its fundamental
provisions are instinct with its spirit; and its existence, principles,
and paramount authority, are presupposed and assumed throughout
the whole."
To argue the anti-slavery character of the Federal Constitution, it is
not necessary to take the high ground of some, that whatever in the
Constitution favors slavery is void, because opposed to the principles
and general tenor of that instrument. Much less is it necessary to take
the still higher ground, that every law in favor of slavery, in whatever
code or connection it may be found, is utterly invalid because of its
plain contravention of the law of nature. To maintain my position, that
the Constitution is anti-slavery in its general character, and that
constitutional slavery is, at the most, but an exception to that general
character, it was not necessary to take either of these grounds; though,
had I been disposed to take even the higher of them, I should not have
lacked the countenance of the most weighty authorities. "The law of
nature," says Blackstone, "being coeval with mankind, and dictated by
God himself, is of course superior in obligation to any other. It is
binding over all the globe, in all countries, and at all times: no human
laws are of any validity if contrary to this." The same writer says,
that "The law of nature requires, that man should pursue his own true
and substantial happiness." But that slavery allows this pursuit to its
victims, no one will pretend. "There is a law," says Henry Brougham,
"above all the enactments of human codes. It is the law written by the
finger of God on the heart of man; and by that law, unchangeable and
eternal, while men despise fraud, and loathe rapine, and abhor blood,
they shall reject with indignation the wild and guilty phantasy, that
man can hold property in man."
I add no more to what I have said on the subject of slavery in the
District of Columbia, than to ask, as I have done in relation to the
inter-state slave trade and the annexation of slave states, whether
petitions for its abolition argue so great a contempt of the
Constitution, and so entire a recklessness of propriety, as to merit the
treatment which they receive at the hands of Congress. Admitting that
Congress has not the constitutional power to abolish slavery in the
District--admitting that it has not the constitutional power to destroy
what itself has established--admitting, too, that if it has the power,
it ought not to exercise it;--nevertheless, is the case so perfectly
clear, that the petitioners for the measure deserve all the abuse and
odium which their representatives in Congress heap upon them? In a word,
do not the three classes of petitions to which you refer, merit, at the
hands of those representatives, the candid and patient consideration
which, until I read your acknowledgment, that, in relation to these
petitions, "there is no substantial difference between" yourself and
those, who are in favor of thrusting them aside undebated, unconsidered,
and even unread, I always supposed you were willing to have bestowed
on them?
I pass to the examination of your charges against the abolitionists.
_They contemn the "rights of property."_
This charge you prefer against the abolitionists, not because they
believe that a Legislature has the right to abolish slavery, nor because
they deny that slaves are legally property; for this obvious truth they
do not deny. But you prefer it, because they believe that man cannot
rightfully be a subject of property.
Abolitionists believe, to use words, which I have already quoted, that
it is "a wild and guilty phantasy, that man can hold property in man."
They believe, that to claim property in the exalted being, whom God has
made in His own image, and but "a little lower than the angels," is
scarcely less absurd than to claim it in the Creator himself. You take
the position, that human laws can rightfully reduce a race of men to
property; and that the outrage, to use your own language, is "sanctioned
and sanctified" by "two hundred years" continuance of it. Abolitionists,
on the contrary, trace back man's inalienable self-ownership to
enactments of the Divine Legislator, and to the bright morning of time,
when he came forth from the hand of his Maker, "crowned with glory and
honor," invested with self-control, and with dominion over the brute and
inanimate creation. You soothe the conscience of the slaveholder, by
reminding him, that the relation, which he has assumed towards his
down-trodden fellow-man, is lawful. The abolitionist protests, that the
wickedness of the relation is none the less, because it is legalized. In
charging abolitionists with condemning "the rights of property," you
mistake the innocent for the guilty party. Were you to be so unhappy as
to fall into the hands of a kidnapper, and be reduced to a slave, and
were I to remonstrate, though in vain, with your oppressor, who would
you think was the despiser of "the rights of property"--myself, or the
oppressor? As you would judge in that case, so judges every slave in his
similar case.
The man-stealer's complaint, that his "rights of property" in his stolen
fellow men are not adequately respected by the abolitionist, recalls to
my mind a very similar, and but little more ludicrous case of
conscientious regard for the "rights of property." A traveler was
plundered of the whole of his large sum of money. He pleaded
successfully with the robber for a little of it to enable him to reach
his home. But, putting his hand rather deeper into the bag of stolen
coins than comported with the views of the robber, he was arrested with
the cry, "Why, man, have you no conscience?" You will perhaps inquire,
whether abolitionists regard all the slaves of the South as stolen--as
well those born at the South, as those, who were confessedly stolen from
Africa? I answer, that we do--that every helpless new-born infant, on
which the chivalry of the South pounces, is, in our judgment, the owner
of itself--that we consider, that the crime of man-stealing which is so
terribly denounced in the Bible, does not consist, as is alleged, in
stealing a slave from a third person, but in stealing him from
himself--in depriving him of self control, and subjecting him, as
property, to the absolute control of another. Joseph's declaration, that
he "was stolen," favors this definition of man-stealing. Jewish
Commentators authorise it. Money, as it does not own itself, cannot be
stolen from itself But when we reflect, that man is the owner of
himself, it does not surprise us, that wresting away his inalienable
rights--his very manhood--should have been called man-stealing.
Whilst on this subject of "the rights of property," I am reminded of
your "third impediment to abolition." This "impediment" consists in the
fact of the great value of the southern slaves--which, according to your
estimation, is not less than "twelve hundred millions of dollars." I
will adopt your estimate, and thus spare myself from going into the
abhorrent calculation of the worth in dollars and cents of immortal
man--of the worth of "the image of God." I thank you for your virtual
admission, that this wealth is grasped with a tenacity proportioned to
its vast amount. Many of the wisest and best men of the North have been
led into the belief that the slaveholders of the South are too humane
and generous to hold their slaves fur the sake of gain. Even Dr.
Channing was a subject of this delusion; and it is well remembered, that
his too favorable opinions of his fellow men, made it difficult to
disabuse him of it. Northern Christians have been ready to believe, that
the South would give up her slaves, because of her conscious lack of
title to them. But in what age of the world have impenitent men failed
to cling as closely to that, which they had obtained by fraud, as to
their honest acquisitions? Indeed, it is demonstrable on philosophical
principles, that the more stupendous the fraud, the more tenacious is
the hold upon that, which is gotten by it. I trust, that your admission
to which I have just referred, will have no small effect to prevent the
Northern apologist for slavery from repeating the remark that the South
would gladly liberate her slaves, if she saw any prospect of bettering
the condition of the objects of her tender and solicitous benevolence. I
trust, too, that this admission will go far to prove the emptiness of
your declaration, that the abolitionists "have thrown back for half a
century the prospect of any species of emancipation of the African race,
gradual or immediate, in any of the states," and the emptiness of your
declaration, that, "prior to the agitation of this subject of abolition,
there was a progressive melioration in the condition of slaves
throughout all the slave states," and that "in some of them, schools of
instruction were opened," &c.; and I further trust, that this admission
will render harmless your intimation, that this "melioration" and these
"schools" were intended to prepare the slaves for freedom. After what
you have said of the great value of the slaves, and of the obstacle it
presents to emancipation, you will meet with little success in your
endeavors to convince the world, that the South was preparing to give up
the "twelve hundred millions of dollars," and that the naughty
abolitionists have postponed her gratification "for half a century." If
your views of the immense value of the slaves, and of the consequent
opposition to their freedom, be correct, then the hatred of the South
towards the abolitionists must be, not because their movements tend to
lengthen, but because they tend to shorten the period of her possession
of the "twelve hundred millions of dollars." May I ask you, whether,
whilst the South clings to these "twelve hundred millions of dollars,"
it is not somewhat hypocritical in her to be complaining, that the
abolitionists are fastening the "twelve hundred millions of dollars" to
her? And may I ask you, whether there is not a little inconsistency
between your own lamentations over this work of the abolitionists, and
your intimation that the South will never consent to give up her slaves,
until the impossibility, of paying her "twelve hundred millions of
dollars" for them, shall have been accomplished? Puerile and insulting
as is your proposition to the abolitionists to raise "twelve hundred
millions of dollars" for the purchase of the slaves, it is nevertheless
instructive; inasmuch as it shows, that, in your judgment, the South is
as little willing to give up her slaves, as the abolitionists are able
to pay "twelve hundred millions of dollars" for them; and how unable the
abolitionists are to pay a sum of money far greater than the whole
amount of money in the world, I need not explain.
But if the South must have "twelve hundred millions of dollars" to
induce her to liberate her present number of slaves, how can you expect
success fur your scheme of ridding her of several times the present
number, "in the progress of some one hundred and fifty, or two hundred
years?" Do you reply, that, although she must have "four hundred
dollars" a-piece for them, if she sell them to the abolitionists, she
is, nevertheless, willing to let the Colonization Society have them
without charge? There is abundant proof, that she is not. During the
twenty-two years of the existence of that Society, not so many slaves
have been emancipated and given to it for expatriation, as are born in a
single week. As a proof that the sympathies of the South are all with
the slaveholding and _real_ character of this two-faced institution, and
not at all with the abolition purposes and tendencies, which it
professes at the North, none of its Presidents, (and slave-holders only
are deemed worthy to preside over it,) has ever contributed from his
stock of slaves to swell those bands of emigrants, who, leaving our
shores in the character of "nuisances," are instantly transformed, to
use your own language, into "missionaries, carrying with them
credentials in the holy cause of Christianity, civilization, and free
institutions." But you were not in earnest, when you held up the idea in
your recent speech, that the rapidly multiplying millions of our colored
countrymen would be expatriated. What you said on that point was but to
indulge in declamation, and to round off a paragraph. It is in that part
of your speech where you say that "no practical scheme for their removal
or separation from us has yet been devised or proposed," that you
exhibit your real sentiments on this subject, and impliedly admit the
deceitfulness of the pretensions of the American Colonization Society.
Before closing my remarks on the topic of "the rights of property," I
will admit the truth of your charge, that _Abolitionists deny, that the
slaveholder is entitled to "compensation" for his slaves_.
Abolitionists do not know, why he, who steals men is, any more than he,
who steals horses, entitled to "compensation" for releasing his plunder.
They do not know, why he, who has exacted thirty years' unrequited toil
from the sinews of his poor oppressed brother, should be paid for
letting that poor oppressed brother labor for himself the remaining ten
or twenty years of his life. But, it is said, that the South bought her
slaves of the North, and that we of the North ought therefore to
compensate the South for liberating them. If there are individuals at
the North, who have sold slaves, I am free to admit, that they should
promptly surrender their ill-gotten gains; and no less promptly should
the inheritors of such gains surrender them. But, however this may be,
and whatever debt may be due on this score, from the North to the South,
certain it is, that on no principle of sound ethics, can the South hold
to the persons of the innocent slaves, as security for the payment of
the debt. Your state and mine, and I would it were so with all others,
no longer allow the imprisonment of the debtor as a means of coercing
payment from him. How much less, then, should they allow the creditor to
promote the security of his debt by imprisoning a third person--and one
who is wholly innocent of contracting the debt? But who is imprisoned,
if it be not he, who is shut up in "the house of bondage?" And who is
more entirely innocent than he, of the guilty transactions between his
seller and buyer?
Another of your charges against abolitionists is, _that, although
"utterly destitute of Constitutional or other rightful power--living in
totally distinct communities--as alien to the communities in which the
subject on which they would operate resides, so far as concerns
political power over that subject, as if they lived in Africa or Asia;
they nevertheless promulgate to the world their purpose to be, to
manumit forthwith, and without compensation, and without moral
preparation, three millions of negro slaves, under jurisdictions
altogether separated from those under which they live."_
I will group with this charge several others of the same class.
_1._ _Abolitionists neglect the fact, that "the slavery which exists
amongst us (southern people) is our affair--not theirs--and that they
have no more just concern with it, than they have with slavery as it
exists throughout the world."_
_2._ _They are regardless of the "deficiency of the powers of the
General Government, and of the acknowledged and incontestable powers of
the States."_
_3._ "Superficial men (meaning no doubt abolitionists) confound the
totally different cases together of the powers of the British Parliament
and those of the Congress of the United States in the matter of
slavery."_
Are these charges any thing more than the imagery of your own fancy, or
selections from the numberless slanders of a time-serving and corrupt
press? If they are founded on facts, it is in your power to state the
facts. For my own part, I am utterly ignorant of any, even the least,
justification for them. I am utterly ignorant that the abolitionists
hold any peculiar views in relation to the powers of the General or
State Governments. I do not believe, that one in a hundred of them
supposes, that slavery in the states is a legitimate subject of federal
legislation. I believe, that a majority of the intelligent men amongst
them accord much more to the claims of "state sovereignty," and approach
far more nearly to the character of "strict constructionists," than does
the distinguished statesman, who charges them with such latitudinarian
notions. There may be persons in our country, who believe that Congress
has the absolute power over all American slavery, which the British
Parliament had over all British slavery; and that Congress can abolish
slavery in the slave states, because Great Britain abolished it in her
West India Islands; but, I do not know them; and were I to look for
them, I certainly should not confine my search to abolitionists--for
abolitionists, as it is very natural they should be, are far better
instructed in the subject of slavery and its connections with civil
government, than are the community in general.
It is passing strange, that you, or any other man, who is not playing a
desperate game, should, in the face of the Constitution of the American
Anti-Slavery Society, which "admits, that each state, in which slavery
exists, has, by the Constitution of the United States, the exclusive
right to legislate in regard to the abolition of slavery in said state;"
make such charges, as you have done.
In an Address "To the Public," dated September 3, 1835, and subscribed
by the President, Treasurer, the three Secretaries, and the other five
members of the Executive Committee of the American Anti-Slavery Society,
we find the following language. 1. "We hold that Congress has no more
right to abolish slavery in the Southern states than in the French West
India Islands. Of course we desire no national legislation on the
subject. 2. We hold that slavery can only be lawfully abolished by the
legislatures of the several states in which it prevails, and that the
exercise of any other than moral influence to induce such abolition is
unconstitutional."
But what slavery is it that the abolitionists call on Congress to
abolish? Is it that in the slave states? No--it is that in the District
of Columbia and in the territories--none other. And is it not a fair
implication of their petitions, that this is the only slavery, which, in
the judgment of the petitioners, Congress has power to abolish?
Nevertheless, it is in the face of this implication, that you make your
array of charges.
Is it true, however, that the North has nothing more to do with slavery
in the states, than with slavery in a foreign country? Does it not
concern the North, that, whilst it takes many thousands of her voters to
be entitled to a representative in Congress, there are districts at the
South, where, by means of slavery, a few hundred voters enjoy this
benefit. Again, since the North regards herself as responsible in common
with the South, for the continuance of slavery in the District of
Columbia and in the Territories, and for the continuance of the
interstate traffic in human beings; and since she believes slavery in
the slave states to be the occasion of these crimes, and that they will
all of necessity immediately cease when slavery ceases--is it not right,
that she should feel that she has a "just concern with slavery?" Again,
is it nothing to the people of the North, that they may be called on, in
obedience to a requirement of the federal constitution, to shoulder
their muskets to quell "domestic violence?" But, who does not know, that
this requirement owes its existence solely to the apprehension of
servile insurrections?--or, in other words, to the existence of slavery
in the slave states? Again, when our guiltless brothers escape from the
southern prison-house, and come among us, we are under constitutional
obligation to deliver them up to their stony-hearted pursuers. And is
not slavery in the slave states, which is the occasion of our obligation
to commit this outrage on humanity and on the law of God, a matter of
"just concern to us?" To what too, but slavery, in the slave states, is
to be ascribed the long standing insult of our government towards that
of Hayti? To what but that, our national disadvantages and losses from
the want of diplomatic relations between the two governments? To what so
much, as to slavery in the slave states, are owing the corruption in our
national councils, and the worst of our legislation? But scarcely any
thing should go farther to inspire the North with a sense of her "just
concern" in the subject of slavery in the slave states, than the fact,
that slavery is the parent of the cruel and murderous prejudice, which
crushes and kills her colored people; and, that it is but too probable,
that the child will live as long as its parent. And has the North no
"just concern" with the slavery of the slave states, when there is so
much reason to fear that our whole blood-guilty nation is threatened
with God's destroying wrath on account of it?
There is another respect in which we of the North have a "just concern"
with the slavery of the slave states. We see nearly three millions of
our fellow men in those states robbed of body, mind, will, and
soul--denied marriage and the reading of the Bible, and marketed as
beasts. We see them in a word crushed in the iron folds of slavery. Our
nature--the laws written upon its very foundations--the Bible, with its
injunctions "to remember them that are in bonds as bound with them," and
to "open thy mouth for the dumb in the cause of all such as are
appointed to destruction"--all require us to feel and to express what we
feel for these wretched millions. I said, that we see this misery. There
are many amongst us--they are anti-abolitionists--who do not see it; and
to them God says; "but he that hideth his eyes shall have many a curse."
I add, that we of the North must feel concerned about slavery in the
slave states, because of our obligation to pity the deluded,
hard-hearted, and bloody oppressors in those states: and to manifest our
love for them by rebuking their unsurpassed sin. And, notwithstanding
pro-slavery statesmen at the North, who wink at the iniquity of slave
holding, and pro-slavery clergymen at the North, who cry, "peace, peace"
to the slaveholder, and sew "pillows to armholes," tell us, that by our
honest and open rebuke of the slaveholder, we shall incur his enduring
hatred; we, nevertheless, believe that "open rebuke is better than
secret love," and that, in the end, we shall enjoy more Southern favor
than they, whose secret love is too prudent and spurious to deal
faithfully with the objects of its regard. "He that rebuketh a man,
afterward shall find more favor than he that flattereth with the
tongue." The command, "thou shall in any wise rebuke thy neighbor and
not suffer sin upon him," is one, which the abolitionist feels, that he
is bound to obey, as well in the case of the slaveholder, as in that of
any other sinner. And the question: "who is my neighbor," is so answered
by the Savior, as to show, that not he of our vicinity, nor even he of
our country, is alone our "neighbor."
The abolitionists of the North hold, that they have certainly as much
"just concern" with slavery in the slave states, as the temperance men
of the North have with "intemperance" at the South. And I would here
remark, that the weapons with which the abolitionists of the North
attack slavery in the slave states are the same, and no other than the
same, with those, which the North employs against the vice of
intemperance at the South. I add too, that were you to say, that
northern temperance men disregard "the deficiency of the powers of the
General Government," and also "the acknowledged and incontestable powers
of the states;" your charge would be as suitable as when it is applied
to northern abolitionists.
You ascribe to us "the purpose to manumit the three millions of negro
slaves." Here again you greatly misrepresent us, by holding us up as
employing coercive, instead of persuasive, means for the accomplishment
of our object. Our "purpose" is to persuade others to "manumit." The
slaveholders themselves are to "manumit." It is evident, that others
cannot "manumit" for them. If the North were endeavoring to persuade the
South to give up the growing of cotton, you would not say, it is the
purpose of the North to give it up. But, as well might you, as to say,
that it is the "purpose" of the abolitionists to "manumit." It is very
much by such misrepresentations, that the prejudices against
abolitionists are fed and sustained. How soon they would die of atrophy,
if they, who influence the public mind and mould public opinion, would
tell but the simple truth about abolitionists.
You say, that the abolitionists would have the slaves manumitted
"without compensation and without moral preparation." I have already
said enough on the point of "compensation." It is true, that they would
have them manumitted immediately:--for they believe slavery is sin, and
that therefore the slaveholder has no right to protract the bondage of
his slaves for a single year, or for a single day or hour;--not even,
were he to do so to afford them "a moral preparation" for freedom, or to
accomplish any other of the kindest and best purposes. They believe,
that the relation of slaveholder, as it essentially and indispensably
involves the reduction of men to chattelship, cannot, under any plea
whatever, be continued with innocence, for a single moment. If it can
be--if the plain laws of God, in respect to marriage and religious
instruction and many other blessings, of which chattelized man is
plundered, can be innocently violated--why credit any longer the
assertion of the Bible, that "sin is the transgression of the law?"--why
not get a new definition of sin?
Another reason with abolitionists in favor of immediate manumission, is,
that the slaves do not, as a body, acquire, whilst in slavery, any
"moral preparation" for freedom. To learn to swim we must be allowed the
use of water. To learn the exercises of a freeman, we must enjoy he
element of liberty. I will not say, that slaves cannot be taught, to
some extent, the duties of freemen. Some knowledge of the art of
swimming may be acquired before entering the water. I have not forgotten
what you affirm about the "progressive melioration in the condition of
slaves," and the opening of "schools of instruction" for them "prior to
the agitation of the subject of abolition;" nor, have I forgotten, that
I could not read it without feeling, that the creations of your fancy,
rather than the facts of history, supplied this information. Instances,
rare instances, of such "melioration" and of such "schools of
instruction," I doubt not there have been: but, I am confident, that the
Southern slaves have been sunk in depths of ignorance proportioned to
the profits of their labor. I have not the least belief, that the
proportion of readers amongst them is one half so great, as it was
before the invention of Whitney's cotton gin.
Permit me to call your attention to a few of the numberless evidences,
that slavery is a poor school for "moral preparation" for freedom. 1st.
Slavery turns its victims into thieves. "Who should be astonished," says
Thomas S. Clay, a very distinguished slaveholder of Georgia, "if the
negro takes from the field or corn-house the supplies necessary for his
craving appetite and then justifies his act, and denies that it is
stealing?" What debasement in the slave does the same gentleman's remedy
for theft indicate? "If," says he, "the negro is informed, that if he
does not steal, he shall receive rice as an allowance; and if he does
steal, he shall not, a motive is held out which will counteract the
temptation to pilfer." 2nd. Slavery reeks with licentiousness. Another
son of the South says, that the slaveholder's kitchen is a brothel, and
a southern village a Sodom. The elaborate defence of slavery by
Chancellor Harper of South Carolina justifies the heaviest accusations,
that have been brought against it on the score of licentiousness. How
could you blame us for deeply abhorring slavery, even were we to view it
in no other light than that in which the Dews and Harpers and its other
advocates present it? 3rd. Slavery puts the master in the place of God,
and the master's law in the place of God's law! "The negro," says Thomas
S. Clay, "is seldom taught to feel, that he is punished for breaking
God's law! He only knows his master as law-giver and executioner, and
the sole object held up to his view is to make him a more obedient and
profitable slave. He oftener hears that he shall be punished if he
steals, than if he breaks the Sabbath or swears; and thus he sees the
very threatenings of God brought to bear on his master's interests. It
is very manifest to him, that his own good is very far from forming the
primary reason for his chastisement: his master's interests are to be
secured at all events;--God's claims are secondary, or enforced merely
for the purpose of advancing those of his owner. His own benefit is the
residuum after this double distillation of moral motive--a mere
accident." 4th. The laws of nearly all the slave-states forbid the
teaching of the slaves to read. The abundant declarations, that those
laws are without exception, a consequence of the present agitation of
the question of slavery are glaringly false. Many of these laws were
enacted long before this agitation; and some of them long before you and
I were born. Say the three hundred and fifty-three gentlemen of the
District of Abbeville and Edgefield in South Carolina, who, the last
year, broke up a system of oral religious instruction, which the
Methodist Conference of that State had established amongst their slaves:
"Intelligence and slavery have no affinity for each other." And when
those same gentlemen declare, that "verbal and lecturing instruction
will increase a desire with the black population to learn"--that "the
progress and diffusion of knowledge will be a consequence"--and that "a
progressive system of improvement will be introduced, that will
ultimately revolutionize our civil institutions," they admit, that the
prohibition of "intelligence" to the slaves is the settled and necessary
policy of slavery, and not, as you would have us believe, a temporary
expedient occasioned by the present "agitation of this subject of
abolition." 5th. Slavery--the system, which forbids marriage and the
reading of the Bible--does of necessity turn its subjects into heathens.
A Report of the Synod of South Carolina and Georgia, made five years
ago, says: "Who could credit it, that in these years of revival and
benevolent effort--that, in this Christian Republic, there are over two
millions of human beings in the condition of heathen, and in some
respects in a worse condition? They may be justly considered the heathen
of this Christian country, and will bear comparison with heathen in any
country in the world." I will finish what I have to say on this point of
"moral preparation" for freedom, with the remark, that the history of
slavery in no country warrants your implication, that slaves acquire
such "moral preparation." The British Parliament substituted an
apprenticeship for slavery with the express design, that it should
afford a "moral preparation" for freedom. And yet, if you will read the
reports of late visitors to the British West Indies, you will find, that
the planters admit, that they made no use of the advantages of the
apprenticeship to prepare their servants for liberty. Their own
gain--not the slaves'--was their ruling motive, during the term of the
apprenticeship, as well as preceding it.
Another of your charges is, _that the abolitionists "have increased the
rigors of legislation against slaves in most if not all the
slave States_."
And suppose, that our principles and measures have occasioned this
evil--are they therefore wrong?--and are we, therefore, involved in sin?
The principles and measures of Moses and Aaron were the occasion of a
similar evil. Does it follow, that those principles and measures were
wrong, and that Moses and Aaron were responsible for the sin of
Pharaoh's increased oppressiveness? The truth, which Jesus Christ
preached on the earth, is emphatically peace: but its power on the
depravity of the human heart made it the occasion of division and
violence. That depravity was the guilty cause of the division and
violence. The truth was but the innocent occasion of them. To make it
responsible for the effects of that depravity would be as unreasonable,
as it is to make the holy principles of the anti-slavery cause
responsible for the wickedness which they occasion: and to make the
great Preacher Himself responsible for the division and violence, would
be but to carry out the absurdity, of which the public are guilty, in
holding abolitionists responsible for the mobs, which are got up against
them. These mobs, by the way, are called "abolition mobs." A similar
misnomer would pronounce the mob, that should tear down your house and
shoot your wife, "Henry Clay's mob." Harriet Martineau, in stating the
fact, that the mobs of 1834, in the city of New York, were set down to
the wrong account, says, that the abolitionists were told, that "they
had no business to scare the city with the sight of their burning
property and demolished churches!"
No doubt the light of truth, which the abolitionists are pouring into
the dark den of slavery, greatly excites the monster's wrath: and it may
be, that he vents a measure of it on the helpless and innocent victims
within his grasp. Be it so;--it is nevertheless, not the Ithuriel spear
of truth, that is to be held guilty of the harm:--it is the monster's
own depravity, which cannot
"endure
Touch of celestial temper, but returns
Of force to its own likeness."[A]
[Footnote A: This is a reference to a passage in Milton's Paradise Lost,
in which Satan in disguise is touched by the spear of the archangel
Ithuriel and is thereby forced to return to his own form.]
I am, however, far from believing, that the treatment of the slaves is
rendered any more rigorous and cruel by the agitation of the subject of
slavery. I am very far from believing, that it is any harsher now than
it was before the organization of the American Anti-Slavery Society.
Fugitive slaves tell us, it is not: and, inasmuch as the slaveholders
are, and, by both words and actions, abundantly show, that they feel
that they are, arraigned by the abolitionists before the bar of the
civilized world, to answer to the charges of perpetrating cruelties on
their slaves, it would, unless indeed, they are of the number of those
"whose glory is in their shame," be most unphilosophical to conclude,
that they are multiplying proofs of the truth of those charges, more
rapidly than at any former stage of their barbarities. That slaveholders
are not insensible to public opinion and to the value of a good
character was strikingly exhibited by Mr. Calhoun, in his place in the
Senate of the United States, when he followed his frank disclaimer of
all suspicion, that the abolitionists are meditating a war against the
slaveholder's person, with remarks evincive of his sensitiveness under
the war, which they are waging against the slaveholder's character.
A fact occurs to me, which goes to show, that the slaveholders feel
themselves to be put upon their good behavior by the abolitionists.
Although slaves are murdered every day at the South, yet never, until
very recently, if at all, has the case occurred, in which a white man
has been executed at the South for the murder of a slave. A few months
ago, the Southern newspapers brought us copies of the document,
containing the refusal of Governor Butler of South Carolina to pardon a
man, who had been convicted of the murder of a slave. This document
dwells on the protection due to the slave; and, if I fully recollect its
character, an abolitionist himself could hardly have prepared a more
appropriate paper for the occasion. Whence such a document--whence, in
the editorial captions to this document, the exultation over its
triumphant refutations of the slanders of the abolitionists against the
South--but, that Governor Butler feels--but, that the writes of those
captions feel--that the abolitionists have put the South upon her
good behavior.
Another of your charges is, _that the abolitionists oppose "the project
of colonisation."_
Having, under another head, made some remarks on this "project," I will
only add, that we must oppose the American Colonization Society, because
it denies the sinfulness of slavery, and the duty of immediate,
unqualified emancipation. Its avowed doctrine is, that, unless
emancipation he accompanied by expatriation, perpetual slavery is to be
preferred to it. Not to oppose that Society, would be the guiltiest
treachery to our holy religion, which requires immediate and
unconditional repentance of sin. Not to oppose it, would be to uphold
slavery. Not to oppose it, would be to abandon the Anti-Slavery Society.
Do you ask, why, if this be the character of the American Colonization
Society, many, who are now abolitionists, continued in it so long? I
answer for myself, that, until near the period of my withdrawal from it,
I had very inadequate conceptions of the wickedness, both of that
Society, and of slavery. For having felt the unequalled sin of slavery
no more deeply--for feeling it now no more deeply, I confess myself to
be altogether without excuse. The great criminality of my long
continuance in the Colonization Society is perhaps somewhat palliated by
the fact, that the strongest proofs of the wicked character and
tendencies of the Society were not exhibited, until it spread out its
wing over slavery to shelter the monster from the earnest and effective
blows of the American Anti-Slavery Society.
Another of your charges is, that the abolitionists, in declaring "that
their object is not to stimulate the action of the General Government,
_but to operate upon the States themselves, in which the institution of
domestic slavery exists," are evidently insincere, since the "abolition
societies and movements are all confined to the free Slates_."
I readily admit, that our object is the abolition of slavery, as well in
the slave States, as in other portions of the Nation, where it exists.
But, does it follow, because only an insignificant share of our
"abolition societies and movements" is in those States, that we
therefore depend for the abolition of slavery in them on the General
Government, rather than on moral influence? I need not repeat, that the
charge of our looking to the General Government for such abolition is
refuted by the language of the Constitution of the Anti-Slavery Society.
You may, however, ask--"why, if you do not look to the General
Government for it, is not the great proportion of your means of moral
influence in the slave States, where is the great body of the slaves?" I
answer that, in the first place, the South does not permit us to have
them there; and that, in the words of one of your fellow Senators, and
in the very similar words of another--both uttered on the floor of the
Senate--"if the abolitionists come to the South, the South will hang
them." Pardon the remark, that it seems very disingenuous in you to draw
conclusions unfavorable to the sincerity of the abolitionists from
premises so notoriously false, as are those which imply, that it is
entirely at their own option, whether the abolitionists shall have their
"societies and movements" in the free or slave States. I continue to
answer your question, by saying, in the second place, that, had the
abolitionists full liberty to multiply their "societies and movements"
in the slave States, they would probably think it best to have the great
proportion of them yet awhile in the free States. To rectify public
opinion on the subject of slavery is a leading object with
abolitionists. This object is already realized to the extent of a
thorough anti-slavery sentiment in Great Britain, as poor Andrew
Stevenson, for whom you apologise, can testify. Indeed, the great power
and pressure of that sentiment are the only apology left to this
disgraced and miserable man for uttering a bald falsehood in vindication
of Virginia morals. He above all other men, must feel the truth of the
distinguished Thomas Fowel Buxton's declaration, that "England is turned
into one great Anti-Slavery Society." Now, Sir, it is such a change, as
abolitionists have been the instruments of producing in Great Britain,
that we hope to see produced in the free States. We hope to see public
sentiment in these States so altered, that such of their laws, as uphold
and countenance slavery, will be repealed--so altered, that the present
brutal treatment of the colored population in them will give place to a
treatment dictated by justice, humanity, and brotherly and Christian
love;--so altered, that there will be thousands, where now there are not
hundreds, to class the products of slave labor with other stolen goods,
and to refuse to eat and to wear that, which is wet with the tears, and
red with the blood of "the poor innocents," whose bondage is continued,
because men are more concerned to buy what is cheap, than what is
honestly acquired;--so altered, that our Missionary and other religious
Societies will remember, that God says: "I hate robbery for
burnt-offering," and will forbear to send their agents after that
plunder, which, as it is obtained at the sacrifice of the body and soul
of the plundered, is infinitely more unfit, than the products of
ordinary theft, to come into the Lord's treasury. And, when the warm
desires of our hearts, on these points, shall be realized, the fifty
thousand Southerners, who annually visit the North, for purposes of
business and pleasure, will not all return to their homes,
self-complacent and exulting, as now, when they carry with them the
suffrages of the North in favor of slavery: but numbers of them will
return to pursue the thoughts inspired by their travels amongst the
enemies of oppression--and, in the sequel, they will let their
"oppressed go free."
It were almost as easy for the sun to call up vegetation by the side of
an iceberg, as for the abolitionists to move the South extensively,
whilst their influence is counteracted by a pro-slavery spirit at the
North. How vain would be the attempt to reform the drunkards of your
town of Lexington, whilst the sober in it continue to drink intoxicating
liquors! The first step in the reformation is to induce the sober to
change their habits, and create that total abstinence-atmosphere, in the
breathing of which, the drunkard lives,--and, for the want of which, he
dies. The first step, in the merciful work of delivering the slaveholder
from his sin, is similar. It is to bring him under the influence of a
corrected public opinion--of an anti-slavery sentiment:--and they, who
are to be depended on to contribute to this public opinion--to make up
this anti-slavery sentiment--are those, who are not bound up in the iron
habits, and blinded by the mighty interests of the slaveholder. To
depend on slaveholders to give the lead to public opinion in the
anti-slavery enterprise, would be no less absurd, than to begin the
temperance reformation with drunkards, and to look to them to produce
the influences, which are indispensable to their own redemption.
You say of the abolitionists, _that "they are in favor of
amalgamation."_
The Anti-Slavery Society is, as its name imports, a society to oppose
slavery--not to "make matches." Whether abolitionists are inclined to
amalgamation more than anti-abolitionists are, I will not here take upon
myself to decide. So far, as you and I may be regarded as
representatives of these two parties, and so far as our marriages argue
our tastes in this matter, the abolitionists and anti-abolitionists may
be set down, as equally disposed to couple white with white and black
with black--for our wives, as you are aware, are both white. I will here
mention, as it may further argue the similarity in the matrimonial
tastes of abolitionists and anti-abolitionists, the fact so grateful to
us in the days, when we were "workers together" in promoting the "scheme
of Colonization," that our wives are natives of the same town.
I have a somewhat extensive acquaintance at the North; and I can truly
say, that I do not know a white abolitionist, who is the reputed father
of a colored child. At the South there are several hundred thousand
persons, whose yellow skins testify, that the white man's blood courses
through their veins. Whether the honorable portion of their parentage is
to be ascribed exclusively to the few abolitionists scattered over the
South--and who, under such supposition, must, indeed, be prodigies of
industry and prolificness--or whether anti-abolitionists there have,
notwithstanding all their pious horror of "amalgamation," been
contributing to it, you can better judge than myself.
That slavery is a great amalgamator, no one acquainted with the blended
colors of the South will, for a moment, deny. But, that an increasing
amalgamation would attend the liberation of the slaves, is quite
improbable, when we reflect, that the extensive occasions of the present
mixture are the extreme debasement of the blacks and their entire
subjection to the will of the whites; and that even should the
debasement continue under a state of freedom, the subjection would not.
It is true, that the colored population of our country might in a state
of freedom, attain to an equality with the whites; and that a
multiplication of instances of matrimonial union between the two races
might be a consequence of this equality: but, beside, that this would be
a lawful and sinless union, instead of the adulterous and wicked one,
which is the fruit of slavery, would not the improved condition of our
down-trodden brethren be a blessing infinitely overbalancing all the
violations of our taste, which it might occasion? I say violations of
_our_ taste;--for we must bear in mind that, offensive as the
intermixture of different races may be to us, the country or age, which
practices it, has no sympathy whatever with our feeling on this point.
How strongly and painfully it argues the immorality and irreligion of
the American people, that they should look so complacently on the
"amalgamation," which tramples the seventh commandment under foot, and
yet be so offended at that, which has the sanction of lawful wedlock!
When the Vice President of this Nation was in nomination for his present
office, it was objected to him, that he had a family of colored
children. The defence, set up by his partisans, was, that, although he
had such a family, he nevertheless was not married to their mother! The
defence was successful; and the charge lost all its odiousness; and the
Vice President's popularity was retrieved, when, it turned out, that he
was only the adulterous, and not the married father of his children!
I am aware, that many take the ground, that we must keep the slaves in
slavery to prevent the matrimonial "amalgamation," which, they
apprehend, would be a fruit of freedom. But, however great a good,
abolitionists might deem the separation of the white and black races,
and however deeply they might be impressed with the power of slavery to
promote this separation, they nevertheless, dare not "do evil, that good
may come:"--they dare not seek to promote this separation, at the
fearful expense of upholding, or in anywise, countenancing a
humanity-crushing and God-defying system of oppression.
Another charge against the abolitionists is implied in the inquiry you
make, _whether since they do not "furnish in their own families or
persons examples of intermarriage, they intend to contaminate the
industrious and laborious classes of society of the North by a revolting
admixture of the black element."_
This inquiry shows how difficult it is for southern minds, accustomed as
they have ever been to identify labor with slavery, to conceive the true
character and position of such "classes" at the North; and also how
ignorant they are of the composition of our Anti-Slavery societies. To
correct your misapprehensions on these points, I will briefly say, in
the first place, that the laborers of the North are freemen and not
slaves;--that they marry whom they please, and are neither paired nor
unpaired to suit the interests of the breeder, or seller, or buyer, of
human stock:--and, in the second place, that the abolitionists, instead
of being a body of persons distinct from "the industrious and laborious
classes," do, more than nineteen twentieths of them, belong to those
"classes." You have fallen into great error in supposing, that
_abolitionists_ generally belong to the wealthy and aristocratic
classes. This, to a great extent, is true of _anti-abolitionists_. Have
you never heard the boast, that there have been anti-abolition mobs,
which consisted of "gentlemen of property and standing?"
You charge upon abolitionists "_the purpose to create a pinching
competition between black labor and white labor;" and add, that "on the
supposition of abolition the black class, migrating into the free
states, would enter into competition with the white class, diminishing
the wages of their labor_."
In making this charge, as well as in making that which immediately
precedes it, you have fallen into the error, that abolitionists do not
belong to "the industrious and laborious classes." In point of fact, the
abolitionists belong so generally to these classes, that if your charge
be true, they must have the strange "purpose" of "pinching" themselves.
Whether "the black class" would, or would not migrate, I am much more
pleased to have you say what you do on this point, though it be at the
expense of your consistency, than to have you say, as you do in another
part of your speech, that abolition "would end in the extermination or
subjugation of the one race or the other."
It appears to me highly improbable, that emancipation would be followed
by the migration of the emancipated. Emancipation, which has already
added fifty per cent. to the value of estates in the British West
Indies, would immediately add as much to the value of the soil of the
South. Much more of it would be brought into use; and, notwithstanding
the undoubted truth, that the freedman performs twice as much labor as
when a slave, the South would require, instead of any diminution, a very
great increase of the number of her laborers. The laboring population of
the British West India Islands, is one-third as large as that of the
southern states; and yet, since these islands have got rid of slavery,
and have entered on their career of enterprize and industry, they find
this population, great as it is, insufficient to meet the increased
demand for labor. As you are aware, they are already inviting laborers
of this and other countries to supply the deficiency. But what is the
amount of cultivable land in those islands, compared with that in all
the southern states? It is not so extensive as the like land in your
single state.
But you may suppose, that, in the event of the emancipation of her
slaves, the South would prefer white laborers. I know not why she
should. Such are, for the most part, unaccustomed to her kinds of labor,
and they would exact, because they would need, far greater wages than
those, who had never been indulged beyond the gratification of their
simplest wants. There is another point of view, in which it is still
more improbable, that the black laborers of the South would be displaced
by immigrations of white laborers. The proverbial attachment of the
slave to his "bornin-ground," (the place of his nativity,) would greatly
contribute to his contentment with low wages, at the hands of his old
master. As an evidence of the strong attachment of our southern colored
brethren to their birth-places, I remark, that, whilst the free colored
population of the free states increased from 1820 to 1830 but nineteen
per cent., the like population in the slave states increased, in the
same period, thirty five per cent;--and this, too, notwithstanding the
operation of those oppressive and cruel laws, whose enactment was
dictated by the settled policy of expelling the free blacks from
the South.
That, in the event of the abolition of southern slavery, the emancipated
slaves would migrate to the North, rather than elsewhere, is very
improbable. Whilst our climate would be unfriendly to them, and whilst
they would be strangers to our modes of agriculture, the sugar and
cotton fields of Texas, the West Indies, and other portions of the
earth, would invite them to congenial employments beneath congenial
skies. That, in case southern slavery is abolished, the colored
population of the North would be drawn off to unite with their race at
the South, is, for reasons too obvious to mention, far more probable
than the reverse.
It will be difficult for you to persuade the North, that she would
suffer in a pecuniary point of view by the extirpation of slavery. The
consumption of the laborers at the South would keep pace with the
improvement and elevation of their condition, and would very soon impart
a powerful impulse to many branches of Northern industry.
Another of your charges is in the following words: "The subject of
slavery within the District of Florida," and that "of the right of
Congress to prohibit the removal of slaves from one state to another,"
are, with abolitionists, "but so many masked batteries, concealing the
real and ultimate point of attack. That point of attack is the
institution of domestic slavery, as it exists in those states."
If you mean by this charge, that abolitionists think that the abolition
of slavery in the District of Columbia and in Florida, and the
suppression of the interstate traffic in human beings are, in
themselves, of but little moment, you mistake. If you mean, that they
think them of less importance than the abolition of slavery in the slave
states, you are right; and if you further mean, that they prize those
objects more highly, and pursue them more zealously, because they think,
that success in them will set in motion very powerful, if not indeed
resistless influences against slavery in the slave states, you are right
in this also. I am aware, that the latter concession brings
abolitionists under the condemnation of that celebrated book, written by
a _modern_ limiter of "human responsibility"--not by the _ancient_ one,
who exclaimed, "Am I my brother's keeper?" In that book, to which, by
the way, the infamous Atherton Resolutions are indebted for their
keynote, and grand pervading idea, we find the doctrine, that even if it
were the duty of Congress to abolish slavery in the District of
Columbia, the North nevertheless should not seek for such abolition,
unless the object of it be "ultimate within itself." If it be "for the
sake of something ulterior" also--if for the sake of inducing the
slaveholders of the slave states to emancipate their slaves--then we
should not seek for it. Let us try this doctrine in another
application--in one, where its distinguished author will not feel so
much delicacy, and so much fear of giving offence. His reason why we
should not go for the abolition of slavery in the District of Columbia,
unless our object in it be "ultimate within itself," and unaccompanied
by the object of producing an influence against slavery in the slave
states, is, that the Federal Constitution has left the matter of slavery
in the slave states to those states themselves. But will President
Wayland say, that it has done so to any greater extent, than it has left
the matter of gambling-houses and brothels in those states to those
states themselves? He will not, if he consider the subject:--though, I
doubt not, that when he wrote his bad book, he was under the prevailing
error, that the Federal Constitution tied up the hands and limited the
power of the American people in respect to slavery, more than to any
other vice.
But to the other application. We will suppose, that Great Britain has
put down the gambling-houses and brothels in her wide dominions--that
Mexico has done likewise; and that the George Thompsons, and Charles
Stuarts, and other men of God, have come from England to beseech the
people of the northern states to do likewise within their respective
jurisdictions;--and we will further suppose, that those foreign
missionaries, knowing the obstinate and infatuated attachment of the
people of the southern states to their gambling-houses and brothels,
should attempt, and successfully, too, to blend with the motive of the
people of the northern states to get rid of their own gambling houses
and brothels, the motive of influencing the people of the southern
states to get rid of theirs--what, we ask, would this eminent divine
advise in such a case? Would he have the people of the northern states
go on in their good work, and rejoice in the prospect, not only that
these polluting and ruinous establishments would soon cease to exist
within all their limits, but that the influence of their overthrow would
be fatal to the like establishments in the southern states? To be
consistent with himself--with the doctrine in question--he must reply in
the negative. To be consistent with himself, he must advise the people
of the northern states to let their own gambling-houses and brothels
stand, until they can make the object of their abolishment "ultimate
within itself;"--until they can expel from their hearts the cherished
hope, that the purification of their own states of these haunts of
wickedness would exert an influence to induce the people of their sister
states to enter upon a similar work of purity and righteousness. But I
trust, that President Wayland would not desire to be consistent with
himself on this point. I trust that he would have the magnanimity to
throw away this perhaps most pernicious doctrine of a pernicious book,
which every reader of it must see was written to flatter and please the
slaveholder and arrest the progress of the anti-slavery cause. How great
the sin of seizing on this very time, when special efforts are being
made to enlist the world's sympathies in behalf of the millions of our
robbed, outraged, crushed countrymen--how great the sin, of seizing on
such a time to attempt to neutralize those efforts, by ascribing to the
oppressors of these millions a characteristic "nobleness"--"enthusiastic
attachment to personal right"--"disinterestedness which has always
marked the southern character"--and a superiority to all others "in
making any sacrifice for the public good!" It is this sin--this heinous
sin--of which President Wayland has to repent. If he pities the slave,
it is because he knows, that the qualities, which he ascribes to the
slaveholder, do not, in fact, belong to him. On the other hand, if he
believes the slaveholder to be, what he represents him to be, he does
not--in the very nature of things, he cannot--pity the slave. He must
rather rejoice, that the slave has fallen into the hands of one, who,
though he has the name, cannot have the heart, and cannot continue in
the relation of a slaveholder. If John Hook, for having mingled his
discordant and selfish cries with the acclamations of victory and then
general joy, deserved Patrick Henry's memorable rebuke, what does he not
deserve, who finds it in his heart to arrest the swelling tide of pity
for the oppressed by praises of the oppressor, and to drown the public
lament over the slave's subjection to absolute power, in the
congratulation, that the slaveholder who exercises that power, is a
being of characteristic "nobleness," "disinterestedness," and
"sacrifice" of self-interest?
President Wayland may perhaps say, that the moral influence, which he is
unwilling to have exerted over the slaveholder, is not that, which is
simply persuasive, but that, which is constraining--not that, which is
simply inducing, but that, which is compelling. I cheerfully admit, that
it is infinitely better to induce men to do right from their own
approbation of the right, than it is to shame them, or in any other wise
constrain them, to do so; but I can never admit, that I am not at
liberty to effect the release of my colored brother from the fangs of
his murderous oppressor, when I can do so by bringing public opinion to
bear upon that oppressor, and to fill him with uneasiness and shame.
I have not, overlooked the distinction taken by the reverend gentleman;
though, I confess that, to a mind no less obtuse than my own, it is very
little better than "a distinction without a difference." Whilst he
denies, that I can, as an American citizen, rightfully labor for the
abolition of slavery in the slave states, or even in the District of
Columbia; he would perhaps, admit that, as a man, I might do so. But am
I not interested, as an American citizen, to have every part of my
country cleared of vice, and of whatever perils its free institutions?
Am I not interested, as such, to promote the overthrow of gambling and
rum drinking establishments in South Carolina?--but why any more than to
promote the overthrow of slavery? In fine, am I not interested, as an
American citizen, to have my country, and my whole country, "right in
the sight of God?" If not, I had better not be an American citizen.
I say no more on the subject of the sophistries of President Wayland's
book on, "The limitations of human responsibility;" nor would I have
said what I have, were it not that it is in reply to the like
sophistries couched in that objection of yours, which I have now been
considering.
Another of your charges against the abolitionists is, _that they seek to
"stimulate the rage of the people of the free states against the people
of the slave states. Advertisements of fugitive slaves and of slaves to
be sold are carefully collected and blazoned forth to infuse a spirit of
detestation and hatred against one entire and the largest section of
the Union."_
The slaveholders of the South represent slavery as a heaven-born
institution--themselves as patriarchs and patterns of benevolence--and
their slaves, as their tenderly treated and happy dependents. The
abolitionists, on the contrary, think that slavery is from hell--that
slaveholders are the worst of robbers--and that their slaves are the
wretched victims of unsurpassed cruelties. Now, how do abolitionists
propose to settle the points at issue?--by fanciful pictures of the
abominations of slavery to countervail the like pictures of its
blessedness?--by mere assertions against slavery, to balance mere
assertions in its favor? No--but by the perfectly reasonable and fair
means of examining slavery in the light of its own code--of judging of
the character of the slaveholder in the light of his own conduct--and of
arguing the condition of the slave from unequivocal evidences of the
light in which the slave himself views it. To this end we publish
extracts from the southern slave code, which go to show that slavery
subjects its victims to the absolute control of their erring fellow
men--that it withholds from them marriage and the Bible--that it classes
them with brutes and things--and annihilates the distinctions between
mind and matter. To this end we republish in part, or entirely,
pamphlets and books, in which southern men exhibit, with their own pens,
some of the horrid features of slavery. To this end we also republish
such advertisements as you refer to--advertisements in which immortal
beings, made in the image of God, and redeemed by a Savior's blood, and
breathed upon by the Holy Spirit, are offered to be sold, at public
auction, or sheriff's sale, in connection with cows, and horses, and
ploughs: and, sometimes we call special attention to the common fact,
that the husband and wife, the parent and infant child, are advertised
to be sold together or separately, as shall best suit purchasers. It is
to this end also, that we often republish specimens of the other class
of advertisements to which you refer. Some of the advertisements of this
class identify the fugitive slave by the scars, which the whip, or the
manacles and fetters, or the rifle had made on his person. Some of them
offer a reward for his head!--and it is to this same end, that we often
refer to the ten thousands, who have fled from southern slavery, and the
fifty fold that number, who have unsuccessfully attempted to fly from
it. How unutterable must be the horrors of the southern prison house,
and how strong and undying the inherent love of liberty to induce these
wretched fellow beings to brave the perils which cluster so thickly and
frightfully around their attempted escape? That love is indeed
_undying_. The three hundred and fifty-three South Carolina gentlemen,
to whom I have referred, admit, that even "the old negro man, whose head
is white with age, raises his thoughts to look through the vista which
will terminate his bondage."
I put it to your candor--can you object to the reasonableness and
fairness of these modes, which abolitionists have adopted for
establishing the truth on the points at issue between themselves and
slaveholders? But, you may say that our republication of your own
representations of slavery proceeds from unkind motives, and serves to
stir up the "hatred," and "rage of the people of the free states against
the people of the slave states." If such be an effect of the
republication, although not at all responsible for it, we deeply regret
it; and, as to our motives, we can only meet the affirmation of their
unkindness with a simple denial. Were we, however, to admit the
unkindness of our motives, and that we do not always adhere to the
apostolic motto, of "speaking the truth in love"--would the admission
change the features of slavery, or make it any the less a system of
pollution and blood? Is the accused any the less a murderer, because of
the improper motives with which his accuser brings forward the
conclusive proof of his blood-guiltiness?
We often see, in the speeches and writings of the South, that
slaveholders claim as absolute and as rightful a property in their
slaves, as in their cattle. Whence then their sensitiveness under our
republication of the advertisements, is which they offer to sell their
human stock? If the south will republish the advertisements of our
property, we will only not be displeased, but will thank her; and any
rebukes she may see fit to pour upon us, for offering particular kinds
of property, will be very patiently borne, in view of the benefit we
shall reap from her copies of our advertisements.
A further charge in your speech is, _that the abolitionists pursue their
object "reckless of all consequences, however calamitous they may be;"
that they have no horror of a "civil war," or "a dissolution of the
Union;" that theirs is "a bloody road," and "their purpose is abolition,
universal abolition, peaceably if it can, forcibly if it must."_
It is true that, the abolitionists pursue their object, undisturbed by
apprehensions of consequences; but it is not true, that they pursue it
"reckless of consequences." We believe that they, who unflinchingly
press the claims of God's truth, deserve to be considered as far less
"reckless of consequences," than they, who, suffering themselves to be
thrown into a panic by apprehensions of some mischievous results, local
or general, immediate or remote, are guilty of compromising the truth,
and substituting corrupt expediency for it. We believe that the
consequences of obeying the truth and following God are good--only
good--and that too, not only in eternity, but in time also. We believe,
that had the confidently anticipated deluge of blood followed the
abolition of slavery in the British West Indies, the calamity would have
been the consequence, not of abolition, but of resistance to it. The
insanity, which has been known to follow the exhibition of the claims of
Christianity, is to be charged on the refusal to fall in with those
claims, and not on our holy religion.
But, notwithstanding, we deem it our duty and privilege to confine
ourselves to the word of the Lord, and to make that word suffice to
prevent all fears of consequences; we, nevertheless, employ additional
means to dispel the alarms of those, who insist on walking "by sight;"
and, in thus accommodating ourselves to their want of faith, we are
justified by the example of Him, who, though he said, "blessed are they
that have not seen and yet have believed," nevertheless permitted an
unbelieving disciple, both to see and to touch the prints of the nails
and the spear. When dealing with such unbelievers, we do not confine
ourselves to the "thus saith the Lord"--to the Divine command, to "let
the oppressed go free and break every yoke"--to the fact, that God is an
abolitionist: but we also show how contrary to all sound philosophy is
the fear, that the slave, on whom have been heaped all imaginable
outrages, will, when those outrages are exchanged for justice and mercy,
turn and rend his penitent master. When dealing with such unbelievers,
we advert to the fact, that the insurrections at the South have been the
work of slaves--not one of them of persons discharged from slavery: we
show how happy were the fruits of emancipation in St. Domingo: and that
the "horrors of St. Domingo," by the parading of which so many have been
deterred from espousing our righteous cause, were the result of the
attempt to re-establish slavery. When dealing with them, we ask
attention to the present peaceful, prosperous, and happy condition of
the British West India Islands, which so triumphantly falsifies the
predictions, that bankruptcy, violence, bloodshed, and utter ruin would
follow the liberation of their slaves. We point these fearful and
unbelieving ones to the fact of the very favorable influence of the
abolition of slavery on the price of real estate in those islands; to
that of the present rapid multiplication of schools and churches in
them; to the fact, that since the abolition of slavery, on the first day
of August 1834, not a white man in all those islands has been struck
down by the arm of a colored man; and then we ask them whether in view
of such facts, they are not prepared to believe, that God connects
safety with obedience, and that it is best to "trust in the Lord with
all thine heart, and lean not to thine own understanding."
On the subject of "a dissolution of the Union," I have only to say,
that, on the one hand, there is nothing in my judgment, which, under
God, would tend so much to preserve our Republic, as the carrying out
into all our social, political and religious institutions of its great
foundation principle, that "all men are created equal;" and that, on the
other hand, the flagrant violation of that principle in the system of
slavery, is doing more than all thing, else to hasten the destruction of
the Republic. I am aware, that one of the doctrines of the South is,
that "slavery is the corner-stone of the republican edifice." But, if it
be true, that our political institutions harmonize with, and are
sustained by slavery, then the sooner we exchange them for others the
better. I am aware, that it is said, both at the North and at the South,
that it is essential to the preservation of the Union. But, greatly as I
love the Union, and much as I would sacrifice for its righteous
continuance, I cannot hesitate to say, that if slavery be an
indispensable cement, the sooner it is dissolved the better.
I am not displeased, that you call ours "a bloody road"--for this
language does not necessarily implicate our motives; but I am greatly
surprised that you charge upon us the wicked and murderous "purpose" of
a forcible abolition. In reply to this imputation, I need only refer you
to the Constitution of the American Anti-Slavery Society--to the
Declaration of the Convention which framed it--and to our characters,
for pledges, that we design no force, and are not likely to stain our
souls with the crime of murder. That Constitution says: "This society
will never, in any way, countenance the oppressed in vindicating their
rights by resorting to physical force." The Declaration says "Our
principles forbid the doing of evil that good may come, and lead us to
reject, and to entreat the oppressed to reject, the use of all carnal
weapons for deliverance from bondage. Our measures shall be such only,
as the opposition of moral purity to moral corruption--the destruction
of error by the potency of truth--the overthrow of prejudice by the
power of love--and the abolition of slavery by the spirit of
repentance." As to our characters they are before the world. You would
probably look in vain through our ranks for a horse-racer, a gambler, a
profane person, a rum-drinker, or a duellist. More than nine-tenths of
us deny the rightfulness of offensive, and a large majority, even that
of defensive national wars. A still larger majority believe, that deadly
weapons should not be used in cases of individual strife. And, if you
should ask, "where in the free States are the increasing numbers of men
and women, who believe, that the religion of the unresisting 'Lamb of
God' forbids recourse to such weapons, in all circumstances, either by
nations or individuals?"--the answer is, "to a man, to a woman, in the
ranks of the abolitionists." You and others will judge for yourselves,
how probable it is, that the persons, whom I have described, will prove
worthy of being held up as murderers.
The last of your charges against the abolitionists, which I shall
examine, is the following: _Having begun "their operations by professing
to employ only persuasive means," they "have ceased to employ the
instruments of reason and persuasion," and "they now propose to
substitute the powers of the ballot box;" and "the inevitable tendency
of their proceedings is if these should be found insufficient, to invoke
finally the more potent powers of the bayonet."_
If the slaveholders would but let us draw on them for the six or eight
thousand dollars, which we expend monthly to sustain our presses and
lecturers, they would then know, from an experience too painful to be
forgotten, how truthless is your declaration, that we "have ceased to
employ the instruments of reason and persuasion."
You and your friends, at first, employed "persuasive means" against "the
sub-treasury system." Afterwards, you rallied voters against it. Now, if
this fail, will you resort to "the more potent powers of the bayonet?"
You promptly and indignantly answer, "No." But, why will you not? Is it
because the prominent opposers of that system have more moral
worth--more religious horror of blood--than Arthur Tappan, William Jay,
and their prominent abolition friends? Were such to be your answer, the
public would judge, whether the men of peace and purity, who compose the
mass of abolitionists, would be more likely than the Clays and Wises and
the great body of the followers of these Congressional leaders to betake
themselves from a disappointment at "the ballot-box" to "the more potent
powers of the bayonet?"
You say, that we "_now_ propose to substitute the powers of the
ballot-box," as if it were only of late, that we had proposed to do so.
What then means the following language in our Constitution: "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 it
to any State, that may be hereafter admitted to the Union?" What then
means the following language in the "Declaration" of the Convention,
which framed our Constitution: "We also maintain, that there are at the
present time the highest obligations resting upon the people of the Free
States to remove slavery by moral and political action, as prescribed in
the Constitution of the United States?" If it be for the first time,
that we "_now_ propose" "political action," what means it, that
anti-slavery presses have, from year to year, called on abolitionists to
remember the slave at the polls?
You are deceived on this point; and the rapid growth of our cause has
been the occasion of your deception. You suppose, because it is only
within the last few months, that you have heard of abolitionists in this
country carrying their cause to "the ballot box," that it is only within
the last few months that they have done so. But, in point of fact, some
of them have done so for several years. It was not, however, until the
last year or two, when the number of abolitionists had become
considerable, and their hope of producing an impression on the Elections
proportionately strong, that many of them were seen bringing their
abolition principles to the "ballot-box." Nor was it until the Elections
of the last Autumn, that abolition action at "the ballot-box" had become
so extensive, as to apprise the Nation, that it is a principle with
abolitionists to "remember" in one place as well as in another--at the
polls as well as in the closet--"them that are in bonds." The fact that,
at the last State Election, there were three or four hundred abolition
votes given in the County in which I reside, is no more real because of
its wide spread interest, than the comparatively unheard of fact, that
about one hundred such votes were given the year before. By the way,
when I hear complaints of abolition action at the "ballot-box," I can
hardly refrain from believing, that they are made ironically. When I
hear complaints, that the abolitionists of this State rallied, as such,
at the last State Election, I cannot easily avoid suspecting, that the
purpose of such complaints is the malicious one of reviving in our
breasts the truly stinging and shame-filling recollection, that some
five-sixths of the voters in our ranks, either openly apostatized from
our principles, or took it into their heads, that the better way to vote
for the slave and the anti-slavery cause was to vote for their
respective political parties. You would be less afraid of the
abolitionists, if I should tell you that more than ten thousand of them
in this State voted at the last State Election, for candidates for law
makers, who were openly in favor of the law of this State, which creates
slavery, and of other laws, which countenance and uphold it. And you
would owe me for one of your heartiest laughs, were I to tell you, that
there are abolitionists--professed abolitionists--yes, actual members of
the Anti-Slavery Society--who, carrying out this delusion of helping the
slave by helping their "party," say, that they would vote even for a
slaveholder, if their party should nominate him. Let me remark, however,
that I am happy to be able to inform you, that this delusion--at least
in my own State--is fast passing away; and that thousands of the
abolitionists who, in voting last Autumn for Gov. Marey or Gov. Seward,
took the first step in the way, that leads to voting for the slaveholder
himself, are now not only refusing to take another step in that
inconsistent and wicked way, but are repenting deeply of that, which
they have already taken in it.
Much as you dislike, not to say _dread_, abolition action at "the
ballot-box," I presume, that I need not spend any time in explaining to
you the inconsistency of which an abolitionist is guilty, who votes for
an upholder of slavery. A wholesome citizen would not vote fur a
candidate for a law maker, who is in favor of laws, which authorize
gaming-houses or _groggeries_. But, in the eye of one, who his attempted
to take the "guage and dimensions" of the hell of slavery, the laws,
which authorize slaveholding, far transcend in wickedness, those, which
authorize gaming-houses or _groggeries_. You would not vote for a
candidate for a law-maker, who is in favor of "the sub-treasury system."
But compared with the evil of slavery, what is that of the most
pernicious currency scheme ever devised? It is to be "counted as the
small dust of the balance." If you would withhold your vote in the case
supposed--how gross in your eyes must be the inconsistency of the
abolitionist, who casts his vote on the side of the system of
fathomless iniquity!
I have already remarked on "the third" of the "impediments" or
"obstacles" to emancipation, which you bring to view. _"The first
impediment," you say, "is the utter and absolute want of all power on
the part of the General Government to effect the purpose."_
But because there is this want on the part of the General Government, it
does not follow, that it also exists on the part of the States: nor does
it follow, that it also exists on the part of the slaveholders
themselves. It is a poor plea of your neighbor for continuing to hold
his fellow man in slavery, that neither the Federal Government nor the
State of Kentucky has power to emancipate them. Such a plea is about as
valid, as that of the girl for not having performed the task, which her
mistress had assigned to her. "I was tied to the table." "Who tied you
there?" "I tied myself there."
_"The next obstacle," you say, "in the way of abolition arises out of
the fact of the presence in the slave states of three millions
of slaves."_
This is, indeed a formidable "obstacle:" and I admit, that it is as much
more difficult for the impenitent slaveholder to surmount it, than it
would be if there were but one million of slaves, as it is for the
impenitent thief to restore the money he has stolen, than it would be,
if the sum were one third as great. But, be not discouraged, dear sir,
with this view of the case. Notwithstanding the magnitude of the
obstacle, the warmest desires of your heart for the abolition of
slavery, may yet be realized. Be thankful, that repentance can avail in
every case of iniquity; that it can loosen the grasp of the man-thief,
as well as that of the money-thief: of the oppressors of thousands as
well as of hundreds:--of "three millions," as well as of one million.
But, were I to allow, that the obstacle in question, is as great, as you
regard it--nevertheless will it not increase with the lapse of years,
and become less superable the longer the work of abolition is postponed?
I suppose, however, that it is not to be disguised, that,
notwithstanding the occasional attempts in the course of your speech to
create a different impression, you are in favor of perpetual slavery;
and that all you say about "ultra abolitionists" in distinction from
"abolitionists," and about "gradual emancipation," in distinction from
"immediate emancipation," is said, but to please those, who sincerely
make, and are gulled by, such distinctions. I do not forget, that you
say, that the abolition of slavery in Pennsylvania was proper. But, most
obviously, you say it, to win favor with the anti-slavery portion of the
North, and to sustain the world's opinion of your devotion to the cause
of universal liberty;--for, having made this small concession to that
holy cause--small indeed, since Pennsylvania never at any one time, had
five thousand slaves--you, straightway, renew your claims to the
confidence of slaveholders, by assuring them, that you are opposed to
"any scheme whatever of emancipation, gradual or immediate," in States
where the slave population is extensive;--and, for proof of the
sincerity of your declaration, you refer them to the fact of your recent
open and effective opposition to the overthrow of slavery in your
own State.
The South is opposed to gradual, as well as to immediate emancipation:
and, were she, indeed, to enter upon a scheme of gradual emancipation,
she would speedily abandon it. The objections to swelling the number of
her free colored population, whilst she continued to hold their brethren
of the same race in bondage, would be found too real and alarming to
justify her perseverance in the scheme. How strange, that men at the
North, who think soundly on other subjects, should deduce the
feasibility of gradual emancipation in the slave states--in some of
which the slaves outnumber the free--from the fact of the like
emancipation of the comparative handful of slaves in New York and
Pennsylvania!
You say, "_It is frequently asked, what will become of the African race
among us? Are they forever to remain in bondage? That question was asked
more than half a century ago. It has been answered by fifty years of
prosperity_."
The wicked man, "spreading himself like the green bay tree," would
answer this question, as you have. They, who "walk after their own
lusts, saying, where is the promise of his coming--for since the fathers
fell asleep all things continue as they were from the beginning of the
creation?" would answer it, as you have. They, whose "heart is fully set
in them to do evil, because sentence against an evil work is not
executed speedily," would answer it, as you have. But, however you or
they may answer it, and although God may delay his "coming" and the
execution of his "sentence," it, nevertheless, remains true, that "it
shall be well with them that fear God, but it shall not be well with
the wicked."
"Fifty years of prosperity!" On whose testimony do we learn, that the
last "fifty years" have been "years of prosperity" to the South?--on the
testimony of oppressors or on that of the oppressed?--on that of her two
hundred and fifty thousand slaveholders--for this is the sum total of
the tyrants, who rule the South and rule this nation--or on that of her
two millions and three quarters of bleeding and crushed slaves? It may
well be, that those of the South, who "have lived in pleasure on the
earth and been wanton and have nourished their hearts as in a day of
slaughter," should speak of "prosperity:" but, before we admit, that the
"prosperity," of which they speak, is that of the South, instead of
themselves merely, we must turn our weeping eyes to the "laborers, who
have reaped down" their oppressors' "fields without wages," and the
"cries" of whom "are entered into the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth;" and
we must also take into the account the tears, and sweat, and groans, and
blood, of the millions of similar laborers, whom, during the last "fifty
years," death has mercifully released from Southern bondage. Talks the
slaveholder of the "prosperity" of the South? It is but his own
"prosperity"--and a "prosperity," such as the wolf may boast, when
gorging on the flock.
You say, _that the people of the North would not think it "neighborly
and friendly" if "the people of the slave states were to form societies,
subsidize presses, make large pecuniary contributions, &c. to burn the
beautiful capitals, destroy the productive manufactories, and sink the
gallant ships of the northern states_."
Indeed, they would not! But, if you were to go to such pains, and
expense for the purpose of relieving our poor, doubling our wealth, and
promoting the spiritual interests of both rich and poor--then we should
bless you for practising a benevolence towards us, so like that, which
abolitionists practise towards you; and then our children, and
children's children, would bless your memories, even as your children
and children's children will, if southern slavery be peacefully
abolished, bless our memories, and lament that their ancestors had been
guilty of construing our love into hatred, and our purpose of naught but
good into a purpose of unmingled evil.
Near the close of your speech is the remark: "_I prefer the liberty of
my own country to that of any other people_."
Another distinguished American statesman uttered the applauded
sentiment: "My country--my whole country--and nothing but my
country;"--and a scarcely less distinguished countryman of ours
commanded the public praise, by saying: "My country right--but my
country, right or wrong." Such are the expressions of _patriotism_ of
that idolized compound of selfish and base affections!
Were I writing for the favor, instead of the welfare of my fellow-men, I
should praise rather than denounce patriotism. Were I writing in
accordance with the maxims of a corrupt world, instead of the truth of
Jesus Christ, I should defend and extol, rather than rebuke the
doctrine, that we may prefer the interests of one section of the human
family to those of another. If patriotism, in the ordinary acceptation
of the word, be right, then the Bible is wrong--for that blessed book
requires us to love all men, even as we love ourselves. How contrary to
its spirit and precepts, that,
"Lands intersected by a narrow frith,
Abhor each other, Mountains interposed
Make enemies of nations, who had else,
Like kindred drops, been mingled into one."
There are many, who consider that the doctrine of loving all our fellow
men as ourselves, belongs, to use your words, "to a sublime but
impracticable philosophy." Let them, however, but devoutly ask Him, who
enjoins it, to warm and expand their selfish and contracted hearts with
its influences; and they will know, by sweet experience, that under the
grace of God, the doctrine is no less "practicable" than "sublime." Not
a few seem to suppose, that he, who has come to regard the whole world
as his country, and all mankind as his countrymen, will have less love
of home and country than the patriot has, who makes his own nation, and
no other, the cherished object of his affections. But did the Saviour,
when on earth, love any individual the less, because the love of His
great heart was poured out, in equal tides, over the whole human family?
And would He not, even in the eyes of the patriot himself, be stamped
with imperfection, were it, to appear, that one nation shares less than
another in His "loving-kindness" and that "His tender mercies are (not)
over all his works?" Blessed be His holy name, that He was cast down the
"middle wall of partition" between the Jew and Gentile!--that there is
no respect of persons with Him!--that "Greek" and "Jew, circumcision and
uncircumcision, barbarian, Scythian, bond" and "free," are equal
before Him!
Having said, "_I prefer the liberty of my own country to that of any
other people_," you add--"_and the liberty of my own race to that of any
other race."_
How perfectly natural, that the one sentiment should follow the other!
How perfectly natural, that he who can limit his love by state or
national lines, should be also capable of confining it to certain
varieties of the human complexion! How perfectly natural, that, he who
is guilty of the insane and wicked prejudice against his fellow men,
because they happen to be born a dozen, or a hundred, or a thousand
miles from the place of his nativity, should foster the no less insane
and wicked prejudice against the "skin not colored like his own!" How
different is man from God! "He maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on
the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust." But were man
invested with supreme control, he would not distribute blessings
impartially even amongst the "good" and the "just."
You close your speech with advice and an appeal to abolitionists. Are
you sure that an appeal, to exert the most winning influence upon our
hearts, would not have come from some other source better than from one
who, not content with endeavoring to show the pernicious tendency of our
principles and measures, freely imputes to us bloody and murderous
motives? Are you sure, that you, who ascribe to us designs more
diabolical than those of burning "beautiful capitals," and destroying
"productive manufactories," and sinking "gallant ships," are our most
suitable adviser? We have, however, waved all exception on this score to
your appeal and advice, and exposed our minds and hearts to the whole
power and influence of your speech. And now we ask, that you, in turn,
will hear us. Presuming that you are too generous to refuse the
reciprocation, we proceed to call on you to stay your efforts at
quenching the world's sympathy for the slave--at arresting the progress
of liberal, humane, and Christian sentiments--at upholding slavery
against that Almighty arm, which now, "after so long a time," is
revealed for its destruction. We urge you to worthier and more hopeful
employments. Exert your great powers for the repeal of the matchlessly
wicked laws enacted to crush the Saviour's poor. Set a happy and an
influential example to your fellow slaveholders, by a righteous
treatment of those, whom you unrighteously hold in bondage. Set them
this example, by humbling yourself before God and your assembled slaves,
in unfeigned penitence for the deep and measureless wrongs you have done
the guiltless victims of your oppression--by paying those _men_, (speak
of them, think of them, no longer, as _brutes_ and _things_)--by paying
these, who are my brother men and your brother men, the "hire" you have
so long withheld from them, and "which crieth" to Heaven, because it "is
of you kept back"--by breaking the galling yoke from their necks, and
letting them "go free."
Do you shrink from our advice--and say, that obedience to its just
requirements would impoverish you? Infinitely better, that you be
honestly poor than dishonestly rich. Infinitely better to "do justly,"
and be a Lazarus; than to become a Croesus, by clinging to and
accumulating ill-gotten gains. Do you add to the fear of poverty, that
of losing your honors--those which are anticipated, as well as those,
which already deck your brow? Allow us to assure you, that it will be
impossible for you to redeem "Henry Clay, the statesman," and "Henry
Clay, the orator," or even "Henry Clay, the President of the United
States," from the contempt of a slavery-loathing posterity, otherwise
than by coupling with those designations the inexpressibly more
honorable distinction of "HENRY CLAY, THE EMANCIPATOR."
I remain,
Your friend,
GERRIT SMITH.
End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Anti-Slavery Examiner, Part 2 of 4
by American Anti-Slavery Society
*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ANTI-SLAVERY EXAMINER, PART 2 OF 4 ***
***** This file should be named 11272-8.txt or 11272-8.zip *****
This and all associated files of various formats will be found in:
https://www.gutenberg.org/1/1/2/7/11272/
Produced by Stan Goodman, Amy Overmyer and PG Distributed Proofreaders
Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions
will be renamed.
Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no
one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation
(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without
permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules,
set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to
copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to
protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. Project
Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you
charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission. If you
do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the
rules is very easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose
such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and
research. They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do
practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks. Redistribution is
subject to the trademark license, especially commercial
redistribution.
*** START: FULL LICENSE ***
THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE
PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK
To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free
distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work
(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project
Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project
Gutenberg-tm License (available with this file or online at
https://gutenberg.org/license).
Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm
electronic works
1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm
electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to
and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property
(trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all
the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy
all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession.
If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project
Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the
terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or
entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8.
1.B. "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark. It may only be
used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who
agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few
things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works
even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See
paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project
Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement
and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm electronic
works. See paragraph 1.E below.
1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the Foundation"
or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project
Gutenberg-tm electronic works. Nearly all the individual works in the
collection are in the public domain in the United States. If an
individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are
located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from
copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative
works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg
are removed. Of course, we hope that you will support the Project
Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by
freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm works in compliance with the terms of
this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with
the work. You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by
keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project
Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others.
1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern
what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are in
a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States, check
the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement
before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or
creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project
Gutenberg-tm work. The Foundation makes no representations concerning
the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United
States.
1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg:
1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate
access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently
whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the
phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the phrase "Project
Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed,
copied or distributed:
This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or
re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived
from the public domain (does not contain a notice indicating that it is
posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied
and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees
or charges. If you are redistributing or providing access to a work
with the phrase "Project Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the
work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1
through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the
Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or
1.E.9.
1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted
with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution
must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional
terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms will be linked
to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works posted with the
permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work.
1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm
License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this
work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm.
1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this
electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without
prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with
active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project
Gutenberg-tm License.
1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary,
compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any
word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access to or
distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than
"Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official version
posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site (www.gutenberg.org),
you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a
copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon
request, of the work in its original "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other
form. Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm
License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1.
1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying,
performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works
unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9.
1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing
access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works provided
that
- You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from
the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method
you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is
owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he
has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the
Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments
must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you
prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax
returns. Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and
sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the
address specified in Section 4, "Information about donations to
the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation."
- You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies
you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he
does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm
License. You must require such a user to return or
destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium
and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of
Project Gutenberg-tm works.
- You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any
money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the
electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days
of receipt of the work.
- You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free
distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works.
1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm
electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set
forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from
both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael
Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark. Contact the
Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below.
1.F.
1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable
effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread
public domain works in creating the Project Gutenberg-tm
collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic
works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain
"Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or
corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual
property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a
computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by
your equipment.
1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right
of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project
Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project
Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project
Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all
liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal
fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT
LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE
PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH F3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE
TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE
LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR
INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH
DAMAGE.
1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a
defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can
receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a
written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you
received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with
your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you with
the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a
refund. If you received the work electronically, the person or entity
providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to
receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If the second copy
is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further
opportunities to fix the problem.
1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth
in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS' WITH NO OTHER
WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO
WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTIBILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE.
1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied
warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages.
If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the
law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be
interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by
the applicable state law. The invalidity or unenforceability of any
provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions.
1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the
trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone
providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in accordance
with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production,
promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works,
harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees,
that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do
or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg-tm
work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any
Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any Defect you cause.
Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm
Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of
electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers
including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It exists
because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from
people in all walks of life.
Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the
assistance they need, is critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's
goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will
remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project
Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure
and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future generations.
To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation
and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4
and the Foundation web page at https://www.pglaf.org.
Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive
Foundation
The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit
501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the
state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal
Revenue Service. The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification
number is 64-6221541. Its 501(c)(3) letter is posted at
https://pglaf.org/fundraising. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg
Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent
permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state's laws.
The Foundation's principal office is located at 4557 Melan Dr. S.
Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered
throughout numerous locations. Its business office is located at
809 North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887, email
[email protected]. Email contact links and up to date contact
information can be found at the Foundation's web site and official
page at https://pglaf.org
For additional contact information:
Dr. Gregory B. Newby
Chief Executive and Director
[email protected]
Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg
Literary Archive Foundation
Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide
spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of
increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be
freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest
array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations
($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt
status with the IRS.
The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating
charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United
States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a
considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up
with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations
where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To
SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any
particular state visit https://pglaf.org
While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we
have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition
against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who
approach us with offers to donate.
International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make
any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from
outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff.
Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation
methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other
ways including including checks, online payments and credit card
donations. To donate, please visit: https://pglaf.org/donate
Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic
works.
Professor Michael S. Hart was the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm
concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared
with anyone. For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project
Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support.
Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed
editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S.
unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not necessarily
keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition.
Each eBook is in a subdirectory of the same number as the eBook's
eBook number, often in several formats including plain vanilla ASCII,
compressed (zipped), HTML and others.
Corrected EDITIONS of our eBooks replace the old file and take over
the old filename and etext number. The replaced older file is renamed.
VERSIONS based on separate sources are treated as new eBooks receiving
new filenames and etext numbers.
Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility:
https://www.gutenberg.org
This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm,
including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary
Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to
subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks.
EBooks posted prior to November 2003, with eBook numbers BELOW #10000,
are filed in directories based on their release date. If you want to
download any of these eBooks directly, rather than using the regular
search system you may utilize the following addresses and just
download by the etext year.
https://www.gutenberg.org/etext06
(Or /etext 05, 04, 03, 02, 01, 00, 99,
98, 97, 96, 95, 94, 93, 92, 92, 91 or 90)
EBooks posted since November 2003, with etext numbers OVER #10000, are
filed in a different way. The year of a release date is no longer part
of the directory path. The path is based on the etext number (which is
identical to the filename). The path to the file is made up of single
digits corresponding to all but the last digit in the filename. For
example an eBook of filename 10234 would be found at:
https://www.gutenberg.org/1/0/2/3/10234
or filename 24689 would be found at:
https://www.gutenberg.org/2/4/6/8/24689
An alternative method of locating eBooks:
https://www.gutenberg.org/GUTINDEX.ALL
